Quick Transmigration: The Mad Beauty Refuses to Be the Scapegoat!-Chapter 217 - 46: The Control Group Refuses to Be Cannon Fodder

Chapter 217: Chapter 46: The Control Group Refuses to Be Cannon Fodder

He gave Jiang Lai a chance to audition for a role as an ordinary mother, who, during a war-torn era of frequent conflicts, raised eight children with her own flesh and blood.

This was an enormous challenge for a young actor.

Moreover, this director was famous in the industry for being strict and critical, and his films were not meant for mass popularity. Even though the quality was high, most young actors were too afraid to work with him.

Jiang Lai knew this was a great opportunity, a chance to advance her career, so she packed her bags without hesitation and bought a plane ticket to another city. Before leaving, she went to say goodbye to Yangyang. When he heard that if she succeeded in the audition, she would be away for a year, Yangyang threw a fit, unwilling to let her go. As the family was at a loss, Jiang Lai directly enrolled him in a Shaolin Class.

"Come here during winter and summer breaks to learn martial arts. Once you can beat all your senior brothers, you can visit me on set, and I’ll give you the mightiest Ultraman model in the world, alright?"

"Really? I can come find you if I beat my senior brothers?"

"When have I ever lied to you, you little rascal."

Yangyang, of course, believed Jiang Lai and agreed without hesitation.

Initially, the child’s grandmother was worried about Yangyang suffering in Shaolin Class and didn’t want him to go. Zhou Yiqing said just one thing on the side that made the old lady relent.

"Yangyang’s height lags behind his peers, probably inherited from his mother. If you don’t want him to struggle to find a wife when he grows up, send him to train while he’s still young."

Yangyang was somewhat small and skinny, with natural light hair that made him look malnourished, all because his grandparents spoiled him. After Jiang Lai appeared, she helped care for him for a while, and he had gained some weight, but his height was still an issue.

Afraid that her grandson would indeed grow up to be short and shame the Zhou Family’s tradition of men being at least six feet tall, the grandmother hastily packed Yangyang off to the nearest Shaolin Class. There, the children of wealthy families who were difficult to handle went for a mix of academic lessons and training.

After settling Yangyang, Jiang Lai went for the audition. To her surprise, Yang Bing was also there. The two were old acquaintances and got along well. Before Jiang Lai went in, Yang Bing cheered her on.

Even though her agent had said that the lead female role was most likely going to be Yang Bing, given her excellent skills and lack of scandal, making her the safest and most reliable choice.

But Jiang Lai still wanted to try. She had never been a mother, but what she excelled at was imitation and empathy.

Before coming, she fasted for two whole days and wore no makeup. When the director said to start, the brightness in Jiang Lai’s eyes immediately dimmed, her dull gaze instantly pulling everyone into that bleak, grim era.

In this scene, she played a mother planning to sell her third daughter to feed her youngest twins.

Of course, besides Jiang Lai, there were no other actors to interact with in the scene. Everything relied on the actor’s imagination, reciting lines and performing actions solo.

Under the spotlight, Jiang Lai’s waist slowly bent down, one hand appeared to be holding something, while the other cradled the air as if holding a child, her head bowed, standing there. The extreme weight of life’s oppression, the tired state, made everyone around feel suffocated.

For a moment, the director truly saw Jiang Lai cradling a child in her arms, a toddler on her back, holding the hand of a seven or eight-year-old girl, even calculating their heights with precision, leaving no trace of acting, as if these three children indeed clung to her.

The director started delivering lines.

"How old is the girl?"

Jiang Lai slowly raised her head, her eyes seemed to have regained some light.

"Eight years old."

"Eight...a bit old."

"Not at all, she’s just a slow grower, eats little, can do work."

Saying this, Jiang Lai made a pushing motion, like she was nudging the child towards the buyer, for them to take a good look.

At that moment, her eyes looked at that patch of air, genuinely as if seeing a child, with restrained reluctance mixed with some hope. She wanted to sell this child, for her to live on.

The buyer hesitated before starting to negotiate the price. After Jiang Lai repeatedly compromised, she finally agreed—one daughter, for three bags of millet.

"Sanya, when you go to someone else’s home be diligent and nimble, got it? From now on, he is your father, quickly, go call him father."

At that moment, in everyone’s eyes appeared a scene of a girl being sold, the frail and hungry little girl portrayed vividly by Jiang Lai’s every slight movement.

The child followed the other away, and the performance was supposed to end there, but Jiang Lai kept looking intently into the distance, a smile lingering on her lips, a smile filled with reluctance, heartache, and joy.

The three bags of rice in her hand seemed incredibly heavy, the tears in her eyes ultimately did not fall.

After the performance, the director asked her a question.

"Did you read the original work?"

"Yes, I did."

"In the original, the third daughter was the heroine’s favorite child. Why didn’t you cry when selling your favorite daughter?"

Jiang Lai stood up straight, looking at the director.

"At that time, the heroine had already lost her second and fourth sons, having endured the pain of losing a child twice. Selling her daughter was not just for the daughter to survive but to let her remaining children live too, so she wouldn’t cry. No matter what happens in the future, she probably won’t cry."

"Okay, you can leave, we’ll inform you of the results later."

Once outside, her agent asked Jiang Lai how it went and comforted her.

"It’s okay, Director Wang has high demands on actors, not getting picked is okay, even just showing your face is good."

Jiang Lai smiled and said nothing.

A week later, she received the response.

She had been selected as the lead actress and was to join the crew within a month to start filming.

Even the agent didn’t expect such a coveted role to fall to Jiang Lai, but had to admire Jiang Lai’s determination and tenacity.

The role required the actress to reduce her weight to below eighty pounds to fit the image of a starved, emaciated person from that era. Originally, at a height of 165 cm, Jiang Lai weighed over ninety pounds, already quite slim. Now, for the role, she had to lose more than ten pounds within a month.

This requirement was incredibly stringent, and the director actually didn’t expect Jiang Lai to meet the standard, but was shocked upon seeing her a month later, now frightfully thin.

He didn’t expect any actress would really slim down to below eighty pounds for a role in just one month.

The entire production was expected to last a year, with Jiang Lai portraying the heroine’s entire life, and her weight had to stay within the required range.

Throughout the year, Jiang Lai’s performance earned the respect of everyone on set. Her dedication perfectly aligned with the director’s stringent demands, and they worked together very harmoniously. Sometimes, for just one shot, Jiang Lai would repeat it over thirty times to achieve that feeling the director described.