"snort--"
Chen Yulin snorted and looked Xiao He and Liu Zehang up and down with disdain: "Some people are really funny. They are clearly in competition, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ but they still pretend to flatter each other as if they can be elected. I'm afraid they won't be able to eat when the time comes."
Liu Zehang: "Heh, even we can't get selected, how could you possibly get selected?"
In fact, according to the senior-junior relationship, Chen Yulin, as a junior, would not dare to challenge Liu Zehang. However, Haohan Entertainment, which is behind Chen Yulin, is very good at marketing and generating traffic. As a result, although Chen Yulin has not yet starred in a drama, his number of fans is no less than that of Liu Zehang, a talented actor who has produced many leading roles. This has become his confidence.
Chen Yulin: "Teacher Liu, you should worry less about others and more about yourself. What if your good brother becomes the male lead and you become the supporting character in the future? It will take time to recover."
Liu Zehang rolled his eyes: "Teacher Chen, you should give less advice to others. After all, you've never been the male lead, so you probably haven't experienced whether or not you need to adjust your mood."
Chen Yulin: "Tch."
Xiao He: "..."
You two have left me speechless.
Just then, a staff member came over and led Chen Yulin inside for his audition.
After a while, Liu Zehang also prepared to go in.
Before leaving, Liu Zehang encouraged Xiao He: "Go for it, Brother Xiao, I won't lose to you."
Xiao He encouraged him, "Okay, I'm waiting! Good luck to you too!"
After Liu Zehang left, more people came into the hall one after another, but Xiao He didn't recognize any of them and didn't try to make contact with them. He continued to look down at his script.
However, after sitting for a short while, another person suddenly sat down next to him.
Xiao He glanced at the other person and found that he was a middle-aged man who looked to be around fifty years old. He was wearing a mask, and the corners of his eyes were deeply lined. He was dressed very simply and modestly, and he seemed to be wearing a staff badge on his chest. He looked out of place with everyone else here.
Meeting Xiao He's gaze, the middle-aged man raised his eyebrows and nodded at him in a friendly manner.
Xiao He didn't detect any dangerous aura from the other party, so he politely nodded slightly.
He then continued to look down at his script.
And this guy was quite sensible; he just sat quietly to the side, without saying a word or making any strange moves, as if he was simply sitting there.
But Xiao He could feel a faint gaze constantly scrutinizing him.
Xiao He pretended not to notice.
After waiting for another ten minutes or so, Xiao He finally entered the preparation area. The staff handed him a script with the audition scene he was going to perform.
Xiao He glanced at it quickly; it was a one-man show.
His character finally escaped death and returned from outside, but instead of people's concern, he was met with panic.
Everyone looked at him with fear, suspecting that he had been infected with the zombie virus and might suddenly attack people at any moment.
While everyone was discussing his future, he simply sat quietly in place, silently healing his wounds.
Yes, he was injured, but not from a zombie bite; it was a knife wound, an injury caused by a human.
In this dangerous environment teeming with zombies, the most dangerous element, in the end, turns out to be people...
This part of the story has no dialogue; the character's psychological process is conveyed entirely through actions and expressions. If the performance is poor, with empty eyes, it may seem as if the character is just standing there in a daze, failing to convey any tragic or heroic tone. Therefore, this part of the story is the most difficult to perform in the entire plot.
Fortunately, Xiao He had been working hard to improve his acting skills during this time, and since he had the "art of lies" to his advantage, his performances have become more infectious and convincing. For such a difficult performance, Xiao He also had his own understanding and performance style.
After silently going over his self-introduction and performance in his mind, Xiao He began to carefully check his clothes.
To better fit the character, Liu Rulan specially designed a tactical fitted shirt and khaki cargo pants for Xiao He during the audition, along with a pair of dark brown combat boots. Xiao He's hard work in training had given him a more powerful and composed physique, perfectly matching the character's identity as the "strongest combatant" in the entire series.
Although this was just a formality, Xiao He didn't want to be perfunctory; he wanted to do his best.
As for other issues, with Sister Liu around, he had nothing to worry about.
Finally, guided by the staff, Xiao He knocked on the door of the performance hall.
"Creak—"
The doors to the performance hall were old and made a sound, but even before the sound, the cool air conditioning inside the hall arrived. As soon as Xiao He stepped into the performance hall, he felt as if his skin was wrapped in something, making him feel cold and uncomfortable.
Xiao He frowned subconsciously.
"Hello, teachers. My name is Xiao He."
Following the temporary arrows affixed to the floor, Xiao He arrived at the center of the performance area and respectfully bowed to the people in front of him.
But when he saw the faces of the people on the stage, Xiao He's pupils involuntarily contracted.
Sitting in the middle of the judges' panel was Director Feng, Feng Zhengyang. He was over seventy years old at the time, but he was still very healthy, with black hair and a full face. However, his eyes were full of scrutiny when he looked at Xiao He. His somewhat cloudy, slanted eyes made Xiao He very uncomfortable, giving him a strange feeling of being compared and weighed as a commodity.
What made Xiao He even more uncomfortable was the sense of kinship emanating from Director Feng...
—No, it's not just him, everyone on stage is acting very strangely!
Director Feng, standing right in the center, exudes a strong, pungent smell of blood, so strong it's almost rotten and foul, making one want to vomit.
Beside Director Feng was a refined man in his thirties, with a handsome and elegant appearance. His narrow, almond-shaped eyes held a gentle starlight, and he exuded the mature charm of a university professor.
Xiao He recognized the other person as Tong Junhui, an artist that Sister Liu had previously managed, and also the male lead handpicked by Director Feng for this movie.
Before this, Xiao He had seen his photos, but never felt anything like this. Upon meeting him in person, Xiao He discovered that the man's aura was particularly chaotic. Although there was no bloodthirsty smell, there was a faint aura of similar beings. Those phoenix eyes, often praised by fans as gentle and refined, now revealed a cold indifference beneath the gentle facade, as if shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see his true thoughts.
What made Xiao He even more wary was that there was a strange man sitting on the other side of Director Feng. The man had an ordinary appearance, but a pair of mean triangular eyes. He looked at people with a critical and scrutinizing gaze, and even the whites of his eyes were more prominent than those of ordinary people. When he stared at Xiao He, he had an arrogant expression on his face.
According to the nameplate on the seat, Xiao He knew that the other person was Dong Zeng, the producer of this film.
He also had a strong smell of blood on him.
Finally, there was the screenwriter sitting in the corner. Xiao He could also sense that there was something wrong with him, but ironically, this screenwriter was the "cleanest" one among the group.
In other words, these people should all be in jail, not here pretending to select actors.
At that moment, Xiao He almost forgot why he had come there.
Holy crap, where did I end up? Is this still an audition? How did it turn into a crime scene?
