Chapter 31 - Failed Auditons

Groaning, Jian turned back to face her, "What?"

Holding her door's handle, she stepped out, asking him.

"Could you at least explain before leaving?"

"Explain what? You got an offer to audition from the Yang Company. What else do you need me to tell you?" He clucked, backing away as Mei called out to him again.

"Jian! Audition for what? If you came to tell me this, you must have a script."

Baffled at her, he jeered, attempting to mock her, "I am not your personal agent, Mei. I already told you, just call them on the card. I don't have time to do these trivial tasks," cocking his head to the side, he smiled, his tone hinting sarcasm, "You're clever, figure it out on your own and just thank me for informing you, how about that?"

Rolling her eyes, Mei scoffed, "I don't even know why I asked you."

Letting out a slight chuckle, he winked, "Exactly."

//

A week passed as the trainees finally started receiving offers from companies throughout China.

An excited Kuan rushed to Mei, jumping around with a letter in her hands.

"NEWBIE NEWBIE, CHECK THIS OUT!"

Throwing the letter towards her, Mei swiftly caught it, reading the content.

Her smile faded away when she realized what it was.

"You got a contract with JT?"

Screeching loudly, Kuan shook Mei vigorously,

"JADE TALENTS? THE COMPANY WHERE DAIYU IS? YES, I DID! I'M FINALLY GOING TO BE WORKING ALONGSIDE MY IDOL!"

Sensing a sharp pain in her chest, she hugged Kuan, congratulating her while trying to compose herself.

'It's okay; it will be fine; it's not like Daiyu knows she's my friend.'

Narrowing her eyes, she pushed her back and questioned,

"What about you? Did you get any calls from the previous three auditions you attended?"

Feeling a touch of embarrassment, Mei tried dodging the question,

"Not really, but I do have two auditions tomorrow. Hopefully, I can get selected in one. Anyways, let's go celebrate your success?"

//

The next day, Mei stood in front of the large glass entrance to Xiu Productions. Taking a deep breath through her mouth, she walked through it, her heart racing,

"This is the fourth one already; I can't mess this up."

After her performance, she paced through the corridor, ignoring the rest of the talents chattering amongst themselves.

"ALL RIGHT! THE FINALISTS HAVE BEEN CHOSEN."

Mei looked up at one of the producers in anticipation, wishing that her name would finally be called out.

After a dreadful two minutes of not being glanced at, the producer bowed down, thanking the contestants who participated in the audition while he guided the selected few back to the rooms.

She bit her lower lip, recalling how the judges criticized her for being a scandalous trainee and not giving her a fair review.

The whispering voices crawled back to her ears, the hushing tones of the director berating her within her mind.

"Isn't that one girl from Liu Academy? The one who slapped Daiyu? I saw her videos; she can't even dance; what good would she do for us? Probably just increase our expenses and drag our company name down."

Blowing the music loud on her speakers to avoid her thoughts, she drove back to the Academy to meet Trainer Wei, anxious to inform him how her audition went.

Turning the doorknob to his office, she felt her hands trembling as she opened it.

Surprised to see her during mid-day, Wei inquired about her performance,

"Mei! You're quite early, is everything alright? Didn't you have to go to your audition at YC?"

Blinking back tears and trying to calm herself, her voice quivered,

"Th...they rejected me again."

"Who? Those directors at Xiu? Well, this was your fourth audition, wasn't it?"

Fidgeting with her clothes, she shook her head, not responding to his question.

"Ah, no wonder, four is never a good number, you know?"

Patting her on the back, he consoled her, "Don't worry about it, Mei, you still have the audition for the Yang Company today. I just suggested checking out Xiu because it was on the same date and just as an extra performance to gain experience."

Wiping a tear from her eyes, she sniffed,

"And what if they don't like me either? I'm the only one who hasn't been selected from all the trainees yet. Doesn't that trouble you?"

Wei asked her to take a seat, offering her a cup of water, he replied,

"You should worry about learning the script for your next audition first, Mei. But to answer your question, no. I was sure it would have been more complicated for you but after all, you're the only trainee who got an offer from Yang Entertainment and that should speak for itself."

Smiling, she stood up, bowing down to thank him as she walked out the room,

"I promise I won't let you down."