He remembered it clearly: in his previous life, he had never run into Xie Jianyuan today, nor the young newcomer with his head lowered.
Could it be the butterfly effect caused by his rebirth?
In that case, did it mean he wouldn't run into Jiang Xiuyan today either? For some reason, the thought brought him a curious sense of relief.
"Brother Xu." The makeup artist beside him saw him staring into space and hurriedly tugged at his sleeve.
Xu Chun came back to himself and looked at Xie Jianyuan. Only then did he notice the faint hostility in his eyes.
Hostility? Why?
Once he understood the reason, Xu Chun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Judging by what he had just seen, Xie Jianyuan must have taken him for a bad-tempered senior who bullied newcomers.
Xu Chun wasn't in a hurry to clear up the misunderstanding. His feelings toward Xie Jianyuan were complicated, so perhaps it was better this way. They would have fewer chances to interact in the future.
Chapter 2: Audition
"It's fine."
Xu Chun looked at the worried expression on the makeup artist's face. Apparently, he really did look unwell. He shook his head to tell her not to worry, then turned and gave Xie Jianyuan a slight nod in greeting.
Xie Jianyuan stared at him for a moment, then smiled and said, "Surely you wouldn't hold it against a newcomer, senior?"
Xu Chun was slightly taken aback. His gaze fell on the timid boy beside him, and he finally realized why the boy looked familiar. This person was a thorn in Jiang Xiuyan's side.
Lu Xian.
He was nothing like he appeared. Beneath that exterior, he was wildly ambitious, resourceful, patient, and ruthless enough to stop at nothing as he clawed his way up the pyramid. In his previous life, he had eventually become an A-list star and taken over quite a few major brand opportunities that had originally belonged to Xu Chun.
The reason he was a thorn in Jiang Xiuyan's side was that he was always glued to Xie Jianyuan.
Xie Jianyuan had a quirk: he felt an innate sense of responsibility toward the weak and couldn't help wanting to protect them. Lu Xian, meanwhile, was a typical egoist who made use of every resource he could count on around him. Naturally, those resources included people.
Returning to the present, Xu Chun smiled. What did any of that have to do with him, though? In this life, he had no intention of getting involved with anyone or anything connected to Jiang Xiuyan. He would leave the matter to the few of them.
"It's fine. You can go."
Sitting in the swivel chair, Xu Chun glanced at the two of them and smiled faintly, as if he didn't care at all.
Xie Jianyuan frowned at him for a moment, then gave a slight bow in farewell and turned to leave. Seeing this, Lu Xian hurried after me.
"Brother Xu, newcomers these days are so rude."
After the door closed, the makeup artist still seemed indignant on Xu Chun's behalf. She chattered away as she fixed his styling.
Xu Chun looked over the script for the upcoming scene as he replied with a smile, "Newcomers these days are no ordinary people. I can't really say much either."
"What are you talking about? Who would dare disrespect you, Brother Xu?"
Xu Chun smiled noncommittally. He had debuted as a child star and acted in quite a few wildly popular television dramas over the years. He could be counted among the A-list male stars and had plenty of connections in the industry.
But the entertainment industry changed rapidly. You might be in the spotlight today, only to be forgotten and ignored by the day after tomorrow.
That was the miserable end he had come to in his previous life.
But that wasn't the only reason he said so. More importantly, Xie Jianyuan was a genuine rich second-generation heir.
Acting was just a hobby for him. He was the type who would have to go home and inherit the family business if he didn't make it big. Even so, his connections and resources were several times better than those Xu Chun had fought so hard to obtain.
The world was just that unfair. He had gritted his teeth and struggled for so long to reach his position, only to discover once he got there that some people had been born at heights he could never reach.
Meanwhile, after Xie Jianyuan and Lu Xian left, they walked side by side down the corridor.
Lu Xian bit his lip and hesitated for a moment before working up the courage to say, "Thank you."
Xie Jianyuan waved it off and pushed open the door in front of him. "It was nothing. Don't mention it."
When he entered the room, he saw his friend Wei Jiahe casually flirting with a girl. She looked somewhat unfamiliar and was probably a newcomer who, like him, had only recently entered the industry.
"Brother Yuan, you're here." Wei Jiahe craned his neck to look outside, but all he could see was Lu Xian, who had just turned to leave. "Who came with you?"
Xie Jianyuan patted him on the arm, signaling him to make room, and answered casually, "No one. He looked like a newcomer from the company too. I happened to see him walk into the wrong dressing room, so I helped him out."
Wei Jiahe clicked his tongue a few times. "That was pretty careless. If he ran into someone in the business with a bad temper, they could hold a grudge against him. It's happened before, hasn't it? Wasn't there an actress who tore into a junior for walking into the wrong room? Oh, right, we've been talking all this time. Whose dressing room did he walk into?"
At that, a face seventy percent similar to his own surfaced in Xie Jianyuan's mind, and he frowned discreetly.
"Xu Chun's."
"His?!" Wei Jiahe seemed startled and cried out dramatically, "He's here to audition too? We're done for, we're done for! Do you know which role he's auditioning for?"
Xu Chun's acting was beyond reproach. Despite his young age, he had established himself in the industry with several highly polished productions. On top of that, he had debuted as a child star and could be said to be an actor with tremendous public recognition.
Now that he had come to audition too, that meant one more formidable competitor.
Xie Jianyuan thought for a moment, then replied, "I caught a glimpse of his script. I think he was going to audition for the male lead."
Wei Jiahe wore an "I'm done for" expression. Although he had risen to fame through a major xianxia costume-drama IP, that didn't mean he could win a role against a senior actor with credentials like that.
The female newcomer beside them covered her mouth with a smile and said, "But then again, if it was Brother Xu Chun, he probably wouldn't give a junior a hard time. He takes good care of newcomers."