Senior sister, stop working and go home for dinner.

Chapter 138 A "Fateful Encounter" in the Audition Room

"What?!" Wang Rui jumped up from his chair, his eyes wide. "Are you sure? It's the same person?"

"Based on the student registration information and photo comparison, it can be basically confirmed that this is Ms. Wei Qingyi," the assistant replied confidently.

The office fell silent instantly.

Zhang Hao and Sun Wei exchanged glances. The next second, Sun Wei quickly flipped through the stack of actor resumes and, sure enough, saw Wei Qingyi's name and photo on one of them.

Wang Rui froze for a few seconds, then his face lit up with immense joy and disbelief. He excitedly slammed his fist on the table, exclaiming, "Holy crap! Holy crap! Heaven's on my side! Just what I wished for has come true!"

He paced excitedly back and forth in the office, rubbing his hands together and muttering to himself, "Master Wei... he actually came to audition for our company's play?! This... this is practically fate delivering itself to our doorstep!"

Zhang Hao remained relatively calm, adjusting his glasses and reminding him, "Rui-ge, don't get too excited yet. Why would Wei Qingyi be auditioning for an acting role? That sounds a bit strange."

Sun Wei nodded in agreement: "That's right. And with her qualifications, if she wanted to enter the entertainment industry, she'd probably be snapped up by all the major companies already. Why would she come to our new company for an interview?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Rui calmed down a bit, but he quickly found another reason: "You guys don't understand, do you? How can we presume to know the actions of a master? Maybe she's just having a whim and experiencing life? Just like Master Chen, who's also experiencing city life, right? Besides, our project focuses on 'Eastern fantasy,' which might just be right up her alley?"

The more he spoke, the more likely it seemed. He sat back down in his chair, tapping his fingers on the table, his eyes gleaming: "No matter what, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! We must seize it!"

He immediately instructed his assistant, "Inform the staff that I will personally attend Wei Qingyi's interview this afternoon! Cancel all other appointments!"

"Yes, Mr. Zhao." The assistant replied and withdrew.

Zhang Hao was still somewhat worried: "Brother Rui, what are you planning to do?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" Wang Rui said with a confident smile. "This is our best chance to get closer to the immortal masters!"

Zhang Hao and Sun Wei also smiled at this moment. Because they still remembered what Chen Anran had said—as long as they could prove themselves, if the time was right, the sect would take them into consideration.

"Haozi, Weiwei, you two will come to the interview with me this afternoon!" Wang Rui waved his hand. "We have to show our utmost sincerity! Remember, your attitude must be excellent, absolutely no offense! And we can't let Master Wei know our motives or that we know Master Chen. If they find out, these reclusive masters will definitely make excuses and won't accept our offer! We have to be natural, understand?"

…………

At 2 PM, in a small audition room inside "Starry Pictures".

The atmosphere was somewhat tense.

At the front of the audition room sat a middle-aged director with a thick beard and wearing a baseball cap. He was Liu, the director hired by "Starry Pictures" for the "Cloud Mountain Sky Record" project. Next to Director Liu sat the production manager and the casting director, with thick resumes and evaluation forms in front of them.

In the center of the room, Wei Qingyi stood quietly. She was still dressed in her simple, casual attire, without any makeup, yet she seemed to brighten the entire room. However, her face was expressionless, and her clear eyes held a hint of barely perceptible bewilderment.

just now,

Following the casting assistant's instructions, she attempted to portray a scene from the script—the anxiety and decisiveness of a female disciple from a cold and aloof immortal sect when faced with danger to her fellow disciples.

The result... was predictable.

Wei Qingyi's "performance" is less of a performance and more of a state of being. She didn't deliberately use her facial muscles to make exaggerated expressions, nor did she use a dramatic tone to recite her lines. She simply stood there calmly, reciting her lines in her usual cool and aloof tone, her eyes still as deep and undisturbed as an ancient well.

"Cut!" Director Liu frowned and couldn't help but call out "cut." He rubbed his temples, his tone clearly dissatisfied, "Wei...Wei Qingyi, right? Your appearance does indeed fit our image of a 'cool and aloof fairy' very well, and you could even say it far exceeds our expectations."

He abruptly changed the subject, tapping his fingers on the script: "But! Acting isn't just standing there reciting lines! You need to have emotions, layers! In that scene just now, your fellow student was suffering; you needed to show anxiety, heartache, and then that resolute determination! Your eyes needed to change, your tone needed to be urgent! But what did you do? Too flat, one tone from beginning to end; I couldn't feel any of the character's inner turmoil at all!"

The casting director chimed in, "Yes, Ms. Wei. Acting requires skill and dedication. What you gave me just now... felt like you were reciting a book, or rather, reciting a book you weren't particularly interested in."

The production manager didn't speak, but his slight head-shaking expression said it all.

Wei Qingyi listened quietly, her face showing neither shame nor anger, only a deeper bewilderment in her eyes. She didn't quite understand why she needed to express her inner emotions so openly. In the Cloud Hidden Sect, restraint and composure in the face of adversity were the norm.

Wei Qingyi listened quietly, her face showing neither shame nor anger, only a deeper bewilderment in her eyes. She didn't quite understand why she needed to express her inner emotions so openly. In the Cloud Hidden Sect, restraint and composure in the face of adversity were the norm.

Previously, when she was an extra, she either played corpses or was just a background character whose face was never seen. She never really studied acting skills. At that time, Wei Qingyi was only thinking about making money. Now, when she auditioned for a role, she was hoping to earn more money, since she and her fellow cultivators had a considerable amount of funding for the cultivation school they planned to co-found in the future.

Seeing that Wei Qingyi didn't react much, Director Liu sighed, his tone softening slightly, but still professionally critical: "Ms. Wei, let me be frank. Your physical attributes are excellent, but your acting skills... are currently zero. Our project has a significant investment and high requirements for actors. If you're truly interested in acting, I suggest you enroll in an acting class and start from the basics. As for today..."

Just as he was about to say "I'm sorry," the audition room door was suddenly pushed open with a bang!

Wang Rui rushed in, panting, followed by Zhang Hao and Sun Wei, who were also walking in a hurry.

"Wait...wait! Director Liu!" Wang Rui called out, panting, with beads of sweat even appearing on his forehead. "Didn't we agree that we would conduct this Ms. Wei's interview ourselves?"

Director Liu and the casting director were stunned; they had clearly not received this notification.

Director Liu stood up in confusion: "President Zhao? What brings you here? This is Ms. Wei's interview..."

"That's right! We're the ones who will face it!" Wang Rui interrupted him abruptly, strode to the judges' table, first stealing a glance at Wei Qingyi who was still standing there calmly. Seeing that she was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief, then put on a stern face and said to Director Liu, "Director Liu, how can you say that about Miss Wei? What do you mean by zero acting skills? That's a completely unprofessional evaluation!"

Director Liu was stunned by Wang Rui's barrage of criticism. He pointed at himself, then looked at his colleague beside him, his face filled with disbelief: "I...I'm an amateur? Mr. Zhao, I'm a professional director! My judgment of actors is based on..."