Rebirth: Once Again With You

The audition finally ended, and among more than one hundred participants, they could count down the candidates into two people. It was Ning Shan and Ye Bing.

Li Caiyi could understand Ning Shan, but why Ye Bing? Many other actresses performed better than her.

"Ning Shan is excellent, but she is still far too inexperienced for the lead role. Looking at her past record, she usually only got a small role. Although her interpretation of Si Yan is fresh, Ye Bing's acting is much closer to what the audience had in mind."

"I disagree. Except for her crying act, Ye Bing basically couldn't express the confusion of anxiety of Si Yan any better than the other contestants. It showed that she actually didn't understand her assignment in depth. Ning Shan showed a wide variety of emotions in a minute, giving a whole other dimension to the character. Besides, if you only look at her crying skill alone, there were many other contestants who did it better than her."

Li Caiyi watched how Ma Heng and Director Shen argued. She couldn't believe there would be a day when she would agree with the Director on something.

"Director Shen, let me be frank with you, but we can't afford to fail this movie. There are a lot of expectations, and choosing Ye Bing would give us safer choices, "The middle-aged woman interjected. "She is a rising actress with many fans looking forward to her appearance in this movie. Having her as the female lead will bring good commercial value to our side. Besides, Ye Bing is much more good-looking than Ning Shan. This is probably a shallow reason, but you know the audience attracted more to pretty people."

Director Shen's face turned darker the more they talked. "If all you care about is commercial value, why bother creating an audition then? You should have made it a private casting, or better yet, just decided on the cast by yourself from the beginning. Why waste everyone's time?"

He sneered before continuing, "Why? Because you also know it doesn't make any sense, right? Are you even hearing yourself right now?"

Ma Heng looked offended as he rebutted. "Director Shen, I appreciate your skill as a Director, but I don't think you understand very well what the investors wanted. We never said that Ning Shan is unskilled. We can let her have other roles other than the female lead. That should be enough for her, right?"

Director Shen was so angry he couldn't say anything back. Swallowing his anger, he shifted his gaze to Li Caiyi.

"What do you think about this, Miss Li Caiyi? As the scriptwriter, who is the more suitable to take on Si Yan's role?"

All eyes were on her immediately, making her feel like she was sitting on the pin and needles. However, her answer was already decided from the beginning.

"I'm just a scriptwriter. I know little of the filming industry and am judged solely by their acting skill. And I have to agree with Director Shen here."

Director Shen grinned in satisfaction before saying provocatively, "Did you hear that? She is the one who has a deeper knowledge of the character than anyone. Even if you wanted to ignore my opinion, you should at least listen to her."

Ma Heng and the middle-aged woman's faces scrunched in displeasure. Director Shen really knew how to pissed people off.

The heated atmosphere fell into a stalemate with the addition of Li Caiyi's vote. They had no choice but to turn to Dai Zhiqiang as their last hope.

"Mr. Dai Zhiqiang, right? What do you think of this matter?" Ma Heng asked him. "Who do you think is more suitable for the female lead's role?"

Li Caiyi also turned her attention to him; she was curious about what he thought about this.

Dai Zhiqiang looked up after hearing his name being mentioned. Previously, he couldn't care less about what they decided.

"First, please pardon my ignorance because I know nothing about how the filming industry works as well. I joined this project because I believed in the Director and scriptwriter's skills. This should be enough to tell you which opinion I'd rather support, right?"

Director Shen laughed boisterously, while Ma Heng seemed like he had been forced to eat socks. The former's following words were akin to pouring oil on fire too.

"Please don't say that. Your keen judgment will be the savior of this project. An unbiased perspective is the best. Hahaha!"

That concluded the first audition for the female lead, Si Yan. There would be another audition for the male lead the next day, but Li Caiyi had enough drama in the meantime. She intended to go home quickly and rest when she noticed Dai Zhiqiang talking with Director Shen in the hallway.

They stood near the window while she was hidden behind the wall in the corner. She was conflicted about whether she should greet them goodbye or not when she suddenly heard them mention her name.

"I should say I was skeptical at first. But what happened today proved that choosing Miss Li Caiyi as the scriptwriter is the correct choice. It was all thanks to your suggestion." Director Shen said gratefully to Dai Zhiqiang.

Li Caiyi's eyes widened in shock upon hearing that. Was it Dai Zhiqiang who recommended her to Director Shen?

At first, she had this conceited assumption that Dai Zhiqiang probably decided to get involved in this project because of her, but this proved her wrong. It was THANKS to him that Director Shen reached out to her to write the script for the movie.

"No, it's nothing. I merely suggest to you a good writer that I know. She attained your recognition by her own ability after that."

Director Shen nodded. "She is a promising young talent. I probably have to look out for her more in the future."

What exactly happened here? Since when did Dai Zhiqiang have such power? In the six years when they couldn't meet, what exactly happened to him in that span of time?

Various thoughts swirled in her mind. She didn't know if this was good news or bad news.

Li Caiyi remembered Dai Zhiqiang's tragic end, and an unsettled feeling grew in her gut.

Did it finally start? The road to his destruction.

Six years ago, Li Caiyi failed to prevent him from leaving. After that, he disappeared without a trace, with no way for her to contact him. She spent a lot of sleepless nights before she could finally return to her normal lifestyle.

Now that he had returned, she got sidetracked by her feelings and forgot that there were still many unsolved things, like preventing him from going down the same path.

A lot of things had changed from their previous life, and Li Caiyi hoped it did something to change Dai Zhiqiang's life. However, if it wasn't enough, then Li Caiyi had to do something.

Come to think of it, why did Dai Zhiqiang decide to return to S country? Could the reason be related to Xia Rouyue, or something else entirely?

Whether he liked it or not, Li Caiyi had to talk with him after this.