Chapter 696: Chapter 39: The Cannon Fodder Actress Opposing the Slacker Female Lead (Part 39)

Even though they were competitors, everyone was in awe of Jiang Lai’s performance.

The gap was so wide that it was beyond comparison, and naturally, the excellent person deserved some applause.

The three directors on stage, one main and two assistants, gently clapped their hands.

After having a brief conversation together, the main director looked at Jiang Lai’s information and nodded.

The only one left dumbfounded and in disbelief was Lu Huan.

At first, she watched the spectacle relaxed, then listened cautiously, and finally looked around in astonishment.

"It’s not... don’t you all find it strange? How could she memorize such a long passage in such a short time and deliver it so fluently?"

In her panic, Lu Huan even felt like she was dreaming.

Because everything happening in front of her was too unbelievable.

Jiang Lai not only memorized all the lines but also performed so well.

So she couldn’t help but seek confirmation from those around her, like a drowning person grabbing onto a lifeline, fearing that no one else found it strange.

The others looked at her with puzzled expressions.

"Didn’t you memorize everything as well?"

"I... I did, but my passage was shorter."

"What’s the difference? They were all drawn randomly, and you only used fifteen minutes.

But your performance wasn’t as good as hers. Her acting was so impressive, while for others, remembering lines is a little bonus, for her, it was entirely a scoring advantage, even coordinating perfectly with pauses and the sound of swallowing.

Truly amazing, I’ve never realized how talented Jiang Lai was."

Lu Huan stared wide-eyed, speechless.

She used fifteen minutes, but that was because she had been memorizing for more than half a month.

But what did Jiang Lai have to back it up?

And she was bringing this up to incite others to question Jiang Lai, not to sit here praising her performance!

Seeing the directors on stage still discussing, Lu Huan was getting anxious.

She knew very well how good Jiang Lai’s performance was, which was exactly why she was even more unwilling to accept it.

She had spent money to bribe connections to get the script in advance.

What about Jiang Lai?

Jiang Lai... Right! She must have spent money too!! Otherwise, how could she have memorized so many lines in such a short time!

As soon as the second audition ended, Lu Huan blocked Jiang Lai at the door.

"I didn’t expect you to be so good. It’s one thing to bribe the directors on the show, but now you can even take shortcuts here. You must have bribed people here to get the script in advance, right?"

Jiang Lai looked at her frenzied with rage, leaning calmly against the door with a composed expression.

"You mean, just because I memorized the lines, it means I must have bribed the director.

So you memorized the lines too, does that logically mean you bribed them as well?

You got the script in advance, spent a month or half a month memorizing it, and still recited it awkwardly with no emotion, someone might even think you were reciting a textbook.

Is that what you mean?"

"You... you stop talking nonsense! Be careful, I might sue you for defamation!"

"Right back at you, if you don’t watch your mouth, I can also sue you for defamation."

"You... you..."

Jiang Lai slapped away her hand pointing at her with an indifferent expression.

"What do you mean, me? Even knowing the answers in advance, if you perform this poorly, if I were you, I’d be sitting on the ground slapping myself."

Finishing, Jiang Lai waved to someone not far away and then lightly left a remark before leaving.

"The director is calling me."

She raised an eyebrow, eyes full of confidence.

"Jiang Lai!!!"

"Shouting and screaming in public, be careful, someone might call the police on you."

With that, Jiang Lai walked away without looking back.

Unsurprisingly, the main director made a decision on the spot, choosing Jiang Lai as the lead actress. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The negotiations were delightful, and Jiang Lai signed the contract right then and there.

Her manager was waiting outside.

Seeing that her artist had not come out for a long time, Jiang Lai’s manager was getting a little anxious.

Mrs. Lu, observing inside, maintained a composed demeanor, but then looked at the woman next to her and spoke with a cold tone.

"There’s really no need to waste time here, what are you still hoping for? Do you think a miracle is going to happen?"

Hearing this, the manager felt a surge of anger igniting inside her.

"People shouldn’t be so overconfident, at least leave themselves a way out."

"The way out is for people like you, we have been progressing all along, there’s no need to retreat.

Your artist is called Jiang Lai, right? She’s quite good, but at this age, if she doesn’t make a mark, it will probably be tough for her to mix in this circle in the future."

Hearing this, the manager realized they were targeting Jiang Lai.

"You better take care of your own daughter; she came out so early, maybe it didn’t work out."

At that moment, Lu Huan came out, eyes red, clearly having cried.

Seeing her like this, Mrs. Lu’s heart sank heavily; she quickly masked her panic with a facade and stepped forward to whisper sternly.

"Why are you crying? What’s going on?!"

Surrounded by people, Lu Huan didn’t want to talk at all, she kept a straight face and was about to leave.

Mrs. Lu sensed something was wrong and followed her, moving forward.

"I’m talking to you!"

"What’s there to say? Jiang Lai bribed the leaders too; she must have spent more than us! She was chosen!!"

"What?!! You mean Jiang Lai was chosen?!"

Mrs. Lu, only realizing now, was like being struck by lightning, taking a while to understand what "Jiang Lai was chosen" truly meant.

It meant all the hard-earned money from selling the house and car went down the drain.

It meant the opportunity her daughter lost was taken by the artist Jiang Lai, whom she had just looked down upon.

"What’s wrong with you?!! How could you let someone else snatch this away?!!"

An impossible task during the second audition, mainly paving the way for Lu Huan.

The script was given to her, the scenes told to her, she even met the original comic author.

The news articles online had been published; everyone was buzzing about the next heroine for the superhero movie series being confirmed, and Lu Huan’s name was being fervently mentioned, basically, everyone online assumed Lu Huan was the star.

But now she was told, the lead went up in smoke.

"Mom, what should we do? Maybe you can talk to that person again, let’s offer more money and have them replace Jiang Lai."

"Offer more money?! Where’s the money? I sold the house for you!! Where is there still money to grease those palms?"

Lu Huan hadn’t realized the seriousness of the situation.

She never lacked money growing up, so she had no concept of ’having no money’.

"Don’t we have other properties? Sell them; I made so much money acting before, when is a better time to use it than now?"

Mrs. Lu couldn’t keep her calm at all.

"You think you made so much? Have you ever thought about how much you spent, Lu Huan, you useless waste!

How did I end up birthing such a failure! Everything was paved for you, and you still lost."