The content of Gu Xun’s top Weibo was his “Heaven Asked?” promotional Weibo and the latest post from Gu Xun was:

Gu Xun: Refuse violence, eat sensibly.

“…”

Although it was out of place, Qi Cong couldn’t hold back his laughter when he saw this.

He couldn’t imagine Gu Xun’s expression at all when he posted this.

Why would Gu Xun post this? Did something happen that made him feel….

Qi Cong suddenly remembered the wreckage in the tea shop room that day and his loss of control in the face of Jiang Zhaoyan. He looked at the time this post was published and saw that it was in the early hours of the 11th, making the smile on his face freeze and disappear.

Was it because of him? Was this Weibo post advising him?

He looked back at the words “eat sensibly” and remembered that he had eaten a whole cake that day. Some ‘he still cares about me’ sentiments emerged, resulting in joy, but he quickly suppressed them.

No, Gu Xun was no longer involved with him.

It must be a coincidence.

Qi Cong exited Weibo and sat down on the sofa. After looking at the ceiling for a few seconds, he got up, took the script for tomorrow’s audition and read it intently.

On September 14th, the second audition came.

On the way there, Zhao Zhenxun held a blank schedule and said to Qi Cong, “Filming of the “Grey Dove” web drama you are auditioning for today will be very rushed, so you should know the result tomorrow. If you pass the audition you will join the crew next week. That is to say, your subsequent schedule arrangements will depend on your audition today. I will give you some warning, this web drama is very popular due to word of mouth, so competition is very fierce. You will fight against actors that already have a certain foundation.”

Qi Cong nodded and answered earnestly. “Alright.”

They arrived at the audition location in a flash. Due to the shooting schedule, the crew arranged for the audition location to be in an old residential building near the set.

The residential building was a bit chaotic, with props and miscellaneous things piled up on the ground and staff busily coming and going as everyone was in a hurry.

The casting director, Huang Jianwei, welcomed Zhao Zhenxun and Qi Cong. He sheepishly shook hands with Zhao Zhenxun and Qi Cong respectively and said, “Sorry to disappoint you, it’s really busy here. Old Zhao, we are acquaintances, so let’s not talk about the formalities. I will be straightforward with you, because you got in touch at the last second. This audition was arranged for you at the last minute. Several other audition actors came to audition yesterday and the day before yesterday, so the main director, producer and screenwriter have already had several rounds of discussions and quarrels over who should be given the role. You guys… cheer up.”

Other actors have already auditioned and the crew already seemed to have a satisfactory candidate. The situation was very unfavorable for Qi Cong.

Zhao Zhenxun frowned, then quickly stretched out his hand and replied, “Thank you Old Huang, it’s okay. Let’s follow the process.”

“What’s there to thank me for, then? Let’s start?” Huang Jianwei spoke as his line of sight fell on Qi Cong, who kept quiet during their talk.

Qi Cong met the other party’s line of sight and took the initiative one step ahead of Zhao Zhenxun to say, “Let’s start. Thank you to the crew for giving me this opportunity.”

After settling Zhao Zhenxun, Huang Jianwei  pointed Qi Cong to the room with a camera. Turning the camera lens, he gestured to Qi Cong to sit and asked, “Have you read the script?”

Qi Cong saw that the crew was busy so he thought that the audition would begin directly. Hearing these words he froze for a moment, before he realized that Huang Jianwei was trying to communicate with him first. He calmed down and followed Huang Jianwei’s gesture to sit down. He replied, “I have read it.”

“Then tell us your understanding of the role of Mu Shenzhou, , and your views on this part of the story.”

After the failure of the last audition, Qi Cong spent much more time preparing for this one, thinking about the characters and the script, as well as checking all three stories of “Grey Dove” that had already finished airing.

From the audience’s point of view, Qi Cong felt that “Grey Dove” was very good. This drama, no matter if it was the pace of the story, tone of the shot or the performance of the actors, was excellent. This made it much better than your average level web drama. If not, the subject matter restrictions would be absolutely enough to become a hit.

From the screenwriter’s point of view, however, Qi Cong thought that the story model of “Grey Dove” which uses small stories to string together a whole big storyline, was both flexible and very challenging. The screenwriter needed to have profound skill and control of the details of the characters and plots to the extreme to maximize their charm and power.

A whole analysis of the script popped up in Qi Cong’s head almost immediately after hearing Huang Jianwei’s questions. He politely asked before answering, “May I ask how long my answer should be? There are so many things I want to say, so I need to focus my answer according to the time limit.”

Huang Jianwei raised his eyebrows unexpectedly, looking Qi Cong up and down. Thinking about it for a moment he finally replied, “Go ahead and say as much as you want. When I’ve heard enough, I’ll interrupt you.”

Qi Cong gave an understanding nod. After organizing his thoughts, finally he said, “About the role of Mu Shenzhou….”

……

An hour later, Huang Jianwei took the initiative to pour a glass of water for Qi Cong and urged, “Continue on. Why do you think the character Wang Long will be the biggest boss behind the scenes? He is obviously very insignificant, so give me a reason why you are so sure that it’s him.”

“Actually, I’m not sure. I just think that if I were the scriptwriter, I would choose him as the final boss. It’s more appropriate to leave the ending blank so the audience can discuss it more and make the emotional resonance stronger. Now I am done.”

Huang Jianwei carefully pondered over Qi Cong’ “blank ending” and was dumbfounded by his last words, asking, “Done?”

“I’m finished. Director Huang, do you want to start the audition now?”

“Ah yes! You’re here for the audition.” Huang Jianwei suddenly slapped his thigh, looked at the time and almost jumped up from the shock. Quickly getting up, he began to remove the tea cups from the table as he spoke quickly. “How is it already so late? Let’s get started. Start in the middle of the room and act in front of the camera. Just act out the two scenes where you show your murderous heart to Li Ya and break down after killing someone.”

Qi Cong got up to help the director pack his things and then went to the camera, stopped at a suitable distance, and closed his eyes to get into the right emotional state.

Coincidentally, his role in this audition was also a murderer, similar to the one Gu Xun played when he debuted.

It almost felt like Gu Xun and him stood at the same starting point.

Although the starting points were similar, the actual difference was that of heaven and earth.

He couldn’t miss this opportunity again and he didn’t have enough time left to fail.

His emotions gradually settled and after a shallow exhale, Qi Cong opened his eyes, his demeanor and temperament changing as his gaze showed a hint of danger.

Edited by: Antiope1

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