After Being Dumped by the Film Empress, My Acting Skills Soared - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The moment Shao Niannian asked her question, a look of genuine confusion crossed Jiang Yan’s face.

This was not the reaction Niannian had expected at all.

Jiang Yan stared at her for a while, noticing how incredibly tense the younger girl was. Niannian looked like a student facing a final exam in front of a panel of stern acting professors—so nervous that her eyes were blinking rapidly and uncontrollably.

This was a first for Jiang Yan. She was someone who prided herself on being able to read characters and dialogue with surgical precision, yet this time, she couldn’t decipher Niannian’s meaning at all.

The atmosphere suddenly cooled, and their conversation ground to a halt.

Shao Niannian, however, felt no regret. Stopping here was just right. It mirrored their relationship: Niannian would always stand behind Jiang Yan, watching from a distance. Even if her heart and her words occasionally tried to push her closer to the front, the moment a real opportunity arose, she couldn’t help but shrink back. Perhaps, she thought, maintaining the status quo was for the best.

It was just as she had written on her secret Weibo alt-account: “Being friends, being lovers, or even just seniors and juniors… all of it seems out of reach. So, can I just occupy a tiny corner of your memory? Just a fragment.”

As long as she was remembered, it would be enough.

The infusion area was nearly empty. The chill of the IV fluids made Niannian pull her hand deeper into her jacket. Fatigue soon began to crawl over her. She tried to keep her eyes on the Tom and Jerry cartoon, but she couldn’t even make out the shapes anymore. Finally, she leaned her head against her puffy down jacket and the metal backrest of the chair, falling fast asleep.

“She really can sleep anywhere,” Jiang Yan murmured.

She had been chatting with Gao Hui about Niannian’s condition. Once Gao Hui confirmed she would be coming to the set in person, Jiang Yan felt a bit more at ease. She turned her head and saw Niannian’s sleeping face.

For some reason, as if possessed, Jiang Yan reached out and lightly brushed Niannian’s cheek.

The moment her fingers touched the skin, Jiang Yan froze. She didn’t understand why she had done it. They had spent less than twenty-four hours together in total. Even back during the filming of The Courtesans of Jinling, she had no deep memories of Niannian; they simply hadn’t interacted much.

But where there is a first time, there is a second.

“Her skin is surprisingly soft,” Jiang Yan muttered. She rested her hand on the metal armrest and leaned closer to observe. “The fever is definitely gone. She looks healthy enough; how is her constitution so weak?”

Jiang Yan pulled out her phone. Instead of her manager, she found a contact pinned at the very top, labeled “1.”

In a corner neither of them noticed, another person receiving an IV drip quietly filmed the scene and uploaded it to their Weibo account: “Oh my god! I can’t believe I’m seeing two such beautiful ‘sisters’ in a tiny place like this! They’re definitely not locals—probably tourists—but they are so stunning!”

The person who filmed it just wanted to share a couple of “pretty faces.” Her private account didn’t have many followers—just friends and mutuals. No one expected this ordinary video to hit the trending searches. Within two hours, it had hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of comments.

“Sister, do you really not recognize them? The one in the white jacket is Shao Niannian, and the one in the dark blue is Movie Queen Jiang Yan. They are definitely not your town relatives!”

“Does anyone know if they’re close? Why are they together? Jiang Yan usually only does two projects a year, mostly movies. Did she join a new set right after the last one?”

“Actually, the rumors say Jiang Yan is the acting coach. It’s Shao Niannian who’s in the cast.”

“I heard Niannian and Wen Jing are filming together for Director Mo. Hehe, fans of beauties are winning! Mo Yu’s cast is top-tier this time.”

“Beauties are fine, but their acting… don’t have high expectations. When has Mo Yu ever needed a dedicated acting coach for a movie before?”

“Not necessarily. I’ve seen Niannian’s dramas; she has acting skills, they’re just inconsistent. Out of the ‘Four Vases,’ Niannian is widely considered the best actor. Don’t be such a hater.”

“Best among the worst? Is that even a compliment? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Beauties together! I’m shipping this so hard! Any sisters from the Douban forums here? Jiang Yan is truly ‘I love you most in the world when I love you, and we’re strangers when I don’t.'”

“Are you reading the same thread I am? That blurry photo of them at the BBQ stall had such a vibe. Like an old married couple out for a late-night snack. The thread got deleted, but I’ll say it: Beautiful women belong together!”

“Shh, the threads are being nuked and you’re still talking? Aren’t you afraid of the fans? How could Jiang Yan date Niannian right after breaking up with Wen Jing? Impossible! It was just a midnight snack, and they just happened to be on the same set. Pure coincidence!”

Soon, the trending charts were dominated by the names of Shao Niannian and Jiang Yan. The photos Jiang Yan had paid to suppress resurfaced and swept across the internet. The movie was a hit before a single frame was shot. Everyone knew the two “leads” had a conflict: they shared a common “girlfriend,” Jiang Yan.

The three women at the center of the storm, however, seemed unbothered.

Shao Niannian rarely responded to gossip. Experience taught her that the more you responded, the more rumors grew. Given her unique family background, her only request to Gao Hui was to never buy trending searches for her and to keep things low-profile.

Besides… that was Jiang Yan. Niannian knew the rumors were false, but for a fleeting second while scrolling through the comments, she caught herself wishing they were true.

Jiang Yan, meanwhile, was being grilled by her manager over the phone. “Is this for real? Have you actually fallen for her?”

“If you have, tell me now so I can prepare my resignation and my noose.”

“I haven’t. It’s just nonsense,” Jiang Yan explained for the nth time. No one believed her. From Mo Yu to her manager, those closest to her just shook their heads, their faces practically screaming, “I don’t buy it.”

“Are young people playing this hard nowadays?” her manager sighed. “If there’s nothing between you, why are you taking her out to dinner every day? Since when did you become a saint doing charity work? You even stayed at the hospital with her?!”

“When I was hospitalized with gastroenteritis, you didn’t even bring me fruit! And you were on vacation at home then!”

Jiang Yan rolled her eyes and tapped her assistant, who was busy snitching to the manager. “A thousand-year-old fox and a ten-thousand-year-old turtle… people like you are usually a plague upon the earth but live forever.”

“Don’t act like I didn’t send you a transfer for ‘get well’ money. You wouldn’t have eaten the fruit anyway; I just cut out the middleman and gave you the cash.”

The manager fell silent for a moment before changing the subject. “Fine. What’s the plan? Gao Hui told me they don’t want to interfere or respond. If we want to deny the rumors, it’s up to us.”

“She doesn’t want to handle it?” Jiang Yan was surprised. “Is it her choice, or Niannian’s?”

“Not sure,” the manager said. “But Gao Hui has always ignored rumors. She rarely buys searches for Niannian. If she did, Niannian would have been an A-lister by now given her exposure. It’s not like she lacks skill; she has hit dramas every year, but Gao Hui never follows up with big resources. Maybe she’s just bad at her job.”

“Stop bragging about yourself,” Jiang Yan interrupted. She thought for a moment, then vaguely declined the idea of a clarification. “Let me think about the denial. There’s no rush.”

“Anything else? If not, I’m hanging up.”

Before the manager could respond, Jiang Yan expertly hung up and blocked the number. A clean, one-two punch.

With two parties ignoring the fire and one (Wen Jing) happy to watch it burn, the public assumed the silence was a confirmation. The rumor mill was a snowball rolling down a mountain; it was out of control. For two days, the entire internet craned its neck, waiting for the official movie account or paparazzi to leak something new.

After a few days, the casual onlookers moved on. The paparazzi couldn’t even reach the location; the filming site was so remote that even buses couldn’t find it. You had to cross mountains to get there. Most gave up.

More importantly, ever since the production held its opening ceremony—complete with offerings to the local deities—it seemed like not a single good thing had happened to this crew.