Getting On the Bandwagon
Stephen is staggered at the sight, "What a display! King Guan is frigging awesome! I can't believe I'm qualified to come here today for the auditions!"
"Is that all you aim for! Come on, let's be a bit more ambitious. With three thousand people, it will surely be our turn to get a piece of the action!" Chow Mingrun is still quite confident.
"But the three of us haven't been in any films, can we really do it?" Waylon asks doubtfully.
Chow Mingrun says complacently, "True, YOU haven't been in any films, but your director Yuan Ge has and your boss Chow Mingrun has!"
"What? Boss, aren't you used to be a singer? How come you've made films too?" Chestnut looks incredulous.
Chow Mingrun laughs, "Little Chestnut, you underestimated your boss! I was also one of the lead actors in our company's debut film, which won an award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. Although the film was not released in domestic cinemas, it is still internationally renowned, okay?" Speaking of his achievements, Chow Mingrun is very proud of himself and continues to brag, "So you guys have to be grateful to your director Yuan Ge and your boss, me, for the opportunity you have today! …"
Before Chow Mingrun can finish his words, a well-known girl group has appeared on the red carpet at the entrance of the mansion, its upbeat rhythm and hot dance moves immediately attracting the attention of all the media.
"Boss, I've heard that this movie is a big production of a historical costume drama. It's rumoured that King Guan likes tough action dramas, not chick flicks, so how come they've got a girl group here to do the singing and dancing?" Waylon asks.
"It's all a marketing ploy." Yuan Ge replies on the side.
"That's right. This film is the first big production Arthur Guan has led since his return to China. With huge investment and a top-notch production team, it has to be a blockbuster, the king of hits and traffic. Even if you can't be an actor in it, appearing in this film as a singer or a dancer could still help you become an A-lister, or even be picked up by a sponsor for a commercial that could also make you a hit! So don't think that singers will just pass up such a great opportunity. Look how hard these girls are twirling their bodies!"
Chow Mingrun whistles towards the girls on the red carpet. As a former boy band singer, he knows how to liven up the atmosphere in such situations. Unsurprisingly, the girls dance even more vigorously on the red carpet and get more photo opportunities from the media.
"Remember, never be coy or timid when facing an occasion like this. Learn from these people. Fake it until you make it! If you can put on a brave face, you've already won half the battle! As long as there's exposure, there's no need to care about whose stage it really is. Remember, all publicities are good publicities! A national audition like The Voice of China, that's a lot bigger than this, so there's nothing to be afraid of. We're going to do everything we can to get on King Guan's bandwagon." Chow Mingrun looks at his rookies worriedly and instructs them like a mother hen.
"That's right. Once the news of the auditions came out, the share price of King Guan Entertainment had almost doubled in just two days! What a pity though, this pig brain of mine was way too conservative and I bought too few shares!" Du Jinghai has always had a keen interest in the stock market.
"Old Dude, when you make money this time, you must treat everyone to hot pot!" Chow Mingrun doesn't forget to tease him.
As the group walks towards the main gate, they see a tall and majestic stone lion towering to each side of the imposing vermillion gate. Pointing to the stone lion, Yuan Ge smiles at Chestnut and says, "Chestnut, if you are interested, you can count the curly hair bumps on the tops of the heads of those two lions. There must be twelve rows of them, indicating it's a prince's residence."
Hearing this, Chestnut goes go up and count the curly hair bumps on top of one of the lions. Afterwards, she looks at Yuan Ge with wide eyes, in total amazement.
King Guan's staff are rigorously checking the entry qualifications at the gate. After looking at the golden invitation card handed over by Chow Mingrun, they still insist that the number of entrants must be strictly in accordance with the size of the company, and since DDP only has three actors for the audition, only one team lead and one instructor are allowed to accompany them. Chow Mingrun has no choice but to let Amélie Jiang and Du Jinghai stay behind.
"Sorry guys, you'll have to wait for our good news."
"Fat Chow, you guys go right in, don't worry about us! We'll just wait outside. Call us as soon as there's any news!" Du Jinghai didn't want to go in to suffer the boring wait in the first place, and now he can justifiably not to suffer it any more. He is only too happy to take Amélie to the Shichahai Park to enjoy some culinary delights.
"Something fishy going on!" Seeing those two leave leisurely, Chow Mingrun makes a face.
Du Jinghai's pursuit of Amélie is the worst kept secret at Dragon Dreams. The three young actors have been with the company for some time now, and they all smile knowingly when they see this.