Chapter 128: Stir Up Rumors About Him!

"Bingbing, Director Zhang Yi just notified us, telling you to go to his company at 9:00 tomorrow morning for the final audition."

Fan Fan Binbing was standing in front of the bedroom's floor-to-ceiling window making a call. Hearing the somewhat solemn voice on the other end, she couldn't help but ask in surprise: "What's wrong? Isn't this good? There's finally a result."

"This time, Director Zhang Yi called Chen Nuo over to run lines with you."

Fan Fan Binbing froze instantly: "Which Chen Nuo?"

The other side asked back: "Which other Chen Nuo is there?"

Fan Fan Binbing was silent for a moment, but immediately smiled again, "What about Chen Nuo? Isn't that pretty good?"

The other side paused and also said: "Yeah, it's pretty good. Anyway, it's fair to everyone. If we're having a hard time, they're having a hard time too. It's the final stretch; let's grit our teeth and hold on together. That's it then; be at the company at 6:00 tomorrow morning for makeup, and then we'll head out together."

"Okay."

Fan Fan Binbing hung up the phone, stared blankly in front of the window for a while, left the bedroom's floor-to-ceiling window, and walked to the dressing mirror.

The woman in the mirror was more than just charming.

She was wearing a black silk nightgown with a high slit, revealing a shapely, fair leg. The silk fabric of the dress clung tightly to her skin, outlining her curvaceous figure perfectly.

Her long, slightly wavy hair covered half her face, making her other half's beauty appear even more stunning. Under her long, thick eyelashes, her fox-like eyes seemed capable of absorbing souls, and she even had a fox-like pointed face. Looking from any angle in the mirror, one couldn't find a single flaw.

She seemed like a fox spirit descended from the heavens; with a blink or a frown, she could bewitch the entire mortal world.

Suddenly, a cold sneer appeared at the corner of Fan Fan Binbing's mouth.

But who would have thought that she, a dignified Best Actress winner at the 2004 Hundred Flowers Awards, hadn't taken a single movie or played a single female lead in the entire year of 2005, filming only trashy soap operas and even roles that were completely irrelevant.

This was the consequence of Wang Jinghua leaving Huayi and her choosing to stay.

This was also the price of climbing up step by step through rumors.

However, Wang Jinghua had a cloud of big stars under her; if she didn't stay, she would have even less of a chance.

Without stirring up gossip, how could she climb up?

Now, the matter between her and Wang Xuebin was being stirred up too much by the outside world, which was somewhat detrimental to her image.

Expecting her ex-boyfriend, whom she had long since broken up with, to come out and clarify anything was impossible; likewise, she couldn't rely on the company.

She could only rely on herself.

Therefore, she had to find a way to secure this movie.

But what about Chen Nuo?

She had seen his acting; if he wanted to mess with her and act mercilessly, she would definitely have no chance.

Thinking of this, Fan Fan Binbing's phone suddenly rang again; it was the company's second boss, Wang Zonglei.

Wang Zonglei's voice on the phone was very cordial: "Bingbing, I just got news that you're going to Zhang Yi's for an audition tomorrow, and you're running lines with Chen Nuo?"

Fan Fan Binbing said: "Yes, Brother Lei, what's wrong?"

Wang Zonglei laughed: "Just wanted to ask if you have confidence."

Fan Fan Binbing smiled: "Brother Lei, don't worry, I have confidence."

Wang Zonglei said "Mm" and asked: "Is that so? Do you want the company to say a word to them over there?"

Fan Fan Binbing quickly said: "If the company has a connection over there and can give a heads-up, that would naturally be best. I really want this role; thank you, Brother Lei."

Wang Zonglei laughed: "Then it's settled. I have the phone number of Chen Nuo's agent; I'll call him in a bit. Oh right, where are you now? How about I come over, we find a place to sit, and talk face-to-face?"

Fan Fan Binbing became vigilant instantly.

She knew very well what Wang Zonglei was up to.

She, Fan Fan Binbing, was no white lotus; if there was truly profit to be made, she would sleep with him.

But she couldn't sleep with this Wang Zonglei.

Because in the company, the one who called the shots wasn't him, but his brother!

Wang Zhongjun was clearly not trusting her now, thinking she was a nail left behind by Wang Jinghua. He would absolutely not promote her; saying anything was useless.

Unless she went to sleep with Wang Zhongjun herself.

If she couldn't secure this movie and was truly forced to do that, then she absolutely could not let Wang Zonglei touch her now.

Otherwise, what would she, Fan Fan Binbing, become? Wang Zhongjun might not even be happy about it.

"Brother Lei, I'm out shopping with my mom right now, and I have to go get my hair done later. How about I come find you at the company tomorrow after I finish the audition?"

Wang Zonglei's voice faded instantly: "Then tomorrow it is. Mm, that's it then, hanging up."

After hanging up, Fan Fan Binbing felt that only 10% of what Wang Zonglei said might be true—that he really had Chen Nuo's agent's number. Besides that, not a single word could be trusted.

Then what other way was there?

Fan Fan Binbing looked at her beautiful face in the mirror.

Did that even need to be asked?

The next day, Fan Fan Binbing entered the makeup room at 6:00 and spent two full hours getting ready.

When she got in the car to head out, although she was only wearing a simple black off-the-shoulder thin shirt and black jeans, from her makeup to her hairstyle, every inch of her, even a single strand of hair, was guaranteed to be in the most perfect position.

Therefore, when she walked into the audition room, Fan Fan Binbing was very confident in her appearance.

Before she even came in, Qi Yuntian had gone out.

At this moment, only four people were left in the conference room.

Of the four, Fan Fan Binbing had seen three before.

Director Zhang Yi goes without saying; Li Yu and Li Xiaotian were both producers of this film.

There was also one other person.

However, why did he look so different from on TV?

When shaking hands with Chen Nuo, Fan Fan Binbing couldn't help but mutter to herself: his hair was grown so long it was almost to his shoulders, and it didn't seem to have been groomed, looking messy. His face was fatter than on TV, and he even had a little belly when he stood up.

Did he stop controlling his diet after becoming famous and get fat?

Looking like this, he was far worse than in movies or on TV.

It didn't even feel like the same person.

Come to think of it, did Wang Zonglei actually make that call?

After everyone was seated, Zhang Yi said: "Bingbing, this is the final audition. It's been so long; you've really worked hard. No matter what, today is the conclusion. If we are fated, then I hope we can cooperate happily. If not, then we'll cooperate next time if there's a chance."

No matter what her true thoughts were, Fan Fan Binbing still said with a serious face: "Director, I'm very grateful for this opportunity you've given me, really. I especially want to cooperate with you."

Zhang Yi smiled comfortingly and said: "Then let's begin. Bingbing, this time Chen Nuo will run lines with you. The content you need to act out is: you are a blind person, Chen Nuo plays your husband, and you walk together from this end of the room to the other; that will be the end. You can arrange the plot content as you wish; now I'll give you some time to discuss it."

Fan Fan Binbing looked at the direction Zhang Yi was pointing; the depth of the audition area was only about eight or nine meters. Zhang Yi and the others were all sitting by the wall, and there was nothing in the middle.

What could be acted out here?

She had auditioned before, but had never tried this kind of approach; they were all normal requests for her to perform some kind of emotion or conflict.

And now, she just had to act like a blind person walking across?

However, she was also a Best Actress winner at the Hundred Flowers Awards; Fan Fan Binbing immediately realized that this meant she needed to add to the scene—improvise.

As for what to add, it should be decided by her and Chen Nuo together.

Fortunately, it was decided by the two of them together.

Fan Fan Binbing knew her own abilities; she had always acted with a script. Usually, when auditioning for roles, they were almost all vases; she rarely even auditioned, let alone this kind of high-difficulty task.

Fan Fan Binbing smiled: "Director, can we go out to discuss? We want to give you a surprise later."

Zhang Yi nodded: "Of course, but hurry up."

Fan Fan Binbing took Chen Nuo out of the audition room, walked into the tea room on the side, and closed the door.

Although it was their first meeting and they hadn't even known each other for ten minutes, she had no time for pleasantries and could only ask hurriedly and bluntly: "I don't have any ideas right now; do you have any thoughts?"

Chen Nuo wasn't surprised at all.

Fan Fan Binbing asking him to follow her out—he had actually anticipated what the other party was prepared to do.

After all, this woman was not simple. He knew that very well.

Want him to help?

No friendship, no feelings—why?

He shook his head immediately: "No."

Fan Fan Binbing knew instantly that Wang Zonglei definitely hadn't made the call. Sure enough, men are all bastards who can't be relied on; she still had to rely on herself.

Her mind raced, and she whispered: "Chen Nuo, first meeting, I know it's very abrupt to say this. But this opportunity is really important to me; what will it take for you to help me?"

Chen Nuo said perfunctorily: "I really don't have any ideas, but how do you want to act it out? I guarantee I will cooperate with you fully."

Fan Fan Binbing made up her mind.

No matter what, she had to seize this opportunity. With this opportunity, she could move freely within Huayi. Otherwise, she would only be a vase living under someone else's roof for the rest of her life!

Gritting her teeth, she grabbed Chen Nuo's right hand and placed it on her left breast.

She was wearing a silk shirt, so she wasn't wearing a bra, only nipple covers.

Feeling the hot temperature of the man's palm, no matter how bold she was, she was still a woman after all; her heart rate accelerated, and her face flushed a little. She asked in a low voice: "Is this okay?"

Before Chen Nuo could react, he felt his palm sink into the softness.

Fan Fan Binbing couldn't take it; although she wasn't a chaste maiden, this was the first time she had done something so bold.

Her fox-like appearance, blushing all over, made the man's evil fire surge, and he actually applied a few more points of force.

Pain.

Fan Fan Binbing endured it forcefully so she wouldn't cry out.

Shy and annoyed, she immediately pressed down on that hand and said: "As long as you agree to help me, you can touch however you want later. Just let me get the role, okay? Chen Nuo, help me this once."

Chen Nuo suddenly laughed and said: "Aren't I already helping you?"

……

……

After Chen Nuo and the others went out, Zhang Yi and Li Xiaotian looked at each other and suddenly both laughed. Li Yu was confused on the side and asked: "What are you laughing at?"

Zhang Yi sighed with emotion: "I was reminded of when Chen Nuo auditioned here. It hasn't been long, really—counting it, it's been a little over a year, less than two, but it feels like a long time ago."

Li Xiaotian also nodded: "I was reminded of that too. Those few auditions, I'll never forget them for the rest of my life."

Li Yu smiled: "Then why did you let them go out to discuss? When they come back, will it be Chen Nuo auditioning or Bingbing auditioning?"

Zhang Yi laughed: "If she can keep up with Chen Nuo's acting style, that's fine too."

Li Yu frowned: "Is Chen Nuo's improvisation really that powerful? The more you say that, the less I believe it."

Li Xiaotian was also amused and laughed: "Then Sister Yu, just wait and see what a god-tier audition is."

After a long while, the glass door was pushed open.

It was Chen Nuo pushing the door in.

The moment he entered, Li Yu knew that Chen Nuo was also blind.

Because the moment he pushed the door, he stopped instantly, tilted his ear to listen, and only started walking after listening for a second.

He felt the frosted glass and slowly turned sideways to move forward.

His eyes were open, in a very natural state; compared to Fan Fan Binbing's pair of confused, unfocused eyes behind him, he actually didn't look much like a blind person.

But Li Yu felt that he was "blinder" than Fan Fan Binbing.

Why?

As a director, Li Yu began to think instinctively about where exactly Chen Nuo's performance was good.

But she only felt like a cat scratching her heart; the answer was on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't find it.

At this moment, she heard Zhang Yi's soft words in her ear: "Using ears instead of eyes, hands and eyes not in sync."

This sentence was like a bolt of lightning, making Li Yu suddenly realize.

So that was it.

Now she re-examined the way Chen Nuo walked.

Wasn't it exactly that?

Every time he felt his way forward, his hands moved first, and then he tilted his ear to listen. On his body, his ears replaced his eyes, forming a natural, extremely familiar linkage with his hands.

In the process of this linkage, his eyes were excluded.

Therefore, no matter how wide his eyes were open, or how normal they looked, it was useless.

They were definitely blind!

Even his hands didn't trust his eyes; who would think his eyes were useful?

Moreover, after Li Yu savored it, she discovered another point Zhang Yi hadn't mentioned: his walking posture.

He wasn't like Fan Fan Binbing, groping forward in a straight line bit by bit.

Chen Nuo's posture was like a crab; he walked sideways.

Previously, Li Yu had felt that Zhang Yi's evaluation of Chen Nuo's improvisation was exaggerated.

At this moment, she finally understood why her boyfriend held him in such high esteem, and why Wong Kar-wai had chosen him out of thousands of male actors.

Li Yu had seen blind people, but the blind people she had seen either had a guide cane or a guide dog; she had truly never seen a blind person walking on the street empty-handed.

She didn't have this image in her mind!

But Chen Nuo's current movements made her almost dare to assert that a real blind person walking on the street empty-handed would inevitably walk like this.

That's right, if a person couldn't see, how would they dare to expose their chest and abdomen so openly?

He would definitely be like Chen Nuo, using one hand to protect his chest and one hand to grope; likewise, he would definitely walk sideways, using his shoulder to prevent possible collisions.

What is talent?

Li Yu felt that if someone possessed this high level of imagination and vivid imitation ability, that was a talented person.

It was definitely not something an ordinary person could think of and act out in a short time.

If this were Chen Nuo's audition, it could have ended here; there was no need to watch the rest.

Acting as a blind person like this, walking a few short meters and making it look like a flower—any director seeing this should say "cut," and then "awesome" would be the end of it.

But this was Fan Fan Binbing's audition, not Chen Nuo's.

In Li Yu's view, Fan Fan Binbing, up to this point, was only acting based on the stereotypical impression of a blind person.

The blind person she acted was like the blind person in everyone's heart—frighteningly fake.

What does that mean?

It means that of the five senses in performance—sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch—she at most performed one sense: vision.

She only looked like it.

Just like looking at a picture of a beauty: you can see what she looks like, but you don't know if she feels soft to the touch, smells fragrant, tastes sweet, or sounds wild.

This is the difference between a picture and a real person.

Chen Nuo acted as a real person, while Fan Fan Binbing only acted as a picture.

People are alive and rich.

Pictures are dead and thin.

However, Li Yu, seeing this, had already started to feel anticipation.

She dared to bet that Chen Nuo would absolutely not let Fan Fan Binbing die just like that.

That would be too abnormal; it wasn't some life-and-death hatred.

Fan Fan Binbing, such an peerless beauty—as a woman, even she felt pity for her.

The two had gone out to discuss for so long; could it be that after coming in, Chen Nuo would directly crush her with his acting and send her out?

No one would do that, right?

Sure enough, when Chen Nuo had walked a little over halfway, he tripped.

The stone that didn't exist seemed to be quite large, so he fell quite heavily.

But Li Yu noticed that Chen Nuo didn't fall forward onto the concrete floor like a fool. When falling forward, there was still a protective movement, but it was done very cleverly; if you didn't observe carefully, you wouldn't see it at all.

After falling, Chen Nuo started shouting: "Wife, wife."

Fan Fan Binbing also started calling: "Here, here."

Li Yu wanted to laugh a little; it was very obvious that Chen Nuo wasn't putting much effort into this, and there was no emotion in his lines at all.

She didn't know if it was because he didn't want to call Fan Fan Binbing "wife," but in any case, these four words were truly stiff and rigid.

By comparison, Fan Fan Binbing's response seemed quite vivid.

At this moment, Li Yu couldn't help but have a thought: was it intentional, letting her have the scene?

Next, Li Yu's eyes widened, perfectly round.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

After Chen Nuo fell, he sat on the ground, his hands reaching forward, grabbing wildly in the air, clearly wanting to find his wife, Fan Fan Binbing.

Fan Fan Binbing was the same; she knelt down in a panic, waving her hands in the air, wanting to find Chen Nuo.

Just then, Chen Nuo's hand reached over from the middle, just happened to miss Fan Fan Binbing's hand, and grabbed her breast.

The force wasn't small; at least in Li Yu's view, his fingers had sunk in.

This was 100% intentional.

Li Yu was certain.

Otherwise, it couldn't be that coincidental. These two weren't really blind; Chen Nuo's hand just happened to reach over, and Fan Fan Binbing turned a blind eye and let him really squeeze it.

It must be a designed segment.

But why? Why act out this kind of slightly erotic scene?

As a woman, Li Yu was a bit surprised and a bit repulsed.

But immediately, she saw a scene that turned decay into magic, turning eroticism into emotion.

Having been groped, Fan Fan Binbing's expression didn't change at all; she even revealed a smile and grabbed Chen Nuo's hand on her chest.

Next, as if she were deeply afraid the man wasn't grabbing hard enough, she actually pressed his hand against her chest and said: "You scared me to death, husband."

Li Yu had goosebumps all over; she immediately forgot the feeling she had a second ago and almost couldn't help but applaud and cheer.

This scene was truly ingenious.

What is a husband and wife? This acted out exactly what a husband and wife should look like!

With this grab on the chest, the extremely intimate bond between husband and wife was laid out before the audience, established with incomparable solidity.

Under this grab, everyone understood: this is a couple, 100%.

Only for a husband's groping of the chest would a wife behave so normally.

With her husband's hand on her chest, a wife would only feel safe, not dangerous. Therefore, she didn't push him away; on the contrary, she pulled his hand tightly, afraid that her husband would disappear again.

If this wasn't ironclad proof of them being husband and wife, what could it be?

The blind wife Fan Fan Binbing acted before, that paper cutout, had life at this moment.

Li Yu had nothing to say.

Acting to this point, she finally understood what Chen Nuo's god-tier audition was that Gu Xiaomeng mentioned. Because this segment couldn't have been designed by Fan Fan Binbing; it could only be Chen Nuo.

She rarely praised people, especially actors, but at this moment, she was truly convinced.

Afterward, Chen Nuo and Fan Fan Binbing stood up, clinging to each other and supporting one another.

"Cut," Zhang Yi said.

Damn it!!! It won't pass the review! I'm vomiting!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 129 =====