Chapter 5
Unprecedented. One person's audition lasted an entire afternoon.
Except for the two leading actors on the stage who seemed to be enjoying themselves the whole time, everyone else felt like they had lost all desire to live.
The strange thing is that no matter how bad Ran Long's performance was, the director in charge could never say "That's enough, let's stop here", but just kept changing clips.
At the end of the performance, it actually started to repeat the scene when it first came in.
Is this what it means to be a relative? Sister Hou couldn't help but sigh.
Yuan Chengyin stared at the two actors, her eyes glazed over. She seemed to have developed some rigid behavior. She forgot to call for a stop, and when the two of them were improvising and their performances were going nowhere fast, she scratched the table with her gnawed nails and said calmly, "Hmm, hm, let's do it again."
Qiu An also looked a little tired, but she just smiled gently at Ran Long and stood back to her starting position, as if she wanted to accompany her to perform forever.
Ranlong watched her comforting herself tirelessly and suffering torture willingly time and time again. At first he felt a little gloating, but soon he found it meaningless.
"Alright," she said. "Let's stop here for today, Director Yuan. I haven't filmed in almost two years, so I'm really not in the mood."
Qiu An listened to her words, her eyelashes flickered, and when she opened her eyes again, her gaze drooped, unable to return to its original position. Her red lips parted slightly, and she uttered words of comfort: "It's okay..."
"Oh, come on, tsk! You keep trying to drag me down all day long! It's okay, it's not a big deal to begin with, but you're making me feel so uncomfortable!"
Qiu An stopped talking.
It was not the first time for the people present to cooperate with Qiu An. In their impression, Qiu An was not the kind of person who would simply endure and give in. They were all extremely puzzled, but dared not say a word.
Seeing this, Yuan Chengyin quickly tried to smooth things over: "Okay, okay, let's stop here for today. We can talk about the rest tomorrow. Thank you for your hard work."
When the casting team members heard this, a light suddenly appeared on their tired faces, and they all ran towards the door as if they had been pardoned.
Although Ranlong had just finished talking to Qiu An, her mood was a little low. She had no intention of staying to reminisce about the past and begged Sister Hou to leave together.
Sister Hou, carrying her bag, didn't dare walk at the same pace as her, so she followed behind at a slow pace. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Qiu An and her assistant quickly catching up.
Only Yuan Chengyin and producer Sister Wang were left in the room staring at each other.
Sister Wang wiped the sweat from her forehead and thought for a long time before asking, "You said the investment you secured...could it be from her father who made a comeback?"
"Of course not."
"Then why are you so insistent on using her? She's completely lost her fighting spirit. Is there some inside story that I, as a producer, shouldn't know?"
Yuan Chengyin threw the tissue wrapped around her nail fragments into the trash can and sighed three times in a row: "Just think of it as a debt I owed when I was young. Well... Xiaoran wasn't like this before."
"Are you talking about acting or, uh..."
"That's not the case."
-
"Xiao Ran." Qiu An's voice came from behind him.
Ranlong didn't really want to pay attention to her, so he didn't look back and just walked forward on his own.
"Ranlong." Qiu An called out again.
Ranlong didn't want to be a green tea drinker. She just wanted to hurry back to her rental apartment, take a hot bath, eat takeout, go online and play games, and return to her familiar daily life.
"Ran...Ranlong." Sister Hou almost spit out the word "jie" but quickly took it back. The master was in a bad mood and if she called him the wrong name, she would be scolded again.
Ranlong heard the footsteps behind her stop. She turned around in confusion and shouted, "What are you doing? Are you going to leave or not?"
"Let's go, but the elevator is here." Qiu An's cold voice came like a spell.
"...Can't I just take the stairs?" Ranlong said angrily.
"This is the eighteenth floor."
"I'm also on the 18th floor..."
"The stairwell is right here. If you want to take the stairs," Qiu An glanced at the two people beside him and said calmly, "I can walk with you."
Sister Hou's heart skipped a beat. She wasn't sure what Qiu An meant by that. She couldn't walk up eighteen flights of stairs in those high heels. She stole a glance at Qiu An's assistant, who followed her gaze. Sister Hou quickly returned her gaze.
As expected, the assistant of a big star is no ordinary person and has a strong pressure.
Ranlong was stunned for half a second, then said, "Why take the stairs? Are you crazy?"
The elevator arrived with a ding. Qiu An pursed her lips, and the corners of her mouth seemed to curl up a little.
Ranlong was puzzled and muttered in a voice that everyone present could hear: "What are you laughing at? You're crazy."
My dear elder sister, you are the one with a mental disorder. Sister Hou really wants to tear a piece of tape and tape her stained mouth shut. She only embarrasses herself in public every day.
Qiu An's assistant entered the facial recognition system into the office building. As soon as she scanned her face, the elevator automatically entered VIP mode and no one would open the door along the way.
Two pairs of people stood on the left and right of the elevator. Qiu An and his assistant looked straight ahead, Ran Long's eyes swept up and down at the two people, and Sister Hou was looking for a crack in the ground.
"What's your name?" Ranlong asked Qiu An's assistant.
The assistant looked at Qiu An, and Qiu An nodded.
"Oh, do you have any sense of self-awareness? You need someone to give you instructions for such a small matter?"
Sissi was neither humble nor arrogant, and did not treat her like a fool: "Just call me Sissi."
"Are you a worker?" Ranlong asked again.
Xixi was stunned and wanted to turn to Qiu An for help.
Ranlong was impatient: "I'm talking to you, why are you always looking at her?"
"I'm Qiu An's assistant, what you call a 'worker'."
"Oh, then do you know what time it is now?"
Xixi resisted the urge to glance at Qiu An. Every time she looked at him, her eyes were three parts puzzlement, four parts speechless, and three parts pleading for work injury compensation. Now she could only process it herself. She checked her watch and said indifferently, "Six-thirty-five p.m."
"Then do you know that it's the evening peak time for the elevator?"
Xixi was stunned when she heard this. She finally understood that Ranlong was dissatisfied with her for turning on the VIP mode during the peak usage period of the elevator and occupying public resources.
In her peripheral vision, Qiu An seemed to be trying to hold back her laughter and didn't seem to intend to help her out.
She was already very annoyed at work as a worker.
"Ms. Ran, we've already signed a confidentiality agreement with Director Yuan. You might not have signed it, but I'm sure you've received verbal or written notification. You know it's rush hour right now. If someone saw us here, wouldn't that be like leaking secrets?"
"Not bad." Ranlong nodded.
Xixi was confused and heard Ranlong continue, "Did you hear that, Sister Hou? This person is so eloquent. Learn from him!"
Sissi: “…”
Sister Hou agreed verbally, but what she was thinking in her heart was: No, sister, you are really crazy.
After walking out of the underground garage, Sister Hou saw the message from the driver on her mobile phone, saying that he had gone to pick someone up temporarily.
She had no choice but to tell Ranlong, "The driver left early. We have to go outside to get a taxi. It's rush hour now, so we may have to wait a while."
"Tsk! Didn't you say that as long as I agreed to come for the audition, the company would use all its resources to protect my rights? You went back on your word so quickly? You can't even provide the most basic pick-up and drop-off?" Ranlong repeatedly checked the time on her phone. She had to go back and prepare for the live broadcast.
Sister Hou swallowed back her thought, "You didn't get selected, did you?" and rephrased, "You're right. I'll report this to the higher-ups."
Who says she is not good at speaking? She is very good at speaking.
Ranlong rolled his eyes and said unhappily, "Alright, stop talking nonsense and get in line for a taxi."
"Let me see you off. It won't be good if someone sees you going out through the main gate." Qiu An, who was walking in front, stopped and turned back to look at the two of them.
Sister Hou's finger hovered above the phone, waiting for her master's instructions.
"Give us a ride." Ranlong scratched his chin and had another bad idea. "Okay, give us a ride. Don't bother Xixi. You can drive."
Sister Hou was shocked.
But Qiu An responded calmly: "Okay."
"Sister Qiu An..." Xixi wanted to raise an objection.
"It's okay, I can drive."
"That's it! Let's go!" Ranlong grabbed Sister Hou with one hand and followed Qiu An.
It’s a pity that Qiu An dared to drive, but Sister Hou didn’t dare to sit.
"I live quite far away. It's across most of Beiji to get back from here! It's definitely not on your way! I'll just take the subway."
Qiu An didn't bother to be polite with her and nodded in agreement.
"Alas." Ran Long was dejected. "Why are you so timid? How many lifetimes do you need to accumulate merit to have a celebrity take you home? And you actually refused?"
While Ranlong was mumbling, Xixi received a resentful look from Qiu An. She understood what he meant and said, "I'll take the subway too. There's traffic outside, and the subway is faster."
"Xixi, why are you so weak in acknowledgment? You work so hard for Qiu An every day. It's only natural for the boss to send you home..."
Before Ranlong could complain to her heart's content, Xixi handed the car keys to Qiu An, stuffed Sister Hou into the elevator, and pressed the door-closing button.
Ranlong watched Qiu An get into a low-key and restrained Mercedes-Benz. She followed him and touched the door handle of the passenger seat. Then she changed her mind and got into the back seat.
Qiu An was slightly taken aback, then asked calmly, "Don't you want to sit in the front?"
"I heard the passenger seat is the most dangerous place in the car. You're so busy, you probably haven't driven in a while, right? I'm fine sitting here."
"Don't you know how well I drive?" Qiu An put his hand on the steering wheel, and pointed his index finger again and again.
Ranlong raised his eyebrows. Qiu An's tone sounded weak, as if he was somewhat aggrieved.
"That was then. It's been so long now. Who knows you?"
When Qiu An heard this, he didn't answer. He just lowered his head and hid his expression in the shadows.
"Why, you don't want to be a driver?"
Ranlong propped his hands on the back of the front seat and leaned forward through the gap in the middle, trying to get a closer look at Qiu An's expression. His expression didn't tell, as he didn't seem to be crying. That was fine, he could continue to bully her.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? It's not like I can't get a taxi."
"Take off your shoes and give them to me."
Qiu An suddenly turned his head and spoke to her. The breeze blew the little remaining perfume on her body into Ran Long's nostrils. It was a unique smell of grass and trees.
The distance between their noses was too close, and Ranlong could feel her breath gently caressing his lips.
They're all homosexual, it's disgusting.
Ranlong released his hands that were grabbing the back of the chair and retracted them.
"Why do you want my shoes? Are you afraid I'll run away?"
"The shoes I'm wearing are not convenient for driving." Qiu An took off her high heels and put them aside, moving the forefoot up and down to relieve the numbness from standing for an afternoon.
"Ugh, this isn't good. They're all homosexuals. It's disgusting."
"What?"
"You heard me clearly, didn't you? I said, we're all gay, isn't this bad?"
"I'm just wearing a pair of shoes. I have nothing to hide. How can it be disgusting?" Qiu An said in a flat tone, with no ulterior motives.
"You're the one with the guilty conscience! What I've said is even more disgusting! Stop it!"
"Okay, I won't say anymore." Qiu An said this, feeling happy and hiding a faint smile.
Ranlong took off his shoes and was about to hand them to Qiu An when he asked, "You don't have athlete's foot, do you?"
She doesn't have the habit of exchanging shoes with others because her mother often told her when she was a child not to wear other people's shoes because athlete's foot is contagious.
Ranlong felt a little regretful after he finished speaking.
"How could I have athlete's foot? If I had athlete's foot, shouldn't you have known it long ago?" Qiu An was puzzled.
"Well, that was then! Who knows if you've been wearing other people's shoes in the past two years?"
…
After a long silence, Qiu An suddenly said seriously, "Xiao Ran, I'm not wearing other people's shoes."
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