My Fortune-Blessed Leading Lady
Chapter 441: Audition Flap

Chapter 441: Chapter 441: Audition Flap

On the day of the "City of Temptation" auditions, Yuran was a bit unlucky as she ran into Xia Ruyan, who had come to audition as well.

This was the first proper face-to-face meeting between the two, and in fact, Yuran did not recognize Xia Ruyan at first—it was Annan who reminded her on the side.

The two met in the elevator area on the ground floor of the Huanya building; Xia Ruyan’s assistant was holding her purse, a limited edition.

Yuran, on the other hand, was empty-handed, with her phone in Annan’s possession.

Xia Ruyan recognized Yuran immediately—the one who opposed her at every turn. She knew that Yuran was the orphan of the Yu Family, an orphan, yet so brazen and reckless.

It wasn’t hard for her to guess that someone was backing Yuran, the Bo Family.

But what she wasn’t sure about was Yuran’s status within the Bo Family.

If Yuran knew what she was thinking, she would have greeted it with a laugh. With her current popularity and standing within the Bo Family, what do you think?

Annan had no desire to befriend someone like Xia Ruyan. Although there were only four people in the elevator, the silence was awkward.

Yuran and Annan didn’t feel awkward; who knows whether the other two felt the same.

Xia Ruyan’s assistant’s phone in the bag rang; the Little Assistant quickly took it out and passed it to Xia Ruyan, "Sister Ruyan, your phone."

After taking the phone from the Little Assistant, Xia Ruyan glanced at the caller ID, hung up, and set it to silent before handing it back, "From now until the audition ends, don’t answer any calls."

The Little Assistant nodded repeatedly, "Yes, Sister Ruyan."

The elevator arrived at Huanya’s reception floor for auditions, and a welcoming committee was waiting. When Yuran stepped out of the elevator, she saw a dense crowd filling the hall. Gui Yu’s assistant recognized Yuran and squeezed through the crowd to approach her.

"Miss Yu, you’ve arrived? This is your audition card, Director Gui asked me to give it to you."

Saying that, he handed Yuran a number, audition number 26.

Indifferently, she passed the audition card to Annan, "Annan, hold this for me first."

Annan feigned exasperation, "Why did I even think this was a good idea, am I here to be an assistant or to act as an agent?"

Yuran couldn’t help but laugh, patting Annan on the head, "There, there. What’s our relationship? Do we need to say these things? You’re being too formal."

Annan: "... Don’t pat me like I’m a dog, or I might have to hit you."

Yuran: "..."

This little episode drew sidelong glances from others, with many commenting sourly, "Huanya is a big company after all, to think they’d do such a thing—having a director’s assistant personally deliver the audition card."

Gui Yu’s assistant, being no fresh-faced innocent, retorted with a derisive smile, "I hope you can be as brave with your sour comments during the auditions;

I wouldn’t have minded enlightening you as to why Yuran is so special. Since you’re so eager to know, I’ll just say it;

Isn’t it obvious? You’re all just also-rans, going through the motions, so that you’ll be thoroughly convinced of your loss when the time comes.

What’s the use of babbling nonsense? Wouldn’t that time be better spent honing your skills in portraying a car crash scene?"

Annan whispered to Yuran, "I didn’t expect Huanya to have an assistant with such a style, quite similar to ours. Why don’t you poach him and see if he’d like to join our big family? I’m kind of looking forward to his confrontational attitude."

From the moment they stepped out of the elevator and entered the Book of Songs Hall waiting room, everything that happened was broadcast live, and Gui Yu’s assistant’s words were aired word-for-word without omission, allowing the public to hear and understand clearly.

"Damn, Huanya’s dramatic moves, awesome...""

"The live broadcast is more exciting than the auditions. Look at those actresses’ faces—hahaha... I’m dying of laughter."

"A human hell... oh wait, a human tragedy..."

"This must be Director Gui Yu’s influence, being so bold to speak out. Must’ve inherited his authenticity, I’m a fan now."

"I can’t take it, I’m dying of laughter. How can these actresses’ jealousy be so ugly? You should know, our Yuran hasn’t been active for over two years, and the moment she comes back, this chaotic mess begins, I’m done."

"Little Assistant’s comments are quite something, that car crash-like acting definitely needs some serious polishing."

...

The netizens’ comments were a bit off; they were clearly there to watch the auditions, yet the conversation drifted far away.

Xia Ruyan was different from these jokers. She discretely joined the crowd, then got her number, though she looked rather displeased. In her view, her initial encounter with Gui Yu had been substantial; despite Huanya not lacking money, they didn’t treat money like it was nothing, did they?

If so, why then did he not accept the olive branch she had thrown? Could it be her acting was worse than Yuran’s?

Yuran’s two popular films, she hadn’t seen either. She couldn’t say why, but she just didn’t feel like watching; maybe it had something to do with fear. Were all these people just there to make up the numbers?

Had Gui Yu already decided on the cast in advance, and this was just a stunt to generate buzz and discuss "City of Temptation" and get it trending?

It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

"City of Temptation" had maintained its popularity since the start of the live broadcast. Normally, film auditions are conducted in secret until the lead actors are officially announced, and even if there were rumors, there’s no evidence. But "City of Temptation" took a different approach, which actually brought a favorable impression to the film itself.

It made a large audience feel involved.

It’s different to give you a flower directly and to give you a seed for you to grow into a flower; the processes are distinct, and so are the rewards.

The maneuvering strategy of "City of Temptation", although unconventional, cannot be denied its tremendous success.

This result was evident to everyone.

Many actors auditioning also watched the live broadcast, and seeing the ruthless criticism from viewers, they felt it was unjust.

Their resentment towards Yuran grew stronger.

While some were unwilling to accept the Little Assistant’s words from Gui Yu, they couldn’t find any solid evidence to refute them. What could they say? That their acting was better than Yuran’s?

This was an event watched by tens of millions of viewers.

They could be proven wrong within a day with evidence.

No one dared to speak recklessly. Someone used a burner account to watch the live stream, then made a few derogatory comments about Yuran, prompting viewers to laugh.

"Isn’t this a burner account of one of the auditioning actors, trying to maliciously slander others? Isn’t that a bit unethical? At least admitting your jealousy would be better than this, right?"

"It couldn’t be, right? To do such a thing against the wind, isn’t that stupid?"

"Hey, what if there’s really someone that stupid?"

Soon after, the real owner of the burner account was exposed, with irrefutable evidence. Many actors turned to look at her, and then the woman covered her face in tears and gave up the audition.

"It’s a crematorium."

The netizens joked around.

"Reality always teaches us life lessons, yet some people insist on defying it and end up suffering a lot, but it’s not like they don’t deserve it. What’s there to cry about? Yuran hasn’t even cried, has she?"

"Yuran isn’t even watching the live broadcast, okay?"