Chapter 66: The Blackened Nazha: I Want Revenge on Reba!

Ou Hao, who had been brimming with confidence moments before, was filled with shock the instant he witnessed Zhou Jin's performance.

He had to admit that Zhou Jin's acting skill had utterly crushed his own.

"Excellent! That was performed brilliantly!"

Su Youpeng's eyes suddenly ignited with immense delight. "This Shattered Feeling is exactly what I wanted! This is Zhang Yang!"

Hearing these words, Ou Hao's expression turned exceedingly ugly.

When he had finished his audition earlier, the director had merely offered a light, floating compliment of "not bad," yet now, facing Zhou Jin, the director spoke with such excitement and poured out so many words of praise.

The difference in quality was immediately apparent.

Su Youpeng calmed his excited emotions, then looked at Zhou Jin and Ou Hao and said, "You two go back and wait for now; the official audition results will be notified to you tomorrow."

Ou Hao was no fool; the director's attitude could not have been clearer, and he knew he had definitely failed the selection.

After all, he was still young and impetuous; even though he knew he had lost thoroughly, he simply could not save face.

With a stern expression, without even offering a single greeting, he turned around and pushed the door open to leave directly.

Su Youpeng glanced at Ou Hao's departing back, frowned slightly, and said nothing.

Zhou Jin, by contrast, appeared completely composed; he politely bid farewell to Director Su Youpeng before turning to leave.

The next morning.

Zhou Jin woke up on the large bed in his hotel room, and just as he picked up his phone, he saw an unread email lying quietly in his inbox.

Opening it, he found it was precisely the notice from the production crew—congratulating him on officially becoming the male lead, Zhang Yang, in the film The Left Ear, and requesting him to proceed to the set as soon as possible to sign the formal contract.

Zhou Jin felt no surprise whatsoever at this result.

Director Su Youpeng's attitude during yesterday's audition had already been extremely clear.

The director's final remark of "go back and wait for notification" was, in fact, already leaving Ou Hao a last shred of dignity.

But evidently, the young and impetuous Ou Hao had failed to appreciate this kindness, and instead, upon leaving, had not even spared the director a bit of face.

After washing up, Zhou Jin went to the production crew's conference room and found Su Youpeng.

Su Youpeng then arranged for his assistant to take Zhou Jin through the procedures and sign the contract.

Having previously experienced being cheated by a contract, Zhou Jin examined this one with extra care, confirming everything was correct before signing.

The remuneration was 1.2 million.

This was the first time Zhou Jin had ever signed a contract for such a large sum.

To put it in perspective, the total remuneration from the three dramas he had filmed previously, when added together, did not even amount to as much as this single film.

After the contract was signed, Su Youpeng handed the script to Zhou Jin.

Zhou Jin nodded and voiced his understanding: "Zhang Yang's inner world is extremely complex; he carries hatred, appearing paranoid and even somewhat dark in the early stages, yet his true nature harbors a longing for warmth, making his redemption and transformation in the later stages the absolute priority."

Su Youpeng listened with some surprise.

He had originally thought Zhou Jin merely possessed good talent and a Shattered Feeling, never expecting his analysis of the script to be so profound and thorough.

Satisfied, Su Youpeng called Chen Duling over and said to the two of them, "You two are the male and female leads of this film; if you have time in the coming days, you may rehearse together to find the feeling ahead of schedule."

Having said this, Su Youpeng left first, as he needed to attend to preparation matters.

Chen Duling stood silently in place, her demeanor still cool and aloof, quietly gazing at the script in her hands.

Zhou Jin took the initiative to break the silence, tentatively suggesting, "How about we add each other on WeChat? That way, we can discuss and exchange thoughts on the script regularly."

"Okay." Chen Duling nodded lightly.

Before long, the two of them had added each other on WeChat.

Zhou Jin naturally proceeded to share his understanding of Zhang Yang with Chen Duling, followed by sharing several of his own insights regarding the character of "Little Ears."

Hearing Zhou Jin's incisive analysis of Little Ears, a distinct trace of surprise flashed through Chen Duling's cool eyes.

She had not expected Zhou Jin to grasp the psychology of the female lead so accurately.

The two engaged in a deep discussion centered on the script, after which they bid each other farewell, and Zhou Jin set off to return to his hotel.

Just as Zhou Jin stepped into the hotel lobby, he spotted a familiar figure wearing sunglasses and a face mask, yet still unable to conceal her graceful and alluring silhouette.

Zhou Jin was instantly somewhat startled: "Nazha? How could you possibly be here?"

Upon seeing Zhou Jin, Nazha's eyes immediately lit up; full of joy, she ran up to him and threw her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"Why couldn't I be here?" Nazha pulled down her mask slightly and said with a coquettish pout, "I was waiting here specifically for you."

Zhou Jin glanced around and whispered, "Let's go upstairs to talk first."

After all, Zhou Jin had recently skyrocketed to fame thanks to Sword of Legends and was currently at the eye of the storm.

As for Nazha, needless to say, she had been popular for several years, with both her recognition and popularity surpassing Zhou Jin's current standing.

If they were photographed embracing and cuddling in the lobby, tomorrow's headlines would absolutely explode.

"Mm." Nazha nodded obediently.

In truth, she was not inherently a woman who liked taking orders or being manipulated by others.

But for some reason, ever since she had fallen head over heels in love with Zhou Jin, she instead immensely enjoyed this wonderful sensation of being arranged by him and commanded by him.

Zhou Jin used his key card to unlock the room door, and the moment he pushed it open, Nazha impatiently threw herself into his arms.

She tightly hooked her arms around Zhou Jin's neck and forcefully pressed her lips against his.

Nazha had previously not known what it truly felt like to fall in love with someone, but now she understood.

As long as she could not see Zhou Jin, she would miss him like a madwoman, wishing she could stick to his side every single moment.

In the past, what she had scoffed at most was being "love-brained," and she had firmly believed she could never be that kind of woman.

But against all expectations, once her heart was moved, she became more love-brained than anyone else, even pushing aside important work to travel thousands of miles to Hengdian just to see him once.

Just as the two were locked in an inseparable kiss, Zhou Jin's phone suddenly rang.

The urgent ringtone sounded for a long time before Nazha reluctantly let go of Zhou Jin.

Zhou Jin picked up his phone, saw it was Reba calling, and casually pressed the answer button.

"Brother Jin, has Nazha contacted you?" Reba's probing voice came from the other end of the line.

Pressed against him, Nazha heard this and secretly nodded, thinking that her good sister truly lived up to her reputation, still worrying about her at such a time.

But before Zhou Jin could speak, Reba immediately added in a rapid flurry: "Brother Jin, if possible, absolutely do not tell Nazha where you are!"

The sweet smile originally hanging on Nazha's face instantly froze.

Originally, Reba had recruited her good sister Nazha to form an "alliance" specifically to jointly resist Yang Mi, this "Big Boss."

But now the situation had changed; not only had Yang Mi become her close comrade, but the two of them had even been together with Zhou Jin...

Since the "great enemy" had become an "ally," Reba privately felt somewhat unwilling to let Nazha stick her oar in anymore.

However, having promised Nazha before, she could not directly step forward to stop it.

Although Nazha usually appeared not very bright, how could she fail to detect the guarded meaning in Reba's words?

Biting her red lips, she glared angrily at the phone.

So this is you, Reba, actually playing the trick of kicking away the ladder after crossing the river!

Just as I am about to completely conquer Zhou Jin, is this how you treat a former comrade-in-arms?

Nazha immediately recalled the previous two occasions when Reba and Zhou Jin were "playing ball," yet Reba had deliberately called her.

Asking her all sorts of strange, shame-inducing questions that left her face flushed and filled with shame and indignation.

With new grievances added to old hatreds, especially now that Reba actually wanted to "betray" her, malice sprang up in Nazha's heart, and thoughts of revenge arose.

A hint of cunning flashed in her watery eyes; she squatted down directly, and with a "zzzip" sound, pulled down the zipper.

Caught completely off guard, Zhou Jin immediately sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

"Brother Jin, what was that sound over there?" Hearing a faint "mmm-mmm" noise come through the phone, Reba couldn't help but feel somewhat puzzled.