When Qi An's eyes met Xue Ningxiang and the others, he looked confused. He looked the girls up and down and said, "What kind of makeup are you wearing? I can't even see their facial features clearly. How can I choose someone?"
Xue Ningxiang and a few others stood there in a daze, at a loss for what to do.
Qi An turned around and said coldly, "Assistant Director Li, I want female students who are 11 or 12 years old, not underage girls who hang out in nightclubs! How did you choose these people?"
These words were really harsh to hear. Not only Xue Ningxiang, but even the other girls' faces turned pale.
Qi An looked at them expressionlessly: "You don't even know what role you are auditioning for, you didn't do your homework, and you just come here with heavy makeup on, without even a basic attitude, do you think you want to audition for my role?"
Qi An waved his hand, signaling for Assistant Director Li to take these girls away, and kept muttering impatiently: "Can you find a few normal people to audition?"
Assistant Director Li smiled awkwardly and quickly took Xue Ningxiang and the others away.
"Director Qi doesn't want you. There's nothing I can do. I'll give each of you 200 yuan as hard work fee. You can take it and leave."
As soon as Assistant Director Li turned around, his expression became perfunctory. After stuffing money into Xue Ningxiang and a few other people, he signaled them to leave quickly.
Qi An asked them to find a child around 11 or 12 years old with a Yu City accent to audition for the role of Xiaoling.
Only two days were given, and Assistant Director Li worked for such a long time before he finally picked out Xue Ningxiang and a few others. They met all the requirements in terms of appearance and other aspects.
Unexpectedly, Qi An rejected them as soon as he saw them.
Assistant Director Li was also annoyed. He didn't dare to lose his temper with Qi An, so he could only take it out on Xue Ningxiang and the other girls.
"Assistant Director Li, what do you mean by this?"
"That's too much! Aren't you kidding me?"
The parents of several other little girls were also very angry.
Deputy Director Li said coldly, "Don't make trouble here. You all came to the audition voluntarily. I didn't force you to come. Who can you blame if Director Qi doesn't like you? I tell you, if you make trouble here and delay the filming, I will call the security guards over!"
After hearing this, the parents were angry but dared not say anything. They just took their crying children away.
Xue Ningxiang held the money in her hand, her mind went blank and she was in a daze.
She had never been scolded like this before.
She bit her lower lip and her eyes turned red. She complained to Xue Tingting, "Sister, I told you not to wear this, but you insisted on making me wear this!"
Xue Tingting's face also looked very unhappy. "How can you blame me for this? It was obviously that Deputy Director Li who misled us!"
"Assistant Director Li didn't tell us what role we would play. He himself said the role was confidential. How can we prepare for it in advance?"
"That Qi An is the same. He is a big director after all. He curses people indiscriminately!"
Xue Tingting talked a lot.
Xue Ningxiang became even more upset after hearing this. She really regretted it so much. She shouldn't have listened to Xue Tingting's words that she could become a big star as long as she made movies. As a result, she came here to be humiliated in public and was even called a "nightclub girl."
Xue Ningxiang felt wronged and couldn't help but cry softly.
Seeing Xue Ningxiang crying like this, Xue Tingting could only comfort her: "Alright, alright, let's go back. It doesn't matter if we are not allowed to perform. It's nothing to worry about!"
Xue Ningxiang was wiping her tears as she walked. Suddenly, she paused and her eyes rested on a familiar person.
Gu Rong noticed someone was looking at him. He looked up and saw that it was a girl in a short skirt with heavy makeup on her face. Her eyes had turned black due to tears and her whole face was covered in makeup.
Gu Rong didn't recognize who this person was at all. His gaze only paused for a second before he looked away.
When Xue Ningxiang saw the acquaintance, she felt extremely embarrassed. She didn't know whether Gu Rong recognized her or not, nor did she know whether Gu Rong heard Qi An scolding her. She covered her face and quickly quickened her pace to run out.
"Ningxiang, why are you walking so fast? Wait for me."
Xue Tingting shouted from behind, and Xue Ningxiang was so angry that she almost fainted when she heard the voice. She was afraid of being recognized by acquaintances, but Xue Tingting called her name.
Xue Ningxiang was filled with grief and anger and didn't want to care about Xue Tingting anymore.
Gu Rong raised his eyebrows slightly.
Condensed fragrance?
So the person just now was Xue Ningxiang?
There was a hint of confusion in Gu Rong's eyes.
He remembered that Xue Ningxiang seemed to be about the same age as him, so he wondered why she wore such heavy makeup and dressed so maturely.
It was strange. Gu Rong shook his head, indicating that he didn't quite understand.
Pei Tiantian was walking while eating some delicious roasted sweet potatoes. The sweet potatoes were not only sweet and delicious but also warm.
Pei Tiantian's two little hands were originally a little cold, but they were warmed up by the sweet potatoes.
After eating, Pei Tiantian burped and touched her belly with satisfaction.
Tao Jing was holding a roasted sweet potato specially brought for Gu Rong. She looked at Pei Tiantian's face which had become like a little cat after eating so much and couldn't help laughing: "Tiantian, look at how your face has become."
As she spoke, Tao Jing took out a tissue from her pocket and wiped Pei Tiantian's little face.
"Thank you, godmother. I can do it myself."
Pei Tiantian took the tissue and wiped her two little hands. Suddenly, her eyes fell on the two people coming towards her.
She knew the tall woman on the left, it was Xue Tingting.
And the girl on the right with her whole face covered in tears and wearing a miniskirt, could she be... Xue Ningxiang?
Pei Tiantian looked carefully with wide eyes. Although the person's facial features were not clear, her figure seemed to be a bit like Xue Ningxiang.
A big question mark popped up in Pei Tiantian’s head.
Why did Xue Ningxiang dress like this? Wasn't she auditioning for the role of Xiaoling, the daughter of Zhang Meng? In the movie, Xiaoling was a poor little girl who died wearing only old clothes.
Xue Ningxiang's outfit not only doesn't fit her character, but you'd think she was going to dance on the set.
And why was she crying so hard? Her makeup was all ruined.
Could it be that Xue Ningxiang was not selected?
This is impossible. If not her, who else can play the role of Xiaoling?
Pei Tiantian didn’t think anyone had the ability to snatch the role of the heroine away.
Pei Tiantian's inquiring gaze remained on Xue Ningxiang. Xue Ningxiang also sensitively noticed that someone was looking at her, and turned around to meet Pei Tiantian's eyes.
Pei Tiantian's eyes were filled with surprise, confusion, and disbelief.
Xue Ningxiang's lips trembled. She could tell from Pei Tiantian's eyes that Pei Tiantian must have recognized her.
How come she ran into an acquaintance again, just at the time when she was most embarrassed!
Xue Ningxiang was extremely depressed. She hurriedly turned her head and continued to walk forward with quickened pace.
The figures of Xue Tingting and Xue Ningxiang quickly disappeared from Pei Tiantian's sight.
Pei Tiantian frowned, and suddenly something flashed through her mind.
She bit her lower lip.
Damn, how could she have forgotten this detail.
Another important reason why Xue Ningxiang was able to stand out from several audition candidates was that she was the most simply dressed among the actors, and therefore most in line with the character's setting.
When her stepfather Liu Changlong brought her to the set, she was still wearing a thick down jacket and looked rustic, but she had a unique temperament.
Qi An first scolded those little actors who were dressed in weird costumes, and then suddenly he looked at Xue Ningxiang and was deeply moved.
Qi An in the novel said that what he admired most was Xue Ningxiang's pure and natural appearance, especially her eyes which contained a sense of stubbornness and loneliness.
She is very similar to the character Xiaoling.
Xiaoling has been an orphan since childhood and has grown up alone. As a result, she is withdrawn and stubborn, has certain emotional deficiencies, is incompatible with the crowd, and does not take anyone seriously, including her biological mother Zhang Meng.
So after careful consideration, Qi An signed a contract with Xue Ningxiang, and even proposed to bring her back to Beijing for training.
Pei Tiantian's eyes became thoughtful.
It seems that the reason why Xue Ningxiang was not selected was that Xue Tingting was the troublemaker.
If Liu Changlong was Xue Ningxiang's stepfather, he would never allow Xue Ningxiang to audition with bare legs in the middle of winter and dressed like that.
This Xue Tingting is really unreliable.
In the novel, at least there is Liu Changlong, the stepfather, so Xue Tingting cannot interfere in Xue Ningxiang's affairs.
Now that Liu Changlong has not become Xue Ningxiang's stepfather, Xue Ningxiang blindly listens to Xue Tingting and dresses like this. Will Qi An be able to accept her?
Director Qi An’s first criterion for selecting actors is that they must have good looks.
If Pei Tiantian remembered correctly, even Jiang Ziyu, whom she had just seen, appeared without makeup.
Wow, this Xue Tingting is really the number one person who cheats on girls. She has ruined the first benefactor who helped Xue Ningxiang enter the entertainment industry.
Pei Tiantian was curious now. She wondered how Xue Ningxiang would enter the entertainment industry after losing a guide like Qi An.
"Tiantian, why are you walking slower and slower? Hurry up, the roasted sweet potatoes are getting cold." Tao Jing's voice came.
Pei Tiantian suppressed these messy thoughts and walked forward quickly with her short legs.
After walking into the park for a few minutes, we arrived at the filming set.
Pei Tiantian and Tao Jing looked around and saw the young actors who had just been with Gu Rong. They all had money in their hands.
But Gu Rong was not with them.
Where did Gu Rong go?
Pei Tiantian and Tao Jing quickly ran to the stage staff to ask if they had seen Gu Rong.
The stagehands saw so many kids today, so naturally they didn't know who they were talking about.
Tao Jing even specifically described Gu Rong's appearance. After hearing this, the stage manager suddenly realized, "I know, you are talking about the quiet kid, right?"
Tao Jing nodded, and saw a "you've won a prize" smile on the face of the stagehand, "Your child is amazing, he was just taken away by Director Qi, and now he is acting alone with Jiang Ziyu."
Hearing this, Pei Tiantian and Tao Jing were both at a loss for words.
The stagehand explained to Tao Jing again, "Our Director Qi even changed the gender of the character Xiaoling to a boy for him. To be honest, I've never seen Director Qi make so many concessions for a role. It seems that this role must belong to your child. Congratulations in advance!"
Looking at the congratulatory smile on the staff's face, Tao Jing was stunned for a moment before she came to her senses.
What's going on? Wasn't Gu Rong here to play a minor role? Why is he auditioning for a role out of nowhere?
What on earth just happened on the set?
Tao Jing was completely confused, while Pei Tiantian had her eyes wide open, so shocked that she couldn't recover for a long time.
Did she hear it right?
How come the role of Xiaoling ended up being played by the villain?
Moreover, Qi An has to change Xiaoling's gender for the villain boss.
Isn't this treatment even better than that given to Xue Ningxiang?
Pei Tiantian was stunned.
How exactly is the plot developing? She couldn't understand it at all.
On the other hand, although Gu Rong had a blank expression on his face, he was already feeling reluctant in his heart.
Qi An asked him to recite a line to Jiang Ziyu, asking him to speak more harshly but also naturally.
Gu Rong read this line to Jiang Ziyu expressionlessly. Jiang Ziyu quickly got into the mood, her eyes filled with tears. "I know you've been blaming me, right? I was the one who abandoned you. I was wrong, but mom has her own reasons!"
There was a hint of impatience in Gu Rong's eyes. He was really annoyed and he was not just acting.
He had clearly already finished filming his part as a supporting actor.
But for some reason, director Qi An inexplicably insisted on letting him act opposite Jiang Ziyu.
No matter how stupid Gu Rong was, he knew that the role he was playing now was definitely not a supporting role.
Qi An immediately shouted "Cut", indicating that the shot had passed.
Qi An came over and said to Gu Rong with a smile, "Have you ever acted in a play before?"
Gu Rong pursed his lips and shook his head.
"You acted well today. You controlled your emotions very well. If you want to act opposite Jiang Ziyu next time, just act like this. It will be great."
After Qi An finished speaking, he said, "It's time to call it a day." Everyone on the field cheered. They could finally take a break.
Qi An called Jiang Ziyu over and said, "Remember to take care of that kid in the next few scenes."
Jiang Ziyu smiled and said, "Director Qi, are you really so satisfied with that child? You even changed Xiaoling's gender directly."
Qi An recalled the scene that happened before. He just said a few harsh words to the actors who were acting opposite Jiang Ziyu, but he didn't expect that the group of children who played extras next to Jiang Ziyu were so scared that they started crying.
Qi An was so overwhelmed by what he heard that he asked everyone to coax the little actors for a long time before they stopped crying.
At this moment, Qi An discovered that among them, only Gu Rong didn't seem to be afraid of him at all, and he didn't cry like other young actors of the same age.
He seemed to be indifferent to everyone, whether it was Jiang Ziyu or himself, it was as if he was looking at air.
Qi An then touched his chin and felt that there was still a bit of Xiao Ling's shadow in Gu Rong, and it seemed that there was some of that meaning.
So Qi An quickly made a bold decision to change Xiaoling into a boy and let Gu Rong play the role.
(The author did not intend for the male protagonist to be a star. The He family business is still waiting for him to inherit. It is impossible for him to be a star. Stars cannot make money like capitalists. This is just a small episode.)
－－－－－－－Off topic－－－－－－－
With Gu Rong's personality, he will not develop in the entertainment industry for a long time. For him, it is better to go back and inherit the He family business (′???`)
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