A Last-Minute Rival?

"I went to a sports university and trained in martial arts. I've always been interested in them, and I know some basic sword techniques."

Shen Qi kept his answer modest.

He didn't open by claiming he could beat anyone under heaven.

Come on, you punks. All of you at once!

"Show us a few moves..."

Zhao Jian signaled for someone to bring Shen Qi a prop sword.

Without hesitation, Shen Qi used the Magic Book. He had recorded Wen Jingrou's swordsmanship on its all-purpose page.

It was only basic swordsmanship, but it still gave him an unusual level of skill.

He didn't have to worry about being exposed during filming, either.

Yin Zhiping barely had any scenes.

It wasn't as if he were playing Yang Guo.

Besides, the action director would design the moves for the show. Wouldn't it be perfectly normal to look clumsy while learning a different set of techniques?

He could record skills on set, too.

With so many people on the martial arts team, he could easily record a "martial arts" skill.

"Not bad. You've definitely trained."

Zhao Jian wrote "Cast" in the final decision box on the audition form.

A supporting role like this didn't require Yu Min or Zhang Jizhong's attention.

At most, they would write their requirements on the audition form, and the audition team would find an actor who met them.

If the chief producer and head director had to handle every little thing, they'd have worked themselves to death long ago.

"Director, director, there's something I need to tell you."

Just as Zhao Jian was about to announce that Shen Qi had gotten the role, a woman came over and interrupted him.

Shen Qi was even more confused.

At first, he had thought Zhao Hongfei had already gotten the role.

But judging by how his own audition had gone, that didn't seem to be the case.

If the decision had already been made, they wouldn't have spent so much time on him.

Counting the sword demonstration, his audition had lasted over half an hour—longer than Zhao Hongfei's.

Could they be auditioning for more than one role today?

Yes, that had to be it!

If Zhao Hongfei had auditioned for another role, everything made sense.

But before Shen Qi could relax, someone else came along to stir up trouble.

Seriously? Someone else was trying to snatch it away?

This was Yin Zhiping!

People in show business really weren't picky.

Shen Qi was stunned, but there was nothing he could do.

He could only wait obediently off to the side. They hadn't told him to leave, so he certainly wasn't going to walk out on his own.

The woman pulled Zhao Jian out of the audition room.

Then she asked him to wait while she made a call.

Zhao Jian was speechless.

The person who had summoned him wasn't anyone powerful, but the woman was Huang Xiaoming's assistant. With the male lead behind her, Zhao Jian couldn't simply brush her off.

What did the role of Yin Zhiping have to do with Huang Xiaoming?

Did he want to play two roles?

Yang Guo on one side, Yin Zhiping on the other...

I'd be making myself a cuckold!

Huang Xiaoming was shooting a magazine cover at that moment.

A camera, fill lights, fans, and all manner of equipment pointed at him, making him the undisputed center of attention.

When he saw his manager, Zhou Siwei, gesture with his phone, he flashed him a wicked smile.

The shoot paused, and his manager came over. "Lingling just called. They've picked an actor for Yin Zhiping. He's handsome... very handsome! She thinks... well, Yin Zhiping is your romantic rival in the show. Having him look too good wouldn't be in your favor."

He wasn't just handsome; he was especially tall.

If Yang Guo and Yin Zhiping stood together, and Yin Zhiping was taller and better-looking... that really would be a little awkward.

"Hah!" Huang Xiaoming laughed in exasperation. "The guy worked hard to win the role at an audition, and I'm supposed to step in and ruin it because he's handsome? I had no idea I'd become such a tyrant!"

He had already offended Ciwen, the production company, by competing with Nie Yuan for a role.

Now he was supposed to overturn the audition team's decision, too.

Great. He'd offend both the production company and the director.

Did they think my career wasn't dying fast enough?

"Don't be angry. I'll call her back right now."

Zhou Siwei hurried to calm him down.

Then he called the assistant.

He gave her a thorough scolding, then had her hand the phone to Zhao Jian so he could offer a sincere apology on Huang Xiaoming's behalf.

Still, Zhou Siwei could understand the young assistant.

Wasn't that how it went when you worked for someone?

They had stationed her at the auditions to gather information for Huang Xiaoming and respond to anything unexpected.

If she did nothing and something went wrong, she'd be the first person they blamed.

Why hadn't she taken action?

And Huang Xiaoming was particularly generous to his team.

The young assistant earned far more than others in the same position, so naturally she took the initiative to look out for him.

Unfortunately, her good intentions had backfired.

Huang Xiaoming was the male lead, and his manager, Zhou Siwei, was a veteran of the industry.

Zhao Jian couldn't very well make a fuss.

They quickly reached a consensus: it had all been a misunderstanding.

"What misunderstanding? Weren't you holding auditions? Have you decided yet?"

Zhang Jizhong had arrived at the company to find Zhao Jian standing in the corridor with a young woman who was sniffling and crying.

Had he... done something he shouldn't have?

"We're just about finished. We cast Yelü Qi and Yin Zhiping today," Zhao Jian said quickly.

"Who did you cast?"

Holding a thermos of water with goji berries in it, Zhang Jizhong led the way toward the audition room.

"Zhao Hongfei got Yelü Qi. Yin Zhiping went to a newcomer—well, he's not exactly new. He was in Legend of the White Snake, which Liu Tao is filming, and he's also appeared in director Shang Jing's new show..."

Zhao Jian filled him in.

By then, Zhang Jizhong had spotted Shen Qi.

He stood straight, and he was strikingly handsome...

And young!

A flicker of envy passed through Zhang Jizhong, who was already past fifty.

But a man of his standing wasn't about to grow jealous just because a young man was handsome.

He walked over to the audition panel and picked up Shen Qi's résumé.

There was no need to look at Zhao Hongfei's.

He knew Zhao Hongfei. Shen Qi was the one he wanted to examine.

Yin Zhiping might seem to have fewer scenes than Yelü Qi or Da Wu and Xiao Wu, but casting him was far more important.

"Only twenty-three... sports university... and he looks like this..."

Zhang Jizhong sounded like a picky auntie inspecting vegetables at the market.

There really was an issue with how well Shen Qi fit the role, and picking at it might bring his fee down a little.

Every penny counted!

"You said to find someone handsome..."

Zhao Jian muttered the words.

He really hadn't bent the rules for Shen Qi.

When it came to "Yin Zhiping and Little Dragon Maiden," Zhang Jizhong wanted to play down the tragedy of Little Dragon Maiden being violated.

He had several ways of doing that:

First, reduce Yin Zhiping's scenes and presence so he didn't seem quite so loathsome.

Second, portray the incident more subtly—for example, by having Little Dragon Maiden wear a blindfold and imagine herself swimming in water.

Finally, cast someone who didn't look so sleazy as Yin Zhiping.

In fact, Zhang Jizhong wasn't the first to try something like this.

In the 1983 Shaw Brothers version, Hong Xinnan had played Yin Zhiping with eyes like bronze bells and a thin mustache. He looked sleazy beyond belief.

Chen Qitai, in the 1995 version, had been an improvement in the looks department.

By the 1998 Taiwan Television version, Li Zhixi's Yin Zhiping was downright handsome—better-looking, even, than Richie Jen's male lead.

Zhang Jizhong just hadn't expected Zhao Jian to find someone this handsome to play Yin Zhiping.

It was too much.

How was the actor playing Yang Guo supposed to compete?

"You're from Taierzhuang?"

A detail on Shen Qi's résumé had caught Zhang Jizhong's eye.

"Yes, from a village in Taierzhuang District."

Shen Qi was used to this.

Whenever people saw the place on his ID, they asked about Taierzhuang in surprise.

Sixty-six years ago, nearly three hundred thousand Chinese sons and daughters from the Northwest Army, Sichuan Army, Northeast Army, Henan Army, Yunnan Army, Guangxi Army, and others had fought the Japanese invaders there.

The green hills were full of fallen heroes. Why must their bodies be brought home wrapped in horsehide?

"I've been there. Must've been thirty or forty years ago. A group of us traveled all over, and we didn't have to pay for transport, food, or lodging... Oh, right. Don't you have an iron... iron thing for making flatbread?"

He had clearly lost the word.

"Do you mean a griddle? The round one that's slightly raised in the middle, with three legs? You can set it over stones and light a fire underneath..."

"Yes, yes, that's it! We'd gone to visit Wang Xuezhong, and his son took us to see the ruins at Taierzhuang. Some villagers made us flatbread on an iron griddle, with eggs and wild shepherd's purse inside. It's been almost forty years, but I still think it was the best thing I've ever eaten..."

Zhang Jizhong had forgotten what he meant to say, utterly absorbed in the memory of food from his youth.

He had money and influence now, but nothing tasted as good anymore.

"I know how to make that flatbread... but I doubt I could recreate the flavor you remember."

Wasn't that obvious?

What had left such a deep impression on the old man wasn't the local food itself.

It was the appetite of a young man who rarely got anything rich to eat, and a young body that could digest anything.