Chapter 163: Top-Grade Zero-Zero

"Director Cai, even if you leave right now, Sister Gao won't have time to discuss the contract with you," Song Wan said with a helpless sigh. "Besides, I don't have any scheduled commitments after finishing *Stars*, so Sister Gao certainly wouldn't refuse such a wonderful opportunity for me to star in Director Cai's film."

As soon as Song Wan finished speaking, Cai Qi could not help but frown.

Seeming still somewhat unconvinced, he knit his brows and asked her, "What will you do if you run off without signing a contract?"

Song Wan: "..."

Zhou Qi's eyelids twitched, and the corners of his mouth pulled down into a wry grimace. "Cai Qi, has your emotional intelligence been eaten by a dog?"

Even Qian Fu had no desire to speak to Cai Qi at that moment.

Meanwhile, the variety show director's eyes curved into crescent moons as he glanced at the camera, looked up at the panel of directors, glanced back at the camera, looked up at the directors again, and then back at the camera...

"Director Du, cut it out!" Song Wan said, utterly speechless.

Only then did Cai Qi seem to realize that they were still recording a program, and his face instantly darkened.

Startled by Cai Qi's icy glare, Du Yu hastily slapped the monitor off.

Song Wan's gaze shifted to the still-operating camera, and she could not suppress an internal eye-roll.

Sure enough, these truly top-tier directors in the industry loved their craft so deeply that they were practically reckless about it.

Cai Qi swept a glance at the camera, surprisingly refraining from saying anything more.

He turned back to look at Song Wan. "Although we haven't signed a contract, the lens has recorded your promise. If you dare to break your word in the future, I will take you straight to court." With that, he pointed a finger at the camera. "That is the evidence!"

Song Wan: "..."

She could not help but massage her temples, replying after a moment, "Naturally. Rest assured, Director Cai, I would never go back on my word."

Cai Qi nodded, satisfied, and sat back down.

Qian Fu and Zhou Qi exchanged a glance, their smiles wry.

Zhou Qi confirmed once again that inviting Cai Qi to help with these auditions was the biggest bug in the system!

Yet he could not simply tell Cai Qi to leave now. Setting aside whether they could find another director of comparable stature, Cai Qi himself would surely refuse to walk away from the audition set of *Stars*.

Sure enough...

"In that case," Cai Qi stated, "you will come to the set every day to observe the audition process from now on."

Song Wan froze. "Huh?"

What sort of logic was that?

"That way, I can keep an eye on you to prevent you from signing work contracts with other crews behind my back." Cai Qi wore a deadpan, serious expression, showing no hint that he was joking.

Yet Song Wan was completely bewildered. What was this business about "again"?

If she had the chance to star in Director Cai's movie, she would never turn it down! Even if she wanted to, Sister Gao would beat the living daylights out of her!

A supporting role in one of Cai Qi's films was far more important than the lead role in a standard television drama.

Song Wan thought to herself that she would need to call Sister Gao later and explain the reason for Cai Qi's discontent.

For now, however, she could only nod along with Cai Qi's demands.

Having secured the actress of his choice, Cai Qi was immensely pleased, and even his rigid, stern expression softened with a couple of faint smiles.

Qian Fu and Zhou Qi could not help but roll their eyes.

-

The auditions continued. As for Kang Jian, who had originally sparked the debate among the three directors, he was retained by a three-to-one majority vote.

However, although he was kept on, he would be immediately cut the moment another candidate with comparable qualifications appeared.

--If only he hadn't tried to be too clever by half during the audition.

-

The second actor to audition was named Du Yuan. He was also a student at the film academy, a senior in his fourth year, about to graduate.

Typically, third- and fourth-year film academy students had already started running around film sets, trying to land minor roles.

Even if it was just playing an extra, at least it would make their resumes look decent when applying to other crews later, wouldn't it?

Yet this student named Du Yuan had a completely blank resume.

Song Wan frowned tightly, pushing his resume aside to pick up the supplementary materials collected by the crew...

*High-aiming yet low-achieving, arrogant and self-important, refusing to play anything other than major roles.*

--That was the evaluation given by Du Yuan's own instructor.

Song Wan was almost too angry to laugh. A complete newcomer, a rookie with zero experience in film and television acting, and he still had the luxury of being picky and choosy?

She could not help but look over at Shi Yi. "How could he possibly fancy Zhou Ya?"

Although the role of Zhou Ya could still be considered significant within the context of the entire drama, that was only because the total number of characters in the series was small, making everyone stand out more.

Put him in any other production, and a role like Zhou Ya wouldn't even register on the scale.

No matter how one looked at it, Zhou Ya's importance shouldn't even be on Du Yuan's radar, right?

Why on earth would he come to audition for Zhou Ya?

Shi Yi looked somewhat sheepish. "Although Du Yuan's mentor hates that he fails to meet expectations, he is still very satisfied with the kid's acting skills, so he reached out to me..."

Song Wan nodded, understanding completely. Ah, pulling strings through the back door.

Then, narrowing her eyes, she fixed Shi Yi with a scrutinizing stare. "Did you promise this role to Du Yuan?"

If that were truly the case, she would have no qualms about falling out with him.

However, Shi Yi should know how much importance she attached to *Stars*, and both he and his financial backers valued the drama deeply. Surely he wouldn't act so recklessly...

Shi Yi shook his head with a bitter smile. "How could I have?"

He paused, then spoke with a heavy sense of helplessness. "Because of his previous pickiness, every single crew in the industry that Du Yuan's status allowed him to approach came to know what he was like. Directors would literally chase him away the moment they saw him..."

Song Wan's eyes widened. To make all those directors unite in boycotting a mere nobody, just how excessively arrogant and troublesome must this guy have been before?

Shi Yi continued, "Later on, he couldn't even land small background roles. Though his mentor was furious with him, he couldn't just stand by and watch his own student reach a dead end, could he? That's why he swallowed his pride and came to me." He glanced toward Du Yuan, his expression complicated. "You have no idea how fiercely proud his mentor usually is, yet for the sake of this... when he left, his whole face was burning red."

"His mentor and I were only on nodding terms before, but since he humbled himself to that extent..." Shi Yi scratched the back of his head with some embarrassment. "Anyway, it was just an audition opportunity; I never promised the role was his."

Song Wan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet, regarding the actions of Du Yuan's mentor, she remained noncommittal.

She had also spent time at the very bottom of the acting ladder, even facing blockade and suppression from behemoths like Tang Su and her company. Yet even under those circumstances, she had still managed to secure roles.

Was the predicament Du Yuan faced really more severe than what she had gone through?

Those low-level directors lacked the actual clout to truly blacklist someone. If Du Yuan genuinely wanted to find a role, it honestly wouldn't be that difficult.

The only difficulty lay in whether he could swallow his pride to apologize to those directors, or simply bypass them and join large productions to play a background extra with minimal screen time—perhaps not even a single line of dialogue.

Song Wan figured that since Du Yuan had ended up here, he certainly hadn't chosen either of those two paths.

While she pitied the responsible mentor, her impression of Du Yuan plummeted even further.

Naturally, Du Yuan was oblivious to the exchange happening in the corner. He looked at the three directors with pleasant surprise, his flustered demeanor almost making it seem as though he had run into a girl he had harbored a crush on for years.

Of course, that was far from the truth.

Seeing Du Yuan's expression so unguarded, Zhou Qi felt the favorable impression he had initially lost due to the resume and documents rebound slightly.

Everyone possessed a certain vanity; seeing a junior show such open admiration for them naturally brought a sense of gratification.

Not to mention Zhou Qi, even Qian Fu's previously grim expression eased somewhat.

Only Cai Qi looked at Du Yuan's face with an expression dark and heavy as ink.

He parted his lips as if wanting to say something, but Zhou Qi hurriedly cut him off.

"Du Yuan, is it? Which plotline in *Stars* do you like the most, and what are your reasons?" Zhou Qi asked, smiling as he grabbed Cai Qi's hand to prevent him from speaking.

As old friends of many years, who didn't know who?

The moment Cai Qi's mouth twitched, Zhou Qi could guess what he wanted to say.

It would be nothing more than driving Du Yuan out of the audition room or launching into scathing sarcasm to mock him.

However, didn't he realize what the current situation was? With so many cameras working around them, couldn't he read the room at all?

Cai Qi endured it, finally noticing that even Qian Fu was using his eyes to warn him...

With a disgruntled huff, Cai Qi leaned back into his chair and turned his head away, making it abundantly clear that he was refusing to cooperate.

The variety show director, unaware of the internal dynamics, looked slightly dazed. He poked his head out from behind the monitor to look at Song Wan in the corner.

In his eyes, Song Wan represented the investors—a figure of authority who could genuinely negotiate with the directors.

Song Wan flipped through the documents, her face twisting in a bitter grimace.

She had no idea what to do either.

Earlier, Kang Jian had merely tried a little clever trick, and it had caused Cai Qi's attitude to flip entirely, making him eager to boot the person out immediately. And now, this Du Yuan...

She could only shake her head at the variety show director, signaling for him to let things proceed as normal.

Seeing this, Shi Yi instantly grew restless and uneasy.

This trouble, which had alienated everyone in the room, was one he had brought upon himself.

Song Wan shook her head at him, then shifted her gaze back to Du Yuan, who was currently so excited he could barely form a coherent sentence.

Fragmented, stammering, devoid of any real substance, and completely lacking in emotion...

"Get out!" Cai Qi suddenly snapped in fury.

Du Yuan looked as though someone had grabbed him by the throat; his face flushed red, and his voice cut off abruptly.

Qian Fu and Zhou Qi hesitated for a split second, ultimately choosing not to contradict Cai Qi.

As veterans who had seen all kinds of storms, how could they fail to grasp the subtext behind Du Yuan's stumbling, incoherent speech?

He had never even bothered to read the original novel of *Stars*, despite preparing to audition for an adaptation of it.

He hadn't even given a single thought to understanding the character of Zhou Ya, the role he was auditioning for.

Song Wan finally could not help turning her head. "It seems Du Yuan isn't very satisfied with the role his mentor fought so hard to get him." She gave a light laugh, her peripheral vision accidentally catching the hidden resentment and malice lurking in the depths of Du Yuan's eyes, making her find the situation even more absurd. "For all we know, he probably thinks his mentor's actions were an insult to him."

A mere supporting role...

Song Wan thought to herself: how could someone so arrogant and self-important suddenly see the light and accept his mentor's arrangement to audition for a supporting part?

She even felt that Shi Yi's previous explanation sounded more like a subtle mockery of that mentor.

Shi Yi's face darkened instantly. He pushed himself up abruptly and strode out of the room.