[Phew, Shen Jinghe, oh Shen Jinghe, you must be professional and not eliminate me just because I am your adopted daughter.]
Shen Jinghe was looking through the documents of a few auditionees when he suddenly lifted his head upon hearing Wenyan's inner voice.
His movement was a bit exaggerated, causing the director sitting next to him to glance over.
"What's wrong?"
Shen Jinghe looked at the director quizzically: "You didn't hear that?"
"Hear what? Their self-introductions?"
Because of this interlude, the actors' self-introductions were temporarily halted.
Wenyan was also somewhat perplexed.
[What's happening? What is Shen Jinghe doing? Did he just glance at me? I haven't even started my self-introduction yet. Is he planning to nip my career in the bud?]
"What about now?" Shen Jinghe, with a glimpse of Wenyan's lips sealed shut from the corner of his eyes, asked the director again, "Did you hear that this time?"
The director shook his head with a confused expression: "No. Jinghe, if you're tired, you can go back and rest."
"No, I'm not tired! Let's continue."
This time, Shen Jinghe fixed his gaze directly on Wenyan's face.
Wenyan broke eye contact with him after 0.01 seconds and shifted her gaze away, pretending not to recognize him.
[What's up with this Shen Jinghe? Is there something wrong with his mental state, asking if we heard something out of the blue, and then staring at me? It's pretty frightening.]
Shen Jinghe: ........Who's the frightening one here? She even dares to accuse him of being mentally troubled!
He was definitely not mentally troubled!
Just last month, after playing a psychotic killer, he had gone for psychological counselling; he was perfectly healthy.
Shen Jinghe pinched the bridge of his nose, reminding himself to focus on the task at hand and not to be distracted.
Soon, it was Wenyan's turn for a self-introduction, and she was the last one. No sooner had she finished than the director called out two names.
"The two of you, step outside; the rest stay."
Although the director didn't explain why, Wenyan guessed the reason.
The two actresses who had been asked to leave shared the common issue of having undergone plastic surgery, making their facial expressions seem unnatural when speaking.
Just when Wenyan thought they were about to proceed to the next round of the audition, Shen Jinghe suddenly spoke up.
"Wenyan. I think she can leave as well."
"Why?" Wenyan blurted out without thinking.
The director was also puzzled: "Why so?"
"Because this Miss Wen seems to look down on people in our profession. A person who sneers at acting, what brings her here?"
Wenyan: ... was at a loss for words.
The director looked at Shen Jinghe, then at Wenyan: "Do you two know each other?"
"We don't know each other!" Wenyan replied hastily.
Seeing Shen Jinghe in this state, even if she admitted they knew each other, he wouldn't let her get through by pulling strings, so why bother?
"Teacher Shen, could you have mistaken me for someone else? Although you're famous and acclaimed throughout the entertainment industry, and I treasure your work, today is absolutely our first meeting! How can you say such a thing?"
[Ahhh, this Shen Jinghe is going to be the death of me! In this situation, I don't even have a chance to apologize. Deities of heaven and earth, Supreme Venerable Sovereign, please quickly show your divine presence and save me!]
Shen Jinghe raised an eyebrow; now she knew she was wrong, addressing him so respectfully? Too late.
But her acting skills were indeed impressive. Despite being panic-stricken inside, she managed to appear calm and composed!
Supreme Venerable Sovereign, huh.
Shen Jinghe slightly curved his lips into a smile: "You say you treasure my works, then list them for me to hear. Miss one, and it won't be okay."
Wenyan: ...He looks like he's serious, what should I do?!
What else can you do? He definitely doesn't know that he actually remembered all of his works, haha!
"Alright, let me recount in detail, please point out any mistakes, Teacher Shen."
Starting with a toothpaste commercial that Shen Jinghe filmed when he first started out, Wenyan recited all the way up to the crime-themed movie that he had just finished shooting.
Her recitation was seamless and fluent, leaving Shen Jinghe with a darkened expression as he listened.
The director, however, felt that this actress must have a solid foundation in line delivery.
He smiled at Shen Jinghe and said, "You don't even recognize her, so how do you know she looks down on our profession? I think she seems to be a fan of yours; she remembered all of your works since your debut without missing a single one. Who do you think she is? You seem to have so much resentment."
Shen Jinghe: ...Who said I don't recognize her?
However, since Wenyan had already vehemently denied it, Shen Jinghe naturally would not rush to claim her as his foster sister.
He could only reply indifferently, "She's someone who doesn't matter to me. I didn't rest well last night and misremembered."
The director didn't take this little episode too seriously and nodded his head, "Alright then, let's continue."
Next, the director tested their lines and acting.
Two of them were eliminated during the line delivery phase, which left only four people in their group.
The final acting scenario the director gave them was that of a rural girl entering a modern city for the first time.
Each of the four performed freely, with some exhibiting wild facial features and stiff expressions, but only Wenyan's performance was the best, even Jinghe couldn't find fault with it!
The director, a man of decisive action, immediately called out three names after their performances ended.
"You three are eliminated, you can try auditioning with other crews. Wenyan, you go back and wait for the notification."
Wenyan was very happy to hear this result, "Thank you, Director, thank you to all the judges!"
However, she didn't become too complacent, knowing this was just the preliminary round, and the director had not given her a definite answer.
Moreover, there was the ticking time bomb that was Shen Jinghe, and if he badmouthed her to the director, it would be all over for her.
[Shen Jinghe, you are the handsomest, the number one in the world, please, please don't mess with me! I'll definitely apologize to you when I get the chance!]
Jinghe, seated among the judges, rolled his eyes in silence: ... ...
Of course, he knew he was handsome, but to call him the world's number one was a bit too much. This woman's words were one thing, her thoughts another; she's really sick.
-
After the audition ended, Wenyan didn't leave.
She thought it better to mend fences with Shen Jinghe sooner rather than later.
So she waited at the venue.
As a result, she waited from 2:40 in the afternoon until 8:00 at night before everyone finally left the scene.
The first to come out were two judges, followed by the director and his assistant.
Throughout, Wenyan did not catch a glimpse of Shen Jinghe.
This made her wonder.
She couldn't help but think, had Shen Jinghe left early while she was out getting dinner?
But on reflection, that seemed unlikely because after she bought dinner, Wenyan still overheard other girls discussing Shen Jinghe's outfit for the day.
Plus, the lights in the room didn't seem to be off, so Shen Jinghe should still be inside.
Wenyan waited outside for a while longer, and as no one went in to find Shen Jinghe, she quickly slipped up to the door of the room.
The door to the room was not tightly shut, leaving a small gap.
Through this gap, Wenyan saw Shen Jinghe lying on the table, his hat having fallen to the ground.
"Damn it!" Seeing this scene, a thought suddenly popped into Wenyan's mind, "He couldn't have died, could he?"