Overnight Hit: Vicious Stepmother and Genius Son
Chapter 159 Acting!

Chapter 159: Chapter 159 Acting!

Liu Rui felt that Ye Zhenzhen’s description of Han Jiangxue was really apt, "You’re right, that woman looks gentle on the surface, but she’s actually full of schemes. It’s my fault too; it’s not about you."

Just as the two were thinking about how to deal with the situation, the door to the signing room opened.

The person who came in made Liu Rui’s jaw drop!

It was Xiao Yi and Feige, along with Producer Wang and Xia Zhi.

"Best Actor Xiao... you, how come you are here?"

"My friend has been bullied; of course, I have to show up." While he spoke, Xiao Yi revealed a playful, shallow smile, his gaze fixed intently on Ye Zhenzhen.

Even though Ye Zhenzhen had just seen Xiao Yi, she was still somewhat stunned – had Xiao Yi just said she was the one being bullied?

She stood up to greet everyone, "Hello everyone."

Xia Zhi walked up to Ye Zhenzhen, sized her up from head to toe, and smiled, "Ye Zhenzhen, you look even prettier in person than on TV."

Liu Rui hurriedly introduced to Ye Zhenzhen, "This is the famous gold-medal screenwriter Xia Zhi, Talented Xia in the industry."

So Xia Zhi could mingle in the film circle, and she seemed to have a pretty good relationship with Xiao Yi as well. With the sudden appearance of these two big shots, Liu Rui was indescribably excited and thrilled.

Just a moment ago she was angry, but now, upon seeing these two, she felt a strange illusion that good fortune was about to come to her Zhenzhen.

"Hello Talented Xia, it’s better to see once than to hear a hundred times, you are even more beautiful than I imagined," Ye Zhenzhen said with a smile, graceful and warm in tone.

People like to be praised, especially by a beautiful woman, and Xia Zhi was no exception.

Ye Zhenzhen’s comment made her laugh somewhat embarrassingly, "Thanks for the compliment."

Ye Zhenzhen laughed, "Just telling the truth."

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the signing room became relaxed and lively, and Producer Wang called everyone to sit down and talk, "Please take a seat, everyone."

Producer Wang was a producer at Baisheng Media. After finishing his business at Lemon Channel that day, he happened to run into Xiao Yi and they started discussing Xia Zhi’s new script "Selflessness."

Originally, he wanted to pair up their recently promoted ingénue from Baisheng Media with Xiao Yi in "Selflessness," but Xiao Yi rejected the idea without a second thought.

Not until just now, when Xia Zhi also hurried over to find Xiao Yi, Xiao Yi had been looking at his phone silently all the while, then suddenly blurted out, "Let Ye Zhenzhen play the female lead, that’s the only condition, I’ll agree to anything else."

At first, when Xia Zhi heard the name Ye Zhenzhen, she only thought that Ye Zhenzhen’s performance on the kids’ variety show was decent, but she had no impression of Ye Zhenzhen’s acting ability.

Moreover, it had been said on the internet that Ye Zhenzhen’s acting was very poor, so Xia Zhi thought that Xiao Yi’s condition was just a polite way to refuse her.

It was not until Xiao Yi showed her what had happened on Weibo a moment ago, and Feige shared the post from screenwriter Qing Qing personally confirming that Ye Zhenzhen had passed the audition based on her own merit.

Xia Zhi then started to see Ye Zhenzhen in a new light.

An actor who could be selected by Qing Qing must be good.

Xia Zhi knew Qing Qing, and the two had a very good relationship.

And so, that’s how they ended up at Lemon Channel and found the signing room where Ye Zhenzhen was.

Liu Rui asked Producer Wang with a smile, "Producer Wang, seeing all of you important people suddenly today really is an unexpected joy. I wonder if you are here for something fortunate concerning us?"

Producer Wang looked directly at Ye Zhenzhen and asked straightforwardly, "Ye Zhenzhen, if you were to act alongside Xiao Yi, do you think you could match up to Best Actor Xiao’s performance?"

Liu Rui: ...

Liu Rui was extraordinarily thrilled inside, it was actually true!

Good fortune had really arrived!

"What script?" When she heard Producer Wang’s question, Ye Zhenzhen didn’t show much excitement. She was more concerned about the script than the person she would be collaborating with.

Xia Zhi: "It’s a script I wrote called ’Selflessness’..."

As she spoke, Xia Zhi pulled out the first draft of the script from her large tote bag, handed it to Ye Zhenzhen, and then gave her a brief rundown of the overall story.

Not many people in the industry knew about this script. Most were vaguely aware that Xia Zhi’s initial intent for writing the script was to have Xiao Yi play the male lead, so this was the first time Xia Zhi shared her script with someone besides Xiao Yi and Producer Wang.

Ye Zhenzhen listened intently, nodding continuously in agreement, "I think this is a good script. As for whether I can match up to acting alongside Xiao Yi, why don’t we try it out here and now?"

Ye Zhenzhen was full of confidence. Since everyone was already here, she had just been outwitted by Han Jiangxue and hadn’t thought of a solution yet, and now this opportunity came knocking at her door—naturally, she would not let it pass by easily.

"Sure, which part should we try?" Xiao Yi asked with a smile.

Ye Zhenzhen pointed at the dialogue on the script, "I don’t have any lines; you just have one sentence."

This scene seemed better suited to test her ability to get into role.

Xia Zhi glanced at the portion Ye Zhenzhen was pointing to, that part where the female lead, with her child at the hospital, cannot accept her mother’s passing...

When writing this segment, Xia Zhi herself felt it was quite challenging. The emotions might seem simple, but the performance needed to be layered, making it quite difficult to truly act out.

At the same time, she couldn’t help but hold a shred of expectation for Ye Zhenzhen, curious to see how she would simply interpret these emotions.

Xiao Yi took hold of the script and began to read it attentively.

Ye Zhenzhen had already immersed herself in the role; her delicate little face had retracted all smiles, revealing endless self-blame and guilt while her clear, limpid eyes turned red in the blink of an eye.

Tears swirled inside her eyes, then slowly slipped from the corners due to sadness...

Even before Ye Zhenzhen began reciting any dialogue, Xia Zhi was already moved by her emotions—she felt as if Ye Zhenzhen was embodying the female lead from her script, as if she had directly lifted and soul-transplanted the character into herself.

The performance was incredibly emotionally impactful and immersive.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Yi delivered the male lead’s line, "Little Ding Dong, be good, let uncle hold you!"

Written in the script was the male lead running anxiously from outside, seeing the child lying weakly over the female lead, looking pitiful and helpless, and then the male lead, struck with a pang of emotion, taking the child into his own arms.

As Xiao Yi said his line, Ye Zhenzhen’s tears became unstoppable, falling freely, and her previously rigid back also instantly slumped, as if she had sunk into a mire of sorrow and grief so touching...

Watching Ye Zhenzhen act out this scene, Producer Wang’s expression was extremely complex. He wondered, Ye Zhenzhen’s acting had matured to such an extent, why was she known for bad acting?

Such acting skills could easily crown her a leading actress on the spot—how had she not become famous before this?

Liu Rui, who had been watching from the side, was stunned. The last time during the audition for ’Ren Pingsheng’, Liu Rui merely thought Ye Zhenzhen was lucky because she had not seen how Ye Zhenzhen actually performed.

Witnessing it today, Liu Rui couldn’t help but doubt: was this Ye Zhenzhen the same person she knew before?