Chapter 6

The director had temporarily grabbed several actresses over to audition, but none of them were suitable. He could not afford to delay the leads’ time, yet he also did not want to just make up the numbers by casually finding someone and ruining the Eldest Senior Sister, who was supposed to be as pure as ice in a jade pot and as clear as the autumn moon. Because of that, he had nearly scratched himself bald and still had not found the right person.

Sister Liu brought Xu Yi over. Before she could even introduce her to the director, the director’s eyes lit up when he saw Xu Yi. “You’re here to audition, right? Try acting out this part.”

The director shoved a freshly printed page of the script into her hands. Xu Yi skimmed through it rapidly, taking in ten lines at a glance.

“There is no sword.” Xu Yi handed that page back to the director and spoke in a cool, indifferent voice. The director froze for a moment, then called for the stage crew to bring over a prop sword.

The sword was delivered. Xu Yi held it in her hand and casually spun it in a sword flourish. The others did not react much, but the director excitedly slapped his thigh and shouted, “Good!”

That sudden shout made Xu Yi hesitate in her movements. For a moment, she did not know what she should do next.

The director stood to the side and had the crowd clear out. “Don’t be afraid. Be a little bolder. Keep going.”

Once the crowd dispersed, Xu Yi began dancing with the sword. Her figure was graceful and elegant, her swordplay nimble and fluid. Wherever the blade swept past, it stirred up currents of sword wind. It was already late morning, and the summer heat was at its fiercest, yet the onlookers felt a chill run through their hearts.

This scene took place on the eve of the great war between immortals and demons. This righteous path leader was dancing with her sword beneath the moon to honor an old friend.

When Xu Yi finished her final move, she instinctively wanted to withdraw her natal sword and merge it back into her body. Only when spiritual energy stirred faintly did she react. What she [bailiantales.com]held was not her natal sword, but a prop from the production crew. Because of that, she also realized that she was currently acting.

Putting away the sword, Xu Yi followed what was written in the script and gazed into the distance at a blood moon stained with demonic energy. “In this battle, evil shall never prevail over righteousness.”

The director’s eyes shone. Through Xu Yi, he saw the Eldest Senior Sister from the drama. He was so excited that he kept clapping. The people around him snapped back to their senses along with him, and thunderous applause erupted.

Xu Yi felt that she had probably succeeded in her application. She returned the prop in her hand to the stage crew member and said thank you in her cool, clear voice, directly making the man blush.

Liu Yuan could tell that Xu Yi had caught the director’s eye. Seeing how enthusiastic the director was, she knew that if this little girl wanted to make a living in this circle in the future, this could be considered a rare and excellent start.

“Director, my little sister isn’t bad, right?” Liu Yuan was even more attentive toward Xu Yi than before, with a few traces of warmth in her attitude. She helped Xu Yi discuss the contract and pay with the director, trying her best to secure a little more for her.

Director Ma was a rising newcomer in the directing world. Meeting Xu Yi had awakened his appreciation for talent. Seeing that even an old fox like Liu Yuan was praising Xu Yi to him, he felt even more certain that his eye was good.

“Then it’s settled. Once the contract is signed, we’ll shoot today.” Director Ma personally went to print the contract and bring it over.

Xu Yi held the pen and, somewhat unused to it, wrote her full name with a hard-tipped pen. Her handwriting was elegant and full of shape, with force that seemed to pierce through the paper.

Liu Yuan watched from the side with endless envy. The handwriting of the two little brats in her family looked like dogs had crawled across the page.

“All right, go get your makeup done. Once everyone arrives, we’ll shoot.” With one worry settled, Director Ma stolen contentsat in his special resting chair, held his thermos, and happily took a sip of goji berry tea. Then he suddenly shouted, “Have the people Hongsheng arranged arrived yet? Don’t tell me they’re putting on airs again.”

Someone in the crowd replied, “Director, Teacher Gu was the first to arrive.”

“Teacher Gu? Which Teacher Gu?” Director Ma answered himself. “Oh, Hongsheng’s little Yue. If she’s here, then I’m relieved. Everyone else, hurry up. Once the male and female leads arrive, we’ll start shooting.”

Liu Yuan sent Xu Yi to the dressing room. She still had other things to handle and could not stay with her the entire time, so after giving her a few reminders, she handed her over to the makeup artist.

“What skincare products do you usually use? Your skin is way too well maintained.” The makeup artist carefully studied her face and, for a moment, did not know where to begin. “I feel like your face doesn’t need makeup at all. I’ll just give you some lip color to improve your complexion.”

When the costume team delivered the Eldest Senior Sister’s immortal robes and had Xu Yi change into them, Xu Yi only discovered after putting them on that the clothes were a whole section too short.

The director came over and looked at her mismatched, awkward appearance. His brows twisted together, and he gritted his teeth with frustration. “This costume was custom-made according to the original actress. She’s 162 centimeters tall. Xiao Yi, how tall are you?”

“174.”

“Fuck.” Director Ma walked over to Xu Yi’s side and only then realized that Xu Yi was even a little taller than him. The original costume was now completely useless.

“Hurry and find a suitable set.” Ma Duocai was so anxious he nearly started cursing. Yesterday, that woman surnamed Zhang had refused to act, the male lead had taken leave because of diarrhea, and the little actress from Hongsheng had been filming multiple productions at once. She had looked down on his small crew and simply run off. Hongsheng had temporarily tried to patch things up by sending someone else over to him. If the person who came had not been Gu Yueyue, whom he had worked with many times before, he might have directly taken his anger out on the newcomer.

Today, the male lead’s health had recovered, and little Yue, whom he had worked with many times, had also [Read on BaiLianTales]arrived. Yet now, the costume had gone wrong too.

Gu Yueyue’s side was already ready. She was only waiting to go out and prepare for filming. Hearing the commotion outside, she asked Xiao Ye, “What happened?”

“It’s that role Zhang Shishi refused to act in, the Eldest Senior Sister. The director found a newcomer to play her, but their heights are too different, so the costume doesn’t fit. The director is having people look everywhere for a suitable costume.”

Gu Yueyue had seen Zhang Shishi’s height online before. Online, it was written as 171 centimeters, the same height as her. Just how tall was this new actress, then, that she could not wear the costume?

Xiao Ye saw Gu Yueyue’s confusion and smiled as she said, “Zhang Shishi faked all the body measurements she publicly released. How could she be 171? Even wearing high heels, she’s still a big section shorter when standing beside you, Sister. I heard she isn’t even 160 centimeters tall.”

“What about the newcomer? How tall is she?” Gu Yueyue was rather interested in this newcomer, because she had read the original novel before and had been quite interested in the role of the Eldest Senior Sister. Before, when she learned that Zhang Shishi would be playing the Eldest Senior Sister, she had been a little disappointed. Although Zhang Shishi’s acting was also decent, her appearance was truly far too different. Now that she had been replaced by a newcomer, Gu Yueyue’s expectations rose again.

“I don’t know. I only went out to throw away some trash. How would I know that much? But she looked very tall, taller than Director Ma. I’d estimate she’s somewhere over 1.7 meters. She’s really beautiful too. There isn’t any female celebrity in the circle who can compare. It’s just that wearing such a short costume made her look a little ridiculous.”

After Xiao Ye finished speaking, she then realized whose assistant she was after all. She smiled and said, “Of course, she definitely isn’t as pretty as our Sister Yueyue.”

“I’ll go out and take a look.” Gu Yueyue planned to go out, but Xiao Ye stopped her.

“Sister, why don’t you wait a bit before going out? We were temporarily arranged here by Hongsheng. I’m afraid Director Ma has some anger toward you in his heart. It’s a complete mess outside right now. What if you go out and end up getting caught in the crossfire?”

“Director Ma isn’t that kind of person.” Gu Yueyue defended Director Ma. She wanted [bailiantales.com]to go out and meet the newcomer, but coming toward her was the assistant director, who had brought over a mask.

When the assistant director saw Gu Yueyue, he immediately beamed with joy. It was only because Hongsheng had lost its mind and was deliberately targeting Gu Yueyue now. Otherwise, there was no way their small crew could have invited Gu Yueyue to play a supporting role. To put it nicely, she was a special guest star. In reality, Hongsheng was covering for the actress under their company who had caused trouble and had shoved Gu Yueyue over as an apology.

“Teacher Gu, the screenwriter’s side temporarily added a setting and arranged a mask for you. What do you think…”

Gu Yueyue looked at the exquisite black mask in his hand and felt somewhat tempted. She also felt that according to the description in the original novel, the leader of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance was definitely not simple. Later on, there might be other reversals. Adding a mask to push the sense of mystery to a climax actually suited the character very well.

Xiao Ye, however, was unhappy. “Assistant Director, is this the director’s intention? Our Sister Yueyue already doesn’t have many scenes, and now you’re adding a mask too. How is this any different from a stand-in actor who doesn’t show her face?”

The assistant director smiled like a Maitreya Buddha. He had long heard that Gu Yueyue was simple-minded and easy to talk to, but that the assistant beside her was like a little firecracker, especially troublesome and hard to fool. Looking at it today, it really was true.

“Nothing like that. It’s the investor’s intention. I know Teacher Gu has good acting skills and is beautiful too. But a special guest star isn’t the lead actor in the end. A green leaf can’t be prettier than the red flower, right? Isn’t that the logic?”

Gu Yueyue’s fondness for that mask instantly dropped to freezing point. She reached out and accepted it, then spoke in a normal tone, neither happy nor angry.

“I understand. Assistant Director can rest assured.” Gu Yueyue took the mask and put it on, then looked at herself in the mirror. It suited the character’s setting very well, but she could no longer feel happy about it.

Seeing her mood sink, Xiao Ye tried every possible way to comfort her. But no matter what she said, Gu Yueyue still had the same expression. In the end, Xiao Ye persuaded her, “Sister, didn’t you want to see the newcomer? Do you want to go out and take a look?”

“I’m not going. Bring me my script. I’ll read through it again.” Gu Yueyue took off the mask and lifted her head slightly, forcing her tears back. If she cried now, she would only become a laughingstock.

Xiao Ye sat beside her and quietly cursed the investor. Then she began guessing, “Who is the backer trying to promote? Is it the female lead, or some other actress? This is way too bullying. What right do they have not to let you show your face, Sister?”

“That’s enough. Stop talking. Go out first. Let me be alone for a while.”

Xiao Ye went out unwillingly. Everyone she looked at annoyed her. Only after circling around the director’s side did she run back as if she had discovered some huge news.

“Sister, guess who I saw outside!”

Xiao Ye suddenly ran in excitedly, scattering Gu Yueyue’s faint sorrow. Following her words, Gu Yueyue asked, “Who?”

“Do you still remember the little girl we met when we were eating popsicles together a couple of days ago? The one playing the Eldest Senior Sister is her. I asked around. Her name is Xu Yi. She just came of age and is still a student. I heard she came here to earn tuition money. This is the first time I’ve seen someone come here for a summer part-time job.”

A lazy figure under the orange sunset, walking against the light.

The scene from that day surfaced in Gu Yueyue’s mind. Her heart stirred, and she stood up. “I’ll go out and take a look.”

Gu Yueyue walked to the door, then paused.

Xiao Ye asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Forget it. I’ll see her once filming starts.” Gu Yueyue went back and sat down again, picked up the script once more, and began reading it carefully. In the lounge, she used the mirror to start rehearsing.

For some reason, when they met again, she wanted to perform a little better. Gu Yueyue did not want any accidents to happen during filming later. At the very least, she could not be the one to drop the ball. Because her analysis of the script had become a little more thorough, she polished her acting with care, looking forward to a perfect performance later.

Xu Yi was on the director’s side reading the complete script. Beside her, the director got into an argument with the screenwriter. The director seemed to have lost the argument. So angry that he slapped the megaphone in his hand onto the table with a loud bang, he startled the nearby coworkers who were seriously working into a shudder.

“Investors, investors, all they know how to do is mess things up blindly. Once I have money, all those bastards who don’t know the rules can get the hell out.” Director Ma was so angry that he spoke without restraint, cursing the financial backers directly.

Xu Yi lifted her eyes to look at him and happened to meet Director Ma’s gaze.

Director Ma looked into the girl’s clean, bright eyes. For a moment, he did not know how to say some things aloud. After hesitating for a while, he said, “Xiao Yi, can you accept wearing a mask to perform?”

“?” Xu Yi looked at the director with a head full of confusion. “Then is acting skill no longer needed?” She was currently pondering how to control her facial expressions. Although the Eldest Senior Sister in the drama was a little cold by nature, she also had many moments of tenderness, so there were some requirements for facial expressions.

Director Ma sighed. “The screenwriter is afraid that since you’re a newcomer, your grasp of acting may not be enough. That’s why he wants to arrange a mask for you. It fits the character setting quite well, and it’ll make acting a bit easier for you too. What do you think?”

“Mm. Many thanks to the screenwriter.” Xu Yi felt that this screenwriter was extremely considerate. She had been worrying about what to do when she had no acting skills.

Author’s Note:

Miss Gu: Little fool. You wouldn’t even know if someone sold you off.

Xu Yi: Poor Miss Gu. She was sold off and is still counting money for the seller.

Two little pitiful ones. They’ll meet soon, and from now on, they’ll be able to squat in a corner and cry together.