Growing Fond of You, Mr Nian

The corners of Mo Liuxi’s mouth slightly twitched.

Was he smiling just now? He didn’t think so.

“Focus. Let’s see their acting,” he said to Li Ming.

Damn. Who’s the not-focusing one? Li Ming thought.

More than 30 actors and actresses came for the audition. Some of them flew all the way there. Mo Liuxi tended to work with experienced artists since they were good at acting. The producer liked the popular ones more.

Around noon, they had a simple lunch. They sat together and talked about one of the male supporting characters. During the meeting, He Jian received a phone call.

After ending the call, he came back and said to the others, “Here is an urgent message from the investor. She Xiang will be playing that supporting character.”

The others were surprised.

Director Li pulled a long face and said, “We were about to give that role to Pan Qingfeng. He is popular and a good actor. He is looking for a chance to expand his career, so he even lowered his price.”

“That’s right.” The assistant director nodded. “Earlier, I read news saying that Shi Xiang acts like a diva. I hate it when my artists are like that.”

“This is not for me to decide.” He Jian was a little embarrassed and said, “The investor strongly demanded we give him that role. We are talking about the biggest investor of this film. I couldn’t say no to what they asked. Also, I have to remind you that we hired a Korean company for post-production. If we don’t do what they say, the post-production team might leave.”

Director Li’s face was sour. Mo Liuxi frowned. Shi Xiang’s name wasn’t strange for him. Earlier, he made Chu Jiu switch the spokesperson of his new game. Shi Xiang was the one who got replaced.

“What exactly is Shi Xiang’s background?” Mo Liuxi was expecting to see Shi Xiang again. “Doesn’t the internet say that he was born in an ordinary family, built his career single-handedly in Korea, and then came back to China?”

Yan Meng burst into laughter and said, “Can we believe everything the internet says? Who can possibly become a superstar so easily without a solid background?”

“It’s just a supporting role,” He Jian helplessly said. “Director Li, last time, they recommended an actor for another male supporting role in the film, but you refused to give him that role. There was already disagreement between them and us then. The character we’re talking about here is less important than that one. He’ll only be in the film for about 10 minutes. It won’t make any big difference. The audiences won’t care that much. Besides, Shi Xiang called me personally. He told me that he would never snub anything and that what people said about his attitude was not true. He said that he’ll do whatever you say during filming. To be honest, no one ever dared to act like a diva in front of you, right?”

Mo Liuxi gave a cold smile and said, “I’m sorry. I have seen him act like a diva with my own eyes.”

Director Li glanced at him.

“The father of one of my friends owns the game company, which recently fired Shi Xiang as the spokesman of their new game,” Mo Liuxi said.

“Even if he used to do that before, I mean, no one ever dared work with Director Li with that kind of attitude, right?” He Jian hurriedly commented. “We really don’t have to openly offend the investor right now. Now, everything is ready. The more time we waste, the more money it will cost. Even if switch our investor, the other investors would make the same request.”

Director Li gave a long sigh and said, “The atmosphere of the film industry is getting worse. That’s why there’s so many trashy movies nowadays. Alright, let him play that role. We’ll try to cut his part as much as possible.”

Mo Liuxi pressed his lips together. His unhappiness was evident.

“Shi Xiang will come here for the audition later,” He Jian said. “We still have to go through the motions, but don’t give him a hard time.”

…

At 1:30 p.m., Shi Xu auditioned. He had slightly changed his appearance. His hair was short, exposing his eyebrows, and his face was unshaven. He was wearing a denim jacket, which made him look like a ruffian. His new look was a little closer to the male role that he was going to play in the film.