“Our Sister Nian is always in perfect condition. Are you saying that of all days, she went and injured herself today so that she can frame you?” Cheng Su fumed and continued, “Don’t take us all for fools. Would you believe it yourself if you heard this?”
Jiang Qian laughed frostily and replied, “Who knows. But I didn’t do it, anyway.” She turned to Li Beinian and said, “Where’s your proof if you insist I did it?”
“Proof?” Character E interjected, losing her cool. “Everyone saw it!”
“Everyone?” Jiang Qian threw a glance at Li Xueqing and asked, “Li Xueqing, did you see it?”
Li Xueqing, who was enjoying herself as an onlooker, turned to put on her sunglasses so that she could hide the glee in her eyes. Feigning a look of innocence, she replied, “When the scene started I was backstage, I didn’t see anything.”
Jiang Qian did not expect that Li Xueqing would wash her hands so cleanly off the matter. She frowned and said, “Li Beinian got these injuries from somewhere else to frame me!”
The commotion was drawing an increasing number of onlookers.
They were all here for the audition.
And all of them being women, they excelled at sniffing out and spreading such news.
Li Xueqing claimed, “How would I know? I’m not Li Beinian. Who knows where and how she got those injuries.”
Her words were ambiguous.
Li Beinian caught it.
When and how—obviously, she was hinting that Li Beinian was to be blamed.
The latter’s expression darkened as she looked at Li Xueqing.
It had been some time since they saw each other, and it appeared that the woman had wised-up.
Although what she said sounded like she was trying to protect herself, the reality was that she had knifed Li Beinian in her back.
At the same time, she had deflected the situation, pushing it back to Jiang Qian to deal with her.
When the people around heard this, of course, they started to throw looks of condemnation at Li Beinian.
Following this, Jiang Qian turned to character A and asked, “You were playing dead on the ground, did you see anything?”
Being shamed by Director Ma in the audition room and having the director praise Li Beinian was enough for character A to bear a grudge.
In response to Jiang Qian’s question, she glanced at Li Beinian and said, “I saw you kicking her a couple of times, but isn’t that for the acting effect? You must have kicked her twice or thrice at most when you struggled, but it was just small movements. I’m sure it wouldn’t injure her.”
Character A looked at both Li Beinian and character E with disdain as she spoke, “It’s a really minor issue to pick on. If you’re that petty, you’re better off not being an actress. Pretender.”
Character E fumed even more upon hearing that. She retorted, “Are you that stupid? You were lying on the floor playing dead. Obviously, you saw everything quite clearly. I even saw you gloating, so who’s pretending now?!”
Jiang Qian laughed icily and asked, “What benefits are Li Beinian giving you to frame me? Are you switching professions to become a servile follower?”
Character E was so angry that she wanted to hit the woman. She lunged at her, hollering. “F***, shut your damned and foul mouth!”
Gasps were heard among the crowd.
Jiang Qian was startled. Just as she thought that character E would hit her, Li Beinian reached out to hold her back.
Jiang Qian heaved a sigh of relief, laughed scornfully, and hissed. “Cowardly servile follower, if you have the guts… arghhhhhh!”
Dong!
A loud thud was heard as her head was knocked against the wall.
Everyone gasped now, with their hearts in their throats. They couldn’t believe this was happening.
Jiang Qian’s head was pressed tight against the wall by a delicate, pale hand, her face contorted from the force the hand exerted.
With one foot on her buttocks and one hand on her head, Li Beinian said icily, “Apologize.”