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A soft orange light danced on Jiang Cha’s eyelashes.

She lazily blinked.

It was Sunday after all, a rare chance to stay in bed a little longer; especially after last night’s strenuous exercise, Jiang Cha was so tired that her bones felt like they were falling apart.

Yet, she felt like she had forgotten something.

She picked up her phone and saw countless unread messages from her agent. Jiang Cha clicked on them curiously.

Yang Yan: Reply to me quickly! We have a meeting with Director Song today to discuss the contract, did you forget?

Yang Yan: What time is it now? Come over quickly.

Yang Yan: [location]

Jiang Cha suddenly sat up from Ji Fan’s shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Ji Fan’s hand was around her waist, and when it was suddenly released, she looked at her in dissatisfaction.

“Signing a contract, a new movie.”

Jiang Cha sat up quickly, quickly tidied up, and went out.

Ji Fan didn’t care much about her filming, nor did she understand what kind of movie she was going to shoot.

In the past, she might have been too lazy to care about these things, but today, perhaps because she was disturbed and dissatisfied, Ji Fan suddenly became curious.

She took out her phone and searched for “Jiang Cha new movie”.

The search engine directly jumped to an exaggerated headline, making Ji Fan’s forehead twitch.

[Jiang Cha takes on a new film? Director Song Baiwei makes a declaration of love from afar]

She clicked in and saw a screenshot, which was Song Baiwei’s Weibo:

Jiang Cha is so beautiful. [rose]

It really was.

Ji Fan sneered, threw her phone aside, and became even more annoyed.

••••

She had made an appointment with Director Song Baiwei on Sunday morning to discuss matters related to the film shooting, including signing some important contracts. Following the location, Jiang Cha came to the agreed-upon coffee shop.

The coffee shop was located below Song Baiwei’s studio, and it was early, so there weren’t many people. It was very spacious, and there was an entire wall of brown bookshelves. Song Baiwei was already there, sitting under the bookshelf with a bright yellow lamp next to her.

She was quietly sipping her coffee with her head lowered, and had ordered three caramel macchiatos, one blueberry tart, and two black forest cakes.

Yang Yan was sitting opposite her, and only Jiang Cha was missing.

“Sorry!”

Jiang Cha bowed, then put down her bag and sat down panting.

“It’s okay, we came early.” Song Baiwei smiled at her and gestured for her to sit down.

There was no major disagreement about the contract, and they quickly reached a consensus. Song Baiwei then asked Jiang Cha about her understanding of the role and plot, and after a brief exchange, time passed quickly.

It was almost noon, and Yang Yan changed the subject and started talking to the director about Jiang Cha’s recent development—her acting roles were getting narrower and her reputation was getting worse.

Director Song just smiled softly.

“Never forget your original intention,” Song Baiwei looked at Jiang Cha, picked up her coffee cup and took a sip, and said slowly, “Don’t forget why you wanted to act in the first place.”

“The best state of acting is to be able to love it.”

“To empathize with the character, to truly love your work, and to have a clear conscience is enough.”

Jiang Cha’s long eyelashes drooped.

Why did she act in the first place?

For a moment, she thought of many things she had been avoiding.

At first, it was Ji Fan who wanted her to enter the entertainment industry, but later it wasn’t entirely Ji Fan’s idea.

When Jiang Cha was in high school, she loved watching movies, but she wasn’t just a pure audience. She often went to bookstores, read film reviews, and even read a lot of textbooks from film schools like Beijing Film Academy. However, at that time, she was more interested in the narrative of the film itself, including editing, music, and scripts, but she didn’t find that she had much interest in acting itself.

Later on, things were different.

What truly made her fall in love with acting was the movie “Blind Youth”.

The director of “Blind Youth” was very famous, and he was very good at training new actors. He had made many big stars with his films. It was also that director who made her feel the fun of acting.

Jiang Cha was so close to being promoted by him.

It’s a pity.

In the end, it was Luo Yan who got the role.

Jiang Cha’s acting career was actually quite smooth, at least at the beginning.

At first, she became famous as the “THU” school beauty, and then she received invitations from various film companies to act in various types of films. Some were unknown web dramas, some were female supporting roles in Chinese costume dramas, and some were roles in movies, but with few scenes.

At that time, Jiang Cha was still a college student and had not graduated. She was quite arrogant in her bones, and she didn’t want to accept any script she didn’t like.

But Ji Fan told her that acting was a gradual process, and without strength, no matter how much money you invested, no good director would want to hire you.

Jiang Cha believed it.

Until she happened to audition for “Blind Youth”.

The story of “Blind Youth” took place during the period when educated youth went to the countryside, which was also during the Cultural Revolution. The female protagonist was a blind girl who was born and raised in the countryside and had never seen the light. Having never seen the light, she also couldn’t see many ugly things. During a heavy rain, her grandmother didn’t come home, and the girl was anxious and groped her way out to look for her, only to encounter a landslide.

Fortunately, a young college student happened to pass by and saved her.

The young man found her very beautiful and fell in love with her a little. As they spent time together, they gradually developed feelings for each other.

But at that time, because of the sensitive times, their relationship was reported.

In the end, the girl was imprisoned and interrogated about her relationship with the young man. During the last interrogation, an accident occurred, and she died. After the storm passed, the college student eventually returned to the city, married and had children, and lived a happy life.

He would occasionally think of that little blind girl and shed a few tears.

When casting, the director had very high requirements for the blind girl’s temperament.

The temperament had to be pure.

The word “pure” was actually very difficult to achieve. If the eyes were slightly off, the tragic effect would be immediately lost. The script was adapted from a novel that had won a Chinese Literature Award, and the director personally participated in the adaptation. He loved the story very much, and he put a lot of effort into the script, so the casting was also very strict.

He searched for actors for a while, until he accidentally saw Jiang Cha’s photo. His eyes lit up immediately, thinking that Jiang Cha had literally grown up according to the prototype of the little blind girl.

Her skin was as white as snow, her lips were bright red, and especially when she smiled, her eyes were pure and bright, without a trace of worldly dust.

He immediately decided.

The female lead was Jiang Cha.

As for acting, he had plenty of ways to polish her.

Unexpectedly, after selecting Jiang Cha and filming for a while, she was suddenly informed by the investor that they wanted to change the actress.

Replace Jiang Cha with Luo Yan.

Luo Yan, the current movie queen.

She was a girl who looked very similar to Jiang Cha, more professional, and a graduate of a drama school. She had already gained some fame before this film. Besides this film, Luo Yan had also acted in many other roles.

She was indeed beautiful, but she lacked the pure temperament that the director wanted.

He didn’t know why they wanted to change the role.

It was probably because she had a deep relationship with the senior executive surnamed Ji. It was heard that Luo Yan was the girlfriend of Ji’s eldest son. With this relationship with Ji Fan, it was not surprising that people were willing to spend money on her and promote her.

Such things were very common, and the director understood it very well.

Unable to resist the constant inducement of the investor, he finally compromised.

After all, in a movie, besides the actors being important, if you want to make a good movie, you also need funding. With more funding, you can have better locations, better editing, and more sufficient pre-production publicity. In terms of background music, you can also invite more outstanding music masters.

Fortunately, Luo Yan, the latecomer, was very sensible and considerate. Except for the fact that her temperament was not quite right, everything else was good. She was quick to understand and was both patient and dedicated.

Comparing the two, they really gave up on Jiang Cha.

The small part of the movie that Jiang Cha had worked so hard on was recorded on a disc and returned to her as a souvenir.

Only this one disc could prove that she had once seriously acted out a role.

After the female lead was changed, the movie still received rave reviews.

Just no one knew that a scene in the movie that was both sexy and artistic was actually played by Jiang Cha. That part was very crucial, and if the temperament was wrong, it would ruin the style. Luo Yan couldn’t create that feeling, so they could only let Jiang Cha do it.

Jiang Cha signed a confidentiality agreement with them, and after the movie ended, the names of the body doubles were not listed on the screen.

This kind of confidentiality agreement is very common in the industry, and many body doubles and nude doubles have signed it. Although she was unwilling, she couldn’t resist this kind of conventional agreement—she might have to cooperate with them in the future, and there was no need to haggle over such a small matter.

But to say that she didn’t feel sad at all would be a lie.

That movie became a watershed between the two actresses who originally looked so similar.

Luo Yan became famous overnight.

Jiang Cha was depressed for a long time.

Later, she didn’t have any feelings for the roles she took. She just acted, in a hurry, going through the motions. The directors were just thinking about making quick money, and many scenes that didn’t meet the standards were simply passed over, without any great ambitions.

Opportunities like that are rare.

Jiang Cha had only one chance, and she missed it, playing a good hand poorly.

Later, the more she acted, the worse her reputation became.

Jiang Cha lowered her head, and as she listened to Song Baiwei say this, her thoughts churned. When she finally peeled away from the hazy past, she looked up and happened to meet Song Baiwei’s serious and smiling eyes.

“It’s okay,” Song Baiwei smiled at her, “You’re still young, there are plenty of opportunities.”

For some reason, she suddenly felt enlightened, and even had a bit of confidence.

She had lost more than just an opportunity after being eliminated halfway through.

She had also lost something else, such as belief and her original intention.

What she had forgotten was her original intention.

Her original intention was passion.

Without passion, there would be less sincerity; and for art, the most important thing is sincerity.

“Don’t think about whether you’re being fair to the audience, first think about whether you’re being fair to yourself in this way,” Song Baiwei played with the white porcelain cup with her fingertips, her voice very soft:

“Can you feel at ease acting with a perfunctory attitude?”

••••

It was nine o’clock in the morning, and the sunlight was pouring in.

Following the address Jiang Cha sent last night, Jiang Han drove to a residential area.

This area was quiet but centrally located, making it very convenient. Jiang Cha lived in a villa area near the mountain, which was very quiet. She reported her room number to the security guard, took a parking card, and was allowed in.

She drove around and came to a three-story villa.

It was a European-style building, very similar to the structure of a house in American suburbs, with a red-pointed roof and a light yellow mosaic wall, warm and simple.

She parked her car and pressed the doorbell.

“Hello. I’m looking for Jiang Cha.” Jiang Han lowered her head, her hair blocking her vision. She took out a key from her bag, “She left her key here.”

“She’s not here.”

The door opened, and a woman’s voice came.

The voice was extremely cold, the tone flat and indifferent.

Jiang Han looked up and was stunned.

Oh, wasn’t this the person she met last night? The woman’s eyes were so terrifying last night that she remembered her at a glance. She felt something was wrong at that time.

Appearing at Jiang Cha’s house at this time, and still wearing pajamas, their relationship was definitely not ordinary.

Ji Fan was wearing a gray velvet lapel bathrobe, the hem of which reached her calves, making her look even taller. Her long, wet curly hair was draped over her shoulders, half-dry, with water dripping from the ends, leaving a wet mark on her collarbone. She had one hand in the side pocket of her bathrobe and the other resting on the door frame, leaning lazily against the door frame.

Her long eyelashes lifted lazily, and her gaze held a hint of hostility.

Jiang Han smiled at the woman in front of her and politely asked:

“Who are you?”

Ji Fan chuckled, her thin eyelids filled with coldness, “Her girlfriend.”

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