After Wen Shiqing returned, there wasn’t much work arranged for her—she only needed to look over scripts that caught her interest.
But no matter how she looked, she still favored that confidential project. She had already flipped through that script so many times it was wrinkled, yet she still hadn’t made up her mind.
While she was hesitating, Xiao Zhao came to her home and said, “Sis, the confidential project sent word that auditions are starting next Monday. Have you decided yet?”
Auditions required advance notice to the contact person, so as not to make a wasted trip.
Wen Shiqing lay on the bean bag sofa, her face covered by the project script: “Still hesitating.”
“I’m telling you, Sis, what’s there to hesitate about? Lots of actresses have gotten their hands on this project. Let’s just go try it out—whether you can land it is still a question.” Xiao Zhao urged. “Let’s just treat it as going to see what a big project looks like?”
Wen Shiqing set the project document aside and looked at Xiao Zhao. She said, “But what if I get selected?”
Although Wen Shiqing wasn’t so bold as to think she’d definitely be chosen if she went, the probability was still fifty percent—what if?
If she backed out at the last minute, it would definitely provoke their displeasure. Everyone was in the same circle, and word spreading about something like that wouldn’t be good. Although she didn’t have much career ambition, having no ambition and offending people were two different things.
Xiao Zhao, however, was more carefree: “We’ll worry about that when the time comes. Sis, I genuinely think you should go for this role.”
Wen Shiqing lowered her gaze to the project document.
Xiao Zhao pressed her lips together. Seeing her like this, she knew Wen Shiqing probably wouldn’t go. She sighed inwardly and felt a little resentment toward Zhou Langxing.
He was filming kissing scenes left and right—why should Wen Shiqing have to “stay faithful” for him?
She didn’t even dare to imagine that with Wen Shiqing’s qualifications, if she were single with no ties, she could probably break straight into the top tier of leading actresses. But no—she had to have a lovesick brain.
Xiao Zhao stood up, her tone a bit disappointed: “Alright, Sis, I’ll head back then. I’ll let the contact person over there know.”
She had just turned around and taken a step when she heard Wen Shiqing behind her say, “Maybe… let’s go take a look.”
Xiao Zhao whipped her head around, raising an eyebrow: “Sis! Really?!”
Wen Shiqing smiled: “Isn’t it what you said—whether they’d even want me is still a question mark. Let’s go see what the process of a big project is like. What if we come across another suitable project in the future?”
Xiao Zhao cheered: “Great! Sis! That’s a great way of thinking! Awesome! I’ll contact their liaison right away. You study the script well, and let’s fight for—”
She paused, then said, “Let’s fight for a perfect experience!”
Wen Shiqing nodded: “Alright!”
Xiao Zhao thought of something else and asked, “Do you need me to let Brother Zhou’s assistant know?”
“No need.” Wen Shiqing said. “It’s just going over to try out anyway. Nothing worth mentioning.”
Xiao Zhao heard Wen Shiqing’s words and wanted to say something encouraging, but the words got stuck in her throat and she swallowed them back down. She nodded: “Alright, I won’t say anything then! Sis, get yourself prepared!”
Xiao Zhao was happy now, eager to contact the liaison over there right away, afraid that Wen Shiqing might suddenly change her mind again.
Wen Shiqing had no intention of changing her mind. After Xiao Zhao left, she climbed up from the bean bag sofa and moved to her desk.
It was called a desk, but it was actually two office desks pushed together. When she and Zhou Langxing were at home, they would sit facing each other like this, basking in the sun while reading scripts—it was quite pleasant.
Wen Shiqing had originally planned to walk around to her own seat, but she was too lazy to bother, so she simply pulled out Zhou Langxing’s chair and sat down.
She spread the script flat on the desk and read it carefully from beginning to end once more.
The more she read, the more she loved it.
Wen Shiqing rarely encountered a role that made her heart race with such excitement.
After finishing the last page with lingering satisfaction, she leaned back against the chair, sunlight spilling over her as she lounged lazily.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Wen Shiqing stretched as she went to answer it—it was her lunch delivery.
She carried the takeout inside and closed the door. She’d originally planned to eat on the coffee table while watching TV, but she couldn’t bear to give up the sunlight by the floor-to-ceiling windows. Still, she didn’t dwell on it—she set the takeout on the desk and went to find her tablet, only to discover she’d forgotten to charge it after playing games yesterday.
Wen Shiqing sighed, plugged her tablet in to charge, then reached for Zhou Langxing’s tablet instead. She’d charged both tablets when she came back a couple days ago, so it was ready to use.
She unlocked the tablet and was about to tap on the video app when she noticed a notification.
【Scoop a Star and Moon: What a happy day today! Full of energy……】
【Weibo push notification—come see what everyone’s been up to~】
Wen Shiqing wasn’t interested. She cleared all the notifications and opened the video app, picking a show she liked to watch.
After Xiao Zhao sent Wen Shiqing’s personal video reel to the contact person, it wasn’t long before an invitation to audition came back.
It was scheduled for Monday, though the audition wasn’t in their city—it was in the neighboring S City. Not far, just a little over two hours by high-speed rail.
To be in better shape, early Sunday morning, Wen Shiqing and Xiao Zhao packed up and took the high-speed rail to S City.
As they checked in, they noticed quite a few familiar actresses also checking in. Xiao Zhao muttered quietly, “They’re probably all here to audition for that confidential project.”
Xiao Zhao had already done her research—this time in S City, only the female lead role was being auditioned; the other roles hadn’t even started casting yet.
Wen Shiqing adjusted her sunglasses. “Mm.”
For some reason, she was already starting to feel a bit nervous.
When they got to their room—because of the auditions, hotel rooms were in high demand, so they’d only managed to book one—Xiao Zhao put their things away, then thought of something and said, “Oh right, sis, Brother Zhou’s crew is also filming in S City recently.”
Wen Shiqing was a little surprised. “Lang Xing is in S City?”
Xiao Zhao was taken aback. “You didn’t know?”
“No, I didn’t,” Wen Shiqing said. “Last time he told me he was going to Y City, and I didn’t ask after that.”
Xiao Zhao said, “I only found out because I saw a director recruiting extras post about it. They must have just moved here.”
Wen Shiqing nodded. “Probably. I remember Lang Xing mentioning that their final stage of filming has a lot of changes—chasing authentic environments means a lot of running around.”
As she spoke, she unlocked her phone and started typing a message to Zhou Langxing, but just as she finished composing it, she deleted it word by word.
She looked up and asked, “Could you find out where they’re filming? After the audition, I want to go visit the set.”
It just so happened that they had arrived, and Zhou Langxing had been filming intensively these past two days, so they hadn’t had a chance to properly talk. Sometimes she had already fallen asleep by the time he got off set.
Xiao Zhao said, “Sure.”
Having been in the industry for so many years, she could still manage to find someone to ask about such a small matter.
Before long, she had the information: “My friend sent me the location. I took a look—it’s only about seven or eight kilometers from our hotel. It’s not far by taxi.”
It was indeed very close. If it weren’t for the audition tomorrow, Wen Shiqing would have wanted to take a cab over right now to see Zhou Langxing.
They hadn’t seen each other in so long, and she missed him terribly.