Chapter 41: A Flash of Cynicism

Did I hear it right? The screen writer called Guan Meiyi ‘cousin’?

“Did you hear that? Guan Meiyi not only has the backing of Ruan Zeyan, even the famous screenwriter is her cousin! With such a background, no wonder she gets the leading role…”

“Right? That’s so unfair! The girls here are all the same, but just because she comes from an influential family, she gets the first pick of everything!”

“What are you complaining about? It’s Guan Meiyi’s own luck that she gets to succeed without putting in any effort. If you want to complain, complain to your mom about being born in the wrong family!”

“Without all those connections and privileges, Guan Meiyi is nothing! ‘Best actress’, everybody knows that the Guans bought that award of hers with money!”

“Really? I knew that movie of hers was nothing special, but I never thought the award was bought with money?!”

The word ‘cousin’ exposed the relationship between Guan Meiyi and Ling Tianya.

A few actresses at the audition kept gossiping, and their words unmistakably made their way into the ears of Guan Meiyi.

Guan Meiyi’s face turned bright red as she stared daggers at the gossipers. She then looked at Ling Tianya, who was smiling back at her innocently as if she didn’t hear anything that was being said.

Guan Meiyi squeezed the script in her hand, thoughts rushing through her head. For so many years, she tried hard to improve her acting skills so she could get rid of the label of ‘talentless bimbo’. Regardless of how hard she tried, her acting skills plateaued. What she had going for her was her passion for philanthropy. As a result, her good public image made people more tolerant of her poor acting skills.

Regardless, it was hard for Guan Meiyi to hear those harsh words about herself.

“Which company are you from? Do you know how to shut your mouth?” Threatened Li Fei, who was Guan Meiyi’s agent.

Those who were dumb enough to talk about Guan Meiyi and let her hear them, were all bottom of the barrel small time actresses. Actresses who were a little bit more well-known all knew to keep their mouths shut, even though they looked down on Guan Meiyi just the same.

It didn’t take a genius to know not to offend Guan Meiyi with her family background.

The women stopped talking after the threat from Li Fei. The look they gave Guan Meiyi was still sour.

“Cousin Meiyi, please start your audition.” Ling Tianya sat back in her chair, looking at Guan Meiyi expectantly.

Taking a deep breath, Guan Meiyi stood up from her seat. Before she stepped away, she leaned over to Li Fei and said, “Remember these women, I don’t want to see their faces in the entertainment business ever again!” She made sure they heard her.

“Understood.” Li Fei nodded, immediately setting off to look up the company that sent the women.

Guan Meiyi stopped in the middle of the room, standing with a graceful posture and pleasing smile.

Ling Tianya opened the script, “Let’s do the third scene in Episode One. The part when the female lead wakes up in the hospital. How does that sound, Director?”

Zhang Heng nodded at Ling Tianya, “That’s good.”

Guan Meiyi was panicking inside. That was one of the most difficult scenes in the entire show. The heroine woke up in the hospital, realizing that she had lost everything while still battling with fear of death. Her heart was filled with agony, fear, despair, and uncertainty about the future.

To be able to express all those emotions and still keep the acting dynamic was a challenge of one’s acting skills for sure.

Ling Tianya, did you pick this scene on purpose to make me look bad? Guan Meiyi’s eyes met Ling Tianya’s, and at that moment she saw a flash of cynicism.