Ding Jia glanced at the serious expression on Shen Ru's face before taking a deep breath.
She breathed deeply as she finally chose the scene that she would answer to her favorite author.
The most important scene in the book.
Ding Jia stood up from her seat and stood in the middle. She closed her eyes, and she quickly got into her character.
The atmosphere around her immediately changed, as her eyes opened with intense coldness, yet a trace of confusion appeared on her expression. She lowered her gaze and stared in the air as if she was looking at something.
In the book, there was a scene where the main character was dragged around by her female client with her kid to attend a festival. Since she lived in the temple and spent most of her time in the mountains, this experience was new for her however, she wasn't very much curious about it either.
She was confused when the female client's kid gave her an ice cream. She wanted to refuse but the child's expression somehow made her surrender as she hesitantly took a bite of that ice cream.
Stunned, she felt the overwhelming sweetness in her tastebud and the cold dessert numbing her mouth. Clearly, she hadn't tasted ice cream before. Unknowingly, a small smile appeared on her face, and seeing this, the kid felt elated before getting attracted to a different food stand behind her.
This scene wasn't actually highlighted in the book at all. It was just glazed over and it is a scene that is easily forgotten. But it was actually the first time that the main character actually showed her emotions, an emotion not influenced by the souls nor of the past. It was a new emotion, a very innocent expression that would have been impossible to be seen on her face.
Ding Jia portrayed this scene very well in showing her expression as a person whose emotions have gone cold for so long. Her eyes, her subtle actions perfected this scene. It wasn't a long scene, so she was finished performing the scene in just less than a minute.
She observed the reaction on Shen Ru and Director Gu's faces, waiting for their verdict. She kept her cool on the surface but in reality, she was feeling nervous.
Please let it be a pass. Please let it be a pass!
What if it was the wrong answer ah? Maybe she should have acted a different scene?
Or maybe she didn't nail the character?
Ding Jia slightly panicked when her male neighbor didn't show any reaction. Because this is the project that she wanted to do for her comeback on the big screen and she had been a fan of Shen Ru's works, she really wanted to do well and grab this movie.
Finally, Shen Ru opened his mouth.
"I will send the final edit to your email in the afternoon." He said to Director Gu.
Ding Jia was thrown into confusion.
...what?
So he was just gonna ignore her just to say that she didn't pass?
She remembered his rudeness back on the rooftop. She suppressed her annoyance and kept her cool. In her mind, she already threw at the back of her mind that he was the author she worshipped and already made countless curses silently.
"Ms.Ding."
Her curses halted as she continued to flash a professional smile to him.
Shen Ru stood up and suddenly held out his hand.
"I look forward to your own take on Li Xinyi's character. Goodluck."
"...!"
Ding Jia's eyes flickered as she excitedly shook Shen Ru's hand.
"I'll do my best not to disappoint you and the fans of the book."
She was too happy that she already forgot that she was just cursing him just a moment ago.
After that closed audition, she excitedly passed on the news to Lin Lin.
"No need to repeat it again and again. Hearing it once is enough." Lin Lin sounded annoyed while Ding Jia hovered around her desk.
"You know I'm just too happy. To think that my first project as soon as I came back would be one of my idol author's works."
Comfortably leaning on the sofa, she continued to talk to her friend.
"Mr.Shen's temperament is quite strange though. By far, his style of deciding the actors is the most unique and difficult in my opinion."
"Oh? I thought you were gonna be attracted to his face. He was quite popular during the audition."
"..."
... Should she honestly say that she almost thought he was some kind of god when she first met him?
No way. Lin Lin should never know or else she'll have another thing to tease her with!
"What's the point of having a good face? I'd choose a good and kind person over an attractive face anytime."
Ding Jia randomly blurted out that made Lin Lin's ears perk up.
A glint appeared on Lin Lin's face as she stared teasingly at the woman on the sofa.
"Why? Was Mr.Shen rude to you?"
Ding Jia almost choked on her own saliva.
Damn it! She's fast.
"He wasn't…" He was. "...I just thought he has some kind of weird personality."
"So are you disappointed? The author you idolize has a strange temperament."
"... Not exactly. Aren't writers usually a bit eccentric in the first place?"
"Mm. If you say so." Lin Lin was still suspicious but she stopped pressing Ding Jia. Oh well, she has more chances in the future to pry it out of her mouth once the shooting starts.
Ding Jia didn't stay long at the agency and immediately went home. She suddenly craved some sweets so she snuck out and went to a nearby convenience store.
While demolishing her popsicle, she saw a small crowd of people near the park. Curiosity kicked in so after fixing her hat and mask, she immediately decided to find the gossip.
"Poor girl, she looked so young."
"Did someone already call the police? I feel so scared for our safety now. Should we call the management to tighten the security?"
What? Police?
Was it some crime or something?
She tiptoed attempting to see what they were looking at in front but with so many people, she could only see the back of their heads. Sighing, she decided to give up when she felt something warm and wet on her leg.
Ding Jia lowered her gaze and saw a familiar dog looking at her with its wail tagging excitedly.
This dog looks familiar. Isn't he…
"Arthur! I told you to stop sneaking away!"