"So she was taken advantage of. What a shame, a perfectly good flower stuck in cow dung," Zhang Sui chuckled.
Xiao Qi looked at her, confused.
Zhang Sui showed Xiao Qi the trending news. "I was wondering why Nine would support a nobody like this. Turns out she wants to pursue Xing Di. To avoid suspicion, she even picked Liu Wenwen, a newcomer, as a decoy."
Xiao Qi was skeptical. "Those gossip accounts are just making things up. Didn't they say Nine is over forty?"
"So it's an older cow eating young grass. Disgusting," Zhang Sui sneered, her gaze drifting towards the staff. "Which one is Nine? We haven't seen her all this time."
Xiao Qi also looked over. Someone wearing a mask stood in a corner. Though inconspicuous, her figure was clearly good. The others didn't fit the rumored image of Nine.
"She probably hasn't shown her face," Xiao Qi said.
"She's definitely too ugly to show her face," Zhang Sui scoffed.
Xiao Qi felt a pang of disappointment. "The script is really well-written. I didn't expect her to be like this. What a waste of talent."
As soon as he finished speaking, they heard Jiang Nan Chen call Xing Di and Liu Wenwen to the stage.
All eyes turned to Xing and Liu again, and the venue fell silent once more.
Liu Wenwen "looked" at the sword before her, her face resolute, yet her eyes flickered with a hint of fear.
Despite this, she gritted her teeth and stood her ground, unmoving.
A voiceover commanded, "Move aside, or die."
"No," Liu Wenwen's sweet voice trembled, yet carried a stubborn defiance.
The live stream immediately flooded with comments like "Cowardly yet brave."
As the sword pierced her flesh, Liu Wenwen cried out in pain, tears streaming down her face. But she gritted her teeth and remained silent. Only when the sword was pulled out did she stagger back a few steps, her face contorted in agony, yet she uttered no sound.
Xing Di, standing behind her, immediately stepped forward and caught her as she was about to fall.
Liu Wenwen burst into tears, greedily gazing at her beloved before her, weeping silently.
Xing Di's lips trembled. He held Liu Wenwen tightly, constantly wiping the blood from her face.
Liu Wenwen weakly cupped Xing Di's face, crying and smiling. "You big fool, don't cry. This is my fate, and I have no regrets."
Xing Di roared in a deep voice, "I won't let you die! Your life is mine, I won't allow it!"
There were no loud sobs, no contorted faces, only the most profound, suppressed anguish and emotions fitting the characters.
The camera perfectly captured the emotional shift, and the entire venue was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
Zhang Sui, who had been watching with a critical eye, now wore a distorted expression. She clenched her fists, grudgingly saying, "What kind of nonsensical acting is this? Crying is crying, laughing is laughing. What is crying and laughing at the same time? Trash."
Xiao Qi frowned, his attention drawn to Xing Di. While he initially believed his own performance was deeply moving, seeing Xing Di's performance, he had to admit that Xing Di was indeed superior.
He couldn't believe this eighteen-line unknown actually had some acting talent. Xiao Qi felt a surge of annoyance, but he remembered his persona and didn't reveal it, unlike Zhang Sui.
It's fine, it's not over yet. He had over ten million fans. If the director had the final say, he wouldn't be so confident, but in a public vote, he was sure he wouldn't lose to Xing Di, who had no fans.
Comforting himself this way, Xiao Qi's expression relaxed considerably, and he regained his usual air of aloof pride.
At this moment, someone let out a sob, breaking the silence. Everyone else snapped back to reality. They looked at each other, only to find that everyone was in tears.
The two performances, much like their costumes, clearly showed the difference in quality.
But this was a public vote. Compared to the unknown Xing Di and Liu Wenwen, Xiao Qi and Zhang Sui had a significant advantage. Many believed the roles would undoubtedly go to Xiao Qi and Zhang Sui.
Jiang Nan Chen, lost in thought for a while, finally remembered to call cut.
Xing Di and Liu Wenwen immediately dropped their expressions and stood up.
Wang Qiang stared at the two in a daze.
At that moment, he couldn't find any words to describe his feelings. His mind was filled with what Nine had said during the casting.
Xiao Qi couldn't hold on, Zhang Sui couldn't bear it. It was true.
...
In contrast to the silence in the venue, the tide in the live stream had completely turned.
"Xing Di and Liu Wenwen are like a dimensional attack."
"Their voices are also excellent; they don't even need dubbing."
"So natural and touching, I've cried my pillow wet."
... Various words of praise flooded the screen. Public relations manager Xiao Zhao, seeing this, quickly launched the voting channel.
Jiang Nan Chen, as the chief director, stepped forward to give his verdict on the performances of the two groups.
"I believe everyone has seen it clearly. Both groups are good actors, but Xing Di and Liu Wenwen better interpreted the characters and the story. Our directing team has five votes, and I personally announce that I vote for Xing Di and Liu Wenwen."
Zhang Sui, unwilling to accept defeat, forced a smile. "I'm sorry, Director Jiang, for disappointing you. It's just that there were too many distractions on set, and I couldn't calm myself. Plus, there were no props or set pieces, so I couldn't get into character at all."
So, the poor performance was due to the lack of props and set pieces. A wave of disdain swept through the venue and beyond.
Jiang Nan Chen directly retorted, "The performance conditions were the same for both groups. I don't think that's a reason for your poor performance."
Zhang Sui argued, "I'm not looking for excuses; I'm just clarifying the facts. Actors often need multiple takes to get a suitable one. Even veteran actors can't get it right in one take. A single scene proves nothing."
Wang Feifei, finding Jiang Nan Chen too accommodating, couldn't help but interject, "You're making excuses but won't admit it. Why did Xing Di and Liu Wenwen's group get it in one take? Don't tell me it's because they went first and didn't have an advantage. They went last and faced even greater pressure."
Zhang Sui's eyes were practically bulging with anger. She refused to back down. "It's a public vote anyway, so I'm not worried about being eliminated. I just feel this competition is unfair."
The third female lead, Liu Liu, then stepped forward. "Director Jiang, can I try for the role of the second female lead? I think I can do it."
Jiang Nan Chen glanced at Quan Jiu. In fact, Quan Jiu's initial choice for the second female lead was Liu Liu.
He nodded and had Liu Liu perform a scene as the second female lead. Then, to convince the audience and Zhang Sui, he had Liu Liu perform a scene with the male and female leads from both groups.
"Since you keep saying you're unconvinced, I'll give both groups another chance. This time, Xing Di and Liu Wenwen will go first."
Zhang Sui was secretly overjoyed. She had figured out the directing team's desired performance. While waiting, she conferred with Xiao Qi, "We'll imitate their acting later. You watch Xing Di's expressions and movements carefully."
Xiao Qi felt a surge of anger. What a joke, did he need to learn from someone who wasn't even an eighteen-line actor?
Despite his thoughts, he still observed Xing Di's performance.
Undoubtedly, Xing Di, Liu Wenwen, and Liu Liu cooperated perfectly.
Next, Zhang Sui and Xiao Qi took the stage. They also performed a scene with Liu Liu. With the experience from before, this time, both suppressed their individual characteristics and mimicked Xing Di and Liu Wenwen's expressions and movements, resulting in a much better performance than the first time.
They received applause from the cast and crew. Zhang Sui, having gained an advantage, still played coy. "Although I only performed at half my normal level, I'm satisfied. I apologize, but with live cameras present, it's truly impossible to perform at my full potential."
The crew and audience were tired of her. Her words were truly irritating.
However, in the live stream, the audience was not so polite. They saw through Zhang Sui and unleashed a barrage of insults. Zhang Sui, meanwhile, was still lost in her own perfect performance, feeling smug.
"Director Jiang, the voting results are out," Xiao Zhao projected the voting results onto the screen.
Everyone looked, only to be stunned by the massive gap in votes between the two groups.
One group had over three million votes, the other over twenty million. Presented as a bar graph, it was incredibly clear.
Only the voting results had been announced, but everyone instinctively assumed Zhang Sui and Xiao Qi had won. After all, their combined fan base was over twenty million, so the result was within expectations.
Liu Wenwen sighed apologetically, "I'm sorry, I dragged you down."
Xing Di returned to his usual nonchalant demeanor. "Not necessarily."
"It's like this, there's no chance anymore," Liu Wenwen sighed.
The crew members looked at the results with an expression of "as expected."
Li Qin sneered triumphantly, "After all this drama, didn't our Baby Qi win in the end? What was the point of all this, just to embarrass themselves?"
Zhao Mai also sighed. "I thought Nine really had a sharp eye. They've hyped her up too much before."
Wang Qiang also felt a sense of relief. Although from a professional standpoint, Xiao Qi and Zhang Sui's performances were indeed inferior to Xing Di and Liu Wenwen's, this was a public vote. To a large extent, it determined future box office trends. Those chosen by the public might not be the best, but they were definitely what the audience liked.
This was business.
Wang Qiang finally felt he had regained some face and no longer pressed the issue. He offered Quan Jiu an out. "Producer Quan's judgment is indeed good. Xing Di and Liu Wenwen are indeed more suitable for the role. However, the audience clearly prefers Xiao Qi and Zhang Sui. Since it's a public vote, Producer Quan shouldn't object anymore, right?"
Quan Jiu smiled faintly. "Naturally."
Her smile was calm and confident, as if the outcome was as she had predicted. How was this possible? Could it be that those three million votes were for the Xiao Qi and Zhang Sui group? That was simply ridiculous.
Wang Qiang sighed inwardly at their youthful impetuousness and then urged, "Quickly announce the final results."
Xiao Zhao responded with an "En," and clicked to the next step. Below the bar graphs with their vastly different heights, the names of the two groups immediately appeared.
The noisy venue instantly fell into an eerie silence.
Zhang Sui's triumphant smile froze on her face before she could even retract it.
Xiao Qi also slumped onto his chair in shock, staring blankly at the projection.
Xing Di and Liu Wenwen group: twenty-five million four hundred seventy thousand. Xiao Qi and Zhang Sui group: three million two hundred ten thousand.
How was this possible?
The entire venue was stunned.