After Being Dumped by the Film Empress, My Acting Skills Soared - Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Drawing the Student role card was indeed a challenge for Shao Niannian. First, it was nearly impossible to earn money with this identity. The trope of “paid homework help” was reserved for academic overachievers; as someone who had graduated years ago, Niannian was currently at the “pick up a pen and forget how to write” stage. If she tried to tutor kids today, she might accidentally send a top-tier university candidate straight to a vocational school.

Second, the identity was hard to hide. The chances of keeping it a secret until the end were essentially zero. Thus, Niannian decided not to hide it forever—just as long as possible.

Furthermore, she was a student who couldn’t actually go to school, yet the production crew required the guests to leave the house on weekdays and “clock in” for work like normal people.

Niannian: “…” Thanks for that. Your planning is great, but maybe don’t.

Helpless, Niannian took advantage of a moment when Jiang Yan was busy in the study to beg the crew to return her phone. She contacted her old teacher from her art exam training days. The teacher had started their own business years ago, and Niannian had even sent a flower basket when the training center opened.

Since tomorrow was Sunday, Niannian planned to take Jiang Yan there, find a spot to tuck herself in, and solve her daytime destination problem for the upcoming work week.

The teacher readily agreed. “It happens to be the transition period between terms. We have mostly 10th and 11th graders coming in for interest classes. If you’re free, you can come be a teaching assistant.”

“I’m sure they’ll be thrilled.”

Niannian asked without hesitation, “Is there pay?”

“Yes, assistants get 20 yuan an hour. That would be your rate as well.”

Niannian calculated: an eight-hour shift would be 160 yuan a day, more than enough for two people’s basic living expenses.

With a plan in place, she prepared to head to bed. Halfway there, she remembered a crucial detail: she was living with Jiang Yan for a dating show. She couldn’t exactly sleep in the guest room, could she? Besides, she had no idea if the guest room had even been cleaned.

She crept to the study door and poked her head in. Jiang Yan was at the desk, reading a script. Noticing a sneaky shadow in her peripheral vision, Jiang Yan slammed the thick script shut and stuffed it into a drawer, looking unnaturally calm. “What is it? Something wrong?”

“I’m sleepy,” Niannian blurted out. “Tonight… are we sleeping together?”

Knowing their true situation, Jiang Yan understood Niannian was asking: Are we forced to share a bed for the cameras?

However, in the eyes of the live stream viewers, it meant something entirely different:

—“Even though the relationship was ‘leaked,’ the studios haven’t officially stated their stance. They still have to be coy on the show.”

—“If they don’t sleep in the same bed, it affects my shipping experience! I watch dating shows to see people date!”

—“They’re both nearly thirty. What’s wrong with dating?”

—“Correction: Niannian is far from thirty… they have a three-year age gap.”

Jiang Yan was momentarily stunned. No one had actually thought about the sleeping arrangements before Niannian moved in. No one had cleaned the guest room.

Jiang Yan stood up and walked over, whispering, “It seems… you can only sleep in my room.”

“Huh?”

“The guest room hasn’t been used in forever, so I never had the housekeeper clean it. There aren’t even extra sheets.”

Jiang Yan was used to living alone. This “home” was more like a hotel. In her younger years, she was a workaholic; the house remained exactly as the developer had delivered it. It wasn’t until she got sick and reduced her workload that the place gained some “life” with various belongings. Even so, she practiced minimalism—she didn’t keep backups of most things.

Niannian nodded. “Fine, let’s just sleep then.”

She grabbed Jiang Yan’s arm and pulled her toward the bedroom. At the door, she paused. “Can I go in?”

“Of course,” Jiang Yan pushed the door open. “You live here now. You’re one of the masters of this house. Do whatever you want. There are no scandalous secrets in here.”

“I have no reason to be on guard against you.”

Niannian blinked, looking up at Jiang Yan. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if the woman was being sincere or just acting for the “fake” relationship. She forced a cheerful smile and clung to Jiang Yan’s arm. “Okay then! I won’t be polite!”

“I’m so tired. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I found a good place for us to go.” Niannian beckoned Jiang Yan closer. Once they were near, she put a hand on Jiang Yan’s shoulder, pulling her down to eye level. “Since we’re going out tomorrow, I have a small request for the ‘Boss’ to approve.”

“Let’s hear it first.” Being pulled so suddenly, Jiang Yan lost her balance. She had to brace her hand against the doorframe behind Niannian to steady them both. “If it costs a fortune, I won’t approve it.”

“How could it be expensive?” Niannian puffed her cheeks out. “Does the Boss not trust my competence?”

“It’s easy to go from rags to riches, but hard to go from riches to rags.” Jiang Yan knew that for people like them, who were used to unlimited spending, it was hard to adjust to a strict budget.

“Taking the bus should be fine, right? I checked, and it’s only 4 yuan total for both of us round-trip.”

Jiang Yan relaxed. “Fine, that price is approved. Anything else?”

Niannian fell silent. In the quiet, she realized their distance was so small she couldn’t even fit a five-centimeter ruler between them.

“N-nothing else! Good-goodnight…!”

Recovering her senses, Niannian ducked under Jiang Yan’s arm and scrambled onto the bed, diving under the covers. She wrapped herself so tightly that not even a strand of hair was visible.

The bedroom camera: “???”

Jiang Yan watched the “steaming” lump on the bed and let out a soft laugh. She whispered a “Goodnight” and didn’t linger. She was worried that if she stayed, the idiot under the covers would suffocate herself.

She glanced at the cameraman who wanted to stay for more footage, and he instinctively stepped out.

“Sorry, she probably can’t sleep with you in there. You’ll have to stick with me tonight,” Jiang Yan explained to the crew, not wanting her words to be misconstrued. “It’s still too early for me to sleep.”

Netizens in the live stream had their own conclusions: “We get it. You just don’t want us to see the ‘sleeping together’ part!”

Behind her desk, Jiang Yan’s mood hadn’t settled. A camera was still on her, so she kept her expression neutral.

She pulled a script from her drawer. It had been there for a week. Ever since Yang Yang delivered it, Jiang Yan had felt an unusual sense of unease. Especially because of the news Yang Yang brought: “The other female lead is already set as Shao Niannian.”

The genre wasn’t Jiang Yan’s favorite, but the moment she heard Niannian was the co-star, she had opened it to study it. At that moment, “Pandora’s Box” was opened.

She looked at the cover. The names of the screenwriters were listed at the top.

Shao Yun’s name was at the very head of the list.

The next morning, Niannian woke up to a room full of light. It took her a moment to remember she wasn’t at home. She looked at the other side of the bed—Jiang Yan was already gone.

She dragged herself out of bed and ran into Jiang Yan, who was coming out of the bathroom with damp hair.

“You’re awake? I went downstairs to the convenience store for breakfast. It might be a bit greasy.”

“It’s fine. I’m easy to raise, I’ll eat anything,” Niannian chirped.

After breakfast and changing, Niannian set the navigation to the training center. Jiang Yan took the driver’s seat. Coincidentally, their outfits looked like a matched set: Niannian’s T-shirt color matched Jiang Yan’s jacket, and they wore the same brand of shoes from different seasons.

Managers watching the feed in the conference room frowned. “Why do they look so real? Did the training work too well? Are they brainwashing themselves?”

The stars didn’t care. The training center was in a prime location, as the teacher catered to wealthy families. It was only a ten-minute drive.

“A training center?” Jiang Yan twirled the car keys before pocketing them. “Why bring me here?”

“For a date, of course!” Niannian hooked her arm through Jiang Yan’s. “I’m taking you to see my ‘Glory Days.'”

The years I spent studying desperately just to chase after you.

The center hadn’t changed much. One wall was covered in photos of graduates and copies of admission letters. Niannian unerringly pulled a heavy album from the shelf—the year she graduated.

She flipped to the Acting Class. Many of her former classmates were still in the industry. Some were steady working actors; others had become teachers or screenwriters abroad.

“There I am.” Niannian found herself in the crowd.

It was a photo of students walking back to the center on a winter street. Niannian, who wasn’t much of a socialite then, was trailing slightly behind the group.

She looked out of place, yet it was impossible to ignore that face. Even without looking at the camera, she looked like a winter pear blossom—pure, beautiful, and unforgettable.

Jiang Yan reached out to touch the plastic-covered photo. Her fingertip moved from the crowd toward the lonely girl at the back. But before she could touch it, a voice called out.

“Niannian? Why so early? Only the morning practice students are here.”

Jiang Yan’s finger jerked back as if she’d been shocked. She turned around, feigning composure.

“I came as soon as I woke up,” Niannian introduced Jiang Yan to her teacher. “You don’t mind us hanging out here for the day, do you?”

“You can leave, just leave the Triple-Crown Best Actress here for me,” the teacher joked.

The teacher waved them off to explore. “First class hasn’t started yet. Look around.”

Once the teacher left, the lobby was empty. Niannian moved through the space like she was in her own home, knowing where every object was. She even found the stack of materials she used for her Mandarin training.

The piles were massive. Niannian gestured, showing a height twice that of the table. “I did this much training and practice questions back then.”

“Actually, in my first year, I could have gotten into a great film academy. I was 10th in their acting rankings. I just needed to take the written exam to become a freshman.”

“But I refused.”

“Because that wasn’t the school I wanted to go to.”

Jiang Yan’s grip on the materials tightened. She looked at Niannian, waiting for the rest.

But the girl who had been chatterbox since entering the building suddenly went quiet. She buried her head and began writing on a notepad, avoiding the cameras and Jiang Yan’s eyes.

After a moment, Niannian folded the note and pressed it into Jiang Yan’s palm. Her soft fingertip lingered on Jiang Yan’s skin.

“The answer is here. I don’t want to say it out loud.”

“The movies I’ve watched told me that if it’s right, it’s right.”

“Because I chose to do it, it was the right choice.”

Niannian looked at her with total seriousness. “Jiang Yan, I have never been lost.”