"Good morning to the three of you, please sign in here."
At the theater entrance, a lady in a light blue embroidered long dress handed over a clean brush with both hands.
Tong Yue stood beside Jiang Lingxi, watching the signature board in front of them, unable to resist twitching the corner of her mouth.
Signing with a brush, this was the first time she’d seen it.
So, they hadn’t even entered yet, and the first round of the audition had already started?
Looking again at the signature board, which already had quite a few names signed, usually, at red carpet events, people would sign for fans in one swift motion, so swift you couldn’t recognize what was being signed. But this time, she could recognize everyone’s name.
Most of them looked like elementary school handwriting practice, though each stroke was careful, they were crooked and messy. Only a few looked decent, with some calligraphy skills apparent, making them look pleasant.
The contrast was quite obvious.
Tong Yue thought, given what Director Wei put together, there should soon be a wave of people in the industry starting to practice calligraphy.
Thinking that their own artist had never written with a brush before, she looked at Jiang Lingxi, who was already done with the ink, "We’re not in a hurry, take your time writing, don’t aim for beauty, strive for..."
The word ’neat’ hadn’t yet left her mouth when the brush in Jiang Lingxi’s hand had already touched the blank space on the signature board.
With a slight turn of her wrist, the three characters ’Jiang Lingxi’ flowed smoothly onto the board.
Tong Yue watched with her mouth agape at the rather chaotic yet somehow fluid handwriting, "Is this... cursive script?"
If she hadn’t seen their own artist write it, she wouldn’t have been able to read those three characters.
Jiang Lingxi returned the brush to the lady, nodding lightly.
That Director Wei could think of having auditioning actors sign with a brush must have had some purpose, likely intending to test the actors’ calligraphy skills and style.
After all, it was a historical drama to be filmed, and brush writing would surely be part of it.
Since the test had already started, there was no need to hold back.
In her past life, the free and unrestrained cursive script was what she loved most among many calligraphic styles, perhaps because what you can’t have is often what you yearn for the most.
An emperor who owns the world bears a heavy burden and lacks only freedom.
Since this wasn’t a memorandum that needed to be clear for the courtiers, she naturally used the cursive script loved by Emperor Yuan Zhao.
The lady took back the brush, then handed over a folded booklet, "The specific audition process is in here, please read it yourself. The three of you, please go in and make yourself comfortable."
Jiang Lingxi accepted it with thanks, then proceeded into the theater with Tong Yue and Lu Zhengzheng following the crowd.
In the well-lit space, quite a few people were already sitting in small groups, each attractive face contributing to a refreshing view.
But it was also very quiet, with nearly everyone seriously reading the booklet in their hands.
Tong Yue quickly found a few empty seats, and once seated, couldn’t wait to urge Jiang Lingxi, "Hurry and see what’s written in the booklet, the entire audition process might be in there."
Following her advice, Jiang Lingxi opened the booklet, two heads quickly leaned in from either side.
[You are the fifty-sixth auditionee.]
Tong Yue lightly hissed at the first sentence, "Already at fifty-six! Keep reading, keep reading."
[Before 9 AM (audition start), select the character you wish to audition for from among the following script roles. Each person only has two selection opportunities, so please choose carefully based on yourself.]
Lu Zhengzheng: "What time is that?"
Tong Yue sighed in relief: "We can choose two roles, that’s good, that’s good." Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel-fire.net
"9 AM," Jiang Lingxi answered Lu Zhengzheng’s question and continued reading. The rest of the page listed the roles from the script.
The first listed was, unsurprisingly, "Emperor Yuan Zhao: Jiang Yuanzhao."
The second was Wei Fuying. Surprisingly, the "Princess Jin’an: Jiang Ling’an," who shouldn’t have much screen time in the drama, was fourth among female roles, still in the main five characters.
Wonder who could play her!
Looking again to the right among male roles, "Prime Minister: Shen Moqing" was first, which didn’t surprise her.
She didn’t look at the rest of the roles, just raised her head to glance at the male actors already present.
Who could play her Shen Qing?
To be honest, she felt that no one seemed quite up to par!
But casting was the job of the directors and producers; her opinions wouldn’t matter.
Just hope they find someone who somewhat fits.
Tong Yue handed over a pen, and Jiang Lingxi refocused, first circling Jiang Yuanzhao’s name, then hesitated and circled Wei Fuying’s name with a smaller circle.
Tong Yue initially wanted to suggest a checkmark, but seeing that she had already finished, just swallowed her words back down.
[After signing, please submit this slip at the reception desk in the waiting hall for verification, receive your audition number badge, and wait patiently.]
Tong Yue stood up and swept a glance around, quickly finding the conspicuous reception desk, "I’ll come with you to submit it."
Lu Zhengzheng spotted the tea area on the other side, "I’ll go get some water."
Split up, Jiang Lingxi and Tong Yue queued up before the staff responsible for verification to hand over their slips.
The person accepted it with both hands, opened it, and seeing the chosen roles, instinctively paused.
Then looked up at Jiang Lingxi and asked, "Ms. Jiang, are you sure you want to audition for these two roles?"
She actually wanted to ask about the first one, but seeing there were other people in line, she asked about both.
Jiang Lingxi nodded, "I’m sure."
"Alright, here’s your audition badge. Staff will remind you three times; if you miss them, you won’t have another chance."
"Thank you for the reminder."
Previously, she’d seen others pinning their audition badges after receiving them, so Jiang Lingxi did the same when she got hers.
But when she turned around and Tong Yue saw it, "Why does your badge look different from the others’?"
Jiang Lingxi noticed this upon receiving it, "Perhaps the badges differ according to the chosen roles."
Unbeknownst to her, when she turned away, the staff member also sighed in relief, thinking they would never need a badge for the female lead. Little did they expect someone would boldly choose the female lead role to audition for; good thing she had brought it.
Then, she took out her phone to send a message to the crew’s work group chat: "Someone chose to audition for the female lead."
But before she could check for responses, someone else approached, so she put down her phone and continued working busily.
Not long after Jiang Lingxi and the others went in.
Jiang Xiyu arrived late with Jiang Yuting and Xiaotao.
Upon learning she needed to sign with a brush, a smile appeared on Jiang Xiyu’s lips.
Gazing at the signature board filled with names of varying quality, she confidently signed her name in her well-practiced running script.
Returning the brush, she glanced toward the front and didn’t spot Jiang Lingxi’s name but saw some bold and vigorous cursive script. Although she couldn’t read it, having worked hard on calligraphy to create an artistic persona, she could still judge its quality.
The ink wasn’t dried yet; the predecessor who wrote it must have entered not long ago.
Instinctively, she asked, "Who wrote this?"
The lady looked towards where her finger pointed; she remembered not only because of the handwriting but also the person who wrote it, making it unforgettable. Smiling, she answered, "It was Jiang Lingxi, Ms. Jiang."
"Crack!" Jiang Xiyu heard the sound of her smiling facade shattering.