This Best Actress is a Bit Annoying - Chapter 50

Xia Qingye was so spooked by Nie Zhuying that she had “erotic dreams” all night. In the dream, the pure and lovely Zhuzi suddenly transformed into an evil woman holding a long whip. With one look of dissatisfaction, she lashed out at her, shouting, “Go ahead, scream! No one will care if you scream your throat raw.”

“Sister Xia, Sister Xia, wake up. It’s time to get up.”

“Mm… what time is it?”

“Four o’clock.”

Xia Qingye bolted upright. After checking the time, she ruffled her hair and headed to the bathroom to get ready, her mind still filled with Zhuzi’s frightening words from yesterday.

Nie Zhuying had held up a freshly unboxed vibrating egg in front of her phone camera to show it off. After pressing some switch, the egg started vibrating with a thrum-thrum-thrum. She gave a mysterious smile. “Qingqing, next time we meet, let’s try this.”

Xia Qingye could bet that once Zhuzi’s mind was corrupted, it would go dark all the way to the end. And she definitely intended to try that thing on her, otherwise she wouldn’t have had nightmares all night.

She splashed cold water on her face and smiled at herself in the mirror. “Fine, let’s try it next time.”

Today’s scenes mainly featured Xia Qingye, Wen Wan, and a tall girl named Ye Xuan. Wen Wan played the eldest sister Zhao Qing, Ye Xuan was the second sister Wang Xiaojuan, and Xia Qingye was the youngest, Shi Ling.

The three of them gathered together really looked like university students who had just left school.

Xia Qingye and Ye Xuan especially had the aura of students; their ages and youthful faces made them look very young to outsiders. Xia Qingye was only twenty, and Ye Xuan was around the same age, supposedly still in university.

As for Wen Wan, because of her curvaceous figure and her usual flirtatious style of dress, she usually looked a bit more “worldly,” but after changing into simple clothes, she looked somewhat like Zhao Qing.

The opening scene featured the three of them graduating and beginning to go their separate ways for their future lives.

The three were respectively lying on a bed, packing things, or propping up their heads in a daze.

Zhao Qing packed the clothes in her dormitory and urged the dazed Shi Ling beside her: “Lingling, hurry up and pack. we have to report to the new company in two days.”

“Cut—”

The director said to Wen Wan, “You are the closest of friends, can you not be so cold?”

Wen Wan glared angrily at Xia Qingye, who rubbed her face, looking unbothered.

Director: “What are you looking at? Use a gentler tone, with a bit of a doting flavor. Zhao Qing’s feelings for Shi Ling inherently carry an indescribable doting, like doting on her own younger sister.”

Wen Wan searched for the feeling again and then nodded to the director.

Zhao Qing organized all her dormitory clothes into her suitcase and urged the dazed Shi Ling: “Lingling, stop daydreaming. Hurry up and pack. we have to report to the new company in two days.”

Wang Xiaojuan lay on the bed, looking like life wasn’t worth living. “I really envy you guys, still working together after graduation. Unlike me—”

Hearing this, Shi Ling stopped propping up her chin and turned to show concern for Wang Xiaojuan. “Second Sister, is your job still not settled? Do you need our help?”

Zhao Qing rolled her eyes. “Her? If you ask me, she brought it on herself. How could you show up for an interview looking like that that day?”

Wang Xiaojuan was unhappy. “Am I supposed to just watch an old person collapse on the ground and not help? Besides, it was just a little soup splashed on my clothes. Is it that big a deal? They clearly just didn’t want to hire me.”

Zhao Qing tossed the towel in her hand. “How do you expect them to hire you? An applicant who doesn’t even care about their own image… and you still blame—”

“Cut, cut.”

“Wen Wan, your expression is too fierce, like you’re going to commit a murder. You have to realize Zhao Qing is just frustrated that her friend isn’t living up to her potential; she doesn’t actually hate Wang Xiaojuan. Pull that expression back more.”

“Yes, Director.”

Wen Wan didn’t dare lose her temper with the director. After being scolded, she faced the wall to find the feeling, and the scene soon passed.

It was somewhat unexpected for Xia Qingye; she had originally thought Wen Wan was just “vase” (eye candy) who obtained this role purely through her sugar daddy. Now, she had a slightly better impression of her.

During a break, Xia Qingye was surprised to see Xie Zhe still on set. After thinking about it, she walked over to greet him. “Senior, it seems you don’t have any scenes today. Why aren’t you resting more in your room?”

Xie Zhe had his assistant get two bottles of water, handing one to Xia Qingye and opening one himself. “I came to find the feeling. I don’t want to be caught without it tomorrow, get scolded by the director, and lose face.”

Xia Qingye was amused by his humorous way of putting it. Noticing Wen Wan and Ye Xuan looking over, she said, “Then I’ll leave Senior to his observations.”

For several consecutive mornings, it was the scenes of the three women. Wen Wan gradually restrained the way she looked at Xia Qingye, no longer looking so hostile. It was unclear if she had truly let it go or was planning to settle scores later.

On the other hand, Ye Xuan and Xia Qingye got along very well. Firstly, they were of similar age, and secondly, Ye Xuan had an enthusiastic personality and was friendly to everyone; she soon bonded with the crew.

The two occasionally went in and out together, acting as close as the sisters in the script.

Wen Wan never found an opportunity to catch Xia Qingye alone. She realized that the girl always had someone by her side—if it wasn’t Ye Xuan, it was Xie Zhe. In a fit of rage, she lost her temper in her room, smashing everything breakable.

“Sister Wen, don’t be angry.”

“Don’t be angry? You’re telling me not to be angry! If she hadn’t appeared out of nowhere, that PSA would have been mine. Now, I would be the one people are talking about.” Wen Wan was going crazy with rage. Whenever she thought of the positive praise that PSA received, her teeth itched with hatred. “And—” Thinking of the manipulative words from before, she said, “I have several accounts to settle with Xia Qingye. I won’t let her off that easily.”

The little assistant wanted to comfort her but didn’t dare. After a moment, she offered an idea: “Sister Wen, everyone says Xie Zhe has no rumored girlfriend. If we take a few ambiguous photos of them, Xie Zhe’s fans will probably tear Xia Qingye apart alive.”

“Xie Zhe?”

“Mhm. I remember there was a scandal before where a web celebrity tried to tie herself to Xie Zhe for hype. Later, she was torn apart so badly by Xie Zhe’s ‘girlfriend fans’ that she didn’t dare show her face; there hasn’t been news of her for a long time.”

Wen Wan seemed to recall seeing that. “Are you a pig? Haven’t you heard Xie Zhe and Xia Qingye calling each other ‘Senior’ and ‘Junior’ lately? Besides, they have the same manager. You’re intentionally giving others more topics to talk about, aren’t you?”

The assistant felt very wronged and didn’t dare say more after being scolded.

However, after Wen Wan finished scolding her, she muttered to herself for a while. The more she thought about it, the more the little assistant’s suggestion seemed decent. “Xiao Tong, this plan seems feasible. I just need to be responsible for finding people to throw mud at them.”

Who cares if they’re actually dating or not?

Nie Zhuying called for a video chat that night, but Xia Qingye rejected it directly, saying she was “in the bath.”

Zhu Shang Ren Jian (Nie): Qingqing, are you bathing? 【Peeking emoji】

Xia Qingye: 【Sends an image of the Tao Te Ching (moral scripture)】

Zhu Shang Ren Jian: You actually hit me! You don’t love me at all anymore! 【Crying loudly】

Xia Qingye: 【Sends a “patting head” sticker】

…

Seeing that very vivid head-pat, Nie Zhuying was miraculously healed. She rolled around on her bed with her head covered, wanting to howl. She really wanted to see Qingqing bathe.

Zhu Shang Ren Jian: Qingqing, how about I come visit the set in a few days~ 【Star-eyes emoji】

Xia Qingye’s hand slipped, and the phone went plop into the water.

Zhu Shang Ren Jian: Qingqing? Qingqing Qingqing?

Nie Zhuying sent over a dozen messages with no response. She dialed the number directly, but the phone showed it was powered off.

Nie Zhuying felt it was very strange and immediately dialed Yu Lan’s number. “Where is Qingqing?”

Yu Lan almost threw her phone in shock when she answered. She looked doubtfully at the closed bathroom door. “Sister Nie, Sister Xia just said she wanted to bathe. She hasn’t come out yet.”

Nie Zhuying gave a flat “Oh.” “Have her call me later.”

Yu Lan nodded vigorously. “Okay, okay.”

After Xia Qingye came out, she briefly reported the news of her likely-ruined phone to Nie Zhuying. The response she got was: “Have Yu Lan give you her phone to use for now.”

Xia Qingye: “…”

Apart from Nie Zhuying, she really couldn’t find anyone else who could say something like that so righteously. Xia Qingye really couldn’t bring herself to ignore her little assistant’s feelings just to chat with her girlfriend. “Wash up and sleep. Don’t think about it. We’ll deal with tomorrow’s matters tomorrow.”

Nie Zhuying was hung up on again. Looking at the dark screen, she increasingly felt her status in Qingqing’s heart had dropped. Is this how a fan treats an idol?

As a result, when Xia Qingye went to the filming site the next day, she saw many people with their backs to her, whispering with subtle expressions.

Just then, Xie Zhe came over and handed her a cup of soy milk and a container of chicken and mushroom porridge. He asked nervously, “Can we get today’s scene in one take?”

Hearing him mention business, Xia Qingye also became serious. Because everyone had been friendly these past few days, the assistants often went together to buy food, so Xia Qingye didn’t think anything of it. However, the onlookers were huddling to the side, watching and speaking excitedly about something.

The two involved didn’t notice anything wrong at all.

Sipping her soy milk, Xia Qingye said, “If the director wants me to do it for real for the sake of the filming effect, Senior, you can’t settle scores with your Junior later.”

Xie Zhe had come to understand Xia Qingye’s acting skills over the past few days. He finished his soy milk in one big gulp and joked, “Senior relies entirely on this face to eat. To lessen my pain, I beg you, Junior, get it in one take.”

Xia Qingye nodded solemnly. “I’ll try my best.”

Today’s scene was a confrontation between Shi Ling and the playboy Li Xian, played by Xie Zhe. Li Xian is the son of the company CEO. Because he was idle after graduation and often caused trouble, an unsavory woman showed up at his door saying she was pregnant with his child. Li Xian’s mother felt she couldn’t let her son continue like this, or he would be truly ruined, so she assigned him to work at the grassroots level for a while.

As soon as Li Xian arrived, he flirted with the baby-faced Shi Ling, which led to the scene where Shi Ling beats up the “pervert”—first a punch to the face, then a fierce kick. This was a self-defense method Shi Ling had learned from Wang Xiaojuan.

Xia Qingye had analyzed it carefully and even used Yu Lan as a stand-in for Li Xian to practice, though at the time it was just light, harmless touches. Now that they had to film it realistically, Xia Qingye was still a bit worried her strength wouldn’t be enough.

Of course, she couldn’t say this in front of Xie Zhe, or he would probably clutch his head and weep. The more they spent time together, the more she felt this Senior was actually quite childish, but he was truly sunny and had a very high EQ. So, it was inevitable that he would become famous.

Yu Lan went to the room to get Xia Qingye’s phone, wanting to find a time to see if it could be repaired, or just buy a new one if not. she really couldn’t take being harassed by Nie Zhuying anymore…

“Sister Xiang.”

“What’s going on? Every time it’s a critical moment, the phone doesn’t connect or the phone is off. What on earth are you two playing at?”

Yu Lan held the phone away from her ear until Wei Xianghong’s first wave of anger passed. Then she explained, “Sister Xiang, Sister Xia’s phone fell in the water yesterday; it’s a goner. I was just in the elevator, so the signal wasn’t great.”

Wei Xianghong was truly exhausted by their excuses and didn’t bother to care if the phone really fell in the water. “Qingye and Xie Zhe are on the hot search. They’re teaming up to annoy me, aren’t they?”

“Eh? On the hot search?”

“You don’t know yet? How are you acting as an assistant? Where are the two of them?”

“Sister Xia is filming right now.”

“Filming?”

“Mhm. Sister Xia has a scene with Brother Xie today; supposedly a very important one.”

Hearing this, Wei Xianghong decided filming was more important. “Forget it. When they finish, have Qingye call me.”

After hanging up, Yu Lan still felt Sister Xiang was overreacting. What did being on the hot search count for? Her Sister Xia had already hooked the international Film Queen. The day Sister Xia and Sister Nie were exposed together on the hot search—that would be truly world-shaking. Yu Lan’s little heart had already been tempered into a strong one by “Big Cat” Nie Zhuying.

She started scrolling while walking and soon saw the post putting Xia Qingye and Xie Zhe on the hot search: 【Xie Zhe has a new romance? His new girlfriend is actually her?】 The blogger had deliberately left a cliffhanger in the title, and given Xie Zhe’s fame, the post was pushed to the top as soon as it was sent. The article provided “evidence” and included photos of Xia Qingye and Xie Zhe standing close together. From certain angles, it looked like they were whispering intimately.

But Yu Lan was someone who had seen “big scenes”—like seeing Film Queen Nie pinning Sister Xia to the sofa for a kiss—so these tricks were child’s play in her eyes. “You have the nerve to post this level of stuff? Too much free time, just looking for trouble. Wait until our Sister Xia finishes filming to deal with you people who have nothing better to do.”

Besides Ye Xuan, Wen Wan was also there to watch the scene today. Wen Wan sat under a sun umbrella with her arms crossed, staring at the people on the set, waiting for the other party to see the hot search and have their face change drastically.

As soon as Ye Xuan saw Yu Lan, she pulled her over. “Xiao Lan, what’s with that hot search? How can Qingye like Xie Zhe?”

Yu Lan looked like she’d seen a ghost. “Miss Ye, don’t talk nonsense. Brother Xie is totally not Sister Xia’s type. Besides, weren’t we all there when these photos were taken?”

Yu Lan followed Xia Qingye in and out almost the entire time.

Ye Xuan then nodded. “Right, who is so wicked as to post them online? And it seems these were taken on the set.”

Hearing this, Yu Lan realized—yes, these photos were taken during these days on set. Her gaze immediately shifted toward Wen Wan. Since there was no evidence, she could only glare fiercely at her, then secretly pulled out her phone to file a report with a certain “Nie.”

Yu Lan: Sister Nie, someone is bullying Sister Xia 【Crying emoji】. You have to stand up for Sister Xia.

The other party was either busy or doing something; the usually lightning-fast WeChat reply didn’t come for a long time. Looking at her two messages of complaint, Yu Lan felt a bit of regret for telling Nie Zhuying, since Sister Xia hadn’t spoken yet. But when she wanted to withdraw them, the time limit had passed; it was a lost cause.

She sighed. Ye Xuan thought she was worried about the hot search and comforted her: “It’ll be fine once they clarify things in a bit.”

Yu Lan looked like she was about to cry. She was essentially foreseeing the scene where Sister Xia might flare up at her for secretly reporting to Sister Nie. As for whether things were clarified or not, neither of those was as terrifying as the anger of those two “ancestors,” okay?

Xia Qingye and Xie Zhe were in top form this time, getting it in one take. However, Xie Zhe’s nose was almost made to bleed by Xia Qingye. As soon as the director said “Cut,” the assistant immediately handed over an ice pack.

Xie Zhe clutched his nose and walked back limping, not forgetting to be humorous: “Thank you, Junior, for showing mercy.”

Xia Qingye had really used force and felt quite guilty, quickly following him. “Senior, your nose isn’t plastic, is it? I hit it and it went completely crooked.”

Xie Zhe turned around, moved his nose, and made a face. “Does it still look like it’s plastic?”

Xia Qingye laughed and shook her head. “It seems the injury is a bit lighter than I imagined.”

“Qingye, Brother Xie, you’re on the hot search.”

“Eh, what?”

Xia Qingye looked at the news on Yu Lan’s phone. After reading it, she couldn’t help but look at Xie Zhe, who happened to look back. The two stared at each other, both dumbfounded, and then said in perfect unison:

“Is Sister Xiang exploding with rage?”

Yu Lan nodded vigorously.

At that moment, Nie Zhuying, who had just got off a plane, turned on her phone and quickly noticed Yu Lan’s message.

Zhu Shang Ren Jian (Nie): Speak. Who dares to bully my Qingqing? I’m coming over right now. 【Aggressive emoji】