"Auditioning, huh? So urgent..." Li Guoli's expression was somewhat awkward, as he was looking for Li Xiaoyao, not Zhao Ling'er and Lin Yueru.
However, he had issued the audition invitation himself and couldn't retract it now. So, Li Guoli could only invite Huang He and Leng Zhiren into the room and have Leng Zhiren audition for Zhao Ling'er first.
The audition process was simple, without the need for makeup or costumes. Li Guoli directly gave Leng Zhiren a page of script and asked her to perform a scene according to the script.
"Yes!" Leng Zhiren's hands trembled as she held the script. This was the first time in her life she had received a proper script for a film or television drama, and her first time performing.
"Just relax, don't be nervous. This role is definitely yours!" Huang He said, patting Leng Zhiren's shoulder comfortingly. Li Guoli, on the side, rolled his eyes. What did he mean, "this role is definitely yours"? Had he, the director, been consulted?
Moreover, the choice of actors often didn't rest with the director; it was up to the investors. What was he even saying!
However, when Leng Zhiren actually started acting, Li Guoli's eyes lit up. Leng Zhiren was clearly a newcomer facing the camera for the first time, with no formal training.
But she had a natural presence in front of the camera, and her stage presence was strong. She looked like she had extensive experience in stage plays, a promising talent with a solid foundation.
Crucially, she was not only beautiful but also possessed a heroic aura. There were few actresses in the industry with such a temperament. The last one with such a disposition was Lin Qingxia.
"It's a pity, but the difference in temperament from Zhao Ling'er and Lin Yueru is too great!" Li Guoli shook his head. In his vision, Zhao Ling'er needed an ethereal beauty and temperament, while Lin Yueru was a proud martial heroine. Both these characters' temperaments had a considerable gap with Leng Zhiren.
If Leng Zhiren were a seasoned, trained actor, she could have potentially transformed her temperament through method acting. But Leng Zhiren was a complete novice. At most, she was skilled with a sword and could handle all the action scenes, but she was not sufficient for playing Zhao Ling'er or Lin Yueru.
So, Li Guoli said, "Very good, Miss Leng's information will be kept on file. We will notify you if there are future opportunities!"
Well, any fool would know from these words that she likely wouldn't get the role. Leng Zhiren's expression darkened.
"Director, the roles of Lin Yueru and Zhao Ling'er are out, right?" Huang He asked frankly.
"Ahem, you can't say that. Wait for news when you get back!" Li Guoli said with a smile.
"Ah, Director Li, I'm a straightforward person, let's speak plainly. Actually, I also feel these two roles aren't suitable for my Zhiren. However, you could let her try out for the role of Li Xiaoyao!" Huang He said with a smile.
"Li Xiaoyao!" Li Guoli was startled. "Miss Leng is a girl, how can she try out for Li Xiaoyao?"
"I said let her try, how will you know if you don't try?" Huang He smiled. "Just have someone do her makeup and change her into men's clothing, and let her try. Besides, when you first contacted us, Director Li, you wanted Zhiren to try for Li Xiaoyao, didn't you?"
"Heh heh!" Li Guoli chuckled awkwardly, but the image of Leng Zhiren's spectacular sword dance, where she seemed to merge with the sword, and her heroic aura, involuntarily surfaced in his mind. Thus, under a strange compulsion, he said, "Then let's try it!"
"You are truly a great director, I don't think you're any worse than that Old Zhang, Old Chen, or Old Feng. They are all just overhyped!" Huang He praised. Li Guoli felt a chill. He dared not clash with those three directors; they were film directors, and he was a television director.
"It's just that today is a rest day, and the makeup artists are not at work. At most, I can provide some clothes!" Li Guoli said with a frown.
"It's alright, I can do my own makeup!" Leng Zhiren said.
"Oh, Zhiren, I didn't know you never wore makeup?" Huang He asked, surprised.
"That's right, I don't wear makeup on a daily basis, but I still need to when I perform on stage. And I've played many male roles on stage, so I can do men's makeup!" Leng Zhiren replied.
"Then this must be fate crowning you with this role! This Li Xiaoyao is definitely yours!" Huang He patted his chest in assurance, causing Li Guoli to roll his eyes again.
A woman playing Li Xiaoyao seemed impossible. He had only agreed to the makeup trial in a moment of bewilderment; he would still reject it later as unsuitable.
Leng Zhiren took the clothes to the makeup room, while the men waited outside.
"Mr. Huang truly dotes on his... Miss Leng!" With Leng Zhiren gone, Li Guoli's gaze and curiosity fell on Huang He, and he asked curiously.
He had originally intended to say "sister-in-law," but felt it was inappropriate and changed it to "Miss Leng."
"Yes, she's my secretary now, but I can see she doesn't like being my secretary and prefers acting. Since this opportunity came up, I brought her here!" Huang He said with a smile.
"I see!" Li Guoli nodded, but in his mind, he was muttering, "Sending his sister-in-law to be his brother-in-law's secretary, isn't the sister being too magnanimous? And with the sister-in-law being so beautiful, isn't she afraid of her own little white rabbit being taken by her own pig?"
Well, one couldn't blame Li Guoli for his slightly salacious thoughts. After all, even in 2021, when people saw the words "sister-in-law," wouldn't their hearts race a little?
"May I know what industry Mr. Huang is in?" Hearing Huang He speak, it seemed he was also a boss, and it would be necessary to cultivate a relationship. After all, the most important thing in a television series was to secure investment. A little here, a little there, and a television series could be put together.
"Oh, I just sell boxes!" Huang He said humbly.
"Boxes? The printing or packaging industry? Too bad you're not a coal boss!" Li Guoli mused. This industry didn't seem particularly wealthy. Coal bosses were much more straightforward.
As Li Guoli chatted with Huang He, the door to the makeup room opened. Huang He and Li Guoli's eyes widened, because what emerged from the room was no longer a young girl, but clearly a scholar with a graceful demeanor.
Since Li Guoli's makeup room only had a few generic ancient costumes, and Li Xiaoyao's costume design hadn't even been finalized, Leng Zhiren had simply put on a simple, ordinary scholar's outfit from the makeup room.
But even so, an irrepressible heroic aura permeated the entire space.
At first glance, everyone would assume Leng Zhiren was a boy. If one looked more closely, they might hesitate about the boy's gender, but couldn't be certain, only that he had a somewhat androgynous feel.
However, there was also the issue of makeup. Leng Zhiren had applied stage makeup, which was a bit too vibrant. If a skilled makeup artist were to do it, it would be much closer to a man's appearance.
"Miss Leng! Try holding a sword!" Li Guoli said with some excitement. Huang He casually tossed the Qingpin Sword to Leng Zhiren. Leng Zhiren caught the sword in mid-air. The sword spun a few times in her palm before she gracefully secured it.
And when Leng Zhiren held the sword, her heroic aura exploded even further. If one overlooked some of her feminine features, Li Guoli felt that the Li Xiaoyao he envisioned had appeared before him.
What a perfect Li Xiaoyao! But why was she a woman?
Li Guoli sighed, his face filled with regret.
"This is simply Li Xiaoyao stepping out of the game!" Huang He exclaimed. "Director Li, I think we should finalize it. My Zhiren will play Li Xiaoyao!"
"That's probably not possible!" Li Guoli still had his wits about him. He shook his head. "If Miss Leng were a mister instead of a miss, she would undoubtedly be the most ideal candidate for Li Xiaoyao in my heart. It's a pity she isn't. The audience wouldn't accept such a result!"
"Who says so?" Huang He smiled. "Haven't there been cases of women playing male leads in this world? To name one, wasn't Xu Xian in 'The Legend of the White Snake' played by Cecilia Yip? Isn't she a woman? And wasn't her portrayal the most recognized and beloved Xu Xian by all audiences? It even set viewership records back then!"
"And Brigitte Lin's Dongfang Bubai, Anita Mui played male leads even more often. These are all excellent examples. How can you say women can't play male leads?" Huang He argued.
"This is incomparable!" Li Guoli hesitated slightly, but still shook his head. "No, no, the audience won't agree to this!"
"Who says so? Didn't the audience love Xu Xian back then? And if it gets out that a woman is playing Li Xiaoyao, that's a huge selling point! We won't need to spend money on publicity; a large number of media outlets will flock to us automatically. The TV series won't have even aired, and the buzz will have already started. How great is that!"
"That does seem to have some logic..." Li Guoli nodded involuntarily. Unfortunately, our Director Li was still clear-headed. He ultimately shook his head, "No, no. Even if I agree, even if the audience agrees, the investors and producers definitely won't. They won't agree!"
"Brother-in-law, forget it. It's really not suitable!" Leng Zhiren also tugged at Huang He's sleeve.
"It's alright, we just have one small problem left, and it will be solved soon!" Huang He patted Leng Zhiren's small hand and then said to Li Guoli, "Director Li, if the investors agree, then you'll let my Zhiren play Li Xiaoyao, right?"
"..." Li Guoli was stunned, then said with a bitter smile, "Actually, this drama is still in the preparation stage, and we haven't even finished writing the script, so we don't have any investors."
"That's great!" Huang He smiled. "Then I'll be the investor. Isn't that enough?"
"You invest!" Li Guoli was shocked again. After a moment, he said, "This is not a small sum. I estimate the total investment for this will be around 30 million, and the market has never had any feedback for such game adaptation television series. There's a high probability it will lose money..."
"It's okay, I'm not expecting to make money. I just want to fulfill my Zhiren's dream of becoming an actress. You know, dreams are priceless!" Huang He said with a smile.
"..." Li Guoli was speechless again. After a while, he said, "To be frank, this television series is planned to be invested in by our own Tangren Pictures, and we don't intend to invite other investors."
"That's no problem either!" Huang He smiled. "Since your Tangren Pictures plans to invest itself, I just need to buy out Tangren Pictures, right? Actually, I've always wanted to invest in a film and television company and didn't know which one to choose. Since I've encountered Tangren Pictures, I'll just buy you out!"
"What if I don't sell?" Li Guoli rolled his eyes.
"As far as I know, you only own 10% of Tangren Pictures. The remaining 90% of the shares are distributed among seven different investors. Five of them are currently in need of money, and they've even started inquiring privately if anyone is willing to buy their shares. Moreover, the reception of your television series 'The Legend of the Book and Sword' this year was very poor, and losing money is a foregone conclusion. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so eager to film 'Chinese Paladin'."
"I think it will only take around 120 million to buy out 90% of Tangren Pictures' shares. While this price is a bit steep, for my Zhiren's dream, I think it's worth it!" Huang He said with a smile.
"Even if you can buy our Tangren..." Li Guoli persisted, "we had an agreement with Shanghai Softstar when we purchased the copyright. The protagonist's casting must be approved by the lead planner, Yao Zhuangxian, otherwise, they have the right to refuse the authorization!"
"Is that so!" Huang He picked up his phone and dialed. Then he said, "Xiao Yao, my secretary Zhiren, who is also my sister-in-law, wants to play Li Xiaoyao. Do you have any objections? Think carefully before you answer!"
"What? You have absolutely no objections? Then tell Director Li that!" Huang He smiled and handed the phone to Li Guoli.
Incidentally, last month, Huang He had already acquired Shanghai Softstar, a subsidiary of Softstar Entertainment Technology. All their single-player game business and copyrights now belonged to Boss Huang. Furthermore, Boss Huang had promised to fully cover the missing 10 million development budget for 'Chinese Paladin 3'. So, how could young Yao Zhuangxian dare to offend our Boss Huang!