BDB Chapter 37

Feng Ke’s intense gaze was noticeable to everyone present.

The crowd let out a collective sigh of relief.

The event had been running for so many days, and if they didn’t find someone to award the 500,000 to, the reputation of the “Yanyan” crew might truly be tarnished!

As expected, after Feng Ke’s eyes scanned the room, they finally settled back on number eighteen.

The assistant director, who had initially suggested Feng Ke look at number eighteen, now asked, “Director Feng, what do you think?”

Feng Ke turned to look at him. “She does resemble her.”

“So, does she pass?”

“I think she can. Let’s see her acting skills.”

The assistant director nodded.

After their brief discussion, the assistant director turned to address the group, “Contestant number eighteen, please stay. The rest of you may leave.”

The contestants were all amateurs who had never been in the entertainment industry before. They knew that being told this meant elimination, so no one showed any more of those fake smiles.

Sighs filled the room as they left.

Once they were gone, Jiang Rao calmly looked at the director in front of her.

She remembered when she had been forced to attend the audition by Sister Wang, and this same director had given her the assessment—“Not bad.”

In the entertainment industry, with so many long-established stars, and even more minor roles who had graduated from drama schools but were still stuck in various small roles, it took considerable competition to stand out from countless candidates.

Not being the best in the entertainment industry meant having no chance.

She didn’t believe she had much of a chance, especially since her acting skills had already been dismissed once, and she didn’t expect a significant change this time.

So, she was not nervous at all.

While thinking about this, she heard the director in front of her ask, “Can you act?”

Jiang Rao shook her head and replied honestly, “No.”

Whether she could act or not didn’t matter much.

After receiving this task assigned by Young Master Li, Feng Ke truly experienced a headache for quite some time. However, despite the fact that the films he directed now were mostly art films, in the early years right after graduating from school, he had taken on quite a few low-quality movies with absurd and melodramatic plots just to make a living.

Having seen so many melodramatic plots, his own imagination had also been greatly stimulated.

After careful consideration, he managed to make the “Yanyan” script more reasonable.

The character of Ruan Li was a new addition to the script. She was set to be the younger sister of the protagonist, Ruan Yanyan.

The two sisters were quite different: one was beautiful and kind-hearted, beloved by their parents and elders; the other was demure in appearance but cold-hearted and selfish, often reprimanded by their parents and elders.

The kind-hearted elder sister was sold to the mountains due to her own kindness and eventually set fire to an entire village, killing all fifty-eight households, leaving no survivors.

The cold-hearted younger sister, having lost her sister, became a judge and sent numerous criminals to prison through legal means.

As fate intertwined, Ruan Li would also be the judge for Ruan Yanyan’s case.

Ruan Li did not show favoritism; she sentenced Ruan Yanyan to life imprisonment.

In the film’s final scene, two beams of light illuminated Ruan Yanyan in prison clothes and Ruan Li in a judge’s robe.

Yanyan asked, “What is goodness?”

Ruan Li responded, “And what is evil?”

Feng Ke posed this question to the audience to ponder how to debate between good and evil.

However, Feng Ke had long decided how Ruan Li’s character should be portrayed.

Ruan Li was cold and emotionally detached. Yet, she had her own sense of justice within her, making her the most enigmatic character in the play.

She was both easy and difficult to portray.

She was easy to portray in that, for most of the play, she needed only to maintain a stern expression.

She was difficult to portray because, as a person, she had her own emotions to convey. The character was defined as not using expressions to communicate, so the actor’s gaze was extremely important in casting Ruan Li.

Thus, after Jiang Rao answered with “no” and waited for the director to give her the money so she could leave, she heard the director say, “It doesn’t matter if you can’t act. Can you convey the four emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—through your eyes?”

The 500,000 had not yet been earned, and Jiang Rao knew that in the school of society, one was not allowed to act spoiled until the money was in hand.

Performing these four emotions was not a difficult task.

She nodded.

She was different from Jiang Tang.

Apart from the audition she had for Jiang Tang’s role, she had never acted in any plays.

So when facing the emotion of joy, she thought of her feelings when she had parted ways with the Jiang family, both mother and daughter, and boarded the train to City C.

When facing anger, she recalled her feelings when the male lead had raised the daily interest rate from 10,000 to 20,000, and she had angrily cursed him as a “bastard turtle” in her heart.

…

After performing the four emotions, she returned to a calm expression and asked, “Director, is that enough?”

Fearing that this director, who had once met her, might try something unexpected, she reminded him, “I remember the posters and verification messages said that as long as my appearance resembled Miss Jiang Tang’s by at least five points, I would receive the 500,000. Since you’ve asked me to audition for Ruan Li, it means I must meet your standard. So, regardless of whether my performance matches the Ruan Li character, I should still receive the 500,000, correct?”

Feng Ke was taken aback. “Yes.”

Jiang Rao stated honestly, “I really need that money right now.”

Feng Ke often liked to set up a camera in front of him during auditions.

In the footage, the young girl’s skin was as fair as snow.

Her demeanor was serious, and her voice was neither submissive nor arrogant.

Though the subject was mundane money, Feng Ke saw a reflection of Ruan Li in her.

Feng Ke cleared his throat. “Xiao Ma, arrange to transfer the money to her account.”

He turned to her and said, “Keep your phone number active. If you pass the audition, we will contact you by phone.”

These were minor matters.

Although Jiang Rao approached tasks with full dedication once she started, she was not particularly passionate about becoming an actress.

She only wanted to know when the 500,000 would be deposited into her account.

So, after leaving the audition room, she asked the staff member who was helping her verify the account information when the money would arrive. She was relieved to hear that the account balance would be updated immediately, and the bank transfer would be completed within twenty-four hours.

However, after using the staff’s computer to process the withdrawal, Jiang Rao discovered that the 500,000 did not fully belong to her. She still needed to pay a 20% personal incidental income tax.

So, the actual amount she would receive was only 400,000.

Fortunately, she had over 40,000 yuan in cash that she had withdrawn earlier but not spent. Adding this to the amount she was expecting, she would have enough funds to repay the male lead either today or tomorrow.

Having received a clear answer, Jiang Rao decided not to dwell on it further.

Unexpectedly, as night fell and the neon lights began to illuminate the shops, she received a text message on her phone.

Looking at the account balance, Jiang Rao’s eyes brightened.

The money had arrived!

…

When Li Jueyan received the unexpected call, he was at the Red Mansion Club.

Although he wasn’t much of a drinker and had no interest in the women here, it was undoubtedly a good place for business discussions.

As he answered the call, he heard the voice on the other end say, “Li Jueyan, I need to talk to you. Can you come out now?”

He certainly didn’t think she missed him.

She probably wished they were as far apart as possible—one at the South Pole and the other at the North Pole!

After taking a puff of his cigar, he replied, “Changed your mind? Afraid you’d have to spend your life with me if you delayed the interest payments?”

Jiang Rao: “…”

“No, I’ve gathered the money. Either you come out now, and I’ll give you the cash, or give me a bank account, and I’ll transfer the money to you.”

The voice on the other end, once it dropped the pretense, was soft and sweet.

Yet no trace of joy appeared in Li Jueyan’s eyes.

He remained silent.

After a moment of silence, he abruptly hung up the phone.

To fucking hell with it! Did he really need her 2 million?

Paying back? If he didn’t go and meet her, who would she give the money to? If he didn’t give her an account, how could she transfer the money?

Thinking this, he felt inexplicably dry-mouthed.

Loosening his tie, he called the waiter standing in the corner of the private room and ordered from the menu.

After some time, he said, “I’ll have a Long Island Iced Tea.”

On the other end.

After the call was disconnected, Jiang Rao took a moment to understand what the male lead’s actions meant.

In the situation, she realized that the male lead was indeed childish and often acted in a pretentious manner. Whether it was his hobby of breaking people’s legs, the exorbitant daily interest rate, or now his avoidance of seeing her, it all left her speechless.

It was already late.

If he didn’t want to deal with her, Jiang Rao wasn’t going to force it.

After all, she had one more day. The city was so large that even if she couldn’t block him or get his account number, his company and the notary office would still be open to her.

She wasn’t worried about not finding a place to return the money.

After washing up and preparing to sleep, a cheerful ringtone sounded in her ear.

She glanced at the caller ID, a bit surprised.

Could it be that she had guessed wrong? Was he suddenly busy or was there a signal problem that caused the call to be abruptly disconnected?

She pressed the answer button and put the phone to her ear.

After a burst of static and loud music, a male voice finally came through.

“Jiang… Jiang Rao! I don’t want your damn money! I’m so poor that all I have left is money!”

Jiang Rao: “……?? Hmm?”

There was a long pause on the other end.

After a while, a mumble came through again.

“That is to say, sweetheart, can you please stop making me angry?”

——