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The director looked around in confusion. Had he just heard someone's thoughts?

Then was what he had heard true or false? He cast a suspicious glance around, cold sweat unwittingly breaking out across his back.

The assistant director, who should have been sitting at the very end, had vanished.

He swallowed hard and steeled himself as he called for the next actor to audition. "Jiang Ye, you're next. You'll be auditioning for the male lead, Xu Jinyan."

He had some impression of this actor, Jiang Ye. Handsome, with excellent looks, he was a red-hot traffic star in the entertainment industry. Originally, the director had been against casting traffic stars in this spy drama.

But the assistant director had said traffic stars would bring a natural wave of traffic to the show, and that traffic would make their production a success. That was why he had considered them.

Other production teams who had worked with Jiang Ye all said that, though the actor had a bit of a temper, he could still distinguish right from wrong on the big issues.

As it happened, Jiang Ye's manager had also been trying to secure this role for him, so the director had taken the opportunity to invite him over.

Come to think of it, he was quite looking forward to Jiang Ye's performance.

Jiang Ye nodded and glanced at Song Shiwei and Jiang Zhuxin. Both women gave him broad smiles, and his heart immediately settled.

Since he was here anyway, he might as well get up there and give it a go. Even if he wasn't chosen, being able to intimidate Lin Xi would feel pretty damn good, wouldn't it?

He wasn't expecting to get picked anyway. He would just treat today as a chance to grind some experience points.

He cleared his throat and asked the director very seriously, "Director, am I an undercover agent for the Military Statistics Bureau or the Party?"

Xu Tao was a little surprised, but answered quickly, "The Party."

Jiang Ye nodded. In that single instant, his flippant gaze turned exceptionally resolute, before shifting back into the slick, worldly manner of the character in the script. Those subtle changes took place within mere seconds.

The director stared at the young man before him in shock. Though the acting was a little deliberate, being able to manage this was already very impressive.

During the performance, Jiang Ye focused entirely on imagining himself as a steadfast communist soldier, fighting for his country. He put almost every ounce of strength he had into trying to perform this scene well.

The way the director and screenwriter looked at Jiang Ye gradually changed. Jiang Ye was only in his early twenties, still very young. The signs of acting were very obvious in this performance, but for a young man, and a traffic star at that, to manage this was already very impressive.

The director nodded with some approval, lightly drew a circle in Jiang Ye's column, then called out, "Next, Lin Xi."

Lin Xi shot a resentful look at Jiang Ye as he left the performance area, snorted disdainfully, and straightened his back. But for a moment, a tingling numbness swept through his body, and he nearly dropped to his knees. He gritted his teeth and endured it for a long while before walking onto the stage without hesitation under everyone's strange gazes. "Director, we can begin."

The director glanced at him. He wore an extremely flashy suit, and the expression on his face made him look as though he wasn't ready yet either. The director immediately frowned, suppressed his displeasure, and said gravely, "Begin."

[Next, please enjoy a brilliant performance from Alphabet Bro and Number Bro.]

Song Shiwei's voice rang out again. The director turned sharply to look behind him, but found nothing.

What did Alphabet Bro and Number Bro mean?

When he turned back, Lin Xi, who had been standing onstage, began reciting numbers with a perfectly untroubled expression. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8."

The actress performing opposite him was dumbfounded and could only grit her teeth and keep acting. She hadn't expected something even more outrageous to follow: this guy stopped reciting numbers and switched to letters. "a, b, c, d, e, f, g..."

The set fell silent for a moment. They went over it in their heads several times before finally realizing: had Lin Xi not delivered a single line just now?

Had he been reciting numbers and letters instead?!

Jiang Ye stared, dumbstruck. Seriously, how on earth had this freak who couldn't even deliver his lines properly become famous?

Song Shiwei marveled inwardly. [Fucking incredible. This guy is actually a top traffic star. Even that potted plant by the window acts better than he does.]

[Hmm... this guy really has mastered all eighteen martial arts. Turns out he has more than one sugar daddy behind him. Besides the assistant director, there's also an incredibly rich sugar mommy. She's completely devoted to him, throwing money and resources at her. Who would have thought this dumbass was out there being a bottom to climb the ladder!]

[Seriously, rich lady, you're so muddleheaded! Of all the people you could promote, you chose this thing?! If you don't need your money, donate it, okay?]

As Song Shiwei silently snarked to herself, the director had already flown into a rage. "Lin Xi, what the hell are you doing? Did you even memorize your lines?"

Lin Xi blinked and said innocently, "It's all going to be dubbed in postproduction anyway. Why should I bother remembering the lines?"

The director was so angry he laughed. Where on earth had they found this actor? Did he even know what the word "actor" meant?

"You can leave. My production doesn't need an actor like you," the director said curtly, forcibly holding back his anger.

"I'm not leaving. I came here specifically for this role. Do you know how much effort I put in for it? You think you can just reject me like that? Who the hell do you think you are?" After the director snapped at him, Lin Xi's temper flared instantly.

Ever since Zhang Boqiang, no director had dared speak to him like this to his face, practically getting right in his face and telling him to get lost. This director really had eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gall.

He probably had no idea who the financial backer behind him was.

Hearing Lin Xi speak like this, even acting as though he intended to throw his weight around, Director Zhang Tao instantly lost his temper too. "This is my production, and I call the shots. If I say I don't want you, then I don't want you. Get the hell out."

"Do you know who's bankrolling me? You dare tell me to get out? Believe it or not, I can make sure you never start filming," Lin Xi said smugly.