ATLAS TRANSLATES

When going to Director Huai An’s new movie audition, I didn’t dress up specially. I just went with my usual makeup-free look, wearing a simple sea-blue long dress, white high heels, and a pair of brown sunglasses.

The good thing today was that I didn’t have to drive myself. Fang Qing picked me up downstairs in her car. When she saw how I looked, she complained a bit: “It’s rare to see an actress like you going to an audition without makeup!” But at the same time, she smiled approvingly as she looked me over. Fang Qing strongly believes that for actors, acting skills should come first, and looks second. That’s why she often praises Fu Junyan, sighing: “Master Jun Yan has such good looks, why does he need such great acting skills? With such great acting skills, why does he need such good looks?” I often cringe when I hear this. First of all, calling a man’s appearance “beautiful” is weird! Of course, Fu Junyan himself is probably used to hearing this by now. After all, my cousin has been hearing comments like this since he was young. But I’m really worried that when my relationship with Fu Junyan goes public, Fang Qing might be the first one to go crazy from the shock…

When the car stopped in front of Huiteng International’s headquarters, I was stunned. I pointed at the skyscraper in front of me, looked at Fang Qing, and asked in confusion: “Huiteng International? What are we doing here? Aren’t we going to Director Huai An’s audition?” Why are we coming to Fu Junyan’s company? Will coming to his company bring him back from that damn Somalia? I pouted, unable to hide my anger.

Fang Qing was also taken aback by my question. After a moment, she covered her head and looked at me helplessly, asking, “Xiao’ai, don’t you even know that Huiteng International is the company Director Huai An signed with for his comeback?”

“No one told me…” I said, embarrassed. If I had known that Director Huai An and Fu Junyan were with the same company, would I have gone through all that trouble asking Wan Qing to search for information? What a small world!

After getting out of the car, we went straight to the 18th floor. The door of the designated interview room was still closed, with “New Drama Recruitment” written in large characters on the door. I couldn’t help but smile. This was typical of Huai An’s style, not even revealing the name of the new movie.

Many actresses were standing in the hallway. Some were sitting, some standing, some chatting in small groups, and others touching up their makeup in corners. Among them were several famous singers. Those with some fame in the group were a bit arrogant, while those without fame either tried to flatter them or hid in corners with hopeful looks, preparing themselves.

Among them, I saw someone I knew – Xu Jie’er. Today she was wearing a floral print long dress with perfect makeup, sitting on a small chair at the front. There was a proud look in her eyes as she chatted casually with another famous singer from the industry.

I hid behind Fang Qing, not wanting to interact with others much. Sometimes, the less said, the better. I exchanged a glance with Fang Qing. She’s a straightforward person who doesn’t like playing games. So, as soon as we got off the elevator, we almost instinctively stood at the back of the queue, hiding in a shady corner, both lowering our heads to play mobile games. This way, we became inconspicuous in the crowded group.

Soon, two staff members came out of the conference room and invited all the candidates in. Those with and without fame all rushed in at once, though they still tried to maintain their so-called image while doing so. Fang Qing is steady-natured, she wasn’t in a hurry, just standing in front of me and watching quietly. I was about to finish a level in my game, so I wasn’t in a rush either. When most people had gone in, we followed at the end and found seats in the corner.

After entering, I put my phone in my bag and finally looked up at Director Huai An sitting in the main judge’s seat. Today he was wearing gold-rimmed glasses. His eyes were neither big nor small, and perhaps due to being near-sighted, he would occasionally squint even with glasses on. He looked at his watch, then squinted at the door for a while, as if waiting for someone. Then he turned and said a few words to his assistant before tapping the table and speaking into the microphone: “Hello everyone, I’m Huai An. My purpose here today is to find a female lead for my new film. As for the test questions! For the sake of fairness.” He got straight to the point without much small talk, pointing at two bamboo tubes in front of him, then continued, “The questions are all in here. You’ll come up to draw a topic and perform impromptu based on it. As for the order of performances…”

He paused, squinting with a smile, “There is no order! Whoever is ready can come up to draw a topic and perform. And I haven’t prepared any backup choices. If everyone’s level is very strong and I can’t decide immediately, I’ll contact my chosen female lead separately after further consideration and discussion. But if I feel that any of you perform exceptionally well, satisfying me to the point where I don’t need to see more, I might stop the audition on the spot and announce her as the female lead for my new film. And for those who didn’t get a chance to draw a topic and perform, I’m sorry.”

Before Director Huai An finished speaking, the whole conference room started to buzz with chatter. They say three women make a crowd; this roomful of women was like a duck farm. Fang Qing gave me a look, probably meaning, “Why don’t you go up? The earlier you go, the earlier you can leave!” I shook my head, looked around through my sunglasses, then took out my phone from my bag again, opened the game interface, and whispered in her ear, “What’s the rush? The bird that sticks its head out gets shot, we can’t break our cover now after hiding at the back all this time. Besides, I’ve been bored enough practicing dance every day recently, and you must be tired too. Let’s watch for now.”

Fang Qing shrugged indifferently and said quietly, “I just thought if we finish early, you could get more rest. You’ve been busy with dance practice and ice skating lately.”

I waved my hand, indicating it wasn’t necessary. Now when I’m idle, I just worry about Fu Junyan. It’s better to keep busy…

As they say, new calves aren’t afraid of tigers. The first to go on stage wasn’t one of the experienced first or second-tier celebrities, but a female student still studying at Beijing Film Academy. The topic she drew had only two words: “Faint”. The topic was too simple, and after a moment of hesitation, the student closed her eyes and fell to the ground with a thud. The whole conference room burst into laughter. Even Fang Qing couldn’t hold back her laughter, covering her mouth as she leaned on me. Seeing the girl rubbing her bottom as she stood up, I felt the pain too!

“Silly girl, actors need to add their own interpretation to the performance! Even scripts only have dialogue, not actions or expressions. If you just recite the lines stupidly, that’s recitation, not acting…” I was so caught up in the moment that I unconsciously spoke these thoughts aloud. My words were so abrupt that several actresses nearby who hadn’t noticed me before turned to look at me in surprise.

Then I vaguely heard fragments of discussion: “Is it?” “Isn’t it?” “Looks a bit like…” The discussions were too scattered to hear clearly. I secretly stuck out my tongue and winked at Fang Qing with a smile.

Fang Qing didn’t care about those inquiring looks at all. She just said to me seriously in a low voice, “Silly girl yourself! She’s older than you! She just introduced herself as 21 years old, Xiao’ai, you’re only nineteen. You only count as a big kid when you’re carrying little An…” I was speechless, ignoring the increasing number of glances coming my way, just continuing to play on my phone with my sunglasses on.

The chatter in the conference room never stopped. Director Huai An has always been an eccentric person. He didn’t say a word, letting everyone talk, sitting comfortably in his seat with his legs crossed, squinting his eyes and watching, regardless of the situation. I don’t know which actress was performing when suddenly the whole room fell silent. This silence was extremely eerie, as if everyone had agreed to it at the same moment. In an instant, you could even hear each other’s breathing in the originally noisy conference room.

I paused in surprise, not having closed my game yet. Fang Qing suddenly grabbed my arm uncontrollably, muttering, “Oh my God, oh my God…” Then, more and more involuntary exclamations of surprise came from around us. Has a dark horse emerged? A world-class beauty? Who is it?

I took a deep breath, slowly raised my face, and turned my head along with everyone else. Then, I saw him at once… Fu Junyan…

That incredibly charming man was still carrying the luggage he had when he left home. At this moment, he was wearing a simple gray shirt, with the long sleeves casually rolled up on his arms, standing there at the entrance, clean and gentle. His hair was a bit shorter, he had lost some weight, and his skin was a bit tanner, but he was still handsome and attractive, with an even more intriguing aura.

He took two steps forward and then unconsciously stopped. He slightly turned his head, his gaze not lingering too much, and looked straight towards me in the corner. He stared deeply in my direction, without words, without much expression, just slightly curling his lips, his smile as warm as a gentle breeze. I stared back at him blankly, forgetting to be surprised, forgetting to be happy. All my senses became clear in this silent gaze, I could even hear my own strong, pounding heartbeat.

Then he turned back, took a few steps forward, put his luggage aside, and calmly sat down at the judges’ table. He nodded apologetically yet elegantly to Director Huai An and said, “Sorry, the plane was delayed.” His pleasant voice made the entire conference room fall even more silent.

I suddenly remembered that night when the signal was so bad that his voice became blurred and hard to catch, but I still heard him clearly say to me, “Wait for me to come home safely. Then we’ll go to Suzhou together, okay?” After that, I saw intense media reports about him almost every day, but longing is incurable. I just missed his voice, his warmth, his scent even more. I also thought, it would be time to go to Suzhou soon to prepare for the promotional video’s costume fitting and shooting work, but there was still no news of him coming home. I thought he wouldn’t make it back in time…

Could it be that coming to Huiteng International really brought Fu Junyan back?

For a moment, I even thought this was all an illusion, a hallucination born from my intense longing for him to return like this. I belatedly took off my sunglasses and rubbed my eyes. It was Fu Junyan. I blinked. It was Fu Junyan. Finally, I even pinched myself. It was still Fu Junyan in front of me! Just as joy and happiness were growing in my heart, suddenly, something silently fell on my right arm. In an instant, my arm felt cool and a bit wet. With a bad feeling, I frowned slightly and looked down at my arm, then looked up at the actress sitting to my right, who was staring with her mouth wide open. I didn’t know this woman! But…

My eye twitched, my face stiffened, and in the midst of silence, I finally couldn’t help but explode, “Miss, it’s fine to look at Fu Junyan, but do you have to drool? Drooling!” I held up my right hand, conflicted and not moving for a long time, looking down at my arm with a disgusted face, my cheeks puffed up like I was about to cry! Oh! So gross… Such a big drop of human drool! And it dripped on my arm!

Fang Qing initially tried to hold me back, but seeing she couldn’t stop me, she gave up and quickly took out a tissue from her bag to wipe my arm, then wiped it again with a wet wipe. I remained silent in a state of self-disgust, my face drooping.

A single stone can create a thousand ripples. My words sounded particularly loud in the quiet conference room, causing everyone to turn and look at me. And because I had just taken off my sunglasses to confirm Fu Junyan’s real existence, my face was now fully visible. So when everyone saw me, there were more exclamations and silences…

Fu Junyan was sitting at the judges’ table with his usual faint smile. His right hand was casually propped on the table supporting his head, looking relaxed and at ease. Seeing me like this, he just reached out his hand and waved at me, saying with a smile, “Alright, little pufferfish, don’t be naughty!” That intimate tone made me both angry and warm-hearted. But, if we trace it back, isn’t the real culprit you, Fu Junyan? Smiling! What are you smiling about? I sat on the chair with my cheeks puffed up, staring back at him, giving him a reproachful look.

“Oh my God! It really is Gu Baobei! Gu Baobei is here too? Her face is so small!”

“Did she put on makeup? She didn’t put on makeup? My goodness! Her eyes are so beautiful!”

“Damn! She looks like this without makeup, I don’t need to compete anymore.”

“She’s puffing her cheeks! So cute, just like a pufferfish!”

“If I had known she was coming, why would I have come? Isn’t this just asking for a beating?”

“She seems very familiar with Master Jun Yan!”

“They debuted together, they have a revolutionary friendship… Don’t you know this?”

… Is this some kind of cosmic joke?

My heart was pounding, but I still quietly ignored the buzzing discussions. I stood up and handed my bag to Fang Qing. Seeing that I had become the center of attention after Fu Junyan, I couldn’t sit still anymore. I might as well go up and draw a topic to perform.

As I walked out of my seat, I secretly glanced at Fu Junyan, but he caught me red-handed. I had no choice but to stick out my tongue at him in annoyance. Seeing my reaction, he laughed lightly, as radiant as the proud sun. I rubbed my nose, unable to help but curse inwardly, ‘You just had to be so charming! You just had to smile! Fu Junyan, what celestial being? You’re just a demon, aren’t you!’…