Acting Out of Character (GL) - Chapter 2

The following morning, Chen Ge arrived at the company early. Before she even stepped through the door, she heard someone crying.

The wailing was heart-wrenching, rising and falling in dramatic waves. It was so loud that employees from the company at the far end of the hallway kept sticking their heads out to peek.

Chen Ge entered the office and saw Sister Si and several people from the Film and Television Department surrounding their colleague, Xiao Mao.

Xiao Mao was the one howling like a ghost.

Chen Ge walked over and asked Sister Si, “What’s going on?”

Sister Si’s face was still flushed. She had just finished giving Xiao Mao a severe dressing-down and hadn’t quite recovered from the adrenaline.

Sister Si had no intention of saving face for Xiao Mao; she wanted the entire company to take this as a warning. “You tell everyone why I’m scolding you!” Sister Si pointed at Xiao Mao. “Go on, say it! Tell them so Chen Ge can have her eyes opened, too.”

Xiao Mao had made such a racket that she was practically hyperventilating, yet not a single tear had actually fallen. Snapped at by Sister Si, she fired back with some heat:

“Wasn’t I just trying to fight for an opportunity for myself?! Who doesn’t want to be in one of Teacher Luo’s projects?”

Teacher Luo?

Chen Ge was startled. Is it the Teacher Luo I’m thinking of?

Sister Si let out a sharp “Ha!” “So your ambitions are that lofty? Trying to fly before you can walk? It’s true everyone wants to be in Teacher Luo’s projects—that’s beyond reproach. If you have the drive, the company will do its best to arrange it for you. But you? You didn’t say a word, didn’t give me a heads-up, and just ran over to Teacher Luo’s place to put on a damn performance!”

Chen Ge tried to soothe Sister Si. “Isn’t self-recommendation a good thing? It shows Xiao Mao is proactive about her career. Maybe Teacher Luo saw how hard she worked for a role and felt a resonance? Maybe she’ll actually give her a chance.”

Sister Si gave a heavy, sarcastic laugh. “Come on, Xiao Mao—my great ancestor, my lord and master—tell them yourself. Reenact what you told me when I picked you up this morning. Let everyone know exactly what kind of world-shaking feat you accomplished.”

Sitting in the chair under the gaze of the entire office, Xiao Mao wiped her tearless eyes and stood up with a “swish.”

“Fine, I’ll say it! I’m responsible for my own actions! It’s not like Luo Jingyi will blacklist all of White Horse Media just because I offended her personally, right?!”

Chen Ge became even more curious. What on earth had Xiao Mao done to make it sound so dire?

Xiao Mao was a young actress the Film Department had signed at the beginning of the year. She had been in one web drama; though not the lead, her character was likable. Her acting was a bit exaggerated, but she had managed to gain a following.

Perhaps the fans’ constant “rainbow farts” on Weibo had gone to her head, giving her the grand delusion that her acting was top-tier. She had set her sights directly on the new movie by gold-medal screenwriter Luo Jingyi.

Previously, Xiao Mao had overheard Sister Si mention that Luo Jingyi’s new project, Minor’s Last Wish, was currently scouting for a female lead. Teacher Luo had looked at all the popular young starlets in the industry and wasn’t satisfied with any of them. The lead role remained vacant because she insisted on waiting for the perfect fit.

This was consistent with Luo Jingyi’s style: a relentless pursuit of perfection.

Xiao Mao was tempted. After reading the character summary, she felt the lead role was tailor-made for her. She could do it! If she were chosen by Teacher Luo, what would she ever have to worry about in her future career?

Luo Jingyi was a legend in the modern film industry.

Ten years ago, she was the star student of the Theater, Film, and Literature department at a top arts university. Ten years later, she had become the most influential gold-medal screenwriter. Teacher Luo was truly formidable—she won awards left and right for her arthouse films, and her commercial films had grossed over 10 billion at the box office.

She was held in extremely high regard. Even the most nitpicky critics called her a rare, genius-level writer. Her last film swept the National Day box office, making everyone involved—investors, crew, distributors—filthy rich.

Currently, several major companies were begging her for scripts. If she provided the script, she could hand-pick the director, actors, cinematographers, and post-production team; the investors would foot the bill regardless.

Now that she was meticulously polishing Minor’s Last Wish, many companies were itching to recommend their own talents. But after several rounds of auditions, Luo Jingyi remained unsatisfied. Especially for the female lead—she rejected them one after another.

In other crews, the producer and director have the final say. But in a crew with Teacher Luo, she was the absolute core. She decided who stayed and who was kicked out.

Luo Jingyi kept a very low profile and never appeared in mainstream media, making her quite mysterious to the public. Her looks and age were unknown, but her notorious temper was famous far and wide.

Word was that Luo Jingyi was incredibly difficult. She was a germaphobe, nitpicky, and demanded perfection in every detail of work. Her personal life was no different; her scheduling assistants would faint from exhaustion once a month, and she went through a dozen personal assistants a year. Rumor had it her last personal assistant resigned last month, and so far, no one dared to apply for the job.

Luo Jingyi’s life motto was to never wrong herself or her work. Because of her supreme status, she never felt the need to restrain her bad temper. The people she hated most were unprofessional people. She would scold and lash out without hesitation.

And yet, into the presence of this “Grand Empress” who was treated like royalty wherever she went, Xiao Mao had barged in without an appointment, demanding an audition.

This morning, before 9:00 AM, Sister Si had received a call from Xiao Mao. After hearing what happened, her lungs nearly burst with rage. After a round of wailing on the other end, Sister Si didn’t offer any comfort; instead, she let out a barrage of insults:

“Are you insane?! You went to find Teacher Luo yourself?! Who taught you to do that?! Do you want to lose your career? What happened next… f*ck, I knew it! What can I even say about you? Aside from making your own disastrous decisions, what can you actually do?! Where are you now… fine, stay right there. I’m coming to get you. Stop crying! Find somewhere hidden to duck into, don’t let anyone see you! Otherwise, you’re going to be famous for all the wrong reasons!”

After hanging up, Sister Si urged the driver to rush to the Yingdong Building on the East Fourth Ring Road. When she arrived, she searched the area and finally found Xiao Mao tucked away in a dark, cramped corner.

Xiao Mao was wearing a frog-green school uniform she’d gotten from who-knows-where, crouching in the shadows. Sister Si was nearly startled when she walked past.

“My lord, what are you doing?!”

“Didn’t you tell me to find a place where there are no people? There are fewer people here.”

“…Fine, it’s all my fault. Get in the car!”

Once Xiao Mao was in the car, Sister Si asked what exactly happened.

Xiao Mao said, “I wanted to fight for the lead in Teacher Luo’s new movie, so I came to try my luck.”

Sister Si: “And you just ran over here by yourself dressed like this? Why didn’t you tell me? I could have arranged it!”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to, Sister Si. Didn’t you try a dozen times for that role in Director Chen’s movie without success? I thought it would be better if I tried myself.”

“I…” Sister Si raised her hand, but chanting Buddhist scriptures in her head, she lowered it again. “So you just charged in to see Teacher Luo? Without an appointment? She actually saw you?”

“Her secretary told me to wait in the lounge, but I wanted to give her a surprise! So I snuck into Teacher Luo’s office. Wouldn’t it be powerful if she opened the door and saw a scene from her script come to life right before her eyes?”

“…You actually did that?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t you know Teacher Luo is famously difficult? It’s been stated a thousand times that her private space is off-limits. You actually dared to sneak into her office?!”

“I didn’t just go into her office. I sat directly in her chair and started crying! It’s a very dramatic scene from her new movie!”

“…Where did you get the audacity? And then what?”

Sister Si was actually getting scared listening to this. She knew all too well the level of Xiao Mao’s “crying acting”—it was just a raw, unrefined holler. Normally it was hard to get her to sing, but when she cried, her high notes were so piercing even a lead vocalist couldn’t hit them. It was pure demonic noise.

Xiao Mao: “Then, Teacher Luo walked in and saw me. She walked over, stared at me, and said one word.”

“What word?”

“Get out.”

Xiao Mao and Sister Si reenacted the morning’s events like a skit. When they finished, all the colleagues burst into laughter.

Sister Si pointed at them. “Fine, keep laughing. You guys don’t know Teacher Luo’s dog-like temper. She’s definitely furious this time. If she finds out you and Xiao Mao are from the same company, she’ll blacklist all of you!”

Chen Ge: “Teacher Luo does guilt-by-association?”

Sister Si glanced at her. “What do you think? I told you, Teacher Luo hates people who can’t act but try to fake it. Don’t I know Xiao Mao’s ‘possessed-by-a-ghost’ acting style? I don’t even need to see it; based on those ‘slaughtered pig’ wails she just made, she probably sounded exactly like that in front of Teacher Luo!”

Xiao Mao pouted.

“And she’s a germaphobe. Teacher Luo will sanitize her personal belongings if someone even accidentally touches them. But you? You sat in her chair wailing and making a scene. If I were Teacher Luo, I’d take a detour every time I saw someone from the same company as this idiot!”

Xiao Mao dared to talk back: “That’s just you being narrow-minded. Teacher Luo wouldn’t be like you.”

Sister Si: “I’ll f*cking slap you, believe it or not?”

Chen Ge quickly pulled Sister Si back, afraid she would actually tear Xiao Mao to pieces. “Don’t be angry, Sister Si. Business first. Didn’t you call me here for a meeting? Let’s have the meeting first.”

As she spoke, Chen Ge gave Xiao Mao a look, signaling her to run while she had the chance.

Sister Si did have a mountain of work today and couldn’t afford to waste more time. She tucked her laptop under one arm and pointed at Xiao Mao. “Stay put! You hear me?! If you really get blacklisted by Teacher Luo, no one can save you!”

Sister Si headed into the conference room. Before going in, Chen Ge secretly asked Xiao Mao: “You saw Teacher Luo in person? What does she look like?”

Xiao Mao: “Just an old witch.”

Chen Ge: “…”

In the conference room, Sister Si was sweating from anger. Chen Ge poured her some water. Knowing she didn’t like cold drinks, she specially mixed in some hot water. After a few sips of the lukewarm water, Sister Si calmed down slightly.

“Cool down, don’t lower yourself to a child’s level. You’ll ruin your own health,” Chen Ge advised.

Sister Si snorted. “What child? You’re only two months older than her! But you’re much less of a headache. Where’s Xiao Song? Xiao Song! Get in here for the meeting!”

Song Ruyu answered from outside, “Coming!”

Sister Si said to Chen Ge: “For this web variety show, the company plans for you and Xiao Song to form a ‘business CP’ (Couple).”

“Business CP?”

Sister Si was worried that as an actress, she didn’t understand fandom culture. “Do you know what ‘shipping a CP’ means?”

“Roughly. It’s pretending to be in a relationship.”

“Yeah, more or less. But to make the ‘fan service’ (sugar) feel more real so the fans ship it harder, you need personas and a fixed interaction style.”

Chen Ge didn’t expect shipping to be so technical. “Then what should I do?”

Just then, Song Ruyu entered. She tossed her high-end knockoff bag on the table and tilted her head forward, letting her sunglasses naturally slide down to reveal her eyes.

“You just need to act like you have a secret crush on me. You’re a serious actress—it shouldn’t be hard, right?”

“Secret crush?” Chen Ge felt this might be difficult. “…I’ve never experienced having a crush on a woman.”

Sister Si laughed. “Well, have you ever crushed on a man? It’s the same thing, just a different gender. Same-sex CPs are very popular right now.”

Chen Ge spoke the truth: “I’ve been ‘solo since birth.’ Men, women, secret, or open—I’ve never been in love.”

Song Ruyu sat down beside her and threw an arm around her neck. “Hey, you’re an actress! You don’t have to experience everything to act it out, right? Just hypnotize yourself. Convince yourself you really like me, and then just act extra attentive toward me in front of the camera.”

Chen Ge felt a bit uncomfortable. She didn’t like close physical contact with people, especially those she wasn’t close with. She instinctively leaned back slightly. “I’ll… give it a try.”

Sister Si said, “Xiao Song just came back from a survival show, so listen to her when it comes to the CP stuff. When the legal team arrives, we’ll go over the contracts with the production crew. I won’t be joining you on set; I really have to deal with this Xiao Mao situation. Take care of each other once you’re there. Director Feng of the crew is a nice person. She’s young and a woman; maybe you two will hit it off.”

Xiao Song asked curiously, “Deal with what? Are you actually trying to get Xiao Mao into Teacher Luo’s movie?”

Sister Si said exasperatedly, “How could we be worthy of Teacher Luo’s project?! Even if we stacked the acting talent and fame of everyone in our Film and Idol departments together, Teacher Luo wouldn’t give us a second glance, okay? You two have work, but I still have to squeeze Xiao Mao into some crew somewhere. I’m still thinking about my year-end bonus.”