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The next morning, Ji Qingqing woke up muddle-headedly; still feeling the after-effects of her hangover. She felt very exhausted and her face had a pale and sickly complexion.
Seeing herself in the mirror, she couldn’t believe that the haggard woman she saw in front of her was her.
She glanced at her phone, but she didn’t have the energy to bring herself to unlock it.
While he rubbed her aching temples and as she prepared to get up, her phone suddenly rang.
It’s a call from Lin Zhen.
She paused for a moment. It must have something to do with the TV series.
Previously, the TV series was put on hold because of the wedding. She didn’t want things to be too rushed before and after the wedding.
But now that she was temporarily away from the Lu family, she couldn’t continue to spend the days in a daze. She had to find something to do for herself.
Well.. I actually don’t know what to do, but I do know it’s better to keep myself busy.
That way, I won’t have as much time or energy to worry or overthink. Right?
Ji Qingqing felt refreshed and connected to the call. “Hi, Sister Lin Zhen, do you have anything for me?”
Lin Zhen sighed over the phone. “Qingqing, I have the feeling you know exactly why I called you today.”
She paused, and said hurriedly before Ji Qingqing had the chance to intervene, “Don’t refuse in a hurry, listen to me first.”
“This was what happened. Originally, I talked with the director and he knew that your marriage was approaching. It just so happens that there’s some dispute over the copyright of the TV series that needs to be dealt with.”
“This actually has no effect on the start of the filming of the crew, but the director said that if you’re willing to audition, he can postpone the start of filming scheduled for July until after the copyright dispute is over, which may be in August or September.”
Ji Qingqing slightly raised her eyebrows. “August or September?”
“Yes, filming might be moved to August and September, but Shen Weiwei came for an interview this morning with Gu Shaoyu. I think the director is quite satisfied with Shen Weiwei’s performance, but you do know that Shen Weiwei’s character isn’t very good.”
“If possible, he doesn’t really want to cooperate with her. So Qingqing, if the director can postpone the starting time to August or September, would you be willing to audition?”
Lin Zhen’s proposal was actually not quite bad.
Although Shen Weiwei had terminated her contract with Tianyu Entertainment with the help of Gu Shaoyu, more and more negative news had spread, and her former scandals had also been exposed. Now, it could be said that she was mocked all throughout the online platforms.
Still, although she’s ridiculed all over the Internet she didn’t seem to care about her reputation at all and was still going on her own way.
Yet, Ji Qingqing frowned after listening to Lin Zhen’s words.
Shen Weiwei went to the audition? And with Gu Shaoyu? This was probably the resource he found for her.
If it was someone else, it wouldn’t matter. But if it was Shen Weiwei, she would be more than happy to stir up some trouble.
So, Ji Qingqing accepted the proposal. “Okay! Sister Lin Zhen, would you please help me make an appointment with the director? Thanks in advance.”
“You agreed?”
Ji Qingqing smiled softly and said, “It means nothing if I promise, it still mainly depends on the director’s choice.”
“No problem! I’ll call you later.”
Ten minutes later, Lin Zhen called Ji Qingqing and asked her if she had time today. The audition was set for about three o’clock in the afternoon.
Ji Qingqing happily agreed to it.
She quickly put on makeup, changed her clothes, and drove a car to the crew.
The TV series was an urban love story. It told the story of two sisters’ sisterly love, with the elder sister and the younger sister’s roles evenly distributed. There was no emphasis on one over the other, so it could be said that the series was a true double female lead drama.
The shooting location set by the team was also straightforward because there was no need to travel to numerous film sets or scenic areas. The series also didn’t cast any mainstream or popular stars and also saved a lot of budget in terms of salary, so the production cost was visibly low.
However, the director was experienced, and the crew was sensible and efficient in their work. The public knew that the production wasn’t trying to blindly pursue fan traffic by hiring popular stars. Instead, they looked for actors with real acting skills. Therefore, many unknown actors who have appeared in the director’s works have become very popular afterward.
So yes, even if Lin Zhen hadn’t been persuading her to star in this drama, there would still be countless actors who wanted to play in this drama.
Ji Qingqing, who was sitting in the car, touched her nose lightly out of guilt.
Thinking about it, I am indeed quite impudent.
Soon after arriving at the crew, Ji Qingqing sat in the car and contacted Lin Zhen. It didn’t take long for someone from the crew to show her in.
The crew was currently in the middle of casting for supporting roles. The director was present at the set and personally checked each applicant one by one. In the corridor outside the audition room, there were many people sitting and standing. Ji Qingqing saw quite a few familiar faces. They were her supporting actors in her last drama. But when they saw Ji Qingqing, they did not come forward to talk to her. Instead, they gathered in a group, discussing amongst themselves.
“Eh, isn’t that Ji Qingqing? I heard that she’s about to marry Lu Lixing. Is she also here to audition?”
The girl who spoke up had partnered with Ji Qingqing in a previous drama. But because she was a supporting role, there were not many scenes with her and Ji Qingqing and there was little communication between them.
“It seems that she’s indeed here for an audition.”
“Which role does she want to try out?”
“It should be the younger sister of the two female protagonists, right?”
“Younger sister?” The man shook his head, looking at Ji Qingqing with extremely presumptuous eyes. He shook his head again and added, “I don’t think it’s possible for her.”
“She’s the future Mrs. Lu and the whole entertainment industry is her playground. What resources does she lack? A small female lead, how is it impossible?”
Another person from the side commented, “I’m here to audition for the fourth female supporting lead, but you know, the competition is really fierce. Just for this role, there are not less than six people competing, not to mention for the first female lead.”
“Even if you have a good background, it doesn’t matter for Director Ren – you can only rely on your acting skills to stand out. I even have a friend in the crew who said that when Shen Weiwei came to the audition, Director Ren was quite satisfied with her performance and wanted to cast her on the spot.”
“You mean, Director Ren was very satisfied with Shen Weiwei? Then Ji Qingqing coming here means…”
“She wants to grab the role.”
“But I personally don’t think that she can grab it.”
“Why not?”
“Director Ren is a person who values acting skills and has a discerning eye. Since Director Ren is satisfied with Shen Weiwei’s performance, it means that Shen Weiwei’s acting skills have been recognized by him.”
“You haven’t seen Ji Qingqing’s acting skills before in the film set. She can’t even act adequately without reading the script a few times.”
The person who spoke had a minor role and he was finished after filming a scene. He had only seen Ji Qingqing’s performance when he first entered the group.
Lin Zhen came out of the room. She glanced around and finally found Ji Qingqing. She quickly approached her with a smile on her face.
She patted Ji Qingqing on the shoulder. “You just came?”
“Sorry, Sister Lin Zhen, I’m late.”
“It’s okay, Director Ren is inside, I’ll take you in.”
So, in a public setting, Ji Qingqing had ‘cut in line’ and was brought into the audition room by Lin Zhen.
Inside the room, the director and several assistant directors of the crew were interviewing actors who were auditioning. One actress was holding a sofa pillow in her hand, crying and laughing maniacally like a deranged person.
Lin Zhen led Ji Qingqing to one side and whispered, “She’s performing as a mother who had just lost her child.”
I see.
Ji Qingqing sat there and watched the actress’ performance for three minutes in silence.
The semi-bald man with glasses sitting in the middle of the long table pushed his glasses. After the performance, he nodded and said, “Thanks for the good work. I’ll let the staff contact you as soon as the results come out.”
The woman who was performing on her knees on the ground took a while to detach herself from her performance earlier. She wiped her tears with the help of the staff, then bowed to the director before leaving with the staff.
Before a crew member called the next person in, Lin Zhen took the opportunity to take Ji Qingqing to Director Ren.
“Director Ren, this is the person I told you about before – Ji Qingqing.”