This Best Actress is a Bit Annoying - Chapter 17

Yu Lan watched in horror as Nie Zhuying’s long legs disappeared from her sight. Trembling, she helped up the dead-drunk Xia Qingye, who was sprawled on the floor like a pile of wet noodles. Looking like she was about to cry, Yu Lan pleaded, “Sister Xia, wake up! You’ve caused a huge disaster!”

Xia Qingye kept her eyes closed, smacked her lips, and wore a look of utter satisfaction on her face.

Zhou Ling was waiting in a corner of the hotel. When she saw Nie Zhuying approaching, she draped a large down jacket over her. She didn’t notice the Film Queen’s frost-cold expression or the bit of red at the corner of her mouth. “What took you so long? I almost thought I’d have to fish you out of the restroom.”

At the mention of the word “restroom,” Nie Zhuying thought of the drunk Xia Qingye going crazy back there. She was so angry she felt like exploding. She twitched her mouth slightly, which pulled at the wound, sending a prickle of pain through her. Her breath was still tainted with the heavy scent of a certain drunkard’s alcohol, which only fueled her fire.

The two made a beeline for the airport under the cover of darkness.

Once in the car, Zhou Ling watched her collapse into the seat and said heartbreakingly, “In my opinion, you shouldn’t have come at all. Even though you turned down Director Xun’s lead role because of a schedule conflict, that was because Hollywood booked you first; it’s not like you broke a promise. Besides, didn’t you promise to prioritize his next drama no matter how busy you are? Why did he still make things so difficult for you?”

“And that Xia Qingye… how did she have the audacity to sit next to you? I spent the whole night worried she’d drag you into a selfie or something for a ‘bundled’ marketing stunt on Weibo tomorrow. That would have been a joke.”

Nie Zhuying sat up abruptly, her face grim. “Do not mention the name ‘Xia Qingye’ again.”

Zhou Ling was startled and immediately shut her mouth. The rest of the drive to the airport was silent.

Nie Zhuying had only a simple suitcase, just as she had when she arrived. Her itinerary had been kept secret, but upon arriving at the airport, she found many fans wandering nearby, looking for someone as if they had been tipped off.

“It looks like the paparazzi got the news early and are waiting for you.” Zhou Ling pulled Nie Zhuying aside to fully “gear her up” with a mask and hat. Then, she gasped in surprise. “Why is your lip split? Ah, there’s a tooth mark on it!”

Nie Zhuying’s face was like frost. She licked the spot, feeling a slight sting. “Take off your silk scarf and give it to me. I need to cover this up and get through first.”

Zhou Ling was full of suspicion. She mentally went through everyone who attended the wrap party, finally settling her suspicion on Film Emperor Lu Yu. She took off the scarf, wrapped it around Nie Zhuying, and hissed through her teeth, “You kept such a big thing a secret! No wonder you insisted on rushing back for a wrap party. You’d better pray the paparazzi didn’t get a photo, or your fans will go insane. I’ll deal with you when we get back.”

Nie Zhuying used the scarf to hide her chin—more specifically, to hide the lip that the “beast” Xia Qingye had bitten.

Facing Zhou Ling’s teeth-gritting warning, she was utterly baffled. Deal with her? For what? DAMMIT, she was the one who wanted to settle a score with someone!!!

“Let’s go.”

“Stay behind me.”

Zhou Ling pushed the luggage cart ahead. Nie Zhuying pulled up the hood of her down jacket and used the scarf to cover half her face. With her head bowed, she walked quickly toward the gate.

“Goddess!”

“It’s the Film Queen!”

“Goddess! The Goddess is here!”

Someone with eagle eyes spotted the bloated, jacket-wrapped figure of Nie Zhuying in the crowd. Following that loud shout, the fans who had been searching everywhere swarmed over in a frenzy.

Nie Zhuying covered her face and stepped past Zhou Ling, whispering, “Run!”

Zhou Ling looked at the surging crowd with a headache. “You go first! I’ll handle the aftermath! Cover your face, don’t let the fans see!”

Just as she finished speaking, she saw Nie Zhuying, who was already two or three meters ahead, collide with a hurried pedestrian. Her hood wasn’t tight, and the impact knocked it back. Nie Zhuying’s waterfall of wavy hair cascaded down, and the scarf she was using as a mask was snagged by the zipper of her jacket and pulled open.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Cameras flickered several times.

Zhou Ling knew things had gone south. The fans had already swarmed in, surrounding Nie Zhuying. Zhou Ling ran over to intercept them. “Everyone, sorry! Zhuying has a flight to catch tonight, please make way!”

Fortunately, airport security quickly dispersed the crowd. The two barely made it onto the plane.

“That was close,” Zhou Ling sighed.

“Sister Ling… I think I was photographed.”

“What?!”

The two looked at each other until Nie Zhuying yielded. “I’m not entirely sure. Forget it, let me sleep for a bit.”

Zhou Ling was at her wit’s end. She wanted to contact someone to keep an eye out, but then remembered they were on a plane. She planned to check after landing, but two hours later, a video of Nie Zhuying bumping into someone at the airport was already circulating online. The quality was crystal clear—one could see Nie Zhuying’s startled expression and the lip she hadn’t had time to cover.

—Netizen1: Holy sh*t, the Goddess’s entrance is truly extraordinary!!!

—Netizen2: 66666, calling for the Goddess…

—Netizen3: Even with messy hair, the Goddess is so beautiful. Her hair looks so healthy; what shampoo brand?

—Netizen4: Wow, starry eyes! The Goddess looks so cool even while masked.

—Netizen5: Am I the only one who noticed the Goddess’s lip is bitten? There seems to be a hickey-like mark left on it.

—Netizen6: F–k, the person above found the truth.

—Netizen7: Aaaah! My Goddess!

In less than three hours, the video had been shared over a million times. It was too late to block the news.

The moment Zhou Ling turned on her phone, texts and calls flooded in one after another. The phone lagged for several minutes. “Sister Ling, Sister Nie is on the headlines! What’s going on? What ‘suspected romance exposed’? Weren’t you guys just at a wrap party?”

The assistant, Yao Wei, was supposed to return with them, but she had taken a day off to visit her hometown. When she scrolled through Weibo at 10:00 PM and saw her boss on the headlines, she called immediately.

Zhou Ling listened to Yao Wei and said immediately, “Let me check the situation first.”

As the saying goes, whatever you fear most will happen. Zhou Ling opened Weibo and saw the latest gossip headline at the top: [Film Queen appears at airport with ambiguous tooth mark on her lip; romance suspected to be exposed.]

Zhou Ling couldn’t help but rub her forehead. “Are you going to explain this to me first?”

Nie Zhuying twitched the corner of her mouth, looking at the netizens’ wild speculations with a half-smile. Some people were even dragging her and Director Xun into it. She said through gritted teeth, “If I said it was a misunderstanding, would you believe me?”

“Sister Xia, Sister Xia! Quick, get up! We have a flight to catch!”

“Sister Xia, wake up!”

“Otherwise, we’re going to be late!”

Thwack!

Xia Qingye had a splitting headache, and a buzzing sound kept ringing in her ears. She rolled over on the bed, grabbed whatever was nearby, and threw it. Then, the world went quiet.

She rolled again, but her whole body was aching painfully. “Yu Lan.”

Yu Lan had been hit in the face by a pack of tissues and was stunned. She was wondering how to wake the girl up when Xia Qingye rolled twice more and woke up on her own. “Sister Xia, get up! We have a flight to catch!”

Xia Qingye boarded the plane in a semi-hungover state. She asked casually, “I was drunk yesterday; how did I get back?”

Yu Lan, beside her, suddenly went silent.

Xia Qingye had her eyes closed, planning to sleep until they reached their destination. She opened one eye suspiciously and peeked at her pale little assistant. She squinted, then moved her legs and waist. “Why do my legs and waist hurt so much? Yu Lan… you didn’t hit me while I was drunk, did you?”

Yu Lan almost pulled her head into her shoulders like a turtle, looking like she was about to cry. “Sister Xia, it wasn’t me, really! But if I tell you, you have to stay strong.”

Xia Qingye rubbed her temples; hangovers were truly awful. “Speak.”

“It was Film Queen Nie who kicked you.”

“Huh?”

Yu Lan tremblingly recounted what she had seen. “Sister Xia… you were being a hooligan yesterday. You kissed Film Queen Nie, so she pushed you. I think the floor was too slippery, so you fell, and as she was leaving… she kicked you.”

Xia Qingye’s expressive “peach blossom” eyes suddenly went wide and round, looking quite cute. “What did you just say?”

Yu Lan really wanted to cry; she felt like Nie Zhuying’s gaze yesterday was murderous. “Th-there’s more.”

The pain in Xia Qingye’s leg and hip grew more pronounced. She had thought it was just the aftermath of the alcohol. Tsk, Nie Zhuying really is ruthless. “You said I was being a hooligan?”

Yu Lan blinked once, then twice. “Actually… I went to get your coat and towel, so I didn’t see who initiated it. I just saw you clinging to the Film Queen… like this.”

Yu Lan even demonstrated with a pouting expression, which was promptly rejected by Xia Qingye’s look of disgust.

Xia Qingye rubbed her forehead, trying to remember. Yesterday, she felt the world spinning and by the time she knew things were bad, it was too late. Later, she wanted to go to the restroom to sober up, she puked once, and then she seemed to run into someone…

“Alcohol leads to trouble.”

Yu Lan nodded vigorously. To dare kiss the Film Queen… Sister Xia’s guts are huge. She secretly touched her turned-off phone and bit her lip, wondering if she should tell her boss about today’s headlines.

It wasn’t until the plane landed and Yu Lan picked up the luggage that she saw Xia Qingye looking a bit better. She said hesitantly, “Sister Xia, th-there’s one more thing. I think it’s best if you know.”

Xia Qingye looked at Yu Lan suspiciously, her eyebrows knitting together. Her woman’s intuition told her that Yu Lan’s next words would be a bombshell.