Opportunity

The next day, in a hotel in Beijing.

A low-budget web series was holding auditions there. Cao Shiyu sat quietly in the hallway, waiting for the staff to call her in.

The role she was auditioning for today was tiny and insignificant. If you had to rank the roles by importance, it might just about count as the fifth female lead—if such a ranking even meant anything.

It had been two years since she graduated from the Central Academy of Drama. Some of her classmates had already won Best Actress awards. Yet she was still anxiously waiting for someone to choose her for a role that barely mattered!

Whenever she thought about it, she couldn't help feeling dejected.

She considered her acting at least above average. So why was no one willing to give her a chance to prove herself?

Was her classmate Yan Yun a better actress than she was, or did she have a better look? What gave her the right to win the Golden Eagle Best Actress Award?

Cao Shiyu felt a simmering anger inside her.

She wasn't afraid of small roles. She believed that as long as she put her heart into every role she managed to get, the person who would recognize her and give her a chance would show up sooner or later.

Three years? Or maybe five?

She was willing to wait!

Even if she had to wait ten years, she would never give up acting lightly.

A few days ago, she had auditioned for a role called Chang Yu in Young Bao Qingtian.

The show was popular right now, and people around her were talking about it all the time.

At the time, her agent, Sister Lan, had arranged auditions for two shows, but unfortunately, they were scheduled at exactly the same time.

Sister Lan wanted her to audition for the other show. It had a much smaller budget than Young Bao Qingtian, and the role she'd be auditioning for offered little room to show off her skills.

But Sister Lan knew the assistant director of that show a little. According to her, as long as Cao Shiyu didn't do too badly and had even a little acting ability, the role would be hers.

But Cao Shiyu still resolutely chose to audition for Young Bao Qingtian. Though her rational side kept telling her to pick the other show, she went ahead and auditioned for Young Bao Qingtian, where she had practically no chance of succeeding.

She had long accepted the reality that her life was bound to be more difficult. She had even prepared herself for the possibility of spending a decade or more as an extra.

But could she please be allowed to dream one last time?

She swore this would be the last time. After this, she'd never indulge in such a pipe dream again!

The day before the audition, she prayed silently.

"Tathagata Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Jade Emperor, Jesus, Balala the Fairies, all the gods in heaven, could tomorrow's results be decided purely by acting ability? If I act better, could you choose me?"

Maybe her prayers had worked. This audition might really have been the fairest one she'd ever dreamed of.

She had overheard the casting director say, "This one's good too, but unfortunately, she's still a little worse than Xia Qing, who just auditioned."

When she saw her agent, Sister Lan, she asked in a casual tone, but Cao Shiyu knew that Sister Lan was hoping she might pull off a miracle too.

But reality wasn't a novel, much less a TV show. There were no protagonists and no miracles in real life. There was only the cold, unavoidable truth.

There was no doubt about it: she'd failed the audition again!

But unlike all the times before, this time she'd truly failed on merit!

Everything pointed to the fact that her acting really wasn't as good as Xia Qing's. She hadn't been wronged this time!

Sister Lan must have been completely disappointed in her by now, right?!

She remembered how, right after she signed with Sister Lan, Lan had told everyone she'd found a hidden gem. She'd even said that Cao Shiyu would make a name for herself in the entertainment industry within a year at most.

But two years had slipped by before she knew it, and Cao Shiyu still had nothing to show for herself!

Her luck was truly terrible!

Aside from the Young Bao Qingtian audition, where she really had been outperformed, every other audition she'd failed had been derailed by some unforeseen circumstance.

"Cao Shiyu!"

The staff finally called her name.

"We'll be recording the whole audition. Is that okay?"

"No problem!"

"All right, let's get started. First, introduce yourself."

"Hello, Director. My name is Cao Shiyu. I graduated from the Central Academy of Drama."

"Have you read the script?"

"Yes!"

"Good. Let's try the interrogation scene. I'll read with you!"

"Are you sure he was the one who assaulted you that night?"

Cao Shiyu's expression gradually turned sorrowful. With a hint of grief in her voice, she said, "I don't remember. It was very, very dark that night. There were no streetlights. I fought with all my strength, but he was too strong."

"So you didn't get a good look at his face!"

The pain in Cao Shiyu's eyes grew more intense. "He kept telling me to shut up and behave, or he'd kill me. I was so scared, but I still struggled with all my strength. Then he suddenly slapped me. I felt something sweet welling up in my mouth. I didn't dare move. I couldn't move at all. Later, someone came by. He panicked and pinned me down with all his strength, his hands clamped tightly around my neck. I couldn't breathe, and then..."

Cao Shiyu lifted her head. Two lines of tears fell, landing on the script in her hands.

When she came out of the audition room, Cao Shiyu knew she'd failed yet again.

The director had seemed fairly satisfied with her performance; she could tell. For a while, she'd even thought she'd gotten the role. It was only the fifth female lead, and the show didn't have much of a budget, but it felt wonderful to have someone appreciate her acting.

But just as the audition ended, the director got a phone call. As she was about to walk out, she heard him say, "If I can't even decide who gets the fifth female lead, then what's the point of being a director?!"

Cao Shiyu knew all too well what those words meant.

After leaving the hotel, she got a call from her agent, Chen Lan.

"Hello, Sister Lan!"

"Shiyu, where are you now?"

"I'm outside the Jinming Hotel. You arranged the audition—did you forget?"

"No, no, I didn't. Are you done with the audition?"

"Yes, I just came out!"

"All right. Come to the company right away. I'm waiting here."

"Sister Lan, I'm exhausted. I want to go home and get a good night's sleep. Can we talk about everything tomorrow?"

She could push through the physical exhaustion, but the mental strain was about to crush her.

The role she'd auditioned for today was so insignificant, yet she'd still failed to get it.

The director had seemed very pleased with her, but he hadn't been able to make the decision.

She wondered which investor's connection had set their sights on this fifth female lead. Maybe the investor was broke too! If some boss with money wanted to promote someone, would they really settle for a fifth female lead like this?

Getting a role like this was proof enough that the investor didn't have much clout!

Cao Shiyu laughed as she mocked them, but as she kept laughing, she almost started crying.

Then Sister Lan said over the phone, "Shiyu, I know you're exhausted, but you've stuck it out for two years already. Your career is just starting to pick up. You can't let your fighting spirit fade now!"

Cao Shiyu asked in surprise, "Sister Lan, what are you talking about? What do you mean my career is just starting to pick up? Are you saying I got the role I auditioned for today? No, that can't be right. Didn't you just ask if I'd finished the audition?"

Thanks to "Shahua Piaoxue" for the monthly ticket, and thanks to everyone who collected the book, voted for it, or left a comment. Updates have been a bit slow, so please bear with me. Starting tomorrow, I'll do my best to guarantee at least two chapters a day.