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“Her image was quite in line with the requirements of this role, so I asked her to come over today and try again…”

“But there’s no need for her to retest now, right?” Lin Zhen said.

Director Ren agreed, “It’s indeed unnecessary at this point.”

Then he raised his head and said to the staff member. “Let Lao* Chen go and talk to Miss Shen, just say that the role of the female lead has been decided.”

*T/N: 老 means “lǎo” which is a common way to address someone esteemed or someone who you respect.

The staff member nodded. “I see. Then I’ll go notify Deputy Director Chen.”

When the door was closed, Ji Qingqing smiled softly and apologized, “Actually, it’s my fault. After reading the script, I was really eager to participate in your work…”

“But the crew was set to start filming in July, so it would coincide with my wedding. I thought that this would only burden the crew, so I kept shirking the offer.”

“I also heard Lin Zhen say this to me before. Congratulations in advance!”

“Thank you.” Ji Qingqing said after a brief awkward pause, “If your schedule permits, please come to our wedding.”

“Of course! It’s a huge honor to be personally invited by you. I will definitely attend!”

The three continued to chat for a while, very happily.

The door was pushed open again. But this time it was not the crew member who entered, but Shen Weiwei.

The staff followed behind Shen Weiwei with troubled expressions on their faces.

“Director Ren, when I came to the audition the day before yesterday, you said that I performed well and that I suited the role. Today, you also asked me to retake the test. Why…”

Shen Weiwei’s words stopped abruptly because she just caught sight of Ji Qingqing.

Early on, Shen Weiwei knew how the entertainment industry worked. She understood that there was no way to gain a foothold in the industry through hype alone. The time her fame and beauty faded, acting would be her sole foundation.

Therefore, she was more than willing to be ruthless to herself and study hard, rather than relying on hype to gain fame and popularity like many other celebrities do.

Before auditioning for Director Ren’s play, she had learned that Director Ren was a person who greatly valued acting skills.

She vigorously prepared for the audition, thinking that she could leave a deep impression on Director Ren during the audition. She thought that she had already succeeded because he told her to retake the test the next day.

Originally they were already assured of the results*, but she didn’t expect Ji Qingqing to disrupt their plans halfway.

*T/N: 十拿九穩 is a commonly used idiom that means “it’s in the bag” or “assured that things are done according to plan.”

Shen Weiwei’s smile became visibly stiff, but she quickly eased her attitude as she asked, “Qingqing, why are you here?”

Ji Qingqing also responded with a smile, “I’m here for the audition.”

“Audition?” Shen Weiwei turned her gaze from Ji Qingqing to Director Ren. “Director Ren, you were very satisfied with me when I auditioned the day before yesterday. Why did… is it because I didn’t do well?”

Faced with her bombardment, Director Ren knew he couldn’t continue any longer without giving her an explanation. He got up and motioned to the staff behind Shen Weiwei to leave.

After closing the door, he asked Shen Weiwei to sit down and then said, “Miss Shen, your acting skills are really good, but Miss Ji’s acting skills are also very vivid. I think she’s more in line with the image of the female lead I had in mind.”

Director Ren made his intentions very clear. If it was any other actor, she would have probably taken the hint and left, but Shen Weiwei knew that this was her best chance to turn her life around.

This is my only chance. How could I be willing to let it pass like this?

Shen Weiwei took a deep breath and said, “Director Ren, the other day you said that you wanted me to come back for a re-audition. But now, you’re not even giving me a chance for a re-audition and just passing me over?”

She spoke firmly, but a hint of grievance could be heard from her tone as she fixedly looked at Director Ren.

If Director Ren were a typical director, he would have already ordered someone to kick her out after challenging his authority.

But the director wasn’t like that.

He had always respected talented actors. Besides, today was indeed the day that he and Shen Weiwei had agreed on a re-audition. To be fair, he was the one who broke the agreement first.

After a moment of contemplation, he looked at Ji Qingqing and said, “Miss Ji, what Miss Shen said is true. The day before yesterday, she came for an audition and I thought that her acting was good. After your audition, I was a bit impulsive so I didn’t consider some things enough.”

“How about this… If Miss Ji doesn’t mind, can you and Miss Shen act together in a scene? That way we can give each other another chance to compare who’s better.”

Ji Qingqing nodded slightly.

She clearly knew that since Shen Weiwei had already had an audition and passed, it wasn’t fair for her to take the lead role so easily. She was definitely not happy about it.

If I don’t agree, she would probably throw some hints to the paparazzi later. Who knows what type of slander they would bring out again?

Director Ren smiled when he saw her nod. “Of course, I’ll also ask several other assistant directors in our group to come over and give their feedback.”

After speaking, Director Ren got up and called two out of the three assistant directors who were still interviewing outside to come in.

The two assistant directors, one surnamed Wang and one surnamed Zhao, listened to Director Ren’s explanation and readily agreed. They also thought that Ji Qingqing and Shen Weiwei should act in a scene together so that they could consider their performances.

Lin Zhen whispered to Ji Qingqing and asked, “Ji Qingqing, Shen Weiwei’s case is indeed as she said. Are you confident to act alongside her?”

Ji Qingqing thought for a while, then smiled and said, “Sister Lin Zhen, don’t worry.”

As they were talking, Director Ren had already chosen the script. It was a scene where the female lead accused the supporting female lead of stealing her love interest behind her back.

“Then between the two of you, who wants to play the heroine?”

Ji Qingqing thought it over for a moment. “Let me choose the female supporting role, how about you Miss Shen?”

Shen Weiwei knew that in this situation, the person portraying the character with a wider range of emotions would be chosen. After pretending to think for a while, she nodded her head. “Okay, then I’ll choose the heroine.”

Before they began, the two of them took a look at the script and brewed their emotions.

Shen Weiwei looked at Ji Qingqing in disbelief as her eyes filled with tears. “I treat you as my best friend. I’m willing to give you everything. So tell me… why, why are you still secretly together with Chen Dong?”