After Being Dumped by the Film Empress, My Acting Skills Soared - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Having thought it, Shao Niannian did it.

Every extra second sitting at that BBQ stall felt like a form of torture.

With a sharp snap, she slammed her laptop shut. Without a single word, as if throwing a silent tantrum, she began to shovel her food into her mouth. Because it had been sitting there for a while, the once steaming-hot BBQ was now merely lukewarm; washed down with the peach resin coconut milk, she chewed with frantic, disorganized movements.

Sitting across from her, Jiang Yan frowned slightly. Oily, heavy food like BBQ was an extinct species in her household—deader than the dinosaurs. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d seen someone eat like this; it was probably back in elementary or middle school.

The porcelain spoon clinked against the side of the bowl. Jiang Yan snapped out of her daze, startled to realize she had been staring at someone eating for so long—and that the person was eating everything she personally disliked.

Jiang Yan pursed her lips and lowered her head to check her phone. No new messages from Wen Jing. Only fifteen minutes had passed; they hadn’t even reached the halfway point of the agreed-upon time.

“I’m finished. I won’t disturb Teacher Jiang while she waits for her friend.” Like a fugitive escaping a crime scene, Shao Niannian clutched her laptop and hurried away, not forgetting to give a stiff nod as she passed Jiang Yan.

The lingering, romanticized atmosphere had vanished the moment Jiang Yan began questioning her. Watching that fleeing back, which carried a hint of indignation, Jiang Yan formed a thought: This person doesn’t like being lumped together with Wen Jing?

Interesting.

Jiang Yan looked at her silent phone. It was as if the person who had blackmailed her into coming here wasn’t Wen Jing at all.

Standing out in the crowded stall, Jiang Yan was the only one sitting alone with just a phone. When the owner’s wife came by to clear the table, she asked Jiang Yan if she wanted anything.

“What’s in this bowl?” Jiang Yan pointed to the porcelain bowl that had held Niannian’s dessert. She figured it would look suspicious if she sat here without ordering anything. She could just let it sit on the table.

“That’s our new Peach Resin Coconut Milk! Many customers love it,” the owner’s wife smiled. “Would you like a bowl?”

“Sure. One bowl.”

The desserts were pre-prepared, so it arrived quickly. Because it was late and cold out, the owner’s wife had specially warmed it up. It was at the perfect temperature.

Jiang Yan stirred the mixture with a spoon, watching the peach resin and sago swirl. She didn’t drink it. Instead, she repeated the same stirring motion, her brow furrowed. Even without tasting it, she could imagine the cloying sweetness of coconut milk and white sugar hitting her tongue. The thought made her shiver.

This is a snack for children, she thought.

She set the spoon down and went back to her phone, letting the warm bowl grow cold on the table.

By 1:00 AM, the crowd at the BBQ stall began to thin. Jiang Yan settled the bill. From start to finish, aside from the encounter with Shao Niannian, nothing special had happened. She couldn’t understand why Wen Jing had called her here. Surely it wasn’t just to make her drive thirty minutes to sit in the cold wind.

“Five yuan.”

The owner’s wife brought the QR code over. Noticing the peach resin milk was untouched, she asked, “Is it not to your taste?”

“No, it’s fine,” Jiang Yan shook her head, paying with a smile. “It’s my fault; I don’t really like sweets.”

“Haha, fair enough! Though the little girl who was sitting here before absolutely loves them,” the owner’s wife mentioned casually. “Niannian can’t live without spice and can’t be happy without sugar. She even complained once that the dessert wasn’t sweet enough, saying it tasted bitter in her mouth.”

“Niannian?” Jiang Yan looked at her with interest. “Does she come here often?”

“Oh, often. Sometimes she brings a whole group of young girls and treats them all, though she usually doesn’t eat much herself.” The woman paused. “Niannian’s job is quite strict about her figure. I remember one girl only let her drink plain water and told her if she took one bite, she’d have to run on the treadmill for half an hour. So she comes often, but mostly just watches others eat.”

“I see.”

Jiang Yan nodded understandingly and turned to leave. Emerging from the alleys of the old town, the streets were nearly empty. When she reached her car, she found a parking ticket tucked under the wiper.

Jiang Yan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. There were cars parked everywhere; why was hers the only one with a ticket? And who knew the traffic police in the old town were still patrolling at midnight?

She climbed into her car, shivering slightly from the night dew. She took a photo of the ticket and sent it to Wen Jing with a blunt caption: “Pay up.”

Then, she turned off her phone. She was done being played for a fool. Once her patience ran out, she didn’t care who stood behind Wen Jing. People had always called her a “madwoman” anyway.

Back home, Shao Niannian immediately changed out of her smoke-scented clothes. Her jasmine-scented hair was half-dry as she sat cross-legged on the carpet, gritting her teeth as she revised her work.

Her Ragdoll cat, which had been lounging on the cat tree, flicked its tail. Seeing that its owner didn’t run over to bury her face in its belly as usual, the cat hopped down and trotted toward her. It rested its round face on Niannian’s arm as she typed, purring to comfort its unhappy owner.

“At the critical moment, you’re the only one I can count on, baby,” Niannian murmured, her mood lifting slightly. She pulled the cat into her lap, letting it curl into a ball.

By 2:00 AM, she still had a dozen pages to revise. Following the method Mo Yu had taught her, she found herself writing more and more. It was actually helping her settle down and truly feel the character of the Mute Girl.

A notification popped up on her screen. She, Su Chaoyue, and their other high school friend shared a linked status on their laptops.

In Germany, it was 4:00 PM. A feverish Su Chaoyue stepped out of her classroom and headed toward her part-time job. Opening her laptop to check for flower orders, she saw the cat-shaped pop-up in the corner: “Shao Niannian is still online! Working for over 8 hours! Warning!”

Chaoyue calculated the time difference as she opened her flower shop for the afternoon shift.

Su Chaoyue: “Shao Niannian, why aren’t you asleep? What are you doing?”

Shao Niannian: “Revising a character bio. I’m heading to the set soon.”

Shao Niannian yawned, stopping mid-stretch so she wouldn’t wake the sleeping cat in her lap. Even her typing became quieter.

Su Chaoyue: “Hard work. When do you leave? Where’s the shoot?”

Shao Niannian: “Director didn’t say, but it’ll probably be somewhere in the middle of nowhere.”

Despite the normal-sounding reply, Chaoyue sensed something was off. She reread the messages.

Su Chaoyue: “Are you unhappy today?”

Shao Niannian: “How did you know?”

Su Chaoyue: “When you’re upset, you stop using emojis and start talking seriously. You don’t joke around.”

Chaoyue initiated a voice call while she started arranging a bouquet. “Tell me. What happened?”

The line connected with a beep, but there was only silence from Niannian’s end. Chaoyue knew Niannian had hit a dead end again. Her friend’s brain had a habit of overthinking itself into a corner until she felt trapped.

“Shao Niannian, speak.”

“She doesn’t recognize me at all.”

The voice, traveling across thousands of miles, sounded fragile. The sadness and disappointment in Niannian’s tone were unmistakable.

Snip. Chaoyue’s hand shook slightly as she trimmed a rose stem. “And then?”

“I thought I was working so hard, trying so hard to get closer to her,” Niannian said, her eyes fixed on the red-marked document on her screen. “But it was all just my delusion. She doesn’t even know who I am. She doesn’t care, she doesn’t know… the time and effort I thought I put in… it’s all a joke. Yueyue, she doesn’t care about me.”

She choked back a sob. “Am I a failure? I’ve spent ten years—since I was fifteen. I really tried. But why can’t I reach her? Why can’t I stand somewhere higher?”

“If my acting were better… if I understood roles better… would her eyes stay on me? Would she remember my name?”

Chaoyue looked down at the blooming rose in her hand, twirling it gently. “Niannian, that has nothing to do with you. If she can’t see how brightly you shine in a crowd, that is her problem, not yours. She isn’t worth it.”

Shao Niannian couldn’t stop the tears. She buried her face in her cat’s fur. “But… but I just wanted her to remember my name. To know who I am… I’m not being greedy. I just want her to remember me.”

The sound of soft sobbing was recorded by the laptop mic and transmitted to Germany. Chaoyue let out a heavy sigh. “Then try again. Try to make her remember you. Didn’t you brag about having a ‘perfect plan’ a few days ago?”

“Since you have a plan, do it.”

“But I don’t think it’s a good plan anymore,” Niannian sobbed.

“Why?”

“I… I don’t know how to tell you.”

“Then don’t,” Chaoyue comforted her. “You know that no matter what you decide, I’m always on your side. Except for arson or murder.”

“Other than that, you can trust me unconditionally. Just like I trust Zhizhi.”

Niannian suddenly burst into laughter through her tears. The switch was so fast it was as if she hadn’t just been mourning ten wasted years of youth.

“We have a perfect loop,” Niannian said. “I trust you, you trust Zhizhi, and the person Zhizhi trusts most is me. There are no friends in the world with better chemistry or trust than us.”