32 The Rise Of The Forgotten Film Empress! (4)

Meanwhile, one of the main characters of their gossip was happily relaxing in her huge new luxury apartment in country A and watching TV, once again.

'Host, shouldn't you start working on your missions now? You're watching those stupid TV series all day, AGAIN!" System 005 said unhappily.

'What now? I need my rest after that long plane journey... I've got jetlag.' Xia Zhilan said annoyedly whilst thinking of a random excuse.

'Jetlag? The flight was only 8 hours! And it was 2 weeks ago!'

'Fine, fine...' Zhilan said whilst standing up slowly.

'At least hire yourself an agent...!' the System instructed strictly 'You're not going to be a famous actress overnight..!'

'I already have one.' she replied in a proud voice

'Who?'

'You, of course!' Xia Zhilan said in a condescending tone 'What else are you here for?'

'... Fine.' System 005 replied in a tired voice. 'Aren't you going to at least try to get signed by a label?'

'Nah, they're too troublesome and controlling...' she said casually

'But you'll have more opportunities if you having a company behind you, giving you resources. How else are you going to find roles?" it replied, trying to persuade Zhilan desperately

'That's your job... You already agreed to be my agent. Also, remember to fill in my resume with this body's past roles.'

Rolling its non-existent eyes, System 005 scanned the internet for any auditions in Country A and sorted out the useful ones which could be popular.

'10%.... 35%... 60%...85%... 90%.... 100% complete!' a quiet notification bell chimed in Xia Zhilan's head.

'Found 3 upcoming movies and 2 TV series which are all made by relatively experienced and successful directors. The information has been sent to your laptop.'

After reading the plot a couple of times, Xia Zhilan finally decided to play one of the heroine's best friends in the series «Stars in the Window»

It has a general cliche storyline, however, it's the type that becomes very popular and quickly gains a fanbase. The role Xia Zhilan chose is called Lu Li, the eldest daughter of a single-parent home who also happened to have congestive heart disease. Due to her excellent grades, she managed to earn a scholarship to a prestigious school.

When she first arrives, she quickly develops a liking to the male lead but at this point, the relationship between the ML and FL has progressed a lot. However, due to school projects, Lu Li and the ML started talking even more and the ML couldn't help but start to like Lu Li as well due to her elegant charm and beauty.

At the same time, she had also become extremely good friends with the female lead because of her nonjudgemental nature and because the FL seemed to genuinely liker her despite her poor background.

As they became closer, the FL revealed her feelings and relationship to her about the ML, not knowing that Lu Li also likes him.

Unexpectedly, instead of becoming the main villain to their relationship, Lu Li, despite her feelings for the male lead, became one of the key factors that brought them together and supported them wholeheartedly.

Behind the scenes, unknown to them and all the friends she's made at her new school, Lu Li's health has been drastically declining due to the financial state of her family. As the eldest child in her family, Lu Li had no other option but to work several part-time jobs along with her mother to be able to afford food for her, her mother and her three younger siblings now that she's of legal age. Due to her constant fatigue from overworking her body, her congestive heart disease has started acting up a lot more often.

Later, it was revealed that she was expected to only have 6 more months to live.

Although Lu Li had heartfelt feelings for the male lead, she knew that with her health conditions, it was impossible to have him in this lifetime and would rather the female lead, her best friend to have him instead, as long as they were happy.

Lu Li's death tied the male and female lead together at the very end.

This would be one of the most popular characters in this series which was why Xia Zhilan chose her.

...

However, with Xia Zhilan's personality, she also decided to choose the female lead in a highly anticipated action movie at the same time.

'Um, are you sure you can handle two roles from two different places at the same time? Isn't that a bit too much?' the System asked, concerned.

"Don't worry system, I used to do this a lot before. Although it was tricky at the beginning, it helped me work on my time management skills"

"If you say so..."

With Xia Zhilan's resume, she easily passed the first round of auditions. Even though it was extremely difficult to find any online photos, even Fu Sihan couldn't remove any of the films or series that she played in so Xia Zhiilan didn't need to worry that the producers didn't believe her.

...

The director of «Stars in the Window», Zhao whatever, sighed in exhaustion whilst watching another young woman acting out the script with a gloomy expression.

He had already found the most suitable actors for the other main roles however he just couldn't find anyone for Lu Li. He couldn't find any extremely popular actresses which had the right temperament for the role whilst all the other women he's auditioned just couldn't bring to life the Lu Li he envisioned. Lu Li is undeniably the most crucial character in the storyline which meant the casting for her character must also be perfect otherwise the entire series would flop.

"Who's next?" Director Zhao asked his assistant whilst rubbing his temples.

"Xia Zhilan, twenty-four," the assistant said, reading from his clipboard.

"Who? I've never heard of her, is she a newbie? I told you to only pass actresses with enough acting experience!" He said somewhat irritably

"No, she seemed to be an extremely popular actress in Country C. She even won the title 'Film Empress there" the assistant said whilst frowning slightly

"Seemed?"

"Well her situation seems kind of strange... She seemed to have retired around 2 years ago and then almost every online information about her disappeared but her qualifications are authentic."

"Alright, send her in," the director said after making sure Xia Zhilan had enough experience in acting and nodded in satisfaction.

'Film Empress...? Very impressive'

When Xia Zhilan entered the room, director Zhao's eyes lit up with excitement.

Xia Zhilan, who's lived many lives, had developed a rather strange temperament over the years. Her every movement was elegant and graceful, yet exuded with passion, youthfulness and colour. Although her face was different from her own, it was still extremely beautiful however with Xia Zhilan's soul residing in her body, her face seemed strangely ethereal but mysterious. Even the dull grey background seemed to shine brightly with Xia Zhilan standing by it.

Xia Zhilan calmly walked to the centre of the set and bowed her head politely to the director and introduced herself professionally.

Xia Zhilan's interesting temperament greatly improved director Zhao's impression of her and told her to start with some anticipation.

The scene which Zhilan had to act out was when Lu Li came back to school after receiving the devastating prognosis but hid it from everyone whilst matchmaking her best friend to the boy she loved.