The sofas on the long corridor were filled with young and beautiful actresses. There were even a few curvaceous female models leaning against the walls.

It was evident that the requirements for this screen test wasn’t exaggerating.

— Must have a very, very good figure, and have to look really, really pretty.

Erica was late. She had just received the topic for her screen test when her name was called. She stood behind a group of stunning female actresses, as they entered in a line.

Inside, apart from the director, there was also another man who was wearing shades. They were seated a distance away, and she didn’t dare to take a closer look. Her eyes quickly swept by them, as she focused on the topic in her hand.

— Cry.

There were many reasons for crying: sadness, frustration, as well as breaking down. The different scenarios for crying were different, so she didn’t know how best to perform this word.

As for the show that she was auditioning for today, all she understood were two words – extremely raunchy.

No matter what, to a C-list actress who had been frozen by her company, this was her final chance, and she didn’t want to lose it...

Moreover, because the director couldn’t find a suitable candidate after so long, the pay for the female lead had been raised to an all-time high. It was an amount that she couldn’t earn even if she worked hard for ten years...

She was extremely attracted to that.

“Take off your clothes.” The man seated right in front, Director Ian, spoke...

The group of actresses who came for the audition hesitated for a moment, then started removing their clothes.

Director Ian was known in the industry to be a strange but gifted director. In the twenty-odd years of his career, he had helped quite a number of actors succeed. However, he was also known to have a bad temper, and he refused to rely on connections.

Even if you were a movie king or queen who wanted to parachute into his production, you would still have to go through the process of auditioning.

Erica had rushed over today, so she was only wearing a green dress.

She removed the dress, and all that remained were a pair of pure white undergarments. In contrast, the others were all in purple, red, or even leopard print undergarments, so her underwear style made her appear more innocent.

“Remove your shoes and socks.”

Director Ian’s gaze swept across the group. He looked straight faced, without any male desires. It was as though he was appraising whether a merchandise was worth its value, his gaze full of scrutiny and assessment.

A row of twenty five actresses removed their shoes and socks without another word, and stood barefooted on the wooden floor.

Perhaps no one had anticipated that they would have to remove their socks, hence, some of the actresses with red nail polishes revealed awkward looks on their faces, but immediately remained calm – they could easily remove their nail polishes.

But they didn’t know if this would cause them to lose some points.

“You, you and you…” Director Ian pointed with his index finger at a few actresses. “You may leave now.”

Some of the actresses were unwilling to accept this, but they didn’t say anything. They simply picked up their clothes and shoes, put them on, then bowed at the director before leaving.

“Remove the rest of your clothes.” Once the door closed, Director Ian pushed his glasses up and looked at the remaining actresses. “Take everything off.”

Erica looked up at the director, and her gaze unwittingly flitted over to the man beside the director.

The man was wearing shades that blocked half his face. The nose bridge that was revealed was very high, and his lips were thin. He didn’t have any expression, and this caused his aura to be somewhat cold.

The fingers that were on the table were clearly defined, and the two legs that showed under the table were long and straight.

This man hadn’t said a single word from the beginning, but his presence was extremely strong. Among the actresses who were still standing by the side, few were looking at the director. Almost all of them were staring at him.

Erica lowered her head and didn’t look anymore. She removed her bra and p*nties lightly. There were no chairs behind them, and while the others had thrown their underwear on the floor, she was the only one who was worried they would be dirty, hence she held it in her hand.

Her dress was already dirty, but she wished that her lingerie wouldn’t be.

However, they were in the midst of an audition.

She was hesitating, but the others were already n*ked and standing upright.

Director Ian’s gaze swept from the last person all the way to the front. Erica was third in line. Her hand still gripped her underwear tightly, and she didn’t drop them.

It was the first time she was faced with such an audition, so she was both nervous and somewhat shy.

She had never thought that one day, she would take off all her clothes in front of the director just for a movie.

Director Ian pointed at a few more people and sent them away.

Erica heaved a sigh of relief. That finger didn’t point at her.

She discreetly observed the people around her. It was only then that she noticed that within a span of less than two minutes, there were only less than five of them remaining.

“See that note in your hands? That’s right, all of you have been given the same topic for this audition. Just the word ‘cry’.”

Director Ian pushed his specs back as he spoke.

Although he hadn’t reached the age of fifty, his hair was fully white, making him look extremely old. His voice was also filled with melancholy, “From now on, I’ll give you a minute to perform.”

As Erica stood there in a daze, the other four actresses started kneeling on the ground and bursting into tears. Their sobs were full of sorrow, and some of them were even bawling loudly, as they started shouting out a fictional name that they came up with, adding more action to their crying scene.

Erica was usually slow in getting immersed into her role. She knew this herself, hence every time when she was filming, she would arrive an hour earlier than others. However, an audition was unlike a shoot, no one would give you ample time to prepare beforehand. Moreover, she had just obtained the question.

She didn’t have sufficient time to prepare, hence when Director Ian asked them to stop, Erica’s tears were just starting to form around her eyes.

“You, you, you… Go back.” Director Ian’s hands pointed over, and Erica felt resigned as she picked up her underwear and prepared to put them on, but all she saw was Director Ian frowning as he said to her, “You, cry one more time"

Erica looked at the director in astonishment.

“You didn’t cry just now, so I’m giving you another chance.” After Director Ian said this, he looked at Erica, “You have another minute”.

“She’s taking a long time to get into the role.” The man beside Director Ian spoke up. His voice was low and attractive, and sounded extremely pleasing. “Should I go up to help?”

Director Ian was somewhat surprised as he eyed the other man. “Sure"

“Noah Eden!” The actress beside Erica piqued as she covered her mouth in surprise, “It’s really him!”.

Erica was shocked too. That man was actually the movie king Noah Eden.

When Noah Eden was twenty four, he won the Best Actor award from Director Ian’s movie “Red”. Back then, it was globally famous, and this popularity continued for a few years.

It was said that he went overseas to study a few years ago, and he’d left for a few years. He’s finally returned, but he didn’t have any acting projects. Who would have thought that they would meet him here, at the venue of Director Ian’s audition?

Noah removed his shades before walking over.

The colours of his eyes were very light. Such an eye colour made him appear extremely cold, and when he was taciturn, he would appear even more frigid. He lightly dropped his shades on the table.

He stopped in front of Erica. He didn’t say a word, but abruptly, he gripped her neck and pushed her down onto the wooden floor.

A sudden jolt of pain attacked her fragile spine. Before Erica could cry out in shock, the actress beside her was so terrified that she screamed.

Hearing that actress’ scream, Erica then clearly understood that the movie king was now helping her get into her role.

Cry.

Could it be… Crying because of r*pe?

After she understood the word, she immediately started struggling. The same thought continued to attack her mind, This man wants to r*pe me. At this point, tears started streaming down her face, and she sobbed as she shouted, “Please, let me go….”

Her tears covered her entire face. She cried till her body was shaking hard, and her voluptuous br*asts accidentally grazed the corner of the man’s shirt. Because of the cold material, her n*pples also became slightly erect.

Erica had a beautiful body. Her skin was extremely fair, and when one looked at her body, they would think of the idiom “skin like gelatin”.

Many women were beautiful, but they didn’t look good when crying. However, Erica wasn’t like that. She looked exceptionally beautiful when she cried. When her tears were brimming just then, Director Ian was already interested to see how this woman looked when she sobbed.

Now that he witnessed it, his gaze brightened, and he immediately called out, “Alright.”

“You can go back now.” Director Ian told the other actress, then looked at Erica and said, “These few days, you have to maintain your figure. There must now be any scars of changes to your body. If there’s any questions, you should contact me as soon as possible. Three days later, come to this place, and we’ll start filming.”

Director Ian gave her a name card and address, then turned to leave.

Director Ian was stunned for a moment, then finally realised that her audition had been successful. She quickly stood up and thanked Director Ian. It was after that that she remembered the movie king Noah Eden, who was still standing beside him.

“Thank you.” She covered her chest in a somewhat awkward manner.

Back then, when she was pinned to the ground by the movie king, she had loosened her grip and her palms had opened up, hence her underwear had dropped onto the floor.

Noah looked down at the pair of white panties, and the corners of his lips curled up into a smile. “It’s fine. I hope that we can work well together.”

Work well together?

“You… I… You…” Erica was stammering incoherently. She had never expected this – the movie king was the male lead that she would be acting with!

Noah nodded at her, then went to speak to the Director.

Erica stood rooted where she was, until her arm was prodded by someone. She turned and saw that it was the other actress, and the latter had picked up her underwear and passed it to her. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks. And I’m sorry.” Erica wanted to smile happily, but she felt it wasn’t too nice to do that, so she quickly pursed her lips.

“No, no. The director is very fair. I believe in his judgement. Furthermore, I saw your crying scene, I realized that you definitely look better than me when you cry. Also, when you cry, that part of you….”

That part of me?

Erica followed the other actress’ pointed gaze, and saw that her n*pples were standing erect.

She was flustered and shy, “Oh, don’t look at it anymore!”

She hastily put on her undergarments.

The other actress chuckled, “What’s there to be shy about? I’ve seen it all. When you cry, that area… I can’t express it. Anyway, I think that if I were a man and I’d seen you crying like this, I’d definitely want to f*ck you.”

“……”

Erica’s face had turned crimson, but she didn’t know how to reply.

The other actress was a happy-go-lucky person, and so, she smiled and waved at Erica before leaving.

After Erica put her clothes back on and walked out, the area outside was almost empty. Only the director and the movie king Noah were standing in the corridor, seemingly immersed in a discussion.

There was a cigarette between Noah’s fingers. The director seemed to be talking about the movie, and Noah nodded from time to time.

After looking at them for some time, Noah seemed to have noticed her gaze, so he turned over. That pair of eyes appeared nonchalant, without much emotion. His gaze swept across her, before moving back to the director’s face.

Erica gave a belated smile at him.

Even though the other person couldn’t see it.

However… She was really grateful towards the movie king.

If it wasn’t for him, she definitely wouldn’t have bagged the role.

In future, she must repay this favour. As this thought lingered in Erica’s mind, she returned home cheerfully.

What she didn’t know was, once she left, all Director Ian and Noah talked about was her.

“Why are you so kind today?” Director Ian asked. “Do you know that young lady?”

Noah tapped the cigarette in his fingers, then smiled when he heard the question. “No, I don’t know her.”

Director Ian didn’t believe him. “That girl cries better than the other one. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have kept her.”

“I really don’t know her.” Noah stubbed the cigarette, and before he left, he said to Director Ian, “I can tell you the truth. Her body….”

His voice was low, and there was a light chuckle in his tone, “Is very desirable.”

“There were more than a hundred people who came for the audition today, and she was the only one who made you feel a sense of desire?” Director Ian rested his chin on his hand, as though he was considering the truthfulness of this statement.

Noah didn’t deny it. “Her reaction stirs up my desire.”

“What reaction?”

“When they were taking off their clothes, all of the others hesitated for a while before taking it all off calmly. She was the only one, from taking off her clothes to acting, from the beginning to the end, who felt embarrassed doing so.”

Noah looked at Director Ian and replied with another question, “Her body and reactions were all very clean, so she suits the female lead’s character setting in your script, doesn’t she?”

Director Ian was silent for a moment before he answered, “She’s suitable, but I don’t know if she can perform the role well.”

“She will.” Noah looked in the direction where Erica left, “Didn’t we work well together just now?”

Director Ian chuckled, “This brat.”