f it weren't for the fact that they were still in the middle of auditions, Xiao He would have genuinely wanted to call the police to arrest this entire nest of criminals.
This was absolutely ridiculous—could this film crew even be worth staying with? Wouldn't sticking around just lead to sudden death?
From top to bottom, there wasn't a single decent person among them!
"Xiao He!"
Seeing the young man on stage staring dumbfounded at them without answering for quite some time, Feng Zhengyang's expression turned displeased. He directly put down Xiao He's resume and sharply rapped on the table: "What's going on? I'm asking you a question—have you gone mute?"
Xiao He immediately snapped back to attention. Surface-level courtesy still had to be maintained, so he quickly bowed in apology: "Sorry, Director, what were you saying?"
"Forget it, no more questions. Begin your performance!"
Director Feng didn't waste words either, simply crossing his arms, leaning back, and letting Xiao He start his audition performance.
Xiao He hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided to perform at his absolute best.
After all, being eliminated for performing well was different from being eliminated for performing poorly.
No matter what, he had to do his own job properly first and not give anyone grounds for criticism.
Xiao He sat on the only chair on stage, slowly began rolling up his sleeves, then picked up the non-existent "saline solution" from the empty air, gritting his teeth as he poured it over the "injured" area—
This scene wasn't just a monologue; it was also an Imaginary Object Performance.
Around him were the noisy discussions of others—they feared his presence would bring harm to everyone, yet also worried that without his protection after he left, they wouldn't be able to escape the hospital.
Everyone argued until they were red in the face, but no one truly cared about him as a person. The ugliness of humanity and the distortion of human nature were displayed to the fullest in this small doctor's office at this moment.
He didn't speak, just silently and sluggishly cleaned his wound, then with trembling hands bandaged his injury.
These people saw him as hope, but forgot that he had only been an ordinary swordsmanship teacher before. He wasn't much stronger than regular people—he was even just twenty-three years old, younger than many present. He had never killed anyone before either; he wasn't born knowing how to kill zombies.
He would also tremble with fear when holding a sword, and would be rendered speechless by the pain of blade wounds.
Yet, no one cared.
How many of these people had he saved? How many had reignited their hope because of him—
A certain light slowly faded from the young man's eyes, as deathly gray malice gradually spread through his pitch-black pupils.
His hands gradually stopped trembling, only tightly pulling at the bandage on his arm, letting fresh blood stain the bandage red once more. When he lifted his head again, an expression of cold indifference and mockery appeared before everyone.
He staggered to his feet, lifted the blood-stained wooden sword in his hand, his gaze sweeping over everyone from a superior position. He pulled at the corner of his mouth in self-mockery, his lips moving several times, but ultimately saying nothing.
He simply turned around and walked out with determined steps...
...
As Xiao He's performance ended, Feng Zhengyang's expression finally shifted from casual indifference to seriousness.
Even Tong Junhui, who had initially been indifferent to the casting, turned his attention to Xiao He.
"You only have two works so far?"
Feng Zhengyang flipped through Xiao He's extremely simple resume and asked.
"Yes, I only have two released works currently," Xiao He answered truthfully.
"Not professionally trained?"
"Correct."
A young assistant leaned close to producer Dong Zeng's ear and whispered something.
Xiao He noticed they were speaking in Cantonese.
Dong Zeng seemed quite unhappy, looking at Xiao He with some wariness: "So you're Xiao He? The one who's been on the hot search several times recently?"
Xiao He nodded: "Yes, that's me."
The assistant handed Dong Zeng a phone, and Dong Zeng clicked open the screen to look. Based on the audio coming from the phone, Xiao He guessed they were watching his previous video of climbing a building to save someone.
In a way, this rescue video could also be considered one of his "representative works."
However, after watching Xiao He's "representative work," Dong Zeng just sneered coldly, casually put down the phone, and said nothing more.
Feng Zhengyang then asked: "I see you came with a recommendation letter from Hao Entertainment—are you an artist under Hao Entertainment?"
Xiao He denied: "I'm not. I'm an artist under Linghui Studio."
"Linghui?"
Feng Zhengyang slightly frowned, as if trying to remember which capital backed this studio, when Tong Junhui timely reminded from beside him: "It's the studio my former manager Sister Liu started herself. Currently, he's the only artist in the studio."
Xiao He raised an eyebrow and looked at Tong Junhui.
This guy... actually knew quite a lot about their situation.
"Oh, I see—"
Feng Zhengyang nodded, his expression growing even colder.
He turned his head and exchanged some quiet words with Dong Zeng.
Xiao He already didn't particularly care anymore.
Based on Director Feng's recent series of questionable actions, Xiao He could easily guess that this comeback's main purpose was actually to make money.
Forget about ideals, forget about passion, and definitely forget about "fans are waiting for me" or "the domestic entertainment industry needs me to save it."
Plainly speaking, it was about the cash.
Everyone understood each other's little schemes.
Besides, if they wanted to select suitable actors, they should have already seen the acting skills demonstrated. Naturally, they should be asking about the actor's understanding of the role, seeing their comprehension and analysis of the plot—not worrying here about how few works an actor has, whether they're qualified, or concerned about the companies and capital behind the actor.
Heh, previously he thought the male lead had been predetermined and they were just stringing everyone along to use as stepping stones for Tong Junhui. Now Xiao He understood—they were preparing to use the entire domestic entertainment industry's actors as stepping stones to trample over.
Well, he won't be keeping them company any longer.
With the director, lead actor, screenwriter—several key creative personnel—all carrying massive scandals, whether this movie could even be filmed or released was still unknown.
When someone eventually had problems, the entire production would explode.
To be honest though, Xiao He felt he was being a bit wicked now—he was even somewhat looking forward to this production starting filming and releasing.
When it eventually released and exploded with scandals, all competing films in the same schedule would be laughing...
...
"Alright, Xiao He, you may leave."
After discussing with the people around him, Feng Zhengyang said, "Go home and wait for news."
"Thank you, Director Feng, thank you to all the teachers."
Xiao He suppressed his disgust with great effort, politely bowed to the several people, then turned and left without hesitation.
Damn, does Feng Zhengyang eat shit every day? How can he smell so foul—that rotting stench practically lifted the top of my skull right off!
Can't take it, can't take it, gotta run fast! Encountering a production like this, you need to escape on a rocket!
Stupid legs, move faster!
Xiao He practically had whirlwinds under his feet, moving with incredibly quick steps. He even forgot about the meal appointment he'd made with Liu Zehang, rushed out the theater's back door, got into the van where Liu Rulan was waiting, and urgently urged her to drive off quickly.
Dong Zeng seemed quite unhappy, looking at Xiao He with some wariness: "So you're Xiao He? The one who's been on the hot search several times recently?"
Xiao He almost couldn't catch the breath he'd just taken: "Pretty much, worse than a ghost."
Liu Rulan asked with confusion: "What happened? Did the audition go badly?"
Xiao He couldn't really explain his discovery, only answering vaguely: "You could say that."
Liu Rulan shrugged: "Then don't think about it anymore."
"I've received the latest news—another major director recently showed interest in a new project. But for some reason, we haven't been able to contact him lately. His assistant also says he leaves early and returns late every day, no one knows where he goes. After you rest these couple days, I'll personally stake out his residence and try to negotiate for the script."
Xiao He nodded: "Okay, Sister Liu."