CH 41.2

Hearing this, He Hua smiled, “Look, this is called inherent acting, real acting from life. And look, Fan Meng and Wang Li are already in their 30s. Although their acting is great, aren’t they still acting?”

It had to be said that He Hua was great with his words. Director Li went silent for a while before picking up a script on the table and drew a circle on it with his pen, “Then, try this part first.”

The advantage of having connections was that one didn’t have to wait in line, else she would have to wait until dark with her current level of fame.

However, Su Shen took a step forward when she heard that and said earnestly, “Actually… I like the supporting female lead more.”

The insipid voice of a girl shocked everyone. They couldn’t help but look at the beautiful and innocent girl in front of them. Not to mention that her image was not even close to the supporting female lead’s, who didn’t want to act as the female lead instead of the supporting female lead nowadays? 

Her expression was very serene, without the excitement and nervousness that could be seen in other people’s eyes. The aura that she exuded had a hint of indifference that did not match her age. Director Li couldn’t help but take another look at her.

“You think you’re suitable for the supporting female lead?” He Hua couldn’t help but glare at Su Shen, as if he had never seen such a disobedient person.

“Go and change your clothes next door. Try this part.” Director Li suddenly handed her a piece of paper.

Su Shen immediately stepped forward and received it. At a glance, she knew that this was the supporting female lead part.

Seeing this, she said thank you and then went to the dressing room next door to get her makeup done, with He Hua being there fuming.

The dressing room next door was large, and the people sitting inside were all here to audition today. There were some unfamiliar newcomers and some A-listers. Su Shen saw Yang Zhi, and she must’ve been here to audition for the third supporting female role, who was an heiress that had returned from studying abroad. Although her popularity was high as an idol, her fame was useless for the movie industry.

Director Li liked to use newcomers, so they were not surprised at the arrival of Su Shen. But when they saw her come out wearing the cheongsam of the supporting female lead, each and everyone thought that she must be crazy.

Su Shen was wearing a bright red cheongsam, which was very body-hugging, showing her great figure fully. The slit was very high up to her thighs, exposing her fair skin. For a moment, others couldn’t help but take another look at her.

When she was getting her makeup done, an actress beside her couldn’t help but take another look at her, “Xiao meimei*, how old are you this year?”

xiao meimei – the literal translation is little sister, it is a term that can be referred to females younger than you

Su Shen recognized her. Her name was Tang Xuan and had won a Best Actress in a Drama Series. It seemed that she was going to march into the film industry now. Speaking of appearance, she was indeed in line with the image of a mature woman for the supporting female lead role.

“Hi, Tang laoshi. I’m Su Shen, 24 this year.” Su Shen introduced herself with a smile.

Hearing this, the latter curled her big red lips and continued to read the script, “Good luck. People should always challenge themselves, or it will be too boring.”

Su Shen nodded as she heard that. The stylist gave her a curly hairstyle from the Republic of China era. She got heavy makeup done, which instantly upped her innocent features to be more mature. When it was her turn to audition, Su Shen took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her purse and went to the auditioning room.

When a newcomer walked out of the room, Su Shen then pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing that she seemed to fit the image after getting her makeup done, He Hua was still unhappy. He had tried his best to allow her to audition for the female lead, but she went for the supporting female lead role instead!

“En, go sit over there.” When the Director saw her, he just nodded slightly with his expression remaining indifferent.

Su Shen slowly walked over to the chair in the middle of the room and sat down. She took a deep breath. When the assistant director called out “action,” her expression remained unchanged and just crossed her legs casually.

With no male lead counterpart, Su Shen could only complete the scene by herself. 

Looking down, she took the cigarette box at the side and opened it. She took out a cigarette from it with her fair fingers, held it in her mouth, and lit it with a lighter skillfully. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled a circle of smoke while squinting. Although there was no expression on her face, it could be seen that she was enjoying it. 

He Hua arched his brow, and his expression suddenly became a little strange.

“For a night, I’m very expensive.” She looked ahead, her red lips curled into a slight smile, with no expression on her face. She inhaled another breath, “You wasted so much of my time. How much are you going to pay for wasting my time?”

There was no one who answered her from across, but Su Shen seemed to have heard something and snorted sarcastically. She raised her eyes and crossed her legs the other way. Her entire upper body suddenly leaned forward, and her pair of big beautiful eyes stared straight ahead, “No money? Aren’t you afraid that I will sell you out?”

The intonation of her voice did not change at all. Her posture of holding the cigarette was as if she was a veteran smoker. There was no emotion in her eyes or on her face, as if nothing could attract her interest. The producers along with several others couldn’t help but stare at her seriously.

“You’re so noble.” With a smile, Su Shen took another smoke and exhaled it forward. There was still no undulation in her tone, “Unfortunately, I’m an ordinary person. I want money, and I like money. Don’t tell me what’s righteous or not. When my parents got into an accident, I didn’t see words of righteousness from your mouth to save them.”  

Speaking of this, she paused and didn’t exhale the smoke until her lower jaw finally moved. She finally exhaled a smoke ring, “When I was about to starve to death, I didn’t see the words of righteousness from your mouth offering alms such as a steamed bun to me. So, for me, the thing you mentioned is not even comparable to a copper coin.”

There were no more lines that followed. Su Shen quietly smoked the rest of the cigarette because the supporting female lead didn’t like to waste.

When she finished smoking the cigarette, Su Shen then stood up. Her expression changed and the coldness from before vanished and was replaced with the innocence of a girl.

Director Li took a deep breath, looked down, and kept tapping the table with his pen. The others didn’t make a sound either. Compared with the previous auditions for the supporting female lead, Su Shen’s performance did not have much impact, but her performance seemed to be coming from the innermost depth of her bones, which made people feel that it was real. 

“You smoke?” Director Li looked at her seriously.

Su Shen shook her head, “I just learned it these past two days.”

For this role, she had specially asked Uncle Liu at the entrance of the set to learn some smoking postures and tried all kinds of cigarette flavors. Smoking was addictive, not the taste, but that kind of feeling.

At the side, He Hua’s expression was also a little peculiar. Okay, he did think that Su Shen’s acting was not good before, but now, it seems that this girl does have some potential. Sure enough, she was the same as Xie Yan. For a role, one went to learn Muay Thai and another went to learn smoking. As expected, there must be a reason why people became a family. 

“What do you think of the taste then?” Director Li looked at her nonchalantly. 

Hearing this, Su Shen hesitated for a bit before saying insipidly, “No matter how good a taste is, you will get tired of it after eating too much. But no matter how good a feeling is, you will never feel tired of it. Smoking stimulates the nerves, and everyone perhaps likes that kind of feeling more. Although I have learned it for a few days, I don’t like it. It’s bad for my health and family.” 

She loved her life and was afraid of death, so she didn’t want to smoke something that would harm her health.

Several of the men smiled inexplicably when they heard that. They thought that this girl was really interesting and originally thought that she could act so naturally because she must’ve gone through something traumatic. However, they did not expect that she was a girl from a good family.

“Why do you think you are more suitable for the supporting female lead rather than the female lead?” Director Li stared at her fervently.

Hearing this, Su Shen frowned and pondered for a while, “Acting comes from life. Not some people can act as college students just because they look like one, and not some people can’t act as a mature and sexy person just because they look young. I think that a role’s emphasis should be on the innermost self and not on the external appearance.”

After saying that, Director Li stared at her seriously for a while before he finally patted He Hua on the shoulder and said while smiling, “I have to buy you a drink this time!”

How could other people not understand what he meant, but the other producers and scriptwriters didn’t reject anything. She acted well and had connections, who would object.

At that, He Hua just laughed a little, but did not appear to be very happy. It was just that Su Shen’s performance today was really beyond his expectations.

Su Shen still had night scenes for tonight, so she had to go back first. He Hua also made plans to drink with Director Li next time. On the way back, it was awkward between the two of them, and the atmosphere in the car was also very strange.

Looking at the red light in front, He Hua slowly stopped the car. Suddenly, he coughed and turned to look at the person in the backseat, “Uh… you did a good job.”