After Being Dumped by the Film Empress, My Acting Skills Soared - Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Paper towels soaked with unopened mineral water were pressed against Shao Niannian’s nose. A warm hand held the back of her head steadily, preventing her from instinctively flinching away.

Jiang Yan worked hard to keep her lips pressed into a straight line, trying her best to suppress her amusement while she cleaned up Niannian’s nosebleed. She glanced down to check Niannian’s clothes; fortunately, no blood had stained them.

Jiang Yan then considerately turned her back to Niannian to finish changing into her own racing pants. She threw on the racing jacket without zipping it, pulled her hair back into a simple ponytail with a rubber band, swapped her shoes, and walked back to Niannian with the second set of racing gear.

“Has it stopped yet?”

“No.” Niannian pulled the wet paper towel away dejectedly, only for the blood to start flowing again immediately, as if it cost nothing to lose. “It looks like my platelets haven’t clocked in for their shift yet.”

Looking at Niannian’s pitiful state, Jiang Yan chuckled. “I don’t think this is a platelet issue. It’s the start of summer; the weather is dry, and you’re probably just suffering from ‘heatiness’ and internal dampness.”

“Probably…” Niannian thought about how she’d started sleeping with the AC on lately. The “heatiness” theory was a convenient explanation. Both women were very intentional about avoiding a certain, much more obvious conclusion.

“I’ll take you for some herbal cooling tea after work.”

Niannian grew alert. “?”

“There’s no need! How could I trouble you… you must be busy after the shoot, I don’t want to bother you…”

“It’s no bother.” Jiang Yan knew immediately that Niannian wasn’t afraid of bothering her; she just hated how bitter the cooling tea was and didn’t want to go. But how could one have “internal heat” and not drink herbal tea? “It’s on the way. We’ll eat dinner and then I’ll drop you home. Consider it a reward for your hard work today.”

Holding her bleeding nose, Niannian let out a bitter smile. Realizing she couldn’t escape the herbal tea, she nodded obediently.

She assumed they would wait for the bleeding to stop before proceeding and was racking her brain for a topic of conversation—the atmosphere couldn’t just stay frozen, after all. However, before she could find a topic, Jiang Yan moved first.

Jiang Yan shook out the racing jacket she was holding and tilted her head, signaling Niannian to cooperate and lift her arms.

Niannian let herself be handled like a submissive puppet. As Jiang Yan’s beautiful face drew closer, Niannian’s every breath was invaded by a light, elegant perfume—rich but not overpowering. It felt as though it wasn’t just her nose bleeding; every cell in her body was “bleeding.” Blood rushed through her until she felt feverish, her muscles stiffening with a dull ache.

The owner of the perfume was just like the scent itself: silently staining and claiming unfamiliar territory.

Jiang Yan tilted her head, her fingers smoothing the collar of the suit, her fingertips brushing against the nape of Niannian’s neck seemingly by accident. Overwhelmed by that face at such close proximity, Niannian tried to dodge, but only ended up shifting from Jiang Yan’s left hand to her right.

Niannian straightened her back. Even through the layers of the suit, the sensation of the touch felt magnified in her mind. Her breathing became erratic. She couldn’t stop her mind from racing—It’s just helping with a jacket, why am I thinking so much! Being this shy makes me look like I’ve never seen the world! No one would like a—

Niannian’s eyes suddenly widened. Forgetting her bleeding nose entirely, she reached out to grab Jiang Yan’s hand as it moved toward her waist, her voice hitting a startled high note. “W-what are you doing!”

Jiang Yan smiled. “Changing your pants.”

“I-I’ll do it myself! No need for you to help.” Niannian felt the blood start to trickle again. Her damp hand gripped Jiang Yan’s wrist to prevent her from actually pulling the pants down. Her other hand, disregarding the wet paper towel, simply stuffed the wad into her nostril to plug the leak.

With her breathing restricted, Niannian’s voice sounded muffled and strange as she carefully pushed Jiang Yan’s hand away. “I can do it. I don’t want to trouble you.”

Jiang Yan saw that Niannian’s face was now as red as a peeled boiled shrimp. Knowing that teasing her further would be going too far, she stepped back to give Niannian space and tactfully turned around.

Terrified of another “helpful” move, Niannian didn’t dare delay. She swapped into the racing pants in record time. The tight-fitting gear accentuated her slender legs; if she hadn’t been clumsily holding her nose with a tissue, she would have looked quite striking.

Jiang Yan leaned her back against the lockers, her hands behind her, watching the silent Niannian. If Niannian’s cheeks weren’t still flushed, Jiang Yan might have worried she was angry.

They stayed in silence for a few more moments until Niannian was certain the itching sensation in her nose had passed. She carefully removed the tissue and touched her nose; her fingertips came away clean. She crumpled the bloody tissues, threw them in the trash, and used the remaining mineral water to wash her face. Once she was sure no traces remained, she walked toward Jiang Yan.

“Let’s go out. They’ve been waiting a long time.” Niannian remembered Jiang Yan’s warning about the expensive hourly rates for the pros outside. She was only making 50,000 yuan for this gig; she couldn’t afford to pay it all back in overtime fees.

“No rush,” Jiang Yan said, completely reversing her previous stance. It was as if the person who had just “threatened” Niannian to hurry up wasn’t her at all.

Niannian: “?” You better be serious about not being in a rush! If you weren’t in a rush, why did you try to take my pants off!

Jiang Yan seemed to think of something and beckoned Niannian over. Niannian shifted her feet but kept her distance. Jiang Yan beckoned again; Niannian shifted a tiny bit more. A wary Niannian was like a penguin at a zoo that had been tricked by a keeper too many times.

But despite the wariness, when Jiang Yan saw that Niannian was playing this “shift and shimmy” game tirelessly, she simply reached out and pulled her close. Her gaze landed on Niannian’s philtrum, and she lightly pinched her nose.

“Does it hurt?” “No.”

Jiang Yan hummed softly. Her eyes lowered to Niannian’s lips, which were still beaded with water droplets. Suddenly, she asked, “If someone does a good deed, are they allowed to ask for a reward?”

“Huh?”

Jiang Yan continued, “And if someone else flirted first and crossed the line, wouldn’t it be fair and just to pay them back in kind?”

Niannian was lost. What are you talking about?

“So…”

Jiang Yan gripped Niannian’s wrist. Her back, which was leaning against the lockers, curved slightly. Even with her body tilted and knees bent, she still had to lean down to press her lips against Niannian’s.

The taste of their lips meeting was better than Jiang Yan had imagined. However, the person she was kissing was painfully slow to react. Niannian even needed a verbal reminder to part her lips, to say nothing of her wide-eyed, dazed expression and trembling eyelashes. She was stiff, but unexpectedly sweet.

Aware that they still had a shoot to finish, Jiang Yan kept a shred of logic. There was no biting, just a gentle overlap, like two soft feathers brushing together.

“Good girl.”

“…”

Outside, Mina was already eating a sandwich. She hadn’t had breakfast yet. Next to her was a cup of unpretentious instant coffee—Nestlé, no less. She seemed entirely unconcerned with the two women who had been in the dressing room for quite some time. The camera crew was scattered around the hall, showing no signs of impatience.

Choris, however, was checking her phone constantly, looking irritable. After the sixteenth check, she muttered, “I hope she isn’t making a mess in my dressing room.”

“Unlikely,” Mina said, wiping her mouth. “Yan-yan doesn’t have much interest in performing in ‘AVI format’ in public.” Mina let out a mocking smirk. “Though, I can’t say the same for foreigners.”

Choris, the target of the barb, didn’t feel that her past actions were wrong at all. “You were the one who said if I did something wrong, I had to accept the punishment. Besides, I didn’t actually pull you into…”

“Shut up!” Mina glared at her. “What do you mean ‘did something wrong’? Which part of that was my fault?!”

“You are my navigator.”

“Yes, a navigator, not a literal guard dog. You don’t get to control who I talk to.”

Choris stubbornly repeated her earlier sentiment. “The navigator and the driver are one. You shouldn’t smile at others like that, and you shouldn’t shake hands with other drivers! You can only be with me. We are partners.”

Mina was so angry she wanted to hurl the sandwich box at the mixed-race girl’s face. Those weren’t the words she wanted to hear, yet Choris managed to step on her landmines with pinpoint accuracy every single time. In the past, Mina would have explained patiently—Choris, our behavior has exceeded the social boundaries of mere partners. But after a thousand explanations, the answer was always the same. She was exhausted.

Whatever… Mina gave up on talking to this high-breed “dog” who refused to listen to human speech. It did nothing but raise her blood pressure and ruin her annual physical reports.

Seeing Mina looking down and ignoring her, Choris pulled her chair closer with a smile. Whenever Mina stopped fighting a point, Choris got to enjoy the “sweetness”—those rare moments of Mina’s exhaustion where she wouldn’t reject a kiss, a hug, or making love. Choris sensed that this round of their argument had come to a close.

When the dressing room door finally opened, everyone instinctively looked toward the two women.

Jiang Yan’s expression was unchanged. She smiled and nodded to the group. “Sorry to keep everyone waiting.”

Niannian, however, was just as she had been before entering—following a step behind Jiang Yan, peeking out from behind her with a tilted head. “Sorry for the trouble, everyone…”

“If everyone is ready, we can start the shoot,” the director said. Seeing them look exactly as they did when they went in, he assumed the actresses just took extra time to ensure their image was perfect. He clapped his eyes and got everyone moving to finish early.

Only Mina and Choris, sitting nearby, knew the truth.

Mina felt her sandwich turning in her stomach. She felt sorry that the beautiful and cute Shao Niannian had actually fallen into the hands of an “old sea king” like Jiang Yan, but she respected the fates of others. After all, if Niannian hadn’t jumped into the pit willingly, they wouldn’t be seeing this scene now.

Choris grit her teeth, fuming inwardly. I clearly warned them! That is my dressing room! Stop doing weird things in my dressing room!