Huayu: This top star doesn't play by the rules.

After taking a quick look at Chen Chao, who was tall and handsome, wearing a dark shirt and jeans, and who looked both youthful and composed, Zhang Kaizhou nodded in satisfaction.

"Take a look at this script first." Zhang Kaizhou waved to the staff next to him, signaling them to hand the script to Chen Chao. "You have ten minutes. You can start when you're ready."

After receiving the script from the staff, Chen Chao didn't waste any time and immediately started flipping through it. The script contained the scene where Gu Tingye confessed his love to Sheng Minglan, which was considered a classic scene in Gu Tingye's story.

After quickly memorizing the scene and lines, Chen Chao closed his eyes and began to adjust his state. When he opened his eyes again, his entire demeanor had suddenly changed.

The gentle young man from before had vanished, replaced by Gu Ting, who had experienced the battles and seen through the coldness of human nature.

Standing still, Chen Chao's gaze was fixed on the empty space in front of him, as if Sheng Minglan, whom he longed for, was standing there.

Seemingly having gathered his emotions, Chen Chao suddenly spoke, his tone gentle yet forceful, "I want to know, why won't you marry me?"

"I don't want to hear high-sounding words, I want to hear the truth." Before Sheng Minglan could speak, Chen Chao continued to add.

He paused for a moment, as if listening to Sheng Minglan's answer, then took a step forward, leaned slightly forward, and looked at her earnestly, "Don't worry, after we get married, we'll live separately, so you don't need to worry about these dirty things."

"I dare not say that marrying me is a thousand times better than anything else, but I will just say one thing: from now on, I will never let you feel wronged or frustrated again."

"I dare not say that marrying me will bring you heaven and earth good fortune, but I will point to the sky and say that from now on, whatever my rank is among men, your rank will be among women."

He paused here, then bowed slightly, looking at Sheng Minglan with a gentle and earnest expression, and spoke slowly and solemnly.

"I have long admired you and wish to marry you, entrust you with the management of the household, to continue our family line, and to grow old together with you."

After saying that, he stopped talking and just stood there quietly, looking ahead with anticipation and trepidation. The script he had received ended there.

Zhang Kaizhou slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and shouted, "Good!"

As Zhang Kaizhou presented his script, the screenwriter sitting to his right excitedly clapped, repeatedly exclaiming, "That's the feeling! That's exactly the feeling I wanted!"

Chen Chao let out a soft breath, withdrew his gaze, and returned to his original gentle demeanor. He then bowed politely to Zhang Kaizhou and the other two once more.

Looking at Chen Chao in front of him, Zhang Kaizhou's eyes were full of admiration. "Your confession just now was very well performed."

"Many actors tend to make this scene too slick, but you are different. You successfully grasped the core of Gu Tingye's character. His feelings for Minglan are well thought out, and he is determined to give her a home."

After speaking, Zhang Kaizhou didn't wait for Chen Chao to say anything more before he started clapping. Hou Hongliang and the screenwriter sitting on either side of him also clapped.

"Thank you for your hard work, Professor Chen Chao. Go back and wait for our notification." After exchanging a glance with Zhang Kaizhou, Hou Hongliang looked at Chen Chao again and said with a smile, "We will contact you as soon as we have the results."

"Thank you, Director Zhang, thank you, Producer Hou, thank you, screenwriter!" After nodding politely, Chen Chao turned and left the audition room.

........

After the interview, Chen Chao rested for another day before returning to the busy filming of "Guardian" until Ji Ran, who was in Hengdian and responsible for following up on the interview results, called him.

"It's settled! Ah Chao, Gu Tingye is your leading role!" As soon as Chen Chao answered the phone, Ji Ran's voice, filled with barely concealed excitement, came from the other end.

"They sent us a formal offer at noon. I'm going to their company this afternoon to discuss my salary and sign the contract. I'll send you the official contract for confirmation then, so please keep your phone on at all times."

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Brother Ji Ran." Chen Chao leaned back in his chair, letting out a slight sigh of relief, and couldn't help but smile slightly.

He landed the male lead role in a TV series produced by Daylight Entertainment, which means that he has taken another big step forward in his acting career in the TV drama field.

After all, at this point in time, the value of a male lead in a web series is completely different from that of a male lead in a TV series. As long as Chen Chao can prove that he can carry the male lead role and the series, then the scripts that will come his way afterward will basically all be male lead roles.

"Oh, right, there's something else." After a pause, Ji Ran decided to tell Chen Chao what she knew, "Sister Liying... has already accepted the lead role in 'The Story of Minglan'."

Upon hearing Ji Ran's words, although Chen Chao already knew about this matter based on his memories of the future, he could only pretend not to know at this moment. "You mean, Sister Liying is going to play Sheng Minglan?"

"Yes," Ji Ran replied with a smile, "If you count it, this is already your third time teaming up."

.........

That afternoon, Ji Ran, who had reached an agreement with Daylight Entertainment on his fee, signed the contract on Chen Chao's behalf after obtaining authorization from Chen Chao. Chen Chao officially won the role of Gu Tingye, the male lead in "The Story of Minglan".

A week after the contract was signed, Daylight Entertainment announced that Chen Chao and Zhao Liying would star in "The Story of Minglan".

That same afternoon, the hashtag #ChenChaoPlaysGuTingyeInTheStoryofMingFiction# quickly became a trending topic on Weibo, attracting the attention of many netizens.

"Holy crap! Chen Chao is going to play Gu Tingye? I'm all for this casting!"

"Gu Tingye is a very difficult character to play. He is dissolute in the early stages and becomes calm and composed later. I hope Chen Chao can handle the role."

"The male lead of Noon Sunshine! Chen Chao is about to ascend to godhood!"

"Looking forward to Chen Chao and Li Ying's third collaboration! After Yan Xun and Chu Qiao, and the young and beautiful actress, they're teaming up again. My CP spirit is burning again!"

Of course, besides the cheers, there were also many doubts, but these were quickly drowned out by Chen Chao's fans and passersby.

After all, Chen Chao's portrayal of Ouyang Ke and Xu Zhengtai, plus Yan Xun, whose scenes have only been released in behind-the-scenes footage, is enough to prove his acting skills, which are in no way inferior to those so-called veteran actors.