And now she has to feign delicate when she was posting on Weibo and called out Jiang YueXian specifically? What was up with that?
Xu WanZhi clicked into Jiang YueXian's Weibo through that comment and noticed that Jiang YueXian did not respond to her at all nor did it look like he intended to.
What was with these two?
As Xu WanZhi was mulling over it, her cellphone rang and it was Xiao Yuan.
"Hi, WanZhi-jie, guess what just happened?"
Xiao Yuan's voice quivered a little, like she couldn't control her excitement – what good news did she have?
Xu WanZhi's mood was affected by Xiao Yuan and she was starting to get excited as well. "What is it?"
"Fang-jie just gave me a call and told me that Director Jiang sent over an invitation for you to attend the audition of his new movie "Plainness"!"
"Director Jiang? Which Director Jiang?" Xu WanZhi paused for a second then slowly asked out loud what she was thinking, "Do you mean Jiang ChenXi?"
"Yes! That Jiang ChenXi! Killer of film festivals and hoarder of all big awards, that one!"
Xu WanZhi felt that a firework had lit up above her head with a loud "BANG!"
It has been a while since she had seen a script that she liked. Never would she have guessed that after staying dormant for a few days, a script had fallen from the sky and smacked her right on her head.
"'Plainness' is also a period drama, focusing mainly on families. Words had it that Director Jiang invited you to the audition because he had seen your performance in 'Blossoming Us'. It's just the role of a female supporting character, but still… congratulations, WanZhi-jie!"
After Xu WanZhi hung up the phone, she started looking through the information on Jiang ChenXi's "Plainness" sent over by Xiao Yuan. The script was not very thick, but screenwriter's ability was undeniable. The screenwriter of "Blossoming Us" had already done a good job at combining emotions with the change of eras but this screenwriter of "Plainness" did an even better job. Just a few simple words were sufficient to wheel someone in from the beginning and keep someone's attention to the very end.
This script was everything that Xu WanZhi wanted a script to be. She looked at the audition information and filming time and that's when she realized that the timing of "Plainness" and "Blossoming Us" overlapped perfectly.
Meaning that she'd have to make a decision between the web show and the movie.
Problem was, "Plainness" was just an audition invitation to her. There were other competitions. Participating in the audition did not mean she'd definitely get the role. And, even if she did, it was just the role of a supporting character. There were also a lot of unforeseeable factors when it came to a movie. With some editing, she may not have very much face time left as a supporting character.
As far as "Blossoming Us" was concerned, it would be a new beginning for her. With the exception that some of the actors were still up in the air, the production team would be the same team as before. And her, as the best selling point, would play a very big role in the show.
For someone else, perhaps they'd go with "Plainness" without much hesitation. But, after giving it more thought, it wasn't an easy decision to make.
After finishing reading the information from Xiao Yuan, Xu WanZhi went back onto Weibo to read more about online commentaries on "Plainness". She read a few different articles before she realized that the male lead had more or less been decided to be Jiang YueXian. And many sources revealed online that those who'd be auditioning for the roles of female lead and female supporting characters included many film empresses, first tier actresses, and also the one who had been very active in front of her recently – Chen Jin.
This time, Film Empress Chen would be auditioning for the role of female lead. In addition, her fans had already spoken up for her that she was the best candidate for the role and that she'd come out of her funk and shine.
Xu WanZhi chuckled when she read that. The news of her being invited to the audition hasn't gotten out yet; otherwise, the Chen's braindead fans would be stepping on her to make their idol look good again.
That being said, Xu WanZhi started to get an idea about it: Chen Jin, as a 30-something senior, suddenly paid attention to AiAi Fox's Weibo and @Jiang YueXian to butter up to him. That was a tell-tale sign that Jiang YueXian was most likely going to be the male lead in the movie and have a certain amount of input on who'd play the role of the female lead. That was why Chen Jin was eager to butter up to him.
Xu WanZhi stared at the computer screen, her chin on her palm. After half a second, she finally decided on choosing "Plainness".
For no particular reasons. Just because!
Recalling how he was like a different person whenever the little fox was involved, the smile on her turned awkward all of a sudden. Jiang YueXian, on the other hand, was extremely friendly. He took over her purse like they were the best of pals and said, "Let's go. Let me introduce you to Director Jiang?"
Xu WanZhi looked in the direction that he was pointing and saw Jiang ChenXi surrounded by a bunch of film emperors and film empresses. She smiled, looked up to Jiang YueXian and said to him, "No, that's alright. I won't blackmail you emotionally with my fox nor do you need to waste your favor in helping me out here. It's an audition, may the best person win."
Hearing her words, Jiang YueXian looked a bit hurt. "Look, I am not some sort of a beast. You don't need to avoid me like that."
Xu WanZhi gave him an ill-intended smile and said, "You are right about that. A beast will not try to blackmail me morally. I'm just worry that you'd introduce me to Director Jiang today. I got the role in 'Plainness' tomorrow. Then you will come and say to me 'WanZhi, look, I've already helped you twice. Why don't you lend me your fox for two days?'"
Speechless, Jiang YueXian waved his hand and said, "Fine. Fine. You are good with words. I don't have a retort for that."
As soon as he finished saying that, he sudden became motionless as he looked ahead of him.
Xu WanZhi turned and looked. She saw a very extraordinary and noble-looking man standing there.
Jiang YueXian straightened out his collar and, as though he was talking to himself, said, "Feng Chun, what brought you here today?"
Feng Chun… that name sounded very familiar to Xu WanZhi. She thought about it long and hard and finally recalled that the night that Mu ZhenYu was drunk and Bai FeiChen called her to pick him up, he was the one who was drinking with Mu ZhenYu.
He was Qin Sheng's angel investor and one of the major shareholders.
Bai FeiChen didn't say it out loud, but Xu WanZhi gathered that he was a very important person.
Feng Chun was whispering into another man's ear in the meantime. As good as Xu WanZhi's hearing was, owing to the fact that they were fairly far away and that the location was noisy, she could only see his mouth moving but not make out what he was saying. She pretended to be baffled, "Who's Feng Chun? Which one is he? Can you point him out to me?"
Jiang YueXian dragged her with him as he walked toward that direction, not realizing that she was talking to him. "Feng Chun is the successor of the Feng's. He's that most eye-catching one standing next to the table over there. Look, everybody standing over there are wealthy. But that suit of his just made him stand out. How could you not see him?"
When they got closer, Xu WanZhi could finally somewhat made out what Feng Chun was saying.
"Of course Mu ZhenYu had approached me. I had him drank so much that he was drunk in front of a table-full of people," said Feng Chun as he toyed with his fancy cufflinks. "He had already lost his Project Falcon. I've heard that he had run into some issues with his patent application as well. The Qin's stocks aren't very expensive right now and it didn't cost me much to get into the field. After the Qin's news announcement next month, I will inject another round of capital into the Qin's. Mu XiYuan had recovered a few days ago and he'd be able to work with Qin Sheng from the inside. We will purposefully bring the stock price down and Mu ZhenYu won't even know what had hit him."
Feng Chun's words were offensive and the man he was talking to chuckled as well. Xu WanZhi was displeased from what she heard and wanted to turn around and leave.
Low and behold, Feng Chun carried on. "Such a pity that he really thought I have agreed to invest in him. Such a naïve person, wouldn't you say?"
Xu WanZhi's chest tightened. That was not good news. If Mu ZhenYu was fooled by someone; she would be affected by the domino effect as well.
Jiang YueXian, standing next to her, saw that she was dazed. He waved his hand in front of her face a couple of times and said to her, "WanZhi, the red-carpet event is about to begin. I am somewhat in the front so I must head over now."
Xu WanZhi nodded randomly. She was trying to figure out how she could inform Mu ZhenYu of what she had just heard.
At the same time, Bai FeiChen, who was standing amidst the crowd, watched every reaction coming from Xu WanZhi.
He sneered, pulled out his cellphone, and dialed Mu ZhenYu. "I've told you to not trust that Xu WanZhi. She just took a big detour over just to eavesdrop on Feng Chun. She just might be in cohort with that brother of yours to bring you down."
On the other end of the phone, Mu ZhenYu was sitting on the couch with a glass of red wine held between the slender fingers in his left hand. He picked up the TV remote control with his right hand and put on the red-carpet charity event as he lowered the audio to its lowest setting. "And, as I have said before, don't worry about Xu WanZhi."
Bai FeiChen was speechless for a second. "She is very pretty. I'll admit to that. You can have fun with her, but don't ruin yourself over her."
Mu ZhenYu hung up the phone and took a sip of his red wine.
His cellphone rang again before he was even able to put it back down on top of the table. He looked down at it and this time it was a call from Xu WanZhi.
He paused for a second before he swiped to answer the call.
"Hello, Mr. Mu." Xu WanZhi's melodious voice came over the receiver along with the boisterous noises in the background.
Mu ZhenYu acknowledged her with a low "Mmm."
"Um…" She was the one who initiated the call but she stammered as if she was lost for words. Finally, she asked, "Will you be home tonight?"
Mu ZhenYu raised his right brow slightly and looked up at the familiar furniture and the scenery of the river outside of the window.
His lips curved and he lied intentionally. "I have something to take care of and won't be home till very late. Don't wait up for me."
He had a lot of faith in Xu WanZhi, but the timing of her call was too coincidental that he decided to proceed with care.
From the other wend of the phone came her not-so-confident voice. "Oh, is that so… I'll wait for you at home then."
There was a hint of disappointment in her voice.
After Mu ZhenYu ended the call with her, he put down his red wine and lit a cigarette.
He was watching the spectacular event at the charity ball on the television. The red-carpet event had already begun and one familiar face after another walked past the camera. Subconsciously, he wished he could see Xu WanZhi's little body on the screen. He hoped that her acting skill wasn't so great that she had decided to go meet up with someone that she shouldn't when he wasn't home.
The cigarette in between his thin lips, he drew in a small puff and blew the smoke back out. He had never been wrong reading another person.
That included the young girl who seemed to have changed abruptly. He had never doubted his own judgment.
Nevertheless, he had became indecisive as of late and the tendency seemed to be getting worse with time.
He wasn't sure how much time had past before he heard the host announced "Xu WanZhi".
Mu ZhenYu looked up and saw the young girl in a goose yellow gown. She walked lightly into the camera like a fairy coming out of a flower.
Her pair of long legs were porcelain white and bright and smooth. She was pretty like a fairy who had been living on earth for a long time. She possessed the charm and grace that belonged to this world yet there was still an otherworldly spirit about her.
She stopped in the middle of the red carpet and, with smile in her eyes, she scanned across all of the cameras with their flash lights flashing nonstop. She was absolutely radiant.
For some odd reasons, Mu ZhenYu sudden felt a sense of indescribable frustration rising up from inside of him – it was longing, and definitely not jealousy. Even he couldn't put a finger on why he was feeling what he was feeling.
He looked up the agenda of the charity ball with his cellphone and paid particular attention at the closing time.
Then he suddenly had it figured out: the frustration was a strange feeling of anxiety. He worried that Xu WanZhi would not come home after the event was over.
He stamped out the cigarette that he had only taken a couple of puffs from and laughed at himself: Perhaps he really couldn't handle the defeat this time.