Bab 14: Ruyi.
"Meimei, you really didn't get the role of Chunhua?" He Ye questioned. There was a frown in-between his brows. "As per my calculations, you were the best candidate for the female lead in his movie."
"I really didn't get the role of Chunhua." There was a sad smile on the lips of Xin Mei which soon turned into a grin. "I didn't get the role of Chunhua but I got the role of second female lead Ruyi. Director said that Ruyi needs higher level acting skills, instead of Chunhua, my level suits the role of Ruyi."
"Really?"
"Yup." Xin Mei again grinned and told them about what had happened inside the audition room.
**
FLASHBACK
Xin Mei entered inside the audition hall. She maintained her professional aura. She knew the first impression is the last impression. She had to impress the judges with her looks also.
Whether it was the investment or the cast, revenge was believed to be the best. So, aside from the production crew, director Zhang who was the best director of the time, many other influential personalities from the entertainment industry were called to take the audition.
Xin Mei looked at the stern faces of the judges and she knew the reason as to why no one was selected from the first one hundred and forty-four candidates. Every judge was looking at her with high expectations.
Assistant of director Zhang walked towards her and took the resume from her hand. On the advice of He Ye, she had prepared a resume which highlighted her study in Film University and about the offers which she had received in the past.
On the signal from director Zhang, she stepped in front of the judging panel with unbound elegance. She plastered a perfect smile on her lips and stood with natural grace.
As every judge checked her up and down, her eyes scanned the panel. There were many people with whom she had met in the past due to Zhou Mingyu. Some were those who had offered her to get casted in their movies.
Her expressions froze when her eyes fall on the person who was sitting in the left corner seat….what was her uncle doing here?
Her uncle, He Jichen beamed when he saw the eyes of Xin Mei upon himself. Three days back he was called to be the judge of the audition. He wanted to give a surprise to Xin Mei so he didn't inform her that he was the judge. He didn't even inform his son about the same.
Xin Mei averted her gaze from him and looked at the director Zhang who hadn't sent her out till now which meant that she had passed him with her looks.
She calmed herself down before introducing herself to the judges, "Hello, I am Xin Mie."
After hearing her introduction, an expert in the film industry spoke up, "Miss Xin. As I know you didn't want to be an actress. So, why this sudden change in the decision?"
The same expert has once offered a movie to Xin Mei which she had politely declined.
"I had an accident two months back. I was in a coma for weeks and after waking up I realized that I was wasting my life. Now I want to use my life. I want to use my talent. I want to contribute to the film industry. I want to wear the crown of the best actress."
Every judge nodded their head upon hearing her and started to ask a lot of questions from her one after another. They asked her about her dancing skills, singing skills, her skills with music instruments and other skills like of martial art, horse riding which was needed for the film. They also asked her to demonstrate some skills which she did with grace. Her skills had impressed the judges very much.
"Miss Xin, You can perform whatever scene you like. You have three minutes to think about the scene."
Xin Mei thought for some time and decided the scene which she was going to perform that day. After making the decision she walked towards the judges.
"Today, I will perform the last scene of Chunhua. The last minute of her life before committing suicide."
Judges nodded their head and give her a go. The moment she received the signal, the aura around her changed. Her expression, her position everything changed. It felt like someone had possessed her.
Within five seconds, a lot of expressions appeared on her face. Expression of anger, pain, hatred, disgust, sadness, and guilt appeared on her face. Her lips shivered slightly and tears flowed down from her eyes.
"How?" she spoke only one word. But the one word was spoken with so much tenderness that it moved all the judges. Her voice was broken and full of pain.
Xin Mei walked towards the bottle of poison (prop). She stumbled down on the floor. Her stumbling was so natural that one of the assistants nearly walked towards her to help her.
With shivering hand, she took the bottle in her hand. She looked up and smiled. Her smile held so many emotions at the same time. Xin Mei expressed all the emotions which Chunhua was feeling at that moment after losing her everything, before doing suicide.
"I, Chunhua promise myself that I will return. I will return and have my revenge with Ruyi." Her voice came out naturally.
Xin Mei opened the bottle and gulped down the poison. A smile left her lips. Her eyes became disoriented before she fell down on the floor. For a second, the judges believed that she really had drunken the poison. Her act was so natural. Many judges were trying to control their tears.
Xin Mei had said only two sentences but her pained expressions were so accurate that it moved the judges to tears.
After her performance, Xin Mei came out from her performance. She stood up from the floor and gave a bow to the judges. Every judge came out from their trace upon her bow.
They all looked at one another with a smile on their faces. Xin Mei looked at their faces and hope burned in her heart.
"Let us discuss for a minute."
Director Zhang motioned her towards a chair in the corner. Xin Mei obediently walked towards the chair and had some water served by the assistant.
On the other side, the judges were discussing among themselves. There was an excitement among them.
From the morning, they had taken interview of numerous girls but there was rare who suited their eyes in one sight. But when they had looked at Xin Mei, her aura, they knew that it was her.
Her natural flow and skills had impressed them and her acting was at some other level. All judges, especially director Zhang knew that with some polishing, Xin Mei could bring magic in his movie.
"Director Zhang, you are lucky that such a talent came for the interview of your movie." A co-director praised the director. "Give her the role already."
He Jichen who was sitting aside couldn't help himself from smiling with proud. Finally, his niece was showing her talent to the world. He so wanted to tell the panel that Xin Mei was his niece but he knew that Xin Mei would kill him if she got the air about the same, uncle or not.
"Why are you quite director? Didn't you like her act?" one of the experts asked upon seeing the silent director.
"I really liked her act and I think why not I give her the role of Ruyi?"Director Zhang looked at his fellow judges for their opinion. "We all know that Ruyi is a more complex character than Chunhua. She would need to show a lot of expressions at the same time. The character of Ruyi needs a fire and I can see this fire in that girl. What do you all think?"
They all thought for some time before agreeing with director Zhang. Search for the actress of Ruyi was going to be tougher for them than the search of Chunhua and when they could see the potential of Ruyi in Xin Mei then how could they let this chance slip out from their hand?
"Miss Xin." Director Zhang called her.
Xin Mei rubbed her palm against her lap before making her way towards the judges.
"Miss Xin, what do you think about the role of Ruyi? Will you like to play the role of Ruyi instead of Chunhua?"
"Actually, the role of Ruyi is more challenging. We expect that the role of Ruyi will get more fame." Her uncle spoke up after seeing the conflicting expression on the face of Xin Mei. He wants Xin Mei to select the role of Ruyi.
"Thank you for offering me this role. I will try my best to not disappoint you all." Xin Mei bowed and there was true sincerity on her face.
"We look forward to work with you, Miss Xin. Now you can go home and prepare for your role. We have your number. Soon we will inform you about your schedule."
"Thank you once again, director."
Xin Mei gave a deep bow. She turned and left the audition hall after impressing the judges. A satisfactory smile lingered on her lips. This was only the start of her successful future!
Hadiah
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