218: Chapter 217 Tang Yingxue's Competitive Spirit

An hour later, the bedroom quieted down.

Tang Yingxue lay on her side, her hair soaked with sweat, clinging to her cheeks and neck in strands.

She didn't even have the strength to raise her hand and could only gasp for breath.

Jiang Fan leaned against the headboard as the system panel popped up at the edge of his vision.

[Deep Compatibility ×2, Lifespan Value +4,000]

[Current Lifespan Value: 94,800 points]

Tang Yingxue rested for a good while before her breathing finally stabilized. She turned her head to look at Jiang Fan.

"The audition is over. What's the result?"

Jiang Fan reached out and tucked the stray hairs on her face behind her ear.

"You still need to practice your line delivery more. Your physical stamina is also lacking."

Tang Yingxue glared at him.

"Cut the crap. The Queen of the Daughter Kingdom, can I do it or not?"

Jiang Fan withdrew his hand and leaned back against the pillow.

"The role of the Queen of the Daughter Kingdom—"

Tang Yingxue stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Is already taken."

Tang Yingxue's expression froze.

"Who?"

"Guess."

Tang Yingxue narrowed her eyes; there was only one possible answer.

"Is it Xu Qingya?"

Jiang Fan didn't deny it.

Tang Yingxue propped up her upper body from the bed.

"You knew all along that you wouldn't give this role to me, yet you still let me—"

"What I said was, let's see what role suits you," Jiang Fan interrupted her. "Besides, the Queen of the Daughter Kingdom doesn't suit you. Your aura is too strong. Playing a deeply affectionate, clingy woman isn't your thing."

Tang Yingxue gritted her teeth, her chest rising and falling.

She knew Jiang Fan made sense, but after being tossed around by him for an hour, only to find out the role went to her arch-rival, she felt extremely displeased.

"Then what role do you plan to give me?" Tang Yingxue stared at him. "You can't possibly make me play some minor demon."

Jiang Fan fell silent for two seconds.

The forty-one-episode script flipped rapidly through his mind.

There was a role with a strong aura, plenty of screen time, and high buzz.

"There's a role that's ten times harder to play than the Queen of the Daughter Kingdom, but if played well, it's ten times more brilliant."

"What role?"

Jiang Fan's gaze swept across Tang Yingxue's fair neck.

"Bodhisattva Guanyin."

The room fell silent for three seconds.

"What? Bodhisattva Guanyin?" Tang Yingxue raised her voice.

"Yes. In journey to the west, besides the master and his three disciples, she is the deity with the most screen time and the highest status."

Tang Yingxue pulled the blanket up a bit to cover her collarbone.

She was a pop singer who went for a mature, elegant woman vibe. Asking her to play a solemn, dignified Bodhisattva sitting on a lotus throne?

"Are you crazy, or am I?" Tang Yingxue looked at him. "I've never even acted before, and you want me to play a Bodhisattva? And does this role even have any buzz?"

Jiang Fan took a cigarette pack from the nightstand, pulled one out, and lit it.

"Xu Qingya is playing the Queen of the Daughter Kingdom, right?"

"Right."

"What is the status of the Queen of the Daughter Kingdom in the show? Just a mortal queen. When she meets the Tang Monk, she has to humbly beg him to stay, and in the end, she doesn't even get her way and can only watch him ride away on his horse."

Jiang Fan exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Su Yuyan is playing the White Bone Demon. She's a demon. In the show, she gets beaten three times by The Monkey King and is finally struck dead with a staff, turning into a pile of white bones."

Tang Yingxue didn't speak, listening to him continue.

"But what if you play Bodhisattva Guanyin?" Jiang Fan turned his head to look at her. "In the entire show, whenever there's a demon The Monkey King can't defeat, he has to go to the South Sea to beg you for help. When the Tang Monk encounters trouble he can't solve, he has to chant scriptures to pray to you. Whenever you appear, everyone is kneeling below."

Jiang Fan flicked the ash into the ashtray.

"What do you think of this role?"

Tang Yingxue's eyes darted.

The competitiveness between women often lay in these very details.

Tang Yingxue calculated in her mind.

If they were in the same show, Xu Qingya would play a mortal, Su Yuyan would play a demon, and she would play a deity.

The difference in status was immediately obvious.

The slight displeasure in Tang Yingxue's heart vanished.

"Does she have a lot of screen time?"

"She appears throughout the entire series," Jiang Fan said. "And this role doesn't require you to make any exaggerated expressions."

He swept his eyes up and down Tang Yingxue.

"When you usually look at those third-tier starlets from offstage, you have this exact look. Tone it down a bit and add a touch of compassion, and you'll be the Bodhisattva."

Tang Yingxue was amused and annoyed by him, and she kicked Jiang Fan's waist.

"Do you even know how to compliment someone?"

"It's the truth." Jiang Fan put out his cigarette. "Are you taking this role or not? If not, I'll find someone else. Su Yuyan has several actresses who've been wanting to come and audition."

"I'll take it," Tang Yingxue replied without the slightest hesitation.

She sat cross-legged on the bed, the blanket slipping down halfway.

She didn't care, directly reaching out her right hand to pinch her thumb and middle finger together, forming a hand gesture and holding it in front of her chest.

"Like this?" She stiffened her face, trying to make herself look serious.

Jiang Fan looked at her.

Her hair was messily scattered over her shoulders, her skin still bore the red marks left from their intimacy just now, and she was sitting naked and cross-legged in the blankets, making an awkward, half-baked gesture with her hand.

"The gesture is wrong." Jiang Fan moved over.

"What's wrong with it?"

Jiang Fan grabbed her wrist, pried her fingers open one by one, and repositioned them.

"Straighten your back. Drop your shoulders."

Tang Yingxue adjusted her posture as he directed.

Jiang Fan's hand naturally wrapped around her waist, pulling her directly onto his lap.

Tang Yingxue's body stiffened slightly, her breathing skipping a beat.

"Don't move around... I'm practicing the posture."

"I'm auditioning you," Jiang Fan said solemnly, his other hand supporting her lower back. "Now, assume I am The Monkey King. I've run into a demon I can't defeat and have come to you to save my life. How should you speak to me?"

Tang Yingxue thought about it and lowered her voice.

"You mischievous monkey, instead of protecting your master on the road, what have you come to my South Sea for?"

Her voice was still a bit raspy, sounding not at all majestic, but rather like bedroom flirting.

Jiang Fan squeezed her waist hard.

"You'd better practice a lot more when you get back."

Tang Yingxue gasped, her entire body going soft as she collapsed into Jiang Fan's arms.

"When will you give me the script?" she asked, leaning against Jiang Fan's chest.

"In a few days. I'm still writing it." Jiang Fan smoothed her hair. "Go find a posture coach when you get back to practice meditating and walking. The Bodhisattva cannot sway her hips when walking."

Tang Yingxue murmured in agreement.

"Also, once you join the cast, you have to keep your temper in check. I have the final say in the crew."

"I know." Tang Yingxue closed her eyes. "As long as I can outshine Xu Qingya, I'll listen to whatever you say."

Jiang Fan supported her waist, flipped her over, and pinned her beneath him.

"Since you've agreed, let's rehearse some more."

Tang Yingxue pushed against his shoulders.

"Again? I have an event tomorrow."

Two hours later, Tang Yingxue was completely exhausted, collapsing on the bed and falling fast asleep.

Jiang Fan looked at the numbers ticking at the edge of his vision.

[Deep Compatibility ×2, Lifespan Value +4,000]

[Current Lifespan Value: 98,800 points]

Jiang Fan closed the panel, pulled the blanket over both of them, and closed his eyes to sleep.

The next morning, when Jiang Fan woke up, Tang Yingxue was standing in front of the mirror getting dressed.

She wore a black dress, and her hair was already neatly combed.

Tang Yingxue touched her face in the mirror.

Her skin was radiant, and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes were completely smoothed out.

This kind of youthful glow emanating from within couldn't be bought with any amount of expensive skincare products.

She turned around and looked at Jiang Fan, who was leaning against the headboard.

"I'm leaving first. Just pull the door shut when you leave."

"Also, send me the script once it's written."

"Okay. Safe travels," Jiang Fan replied.