This final close-up was after Gu Qionghua left, with Yue Huan smiling softly while thinking of her. No lines were needed, but it demanded high expressiveness in the actor’s micro-expressions.
Hold on, hold on. Just finish this scene and the audition will be over.
Pan Ze turned slightly sideways, looking at the distant sky. Momentarily, his cold eyes softened, lifting the corners of his mouth, and then—
He burst into loud laughter: “Hahahahaha!”
The audience, who had been watching intently, was suddenly startled.
Fortunately, the laughter was brief. Pan Ze quickly stopped his performance, his face full of embarrassment, finally understanding the feeling of wanting to find a crack to disappear into.
He truly didn’t mean to disrupt the scene.
After the laughter, the itchy feeling disappeared.
Pan Ze’s face alternated between blue and white, not knowing what to explain. Not only was he terrified by the strange sensation, but the directors’ expressions were equally horrifying.
The other candidates and staff were amazed. In all their years, they had never seen such a bold performer—an actor actually daring to disrupt two famous directors’ scene. Had he gone crazy?
Pan Ze stammered: “You, you, let me explain… I, I, I…”
“No need!” Deng Zhen cut him off, decisively crossing out his name and coldly saying, “After today’s audition, you are the most disgusting Yue Huan I’ve ever seen!”
Pan Ze: “…”
“You can go,” Director Deng no longer looked at him, casually instructing his assistant, “Call the next person.”
His assistant quickly nodded, knowing Director Deng was in an extremely bad mood, and silently mourned for the next unfortunate candidate.
“Next, Chang Weiyu.”
Deng Zhen was still angry, not even lifting his head as he picked up the nearby kettle and poured himself a cup of hot water.
He was getting older and most feared catching a cold, always having his assistant prepare a small kettle of hot water wherever he went.
Pan Ze still held the folding fan as a prop, standing awkwardly in place.
He wanted to beg Director Deng for mercy but didn’t know how to explain the accident. After hesitating for a moment, he could only leave dejectedly.
Just as he was about to reach the door, he suddenly saw Luo Yingbai sitting in the seat by the door.
Pan Ze was startled, thinking he might have seen wrong – who was this person? What right did he have to sit here?
In a brief instant, many thoughts flashed through his mind, filled with jealousy and hostility towards Luo Yingbai. At that moment, Luo Yingbai suddenly stood up and rushed forward.
Pan Ze had already considered him a rival, so his first reaction was to think Luo Yingbai wanted to attack him, instinctively blocking with the fan in his hand.
Then the next moment, his fan was snatched away.
Pan Ze was shocked and turned to look, seeing Luo Yingbai throwing the fan like a dart, with a casual “swish” that opened the fan mid-air.
Just as Director Deng had finished pouring hot water, the small thermos suddenly exploded!
Several people near Director Deng felt their ears buzzing, and before they could understand what was happening, hot water and glass shards were flying towards them. Others were relatively fine, but Director Deng was right in the line of fire, about to be splashed in the face.
At that moment, there was no time even to scream. His heart almost leaped to his throat.
In a daze, he heard a whoosh of wind, and a white shadow flew from somewhere, blocking directly in front of him and deflecting the hot water and fragments.
People then saw it was actually a folding fan painted with a landscape.
Before the fan could fall, he saw a hand reach out, grasping the fan handle, with a delicate blue rose tattoo on the side of the wrist, elegant and natural.
The slender fingers moved, making a light “tap” sound as the fan closed in front of Deng Zhen, and a voice asked, “Director, are you okay?”
Time and space mysteriously converged. For some reason, at this moment, Director Deng recalled the scene in the script where the princess was rescued by the heroic Yue Huan.
He looked up, meeting a pair of captivating eyes.
The face showed no smile, the eyes like stars in a dark night, deep black with an intoxicating light. At first glance, they seemed cold and unfeeling, but upon careful observation, there seemed to be some unexpressed emotions deeply suppressed within, mysterious and dazzling.
Deng Zhen, an old man, inexplicably felt his heart racing and his face turning red during this eye contact.
Luo Yingbai was indeed serious, pondering why Deng Zhen’s water bottle had suddenly exploded. It seemed he had said something before the explosion – “You are the most obscene Yue Huan I’ve ever seen.”
Just like how Luo Yingbai had previously mentioned that when he had said Yue Huan was a major villain, the lamp had shattered, this could no longer be considered a coincidence. Of course, those previously injured were actors playing Yue Huan, and without a clear investigation, it would be too hasty to draw conclusions based on this evidence.
Deng Zhen subconsciously asked, “You… are here for an audition?”
Luo Yingbai laughed, all previous aloofness gone: “No. Sorry for disturbing everyone.”
Deng Zhen wanted to say more, but Qiu Zeping coughed lightly. Director Xiao said, “This isn’t the time to talk. Let’s pause the audition for ten minutes. Xiao Qiu, please have someone clean the table and floor, be careful not to cut yourself.”
After everyone else left, Director Xiao introduced, “Old Deng, this is Master Luo. Our production has been experiencing constant incidents, so I invited him to check the feng shui.”
He added in a low voice, “He’s very capable, not a fraud. I know you don’t like hearing about these things, but please be polite to him.”
“
Most entertainment industry people are somewhat familiar with such matters and believe in metaphysics to varying degrees. Journalists, even if they hear rumors, won’t report such things openly. So Director Xiao wasn’t worried about speaking directly.
This also clarified Luo Yingbai’s identity, preventing people from overthinking and scheming.
After Director Deng fully understood Luo Yingbai’s purpose, he felt like he was hearing a mythical story, his worldview completely overturned. But with the continuous incidents involving the second male lead and the sudden thermos explosion, these coincidences connected together left this stubborn old man with no choice but to believe.
In other words, he had just encountered a real disaster, and Luo Yingbai had kindly warned him, but he hadn’t listened and had treated him like a fraud?
Although he still felt the logic wasn’t very scientific, he had indeed almost been blinded.
Deng Zhen was somewhat embarrassed, repeatedly apologizing. Others found it somewhat inexplicable, but Luo Yingbai knew why he was apologizing and casually said it was fine.
Now only the film crew and some long-established actors playing important roles remain on the scene, and their reactions are surprisingly consistent – they all feel relieved.
Old Deng finally came to his senses. “
Initially, he kept insisting that the crew’s poor psychological quality was causing their paranoia, and he firmly refused to believe that the second male lead had any problems, making everyone feel insecure. Now, finally, a capable person has arrived.
And this person is quite handsome.
“Master Luo,” a stunt double hesitantly approached while Luo Mingbai was flipping through the audition script, “I don’t mean to be paranoid, but I feel like the name of this second male lead is unlucky. It’s like he’s cursed, and anyone who gets close to him is doomed.”
Luo Mingbai said “Is that so,” and Qiu Zeping had already introduced, “This gentleman was the martial arts double for the previously deceased actor.”
