Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 1253 - 1026: The More I Think About It, The More Something Feels Off - Part 2

Chapter 1253: Chapter 1026: The More I Think About It, The More Something Feels Off - Part 2

Everyone said so, and what more could Donia hesitate about? She nodded vigorously, "Alright then, I’ll give it a try!"

Seeing Donia agree, Kirilenko smiled even happier than she did...

"Here is the part of the script that contains your role, Miss Donia. You can take it home to look it over, get familiar, and try to memorize all of your character’s lines. Once the crew is ready, we will notify you to join the team, and by that time you might need to take a month or two off. That won’t be a problem for the school..."

After giving instructions, he then had Donia sign an agreement, which was a preliminary expression of their intent to cooperate.

While signing the agreement, Donia sneakily glanced at her own compensation, and emblazoned in that section was "$1,000,000"—one million US dollars!

This price was truly not low!

At that time, luxury brand stars within Russia’s so-called entertainment industry, whether filming a TV series or a movie, likely couldn’t earn this much money...

Now Donia was only involved in a few episodes, but they offered her one million US dollars, highlighting the financial strength of the production crew!

Of course, it might just be that Donia’s salary was exceptionally high while the pay for other roles was only slightly above the normal market price. That, Donia did not know...

After sorting things out, Donia got up to say goodbye and leave; she had already been there for quite a while, and now that everything was settled, it seemed impolite to delay any longer. Outside, many students eagerly awaited their turn for the audition.

Just as she got up, she saw Lily looking pitifully at her with eyes full of pleading...

Donia immediately realized—she had gotten the role, but Lily hadn’t!

So, feeling a bit embarrassed, she bit the bullet and said to Kirilenko, "Um... Teacher, this is my friend Lily. Could you see if she fits the requirements for the production crew, what role would be best for her?"

Lily quickly added, "Any role is fine, I can do anything, even be an extra. Just being able to show my face would be great."

She dared not hope for a role like the second or third female lead; those were too far out of her reach!

Seeing Donia’s "luck," she couldn’t assume the same for herself. In this regard, Lily was quite self-aware...

Kirilenko seriously looked Lily over. The girl was not as pretty as Donia, but her image and temperament were quite good, and she was around Donia’s age.

He then responded with a smile, "There’s a supporting role that might suit you—the young Catherine, who was also of noble origin. She would have a maid very close to her, who will later accompany Catherine to join the Tsarist Russia Imperial Family. Like the main character, she will be present throughout the whole series.

Of course, this role will also have two phases, the younger and the adult years, and you will be featured in about the same number of episodes as Miss Donia—though your part is smaller, it’s still an important supporting role.

I wonder if Miss Lily finds this role interesting?"

Lily was certainly interested. Before coming, she had never imagined she could land such an important supporting role!

Initially, she only thought of joining the crowd and accompanying Donia, but now a huge opportunity had fallen right into her lap—how could she refuse?

Lily nodded repeatedly, "Of course, I’m definitely interested."

So, Kirilenko had a staff member nearby bring out another agreement, filled in the contents accordingly with the role’s specifics, the amount of screen time, and the time required, and then had Lily sign it.

Of course, Lily’s role couldn’t compare to Donia’s as it was just a maid, and for the most part, she would just stand by Catherine’s side to show her face with limited dialogue and scenes.

Thus, her compensation couldn’t match Donia’s, totaling only one hundred thousand US dollars.

But this already thrilled Lily beyond expectation—that was a hundred thousand US dollars!

In the past when she participated in ballet dramas, she mostly went unpaid, provided only with food and lodging. If there was any compensation, it was very little, just a couple thousand rubles, not even a hundred US dollars.

That was actually quite normal, given she was still a student, and the performances she participated in weren’t high profile; more often than not, they were just opportunities for her to practice.

......

After enthusiastically seeing Donia and Lily off, Kirilenko turned back and returned to the room.

However, he had already lost interest in the upcoming auditions. He briefly instructed his subordinates, politely declined the invitation for a dinner from the school personnel, then picked up his briefcase and went straight to the parking lot, got into his car, and planned to leave the dance academy to return to the TV station.

But before leaving, he made a phone call.

"Station Chief, the matter has been taken care of. Miss Donia has already signed the agreement, the role is that of the young Catherine...

Yes, I met her in person. Her appearance and demeanor are indeed very suitable for the role.

Oh, Miss Donia also has a good friend who wanted to join the cast, so I randomly chose a maid role for her...

Alright, I understand. I’m heading back to the TV station now."

After finishing the call, Kirilenko started his car and sped away from the dance academy, driving towards NTV Television Station.

Donia and Lily might never have guessed that the reason the crew had set up an audition site at the dance academy was specifically for Donia!

If it wasn’t for Donia studying there, the crew probably wouldn’t have held any auditions at that place at all.

As for the numerous students who auditioned in that brief moment, they were doomed to return in vain since the crew never intended to select any other roles from there!

Kirilenko’s task today was only one thing—to meet with Donia, get her to agree to play the part, and then have her sign the agreement.

As for the role given to Lily, that was just a favor done for Donia’s sake...

Of course, the TV station’s treatment of Donia was not because of her exceptional talent or fame but simply because Wang Ye had mentioned her to Xie Liaofu...

Sometimes a big shot’s casual remark can change an ordinary person’s destiny, granting you resources and opportunities beyond your wildest dreams!

However, Wang Ye’s massive investment in producing a major drama wasn’t mainly to boost Donia’s career but genuinely for cultural confidence and cultural exportation, merely giving Donia a chance by the way.

Moreover, he was also worried that Xie Liaofu might misunderstand his intentions and actually give the lead role to Donia, so he specifically instructed that giving Donia a major supporting role would suffice, one that did not require too much screen time...

Because he had previously told Donia that wanting to be an actor was fine, but entering a big drama production, she should avoid those chaotic, low-tier drama crews.

Thus today’s scene was set.

Since Xie Liaofu, as the head of the TV station, naturally couldn’t personally come to the dance academy, he sent his trusted aide Kirilenko to handle the matter.

To avoid any unnecessary trouble, an audition was specially arranged at the dance academy.

However, it was clear that the purpose of this audition was merely to find a plausible reason to meet Donia and offer her the role.

The other students who registered for the audition did not know that they were merely "denominators" in this scenario, destined not to get any real opportunity, serving only as a background to highlight the sole "numerator"—Donia...

Oh, Lily was an exception; she too benefited from Donia’s influence, but her role was just a minor supporting one, not affecting much.

......

After Donia and Lily returned, they initially felt excited, but the more they thought about it, the more they sensed something was amiss.

Because the opportunity had come too easily. Upon entering, there were no displays of talent nor any assessment of acting skills. The person in charge had just directly brought out the contract, and from his words, he even seemed to fear Donia might not be satisfied...

That seemed a bit abnormal!