A woman with an icy beauty entered, wearing a red gown that flowed to the floor. The top half of her outfit consisted of a black leather jacket, her hair was thick and cascading like seaweed, and her sharp, intense features didn’t come off as vulgar, instead, they exuded a cold, piercing aura.

“Cheng Youran?”

The moment Meng Lang saw her, a wave of exhilaration surged in his chest. She was strikingly similar—so much so that it felt like she had stepped out of the pages of the script. She was as breathtakingly beautiful as a blazing fire, leaving a deep, lasting impression.

Gu Yao was undoubtedly talented—flawless in her delivery of lines, movements, and expressions—but compared to Cheng Youran, she felt too polished, almost like a bland glass of water with no flavor.

“Director Meng, hello.”

Cheng Youran said as she slightly bowed.

“Let’s begin.”

Meng Lang replied, handing her two pages of the script. He fought to suppress his excitement as he returned to his seat, he had already decided—no matter how Cheng Youran performed, she would be the lead in the Graceful Splendor.

Cheng Youran skimmed through the script. The two pages of dialogue were nearly three thousand words long—about the length of a speech.

As she read, her expression slowly became serious.

“If you can’t memorize it, you can read from the script.”

Meng Lang offered words of encouragement.

One of the assistant directors, wearing glasses, shook his head disapprovingly. “As an actor, if you can’t even memorize your lines, what kind of actor are you?”

“I think we can call it a day for now.”

He said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Another assistant director chuckled. “Your niece couldn’t remember her lines earlier, and you didn’t say anything like that.”

Meng Lang shot a cold glance at him, and the assistant director immediately fell silent, replacing his previous expression with one of obvious flattery.

Cheng Youran placed the script on the table.

Meng Lang took a moment to compose himself. “Don’t mind him. You can read from the script if you need to.”

After all, Cheng Youran was just as famous for her beauty as she was for her acting skills. She was annually ranked as the worst actress in the industry—truly a unique reputation in the entertainment world.

“I understand.”

Cheng Youran replied casually, “I’ve memorized it.”

Meng Lang was stunned. “You’ve memorized it already?”

He had expected that even Gu Yao would need at least five minutes to memorize two pages of lines. Was Cheng Youran faster than Gu Yao?

The assistant director, wearing glasses, snidely remarked, “I suggest you read through it a few more times. If you stumble through the lines, you’ll just waste your time—and Director Meng’s time too.”

“I’ve memorized it,” Cheng Youran said confidently.

She nodded, not finding it particularly impressive. After all, she had spent a whole week memorizing a desk full of materials, and even her speed wasn’t remarkable compared to Fang Liuyun’s, who had almost photographic memory.

“Action!”

Meng Lang gestured for her to begin.

Cheng Youran took several deep breaths, fully immersing herself in the character. Slowly, she crouched down, hugging her knees. “Sometimes, I wonder… is life like a dandelion?”

“Wherever the wind blows, it drifts.”

She gave a bitter smile.

“Don’t come near me!”

She lifted her head, just as she always did—proud and defiant, like the girl who once rode her motorcycle without hesitation.

The people sitting quietly around her watched her performance intently. At some point, the door to the meeting room had been left ajar. Outside, Lu Zixiao stood with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on her, his expression unreadable.

He had spent the entire week investigating the brake chain issue. It wasn’t that he was too busy to go home, but rather, he couldn’t quite explain why he didn’t want to. Subconsciously, he was avoiding a certain possibility—what if this was all orchestrated by Cheng Youran?

Luckily, it wasn’t her.

Thank goodness, it wasn’t her.

…

Silence. An almost suffocating silence.

When Cheng Youran finished her performance and turned to bow to the audience, the meeting room erupted into enthusiastic applause. Meng Lang stood up and walked toward her.

Cheng Youran’s performance couldn’t be called perfect. For example, when she delivered her first line, she was supposed to let a tear fall from the corner of her eye, but she hadn’t cried.

But her understanding of the character was frighteningly deep. In fact, compared to her, he felt almost superficial. Through her performance, he felt as if he had touched the image of a young woman riding a motorcycle with confidence on the streets of Chinatown twenty years ago.

Did he regret it?

Meng Lang shook his head, telling himself he didn’t.

He suppressed the myriad of emotions swirling inside him, about to step forward and give Cheng Youran a hug. But just then, a man’s slightly disgruntled voice came from the door left ajar. “Cheng Youran, come out.”

Ah, Lu Zixiao.

From a distance, Cheng Youran saw Lu Zixiao’s cold, aristocratic face, with Gao Qiao trailing closely behind him. She bowed awkwardly to Meng Lang before stepping out of the meeting room.

It had been nearly a week since she last saw Lu Zixiao. He was probably busy dealing with the car sabotage incident. She was a little surprised to see him now.

“Did I perform poorly?”

As they walked toward the sofa, Cheng Youran couldn’t help but ask in a soft voice, while feeling the envious or jealous gazes from the other actresses.

The moment she left the meeting room, it felt as though a thousand little people were drumming in her chest, her palms starting to sweat. One moment, she thought she’d performed brilliantly; the next, she doubted herself, feeling she couldn’t even squeeze out a tear. She was certain she wouldn’t get the role.

As soon as the words left her mouth, Cheng Youran regretted them. What could she expect to hear from Lu Zixiao? It was sure to be something like, “Bad,” “Very bad,” or “Extremely bad.”

Lu Zixiao stopped in his tracks, and she followed suit. He lowered his head to meet her gaze, pressed his lips together, and said, “…Not bad.”

“Say it again!”

Cheng Youran’s eyes seemed to sparkle, her gaze fixed on Lu Zixiao with eager anticipation. She wanted to hear the compliment again.

Lu Zixiao was about to refuse, but seeing the look in her eyes, he straightened up, turned his face slightly, and softly said, “Not bad.”

The little people drumming in Cheng Youran’s chest finally stopped. Her palms ceased sweating, and with a smile on her face, she happily walked toward Fang Liuyun.

Gao Qiao, who was following behind them, was nearly embarrassed. As he caught eyes with Fang Liuyun, their expressions were exactly the same: (ー`ー).

[Your wife’s mood has increased to 50, keep up the good work!]

Hearing the system’s voice in his head, Lu Zixiao froze for a moment, his handsome face flickering between expressions. After a pause, he muttered “idiot” under his breath. Just one compliment and her mood jumps to 50? Did she even know that woman who were too easy to please often get tricked by men?

“How do you feel?” Fang Liuyun asked as he leaned on the sofa.

“I should…be fine.”

Feeling proud to receive praise from the usually critical Lu Zixiao, Cheng Youran’s confidence had grown. From initially worrying about whether she’d be chosen, she now thought, if Meng Lang didn’t pick her, it would be his loss!

“Pfft—”

Yuan Yifei who was holding a cup of coffee walked over and overheard this sentence. She couldn’t help but laugh, her body shaking with amusement. “Cheng Youran, are you trying to make me laugh to death? Even Gu Yao doesn’t dare to say she’ll definitely be chosen. Where do you get that confidence from?”

“Seeing you makes me confident.”

Cheng Youran said without hesitation.

“You!”

Yuan Yifei was furious, and in a swift motion, she attempted to throw the hot coffee in Cheng Youran’s face. However, Cheng Youran reacted even faster. She quickly pulled Fang Liuyun to the side, narrowly avoiding the coffee, which splashed all over the genuine leather sofa. The heat from the coffee caused the leather to wrinkle and emit smoke.

“Good thing you’re quick,” Fang Liuyun said with a sigh of relief. If the coffee had landed on her, it wouldn’t have been a problem, but Cheng Youran’s delicate skin might not have been so lucky.

Cheng Youran modestly responded, “In most dramas, when someone holds a drink and argues with someone, they always end up throwing it.”

“I just watch a bit more TV than the average person.”

Fang Liuyun: …………

At that moment, Lu Zixiao’s expression turned cold. He strode over to Cheng Youran’s side and glared at Yuan Yifei, his sharp features taking on a more menacing look, with his eyebrows furrowed and a cold aura radiating from him. It was enough to make anyone shudder.

Recalling the rumors about Lu Zixiao’s past involvement in arms trading, Yuan Yifei was immediately terrified, her legs giving out, causing her to drop to the ground, trembling. She must have been out of her mind to try to throw coffee at Cheng Youran in front of Lu Zixiao.

Outside the meeting room, the noise continued. Gu Yao stood up, stepping in to diffuse the situation. She looked apologetically at Lu Zixiao and said, “Yifei tends to act impulsively in situations like this. I’m sure she didn’t mean it. Yifei, apologize to Mr. Lu and Mrs. Lu.”

Yuan Yifei looked at Gu Yao with immense gratitude. The coffee hadn’t even reached Cheng Youran, so why was everyone making such a big deal out of it? After all, Cheng Youran wasn’t made of glass; even if it had been spilled on her, she’d recover in a couple of days.

Everyone in the room was intimidated by Lu Zixiao, and no one dared to speak up, except for Gu Yao. Her willingness to stand up and speak the truth earned her respect. Cheng Youran had harbored some jealousy towards Gu Yao before, but now all of that had vanished, leaving only admiration.

Cheng Youran let out a laugh, thinking to herself, so you don’t feel bad that the hot coffee didn’t spill on your face, huh? Just as she was about to speak, Lu Zixiao shook his head.

Alright then, Cheng Youran closed her mouth.

Well, Lu Zixiao’s demeanor was certainly far colder than hers.

Though Lu Zixiao appeared proud and aloof, in reality, he was just that: proud and aloof. However, Cheng Youran soon realized that, beneath that exterior, he was incredibly protective, especially when it came to the people he cared about.

Yuan Yifei thought Lu Zixiao had given in and quickly got up to bow to him. “Mr. Lu, you’re so magnanimous. I won’t dare do this again. From now on, Cheng Youran will be like my own sister.”

Hearing Yuan Yifei’s words made Cheng Youran’s skin crawl. In her memory, Yuan Yifei had never spoken like that before, with such a high-pitched, sickening tone. It was really creepy.

Magnanimous?

Lu Zixiao didn’t acknowledge her at all. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at Gao Qiao. Gao Qiao held back his laughter, stiffened his face, and walked out. It was his first time seeing someone flatter Mr. Lu by calling him “magnanimous.”

Everyone in the room looked at Gu Yao with admiration. No wonder she was Old Master Li’s favorite granddaughter-in-law—her approach was anything but petty. She had deftly diffused the tension without any fuss. It was clear why she had so many close friends in the industry.

Gu Yao simply shook her head. If Yuan Yifei’s uncle hadn’t been a well-known casting director, she wouldn’t have bothered to intervene at all.

“Now, I will announce the results.”

Suddenly, the door to the meeting room opened, and the bespectacled assistant director walked out. The once noisy hallway immediately fell silent.

“Unfortunately, none of the actresses were selected for the second female lead.”

As his words landed, the faces of several actresses turned grim, except for Yuan Yifei, who was overjoyed. As long as Cheng Youran wasn’t chosen, she was happy, and she didn’t even care that she herself hadn’t been selected.

She glanced at Cheng Youran, who remained calm as usual. This only made Yuan Yifei roll her eyes in annoyance—what was she pretending for?

Unable to go up to Cheng Youran and gloat in front of her due to Lu Zixiao’s presence, Yuan Yifei leaned toward a nearby actress and whispered, “Cheng Youran said she had no problem, that she’d definitely get the role.”

“Director Meng is always fair in his casting. You know… bribery doesn’t work,” the actress with wavy hair whispered back, her voice barely audible, almost like a buzzing mosquito, afraid Cheng Youran might hear.

“Exactly. I have no idea where her confidence came from, it’s almost laughable,” Yuan Yifei continued, feeling even more confident now that she had found an ally. “She and Gu Yao were classmates at Beijing Film Academy. One’s heaven, the other’s earth.”

Hearing Yuan Yifei’s words, Gu Yao frowned. She didn’t understand why people kept comparing Cheng Youran to her when Cheng Youran couldn’t even land the second female role.

“Now, let’s announce the lead female role.”

“Gu Yao, I’m a little nervous,” the assistant said, looking at the list in the assistant director’s hand.

“Nervous about what?”

Gu Yao chuckled lightly. She wasn’t nervous, not at all. From the moment she decided to audition for the role, she knew the lead female role in Fenghua was already hers.

No one else could play it.

She was certain Director Meng thought the same way. She hadn’t missed the undisguised admiration in his eyes when she left the meeting room.

“The role of the female lead is…”

=^_^=