After Being Blackened All Over the Internet, I Ruled the Military Variety Shows
Chapter 398 - 389: Lu Zhengzheng’s 300-Word Essay

Chapter 398: Chapter 389: Lu Zhengzheng’s 300-Word Essay

The vast film city is not short of actors, nor is it short of tourists.

There are also paparazzi who employ endless methods to dig for material, and veteran fans dedicated to following celebrities as a lifelong career.

After being recognized by a tourist and asked for an autograph, Jiang Lingxi finally had a bit of self-awareness as a female star, quietly putting on the sunglasses and mask that Lu Zhengzheng prepared for her from her bag.

She bought a box of stir-fried ice cream from a street shop and noticed that Pei Xinyuan, who had gone to meet a director with a friend, had just posted something on her social media when she paid with her phone.

She clicked it open casually, revealing a photo of a coffee restaurant with an address in the lower left corner.

The restaurant’s name seemed familiar, and Jiang Lingxi remembered Lu Zhengzheng mentioning it once.

It’s a combined café and restaurant, with elegant decor and setup; naturally, the prices of the coffee and meals inside are also quite ’elegant’.

Yet it remains favored by people in the circle.

Because it’s discreet enough, and the restaurant is very careful to protect the privacy of its guests.

It was conveniently located not far from where she was standing at that moment.

She decided to go and try out this ’Coffee and Feast’.

After taking the stir-fried ice cream handed to her by the shopkeeper and preparing to set off, she saw a message sent by Lu Zhengzheng.

No, it couldn’t be called a message, it was more like an essay written by a third-grader.

At a glance, it was no less than three hundred words!

She estimated that the people auditioning had already arrived at the crew, but the completion of this task was genuinely beyond her expectation.

Was it necessary to write so many words?

A few minutes later, she arrived at Coffee and Feast.

Jiang Lingxi looked around but didn’t see Pei Xinyuan, presumably in one of the private rooms.

She chose a seat in a corner by the window, a spot that allowed her to see the entire restaurant, and sat down. After taking off the sunglasses and mask, she noticed a young man in a waiter uniform walking towards her.

As he approached, his expression and gaze shifted, suggesting he recognized her, but he still maintained his composure.

However, there was a slight tremor in his voice, "Would you like coffee or to order food?"

"This, plus an order of the dessert."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

Watching the waiter leave, Jiang Lingxi reopened the three-hundred-word essay sent by Lu Zhengzheng.

[Xixi, the people who came for the audition this time are really, really stunning, tall and long-legged, and especially that face, I can’t even think of words to describe it...(some incoherent descriptions omitted) I have a feeling Director Wei will keep them, here’s a photo that I sneakily took when they got off the car, I almost got caught.

But here’s some bad news, they came in Xu Qingmei’s nanny car, and Xu Qingmei is here too. I suspect that person might be a new artist signed by Xu Qingmei’s studio. Xu Qingmei is really lucky, if this newcomer doesn’t screw up, they’ll surely make it big. No wonder Xu Qingmei personally came to support them.

The person is starting the audition now, I’ll see if I can take another video for you later.]

Jiang Lingxi: "..."

She displayed the expression of a subway old man looking at a phone.

Swipe after swipe, where’s the photo?

What on earth do they look like to have her use so many words to praise?

She had just praised her for completing the task well, and now she dropped the ball?

Even by the time the coffee and dessert she ordered arrived, Jiang Lingxi hadn’t received the photo from Lu Zhengzheng.

She sent back a question mark but got no response. Could it be that watching the audition made her dizzy?

She could only pull up the previous message and look at the last part, frowning.

The newcomer auditioning this time is actually connected to Xu Qingmei. Is it really just to give a high starting point to the newcomers under her, or is there another motive?

*

In another section of the restaurant, inside a small private room.

Introduced by Cheng Qian, Pei Xinyuan and Han Jiaojiao quickly got acquainted with Lin He, the director of "Shengjing Little Lady," sitting opposite them.

Unlike Director Wei, who keeps a stern face all day on set and doesn’t hesitate to scold even the Actress, Director Lin resembles a smiling Buddha, appearing to have an extremely good temper.

Even when Pei Xinyuan said she had to go back for filming later and couldn’t drink alcohol, he nodded with a smile and helped switch to tea, seemingly not minding at all.

Han Jiaojiao boldly poured herself a glass of white wine, cheerfully saying, "Xinyuan can’t drink white, so I’ll accompany Director Lin."

"Alright," Lin He exchanged a glance with Cheng Qian, calling out with approval, "I didn’t expect that Ms. Jiaojiao, looking so delicate, would be such a connoisseur of alcohol inside."

Pei Xinyuan watched Han Jiaojiao down a glass of white wine, two patches of red appeared on her cheeks, and after sitting down, she quickly tugged at her clothes, "Don’t drink so recklessly!"

Going all out isn’t like this.

"It’s fine," Han Jiaojiao exhaled a breath of alcohol, "I know my limits." She leaned in closer and whispered, "I took some hangover medicine beforehand."

Only then did Pei Xinyuan feel slightly relieved. Seeing that persuasion was futile, she could only serve her a few chopsticks of dishes and pour a cup of warm water.

Even hangover medicine isn’t omnipotent.

Cheng Qian watched indifferently for a while, took his phone, typed a few lines, and sent them to Lin He’s phone.

Lin He drank the wine offered by Han Jiaojiao, casually instructed the two young women to eat more, and conveniently picked up his phone.

[Old Lin, this girl Pei Xinyuan doesn’t seem very interested, probably not easy to fool. But this Han Jiaojiao seems to be on board, she looks like she really wants to get this opportunity. How about we just replace her?]

[You don’t need to say, I noticed it too. But at least Pei Xinyuan has "Yuanzhao Empress" as her representative work, switching to Han Jiaojiao means starting from scratch.]

[The most important thing is for someone to cooperate, right? I thought it over, and it’s best not to use previous methods this time. I’m not sure if anyone in the crew knows what I’ve told Pei Xinyuan this time. If someone knows, in case Pei Xinyuan has an accident, I’ll be the first person suspected.]

[Weren’t you always very careful before, why are you uncertain this time?]

[Pei Xinyuan could tell her friends about the resources I helped send her, and now with Han Jiaojiao coming along, who knows whether this silly girl will tell others too. In all these years, I’ve only met this one oddball!]

[That’s true, let me think some more.]

Lin He put down his phone, his eyelids half-lowered, as he ushered Pei Xinyuan and Han Jiaojiao to continue eating, his eyes glinting as if appraising two satisfactory items.

Pei Xinyuan, seeing Han Jiaojiao handle herself comfortably, felt a bit bored, so she picked up her phone to unlock it, to check for any new messages.

As soon as she opened the app, she saw the unread messages number climbing and flipped to the group chat of extras she had joined, only to find out what was causing the buzz.

Almost everyone was discussing the newcomer who came to the crew for an audition today.

She opened a slightly blurred photo, clearly a candid shot, leaned closer to take a look, and couldn’t help but gasp.

"What is it?"

Pei Xinyuan passed the phone over, not surprised to hear her friend gasp as well.

Cheng Qian and Lin He, noticing, couldn’t help but become curious and asked with a smile, "What are you both looking at?"

"It’s a photo of the newcomer who’s auditioning for the crew today, posted in our group," Pei Xinyuan quickly added, knowing Cheng Qian was about to reach for her phone, "Brother Cheng, it was posted in the temporary group chat we made, no one dared to send it in the big group with Director Wei."

"What do they look like to make you two young ladies infatuated, let me see."

Han Jiaojiao begrudgingly handed the phone over.

Cheng Qian and Lin He, leaning in, glanced at the person in the photo, then remained silent for a moment, instinctively exchanging looks.

If among the people under them, there was anyone on par with this photo, no, even half as good, they wouldn’t have to go through all this trouble to find people!

One of them could easily top a hundred!

Pei Xinyuan watched Cheng Qian holding her phone, worried he might accidentally touch the screen and see other things, keeping a close eye on him, ready to retrieve her phone at any moment.

As she stared, she inadvertently caught a glimpse of Cheng Qian and Lin He’s exchanged look, making her shiver instinctively.

Then she abruptly stood up, snatched back her phone, and grabbed Han Jiaojiao’s arm, "I, I want to go to the restroom, Jiaojiao come with me!"