Audition 1

"Priceless Pearl, Precious Darling" by Ming Siqi [Complete + Extras]

Synopsis:

Xie Yibai was a popular actor in China's entertainment industry, with countless female fans and an unusually strong appeal to men.

He had been in the business for years without a single scandal or piece of dirt on him, and all he wanted was to focus on his career.

But reality was cruel. Traffic stars fell out of fashion, and he couldn't act in historical idol dramas forever.

So, for the sake of advancing his career, Xie Yibai reluctantly accepted the attention of certain men.

In all fairness, being liked by men wasn't such a bad thing.

With a backer, what did he have to worry about when it came to resources?

-The bad thing was that more than one man liked him.

And these men... tended to fight among themselves.

Before long, rumors about him were flying around the industry. Everyone was saying:

"That Teacher Xie must know how to cast spells and bewitch people. Otherwise, how could that director and producer, such good brothers, have fallen out and turned against each other over him?"

To escape this bloody vicious circle as soon as possible, Xie Yibai worked himself to the bone filming and making money, making money and filming;

-Finally, he joined the ranks of the top traffic stars and won

best actor,

gaining both fame and fortune.

But... help! Why were there more and more men around him?

Some called him a scourge, while others called him a priceless pearl.

And someone once said he was the precious darling everyone wanted.

Faced with the criticism around him and the men with whom he shared tangled grudges and relationships,

Xie Yibai had only this to say: "I don't want a tempestuous love life. I want my career to reach its zenith, thank you."

Also known as "I Didn't Do Anything, So Why Did They Start Fighting?"

Reading guide:

1. An innocent

heartthrob

beauty shou who flirts but doesn't date, with max-level tea skills.

2. Not a sweet, doting romance

or a wish-fulfillment story.

The protagonist grows throughout the story, and the characters' relationships are complicated and tangled.

3. They compete for the position, each relying on his own abilities.

4. The official gong is listed under the main characters. HE.

[Important content warning] Two supporting gongs aren't virgins. The main gong and all the rest are virgins.

[★★Note] The central conflict of the romantic plot is N gongs competing for one shou. The main gong and gong 2 are "good brothers who turn against each other for love." Their being good brothers is part of the setup, and their falling out over love is part of the plot. There is no romantic tension whatsoever between any of the gongs, so please don't make comments suggesting otherwise.

Content tags: Urban, meteoric rise,

entertainment industry,

lighthearted,

heartthrob, HE

Main characters: Xie Yibai, Sheng Ke ┃ Supporting characters: Xing Zhanyun, Zou Yan, Fang Ye, He Qingchuan, Li Zhengxuan

One-line synopsis: The entertainment industry's number-one male Daji.

Theme: Cast aside distractions, focus on your career, and reach the pinnacle of life.

Chapter 1: Audition 1

Entertainment reporters followed two unspoken rules: 1. Don't out gay people. 2. Don't expose people with depression.

-Whether those rules held true or not, no paparazzo or marketing account had ever revealed that the popular traffic star Xie Yibai was gay.

His new drama had wrapped, and Xie Yibai had received flowers from a man yet again. He had received all kinds of flowers from all kinds of people, but there was only one person in the world who would send him purple roses.

"Should we throw them out?" his assistant suggested, seeing his uncertain expression.

Xie Yibai shook his head. He took the gold-embossed card off the bouquet and turned it over. Instead of the usual generic well-wishes, it bore an address and two precious words: "Waiting for you."

It was an invitation.

Traffic stars were always busy, and Xie Yibai was no exception. He sat before the mirror while the makeup artist removed his makeup and hairpiece. This was a historical drama, and taking off the wig cap took a while. He thought it over, then slowly picked up his phone, opened WeChat, pulled a certain user off his blacklist, and sent a greeting.

: Are you back in the country?

Xing Zhanyun replied ten minutes later: Oh, you finally decided to let me out?

Xie Yibai could sense the deliberate provocation through the text. That was another reason he didn't like Xing Zhanyun. He'd already sent flowers, so why did he have to play the bad guy?

: What is it?

Xing Zhanyun: You saw the address on the card, right? There's an audition tomorrow. I've already spoken to the casting director, so you can just go straight there.

Xie Yibai was baffled and could only send a question mark: ?

There Xing Zhanyun went again, replying with a voice message full of mockery. "You're not actually planning to do historical idol dramas for the rest of your life, are you?"

Xie Yibai didn't want to answer him anymore. He even had the urge to block him again.

But right after that, Xing Zhanyun coaxed him in the tone one might use with a child. "It's Sheng Ke's new movie. I only managed to get in touch through my family's connections. Go give it a try. It'll only take one morning, and even if you don't get picked, you won't lose anything."

: Got it. I'll go if I have time.

After replying, Xie Yibai deleted his chat with Xing Zhanyun, unable to help feeling a little unsettled.

For one thing, getting involved with Xing Zhanyun again wasn't a good sign. For another, he really didn't want to spend his whole life doing historical idol dramas.

Xie Yibai was twenty-six this year and had been among the ranks of male traffic stars for three years. He had no formal acting training, and his acting was merely passable. He had only made it into the entertainment industry because of his outstanding looks-he was a beauty one in ten thousand.

As everyone knew, beauty alone wasn't enough in the entertainment industry. Even though Xie Yibai's looks were at their peak and he had captivated countless young men and women, he was still stuck doing idol dramas. It wasn't that idol dramas were bad, but in his ten years in the business, he had gone from playing the junior disciple to the senior brother, from supporting roles that were his specialty to top-billed leading roles, and it had always been the same genres: xianxia,

household intrigue,

ostensible

political intrigue

that was really

angsty romance,

and domineering CEOs

obsessively in love with their female subordinates.

Whenever people online joked that historical dramas starring actors in their thirties were "middle-aged and elderly historical idol dramas," Xie Yibai couldn't help feeling a chill of sorrow at the thought that he might be next.

It was time for him to change direction too!

As for his advantages as an actor, besides his face, Xie Yibai's professional skills were also a plus. He had studied singing since childhood and had a good voice, so not only did he need no dubbing, he could also sing the entire OST for a drama. People said luck was part of one's ability, and over the past few years, Xie Yibai's competitors had fallen one after another over tax evasion, pornography, gambling, drugs, and other scandals. He alone had remained standing, his peers making him look as pure as a lotus rising unstained from the mud. After several such upheavals, the times had propelled him firmly onto the throne of traffic stardom.

As a person, Xie Yibai was even better than many of his peers. He came from a respectable family; his parents were honest, law-abiding ordinary people who neither embezzled nor took bribes, and neither owed debts nor dodged repayment. He himself had been a model student from childhood, excelling in both academics and conduct and possessing many talents. In all his years in the industry, he had never picked up any bad habits.

Of course, nobody was perfect. If one had to name a flaw or a piece of dirt on Xie Yibai, it would be that his private life attracted some criticism.

Actually, if given the chance, Xie Yibai would have loved to clear things up with the people gossiping behind his back: most of the so-called rumors about him had been distorted in the telling! Take the accusation that he had toyed with a certain well-known rich second-generation heir and then dumped him-he'd lived in the man's home, eaten his food and used his things, then, when better opportunities came along and he was ready to pursue a brighter future, he'd run off without a word. What was that if not using someone and throwing him away? Gold digger!

The rich second-generation heir in question was Xing Zhanyun.

But that wasn't the truth. Not at all.

It was true that Xie Yibai had met Xing Zhanyun while he was in school, but at the time he had known nothing about Xing Zhanyun's family background. Their relationship as roommates had been entirely innocent. At most, there had been some ambiguity between them. At most.

Since people only passed the story around in private and no one made an issue of it, Xie Yibai could only laugh off all the rumors, however many there were.

Come to think of it, if he hadn't become an actor, he would never have known there were so many gay men in the world, and that he happened to be the type who attracted men and disastrous romantic entanglements.

Xie Yibai decided to keep the card.

If he wanted to wade into the murky waters of the entertainment industry, he had to reach in and see what he could catch, whether it was a turtle or a fish. Why shouldn't he make use of a connection when he had one? Opportunities only came to those who were prepared.

Xing Zhanyun came from an extraordinary family and got things done efficiently. That evening, on his way to the airport, Xie Yibai received a call from the casting director, who bypassed his agent and directly gave him the time and place of the next day's audition. That was all. No project title, no character description, no excerpts of dialogue-nothing. When he asked, he was told it was confidential and they'd talk when he arrived.

If he hadn't trusted Xing Zhanyun's connections and Sheng Ke's reputation, Xie Yibai would almost have suspected it was a scam.

Sheng Ke, nicknamed the Young Master Director, had burst onto the scene at twenty-two with "Yesterday Hung High," winning the Caméra d'Or at Cannes and an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film. Two years later, he swept the three major Chinese film awards with his new work, "Madam Huanqing," taking home numerous prizes, including best picture, best director, best actor and actress, and best original screenplay.

Brilliantly talented and with an impressive track record, he truly deserved the title of master director. The "young" in front of it emphasized that he was only twenty-eight this year.

Xie Yibai had seen Sheng Ke's representative works. They weren't obscure, dull art films; on the contrary, they were accessible and superb, with considerable box office earnings both at home and abroad.

They were both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, and won awards by the armful. Directors with that kind of ability were rare in this world, so a role in a Sheng Ke film could be called an unparalleled opportunity that would shake the entire entertainment industry.

Before this, Xie Yibai had never dared dream he could get access to resources at this level, even though he was already very popular. After all, television and film were two separate camps, with what people called "a wall" between them. Even TV kings and queens at the top of the drama world might be mere decorative vases or box office poison in the film world, let alone a traffic star like him who had broken out by hyping CPs.

At the height of his popularity, the film industry had given him an entry ticket too. It was a popular IP, a youth

campus

story based on a novel that had once been a sensation across the country. But the film made no splash when it was released, and its Douban rating was only 4.6. Better not to mention it.

All in all, there were too many monks and too little porridge in the film industry. There weren't even enough good resources to go around among the accomplished best actors and people with powerful backers, so any role that fell to him couldn't possibly be a lead or a villain with too much screen time.

Xie Yibai didn't want to put too much pressure on himself. He was used to being relaxed and composed, and since he had no homework to do, he put on a hat and mask as soon as he boarded the plane and fell fast asleep.

Early the next morning, Xie Yibai was woken by his assistant. The drama had finally wrapped, and he'd had a rare good night's sleep. He lay in the big bed in his hotel suite, unwilling to get up, so his assistant had to draw the curtains and let the bright morning light hurry him along.

In his haze, Xie Yibai remembered he had an audition that morning and jolted awake. He got up, washed, and ate breakfast. As someone who made a living off his looks, he was in the habit of putting on face masks whenever he could, keeping his face fair and soft before heading out so he wouldn't be embarrassed if he "ran into" fans downstairs.