After Being Dumped by the Film Empress, My Acting Skills Soared - Chapter 29

Chapter 29

After more than a month, Gao Hui finally managed to get back in touch with her artist who had “enrolled in boarding school” in the mountains. She asked about the filming progress and daily life in detail. Satisfied that everything was fine, she kept the line open while she handled some overdue office work.

No matter what Niannian said, Gao Hui humored her like a child, half-listening as Niannian babbled on.

Niannian started from day one, describing how she had tried to act elegant and aloof, before launching into a comedy routine about her daily observations. Gao Hui was casually nodding along until she heard a specific sentence. She reflexively turned to her phone on the desk and interrupted.

“Wait, Niannian. Repeat what you just said.”

“Wen Jing encouraged me to chase Jiang Yan—her own ex! Wen Jing is such a good friend!”

Gao Hui was speechless. She waved her hand. “Not that part. A little further back.”

“Wen Jing said Jiang Yan ‘can’t’ do it, and that her private tastes lean toward S&M.”

Gao Hui, having accidentally stumbled upon a massive piece of gossip: “Huh?!”

“Wait, for real?”

“For real,” Niannian replied, fueled by her own assumptions. She was convinced that someone with such hobbies wouldn’t tell others directly, but since Wen Jing hadn’t corrected her earlier, her logic must be sound.

Niannian’s absolute certainty left Gao Hui feeling dizzy. It felt like being struck by dry lightning on a clear day. She couldn’t understand how her artist dared to spout such scandalous rumors so casually. She hurriedly told Niannian to keep her mouth shut on set so she wouldn’t end up being blacklisted.

“It’s called being ‘put in cold storage,'” Niannian corrected, not at all upset. She buried her face in her pillow, kicking her feet in the air.

“No, if you know too much, you’ll be ‘liquidated,'” Gao Hui grumbled. “Only dead people keep secrets.”

“Fine…” Niannian added as an afterthought, “Don’t go spreading this around. I just inferred it from Wen Jing’s attitude.”

Despite the disclaimer, Gao Hui’s mind was already racing. She mentally reviewed all the rumors and schedules surrounding Jiang Yan over the years.

Starting about six years ago, Jiang Yan had begun changing girlfriends frequently, with none lasting more than a year. Coincidentally, the turning point in her career was also six years ago.

From her debut in her teens until she was twenty-two, Jiang Yan was known as the industry’s “model worker.” She jumped from set to set with zero downtime. Every summer and winter break, she dominated the big screens. You couldn’t look at a media outlet without seeing her face.

But during the winter of her twenty-second year, she skipped every major award ceremony. A paparazzi leaked that she was hospitalized. No one knew the specifics. Gao Hui only vaguely remembered that from that year onward, Jiang Yan’s workload plummeted. She went from being picky about scripts to extremely picky, taking only one or two projects a year—essentially entering “retirement mode.”

For an actress in her prime, this was highly abnormal. Gao Hui speculated this might be related to the “secret” Niannian mentioned, but she stopped her train of thought there. Best not to know too much.

Wen Jing’s words were like a recurring curse, making Jiang Yan’s head throb.

The two stood on opposite sides. The metal dice clutched in Jiang Yan’s palm left deep indentations in her skin. A metallic, bloody taste rose in her throat, which she forced herself to swallow.

Jiang Yan looked down. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Wen Jing scoffed, having no desire to continue. The best revenge for being dumped was to watch Jiang Yan teeter on the edge of a cliff. And in reality, even without Wen Jing pushing, Jiang Yan was already standing on the precipice.

“Then I hope your ‘stupidity’ keeps you alive a bit longer,” Wen Jing “blessed” her. “After all, we did have a thing once. I’d be sad if you fell too hard and looked ugly doing it.”

Wen Jing turned and left with her assistant without looking back. Jiang Yan stood alone, watching them shrink into small black dots in the distance until they vanished.

Only when she finally let out a long, heavy sigh did the tension in her brow relax. She pulled her hand from her pocket; the numbers of the dice were stamped into her palm. After staring at them for a while, she left the now-empty set.

Wen Jing returned to the room carrying the night’s chill. Filming was over for the day. Niannian was buried under her blankets, face propped in her hands, watching a trending drama.

“You’re back!”

“Mhm,” Wen Jing replied, shaking the dampness off her coat. “Did you shower already?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t take long. There should still be hot water. You can check if it’s warm enough.”

“Okay.”

Wen Jing didn’t need guidance on basic hygiene. She grabbed her clothes and headed for the bathroom. When she came out, Niannian had turned off the drama and was lying on her side playing with her phone.

“Was the water temperature okay?” Niannian asked, peeking her head out. “The weather’s bad today, so I was worried it wouldn’t be hot enough.”

“It was a bit cold.” Wen Jing dried her hair haphazardly. Despite all the hair-care steps she promoted in her live-streams, she did none of them in private. She hated maintaining her “image” when she wasn’t being paid for it.

“Was that cake today from the logistics team?” Wen Jing asked.

She had thought a lot in the shower. Her main takeaway was that while Niannian liked Jiang Yan, she was too slow. Their progress was way behind schedule. If neither of them were going to be proactive, she would have to step in.

Perhaps because Wen Jing’s acting had improved over the month, her question sounded natural. Niannian, not suspecting a thing, thought she just wanted some too.

“Yeah, it was cake,” Niannian said, her mouth watering at the memory. “It was really good. Not like something you’d usually find around here.”

Niannian realized that might sound pretentious, so she added, “I mean, it tasted like it was from a chain or a private kitchen. Hard to find in a small county like this.”

Wen Jing nodded, feigning an accidental slip of information. “When I walked past them today, I heard the staff saying the cake was Jiang Yan’s idea.”

“What?”

“Jiang Yan paid for them to go buy it. They left this morning and drove quite a way, almost to the city. They even bought a large cooler box to make sure it wouldn’t spoil.” Wen Jing winked at Niannian. “A round trip like that is expensive. To feed the whole crew? Today’s ‘extra treat’ probably cost her tens of thousands.”

“Oh…”

The previously excited Niannian suddenly wilted like a frost-bitten eggplant. She didn’t say another word, pulling the covers up to hide her face.

Wen Jing was baffled. Wait, this isn’t in the script. Shouldn’t this show her how much Jiang Yan cares? Buying a hard-to-find cake and paying for a private courier just for her? Isn’t that the height of romance? Shouldn’t Niannian’s affection level be skyrocketing right now?

Wen Jing wondered if her acting was so bad that Niannian realized she was doing this on purpose.

Under the covers, Niannian felt miserable. The cake that had tasted so good now felt like a bitter lump in her throat. Her glowing phone screen showed various gossip posts about Wen Jing.

She was looking at them in chronological order.

Last December: A paparazzi photo of Jiang Yan and Wen Jing going home together. Jiang Yan was carrying a cake. The final photo in the post showed the exact same brand of cake the crew had today.

The cake in Niannian’s stomach felt heavy. She covered her mouth, fearing she might throw up. The more gossip she read, the more agitated she became.

Niannian shoved her phone under her pillow and rolled over. “I’m tired. Goodnight,” she said, her voice muffled.

“Good… night?”

Wen Jing felt that something was weird, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She sighed, grabbed her hair dryer, and went into the bathroom to dry her hair on the lowest, quietest setting.

She couldn’t understand it. When she joined the crew, nobody told her that Shao Niannian had a “Young Miss” temper too!