Chapter 15

There were two other actresses who accompanied them for the walk-through audition for the second female lead.

One was Pei Shuang from Gu Chuan Entertainment. She was beautiful and had been promoted for a while. She had made headlines with scandalous rumors, appeared on variety shows, and starred in hit TV dramas, but no matter what, she just couldn’t become popular.

Fortunately, she herself was quite laid-back and didn’t care much about fame. As long as she had food on the table, she was fine.

The other was Lu Rui from Excellence Media.

Leng Xiang felt that she looked a bit familiar; she seemed to be one of the people Shen Cheng had brought along. This time, Yu Shan had called her over just to help out and go through the motions.

This segment of the second female lead’s audition started with Pei Shuang and Lu Rui. Both knew they were just there for a walk-through, so they performed casually. If they acted too seriously, they might outshine the predetermined second female lead, which would put the chief director in a difficult spot.

Pei Shuang and Lu Rui performed adequately, and Leng Xiang matched them just as adequately, following the script’s flow.

When it came to the part where the noble consort slapped Servant Girl No. 1 twice, Pei Shuang’s hand merely brushed lightly across Leng Xiang’s face. She didn’t even know Leng Xiang, so there was no reason to actually hit her.

Lu Rui didn’t even bother with the final slapping scene. After all, she was just there to help out; it didn’t matter if she did it or not.

The chief director didn’t say much about their unprofessional attitudes. Everyone knew what was going on.

The finale, of course, was Yu Shan.

Leng Xiang recited her lines back and forth twice; they came to her mouth effortlessly.

In this scene, Servant Girl No. 1 had twelve lines. She glanced at them and knew she could memorize them flawlessly within five minutes.

Yu Shan had slightly more lines—fourteen in total. Even if she had started memorizing them during the preparation time, she should have been able to get them down. But Yu Shan seemed to struggle even with her lines, stumbling a bit and even changing some words on the fly.

Leng Xiang knew Yu Shan was a vase—pretty but empty-headed.

It was said that three months ago, in Jiang Sisi’s crew, Yu Shan had been scolded until she couldn’t hold her head up. Jiang Sisi’s half-smiling remark, “You’re so pretty, so why don’t you use your brain?” had nearly made her cry. She trembled at the sight of Jiang Sisi.

Leng Xiang hadn’t planned to mess with her at first, but hearing this piqued her interest. She casually changed a few words, slightly altering her lines.

Sure enough, Yu Shan delivered her lines even more stiffly, struggling to keep up with Leng Xiang’s performance.

Finally, they reached the slapping scene at the end. Yu Shan relaxed with a breath of relief when they got there.

The twenty minutes of preparation time hadn’t been enough for her. She was more familiar with the original audition segment, but she had changed the script at the last minute to get revenge.

Compared to Leng Xiang, though, her acting looked utterly ridiculous—even worse than Pei Shuang’s.

No matter what, Leng Xiang was right there in front of her now, her expression full of fear and trepidation. The next moment, she would slap this woman twice.

Her boyfriend, Qin Wen, still couldn’t forget Leng Xiang. She knew she had latched onto him, and they had already slept together, but Qin Wen had never truly seen her.

His eyes still held the shadow of Leng Xiang.

Why?

The more Yu Shan thought about it, the more twisted her face became. Her expression had long since veered out of acting territory into something grotesque.

At this point, the noble consort should slap with a disdainful, condescending gaze, full of scorn and pity—but Yu Shan played it like bitter vengeance achieved.

Yu Shan was blinded by rage, and even the chief director frowned at that moment.

Yu Shan’s slap whistled through the air. In that instant, Leng Xiang dropped all pretense of acting. She calmly leaned back, easily dodging the swing.

The sound of the hand cutting through the air was frighteningly loud. Anyone with eyes could see how much force Yu Shan had put into it. If it had landed on flesh, it would have left a swollen mark.

The scene fell silent once more.

Pei Shuang and Lu Rui stood by, too shocked to make a sound as they watched it unfold.

Yu Shan’s first slap missed, and she froze on the spot. When she snapped out of it, she was furious and wanted to swing again.

By then, the chief director had already stood up from the chair. “Alright, the audition is over. Everyone, go back and wait for the notice.”

Leng Xiang didn’t even glance at Yu Shan.

Completely ignored, Yu Shan flew into a mad rage. She pointed at Leng Xiang and said, “Director Yu, I demand a re-audition! She didn’t even finish the scene just now—she has no basic professionalism as an actress!”

She had tried to use the audition for revenge, yet accused others of lacking professionalism.

Leng Xiang laughed despite herself and patiently said to her, “You’re the one auditioning today. I’m just here to support your scene. Whether it goes well or not depends on you.”

She thought for a moment and added, “You should practice more.”

Leng Xiang’s words were sincere and straightforward, but every one stung Yu Shan like she wanted to claw her face off.

So what if your acting is good? You’re still just supporting me as the third female lead.

You can’t even secure a script. In this industry, survival is the rule. What gives you the right to be so arrogant?

Yu Shan’s anger boiled over; she trembled all over. For a moment, she forgot where she was and who was around.

From last night until now, she hadn’t gotten the upper hand against this woman once. Yesterday, Jiang Sisi had protected her, and she feared Jiang Sisi, so she hadn’t dared do more. But now? Leng Xiang was alone and vulnerable. Rumor had it that this third female lead role was barely secured with Shen Cheng’s help. What right did she have to mock her here?

Yu Shan sneered coldly. “Excellence Media has had it out for you for a long time. You took this role privately, bypassing them, right? If Excellence Media finds out, can you afford the breach penalty?”

Her face was terrifyingly contorted, her voice growing shriller. “You dare show up for this audition—what the hell are you?”

Leng Xiang smiled and turned to look at her.

“This is a hot IP drama that’s bound to explode,” Leng Xiang said. “With your trash-tier acting, how many backdoor connections did you pull to squeeze yourself into this crew as the second female lead?”

The words landed, and not just Yu Shan—everyone around had wonderfully colorful expressions on their faces.

Yu Shan pointed at her, lips quivering, unable to utter a word.

Once, a big V on Weibo had commented on Leng Xiang: beautiful and skilled in acting, but unyielding, with a spine taller than the heavens—doomed not to last in the industry.

Leng Xiang had replied with one word: Scram.

Director Yu watched the farce, exhausted, and prepared to head back to rest. Before leaving, though, he patted Leng Xiang’s shoulder.

Truth be told, without the investor’s say-so, no one wanted an actress like Yu Shan.

She would ruin the entire crew’s hard work.

The audition area was near the entrance to the studio, and the door wasn’t closed. People came and went outside.

Jiang Sisi leaned against the doorframe, a faint smile playing on her lips. “What’s all this noise? I could hear you from way over there.”

Jiang Sisi’s gaze swept over everyone before settling on Leng Xiang.

The moment Leng Xiang recognized who it was, she suddenly had the urge to turn and leave.

She could face Yu Shan’s cold mockery, the complicated looks from others—even years ago, when she was trashed online relentlessly, she had faced the mindless abuse without flinching.

She could humble herself to audition for this third female lead because it was her last shot at a role. She loved acting and didn’t want to leave the industry. She would seize any opportunity, no matter what.

But Jiang Sisi was the one person she didn’t want to see.

Leng Xiang wanted to bolt, but she felt nailed to the spot, unable to move.

The woman she had woken up next to that very morning stood at the door, watching her, slowly walking toward her. Their eyes met through the air, drawing closer and closer.

Jiang Sisi’s hand rested on her waist, possessively pulling her close.

Jiang Sisi looked at the chief director and smiled. “So, what exactly happened here?”