81: Zhang audition

Who would have thought I'd end up auditioning in my own company!

Lu Qingyu sat there, feeling a bit nervous. He hadn't expected that his first visit to his own company would be in this form. He had been wondering why it felt so familiar; back when they were moving into the new office, Wang Ning had sent him pictures of it.

He also hadn't expected that the resource Su Jixing found for him would be 'destined lover', which Wang Ning had shown him just yesterday.

He had only glanced at it back then and hadn't paid much attention, and the audition materials Su Jixing gave him were only three pages long, not even including a logo.

Wang Ning didn't know Lu Qingyu would be coming. The audition process was handled by the director, Lin Rui, and the Assistant Director together. As the Producer, his main role was to accompany the director during the screening process and, incidentally, see if there were any other good actors he could recruit for their short dramas.

Lu Qingyu didn't know what kind of scene it would be when Wang Ning saw him later.

During the wait, there was an actor sitting next to Lu Qingyu who was also there to audition for the male third lead.

Zhou Fang, 27 years old this year, 1.80 meters tall, with a clean and handsome appearance.

Zhou Fang was a graduate of the Performance Department at the Media Academy. Since his senior year, he had been working hard in the entertainment industry, participating in over a dozen works, but all of them were supporting roles.

Zhou Fang's acting skills were quite good, but the entertainment industry was never short of people who were good-looking and talented. Sometimes, whether or not a person could become famous also depended on luck.

There were 24 students in his class. Two of them became big stars in the industry, two were mid-level actors, six were still persisting in acting like him, and the rest had all changed careers.

The entertainment industry was not an easy path. Many people thought that after graduation they would be able to play the Male Lead One, but in reality, they might act for over ten years and still only be a minor supporting character.

Among all of Zhou Fang's works, the best role he had played was only a male third lead. Actually, he had originally wanted to audition for Male Lead One for this production, but he felt the odds weren't great, so he decided to play it safe. Getting any role would be for the best, even if it ended up not being the male third lead.

Zhou Fang saw Lu Qingyu sitting next to him, who had only read the script twice and then looked a bit lost; he must be nervous.

Zhou Fang looked at Lu Qingyu, and being a naturally outgoing person, he said directly: "Little brother, are you okay?"

Lu Qingyu was just thinking about what it would be like when he met Wang Ning later, when he heard Zhou Fang's concerned tone.

Lu Qingyu thought: Since he's taking the initiative to talk to you, how could you be impolite?

"I'm fine, just thinking about some things."

Zhou Fang: "What role are you auditioning for this time?"

Lu Qingyu: "The male third lead."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Fang's eyes lit up.

When Lu Qingyu said he was auditioning for the male third lead, Zhou Fang not only didn't feel a sense of crisis, but rather had a feeling like meeting a fellow townsman while working away from home, his tone even carrying a sense of delight.

"What a coincidence, me too."

Lu Qingyu nodded without speaking, and Zhou Fang again assumed that Lu Qingyu was too nervous and flustered to speak.

Although this little brother was wearing a mask, his overall aura gave off a youthful feeling. Zhou Fang subconsciously felt that Lu Qingyu might not even be twenty years old.

So, Zhou Fang showed Lu Qingyu the notes and character biography he had made for the male third lead.

"The content we have to perform later is the same. If you're nervous, take a look at my materials. These are all my experiences; I'm actually quite good at writing character biographies."

Zhou Fang handed his materials to Lu Qingyu to share. Lu Qingyu saw many red annotations on them and, feeling a bit curious, took them.

Lu Qingyu had also made a character biography, having written about half an A4 page. He originally thought that was enough, but looking at Zhou Fang's—wow, eight pages.

After flipping through it, he discovered that based only on the story background and the character's lines, Zhou Fang had imagined the growth process of the male third lead's childhood, analyzed the reasons for the character's current personality, and noted which aspects to pay attention to when acting against an opponent. It was truly very detailed.

Lu Qingyu couldn't help but admire him. If fate were to choose to bestow a bit of luck on someone, it should definitely be someone like Zhou Fang who was fully prepared.

Zhou Fang also shared his insights on the role of the male third lead with Lu Qingyu.

Watching how honest Zhou Fang was, Lu Qingyu couldn't help but sigh; there weren't many honest people like this in the entertainment industry.

In the waiting room, everyone was memorizing their scripts, all undisturbed. Suddenly, the glass door clicked, and another person walked in.

This person's entrance was quite grand, bringing two assistants, one carrying water and the other holding the script.

Chen Rui, a star made famous by the explosion of short dramas. Lu Qingyu also knew him. Among the nineteen short dramas currently produced by Qingcheng Entertainment, Chen Rui alone had participated in six of them. The role he was auditioning for this time was Male Lead One.

Chen Rui was wearing sunglasses and a designer outfit. The moment he walked in, he first sized up his surroundings.

Seeing that the room was crowded, a look of contempt appeared on his face, but it disappeared so quickly that no one noticed.

From the moment Chen Rui entered the room, the people around him looked at him, their gazes filled with panic.

"Isn't that Chen Rui? Why is he here?"

"He wouldn't be here to audition for Male Lead One, would he? Damn, if I had known, I wouldn't have chosen to audition for Male Lead One."

"Isn't he a short drama actor? He seems quite popular, why is he coming here to join the fun?"

"It's over, my chance for Male Lead One is gone."

"Hey, why are you leaving? Chen Rui isn't that amazing."

"You don't understand. The short dramas Chen Rui filmed were produced by Qingcheng Entertainment, and this film/TV project is also produced by Qingcheng Entertainment. It's like applying for graduate school; if the professor has already picked you internally, it doesn't matter how excellent the outsiders are, he won't want them."

"Ah, if I had known, I wouldn't have chosen the role of Male Lead One."

The people in the room had been whispering since Chen Rui entered. Lu Qingyu noticed that the moment Chen Rui walked in, Zhou Fang's body seemed to stiffen. Did the two of them know each other?

Just as he was guessing, he didn't expect that Chen Rui had already walked up to Zhou Fang.

"Zhou Fang, it really is you."

Eyes from all directions looked over. Zhou Fang, who had originally been looking down, couldn't help but lift his head.

With no other choice, Zhou Fang could only respond with a "Hello."

Chen Rui acted as if he couldn't see the resistance in Zhou Fang's emotions and deliberately sat down opposite him to speak.

Chen Rui and Zhou Fang had met two years ago. At that time, Chen Rui was playing the male lead two in a TV series. As it turned out, on the third day of filming, Chen Rui went clubbing with friends at night and was late the next day, so he was replaced by a hot-tempered director. The person who replaced him was Zhou Fang.

"What role are you auditioning for?"

Zhou Fang: "The male third lead."

Chen Rui feigned surprise: "Why the male third lead? I thought it would be Male Lead One."

"Zhou Fang, you weren't like this before. Wasn't your acting always very good? Have you forgotten that show we filmed before? The director said you had talent and would definitely succeed in the future. I thought you would try for the Male Lead One role."

"If you wanted to try for the male third lead, you should have told me earlier. I would have put in a word with the director and the others; I know them all."