Lian Jun: "You... you..."
Xiao Yi stood up slowly, patting his shoulder as he passed, "Next, I'll have to trouble Brother Jun."
Until he left, Lian Jun didn't react.
His sudden politeness had thoroughly confused Lian Jun!
Trouble him with what?
Without a clue, how was he supposed to proceed?
Yan Zhi couldn't stand it anymore and came over, whispering, "My Brother Yi means that Xia Weiliang is under his protection, so Brother Lian, you should have a better idea of how to treat her from now on."
"Ah, can't you grasp such a simple meaning? You always make me worry..." Yan Zhi shook his head and sighed, walking away.
This batch of agents isn't easy to handle!
Lian Jun silently picked up his protective chest brace and put it back on, collapsing onto the chair weakly. "Oh dear, my heart..."
"Yiran, Yiran, please help your dad!"
"Let go!"
Xia Yiran pushed away Liu Wan Quan's hand gripping her car door, terrified of being seen by the Xia family still associating with her former parents.
"If it weren't for wanting you to have a good life, Dad wouldn't have fallen into so much debt... Yiran, don't go!"
Liu Wan Quan, along with his wife Bao Fang, found Xia Yiran's current villa complex and blocked the entrance early in the morning.
Xia Yiran was driving a convertible sports car and couldn't avoid them after spotting them.
Hearing Liu Wan Quan's words, she couldn't help but laugh. "Your money was all swindled away in illegal fundraising, and you say it was for me?"
Bao Fang defended her husband. "Yiran, you shouldn't talk about your father like that. He did it all for our family..."
"Who is family with you? Excuse me, I am Xia Yiran now, the young lady of the Xia family!"
"We know, but you can't disown us... For you, we even offended Weiliang..."
Xia Yiran sneered. "You were the ones who wanted to get money from her, what does that have to do with me? Don't always say everything is for me. I've known you for so many years! What you care about, and always will, is that useless son!"
With that, she put on her sunglasses, stepped on the accelerator, and the sports car let out a low roar before speeding away.
"Yiran! Yiran!"
Liu Wan Quan stumbled and fell after chasing two steps. Bao Fang quickly helped him up.
Liu Wan Quan was furious, spitting, "She really thinks she's a young lady of the Xia family now? If we hadn't schemed for so many years, she'd be stuck with the surname Liu her whole life!"
Bao Fang quickly tugged at him. "Alright, stop talking!"
She glanced around vigilantly. "Let's go back."
Liu Wan Quan could only hobble back.
Every time Xia Yiran saw Liu's parents, she felt annoyed. Especially after the complete video of Liu and Xia Weiliang backstage at "Jin Fei" was exposed, Xia Yiran became the most awkward one, her previous words turning into a joke!
Can't even handle such a simple matter!
Useless!
---
On Wednesday afternoon, Xia Weiliang attended the audition.
Director Zhou's strictness was notorious in the industry. No matter how big a star you were, under him, everyone had to follow his rules.
Xia Weiliang arrived at the hotel on time. After submitting her information, she was led by a staff member to wait outside the audition room.
Several familiar faces were also attending the audition, some from her cohort, others seniors. They were all quite prominent, but in terms of current popularity, Xia Weiliang was definitely the hottest.
"Why is she here?"
"Heh, Director Zhou even considers someone like this?"
"If she gets chosen, it just means Director Zhou has also compromised with reality."
"You don't need to be told who the male lead of this movie is, do you?"
With one sentence, everyone immediately understood and echoed in unison: "Xiao Yi!"
"So~ she's got connections!"
Xia Weiliang sat down with Nuomi, taking out the character synopsis she had written and continuing to read it.
"Sister Weiwei... why do I feel like we're not welcome?"
"Be confident, drop the 'like'."
Xia Weiliang had felt the attention from all around since she entered. It made sense; compared to the others present, she, who came from a small web drama, was hardly presentable, let alone her acting skills.
The audition began with no special procedures; they just went in when their names were called.
The first was a strong actress who had won Best Supporting Actress, Sister Hong.
Sister Hong was the only one who hadn't paid attention to Xia Weiliang since she entered.
She stood up, tidied her attire, and followed the assistant director inside.
Everyone couldn't help but become nervous. Who would have thought that for a mere supporting role, even someone like Sister Hong was alerted? This was enough to show Director Zhou's appeal.
"Sister Weiwei, I'm so nervous!" Nuomi's palms were sweating, more nervous than if she herself were about to go in.
With Sister Weiwei's acting... no, Sister Weiwei had no acting skills at all! Director Zhou was also known for being harsh, and she would surely be beaten to a pulp after going in!
Sister Hong came out quickly, her expression complicated.
She said nothing, nodded to a few acquaintances, and then left.
"What's going on? Did she succeed or not?"
"Ah, I'm so nervous! If even Sister Jiang can't do it, then I have even less chance?"
The assistant director came out. "Xia Weiliang."
Xia Weiliang didn't expect to be called so soon. She responded, stood up, and turned to Nuomi, "When we came, I saw a good candy store downstairs. You should go and have a good look around, no need to wait for me here."
With that, she followed the assistant director inside.
The room was dark, with no lights on.
Xia Weiliang paused. Although she couldn't see clearly, she could clearly sense that there were other people in the room.
"Miss Xia."
Someone suddenly spoke.
Xia Weiliang stood still, her posture graceful, and responded openly, "Hello, I am Xia Weiliang."
"We've invited you here today to audition for the role of 'Lian Zhu.' Have you read the script? We will designate which scene to perform. Any problems?"
"No problems."
At this moment, a very slow voice continued, "Then let's do my favorite scene. As the male lead's white moonlight, his heart's true love, you are controlled by the Japanese and want to lure the male lead out. In this situation, you cross paths with him..."
Although she hadn't interacted with him, Xia Weiliang had seen Director Zhou's interviews and recognized his voice.
And this scene was also the one that resonated most with Xia Weiliang.
When she first read the script, she had cried so much that she used a whole pack of tissues!
"Any problems?"
Xia Weiliang came back to her senses. "No problems, Director Zhou."
"Alright, let's begin then."
Director Zhou seemed to turn and instruct the assistant director, "Call Su Yu Xi over to act with her."
"Okay."
Su Yu Xi?
He was in this film too?
She hadn't expected that in just one year, he would go from a small-time internet celebrity to a movie star, and straight into Director Zhou's film!
Heh, as contemporaries, she wouldn't be jealous!!
"I'll do it."
A lazy voice suddenly resounded.
Xia Weiliang's heart tightened. Xiao Yi!
Why was he here too?!
Director Zhou paused, then turned to the man who had been sitting beside him with a laugh. "It's great that the male lead will be acting!"
"It's my scene with 'Lian Zhu' anyway, it's better if I run through it myself."
Director Zhou pursed his lips but smiled without speaking.
When Sister Hong was auditioning earlier, he had sat steadily in his chair without moving at all.