Chapter 38: Why Did He Bring a Kid to the Audition?

Even though Yu Mozhi was wearing a mask and a hat, as someone in the entertainment industry, it wasn’t hard for those who paid attention to recognize him—especially when he was accompanied by Liu Wu, a manager not particularly well-known to the general public, but quite familiar to directors like them.

But… why was he holding a child?

The assistant director was a little stunned and instinctively reached out his hand, greeting them kindly, “Hello, hello.”

This assistant director was a bit older, slightly chubby, with a friendly face. He was known in the industry as a genuinely good-natured person. Likely because he frequently collaborated with Director Kong—who had a notoriously eccentric temperament—it made the assistant director seem even more easygoing by comparison.

Liu Wu noticed the few male actors following behind the assistant director and instinctively shifted to the side, blocking Yu Mozhi from view. He reached out and shook the assistant director’s hand. “Hello, Assistant Director.”

Only then did the assistant director realize that Yu Mozhi was currently entangled in all sorts of messy affairs. Although the general trend now seemed stable, and he was likely to terminate his contract with the entertainment company soon, the internet was still in chaos. It was probably best if fewer people saw him coming to audition.

“You guys can head out now. The car is outside—just have the driver take you back.”

“Okay, got it. We’ll get going then, Assistant Director.”

“Goodbye, Assistant Director.”

“Looking forward to hearing from you.”

The group of male actors exited and disappeared around the corner. Only then did one of them look up in dissatisfaction and grumble irritably, “Look at that attitude. So what if he’s been in a few good movies? Always acting like he’s better than everyone else. He wasn’t even the one who sent out the audition invitation! Seriously.”

“Hey, who was that actor just now? He looked really familiar.”

“I thought he looked kind of like Yu Mozhi?”

“For real?”

“I’m serious. Yu Mozhi was at his peak about five years ago. I was still in middle school back then. Streaming dramas weren’t even that popular yet—we all went to the cinema to see him. He’s not as famous as before, but still doing okay. It’s just that lately he’s been hit with a bunch of scandals. But why was he holding a little girl?”

“There’s more to this? I’ll look it up when I get home.”

Once the others had left, the assistant director smiled and led them inside. The little girl clung quietly to Yu Mozhi the entire time, not making a sound. But just from that small figure on his back, people couldn’t help but feel their hearts soften.

“Why did you bring a kid with you?” the assistant director asked, smiling as he opened the door for them.

“Ah, well, the studio’s still short-staffed, and I’m the only manager. No one’s available to take care of the little one, so I had to bring her along. But don’t worry—she’s well-behaved and won’t cause a fuss. I’ll keep an eye on her the whole time.”

“Ah, alright, alright,” the assistant director replied, still peeking curiously in their direction.

Mainly, he was curious because there was still a role in the script they hadn’t cast yet—female character number three, a three- or four-year-old child. Lately, they’d been reviewing countless child actors, and he’d practically developed a habit of inspecting every child around that age whenever he saw one.

There was quite a difference in temperature between indoors and outdoors. The room’s heating was fully on, and the little dumpling felt the change. Instinctively, she tightened her arms around Yu Mozhi’s neck. Slowly, she lifted her little head and rubbed her big eyes with one hand. Sleepily, she turned to look around.

In a dazed, milky-soft voice filled with the confusion that always came right after waking up, she murmured, “Daddy?”

(End of Chapter)