OSM Chapter 20: “Do you not want to act with me?”

When He Zhiqiu came down from the eighteenth floor, Li Yuze happened to park his car beside him.

After He Zhiqiu got into the car and fastened his seatbelt, Li Yuze asked, “How was it?”

He Zhiqiu replied that the results weren’t out yet. If he passed the initial audition, he would need to come back for a second round in a few days.

As Li Yuze had said, the script for Pingsha was indeed quite good. It was a political drama, and it was rare for them to want to cast newcomers in supporting roles.

Moreover, both the male and female leads were top figures in the industry. Although it wasn’t decided yet whether Gao Kui would play the male lead, the producers had already let it slip that they were considering him for the role.

Whether or not they were just pandering to fans, they had certainly made waves among new actors, and the initial round of casting for supporting roles was extremely competitive. There were thousands of actors who had submitted their materials.

There weren’t many people auditioning today, others would come in batches, so calling it an open audition wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

He Zhiqiu couldn’t say he was completely satisfied with his performance, but at least he wasn’t nervous. He had auditioned for two roles—one he felt somewhat confident about, and the other, not at all.

But the role he had no confidence in was the one he really wanted to try.

Although it was a scheming antagonist, it had a lot of emotional depth, which made it a great learning opportunity for him. When Xu Sui had asked him to pick a role to prepare for, He Zhiqiu had immediately chosen this one.

But Xu Sui had looked it over and still recommended he focus on preparing for the third male lead.

First, the third male lead had more screen time, and in a “grand epic” of this scale, getting recognition was the best chance to gain fans.

Second, the character was likable, and compared to the tragic second male lead in the self-produced drama He Zhiqiu had done, the difference was clear.

Moreover, for a newcomer, it wasn’t really advisable to jump straight into playing a villain role.

If the performance was great, it wouldn’t matter.

But what if it wasn’t?

After all, first impressions were especially important. Although many people said that a character’s performance shouldn’t reflect on the actor themselves, there were always a few who couldn’t distinguish between the two, leading to stereotypes. Before more outstanding works came along, it was hard to shake off these negative impressions.

And in today’s online environment, if the newcomer didn’t have strong mental fortitude, their career could be over before it even started.

Xu Sui explained all these pros and cons clearly, stating that since he had signed He Zhiqiu, he hoped He Zhiqiu would become famous.

After all, only by becoming famous could he achieve his acting dreams and get more roles he wanted.

Fame and fortune were their ultimate goals—without them, he wouldn’t even be able to afford food, let alone think about acting.

Although Xu Sui’s words were pragmatic, He Zhiqiu knew he had his best interests at heart. Not long ago, he had been diligently preparing for the third male lead’s audition.

After the audition, he waited for two days with no news. He thought he had been rejected, but on the evening of the third day, He Zhiqiu received a call from Xu Sui, notifying him to prepare for a second audition.

The role to audition for wasn’t the third male lead, but the villain he had no confidence in.

At that moment, it was hard to tell whether it was a wish fulfilled or a wish gone awry.

Xu Sui carefully considered and didn’t ask He Zhiqiu to decline.

After all, getting a second chance to audition for this show was incredibly rare.

If He Zhiqiu could really nail it, all his previous concerns would be unnecessary.

At 9:30 PM.

He Zhiqiu finished his acting class, walked out of the company, and went across the street to pick up two dishes from a restaurant before catching the last bus back to Li Yuze’s place.

The house was dark and quiet. He Zhiqiu changed into slippers, turned on the living room light, and glanced up the stairs.

The small night light on the second floor was on, indicating Li Yuze was probably still sleeping.

He wasn’t sure what time Li Yuze was sleeping, though—neither too early nor too late.

He Zhiqiu knocked on the door upstairs, then went to the kitchen to put the takeout food on plates and heat them in the microwave. He casually opened the fridge and noticed it was neatly organized with two layers of instant noodles.

As per usual, the stock of instant noodles was steadily decreasing. Today’s packet was gone, and the used noodle bowl had already been thrown into the dishwasher.

From He Zhiqiu’s memory, Li Yuze had always been fond of fast food. It wasn’t because he didn’t care about food, but because he didn’t cook and didn’t want to have anyone cook for him.

He had been especially bad about it when they were in school, ordering takeout almost every day. When He Zhiqiu wasn’t familiar with him, he would even bring him a regular takeout box. But after they became closer, he’d use his own dishes that had been sterilized at home for him.

Over time, Li Yuze’s orders had increased, and He Zhiqiu started bringing the bowls too.

When they reunited, He Zhiqiu thought Li Yuze had changed.

At least when he first entered the house, the air was filled with the rich smell of coffee.

He thought that after so many years apart, Li Yuze might be able to cook, but after living there for a day, he realized the only thing he could make was black coffee, and the fridge didn’t even have an extra egg?

A few days ago, He Zhiqiu finished his class early and took Li Yuze to the community supermarket.

They each pushed a cart.

He Zhiqiu’s cart had some daily necessities and simple vegetables.

Li Yuze didn’t buy anything after walking around. In the end, he pushed a cart full of seafood-flavored instant noodles, signaling the end of their shopping.

He Zhiqiu didn’t know what to say, and he couldn’t help but want to improve his diet, but his work schedule didn’t allow it. He woke up too early and couldn’t make it back for lunch, only having time in the evenings to bring him a few fried dishes.

But by the time he got home, it was too late, and dinner became supper.

He Zhiqiu asked Li Yuze, “Besides instant noodles, what else do you eat?”

Li Yuze naturally replied, “I eat what the crew provides.”

Well, the boxed lunches from the crew were probably different from the ones He Zhiqiu ate. He Zhiqiu thought as he stood in the kitchen.

With a “ding” sound, the food was heated up. He Zhiqiu put on oven mitts, took the plate out, and set it on the dining table. He then walked to the stairs and called Li Yuze’s name before taking the script to the living room.

Five minutes later, Li Yuze came downstairs, his hair messy, first went to the kitchen to wash his mouth, and then sat down to eat.

Since the kitchen and dining area were open-plan, He Zhiqiu could occasionally hear the sound of chopsticks scraping the bottom of the bowl.

He turned his head and asked Li Yuze to leave the dishes on the table after finishing his meal, so he could wash them later. It was just two or three bowls, not worth starting the dishwasher again.

Li Yuze casually agreed, but after finishing, he threw the bowls into the dishwasher.

“What are you looking at?” Li Yuze asked as he supervised the dishwasher.

He Zhiqiu was studying the script, having made no progress after looking at it for a while. “I got a second audition invite for Pingsha, but it’s not for the third male lead I prepared for,” he explained, then sighed, “It would be great if someone could act with me. There’s a part here I just can’t figure out how to perform.”

Li Yuze sat quietly across from him for five minutes.

Seeing him so absorbed in the script, Li Yuze took out his phone, searched his name, and handed it to He Zhiqiu.

He Zhiqiu was confused but looked at the phone.

On the screen, there was Li Yuze’s personal profile, including his birthdate, his career after debut, and a series of impressive awards.

Li Yuze said, “Do you not want to act with me?”

He Zhiqiu suddenly understood his meaning, hurriedly saying, “No, no, that’s not what I meant.”

“The thing is, it’s almost midnight, and I’m afraid I’ll disturb your rest,” he said. When he said this, he hadn’t really thought it through, focused entirely on how to convey the best emotions for the role. He might not have even realized what he said.

Li Yuze responded sarcastically with an “Oh” and then self-deprecatingly added, “So in your eyes, I’m just a pig that eats and sleeps?”

He Zhiqiu blinked and quickly put the script down, shaking his head.

“Then why can’t I act with you?”

Li Yuze said, “Do you look down on me?”