On the other side, Lin Cheng and Lin Momo didn’t know about this ‘turmoil’ happening on the Internet.

At this time, the two of them had arrived at the 17th floor according to the address written on the note.

There was a small sign by the elevators that read ‘[Against The Grain] Cast Recruitment.’ Following the direction of the arrow, the two soon found Room 1703.

It was not a big office.

At this time, a man in his early forties and wearing glasses was sitting at his desk, sifting through a pile of actor information in front of him with a grumpy look.

Realizing that there was someone at the door, the man was surprised for a moment, and then he asked, “Are you here to sell something? Or for an audition?”

The man asked the last sentence a little uncertainly.

“Came for an audition,” Lin Cheng said, and then added, “My name is Lin Cheng. Teacher Li recommended me to come here.” 

“Oh, the teacher mentioned you!” After hearing Lin Cheng’s introduction, the man stood up from the desk. He invited Lin Cheng and Lin Momo into the office, “Come in and sit down.”

“My name is Liu Zong. I am the Chief Director of [Against The Grain] and a student of Teacher Li. Before we decide if you’re joining the crew, you can just call me by name.

“Teacher briefly explained to me about your situation on the phone yesterday.” After a pause, Director Liu added, “I still need to explain some things clearly to you first. 

“[Against The Grain] is an officially-invested film. The script is also a drama that expresses patriotic feelings. Have you done any preliminary research on this drama?”

Lin Cheng nodded.

[Against the Grain] tells a story about students, scientists, and industrialists who were living abroad returning to the motherland during a time of national crisis and dedicating themselves to the great cause of the motherland.

Director Liu also nodded and continued, “Since you have a general understanding, I won’t say any more. Currently, there are 37 actors in [Against The Grain] who have been confirmed, and they are all actors with rich acting experience. Although the remaining 89 characters do not require veteran actors as they do not have many scenes, it’s still our intention to strive for excellence.” 

After saying that, Director Liu looked at Lin Cheng again and said, “Although you were introduced by Teacher Li, if you don’t meet our requirements for the role, you won’t be able to join the set for filming.”

“Okay,” Lin Cheng nodded and said, “I will do my best.”

“Okay, you can try out a scene later.”

After that, Director Liu began rummaging through the pile of information on the table.

These were the scripts for the remaining roles that have yet to be cast.

After flipping through the scripts, Director Liu casually pulled out one and handed it to Lin Cheng. “That’s it. Take a look.” 

Lin Cheng took the script, glanced through it briefly, and asked Director Liu, “When will the audition be?”

“It’s going on right now. It just so happens that today Teacher Zhou is helping to interview some actors. Come on, walk over with me.” 

With that said, Director Liu led the way and brought Lin Cheng and Lin Momo to Room 1704 next door.

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

Seeing Director Liu’s interview process, the audience in the livestream channel  were a little dumbfounded:

[That’s it? ]

[Isn’t this too hasty? ]

[Is this really the crew of [Against The Grain]? Why do I feel things are too lax? And this director, isn’t he too casual? ]

[The way this crew is set up… to be honest, I thought it was a scamming troupe. ]

Among the complaints that filled the screen, there were also one or two explanations:

[Haha, that’s just what Liu Zong is like.]

[Don’t look at Director Liu as an old man ambling around, he is really good! He directed the hit movie [Battle of Chenghai].]

… …

Lin Cheng and Lin Momo followed Director Liu to the door of 1704.

“There are still two people finishing inside. Just take a look at the script for now. You will join them after a while.”

Lin Cheng nodded and looked inside the room.

Sitting at the head of the room was an elderly man. This person should be the Teacher Zhou mentioned by Director Liu.

On the stage in front of him, two young actors were trying out a scene: one of them played a husband who wanted to return to China, and the other played a wife who was worried about her husband’s safety and was trying to persuade her husband to stay abroad.

The two actors had not finished the scene when they were stopped by Zhou Haihua.

“Cut! Stop, stop, what are you two doing up there?” Zhou Haihua asked.

Hearing this, the two actors looked at each other, both a little confused.

“I— we were performing,” the actress whispered.

“Performing? I thought you were quarreling!”

“That actor, are you in a hurry to pee?”

“No.”

“No, I thought you were in a hurry to find the toilet.” 

After that, Zhou Haihua looked at the actress aside and said, “And you, did you get a fly in your eye? Did it make you cry? Why are you blinking your eyes so hard? Aren’t you afraid that your contact lenses will come out after blinking them so hard?”

Faced with Zhou Haihua’s sharp words, the two actors on the stage looked embarrassed.

… …

Even the audience who happened to witness this scene in the livestream channel couldn’t stand his words:

[Fuck, that’s too much.]

[How scary.]

[Who is this old man? He speaks so unpleasantly. ]

[No need to ask who this old man is, you can check it out.]

[Zhou Haihua! He’s a national treasure-level actor!]

[The hell? So awesome?]

[Yes, he is so awesome. To be precise, he should be a national treasure-level film and television artist.]

… … 

The Lin family was watching the livestream of their great-grandchild. At this time, Old Master Lin looked at the comments on the barrage and pouted with disdain, humming softly, “Isn’t he just an old bastard? What’s a national treasure? He’s just an old artist…. Bah!”

Butler Zhou on the side smiled secretly when he heard Old Master Lin’s words and did not dare to refute.

Seeing the two actors in the livestream leave the audition room—they were so humiliated with what Zhou Haihua said that they were almost crying—Old Master Lin complained even more. 

But when he saw Lin Cheng entering the room, the old man couldn’t help but also become nervous.

… …

Lin Cheng came to the stage.

When Zhou Haihua first looked at Lin Cheng, there was a flash of surprise in his eyes, but he quickly covered it up.

“Here for an audition?” Zhou Haihua asked Lin Cheng calmly.

“Yes.” Lin Cheng nodded towards Zhou Haihua, but it was like he was greeting him.

Hearing this, Zhou Haihua didn’t ask what Lin Cheng’s role was and said directly, “Let’s get started.”

Lin Cheng’s character was a Chinese doctor named Fu Rui who has lived with his family in Country A since he was a child. When he learned that his real motherland was in trouble, the doctor brought his own scalpel and a box full of anti-inflammatory drugs to the motherland.

The scene in the script that Director Liu picked for Lin Cheng was about this doctor coming to the motherland, facing the enemy’s army for interrogation, dealing with the opponent calmly in the face of danger, and finally smoothly delivering anti-inflammatory drugs to the war zone.

In this section, there should have been other actors performing the scene, but there was no one present, so Lin Cheng could only perform without any physical objects to interact with.

Lin Cheng made a gesture of carrying a suitcase, walked expressionlessly from the side of the stage to the center of the stage, and stopped.

After a pause for a few seconds, Lin Cheng said, “My personal belongings.” After another few seconds’ pause, Lin Cheng raised his tone slightly and continued, “What qualifications do you have to inspect other people’s things on other people’s land?!”

Serve as Contrast Team in a ‘Dad with Baby’ Show translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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T/N: I’m not familiar with China’s history enough to know which era this film is set—and the text presumes that the readers would know from context—but if I were to hazard a guess it would probably be the beginnings of the Japanese occupation. The Second Sino-Japanese war began in 1937 when full-scale invasion of China started and lasted until the end of WWII in 1945.