Chapter 600: Surprise

Although Ding Xiaoyu's shout of "Dad" caused Luo Mo to briefly break character, with his ability, he naturally and quickly re-entered the scene.

However, to be honest, Luo Mo was not acting very seriously.

Most of the time, he was observing.

Therefore, in many instances, his angle should have been with his back to Wen Lin, yet he was always positioned sideways, using his peripheral vision to observe him.

Xu Chujing, who was temporarily playing Wang Yao, brought her daughter Jingjing, played by Ding Xiaoyu, to the shoe store.

Luo Mo immediately went up to greet them, saying, "Oh my, Jingjing, you're here."

Behind him, the smile on Wen Lin's face gradually faded. He stood to the side, watching the interaction of this family without moving, his gaze slowly losing focus. Finally, he simply lowered his eyelids slightly, occasionally looking at the floor, and then... looking at the pure white "new shoes" on his own feet.

Luo Mo observed with his peripheral vision and felt that this handling of the scene was quite good.

"This kid has a spark," he thought to himself. "Although he looks lifeless, in terms of performance, he really has a spark."

After interacting with his "daughter" Ding Xiaoyu for a few sentences, Luo Mo turned his head and gave Wen Lin a look.

Wen Lin immediately stepped forward a few paces and said to Xu Chujing, "Hello, Auntie."

Xu Chujing did not give any reaction, just smiling as she looked at her "daughter" and "husband."

"Attendant, wrap these up, just these. The old ones... throw the old ones away, throw them away." As Luo Mo said this, he walked forward to pay.

Ding Xiaoyu stepped forward with an impatient look, tugging at Luo Mo's arm, and said, "Dad, hurry up, hurry up, let's go buy a dress. My dress is a limited designer edition."

"Is that so? Alright, alright, alright," Luo Mo said hurriedly.

Wen Lin just watched as Luo Mo was dragged away by Ding Xiaoyu, while Xu Chujing followed along with a smile.

He lowered his head and glanced at the "new shoes" on his feet again, then continued his performance without physical props, looking at the "old shoes" that had been taken off not far away.

"Auntie, please help me pack the shoes," he said finally, looking at the old shoes.

Constantly buying new clothes and new shoes, then throwing away the old ones—that was Jingjing's life.

Hmm, not mine.

Up until now, Luo Mo felt that Wen Lin's performance was quite commendable.

He looked just like a child who wasn't very sunny.

But this wasn't something he acted out; it was a temperament he naturally carried.

There would be two scenes tested in total today.

One was buying shoes, and the other was waiting for a car after buying the shoes when leaving the pedestrian street.

Of course, among the many child stars and parents who came to audition earlier, several didn't even know there were two scenes to test today.

Because Luo Mo wasn't satisfied with the first scene, he directly eliminated them.

Just like the popular little child star from before, Luo Mo only let him test that one scene, feeling incredibly disappointed in his heart.

"That was okay," Luo Mo said to Wen Lin. "Now, let me explain the second scene to you."

"Okay, Director," Wen Lin walked over quickly and said very politely.

Luo Mo glanced at him, feeling that this kid broke character quite quickly.

He entered the state quickly, and came out of the state just as quickly.

"Perhaps this is talent," he thought to himself.

Due to the specific nature of the script's plot for this drama, he felt this was quite good.

If it were that kind of pure Experience School, getting too deep into the role and unable to pull themselves out, that might lead to big problems!

Having a Psychologist stationed on the set was just one layer of insurance.

A Psychologist is not omnipotent either.

After giving Wen Lin a few more minutes to digest and absorb, the second round of the audition began.

Inside the audition classroom, Luo Mo walked in front with Ding Xiaoyu and Xu Chujing, while Wen Lin followed silently behind.

Luo Mo said, "What should we eat for dinner? How about seafood!"

He turned his head and said, "You guys wait for me here, I'm going to get the car."

"Dad, I'm going back first," said Zhu Chaoyang, played by Wen Lin.

After Wang Yao and Zhu Jingjing arrived, the happy atmosphere was gone, and he could feel that he was redundant.

It wasn't worth crashing a family meal.

But according to the Drama, Zhu Yongping rarely saw his son, and he wanted to take him out for a big meal, so he said, "Why go back? We're having seafood in a bit! Wait for me! I'm going to get the car!"

Saying this, Luo Mo stepped aside and sat back down in his own chair.

In this part of the scene, he had no further parts to play.

He began to return to his primary job as a director, watching everyone else act from the side.

At this moment, Luo Mo glanced at Wen Hong, who was on the side.

"Hmm? She seems to be distracted?" Luo Mo thought to himself.

Her gaze was always on her son, but from her expression, one could tell she seemed to be thinking about something; she had something on her mind.

After Luo Mo returned to his seat, Wang Yao, played by Xu Chujing, said to Wen Lin, "Is your living allowance not enough?"

It was as if in her heart, Zhu Chaoyang coming to find Zhu Yongping wasn't because he needed a father or fatherly love, but simply because of money.

"It's enough," Wen Lin said softly.

Xu Chujing looked Wen Lin up and down and said, "Doesn't your mom buy you new clothes? Look, the collar is already stretched out."

In the drama, many of Wang Yao's words and actions were truly unlikable.

And in reality, the words and deeds of parents are truly important, which also led to the child Zhu Jingjing having many unlikable traits herself.

At this moment, because Ding Xiaoyu was temporarily playing Zhu Jingjing, it was changed so that she was constantly looking down at her phone, and thus accidentally stepped on the new white shoes Zhu Chaoyang was wearing.

With one step down, Wen Lin immediately lowered his head, his eyes fixed firmly on his shoes.

He was already slightly hunched over, his arms hanging in front of his trousers, and at this moment, his fingers even gave a light tug at his pant leg.

Xu Chujing glanced at his shoes, turned her head, and said to Ding Xiaoyu, "Don't always look down at your phone; you aren't even watching where you're going. You stepped on your little brother's shoe—hurry up and apologize."

Ding Xiaoyu's face showed displeasure, like a girl in her rebellious phase, and she said, "Why should I apologize? It was just an accidental step, is it really that big of a deal?"

Xu Chujing frowned and said, "He isn't like you, having endless new shoes and clothes to wear every day; you don't know how to cherish anything."

The impatience on Ding Xiaoyu's face grew even stronger, annoyed by her mother's nagging.

Amidst the mother and daughter's conversation, Wen Lin turned his head and looked at them deeply.

——Deeply.

Ding Xiaoyu continued to look down at her phone, clearly not wanting to speak and not wanting to pay attention to anyone.

Xu Chujing turned her head to look at Wen Lin.

At this moment, Wen Lin had already lowered his head again, listening to their words, his eyes fixed on his own "white sneakers," staring at the footprint on them.

In his eyes, it was as if there were a whirlpool of emotions.

"She didn't mean it," said Wang Yao, played by Xu Chujing, in an understated tone, as if her purpose wasn't to apologize, but rather to avoid making her daughter seem ill-bred.

After speaking, she turned her head away and began playing with her phone as well.

Wen Lin nodded, then took another deep look at his shoe.

His gaze…….. was incomparably gloomy!

But all of this flashed by in an instant; he quickly raised his head and said very politely to Xu Chujing, "Auntie, I'll head home first then. Please tell my dad for me."

"Okay," Xu Chujing said indifferently, then continued playing with her phone.

She couldn't even be bothered to show him superficial courtesy.

Wen Lin nodded and said very politely again, "Goodbye, Auntie. Goodbye, Sister Jingjing."

Only then did he walk past the two of them with his head lowered, his movements somewhat stiff, as if he were thinking about something or calculating something in his heart.

Luo Mo watched his performance, a smile appearing on his face as he said, "Very good!"

After the audition ended, Ding Xiaoyu even went over to apologize: "I'm sorry, I stepped on you just now. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Wen Lin raised his head, smiled, and said, "It's okay."

Xu Chujing gently patted his shoulder and said, "You have a lot of spirit in your acting."

Logically speaking, having received unanimous praise from everyone, his mother, Wen Hong, who was sitting to the side, should have been very happy.

Yet she kept her head lowered the entire time, keeping it lowered, as if she didn't want anyone to see her face, her expression, or……. her red eyes!

…….

…….

After the audition ended, Luo Mo personally saw Wen Lin and Wen Hong out of the audition classroom.

He had already decided in his heart that Wen Lin would play Zhu Chaoyang, but this would still require notification and negotiation after the Contract was drafted.

Moreover, he noticed one thing: Wen Hong looked a bit absent-minded.

This made Luo Mo pick up the data sheet in his hand once again.

It was written on it that Wen Lin was from a single-parent family.

Luo Mo seemed to understand something, his heart lost in thought.

After leaving Luo Mo Studio, Wen Hong took her son and got into a car, heading toward the hotel.

In the car, Wen Lin said in a startled tone, "Oh no! Sorry, Mom! I forgot to ask Teacher Luo Mo for an autograph for you!"

Wen Hong came back to her senses at this moment, glanced at the Luo Mo Studio building growing more distant outside the window, patted her son's head, and said, "It's fine."

Wen Lin felt the warmth in his mother's palm and the sensation of her stroking his hair, and he leaned into her embrace.

He slowly closed his eyes, as if he were a little sleepy.

"Sleep for a while," Wen Hong said softly.

The taxi drove through Shanghai, and Wen Hong looked at her son from time to time, and looked out the window from time to time.

Half-asleep and half-awake, Wen Lin hugged her tighter and tighter, murmuring, "Mom, I'm very happy today; you shouldn't be unhappy either."

(PS: Second update, asking for monthly votes at the end of the month.)

(End of chapter)