244: Where's Qin Ling?

Where's Qin Ling?

Director Zhang had already decided that he wouldn't show any favors or partialness to his niece.1

Yet, because of Xu Lei's sudden appearance at the audition, he just broke one of the principles he established upon himself.

But now, even his niece, made him lose face!

The crew saw that Director Zhao was having trouble with his niece, the supposed second female lead in the movie, and they couldn't help but look at the closed doors of the filming studio where the rest of the actors and actresses were waiting.

Deep inside, they already knew that Director Zhao just had lost some points in the duel for the second female lead role.

Xu Lei slowly came out of the dressing room, wearing a light blue dress. She had her hair done with hair extensions attached to her hair to make it look longer. The movie was set in a historical tone and so the dresses and hair had to match to the setting. After looking at the crowd of actors, actresses and extras at the waiting area, she walked towards a young girl in a maid's outfit.

With a smile on her face, she asked after looking at the clock against the wall, "Hello, has the ceremony still not started?"

Mao Hualing, the third female lead, heard a euphonic voice from behind her. She looked at the person speaking to her, and nodded dazedly, "Yes, but there seems to be trouble."

Xu Lei blinked her thick, full eyelashes and asked innocently, "What trouble?"

Mao Hualing gulped and looked around her before lowering her voice. She whispered, "Meng Chen and Qin Ling still haven't come. Meng Chen already said that she'll be here any minute. But Qin Ling... I don't know if she'll arrive on time."

Mao Hualing paused and shut her mouth. She heard of the gossip in the movie during the audition. Of course, she knew that Xu Lei was here to contend against Qin Ling for the second lead role.

Finally knowing the reason why the ceremony still hasn't begun, Xu Lei looked down as she contemplated in silence. Then a second later, she patted Mao Hualing's shoulder and said, "Sister Hualing, don't be too anxious. I'm sure they'll come on time. Meng Chen is not the kind of person who will make the crew wait."

This was true. Meng Chen was praised among all the crews she joined for being on time. Even when she's stranded in a traffic jam, she will find other means to come to the filming site no matter what. Even in the past, Meng Chen was always like this so Xu Lei was not worried.

As for Qin Ling...

Xu Lei secretly showed a sardonic smile. She didn't really care whether Qin Ling would arrive or not.

*

Inside a hotel suite.

Qin Ling groggily opened her eyes and wiped away the drool that slid down on the left side of her cheeks. She blinked her eyes and felt a surge of headache in her head as soon as she sat up.

Last night, she and her friends had gone out to a club and they spent the entire night drinking and dancing.

'Bang, bang!'

"Mother! What time is it now?" Qin Ling turned away from the door and went inside the room without looking back. She went through the closet and threw a dress to the bed. She heard her mother say, "It's already 9:30 in the morning," from behind her.

"What?!!"

Qin Ling couldn't believe it. The booting ceremony would start at around eight in the morning. The latest the crew could wait for a missing member of the production was thirty to an hour long. However, the movie "The Great Empress' Love'' was adapted from a novel that had millions of fans all over the world. Thus, the importance of being punctual was even more serious.

"Why didn't you come any sooner and wake me up!" Qin Ling shifted the blame to her mother for her lateness.

Qin Ling's mother couldn't reply to her daughter's shamelessness. However, at this point, she couldn't really scold her daughter and tell her it wasn't her mother's fault but hers, alone. Qin Ling's mother helped the young actress to get ready.

"Wait!" Qin Ling raised her voice and stopped all her actions.

Her mother also stopped with her arms raised in midair, "What's wrong?"

Qin Ling whitened as she screamed, "Makeup! I just woke up and my makeup from last night has ruined my face! Quick, call the head makeup artist in F Salon!"

"Are you kidding me?" Mother Qin smacked her daughter's arm and told her, "Forget about the makeup, just wash your face and apply light makeup! There's no time for you to call for a makeup artist."

They were way too late to come in time for the ceremony. Where did she find the need to look for a makeup artist?

However, Qin Lin's stubbornness came pouring out and she was determined to get a makeup artist to doll her up, "No! I won't step out of this room if there's no makeup artist who will help me fix my makeup!"

"You...!"

Qin Ling sat on the edge of the bed and crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking very resolute in having a makeup artist come and do her makeup.

Mother Qin knew her daughter. Without any choice, she called her secretary and ordered her to get a makeup artist.

*

At the booting ceremony.

The directors lined up and held the incense in their hands and bowed a few times. This was a way to drive away any misfortune or evil spirits from the shooting site and also to ask the heavens for blessings and fortune. The actors and actresses were also provided with these incense and did the same thing.

After a while, the directors let the reporters and journalists come forward to question the main casts.

As one of the main casts, Xu Lei was needed at the front. The flashing of the cameras was too familiar to her and she felt a sense of pride for standing once again in front of the media.

"The novel 'The Great Empress Love' is loved by many fans all over the world. Directors, are you planning to follow through the novel and not make any changes?" One of the reporters asked. He motioned for the camera to capture the faces of the directors who would soon answer his question.

Director Chi nodded his head in response, "Yes, the directors and producers already thought that the novel is a masterpiece. So, we didn't make any major changes. I'm sure all the fans of the original novel will also fall in love with the movie."

The reporters and production team were satisfied with the answer that came from Director Chi. As soon as he was done, the questions continued to rain on them until one reporter came forward and made everyone silent with his question.

"Several media sources released an article, revealing the casts of the movie a week ago. However, amongst the actors and actress written by these media sources, I don't seem to see the actress Qin Ling."

Looking left and right, the reporter ended his question after saying, "Were there some changes in the casts?"

Xu Lei let a small smile appear on her lips. Looking around at the crew and director who looked as if they had just taken a bitter pill, she let her smile become even more natural-looking and ignored the odd glances that everyone was sending at each other.

Director Zhao, who was connected to the actress Qin Ling, couldn't answer the question even if he wanted to. What else could he say? That the articles were true? But then, where was his niece? Where was the actress Qin Ling that should have been part of the cast in the movie.

Even if he had nine lives like a cat, Director Zhao didn't have enough face to rip apart. And so, he couldn't answer this question without thinking too deeply on what he should answer to the reporter, who was looking forward to his response.

"Oh? What article? How is it that I have never heard or seen them at all?" Director Lan took the reporter's attention away from Director Zhao. Director Zhao was about to feel thankful towards him, but when he heard Director Lan's next words, he almost couldn't stop himself from shouting at him. Turning to the directors on his side, Director Lan smiled, "Directors, have we ever released an article about the movie? Production team?"

The crew and directors who were standing idly and hoping not to be included in the battlefield were hit by a stray bullet. They never expected that Director Lan would drag them to the battlefield like this.

"Hahaha..."

"Did we?"

Director Lan smiled mysteriously at them, compelling them to give an answer he was satisfied with.

"Ah! Yes, I remember now. We were planning to release an article but Miss Peng said that we should conceal all the information about the cast and the filming so that the fans wouldn't get any spoilers," Director Chi chuckled.

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