Chapter 94
Inside the audition room—
From the moment Bai Su walked in, Director Zhao, the producer, and the others in the room all turned their attention toward him.
There were plenty of people auditioning for the lead role, and Bai Su was only one of them, but he was undoubtedly one of the candidates with the strongest chance of landing it.
Zhao Meng flipped a page in the notebook in his hand and nodded to Bai Su. “Begin.”
Before Bai Su came for the audition, his manager had already contacted Director Zhao, so Zhao Meng and the rest of the directing team had looked over his profile in advance.
Compared with the other actors auditioning for the lead, Bai Su did indeed fit the character setting better on a relative level.
That was why everyone was fairly looking forward to his audition.
A few minutes later, Bai Su finished his performance. Zhao Meng then had him try a few more scenes for the lead role before finally calling it a stop.
“The audition result will be announced in two days.” Zhao Meng waved a hand and dismissed him.
The fair, delicate-looking young man smiled shyly, politely said goodbye, and only then turned to leave the audition room.
Although Director Zhao had not said anything, Bai Su felt extremely confident about the result of this audition.
His manager had already analyzed it with him: whether it was outward appearance or acting skill, among the current crop of young actors in the industry, he was the most suitable.
There might be some unknown newcomers or small-time actors who had remained obscure for years who were just as suitable—or even more suitable—but that would be no different from searching for a needle in the ocean. The difficulty would be too great, and the cost in every respect would be too high.
Bai Su was confident that, nine times out of ten, the lead role in this short film would be his.
After he left, the producer leaned over to Zhao Meng and asked in a low voice, “What do you think?”
Zhao Meng hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking. “Not bad.”
When Director Zhao said not bad, it was practically equivalent to pretty good.
So the producer smiled. “I think so too.”
But a trace of hesitation flashed across Zhao Meng’s face. “Let’s keep looking,” he said.
Bai Su was indeed pretty good, but only pretty good—not the kind of that’s him certainty Zhao Meng wanted in his heart.
It just felt like… Bai Su was still missing something compared with the person Zhao Meng considered truly the most suitable.
Zhao Meng sighed inwardly.
‘The producer’s expression… does that mean there’s hope? Can we start looking forward to Bai Su working with Director Zhao? [rubbing hands in anticipation.jpg]’
‘My little Bai Su’s acting really is powerful. This role suits him so well!!!’
‘But I saw Director Zhao frown… he didn’t look that satisfied.’
‘Even acting this good isn’t enough to satisfy him? [deeply shocked.jpg]’
‘One look and I can tell you’re some newbie who’s never seen Director Zhao’s work before [squinting smile.jpg]’
‘Director Zhao doesn’t judge casting by acting alone, you know.’
The door to the room was pushed open again, but this time it was not another actor coming in to audition. It was a staff member bringing lunch.
There were only two days left in the auditions for All Things Have Spirits, but the number of actors coming to audition had not decreased at all. Director Zhao insisted on personally screening every role, so he was busy from morning to night every day. He could only squeeze in meals whenever he found a gap.
Seeing that Zhao Meng was still wearing a frown, the producer comforted him, “Old Zhao, relax a little. At this point every role already has a relatively suitable candidate. The pressure over the next two days won’t be as heavy.”
But Zhao Meng still had little appetite.
His “cleanliness obsession” when it came to roles had not been satisfied, and that left him somewhat irritable.
Right at that moment, a shrill cry split the air—
[Looks pure and innocent on the surface, but he’s actually secretly married with three kids! And he’s addicted to domestic violence too!!!]
[Holy shit, how can there be such a good actor in the worst possible way?!] The voice was shocked and furious, ringing out almost right by his ear. [The woman is already gathering evidence and preparing to tear things apart in court for a divorce lawsuit! Just waiting for this scumbag’s downfall—can domestic abusers please disappear from this world already ahhh!!!]
Zhao Meng was so startled by the sudden voice that the chicken drumstick he had been holding with his chopsticks slipped with a plop back into the lunch box, then rolled right out onto the floor and was instantly disgraced by dust.
He instinctively followed the direction of the voice and immediately saw the chestnut-haired young man who was also holding a chicken drumstick, yet was already too angry to keep eating meat.
Bai Su? Secretly married with three kids? Addicted to domestic violence??!
Those three phrases together sounded bizarre no matter how one looked at them.
‘Huh???’
‘Wait, Gossip King, are you serious right now? [slowly going blank.jpg]’
‘Holy shit… don’t tell me my bias is about to collapse too QAQ’
‘Back then I would still doubt it a little, but now… forget it, just lie flat and wait for the trending topic to hammer it down [my heart is dead, do not disturb.jpg]’
‘What the hell is this? I came here for Bai Su, and the moment I enter I hear something this outrageous. Making things up costs nothing now, huh??’
‘My vision just went black. Livestream rooms don’t even need moderation anymore? [confused soybean head.jpg]’
Because Bai Su appeared on camera by accident, a large number of Bai Su fans who had caught wind of it rushed into the Life livestream in a very short time.
For a while, the barrage became complete chaos. A world war looked just about ready to break out when the tone of the comments suddenly changed—
‘It feels like I’m looking at my past self. Three seconds of silence for the newcomers [closing eyes.jpg]’
‘Not even gonna argue with you guys. Facts will teach you how to be human soon enough [lying peacefully.jpg]’
Lin Zhiqiao knew nothing about any of this and was still happily eating gossip out of the blind box 888 had opened.
[Bai Su’s real name isn’t Bai Su. It’s Wang Wei. Back in university, he got a girlfriend—who is now his wife, Bai Ying.]
[During junior year, Bai Ying accidentally got pregnant. She originally wanted to abort the baby for the sake of her studies, but Bai Su refused. He sweet-talked her into taking time off from school to have the child, and the two of them got a marriage certificate.]
[Bai Ying had no parents and had lived with her aunt since childhood, so she had always deeply longed for a family of her own. After getting married, she thought she would finally have a happy home, but reality turned out to be completely different.]
[After giving birth, Bai Ying wanted to return to school, but Bai Su said the baby was still too young and not yet weaned, and that the mother needed to stay by the child’s side. Then he made Bai Ying “accidentally” get pregnant with a second child, then a third, sweet-talking her by saying it didn’t matter if she stopped studying because he could earn money to support her and the children—completely cutting off her thoughts of going back to school.]
[At that time Bai Su was still just a poor student. Bai Ying stayed with him through his lowest point. Then, just when Bai Su entered the entertainment industry and slowly started gaining some fame, and Bai Ying thought better days were finally coming, Bai Su gradually began revealing his true nature.]
[The two started arguing more and more often. Bai Ying felt raising the children alone was too exhausting and wanted to hire a nanny. Not only did Bai Su refuse, he also constantly PUA’d her, and beating and cursing her became everyday routine.]
[Over the years, Bai Ying thought about divorce countless times, but for the sake of the children she endured it again and again. It wasn’t until an argument not long ago, when Bai Su completely lost control and even laid hands on one of the children, that everything changed.]
[The children were her bottom line. Bai Ying finally decided she would not endure it any longer, and began gathering evidence to tear things apart and divorce Bai Su.]
[So the woman the paparazzi photographed arguing and pulling at Bai Su before… she wasn’t some obsessive sasaeng fan at all, but Bai Su’s wife?]
[Fuck, fuck, fuck!] Lin Zhiqiao was so furious he started cursing outright. [What kind of %#&@… ah! Can scumbags please just get off this planet and found one of their own already? That’s seriously too disgusting!!!]
The people around him wore equally furious expressions.
Ji Ran squeezed too hard without meaning to and snapped the disposable chopsticks in his hand with a furious crack.
And inside the audition room, Zhao Meng’s expression shifted again and again.
If what Lin Zhiqiao was saying was true…
Then even if that kind of scum had the most perfect acting in the world, Zhao Meng would absolutely never use him!
