LAVW – Chapter 156 Tiger Tiger

What almost made Hans lose control of his expression was, when he turned around, seeing Lancel—those leopard eyes identical to Shi Qian’s.

Lancel looked at Hans’s fist pounding his own leg and let out a soft call, “Waa~ oh~”

Then, warmly and considerately, he turned back and rubbed up against Hans as the man stepped aside.

Naturally, Hans’s hand that had been pounding his leg went to pet the leopard instead. Inside, he sighed: I really have to seize this opportunity and get Lancel to fight for his dreams.

If he kept fooling around with that white tiger like this, all his years of careful upbringing would probably go down the drain and become empty talk. That mysterious influence between friends—its early signs were already visible these past few days.

Besides, Laman’s work was practically guaranteed to be a good film. It was worth careful preparation and going all out.

Hans gave the leopard a couple of strokes, like an overly worried old father, and continued handling social niceties on behalf of the silly kid at home.

When the conversation shifted to animal actors, Merlin was able to join in as well, speaking fluently and at length.

Shi Qian, with no leopard to play with, felt bored. He lay sprawled in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, admiring the stream of people below.

The city wasn’t much different from ones he’d seen before. Even in this modern future, it couldn’t really be called especially grand, but it had its own local flavor—at the very least, the letters were foreign.

What stood out the most was the flow of people: different skin tones and hair colors, gathering people of all races. You came from this side, I went to that side, like a great river whose destination was unknown, swirling at the center, vortex-like, sweeping up everyone who passed below.

Watching it made Shi Qian a little dizzy, and under the afternoon sunlight he drifted off to sleep. Extremely fine golden specks of light fell upon the white tiger’s fur, glittering softly, making him look even warmer.

Before long, Lancel joined the sleeping ranks as well.

One white tiger, one cheetah, sleeping butt to butt.

On either side of their heads stood two vases filled with fresh flower branches.

Director Laman raised the camera he carried with him and, right in front of the host, generously snapped a candid photo.

“Absolutely intoxicating. This is exactly why I think they must be in the film. People will love them—and they’ll love my movie too.”

Buzzkill remarks like “people always care more about themselves” were, of course, not something anyone would bluntly say to Laman’s face. As a result, the atmosphere was extremely harmonious, and even Merlin felt much more at ease.

That sense of ease vanished again once Director Laman and the others left, leaving only Hans and his people behind.

Merlin touched her nose. “Sorry, Hans. I didn’t know this was what you were busy with.”

“It’s nothing. I didn’t know what you were busy with either.” Hans shook his head, signaling that it wasn’t a big deal.

“But I still have things to do, so I’ll take Lancel and leave first.”

Hans had someone wake Lancel, picked him up, and prepared to leave.

Then he asked attentively, “Do you and Qian need a ride?”

Merlin shook her head. “Thank you, but I drove here. It’s fortunate it was you today, Mr. Hans. Have a safe trip.”

Merlin realized that if the person sitting in that hotel today had been someone else, the situation might have been completely different.

The other party probably wouldn’t have been willing to compete in the same arena as her and Qian—and might even have ended up offending someone.

Seeing that she had cleverly thought of this, Hans smiled, raised a hand to push up the glasses on his nose bridge, and said, “Very smart, little Merlin. And I wish you a safe journey too.”

After Hans and his group left, Merlin nudged the white tiger.

“Qian, we should go too.”

Shi Qian felt like he’d only slept for a moment. When he opened his eyes, everyone was already gone.

He lifted a paw to rub his face, yawned, and followed Merlin out.

Looking so lazy and unthreatening like this, he made the hotel staff let down their guard, secretly trailing after them for quite a distance.

When they walked out of the hotel, Shi Qian turned his head and saw a whole row of heads.

“Roar—”

Bye-bye then.

Thanks to him, quite a few hearts had to work overtime today.

After returning home, it was time for a private battlefield that demanded self-discipline.

Merlin had to prepare, and unlike Morbis Realm, there was no original novel to rely on. Director Laman’s work had no source material, so they could only infer from the limited information available.

Merlin buried herself in work for two days, then finally decided to mobilize the fans of “Will.”

There were quite a few Will fans within the Hong Gang. Merlin adopted a chat-and-interview approach to extract information.

“If Will were the protagonist of a movie, what kind of content would you want to see?”

“What traits of Will move you the most?”

“Which scene with Will in the show do you like the most—the one that touched you deeply? Don’t be shy, Qian really needs your ideas right now!”

While Merlin was busy externally, Shi Qian sat in front of the small TV, a paw pressing down on the remote, watching Animal World and animal documentaries.

On the vast grasslands of the wild, animals played out a romance of brutal survival: the loves and hatreds of lion prides, the silver-haired honey badger sweeping all before it with fearless courage, vultures and hyenas chasing corpses…

Shi Qian had always loved watching Animal World, and he still loved it now. As a result, he watched in unusual silence.

Only this time, his post-viewing reflections felt especially real.

He had to watch carefully—who knew when he might be dumped onto the great grasslands himself? After all, the branch bureau’s main system didn’t seem very reliable.

Merlin was actually rather relieved, thinking that this way Qian could broaden his knowledge about animals.

She even sighed emotionally, “Qian, you’re really the most well-behaved child. You make people feel so at ease.”

Shi Qian: ?

Listening to that tone—are you trying to raise your own seniority?

Shi Qian lifted his paw and placed it on Merlin’s most recently beloved beautiful bag.

Merlin—who had once called herself “Mom” and learned a bloody lesson from it: !

“Brother Qian! My tiger bro, please don’t do this to my beloved thing! I’m begging you, please, I really beg you…”

Seeing that she had behaved herself, Shi Qian finally moved his paw aside. Merlin hurried over to massage him, soothing the true lord of the household.

The following days passed in a hazy blur—watching films while preparing for filming.

After Shi Qian finished going through Merlin’s meticulously prepared “One Hundred Possible Audition Questions,” the audition notice finally arrived.

Inside the audition studio, just a single long table at the back with six or seven people seated there was enough to fill the room with tension—let alone the filming equipment already set up.

Merlin received a few sheets of paper that had just been printed, lines of dialogue neatly arranged on them.

For a moment, her vision blurred slightly. She blinked twice before she could continue reading.

Shi Qian craned his head and leaned over to look as well.

Just a few sheets of paper, containing two short scenes.

Once she finished reading, Merlin knew she’d practiced the wrong questions. But it didn’t matter—at least there were common points. Facts proved that diligently practicing questions was useful!

After reading, Merlin briefly organized her thoughts and began explaining and demonstrating the scenes to the animal actor—Shi Qian.

“The first scene is you going to pay respects to your parents. You need to show grief, longing, and even more grief…”

Merlin had asked the staff, dragged over a cardboard box as a prop, then lay down on the ground, using her body to encircle the box.

The carefully prepared clothes got dusty, and her face smeared with dirt, but Merlin was completely unaware as she acted, slowly changing her expression for Shi Qian to see, explaining as she demonstrated.

Shi Qian watched with great satisfaction.

Progress! Merlin’s acting had finally reached the point where she wouldn’t be cursed at by audiences—she’d stepped over the threshold into beginner territory.

Merlin was fully immersed in the audition, because the second scene was even more troublesome. She was afraid Qian wouldn’t be able to pull it off.

Who on earth prepares an audition for an animal actor where, right after reminiscing about loved ones, they have to instantly pull themselves together and comfort and inspire the whole tribe? And it had to be done back-to-back!

Absolutely insane.

Merlin wracked her brains, using the simplest yet most precise way to convey what she wanted to express.

A camera had already been set up nearby. Due to the discontinuity inherent in animal acting, the audition footage could be edited to a certain extent for comparison and confirmation.

Of course, if you could perform it continuously—that was your skill.

Everyone present had a wealth of experience. Even when auditioning animal actors, they’d seen countless sessions. But auditions like today’s, held in a studio rather than on location, were rare—because Director Laman had special requirements.

After filming Will, Shi Qian had already gained a formidable reputation in the animal-actor circle.

This time, he didn’t disappoint that reputation at all. Following Merlin’s lead, he began to perform. At first glance, there didn’t seem to be a huge difference—but in terms of spirit and presence, it was there effortlessly.

For example, Shi Qian didn’t immediately lie down on the ground. In line with big-cat behavior, he first lowered his head and rubbed against the cardboard box twice.

These rubs were deliberate—each one more clingy than the last, as if he were stuck to the box and unwilling to leave.

After rubbing, the white tiger closed his eyes and, like a cub, used his belly to encircle the box. He remained motionless for a long time, as if dead—or as if a life still in its earliest prenatal form, wrapped in the placenta, resting in silence.

Without Director Laman needing to give extra instructions, the camera had already followed him, moving into close-up, while another lens pulled back.

The entire audition studio fell silent.

Those who had just watched several animal auditions had their understanding completely refreshed at this moment, all of them stunned.

This was way too strong—there was no need to even look at edits. It was a one-take pass.

Director Laman’s eyes shone with admiration, and he subconsciously shook his head, murmuring, “OMG…”

The next second, after showing off a bit and realizing he’d gone too hard, Shi Qian brought his four paws together, pried open one side of the cardboard box, and demonstrated to everyone present the classic big-cat move of squeezing into a box.

Sss—

The small box let out a sound of being pushed beyond its limits.

It cracked.

Merlin covered her face.

She tried to explain, “The cardboard box is just too attractive to Qian.”

Shi · suffering in silence · Qian: “Roar—”

I don’t like it at all. I’m not some kitten.

For the sake of acting, he had really sacrificed too much.

When his gaze shifted down to the ground, the white tiger guiltily stepped on the box again.

Mm… the cardboard box had probably sacrificed even more.