Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Su Qing returned from a business trip. Without even having time to put down her luggage, she drove to Cheng Cheng's house and pulled out an electronic scale like a magic trick.
"Stand up."
"......" Cheng Cheng rolled his eyes and discussed with Su Qing, "Sister, I have a scale at home too. Let's use this. It's a new high-tech product I bought. It can measure weight very accurately and can also display body fat percentage."
She displayed the thin, high-tech silver rectangle in her hand from all angles and in all directions, like an ambitious shopping guide determined to win the sales crown this quarter.
Su Qing was unmoved. She pushed up her rimless glasses and saw through everything: "...Heh, you tampered with the scale again."
"No, no!" Cheng Cheng waved his hands repeatedly, putting them behind his back like a lamb to be slaughtered. "Since you don't agree, forget it. Just use this one of yours, hehe." He laughed guiltily at the end.
After coming back from the toilet, Cheng Cheng tiptoed onto the scale, afraid of disturbing the numbers on it.
44.6-44.9-45.....46.1
The final number stopped at 46.1kg.
It is 2.2kg heavier than what Su Qing requested.
It’s over, it’s over, it’s over... Cheng Cheng was groaning inwardly.
Thinking of Su Qing's strictness in the past, she guessed that she couldn't escape this devilish training.
Sure enough, Su Qing frowned when she saw the overweight.
Just as she was about to say something, the cell phone on the dining table rang.
She glanced at it casually, and her eyebrows raised.
Because Su Qing's face was really ugly, Cheng Cheng saw this and asked with concern: "Sister, what's wrong? What happened?"
"It's okay." Su Qing clicked the phone twice and put it away.
She said coldly, "I'm going back to the company first. The audition for 'Nine Heavens Mysterious Moon' is the day after tomorrow. Eat the fat-reducing meals honestly for the next few days. Don't make any mistakes. Do you understand?"
"Don't worry, sister. I've memorized all the biographies by heart, so there will definitely be no mistakes."
Su Qing left in a hurry.
After Su Qing left, Cheng Cheng remembered her instructions and opened the script again.
She had only had the script for a week, but the edges were already curled, which showed how many times she had read it.
"Nine Heavens Mysterious Moon" is an ancient idol fairy tale drama that tells the story of Yue Li, the master of the "Xuan Yue Palace" in the fairy world, who accidentally falls into the mortal world and meets and falls in love with Ling Xiao, the young master of the "Tian Qiong Sect" who is on the run.
Yueli, bearing both celestial and demonic bloodlines, is considered taboo within the celestial realm. Ling Xiao, who deeply detests demons, is torn upon learning Yueli's true identity. On the one hand, he deeply loves her, but on the other, he cannot compromise his principles. Ultimately, after enduring countless hardships, the two choose to face the conflict between the celestial and demonic realms together, breaking the barriers between the two realms and pursuing true peace and freedom.
This is a drama with a strong female lead. The plot revolves around the female lead, and many supporting characters are related to the female lead.
The person Cheng Cheng was going to interview was the third female role: Zi Yan.
Zi Yan is Yue Li's best friend in the fairy world. She is lively and cheerful, and values friendship and loyalty. She always stays by her side when Yue Li's identity is exposed and she is forced to flee. She is Yue Li's important partner on the road to escape.
On the day of the audition.
The notice said the session would start at 3 p.m., but she arrived at 2 p.m. and found many actors already waiting.
This is a large-scale audition. Except for the male and female protagonists, the second male lead and the second female lead who are directly selected by the director, all the roles will be auditioned today.
Among the many waiting actors, Cheng Cheng saw a familiar person.
If she remembered correctly, the company only recommended herself for Zi Yan's audition this time, so... why did Tong Ziqian appear here?
When she saw the number tag on Tong Ziqian, she knew that she and Tong Ziqian were interviewing for the same role - Zi Yan.
At that moment, Cheng Cheng understood why Su Qing suddenly wanted to go back to the company that day.
It is not uncommon for a company to send multiple actors to audition for the same play. After all, the company that is qualified to audition has some interest relationship with the production unit. One more person means more profit, which is normal.
But it is still rare to interview for the same role.
Cheng Cheng and Tong Ziqian were assigned to the same lounge.
There are four candidates for Ziyan, and the other two belong to different companies.
A girl named Zhou Yanfei, with an oval face and the appearance of a classical beauty, is a newcomer who has just debuted and is backed by a big company.
Another one is Bai Qiaoyan, a professional in ancient costume dramas, who often plays supporting female roles in ancient costume dramas.
Cheng Cheng had done his homework on these two people in advance. The biggest competitor was Bai Qiaoyan. She had rich acting experience and was a familiar face to the audience, so her chances of being selected were very high.
But Cheng Cheng believes that he is not without hope.
The preparation time was very short, only one week, but she memorized all of Zi Yan's lines, so no matter which part the director tested her on, she could handle it calmly.
For some of the important scenes, Cheng Cheng even asked her acting teacher to provide special guidance. She can guarantee that her performance may not be amazing, but it will definitely be above the passing line.
This is enough for a puppet show.
And she also has her own advantages.
Ancient costume dramas are also idol dramas, and appearance is the bottom line.
Although Tong Ziqian suddenly became a competitor, Cheng Cheng did not panic.
Although Tong Ziqian had experience performing in short plays, Cheng Cheng had seen those plays and found them quite exaggerated, not as good as his own.
In terms of competitiveness, Bai Qiaoyan has the greatest hope.
Because the four people present were all competitors, there was no excessive small talk. Everyone found a place to sit down, played with their phones, or looked down at the script.
A shadow blocked Cheng Cheng's view.
She looked up and saw Tong Ziqian standing in front of her, smiling.
Tong Ziqian opened her plump lips, a smile filling her mouth, yet uttered sarcastic words: "Hey, isn't this our company's 'potential newcomer', Cheng Cheng?"
She deliberately added the word "potential" to imply that Cheng Cheng was not popular.
Since the other party greeted her, Cheng Cheng couldn't ignore it. She put down the script and smiled faintly: "Sister Qianqian."
Tong Ziqian joined the company later than her, but she is one year older than Cheng Cheng, so there is nothing wrong with Cheng Cheng calling her sister.
But Tong Ziqian thought Cheng Cheng was hinting at her old age and felt a little annoyed.
She said proudly, "Are you surprised to see me here?"
Cheng Cheng looked puzzled: "No."
Tong Ziqian: "..." Cheng Cheng didn't respond to her, but she hadn't finished speaking yet, so she had to continue on her own, "You must be curious about why I'm here, right?"
Cheng Cheng: “…”
"Director Zhao appreciates you the most and gives you this great opportunity. Is it strange?" Cheng Cheng said.
Tong Ziqian was stunned when she heard this, then she laughed.
He whispered in her ear, "I didn't expect Su Qing to have already told you. Since you know, I don't need to waste my breath. Just give up. This role must be mine."
Cheng Cheng looked puzzled:...What did Su Qing tell me?
As for the romantic scandal between Tong Ziqian and Director Zhao in the company, isn’t it a secret known to everyone?
She really couldn't understand where Tong Ziqian's confidence came from. It was just an audition opportunity, but she acted as if the role of Zi Yan was already in her pocket.
The audition begins——
The staff gave four people a card with the content of the performance written on it.
This is a scene where Zi Yan learns that her good friend Yue Li is being hunted, and wants to rescue her but is stopped by the elders of the Immortal Sect. It is considered one of Zi Yan's highlight scenes.
What surprised Cheng Cheng was that the card happened to contain the "key question" she had missed.
The director was flipping through the information of four people without saying a word. The assistant director was in charge of controlling the progress and casually chose Tong Ziqian to perform first.
"The one in blue, you go first."
Cheng Cheng frowned slightly: ...
The first performance will give people a preconceived impression. If the subsequent performances want to stand out, unless they are much better than the previous ones, otherwise they will always give people a feeling of imitation.
Before the performance even started, Tong Ziqian had a slight advantage in the order.
What surprised Cheng Cheng a little was that Tong Ziqian's performance was quite good and just average.
The second one is Bai Qiaoyan. Without any prior instructions from the staff, Bai Qiaoyan knew how to find the most suitable camera position and quickly get into the role. There was nothing wrong with her performance, but Cheng Cheng always felt that it lacked some emotion and he couldn't empathize with her.
Zhou Yanfei might have been too nervous and forgot his lines in the middle of the performance. He was able to finish the performance only after the staff reminded him.
When Cheng Cheng saw the director click his tongue behind the monitor, he knew that Zhou Yanfei had no chance.
Finally, it’s yourself.
It is true that Cheng Cheng performed well, but she was the last one to perform, and it was the same scene, so I was already aesthetically fatigued by the end.
The director originally wanted to use a new face this time, so he was torn between Cheng Cheng and Tong Ziqian.
Judging from their performance level, the two have similar abilities, but Tong Ziqian has experience in short plays, while Cheng Cheng has never acted before, so she must be more efficient than Cheng Cheng during filming.
But Cheng Cheng's appearance is better than Tong Ziqian, and her dance studio image and temperament are good, which is a perfect match for the fantasy drama.
Seeing the director struggling, the assistant director suggested, "Actually, they already had the script and must have practiced it privately. An open-book exam won't reveal their true level."
"Why don't we add a scene that's not in the script and see who can improvise better?"
The director's eyes lit up and he nodded in agreement: "Which scene do you want to add?"
The assistant director said, "Let's add a scene where Zi Yan leaves the Immortal Sect to rescue Yue Li, but the sect is invaded by demons. When she returns, she sees her master being killed by the demons."
Everyone: “…”
In the script, Zi Yan's master was alive and well, but you suddenly brought disaster upon his entire family.
Does the OCC screenwriter know that you are like this? Cheng Cheng secretly complained in his heart.
——————
Cheng Cheng was auditioning, and Su Qing, who was waiting outside, was worried about her.
What Cheng Cheng didn't know was that the company had an internal quota for this audition, and as long as Cheng Cheng could perform normally, the role would be hers.
Even if she can't become the third female lead, she will be given another role in the play.
The role that was originally set in stone became confusing because of Tong Ziqian's joining.
Even the company's top management preferred Tong Ziqian to play the role, because she was more experienced and had better development potential.
The company originally wanted to give Cheng Cheng's audition spot to Tong Ziqian, but Su Qing argued hard to help Cheng Cheng keep the spot.
Although she had gained the opportunity for fair competition, thinking about Tong Ziqian's usual style, Su Qing was always worried that she might have other tricks up her sleeve.
So when Cheng Cheng walked out with a serious expression.
Instead, Su Qing felt a sense of relief, as if a huge stone had fallen to the ground.
"It's okay." She, who was always stern, softened her expression and comforted him, "It's just the first audition. It's normal to fail. There will be many opportunities in the future."
"I'm not upset about this." Cheng Cheng lowered his eyes and thought, then told Su Qing about the extra test. Then he asked, "Sister Su, are extra tests common during auditions?"
Su Qing is a very experienced agent. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Actually, additional auditions are quite common, but you said Tong Ziqian performed very well, as if she had rehearsed in advance..."
The director doesn’t know what level Tong Ziqian is at, don’t they know it yet?
Cheng Cheng and Su Qing thought of the same thing.
"...There's something fishy!" The two looked at each other and said in unison.
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