She pressed her lips together and said, "I'll win this bet! I'm going to land the role of [Xia Mei]!"
For more than half a month, she had kept working hard toward this very goal. No one but her and 888 knew how much effort she had put in or how much thought she had devoted to it, so she absolutely would not lose.
At that moment, an incredibly firm, powerful confidence shone in Ye Mo's eyes.
Chapter 18: The eighteenth melon: What melon? Take eighteen bites...
Time passed very slowly as they waited to audition. As people were called away one after another, the atmosphere in the waiting room gradually grew tenser.
By comparison, Ye Mo was among the most composed and calm of those waiting. She seemed completely untroubled, making He Zhen glance at her, then glance at her again.
[Host, that woman called He Zhen keeps looking at you!] 888 said in Ye Mo's mind.
Ye Mo was unconcerned. [Let her look. This is her only chance to look at me anyway.]
Once He Zhen lost their bet, she would have to steer well clear of Ye Mo whenever they met again. She would have no chance to take another look at her at all, so Ye Mo did not mind letting her look a few more times now.
But He Zhen did not get many more looks at Ye Mo, because her number was soon called, and she got up and left.
At this, a stir passed through the waiting room before it quickly quieted again. Affected by the atmosphere, even Ye Mo's assistant Xiaoyu could not help growing nervous.
Seeing how calm Ye Mo looked, she could not help asking, "Momo, aren't you nervous at all?"
Ye Mo looked at her and said, "Of course I'm nervous. If you don't believe me, feel my palms. They're covered in sweat."
Hearing this, Xiaoyu actually reached over and touched Ye Mo's palm, then said in surprise, "They really are..." Her hand met damp warmth; clearly, Ye Mo was nervous too.
"I'm just keeping up a calm front..." Ye Mo said.
So many people were waiting to make a laughingstock of her. If she showed any nervousness now, who knew how much they would sneer and mock her inwardly? Ye Mo absolutely would not give them that opportunity.
If they wanted to see her make a fool of herself, that was absolutely impossible.
"...Number thirty-five, Ye Mo."
About half an hour after He Zhen was called out, a staff member finally called Ye Mo's name. Hearing it, everyone present instinctively looked in one direction and saw Ye Mo rise from her seat and head outside.
"Miss Ye really is so beautiful..." someone murmured enviously as she watched her leave.
"Good thing she can't really act. If she could act well and looked that beautiful, where would that leave any room for us in this industry?"
"Hehehe, you haven't seen her act. If you had, you wouldn't think she could succeed. Watching her act is so
hilarious
!"
"Really? Have you seen her?"
"Yes. Anyway, just watch. There's absolutely no way she'll land [Xia Mei]. She just isn't destined to be an actress. She'd be lucky to spend her whole life as a pretty vase!"
Ye Mo had no idea that the people in the waiting room had discussed her after she left. By now, she had reached the door of the audition room.
"Whew!" Shen Yan took a deep breath and reassured her, "Whatever you do, don't get nervous in there. Just perform as you normally would!"
Looking at him, Ye Mo said, "I'm not particularly nervous. You, on the other hand, look very nervous."
"Why do you think I'm so nervous?" Shen Yan looked at her, at a loss for words. "Isn't it because you went off for no reason
and made that bet with He Zhen? I can't even imagine how everyone will mock you if you don't get [Xia Mei]..."
Ye Mo's gaze was firm. "That's why I have to succeed in this audition!"
She glanced at Shen Yan and said, "If I fail, you don't need to worry either, Shen Yan. I'll just leave the industry, go home, and inherit the family business!"
With that, she stepped into the audition room, leaving Shen Yan standing there, dumb as a wooden chicken.
"...Huh?"
Ye Mo entered the audition room and first swept her gaze quickly around it.
To give those auditioning room to perform, the room was very spacious, with a large area left empty. Farther inside were tables and chairs where the people conducting the auditions sat. As Ye Mo entered, their gazes naturally turned toward her.
When they saw Ye Mo's appearance, both Director Ji Minghe's and Screenwriter Han Ying's eyes lit up.
"Director Ji!" Han Ying called softly, saying with some excitement, "Ye Mo's appearance really suits [Xia Mei]..."
Simply standing there, she gave an impression of "beauty," perfectly matching [Xia Mei]'s beautiful white moonlight image.
"Screenwriter Han, calm down," Assistant Director Huang said. "We haven't seen her acting yet... For an actor, no matter how good their looks are, they're only flowers added to brocade. Acting skills are the foundation of their standing!"
And acting skills were precisely what Ye Mo lacked most.
Han Ying was excited. "But she really suits [Xia Mei]. She's exactly the [Xia Mei] I imagined! I don't get that feeling from anyone else."
Screenwriter Han's stubbornness was already evident in those words.
At a loss, Director Huang looked toward Director Ji Minghe.
Director Ji said nothing. He merely examined the information on Ye Mo in his hands carefully, then raised his head to look at the person seated in the middle.
"Ye Mo, right?" he began, his hands clasped in front of him. "I see that you're auditioning for [Xia Mei]. First, tell us how you understand the character... Do you think you suit this role?"
Ye Mo thought for a moment and said slowly, "...She's a beautiful person."
Not merely beautiful in appearance, but beautiful as a person.
In the script for "Chase," [Xia Mei]'s death was clearly meant to show the murderer's cruelty and coldness. The more beautiful [Xia Mei] seemed on camera, the greater the impact of her eventual death, and the more keenly the audience would feel the murderer's brutality.
And since this was a film, [Xia Mei] was bound to have limited screen time. Making the audience feel just how beautiful this character was within that brief span was a difficult problem.
"...And my appearance is absolutely the best fit for [Xia Mei]!" Ye Mo's tone was certain and confident. Her gaze met Director Ji's and the others' without wavering, full of resolve. "Director Ji, wasn't it because you felt the same way that you invited me to audition?"
A measure of appreciation appeared in Director Ji's eyes. "I do like your appearance very much, but you need to understand that looks alone can never make you [Xia Mei]. If your acting isn't enough to move me, this role will ultimately slip through your fingers."
Ye Mo nodded. "I understand."
"I heard you made a bet with someone about whether you could get [Xia Mei]," Director Ji suddenly said, an intrigued expression appearing on his face. "Since you dared make a bet like that, it seems you must be very confident in your acting."
"All right, then. Let's see how your acting is first..."
The older man considered it. "Try your eighteenth scene!"
[The eighteenth scene.]
Ye Mo had acted in "Chase" so much lately that she was almost sick of it, and she remembered every scene in the script perfectly. The moment Director Ji said [the eighteenth scene], that part of the story had already surfaced automatically in her mind.