Meng Xu followed Zhao Kun inside, his face full of curiosity.
“Go to the room all the way in the back,” a staff member said, pointing toward the innermost room.
Meng Xu and Zhao Kun pushed the door open and walked in.
“Heyyy~” As soon as they entered, a scantily clad beauty with an exotic island flair shot them a flirtatious glance.
“Whoa, our interviewer is actually a foreign babe,” Meng Xu said with a lecherous grin.
“Over here.” A man’s voice rang out, laced with impatience.
“Director Xia, this is Young Master Meng. He’s here to audition with me,” Zhao Kun said, walking over with a fawning smile.
“Audition? Tch, audition my ass. In this business, as long as you’ve got the goods, you could be built like a pig and it wouldn’t matter,” a burly middle-aged man with a thick beard said brashly.
“Go give them both a screening,” the bearded man said, tilting his head toward a woman beside him.
The woman swayed her hips as she walked over.
“This stinky, pervy-looking creep—out,” the woman said, pinching her nose and pointing at Zhao Kun with a look of disdain.
Pfft!
“Hahaha! Pervy creep!” Meng Xu doubled over, clutching his stomach, nearly dying of laughter.
Zhao Kun’s face flushed bright red.
“Hey, you little vixen! Who are you calling a pervy creep? I’m a man of extraordinary charisma, as handsome as Pan An—wait, hey, don’t pull me…” Before Zhao Kun could finish, a man in black yanked him right out the door.
“Omg, I’m dying! ‘Handsome as Pan An’—hahaha…” Meng Xu couldn’t stop laughing.
The woman stopped in front of Meng Xu and gave him a thorough once-over.
“Hey there, sweetheart, what do you think? Have you been swept off your feet by my dashing good looks and powerful physique?” Meng Xu wiggled his eyebrows at her.
The woman smiled without saying a word, then gave a slightly satisfied nod.
“You pass my round. On to the second,” she said, gesturing with her pointed chin toward the island girl.
“Come on, shuai-ge~” the island girl said in stiff, broken Mandarin, curling her finger at Meng Xu.
Pfft!
“What’s that you’re saying, sweetheart? It’s ‘shuai-ge’—handsome guy—not ‘shuai-ge’—loser guy!” Meng Xu corrected her as he walked over.
“Do one hundred reps with these dumbbells,” the island beauty said, batting her eyelashes at him.
Pfft!
Are you kidding me? Is this casting for actors or athletes?
A few minutes later.
“Alright, he’s hired!” The bearded man clapped his hands together, looking satisfied.
The woman from earlier pinned a badge onto Meng Xu’s chest.
“This is your number, handsome. Nice skills—maybe we can spar sometime~”
“Haha, sure thing, anytime.”
He looked down at his badge number.
“Holy crap, 9527!”
“Leave your number and wait for the call. When the shoot’s about to start, we’ll notify you,” the bearded man told Meng Xu.
“Sure, sure, sure. Hey, Director, hook a brother up with some good scenes, alright?”
Meng Xu swaggered out the door, then turned back to shoot a smug glance at the sign on the wall.
“Male Actor Recruitment!”
“Wahaha! Starting today, your big brother has officially joined the ranks of every man’s dream profession—Number 9527!”
“Hm?” Meng Xu looked up and spotted Zhao Kun not far away, looking completely deflated—which only made him puff up with even more pride.
“Hey, Zhao Kun, don’t sell yourself short. Being pervy is a kind of inner quality, you know—rare, unique.”
Pfft!
Zhao Kun stared at Meng Xu with a face that screamed “I’m about to cry.”
Didn’t you see my self-esteem got crushed back there? And you come over here cracking jokes—that’s just freaking bullying!
One man was beaming with delight, the other slumping with defeat as they walked out. Zhao Kun got behind the wheel, not in the mood to talk.
That woman’s words today had really dealt him a heavy blow.
“Hm?” Not far down the road, Zhao Kun suddenly pulled over to the curb.
“Holy crap, it’s that damn dog!” Zhao Kun threw open the door and jumped out.
“What’s going on?” Meng Xu had no idea what was happening but followed him anyway.
“Hey! You damn dog, stop right there!”
Song Qin was out for a walk with Ahua on a leash when Zhao Kun suddenly leaped out in front of her, startling her.
“What do you want?” Song Qin asked nervously.
“Hmph! You mangy mutt, don’t think I won’t recognize you just because you’re wearing clothes,” Zhao Kun said, ignoring Song Qin and pointing straight at Ahua.
Pfft!
Zhao Kun’s words sent Meng Xu into another fit of laughter.
What the heck is that supposed to mean? Were you two communicating in the buff before?
“Hey, Zhao Kun, what exactly happened between you two?” Meng Xu asked with a mischievous grin.
“It—it ripped all my clothes off right in the middle of the street!” Zhao Kun recalled the humiliation of that day, his eyes turning red, looking exactly like a little girl who’d been bullied by some thug.
“Pfft! Hahahaha…” Meng Xu couldn’t take it anymore. He doubled over, clutching his stomach and squatting down in laughter.
“You—you’re still laughing, Young Master Meng!” Zhao Kun was about to explode with anger.
“Psychos.” Song Qin rolled her eyes at these two clearly not-quite-right guys and started to walk away with Ahua.
“Stop right there! Don’t go!” Zhao Kun leaped in front of her again.
“What exactly do you want?” Song Qin’s face hardened.
“I—I…” Zhao Kun had only rushed over on impulse after recognizing Ahua, but what he was going to do once he got here—he hadn’t actually thought that far. Now that Song Qin asked, he was stumped.
Deep down, he wanted nothing more than to beat that dog to a pulp, but with just him and Meng Xu? That was totally impossible. Besides, there was no way Meng Xu was gonna help him fight a dog.
But having run into them, just letting it slide—that, Zhao Kun couldn’t bring himself to do either.
“I—I—I’m gonna strip its clothes off in public too!” Zhao Kun finally blurted out after a long pause.
Meng Xu had just managed to stand up and stop laughing, but at those words, he immediately bent over and squatted back down.
“Ouch, ouch, I’m dying! Zhao Kun, you know what? The best thing about coming to your Jiangnan City is meeting you, you absolute goofball!”
Zhao Kun’s face burned even hotter at Meng Xu’s teasing.
“You mangy mutt! Today, I’m gonna strip you bare in front of everyone!” Zhao Kun gritted his teeth and charged at Ahua.
“Woof woof woof!” Ahua wasn’t about to back down either. It yanked free from Song Qin’s grip and lunged straight at Zhao Kun.
“Holy crap!” The moment Zhao Kun saw such a massive dog charging at him, all his earlier bravado evaporated.
Thump! Ahua tackled Zhao Kun straight to the ground.
Man and dog went at it right there in the middle of the street.
“Little punk, you think you can mess with your Grandpa Dog? Looks like I didn’t teach you a good enough lesson last time.” Ahua opened its jaws wide and—riiiip!—tore off one sleeve of Zhao Kun’s shirt.
“Ah, dammit! You stupid mutt, stop ripping my clothes!”
Before Zhao Kun could finish, riiiip!—the other sleeve came off too.
Song Qin was terrified on the sidelines. If that dog hurt someone, she’d be held responsible too.
Thinking fast, she whipped out her phone and called Lin Hai.
“Xiao Hai, you need to come to Yunzhong Road right away—Ahua’s in a fight with someone!”
