Second Take On Romance - The A-List Actor Wants Me
Chapter 175 : The Audition (1)

Chapter 175: Chapter 175 : The Audition (1)

News of Shen Jingwei’s relocation to Red Jade Pavilion did not reach Zhu Dongyi until after the latter arrived at Shen Jingwei’s old apartment Monday morning to pick him up.

Thankfully, the panicked Zhu Dongyi had the good sense of contacting Shen Jingwei before calling the police.

"Little Shen!" He cried out frantically. "Your apartment is empty! You are gone! What happened to you??? Where are you now???"

A soft sigh was heard before Shen Jingwei gave an abashed reply.

"Old Zhu, actually..."

Two seconds later...

"WHAT!!!"

Zhu Dongyi screamed so loud he almost punctured Shen Jingwei’s eardrum.

"WHEN DID YOU EVEN PLAN ON MOVING IN TOGETHER WITH YAN RENZHONG???"

Shen Jingwei dug into his ringing ear and gave another answer, "Actually..."

Three seconds later...

"WHAT!!!"

This time, Shen Jingwei managed to get the phone away from his ear in time.

"Old Zhu, why don’t you just come by? I will explain everything face-to-face."

He didn’t want Zhu Dongyi to spill the secret in front of his former neighbors.

Zhu Dongyi arrived almost an hour later, bearing gifts for the master of the house.

It would have made a great tribute, save for the unfortunate fact that the master of the house left half an hour ago.

"Huh? He’s gone?" Zhu Dongyi asked, bewildered.

Shen Jingwei ushered his manager into the spacious living room, where the glistening pool could be seen through the glass sliding doors. The opulent surroundings, a stark contrast to Shen Jingwei’s previous modest abode, made Zhu Dongyi feel a pang of unease.

"Yeah, early flight across the country," Shen Jingwei said. "What’s that? Grapes?"

"Not any other grapes," Zhu Dongyi declared proudly. "A bag of shine muscat grapes! Freshly harvested this morning!"

Shen Jingwei bit into a grape, and a delicious explosion of flavor filled his mouth.

"Oh, it’s good," he moaned. He reached out for another one, but Zhu Dongyi moved the bag of grapes out of his way.

"You are not allowed to eat this! I specifically bought these for Yan Renzhong. Please tell him that it’s a token of my gratitude because he has been taking good care of you. He has, hasn’t he?"

Shen Jingwei resisted the urge to rub his aching waist.

Oh, yes.

Yan Renzhong had been taking good care of him, that’s for sure.

"Right. Old Zhu, please keep my relocation a secret for now," Shen Jingwei pleaded, his eyes still searching the shadow of the grapes behind Zhu Dongyi’s back.

"I will never blab," Zhu Dongyi pointed out. "But are you sure that you will be able to keep it a secret for long? As far as I know, your co-stars like to drop in on you unannounced."

"It was just that one time," Shen Jingwei reasoned. "They are all busy anyway. They won’t find out. Not so soon."

Zhu Dongyi sighed in resignation.

"Fine. I will just pretend that I am not sitting in the most amazing apartment I have ever seen, discussing work matters with you."

"Thank you," Shen Jingwei replied. "Let’s go through my weekly schedule then."

To Shen Jingwei’s greatest dismay, the bag of grapes was tucked away in the refrigerator, and Zhu Dongyi went straight to business.

"Other than the jobs we already took last week, there is only a big hurdle to overcome this week -- the audition for the antagonist role in Yunhuan Entertainment’s latest project, ’Eyes Of The Hunter’."

The audition was a three-round process designed to thoroughly assess the candidates’ abilities in various areas, from their background information to their years of acting experience and the skills they had acquired throughout their careers.

The audition was open to all aspiring actors and actresses nationwide, attracting a diverse and talented pool of applicants. Given the high level of competition, securing a spot in the final round would be no easy feat.

In the entertainment industry, talents typically refrained from speaking about their participation in any audition or competition until the results had been officially announced.

Thus when Shen Jingwei arrived at the audition venue that day, he came across an old face from old times.

"Oiiii, Brother Shen!"

Shen Jingwei’s mouth fell open when Jin Zhuo, his former colleague at the Handsome Butler Coffee Shop called out for him.

"Brother Jin...!"

The two men exchanged hugs after not seeing each other for such a long time.

"Wow, you have changed! You dyed your hair back and everything!" Jin Zhuo cried out. "I almost didn’t recognize you!"

Shen Jingwei laughed.

"Yeah, easier that way for me."

"And I saw that you landed the male lead role in ’Dance Of The Dragons’! Damn it, Shen Jingwei, I am so jealous!"

Jin Zhuo playfully encircled Shen Jingwei’s neck with his arms, simulating a chokehold.

"Still can’t believe I didn’t get that Jiang Muchen role and you landed the Xie Jianyu role instead. Geeeez. And you didn’t even tell anyone about participating!"

"Ahahaha... Ouch, ouch, let me go."

"Ahem."

Both men raised their heads to look at Feng Jietang, who wore a sour expression across his face.

"Oh."

"Jietang... Ah...!"

Feng Jietang pulled Shen Jingwei free from Jin Zhuo’s slackened grip.

"I don’t know who you are or which agency you are signed with, but violence against fellow applicants is ground to disqualify your participation."

"N-no!"

Jin Zhuo shook his head frantically.

"I did not do anything violent toward Shen Jingwei! It was just a playful exchange between two old friends!"

Feng Jietang furrowed his brows at Shen Jingwei.

"Friends?"

"Friends," Shen Jingwei confirmed. "Jin Zhuo and I used to be colleagues at our part-time work in a coffee shop."

"... Oh."

The explanation did little to dispel Feng Jietang’s displeasure.

"Come with me," he said in a gruff voice.

"Jin Zhuo, let’s catch up later," Shen Jingwei said to Jin Zhuo before he was dragged away by Feng Jietang.

"Little Shen, why didn’t you tell me that you are partaking in this audition?" Feng Jietang asked in a low, urgent voice. "If you came to me and said that you wanted this role, I could have given it to you and canceled the audition altogether."

Shen Jingwei gave him a judgmental look.

"That’s the exact reason why I can never tell you. You should stop pampering me so much. For once, I want to land a role fair and square without any backup."

Feng Jietang groaned as he stared at Shen Jingwei in bewilderment.

"Little Shen, aren’t you too naive? In this industry, which celebrity succeeds without backup?"