Chapter 43: Miss Zixuan is Too Deeply Immersed in the Role!

"Alright, alright."
"Thank you, Professor."
"Mm, go ahead and send the number to me."
"I'll contact them myself later."
"..."

Zhang Li hung up the phone, sat back down, and fell into deep thought.

When good fortune arrives, there is simply no stopping it. He actually managed to catch the eye of Zhang Yimou simply because of a song.

"Ali, Director Zhang Yimou wants you to star in a film?" Yang Mi sat next to Zhang Li, making no effort to hide the excitement in her eyes.

Seeing everyone staring at him, Zhang Li shook his head and denied it, "No."

Everyone: ?

We heard every single word you just blurted out.

"He's just giving me an audition opportunity," Zhang Li added with a faint smile.

Everyone: !

Let's not act so aloof, and we can still be good friends.

This was a movie directed by the "National Master" Zhang Yimou himself. An audition opportunity alone was something most people in the industry could only dream of.

Even Hu Ge, the most popular star among those present, hadn't been given a chance to act in his films.

"Are you sure it was Director Zhang himself?" Yang Mi was happy for Zhang Li, but she also worried he might be getting scammed. "Could someone be playing a trick on you?"

"No way," Zhang Li poured himself a glass of beverage. "It was our head teacher who called. I recognized his voice."

"He said that during last night's welcome gala, the Dean and Director Zhang were both in the audience and happened to see my performance on stage."

"Director Zhang felt my image was a great fit for the male lead in his upcoming film, so he decided to give me an audition opportunity."

"Acting on the Dean's instructions, our head teacher reminded me to read a book in advance to familiarize myself with the material and strive to win the role."

Yang Mi and the others: !?

It was actually the male lead, too.

They had assumed it was just a supporting role, which was why they were envious but not particularly excited.

But if it was the male lead...

"White Tofu, when you achieve great wealth and honor, don't forget your friends!" Hu Ge picked up his wine glass and raised it toward Zhang Li.

"Don't worry, Brother Jing," Zhang Li clinked his glass with Hu Ge's. "We're brothers. Wherever there's meat for me to eat, there'll at least be a bone for you to gnaw on."

"Get out of here, I'm not some celestial hound," Hu Ge gave Zhang Li a light push.

Everyone burst into laughter instantly.

"Ali, give the bone to Lao Hu, just let me have a sip of the soup."
"Show some restraint, Lao Yuan. Ali, I'll just be happy smelling the aroma."
"Get lost, Lao Hu. The debate over whether you or Ali is more handsome finally has an answer."
"What? Lao Hu actually dared to compete with Ali in looks?"
"Why not? The entire aesthetic standard of the domestic entertainment industry is practically carried by me and Ali."
"You shameless guy..."

Everyone offered their congratulations to Zhang Li, but they all showed great tact by not dwelling on the topic or probing with veiled questions.

***

Zhang Li's own heart didn't experience much turbulence either; after all, nothing was set in stone yet.

Even if he managed to land the role successfully, it wouldn't be anything to boast about until the film actually achieved success.

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, those with night shoots returned to the set, while the few who were free walked back to the hotel together.

"Did you say you performed at the Beijing Film Academy welcome gala?"

Yang Mi, who had been chatting with Tang Yan, suddenly remembered something and nudged Zhang Li with her elbow. "When I asked you the day before yesterday, didn't you say you weren't going on stage to perform?"

"I hadn't planned on it at first," Zhang Li spread his hands helplessly. "One of my roommates had an accident, so I had to step in and save the show."

Zhang Li recounted how Du Xiao had developed acute gastroenteritis, and how he had gone to deliver the message only to be "forced" into saving the performance.

"Is that Yuan Shanshan out of her mind?" Tang Yan couldn't help but feel a surge of righteous indignation. "There's nothing difficult about a favor like that."

"She's definitely out of her mind," Zhang Li looked at Yang Mi with a playful glint in his eyes. "Making things difficult for me over something like that."

"I don't know if she has a grudge against Du Xiao, or against me."
"And yet I've never offended her."

Yang Mi's delicate face instantly flushed red, a mix of shyness and vexation.

As classmates and roommates for four years with Yuan Shanshan, she knew her ways and personality all too well.

Yuan Shanshan must have tried to make advances toward Zhang Li, and when he didn't reciprocate, she turned "love into hate" and pulled stunts to draw attention to herself.

"If she's a senior at the Film Academy, isn't she in the same year as you, Mi Mi?" Liu Shishi suddenly asked.

"She's my classmate, but I've always been out filming, so we aren't very close," Yang Mi quickly drew a clear line between herself and Yuan Shanshan.

Actually, it wouldn't have mattered if the two girls knew why Yuan Shanshan was "targeting" Zhang Li.

What she did was a good thing anyway, keeping Zhang Li far away from a toxic woman.

But if she did that, the two girls would figure out that after working hard all day, she had still personally brewed soup and brought it to Zhang Li as a midnight snack.

Her own conscience was entirely clear on the matter, but she was afraid the two girls would overthink it and suspect she had ulterior motives toward Zhang Li.

"So what kind of performance did you do?" Yang Mi's clever eyes rolled as she deftly changed the subject. "To make Director Zhang hold you in such high regard, it certainly couldn't have been simple."

This topic successfully derailed the attention of Tang Yan and Liu Shishi, causing both of them to look over at Zhang Li.

"Director Zhang picked me not because of my performance," Zhang Li patted his own face with a deliberate look of narcissism. "It was entirely because of this."

"Psh~" The three women simultaneously expressed their disdain.

This man was truly far too narcissistic.

"The three of you are too plain to understand the sorrows of a beauty icon like me," Zhang Li sighed and shook his head.

Da Tang Shi: ?

The three women exchanged glances and simultaneously lunged at him: "That'll teach you to talk nonsense."

Oh, good grief!

Zhang Li immediately took off running.

The four of them left a picturesque scene trailing along the street.

Fortunately, it was already dark, and passersby couldn't clearly make out their faces right away.

Besides, Yang Mi, the most popular among the four, only had a moderate level of fame and popularity at the moment.

Give it a couple of years, and they would never be able to run and play so freely like this.

Sprinting all the way back to the hotel, Zhang Li locked himself safely inside his room.

However, the three women had successfully gotten the answer they wanted.

***

"Go online and search for it yourselves. My performance was a massive hit, you know."

The three women returned to their respective rooms.

After taking a quick shower, they each prepared to go online using their computers or phones.

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

Liu Shishi's door was rapped upon.

"Who is it?" Liu Shishi walked over to the door to ask.

"The food delivery boy," Zhang Li replied.

Liu Shishi was slightly startled, her cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink as she muttered softly, "Pervert."

Yet her movements were swift; she opened the door and let Zhang Li inside.

*Thud.*

Closing the door behind him, Zhang Li scooped Liu Shishi up into his arms.

"Sister Mi Mi and Sister Tang Tang ganged up to beat me, and I wasn't allowed to fight back."
"What were you thinking, daring to hit me?"

Liu Shishi: "..."

Meanwhile, Yang Mi and Tang Yan were browsing the internet using the computers in their rooms.

Zhang Li hadn't been lying at all; his stage performance at the Beijing Film Academy welcome gala was currently burning up the internet.

After a day and a half of fermentation, the buzz was not dying down—it was growing even hotter.

A high level of heat like this was partly due to Zhang Li's handsome appearance, but equally because the song itself was exceptional and his vocals were stellar.

However, the biggest reason was that the Beijing Olympics had just concluded not long ago, making the "National Master" Zhang Yimou a major hot topic in society.

As Zhang Yimou's alma mater, the Beijing Film Academy naturally carried a trending search aura lately, drawing intense public attention.

With several factors compounding together, the popularity just kept climbing higher and higher.

"Written for the three-lifetime romance of the character I play in the television series currently in production."
"Wait, wasn't that written for... Zixuan and Xu Changqing?"

Full of anticipation, Tang Yan clicked the play button.

"Let yesterday be completely nullified, now you are right before my eyes."
"..."
"Waiting for your reliance, partial to you alone~"
"Even the pain is a joy."

As the song came to an end, Tang Yan felt herself drifting into a trance: "Partial to you alone..."

After pondering for a moment, Tang Yan chose to replay it.

After losing count of how many times she replayed the song, she gradually drifted off into dreamland.

[Tang Yan projects Zixuan and her three-lifetime tragic romance with you into her dream: Character Immersion +1 / Bed Scene Experience +1 / Kiss Scene Experience +1]

Zhang Li snapped his eyes wide open: ？？？