Chacha quickly took advantage of Rong Guang’s distraction, hid the five-yuan “fortune” in her pocket, and swiftly planned to go to the small shop outside to buy another Neapolitan ice cream cup.
While Rong Guang was dazed, Chu Feiliang had already looked away, seemingly not letting her gaze linger on her for long.
This realization made her feel a little disappointed.
In an instant, Rong Guang’s mind was flooded with scenes from her past life of pleasant conversations with Chu Feiliang, and the alluring smiles and expressions when she was extremely close to her.
Pushing aside that disappointment, Rong Guang pursed her lips as she watched the figure gradually walk away.
Eight years ago, she indeed had no right to be taken seriously by Chu Feiliang.
Only by being outstanding enough would she be worthy of standing by her side.
She just didn’t know what she was here for. Rong Guang was a bit lost in thought.
“I heard Chu Feiliang is also in charge of picking people this time. It seems she’s already discussed it with the director; she wants to find someone who can act opposite her. Even the two male leads this time were decided by her and the director’s team.”
“That’s so great.” The other person’s words were filled with unconcealed envy. “With such a huge production team, I heard this drama is mainly to serve the female lead. It’s a rare female-centric drama.”
“Yeah. Who told us not to have her good luck and background…”
“…”
Rong Guang was stunned after hearing this.
Chu Feiliang was also responsible for this casting?
Doesn’t that mean… she’ll be able to see the audition later?
And see it directly, up close, with her own eyes?
This realization made Rong Guang start to feel nervous, her breathing couldn’t help but quicken a little.
Chacha’s large head moved close to Rong Guang’s face, so close that the fine hairs on Rong Guang’s face were visible. She blinked and said, “Sister Guangguang, why is your face…” She paused, frowned, and asked in a questioning tone, “Flushed?”
The corner of Rong Guang’s mouth twitched. “Where did you learn that word?”
“Here.” Like a magician, Chacha pulled out a small flyer. “Someone handing out flyers outside gave it to me.”
On the small flyer were several large characters: Click to watch online, The Wealthy XX’s Flush XXX.
Rong Guang: “…”
“No.” She snatched the flyer from Chacha’s hand and threw it away, saying calmly, “I just… remembered some things from the past.”
Back then, because of her stepfather, Rong Guang was sent by her still-frightened grandmother to a martial arts school near her hometown to learn martial arts.
It wasn’t to win glory for the country or achieve great things, but just in the hope that she could learn it for self-defense.
Later, by a stroke of luck, after studying for more than three years and graduating from the martial arts school, Rong Guang was discovered by a talent scout and joined a company as a trainee.
There weren’t many twelve or thirteen-year-old trainees, especially one like Rong Guang, who, despite her young age, was already a budding beauty and particularly popular with audiences. She was a standout at the time.
Back then, she had only shown her face once in a set of practice photos released by the company for another artist, but her exceptionally beautiful face had already attracted many “older sister fans” and “passerby fans.”
And after that, a three-year-long training career, combined with a solid foundation in martial arts, allowed her to crush the competition with absolute strength, emerging from over three hundred trainees to become the only one to debut.
Later, she even served as both the leader and the sole C-position in the group NO.1.
These three years were considered a minor explosion in popularity. Subsequently, the group disbanded, the relationships between the members fell apart, and Rong Guang, under the pressure to survive, entered the acting world by a strange twist of fate.
Afterwards, she spent almost eight years to finally reach a level where she could stand shoulder to shoulder with Chu Feiliang.
She had exhausted all her efforts to finally become Chu Feiliang’s closest friend.
At that time, the two of them would, unbeknownst to their companies, occasionally go on spontaneous trips, traveling all over the country.
Her deepest impression was of Chu Feiliang’s thirtieth birthday in her past life.
When the two of them were staying alone in a hotel, Rong Guang carefully concealed her feelings, filled the room with yellow irises and scented candles, and, wearing a specially tailored red gauze dress, performed an extremely enchanting… birthday dance for Chu Feiliang.
At that moment, Chu Feiliang’s eyes were clear, yet tinged with a hint of intoxication and indulgence from the wine. Her eyes held only Rong Guang, and Rong Guang alone.
At that moment, Rong Guang even felt that Chu Feiliang probably liked her too.
Shaking her head, Rong Guang struggled out of her memories and glanced at her number tag.
There were still seventeen people ahead of her. She had briefly glanced at the actors waiting at the door for the audition, and basically none of them had any insight or talent… Chu Feiliang probably wouldn’t think much of them either.
She had always been someone who took her profession very seriously.
“Xiao Chu is here.” Zhang Nanchuan looked at the person walking in from outside, patted the stool next to him, and took a gulp of water, saying, “It’s hot.”
“It’s alright.” Chu Feiliang smiled politely and took a seat.
After the pleasantries, Zhang Nanchuan frowned, still looking at the list in his hand.
These few specially invited ones were basically all former singers who debuted and then transitioned to acting—and here was one he remembered, who had once said on a variety show, ‘Acting is for a living, being a singer is my dream.’
With a snort, he directly passed on this person. Zhang Nanchuan said with a straight face, “There’s another group of people this afternoon. These specially invited ones will also come to audition. Is there anyone you’re interested in?”
Chu Feiliang paused, withdrew her gaze from the girls in the waiting area, and said slowly, “Yes.”
Zhang Nanchuan’s eyes lit up, his interest piqued. “Who? Tell me.”
His hands flipped back and forth through the pile of papers, trying to find someone who might have caught Chu Feiliang’s eye.
Chu Feiliang was what you could call an acting fanatic.
Outside the film set, she possessed a calmness and maturity that completely belied her age.
She spoke tactfully and flawlessly, not in a way that felt like mere official pleasantries, but it created a sense of distance. It was as if she was born only to act, not getting close to anyone, not at all like an ordinary person who would encounter the smoke and fire of the mortal world, someone who could only be placed on a pedestal and worshipped.
But on set, the moment she was in front of the camera, it was as if she came alive.
The willful young lady from a prominent family, the betrayed rich heiress, the frail young girl burdened by a deep-seated feud… almost every character she had ever played was portrayed by Chu Feiliang with profound depth.
That’s why for the lead role this time, he had almost no hesitation. He and the investors hit it off immediately: no one but Chu Feiliang.
And who on earth could possibly catch the eye of someone like Chu Feiliang?
The more Zhang Nanchuan sifted through the papers, the more he frowned—let alone the slim chance of finding a pearl in the ocean among the crowd outside, he wasn’t impressed by any of these specially invited ones either.
Chu Feiliang’s lips curved into a smile. “Just wait, Director Zhang. You should have a satisfactory answer this afternoon.”
Zhang Nanchuan was left in suspense by her, anxious as if his heart were on fire, but he also knew that good things take time and he had to wait.
Hearing this, his impatience from the past few days eased. He calmed down and said, “Alright. Let’s see just how capable this person you’ve taken a liking to is.”
Before Rong Guang went in, a small incident occurred.
It was originally Rong Guang’s turn, but a specially invited actress who had recently become somewhat popular, named Jiang Ruyi, suddenly came in. She was famous for playing supporting female roles.
However, she mostly played villains, and combined with her own personality, she was considered a minor actress who had some popularity from being “famous for being infamous.”
Because she was a little famous, Jiang Ruyi was somewhat condescending. Her nanny van parked directly in the main square, and without even getting a number tag, she brazenly walked past Rong Guang, blatantly cutting in line.
Rong Guang raised an eyebrow. She had yet to see a third person, besides Chu Feiliang and herself, who dared to be so audacious in front of Zhang Nanchuan and Li Yan.
And besides the two of them, most people who tried it didn’t end up well.
Zhang Nanchuan had always been like this. Those who caught his eye, he would cherish. Those who didn’t, yet still acted like a big shot… could only pray for themselves.
“Are you okay?” Rong Guang helped up the girl behind her who had been knocked aside by Jiang Ruyi’s assistant, and asked softly.
The young girl shook her head, bit her lip, a little embarrassed and annoyed. “How can she be like that…”
Rong Guang smiled, just told her to check if she was hurt, and said no more, not uttering any indignant words.
Afterwards, she just glanced at her number tag and continued to wait at the door, neither servile nor overbearing.
The registrar next to them, who was calling out the numbers, couldn’t help but give her a couple more glances. He seemed to have recognized who Rong Guang was, his expression a little surprised.
“What’s going on over there?” Zhang Nanchuan frowned. The noise was giving him a headache, and he couldn’t help but feel irritated again.
The person who came over happened to be that registrar. While handing over a form, he said, “A specially invited actress, Jiang Ruyi, came. She cut in line and knocked into a young girl. It’s a bit noisy over there.”
Hearing this, Zhang Nanchuan looked up at the doorway.
The crowd was noisy, full of young girls. Encountering something like this, their faces were filled with anger they dared not express, so much so that they completely forgot about managing their expressions. Some even rolled their eyes and muttered, who knows what they were saying.
But only the girl standing in front of the table, wearing a simple shirt dress with her hair neatly tied up, remained neither servile nor overbearing after being cut in line. Her temperament was outstanding, and she stood straight, looking into the room.
Compared to that disorderly crowd of people, this girl stood out exceptionally, no matter how you looked at her.
Zhang Nanchuan realized this was that girl group leader he had ‘looked down on’ not long ago. Feeling a bit awkward, he glanced at Chu Feiliang, and suddenly had a flash of insight. “Hey, the one you were talking about, it couldn’t be that young girl first in line over there, could it?”
Chu Feiliang nodded but didn’t say whether it was her or not.
After all, Zhang Nanchuan had worked with her on so many dramas and had some understanding of her temperament. Hearing this, he finally became interested. He had his assistant pull up Rong Guang’s file, looked at it for a while, and said, “Oh, she has acting experience, debuted as a child star… Hmm, also knows martial arts and Chinese dance, not bad, not bad. Tsk, so Director Ren’s Little White Spirit was actually played by this little girl? No wonder we couldn’t find any news about that kid for so long, turns out she went off to be a singer…”
Zhang Nanchuan put down the file, nodded in satisfaction, and said with a look of admiration, “This resume is beautiful. No wonder she caught your eye.”
Li Yan, who had been observing the whole time from the side, “…”
Just this morning, what was it you said, old sir?
‘She’s good at singing and dancing, what does that have to do with our filming?’
‘She’s good at martial arts, that’s just stage performance skill, what does that have to do with our filming?’
Every single word, ringing in my ears like thunder.
Li Yan couldn’t help but sigh. As expected, the essence of human nature is either eating your words or having a complete change of heart.
