After Being Dumped by the Film Empress, My Acting Skills Soared - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The script Director Mo threw at her happened to open to a scene where the Mute Girl and the Good Student are interacting ten years later. In this scene, they are shopping at a wet market and pass by a meat stall. The butcher brings out a basin full of pig blood from the back and slams it onto the table with a loud thud, sending blood splattering in every direction.

The Good Student reacts with extreme disgust and disdain. In contrast, the Mute Girl stands by with a faint smile. As the blood splatters onto her face and clothes, she remains unfazed. After a sidelong glance at the person standing next to her, she raises a hand to smear the blood from the corner of her mouth across her lips, staining them a deep, vivid crimson. Her face remains calm and gentle, but her eyes harbor endless hatred and calculation.

The character of the Mute Girl is notoriously difficult to play because she cannot speak; there is no way to convey the character through dialogue. The camera focuses entirely on her movements and expressions.

Shao Niannian once played a character with a very similar expressive style—her graduation play role as a human trafficking victim who feigned madness and was unable to speak. When she drafted the character biography for the Mute Girl, she used that role as a cross-reference, finding the common ground between them.

In less than five minutes, Shao Niannian read the scene thoroughly, closed the script, and gave a slight bow to Director Mo and the others.

The next second, she stood still, and her expression shifted instantly as if she had become a different person. A light smile played on her lips, and her entire aura turned gloomy yet deceptively mild. Her simple, plain casual clothes added to the realism.

In that moment, she was no longer Shao Niannian, but the Mute Girl whose psyche had been twisted for over a decade while she waited for her chance at revenge.

She tilted her head slightly as if listening, nodding occasionally to show she agreed with the Good Student’s complaints about work, life, and even the property management of their complex. She absorbed the other’s negative energy, but her hand gripped her cloth shopping bag tightly.

Even in the heat of summer, the Mute Girl wore thick, long-sleeved clothing. From time to time, she reached down to pull the sleeves—already long enough to cover her wrists—even further down, terrified they might slide up and reveal the secrets hidden beneath.

As the Good Student continued her angry rant, the Mute Girl fixed her eyes on a nearby vegetable stall. For a split second as she turned her head, her gaze was languid and contemptuous, showing she had no real interest in anything the Good Student was complaining about.

They walked side-by-side toward the pork stall.

They came to a slow stop. The Mute Girl frowned slightly, her gaze flickering over the pork displayed on the stall. Her slender hand reached out to gesture over the meat.

Behind the table, Director Mo, wearing her baseball cap, let out a yawn and watched Shao Niannian’s objectless performance with her arms crossed. Without a word from the director, the other two assistant directors silently made a mark on Shao Niannian’s information sheet.

She was already the actor who had lasted the longest performing this specific scene today. Several previous candidates had barely started before Director Mo told them to get lost.

Wen Jing watched Shao Niannian with keen interest, her eyes full of scrutiny.

Completely immersed in her performance, the Mute Girl had no time to notice the changing expressions of those behind the table. Standing at the meat stall, she lowered her head slightly. First, she trailed her fingertips gently over the “meat,” then lifted her hand. She pressed her thumb against the first joint of her index finger, moving it slightly—it was the exact posture of someone holding a scalpel.

As she made the slicing motion, her smile deepened.

It was as if what lay beneath her hand wasn’t pork, but the flesh and blood of the person standing beside her. She could see the delicate muscle tissue being sliced open by a sharp blade, the blood vessels severed, and the blood seeping uncontrollably from the wound.

The imaginary action concluded just as the butcher brought out the processed pig blood and slammed it onto the board, splattering it everywhere.

The Mute Girl’s eyes blinked rapidly. Her smile grew wider and more manic, as if the splattered blood around her was actually the arterial spray from the Good Student’s severed vessels landing on her clothes and face.

To her, this wasn’t filth or something to be loathed.

It was what she had envisioned over and over for ten years—the hope of finally killing the demon at her side.

Neither the Good Student’s complaints nor the butcher’s grunts stopped the Mute Girl from smearing the bloodstain from the corner of her mouth onto her lips. Her lips turned blood-red. She glanced sideways at the person next to her; beneath her calm facade was a twisted psyche—hatred, envy, and fear all exposed in her eyes.

The Mute Girl pursed her lips slightly and licked away the smeared blood…

“That’s enough.” Director Mo’s raspy voice interrupted the silent performance.

When Shao Niannian snapped back to reality, her back was drenched in sweat. The air conditioning in the room was blasting, and as she cooled down, she actually felt a shiver of cold.

“Serviceable. At least you haven’t forgotten the systematic knowledge from your formal training,” Director Mo said, tapping the table with her pen. “But it’s a bit too systematic, making it easy for the audience to guess the plot.”

“This role isn’t about playing a fool with excessive emotional outbursts; it requires deep contemplation.”

“You should have written a character biography before coming, right?” Director Mo asked.

Shao Niannian had beads of sweat on her forehead, and her damp clothes clung to her back, making her feel both hot and cold. “I did. Perhaps my interpretation isn’t quite there yet, I…”

Director Mo cut her off. “How many words?”

“3,000.”

“I’ll give you two days, from tonight until the day after tomorrow. Go back and really think about this character. Rewrite the character analysis for me—5,000 words.” Director Mo gave a look to the person beside her. The assistant director sitting on the far end immediately stood up and handed over a business card he had been holding.

Shao Niannian let out an “Ah,” sounding a bit dazed. What did this mean? Was the role hers?

As she was wondering, Director Mo delivered the final blow: “Your performance wasn’t exactly what I’d call satisfying, but compared to the previous auditions filled with ‘formulaic’ actors who only know how to use brute force, you’re better. Plus, you’re one of the few who wrote a lengthy character bio.”

“The day after tomorrow, I want to see both of your character analyses in my inbox.” Director Mo glanced at Wen Jing, who was sitting there like a silent Buddha. “Do you have any objections?”

Wen Jing shook her head. “What objections could I have? You’re the director; you call the shots.”

“Good.” Director Mo nodded with satisfaction.

Actors with poor skills should have some self-awareness; even if they brought funding to the production, they shouldn’t interfere with the director’s decisions. “Go back and wait. Someone should notify you tonight.”

Shao Niannian still hadn’t quite reacted; it felt like a dream. That’s it? That was way too smooth.

“Thank you, Director Mo. Thank you, Director Chen, Director Lin… and thank you.” Shao Niannian’s eyes curved into crescents. When her gaze landed on Wen Jing, she didn’t quite know what to say, but she steeled herself to thank the “investor-actress” anyway.

After all, whether her plan would succeed depended on Miss Wen Jing; saying thank you cost nothing.

Shao Niannian walked out of the room holding the business card, still in a trance. Even Gao Hui calling her name repeatedly didn’t get a reaction. The agent was terrified her artist had been scolded into a stupor by Director Mo. Looking around, she realized this wasn’t the place to talk and pulled Shao Niannian toward the underground parking lot.

Once in the car, Gao Hui asked, “How was it? What did Director Mo and the others say?”

“…” Shao Niannian stared at the business card for a long time. It only had a work email and the director’s name—Mo Yu. It was so concise there were no other details.

Seeing her silence, Gao Hui was about to offer some comfort when a card was suddenly thrust in front of her. She turned her head to see Shao Niannian’s beautiful face.

“I think… it’s probably… a win?”