Chapter 4

oops I drew a bit and procrastinated too hard today, here it is tho! BTW if you guys want spoilers just make a thread on NU, I’m too lazy to make one. Also before any of u do it, pls dont rec qwfod on this novel, they’re completely unrelated with barely any similarities if any(pls).

-Helli

Ten minutes later.

As Director Zhang stood in front of Gu Yan, listening to the sounds playing back from the recorder, his face had turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

“All those female celebrities, let me tell ya, don’t just look at how pure and innocent they are, they’re all dirty sluts. For They’re willing to do anything for just a small role……That Xu Qian that’s famous now……Heh, I had a fling with her too back in those days, that was a delicious one……”

“Those with power, what they like is to have some fun with those celebrities, I’ve even pimped out xxx before, hard to believe, huh? Heh, if anyone finds out what he’s done, who knows what’s gonna happen to his reputation?”

“You want to know how that Han Chang kid get the leading role for that drama? Ain’t it just because he was handsome and managed to get himself a backer? Heheh, I know who his sponsor is……That old bag, she’s still vigorous as ever.”

“And that female lead, she’s got a terrific sugar daddy, but a lot of people already know about that……”

Gu Yan pushed the pause button and sighed:”I didn’t take you for the talkative type, Director Zhang.”

Director Zhang’s body was shaking from anger, and he lowered his voice,”What do you want?”Fear emerged in his eyes, how could he say such things! And why didn’t he have any memory at all of what happened just now? What on earth happened?

“If I were to put this recording on the internet, say, between you and me, who’s going to get the worse end of it?”Casually, Gu Yan put the recorder back into his coat pocket.

Director Zhang’s face had turned as white as a sheet. If this recording was to leak out, then don’t even mention his reputation……How many people mentioned in there were now famous celebrities and big shots? Those people could easily wring the life out of him!

He squeezed out an ugly smile,”Bro, Brother Gu……let’s not be rash now.”

“So, can I partake in the audition now?”Gu Yan raised his eyes to look towards the director.

“Yes, yes, of course!”Director Zhang gave a hefty pat on his chest,”Actually, the audition is just something we have as a formality! I think you’re absolutely the best fit for this character!”

“But my reputation hasn’t been too good recently……”Said Gu Yan faintly.

“That’s nothing, there are tons of stars out there who start scandals like they’re just eating rice! It’s always better to be noticed than to be ignored, isn’t it?”The director had on a self-justifying look as if his head could nearly reach the heavens,”And besides, brother, I feel like me and you could be great bros at the first place! And since we’re brothers, who else am I going to help but you?”

Gu Yan nodded,”I can finally be at ease now that you’ve said that, Director Zhang.”

“Just put down all of your worries. Right, so how about we head on over to get the audition done and over with now? Though both you and me we already know how it’s going to end, I’m guessing you definitely want to avoid any gossiping by those petty people, am I right?”Then with a smile, Director Zhang continued,”As for that recording……”

“There is still some use left of that for now.”Gu Yan shot him a gold look.

“Alright, alright, I know, I know……”Director Zhang himself knew as well that it wouldn’t be that easy to get that recording, but the other party was the one who had his hand on the grip, not him, he wouldn’t dare to bring up any conditions. With nervous laughter, he opened the door for Gu Yan,”This way, please.”Only thing missing from the scene now was a nod and a bow.

When Xu Ming and Xiao Xu saw the two of them return, they nearly stared so hard that their eyeballs were going to fall out.

Wasn’t this change way too obvious!? Ten minutes go, he was still trying to kick them out with his nose pointing to the skies, and now standing next to Gu Yan he looked no different from his lackey!

Director Zhang shot Xiao Xu a look,”What are you standing around for, get the script over, quickly!”

“Oh, okay……”Xiao Xu quickly ran over and back again, and she looked at Gu Yan with a strange yet admiring look,”Here is your script, Mr. Gu.”

Gu Yan took the script over and flipped through it.

The script for 《Waiting Upon a Sunny Day》 was not a complicated one, it was the story of an old-fashioned romance. The female lead had entered a company for her internship with her childhood friend at the same time, but her friend turned out to be a snob. After climbing the ladders to become a wealthy woman, she threw the female lead aside and even added salt to the injury by humiliating her. While she drowned in her sadness, the female lead met the overbearing president, and then the love story ends in a bountiful harvest. Oh, and there was also a second male lead who was her senior in school as well as the company. He had stayed by her side through it all in his role as a warm and caring man, loving her to the point of no complaints nor regrets. This was a profound interpretation of what is called the self-cultivation of a spare tire.

His role was the third supporting male character, which was the ungrateful and unempathetic childhood friend of the female lead.

Director Zhang stood by the side and watched Gu Yan carefully,”Do you have any questions? Can we start the audition now?”It was hard for him too. Even though he was the director of this drama, he didn’t have the rights to make any decisions on the lead actors, that had to involve the interests of many people. It had been said that Gu Yan was previously dissatisfied with the role of the third supporting character, so if he were to propose any more excessive demands……

He could almost kill himself by banging his head on a wall right now! If he had known earlier that this was going to happen, he would’ve just invited this great honourable god out courteously.

Gu Yan put down the script,”No problem, let’s start now.”

The director finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Yan looked towards Director Zhang with eyes that seemed to contain a smile and yet not at the same time. This was just acting, he didn’t care at all how the characters were like. And if you had him play the positive role of an infatuated man who regretted nothing, it really would take some effort for him to get used to it.

Director Zhang ran into the hall and waved towards a girl,”Hey, Meng Ying, it’s good that you’re still here, can I trouble you for one last scene?”

With lithe steps, the girl walked over. She had a head of long straight hair with a face that couldn’t be considered exceptionally beautiful, but she looked pure and cute with two dimples on her cheeks appearing when she smiled. This was the special characteristics of a generic drama actress, they didn’t need to shake the earth with their beauty, they just had to be pleasant to look at, some room had to be given for the female audience to immerse themselves with her. But of course, the male lead definitely had to be handsome enough for the job.

Meng Ying looked at Gu Yan who stood next to Director Zhang with a cheerful smile and winked to him in a playful manner,”This handsome guy is the one?”

“That’s right, this is Gu Yan, get to know each other.”Said the director.

Meng Ying covered her eyes in surprise and her eyes were opened wide,”So it really is Gu Yan, I thought I guessed wrong at first, what a big change! You look nothing like how you look on TV at all.”

Gu Yan looked at her with an expressionless face.

With that, a hint of embarrassment rose up on Meng Ying’s face, and she turned to ask the director,”Which scene are we trying out?”

Director Chang smiled,”Let’s just go with that line from section three.”

Gu Yan was not surprised when he looked towards the script, there weren’t many lines in this part. Director Zhang had probably chosen this scene with his background in mind.

Naturally, Gu Yan would not tear apart the director’s thoughtful gesture. He walked to the center of the hall and stood there, bored. Looking at them with a side glance, he was clearly a handsome young man but from the depths of his eyes emerged a subtle taste of frivolity, the angle of his brows made him appear very nasty.

Meng Ying was stunned for a moment as she looked at Gu Yan, only then did she finally realize that Gu Yan had already gotten into his role.

“I’ve already told you I was busy last night, what do you want?”Gu Yan’s cool voice carried a trace of impatience.

“Really?”Meng Ying’s eyes were red, she was an actress who had gone through many dramas so she quickly got into it too:”By busy, you meant you had to go shopping with some other girl, didn’t you?!”

Gu Yan was silent for a moment, and he said:”You saw?”

“Yes, I saw it, why did you lie to me!”Meng Ying suddenly felt her tears pooling,”Who is that girl?”

Gu Yan suddenly smiled. He leaned his body slightly forwards and extended his hand, raising up Meng Ying’s chin. With the corners of his mouth raising up, he responded,”Since you’ve already found out, I’ll just tell it to you straight, let’s break up.”

Meng Ying looked straight into Gu Yan’s dark eyes. The man’s face was very close, and she could clearly see the curls of each hair on his eyelashes. Watching his beautiful lips as they spat out such cold words, and to his black eyes that were as dark as obsidian, it felt bewitching, and she couldn’t turn her eyes away. Her heart beat quickened and in agitation, she blurted out:”What did you say? You want to break up with me?!”

“Stop——”Director Zhang suddenly came over and said to Meng Yin:”What’s wrong with you just now? Didn’t you know you got the lines wrong?”

Actually, Meng Ying did realize her mistake after she had said them, so she quickly apologized,”I’m sorry.”

“One more time.”Though Director Zhang’s character was so-so, he was a serious man at work. He stood by the side and watched on with a straight face.

Gu Yan looked coldly at Meng Ying with his hands stuffed into his pockets.

“Is it because of her? Which part of her can’t I compare with?”Meng Ying sorted herself out and revealed a pitiful expression, then she continued with the scene from before.

“You……”Gu Yan had been watching her with nit-picking eyes from the beginning. A mocking smiled curled up on his lips,”Everything.”

An expression of great shock emerged on Meng Ying’s face.

“So stop looking for me in the future.”Word by word, the ruthlessness was spat out from Gu Yan’s mouth. His head was tipped slightly upwards and his eyes almost seemed to contain a smile.

Xu Ming and Xiao Xu who were standing by the sides had fixed their eyes on them.

“So bad, he’s too bad……But he’s really too handsome, what to do……”muttered Xiao Xu. Suddenly, she grabbed Xu Ming who stood beside her,”It looks just like it’s real, is he acting with his true character?”

Xu Ming awkwardly peeled Xiao Xu’s hands off his sleeve,”May, maybe……”

Don’t ask him, he’s surprised too! Nobody was as clear as him when it came to how much of a scumbag Gu Yan could put up an act of. He was bad, but he definitely wasn’t so alluringly bad!

Xiao Xu was entranced as she watched Gu Yan,”If I had a boyfriend as handsome as him, it’d be worth it even if I got dumped.”

“……”As expected, girls don’t like men if they’re not bad, huh?

Xu Ming already had no energy to complain.

Director Zhang didn’t have too many hopes at first, he thought that it wouldn’t matter even if Gu Yan’s acting was bad, since this was just the third male character in a brainless romance drama. He couldn’t make any decisions for the others, but of course he could handle making decisions for the third supporting actor. The entertainment circle had never been lacking of facially paralyzed stars who relied on their appearance.

But he would never expected……that he would receive such a surprise!

They were just a few short lines and simple expressions, and he had already turned a simple disloyal man into a charming villain, it was simply sublime, and the image was instantly given a refreshing twist. But that little lady at the side was in a daze from watching him, he knew at once that he would definitely be popular! With his many years of experience, he could tell that his ability to turn a character around was one-of-a-kind! Many other ideas were instantly popping up in Director Zhang’s mind, and his reluctance from before had also dissipated slightly.

“Alright everybody, you’ve worked hard.”Director Zhang walked forward with a smile,”Today’s work is over, I’d like to invite everyone out for hot pot tonight.”

“Yay!”The staff next to him were all cheering.

“Do you want to come with us?”Director Zhang walked to Gu Yan and asked. His expression was filled with sincerity, it was as if his previous reluctance and tension was only an illusion.

“No thanks.”Gu Yan replied.

“Alright then, I won’t force you, we can celebrate again when the filming is over.”Director Zhang smiled as he held Gu Yan’s hand firmly.

Director Zhang saw Gu Yan and his assistant off before he finally turned away. He walked to a quiet corner and made a call.

“Hello, Ol’ Zhu?” It’s me, Zhang Yuan.”

“Gu Yan came by today, did you know?”

“You don’t? And I shouldn’t use him? Heh, actually, I called to talk to you about this, I’ll definitely be using him.”

“I think you’re the one who’s not treating me as your friend, don’t beat around the bush with me, you nearly dug my grave today!”

“Isn’t he under you? Why are you treating him like that? Did he offend you?”

“No? Well, alright, we’re all understanding people, let’s not talk about these things. His performance in the audition today was outstanding, and I’m very happy to have him in the team. If you really have any problems with it, you should deal with him directly, don’t come to me, okay?”

Director Zhang put down his phone and his complexion fluctuated. Though Gu Yan’s performance wasn’t bad, he had only agreed to use him because he still had his dirt on his hands. How did Gu Yan did it? Could it be hypnosis?

Before he can be completely sure that he could wash the dirt off his hands, that hard-headed Gu Yan can go pick a bone with anyone else if he wants, just don’t drag him into it.

It really was one hell of a ride today!