Chapter 12 Could it be broken?

"Phew, Shen Jinghe, ah, Shen Jinghe, you must be professional, and not dismiss me just because I'm your family's adopted daughter."

Shen Jinghe was looking through the profiles of several auditioners when he suddenly lifted his head after hearing Wenyan's thoughts.

His movement was a bit exaggerated, causing the director sitting next to him to glance over.

"What's the matter?"

Shen Jinghe looked at the director with confusion, "Didn't you hear that?"

"Hear what? Their self-introductions?"

Because of this interlude, the auditions and self-introductions temporarily ceased.

Wenyan was also somewhat puzzled.

"What's going on, what is Shen Jinghe doing? Did he just glance at me? I haven't even started my self-introduction, is he planning to nip me in the bud?"

"How about now?" Shen Jinghe glanced at Wenyan, who was still keeping her lips tightly sealed, and asked the director again, "Did you hear it this time?"

The director shook his head in bewilderment, "No. Jinghe, if you're tired, you should go back and rest."

"No, I'm not tired! Let's continue."

This time, Shen Jinghe's gaze was fixed directly on Wenyan's face.

Wenyan met his eyes for 0.01 seconds before quickly averting her gaze, pretending to not recognize him at all.

"What's the deal with this Shen Jinghe? Is he mentally unwell or something? Asking weird questions about hearing something and then staring at me, it's quite frightening."

Shen Jinghe: .....Who's the frightening one here??? She even dares to accuse him of being mentally unwell!

His mind was fine!

He had undergone psychological counselling just last month after playing the role of a psychopath, and he was very healthy indeed.

Shen Jinghe pinched the bridge of his nose, reminding himself to focus on the work at hand and not to get distracted.

The self-introductions soon reached Wenyan, who was the last one. As soon as her speech ended, the director called out two names.

"You two, please step out, the rest stay."

Although the director didn't explain why, Wenyan had her guesses.

The commonality between the two actresses who had just left was that they had undergone cosmetic surgery; their facial expressions were not very natural when they spoke.

Just when Wenyan thought they were moving on to the next stage of the screening, Shen Jinghe suddenly spoke up.

"Wenyan. I think she can leave as well."

"Why?" Wenyan blurted out with a question.

The director was also puzzled, "Why is that?"

"Because this Miss Wen looks down on people in our profession. A person who sneers at acting, what exactly is her intention in coming here?"

Wenyan: ... was left speechless.

The director looked back and forth between Shen Jinghe and Wenyan, "Do you two know each other?"

"Not at all!" Wenyan quickly denied.

With Shen Jinghe behaving like this, even if she admitted knowing him, he wasn't going to let her get in through the back door, so why bother.

"Teacher Shen, could you have mistaken me for someone else? Although you're renowned throughout the entertainment industry, and I'm familiar with all your works, this is definitely the first time we are meeting today! How could you say such a thing?"

"Ahhh, Shen Jinghe is trying to kill me! In such a situation, I don't even have a chance to apologize. Spirits of heaven and earth, Supreme Venerable Sovereign, please manifest and save me!"

Shen Jinghe raised an eyebrow, now she realized her mistake, addressing him with honorifics? Too late.

However, her acting was indeed not bad, her mind was clearly in a panic, yet her face didn't show any of it!

Supreme Venerable Sovereign, huh.

Shen Jinghe slightly curled up the corners of his mouth, "You say you know all my works well, then list them out. Missing one won't do."

Wenyan: ...He seems to be serious, what do I do?!

What else can you do? He definitely doesn't realize he has actually memorized all his works, hahaha!

"Okay, then let me list in detail, and if I get anything wrong, please correct me, Teacher Shen."

Wenyan started from a toothpaste commercial that Shen Jinghe shot when he first entered the business, and recounted all the way up to the crime-themed movie he had just completed.

She recited everything without a single omission, exceptionally fluently. Shen Jinghe's face turned dark as he listened.

The director, on the other hand, felt like this actress's command of lines must be solid.

He said to Shen Jinghe with a smile, "You don't even recognize her, how do you know she looks down on our profession? To me, she seems like your fan. She remembers all your works since your debut, without missing a beat. Who do you think she is? You seem to hold quite a grudge."

Shen Jinghe: ...Who said I don't recognize her?

But since Wenyan had already denied it, Shen Jinghe naturally wouldn't insist on acknowledging her as his foster sister.

He could only say indifferently, "Someone unrelated. I didn't rest well last night and remembered incorrectly."

The director didn't take this little episode too seriously and nodded, "Okay then, let's continue."

Next, the director tested their lines and acting.

Two were eliminated during the line recital round, leaving only four people in their group.

The final acting prompt the director gave them was that of a country girl entering a modernized big city for the first time.

The four performed freely, with some showing faces contorted in exaggerated expressions and stiff demeanors, but only Wenyan performed the best, and even Shen Jinghe couldn't pick out any faults!

The director was very decisive. After the four had finished performing, he immediately pointed out three names.

"You've been eliminated, you can try your luck with other productions. Wenyan, go home and wait for the notification."

Wenyan was very happy to hear this result, "Thank you, Director, and thank you to all the judges!"

However, she didn't get carried away. After all, this was only the initial audition, and the director hadn't given her a definite answer yet.

Moreover, there was still Shen Jinghe, a ticking time bomb. If he badmouthed her in front of the director, it would be game over.

[Shen Jinghe, you are the most, most, most handsome, the number one in the world, please don't mess with me! I will definitely apologize to you when I get the chance!]

From the judges' seat, Shen Jinghe silently rolled his eyes: ...

He, of course, knew he was handsome, but "world's most handsome" was a bit too much. This woman says one thing and means another, truly sick.

-

After the audition, Wenyan didn't leave.

She felt it was better to address the issue with Shen Jinghe sooner rather than later, to clear the air.

So, she stayed at the venue and waited.

Eventually, she waited from 2:40 in the afternoon until 8:00 in the evening when everyone had finally left the place.

The first to come out were two judges, followed by the director and his assistant.

From beginning to end, Wenyan had not caught sight of Shen Jinghe.

This struck Wenyan as odd.

She couldn't help wondering if she had missed him leaving while she went out to buy dinner?

But she remembered clearly that couldn't be the case; after buying dinner, Wenyan overheard other girls discussing Shen Jinghe's outfit for the day.

And it seemed the lights in the room had not been turned off, so Shen Jinghe should still be inside.

Wenyan waited outside for a while longer, saw that no one else was going to look for Shen Jinghe before she quickly slipped to the door of the room.

The room door was ajar, leaving a small gap.

Through this gap, Wenyan saw Shen Jinghe lying on the table, his hat fallen to the ground.

"Oh no!" Seeing this, a thought suddenly popped into Wenyan's head, "He couldn't have passed out, could he?"