Chapter 23: 223. First Audition

Usually, if Wei Changfeng was drunk the night before, then Qi Le’an would sleep late in the next day.

There was a scene of utter confusion last night. A second ago, Qi Le’an had said that Wei Changfeng was too bold and that if they were seen by the media after he opened the window, they would be done for! The next second, Wei Changfeng pinned him to the bed and kissed him with a smile.

As a result, Qi Le’an naturally got up slowly after ten the next day.

When he woke up, Wei Changfeng was calling someone in the living room. Qi Le’an saw that it was a video chat from afar and quickly flashed to the bathroom to wash up. After that, Wei Changfeng already hung up.

“Is there any good news?” Qi Le’an asked when he saw Wei Changfeng’s smile.

Wei Changfeng kissed him and said, “Mom and Dad will be back in two days.”

Qi Le’an was surprised, “They will be back? Won’t they hold a celebration for Snowball’s first month birthday? When they left, they even said that they would go back to celebrate Snowball being one month old!”

Wei Changfeng smiled at Qi Le’an and Qi Le’an reacted, “Sis Xin’an and Brother Sheng will also come back, won’t they?”

Wei Changfeng nodded.

“When are they coming back? Should we pick them up?” Qi Le’an then asked, “Should we book a hotel to hold the celebration for baby’s first month birthday?”

As the grandson of the Sheng Family and the Wei Family, the celebration for Snowball’s first month birthday must be extraordinary after he returned home.

“Gary will arrange to pick them up, so we won’t go there, otherwise it will attract too much media,” Wei Changfeng said, “There are hotels that often cooperate with our family, and we don’t need to make special arrangements either.”

Qi Le’an nodded and smiled. “What should I prepare then?”

Wei Changfeng laid out the breakfast for Qi Le’an and said, “Have you been worried about what a wife is going to do before marrying me?”

Qi Le’an, “…Wei Sama!” Wei Sama really liked teasing him!

Wei Changfeng laughed and said, “Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. How far have you got with the Ministry of Public Security?”

Qi Le’an said, “It’s already done.”

The Ministry of Public Security asked Qi Le’an to take some photos and he had attended several events to publicize the fight against the abduction. Then it almost had nothing to do with him.

Wei Changfeng asked again, “Then do you want to go to cast actors with me?”

“Wow,” Qi Le’an exclaimed, “Can I go too?”

Wei Changfeng said, “As the wife of the director, why can’t you go?”

Qi Le’an immediately blushed. He felt that Wei Changfeng was… especially fond of taking advantage of him today!

Wei Sama’s personality would change every time he drank!

There were only three main characters in “Abduction of Child”. One of them was the protagonist, Chen Guai, who had being sold by traffickers since childhood, and his personality was silent and depressed, which made him look like a bad guy. The trafficker just raised him, but he had been inculcating a wrong outlook on life in the boy since childhood, which made Chen Guai become eccentric and act strangely. However, he had a clear distinction between good and evil underneath, and he was also eager to have a real family.

He ignored the actions of the trafficker, but he was moved by a father who had been looking for his son many times and finally came through for him. Not only did he save others, he also saved himself.

The father who impressed him was the supporting male lead in the film. He had been looking for his son for ten years but he still soldiered on. This person was a microcosm of all fathers around the world. He could hold his life-saving money and refused to give it to the liar. Even though he was badly battered about the head and face, he still said that the money was his child’s hope. But then he could also give the money to a boy who suffered from leukemia and cried while donating.

He was cowardly but also tough. He was very fickle but stubborn. From this character, Qi Le’an vaguely saw the shadow of He Guang.

The third person was the trafficker himself. He was still a man of sturdy build when Chen Guai was a child. He always scolded and beat the kids who were kidnapped and he traumatized all the children. He was like a tyrant who had been oppressing Chen Guai every day for ten years, making him unable to resist. But a villain would also be affected by time. The trafficker became old and couldn’t do anything. He refused to say how many crimes he had committed over the years, but he still wanted Chen Guai to provide for him and attend upon him when he was dying.

This character was a villain, and the actor playing him should have a solid foundation in performance.

In fact, the three protagonists in the film had basically been casted by the crew. Apart from Qi Le’an, the role of the father would be played by a middle-aged veteran award-winning actor. As for the trafficker, the crew was also preparing to invite a skilled actor in showbiz. It could be said that if it was confirmed when the movie would be released, there would be no problem in the cast of it.

Apart from the three protagonists, Wei Changfeng was preparing to hold a first audition to choose the actors for other characters, including the few children’s roles.

“Brother Zhi has already arranged it. And the entry for the first audition is large,” Wei Changfeng said to Qi Le’an with his computer on, “After screening the candidates on the Internet, there are more than three hundred children left.”

Qi Le’an was shocked by the number and asked, “Are there so many candidates? Can you cope with them?”

Wei Changfeng smiled and said, “Of more than three hundred candidates, two hundred will be eliminated in the preliminary, fifty will be eliminated in the reexamination, and finally fifty will be left to have a careful assessment.”

Qi Le’an thought about the huge workload of it.

Wei Changfeng said jokingly, “If you see which child is cute by then, just tell me directly. I will let him pass the audition personally.”

Qi Le’an rolled his eyes and said, “I think…a child like Wei Sama is the cutest!”

Wei Changfeng smiled and said, “Then you have to wait for Snowball to grow up.” Cousins often looked like their uncles, and everyone said that Snowball’s eyes and eyebrows were similar to that of Wei Changfeng when he was young. He didn’t know if Sheng Chang’an would feel uncomfortable or not about it.

Qi Le’an could not help but smile.

Wei Changfeng said it was easy to choose actors, but it was very difficult to gather all the children around the country. Finally, he discussed with Brother Zhi and set three main places for the first audition: Beijing, Hai City and Hebei. Then they informed the families to go to the nearest place. Each contestant would get a subsidy of two hundred yuan for fare and accommodation.

On the day of the first audition in Beijing, Qi Le’an followed Wei Sama to the spot. The announcement of the first audition said that Wei Changfeng would not be there, but this conscientious director had been sitting behind to secretly watch every child’s performance.

Qi Le’an had thought that there would be a lot of spoiled kids crying on the scene, but after he went there, he had to admit that children were really clever and versatile now.

Some performed Chinese crosstalk and some sang a ballad. A little boy performed a hip-hop dance while a little girl in a traditional Chinese costume played the Chinese Zither. Their performances really put Qi Le’an to shame.

“If I participate in the first audition, I will definitely be eliminated in the online trial,” Qi Le’an joked.

On the side, Brother Zhi agreed, “Yeah, my child also has many extra-curricular classes a day. The last time I went back, he was still learning to play the piano. This time, he changed to learn to play the Chinese lute. I really don’t know what his mother is thinking.”

The staff laughed, and echoed that the pressure on children was too great now.

“But according to my experience, the quality of children in Beijing is higher,” Brother Zhi said, “The number of them is also the largest.”

There were about two hundred children at the scene, which was two-thirds of the total.

The result wouldn’t be released that day. According to Wei Changfeng, every child would be scored and then be listed in descending order. In the process, there were naturally many closely-related men who wanted their own children to pass the first audition. Some of the parents of underage stars even found Qi Le’an and wanted him to pull strings, but they were all rejected.

After they went back home at night, Qi Le’an asked, “Wei Sama, is there any child whom you like today?”

Wei Changfeng smiled and shook his head, “The children are not bad, but… none of them is the one I want.”

Qi Le’an frowned and said, “Just keep on looking; there are still one hundred children.”

As for the remaining children in Hai City and Hebei, the crew was ready to finish the first auditions there in two days, and they would first confirm the underage actors before September.

Qi Le’an only followed Wei Changfeng to Hai City and was left to have dinner with Chen Mama. She even mysteriously said, “Wow! Changfeng, you want to look for a little actor for the filming?! Hurry up and take Chen Shan’s sister away!”

Chen Shan’s sister babbled, “I know how to deliver a nursery rhyme!”

Qi Le’an smiled and hugged Chen Shan’s sister, “What is the nursery rhyme? Sing it for us.”

Thus, his sister stood in front of the adults and started singing the nursery rhyme, making everyone laugh with amusement. After singing, she even looked at Wei Changfeng shyly and then walked behind Chen Shan.

Chen Shan was tall and he looked down at his sister and said, “You’re ugly. Wei Sama won’t want you.”

His sister pouted and started crying loudly. Chen Mama was so annoyed that she patted her son and said angrily, “If your sister’s thoughts become distorted when she grows up, it would be entirely your fault! The infant psychiatrist has said that people could not talk to children like this!”

Chen Shan also pitied his sister, but he just couldn’t resist saying something unpleasant. Knowing that he had done something wrong, he ran away and sat down beside.

Qi Le’an almost fell about laughing. In the end, it was Wei Changfeng who hugged Chen Shan’s sister and coaxed her in a gentle voice, “Do you want to be a little actress?”

Qi Le’an looked at Wei Changfeng. A lot of closely-related men had been rejected by Wei Changfeng before, so he couldn’t break the rule here.

His sister blinked and there were still teardrops on her eyelashes. She said in a child-like voice, “Teacher has called me to deliver the nursery rhyme and even asked me to play in Snow White!”

Wei Changfeng exclaimed, “Wow! Did you play the role Snow White Princess?”

Chen Shan uttered a snorting laugh from afar, “She was playing a tree next to them.” As for the role of the tree, she even clenched her fists and went to the kindergarten to fight for it after wailing at home!

Qi Le’an didn’t know what to say and thought to himself, ‘If I had such a brother, I would probably be pissed off by him.’

Wei Changfeng held Chen Shan’s sister and turned his body round and round, “But it’s very hard to be a little actor or actress. You can’t play with toys or eat snacks. Do you still want to be a little actress?”

Chen Shan’s sister blinked and hesitated.

Chen Mama smiled at the side. “Don’t do that. It’s just talk. If she really goes to play in your movie, you would do a losing business and then she would come back wailing.”

Qi Le’an said, “How can it be? But it’s really tiring to act. We don’t want sister to suffer.”

The crew must be messy and chaotic and the children would pretend to be kidnapped and threatened by then, so he would even feel sorry for Chen Shan’s sister if she was really put in the movie!

At this moment, Chen Shan’s sister suddenly said, “I want to act as a princess!”

Wei Changfeng smiled and said, “Okay, I will look for you to play it if I want to make a movie about princess in the future, okay?”

Chen Shan’s sister’s gaze sharpened and said, “Okay!”

Wei Changfeng really stretched out his finger to pinky swear with Chen Shan’s sister. Qi Le’an could not help but be touched as he watched the adult and the child have an agreement.

The result of being touched was that he became idle the next day. He just took Chen Shan’s sister to play in the amusement park in Hai City for a day and left Wei Sama alone to go to Hebei.

Wei Sama didn’t mind this. He generously expressed that Qi Le’an always had to pay back his debts. He already had found out about the seductive clothes and interesting toys hidden at home a long time ago.