After Being Dumped by the Film Empress, My Acting Skills Soared - Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Over the course of a single meal, Shao Niannian had quietly picked up a new job, successfully making Gao Hui believe—”I must have prayed very sincerely to the Bodhisattva at the beginning of the year!”

Niannian: “Is it not because I’m working hard?”

Gao Hui said earnestly: “The God of Wealth and the Bodhisattva are also working hard! It’s only the first quarter, and my commission is already half of what it was for the entire last year! Help, there are still three quarters left; I don’t even dare imagine my income by the end of the year!”

Niannian’s eyes turned red with envy. “Which Bodhisattva is this effective?”

Gao Hui coldly refused to share. “The ones for romance aren’t accurate, so give up. Don’t go bothering the Bodhisattva with your trivial little love life when they have the grand task of poverty alleviation to do!”

Niannian didn’t do much research on the shoot Jiang Yan mentioned, choosing instead to rely on pure trust.

“I mean, she wouldn’t exactly sell me off, would she?” Niannian’s response to Gao Hui’s questioning left her manager in a stunned silence.

Gao Hui clutched her phone tightly during a boring high-level meeting, taking deep breaths to remind herself to control her emotions. She couldn’t let her stress levels get too high, or her heart rate would spike to 140 again.

“Heh.” Please don’t go dying of a ‘love brain’ on my doorstep.

Niannian didn’t care, but Gao Hui certainly had to. Just before getting out of the car, Niannian relayed Gao Hui’s words to Jiang Yan—the gist being that for work-related matters, she should contact Gao Hui directly.

Jiang Yan nodded, indicating she understood.

The two stood there for a long time, locked in a stalemate without moving. Jiang Yan eventually tilted her head slightly, peering through the car window at Niannian standing outside. “Is there something else?”

“Don’t you need me to push Gao Hui’s contact info to you?”

Jiang Yan gripped the steering wheel, feigning calmness. “No need. I have it. Yang Yang recommended her to me before.”

This wasn’t a lie, though at the time, it had been a lapse of judgment driven by selfish curiosity. She wouldn’t dare admit that openly now.

“Oh?” Niannian was stunned, not quite understanding why Jiang Yan would want Gao Hui’s contact information. She couldn’t possibly be thinking of jumping ship to my company, could she?

“Well then, thanks for today.” Niannian smiled and waved, clearing the way for the car to leave. Only after she was sure the car was far away did she turn to head inside.

The electronic iron gate wasn’t closed. Li Sui was standing at the entrance, holding the gate open with one hand. She looked Niannian up and down, her brow furrowing slightly. “No way… you only said a few words, there’s been zero progress, so is it really necessary to be smiling like you just found a pile of cash?”

“If I could actually find cash today, I’d be even happier,” Niannian said, lightly pushing Li Sui toward the house.

“Then I hope your dream comes true today!” Li Sui sighed, swaying as she walked ahead. “Ah, a while ago I went to a temple and got you something very effective for making wishes. I wanted to give it to you as a ‘back-to-work’ gift, but seeing a certain someone like this…”

Hearing this, Niannian took several quick steps to catch up and slung an arm around her sister’s shoulder. “What gift? Mom and Dad both gave me red envelopes for starting work, surely you wouldn’t be the only one…?”

“Who are you? Are we that close? No touching!”

“Let me see!”

Li Sui, who was intentionally playing it cool, finally succumbed to Niannian’s persistence. She slowly and reluctantly pulled a heavy notebook with a temple-themed cover from her room. The moment she brought it out, she probably realized how silly it looked and intentionally said fiercely: “Don’t laugh. Even if it’s not effective, you have to swallow your words back into your stomach.”

Niannian, who was busy marveling at how even temples were doing cultural branding now: “?”

Teenagers are so annoying.

“I won’t! Don’t worry!” Niannian sincerely took the “Consecrated Notebook” with both hands. “I will definitely write down my wishes in it every single day!”

“I mean what I say, starting today!”

Li Sui, who had tossed the gift away like a hot potato, rolled her eyes. “Write whenever you want. I have a video-call mock exam with some people this afternoon. I’m skipping dinner, so tell Mom and Dad for me.”

“The auntie said she’s making Lobster Pasta with Cheese today. Are you sure you don’t want to eat?”

“…”

“There’s also Russian sausage and grilled steak. Oh, and dessert is Papaya with Snow Hashima. Those all seem to be your favorites.”

Li Sui grit her teeth. halfway up the stairs, she turned back and leaned over the railing, seeing Niannian’s smug smile exactly as expected.

“I’ll eat!”

“Great. That’s one more set of chopsticks for dinner then.”

“…”

Jiang Yan dropped Rong Xi off and was invited inside by the couple to sit for a while. Rong Qi carried his sleepy daughter upstairs to bed, while Pei Yao stayed downstairs to host Jiang Yan.

Knowing Jiang Yan lived alone and didn’t like having help coming in and out, Pei Yao knew she usually lived on light-meal takeout or boiled lettuce. She thought about packing some of the delicious homemade food the auntie had prepared in the fridge for her to take home.

Before she could move, Jiang Yan reached for the snack tray on the coffee table.

Pei Yao was slightly surprised, but her expression quickly faded into a smile. “Have your tastes changed lately? I never noticed you liking sweets this much before.”

Jiang Yan took two candies at once. The wrappers were exactly like the one she had seen in the car—rainbow plastic film. “Um, is there a difference in flavor between these two?”

“Yeah.” Pei Yao loved researching strange little things, including food. Since having a child at home, this hobby had been amplified. “The one with the more fluorescent color is lemon-flavored; the lighter one is lychee.”

“Oh, the lemon one is bad. I suggest the lychee.”

“Is it sour?” Jiang Yan made a move to unwrap the lemon one.

“Probably not. Xixi and Rong Qi both say it tastes terrible.” Pei Yao shrugged righteously. “I’m off sugar.”

Jiang Yan hummed in response and put the lemon-flavored one in her mouth. The taste wasn’t pure lemon; it was more like mint with a lemon scent—spicy and acerbic. After the hard shell melted slightly in her mouth, the sweetness slowly began to emerge. It was indeed a taste that was hard for most people to accept.

Jiang Yan looked down at the transparent paper she had unconsciously rolled into a long strip, then looked up at Pei Yao. “What brand is this candy?”

“You like it?” Hearing this, Pei Yao hurried to the snack cabinet to find the original candy tin. She brought it out and handed it to Jiang Yan. “A friend brought it back from Italy. Said they just bought it randomly while passing a candy shop.”

“If you want it…”

“No need.” Jiang Yan took out her phone to snap a photo of the dreamy, beautiful candy tin, then skillfully searched her contact list. “I’ll have someone find it for me. She has nothing better to do in Italy anyway.”

“Are there more lemon ones?”

Pei Yao quickly grabbed a bag and packed the unopened lemon candies from the cabinet.

Jiang Yan, meanwhile, sat leisurely on the sofa, not acting like a guest at all. After counting the lychee candies in the snack tray, she silently left three for Rong Xi and tucked three into her own pocket. Kids shouldn’t eat too much sugar; it’s bad for their teeth. Three candies a day is plenty.

Jiang Yan had arrived empty-handed but returned to her car with a haul of good candy. Only the tins of Italian lemon candy stayed in the passenger seat. She didn’t eat those, though; instead, she took a lychee-flavored one from her pocket and put it in her mouth.

As her lips closed over the hard candy, pressing it against the roof of her mouth, she received a call from Yang Yang.

“So? What’s your thought on the new script?”

Jiang Yan rolled the candy wrapper in her hand. The hard candy clicked against her teeth, and she let out a soft “tsk.” “How reliable is your information?”

“Eighty percent. The other twenty depends on Shao Niannian,” Yang Yang said with certainty. “After all, whether she’s willing to be the female lead is also a question.”

“…I think it’s quite difficult.” Jiang Yan used her tongue to push the candy to the side of her mouth, thinking of the script she had received. “Just those few consecutive scenes at the end… if you told me this was an NC-17 script and you were preparing to send me into the adult film industry, I’d believe you.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!” Yang Yang raised her voice. “We live in a civilized and harmonious society! That part at the end is just showing a bit of shoulder, a bit of waist, and then using some ambiguous cinematography! Nothing is actually happening, okay!”

“If you want, we can even use post-production to Photoshop it for you.”

Jiang Yan hummed softly. “If the lead is definitely Shao Niannian, I’ll take it. If not, forget it.”

“Got it. I hear you.” Yang Yang understood.

However, after five seconds of mutual silence, Yang Yang couldn’t help but ask: “So, the way you are now… do you like her? Or not?”

“I don’t know.” Jiang Yan bit down on the candy. Sweet syrup flowed out from the center, and the lychee flavor instantly filled her mouth. Jiang Yan shifted gears and stepped on the gas. “I’ve never liked anyone before. How should I know?”

“…”

Yang Yang made a snap decision. “Ah, that makes things easy to solve! A producer asked me the day before yesterday if I was free and invited you to be on a web variety show about young people dating. If you want to ‘learn,’ I’ll say yes for you.”

“Anyway, after the anniversary gala, you should still have some time. You can be a special guest for two episodes.”

“…?” Jiang Yan was confused. “I’m all the way in the New District and I can still hear you clicking your abacus in your office.”

“Hehe, it’s very simple. They’ll probably just randomly pick a female guest to record with you. Of course, if you want to designate a specific person, that’s not impossible.” Yang Yang hinted strongly: “I promise you about that female lead—as long as Shao Niannian doesn’t decline, it will definitely be a collaboration between you two.”

“Web variety shows have scripts too. Since you’ve already given her the resources… one more won’t hurt. I’ll just pack you both up and send you to the show together.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yan blinked. In the gap while waiting for a red light, she managed to find a shred of clear consciousness to ask Yang Yang.

“Did Gao Hui transfer her management contract to you? Or did she move her name onto your household register?”

Yang Yang was puzzled: “Huh?”

“The way you’re so eagerly introducing jobs… I can’t tell who you’re doing this for?”

Jiang Yan: “It’s probably not for me, right? After all, in your words, I’m just a tool meant to bring Shao Niannian into various resources at any time.”

Yang Yang: “…” So much for good intentions. Heh.