A OO Love After Officially Announcing with the Best Actress - Chapter 9

Running through the scene and then adjusting the camera positions according to the actors’ movements took another half hour.

To match the background and atmosphere of the time period, all the lighting inside the filming location came from candles or old-fashioned lightbulbs.

The lighting was dim and yellow. The handheld camera operator held the camera, his head sticking out from behind the machine to check the angle. His sunken features looked dark and hollow.

Lin Ke kept staring. At that moment, she could not help taking a step back. She rubbed her arms, feeling that the set had turned eerie and chilling.

“You stepped on my skirt.”

A voice suddenly exploded by her ear.

Lin Ke cried out and jumped away, whipping her head around. No one?

“Look lower,” Lin Bingran said.

Lin Ke lowered her head. “…”

Lin Bingran was hiding behind the door, sitting on a little folding stool. Her mouth seemed to be moving, her cheeks puffing out one after another.

“…Teacher Lin, can you not scare me?” Lin Ke said, still badly frightened.

Lin Bingran held a pair of disposable chopsticks in her right hand, while her left hand hovered beneath them. Between the chopsticks was a piece of braised pork, and she was eating it with great enjoyment.

This was the first time Lin Ke had ever encountered such a bold criminal secretly eating on set. “…You’re not eating the props, are you?”

Lin Bingran said, “You can’t tell if I eat one piece.”

Lin Ke seemed to hear the snorting of a little pig. After calculating it, Lin Bingran was born in the Year of the Tiger. Could she actually be an orange pig?

Lin Ke asked, “Is it good?”

After finishing it, Lin Bingran threw away the chopsticks. Two wrinkles had climbed up her qipao. She stood up and tidied it, saying casually, “Not bad.”

After the blocking was finished, Shen Feng told everyone to prepare. Lin Bingran went upstairs.

Lin Ke and Granny Zhou waited downstairs for the script supervisor to clap the slate.

“Start!”

Ji Fengling’s right hand rested on the wooden post by the staircase, and her left arm hugged her right elbow.

She was stunned by the pair of eyes that suddenly drew close. Pressing her lips together, she wanted to step back, but her feet seemed nailed to the spot.

Chu Feng looked as if she had gone stupid. Her face flushed red, and she abruptly stepped back, lowered her head, clutched the hem of her clothes, and stammered, “Miss.”

It was the first time Ji Fengling had ever heard this form of address, and she fell into a daze.

Granny Zhou hurried over, grabbed Chu Feng by the back of the neck, and anxiously called out to Ji Fengling, “Young Madam.”

Then she scolded Chu Feng, “Who told you to call her that!”

Granny Zhou twisted Chu Feng’s ear and dragged her down the stairs, making way for Ji Fengling to come down.

Ji Fengling did not speak. Her qipao was so long it dragged along the floor, brushing over the dark brown wooden steps one by one.

Granny Zhou told Chu Feng to clean the attic, stuffing a rag and bucket into her hands before slapping her on the back.

Chu Feng worked at the Li residence from dusk until nightfall.

She seemed to have endless energy. Carrying the bucket upstairs, water kept splashing out from it. She passed the round window connecting the second floor to the attic several times, wanting to see that girl she had only glimpsed in passing during the day.

“Young Madam,” Granny Zhou said as she carried a tray and stood with Ji Fengling in the dim corridor. “Please don’t lower yourself to that child’s level. I found her randomly in town. She doesn’t understand our household’s rules.”

The candlelight flickered, but Ji Fengling’s gaze looked somewhat dazed and absent. She did not smile or speak. She took the tray from Granny Zhou and pushed open the door to the master’s room.

Scene after scene was filmed separately until four in the morning. The moment Shen Feng called wrap, everyone on set wished they could immediately collapse asleep.

Lin Ke was so sleepy her eyes were half-shut. When she went to the changing room to take off her clothes, her arms were so sore and weak she could barely lift them. After changing into her own clothes, she plunged straight into the warm van.

“Return to base. I’m exhausted.”

Lu Tu had been catching up on sleep in the van the whole time, so she was not sleepy now. She asked, “Did filming go smoothly today?”

Lin Ke lay on the table and lazily yawned. She pulled a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and said, “More or less. Tonight, Lin Bingran took pretty good care of me.”

Lu Tu clicked her tongue. “Repaying kindness with gratitude? In any case, being able to curry favor with Film Queen Lin is naturally better.”

Lin Ke did not say anything. Lu Tu turned back to look at her and stopped the topic at the right time.

When one stayed up too late, it was sometimes easier to be unable to sleep instead. Lin Ke played on her phone for a while, and Lu Tu told her to sit up, saying that lying on her stomach while using her phone was bad for the phone.

Lin Ke said, “I’m hungry.”

Lu Tu glared at her like she was looking at an immature child. “You only have a few hours to rest before the next call time. Aren’t you tired enough? You can’t eat sweets, and oily food is also not allowed.”

The nanny van drove into the city. Quite a few breakfast stalls by the roadside had already opened. Lin Ke turned off her phone and tucked it into her pocket. “Then how about a jianbing guozi?”

Lin Ke held half a jianbing guozi as she walked with Lu Tu down the street, where the night breeze was slightly cool.

“When will the jianbing guozi vendors start recognizing me?” Lin Ke said, imagining the grand scene of herself becoming famous throughout the country.

Lu Tu said, “Act properly. Shen Feng is a major director. Even if someone who acts in her films doesn’t become popular right away, good productions will prioritize considering them in the future.”

But same-sex-themed works were sensitive. Lin Ke was unlike Lin Bingran. She did not have many works. Taking this kind of film could easily lock her into a fixed genre. It was easy to go into the water, but difficult to climb ashore.

Lin Ke took a big bite of the jianbing guozi and waited to hear the rest of Lu Tu’s words.

Lu Tu said, “Besides, Lin Bingran is in the crew, and you have intimate scenes with Lin Bingran. The box office of this film won’t be low!”

Lin Ke mumbled. She was not as optimistic as Lu Tu. Intimate scenes—there would be one in two days, but…

Lin Ke said, “…So what if we film it? Whether it can even be aired is still uncertain.”

Lu Tu scolded her for being unlucky.

When they reached the hotel entrance, a luxurious RV drove into view.

Lin Ke asked, “Who’s that?”

Lu Tu said, “The film queen, obviously.”

A sedan followed closely behind the RV. After it stopped, a tall and upright man got out.

Lin Ke did not recognize him and casually said, “Isn’t he stuffy wearing a suit in the middle of summer?”

“Holy crap!” Lu Tu exclaimed. “Du Yi?!”

Lin Ke narrowed her eyes slightly. “Lin Bingran’s manager?”

Lu Tu threw her jianbing guozi into the trash can and quickly tidied her clothes. “I’m going to say hello!”

Lin Ke looked regretfully at the food and said, “Good luck.”

Before Lu Tu could prepare to sprint, she suddenly calmed down. “Du Yi is probably here because of what happened during the day.”

Just then, Lin Bingran got out of the nanny van. Du Yi naturally took Lin Bingran’s small shoulder bag from her.

The two entered the hotel lobby together. No one noticed that downstairs by the hotel, there were two people guarding a trash can while eating jianbing guozi.

“There are rumors that Du Yi is Lin Bingran’s boyfriend,” Lu Tu said.

Lin Ke ate the last bite of her jianbing guozi and threw away the wrapper. After searching all over herself and failing to find tissue to wipe her mouth, she said, “Let’s go back. I’m sleepy.”

Lu Tu stopped her. “Wait! What if Du Yi really is Lin Bingran’s boyfriend? Let’s go up later to avoid awkwardness.”

Lin Ke did not think much of it and merely said, “Oh.”

Ten minutes later, the two went upstairs. Lu Tu returned to the third floor, while Lin Ke went back to the sixth.

Lin Ke unlocked her door. Hearing the door behind her make a sound, she slipped into her room and shut the door with a bang.

Du Yi came out of Room 601 and asked, “Who lives across from you?”

Lin Bingran leaned against the doorframe and answered, “Lin Ke.”

Du Yi frowned. “Why is it her?”

Lin Bingran said, “You’re asking me?”

Du Yi loosened his tie, his brows tightly furrowed. “Do you want to change rooms? I’ll communicate with the crew. Or you can move out. I’ll find you a house here.”

“No need,” Lin Bingran said.

Du Yi did not force her. “We’ll talk about everything tomorrow. Rest properly. Tomorrow morning, I’ll go to set to watch you film.”

Lin Bingran neither agreed nor disagreed.

Lin Ke hid behind the door, holding her phone and typing passionately.

“Du Yi isn’t Lin Bingran’s boyfriend!”

Lu Tu replied, “And how do you know that?”

Lin Ke: “I watched him leave. Ten minutes?! An alpha finishes that fast?!”

Lu Tu replied in the tone of someone experienced, “What do you know? Ten minutes is enough to do plenty of things!”

Lin Ke was shocked. “You’re so dirty~”

Suddenly, her door was knocked twice.

Lin Ke trembled in fright. Her eyes met the peephole again, only to be directly scared into throwing her phone away by an amber-colored eyeball right up close.

Hearing the sound, Lin Bingran became even more certain someone was behind the door. She opened her mouth and said, “Open the door.”

Lin Ke: “…”

The door was opened.

Lin Ke stood in the entryway. Lin Bingran stood only two fists away from her, and her nose twitched twice unconsciously.

Lin Ke was simply traumatized by Lin Bingran’s nose. She mumbled, “…Teacher Lin, don’t smell my pheromones. That’s indecent.”

Unexpectedly, Lin Bingran lowered her eyes, clicked her tongue, and said, “Jianbing guozi-flavored pheromones?”

Lin Ke: “…”

Lin Bingran pointed her chin at the spot beside Lin Ke. “Aren’t you going to pick up your phone?”

Lin Ke bent down to pick it up, just as Lu Tu replied.

“Ten minutes is enough for an alpha to kiss an omega until their legs go soft and their whole body goes weak! You really are innocent!”

Lin Ke’s little face turned red. She had removed her makeup in the dressing room. Now, standing beneath the light, she looked more delicate than flowers, without the slightest trace of exhaustion from staying up late.

Lin Bingran said, “Boyfriend or girlfriend?”

“Of course not!” Lin Ke froze, then quickly came back to herself and denied it. “During the read-through, I already said I’ve never dated.”

Lin Bingran did not believe her at all. But in this industry, everyone was tight-lipped about their romantic relationships. Usually, there was no need to ask further. However, Lin Ke was acting opposite her, and according to Shen Feng, their auras did not match. There was no sexual tension.

Lin Bingran casually said, “The simplest way to get into character is to come into contact with it, experience it, and bring real-life emotions into the role.”

Lin Ke said, “Huh?”

Lin Bingran said, “It’s too late to fall in love now. I suggest you go hook up with someone. At least you’ll be able to film the bed scene properly.”

Go fall in love, go make contact, go experience it—then apply every method to you?!

Lin Ke truly felt embarrassed on Lin Bingran’s behalf.

Lin Bingran asked, “You couldn’t still be a virgin, could you?”

Lin Ke: “…”

She felt like Lin Bingran had her completely in the palm of her hand. How could this person be so bad?

Lin Ke’s expression turned from cloudy to clear. Lin Bingran was rather surprised. “Hooking up is very normal in this circle. You…”

“So, Du Yi is your boyfriend?” Lin Ke smiled mockingly. “I guess so. Putting on acts, chasing pleasure—those are all your usual methods. Du Yi is tall and handsome, and he’s an alpha…”

The more she spoke, the more ridiculous she became. Lin Bingran pressed down on Lin Ke’s shoulder. “Do you want a lawyer’s letter?”

Lin Ke choked. Her ferocity was only for show; no matter how many dark clouds she had, there was only thunder and no rain. “N-No. What I mean is… Teacher Du looks handsome and dashing, elegant and charming, tall as jade, and very talented…”

Lin Bingran asked, “You like his type? Then I’ll introduce him to you tomorrow.”

Damn!

How did it turn into this?!

Lin Ke’s face flushed red. “…Of course I don’t like him. I-I don’t hook up. I’ll film properly!”

Lin Bingran did not speak.

Lin Ke anxiously raised her head and looked, only to find that Film Queen Lin’s dimple was very obvious.

She finally realized it.

She had been tricked!

Lin Ke said, “…Teacher Lin, you should rest. Staying up late isn’t good for your health.”

Lin Bingran hugged one elbow with one hand, the corner of her lips curved upward. Her right hand slid from Lin Ke’s shoulder down to her sweatpants. Her fingers bent and stretched, slowly wrapping the drawstring of Lin Ke’s pants around her finger bit by bit.

Lin Bingran was too close. Her body carried a clear tea fragrance. Lin Ke swallowed. All her attention was on that long, slender, snow-white finger. She felt that with the slightest carelessness, Lin Bingran would pull out her drawstring.

“Then should I teach you another way?” Lin Bingran said. Her red lips parted slightly, faintly revealing a glimpse of white teeth.

“Of course,” Lin Bingran said leisurely, “there’s a condition.”

Lin Ke was woken by her alarm. She lay in bed for five minutes before coming back to herself, then grabbed her phone.

Great Demon King had sent a message two minutes ago.

“Let’s have jianbing guozi for breakfast.”

“Damn it!” Lin Ke rolled over and buried herself in the blankets, kicking her legs wildly to vent her anger. She let out a muffled roar. “What the hell is this?!”