DP Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

On the seventh floor of Xinghui Film and Television Company, Xiang Yiye, led by a staff member, entered the audition room.

“Those behind are all amateurs, just take a quick look, that’s enough,” someone in the room said.

Xiang Yiye remained composed, pretending not to hear. He looked up and surveyed the room. None of the interviewers were looking at him; they were all buried in resumes and materials, appearing very busy.

He wondered what they were so busy with. Xiang Yiye thought that the personal information he had prepared was pitifully scarce, with only a few photos included, barely enough to fill a few pages. Compared to those elaborate booklets printed on copper paper, his resume could even be described as rudimentary.

Limited time was one factor; another was that Xiang Yiye knew he was currently an amateur, and he couldn’t conjure anything impressive on a resume. It was better to show his true skills.

The staff member who brought him in gave a reminder, and the interviewers finally deigned to give Xiang Yiye a proper look. The person sitting in the center was probably the deputy director. He sized up Xiang Yiye and thought the real person was more striking than the photos.

Xiang Yiye’s appearance was the kind that was more outstanding in motion than in stillness. But even though his appearance exceeded expectations, the deputy director didn’t have high hopes for Xiang Yiye. Not only was he a complete amateur, but he was also currently studying engineering, making him seem unlikely to be able to act seriously.

After listening to Xiang Yiye’s self-introduction, the deputy director said, “Now you can begin your audition scene. I will read the lines of your partner.”

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but as soon as the deputy director finished speaking, Xiang Yiye’s eyes seemed to light up like street lamps, and his expression became eager to try.

Finally, it’s here, Xiang Yiye thought, combat, his dominion. Pure amateur? That’s non-existent. In his previous life, he was an actor for eight years. Now that he’s been reborn at the age of 20, his acting skills, while not at their peak, could easily crush those newcomers who had only been in the industry for a few years and easily handle the small role in front of him.

Xiang Yiye adjusted his state, just as he was about to get into character, when the door of the audition room opened with a “creak,” and a man in a white shirt, with a smile on his face, walked in.

After seeing the person clearly, the expression that Xiang Yiye had just adjusted collapsed instantly, and he stiffened like a stone.

The deputy director stood up to greet the person who had pushed the door open without announcement, jokingly saying with enthusiasm, “Young Master Xu, what brings you here? Are you here to ‘urge’ the audition?”

“Director Li, you’re too kind. Professional matters should be left to professionals. I’m here to find my friend.” The person called Young Master Xu looked around the room, his gaze landing on Xiang Yiye in front of the stage, and he paused slightly.

Xiang Yiye’s heart tightened, almost suffocating with nervousness. He never expected to meet Xu Chuo so early after being reborn, and so much earlier than he had anticipated.

“A newcomer? Looks pretty good,” Xu Chuo said, then shifted his gaze away and said to the deputy director and others, “Sorry, Director Li, I didn’t know there was an audition here.”

“Which friend of yours? I’ll have them help you ask,” Director Li said.

“No need, you guys are busy. I’ll send a message and ask later.” Xu Chuo put one hand in his pocket, picked an empty chair to sit down, and said with a smile, “Don’t mind if I observe and learn a little, do you?”

That smiling face was too familiar, instantly pulling Xiang Yiye back into the memories of his previous life. In his previous life, the last thing Xu Chuo said to him was, “Xiang Yiye, I don’t ever want to meet you again in the next life.”

That sentence was sent in the form of a text message. Xiang Yiye had always regretted and felt remorse, wondering what kind of expression Xu Chuo had when he typed that sentence. Would he be smiling? Xu Chuo was such a cheerful person.

When Xu Chuo curled the corners of his mouth, a dimple would appear on one side of his cheek, and his peach blossom eyes would turn into exceptionally striking crescent moons.

When he looked over with that smiling face, Xiang Yiye felt his brain go blank, unable to say a complete sentence, let alone perform on the spot.

The performance of the audition was predictable. Director Li watched his performance with a blank expression, then routinely said, “Okay, that’s it for your audition today. Go back and wait for the news.”

Xiang Yiye glanced at Xu Chuo. At first, Xu Chuo had watched his performance intently, but later, as if disappointed with his acting, he only preoccupied himself with his phone, chatting enthusiastically with someone, his eyebrows dancing and his face full of joy.

In the overwhelming sense of defeat, Xiang Yiye took a deep breath and mustered the courage to say, “I’m sorry, Director, please give me another chance. I wasn’t prepared just now.”

Director Li frowned, patiently saying, “Everyone who comes to audition only gets one chance. Giving you a special exception wouldn’t be fair to the others, right? And the crew’s time is very precious…”

Xiang Yiye said, “But I don’t think that’s fair to me either.”

Director Li said, “Oh? Tell me, where is it unfair?”

Xiang Yiye said, “I asked the people who auditioned before me. The third part of the audition is improvisation, but you didn’t give me a chance to improvise.”

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a murmur in the room. Everyone probably thought that Xiang Yiye’s performance had been so terrible, how could he have the nerve to make other requests?

Director Li said, “As the person in charge, I have the right to stop at any point during the audition process.”

Xiang Yiye glanced at Xu Chuo, gritted his teeth, and went all out, continuing to shamelessly fight for it, “Someone suddenly came in and affected my performance.”

The room fell silent. Xu Chuo finally put down his phone, raised his eyes, and said with some surprise, “Are you saying you could have performed well, and I interfered with you?”

Xiang Yiye nodded and came up with a very far-fetched reason: “You… you’re too handsome. You stunned me as soon as you came in. I… I thought you were my competitor, so I was very nervous.”

Being nervous was true, but it wasn’t the nonsense about rivals being especially jealous upon meeting, but the unexpected encounter with a former lover with whom he had parted on bad terms.

Xu Chuo was taken aback, smiled until his eyes narrowed, and said gently, “Didn’t I just say that I’m just here to find someone? But you’re too cute, aren’t you?”

Xiang Yiye unconsciously clenched his hands at his sides, only tightening his face to look at the deputy director.

Director Li said, “Don’t make any more excuses, young man. Let me give you a piece of advice: if you’re really interested in this industry, go back and polish your skills more.”

Xu Chuo walked over, glanced at the resume on the table, and said, “Xiang Yizhi, is it?”

Could it be that his name is Xiang Yiye, not Xiang Yizhi? Xiang Yiye’s face twitched, but he didn’t correct him.

Xu Chuo turned to look at the deputy director: “Director Li, let’s count this mistake as mine. Please give him another chance. Everyone has worked hard overtime, I’ll treat everyone to dinner later. There’s a new restaurant that just opened nearby, let’s go try it sometime.”

Xu Chuo’s backer was Yunhua Company, which had been cooperating with Xinghui for many years. He had many friends at Xinghui and would occasionally come over to hang out, but he never interfered with filming and other work matters. He had always been popular and had a background, so the people at Xinghui always gave him some face. Director Li nodded in agreement.

Xiang Yiye made adjustments in the shortest amount of time and gave an impromptu performance.

In the audition scene, he played a frivolous young master from a wealthy family, and apart from his appearance, that character didn’t have much in common with Xiang Yiye himself. He needed to concentrate highly and use his whole body and mind to cooperate when acting, so the difficulty wasn’t small.

In the improvisation, Xiang Yiye chose a character whose temperament and values were closer to his own. Playing yourself sometimes isn’t a great compliment for an actor, but it was currently the fastest way to show his own advantages.

Director Li originally planned to stop him after three minutes, but then pushed it back to five minutes, then eight minutes. As Xiang Yiye’s performance slowly unfolded, the entire audition room became quiet, and everyone’s eyes were fixed on him.

At ten minutes, Director Li called “cut” and asked Xiang Yiye, “Have you read the original work in advance?” The campus drama that was about to start filming was adapted from a novel, and Xiang Yiye had just played another supporting role in the novel.

“I read a rough outline, thinking I could empathize with the characters in the drama,” Xiang Yiye said, glancing at the room out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t know when, but Xu Chuo had quietly left, and he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

“Okay, go back and wait for the news,” Director Li said again, but from his expression, Xiang Yiye knew that his chances of success were much higher this time.

A white sports car was parked at the entrance of Xinghui Company. Xiang Yiye walked out of the gate and saw the person in the driver’s seat of the sports car stretching out his arm and waving at him with a bright smile: “The audition is over, little actor. How did you perform this time?”

Xiang Yiye said politely and distantly, “It was okay, thank you just now.” He wanted to run a little, afraid that he would accidentally let his emotions run wild and be noticed by the other person.

But Xu Chuo seemed to want to have a good chat: “It’s nothing, just a small favor. Since you’ve said so, I can’t just stand by and do nothing. If you really want to thank me, don’t forget about me when you become famous in the future. My name is Xu Chuo.”

“I won’t forget even if I don’t become famous,” Xiang Yiye said without thinking.

Xu Chuo was a little surprised and paused, teasingly saying, “Not bad, you’re pretty perceptive. I thought you were going to blow up the audition room just now, the way you were confronting Director Li.”

Xiang Yiye embarrassedly scratched his neck and said, “Because this opportunity is too important to me…” In his previous life, he didn’t grasp it, and it took him a lot of effort to get it back later.

“Aren’t you leaving yet?” The man in the passenger seat leaned out, looked at Xiang Yiye, and asked Xu Chuo, “Who is this?” There was a hint of sharp hostility in his eyes, which made Xiang Yiye a little uncomfortable.

“A newcomer at Xinghui,” Xu Chuo stared at Xiang Yiye, “He’s quite interesting.”

“Xinghui has new people? How come I don’t know?” The person in the passenger seat said with a sour tone, “Don’t tell me he’s Young Master Xu’s own newcomer.”

“That depends on your performance,” Xu Chuo said, then deliberately sized up Xiang Yiye and said leisurely, “I didn’t have any ideas at first, but looking closely at this face, I’m a little tempted to change my mind.”

Xiang Yiye’s heart skipped a beat.

The person in the passenger seat instantly blew up: “What do you mean? I’m starving, I’m giving you ten minutes to get to the restaurant.”

Xu Chuo patiently placated his partner and said to Xiang Yiye, “I originally wanted to add you on social media, but it seems like it’s not possible now. I’ll go first, let’s chat next time.”

Watching Xu Chuo flirt with someone else in front of him, Xiang Yiye felt a mixture of feelings in his heart, like a tipped-over flavor bottle. But what could he do? He didn’t have any personal relationship with Xu Chuo right now.

The only thing Xiang Yiye could say was “Goodbye,” and then he watched the white sports car drive away.