It was just a love letter; I'm really no great writer!

In a large lecture hall in Boya Building.

The casting venue has been set up, with a banner reading "Parasite Stage Play Character Seminar" hanging on the blackboard.

When Lu Ran followed Di Qingling in.

The dozens of boys and girls in the classroom stopped talking and all looked over.

"These are promising actors from various junior and senior high schools in Huaicheng," Di Qingling introduced.

"There are junior high school students too?" Lu Ran asked in surprise.

"Child stars, of course you have to start from a young age." Di Qingling glanced at him. "Besides, that's how you wrote your script."

In Parasite, there are two characters who are not very old: one is the eldest daughter of a wealthy family, who is a high school girl in her first year; the other is the youngest son of a wealthy family.

The production team came to Huaizhong for a seminar to finalize the casting of these two roles.

Di Qingling then introduced the production team to Lu Ran one by one: a producer, a production manager, and a stage manager, while her own title was—director.

"This is Lu Ran, the screenwriter of 'Parasite'," Di Qingling said.

The leaders praised him for his exceptional talent and said he was a young hero.

This made Lu Ran quite embarrassed.

In this circle, people always flatter each other and rise to prominence.

Formal interviews are rather boring.

One by one, the actors came up to perform a short segment from the script.

Lu Ran couldn't tell good from bad, so he observed and listened more and spoke less.

It also broadened his horizons; there were indeed many beautiful girls among the performing arts students, with regular features, fair skin, and slender figures—basically, they were all considered pretty girls.

"Next, number 23," Di Qingling read from the list.

A gentle girl slowly emerged from the corner, pushing her way out of the crowd and standing in front of the podium.

She wore a beige knit sweater and a pink fitted dress, her figure was graceful and her temperament was gentle and clean.

Her face is delicate and fair, with slender eyebrows and eyes that droop slightly at the corners. Her eyes are clear and bright, giving her an innocent and pure look.

Her long, jet-black hair, parted to the side, cascaded loosely over her chest, tracing the arc of a full moon.

"Hello teachers, I am Li Xingping from Class 6, Grade 1 of Huaizhong High School. I am 1.66 meters tall and weigh 92 kilograms. I have studied folk dance..."

Li Xingping introduced herself skillfully, then secretly glanced at Lu Ran.

This guy actually managed to get into that position, and it seems like he holds a pretty high rank.

"Let's get started," Di Qingling interrupted calmly.

This is also part of the interview process, testing an actor's ability to adapt to the situation and withstand pressure.

Li Xingping was stunned for a moment, then immediately got into the zone.

She performed a scene where Dae-hye was jealous:

When the lady introduced art teacher Jessica to Ki-woo, Da-hye felt jealous and upset seeing Jessica and Ki-woo's intimacy.

Since it was an audition, I was naturally facing empty air.

Li Xingping, with a hint of grievance and jealousy, whispered, "Jessica seems to be sticking to you the whole time. Are you two very close?"

Li Xingping secretly glanced at her crush, "She's very beautiful, isn't she? Aren't you even a little bit tempted?"

Li Xingping's ears turned red as she muttered, "Do you often say these kinds of sweet nothings to other girls?"

After the performance, she blushed and bowed, saying, "Teachers, my performance is over, thank you." Then she slowly left the classroom.

In Lu Ran's view...

In this one-woman show, she performed with remarkable skill, subtly portraying the psychological changes of a young girl from feeling wronged and jealous to falling deeply in love.

However, the interviewers all seemed rather indifferent.

They were writing something in their notebooks with their heads down, seemingly giving scores.

Lu Ran didn't know the scoring details, nor did he know the interview process.

So he whispered, "This is good."

The other interviewers all looked over, smiling and agreeing: "Not bad, not bad." "They're quite a good match." "Hahaha."

Lu Ran: "..."

Hah my foot! I meant she acted pretty well, you bastard!

Di Qingling ignored her and said, "Next group."

The next person to be interviewed is Duosong, the youngest son of a wealthy family.

To Lu Ran's surprise...

Compared to the high school girls, these child stars' performances were more spirited and visibly outstanding.

Especially one of the little boys.

In a performance with few lines, he vividly and clearly portrayed Duosong's characteristics, including his arrogance, childlike innocence, exaggerated eccentricity, and psychological trauma.

Absolutely amazing!

Lu Ran moved closer to Di Qingling, taking note of the young actor's information:

Her name is Lu Huamian.

It turns out they're from the same family.

The introduction says that her mother is a Japanese actress.

He's actually of mixed Chinese and Japanese descent?

She is already fourteen years old.

She actually managed to portray the innocence of an eight-year-old!

In just a few words, the plot twisted three times. Lu Ran glanced at the gender again—female.

It's a girl?!

All I can say is, actors are truly amazing!

……

After the entire seminar concluded, Di Qingling called Lu Ran aside for a private talk.

"Can girls play male roles?" Lu Ran couldn't help but ask.

"Cross-dressing is very common in stage plays."

Di Qingling explained, "For example, male actors cross-dress as noblewomen to create humor through contrast; and androgynous actors are used to create a unique character."

"Oh, I've learned something new," Lu Ran said, suddenly realizing.

Di Qingling smoothed her disheveled hair and smiled gently, "So, did you find anything you like?"

"No," Lu Ran said honestly. "There are a lot of pretty girls, but I don't feel anything for them."

"Is it that you don't feel anything? Or that you're not pretty enough?" Di Qingling asked with amusement.

"None of them are as pretty as you."

Lu Ran blurted out what was on his mind without thinking, and quickly emphasized, "This is the truth."

"Heh..." Di Qingling chuckled, "As expected of a great poet, you can write so readily. How about you write me a love poem?"

She opened her bag and took out a notepad and a pen.

Di Qingling handed him paper and pen, watching him with great interest.

Lu Ran placed the note on the railing, hesitated for a moment, and then flicked his wrist.

Black ink seeped into the lines of poetry:

My verses fall like rain, caressing your body.

"I love your sun-kissed, pearly skin."

"I believe you own the entire universe."

"I want to bring you joyful flowers from the mountains, bellflowers, black hazelnuts, and baskets of wild kisses."

"I want."

"Treat you like spring treats a cherry tree." (Note 9)

Di Qingling silently recited the poem in her heart.

Once, twice.

Suddenly her eyes reddened, and she said softly, "Men's words are deceitful, and you can't believe a single word a poet says."

Lu Ran was a little confused. Didn't you ask me to write a poem for you?

Others want it but don't have it yet.

Di Qingling put away Lu Ran's original calligraphy, lowered her brows and eyes, and her gaze regained its usual sharpness.

"Lu Ran, isn't girl number 23 your classmate?"

"Yes," Lu Ran said frankly, "If she acts well, we can give her a chance... within fair limits, of course."

There is no such thing as absolute fairness in the world.

Di Qingling said casually, "She has a good appearance, but her acting skills need improvement."

"I will consider it on a case-by-case basis, but I can't guarantee it. The final casting decision will be made based on all the data."

"Everything is for the sake of stage effect."

……

Lu Ran bid farewell to the production team leaders and left Boya Building.

When I got back to the classroom, it was already after the third period.

According to Zheng Yue, Li Xingping helped him ask for leave from his homeroom teacher, Zhang Xuan.

Zhang Xuan didn't say anything about Lu Ran missing three classes.

A student like Lu Ran has transcended the Three Realms and is no longer bound by the Five Elements.

"Where did you go with Li Xingping?" Zheng Yue asked nervously.

He is a straightforward person who speaks his mind.

Even if there were any unpleasant things that happened in the past, she would quickly forget them, so she was very popular and could talk about anything with Lu Ran.

"You still have feelings for her?"

Lu Ran has come to terms with it now.

Write a few books, make a few hundred million, and let matters of the heart take their natural course.

"No, no," Zheng Yue said awkwardly. "I put it down a long time ago, I was just asking."

"Oh, she went to audition for a role in a stage play, and I happened to be there too."

"Are you auditioning too?"

"No, I'll just watch."

"Oh, oh," Zheng Yue said cheerfully, "I'm going to play soccer in PE class this afternoon. I've arranged a friendly match with Class 7."

"Okay."

As the saying goes, "If you have no woman in your heart, you'll naturally be a god when you draw your sword."

Before the weekend, the students were looking forward to the holiday and were restless.

Lu Ran, however, calmly attended classes, wrote, and chatted with his seatmate about current affairs and gossip.

I've had a fulfilling life.

At noon, I finished organizing the serialized manuscript of "To Live" and sent it to Xia Liang.

After he finished dawdling, all his friends had left, so Lu Ran had to go to the cafeteria alone.

Since he arrived late, there weren't many people, so he found a seat on the second floor to eat Cantonese roast goose rice (it was real goose leg).

drip.

Received a message from Di Qingling—

Duo Song chose Lu Huamian, and Duo Hui chose Xue Weiwei.

As expected, Lu Huamian was chosen to play Duosong.

Her acting skills are far superior to others; even a layman like Lu Ran can see it.

Xue Weiwei... Lu Ran remembered her; she was a senior from Yande High School next door.

Upon closer reflection, she not only delivered a great performance but also captured nuances such as naivety, timidity, and jealousy, which is quite remarkable.

The emotions she conveyed were indeed more vivid and restrained.

That's fine.

I replied to Sister Di with a "hehe".

Lu Ran looked up and found that someone had taken away the fragrant roast goose leg from his plate, which he had only taken one bite of...

No, not at all.

Li Xingping, with her cheeks puffed out, mumbled as she bit into a piece of goose meat:

"Lu Ran... Awooo... I was not selected."

-

Note 9: From Neruda's "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair," written when he was 19.