A chance that won’t come twice

Lately, Jie Jie has been coming and going out of YNG's headquarters more frequently. After getting her pass, she could enter and leave without being held back at the gate by the guards. Some of them have even started to remember her and greeted whenever they met.

"Auditions will start by the beginning of next week. That day you will also meet director Ye Hao and the producers." Min Lee said while they were taking a break at the coffee machine.

Working on the script has been going smoothly. Min Lee found that collaborating with Jie Jie was an easy task. Unlike many other authors, Jie Jie was considerate and didn't have many unreasonable demands. She was also improving the script with unique ideas and gave reasonable assistance where it was necessary. He was pleasantly surprised at her working attitude as well. Although the person is quite strange sometimes, she never gave him a headache if it was work-related.

"Do I have to be there for the auditions?" Jie Jie asked.

Well, sometimes, though, he couldn't tell if she just doesn't care...

In moments like this, a typical author should be much more interested in the casting of the actors for their characters. But Jie Jie had no desire to attend.

"Yes, of course! Even though you won't officially attend as the author, your opinion remains valuable. As the author, you must have an impression of your characters. It is best if we could find people who will fit the role."

"Eh..." Jie Jie doesn't sound like she was convinced just yet. "You have all the descriptions of the characters already."

"It's not like we chose based on looks only!" Min Lee defended. This was actually the first time in his life he felt like begging an author to go to auditions. Why can't she care a little bit more? Didn't she call the book her baby or something like that?

"You don't?" Jie Jie was not convinced. Her belief was that everything screen related was based on looks, and looks only.

"Looks are important, but we need to find people who look natural in their roles. What's more important is the vibe they give off. That's why not necessarily all actors resemble their role descriptions. And more important is to find actors who have chemistry next to each other. Especially if it comes to notable pairings. Naturally, there will be angered fans when their favourite character looks nothing like the description, but sometimes that can't be helped."

"So, I have to come?"

"Yes! It's not like you have something else to do, right?" If any other author had said that they couldn't make it or would leave anything to them, Min Lee would probably rejoice. But somehow he felt challenged when Jie Jie doesn't show any interest in the production. The human brain was indeed a strange pit of contradictions and inconsistencies.

"Ugh..." Jie Jie couldn't admit that she had a side job, could she?

"I will be there..."

People thought that writing a few lines couldn't take much time, but it does take a lot of time to write if you want to write decently. And Jie Jie would rather die than deliver crap unless she doesn't want to be an author anymore. The more the story progressed, the more she had to consider.

Writing an online novel was different than writing a book. Since the chapters are released one after another, there's seldom a chance to go back in time. She had to connect all loose ends before publishing.

Lately, she understood why so many other web novelists used fillers. And why their stories lose focus the more time goes by.

Jie Jie also stumped on those matters. Regarding essential events, she lacked time to do research or made it foolproof. There were specific time frames and storylines, but during writing, some authors tend to change their mind in the face of development and fan reactions. The pressure was enormous.

It's not like everything was always in her grip. She was powerless, even as an author. Whatever she imagined in her head, once it's written down, it doesn't make sense or was too far fetched. Sometimes she lacked the strength to improve the situation or the imagination to bend the story to her will.

Her favourite characters were those that wrote their own stories. As an author, there is no greater joy than to have a character come to life on their own. Writing those characters were the easiest. Sometimes there are even personas that made such a strong impact that they change the whole storyline. When a figure like that came to life, the author becomes the assistant—one who just have to narrate the story.

Work doesn't become easier, though. Sadly, it was hard to include such an overbearing character into a static story. Losing the reign over your own story, everything would become chaotic. Once an author forgets who the main character is, the whole story would be lost.

That's why some stories never come to an end. That's the worst nightmarish ending for a novel. Not only for the author, who got lost on the way but also for the readers who will never know the end of the tale. Having a bad end was still better than having no end at all. Still, Jie Jie had to discipline herself whenever she tends to stray from the main plot. And she found out that she did it so many times unknowingly, making her deleting stuff and going in circles day after day.

To tell the truth, she underestimated web novels. As someone who wrote a bestseller, she expected that writing an online novel would be child's play. But she was wrong.

There were not many thoughts she wasted on it when she was writing for fun. What happens happens. But now that she was commissioned, she found out that apart from a beginning and an end, she had not planned out that much beforehand. There was just a rough outline, but the details were jumbling in her head. Because she had to do daily updates, the mess in her head became bigger and bigger. It was hard not to throw the towel. Until now, she was able to fool her readers because things were still fun and giggles. But it's going nowhere. She felt the pressure accumulating.

People thought that she only has to write a chapter a day, but the truth was, in her head, half of the book has to be written in advance. If she didn't do so, the story would become incomprehensible and would never connect well the more it advances.

And if she didn't prepare, it would be even harder to write, because she had no lifeline to hold on. That's like swimming in the ocean and holding on to driftwood.

"You are so strange." Min Lee said, "Normally authors died to have the right add their opinion on the matter of casting."

"I have a say in those matters?" This was the first time she had heard of this. She had heard from so many that the author has not much say in those matters. That's why she didn't feel like her physical appearance was of any concern.

"I thought those castings are just a matter of appearance..." Jie Jie told Min Lee her honest thoughts.

"What? No! Why would we spend time and money on castings if we have a cast already? Does that make sense?" Min Lee was shocked to hear that Jie Jie had such a bad opinion of their circle. Where did she get those ideas?

"I think you watch too many dramas?" Min Lee laughed. Where else could she have gotten those prejudices from?

"We do have our eyes on some actors and actresses, of course. Having someone who is highly in demand helps with sales. But it's not like we always get the ones we want. Sometimes some new actors excel at a certain role, so we don't mind changing perception. That's what casting is for."

"So it's like that." Maybe she was biased thanks to Bai Jingyi and Luo Min Kai, two extremes who changed her outlook on the life of show biz and entertainment.

"What are you thinking about?" Min Lee saw that Jie Jie suddenly fell into deep thoughts.

"Min Lee, say, is the audition open to anyone?"

"Not 'anyone', of course. Our time is limited. But we like to keep our options open. Why are you asking?" Min Lee had a bad premonition.

"Then, could I recommend someone to the audition?"

Min Lee eyed Jie Jie for sometime before answering vaguely: "Since you're the author, we appreciate your opinion. But there is no guarantee that that person will get a role or have an advantage during the audition. On the contrary, YNG does not approve of using the back door. The person coming in through relations would go through harsher screening than all the others to make it fair. I hope you will not be disappointed if it doesn't work out."

Usually, Min Lee would never approve of such things.

There were a lot of authors who thought they could pick whomever they fancied. Or stockholders and investors who thought they could choose any role for their lovers to play out. YNG has never approved of such measures, even at the loss of profit.

Of course, YNG Entertainment was biased towards their own actors, so if they do production, other actors and actresses will find it hard to set foot into the casting list. But if an individual tried to pick roles, that's a breach of the companies values. Yang Yun hated such things. Not one of his previous lovers had ever gotten a role through his connections. They did get some exposure, though, gaining some fame by standing next to him. That was the only favour he did them. But for most, it was more than enough to step onto the ladder.

"It doesn't matter. It's a chance. And I think this person will fit the role very well..."

Of course, Jie Jie had high expectations. She had nothing to lose, but for Jingyi, this could be a chance that won't come twice. If she could abuse her rank as the author to open a door for him, she would not hesitate. Why hadn't she thought of this before? Should she start to be more aware of opportunities from now on? Maybe there was more she could do for Jingyi, now that she was involved in the production. She doesn't approve of the abuse of power, but where there's a will, there's a way. Be willful once!

She wasn't sure how good Jingyi's acting was, but she knew that he did take acting lessons along with singing and dancing. And if it's him, he had an advantage the others couldn't possibly have.

Since he didn't even have the permission to do it, he shouldn't agree that easily, but he couldn't deny his personal interest in the person who changed Jie Jie's mind. It was apparent that she became much more engaged once it was fot the benefit of someone else. Who was it? A friend? A lover perhaps? Well, it doesn't matter. A bunch of people still owe Min Lee a favour. It wasn't that hard to add a name on a list. Whether or not they get the role was up to the individuals own vices.

"What role do you have in mind for that person? I will put them on the list."

"The role of 'Bai Ling'." Jie Jie said with determination.

It wouldn't matter much whether or not Jingyi could act when the person he had to portray was himself, wasn't it?