After Being Dumped by the Film Empress, My Acting Skills Soared - Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Shao Niannian didn’t sense the other party’s subtle movements or gazes because she had fallen into a deep sleep with her eyes closed. It would have taken a significant commotion to wake her.

She remained oblivious to the many things the stranger posing as a makeup artist was doing behind her. A phone with the flash turned off became the “best witness” of the event, continuously capturing images of the woman leaning in close to Niannian—various intimate poses and high-definition close-ups…

The woman had clearly rehearsed these actions in her mind many times.

After taking the intimate photos, the “makeup artist’s” gaze fell upon Niannian’s lips, specifically on a small, dark-colored cut that looked out of place against the surrounding skin.

That dark spot was an eyesore to the makeup artist. She swirled her finger in her usual foundation to blend it evenly before dabbing it bit by bit onto the dark area, attempting to cover it completely.

However, the foundation’s concealing power wasn’t as good as she had imagined.

The dark wound was only slightly faded. When makeup couldn’t erase the trace, malice grew from her audacity, and an even more transgressive thought suddenly surfaced in her mind. The surroundings were quiet, and not many people were around. As long as Shao Niannian didn’t wake up suddenly, no one would know what she was about to do.

With that thought, she moved. Her fingertips still held the residual sensation of the lips. Looking at the person inches away, she slowly leaned down, intending to kiss the side of Niannian’s face…

But before her lips could make contact, a force grabbed her and yanked her to the side.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” Jiang Yan’s face was dark as she glared at the stranger. She gripped the woman’s wrist tightly; despite the other’s desperate struggling, Jiang Yan showed no sign of letting go. Instead, she interrogated her: “Where is your ID? Are you the assigned makeup artist for today? What’s your name? Which company are you from? Are you a freelancer or part of the permanent crew?”

The person caught by Jiang Yan bit her lip and said nothing, merely reaching out to try and push away the hand gripping her arm, hoping to find an opening to flee.

Jiang Yan was no fool. Given the behavior she had just witnessed and the woman’s silence, she immediately called out loudly, summoning the surrounding staff members.

When the crew members first heard the noise, no one came over immediately, hesitant and looking at one another. It wasn’t until they heard Jiang Yan’s voice that they dropped whatever they were holding and bolted toward the sound.

The small room erupted into chaos. A dozen people surrounded the “secret photographer” to prevent her from leaving. Someone called the police, while others messaged Mo Yu in the group chat to come and assess the situation.

Meanwhile, the protagonist of the whole ordeal was in a daze, so sleepy she couldn’t even keep her eyes open; when she tried to force them, they ached miserably.

Before Niannian could even register her discomfort, a lukewarm towel was placed over her eyes. She instinctively reached up to touch it, but her hand was gently patted down.

“Put it down, sit properly, and go back to sleep.” Jiang Yan had used a mix of boiled water and mineral water to dampen the towel, wringing it until it didn’t drip before applying it to Niannian’s eyes.

Niannian’s eyes were closed and her world was black, but she wasn’t deaf. The noisy environment reached her ears, and she managed to catch a few keywords. She was smart enough to quickly realize there was an issue with the makeup artist from moments ago.

“Was that makeup artist just now…?”

Before she could finish, Jiang Yan interrupted her.

“Hurry up and sleep a bit more. Your eyes are swollen. Even with makeup, you won’t look good on camera.” Jiang Yan stood stiffly beside her, coldly telling Niannian to sleep. She instinctively didn’t want Niannian to know what had just happened. She simply found the whole thing disgusting.

“Mm.” Niannian was indeed exhausted. The ache in her eyes was relieved by the warm towel, and she soon didn’t bother to investigate the cause of the commotion.

Jiang Yan stood there for a while, softly calling Niannian’s name. Seeing no reaction, she used her phone to call someone else in to help hold the towel in place. She needed to see exactly what was going on with that “makeup artist.”

By the time she arrived, the police had just appeared and were gathering information. Fortunately, they had installed cameras in every shared room to handle various emergencies. Even if the woman said nothing, she couldn’t stop the police from processing the case.

“Fine, we’ll take her back for a statement. As for how to handle it afterward, it will follow the law.” After watching the surveillance footage, the police had it copied. Just as they were about to head back to the station, Jiang Yan stopped them.

“Wait, there should be one more person.”

Jiang Yan cast a cold look at the people around her before returning her gaze to the officers. “Our makeup artists have a fixed morning schedule. For her to get in and access the talent, she couldn’t have just guessed the timing. When I went in, it was only her and Shao Niannian; no one else was there. I suspect the other person is an accomplice.”

Hearing this, the fake makeup artist became anxious and began shouting at Jiang Yan, claiming that Jiang Yan loved to stir up “CP” (couple) rumors with female celebrities and changed partners constantly, and that Jiang Yan probably had more designs on Shao Niannian than she did…

“Stop shouting, you’re too noisy.” Mo Yu signaled the staff nearby to cover the woman’s mouth before explaining the makeup shift schedule to the police.

“Alright, go call him in.”

When the man arrived, the police asked why he hadn’t shown up at his scheduled time. He insisted he had overslept and knew nothing about what had happened. Finally, to let the crew return to work, the police took both of them back for interrogation, promising to notify the crew once the results were in.

Unexpectedly, as they were about to get into the police car, the male makeup artist started arguing with his accomplice. Both claimed the other had deceived them. With this development, they didn’t even need to go to the station; the police separated them for questioning and resolved the alert on the spot.

Wen Jing watched the scene unfold as she came downstairs, confused by the sudden large-scale commotion. Her assistant leaned into her ear and whispered the news she had heard from the crew’s small group chat.

“Oh, so Jiang Yan saved the day?” Wen Jing’s eyes darted around. She beckoned her assistant closer. “Come with me to the surveillance room. Let’s look at the footage.”

“Sis, that’s not good…”

“What are you afraid of? I’m not asking you to film it.” Wen Jing gave a “tsk.”

“Can’t I film it for Shao Niannian to see? She’s the victim; she deserves to know the situation.”

The assistant knew Wen Jing wasn’t telling the truth, but with her salary in Wen Jing’s hands, she didn’t dare argue. She was filled with anxiety, wishing Wen Jing’s manager were there to share the burden. What kind of nightmare life is this?

Shao Niannian slept until she woke up naturally. She was still a bit dazed upon waking. Looking at herself in the mirror, her disconnected brain began to slowly reboot. She spent a long time wondering why Wen Jing, who woke up later, was already made up and sitting in the back watching variety shows, while she, who woke up earlier, didn’t even have foundation on yet.

“Awake? Want some soup noodles?” Wen Jing seemed to be in a good mood, sitting cross-legged on the sofa and carefully sipping soy milk through a straw.

“What time is it?” Niannian asked, disoriented.

“Almost noon. If you’d slept a bit longer, you could have just had lunch.”

“!”

Niannian stood up in a panic, but after sitting for so long, her back and legs were numb. The makeup chair area was cramped, and her legs almost gave way, nearly sending her to the floor. Fortunately, Wen Jing’s assistant was quick and caught her.

“Thank you.” Niannian was helped over to the sofa. Before she could ask any questions, a pair of disposable chopsticks was thrust in front of her.

“Eat up quickly. Someone wants to see you after you’re done.”

Wen Jing’s variety show didn’t stop; the sounds of laughter filled the space between them. Before Niannian could speak, Wen Jing added, “Don’t worry, Mo Yu has her hands full this morning. I doubt we’ll start work today.”

“Ah, another day off,” Niannian wondered. “How much box office do we need to make back the money lost from these stoppages?”

“Why do you care?” Wen Jing said. “They have the capital to squander; it’s not your money, so don’t worry about it.”

“Oh.”

Niannian kept Gao Hui’s words in mind: “On set, mind your business and eat more. You can lose the weight later, but you can’t fix the rift with people you offend by talking too much.”

Although Niannian didn’t understand why Wen Jing was rushing her, her stomach, which hadn’t processed food in a while, couldn’t handle the piping hot noodles. Eating fast gave her a stomachache, so she ended up taking small bites of the plain noodles with soup.

After finishing, Niannian sat on the sofa for a while, her brow slightly furrowed as her stomach warmed up. Once the discomfort passed, she turned to Wen Jing. “Who wants to see me?”

“You’ll know when you get there.”

Wen Jing led Niannian around the set a few times. Just as Niannian was about to reach her limit, Wen Jing led her back to their lodgings.

“What’s this for?” Niannian stood at the door, her expression bewildered. She couldn’t understand why Wen Jing had brought her back to their room.

“Wait, don’t tell me you’ve brought something supernatural here to scare me…” Countless horror tropes flashed through Niannian’s mind. As she successfully scared herself into taking a step back, Wen Jing rolled her eyes in exasperation.

“What is in that head of yours all day? It’s a person inside, not a ghost,” Wen Jing said. “It’s not like I’d hurt you.”

Half-doubting, Niannian pulled her key from her pocket, looking at Wen Jing’s face to try and find an answer. However, Wen Jing’s rapidly improving acting skills seemed to have become a mask, hiding all joy, anger, and sorrow. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Resigned, Niannian entered the room alone. As soon as she walked in, she realized it was pitch black. The blackout curtains were tightly drawn. The faint light from the corridor shone in from behind her, barely allowing her to see where to step next.

The room was unnervingly quiet, yet Niannian didn’t feel a sense of danger.

Outside, Wen Jing leaned against the wall, relaxed. She didn’t care about what was about to happen in the room. She looked down at the Weibo trending list, her lips curling into a slight smile. Several consecutive hashtags on the list were about Shao Niannian’s sasaeng fan posing as a makeup artist to sneak into the set, suspected of sexual harassment—an attempt that might have succeeded if Jiang Yan hadn’t arrived.

“Why hide the fact that you played the hero saving the damsel?” Wen Jing smiled. Being able to annoy Jiang Yan made her happier than winning the lottery.