Chapter 41: Audition

At nine o'clock, the audition began right on time.

"Wang Feng."

A staff member stood at the doorway holding a list and calling names; whoever was called would stand up and head inside to audition.

The corridor, which had been noisy with people reciting their lines, suddenly grew much quieter.

Everyone's gaze followed those who had been called in to audition, anxious and tense.

Cheng Chen, meanwhile, sat in his seat with his eyes closed, resting — this was a little habit of his before every performance.

To get into character faster, he would rehearse the scene in his mind ahead of time based on the script.

……

One by one the people beside him were called in to audition; of those who came out of the room, some were in high spirits, others dejected.

Everyone watched them in silence; no one went up to chat.

After all, they were all rivals — even if you asked, they might not be willing to share how it went.

"Wang Xiaoyi!"

Soon, Wang Xiaoyi's name was called.

Cheng Chen opened his eyes and sized up Wang Xiaoyi as he rose from his seat.

At the same time, several gazes turned toward Wang Xiaoyi without any attempt to hide it.

After Wang Xiaoyi walked into the room, the atmosphere in the hallway grew even more tense — after all, everyone knew it in their hearts.

Wang Xiaoyi was the director's pre-selected pick!

Cheng Chen withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes again to rest.

After roughly fifteen minutes, the office door was pulled open again, and Wang Xiaoyi walked out of the room expressionless.

Inside the room, director Wang Rui gestured for the staff to pause and let the next person outside come in to audition.

He said with a smile to the person beside him:

"Teacher Li, I think the role of Zhang Xiaoqi should go to Wang Xiaoyi — the kid has talent and his acting is solid."

"Indeed not bad. There's a plain, honest quality about him that fits Zhang Xiaoqi's identity as a migrant worker very well… Director Wang, do you know this kid?"

Li Chengru asked, puzzled.

"Not really, I know his family elders. To be honest with you, this audition — I was the one who told him to come, heh."

Wang Rui's words stopped there, but Li Chengru and Kan Xuehua both caught the unspoken meaning.

He wanted this actor!

Which meant that, barring any surprises, the role of Xiao Qi was as good as decided.

After all, Wang Rui was the director of this drama — if he was dead set on using this actor, there was nothing anyone else could do.

"I see. The actors outside have been waiting a long time too… let's keep looking."

Li Chengru nodded and said slowly.

"Next, Cheng Chen."

The staff member at the doorway called out.

Hearing the staff member's call, the crowd couldn't help but let out a long breath — they'd thought the staff member was about to announce outright that the role of Zhang Xiaoqi had been given to Wang Xiaoyi.

As long as it wasn't a flat-out rejection, there was definitely still a chance!

Cheng Chen stood up and followed the staff member toward the room.

Inside the room sat a long table; behind it, in order, were the director of "Criminal Police," Wang Rui, the assistant director Kan Xuehua, and the chief planner and producer…

Li Chengru?

Glancing at the name card on the table, Cheng Chen was taken aback — Li Chengru was actually the chief planner and producer of "Criminal Police"?

Wasn't he supposed to be the lead actor?

To most domestic audiences, Li Chengru was a familiar face, but they often couldn't match the name to it.

But after appearing on the two hit variety shows "Wo Jiushi Xiejing" and "Director, Please Advise," this veteran actor suddenly broke into the mainstream.

Especially those remarks he made firing back at Director Xiao Si — the audience loved every second of it!

In fact, ever since playing police captain Da Ceng in the TV drama "Serious Case Six Groups," Li Chengru had formed an inseparable bond with public-security themed works.

And in an interview he had even declared, full of confidence, that he would turn the police character "Da Ceng" into a so-called Chinese-style "Hunter."

In this "Criminal Police," he was not only the lead actor,

but also held several other roles: chief planner, screenwriter, producer.

Cheng Chen actually quite liked this outspoken, blunt veteran actor, because he had said more than once in public:

An actor's identity is that of an actor—not a star, not a traffic celebrity; acting skill is an actor's lifeblood.

Now that he was the chief planner and producer of this drama, did that mean…

Cheng Chen's heart stirred; he pulled his gaze back, gave the three a slight bow, and said slowly:

"Teacher Li, Director Wang, Director Kan, hello. My name is Cheng Chen."

"Mm, get ready — we'll try the scene where Zhang Xiaoqi brings the workers to beat up Mi Pangzi."

Wang Rui nodded and said casually — after a whole morning of auditions he was already a bit worn out.

After Wang Xiaoyi's audition, he was even less inclined to linger here.

Wang Xiaoyi was indeed the actor he'd long since decided on, and today's so-called audition was only because Li Chengru had brought it up at a meeting.

Since the chief planner had spoken up, if he didn't give him face and it affected their future collaboration, what then?

And judging from today's auditions, Wang Xiaoyi was indeed the best performer.

He just needed to finish auditioning everyone today, and then he could announce the news as a matter of course.

"I'm ready."

Cheng Chen spoke.

"Alright, I'll play opposite you. Let's start right from the moment you bring your people up in front of me. No problem?"

The Assistant Director sitting beside Wang Rui, Kan Xuehua, spoke.

"No problem."

Cheng Chen nodded.

The main content of this scene was:

Xiao Qi brought over a hundred migrant workers to demand the wages Mi Pangzi had long been withholding, only to find Mi Pangzi sitting at the construction site feasting, not taking the group of migrant workers before him seriously at all.

He even threatened that they were staging a group disturbance and said he'd have someone come arrest them. Unable to bear it any longer, Xiao Qi had the workers surround Mi Pangzi and beat him up…

The opening of this episode's plot had Zhang Xiaoqi standing on the construction site covered in mud, with a hundred workers behind him, giving off a distinctly Gang Sheng gangster-film flavor.

It was also meant to grab the audience's attention right from the start through the character of Zhang Xiaoqi, drawing them to keep watching.

Cheng Chen gently closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his expression had gone numb, and a rising anger gradually filled his gaze.

His coworker Xiao Liu's mother was gravely ill in bed and urgently needed money. The blood-and-sweat wages they had earned over two years of work were all being held back by this fatty right in front of them.

If they hadn't been pushed to the wall, how could these honest, good-natured men possibly do something that broke the law?

Cheng Chen advanced toward Kan Xuehua step by step, expressionless.

The next moment, Kan Xuehua spoke — it was Mi Pangzi's line. She deliberately put emotion into it, her tone arrogant:

"What are you lot doing? Rebelling?!"

Cheng Chen turned around, raised both hands, signaling the hundred-plus brothers behind him to stop advancing.

But this was only an audition — behind him there wasn't so much as a single person, let alone a hundred, yet he performed it so naturally and smoothly.

Acting without props — a basic skill of the craft.

Turning back, Cheng Chen glanced at Kan Xuehua sitting across from him, and his legs dropped to the ground with a thud.

He lifted his head, his helpless and resigned expression laid bare before the examiners.

He looked at Kan Xuehua, his eyes holding both a plea for mercy and, buried deep within, a simmering grievance.

"Mr. Mi, I'm really sorry. Look, we truly have no choice!"

Kan Xuehua was momentarily stunned.

This kid's acting was solid — especially his eyes. He conveyed both the humiliation of a man kneeling when he'd rather not and the ruthless edge of someone biding his time for revenge.

And what made him better — or rather more attentive — than the others was that his lines were delivered entirely in the He Province dialect.

Although the character brief had briefly mentioned Zhang Xiaoqi's household registration once, every previous auditionee had delivered their lines in standard Mandarin without exception.

He was the first one to match the character's dialect in his delivery!