Chapter 49

“Why is she here?” Yi Ling muttered under her breath, visibly unhappy.

Yan Huan followed the direction of Yi Ling’s gaze, and saw who she was referring to: Wen Dongni, the actress who had slapped Yan Huan so hard in her previous stunt role her face had nearly doubled in size from the swelling. Why was she here?

Then she remembered. Yan Huan folded her arms across her chest, and gently tapped her fingers on her arm, as though playing the piano. It was all coming back to her: in her previous life, Weng Dongni had played the role of Hong Yao. In Yan Huan’s opinion, however, Wen Dongni had not been able to capture the true essence of the role. Even so, the TV series had helped her become a minor celebrity, and she had received several acting offers after that.

As for Yan Huan, back in her previous life…

She had been shooting Chen Wanda’s movie Return, and had therefore lost the opportunity to participate in Love and Tribulations, which had turned out to be a first-class production in terms of casting, plot, and subsequent audience reception. She had also lost the opportunity to participate in Director Jin’s future projects, and had had to bear the shame of being known as one of those “nude stars” for the rest of her short life.

Her fingers tightened around her arm. She swore to herself that she would get the role of Hong Yao this time, no matter what.

The PA system blared out: “Number 25! Yan Huan!” Yan Huan checked the small slip of paper she had been clutching tightly in her hand: yes, that was her number.

“Don’t be nervous, everything will be fine. Just do what you always do.” Yi Ling tried her best to encourage Yan Huan, even though she was actually a lot more nervous than her. The palms of her hands were slick with nervous sweat.

“I know.” Yan Huan smiled at her, her crescent eyes twinkling with gratitude.

She stepped forward. This was it: the true beginning of her new life.

She wasn’t nervous. She was confident in her acting skills, because they had been hard-earned: she had put in the hours, the effort, the sweat, and the tears to slowly but surely hone her acting skills in her past life. She remembered all the hardship and the injustice she had suffered along the way, and she channeled those memories now into her determination to get the part of Hong Yao.

She had just entered the audition room and was about to introduce herself when the door abruptly swung open. Wen Dongni strode into the room with her manager, whose hand promptly shot out to push Yan Huan to the side because she was standing in their way.

The push had not been particularly strong. Nonetheless, it was enough to cause anyone unprepared for it to lose their balance.

There was a loud thud as Yan Huan’s shoulder struck the cabinet beside her, but no one cared enough to turn to see what was going on. A corner of the cabinet dug into her flesh, and although it wasn’t sharp enough to cut her skin, the force of it would leave a bruise.

Yan Huan’s body was special in more ways than one. Aside from her rare blood type, her skin was extremely fair. In fact, she was a little too fair: any accidental collision with a hard surface resulted in a bruise that was far more obvious on her skin than anyone else’s.

She rubbed her arm. She straightened herself, but everyone around her continued to treat her as though she was invisible. Her fingers tightened around the slip of paper with her number on it; she was number 25, but Wen Dongni had jumped the queue and taken her spot.

Wen Dongni appeared to have recognized her; she had turned to look behind her just as she was cutting in line, and in that split-second Yan Huan had seen the smug, challenging look in her eyes.

Wen Dongni did not feel that there was anything wrong with jumping the queue; she was famous, had solid acting experience, and had someone backing her. It would be a waste of her talent if she did not audition for a role. She wasn’t about to waste her time waiting in line, however, she already had other jobs lined up for after the audition, after all.