At this moment, Shen Chuchu could already feel the awkwardness in the atmosphere. 

However, Qin Yingran did not feel the same. She scanned Shen Chuchu up and down then smiled again.

“This is fate.”

The two of them awkwardly talked for a bit before Shen Chuchu could bear it no longer and said apologetically, “I need to go to the restroom.”

After exiting the door, Shen Chuchu let out a sigh of relief. After a visit to the restroom, she overheard from the workers that the director was taking a break. As soon as Shen Chuchu heard this, she simply wanted to find a quiet place outside and reread the script for a while.

As a result, when she opened the door to the stairwell, a girl was already sitting on the steps with her phone. The girl raised her head and looked at Shen Chuchu with joy, “You look like a female protagonist in a book.”

This was the first time Shen Chuchu had been complimented in such a fresh way and it was from a very cute and lovely girl. She initially wanted to leave but stopped in her steps.

“Thank you.”

“Are you auditioning today?” The girl curiously asked.

Shen Chuchu nodded, “Yes.”

“You are auditioning for Xiao Die? I don’t think I’ve seen any of your works on television before but you seem a bit familiar. What is your name?”

Shen Chuchu did not expect this girl to know so much and even to guess which role she was auditioning for in a single glance. Without a doubt, this girl must be a worker here.

At this thought, she smiled and replied, “Hello, I am Shen Chuchu. I worked on one film before but it hasn’t aired yet.”

When the girl heard Shen Chuchu’s name, she suddenly realised, “Oh, it’s you. Director Chang’s daughter! I’ve seen the video on Weibo, you were very brave.”

Countless individuals had already said these exact words in front of Shen Chuchu so she just smiled and replied, “It’s nothing. Anyone would have done the same.”

 As for the girl, she smiled and did not mention the topic again but instead continued to look at Shen Chuchu, “Did you come here to chill? If you don’t mind, you can sit here.”

Shen Chuchu was somewhat interested in the girl so she swiftly sat down beside her. At this moment, the girl’s phone suddenly made a sound. The girl excitedly looked down then gloomily said, “Ah, I thought it was a reply from the blogger.”

Shen Chuchu glanced at the girl who was talking to herself but did not reply because she did not understand what she was talking about.

Instead, the girl waved her phone in front of Shen Chuchu and said, “This is a very hot blogger who does matchmaking on Weibo. I leave comments daily but the blogger never replies to me. I have such bad luck!”

Shen Chuchu took a side glance and it was her “I am Yue Lao” page. Instantly, she felt a new sense of awkwardness. She laughed dryly then asked, “You believe this blogger?”

The girl nodded seriously, “I naturally believed it. She must have superpowers. This world is huge so it’s not unusual to have such a person. If only I had the chance to get to know the blogger. I wonder what their daily life is like?”

Shen Chuchu turned her head and looked at the girl with a pink heart on her head, “If you someday meet this blogger, what do you want to ask?”

The girl faced Shen Chuchu and said without another thought, “Of course, I naturally want to know who my future husband is and when I will meet him! I am twenty-six years old this year and I’ve never dated before. I don’t know whether my wait is meaningful.”

Shen Chuchu looked at the cute girl with surprise and asked, “You are twenty-six years old? I would have never guessed.”

The girl smiled, “Yup, twenty-six years old. It probably has something to do with my career which is why I seem young. But, looking young is not good either because other people at work don’t take you seriously.” At this point, the girl’s expression was no longer as happy.

Shen Chuchu comforted, “Don’t worry, no one will dare to look down upon you when your work gets better and better.”

The girl stood up and smiled, “You are right, I need to do better. They have been urging me to go so I’ll go ahead. See you later!”

Afterwards, the girl left.

Shen Chuchu did not understand the meaning of “see you later” as she watched the girl’s back. She wondered whether the girl was a staff member in charge of the audition but decided not to worry about it anymore. Then she thought of the girl’s wish and decided to add her on Weibo when they meet again.

Twenty minutes later, Shen Chuchu saw Wang Qian’s text and also left the stairwell.

As she approached the audition room, Qin Yingran walked out. The expression on Qin Yingran’s face was not good. Shen Chuchu greeted her while she only nodded and left.

Soon enough, the staff called Shen Chuchu to come in. Once she was inside, Shen Chuchu discovered there were five people seated in the room and two of whom she recognised. One was He Chen whom she worked with previously and the other was the girl she had just met. At this time, the girl was seated closer to the middle than He Chen. 

At this point, Shen Chuchu was very curious. Who exactly was this girl?

Shen Chuchu did not have much time to ponder about it before the director told her to start. She introduced herself, how old she was, how long had she been in the circle, what work she had done and so on. After all, some of them were big directors, producers, or screenwriters and they would not know much about some lesser-known actor.

After her introduction, Shen Chuchu began to perform.

The drama was called [Warm Spring] which told the joys and sorrows of a big family. It included love and hatred but a lot of it was heartwarming scenes of people’s daily lives. Although everyone had their ups and downs, genuine affection was always present. Naturally, there were also happy and sad partings amidst war. 

Xiao Die was not the story’s protagonist but the entire story followed her shadows. In the beginning, she was a little maid who went to the city with a female cousin of the family. Afterwards, when the cousin married, she became the maid for the eldest daughter. When the eldest daughter married the young Marquis*, she accompanied her to the Marquis’ manor where she met a childhood friend and became a couple. 

*TL-note: Marquis is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent Asian styles, as in Imperial China and Imperial Japan.

The female protagonist of the story was the eldest daughter and the male protagonist was naturally the young Marquis. It was unknown who the female lead would be but as for the male lead, it was without a doubt, He Chen.

“Miss, what would you like to eat today? The kitchen has brought over some green bean pastry and…”

The girl from earlier continued, “I don’t want to eat anything, I have no appetite today.”

Xiao Die smiled, she put down the plate in her hand and walked over to the young lady, “Miss, we’ve not had a proper look at the manor since coming here. I can see the weather is very nice today, why don’t we have a walk outside?”

The young lady replied weakly, “I’m not interested.”

“Miss, the madam has told me to accompany you for more walks. If you stay in the room all day then the madam will surely blame me?”

…

“Cut! Continue with the second act.”

The second act was different from the first because it detailed Xiao Die and the young marquis’ personal guard Li Chi’s story. It was the scene where Li Chi parted with Xiao Die before he left for the battlefield.

This time, He Chen acted as Li Chi.

Shen Chuchu took a few deep breaths and adjusted her mood.

“Xiao Die, if I do not return then find someone to marry.” Li Chi said with red eyes.

Xiao Die’s tears flowed down when she heard this. Her eyes were filled with tears and her mouth trembled. 

Li Chi painfully reached out to wipe her tears and Xiao Die also lowered her head and wiped with her handkerchief. Then with the same red eyes, she stood in front of him and firmly said, “Okay. If you do not return, I will marry someone else.”

Li Chi was even more distressed when Xiao Die said this. He lifted his hands to pull Xiao Die in but she backed away and looked at him for the final time then ran away.

Leaving Li Chi stood in place with red eyes and clenched his fists.

“Cut!”

When it was over, Shen Chuchu took a moment to compose herself. The crying in this scene was not the hardest but rather, you had to fully immerse yourself in its emotion. Some things are not easy to control if you are not mindful.

Director Tian was very satisfied with Shen Chuchu’s performance in the second act. From the looks of it, Shen Chuchu had acting skills. It was unclear whether it had been honed or born with but it was better than none. 

Although his good friend had already mentioned her, not anyone could casually be in his production. If the rules were to be broken for one person then it would be difficult to manage later. Afterwards, he would never be able to establish a good reputation in front of viewers.

Upon seeing that Shen Chuchu had composed herself, Director Tian told her to go back and wait for an answer.

Shen Chuchu thanked him with a bow then opened that girl’s system as she walked out. After exiting the door, Shen Chuchu found that although she had walked through a wall, the virtual interface was still present.

Shen Chuchu’s eyes widened when she saw the name of the girl’s future husband. Perhaps it was someone with the same name? However, when she opened the picture, Shen Chuchu no longer thought that way.

Chapter 46 | Index | Chapter 48