The Empress In The Modern Era [Entertainment Industry GL] - Chapter 12

When Qiao Feiyu entered, they happened to be in the middle of a break after finishing a scene.

Her assistant called over the delivery guy as well and handed out milk tea, fried chicken cutlets, meat skewers, and other snacks to the actors and staff present, while Qiao Feiyu first went to speak with Wang Min.

Mo Ruchen happened to be standing together with Yu Shilan. Seeing this, he waved his hand at Qiao Feiyu’s assistant and walked away.

As Qiao Feiyu’s assistant handed Yu Shilan some food, she turned to look at Mo Ruchen’s back. Yu Shilan had never liked commenting on other people’s affairs. She only took a cup of milk tea, then went to sit in a quiet spot off to the side. She did not imitate the others and run over specifically to thank Qiao Feiyu.

Qiao Feiyu had only exchanged a few words with Wang Min before she was interrupted. Wang Min’s displeasure was written plainly on her face, but Qiao Feiyu had not climbed to the position of a first-line young actress at such a young age without being able to keep her emotions off her face. She smiled and responded to everyone one by one, politely telling them to eat and drink well. Then she waved to Wang Min and walked in Yu Shilan’s direction.

“How is it? You’ve been filming for a few days now. Can you get used to the pace?” Qiao Feiyu was drinking watermelon juice. She had a body type that gained weight easily, and when filming, she often had no time to exercise, so she did not dare drink milk tea or eat snacks.

Before, Yu Shilan truly had not been used to it, and every day had left her gloomy to death. But today, after Mo Ruchen’s advice, it was actually all right. However, given Mo Ruchen and Qiao Feiyu’s past relationship as ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend, Yu Shilan felt it would be better not to mention him.

“I can barely hold on,” she said with a smile, then asked, “I haven’t seen you in days. I heard Director Meng Ping is even stricter. Are you doing all right?”

Among the young actresses, Qiao Feiyu’s acting skills could be considered among the best, so with Meng Ping, she could still manage.

“Director Meng is actually fine. Before filming, he always explains the scene first. As long as you listen to what he says, it’s okay,” Qiao Feiyu said. Then she remembered what Wang Min had asked her to do, and could not help glancing in Wang Min’s direction not far away. “I heard Wang Min scolded you today. How are you? You didn’t take it to heart, did you? Directors are all like this. Once they start working, they don’t recognize even their own family.”

Yu Shilan had not expected Qiao Feiyu to have come over specifically to comfort her.

Speaking of it, it was rather interesting. Qiao Feiyu’s earlier closeness and willingness to give her face had been entirely because she did not want to owe Yu Shilan. But who knew whether Yu Yuanxing’s fanboy behavior that day had added points for her? Yu Shilan could feel Qiao Feiyu’s sincerity and concern toward her.

With such a thick golden thigh stretching out in front of her, Yu Shilan would have to be stupid not to hold on.

“I’m fine now. It was all my own problem,” she said, then thanked Qiao Feiyu very sincerely. “Sister Qiao, thank you.”

Among female celebrities in the industry, competition was everywhere. Those who could get along amicably like close friends were truly few and far between. Although Qiao Feiyu had never been stabbed in the back by a so-called close friend, she had seen plenty of it. Toward Yu Shilan, she truly had not intended to build a deep friendship at first.

But after spending time together, she realized this girl not only had a good temper and did not like to fuss over things, she was also genuinely honest. In truth, compared with ordinary people, celebrities were more likely to feel lonely. Especially after working hard all day, once night came, the contrast became obvious. If there was no good friend to talk to about what was in one’s heart, those days were truly tormenting.

So when she met someone decent, Qiao Feiyu did not mind becoming friends.

“Oh right, your role was very sought-after before. One of the people who wanted it was Dai Qian, and she has a bit of background. Since she failed to snatch it from you this time, she has some opinions about you. If you run into her in the future, be a little careful,” Qiao Feiyu said after thinking it over. In the end, she still said it.

Yu Shilan still had an impression of Dai Qian. That girl had looked hard to provoke at first glance, so Yu Shilan naturally was not surprised she would feel dissatisfied with her. But Qiao Feiyu telling her about this was truly rare. Since Dai Qian had some background, how could Qiao Feiyu, an old hand in the entertainment industry, not know it was bad to offend people? Yet she had taken the risk of offending someone to remind her…

This person truly had to be valued.

Yu Shilan, who had not made any close friends since university, had already changed the way she saw Qiao Feiyu in her heart.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “Did you see her today?”

Since she had already spoken, there was no point in only saying half of it. Qiao Feiyu nodded. “I ran into her at the entrance when I came in just now. She and her assistant thought no one was nearby and said some nonsense. But you don’t have to care too much. After all, you’re not in the same crew. Her reach isn’t that long. But be careful when accepting roles in the future. Don’t end up like that Wang Yun. Her TV drama was about to start filming, yet she was squeezed out by Dai Qian at the last minute.”

At the sound of Wang Yun’s name, Yu Shilan’s ears immediately perked up.

“Wang Yun?” she asked, raising the end of her sentence.

Qiao Feiyu nodded. “What, you know her?”

She could count as someone she knew, right? But what Wang Yun had done that night was embarrassing enough, so it was better not to mention it.

Yu Shilan shook her head. “Not really, but I’ve heard her name. I… I have a younger sister who’s her fan.”

Yu Shilan was not a professionally trained actress after all. When she told this lie, her expression was a little off. But Qiao Feiyu thought of how she had misunderstood Yu Yuanxing last time, so this time, unusually, she did not think too much about it.

“Your family really is full of star-chasers,” Qiao Feiyu said with a laugh. “What about you? Who do you follow?”

Yu Shilan could not possibly confess Mo Ruchen, so she simply named a male actor with a status similar to Mo Ruchen’s and acting skills no worse than his.

Qiao Feiyu had only asked casually and did not care much. Seeing that Yu Shilan seemed interested in Wang Yun’s matter, she thought about how, with Yu Shilan’s personality, if she entered the entertainment industry without growing a few extra layers of caution, she would be sold before she even knew it. Fine, fine. Since Qiao Feiyu found her pleasing to the eye, and besides, Wang Min had asked her to look after her too.

“The two of them had a small conflict before. Wang Yun stole Dai Qian’s role in the past, but as for who was right and who was wrong, well, the entertainment industry is full of truths and lies. I don’t know either,” she said. “But this time, Wang Yun really was unlucky. Filming was starting the next day, and she had even attended the pre-filming dinner, but then she was replaced just like that. Who knows how many people are laughing at her? But this doesn’t count as anything much. In the entertainment industry, this kind of thing is normal. Who told her company to be second-rate, and her manager to be useless too?”

Speaking of this, Qiao Feiyu said, “Right, I remember you still haven’t signed with a management company, have you?”

Yu Shilan had no mood to consider this right now. She finally understood why Wang Yun had looked like that that night. This really was not just a matter of losing a resource. It was truly humiliating.

She could not help sighing out loud. “That’s too pitiful.”

Qiao Feiyu laughed with a snort. “What’s pitiful about it? Although she isn’t popular, plenty of people in the industry know her. Her skin is thick. Don’t single-mindedly sympathize with her either. She’s not exactly a good person.”

Saying this kind of thing behind someone’s back made Qiao Feiyu feel a little unnatural.

Although Yu Shilan knew Qiao Feiyu was doing it for her own good, after hearing those words, she really did feel a little unhappy, even though she did not know where that unhappiness came from.

“Sister Qiao, I think filming might be about to start again. I’ll go ask. You sit here for now,” she said, simply finding an excuse before darting toward Wang Min.

Qiao Feiyu looked at her back and shook her head.

She had thought that since she found Yu Shilan agreeable, she would properly ask her what exactly was going on between her and Wang Min. If Yu Shilan had no such feelings for Wang Min, Qiao Feiyu could not do anything else, but she could at least tell her about Wang Min’s intentions. Unexpectedly, this person really was straightforward. For the sake of an unrelated person, just because Qiao Feiyu had spoken one truth, she had actually shown her displeasure on her face.

If it were anyone else, they would probably be wishing they could make things difficult for Yu Shilan in the future right about now. But Qiao Feiyu was different. Instead, she felt Yu Shilan’s personality of protecting her own people was very good. Wang Yun was merely her younger sister’s idol, yet she was already protecting her. If Qiao Feiyu became her good friend, would she not be even more sincere?

When making friends, sincerity was the most important thing.

……

After the exhausting filming ended, Yu Shilan returned to the hotel.

She did not bother eating or showering, and hurriedly grabbed her phone to search for news about Wang Yun and Dai Qian. Back when Wang Yun’s role had been confirmed, the xianxia drama’s production crew had also released the news online. Although she was only a female supporting character, she was still the second female lead. But now that it had been changed to Dai Qian, and Dai Qian was more popular than Wang Yun, the comments under the crew’s post were actually all saying it was a good change. Not a single person spoke up for Wang Yun.

After reading through it, Yu Shilan gained another layer of understanding of the entertainment industry.

Either Dai Qian had more fans, or this had the feel of paid commenters being hired.

With nothing else to do, Yu Shilan clicked into Wang Yun’s Weibo again. By coincidence, the moment she opened her homepage, Wang Yun posted a new Weibo.

Verified Wang Yun: Life is just about eating and drinking. Eating hotpot in the height of summer really has its own special flavor~

For one hotpot meal, she attached six photos. One was of the half-spicy, half-clear pot base, one was a side-angle shot that captured both her face and the pot base, and the remaining four were all photos of her. Two were proper photos of her smiling with her lips pressed together, while in the other two, she was holding up a beef ball in one and a beef roll in the other.

This was indeed a female celebrity. Whether she was popular or not, she loved showing off her face.

Thinking of how completely drunk this girl had been a few days ago, Yu Shilan wondered whether she was truly happily eating hotpot now, or whether she was forcing a smile.

She opened the comments and was just about to reply when she saw that people below had already started cursing at her.

Lulu Lu: Not pretty. She looks so ugly when she smiles!

Little Tears Flowing in Winter: What are you pretending for? Do you really know how to eat? You’re just taking photos for show. So fake!

Miss Hammer 666 replying to Little Tears Flowing in Winter: Exactly. If you’re not going to eat, then don’t eat. Why insist on pretending? No wonder she isn’t popular. If someone like this could become popular, there would be no justice in the world! [vomit] [vomit]

Ten O’Clock Flowers Bloom, So Cute: The jealousy from the people upstairs is seriously enough. You say our Yunzi isn’t beautiful—so you’re beautiful? Show yourself, then. Let me see just how beautiful you are.

Banana Peel Tastes Bad: Hehe. Wang Bitch, I heard your role got stolen? How does that feel? [smug] [bye-bye]

After reading only these few comments, Yu Shilan felt a surge of anger rise for no reason. The first few were still one thing, but this Banana Peel Tastes Bad was truly going too far. Coming in with a mouth full of filth right away—enough already!

Yu Shilan angrily wanted to reply, but after writing her comment, no matter what she did, she could not send it. After trying four or five times and failing, she had no choice but to refresh the page. In the end… she discovered that Banana Peel Tastes Bad’s comment was already gone. Lulu Lu and that Winter Tears person’s comments were gone too.

Unwilling to give up, she refreshed again. Still nothing.

This… It looked like Wang Yun had posted on Weibo and was watching it the whole time. The moment she found a bad comment, she deleted it?

All right. This was very Wang Yun.

After deleting the comments, Wang Yun did not forget to complain to Tao Xiaomei, who was sitting across from her and eating heartily. “A bunch of keyboard warriors. I post a Weibo about eating, and that gets in their way too?”

Tao Xiaomei had food in her mouth and said indistinctly, “A bunch of idiots. Don’t mind them.”

Wang Yun nodded, picked up a slice of beef roll with her chopsticks, dipped it in sauce, blew on it, and ate it in one bite.

Hmph. This old lady can eat without getting fat. Die of jealousy, all of you!

Then she took another bite. As she was eating, she suddenly became happy. She handed her phone over to Tao Xiaomei. “Xiaomei, look. That internet celebrity with over sixty thousand followers commented on my post again.”

A Cabbage White and White: My Yunzi is so beautiful. How does that saying go? A feast for the eyes. Watching Yunzi eat hotpot makes me want to eat too! Yunzi is amazing. Love you~ [Heart] [Heart]

Tao Xiaomei looked and nodded repeatedly. “A true fan!”

As she spoke, she snatched the phone and replied for Wang Yun: Go eat, mwah~