This Best Actress is a Bit Annoying - Chapter 15

Fang Xiang: “Just act a little spoiled and have her find you two roles similar to Courting. If the traffic is good, you can jump straight to the same rank as the Four Small Dan actresses. Then, high fees and a constant stream of scripts will come looking for you.”

Chu Rou: “Don’t even mention it. She asked me to dinner today but showed up late herself—that’s why I called you to come eat with me. She’s just a brain-dead fan who knows nothing. Every time she stares at me with those infatuated eyes, it gives me goosebumps. It’s disgusting and ruins my appetite.”

Fang Xiang: “She treats you to dinner, takes you traveling everywhere, gives you money to spend, and pulls strings to find you resources. Isn’t having a brain-dead fan like that enough? I, your manager, am practically standing on the sidelines.”

Chu Rou: “Brother Fang, how could I ever do without you? Her? She’s just a brain-dead fan. These things are all consensual. I didn’t force her to do any of it. If it weren’t for the fact that she helped me get the lead role in Courting and still has some utility left, who would bother with her?”

…

The moment this recording was posted online, it went viral.

Professional appraisal confirmed that the audio was unedited. This was a genuine conversation between Chu Rou and her manager, Fang Xiang. Though the duration was short and it might not have been a bombshell on its own, it followed a series of scandals: from her self-pitying claims of being used by Xia Qingye (which was slapped down by receipts), to the hotel trysts, and then her affair with her manager. Finally, after she had called the police to accuse Fang Xiang of threats, her fans’ hearts had been through a violent roller coaster.

Now, hearing this authenticated, un-faked recording, her fans were utterly disillusioned. In Chu Rou’s own words—she’s just a brain-dead fan with a bit of utility.

What did that make the “true love” fans who hadn’t sent expensive gifts or money? Did they have zero utility?

“Holy sh*t, Chu Rou is actually such a two-faced person!” Yu Lan looked devastated after listening to the recording.

“Applying warm eggs to your face is quite effective. You should try it.”

“!!!”

Yu Lan finally understood why Sister Xia had asked her to get two warm eggs. The day before, she was crying about how unfair things were for Chu Rou; now her face was metaphorically swollen from the “slap.” She covered her face, too ashamed to look at anyone.

Xia Qingye smiled and got up to find Director Xun.

Xun Guang was scratching his head, moving his few remaining hairs back and forth until they were nearly gone.

“Director Xun, why don’t we film my scenes with the others first? As for Miss Chu’s scenes, once the situation is resolved, she’ll come back. It’s just that we don’t know how long it will take to handle.”

Xia Qingye’s words hit the nail on the head.

Xun Guang frowned in worry. “What if it drags on for ten days or half a month? How am I supposed to film? This Chu Rou… she hasn’t stopped causing trouble since she joined the cast. If I’d known, I would have—”

Xia Qingye listened with a smile, saying nothing.

Xun Guang’s fears came true. Fang Xiang, who had been arrested, hired a lawyer and vowed to fight Chu Rou to the bitter end. Chu Rou had originally tried to preserve her career by throwing her manager under the bus, but she didn’t expect a recording to overturn everything she had said. With her testimony discredited, she was overwhelmed. In a fit of rage, she had fired her assistant, and she had sent her manager to jail. With both her “left and right arms” gone, she had to run between the set and the police station alone, looking utterly pathetic.

One day, the production’s legal team brought a pre-drafted termination contract to Chu Rou. After a bit of intimidation and persuasion, they said: “Since you currently have no manager, we have already called Star Penguin. The company has agreed to terminate the contract. Chu Rou, sign it.”

Xia Qingye didn’t know the exact details of the termination; she only knew that Director Xun’s mood over the last few days was written all over his face.

However, Lu Yu, who was nearby, made a suggestion: “Director Xun, it’s probably unrealistic to find someone new for an audition now. We can only look for female artists without schedule conflicts to save the day, and time is tight. I see we have many supporting actresses in the crew; why not let some of them try out? Maybe we can find someone to replace Chu Rou.”

After thinking it over, Xun Guang immediately adopted Lu Yu’s suggestion. He arranged for supporting actresses to try out for Noriko Arima while simultaneously putting out word that he was looking for a new supporting actress. A two-pronged approach.

The crew was busy as hell. Since the lead actors had finished most of their early scenes together, they actually became quite idle.

Xia Qingye took a warm tea from Yu Lan and handed it to Lu Yu. “I have to thank you for this matter, Film Emperor Lu.”

Lu Yu sat up straight and looked at her with interest. “It was just a small favor. Besides, last time, thanks to your medicine, I didn’t become the one holding back the crew.”

“That was a small thing. This time, consider that I owe you a favor.”

“Alright then.”

Yu Lan was present for the whole exchange. She had even heard Xia Qingye ask Lu Yu to guide Director Xun toward selecting a replacement from within the crew. She understood each individual step, but combined, she was completely lost. When they were alone, she whispered, “Sister Xia, why did you have to owe Film Emperor Lu such a big favor? It’ll be hard to pay back. Wouldn’t it have been better to just recommend Sister Jiani to Director Xun yourself?”

Xia Qingye narrowed her eyes. “Yu Lan, I am just a newcomer.”

Yu Lan was speechless, unable to find words to argue. Even if the director looked after Sister Xia, in this industry, Xia Qingye was indeed just a rookie who had just debuted.

A newcomer can be lucky, or they can bring investment to the set, but without absolute authority, it’s better to speak less and do more.

Yu Lan understood instantly, but for some reason, she felt a bit dejected.

A week passed quickly. The internet was flooded with “anti-fans” attacking Chu Rou. Many fans couldn’t accept such a two-faced idol and left. Chu Rou’s Weibo followers dropped sharply, and the comments were full of abuse. She hadn’t posted in a long time. Her legal battle with Fang Xiang became a hot topic of public scrutiny. Yu Lan followed it with great interest, especially when the two started “dog-biting-dog.” She would joyfully report the mess to Xia Qingye.

“Qingye, Qingye! I got the role of Noriko Arima!”

“Congratulations.”

Qi Jiani’s eyes were shining. These past few days, she had been at Xia Qingye’s place every day. If Yu Lan hadn’t guarded her territory fiercely, Jiani probably would have pushed her out to sleep with Yuan Fang. “Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten this role.”

Xia Qingye looked up at her. “Nizi, you got this role because of yourself, not me. You have to believe in yourself. Your talent is higher than Chu Rou’s, and you debuted earlier. You were just lacking a bit of luck. Now, your good luck is back.”

“Really?”

“Isn’t getting the role of Noriko Arima the best proof?”

Yu Lan watched Qi Jiani’s excitement and couldn’t help but grumble internally. What good luck? Sister Xia’s ability to talk nonsense is getting better and better. This was clearly exchanged for a huge favor from the Great Film Emperor Lu.

Because of Chu Rou, all previously filmed scenes had to be scrapped and redone, which undoubtedly increased the workload.

Qi Jiani proved her worth. she proactively asked to work overtime, never complained, and even when scolded by Director Xun, she remained cheerful. This completely refreshed Xun Guang’s impression of her.

“Qingye, why do you understand Noriko Arima’s psychology so well? If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect you were Noriko.”

“I made two sets of plans the moment I got the script.” This was Xia Qingye’s habitual way of doing things. “If there’s anything else you don’t understand, ask me all at once. Once you’re in the right state, Director Xun will push you to work overtime.”

“Oh, let me see.”

Yu Lan set the prepared late-night snack on the table and retreated to the side to browse gossip. She looked up from time to time, staring at Qi Jiani, but couldn’t find anything particularly special.

In terms of beauty, Qi Jiani’s look was different from Xia Qingye’s. In terms of intelligence, she felt Jiani wasn’t as smart as Sister Xia. In terms of ability, she didn’t seem to match up either.

She couldn’t for the life of her understand why Sister Xia treated Qi Jiani so differently, even working overtime to rehearse with her personally…

The atmosphere on set was good, and the artists were very well-behaved. With two “workaholics” like Qi Jiani and Xia Qingye, the four months of filming flew by. The Twin Flowers was approaching its end.

Xun Guang was constantly smiling. When he saw Xia Qingye, he specifically reminded her: “Xiao Xia, there’s only one last scene tomorrow before we wrap. We’ll have the celebration banquet directly in the evening, don’t forget.”

Xia Qingye nodded, but she was secretly confused. The scene could clearly have been finished today; why did Director Xun delay it until tomorrow?

The next day, she arrived on set to find the atmosphere was strange. Everyone was distracted, whispering, and some people were even running outside to watch something.

Xia Qingye was seated for her makeup. She didn’t know why a burst of intense discussion suddenly erupted outside. She sent Yu Lan out to check. “There’s only one last scene. These past few months have been hard on you, Sister Jenny.”

The makeup artist, Jenny, was thirty-two. Xia Qingye had called her “Sister” from the start, which was very endearing. Jenny applied the powder while saying, “It wasn’t hard. You, however—Qingye, you are very talented at acting. I hope we have the chance to work together again.”

Jenny usually only did makeup for lead actors. To hear such words on the eve of wrapping up was undoubtedly the best blessing for Xia Qingye.

“We will.”

“Then I look forward to that day.”

“Sis… Sister Xia, this is bad! Film Queen Nie is here!” Yu Lan rushed in, panting.

Author’s Note:

Nie Zhuying: Wah-ka-ka-ka! I finally made my entrance!