Volume One, Chapter 10: It's Just a Play, Why Be Shy?

Fifteen minutes later, the mid-term assessment continued.

Su Nianxi sat in her seat, watching Song Xiao’s acting—which was even more disastrous than Ye Zhixia’s—and couldn't help but feel that audiences were sometimes quite creative, managing to pair two people with such equally mediocre professional skills into a "couple" amidst the vast sea of faces.

"Sigh." Su Nianxi shifted her posture and let out a soft breath.

Song Shi'an noticed her movement and tilted his head, asking, "Teacher Su, are you feeling unwell?"

"I'm fine," Su Nianxi muttered in reply.

She was just thinking about Su Yuche’s hairstyle, which looked worse than if a dog had chewed on it. Calling him an idiot was too generous; he looked like he had just evolved from a single-celled organism.

She felt a strange sense of worry about the original host’s biological family. If she recalled correctly, there was a family banquet coming up at the Su household. She just wondered if they would drag her into that chaos.

On stage, Song Xiao had already slunk away in defeat. Aside from his fans desperately trying to salvage his reputation by praising his looks, everyone else was silent.

It was in this heavy silence that Su Nianxi stepped onto the stage. Being the last one to perform twice in a row—her status in this industry was truly unique.

"Pick a slip," Lin Yue said, pointing to the box in front of her.

Su Nianxi walked up nonchalantly, drew a slip of paper at random, and said with a neutral expression, "Alright, Teacher Shen, it’s time for your performance."

As she spoke, she placed the slip in front of Shen Yizhou, flashing a gentle smile.

Looking at her expression, Shen Yizhou felt a sudden, inexplicable panic. His intuition told him she was up to no good. Today’s performances had already been explosive enough; he really didn't want to join a bomb squad at such a young age.

[She actually picked Best Actor Shen? This is going to be good.]

[But Su Nianxi’s acting is actually okay, right? She shouldn't get scolded by Teacher Shen.]

[Actually... dare I say it? I think they look quite compatible. A handsome man and a beautiful woman.]

[No, no, no, let’s not. Best Actor Shen belongs to himself, let Su Nianxi stick to her abstract antics.]

Netizens were shocked by this pairing, and the mentors were no exception.

Lin Yue watched as Shen Yizhou stood up and walked toward Su Nianxi; she stiffened, pursed her lips, and adjusted her sitting position. Ji Huihong was pleasantly surprised but proceeded to announce the topic to Su Nianxi.

The scene they were to perform was one where a woman seduces a man to extract information. Although it was an impromptu task, the netizens immediately began debating in the comment section.

[Finally, it’s not an emotional outburst scene. Now we can see what Su Nianxi’s actual level is.]

[Why do I feel like Teacher Ji has an 'I ship it' look on her face? Was this topic chosen on purpose?]

[Teacher Ji, you must have done this on purpose! We love to see it.]

[Can we ship them? Let me think of a couple name.]

Su Nianxi, however, remained completely calm upon receiving the prompt. She casually let down her low ponytail, brushed her hair back, and immediately slipped into character.

She sat down beside Shen Yizhou, rested her chin on her hand, and smiled crookedly. "Mr. Shen, why don't you just tell me? What is that project actually for?"

Her voice carried a touch of softness, and her eyes shimmered with an inseparable mix of affection and cunning.

Shen Yizhou was slightly taken aback, then laughed. "Some things, you know, aren't meant to be spoken of so easily."

"Is that so..." Su Nianxi pouted, making a move to stand up and leave.

Before she could, Shen Yizhou grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him, causing her to fall into his arms.

Su Nianxi felt the man’s strong heartbeat and his scorching body temperature, causing her to stiffen for a split second. But soon, she looked up, locked eyes with Shen Yizhou, and said with a mix of triumph and coquetry, "So, this is what you like..."

"Alright, that’s enough," Professor Zheng spoke up from below the stage.

He looked with a smile at Su Nianxi, who had immediately distanced herself eight hundred meters from Shen Yizhou, and couldn't help but praise, "The emotional nuances were handled very well. My goodness, you’ve even made our little Shen blush."

He shouldn't have mentioned it; as soon as he did, Shen Yizhou coughed twice, trying to gloss over the situation with a transparent attempt at deflection.

Unfortunately, Su Nianxi had already noticed. She tilted her head and caught a glimpse of the faint red flush on Shen Yizhou’s ears under the stage lights.

Tsk.

Su Nianxi shook her head internally. He was just a young man after all, not as transparent as someone who had lived two lifetimes like her. What was there to be shy about?

For a quirky woman whose social media signature was 'Withered vines, old trees, evening crows; all the male models come to my home,' this was just acting—it was all make-believe.

Thinking this, Student Su didn't realize that in her previous life, she had only been twenty-eight.

Since Su Nianxi was the only trainee to finish the scene smoothly with a high level of completion, she undoubtedly took the highest score of this assessment again. However, Professor Zheng didn't ask for her thoughts this time; everyone was afraid she would send the show trending again with another shocking remark.

After the assessment, the show moved to a new segment: short film production.

The remaining five trainees would choose their roles based on their average scores from the two assessments, complete character development under the guidance of the four mentors, and finally film the short in a single continuous take.

The short film was a story in the style of ancient martial arts. As the two-time top scorer, Su Nianxi naturally secured the role of the female lead. The scores of the others were also within expectations. The only surprise was Song Shi'an. Because of his first scene with Su Nianxi, his score was quite high; even though he failed this round, his cumulative score placed him in second.

Looking at these results, the mentors wanted to travel back two days in time and strangle themselves for giving such high marks.

Ultimately, the short film starred Su Nianxi and Song Shi'an as the leads, Ling Xiyue as the second male lead, and Song Xiao and Ye Zhixia as minor supporting roles with little screen time.

After the livestream ended, Song Xiao was the first to leave in a huff. He had come here expecting to dominate, hoping to build a massive fan base with his own charm, but he had been intercepted by Su Nianxi from the start. Now, the show had countless viral moments, yet he was nowhere to be found in the story. Who wouldn't be angry?

Ye Zhixia’s mindset was similar, though she had better composure than Song Xiao and managed to maintain a polite smile.

Su Nianxi couldn't care less about them. During the livestream, her phone had been vibrating incessantly, as if loaded with countless time bombs.

Su Nianxi sighed and finally chose to answer Director Liu’s call first.

"Niannian, my dear Niannian, I swear to you, that trending search has absolutely nothing to do with me! And about your contract, I heard—change it back, change it immediately! If your company wants to send those people in, let them, but you cannot change your mind!" As soon as the call connected, Su Nianxi was bombarded by Director Liu’s wailing.

She turned the volume down and held the phone slightly away before saying, "What trending search?"

"You don't know yet?" Liu Qi calmed down instantly and began her double-whammy of deception. "Well, it's like this, it's hard to say, it depends on whether you mind it. Actually, if we just leave it alone, it might not be a problem..."

"Stop," Su Nianxi didn't want to hear her nonsense. "I’ll check the search later. Let’s talk about the contract first."

"No problem at all, dear," Liu Qi said immediately.

Su Nianxi: "..."

"The contract stays as we originally discussed. As for those 'buy-one-get-six-free' burdens at my company, kick them out if you want." Su Nianxi rolled her eyes at the thought of those spoiled brats. They wanted to treat her as their cash cow? Not a chance.

"Then... won't Xinglan do anything to you?" Liu Qi knew Su Nianxi’s agency well; these small, soul-sucking companies were common in the industry. She didn't want her good friend and partner buried by a terrible agency.

"Don't worry, they wouldn't dare," Su Nianxi stretched. "My contract with them expires next month. It’s their lucky day if I let them squeeze a bit more out of me before I leave."

"That's good, that's good." Liu Qi felt relieved.

"I’m going to check the search now, I’ll call you back later." Su Nianxi hung up the phone without further ado.

After opening Weibo, Su Nianxi blocked Xiao Qu, who was rushing over to vent, with one hand and tapped on the fifth trending topic with the other.

A massive headline appeared, so 'hot' it almost blinded her.

#Rumor: Yunli’s Strange Affairs Female Lead is Xiao Yueqing#

Su Nianxi scanned the headline and fell into a brief silence.

Wait, who is this person?