When will I be the queen

Chapter 495 New Trial
The simplest example is that we only realize the value of something when we lose it. This is because before we lose it, we are not sensitive to it, or even take it for granted. Only after we lose it do we realize how precious and rare it was.

Cai Cai nodded in agreement.

Seeing that they had agreed to clarify things separately, Mei Zhang went off to attend to other matters. Tang Jinyi also began contacting the family and company's public relations and legal departments, preparing to publicly reveal Cai Cai's background.

Cai Cai was surprised that this matter needed to be treated as a major issue, but she didn't say anything. The online criticism would definitely be very harsh, and it would only get worse. In order to divert Cai Cai's attention, Xianjun started talking to her about the Ninth Princess's project. Since the chosen artist had withdrawn, even if they were backups, it would still be a troublesome matter, and they would have to start the selection process all over again.

Cai Cai was a little disappointed that she couldn't slap Er Ya in the face during the live stream. But when she thought about these possessing ghosts, Cai Cai had no regrets. She still needed to stay far away from them.
I looked at it again and again, but I wasn't quite satisfied with any of them.

Cai Cai sighed, "We were already selected with difficulty, like choosing the tallest among the short. Now all the tallest ones we found have left, and the rest aren't bad, just not suitable." Bu Mie thought for a moment, "How about this? Since a lot of investors have withdrawn their funding, although they haven't completely stopped investing, their control over the project isn't as tight as before. Why don't we publicly issue audition invitations and see if we can find some good actors?"
The immortal felt it wouldn't work. "There's not enough time. These kinds of auditions can't be decided in one go. For period dramas, makeup tests are a must, and then there's the chemistry between the actors in the scenes. It usually requires at least three auditions. We're almost ready to start filming; even if we find actors while filming, there's not enough time, and it's easy to get bogged down."

Cai Cai thought about it and agreed. "Then let's invite all the resumes we've received. Those who come, given the current situation, definitely have a strong desire to act and a lot of confidence in me. Just for that unwavering attitude, shouldn't we give them another chance? Mainly, I think there are probably other cases like Yue Hong's where the photo had problems. Maybe we'll find some hidden gems?"

Seeing Cai Cai's strong desire to audition, the Immortal Lord considered it and agreed. He instructed his assistant to retrieve all previous resumes, delete those that had been withdrawn, and then send out audition invitations to everyone. The requirements were: no makeup, no height shown, and the ability to pull off period costumes. This last requirement, while seemingly subjective and arbitrary, is actually a very basic requirement in the industry and will indeed filter out some people unsuitable for period costumes. Even if the artist lacks self-awareness, the people around them who rely on the artist for their livelihood will persuade them against it.

Of course, there will always be celebrities who are completely oblivious to their own limitations and cannot be persuaded otherwise. This highlights the importance of makeup trials.

So, when viewers see actors in TV dramas or movies looking awkward or even ugly in their costumes, whether in period or modern attire, there are basically two possibilities. First, the costume designers have more say than the actors, ignoring the actors' appearance and insisting on the costume design, even mocking the actors' lack of self-awareness. Second, the actors, lacking self-awareness, have more say than the costume team, resulting in an ugly product of their own improvisation. In short, both situations stem from the actors' lack of self-awareness.

"To save money, we're using the same stylist from the previous production company for the Ninth Princess's costume. It'll be a Tang Dynasty-style makeup and styling, and to differentiate it from the design, the overall color scheme of the costume will be darker. The makeup will also be retro," the Immortal Lord gestured to his face. "It's the kind of makeup where you can immediately tell there's powder on her face. The male actors will also wear makeup according to their roles and the plot. The stylist also requested a look with flowers, in the Song Dynasty style. The initial makeup tests on the mannequins went quite well."

The immortal handed it to Cai Cai, saying, "Male characters, whether civil or military officials, will wear flowers as required by the plot. The project has signed cooperation agreements with several intangible cultural heritage projects, and the stylist made the most of the resources to design these looks." He then opened it, saying, "These are yours. There are other male characters' flowers later. They're all made of pith flower, which isn't cheaper than fresh flowers. So, when casting actors, we also need to consider their temperament and style to determine the colors and types of flowers they'll wear."

Cai Cai felt that this look was a bit risky. "Let's not even talk about whether the audience can accept male characters wearing flowers. Even if they can, can the actor himself accept this look? Even if the actor accepts it, think about it, it's already very difficult for male actors to look good in period costumes. To make it even better with flowers on top of that is just asking for trouble." Cai Cai felt that this was putting male actors in a difficult position.

It's not that she looks down on her male co-stars' looks, but rather, "I'm now a risky artist; the project is on the verge of collapse. If it weren't for you here, it's hard to say how many male actors we could have invited. Finding male roles was already extremely difficult, and now we have to add to the difficulty with makeup and styling."

If you look at it from another perspective, the "Ninth Princess" project, apart from her character, is a complete disaster. There's little money, no exciting plot points, little drama, and yet it's subjected to constant criticism.
"Even if he's a good-looking male celebrity with a promising future, he probably wouldn't want to come, right?" Cai Cai said, then sighed. "Although Cao Xin is a bit annoying, I'll be gentle with him when we're filming because he's been so actively involved in this project."

The immortal glared at Cai Cai, never having seen someone so good at badmouthing their own project. How was it a scam?

“I’ve already opened up the steps and made them a stepping stone. It’s their own fault for not being able to jump up. Who can they blame?” The Immortal Lord didn’t think he had gone too far. “With such a simple plot and such well-developed characters, anyone with a little bit of looks and acting skills can get started. They’re even using us as stepping stones. How can this be a trap? It’s not an exaggeration to call it a ladder to heaven.”

"You've got some nerve, you really dare to say that. A ladder to heaven? It's more like a pitfall to heaven!"
But this was a project the Immortal Lord had specifically prepared and invested in for her. Since the Immortal Lord was using such unscrupulous methods, she was the beneficiary. If she complained, she'd be truly heartless. Fine, let's just do this shady project together.
Although Huang Xin and Li Muzi were worried about the project, Xianjun and Cai Cai remained silent, and the company was as stable as ever, so even with a bunch of withdrawal notices and apologies, the two weren't too flustered. They were still defending Cai Cai online when they were notified of an audition, so they quickly packed their things and rushed to Ninth Princess's office. It was an office building on the outskirts of Xianjun's villa, near the filming location of Ninth Princess. It had five floors and housed costume, props, and post-production work, with an indoor filming location next door.

They were busy until almost dawn. Seeing that Cai Cai was really tired, the Immortal Lord told her to go to her room to sleep, otherwise she would have rolled onto the floor.

Cai Cai woke up feeling dazed; it was already 3 PM. Tang Jinyi pulled her up and fed her water. "Xiao Mei and the others are still busy. Xianjun and the others started their interviews this morning. If you go this afternoon, I can go with them. Your second aunt and the others originally wanted to come, but I stopped them. I asked around, and there's nothing else going on here. After the auditions, Xianjun said they can film first, and then we can go back to Hong Kong. You can come back to join the crew after the New Year." As for the other work arrangements, Mei Zhang said to wait; it's probably with Misty's side.

Tang Jinyi wasn't curious about the audition; he was just worried that things happening online would make people disrespect Cai Cai.

There were several celebrities and their entourage present that morning, and the staff openly showed disdain, subtly hinting at introducing Cai Cai to investors. Before Xianjun could even speak, the other assistants had already asked them to leave. When Tang Jinyi found out, she vented her anger on Xianjun, since he was a powerful figure who could represent the company. She then complained to her family about how disgusting the entertainment industry was, pointing out how young Cai Cai was and how audacious those people were, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were bordering on breaking the law.

There's no need to tell Cai Cai about this play. After what happened this morning, the director personally led a team to screen it first, to prevent any more disgusting things from coming in.

Cai Cai washed her face, casually put on a long-sleeved jumpsuit and a thick fur coat, and came out. There was a small electric car waiting at the door. Zhou Qing followed, along with two other assistants. Because Tang Jinyi was also with them, there were two more bodyguards. The car had twelve seats, and two more people had to ride the electric car separately.

While the immortal was discussing management company matters with the three artists Huang Xin had brought, he heard a commotion outside. He stopped talking, realizing that Cai Cai had arrived, and decided to wait for her to come in so they could chat together.

All three artists have experience picking up extras on various film and television sets. Despite their young age, they all started as child stars and internet celebrities, bringing their own fanbase and ensuring they have no shortage of work as adults. They all aspire to be actors, but because they are all family-run businesses and not signed with major companies, they lack good job opportunities. After struggling in short dramas for a while, their acting teachers told them they were "going astray," so they quickly withdrew and dared not act in short dramas anymore. This audition opportunity was secured through information provided by an internet celebrity agency. These agencies don't provide any resources but take a cut, which is extremely small.

I was just talking about this with Xianjun; they both want to sign with Wanqian. It's just that Wanqian is incredibly difficult to get into.

The immortal lord was speaking when he suddenly stopped, causing all three of them to panic, thinking that something unexpected had happened.
Although they had all met the Immortal Lord before, they had never spoken to him at such close range. The Immortal Lord truly lived up to his name; he was already nervous, and now that his career and future were at stake, he became even more so.

Just as one of them was about to tentatively speak, a group of people appeared at the door. Then the door was pushed open, and the person at the front looked around the room before coming in and holding the door open to make it easier for the people behind to come in.

It's Cai Cai.

The three of them stood up involuntarily. The Immortal Lord also stood up. Seeing that Cai Cai's face was rosy, he knew she had slept well. Then, seeing that Zhou Qing was holding food and drinks, he knew that Cai Cai hadn't eaten yet.

It's so late, and I still haven't eaten.
Cai Cai was surprised to find three people in the room. There were two cameras in each corner, and four cameras around the audition area. This was a very strict audition venue; how could there be three people there?
The key point is that all three of them look like the second male lead.

"Hello, please sit down." Cai Cai greeted them, and the three quickly sat down. She led her people to the Immortal Lord's side, found seats, and looked at the three people again. Oh, they really are the second male leads.

They all have the kind of handsome, gentle second male lead look you'd find in a slice-of-life drama. If they were to get a similar hairstyle, they could fool triplets.
The immortal gestured for Zhou Qing to get some food for Cai Cai, "The audition hasn't started yet; we're discussing their agency contract. They're interested in signing with Wanqian."

Cai Cai heard this and thought it meant the Immortal Lord wanted to sign. No, didn't He Kai say back then that he wouldn't sign anything that wasn't precious? These three...
What touched you? The triplets?

Cai Cai couldn't say it to his face, so she asked the immortal lord with her face.

Being able to read faces is quite convenient.

The immortal also took a glass of juice and drank it, gesturing for the other three to drink water as well, telling them not to be nervous.

From the moment Cai Cai entered, the three men couldn't take their eyes off her. The person they'd only seen online was now standing right in front of them.
Xianjun answered Cai Cai directly, "There's a period drama project that needs actors who look like they belong to that era, but we don't have many suitable candidates in our company. These three have been child stars and internet celebrities since they were young, with gentle features and a refreshing appearance on camera. I was thinking, perhaps we could sign them to short-term contracts?"

Oh, a period drama. Cai Cai knows the basic casting requirements for period dramas: slim, with a clean and refreshing temperament, and a clean and honest appearance, without any sharp angles. These three are indeed suitable. Starting a project is to stabilize the cast, ensure quality, and also to regulate the artists' behavior, ethics, and time commitments; it's true that artists will sign short-term contracts. Some are handled by a company, while others are temporarily set up and dissolved once the project is completed.

All three knew it was a short-term contract, but they were all willing to take it.

Cai Cai realized it, but the problem was, "Aren't we auditioning for Ninth Princess? Why are you poaching your own talent?"

The Immortal Lord smiled. "Talent is rare." The Ninth Princess might not be suitable, but other projects could. She's good-looking, her acting is passable, and she can even sign a short-term contract—how wonderful!

This was considered a verbal agreement. The Immortal Lord gestured for the company staff to escort them out and follow up further.

The three of them quickly stood up, not daring to make any unnecessary movements. They just glanced at Cai Cai several times before leaving.

Cai Cai breathed a sigh of relief. Good grief, she almost thought she was going to be taken away by their eyes! "I thought they'd ask for my autograph." She even had her pen ready. But it turned out, Renjie had no intention of asking; he just looked at her.

The immortal looked down at the documents and didn't explain for the three people. He waited until Cai Cai finished eating two sandwiches before letting the people outside bring them in.

Cai Cai looked at the Immortal Lord's tablet records and chuckled; not a single one had been selected. "Is it really that bad?"

The immortal nodded, "It really won't work."

Cai Cai sighed, "How about we cut some characters? We already have Meng Ning, Cao Xin, and Yue Hong. We can write more scenes for them. That would save us a lot of trouble filming."

The Immortal Lord refused. Si Chen had actually approached him privately, offering to help him secure a role, but the Immortal Lord declined. Si Chen and Cai Cai were relatives; the only role he could play was the Tenth Prince, nothing else. And for the Tenth Prince, Meng Ning's appearance was more suitable than Si Chen's. Why waste Si Chen's schedule? Having Cai Cai and Si Chen collaborate on this project wouldn't yield any synergistic effect. It would be a pure loss.

“The more anxious you are, the less you should rush. You said it yourself, we already have three roles. We'll film the emperor, the palace maid, and the other roles. Even if we let them film first and continue looking for others, it won't be a big problem.”

Cai Cai already knew that the actor playing the emperor was Zhou Jianjun, a veteran actor in the industry who specialized in playing emperors and high-ranking officials. He was over sixty years old, hadn't won any major awards, and came from an acting family. He started working as an extra in film crews when he was a teenager. In his youth, he was a bit of a playboy, getting into trouble with women, gambling, and drinking, which led to him losing money and being detained. He had quite a few scandals, but his acting skills were also very good. He was the type who was blessed with talent but somewhat squandered it. Now that he's older, he's settled down and started working hard to earn money to support his family and children. His youngest daughter had just started kindergarten.
The palace maid was also chosen beforehand; her name was Liu Mingming. She was classically trained, quite beautiful, with a classic, elegant beauty. But whether she lacked ambition or simply didn't strive for it, while her classmates had already reached A-list status, she was still hovering around fifth or sixth-tier. She said she treated acting as just a regular job, not wanting to be a superstar, content with a modest life. She was already married with children; her husband, also a fifth or sixth-tier actor, accompanied her to the audition and even landed a role as an official.

The actors who were auditioned and cast before turned down roles were the main male supporting actors, all of whom had scenes with Cai Cai.

The roles of the three princes-in-law, the bodyguard, the master, the senior brother, and the richest man are all vacant.

Cai Cai thought this was a good idea. After all, the actors had only resigned, but the investors stayed. The key point was that the script could be finalized directly, preventing newly cast artists from bringing their own scripts.

The immortal said there's no difference, because they wouldn't film according to the scripts the artists brought in. If they really insisted on filming, fine, but it wouldn't be used anyway. If an audit came up, they'd just say the artists were taking too much leave and the production was wasting money. These artists certainly wouldn't be tied to the production team; they'd definitely take leave to do commercials, and if asked, they'd say it was for promotional activities. The key point is, the money comes from these artists themselves; it's all coming from the artists' pockets. They're wasting their own money. The more they spend, the more the investors will get carried away. And those investors have to bleed.
"Then capital will exploit artists even more, isn't that a vicious cycle?" Cai Cai didn't think this was a good thing to do.

The Immortal Lord looked at Cai Cai, "You should understand, what capital fears most is money that can't be spent. Money is only money, wealth, when it circulates; if it doesn't move, it's just paper. Besides, how could this be a vicious cycle? Once they spend too much money and dare not sign people casually anymore, the cycle will stop. As for the artists who have already been circulated," he smiled faintly, "Do you think there's any reason why an artist who relies on the favor of capital, uses their third-rate looks and mediocre acting skills to spout nonsense in projects, arbitrarily changing scripts and lines, shouldn't be circulated?"