CH 5

After finished eating and returning home, Jiang Li spent another night to study about the roles.

Although he did not sleep for a night, he had a young body. He just felt a bit tired, but his skin was too white so pale green could be seen under his eyes.

10 minutes before the appointment, Jiang Li got a call from Ji Shu, he had already reached the lobby.

Jiang Li was unexpected that Ji Shu fetched him to the crews personally. Even though Jiang Zhan agreed to give him the role, a rough job like this should be done by a normal assistant, it was not necessary for Ji Shu to do this himself.

He quickly got the answer to his question. Ji Shu explained that both Liu Chuandeng and Liu Baizhu were very important in the drama, especially Liu Chuangdeng.

As the greatest antagonist in the drama, the parts he played was only second to the male and female lead’s, it could be said that it was one of the core roles in the whole drama. Such an important role needed good acting skills and was not able to be interpreted well by an ordinary actor. Therefore, the main director, Zhou Jin paid attention to this role and the candidate should be auditioned personally by him.

So Jiang Li needed to go for audition first instead of getting the role immediately.

After Ji Shu finished speaking, they looked at each other for a few seconds.

Jiang Li remembered Jiang Zhan agreed to him completely that night and the words ‘I invited the whole drama, what makes you think I’m able to do so’ that were said yesterday morning, he then said faintly, “What a pick-up artist…..”

The words “pick-up artist“ startled Ji Shu, he felt wrong to where it was going, he then quickly explained, “It’s not like that. Mr. Jiang, please don’t misunderstand. The thing is that this is a special occasion, even if you don’t pass the audition, President Jiang will still compensate you in other ways, you won’t lose anything, please don’t wor…”

“Stop talking, I know, I understand him.” Jiang Li interrupted him with a heavy tone, he nodded his head and showed a ‘I know it all, I understand that he is unable to act on his own’ expression.

A president who worth hundreds of millions of dollars, sank to a point of being a pick-up artist, is it the lack of morality or the loss of humanity?

At the same time, Jiang Zhan who was holding a meeting in his company sneezed.

Although Jiang Li did not say what he was thinking of, his eyes showed everything. Ji Shu could feel ‘Although I’m really disappointed in my sugar daddy, I still need to be considerate’ from the words ‘I understand’.

Mr. Jiang is really a considerate person, Ji Shu thought in his heart. Jiang Li’s impression in his heart improved a little, he then changed the topic himself, “Mr. Jiang drew eyelines today, it’s pretty nice.”

Ji Shu noticed that Jiang Li drew eyelines just after they met, the black eyelines were not too heavy, he just slightly elongated them at the corner of the eyes and hooked them up a little. A simple hook made his almond eyes elongated slightly, causing his clear eyes to turn demonic.

“Ah, I drew them simply to fit the role.” Jiang Li smiled, the original host did not have an eyeliner, he just used a soft brush to draw them temporarily.

“I see,” Ji Shu nodded his head, he had also read ‘Long River and Falling Moon’ before, it was indeed fitting to the role of Liu Chuandeng.

He took a few scripts of the audition from the back seat and handed them to Jiang Li, he asked him to choose one for the audition, “There’s still time to the venue, get familiar with the script first.”

“Thank you, don’t call me Mr. Jiang, Jiang Li is better. ” Jiang Li said as he chose one out of the scripts.

Ji Shu agreed and did not disturb him anymore, as he drove towards the audition venue.

When both of them arrived, there were a lot of people waiting in the audition hall. There were long queues at every audition room, there were also many crews in charge of the administration.

Jiang Li scanned the surroundings, lots of actors who were queuing up were making preparations, waiting for the crews to call them.

Ji Shu thought of Jiang Li who just received the script for the audition, he then asked, “Do you need more time to get familiar with the lines?”

“No.” Jiang Li’s memory was quite good, the lines of the audition were not many. He had already memorized them well when he was in the car. After figuring it out for a day and a night, he had also understood both of the roles well.

Ji Shu told the crews about this and someone then came to bring them over to the audition room of Liu Chuandeng and Liu Baizhu.

Comparing to the other audition rooms, the people at this room were not many, only 10 to 20. There were even 3 pairs of twins among them.

Jiang Li was not shocked by this.

Liu Chuandeng and Liu Baizhu were a pair of twins, although their personalities were different, their looks were the same. It would be easier for twins rather than a person to act in these two roles.

When both of them reached the room, the door of the audition room opened and a pair of twins exited the room, both had gloomy expressions, indicating that they did not pass the audition.

A crew who followed them out saw Ji Shu and greeted him. The crew knew they were coming for the audition so he invited them in without hesitation.

As Jiang Li and Ji Shu went in, the people who were left outside waiting looked at each other in dismay and started discussing quietly.

“Who is that? Why did he cut the queue?” One of the actors asked.

“Did you see the person who was wearing a white shirt? He is the secretary of the Jiang Group, I did not see the other one before, is he an actor too?” Another one asked curiously.

“What’s his background that makes President Jiang’s secretary to bring him here personally?”

“Don’t tell me it’s decided…”

As the door was closed, Jiang Li did not know what the people outside were discussing about. He realized that the air pressure inside the room was a bit low when he just entered.

To be precise, it was the middle-aged man sitting in the middle of the panel of judges who made the pressure low, his expression was heavy, making the whole atmosphere gloomy.

Two words ‘Zhou Jin’ was written on the label in front of the man, indicating that he was the main director of the drama.

Jiang Li had searched some information about Zhou Jin last night. Zhou Jin was 49 years old, a famous top-notch director in the industry.

Judging from his mood, it was probably that the audition for Liu Chuandeng and Liu Baizhu did not go well.

Ji Shu went forward and greeted him, introducing Jiang Li to them as well.

Jiang Li nodded his head to greet everyone in the seats, he was respectful but did not flattered them, unlike the other actors who would compliment the directors when greeting.

Zhou Jin glanced at Jiang Li and was firstly surprised by his delicate yet unfeminine look. He then thought that it was reasonable since his nephew personally requested the roles.

Zhou Jin was not only the main director of the drama, he was also Jiang Zhan’s uncle. He did not agree to Jiang Zhan’s request of giving the roles to Jiang Li, he only agreed to give him a chance for audition.

To be frank, if he wanted a normal role that would not affect the drama, Zhou Jin would turn a blind eye for his nephew even if he had no acting skill. However, he could not do that for the roles of Liu Chuandeng and Liu Baizhu. This was because if he were to lower the qualifications needed for core roles, the effect of the drama would be reduced drastically. Unless the director was changed, or else there would be no exception.

He looked at Jiang Li from his head to toe, putting aside his acting skills, he was satisfied with his looks, and it suited his imagination of the Liu twins.

The author had spent a lot of lines writing about Liu Chuandeng and Liu Baizhu’s outstanding looks and had piled all kinds of beautiful words on both of them, it was not wrong to say that they had the most outstanding looks in the novel.

In order to fit into the novel and bring the originality for the novel’s fans, the first quality that Zhou Jin looked at when choosing the actors was appearance, since the reason that Liu Chuandeng was able to climb to the position of the Governor of the Eastern Depot in the first place had something to do with his appearance.

Of course, appearance was not sufficient, acting skills were important as well, both must be present. Or else he would not have spent so much time on searching for the best actor in this industry that was filled with good-looking people.

“You’re Jiang Li right? Are you ready?”

A woman who had an up do hairstyle beside Zhou Jin asked, ‘Huang Lisheng’ was written on the label in front of her, she was one of the scriptwriters for ‘Long River and Falling Moon’.

“Yes, I’m ready.” Jiang Li nodded his head slightly, “Judges, the part that I’m going to act is the part where Liu Chuandeng met Liu Baizhu after Chuandeng massacred the whole family of Sheng.”

When he finished speaking, everyone was shocked.

‘Long River and Falling Moon’ was a fictional historical novel, its background was set in the 21st year of the Southern Dynasty.

Liu Chuandeng was the greatest antagonist in the book, he was only 26 years old but he was in position above ten thousands, he was the Seal-holding Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and the Governor of the Eastern Depot.

In the novel, Liu Chuandeng had a poor family, his father died early and his mother was the only parent. He was sent into the palace at the age of seven, he was tortured inside and was serving in the Imperial kitchen. At the age of eleven, he was kept by the Eunuch Supervisor-in-chief due to his outstanding appearance, he was tortured and humiliated, nearly lost his life for a few times.

During those years staying beside the Eunuch Supervisor-in-chief, Liu Chuandeng had been treated by most of the ugly methods of the palace, he was on the verge of death for a few times and completely understood the importance of having rights. His personality also changed from innocent and obedient to gloomy and weird. He pretended to comply, being hypocritical and malignant, flattered others, took advantage of people’s misfortune and even murdered the innocents, he did everything that he once felt despicable, stepping on other people’s and his own blood and tears to reach the position of the Seal-holding Director of the Directorate of Ceremonial. He then also became the Governor of the Eastern Depot, an official in the palace.

In the other hand, Liu Baizhu was living a completely different life. At the age of seven, after Liu Chuandeng was being sent into the palace, Mother Liu sent Liu Baizhu to school using the money she sold her body.

Liu Baizhu then knew the male lead in the novel at school. The male lead was the youngest son of the Mu Rong family, which was one of the four oldest and well-known families in Southern Dynasty. He was being sent to the countryside to reflect on his wrongdoings as he had caused trouble in the town. After meeting each other, both kids quickly established a deep friendship. Liu Baizhu had even saved the male lead from drowning once.

After two years, Mother Liu passed away due to a fire in her house. The male lead brought Liu Baizhu home, the Mu Rong family adopted him as a gratitude for saving the male lead, both of them were being sent into the deep mountains to be apprentices and learn skills.

Liu Baizhu who was taken care of by his mother since young and was adopted by an old and well-known family did not need to worry about food, clothing and expenses. He also lived happily in the mountains, his personality remained the innocence and passion of a teen. He had even forgotten that he had a brother who had been sent into the palace because of their family condition until a letter was sent to them saying that he was an official and was murdering the innocents, this caused chaos in court, asking both of them to return as soon as possible.

The name Liu Chuandeng had once again entered Liu Baizhu’s vision, he then finally remembered his brother who he had not seen for many years.

The part where Jiang Li chose for his audition was the first meeting after they left each other for seven years and after Liu Baizhu saw Liu Chuandeng massacred a whole family.

Zhou Jin had a habit when choosing each core roles, and that was to prepare a few other audition scripts other than the one that was chosen. He would ask those who performed better to draw and act again, this was also a method to test their ability to act on the spot. But what he did not expect was the fact that Jiang Li chose that script under the condition that many other scripts were provided.

This scene was really hard to act, when Liu Chuandeng became the General Inspector in the novel, he once inquired about his mother and his younger brother, he thought they both passed away in the fire, but instead, his younger brother became an adopted son of the Mu Rong family.

There were two possibilities of choosing this script, one was that Jiang Li had the ability, he knew although that this scene was hard to act, it could show his acting skills very well. The second reason would be that he did not even read the script properly and simply chose one out.

Nobody knew Jiang Li was the former or the latter, but when he started acting, everyone’s vision was glued onto him. Even Zhou Jin who did not have any hopes of him at first sat upright suddenly.