Chapter 27

Everyone else present, especially the screenwriter and Li Ke, looked at Director Ji in surprise.

As the screenwriter and lead actor, the two were naturally very familiar with the script for "Chase," so they also knew which scene [Scene eighteen] was.

It was a major scene, the one in which [Xia Mei] was pursued and killed by the murderer, and the most difficult scene for the character of [Xia Mei]. The actress playing [Xia Mei] had to convey her terror and panic as she was hunted.

Director Ji had seemed very pleased with Ye Mo's appearance earlier, so no one had expected the scene he asked her to audition with to be the hardest one.

...Was Director Ji really satisfied with Ye Mo? They could not help wondering.

But whatever the reason, Director Ji had already specified this scene for Ye Mo's audition, so she could only comply.

"You remember which scene scene eighteen is, right?" Director Ji asked Ye Mo. "Do you need some time to go over the script again?"

Ye Mo ran through the scene in her mind and, finding no problems, shook her head. "No need. I remember this scene. I don't need to go over it again."

Hearing this, Director Ji looked pleased. "It seems you really have put a lot of thought into the role of [Xia Mei]."

Director Ji seemed very satisfied with Ye Mo's attitude.

"Once you're ready, you can start your audition..."

"I'm ready now," Ye Mo said without much hesitation, apparently having no intention of taking any more time to prepare.

Director Ji nodded and turned to a crew member nearby. "Xiao Liu, go act out this scene with Miss Ye."

The person called Xiao Liu was a young woman, probably also a member of the "Chase" crew. Hearing Director Ji's instructions, she immediately answered and walked over to Ye Mo.

Someone nearby acted as the clapper loader, snapping the clapperboard. "Clack!"

As the sound of the clapperboard faded, Director Ji and the others noticed that Ye Mo's bearing had changed.

The boss of Brilliant Star had once said that Ye Mo was a very tenacious person, like wild grass growing in thick clumps, possessed of stubborn vitality. Her bearing was bold, defiant, and untamed, yet now, in the eyes of Director Ji and the others, it had changed.

From resilient and bold, she became fragile and afraid.

No, this was not [Ye Mo]. The person standing before them now was [Xia Mei].

Xia Mei had been dragged away by the murderer in the parking garage of the residential complex where they lived.

The murderer had chased her into the underground parking garage, knocked her unconscious with a hammer, then stuffed her into the trunk of a car and taken her all the way to an abandoned factory outside the city, where she was murdered.

While being taken to the factory, Xia Mei had woken up along the way. She had tried to escape, but after her attempt failed, the murderer had gripped her throat and strangled her to death.

Xiao Liu, who was acting opposite Ye Mo, held his hands loosely around her throat. At first, the person in his grasp struggled fiercely, but gradually, her pupils lost focus, and her struggles grew weaker and weaker.

[Xia Mei] died just like that, her eyes open and her face contorted in pain.

"..."

Silence surrounded them, and Xiao Liu heard his own rapid breathing.

Suddenly, Xiao Liu pulled his hands back, his face full of terror.

He looked at the motionless person on the floor, whose face had even turned deathly white, and cautiously reached beneath her nose to check. Then his hand jerked back as though it had been burned.

"D-dead?" Xiao Liu's eyes widened.

No! That couldn't be, could it?!

He stared at his hands, his expression filled with disbelief.

At that moment, he was no longer sure whether he had used any force while acting opposite her. Had he used too much strength without noticing? Had he accidentally strangled Ye Mo to death?

Xiao Liu panicked.

He looked at Ye Mo's deathly face, then raised his head toward Director Ji and the others.

"Director Ji, I-I didn't use any force at all. I don't know what happened. I didn't mean to. I wasn't trying to kill her..." he explained in a helpless panic.

Li Ke suddenly laughed. "Xiao Liu, calm down. Miss Ye is fine."

Fine?

Xiao Liu instinctively shook his head in protest. "But..."

But he had clearly seen Ye Mo die with her eyes wide open. She had even stopped breathing.

Just as he was thinking this, Ye Mo's voice came from behind him. "Mr. Liu..."

Xiao Liu's pupils contracted. He instinctively turned around and saw that Ye Mo, who had been lying on the floor without even breathing, was now sitting up again. He was so frightened that he stumbled several steps backward.

"You,

you..." He stared at Ye Mo in shock. "You're not dead?"

Ye Mo stood up from the floor and smiled. "Mr. Liu, you weren't using any force. How could I have died?"

Xiao Liu pointed at her. "...But, but you weren't even breathing! I checked. There wasn't any air coming out beneath your nose."

Ye Mo gestured with her hand. "That was just a little breath-holding technique. If you'd put your hand on my neck, you would actually have felt my pulse."

Even after hearing that, Xiao Liu still found it hard to believe, because Ye Mo's "death" had looked far too real. It was as though he really had experienced strangling her to death.

Clap, clap, clap!

Suddenly, applause rang out.

Everyone looked over and saw Director Ji clapping, watching Ye Mo with amazement on his face.

Ye Mo stood up and brushed the dust off her clothes. "It looks like you were reasonably satisfied with my performance just now, Director Ji."

Director Ji smiled too, shaking his head. "Not merely satisfied. Your performance completely exceeded my expectations!"

Director Ji had heard all sorts of rumors about Ye Mo before, and had even watched her performances in some dramas. To be honest, he now found it completely impossible to see the person before him and the person he had seen in those dramas as the same person. The difference was simply too great.

Ye Mo's previous performances had been stiff, wooden, and awkward, whereas the performance she had just delivered was vivid, practiced, and natural. It was so natural that it seemed she had experienced everything herself, so natural that it felt all too real.

And in acting, being natural was actually the hardest part.

During that scene, not only Xiao Liu but even those watching had almost had the illusion that she really was gradually being "killed" by him. This meant that Xiao Liu had actually been drawn into the scene by her, which was what had produced such an extraordinary interaction.

"Holy shit!"

After a long while, Director Huang finally let out an exclamation of amazement.

He looked at Ye Mo in astonishment. "What's going on with your acting? Did you go somewhere for further training? Or did you find some teacher... Your acting has improved way too fast!"

Of everyone present, Director Huang was undoubtedly the most shocked. His amazement now matched the disdain and scorn he had previously felt toward Ye Mo.

"My friend was just telling me before that your acting was terrible, that you weren't cut out for this line of work. How come now you've..."

The change in her acting could only be called a shedding of her old skin and a remaking of her bones.

Ye Mo's eyes curved slightly as she asked with a smile, "Who's this friend of yours? It sounds like he knows me very well."

Director Huang blurted out, "Shen Zhiwen..."

After saying his friend's name, he saw Ye Mo's harmless smile and only belatedly realized that his words had been somewhat inappropriate. His expression inevitably turned sheepish.