Chapter 12

Leng Xiang returned to Shen Cheng’s place.

Shen Cheng lived alone in an apartment on the fourth ring road of B City. It was a three-bedroom, two-living-room unit, more than spacious enough for two people. With nowhere else to stay, Leng Xiang had been given one of the guest rooms that Shen Cheng had tidied up for her.

As soon as Leng Xiang stepped through the door, she saw Shen Cheng sitting on the sofa, talking on the phone. Her voice was loud, laced with anxiety and irritation, as if she were yelling at the person on the other end. She hadn’t even noticed the movement at the entryway.

Leng Xiang had never seen Shen Cheng lose her temper before. In her mind, Shen Cheng was always steady and composed, handling any situation with ease. There was hardly anything that could stump this ace manager.

Leng Xiang was just about to greet her when Shen Cheng finally heard the noise from the entryway. She turned her head, and their eyes met.

The raging fury in Shen Cheng’s eyes seemed to be doused by a bucket of cold water the instant she saw Leng Xiang. She reverted to her usual calm demeanor, her voice normalizing as she said a few more words to the person on the phone before hanging up.

Leng Xiang changed her shoes at the entryway and sat down beside her. “What happened?”

Shen Cheng tossed her phone aside. “You’re asking me what happened? My little ancestor, where did you go last night? Do you know I was going crazy looking for you?”

Leng Xiang pulled out her phone from her pocket. “…The battery died.”

She plugged the phone into the charger. The moment it powered on, it nearly crashed under the flood of missed calls and texts.

All from Shen Cheng.

Leng Xiang: “…”

Feeling a pang of guilt, Leng Xiang explained, “Something came up last night, so I didn’t come back.”

Shen Cheng asked, “What happened?”

Leng Xiang stared at her phone screen. “I had too much to drink. The bar staff got me a room upstairs, and I just slept there.”

Shen Cheng scanned her from head to toe. Leng Xiang knew there were still some red marks on her neck, but she’d carefully brushed her hair over them before coming in, hoping Shen Cheng wouldn’t notice.

Shen Cheng looked her over for a long time. Apart from the serious dark circles under her eyes and the skirt that had inexplicably been shortened—Leng Xiang explained it got torn during some dancing, so she ripped off the rest—there was nothing unusual. With that, Shen Cheng finally relaxed completely.

Grabbing her bag, Shen Cheng prepared to head out. “Since you’re back, I’m off to work.”

She added, “I’ve lined up an audition for you this afternoon. Get ready; I’ll send you the address later.”

Standing at the entryway, Shen Cheng instructed her, “Do your best at the audition. It’s just the third female lead, but it’s a great role with a lot of competition. Seize the opportunity.”

The jobs Shen Cheng lined up for her were always solid.

Leng Xiang had been examining the faint red mark on her collarbone, wondering when it would fade, when Shen Cheng suddenly turned back. She quickly covered it with her hair.

Seeing her fiddling with her hair even now, Shen Cheng felt a mix of exasperation and frustration. She called out, “Are you listening?!”

Leng Xiang shouted back loudly, “Got it!”

Only then did Shen Cheng leave, satisfied.

Leng Xiang let out a secret sigh of relief and retreated to her room. She took a shower first.

She hadn’t realized it before, but seeing it now was a real shock.

Her skin was fair and thin, bruising easily at the slightest touch. After last night’s ordeal, the marks hadn’t faded much. Large patches of red and purple marred her pale skin. As she ran her fingers along her back during the shower, a hidden sting followed, and she couldn’t even see the marks on her back clearly, but they certainly weren’t pretty.

Frustrated by the sight, Leng Xiang stopped looking. After her shower, she changed into pajamas and stepped out of the bathroom. Passing by Shen Cheng’s study, she noticed the light was still on and turned it off for her.

Shen Cheng usually remembered to turn off the study light, but not today. She must have sat there all night, working while waiting for Leng Xiang to return—waiting an entire night.

Deep down, Leng Xiang knew Shen Cheng was genuinely good to her.

Shen Cheng rarely said words of care or concern, but whenever something came up, she was always the first to step forward and help.

Shen Cheng had used her own connections to secure jobs for her, including yesterday’s appearance on Voice of the Heart and the role she was auditioning for that afternoon.

Because Excellence Media was pulling strings behind the scenes, she couldn’t land any major gigs—not variety shows or roles in big movies or dramas. But something niche like the midnight slot of Voice of the Heart? Excellence Media turned a blind eye.

Take this afternoon’s third female lead, for example. No matter how good the role, it was still just third lead.

But it was her only shot.

·

Soon after, Shen Cheng sent her the audition address via text. Leng Xiang made herself some brunch and memorized the location.

At exactly two o’clock in the afternoon, Leng Xiang arrived at the audition venue.

Auditions started at two-thirty, and they weren’t just for this one third female lead role. There was also the second female lead and another third female lead—three roles in total, all scheduled for that afternoon.

The venue was a studio inside the TV station. It was a medium-sized space, but cramming three roles’ worth of auditions drew a big crowd.

Eventually, space ran out, and the second female lead auditions were moved to the neighboring studio, leaving the two third female lead roles in this one.

It was for a TV drama.

Leng Xiang had never been fond of shooting TV dramas. They demanded less from an actor’s skills but took forever. A forty-minute episode could be churned out in three days, scenes flashing by like a montage. If the actors slacked, so did the director. The dialogue was padded, lacking the precision and quality of films.

But she had no choice now.

This was a harem drama, with a clichéd plot: the female lead entered the palace as a low consort, climbed all the way to empress, scheming against the other palace women in endless intrigue, while charming side characters like the imperial physician prince and others. In the end, she offed the emperor and became the empress regnant herself.

The main storyline was utterly trope-y, but the female lead was played by the hot A-list star Su Yu. Adapted from a massively popular IP, the heroine was smart enough to deliver real satisfaction. With all the online hype and buzz, the drama was destined to be a hit.

That was why Shen Cheng had her auditioning for it.

Leng Xiang had been out of the spotlight for years; most audiences had forgotten her face. To reconnect with viewers, TV dramas were the way to go.

The second female lead was the female protagonist’s ultimate big bad boss in the whole series. These two third leads were actually the protagonist’s personal maids.

Maid No. 1’s fate: When the protagonist was framed by the second female lead and locked in the cold palace, she pretended to submit to the second lead, snuck out to tip off the emperor, but got caught. The second lead tortured her to death.

Her screen time rivaled the second lead’s, with tons of rival scenes opposite both her and the protagonist. Plus, her tragic end would win audience sympathy—very audience-friendly.

Besides Leng Xiang, there were two others vying for this role: three candidates lined up side by side.

The casting director for this drama stood before them, scrutinizing all three for a full five minutes.

The other two were rookies pushed by their agencies—one from Linglong Films, one from Xiao Shi Entertainment. Leng Xiang was the last.

The two newbies tensed under the director’s gaze, but Leng Xiang remained expressionless.

The casting director started from the left, asking the Linglong Films newbie a few questions and nodding in satisfaction. He did the same with the Xiao Shi Entertainment newbie, nodding again. Finally, he reached Leng Xiang. He paused, looking her up and down for a good while, his gaze a mix of regret and admiration.

He suddenly spoke. “I think… you’re not quite right for this role.”