Five years ago, he had gone against public opinion and cast Shen Mingyou in the lead female role in his TV series, but she eventually quit.

Qin Song disliked actors who couldn’t handle setbacks or hardships.

He had been holding a grudge about Shen Mingyou quitting the industry. Now, she wanted to return and star in his drama? Not so easy.

Moreover, the leading female role required superb acting skills, and Shen Mingyou was simply unfit for the role.

“Mingyou, here’s a short clip for the audition. Look it over, and you can start when you’re ready.” Since the director remained silent, the producer stepped up to take charge.

Like the director, the producer didn’t expect Shen Mingyou to succeed in the audition. In fact, he was planning to invite her for the second female lead. For the first female lead, her acting skills simply weren’t enough.

But when Yu Zhen called to say Shen Mingyou wanted to audition for the female lead, the producer understood that her audition wouldn’t change the final result. So, why not humor her? After all, it was just an audition.

The lines on the slip of paper Shen Mingyou received seemed unrelated to “Questioning the Heart.”

There were only a few lines, covering men, women, old and young, and no one was there to act opposite her.

With so little information, Shen Mingyou could only perform the scene based on her interpretation of the lines and her instinct as an actress.

Qin Song had been resting his eyes.

But the moment Shen Mingyou began, he opened his eyes and stared at her as she portrayed four different characters on stage.

She changed the old man’s voice, and it was done very subtly. When he closed his eyes just now, I almost thought an elderly man was speaking.

Then came the voice of a young man. This voice was both male and female, and not easy to distinguish, but the unique tone of a young man was still apparent.

More importantly, her facial expressions matched the character. As soon as the old person finished speaking, her expression switched to the bright and cheerful one of a teenager. The transition was very natural, and her micro-expressions were handled delicately.

The director, assistant director, and producer, who initially did not take Shen Mingyou’s audition seriously, were impressed after her performance.

After Shen Mingyou’s final performance, she stood on stage waiting for feedback.

Qin Song finally spoke: “Have you been studying acting since you retired from the entertainment industry?”

Shen Mingyou replied: “I have been learning all the time.”

Though she hasn’t acted since retiring, she continued learning. She watched classic movies repeatedly, studied character psychology, and analyzed actors’ expressions and movements. She also read many reference books, but it didn’t always help.

However, her previous studies were not wasted. Now, when she gets a script, she can quickly understand and analyze the characters’ psychological processes from the dialogues and scenes. She can even envision the most appropriate movements and expressions for the role.

“Go back and wait for notification,” Qin Song said, not indicating if the audition was successful or not.

After the audition, the lights were on. Shen Mingyou headed to the hotel, resisting the urge to call Nian Nian.

Handing Nian Nian over to Jiang Chen was to help Nian Nian get used to being with her father and slowly adapt to being apart from her mother. As Shen Mingyou will be increasingly busy, both she and Nian Nian need to adjust.

She has great confidence in her daughter and believes Nian Nian will do well.

At this time, Nian Nian was with her father at the company.

Dad was working overtime, and Nian Nian was a little bored.

She opened the office door.

The young female secretary who had been instructed to take care of Nian Nian did not disturb her when she saw Nian Nian come out but followed President Jiang, ensuring Nian Nian’s safety.

Nian Nian decided to check out her father’s company and see if the employees were still working.

Overtime is common in some departments of Lingyu, but the boss pays generous overtime wages, so employees don’t mind working late.

When Nian Nian took the elevator to the twelfth floor, she noticed that many lights were on, indicating employees were working late.

As she entered, she smelled a delicious fragrance.

“What is this?” Nian Nian saw a box of food on an employee’s desk. The smell was coming from it.

It smelled so good.

Nian Nian had seen this food while recording a program and asked her mother about it. Her mother said it smelled good but didn’t taste good and was unhealthy, so Nian Nian couldn’t eat it.

Though she listened to her mother, she became more curious about this food that was said to smell good but not taste good.

A programmer working overtime heard a child’s voice. He looked up and saw the boss’s daughter, Mr. Jiang, who had just started.

“This is instant noodles. Mr. Jiang, haven’t you ever eaten it?” the programmer asked, pointing at a bucket of instant noodles.

Nian Nian shook her head. She had lived abroad and had never seen or eaten instant noodles before returning to China.

Nian Nian asked, “Do you still have some?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” The programmer showed her his cabinet, which was stocked with instant noodles due to a supermarket promotion: buy one bucket of instant noodles, get a free pack. He had just cooked the bucket and left the free pack on his desk.

Nian Nian blinked: “Do you eat this every day?” Her mother said it was unhealthy and not to be eaten.

The programmer, who loved instant noodles, nodded: “I eat it every day.”

“Then, can you sell me a pack?” Nian Nian pointed at the bag of instant noodles. “Just this pack, how about that?”

The programmer was surprised. The boss’s daughter wanted to buy a small pack of instant noodles?

“Yes, I can,” the programmer said, though he felt something was off.

“Here’s the money.” Nian Nian took out a banknote from her bag. She always carried a small bag with her mother’s money for buying things.

“No, no, this is free.” The programmer felt flattered but couldn’t take money for a small pack of instant noodles.

“Yes.” Nian Nian insisted on paying. Her mother said one shouldn’t take things without permission, so paying was okay.

Seeing the boss so determined, the programmer reluctantly accepted the money.

The hundred-yuan bill was enough to buy two boxes of instant noodles, so the programmer had to borrow change from his colleagues. He never carried cash and always paid with his mobile phone. Other colleagues didn’t have much change either, so he managed to gather enough after some effort.

Nian Nian put the change she received back into her bag, but there was no room left for the packet of instant noodles. She felt that her parents shouldn’t see it, or it might be taken away.

So, she had to hide it secretly and not let her dad find out.

Nian Nian took out the change and stuffed the packet of instant noodles into a small bag. Luckily, the packet fit perfectly. After zipping up the bag, it was bulging and couldn’t hold anything else.

Nian Nian folded the change and put it in her pocket.

She looked at the bulging bag on her belly and patted it lovingly.

The programmer saw  Nian Nian’s serious expression and thought that what she had in her bag might be a priceless piece of jewelry.