CH 13

Audition

Zhao Tong: “…”

Without demur, he grabbed an umbrella and got out of the car.

The rain outside was still pitter-pattering against the windows, obscuring the sight outside, leaving only the neon lights at the entrance of the hotel visible.

There was still a silence inside of the car. The driver occasionally looked out to check on the situation behind them. But he had only seen Zhao Tong getting into the van and hadn’t come out for a long time.

After several cars had passed by and less and less people were by the hotel entrance, Xie Yan’s phone suddenly buzzed.

This was Zhao Tong’s message citing a bank account number and a price.

He moved his finger slightly and with a twinkle of a sound, the screen went black again.

Not long after, the passenger door was opened again. Zhao Tong got in with two cameras in hand while swearing, “Those two scums really know how to price things, a million for these two things! It’s so easy for the paparazzi to earn money these days!”

As he said, he took a look at the photos inside of the camera, “They had unexpectedly chosen a pretty good angle, even the face was photographed. When I get back, I’ll smash these two things into pieces!” 

The more Zhao Tong said, the more angry he was. These few photos had actually cost a million! If he knew, he would’ve gone and become a reporter.

“By the way, we didn’t even need to buy it. Even if they did expose it, it’ll be fine as long as you guys clarify it. At most, there’ll be a lot of gossip. As long as you guys don’t admit it, then those fans wouldn’t be able to stir up anything.” Zhao Tong suddenly remembered. But if so, then Su Shen would be maliciously attacked.

“Give it to me.” He suddenly reached out.

Zhao Tong hurriedly handed him the two cameras, thinking he was going to delete the photos, while remembering the ugly faces of the two money-grubbing reporters. 

“You don’t know but those two scums said they were only passing by in the beginning. Afterwards, I noticed a bag with the cameras and I said five hundred thousand. They had actually said no and insisted on five million. I was so angry that I almost hit them. After a long talk, I was finally able to cut the price by a half. Hua ge was right, you should stay away from those women in the future. If this happens for another couple of times, those people would even be able to buy a mansion!” After he said all this, Zhao Tong suddenly remembered something and his expression immediately changed, “Umm… this… should we tell Hua ge about it?”

Xie Yan looked up slightly, “What do you think?”

Zhao Tong immediately laughed a bit, “Nothing happened today!”

If Hua ge knew about this, he’d be dead!

…

After returning to the hotel, Su Shen immediately changed out of her slightly wet clothes and went to shower. After she came out of the bathroom, she received a message from Liu jie.

It turned out that the impact from Qu Wen was too much. That web drama that she had acted in with Qu Wen might not be able to broadcast as scheduled. It would have to wait until this matter has subsided. It might be half a year to a year? Who knows.

Su Shen’s expectations for this drama weren’t too big. If it was going to be delayed, then so be it. She really didn’t want to have anything to do with Qu Wen.

Just when she was about to sleep, she received a message from Zhao Tong.

Zhao Tong: At first, there were paparazzi following us.

Su Shen immediately typed a few words back.

Su Shen: And then?

Zhao Tong: Fortunately, I noticed it early. Yan ge spent a million to buy those photos over, otherwise…

Otherwise, Xie Yan wouldn’t be affected much but she would be maliciously attacked and leave an impression of using Xie Yan to climb up the ladder.

Su Shen: Give my thanks to him, I will return that one million back to him.

Although her remuneration right now was very low, she still had a million. This was also why everyone wanted to be a celebrity because money came fast. 

Zhao Tong: Actually, a million was already very cheap. Those scums could be said to have had some conscience and knew that these weren’t any adulterous photos. Otherwise, even ten million wouldn’t be able to buy these photos over.

Zhao Tong: But if you want to pay back, then talk to Yan ge. But, either way, he won’t accept it. This is his WeChat: xieyan268.

Looking at that WeChat ID, Su Shen was a little stunned. Weren’t assistants supposed to keep their artist’s ** tight-lipped? Why did Zhao Tong give Xie Yan’s WeChat ID so casually to her?

Without thinking too much about it, Su Shen added this WeChat ID and was ready to return the money back to him.

After adding it, the other side still hadn’t accepted her request. Su Shen thought that maybe he didn’t want to add her so she put down her phone and went to sleep.

It was already noon when she woke up the next day. She had a scene in the afternoon so she didn’t need to go to set that early.

She picked up her phone and noticed that Xie Yan had accepted her friend request last night but didn’t say anything.

She rolled in bed twice and after fully waking up, she sent a message over.

Su Shen: Thank you for yesterday. That money should be paid by me. What’s your bank account number? I’ll transfer it to you.

After sending that, she got up and went to the bathroom to wash up. When she came back out, the doorbell also rang. It was Xiao Zhou who brought her lunch.

“Su jie, Liu jie was afraid that you might be late so she wants you to fly to East city after finishing work today. It’ll be more convenient for you to go to the audition tomorrow.” Xiao Zhou said while placing the lunchbox onto the table.

Su Shen sat on the sofa with her phone and noticed that Xie Yan had replied to her message but with only two words, “No need”.

After thinking about it, Su Shen still thought it would be better to go to set and talk to him in person. Although a million was nothing much to Xie Yan who had a high remuneration but this money should not be paid by him.

“Okay, help me book my flight for tonight.” Su Shen opened the lunchbox and prepared to eat.

Xiao Zhou nodded immediately, then went and sat down to help her book a flight with her phone.

After eating and changing into a set of clothes, Su Shen left for set with Xiao Zhou. Although it rained yesterday, it was sunny again today. There were no puddles on the ground. The crew was also filming in full string.

After Su Shen changed into her outfit, she found Xie Yan sitting in front of the fan reading his script. She then slowly walked over and sat down next to him, ignoring the scrutiny from some staff members. She suddenly said, “Let me return the money to you.”

Her voice was very low, Xie Yan slightly tilted his head and noticed that her makeup today was quite heavy. But it didn’t feel gaudy, rather it made her exude an indescribable oriental elegance.

“No need.” He looked back and continued reading his script.

She knew that he didn’t care about this one million but Su Shen still had to return it back to him. She was afraid of being overheard so she lowered her voice, “You may not want it but I have to return it.”

The two stools were very close to each other. Her gorgeous and exquisite skirt laid in front of his eyes. Xie Yan looked at her, “I did it for me, not you.”

“Even so, we should split it equally.” Su Shen had to settle this debt, she didn’t like to owe others.

Their eyes met, then Xie Yan looked down slightly and suddenly said, “Then, treat me to dinner.”

Su Shen: “…”

Five hundred thousand for a meal?

“Okay, what do you like to eat?” Su Shen glanced at the passing staff members and found that they all seemed to be staring at her but she had already kept her voice to a minimum.

Xie Yan seemed to contemplate for a moment, then he looked at her in all seriousness, “Anything’s fine as long as you make it.”

Su Shen: “…”

Although these words were easy to misunderstand, Su Shen knew that Xie Yan just wanted to eat her pastries.

“I’ll see when the time comes.” After that, she held her skirt and walked away.

There was only one scene in the afternoon and filming went quite smoothly. At night, Su Shen rushed to East city with Xiao Zhou. They stayed in a hotel this time too. Liu jie didn’t arrive until the next morning to pick her up.

Su Shen did a rather natural makeup. After she got into the car, Liu jie threw her a short script.

“I just received this, take a look first. There will be a lot of people competing with you for this role at the audition. From what I know, besides Mu Yao, there’s also Li Xue who’s been getting popular lately. Also, there’s that Zhu Qinqin but she’s auditioning for the supporting female lead this time.”

From the lead actress of a web drama to the leading actress of a TV drama, the difference wasn’t just a little bit. Even Wang Cheng was not optimistic about her audition. If Zhu Qinqin was able to get the role of the supporting female lead then it would still be a great opportunity. This was the difference between web dramas and the mainstream entertainment industry.

“Who’s the director?” She suddenly asked.

Liu jie, who sat at the front, quickly replied, “It’s Wei Jun who has directed a few hit historical dramas. Currently, there’s a power struggle between the investors, each having their own opinions. If you want to get this role, you’ll get twofold results with half the effort if you have the support of Director Wei.”

Su Shen didn’t say anything more and continued to look at the script earnestly. This was a historical romance xianxia drama. From the current script, the plot and details were quite meticulous but wasn’t anything shocking. The personality of the heroine belonged to the sweet, naive young girl archetype. But she also had a twin elder sister so it was basically one person acting two roles. The personality of the sister was rather fierce and cruel, killing people like flies. Although she was taciturn toward the heroine, she still cared about her.

Both roles were very challenging, but for Su Shen, it was harder to act as a sweet, naive young girl because if she didn’t portray it well, she would get roasted by the netizens. Nowadays, the supporting female lead appealed more to the audiences’ liking. The highest realm of portrayal for the sweet, naive young girl character was when people couldn’t even detect the slightest trace of artificialness. So far, only Yang Zhi has achieved this.

Time passed by quickly and the car soon stopped. Su Shen followed Liu jie straight into the hotel. At this time, there were already a few small actors, who were probably auditioning for the other roles, going in and out of the lobby.

They took the elevator and got off at the ninth floor. The hallway was full of staff members and auditionees coming and going. Su Shen saw a lot of C and D list artists who were probably auditioning for the other roles.

“Go and change clothes first. Later, the director will see whether your portfolio photos match the character or not.” Liu jie said while opening the door of the dressing room for her.

There were already several people sitting inside. Su Shen saw Zhu Qinqin at a glance. She was currently getting her makeup done while talking to the people around her. When she saw Su Shen, she didn’t even bother giving a glance.

The others were basically well-known actresses and Li Xue who was rising in popularity recently was also inside. The makeup artist was currently doing makeup on her. Compared to TV, she was a little tanner in person but her features were still quite exquisite. 

The people inside just glanced at her after they had seen someone coming in again and didn’t say anything. They probably didn’t even know her.

Su Shen also ignored them and went to the clothes hanger, choosing a set of red martial arts clothes.

“Sorry, I already picked this.”

The sudden voice sounded in the dressing room. Su Shen looked around and saw that it was Zhang Li who was popular for a while after playing the role of a supporting female lead.

Su Shen then went for the white set.

“This set has also been picked.” Zhu Qinqin who had been silent suddenly turned her chair around and looked at her sneeringly: “This row of clothes has already been picked. If you want to choose, you can take the rest after Mu Yao finishes picking!”