Although she had started following celebrity fandoms quite late in her past life, she had still heard a thing or two about the character Wen Qing.
First, Wen Qing's actress was not formally trained, so it was hard to say whether her acting skills would pass muster. Second, she had not yet signed with any talent agency, making it even less likely for her to secure such an important female supporting role in this production. Thus, the role of Jiang Yanli could also be ruled out.
That left only Wang Lingjiao, A-Qing, and Qin Su. Given her own strengths, choosing Wang Lingjiao or A-Qing would be the best path.
One was utterly, exquisitely villainous, while the other was a tragic figure who tasted warmth only to lose it abruptly. Both roles offered plenty of room for performance. It wasn't that Qin Su was a bad character, but she had very little screen time and not much room to showcase one's acting. Therefore, she decided to set her sights firmly on Wang Lingjiao. This character had strong interactions with the two leads; and although she met a miserable end, she might still spark a bit of popularity.
Arriving at the audition venue with Lin Yuqing, the two collected their number tags and joined the ranks of the many people waiting to audition.
"Um, Yuqing, which role are you planning to audition for?" Seeing that the queue for the auditions was still a long line, Wen Rou—now in her new identity—started chatting with her new best friend to gather more information and see if the original Wen Rou had shared the same plan as her.
"Me? I'm planning to audition for A-Qing. She's a supporting female character with quite a lot of screen time. Neither you nor I have signed with an agency, so the chances of us landing Wen Qing or Jiang Yanli are practically zero. Those roles either have heavy financial backers behind them or are being auditioned for by established traffic stars. Our odds are slim."
"Still, I'm very optimistic about your choice of Wang Lingjiao. She's vicious enough that even if she gets flack from the audience, that's still traffic, right? Besides, you're so pretty, you definitely have a shot. Add in the techniques and lessons you studied before, and your chances of passing the audition are actually quite high."
"Yeah, I agree with you. It doesn't matter if the audition fails; good things take time, and I'll just treat it as gaining experience." Wen Rou was remarkably open-minded. Wasn't she always like this in the past? After experiencing disappointment time and again, she had learned to be content with what she had and to appreciate small comforts. What else could she do—torture herself?
Besides, her starting point physically was much better than many people's now, which made her even more satisfied. The only thing that gave her a twinge of guilt was this young girl who had passed away so early. Now that they shared the same goal, she would carry on that girl's aspiration and work hard for it.
That's right. Ever since she was a child, she had harbored a dream: to be a singer. Her love for music was the most precious wealth her father had given her, and the only hobby she had managed to stick with for a long time.
She still remembered how poor her family was when she was little. Her father could only come home once a year during the New Year, and every time he returned, he would bring back many CDs of Cantonese pop songs. Her household would become a bit more lively during those few days, and little her would follow along with the Hong Kong entertainment stars on the records, learning to sing. It was also during that time that she slowly picked up Cantonese.
In middle school, she had even received praise from classmates and teachers because of music; everyone complimented her on how well she sang. But when had it started? Her confidence had been worn down bit by bit, and those hobbies had been battered to pieces by the very father she respected.
It must have been when she entered university. Back then, it was just the beginning. Wen Ling during her college years had been an active and motivated student. Although it was only a tier-two university, it couldn't stop her passionate heart for learning.
She worked hard to improve her spoken English, participated in various interest clubs, music appreciation societies, dance clubs, guitar clubs, and even red wine appreciation, which she found quite interesting. But due to her family's financial situation, her studies in these areas remained only surface-level and could never be pursued deeply.
After college, society taught her former self many harsh lessons.
At that time, she still retained her fondness for music. Mostly, she could only go to KTVs to satisfy that hobby, and she had spent money to buy a cheap guitar, drinking the kind of red wine any working stiff could afford. There was even a period of revenge consumption, which taught her a painful lesson.
She once wanted to realize her musical dream, only to find out that an ordinary girl like her was nothing more than an inconspicuous grain of sand in the entertainment industry. Back then, she thought to herself that she was no longer the passionate girl from her university days, but just another corporate slave thoroughly humbled by reality.
"Wen Rou? Rourou? What's wrong with you? Why are you so absent-minded? You seem really unwell today. Is it because martial arts practice this morning was too tiring, or are you just too nervous about the audition?" Seeing that her best friend's expression was off, Lin Yuqing quickly leaned in close to call out to her.
"Yuqing, I'm fine. It must just be from practicing dance too hard this morning."