"In that case, big brother Chang, is the role for the second male lead unoccupied right now? I was hoping our company's Lu Ze could give it a try."
Everybody knew the purpose of Shen Jinghan and Lu Ze in coming to this party. Therefore the former also didn't beat around the bush and directly asked but didn't ask if Lu Ze could get that role. That would force Chang Yuan due to their relationship and put him in an awkward spot that would not be beneficial for Lu Ze at all.
"No problem. Little Lu's appearance is suitable and the figure has no shortcomings. So, what's the problem? If you'd like to enter my crew, you're very welcome. Just let little Lu come to the auditions a month later, is that fine?"
Cheng Yuan couldn't directly vouch for his entry and only asked for Lu Ze to come for the audition. However, at the same time, he also said that Lu Ze was welcomed to his crew. This bit revealed some information — he was not against Lu Ze entering their crew, implying that Lu Ze had a clear opportunity.
As for the role Lu Ze had selected, he didn't discuss it. He surely couldn't let Lu Ze act right at the banquet. If that would not be running Lu Ze's face, it would surely ruin Shen Jinghan's face, implying that he didn't even have a similar skill level even as an artist under her.
When an artist was a newcomer in the industry, the role of the manager was extremely important. Managers were fierce people and other people would have to give the artist an appropriate amount of face to keep the manager's face. Moreover, with a manager at his grandmother's age, how well he could get by didn't need to be mentioned.
The following topics had nothing to do with Lu Ze. Everybody was a member of the circle, and thus, were quite familiar with the matters of the cast and production crew. Thus, they began to inquire about the cast, and the discussion shifted to his new work.
The dinner party continued until ten o'clock. Lu Ze hadn't touched his chopsticks but had instead drunk quite a bit. Thus, he was feeling a bit drunk at the moment. Seeing them get up, he let out a sigh of relief.
He came down the building following the group. Most of the people among this bunch had their own drivers and didn't have to find substitute drivers. They directly left, while Lu Ze and Shen Jinghan had to call for a substitute driver who would arrive fifteen minutes later.
"Are you really ok? You're walking in a staggering manner."
When it came to such a drinking atmosphere, Lu Ze obviously ended up drinking the most. When everybody raised their cups, Lu Ze consumed far more than others. Thus, through the entire party, he ended up drinking at least half a liter of white wine.
"I'm fine. I won't vomit. Don't worry aunt Han."
Lu Ze joked, then sat down in the car and closed his eyes. His head was indeed spinning a little . Right at this moment, a knock was heard at the window adjacent to the passenger seat.
Lu Ze pulled down the window and was stunned. Cheng Yuan was standing beside the car, beckoning to Lu Ze.
Lu Ze immediately understood. He opened the car door and went to sit at the back. Cheng Yuan entered the passenger seat and upon closing the door and window, smiled at the two.
"Director Cheng."
"You drank a lot, right? It's fine, I'm just here for a few words with Jinghan. If you're tired, you can rest, no problem."
Lu Ze faintly nodded but didn't close his eyes and watched as Cheng Yuan turned his head toward Shen Jinghan.
"Earlier I couldn't say much during the dinner. We've known each other for twenty years. Originally, I thought you had stopped, but who would've expected to see you return to your former profession just after a few years. In terms of roles, my words have some weight. There is indeed nobody pushing for the second male lead. Little Lu, you have to go back and work hard. My relationship with Jinghan is pretty good but I can't just openly give the role to anybody. If you don't meet my requirements, you can forget about it. There will be no chances given regarding this matter, you hear me?"
"I understand Director Cheng. I've already begun to create a profile of the character, I believe in myself."
With these words, the matter of the second role was basically settled. Lu Ze, who was already quite drunk, couldn't respond for a moment. He stared blankly for a moment then pledged while patting his chest.
"This kid has really drunk a bit too much. He even dares to say these words."
Cheng Yuan felt that Lu Ze was uttering gibberish in his drunken stupor, but Lu Ze truly had this confidence. As long as there was fair competition, Lu Ze dared to say that he wouldn't fail. Besides, he had his connections as well.
"Big brother Cheng, I really have to thank you this time. Lu Ze needs an opportunity. I'm really thankful to you for giving this opportunity to him. Lu Ze, you have to thank Director Cheng."
After Lu Ze thanked Director Cheng, he discovered that there was neither joy nor surprise on Shen Jinghan's face. It was as if she already knew this would happen. Similarly, Director Cheng had no change in his expression after he confirmed the matter. There was no change in his mood either.
"Alright, I've also drunk a bit too much. I'll take my leave here. Little Lu, study the script well. Entering Qian Shijia, your kid's luck is pretty good."
Upon saying these words, he left. Right at this moment, Lu Ze understood why the two had no change in their expressions, as well as the reason for Cheng Yuan leaving those words behind before he left.
As expected, in this circle, emotions, friends, 20 year's worth of relationships and all that was bullshit. There had surely been some unknown internal dealings and exchange of benefits between Shen Jinghan, Cheng Yuan, and Qian Shijia.
Lu Ze didn't know what kind of exchange happened between them, nor did he wish to know. The more he knew, the more he would feel how deep the waters of these industries were. After going through so many simulation courses in the system, he felt as if he had returned to his true self.
Sometimes ignorance was a much better option. Instead of going to the bottom of the matter, why not work with some peace. He only wanted to act and only liked the feeling of being in a shoot. As for all the dirty politics... Since somebody was doing it for him, was there anything better than that?
"You heard Director Chang's words, right?"
"Yeah."
The two no longer spoke after that. When the substitute driver arrived in a blue outfit, Shen Jinghan came to the backseat and dropped Lu Ze off first.
December flew by, and January was right around the corner.
During this time, sitting idle almost caused moss to grow on his body. Ever since he stopped his studies, he'd never been so free. He'd been resting for an entire month. At this point, he even felt like going and doing some manual labor to pass time.
There was no financial trouble for the moment, and he was never the one to spend extravagantly. His sister was the same, considering that she was also Luhua born. Her overall monthly expenditure didn't exceed 5,000 yuan.
He'd already completed Guo Xiaofei's profiling, filling a whole notebook. Then he wrote an autobiography, which wasn't too long — only about several tens of thousands of words.
However, as he wrote the autobiography, he found himself completely immersed in the character. This kind of feeling of writing his experiences in the first person caused Lu Ze to feel as if he was experiencing a system's simulation course in real life.
As of now, he had found a pleasurable activity to kill some time, which was to wander around the company. He didn't have to go to the office like everybody, but he also had an employee card. He would usually feel like not making lunch, so he would go to the company and have a much better meal.
Later, he applied for the smallest rehearsal room. Every day, he took his written profile, autobiography, and script and trained in the rehearsal room. Here, he could fully immerse himself into the character, forgetting about time and even himself.
The most pleasurable moment of the whole day was when he took his rest, making a cup of lemon tea for himself while watch the beautiful company trainees dancing in hot pants by leaning over the wall of the dancing room.
At the beginning of the month, the company had hired a new batch of trainees — a total of twenty people, seventeen of whom were girls. Lu Ze would go watch and girls practicing in his free time, causing the new trainees to feel like he was a pervert.
This also caused Wang Min, the chief of the artist department, to reprimand him a bit. Thereupon, he could only head home in his boredom, no longer being able to lean over the wall and act like a peeping tom.
Lu Ze felt that he was somewhat wrongly accused. It was because he was lonely that he hoped to become friends with this bunch of trainees. Of course, making friends with girls would be his first choice. If you could have been friends with girls, who would want to be near dancing and jumping men drenched in sweat?
Of course, he would still be chewed out by Wang Min if he had given such a justification.
The lunar year was a bit early this year, falling on the 23rd of January. Lu Ze was ready to head out to the audition. It was still sixteen days before the new year. After going through the auditions, he planned to head back home. The production crew had called him and asked him to report on the eighth in Teng Chong.
He changed his clothes, and Shen Jinghan was already waiting for him downstairs. Sitting in her Maserati, they headed for Tiange Media for auditions.
Like Orange Entertainment, they were calling different numbers as if they were in banks. Shen Jinghai wished him the best of luck and Lu Ze pushed the conference room's entrance open. Everybody's gaze fell on Lu Ze's, sizing him up. Most of them were quite young.
Without any nervousness, he found himself a seat and sat down.
The auditions had begun.