That whole week, her nights were plagued on thoughts of "His Endless Love". Would she be able to do this properly?
. . .
When the official cast list was released, Su Meizhen had been pacing around her laptop eagerly awaiting the results.
The page was refreshed dozens of times, until...
"...Shen Mumu will be played by Zheng Hualian..."
Needless to say, she was devastated. If she had lost to some big name artist, she would quietly accept defeat. At least she could convince herself that she could not get the part because she wasn't as famous or didn't have as many connections.
But turns out she was beaten out by a no-name!
With a heart full of bitterness, she forced herself to keep looking.
"...Lu Jin will be played by Han Lei... Shen Mian will be played by... Oh!"
Su Meizhen! It said Su Meizhen!
She may have not gotten the role that she wanted, but at least she could put a blockbuster on her resume!
Shen Mian? Wasn't that Shen Mumu's antagonistic sister?
Su Meizhen felt slightly upset. She wanted to play poor and pitiful beauty roles, not villainous ones.
But her desire to gain recognition was greater than her vanity.
Her inbox had an email from the director seeking confirmation to which she responded by accepting.
She immediately contacted her agency, they had also received the good news.
"Manager Mu, I've landed a role!"
"Meizhen, I already know, I knew you could do it! The script will be sent to you soon. Don't forget to prepare lots! If you need help, I'm here."
"Manager Mu, you're the best!"
. . .
Zhou Lengxin awoke to loud music being played at the crack of dawn.
"Who the hell is playing Jay Chou a 4:00 AM in the morning?" Her voice came out all raspy.
"Ah, that's my alarm. I have to pick up my cousin from the airport, sorry." Liu Feihong's groggy voice came from above.
She tried to go back to sleep but was unable to due to the sounds being produced by Liu Feihong. Noises from the bathroom, of running water, of her rummaging through things and then finally, the door clicked shut.
At this time, the clock had already passed the 5:00 AM mark. Zhou Lengxin could not fall back asleep. Slightly irritated, she dragged her body out of bed. Not wanting to disturb anyone else, she went through her morning routine as quickly and quietly as possible.
She bundled up a bit because it was a chilly autumn morning and brought her guitar out.
The low temperature completely sobered her up, she could see her breath spiral in the air.
The campus's scenery was quite nice despite being in one of the most populated and developed cities.
Zhou Lengxin went on a short 20-minute walk to the park located in the heart of the campus and plopped herself onto a bench.
Humming, she strummed a few chords.
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise."
The coolness of the morning felt good on her face. With the desolation of people around, she felt peaceful.
"Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free."
"Paul McCartney, 'Blackbird' huh?"
A pair of footsteps that had sounded in the distance came to an abrupt stop in front of her.
This Senior Xia seemed to be appearing everywhere recently!
Xia Minghua wore black activewear and was perspiring slightly. It appeared that he was out on a morning run.
"May I?" He gestured towards the empty space beside her.
Zhou Lengxin did not know how to refuse him so she just indifferently responded with "Do whatever you like."