During his few days waiting for the audition for âYou Are My Youth And My Warmth,â Liu Yuâan also had a few retakes of âEvernightâs scenes at director Heâs request.
Then Liu Yuâan and Shao Yanxi spent a few more romantic days together before Liu Yuâan has to go to the audition.
Xiao-Zhang is at Liu Yuâanâs door just a bit past eight, but he doesnât dare knock for fear of interrupting something. Shao Yanxi, heading for work at 8:40, finally discovers him playing with his phone crouching at the door when heâs heading out for work.
Shao Yanxi â?â
He then pushes the entrance back open for him, saying, âheâs inside.â
âYessir,â xiao-Zhang replies and enters after seeing Shao Yanxi off into the elevator.
âAn-ge!â He yells out at the entrance.
Liu Yuâan pops out of the kitchen and sees him, then says, âyouâre early, huh. Wait a bit.â
Then he packs up the kitchen quickly before getting changed.
He woke up early with Shao Yanxi this morning, so he didnât need anything else. He heads downstairs just after changing clothes. xiao-Zhang also knows Liu Yuâan never applies make-up, and isnât surprised to see him down in 5.
Itâs a bit past nine when theyâre at the site of the audition, but itâs already packed.
Due to his recent involvement with Shao Yanxi, practically everyone knows who he is by now. When he comes in, everyone canât help but look towards him, becoming the focus of the crowd. Some more outgoing actors present even greet him, âhey, An-ge!â
âHello,â Liu Yuâan nods in response. He can see two familiar faces in the crowd as well.
Lin Xi from the wilderness show and Mu Rui, the second female lead of âEvernight.â
They can also see him, of course. Lin Xi is a newcomer to the field, and the wilderness show was his first show ever. Liu Yuâan, due to recent developments, is definitely one of the most notable figures in the entire entertainment industry right now. He canât help but feel a bit reluctant to greet him.
Itâll be exceedingly awkward if he isnât greeted in turn when there are so many people; in fact, heâs experienced it before.
One of the seniors at work he met who was quite friendly on camera, was so distant that he wouldnât even reply to a simple greeting from you off the camera.
It has traumatised Lin Xi a bit already. Plus, Liu Yuâan always had that rumour that he acts condescendingly at work, didnât he.
âIf you donât go greet him, people will say you are the one acting condescendingly,â his agent is hurrying him on, âbesides, itâs someone the CEO himself approves, how badly could his character be? Youâre a celebrity now, donât you yourself know how much of the defamatory materials online are actually true?â
Lin Xi finally gathers his courage, and says, âalright.â
He starts walking towards Liu Yuâan, but not before being preceded by someone else. That being Mu Rui, who, as mentioned before, is straightforward and frank.
She asks, âxiao-Liu, youâre here to audition as well?â
âYes.â He nods at her.
Though that thing the other day was unrelated to Mu Rui, but it was still her assistant, and her own cousin. Liu Yuâan wouldnât go after her, of course, but it also means he wonât have any goodwill towards her.
And Mu Rui, being someone successful despite having no significant power players behind her, is of course quick on the uptake as well. Frank with her words doesnât mean sheâs inattentive and slow. Itâs both fault on her side and Liu Yuâanâs current status being someone she should avoid crossing at all costs. For once, she hesitates a bit before asking, âwhich character are you trying out for?â
âZhang Fu.â Liu Yuâan answers. Itâs the name of the teacher character.
âI see, Zhang Fu. Itâs quite an eyecatching character for sure. Good luck,â she feels a bit awkward. Normally she would blabber her mouth frankly a bit, but now she can only smile a bit in response; she doesnât even know if Zhang Fu is eyecatching, as she only had time to look through the character she is auditioning for.
Liu Yuâan then smiles at Lin Xi who is close to them now, asking, âyouâre also auditioning?â
Lin Xi was nervous already, and seeing Liu Yuâan speaking quite coldly to Mu Rui, he wanted to retreat already. He didnât expect to suddenly be asked. He canât help but greet a bit enthusiastically, âyes, An-ge.â
Liu Yuâan âmmâs and nods, asking, âwhich character?â
âQin Wei,â he says, then quickly adding after thinking Liu Yuâan might not know, âthe male leadâs lackey.â
âGood luck,â Liu Yuâan says.
The others watched as Liu Yuâan gave Mu Rui a rather cold reception, when they thought he might be hard to approach, but he seems to be pretty friendly towards Lin Xi.
This means either that Mu Rui has offended Liu Yuâan somehow, or Lin Xi happens to be on friendlier terms with Liu Yuâan.
Either way, itâll be to their benefit to get friendly with Lin Xi too.
As for Mu Rui. Nope. Even if sheâs super chummy with Liu Yuâan theyâre still a bunch of Z-list, obscure actors. They wouldnât even be on consideration of a largely popular idol. Itâs out of the question either way.
Lin Xi didnât even expect that a few words with Liu Yuâan meant a rather abrupt attitude change from everyone else, but quickly adapts as his agent explained the situation to him quietly; the entertainment industry sure is a harsh place, he canât help but think.
After leaving the crowd behind, Liu Yuâan heads for the director following his assistant.
The director, Wang Yue, is in his fifties. Heâs from a middle-class background and started making microfilms in his undergraduate days. He invested his own money and made his first movie after graduation. 100 thousand budget landing him more than a million in return, and, at least, during the late 70âs, it was quite the impressive achievement.
He continued with his career, and had more successes than flops. Overall, heâs already a billionaire by this point. With enough money under his belt already, heâs largely shooting for his hobby and not for the money anymore.
Inside, the director is talking to the vice director and the scriptwriter. Liu Yuâan realises that he knows the scriptwriter, actually, as heâs from Zhao Xianâs company.
The scriptwriter greets him, âAn-shao, good morning.â
âHello,â then he also greets the director and the vice director.
Recent events made Liu Yuâan quite well-known online. And Anyan really made a heavy offer as well, promising a 20 million investment if they gave Liu Yuâan a place in the cast.
They canât help but be curious about Liu Yuâan.
Even the director who doesnât usually look up actors before auditioning canât help but look up online.
He doesnât really care much about him acting condescending or disrespectful. Every slightly popular actor and actress has probably been accused of that one way or another.
What really made him wrinkle his brows was Liu Yuâanâs acting. Itâs unbelievably bad that he wants to bleach his eyes afterwards.
ââWith âEvernightâ still just slated to air, the director could only watch what clips the original cannon fodder had.
That acting from Liu Yuâan made the director averse to even see Liu Yuâan. If he didnât know that Shao Yanxi really likes him and is definitely not someone to trifle with, and might just have his entire team disbanded if they pissed him off, he wouldnât have allowed Liu Yuâan to come even if Anyan offered 40 million in investment.
As a director, a rather well-off, and experienced director, he really doesnât want to see a movie ruined by one single point of failure.
âWhich character do you want to try out for?â The director asks.
Heâs made his resolve already. Since itâs coming to this, then theyâll cut short whatever parts the character Liu Yuâan chooses later.
And, just in case Liu Yuâan might make ridiculous demands, he adds, âwe already have a male lead.â
Liu Yuâan â?â
Whatâs with that weird unnecessary statement after the question?
He canât help but raise his brow, but still only answers normally, âZhang Fu.â
ââŠâ
The director and the othersâ faces all seem to turn blue.
They thought Liu Yuâan wanted the second or third male leads, but never imagined he would want Zhang Fu.
<ol>Zhang Fu is only the fourth male lead. Zhang Fu is actually the character most demanding on the acting skills of all the characters.</ol>
Liu Yuâanâs absurdly laughable acting skills for Zhang Fu???
Besides, theyâve already had a person in mind for him. Even though they havenât signed yet, but theyâve already told him to come today to sign. Oof, to have a sudden intruder on this.
The director tries to dissuade him, âare you sure about Zhang Fu? Itâs not a likeable character. Heâll likely be scolded pretty harshly online.â
The scriptwriter also asks, âAn-ge, why not try out Lin Hua instead?â
Lin Hua, the second male lead, is a delinquent bro of the female protagonist. A tragic product of a lack of parental care with busy parents working way out in the big cities and uncaring nannies.
Heâs been bullied for âhaving no parentsâ as only his nanny would ever come to pick him up and he became introverted, and even learned to avenge himself through sneaky means, until he happened to come to know the female protagonist and became part of her gang.
Of course, heâs the âsmartâ kind of delinquent. He performs well academically and, at least, in the teachersâ eyes, heâs a taciturn but hard-working model student.
But why are they suggesting this character? Wouldnât he garner even more ire and infamy when the show airs?
Sure, the characterâs backstory and even his parts at the beginning of the story would make people sympathetic, but, after he comes to like the female protagonist, he begins employing his sneaky tactics towards her and the male protagonist.
He even tried to sexually assault the female protagonist near the end.
Of course, he meets a tragic end for that. He could not enter university, because he is already in prison for a criminal felony.
Still, Liu Yuâan knows what theyâre thinking now. They probably donât want him as the fourth male lead, but, thatâs the only part he came for, because he has been him, he wouldnât need time to wrestle with understanding the character.
âI only want to try out for the fourth male lead,â Liu Yuâan replies.
âUm, ok, let me tell you this,â the director sees that they canât get through to Liu Yuâan and thus says, âweâve already decided on the actor for him. Why not look at the other characters? They are also likeable and will get you fans.â
Thatâs what celebrities want, right?
Unfortunately for him, Liu Yuâan isnât in this for the fans and popularity.
He furrows his brows, saying, âdidnât your team say all characters except the male lead are open for audition beforehand? And even if you have arranged for someone to audition for it already, you canât just not let me try it out, can you? What if I perform better than that person?â
ââŠâ
Perform better than their pick?
With his teeth-gritting and his eye-bulging?
Does he even hear himself?
Are these little celebrities all so confident these days? A few fans and theyâd think theyâre the shit and indulge in their own fantasies?
The director almost feels like laughing at the absurdity of it all.
âFine, you can have your go,â the director says, âwe told Qin Lin to come try it out and heâll be here. Youâll perform the same parts then.â
The scriptwriter and the vice director all feel Liu Yuâan is acting out of his league.
Even if Qin Lin is obscure, his acting is definitely way better than Liu Yuâan.
Itâs like a primary school student fighting against a postgraduate student. Itâs incomparable. What is he even trying to do?