He plays Feng Yuxiu, and his girlfriend is a fairy-like beauty.

"it's me."

Wang Chuanjun suppressed his emotions.

"Director Ye is preparing a film with a realistic theme, and he would like you to audition for a role in it."

Wang Chuanjun did not answer immediately.

He picked up his chopsticks from the table and placed them on his bowl, then stood up and walked to the entrance of the hot pot restaurant.

The streetlights outside cast a long shadow of him, and with his phone pressed to his ear, he could hear his own heartbeat.

What type of movie?

"It's a realistic film based on true events, telling the story of leukemia patients who can't afford the original drugs and have to buy generic ones from India. This character is the emotional core of the entire film." Sister Zhang paused for a moment: "Director Ye specifically asked you to audition."

Roll call.

It's not a public audition.

This is not a mass notification.

It was Ye Mo, the director of "Raging Storm," who made Zhang Songwen the top-rated TV show in the country and turned Jia Bing from a sketch actor into a viral internet meme, who specifically asked him to audition.

When will we try it?

"I will send you the specific time and address next Wednesday, if it is convenient for you."

"Convenient, see you next Wednesday."

Wang Chuanjun hung up the phone, then turned and walked back to his seat.

He picked up his chopsticks, scooped a piece of tripe from the pot, put it in his bowl, and said nothing, his lips trembling.

Sun Yizhou glanced at him and then at Deng Jiajia; neither of them spoke.

"Who hit me just now?" Sun Yizhou asked tentatively.

"Ye Mo's agent."

"Which Ye Mo?"

"It's Ye Mo, the director of 'The Storm'."

Deng Jiajia placed the chopsticks directly on the table.

Sun Yizhou was also stunned for a moment.

Everyone knows the prestige of the name Ye Mo.

"What does he want from you?"

"Filming a movie, playing the second male lead, a leukemia patient."

The red oil in the pot was still bubbling away.

There were only a few slices of tripe left on the hot pot stand, but no one was picking them up.

Deng Jiajia folded and unfolded the napkin in her hand.

"Didn't you say he only chose actors with exceptional acting skills? Zhang Songwen, Jia Bing, Gao Ye—the kind of actors who are underrated by the market but have explosive talent? How did he end up choosing you?"

"What do you mean by that?" Wang Chuanjun looked up.

"That's not what I meant! I meant, aren't you typecast, Guan Gu?"

"He doesn't care about Guan Gu."

Wang Chuanjun spoke in a very soft tone, completely different from his usual way of speaking.

"Or rather, he was willing to give someone who had been trapped in Guan Gu for several years a chance to prove himself."

When is the audition?

Next Wednesday.

"Then why are you still sitting here eating hot pot? Go back and prepare something!"

Deng Jiajia laughed beside her, her eyes glistening with laughter, as she picked up her almost cold drink cup.

"Chuanjun, if you pass the test, you'll be the next Zhang Songwen."

The two were genuinely happy for him.

Wang Chuanjun raised his cup and clinked it against hers, the rim of the cup making a crisp sound.

After all these years, someone finally said something to him.

He could be another character.

......

The script was sent to Wang Chuanjun's phone that same evening.

He sat in the rented room for a long time.

Lu Shouyi is a patient with chronic myeloid leukemia.

Appearance: Tall and thin, wears thick-rimmed glasses, always wears multiple masks, wears old plaid suits, carries a cloth bag across his shoulder, and has a habitually hunched posture.

Demeanor: distressed and haggard, maintaining the last shred of dignity amidst despair.

Wang Chuanjun read those lines of text more than ten times.

He went downstairs to the supermarket and bought three oranges.

Back inside, I placed the oranges one by one on the coffee table and stared at them for a few minutes.

Then I picked up my phone and started searching for video materials about leukemia patients.

The skin after chemotherapy, shortness of breath when speaking, and the posture of unconsciously shrugging forward when walking.

He took notes in his notebook as he read, and by midnight, the notebook was already filled with more than a dozen pages of notes.

The audition was on a Wednesday.

Sister Zhang arrived at the rehearsal hall early.

Having worked with Ye Mo for so long, she has seen many actors audition, some nervous, some overconfident, and some unprepared and cramming at the last minute.

But she was dumbfounded the moment Wang Chuanjun walked into the rehearsal hall.

The person standing at the door had absolutely no relation to Guan Gu Shenqi, whom she had seen in the sitcom "iPartment".

He had lost weight, not in a healthy way, but because his cheeks were slightly sunken after not eating properly for several days in a row.

The eye sockets are deep-set, and there are two faint shadows below the cheekbones.

Wearing a slightly faded plaid suit, an old cloth bag slung over his shoulder, and thick-rimmed glasses, he leaned slightly forward and hunched his shoulders as he stood by the doorway. He looked as if he had been weighed down by life for a long time, but was still trying to hold on.

"Wang Chuanjun? What happened to you?" Sister Zhang put down her cup, her voice filled with barely suppressed surprise.

Wang Chuanjun stood in the middle of the rehearsal hall, taking two slow steps, as if he was conserving even the strength to raise his hand.

"The script says that someone who wears multiple masks, is hunched over, and has a distressed demeanor, someone who relies on medication to stay alive all year round, will not walk with their head held high. I haven't eaten or slept much these past few days, and I want to see what my body will become after pushing myself to the limit. If Director Ye thinks it's not right, I can do it again."

Sister Zhang didn't say anything.

She glanced sideways at Ye Mo, who was sitting on a folding chair in the rehearsal room.

A thought, known only to herself, surfaced in her mind.

You have a good eye for people! Another one obsessed with acting!

Ye Mo leaned back in his chair, his expression unreadable.

"In the scene in the script where someone selling fake medicine gets kicked out of the hospital, you stand at the door, handing out oranges to the patients one by one, telling them not to leave. You need a prop orange, so get it ready."

Ye Mo had already acknowledged Wang Chuanjun's enthusiasm just from his actions.

However, the necessary procedures still need to be followed.

Wang Chuanjun took the three oranges out of his bag and placed them on the table by the door.

He had read the script.

After the performance ends.

"Lu Shouyi is yours now," Ye Mo said.

This is exactly the flavor I wanted; it perfectly matches my image of Lü Shouyi.

Wang Chuanjun was still standing there, clutching the orange he hadn't finished handing out.

He opened his mouth, then squeezed the orange's surface hard with his fingers, pressing his knuckles into the peel and creating a small indentation.

"Director Ye, I won't let you regret this."

He doesn't say nice things; he only wants to prove himself through actions.

Ye Mo walked over, took the slightly deformed orange from his hand, and weighed it in his own hand.

"Keep it up, because Lu Shouyi can finally stop being Guan Gu Shenqi."

Wang Chuanjun lowered his head.

These words really struck a chord with him.

In the past, people called him by his name Guan Gu, except for a few familiar people who called him Chuan Jun.

All the others could only think of Guan Gu Shenqi.

This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

The bad thing is that I won't be able to escape this cycle in the future.

The opportunity is now before us.

Next, I need to work even harder and challenge myself to go three days and three nights without sleeping or eating.

......