Chapter 582: Chapter 582

He Jinxia had different thoughts about Xi Jing’s acting when she met her in person and realized that her nature was to be very quiet and shy.

She felt that, excluding special scenes, Xu Xiuzi’s acting couldn’t compare to Xi Jing’s.

As a newcomer, Xi Jing was able to overcome her nature and courageously challenge roles that were very different from her own personality. Although her acting wasn’t good, it also wasn’t terrible, and that was already great progress.

At the entrance of the screening room, Xu Xiuzi was like a lark upon seeing He Jinxia, transforming into a fangirl and chattering nonstop.

After they had been talking for a while, Duan Yu said with a smile, "Let’s go look around elsewhere instead of standing at the entrance of the exhibition hall like statues. You’ve been talking for so long; aren’t your throats dry? How about drinking some milk tea?"

He Jinxia shrugged her shoulders, having no objections, while Xu Xiuzi couldn’t be happier—she still needed to find a way to get closer to He Jinxia!

As for Xi Jing, she was quite shy by nature and usually just went with the flow, agreeing with others’ suggestions without any complaints. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel[f]ire.net

So, the group headed to a café.

The café was filled with the sweet scent of cream puffs and also sold a variety of small cakes and crunchy biscuits, all exquisitely made and appetizing at first glance.

After taking into account the opinions of the three ladies, Duan Yu and the other directors went to the front to place their order. Being gentlemen, they wouldn’t let the ladies pay.

After they left, Xi Jing asked in a low voice, "Should we go Dutch with Director Duan and the others?"

Xu Xiuzi’s lips moved as if she wanted to say something but then she swallowed her words and looked up at He Jinxia for a decision.

He Jinxia didn’t care much about these minor matters. If Duan Yu and the others were treating them to a meal worth tens of thousands, then she would consider going Dutch with them. But now it was just a few hundred yuan worth of snacks, and making a big deal out of it would seem petty and inappropriate.

She said, "No need. If you feel a bit guilty, you can simply treat the director next time."

She was addressing Xi Jing with this remark.

Xu Xiuzi quickly said, "Jingjing, don’t worry, this is all very normal. You’ll understand as you socialize more."

Xi Jing stuck out her tongue, feeling embarrassed, "I don’t really understand these things. I’ve only gone out with my brother, and whenever we go out, we split the costs."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiuzi seemed to think of something and teased, "Oh, your brother, that ’Demon protective of his sister.’"

Xi Jing let out a "pfft" of laughter, a glint of light shining in her eyes, and said softly, "Don’t talk about him like that. He’s strict with me because he wants what’s best for me."

Xu Xiuzi raised an eyebrow, asserting confidently, "Where did your mind go? Don’t you know that ’Demon protective of his sister’ is a term of endearment? I was complimenting him!"

Those words didn’t seem very credible.

Noticing their playful laughter and seemingly close relationship, He Jinxia asked curiously, "Do you two know each other?"

Xi Jing and Xu Xiuzi both nodded, "Yes, we grew up as neighbors and went to the same elementary school, but we went to different schools after middle school started."

A thought flashed through He Jinxia’s mind, "You two know each other, so that means you came to act in the film because..."

Xu Xiuzi knew what she was about to say and nodded quickly, "Yes, we went there together for the audition. Actually, I was the one who wanted to act, but I was a bit afraid of going alone, so I dragged Jingjing to come with me. Unexpectedly, Jingjing and I were both hired."

At this point, Xu Xiuzi couldn’t help but exclaim, "Jingjing and I were really lucky!"

He Jinxia had an inkling in her mind, but she wasn’t sure if it was true. Pretending to be curious, she asked, "Are both of you drama school students?"

Xu Xiuzi shook her head, "I am, but Jingjing is not. Jingjing studies science, delving into various data codes to build apps."

He Jinxia’s expression became serious, and she looked at Xi Jing with a touch of admiration. This was a talent, dedicated to shining in the endless sea of the IT industry, commonly referred to as "IT dogs," "code monkeys."

She asked, "How did you find out about this movie?"

Xu Xiuzi didn’t hide anything, as these matters were not a big deal and shared openly, "I saw Director Duan Yu at my school. Director Duan was recruiting actors, and my seniors thought he was a scammer. They didn’t even look at the script and walked away.

I didn’t think Director Duan looked like a scammer, so I took his script to read and found the content quite good. It just so happened that I was short on money, and the pay he was offering was high, so I wanted to shoot."

He Jinxia realized that Xu Xiuzi had gotten the role by her own initiative.

If she had an agency, and knew some inside information about the script, she might not have chosen to shoot this movie, and even if she wanted to, the agency might not have let her do it.

Xu Xiuzi’s appearance was decent, and any agency with a bit of resources would have sent her to shoot youth idol dramas right away, to gain popularity in front of the audience. Don’t look down on those dramas; they really build up popularity.

Or she could participate in various talent shows, and if one of them took off, that would be something big.

Compared to these opportunities with visible benefits, taking a role in an art film that seemed doomed to fail offered no advantage.

"Eighteen Years Old Sky" had made it into the Berlin New Generation Screening category, with two requirements: one was that the movie’s interpretation had to match the committee’s taste, and the other was that the entries in this category had to be the director’s debut to qualify.

This also led to many entries with good intentions but lacking in expressive techniques, as they were works of new directors, not likely to be perfect.

Being shortlisted under these conditions, one had to say, Duan Yu and his team were very lucky.

In the past, to maintain its prestige, Berlin wouldn’t just present an award to prevent it from being vacant for a subpar film. If the quality was not up to standard, they would rather leave the award unclaimed than tarnish Berlin’s reputation.

In the previous editions of the New Generation special screenings, there was usually only one entry selected, and sometimes even none. It was unexpected that this year, six were selected at once, making the competition even more brutal.

While contemplating, Duan Yu and the others returned, and the film crew discussed tomorrow’s itinerary.

Director Duan spoke, "The Berlin officials have set the awards ceremony to be held outside this time, so it will take place in the evening. You all can rest well tomorrow, take good care of your skin conditions, and don’t falter under the foreign media’s high-definition cameras."

The last sentence was clearly Duan Yu’s attempt at light-hearted teasing.

With that said, He Jinxia and the others all laughed. It’s indisputable that the tense atmosphere had eased a lot because of his jest.

He Jinxia asked, "Have you all prepared the clothes you’re going to wear tomorrow? Is it going to be Hanfu?"

Xu Xiuzi and Xi Jing nodded, and a gleam of eagerness rose in the eyes of the three directors. One director said with a bit of excitement, "Everything’s ready, just waiting to be worn!"