Chapter 14

The moment Yu Shan stepped into the studio, she spotted Leng Xiang standing there.

What a narrow path for enemies—this saying was spot on.

These past few nights, she had been obsessing over what happened at Black Pool Bar, still nursing a grudge from the two slaps Leng Xiang had given her. She was determined to find an opportunity to pay her back and wash away the humiliation one day.

Yu Shan curved her lips. Well, speak of the devil, here was her chance?

Yu Shan was the confirmed second female lead for this harem drama, and the audition was just a formality. Besides, the chief director of the TV series was watching from inside the studio, so she had to put on a bit of a show for him.

Performing alone felt a little flat, and the third female lead and second female lead had a ton of opposing scenes. She acted cute and asked the chief director if they could borrow someone from the neighboring studio.

The chief director didn’t think twice and agreed.

The casting director saw this little ancestor walk in and wanted to introduce Leng Xiang to her, but he caught the eye contact between Yu Shan and Leng Xiang—sparks flew.

Yu Shan had connections higher up; he was just a lowly casting director, not even an assistant director. How could he dare offend her? He stood to the side, not daring to make a sound.

Yu Shan sneered coldly. “What a coincidence, Sister Leng Xiang. Which third-female-lead role are you auditioning for? Maid No. 1 or Maid No. 2?”

Leng Xiang glanced at her and said, “No. 1.”

Yu Shan replied, “Perfect then. We need Maid No. 1 for a scene partner. Have you selected her yet over here?”

The casting director chimed in from the side. “We just did—it’s her.”

Yu Shan didn’t even glance at the casting director, staring straight into Leng Xiang’s eyes with naked provocation. “I know. Sister Leng Xiang, you were a Best Actress winner back in the day. If you can’t even land this role, wouldn’t that be the biggest joke ever?”

The casting director and the other two newbie auditionees looked at Leng Xiang in surprise.

Leng Xiang’s Best Actress-winning film Farewell was a critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful art house movie—not many people had seen it. Besides, the Golden Deer Awards handed out a Best Film Actress every year, and over more than a decade, aside from the mythical national goddess Song Limo, there were over a dozen actresses who’d claimed that honor. After being shelved for so many years, who would even remember her glory days?

Yu Shan looked at her maliciously and provocatively. A former Best Actress reduced to this—how would others react? And someone as proud as Leng Xiang, how would she handle this?

Leng Xiang showed no reaction, saying calmly, “Didn’t you come over to find someone to act opposite you?”

“I remember the second female lead is this stunning, venomous beauty—tall and with an aura that can’t be outshone.”

Leng Xiang sized Yu Shan up and down. Yu Shan felt utterly uncomfortable under that gaze and glared at her. “What do you mean by that?”

Leng Xiang looked at her shoes and withdrew her gaze. “Nothing much. Your shoes today must be at least fifteen centimeters high, right?”

The studio fell deathly silent until the newbie from Xiao Shi Entertainment—who had just auditioned for Maid No. 1—burst out laughing first, breaking the hush.

Yu Shan trembled with rage. She’d already been humiliated by Leng Xiang once at Black Pool, and now publicly again, with people watching—no less. She couldn’t even hit back.

Starting from that first uncontrollable laugh, the entire studio erupted in laughter—even the casting director, who hadn’t dared speak earlier, chuckled quietly.

Yu Shan’s pointing finger shook as she stomped her foot and stormed out.

Leng Xiang followed Yu Shan out. Before leaving, she received encouraging looks from the two newbies who’d auditioned for the third-female-lead roles, tinged with a bit of envy and admiration. Leng Xiang paused, smiled at them, and waved.

Leng Xiang followed Yu Shan to the neighboring studio, where the chief director was also watching, with several female actors waiting nearby.

Though the so-called audition was just a formality, they still needed a few other actors to make it look real.

The chief director was named Yu—brilliant and sharp, not yet forty, but already completely bald, wearing glasses and exuding a scholarly air.

The chief director watched as Yu Shan and Leng Xiang walked in together.

In that instant, Yu Shan’s furious expression turned obedient and sweet. Leng Xiang trailed slowly behind and heard Yu Shan introduce her to the chief director. “This is Maid No. 1 from next door—Leng Xiang. Her acting is great, and she’s a former Best Actress winner.”

Leng Xiang raised an eyebrow behind her. Here we go again.

Yu Shan wasn’t being kind enough to praise her in front of the chief director. Sure enough, the chief director looked up at Leng Xiang in mild surprise, sizing her up several times before nodding reservedly and saying politely, “A former Best Actress playing a maid? That’s a bit of a waste.”

Yu Shan fanned the flames from the side. “Exactly. Sister Leng Xiang had no choice. A few years ago, she had a falling out with Excellence Media and couldn’t get any good roles after that. Director, you know about that incident, right?”

This brilliant director furrowed his brow, vaguely recalling something from years back, but it was too distant—he couldn’t quite remember.

Leng Xiang knew exactly what Yu Shan was up to. Though years had passed and her scandal had faded from memory, it was absolutely not something she wanted this director to know about now.

Yu Shan was doing this on purpose.

The chief director couldn’t recall much and didn’t bother digging deeper. He waved a hand. “Let’s do the audition first.”

The audition script was a simple probing scene: Maid No. 1, on the female lead’s orders, delivered something to the then-pregnant second-female-lead consort. The consort probed her with loaded words, but Maid No. 1 remained unmoved. Finally, unable to sway the female lead’s closest confidante, the consort’s expression shifted from eager hospitality to impatience, and she dismissed Maid No. 1.

The scene wasn’t hard, but it had a lot of dialogue with Maid No. 1, so performing it solo would mess up the pacing—which was why Yu Shan had suggested borrowing the conveniently auditioning Maid No. 1.

Yu Shan was unsatisfied that the chief director brushed off Leng Xiang’s past scandal without a second thought. Her eyes swept over Leng Xiang, and a new scheme formed. “Director Yu, I think this audition scene is kinda boring. How about we switch to a different one?”

The chief director had been flipping through the script and looked up. “Which one?”

Yu Shan said, “I think the scene where Maid No. 1 later defects and pledges loyalty to the consort is pretty good.”

In that scene, after the female lead sent Maid No. 1 to check on the pregnant consort and she rejected the consort’s overtures, the female lead later fell into dire straits. Maid No. 1 feigned defection to the consort, buying the female lead a slim chance at survival.

In the scene Yu Shan suggested, Maid No. 1 pulled out all the stops in her fake pledge to convince the consort to accept the traitorous maid.

Either way, Leng Xiang’s Maid No. 1 wouldn’t come out looking good in it.

Yu Shan pressed on. “This scene has real conflict and flair, don’t you think?”

The chief director looked at Leng Xiang. “What do you think?”

Leng Xiang had only learned about the audition around noon and rushed over just before two in the afternoon. She’d only skimmed the marked section for today’s tryout; she hadn’t looked at anything else. She had no idea of the specifics of that scene. When the chief director turned to her and asked what she thought—essentially, if she could handle it—she nodded. “No problem for me.”

Yu Shan flashed a triumphant smile.

The chief director saw they both agreed, so he had the actresses auditioning for second female lead familiarize themselves with the script and prepare. They’d start in twenty minutes.

Leng Xiang sat to the side, flipping through the script to the newly changed audition section. Only then did she understand Yu Shan’s real scheme.

The scene included the consort slapping Maid No. 1 several times.

The consort looked at the defecting Maid No. 1, recalling how neatly she’d rejected her overtures last time.

And now? She knelt before her, begging for shelter. In high spirits, the consort lifted Maid No. 1’s face and slapped her twice.

Leng Xiang sneered coldly. Wasn’t Yu Shan just trying to get revenge for last night at Black Pool Bar?