After school started in September, aside from necessary commercial shoots and gala activities, the five spent their remaining time attending classes at school.
Mo Xun was a senior this year. Many senior students at film academies joined film crews, but Mo Xun had been continuously active with the FTM team, giving up many opportunities.
It just so happened that a film crew was recruiting actors recently.
Mo Xun privately asked his manager: “Brother Xu, Director Qi is a director I particularly admire. Their crew is openly recruiting actors, and I want to audition. Do you think that’s okay?”
Xu Baichuan frowned in thought. FTM’s first album had just been released, and they weren’t rushing to release new songs for the next six months. Jiangzhou Film Academy seniors had no cultural classes and needed to join crews for internships, so Mo Xun wanting to join a crew was understandable.
Thinking this, Xu Baichuan looked up at Mo Xun: “Joining a crew is fine, but you’ll need to take leave and come back when FTM has activities.”
Mo Xun promised: “Of course, I won’t delay team activities.”
Xu Baichuan asked: “Which crew are you trying to audition for?”
Mo Xun said: “Director Qi Heng’s ‘Wind Rises in Chang’an,’ a fictional period political intrigue drama.”
Xu Baichuan made a phone call to a colleague: “Xiaoning, do you know about the situation with ‘Wind Rises in Chang’an’? Good, good… Thanks, I have an artist who wants to audition, please send me the materials.”
Moments later, Xu Baichuan received some documents. After reading them carefully, he said: “The male lead is set as Qin Luo, and several important male supporting roles are also confirmed. If you audition, you can only play supporting roles beyond the fifth male lead.”
Mo Xun said seriously: “I don’t have much acting experience, starting from small supporting roles is good. This crew has a good team, I just want to learn from them.”
Xu Baichuan patted Mo Xun’s shoulder: “Alright, I’ll take you to the audition. I’ll have the publicity team prepare an audition resume for you.”
Mo Xun smiled broadly: “Thank you, Brother Xu.”
During the National Day holiday, Xu Baichuan accompanied Mo Xun to Beijing to participate in the open auditions for “Wind Rises in Chang’an.”
Mo Xun’s appearance caused quite a stir at the scene.
“Isn’t this FTM’s captain?”
“Why is he here auditioning too! Can idols even act?”
“Mo Xun seems to be from film academy, right? A professionally trained student.”
“Jiangzhou Film Academy, just a second-tier school.”
“Hasn’t their FTM been quite popular recently? Not continuing to sing?”
“Is Mo Xun going solo and leaving the team this early?”
There was much discussion in the crowd.
Mo Xun sat in a corner with his manager to rest.
Major production auditions were quite grand. Today alone, there were at least a dozen actors auditioning for his role, including some small actors with rich performance experience. Mo Xun actually wasn’t very confident.
Xu Baichuan quietly encouraged him: “When you go in, try to relax. Just treat it as gaining experience and perform well.”
Mo Xun nodded: “Mm.”
The auditions were called by number in order, and soon it was Mo Xun’s turn.
Xu Baichuan accompanied Mo Xun into the room, handed Mo Xun’s resume to the director, and actively greeted him: “Hello Director Qi, this is Mo Xun, a signed artist from our Sheng Yao Media.”
Director Qi looked at Mo Xun seriously: “The recently popular idol boy group captain, right? Why are you suddenly here auditioning?”
Mo Xun was neither humble nor arrogant, his expression calm: “Hello Director Qi, I’m a senior at Jiangzhou Film Academy. My dream is to be an actor. I hope the crew can give me a chance, and I’ll definitely perform well.”
Director Qi nodded and asked: “Which role are you auditioning for?”
Mo Xun said: “The male lead’s bodyguard, Zhao Jingyu.”
Director Qi raised his eyebrows and said: “This role will have many action scenes, it’s very demanding.”
Mo Xun said: “That’s fine, I can handle hardship.”
Director Qi: “Alright then, according to the script, perform scene 17.”
…
Students from professional schools often had heavy “performance traces” when acting—overly crafted performances would seem deliberate and exaggerated.
But Mo Xun’s performance was very natural, with excellent eye acting.
Moreover, he was tall and handsome. Among today’s auditioners, his looks were undoubtedly among the top.
There were many “cream boys” with pale, thin aesthetics in domestic entertainment. Handsome and rugged male actors like Mo Xun were quite rare. He was very suitable for playing a skilled martial arts bodyguard—beautiful muscles that could carry period costumes well.
The director really liked him and said: “Not bad, go back and wait for news.”
In the afternoon, Xu Baichuan received a call from the crew: “Hello, Mo Xun passed the audition. If there’s no problem, he can find time to come to the crew to discuss schedule and pay in detail.”
Xu Baichuan looked at Mo Xun and said: “You don’t have many representative roles currently, so I’ll quote newcomer rates for your pay. Is that okay?”
Mo Xun immediately said: “No problem!”
Just then, Fang Yinnian happened to message Mo Xun, asking with concern: “How did the audition go? Was it smooth?”
Mo Xun replied cheerfully: “I got selected [grinning emoji].”
Fang Yinnian was also happy for him: “That’s great [thumbs up]”
Mo Xun sent a [hug] emoji: “Brother Xu and I are flying directly to Nancheng tonight. Have you all departed?”
Fang Yinnian: “Already at the airport, see you tonight.”
Mo Xun went to Beijing for the audition alone with his manager, while FTM was participating in a Nanxing TV variety show, so they were meeting directly in Nancheng.
Fang Yinnian told his teammates the good news about Mo Xun passing the audition. Fu Fei said excitedly: “That’s great! We’ll be able to see Brother Mo’s drama on TV in the future.”
Tan Junwen smiled and said: “The drama Brother Mo auditioned for—I looked it up. It’s a Taohe Platform S+ major investment period drama. The director and screenwriter are both quite good. I have a feeling it’ll be popular.”
Regarding Mo Xun going to audition for a crew alone, his teammates were all supportive and hoped he could get good development opportunities through this drama and meet more people in the film and TV industry.
They had known each other since their unknown period and had experienced so much together. They truly considered each other brothers and family.
So whatever decision Mo Xun made, everyone would understand and support him. He was already a senior and should go to crews to show his face and gain experience. He could take leave to come back for team activities when needed—it wouldn’t have much impact.
That evening, Mo Xun and Xu Baichuan flew from Beijing to Nancheng, while the other four FTM members flew from Jiangzhou to Nancheng with assistant Sister Chen.
At 8 PM, the four FTM members arrived at the airport first. Fans who came to pick them up were surprised to discover—there were only four people!
Where was Mo Xun? Everyone was very puzzled.
Not long after, a photo suddenly broke on Weibo—Mo Xun wearing sunglasses appearing at an audition scene for a Beijing crew.
“The captain went to Beijing for an audition and flew from Beijing?”
“No wonder the five of them didn’t get off the plane together!”
“What’s going on? Is Mo Xun preparing to go solo?”
“Holy crap! Mo Xun is going to join a crew to film?”
“Will FTM’s team activities be affected?!”
The fans’ concerns were understandable.
Once male idol group members’ individual careers took off, they would shift their work focus and no longer participate in team activities. Over time, the group would exist in name only and eventually fall apart.
Fans all knew Mo Xun was a Jiangzhou Film Academy student. But everyone hadn’t expected—just as FTM was becoming popular, Mo Xun would audition at this time, preparing to join a crew for filming.
Before they had even firmly established themselves, wasn’t this too rushed?
There were many questioning voices online.
“Getting arrogant just after becoming popular!”
“What is this, the captain actively breaking up the group?”
“I still want to see more FTM stages, no!”
“Can’t you go solo in a couple years? Why so rushed?”
For a time, fans were in turmoil, and various disguised haters took the opportunity to stir up trouble, cursing Mo Xun in FTM’s super topic plaza.
Calling him an “ungrateful backstabber,” “heartless selfish ghost,” “irresponsible,” “no team spirit”… the insults were particularly harsh.
Fang Yinnian’s heart clenched seeing this public opinion.
At 11 PM, Mo Xun and his manager finally arrived at the hotel.
Fang Yinnian immediately found the manager and said worriedly: “Brother Xu, news about Mo Xun’s audition was exposed online, and many fans don’t understand.”
“I know.” Xu Baichuan helplessly rubbed his temples. “The audition venue was strictly managed, so someone definitely deliberately leaked Mo Xun’s photo to mislead public opinion and get fans to boycott, affecting Mo Xun joining the crew.”
Everyone looked at each other—there were actually such tactics??
Competition in the film and TV track was even more intense than in music. There were only so many good scripts, with so many actors of the same age fighting for roles, wanting to step on all competitors.
Colleagues’ behind-the-scenes sabotage methods were very sinister. One approach was stirring up public opinion, guiding uninformed fans to attack crews.
In recent years, there had been many cases where impulsive fans attacked crews and caused their idols to lose hard-earned roles.
As FTM exploded into mainstream popularity and captain Mo Xun’s popularity soared, if FTM’s group fans boycotted him joining crews and the matter escalated, crews might think his fans were “troublesome” and not use him.
After all, it was just a supporting role—easily replaceable.
Although he passed the audition, the contract wasn’t signed yet. Everything was still variable, and he could be replaced by other actors at any time.
Mo Xun’s expression was also troubled. He really liked this role and particularly admired Director Qi, wanting to film this drama, but…
Mo Xun said quietly: “If fan boycotts are severe, I can also wait and film in a couple years.”
Fang Yinnian turned to look at Mo Xun seriously: “You’ve already missed many opportunities for team activities. This time you finally passed an audition for a major director’s big production drama—how can you give up?”
He grasped Mo Xun’s hand encouragingly: “It’s okay, we’ll stand by you. Go do what you want to do.”
Mo Xun felt warmth in his heart and gently squeezed Fang Yinnian’s hand back.
Tang Che glanced at their joined hands and said nothing.
Tan Junwen smiled: “Yinnian’s right. Brother Mo, go ahead confidently. Opportunities with major directors are rare. If there are activities, just take leave to come back. The four of us can accommodate your schedule.”
Fu Fei also nodded: “Exactly! We don’t have new song recording plans now, so we don’t need to practice group dances daily. Everyone’s familiar with previous songs and dances. When there are performances, you can come back—there’s plenty of time!”
Tang Che continued staring at their joined hands and said flatly: “Fans are just worried Mo Xun will break up the group to go solo. Since you don’t have that intention, just explain clearly.”
His teammates’ support moved Mo Xun greatly.
Truly his good brothers!
However, what was Tang Che looking at?
Mo Xun noticed that Yinnian had impulsively grasped his hand in excitement, and he had naturally squeezed back. Tang Che’s gaze was focused on their joined hands.
Mo Xun casually withdrew his hand.
Fortunately, the manager hadn’t seen this scene. Tang Che did give them a thoughtful look for a while but didn’t say anything.
That evening, FTM’s official studio released a statement: “Individual career development plans of FTM members will not affect group activities. All five members will prioritize the group’s interests.”
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
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