In the bustling and fashionable metropolis, towering skyscrapers stood side by side, their vast glass curtain walls reflecting the brilliance of the sun, showcasing the achievements of modern urban technology. Yet, even in such a city, there still existed slums.

These small, dilapidated buildings were nestled among the tall high-rises. Nearby were glamorous city dwellers, but inside the slums were only impoverished families struggling to make a living.

Rong Xu had been to such slums before. In his previous life, he had filmed a movie and even went on location in Africa, where the people faced truly harsh hardships. But for Luo Qi, this was her first time in a place like this.

Led by a crew member, the two walked into a worn-down two-story building.

The building looked quite old; the walls were washed by rain, streaked black and gray. As they climbed the narrow stairs, the wooden steps creaked loudly, trembling as if they might collapse at any moment.

Luo Qi walked cautiously, while Rong Xu calmly observed the surroundings.

The movie Three Thousand Two Hundred Miles featured a young man who grew up in a slum—not the kind of slum they were in now, but a real impoverished neighborhood. A group of slum kids planned to rob a bank; some were driven by greed, while others were pushed to the edge by life itself.

The Asian teenager about to audition, Roy, belonged to the latter group.

Among this gang of delinquents, Roy was the lowest. Others bullied him because he was Asian, physically weaker, and rarely spoke. Whenever there was dirty or dangerous work, Roy was the one sent out. To them, it was simply: “Roy, what else can you do besides this?”

However, they never expected that in their crazy bank robbery plan, Roy would be the only one to survive.

Roy was the getaway driver. They rented a battered van. Despite their wild scheme, they were only teenagers without much sense, so the police caught them quickly. Of the seven robbers, five were shot dead on the spot after resisting. Another was shot and fled into the van, terrified, knowing he probably couldn’t escape.

At that moment, Roy seized a passerby and took them hostage, enabling the two to escape.

That passerby was the female lead.

Soon after, another accomplice died from gunshot wounds, leaving only Roy and the female lead on the run.

For both lifetimes, it was Rong Xu’s first time playing such a role. In the script, Roy was only sixteen, younger than Rong Xu himself. But the character’s personality was complex: timid and weak, often treated like a servant by his gang, yet cold and ruthless enough to take a hostage and kill a policeman—becoming the only surviving robber.

This complexity was a challenge for Rong Xu. He took the role not only to break into the international scene but also to test his acting range.

Before long, the three arrived at the second floor of the small building.

The building was so small that as soon as Rong Xu ascended, he saw a blond man standing in the center of the room.

The entire second floor was just one room—the place where they now stood. Director Clemens was talking with an assistant director, holding the script while giving instructions about the scene setup, pointing here and there.

When he saw Rong Xu arrive, he finished his instructions, then came over.

The two exchanged a glance. Clemens said, “Rong Xu?” speaking fluent, clear Chinese.

The young man smiled slightly: “Yes, I am Rong Xu.”

Clemens nodded: “Good, then let’s start the official audition. Just a simple run-through, see how it feels. I need you to act a scene where you’re being bullied.” He paused, then looked at a crew member beside him: “You play the role of Orika and just tell Roy to go buy a beer.”

The crew member who had just led Rong Xu in was stunned, pointing at himself: “Me?!”

Clemens asked, “Any problem?”

The crew member hesitated for a long time, intending to say he had no acting experience and couldn’t perform. But before he could speak, a clear, pleasant voice sounded in the quiet, worn-down building: “Okay, let’s start then, Mr. Thor.”

Unlike many directors in China, Clemens Holt’s audition requirements were extremely simple. The audition took place in this shabby building, with only one examiner present. They didn’t even record the scene on camera, and the scene partner was just an ordinary crew member.

The crew member named Thor was still confused. He didn’t understand how, as a mere stagehand responsible for picking up Rong Xu and Luo Qi from the airport, he was suddenly asked to act.

But Clemens didn’t give Thor time to dwell on this and turned back to busy himself with the scene setup.

Thor swallowed nervously and looked at Rong Xu. The moment their eyes met, he froze. His heart gradually calmed down as he saw, in the dim light of the building, a handsome, refined young man smiling gently, nodding slightly with a warm, kind smile.

There was none of the arrogance many big stars had, nor any impatience. Rong Xu looked seriously at him and said with a smile, “Mr. Thor, you can say to me, ‘Roy, go buy a beer, I want you back in five minutes.’ I think that’s enough for the line.”

Hearing this, Clemens, who was talking with his assistant director, silently glanced at Rong Xu.

Thor nodded vigorously, muttering the line a few times. Then Rong Xu turned and said, “Mr. Clemens, I think we’re ready.”

Clemens gave the young Chinese star a meaningful look, then nodded.

Rong Xu stepped back two paces, moving to the bottom of the stairs. Thor looked confused at his movement; when he saw Rong Xu stepping out of sight, he instinctively took a step forward to find him. But before he could, he heard hurried footsteps inside the room.

In the filthy, chaotic building, the footsteps were heavy, almost threatening to break the fragile stairs. Hearing this, Thor’s heart tensed. Luo Qi quickly steadied herself against the wall.

Rong Xu’s noisy footsteps up the stairs shook the fragile building.

Thor’s face turned pale with fright. When he saw Rong Xu’s figure, he noticed the boy was still stomping hard on the steps.

Suddenly, Thor’s worry spiked and he frowned. But then he saw Rong Xu lift his head and spot him.

On that delicate, handsome face, a visible flicker of fear appeared. Rong Xu sharply recoiled, standing on the third step, looking up at Thor. He stopped moving.

His previously neat hair had suddenly become messy, with long strands hanging over his eyes. His clear pupils trembled slightly. He looked like a frightened little deer, shrinking in the corner of the stairs, carefully looking at Thor, and softly whispered, “O… Orika?”

Looking at the timid, scared boy, Thor suddenly felt a bit annoyed. Of course, he remembered they were still acting. Recalling the line he had rehearsed many times, he looked at Rong Xu’s timid expression and said with a hint of impatience, “Roy, go buy a beer…”

Before he finished the word “beer,” he saw Rong Xu suddenly exhale deeply.

Thor was startled. When he resumed speaking, his tone unintentionally carried a trace of disdain: “I want to see you back in five minutes.”

Rong Xu turned and left, not giving Thor a single glance.

After his rapid footsteps faded downstairs, he quickly returned upstairs. This time, the fear had vanished from his face, replaced by a gentle smile as he said softly, “Thank you, Mr. Thor.”

Thor felt he hadn’t done anything special and smiled: “I just said a line, no need to thank me.”

Thus, the brief audition ended.

The director hadn’t specified any particular content, just gave a line not in the script and let the actor perform it. The whole audition lasted less than a minute. Luo Qi was utterly confused, not understanding what had just happened. After Rong Xu thanked Mr. Thor, he turned to look at the new director.

Clemens was stroking his chin, lowering his head to appraise Rong Xu. His gaze held some strange emotion, though what he was thinking was unclear. Yet he didn’t speak for a long moment.

Rong Xu wasn’t anxious, smiling back at him. But Thor grew nervous and whispered, “Clemens, I’ve never acted before. If my performance just now wasn’t good, maybe we should do it again? I think I’m getting the hang of it. Maybe doing it again would be fair to Rong.”

After a long look at Rong Xu, Clemens turned to his crew member and shook his head: “You did well just now. How about you also take a cameo role in the movie?”

Thor’s eyes widened: “Huh?”

Clemens ignored him and stepped forward, extending his hand to Rong Xu with the first smile of the day: “Welcome to my crew. We start filming early next year. If you don’t mind, Rong, give me your contact info. Sometimes I like to call my actors to chat about the script.”

Rong Xu shook the offered hand, smiling and nodding: “Of course…” His voice hesitated briefly, then he withdrew his hand and continued smiling, “Of course.”

Not long after, Rong Xu exchanged contact info with Clemens.

This young American director also had a Weibo account in China. After exchanging phone numbers and WeChat IDs, the two followed each other on Weibo. Only then did Rong Xu realize that Clemens’ Weibo had nearly 100 million followers.

Keep in mind, even though Rong Xu’s popularity had skyrocketed in the past year, he now only had a bit over 100 million followers on Weibo. But Clemens, as an American director who rarely participated in events in China, still managed to gather such a huge following. This showed how popular he was among Chinese fans.

After receiving the full script, Rong Xu chatted briefly with Clemens before turning to leave.

Still, Mr. Thor accompanied them to the hotel. Rosie had booked a flight for the next afternoon, returning to China the following day. On the way, Thor kept expressing his astonishment about what had just happened. He himself couldn’t believe Clemens had praised his acting and even asked him to make a cameo.

“That’s really rare. Clemens has very high standards. I’ve worked with him for ten years, and this is the first time he’s asked me to cameo.”

The sociable Rosie immediately smiled and replied, “Mr. Thor, was Mr. Clemens usually very serious? I’m curious…”

The two quickly started chatting, while the teenager sitting in the back seat lowered his gaze and lightly scanned his right hand. His hand was slender and lean, with very clear fingerprints on the palm. After looking for a long time, Rong Xu suddenly raised his left hand and gently rubbed his right palm.

He rubbed for a while before stopping.

That evening at the hotel, after taking a shower, Rong Xu lay on the soft big bed, messaging a certain man.

Three days ago, Qin Cheng had flown from the U.S. to France to participate in the final promotional event for Stormbringer. They perfectly missed each other’s schedules and wouldn’t meet in China for another two days.

Lately, Rong Xu had been busy promoting Silent, and Qin Cheng busy with Stormbringer. Both were swamped, and there was a time difference making communication difficult.

Now, finally having some time, Qin Cheng was telling Rong Xu about what happened at today’s promotional event. Rong Xu stared at the messages on his phone, thought for a long time, typed a string of words, but just before sending, he pressed his lips tight and deleted them.

Qin Cheng on the other end didn’t notice anything unusual.

At this moment, it was midnight in Paris. The city wasn’t as bright and glittering as China’s S city. In the deep night, one could see the Seine river flowing gently in the distance, shimmering faintly under the lights on both sides.

After chatting a while more, Rong Xu hesitated before finally sending a message:
[…You know the movie I’m preparing to shoot? I passed the audition today. The director said filming would officially start early next year.]

Qin Cheng quickly replied:
[Yeah, you said it was recommended by Old Liu. What’s wrong?]

Opening his right hand to look again, the teenager pursed his lips and replied:
[I was unhappy at the audition today.]

Seeing the three words “unhappy,” Qin Cheng froze and almost immediately called: “Xiao Xu?”

Still that deep, magnetic voice. Although usually calm, this time Rong Xu could hear a trace of urgency in it.

Hearing Qin Cheng’s voice, Rong Xu slowly turned over and lay on his stomach. At that moment, the teenager was tightly pursing his lips, resting his chin on one hand, holding the phone in the other. He no longer had the calm composure from earlier but looked exactly like a 19-year-old boy plainly expressing his displeasure.

“Qin Cheng, he flirted with me.”

There was a long silence on the phone. Rong Xu was surprised and raised an eyebrow. He had thought Qin Cheng would immediately get angry and ask who had flirted with him. But… there was total silence?!

After a while, a faint sound came from the earpiece, so Rong Xu cautiously asked, “Qin Cheng, what are you doing?”

The man’s cold voice replied:
“Booking a flight to the U.S.”

Rong Xu was surprised: “Why book a flight to the U.S.? Aren’t you flying back to China tomorrow morning?”

“To beat someone up.”

Rong Xu: “…Huh?!”

Next moment, Rong Xu suddenly understood: “Wait, you’re not going to beat up the person who flirted with me, are you?”

“Yeah.”

Rong Xu: “…”

His lips involuntarily curled up, and his mood lifted considerably. Rong Xu chuckled quietly: “You don’t even know who it is, but you want to beat someone up? What if it’s someone you can’t beat? Like… Old Liu?”

Qin Cheng: “…Old Liu is famously henpecked in the industry.”

Rong Xu: “I’m just giving an example!”

Qin Cheng: “I’ll send someone to beat him up.”

Rong Xu: “…”

Then Rong Xu briefly told Qin Cheng about Clemens’ odd gesture of curling his palm this afternoon after the audition. Upon hearing the name “Clemens Holt,” Qin Cheng was silent for a moment. When Rong Xu asked what he was doing, Qin Cheng calmly replied: “Booking a flight. I can beat that guy up.” Well, beat him up hard.