“Making a movie?”
“Could it be…?”
Yu Wenliang stopped, sizing up the female director who invited him to a movie audition. She looked to be in her early thirties with long black hair, and the camera in her hand seemed to be a high-end brand, suggesting she had some real capability.
Excited heart.
Trembling hands.
The little person inside Yu Wenliang was in ecstasy. “Finally, she fell for it!”
The reason he chose the more difficult ancient poem a toast to wine instead of the conservative “Farewell, Cambridge” or patriotic poems during the poetry recitation was to showcase his line delivery skills, proving he could handle a young character in a historical fantasy genre.
So, if all went as expected, this must be the casting director for “Shadow” coming to find him…
Zhou Ye stood slightly behind Yu Wenliang.
As someone with social anxiety, she always hid behind the person she trusted most when facing strangers.
Zhou Ye tugged at Yu Wenliang’s sleeve, whispering, “She wouldn’t be a swindler, would she?”
“A swindler?”
“You call Director Zhang Yimou’s casting director a swindler?”
Yu Wenliang gave an awkward laugh, just about to smooth things over and apologize to the director.
The professional-looking woman with the camera on her shoulder showed an embarrassed expression and quickly interjected, “Students, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not a swindler. I’m a casting director for a film, and I’m here at Beijing Film Academy to scout for new Acting talents…”
“See!”
“I told you.”
“It must be a casting director looking for me to film!”
Yu Wenliang, full of anticipation, asked, “Presumably, you are Zhang…?”
The female casting director was a little surprised. “Little brother, I didn’t expect you to know me?”
“Oh, I’m Zhang Tingting, the casting director for the movie ‘Who’s Confused About Youth’.”
“Our movie is a very popular youth campus genre, commonly known as a youth film. You must have seen ‘You Are the Apple of My Eye’, right?”
“???”
“Campus film?”
“Isn’t Director Zhang Yimou here to find me for a film???”
Yu Wenliang felt a bit disappointed. He had been happy for nothing; the result didn’t match his expectations!
“Ah… sorry, I haven’t seen it.”
“Little brother, aren’t you an Art Examination student? Why do you seem uninterested in making movies?” Zhang Tingting was quite surprised. The other Art Examination students she had asked earlier had all been very surprised and excited when invited to audition.
Only this boy, upon hearing she was a campus film casting director, his originally expectant expression instantly crumbled, and he even looked a little disappointed???
Could it be that her bluff wasn’t big enough, that the campus film’s investment was too small, and he looked down on it?
“Interested, very interested…”
Yu Wenliang gave a perfunctory answer, forcing a smile, thinking he shouldn’t be too ambitious.
Even if it was a small opportunity not prompted by the system.
He could still try it.
“That’s great.”
“How about this, my camera is broken, so I can’t film the audition. ”
“I just happen to have my car, you can ride with me to our studio for the audition. This young lady is also quite pretty, maybe she can also audition for a role, why don’t you two go together?”
Director Zhang Tingting enthusiastically invited them.
“???”
“What director begs actors to film, let alone an Art Examination student? Even if I’m amazing, it shouldn’t be like this, right?”
Yu Wenliang suddenly felt that Zhou Ye’s earlier worries weren’t unfounded.
He turned and met Zhou Ye’s gaze; she pursed her lips and reluctantly shook her head.
“Excuse me, Director, I’m busy right now. My girlfriend isn’t feeling well.”
“Hey…”
Before she could stop him, Yu Wenliang pulled Zhou Ye away, quickly distancing themselves from this strange person.
Then he saw several Beijing Film Academy security guards approach, stopping the woman and demanding to see her campus entry permit and identification.
The scene became a bit chaotic; what exactly happened was unknown…
Having finished the first preliminary examination of the morning, Guan Xiaotong changed out of her Physical Form attire alone and met up with her parents, preparing to head to the next location.
She told her parents about her recent examination experience.
She had already performed exceptionally well.
But she still encountered a dark horse male student who completely overshadowed her recitation, leaving her a little disheartened.
Although Xiao Tong was not in a good mood, she had to pull herself together, because there was still the audition at Director Zhang Yimou’s studio.
That’s how child stars are, constantly on the go.
“Xiao Tong!”
Outside the examination hall, a middle-aged woman in a women’s suit carrying a camera called out to her.
Xiao Tong was a little overwhelmed, “Aunt Fu, why are you here?”
Fu Lulu, a deputy director in Director Zhang Yimou’s team, handles casting.
It was a great honor for such an experienced director with abundant resources to actively seek her out.
She greeted Xiao Tong’s parents, then smiled and explained, “I’ve been waiting outside your examination hall all along, but to be honest, I also came to Beijing Film Academy to look around and see if there are any suitable new faces this year for films.”
Guan Xiaotong let out an “Ah,” her smile a bit awkward, realizing she had been overthinking it.
Fu Lulu patted her shoulder and kindly asked, “How did you perform?”
“I remember the first exam was poetry recitation; for you, it should have been effortless, right?”
“Why do you seem not very happy? A small mistake doesn’t matter, as long as the overall performance is good…”
Xiao Tong sighed and honestly said, “Aunt Fu, I didn’t make any mistakes, and I performed even better than usual.”
“Isn’t that great? Don’t be too hard on yourself, be happy.” Fu Lulu comforted her.
Xiao Tong shook her head, “Because there was a male student in the same examination room as me whose poetry recitation performance was so stunning. Whether it was his line delivery, Vocal Music, or the coordination of Physical Form and Acting, the overall effect was far better than mine, an old actor who has been Acting for several years…”
Fu Lulu let out a surprised “Oh.”
The Xiao Tong she knew was a girl from a privileged background, raised in a family of opera performers since childhood. Although her voice was a bit hoarse, she had no rivals in her professional field, and because she was too well-protected by her family, she was a bit arrogant, arguably not seeing her peers as competition.
But there was actually a male student who could make her feel inferior?
“Is it that male student who recited ancient poetry? Li Bai’s poem, what was it called…?”
“a toast to wine!” Xiao Tong blurted out.
“So it was him. That boy has a very good foundation. He has the voice a young man should have, and his line delivery skills are very solid. His emotions are spot on, even I, standing outside the examination room, could hear him clearly. Hey? Is he handsome?”
Fu Lulu had wanted to find this male student earlier, she waited and looked around outside the examination room, but couldn’t recognize who he was.
Xiao Tong glanced at her parents, then, like a thief, whispered softly:
“He’s quite handsome, and very tall, with a great demeanor…”
“Xiao Tong, why are you shy? Don’t be embarrassed~”
Fu Lulu teased her in a low voice.
Xiao Tong’s ears were slightly red. Her family was very strict with her; she wasn’t even allowed to have kissing scenes with male actors in films, especially her father, who demanded that Xiao Tong absolutely not date before college. So she didn’t dare to talk about other boys in front of her family.
“Aunt Fu, are you looking for him? I can pass on a message for you next time I see him at the exam?”
“No need, Xiao Tong. You and Uncle and Auntie go to Director Zhang’s studio first; I’ll be there shortly.”
Fu Lulu was very interested in the dark horse handsome guy Xiao Tong mentioned. She was worried about other agencies snatching him up, and since the morning exam was over, she wanted to use her connections to inquire about this male student from the examiners…
“Ah? Okay…”
Xiao Tong stood rooted to the spot.
She had thought Aunt Fu came to pick her up personally.
It seemed she had indeed been overthinking it!