CSGM - Chapter 104
Chapter 104: Mad Dog on the Loose
Related to a top-tier actress, a trio of trending topics exploded: #XXX Investigated for Tax Evasion#, #XXX Reported for Evading 1.2 Billion in Taxes#, and #XXX's Weibo Account Has Been Banned#!
The new drama's name, #Jade-Carving Ballad#, also triggered a chain of trending topics!
The hashtag #FeelSorryForRenZhi# also gradually rose to the top!
All of Ren Zhi's fans, and even some passersby who occasionally glanced at trending news, knew that Ren Zhi didn't just play the lead role in the drama Jade-Carving Ballad.
She also held the important position of producer and was a member of the directing team.
This showed how much she had invested in and valued this drama.
A month and a half of filming meant that for a normal television series, the shooting progress should be about halfway through.
Time, manpower, and financial resources had all been spent.
But then, the other lead actress was caught at this very moment!
Wasn't this a disaster?
Didn't this mean that all the scenes filmed with the top-tier actress were a complete waste of money?
The footage the crew had already shot was buried along with the actress.
If they wanted to salvage Jade-Carving Ballad, everyone who understood the business knew...
The only option was to recast and reshoot!
Thus, while this was a devastating blow to the Jade-Carving Ballad crew, for all the remaining actresses in the entertainment industry who hadn't managed to get a piece of this prime opportunity, it was a new chance to reap the benefits of someone else's misfortune!
Jade-Carving Ballad was a dual-female-lead confrontational drama.
The first-billing protagonist was the top-tier star Ren Zhi, who could carry a drama with her own popularity. Even if the other female lead had to be second-billing, this was a chance to ride on a good script and high popularity for a meteoric rise.
Many had failed to get the role before, but now that the top-tier actress was out, the vacant position undoubtedly gave them hope again.
After the New Year, the Jade-Carving Ballad crew, just as everyone expected, reluctantly began to search the industry for a new actress for the second-billing female lead.
Those pulling connections, those calling in old favors, and even the "involution kings" from the new generation of actresses who claimed they only cared about the script and would act for a low salary all came forward.
Yu Yixue also had Chu Xi try for this opportunity.
No loss if she failed, a huge gain if she was chosen.
Probably everyone had this mentality; the crew received hundreds of emails for online auditions.
Time was tight, and the entire crew was waiting to resume filming.
A decision would be made within these three days.
Chu Xi went straight downstairs and showed up at the door of the crew's producer.
After entering and changing her shoes, she sat down on the sofa and asked Ren Zhi, who was watching everyone's audition videos:
"Have you seen mine?"
"I have."
"How was it? Can I get the part?"
Chu Xi's question was direct, without a hint of uncertainty.
Ren Zhi paused the video, looked up with a smile, and asked her, "Is this considered using the back door?"
"It's not. I have the skill." Chu Xi tilted her head, speaking with some audacity. "Using the back door would be you arranging for me to get in directly, and I don't think you'd do that."
Right, Ren Zhi wouldn't do that.
But at that moment, she happened to ask Chu Xi, "Why do you want to play the role of the junior sister?"
The two female leads in the script were a pair of senior and junior martial sisters. They were both congenital sword masters and legends of the martial world. But after they both went into seclusion and re-emerged, the senior sister had fallen to the evil path, while the junior sister remained dedicated to punishing evil, promoting good, and upholding peace in the Central Plains.
The reasons other people gave for auditioning were all sorts of grand justifications: because they had a deep yearning for original wuxia scripts, because they felt a surge of passion after reading a script excerpt, because they felt an emotional resonance with the junior sister's character, because they felt they were just like the junior sister...
While not necessarily true, they at least sounded proper and conventional.
But all Ren Zhi heard from Chu Xi was:
"I have to act anyway, so it might as well be with you to make it more interesting."
"It's also convenient for going home. Your nanny van is comfortable."
Ren Zhi fell silent. Very honest.
But this wasn't the reason she was about to reject Chu Xi.
She took a soft breath and said bluntly:
"I feel... this script isn't suitable for you, and I probably won't recommend you to the director."
Chu Xi blinked, her expression unchanging as she looked at her for three seconds.
Although it was said tactfully, the look of rejection was quite serious, as if she had given it careful thought.
Chu Xi: "Oh..."
If it was a no, then it was a no.
She didn't press the issue, nor did she ask for a specific reason.
Chu Xi didn't believe there were any flaws in her superb and meticulous acting skills; if it wasn't going to work, it just meant it wasn't a good fit.
She would listen to Ren Zhi.
The topic was not brought up again in their conversation.
Chu Xi indeed had no obvious flaws in her acting.
Ren Zhi was an acting instructor at the Three Kingdoms training camp and had seen many of her performance clips, so of course she knew this.
But in her understanding, Chu Xi lacked an important advantage.
Chu Xi was almost incapable of properly portraying moments of extreme emotional outburst.
She was unhurried in everything she did.
She was confident in handling any problem.
Her rationality weakened the primal frenzy, anger, and panic in her blood, preventing her emotional fire from reaching a climax.
It wasn't that Ren Zhi thought a rational and meticulous acting style was bad.
Rather, an outburst of extreme breakdown was likely an emotion Chu Xi couldn't resonate with, which would cause the character's emotional climax to lack explosive power.
And it just so happened that in the Jade-Carving Ballad script, the junior sister's storyline had such a scene.
After this period of close contact with Chu Xi, this was Ren Zhi's opinion of her.
If Ren Zhi were to say it out loud, Chu Xi herself would probably agree.
So, it just wasn't a good fit.
After learning there was no chance with the Jade-Carving Ballad crew, Chu Xi went downstairs, returned home, and told Yu Yixue the news.
Yu Yixue: 【Then pick some other scripts. There are some other decent ones.】
Yu Yixue's reaction was as expected.
So many people were eyeing this big prize, and the industry was so competitive; it was normal for Chu Xi not to be chosen.
One could even say she had anticipated it.
Chu Xi wasn't discouraged. Instead, she started looking at other acting offers, casually playing a rerun of I Am the Brain King on the TV to help her think about what to teach her little rich girl student tomorrow.
In two more days, her tutoring sessions with Zhang Yuxue would be over.
A final round of intensive training or something should be about enough...
Just as Chu Xi was scrolling through casting summaries on her phone, multitasking, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a small, mosquito-like object flying past her window out of the corner of her eye.
Instinct made her turn her head to look out the window.
It was already dark, and only by the light from her room could she make out that it was an extremely small miniature drone.
Like a moving star in the night sky, it drifted and swayed in the dark air.
The drone was moving upward and flying horizontally to the left.
Chu Xi frowned slightly, sensing something was wrong. She got up, walked to the window, and turned on her phone's flashlight, shining it outside.
Aided by the strong beam, she saw a flashing red dot on the drone's head, indicating a focused camera lens.
She instantly thought of it- a peeping tom?!
Her observational skills and eyesight were far beyond those of an ordinary person, which was how she was able to spot these details.
But the person perched in a tree operating the drone had completely overlooked her.
The drone's flight path was shifting toward the bathroom window upstairs.
In the four-story luxury apartment building, the only unit above Chu Xi's was Ren Zhi's.
Amidst the sound of splashing water, Ren Zhi heard her phone ring.
She wiped her hands and answered on speakerphone, and a low, grit-toothed voice immediately came through.
Chu Xi asked quickly, "Are you taking a bath?"
The voice barely sounded like Chu Xi's. Ren Zhi was stunned for a moment, thinking she was in a bad mood because of the casting rejection earlier.
"Mm... yes, I am," Ren Zhi replied gently.
The other end said nothing and hung up abruptly. Only the rapid beeping of the dial tone echoed from the speakerphone.
What the...?
She was still completely confused. Chu Xi had seemed fine just now; did she get angry after going back?
Although she didn't understand, she got out of the bathtub, dried herself off, put on her pajamas, and planned to go downstairs to check.
By this time, Chu Xi had already run out of the elevator and was heading for the tree where the person was hiding.
The peeper's hands were on the remote control, his attention completely focused on the drone's screen.
The rustling of the leaves was mixed with his muttering, "Come on out, just one step and I can get the shot..."
The black miniature drone, hidden in the darkness, was aimed at the fourth-floor bathroom window from a tricky angle.
"This high-end piece of gear cost several million. If I can get just one nude photo, it'll be worth being a poor bastard for the rest of my life..."
"That's Ren Zhi, man. Getting a shot of her is the best... Shh! Stop talking, let me test the pixels on this baby..."
The peeper was wearing headphones, and his whispered conversation with the person on the other end was filled with lewd excitement.
Chu Xi's fists were trembling, her knuckles cracking.
Ren Zhi? Did they think they were worthy of peeping on her?
Perverts.
Something even more despicable than paparazzi taking secret photos, plus these filthy, lustful words- when Chu Xi encountered and heard them, a bright flame seemed to ignite instantly in her heart.
Her quick footsteps also revealed her current panic.
She didn't know which was superior, the effect of the anti-peeping glass or the drone's line of sight. She didn't know if that little machine had cloud storage...
Fuck, goddammit, shameless perverts!
Just as Chu Xi was aggressively approaching the base of the tree, the peeper finally realized he'd been spotted. He cursed "Fuck!" into his headset, scrambled down the branches, and paused for a moment after landing on all fours before immediately getting up to run.
But he didn't get the chance. The moment he straightened his back, he was tackled to the ground by the person behind him.
It was more vicious than a fucking rabid dog pouncing on its food. His chin slammed hard against the ground, and the peeper was about to start cursing!
"Fuck..." He had just rolled over and turned his face when he was punched hard, unable to even get a word out.
Getting hit and the tense situation combined to instantly trigger the frenzy and anger in his human genes. The peeper's heart was already racing uncontrollably, and he immediately erupted, starting to brawl with Chu Xi.
The two of them kicked up dust on the ground, trading punches and kicks, fighting like vicious wolves competing for food.
It really was-
In the chaotic fight, Chu Xi snatched the drone remote from the peeper's hands, threw it on the ground, and slammed it with several punches. As if she'd gone mad, she used her bare fists to smash the alloy-made remote control to pieces.
In an instant, her right hand was dripping with blood.
High above, the drone, which had been wobbling due to the chaos, completely lost its connection and fell toward the ground like a small, lifeless pebble.
Chu Xi kicked the man off her and ran toward the drone.
The peeper's eyes were wide with fury as he watched her chase after his damaged multi-million-yuan toy.
Damn it, is this person crazy?
She'd just smashed his remote, getting her hands covered in blood and shredded by metal shards, and she still insisted on completely destroying his machine!
Chu Xi caught up to the drone but still couldn't find a rock. The peeper kicked her down to stop her, but he couldn't prevent her from getting on the ground and smashing it with her bare hands.
It was as if they had a fucking irreconcilable hatred!
The peeper was so scared by her that he yelled, "Stop! Stop it!"
His multi-million-yuan gear was about to be smashed to bits by this lunatic.
The drone's casing, made of alloy and aluminum sheets, was still no match for the hardness of human bone. After a few frenzied blows, it was deformed.
Chu Xi's entire blood-soaked hand was trembling, whether from anger or pain, she didn't know. She clenched her back teeth, her fist never loosening.
The peeper heard the sound of a bone breaking. Taking advantage of the fact that the lunatic's movements slowed for a beat due to the pain, he quickly knocked her down and kicked his multi-million-yuan drone, whose fate was uncertain, to the side.
While frantically attacking the remote and the drone, Chu Xi had taken quite a few hits to her body and face. Now, one side of her eye was swollen shut, narrowed to a slit, but the fierce glint in her eye was, on the contrary, like that of a desperate, starving wolf- even more ferocious and intimidating.
Metal fragments from the shattered remote casing were embedded in the back of her hand. The peeper, afraid of her sharp, thorn-like fist, involuntarily switched from fierce attacks to timid defense.
The residential complex's security team finally arrived at this moment, pulling apart the two people who were fighting to the death.
Chu Xi broke free from the security guards' grip, clutched her stomach, and staggered over to the drone of unknown condition. She grabbed a rock from the roadside and viciously smashed it to smithereens before stopping.
When Ren Zhi came downstairs and saw her, propped up on the ground gasping for breath, blood dripping from her nose, and her eye socket swollen beyond recognition, she was so scared she almost forgot to breathe.
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