The room was filled with handsome young men and women. There were people from various walks of life. Some were acquainted with Lu Ze, some were recognizable, whereas the rest were complete strangers. Although everyone sitting were young and while there was no rule prohibiting them from interacting, the room was completely silent.
Lu Ze was completely relaxed, not the least bit nervous. After all, even if he could not say that he had a complete grasp on the character, he was quite close to it. It was a romance series, how deep could the character really be? Not to mention the company had also provided him a backdoor.
Lu Ze had already replaced his old bag. The quality of a 15 yuan bag was simply bad, and its shoulder strap had already snapped. Since he did not lack money, he had bought an Adidas backpack that was on sale.
Taking out the script, profile, and autobiography, he put down a steel water bottle and placed his phone at the table's edge. He alternated between going through the script and playing on his phone. His calm demeanor caused many people to pay close attention to him.
"Number 48, is Lu Ze here? Come here."
Today, he had arrived quite early. Lu Ze's name was quite high up in the queue, possibly due to the fact that there were not many people auditioning. The staff called out to him after a two hour wait.
Putting everything back into his bag, he politely nodded at the staff member who opened the door. After walking for a while, he opened the door. Cheng Yuan and the other three, who were sitting behind the table, looked at him.
"Little Lu, how were your preparations?"
Cheng Yuan did not pretend that he did not recognize Lu Ze. Holding the teacup in his hand, he directly asked Lu Ze. The expressions of the other three did not change either, as if they had already been informed.
"I've done my best."
Lu Ze smiled faintly before stepping forward and shaking hands with them. Sitting down after getting their permission, he put down the bag and placed both hands on his knees in a natural manner.
"Is Jinghan here with you today?"
"Right, Aunt Han is sitting outside."
Cheng Yuan was sitting with his head down. However, upon Lu Ze's words, he looked up at Lu Ze and raised his brow briefly, before going back to flipping through Lu Ze's resume. The smile on his face remained. "Jinhan really cares for you, eh? Who was the last one she cared for this much?... Whatever, I can't remember the name. Are you ready, then? Shall we begin?"
The smile on Lu Ze's face instantly disappeared, and his face turned somewhat exhausted and gloomy. He clasped his hands and rested them on his knees, all the while fidgeting his thumb.
"How could you do this?"
This was originally the first female lead's line and should have come from the mouth of a sweet, naive girl with pleasant sounding Wu dialect. However, hearing it from a 50-year-old man caused Lu Ze to react quicker. He quickly got into the character and chose a very formal style, as if giving a confession. Hearing his tone, one could not help but feel goosebumps.
"Why are you asking? What does it have to do with you?"
"What does it have to do with me? You and Yufie are my friends! I don't want to see you two fight. Please reconsider this for my sake. Can you not make it so difficult for me?"
Lu Ze's shoulder trembled slightly. His thumbs stopped moving and instead started to firmly press against each other.
This detail delighted Cheng Yuan. The inner struggles of Guo Xiaofei was represented by this action. If they had been shooting at this moment, he would have certainly focused on Lu Ze's fingers.
"Since you said I'm your friend, don't bring this up again. I don't have any interest in answering you either. Got it? Why is it that anytime something small happens between us, you, and if not you, Wang Qi comes looking for you. Can Tang Yufie and my matters not be dealt with without the interference of you bunch of besties? Do you have to put me on trial every time a small argument occurs?"
Lu Ze spoke neither fast nor slow. Every word was spoken with complete clarity. Although his tone was indifferent, one could feel the anger and resentment hidden behind it. The four interviewers had approved the fundamentals of his dialogue delivery.
"I'm not putting you on a trial, I just…"
"Then what? Zheng Xin, do you have to put your nose into every relationship on this planet? I don't care if you take these words to heart, but you're meddling too much."
After saying these words, Lu Ze stood up, put his backpack on and was prepared to leave.
"Gu Xiaofei, why do you have to work so hard?! You don't say it but you're still forcing this burden onto Yufei's body. Do you not understand this?"
This time, an expression finally appeared on Lu Ze's face. With a slight sneer, he turned around and stared at Cheng Yuan. His eyelids sunk slightly and shoulders stooped a little, making his exhaustion much more evident.
"Work so hard? I don't understand that. I'm working too hard? I'm not a 'rich young master' like you people. I wasn't born with a golden spoon in my mouth. I... Hey, look at me!"
He pointed at his own face, and his micro expressions revealed a lot. There was not only unwillingness, but also resignation, and self-pity.
"Even since I was born, I've been running around like a dog. From my childhood to this moment, I've been running with all my might. When I can't run anymore, I'll crawl forward. When I can't crawl, there are people pushing me from behind. To hell with 'life is a race'! Whenever I take a step forward, I'll be late compared to others, and you say I don't understand? You think I want to work like a dog? I want to take a break and enjoy life as well. I want to take a tour and see the beauty of the world as well. After all, who knows, I'll be dead tomorrow without ever knowing bliss. But so what? It's all about money! Money!"
Lu Ze's tone was neither too forceful nor was there shouting. His voice only rose slightly as he spoke while pointing at his chest. His eyes had turned red but there were no tears.
He inhaled sharply, clearing some mucus in his nose, then let out a sigh and spoke with his head lowered, not looking at 'Zheng Xin'.
"In short, I feel that I shouldn't place this burden on Yufei. I'm still a man, and I know that some matters are to be solved by oneself. I can't do anything about it If she indulges in her own wild fantasies. Your blind interference will only make the situation worse, so can you please stay away from the matters regarding our relationship? That's all. Goodbye."
At this point, the audition concluded. Lu Ze smoothly placed the bag on the chair and sat down. He took in a deep breath. Guo Xiaofei was a lot like him in the white collar simulation course, except the fact that he was a little more extreme compared to him. Even so, it still gave him an extraordinary level of immersion.
With the final sigh, Lu Ze retracted out of the character, and a smile reappeared on his face. He then nodded at the four, indicating that his performance had concluded.
In all honesty, Lu Ze's performance had caught Chang Yuan completely off-guard. He did not have much of an understanding about Lu Ze. However, with his strength, as long as nobody pushed their guy into the crew and the assessment remained impartial, Lu Ze more or less had this role secured.
He originally thought that Lu Ze was an ordinary newcomer, and the company's investment in him was merely to give him a jumpstart. He just happened to be the one in the way. That was not the case. However, at this moment, he discovered that he had been completely wrong. This newcomer was really strong…
As a 50-year-old man, he was quite busy. A pen slipped while he was spinning the pen between his fingers, causing the pen to fall on the notebook
"I'll get in touch with Jinghan and quickly present you with a contract to sign before the New Year, so that you can go back home without any tension and spend a good New Year with your family as well. Alright then, that's all."
Compared to Zhang Lixian, Guo Xiaofei's scenes were twice as much but Lu Ze no longer felt that excitement and joy he felt back then. He bowed slightly toward the four, took his bag, and left.
"How did it go? Did everything go well?" seeing Lu Ze coming out, Shen Jinghan stood up and asked. Her face did not have a trace of being nervous.
"I passed. Director Cheng said that he'd have me sign the contract as soon as possible. He didn't say anything else."
Shen Jinghan reached out and straightened out Lu Ze's collar, stroking it a bit in the end. Her entire being radiated a mild and gentle motherly halo.
"Let's go then. Aunty will treat you well for this joyous occasion."
...
At noon that very day, the contract template from Tainge Media arrived in Shen Jinghan's mailbox. The two scrutinized the contract in the small conference room of the company. The clauses were fair, and there were no excessive requirements. As for promotions in the later stages, Lui Ze was even looking forward to it.
As for remuneration, it was 1.5 million yuan. Neither Lu Ze nor Shen Jinghan had any objections to this price. The average pay of a thirty eight episode series was 40,000 yuan per episode. This amount was already pretty good for a newcomer.
As for taxes. The amount would be 1.21 million yuan, or 1.2 million yuan in round figures after taxes. Subtracting the company's cut, Lu Ze would get 400,000 cash in hand.
Lu Ze did not feel any pain over losing 800,000 yuan. After all, with the company's support, he would easily be able to earn more than 800,000. Moreover, how could money be compared to making connections? Money? It wasn't worth as much.
This was the company's early stage investment. The pay of newcomers was not high. If they did not seize a bigger portion of the share, they would certainly go into losses. How could they put resources into the company if that happened?
After the contract was printed, Lu Ze signed his name and stamped the company's seal. All that was left was an administrative department's employee going to Tianye Media and getting their sign and seal before bringing back a copy. Only then would the contract be in effect.
Thus, Lu Ze's debut role had been confirmed.