177: Chapter 177 Unspoken Rules of Interviews
She turned her head and sneered at the supporting actress beside her.
"Where did this country bumpkin come from? Does she really think having a seductive face is enough to act? Our Flying Theater Troupe values strength."
The supporting actress immediately laughed along in agreement.
Sadako's body stiffened abruptly, and she buried her head even lower, almost wanting to turn around and flee downstairs immediately.
Years of pent-up inferiority complex made her not dare to fight back at all.
A warm hand suddenly grabbed her wrist.
Qin Ming looked up at her: "Lift your head. Don't lower yourself to the level of rude people; you're more beautiful than all of them combined."
Emma stood nearby, chewing bubble gum, her big blue eyes staring intently at Hazuki Aiko.
"Don't cause trouble." Qin Ming lightly patted the back of Emma's head; there were too many people here, making it unsuitable to take action.
At that moment, the door at the very front of the rehearsal hall opened.
A few people pulled an executive chair with wheels and placed it right in the center.
A middle-aged man wearing a floral shirt, with a receding hairline and a round beer belly, walked out and sat down casually in the chair.
The theater troupe's director, Shigemori.
"Let's begin. Don't waste time." Shigemori impatiently lit a cigarette and propped his feet up on the table.
The interviews proceeded quickly.
Shigemori had incredibly high standards; the first few girls were ruthlessly kicked out after barely reciting two lines.
"Next, Sadako Yamamura."
Hearing her name, Sadako took a deep breath and walked stiffly to the center of the floor.
The moment the spotlight hit her face, Shigemori's hand, which had been boredly flipping through the script, stopped.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, and the legs he had propped on the table were instantly brought down.
Those murky eyes peered through the smoke, fixated intently on Sadako. It was an extremely blatant gaze, like a predator sizing up its prey.
Shigemori coughed dryly and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke: "You, read that monologue in the middle of page three."
Sadako held the script, her voice still trembling.
She had just finished the first sentence.
Bang!
Shigemori suddenly slammed his palm onto the table.
Startled, Sadako's hand shook, and the script fell to the floor.
Hazuki Aiko sneered from the side, crossing her arms as she prepared to watch the show.
She was certain the director was about to start scolding her.
To her surprise, Shigemori suddenly stood up, the fat on his face bunching into an extremely greasy smile: "Good! Excellent! This unpolished sense of mystery is exactly the quality I want in a female lead! You're hired!"
The entire rehearsal hall fell into a dead silence.
The sneer on Hazuki Aiko's face froze completely, then twisted with extreme jealousy.
Hired directly without even finishing a single complete line? And he even mentioned the female lead?
"Director!" Hazuki Aiko couldn't help but raise her voice. "She doesn't know how to act at all!"
"Shut up. Am I the director, or are you? I'm the one in charge here." Without even looking back, Shigemori walked straight up to Sadako.
He looked down at the trembling girl before him, making no attempt to hide the greed in his eyes.
Having spent so many years in the Tokyo entertainment industry, he knew exactly what a beautiful, timid girl from out of town with no background represented.
She was a delicious meal delivered right to his door.
Shigemori reached out a chubby hand, aiming straight for Sadako's shoulder: "Sadako Yamamura, right? Work hard with me from now on. Stay behind tonight; I'll explain the acting to you privately in my office. As long as you're obedient, I guarantee you'll become a big star in Tokyo."
Sadako instinctively wanted to shrink back, but her legs felt like they were filled with lead.
She could sense the nauseating implication in his words.
Just as Shigemori's hand was about to touch Sadako's clothes.
A figure suddenly blocked the space between them.
Qin Ming looked up. "What are you saying?"
Shigemori was stunned for a moment, only then noticing that there were actually two foreign children standing by Sadako's feet.
"Kid, who are you? Is this a place for you to play?" Shigemori frowned.
"Sister Sadako is currently our family's nanny. My father just came to Tokyo to start a company, and the household can't function without her." Qin Ming took Sadako's hand and stepped back half a pace, perfectly avoiding Shigemori's touch. "So she can't stay tonight to hear you explain the acting; she has to go home and make dinner for us."
Shigemori's expression darkened. A nanny for a foreign executive? Although Shigemori ruled the theater troupe with an iron fist, he didn't want to provoke wealthy and powerful foreigners—at least, he didn't want to court unnecessary trouble.
Anyway, the meat was already in the pot; there would be plenty of opportunities later.
"Fine. You'll start as a trainee. No overtime. Be here on time for rehearsal tomorrow!" Shigemori snorted coldly, gave Qin Ming a harsh glare, and turned back to his chair.
Leaving the rehearsal hall, they reached the street downstairs.
The immense joy of being hired finally broke through Sadako's fear, and for the first time, a heartfelt smile appeared on her face.
"Qin Ming-kun, Emma, I was hired!" Sadako bowed repeatedly in excitement. "Thank you so much! If you hadn't accompanied me, I definitely would have run away when Senior Hazuki bumped into me earlier."
"You're welcome. Sister Sadako performed wonderfully today," Qin Ming responded with a smile.
The three of them walked toward the intersection to catch a taxi.
Sadako walked ahead with a light step, seemingly already planning her bright future.
Emma intentionally lagged behind by two steps and walked over to Qin Ming's side.
The sweet smile on her face vanished instantly, replaced by an extremely cold expression.
"Brother," Emma whispered. "The way that fat director looked at Sister Sadako was like he wanted to eat her.
It's disgusting. Can I go and gouge his eyeballs out tonight?"
Qin Ming turned his head and looked at Emma's eager eyes.
He wasn't angry; he just reached out and pressed down on Emma's shoulder.
"Your methods are too direct; it would be easy to get your new dress dirty," Qin Ming said calmly.
If it were an ordinary female lead, she might have had to deal with such workplace harassment for several rounds.
But Qin Ming was never one to dilly-dally.
In the original plot, Shigemori was a hypocritical beast.
For someone like him, Qin Ming didn't even have the patience to let him survive the night.
"So we're just going to let him keep being so disgusting?" Emma pouted.
"Of course not." Qin Ming put his hands in his pockets, his gaze sweeping across the bustling street to the flickering electronic billboards on the roadside.
A playful curve touched the corner of his mouth.
"Don't we happen to have a ready-made internet-addicted youth at home?" Qin Ming said nonchalantly. "Larry is desperately in need of new friends, isn't he?"
Emma's eyes lit up: "So we're going to give that fat guy to Larry as a toy?"
"With all those surveillance cameras, sound equipment in the theater, and the computer and TV in his office, it's the perfect hunting ground for Larry." Qin Ming looked at Sadako, who was still smiling foolishly in the distance, and lowered his voice. "People like Shigemori will surely be very popular with Bi and Esther in that world."
Emma immediately put on her innocent smile again: "Larry is a good boy; he'll definitely entertain the guest well."
Qin Ming took out his phone, and the screen lit up.
Without being unlocked, a pale, twisted ghostly figure with long limbs faintly appeared on the screen, staring at Qin Ming through the glass.
"Larry," Qin Ming whispered an order to the screen. "Work some overtime at the Flying Theater Troupe tonight. Take that fat director away directly; leave no trace."
The ghostly figure on the screen twitched with excitement, then vanished like a faint spark of static electricity.
Qin Ming put away his phone and looked up at the blinding sunlight.
The theater troupe won't be peaceful tonight.