Chapter 15: The Performance Without a

00:00 AM.

"Oh, my Princess~ Where~ is she!"

Zhu Jie sat on the throne, his speech sounding like he was singing.

"I~ am~ here~" A voice with undulating tones rang out; Leng Rourou made her entrance, looking toward the King and Queen on the high platform.

The stark white light slid down her skirt, forming a circular domain around her and dispelling all the darkness within it.

Following that,

Ding Mo and the other person also made their relay entrance.

Compared to reading the lines yesterday, after several hours of rehearsal and correction led by Leng Rourou, their emotions and movements were much more vivid.

That was a given; if they didn't complete the Task properly, they wouldn't be able to return, so everyone naturally put their all into practicing.

Clearly, the effect was excellent.

Ding Mo finished serving the plates, bowed elegantly to the King, and then retreated to the sides. With his chest out and back straight, he truly possessed a touch of heroic bearing.

At the banquet, the King was mighty, the Queen was dignified, and the Princess was elegant!

If they were on a normal stage, Ding Mo was certain they would have no problem winning a "Top Ten Campus Performance" award.

Over an hour later, the performance ended once again.

……

In front of the Actors' rooms,

Chu Chenfeng, who had just returned, watched Ding Mo open the door and walk in; just as he lifted his foot, the corner of his eye suddenly caught something.

He saw that in the corner of the Hotel corridor, a set of clothes had been discarded on the floor:

Those were riding boots and a sword—they were actually their Guard uniforms!

Chu Chenfeng's pupils constricted, his footsteps paused, but he acted as if he hadn't seen them and walked into his room as if nothing were the matter.

Walking into the room, Chu Chenfeng unbuckled his sword and sat on the bed, frowning.

"What's wrong?" Ding Mo asked upon seeing this.

"Nothing, it's just..." Chu Chenfeng told him about the situation he had just encountered.

"!? I remember it being written in the rules!" Ding Mo immediately realized something.

"Ah, I'm afraid it's about me going out this morning." Chu Chenfeng's tone was slightly heavy:

"I might have been targeted."

Ding Mo was startled!

"Then you!"

"It's fine, I've already asked the Prop Team to send something over; it will arrive tomorrow." Chu Chenfeng's eyes flashed.

"By then..."

……

Morning.

Ding Mo got up early and happened to see the message sent by the director:

【Director: @All members, all unqualified! Everyone redo it!】

Yet the result remained—unqualified!

Why on earth? Never mind the others, even Ding Mo was confused at this moment.

What exactly counted as qualified?

After another round of meaningless finger-pointing and venting in the group chat.

The time arrived at 11:00 PM once again.

"Damn it, I'm truly fed up!" In the performance venue (inside the hall), Zhu Jie kicked a chair away and began to curse angrily.

The others also frowned.

Outside the Hotel windows was the silent night, without a single insect chirping; it was so quiet that it felt as if the entire building were in a surreal space.

Only Zhu Jie's angry cursing rang out alone in the hall.

"Can you be quiet!" At one point, Leng Rourou grew tired of listening and scolded him:

"Kicking it again is just a waste of effort!"

"Th-then what do you suggest we do!?" Zhu Jie gritted his teeth and stared at her, his eyes somewhat bloodshot.

Having not "tasted meat" for several days, he was finding it hard to restrain the "beast" inside his heart!

It was thrashing violently in his mind, craving release!

Dong Xiaoyu spoke up at this time, saying somewhat uncertainly:

"Could it be because, even though we have emotions, our performance is still too crude? We haven't presented some of the details from the original story?"

Ding Mo, however, said:

"There are many versions of the Snow White plot; which version are you talking about regarding the details?"

Dong Xiaoyu was stunned upon hearing this.

She had only ever seen one version.

Chu Chenfeng, meanwhile, shook his head lightly from the side and said:

"I don't think it has anything to do with that. The original Script given by the director is already very crude, and it didn't say which version of the story it was.

"This suggests that the director probably doesn't care about these details; the failure is likely due to some other reason..."

Leng Rourou sighed, but she also nodded in agreement.

Now, everyone was in a bind.

What exactly was the reason?

That damn director didn't even know himself, he just let them act!

Ding Mo crossed his arms, unable to help but complain about the director in his heart once again.

It was no wonder he thought this way; the director's requirements were simply completely unreasonable.

No, that's not right, perhaps... he didn't not know, but rather couldn't say?

Ding Mo's heart skipped a beat.

How could there be a director who didn't even know what kind of performance his own cast needed?

He was playing dumb!

Realizing this, Ding Mo shared this thought with the others.

Leng Rourou looked at him with some surprise in her eyes.

She hadn't expected that this "follower" by Chu Chenfeng's side would actually be so clever?

Ding Mo didn't notice her gaze; he was carefully listening to Chu Chenfeng's analysis.

"It's not impossible!" Chu Chenfeng mused:

"But if that is truly the case, there must be some specific reason for it.

"If we find out, it might be the key to breaking the deadlock!"

"What is it!" Zhu Jie asked urgently.

The attention of the group was also drawn by him.

But just at this moment,

Dong—! Dong—!

A long, resonant bell chime suddenly rang out from the hall's speakers, sounding 12 times in succession.

—This was the signal that the time was approaching midnight, and the drama was about to begin.

Seeing this, Chu Chenfeng could only say:

"There is still too little information; it cannot be deduced in a short time.

"Let's finish this performance first, and talk about it later."

Hearing this, Leng Rourou took the opportunity to say:

"Then let's try to perform more details this time; making more attempts won't hurt."

"Agreed." Chu Chenfeng nodded.

"That works." Dong Xiaoyu also expressed her affirmation.

"Everyone." Leng Rourou looked at the others:

"If you have any ideas during the performance, feel free to try them out. Just improvise; as long as it doesn't affect the general plot, it should be fine."

This wasn't a difficult task, so the group nodded.

"..."

"Good night~ Father King! Mother Queen!" Leng Rourou greeted the two figures on the high platform in a light and cheerful manner.

She lifted her skirt and bowed slightly; her movements, posture, and steps were all just right, clearly having learned formal etiquette.

However, Ding Mo and the others were no longer surprised by this.

They had long since learned through conversation that Leng Rourou was once a professional Actor, and had even served as a stunt double for the female lead in certain blockbusters.

It was only because she was unwilling to obey certain rules that she had remained in the background.

"Someone! Bring the food!" Zhu Jie's voice, feigning majesty, came over.

Ding Mo and Chu Chenfeng picked up the trays and walked over again.

This was the third performance.

Soon, the process passed; perhaps everyone felt deep down that they still couldn't pass, and their hearts seemed to open up a lot.

This actually made their acting much more natural.

"If it goes on like this, maybe we can..." Ding Mo felt a bit encouraged seeing this, and the illusion that "maybe we can pass" even appeared in his heart.

Soon, the banquet was halfway through.

Before this, this would have been the time for Zhu Jie to leave the scene.

But this time, perhaps it was because of what Leng Rourou said before the performance, or perhaps his brain had a spasm.

He didn't leave, but instead, his eyes darted, and he said to Dong Xiaoyu beside him:

"You, dance for me!"

"What?" Dong Xiaoyu was stunned.

Let her... dance?

Now?