Chapter 31: Audition 

Xiao Man’s desire to confront someone was left with no outlet, as Xu Yan hadn’t appeared in front of her these past few days.

Instead, Feng Qing had started working again.

Xiao Man realized that Xu Yan’s time as a substitute was almost over, and she would no longer be able to see him in her dog form, delivering some justice as an angry little dog.

Yet, she still remembered those two dreams, where apart from the mechanical voice, there was Xu Yan’s voice that made her teeth itch.

He had said, “Does it hurt? If it does, get up and hit me.”

Xiao Man thought, “Just you wait, next time I wake up, I’ll give you a big slap!”

Aside from that, life was quite peaceful and pleasant.

After Zhou Jiang returned home, he often sent videos to Han Shuangshuang, and each time he would say a few words to Xiao Man. 

If others saw this, they might find it strange, but Han Shuangshuang didn’t mind; she enjoyed talking to Xiao Man this way.

Han Shuangshuang’s parents and younger brother had tried to stop her, but her mindset had changed. 

She realized she was no longer the pitiful person who could only passively accept and escape. 

She could handle them, and they had nothing to hold over her except for familial ties. 

But those familial ties had long been exhausted by them.

They couldn’t openly ask for money, and they didn’t dare to do anything to Han Shuangshuang privately. 

After all, this was a big city, and any out-of- line behavior could land them in jail.

After some time of entanglement, they eventually disappeared from Han Shuangshuang’s life.

Ironically, the online disputes caused by their appearance had accelerated the growth of Han Shuangshuang’s account, which now had 300,000 followers. 

At this juncture, she received an invitation for Xiao Bai to participate in the audition for a movie.

Chen Yao, Su Mingxuan, and Han Shuangshuang studied the matter for a while, confirmed it was legitimate, and began preparing.

It was a heartwarming movie starring a dog, and from the synopsis, it seemed very touching and tear-jerking, with a certain audience base, likely to attract many viewers.

The director, Hua Lanxin, had directed several movies with average ratings on review sites, and several of the announced main cast were familiar faces on screen.

Since the audition was in a neighboring city and it was inconvenient to take pets on public transport, Chen Yao rented a car to drive Han Shuangshuang and Xiao Bai there.

Perhaps anticipating a large number of pets, the audition was held in a not-too-large convention center, with the audition area partitioned off, while the rest of the pets played around with their owners in the venue.

Upon arrival, Chen Yao quickly observed and whispered to Han Shuangshuang, 

“Many of these are internet-famous dogs. Look at that Corgi, called ‘Don’t Bark. Its original name is Xiao Ke, but it barks so much that its owner always yells ‘Don’t Bark, so it thinks that’s its name. It has six million followers.” 

“And that Border Collie, called Piggy, is very cunning, always blaming other dogs for its mischief, with five million followers. Over there…”

Han Shuangshuang, listening to Chen Yao’s detailed account, felt a bit overwhelmed.

These were all big internet stars with millions of followers, and she only had 300,000. 

She hadn’t expected to receive an invitation.

However, although she felt a bit insecure, she had full confidence in Xiao Bai. 

Apart from its appearance not being entirely satisfactory, Xiao Bai was top-notch in every other aspect. 

There was no better or smarter dog than Xiao Bai!

Han Shuangshuang stared at Xiao Bai’s short fur for a while, finding it increasingly adorable.

She was wrong; Xiao Bai’s appearance was also quite appealing, in a uniquely cute way!

Someone was in charge of registration, and the order of auditions was determined by the order of registration. 

Han Shuangshuang and her group arrived neither early nor late, and were seventh in line.

For the smoothness of filming and the final effect, the selection of the dog actor had to be careful, hence this audition. 

Besides the famous and smart dogs from the internet, there were also smart dogs selected from training bases.

Han Shuangshuang, Chen Yao, and Xiao Bai didn’t stand out in the crowd. 

They waited quietly, secretly listening to the sounds from the audition area.

The audition content was already known, with some improvisation, but since it involved animals, the uncertainty was high, so it didn’t matter if people overheard; there was no need for secrecy.

Finally, it was Han Shuangshuang’s turn. 

She took Xiao Bai in, while Chen Yao waited outside.

The director, Hua Lanxin, naturally attended the audition for the main role. 

In her forties, she was one of the few female directors in the country, with short hair, not particularly beautiful, and a serious demeanor. 

She was flanked by one or two people, all deferring to her.

Like the other groups, Han Shuangshuang had to have Xiao Bai perform some set actions, which could be trained in advance. 

Generally, the invited dogs had no problem with these.

Then came the part where many dogs didn’t perform well, but for Xiao Man, the fake dog, it was simple.

The director asked Xiao Bai to bark at its owner and wag its tail at another person.

Since there was no restriction on who gave the command, after Han Shuangshuang accurately gave the instruction, Xiao Man took two steps back, barked “fiercely” at Han Shuangshuang, then immediately ran to the director, wagging her tail and grinning.

A dog’s facial expressions are different from a human’s, but humans like to see dogs that appear to be smiling, so she gave them that.

Director Hua Lanxin was surprised by Xiao Bai’s performance, which was exactly what she had dreamed of for the main role.

But, the dog’s appearance…

People like good looks, and if there are no special requirements for a movie, she prefers to use handsome men and beautiful women. 

If this dog were a bit cuter, she would have decided on the spot, but its current appearance with little fur was somewhat ugly.

The audition invitation was sent by her assistant, so she hadn’t known there would be such an ugly dog auditioning. 

If she had seen it online, she might not have given it a second glance.

But the dog’s intelligence was truly remarkable!

Hua Lanxin was torn. 

As she gave more commands, and the dog executed them perfectly, she became even more conflicted.

After the dog’s audition, she called for the next one.

She hoped there would be a dog that could perform the commands perfectly and also look good.

Soon, after several auditions, Hua Lanxin went from hopeful to anxious.

No, there was no dog like the Husky named Xiao Bai. 

Yes, any well-trained dog could perform commands, but Xiao Bai had performed a transition from anger to sadness in a second, something even humans might not do as well!

After all the dogs had auditioned, the people around Hua Lanxin couldn’t help but discuss.

“From what we’ve seen, only that Husky can really act. I’ve never seen a dog that can act like that. My god, it’s as if it really understands everything.” 

“Not only does it understand, but it can also act well. When it acted pitiful just now, I felt heartbroken too.”

“It’s just a bit ugly.”

Hua Lanxin silently agreed.

Then the director’s assistant who had invited Xiao Bai to audition said, 

“Director Hua, Xiao Bai is not simple. It’s not only smart but has also saved people, more than once. It doesn’t seem to be a publicity stunt; there was even a case of attempted murder, and the police reported it.”

Hua Lanxin raised an eyebrow, went online to check, and after a while said, 

“It’s quite similar to Wangcai in our script.”

The dog protagonist in this movie was also a dog that had once saved someone’s life.

Hua Lanxin estimated, “We start filming in 

a month. Its fur should have grown out a bit by then.”

The director’s assistant said, 

“Actually, if you look closely, Xiao Bai isn’t really that ugly; it’s kind of adorably ugly. Nowadays, audiences are curious and might just like this kind of thing… And it’s really smart!”

The director’s assistant had thought Xiao Bai was smart just from the short videos, suspecting there might be some staging and editing, but seeing it live was something else. 

The videos hadn’t fully captured Xiao Bai’s intelligence. 

If Xiao Bai were the lead, they could save a lot of trouble, and the final effect would be even better.

She had worked on shows with animal actors before, and it was always a struggle. 

Animals could just quit without notice, and you couldn’t reason with them. 

If you pushed them too hard, the more fragile ones could literally die on you. 

You had to use all sorts of filming tricks to compensate, which was exhausting and really affected the shooting schedule.

But if Xiao Bai were in the movie, it might not even make a mistake in a long take!

She was really looking forward to having Xiao Bai in the film.

After some discussion, they tentatively had an idea, but there might still be changes, so they didn’t make any promises and asked everyone who came to audition to go home and wait.

The owners had a good idea of how their pets had performed. 

Some were just there for the experience, to make another video, while others genuinely thought their dogs had done well and were full of confidence.

Chen Yao and Han Shuangshuang got into the car with Xiao Bai, and Chen Yao suddenly laughed, 

“When it comes to acting, who can beat our Xiao Bai!”

Then she worried, “It’s just that Xiao Bai’s appearance isn’t quite up to par.”

During the audition, she had seen the director’s expression, a mix of surprise and regret, probably because she thought Xiao Bai was ugly.

Han Shuangshuang said, “If they don’t choose Xiao Bai, it’s their loss.”

Chen Yao exclaimed, “Wow, Xiao Han, you’re so confident!”

Han Shuangshuang said shyly, “I have confidence in Xiao Bai, right, Xiao Bai?”

Xiao Man lay there without a word.

That was certainly true; no dog could beat her, a fake dog with human consciousness, in understanding human speech.

Since the actual filming was still a ways off, Han Shuangshuang and Chen Yao didn’t stay to wait for the news. 

They stayed at a pet-friendly hotel nearby for the night and returned the next day.

Su Mingxuan had already asked about the situation on WeChat but still pestered them for details about the on-site situation.

While waiting for the audition results, they went about their usual work, and Xiao Man returned to her lazy demeanor, wandering around the company when not filming videos.

On the third day after the audition, as she was wandering, the elevator opened, and someone stepped out.

Xiao Man had just glanced casually, but upon recognizing the person as Xu Yan, she immediately rushed over.

Come on, brother, accept the punishment of the angry puppy!