Chapter 52: Bingbing, Who Can Never Turn Back, and Li Xiaoran, Who Just Wants to Be Famous

"How did it go? Could it be that..."
"Passed."
"Oh, my girl, you scared me to death! Isn't this a good thing? Then why is your face so frighteningly pale?"
"Ah? Is it?"
"Look at yourself in the mirror."
"No need, since I passed anyway."
"Let's go! The two of us will go get a meal to celebrate."
"Okay."

Binging was fair-skinned to begin with, and after having just gone through that heavily rigged preliminary audition, how could her face not be as pale as a sheet?
Fortunately, when it came to her turn, she wasn't given too hard a time and actually managed to pass the preliminary auditions smoothly.
This result caught her completely by surprise.
However, upon closer observation, it seemed that Ma Xun and those two Taiwan directors were no longer at each other's throats.
She truly was lucky.
Could she continue to be this lucky forever, though?
Binging could see that her mother was overjoyed, but deep down, she was genuinely terrified.
How should she put it... As she was thinking this, she saw that girl who had been eliminated earlier, squatting in the corner and sobbing.
To be honest, that girl was simply unlucky.
Binging was convinced that if she had been the first one picked out, she would be the one crying right now.
Thinking of other things...
Binging still had confidence in her own beauty; she had been praised for her looks since she was a child.
Before attending Director Xie's school, she had already acted in films, and her hometown even had a rather famous factory that used her image for advertisements.
All of this was enough to prove her natural beauty.
Yet, compared to that eliminated girl, how could she dare to claim she was superior in either facial features or figure?
The more Binging thought about it, the less confident she became.

At that moment, she saw the girl stand up...
Did she figure things out? Stopped crying?
She soon realized the girl stood up apparently because she caught sight of Ma Xun.
This Ma Xun...
"What are you thinking about?"
"Um... nothing."
Binging's hesitant expression only made her mother more determined than ever to treat her child to a proper meal!

***

Ma Xun walked out of the Beijing Film Studio with a belly full of rage.
Liu Lili and Shen Yi, this master-disciple duo, were purely here to cause trouble on purpose!
Of course, Ma Xun understood the reason behind it.
The Ping family had suffered a massive blow previously, and they were definitely looking to bounce back now.
Moreover, a lot of interests were tied up in this.
The young master of the Ping family was certainly unwilling to be squeezed out just like that.
Liu Lili and Shen Yi were originally veterans from Qiong Yao's camp, so it was only natural for them to serve as judges.
And they would definitely seize the opportunity to plant their own people.
From the current perspective, Ma Xun still held the absolute upper hand.
The benefits of this talent show were already firmly within his grasp.
Yet now, the Ping family intended to pilfer a portion of it—meaning they planned to plant their own people and even influence the casting of the final show, *Princess Pearl*.
Naturally, Ma Xun was not going to let them succeed!

Although this production was a co-production and would inevitably feature actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan, looking from a future perspective, the main ones would be Su Youpeng and Chen Zhipeng.
Ma Xun had never intended to touch these two little tigers because they performed well, and it was entirely certain that they belonged to He Xiuqiong's faction.
Neither of these little tigers had ever acted in a Qiong Yao drama before, while He Xiuqiong used to work at a certain television station on the island and definitely had plenty of prior contact with the Little Tigers.
This time, Ma Xun hadn't even called Chen Kun; he had only let Yuanyuan and Hao Lei come and try their luck.
To tell the truth, Ma Xun hadn't really planned on meddling much with the casting of *Princess Pearl*.
Yuanyuan and Hao Lei joining the audition was more for exposure.
Of course, if they got selected, that would be wonderful, but if they weren't, it was entirely acceptable.
Ma Xun hadn't forced the issue at all.
Never had he expected such complications to arise out of nowhere.
Liu Lili and his disciple actually dared to harbor ambitions of meddling...
The stakes had changed now.
It was no longer about interests; it was about power!

Just as Ma Xun was pondering this, he felt something was amiss.
Who is behind me... Who?!
With a sudden spin, a tall and slender girl stood there prettily.
Her eyes were brimming with tears, pitiful as a stray kitten in winter, hoping to follow a kind-hearted person home.
Ma Xun smiled. "Li Xiaoran, right? Why are you following me?"
In fact, Li Xiaoran had been trailing him for a while.
When she saw Ma Xun come out, she had simply followed him. Initially, she hadn't given it much thought.
Now that she was discovered and questioned like this...
"I, I planned to... thank you!"
As the girl spoke, she abruptly gave a deep bow.
The movement was quite large, giving Ma Xun a start, which then immediately made him want to laugh.
Li Xiaoran was quite amusing; she stayed bowing in gratitude and didn't straighten up for a good while.
As Ma Xun looked closer—the weather being neither cold nor hot—Li Xiaoran was wearing a pullover sweatshirt.
With her deep bow, the neckline drooped, and Ma Xun's gaze was inevitably drawn to the two white shapes within.
At that exact instant, Ma Xun admitted that he had underestimated her.
Although not as astonishing as in later years, they had already taken a considerable shape.
"Ahem... What are you doing? Hurry up and get up." Ma Xun behaved himself and didn't stare too long—just two or three glances, tops.
Li Xiaoran raised her head, her pretty face tear-stained like pear blossoms in the rain.
She was crying so hard she couldn't even speak.
This left Ma Xun in a difficult spot.
"Little sister, if you cry like this, won't others think I'm some sort of scoundrel if they see us?"
At these words, Li Xiaoran immediately began wiping her tears.
"Teacher Ma, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Teacher Ma."
Teacher Ma... This title made Ma Xun feel somewhat uncomfortable. After all, he wasn't proficient in practicing lightning whip martial arts.
"Don't call me Teacher Ma; you're making me sound old."
"Then..."
"Call me Brother Ma."
"Alright, Brother Ma. I, I just... just wanted to thank you."
In Li Xiaoran's current state, Ma Xun had a strong urge to laugh.
Actually, he knew full well what was on the girl's mind, so he dropped the pretense.
"Why thank me?"
"Well, just... earlier, you helped me."
"That's not right, I didn't help you."
"But during the preliminary auditions, you said..."
"Li Xiaoran, have you ever considered that if I hadn't called your name out back then, those two Taiwanese might not have given you a hard time at all?"
"This..."
Li Xiaoran froze instantly, because that possibility was entirely real.
Ma Xun continued with a smile, "I lied to you just now."
"A lie?" Li Xiaoran was once again dumbfounded.
"I don't care at all if people call me a scoundrel."
This answer...
Li Xiaoran's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason, and she inexplicably felt an even greater admiration for the Brother Ma standing before her.
Yet, upon second thought... was he essentially saying, "I am a scoundrel"?
At that moment, Ma Xun pointed ahead.
"That's my car. I'll give you one minute."
With that, he walked over, got into the car, and started the engine.
One minute?
Li Xiaoran had always considered herself somewhat slow-witted; her grades weren't good when she was in school, and later she spent all her time dancing, naturally reading very few books.
Yet, in a single instant, she understood what that one minute meant.
Had she become smarter?
Perhaps she had simply seen through the entertainment industry.
One minute... was too long!
The moment the engine of the Mercedes-Benz S320 roared to life, Li Xiaoran stretched out her long legs and ran.
In truth, she had previously hung around the gates of the Beijing Film Studio looking for gigs; she knew Han Sanping and knew he was the studio head.
And Ma Xun had been sitting right alongside Han Sanping, clearly on very good terms with him.
However, after getting into the car, Li Xiaoran's face was flushed red.
Ma Xun naturally noticed and smiled.
"Stop letting your imagination run wild. Let's go get some food first."
Hearing this, Li Xiaoran's face grew even redder.

***

Having passed the preliminary auditions, there was nothing wrong with treating oneself to a good meal.
Binging, however, had zero appetite.
"What's wrong?" How could Binging's mother not worry? This was her own flesh and blood.
Binging actually had things she wanted to say for a long time, hesitating continuously.
Now, she could no longer hold back.
"Mom, why don't we just call it quits here? I don't want to be an actress anymore."
The girl was truly terrified. The entertainment industry had genuinely frightened her.
Upon hearing this, Binging's mother panicked.
"That won't do! Think carefully. Mom isn't forcing you, it's just your current situation... Director Xie's school is a private vocational secondary school. Do you understand what that means?
You have no other path left. If you don't pursue acting, the absolute highest education you have is junior high school!
What kind of job can you find with that?"
Binging's mother was only acting in her daughter's best interest.
Hearing this, Binging nodded in understanding. She knew there was no turning back.

***

Ma Xun took Li Xiaoran to Fengzeyuan.
This restaurant was extraordinary, enjoying nationwide renown.
Throughout her twenty years of life, Li Xiaoran had only ever heard of its legendary reputation and had never stepped foot inside.
Upon entering, she found the interior decorated in an antique style, inheriting the aesthetic of the Forbidden City.
She immediately felt herself grow even more insignificant.
Of course, Ma Xun did this on purpose; he wanted to bring the girl out to broaden her horizons and casually display his own strength, while also... genuinely treating himself to some good food.
The girl was still young; she wasn't quite fully grown yet, after all.
Once the order was placed, the prices alone left Li Xiaoran dazed.
When the wine and dishes were served, she couldn't hold back any longer.
For the past ten years of her twenty years of life, she had strictly controlled her diet and weight. Even during those years, she hadn't eaten much.
Now... she let go completely!
*Hey, these sea cucumbers are amazing.*
*What on earth is this? Hibiscus chicken slices? You're telling me this is chicken? I can't tell at all!*

Watching the girl eat, Ma Xun felt every penny was well spent.
After the storm cleared, Li Xiaoran suddenly realized she might have lost her composure.
*Forget it, I don't even care anymore!*
Li Xiaoran began pulling things out of her bag.
"What are you..." Ma Xun couldn't help laughing at the sight.
Li Xiaoran only spoke after she had finished pulling everything out.
"After graduating from the Beijing Dance Academy, I've been looking for gigs outside the gates of the Beijing Film Studio. Some of these scripts I've acted in, and some I haven't."
Ma Xun briefly flipped through the materials; they were character and script details for various productions.
Li Xiaoran had acted before, but mostly as an extra playing insignificant background roles.
These shows... wait.
Ma Xun flipped to an interesting production: *Tai Chi Master*.
This show should still be in pre-production, and according to the materials, they were casting actors, with filming scheduled to start in about a month.
A thought stirred in Ma Xun's heart.
*Tai Chi Master* came at just the right time!
He could make good use of this opportunity.
Looking at Li Xiaoran again, he suddenly felt this girl might actually bring him good fortune.
Then, he heard the girl say:
"Brother Ma, I don't want to play these bit parts anymore! I want to be famous!"
Her tears were gone, and her gaze was exceptionally resolute.
Ma Xun nodded. "Whoever I promote must be my person."
Dropping these words, he stood up.
"I'll give you one day."
With that, he walked toward the door.
*One day this time?*
Before Ma Xun had even started the engine after getting into the car, Li Xiaoran was already sitting in the passenger seat.
Not even a minute had passed.
"Once you get in this car, it'll be very hard to get back out."
"Drive."