When Li Chu arrived at the audition location, there were already seven or eight people inside.
She took her number and sat down on a chair, glancing at the people around her. Some she recognized, others were unfamiliar faces.
The female Omega sitting at the very front, having her assistant hold a mirror while she applied lipstick, was someone she knew, or rather, someone the original owner knew.
Based on the original owner’s memories, Li Chu felt this person could rank second on the original owner’s mental assassination list, second only to Ning Manqing.
The original owner’s feelings towards Ning Manqing were envy and jealousy twisted to the point of madness, wanting to harm, threaten, and even replace her. But towards this person, there was only hatred.
The female Omega seemed to notice her gaze and glanced in her direction.
Her slightly chubby cheeks made her look exceptionally sweet and charmingly naive. This person was Zhong Yue, currently one of the quite popular young actresses, specializing in sweet idol dramas.
Li Chu met her gaze and habitually curved her lips into a polite smile. Zhong Yue, however, merely sized her up with a slightly disdainful look before averting her gaze.
There wasn’t any deep-seated hatred between them; Li Chu even doubted if Zhong Yue remembered her at all. The original owner hated Zhong Yue not because of any major conflict between them, but because of a minor incident two years ago.
The original owner had auditioned for a role, but lacking the necessary skill, failing the audition was expected. After leaving the audition venue, she encountered Zhong Yue, who had auditioned for the same role and emerged looking triumphant.
Zhong Yue mocked the original owner, saying: “Don’t you even look at what you are? Overestimating your abilities. How dare an ugly and stupid Beta try to play a fairy? Aren’t you afraid people will laugh?”
Back then, the original owner had just finished filming 《The Carrier Pigeon》. She had debuted as the second female lead in a famous director’s film and signed with a company; her resources were good and her career was gaining momentum. Unexpectedly, she suffered the double blow of being rejected at the audition and then being ridiculed, causing her to hold a grudge against Zhong Yue.
She did intend to oppose Zhong Yue, but Zhong Yue was already an Omega at that time. Leveraging the surge in popularity from playing the female lead in that historical idol drama, the gap between the original owner and her was too vast. Consequently, she redirected that portion of her hatred towards Ning Manqing.
Li Chu wasn’t like the original owner and didn’t care about the original owner’s hatred for Zhong Yue. She lowered her head, mentally rehearsing the script, focusing on the upcoming audition.
This was her first proper audition since entering the industry. Li Chu had confidence in herself. Even if she wasn’t selected, she wouldn’t be discouraged; doing her best was all that mattered. Teacher Ning had even cheered her on before she left.
Someone inside the room was calling out numbers. Those inside must have been leaving through another door, as people were only seen going in, not coming out.
Li Chu heard someone call her name, stood up, and walked in.
People sat behind a long table – the drama’s director, assistant director, producer, and head writer. Beside them sat a short-haired young woman with her legs crossed. Li Chu instantly identified her as an Alpha; although still several meters away, she caught the faint scent of her pheromones.
It was a very particular scent that made Li Chu involuntarily swallow.
Li Chu didn’t let it show. Standing on the platform, she bowed to the people below and introduced herself.
The people sitting below took an immediate liking to her appearance: a fair, delicate face, cherry lips, and long black hair casually tied into a ponytail. She exuded a sweet, cute, and energetic vibe, closely resembling the drama’s female lead, Cheng Jiujiu.
The director instructed the female Alpha beside him, saying, “Qiqi, go be her scene partner.”
Li Qi stood up as instructed. The closer she got, the stronger the scent became.
“It’s okay, don’t be nervous. I’ll be your scene partner. I’ll play Liang Ru.”
Liang Ru was the drama’s other female lead, a rebellious and prideful cheese-scented Alpha.
“Okay, thank you.”
Li Chu smiled at her, and after the director called “Action,” she slipped into character.
She was to perform the scene of their first encounter: Liang Ru gets injured in a fight, and Cheng Jiujiu happens to pass by. Kind and righteous, Cheng Jiujiu volunteers to bandage Liang Ru’s wounds but is rejected.
Cheng Jiujiu didn’t feel awkward despite the rejection. She urged Liang Ru to go to the hospital quickly and placed a bandage on her forehead. Being close, Cheng Jiujiu caught the scent of pheromones in Liang Ru’s blood – a sweet cheese smell, which she found very appealing.
After Liang Ru walked away, she watched her retreating figure for quite a while.
The director below observed her expressions. When Li Chu portrayed Cheng Jiujiu smelling Liang Ru’s pheromones and developing a liking for the scent, he nodded with satisfaction.
Playing a character whose image wasn’t vastly different from her own was already an easy task for the current Li Chu. Thus, as soon as the director called “Cut,” she immediately broke character.
“You acted really well just now.”
Li Qi had been acting as a scene partner for quite a while today. Her role as Liang Ru was confirmed, and she had read lines with several potential Cheng Jiujius. However, she felt that this unfamiliar Omega actress, possibly a newcomer, performed the best and most naturally.
She vividly portrayed the fondness and gentleness upon smelling Liang Ru’s pheromones. For a moment, Li Qi even blushed slightly.
“It’s because you were a good scene partner.”
Li Chu said this sincerely. She hadn’t shown many signs of acting just then because she had genuinely felt a craving.
“Your pheromone scent… is quite unique.”
Li Chu said this while sniffing again. What a fragrant roasted chicken smell!
Li Chu swore it was definitely honey-glazed roast chicken. The closer she got, the stronger she could smell the fragrance, even feeling the urge to go out and order a honey-glazed hand-pulled chicken right then and there.
“You smelled it? Oh dear, the previous patch wore off. I tore it off and forgot to put on a new one.”
Li Qi covered the back of her neck and quickly pulled a new pheromone blocking patch from her pocket to apply it.
“My pheromones smell like flames, but different people perceive it differently. Some people can’t even smell this type of scent. What did you smell?”
Li Qi asked curiously, stepping down from the platform alongside Li Chu as she spoke.
Scent is an extremely complex thing, eliciting different reactions through different people’s senses. There are many kinds of pheromone scents; some are describable, like fruits or flowers, while others are very complex, so much so that they are hard to describe, like Li Qi’s.
If one has a good impression of a person, their pheromones will seem pleasant; if one has a bad impression, their pheromones will seem unpleasant.
Li Chu answered honestly, “Honey-glazed roast chicken.”
“Pfft…” Li Qi’s eyes widened, and she burst out laughing. “This is the first time anyone’s said my pheromones smell like that! You’re really interesting.”
“Hahahaha, Director Lin! Li Chu said my pheromones smell like honey-glazed roast chicken! No wonder her acting was so genuine; I suspect she actually got hungry smelling it.”
Director Lin raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Well, that’s quite interesting.”
“You did quite well. Go home and wait for news.”
Director Lin looked at Li Chu with a gentle smile. He didn’t give a definite answer, but his expression conveyed a lot.
Director Lin quite favored this young woman, but the producer leaned more towards Zhong Yue, the other actress who already had a significant following. Director Lin didn’t voice any objections outwardly, but inwardly, he wasn’t keen on that choice.
Although Zhong Yue currently had good popularity, her acting range was too narrow. In the years since her debut, she had been stuck playing the same type of roles, just changing the packaging but not the content. He didn’t want Zhong Yue to make his drama feel like just another one of her typical projects, indistinguishable from other similar shows. Besides, in terms of appearance, he preferred Li Chu; her performance wasn’t overly mannered and she was very appealing on camera.
“Thank you, Director. I’ll take my leave now.”
Seeing his expression, Li Chu felt somewhat more assured. She bowed to the others and left.
“Bye-bye.”
Li Qi smiled and bid her farewell, apparently still amused by the joke that her pheromones smelled like roast chicken.
Li Chu left through the exit, pushed open the door, walked down the corridor towards the outside, and went into the restroom to wash her hands. There, she encountered Zhong Yue, who was touching up her makeup.
Zhong Yue paused her powdering and gave Li Chu a critical once-over through the mirror.
Li Chu ignored her and adjusted her bangs.
“Don’t think just because you’ve differentiated, you can compete with me for anything. The female lead of this drama is destined not to be you. Believe me, the outcome this time will definitely be the same as with Jin Chang .”
Jin Chang was the drama the original owner had failed the audition for and been mocked by Zhong Yue about. Li Chu hadn’t expected Zhong Yue to actually remember it.
Faced with such provocative words, Li Chu couldn’t be bothered to retort at length. She simply glanced at Zhong Yue’s face and then uttered a single, highly provocative, and infuriating syllable.
“Tsk.”
Though only a single syllable, it was definitely a sharp weapon of provocation, carrying three parts defiance, three parts disdain, three parts contempt, and one part arrogance. Once uttered, its power to infuriate was unmatched by any words!
“You dare look down on me?”
Zhong Yue threw the powder compact towards Li Chu’s face. Li Chu dodged, and the compact shattered into pieces on the floor.
“Miss Zhong, try not to get so angry; you’re getting wrinkles from it. Your foundation is caking so badly, it’s really hard to look at.”
Li Chu said with a faint smile. Her occupational hazard was kicking in; seeing the caked foundation on Zhong Yue’s face was genuinely bothering her. So, she decided to leave—out of sight, out of mind.
Zhong Yue was so furious her nose felt crooked. She called for her assistant, but Li Chu unhurriedly raised her phone.
“As soon as I press this, my assistant will start video recording. Tonight, the trending topic ‘Popular Young Actress Bullies Junior in Restroom’ will blow up. Sister Zhong Yue, you don’t seem to have been trending much lately. Shall I give you a hand?”
Li Chu had always been known as good-tempered; everyone who knew her thought so. But being good-tempered didn’t mean having no temper at all. When someone pushed things too far, she naturally wouldn’t bother being polite anymore.
Zhong Yue’s furious expression froze. Her assistant quickly advised, “Sister, forget it, forget it. We don’t need to stoop to the level of this D-lister.”
As the assistant spoke, she glanced at Li Chu. Seeing the faint smile on Li Chu’s face paired with completely cold eyes, she couldn’t help but shiver inwardly.
Li Chu couldn’t be bothered with them and turned to leave.
Qian Duoduo was waiting for her in the car, excitedly telling her that she had just gained quite a few followers on Weibo.
“Sister Li, Sister Li! The new preview clip for 《This Is The Actor》 just aired! Teacher Ning even trended! Although it was lower down the list, the topic still got some traction. Lots of people are saying you look cute! Brother Nan told me to urge you to post a selfie for engagement quickly. Once the main episode airs, you’ll definitely gain even more fans!”
“I’ll take one when we get back, no rush.”
Li Chu also glanced at her Weibo page. She had indeed gained several thousand followers, most of them drawn by her appearance.
She closed Weibo, opened WeChat, and excitedly went to report her day’s achievements to Teacher Ning.
In the brightly lit office, the phone resting on the desk lit up as messages popped up one after another.
【Tao Tao】: Teacher Ning, Teacher Ning! I think I have a good chance of success! I feel like Director Lin really liked me!
【Tao Tao】: CatPawsOnHips.jpg
【Tao Tao】: Also, I met a really interesting Alpha today hahahahaha, her pheromones smell like honey-glazed roast chicken hahahahahaha
Ning Manqing picked up her phone, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Met a really interesting Alpha, and even smelled her pheromones?
lol