The Empress In The Modern Era [Entertainment Industry GL] - Chapter 16

Wang Yun looked at Tao Xiaomei and said without much confidence, “She can’t know, right? How would she know? One look and you can tell she’s an experienced player. Who knows how many people she’s used those lines on? Even if she guesses, she won’t necessarily guess it was me. Besides, I can just refuse to admit it.”

Tao Xiaomei, however, felt that in all things, one should never rely on luck. There was an old saying that was especially good: if you haven’t done anything wrong, you won’t fear ghosts knocking at your door in the middle of the night. Wang Yun was exactly like this. She had done something guilty, so now she was feeling guilty.

“Better safe than sorry,” she said, deliberately putting on an air of profound wisdom. “What if—I’m saying what if—Yu Shilan really is an experienced player? Then she should have countless ways of flirting, using different methods for different people.”

So…

For her, Wang Yun, she had used that nonsense about seeing her in a dream?

Wang Yun burst out laughing with a pfft, but her face slowly turned pale.

Because she felt that this really was possible.

Seeing that she had frightened her, Tao Xiaomei could only laugh helplessly and smooth things over. “All right, all right, I was only saying it casually. Don’t take it seriously. Besides, I don’t think she looks like that kind of person. Anyway, you’ve already done it, and regretting it is useless. Just refuse to admit it no matter what. Even if she checks the IP address, you don’t have to be afraid. You were at a hotel at the time.”

Wang Yun accepted this comfort and was just about to nod when a familiar voice suddenly cut in from beside them. “Check what IP address? Are you two trying to check someone’s IP address? That isn’t hard. I can find someone to help you. My younger brother knows how.”

If it was not Yu Shilan, who else could it be?

Late at night, she was still wearing a hat, along with a long-sleeved red-striped shirt and denim shorts, revealing two straight, slender, long legs. Tao Xiaomei’s gaze drifted over those legs for three seconds before she moved her eyes away with a trace of envy and coldness.

Celebrities really did not fear the cold for the sake of beauty.

“N-no, nothing. We were just talking casually. Just joking around.” Wang Yun was so frightened her face turned deathly pale, nearly turning into a little stutterer.

Yu Shilan knew perfectly well what was going on and looked at Wang Yun with amusement.

“I didn’t expect B City to be so cold. I’m freezing.” As she spoke, she casually stuffed a travel bag into Wang Yun’s arms, then dragged her suitcase over to Tao Xiaomei. Rubbing her hands together, she walked ahead of the two of them. “Let’s go. You drove here, right? Hurry, let’s get in the car.”

Tao Xiaomei was a proper assistant and was already used to doing work. Even though Yu Shilan was not an artist under her care, she did not feel there was anything wrong with Yu Shilan handing her the luggage, so she dragged it and followed.

But Wang Yun stared at the travel bag in her arms in disbelief. Yu Shilan, this… what did she take her for? Her little lackey?

“Come on, Yunzi!” Tao Xiaomei led the way for a few steps before turning back and calling Wang Yun.

If Tao Xiaomei had not been both her good friend and work partner, Wang Yun would definitely have cursed her out right now, then shoved Yu Shilan’s travel bag into her arms to carry. Unfortunately, the two of them had a very good relationship, and Wang Yun usually could not bear to overwork Tao Xiaomei. So she could only carry the travel bag and chase after them.

Yu Shilan sat in the back seat, put on her sunglasses, and pretended to nap. In reality, her eyes were half-narrowed, watching Wang Yun’s small movements from the front side.

Hmph. She was afraid of scaring Wang Yun away, so even if she felt stifled inside, she did not dare say it. But since she felt stifled, she had to make Wang Yun feel stifled too. Otherwise, what if this girl kept running her mouth and spouting nonsense next time?

She had actually slandered Yu Shilan as a lesbian!

Yu Shilan was so angry her teeth itched.

Wang Yun sat down steadily and glared at Tao Xiaomei unhappily several times. But Tao Xiaomei was focused entirely on driving and did not notice at all. Wang Yun could only disturb Yu Shilan instead. “Hehe, Miss Yu, what kind of late-night snack do you want to eat? Where do you want to go?”

Before Yu Shilan could answer, Tao Xiaomei spoke first. “Miss Yu already told me earlier. We’re going to the place beside the hotel where we’re staying.”

Wang Yun stretched out her index and middle fingers and made a poking gesture, fiercely poking Tao Xiaomei several times in the air. Only then did she laugh dryly. “It’s almost twelve already. Miss Yu, where are you staying? If we eat near the hotel where we’re staying, it’ll be too late for you to go back after. How about we send Miss Yu home first?”

Since Yu Shilan was pretending to nap, she naturally ignored her.

Wang Yun turned back around and stared at Yu Shilan for a good while, still not believing she could have fallen asleep so quickly. She stretched out her hand and waved it in front of Yu Shilan for a long time. Seeing that Yu Shilan did not react from beginning to end, she could only resign herself and withdraw her hand.

There were not many people on the road late at night, so the drive was smooth all the way. In less than forty minutes, they arrived.

Tao Xiaomei parked the car beside a roadside barbecue stall near the hotel, and Yu Shilan woke up entirely on her own.

For poor kids like Tao Xiaomei and Wang Yun, barbecue stalls were a wonderful existence. They had agreed to treat Yu Shilan to a meal, but in the end, Tao Xiaomei ordered a large plate of food, Wang Yun ordered two large plates of food, while Yu Shilan pitifully ordered only half a plate.

Tao Xiaomei was an honest child and asked Yu Shilan, “Miss Yu, you only ordered this little bit. Is it enough?”

Wang Yun pushed her and said, “She’s afraid of getting fat. Celebrities are all like this. If they can eat vegetarian, they definitely won’t eat meat. If they can avoid eating, they won’t even eat vegetables.”

Tao Xiaomei thought about it and found that it was indeed true. After all, not everyone could be like her Yunzi, who could eat without gaining weight.

The three of them sat down. With nothing to say, they could only wait for the barbecue. Fortunately, it was late and there were not many customers. Since the stall was cooking specifically for their table, each item was brought over once it was done, so the food came scattered, but it was enough to keep them eating.

Everything Yu Shilan had ordered was vegetarian. She really was a little hungry. She had ordered one skewer of steamed bun, two skewers of enoki mushrooms, one eggplant, and one skewer of chives. Aside from the eggplant, which was slower, everything else was cooked quickly and brought over.

Tao Xiaomei’s side was half meat and half vegetables. As for Wang Yun, she had ten lamb skewers, ten pork skewers, a pair of chicken wings, one portion of tenderloin, and finally, the only vegetable dish, which was the same as Yu Shilan’s: an eggplant.

When Wang Yun was eating her third lamb skewer, Yu Shilan opened her mouth. “Do you have work tomorrow?”

No. Although the supporting role Wang Yun had taken on had not wrapped yet, there was only a tiny bit left. The female lead acting opposite her had something to do and could not come tomorrow, so Wang Yun happened to have a day off. But… afraid that Yu Shilan would bring up some request she should not bring up, Wang Yun nodded before Tao Xiaomei could speak.

“Yes, I have to film,” she said while eating. “From morning until night. Just thinking about it makes me feel exhausted.”

Yu Shilan gave an “Oh,” then reached out and took the lamb and pork skewers from Wang Yun’s plate. She kept one skewer of each for herself, then placed the rest all onto the plate in front of Tao Xiaomei.

“Since you have to film tomorrow, you need to eat less this late at night. Especially meat. You need to eat even less of it, otherwise you won’t look good on camera tomorrow,” she said.

Wang Yun watched helplessly as the meat landed on another plate. Then she looked at Yu Shilan, and little flames of anger shot up in her heart.

Damn it, who are you? You really do like sticking your nose into other people’s business!

“It’s fine. I have a good constitution. I don’t get fat.” She held back her temper and dealt with Yu Shilan, reaching for the lamb skewers.

Yu Shilan had never had the habit of controlling others, but right now, she just so happened to want to control Wang Yun. But she was a girl too, so naturally, she knew what girls hated. Wang Yun looked like a foodie at first glance. If Yu Shilan stopped her with a bad tone right now, Wang Yun would definitely hate her very much.

So she did not stop her. She merely smiled and said, “Oh right, Wang Yun, have you seen that post on the xx forum recently? It was about me.”

Snap. The lamb skewer in Wang Yun’s hand fell onto the table.

Snap. The lamb skewer in Tao Xiaomei’s hand fell onto her plate.

“N-no, I didn’t see it. I don’t usually browse forums,” Wang Yun said guiltily.

Tao Xiaomei lowered her head, picked up the lamb skewer from her plate, and quickly ate it. People really should not do bad things. Once you did something bad, you had to be aware at all times that you might be targeted. At a time like this, it was better for her not to speak. After all, when it came to matters of feelings, outsiders had best not interfere.

Very quickly, she finished three lamb skewers. In the awkward silence, Tao Xiaomei took the last two and stood up.

“Ai, I really didn’t expect the lamb skewers here to be so delicious. I need to order another portion.” As she spoke, she abandoned Wang Yun and turned to run.

Wang Yun cursed her assistant inwardly for having no loyalty, but she did not even dare raise her head.

In the entertainment industry, if you had no status and no backing, it was best not to offend anyone. Even if you stole someone’s role, it was best not to let the person who lost the role know that you were the one who stole it. Only like that could you avoid other people’s deliberate schemes as much as possible. Wang Yun had already suffered once with Dai Qian. Now that Yu Shilan had brought this up, she suddenly realized that perhaps making that forum post had been a fatal mistake.

Of course, she absolutely could not admit it now.

She used her chopsticks to poke at the eggplant and ate it, mumbling vaguely, “What happened? Did they say something about you? Ai, actually, you should look at it more openly. Since we’re in this line of work, outsiders are always watching us. Even the slightest stir gets written into a whole essay. You can’t take it to heart.”

Yu Shilan imitated her, poking the eggplant with her chopsticks.

“But that poster said I’m a lesbian,” she said unhurriedly while staring at Wang Yun.

“Cough, cough, cough…” Wang Yun was startled by Yu Shilan’s sudden words and immediately began coughing.

Yu Shilan opened one of the bottles of mineral water Tao Xiaomei had bought earlier and handed it over.

Wang Yun took it and gulped down several large mouthfuls. Then she lowered her head and twisted the cap back onto the bottle, her guilty voice growing louder. “Ai, some people just love writing nonsense. If you take it to heart, then you’ve fallen into their trap. Whether you are or not, you know best in your own heart. Don’t mind what other people write.”

Yu Shilan did not respond. Wang Yun waited for a while, grew curious, and lifted her head.

“Do you think I am?” Yu Shilan stared at Wang Yun and asked with a smiling face.

Do you think I am?

I think you are!

Wang Yun really wanted to blurt this out. But looking at Yu Shilan’s smiling and very happy expression, she belatedly reacted. Yu Shilan, she… she could not be planning to use this chance to lay her cards on the table and make Wang Yun choose, could she?

She definitely did not know that Wang Yun was the one who wrote the post. But the fact that she had come looking for her like this was still thanks to that post!

She liked Wang Yun too much, so much that she had avoided Wang Min and Qiao Feiyu and come all the way here late at night to ask her!

Being liked by someone like this was truly a terrifying thing.

Wang Yun abruptly shook her head and said decisively, “No. I don’t think you are! One look and I can tell you’re a straight woman. How could you possibly be bent? Don’t say anymore. I’m especially accurate at judging people. You definitely aren’t!”

Yu Shilan narrowed her eyes and smiled. “That’s wonderful. I’m really so happy you think that. It just so happens I have nowhere to go tonight. Tonight, I’ll sleep in the same room as you. We can squeeze together for one night.”

Wh-what?

Wang Yun was so shocked she stood up at once.