Quick Transmigration: When Can I Just Lay Down and Wait to Die?

Chapter 176 The Rural Girl in "Metamorphosis" 19

The entertainment industry in this world is similar to the real world where Liu Yuxi lives. I don't know if it's because there are too many self-media, too many ways for people to obtain information, or the impact of self-made short dramas. After all, modern people have a lot of fragmented leisure time.

Television dramas are becoming increasingly rare, with fewer and fewer dramas receiving good reviews. Many dramas rely entirely on popular celebrities to boost ratings, rather than focusing on winning with content.

Director Li introduced this period drama, and Liu Yuxi found the outline quite appealing, even though it reflects the social changes of the times through the development of a family.

However, the storyline is well-crafted and immersive. The series was filmed in a neighboring province, where many buildings from different eras are still preserved.

After Liu Yuxi and her grandmother got off the plane, they got into the car arranged by the production team and headed straight for the hotel where the production team was staying. As the car drove further and further out of the way, her grandmother leaned close to her ear and said, "Xi'er, have we been tricked? This is the middle of nowhere, it doesn't look like a place for filming a TV series."

Liu Yuxi also whispered in his grandmother's ear, "We're going to film a TV series set in the 70s, so the locations we've chosen are all old houses. It's okay, this is normal."

Her grandmother was slightly relieved after hearing what she said. She was completely at ease when they arrived at the hotel. The hotel was in the county town, which was similar to their county town, but some of the buildings did look like they were from the 1960s or 1970s.

After arriving at the room with the staff, which was a standard room, she was told to let her grandmother pack her things and rest while she waited for her. Then she went with the staff to meet Wang Gang, the director of the TV series.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Come in." Liu Yuxi followed the staff into the room and saw three men and one woman sitting inside. One of them was Wang Kai, a top-tier male actor in China, who was probably the male lead of the drama. The other two were common supporting actors in TV dramas, often playing the parents of the male and female leads. The man was named Li Jianming and the woman was named Wang Hailan. The remaining person was the director, Wang Gang.

Liu Yuxi bowed slightly to greet the others and then introduced herself: "Hello Director Wang, hello teachers, my name is Liu Yuxi, and Director Li introduced me to audition for the role of Lin Xiaolan."

The director gave her a piece of paper with a long line of dialogue on it and told her to prepare for ten minutes. Then she was to try out the scene on the paper. After reading the content of the paper and listening to the director's explanation, Liu Yuxi felt that something was wrong.

The production team had only given her a story outline before, and now they've given a thirteen-year-old girl such a long monologue without any context or background information. Putting aside the fact that she only has one film credit, was born deep in the mountains, and has no acting skills, just memorizing this monologue alone would be impossible for her if she didn't have the mental fortitude to do so.

What's going on? Is it because someone in the industry wants to play the role? Or is it simply because they think she can't act well and want to scare her away? Or are they afraid she'll become a huge star after just one show, and they're worried about managing her on set, so they're giving her a hard time first?

Regardless of what the production team thought, since they didn't directly tell her it wouldn't work, she had to try her best to get the role. She skimmed through the long dialogue, which was roughly about how in 1974, one of the family's children had to go to the countryside. Her second and third brothers both met the requirements. Her second brother was a year older than her third brother. The family bought a job for her third brother, but sent her second brother to the countryside.

Lin Xiaolan was the youngest in her family, with three older brothers. Her father favored the eldest son, while her mother doted on the youngest. Her second brother was often neglected, and she was a girl. It was only because her parents were enlightened that she was able to go to school; otherwise, she could forget about it.

Her second brother grew up in this environment and was quiet and never fought for himself. She was feisty and knew that in this family, if she and her second brother didn't plan for themselves, they would be ignored.

She spoke out for her second brother not only because she had the best relationship with him at home, but also because she saw her own future in him. She wanted to change his fate, as if she were rehearsing the scene of fighting for herself in the future.

She thought that if she could change her second brother's fate, could she also change her own fate in the future?

This dialogue is her rebellion against her parents when she was fighting for her second brother. Of course, the details in the preceding dialogue are all expanded upon by Liu Yuxi through the dialogue and character descriptions.

As for whether it fits the script's setting, Liu Yuxi estimates that based on her many years of experience adapting film and television dramas, it should be roughly the same.

She memorized the lines after skimming them once, spent five minutes filling in the plot and scenes, and then mentally rehearsed them twice. She looked up at the people in the room and said, "Director Wang, I'm ready."

The group had been talking quietly to each other and hadn't paid much attention to Liu Yuxi. They had assumed that a staff member would remind them that their time was up, but now that she said she was done, they looked a little surprised. It seemed that they knew that memorizing such a long passage of lines would take at least ten minutes.

After regaining his composure, Director Wang said, "Since you're all ready, let's begin. Teacher Li and Teacher Wang will act alongside you."

Following Director Wang's instructions, the two teachers sat down on the sofa opposite Liu Yuxi. They thanked the two teachers first, and when they closed their eyes and opened them again, their demeanor had changed.

Liu Yuxi no longer displays the innocence and ignorance often found in 13- or 14-year-olds today; she seems like a genuine 15-year-old girl from an ordinary family in the 1960s or 70s.

Every day, they think about: they must finish high school, and they want to graduate as late as possible. After graduation, will their families be able to arrange a job for them? Do they know any peers who are from well-off families, are good people, and are suitable for dating and marriage?

When Liu Yuxi speaks, her lines are fluent and full of emotion. You can hear Lin Xiaolan's resentment towards her and her second brother's fate, her dissatisfaction with her parents' favoritism, and her longing for her parents' love from her words.

The people in the room were stunned, especially Li Jianming and Wang Hailan, who were facing Liu Yuxi directly. They were so surprised that they almost couldn't finish their lines. However, they were both amazed in their hearts: "Where did the director find such good talents? No wonder he called them all over for an interview."

For roles like Liu Yuxi's, the audition is usually conducted by the assistant director, and most auditions involve acting without props. Even if there is a scene to act with, it's usually just a crew member who comes out to help.

Wang Gang was cursing under his breath. The situation was exactly as Liu Yuxi had guessed. His good friend's daughter, a junior high school graduate, wanted to enter the entertainment industry and had her eye on the role of Lin Xiaolan. He wanted to boost his daughter's resume.

Director Li was his good friend, and when he introduced Liu Yuxi to him, he didn't give him a chance to refuse at all. Of course, Director Li introduced her first, so he asked his staff to notify Liu Yuxi to come over. The implication was that the role was basically hers, but his friend's words put him in a dilemma.

That's how this interview came about. He originally thought that if Liu Yuxi couldn't handle the pressure, couldn't memorize the lines, and didn't perform well, then he would have something to say to Director Li. After all, he valued Liu Yuxi a lot and had brought over all the main and supporting actors from the play.

But now that Liu Yuxi is performing so well, he's in a bit of a bind. After Liu Yuxi's performance, he told her to go back to her room to rest and that they would talk about filming tomorrow, skipping the contract signing process. He figured Liu Yuxi had only filmed one movie and was still a kid, so he could probably fool her.

Liu Yuxi raised an eyebrow but didn't make it clear, since she wasn't in a hurry. So after saying goodbye to the others, she went back to her room with the staff.