Chapter 44: A New Story
The screen test work had long ended. Makeup was removed, clothes changed back. The originally crowded company suddenly had much more space. Familiar faces left one after another, and the work site had long dispersed. However, the last person to leave the company was not Nangong Ying, but Yu Linna.
This blonde girl was the last to leave, and only left under the urging of the staff. She forgot what expression she wore when she left this place. She only knew she was led away; she knew nothing else.
The blonde girl stood at the company entrance, looking at the company’s sign, especially the banner hanging above: “‘Storm Seal’ Work Crew Screen Test in Progress.” She saw many people who came with ideals, ultimately leaving with disappointment.
She was one of them.
She had bet everything on this, just to fight for this difficult opportunity. She had also relied on her own efforts to snatch the screen test qualification among tens of thousands. She thought this was her beginning, but unexpectedly, it was her end.
“Why…”
She raised her head, looking at the blue sky. The scorching sun hit her face, revealing the helplessness and unwillingness on her face.
She walked away in a daze, step by step. She didn’t know what the pedestrians on the road looked like, didn’t notice how many children passed by her. Except for the traffic lights, she noticed nothing.
Although she had expected it long ago, competing on the same stage with Nangong Ying was inherently a very difficult matter. Comparing herself with Nangong Ying, it was impossible for her to stand out. But she still held onto that tiny bit of hope and stepped in, for no other reason than the last bit of ideal in her heart. She wanted to become famous too much, wanted to escape poverty too much.
She was afraid of being poor. She deeply understood that staying at the bottom for a lifetime would lead nowhere. Studying wasn’t her only way out either. She wanted to become famous, wanted to walk the same path as Nangong Ying, hoping she could become different too. She yearned for Nangong Ying, wanted to become Nangong Ying, but could only live in Nangong Ying’s shadow.
“I heard they’re holding screen tests for the main character of a movie over at Longhu. My friend went too, but unfortunately, she wasn’t selected~”
“Your friend is quite pretty, right? How could she not be selected?”
“I don’t know. Heard she didn’t meet the director’s requirements. In the end, an eighteen-year-old girl was chosen. Sigh, that’s fate.”
Yu Linna heard the passersby’s conversation, her heart growing sourer. She sighed and crossed the road. Squeezing through the crowd, she finally disappeared.
When the girl felt lost, she liked to go to the park because the park bench was the only place she could sit. Whenever she was sad, she liked to sit on the bench. This time was no exception. She went to the park again and found a bench to sit down.
“Sigh…”
Why did she become like this?
Clearly, everyone is human, everyone stands at the same starting line, why is she just not as good as others? Although victory and defeat are common in battles, it still felt bad. She really wanted to get this female lead role because this was her chance to change her destiny. She wanted to change too much.
All along, she had never had it easy. Ever since listening to Nangong Ying and participating in the singing competition, this path had been extremely difficult; she basically never succeeded. Although she met nice seniors, fate was never on her side. On this stage, the real protagonist was Nangong Ying.
She wasn’t the protagonist.
She could only be an audience member sitting in the stands.
Not even a supporting role.
This was her, Yu Linna’s, destiny.
She leaned against the bench, her mood becoming chaotic. Somehow, she thought of many things. Indeed, before coming, she had also thought she might be eliminated. But only when she actually got eliminated did she realize it felt worse than imagined.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought Nangong Ying would succeed. She just didn’t expect that when she was so close to success, Nangong Ying would snatch her position and replace her as the protagonist. Clearly, the director appreciated her so much, even wanted to use her directly, yet Nangong Ying appeared halfway. As a result, Nangong Ying’s performance was even better, and the director immediately decided to use her.
Indeed, Yu Linna had ideas and her own insights. But her actions weren’t what an actor should do. The director appreciated her ability, that was true. But when Nangong Ying jumped out, Yu Linna appeared very awkward. Compared to her, Nangong Ying clearly wouldn’t propose her own ideas; once on set, she would follow the director’s instructions. Her acting wasn’t bad, she could adjust her emotions, and most importantly, she had learned martial arts and knew how to perform routines. And this movie happened to lack exactly this kind of actor who could perform fight scenes.
The entertainment industry is large, but female actors who can fight, perform martial arts, and fight beautifully basically don’t exist. So the director initially just wanted to hire stunt doubles to complete these actions. Who knew Nangong Ying’s appearance made him dismiss these thoughts? She performed so well, why hire stunt doubles? Except for those high-difficulty dangerous actions, she could handle most of the action scenes. And the director didn’t need to revise the script anymore; he could just shoot according to the original template.
Therefore, it was entirely reasonable that Yu Linna lost.
“Why did it turn out like this…”
Yu Linna still wanted to cry. She felt awful.
She had paid so much, wanting nothing more than a result. But the result was unsatisfactory.
She hadn’t competed with Nangong Ying before, but in this competition, she lost utterly. She had spent quite a bit of money here these past few days. She was counting on getting the female lead role to earn a sum of money, but now this plan was also ruined.
She covered her face, alone and helpless in this strange city. Thinking of this, her tears brewed again. She wiped away her tears, took out her notebook, and silently recorded today’s notes.
Yu Linna had the habit of writing diaries. Although she didn’t write every day, writing once in a while was common. Today was the same; she wrote down all her emotions of the day. After finishing, she felt it was too empty. Just writing these things couldn’t vent her emotions at all.
Thinking this, Yu Linna tore off a piece of paper and wrote a long passage on it…
“A long time ago, there was a person who drifted to a strange city with a dream. He struggled for survival, but the dream in his heart supported him through countless nights. However, he ultimately failed to realize his dream, because this is a story of a loser…”
She didn’t know why, whether her brain short-circuited or she was overly sad, she actually started making up a story, and it was based on herself.
This story of hers drew inspiration from reality but wasn’t entirely reality. It unfolded from the perspective of a young man, telling how this young man struggled for life and dreams in a strange city. Although he worked hard and put in effort, he ultimately missed his dream. It profoundly explored the topic of dreams versus reality. Which is more important, dreams or life? This topic is eternally debated in this world.
And this piece of paper, merely a thousand words, took only half an hour, completely born from Yu Linna’s feelings.
After writing, she looked at this paper, the story constructed in her heart.
After looking for a long time, she felt it was an incredibly bad story, not positive at all, not a good story. And there was too much literary thought, even exploring reality. She was just a little kid; exploring reality was too ridiculous. Yu Linna crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the trash can.
This ball of paper carried her last bit of ideal. It traced an arc in the air and landed on the ground. Perhaps it was fate, perhaps bad luck, this ball of paper fell just three centimeters away from the trash can, not going in. And Yu Linna had no intention of picking it up and throwing it in.
Suddenly, a hand rested on her shoulder. Yu Linna was startled and quickly looked up. What met her eyes was a black-haired girl. The girl had a calm expression, but her eyes were fixed only on her.
“I…”
Yu Linna wanted to say something, hesitated, but ultimately didn’t say it.
Ye Zhiyun took out a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes, causing the girl to let out a small, animal-like cry.
“Tears, wiped clean.”
She held the handkerchief and said word by word.
“Th-thank you…”
Lowering her head, she stopped talking.
Neither said anything unnecessary; neither intended to say anything. Ye Zhiyun just sighed, pulled her up, grabbed her wrist while Yu Linna was bewildered, and pulled her along.
“I’ll take you home. I have a driver.”
“This…”
“Don’t need your money. I wouldn’t go so far as to charge you for the ride.”
Yu Linna was speechless again.
She had walked for so long. When she was lost, the one who could grab her hand and comfort her turned out to be the girl who was initially opposed to her, someone who couldn’t even be called a friend.
And her closest friend hadn’t come looking for her from beginning to end, hadn’t brought her a single word.
How ironic.
What was Nangong Ying doing? At this moment, she had passed the screen test and was talking with the director and producer. After all, she had officially obtained the qualification to participate.
Yu Linna was just one of the thousands who failed.
“Ye Zhiyun, I…”
“Nothing good ever happens when I meet you. You’re always causing trouble. But forget it, I’m used to it anyway. Just a little trouble, it’s not like I can’t handle it.”
Ye Zhiyun hated Yu Linna; this was an indisputable fact.
But since when did she lose her hostility towards Yu Linna?
It was truly incredible.
Because, seeing the current Yu Linna, she no longer found her annoying. She only saw Yu Linna’s helplessness and weakness. Just like that, she couldn’t treat her like she used to.
Now, Ye Zhiyun just wanted to stay by this girl’s side, to shield her from the storm.
“Thank you… thank you…”
Her wrist held, the girl didn’t open her eyes, but tears flowed continuously, uncontrollably falling. Her pretty little face was immediately streaked, making one feel sad just looking. And Ye Zhiyun just silently took out a handkerchief and handed it to her, head not turning back, just pulling her hand forward.
No need for flowery language; simple actions were enough.
A gust of wind blew past. The crumpled paper ball beside the trash can rolled, rolling next to the shoe of a middle-aged man. This middle-aged man looked worried. He unintentionally picked up this paper ball, unintentionally opened it, and also unintentionally discovered a different life.
“This is…?”
The story in this paper ball deeply attracted this middle-aged man. He found a bench and sat down, unable to put it down. His eyes stared fixedly at this paper ball.
The wind blew, the sun was covered by clouds, leaves danced in the air, and a new story began to take root elsewhere.
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