After I Transmigrated into the Novel, I made the Heroine Fall for Me - Chapter 35

Watching Fang Qingying’s eager anticipation, Director Liu suddenly felt an urge to clutch his chest in distress.

Had she ever seen a TV drama where the car was actually running indoors?

“Huh? We don’t need to start the engine?” Fang Qingying asked in confusion, rolling down the window and sticking her head out.

If she didn’t drive, how were they supposed to film the scene?

“The plot says you accidentally get scammed while driving, but look around, this is an indoor set. And even if you did start the car, could you control the timing and speed of braking?”

Director Liu was at his wit’s end. Frustrated, he scratched his head and pointed at the backdrop behind them and Gu Shengxiao, who was about to make her entrance.

He was starting to suspect that Fang Qingying and Gu Shengxiao’s supposed friendship was all for show.

Forget everything else, the braking issue alone was a major problem. If she lost control for even a second.

At best, it might just be a minor scrape, but at worst, Gu Shengxiao could end up hospitalized.

“…” Fang Qingying fell silent. She had to admit Director Liu had a point, you couldn’t actually drive indoors. So she just had to pretend?

Fang Qingying: Mind blown!

“Let’s start over!” Director Liu barked, slapping a nearby stool with a dark expression.

Hearing this, Fang Qingying gave him an ‘OK’ sign and rolled the window all the way up.

“Fang Qingying! Roll the window halfway down, what are we supposed to film otherwise?” Director Liu grabbed a megaphone and shouted from atop the stool.

If she closed the window completely, how were they supposed to shoot the wide-angle shot? Were they just supposed to film a pitch-black window with no visible person? What kind of nonsense was that?

“Huh? Oh, fine!” Fang Qingying reluctantly rolled the window halfway down, revealing just half of her face.

After confirming there were no other issues, Director Liu called for the cameras to roll.

By the end of the scene, Fang Qingying’s cooperation was decent except for one glaring flaw: her lack of immersion.

Director Liu frowned as he reviewed the footage, then waved Fang Qingying and Gu Shengxiao over. “Xiao Gu, Xiao Fang, come take a look.”

“Right here, Xiao Fang did you suddenly develop full-body stiffness? You’re just helping her up, not walking to your execution. Why do you look like you’re about to face a firing squad?”

“In the script, she hasn’t met the female lead yet, so she should be showing concern, not the awkward stiffness you’re displaying here.”

Director Liu pointed out every problematic moment in the footage, only to realize they all stemmed from the same issue.

This left him baffled. He studied the two standing side by side and asked, “Are you two really not enemies? Be honest, I don’t want excuses.”

Fang Qingying’s face instantly flushed crimson. She immediately grabbed Gu Shengxiao’s hand and insisted, “We really aren’t enemies! This… this is just an accident!”

It was just, the close contact made her a little flustered, that’s all.

“Mm, not only are we good friends, but Xiao Ying also said she’s my fan,” Gu Shengxiao added with a nod, backing up Fang Qingying’s claim.

Director Liu looked at Fang Qingying and suddenly had an epiphany. “So, Xiao Fang, is it because you’re getting close to your idol that you’re feeling shy?”

No wonder Fang Qingying turned into a statue every time Gu Shengxiao approached her.

“Alright, how about this Xiao Fang, try imagining that the other person isn’t your idol, just an ordinary person. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Adjust your mindset, and we’ll reshoot these few scenes.”

Director Liu quickly adopted the tone of a seasoned mentor, patting Fang Qingying’s shoulder with deep sincerity while flashing an encouraging ‘I believe in you’ look.

Fang Qingying forced an awkward smile. “I’ll do my best.”

It wasn’t that she was shy, it was a physical reflex.

Yes, a reflex.

888: [Are you instinctively reacting with shyness toward Gu Shengxiao?] 888 mercilessly pierced through Fang Qingying’s guilty conscience, swiftly issuing a random task before making a quick exit.

[Random Task: Engage in close physical contact with the female lead five times. Progress: 0/5]

Fang Qingying: You really know how to seize the moment.

She took a closer look and realized the scenes Director Liu had pointed out for reshoots were indeed five in total.

“Have you adjusted your mindset yet? Let’s not waste time, we should get started right away.” Director Liu had already settled back into his seat, urging the two of them to hurry over and prepare for filming.

The entire afternoon had been spent on this particular scene, slowing down the overall progress.

Gu Shengxiao walked beside Fang Qingying and, taking advantage of her height, gently patted her head. “Don’t stress too much. Just treat it like usual.”

Like usual holding hands, embracing each other.

After saying this, Gu Shengxiao lay down on the ground beside the car, assuming the ‘victim’ pose for the scene.

Fang Qingying blinked. What does she mean by ‘like usual’?

Logically speaking, she was always the passive one in their usual interactions. But now, she had to take the initiative!

Still, seeing that Gu Shengxiao was already in position, Fang Qingying didn’t overthink it and got back into the car.

“Action!” Director Liu called out.

Fang Qingying stepped out of the car with an expression of urgent concern, looking down at the figure lying motionless on the ground as if unconscious.

She quickly crouched beside her, reaching out but the moment before her fingers made contact, her heartbeat spiked, and her breathing faltered.

Pulling Gu Shengxiao into her arms, Fang Qingying was enveloped by the other woman’s scent.

But…

What she saw wasn’t Gu Shengxiao dressed in her usual delicate, flower-like attire. Instead, she saw her lying in a pool of crimson, a torrential downpour raging around her.

Perhaps because of this hallucination, Fang Qingying faintly heard the sound of rain in her ears. A wave of terror surged from the depths of her heart, spreading uncontrollably.

From Director Liu’s perspective, Fang Qingying’s performance had been flawless at first her expressions and movements were on point. But then, toward the end, her entire body began trembling violently, as if she had seen something horrifying.

“Cut! Fang Qingying, what are you doing?” Director Liu practically barked the words through gritted teeth.

This was definitely not how a fan would react upon seeing their idol!

Overcome by panic, Fang Qingying instinctively clung to Gu Shengxiao, gripping her like the only lifeline in a storm.

Gu Shengxiao immediately sensed something was wrong. She wrapped her arms around Fang Qingying in return, gently patting her back.

“Xiao Ying, what’s wrong?”

Her cool, composed voice cut through Fang Qingying’s hallucination like a blade.

” I don’t know.” Fang Qingying snapped back to reality, only to find her face streaked with tears, her arms still trembling as she held onto Gu Shengxiao.

What had she seen? As she tried to recall, she realized she couldn’t conjure up even a fragment of the image.

All she knew was that she was terrified so terrified that her entire body went weak, barely able to hold onto Gu Shengxiao.

During the first shoot, she hadn’t experienced any such hallucinations. So why, during this reshoot, had these inexplicable, disjointed images suddenly surfaced?

“What’s wrong?” Director Liu walked over, utterly baffled as he looked at Fang Qingying, whose makeup was nearly ruined by tears. “Why are you crying? There’s no crying scene in this part.”

“I don’t know, I just feel like crying.” Fang Qingying shook her head, unable to explain it, but the tears wouldn’t stop.

“Maybe we should take a break. Calm yourself down first.” Director Liu crouched beside the two of them, troubled as he sought their opinions.

Given the circumstances, Fang Qingying clearly couldn’t continue filming. A pause was necessary.

“Okay.” Fang Qingying nodded.

With the help of their respective assistants, both of them stood up, but Fang Qingying’s legs gave out, and she slumped against Gu Shengxiao.

“Ying-jie, are you okay?” Gao Tian reached out to steady Fang Qingying, her voice laced with concern.

“My legs just went weak for no reason. It’s nothing serious.” Fang Qingying steadied herself with Gao Tian’s support, offering a helpless explanation.

Then, an electronic voice suddenly echoed in her mind.

[Congratulations, Host, on achieving 2/5 intimate interactions with the female lead.]

Hearing this, Fang Qingying strongly suspected that her sudden weakness might have been orchestrated by the system just to complete this mission.

888: System is resting. Blame falls on the host.

If 888 knew what Fang Qingying was thinking, it would surely cry out in protest, This is slander!

She was the one who got scared stiff. How was this the system’s fault?

Gao Tian helped Fang Qingying back to the dressing room, where the makeup artist arrived to touch up her ruined makeup.

Fang Qingying closed her eyes, letting the artist work.

But in reality, she was calling out to System 888 in her mind.

Fang Qingying: 888, come out for a second. What exactly was that thing I saw earlier?

That vision, it felt as though she had lived through it herself.

But wasn’t Gu Shengxiao the female lead of this novel? How could something like that happen to her?

If the female lead of this book were gone would this world even remain intact?

As Fang Qingying grew increasingly frantic, System 888 finally responded.

888: Qingqing, what do you need? You haven’t completed your mission yet.

Fang Qingying: I have a question can the male and female leads die?

If they could, would this world collapse?

888: If the male and female leads die, this novel would cease to exist. Both you and I would perish as well.

Fang Qingying: I think I had a hallucination. I saw Gu Shengxiao die.

888: That’s impossible. The protagonists’ luck is incredibly strong. Without some predetermined catastrophe, what you described would never happen.

After all, this world revolved around the male and female leads. If they could be taken down so easily, what was even the point of this system’s existence?

Deep down, Fang Qingying believed in the protagonists’ plot armor. But that hallucination had felt far too real so real that it filled her with dread.

Even if she couldn’t recall the exact details of the scene, the terror it had instilled in her was unforgettable.

Fang Qingying: “888, why do I have to cuckold the male lead? What’s the point of doing this?”

It seemed 888 hadn’t expected her to ask this question, as its response became noticeably sluggish.

After making her wait for quite a while, 888’s voice still hadn’t come through. Instead, another even colder electronic tone answered.

[The primary purpose of the ‘Cuckolding’ system is to strip the male lead of his fortune and return it to…] 888: [I just checked it seems to be about stealing his fortune?] 888’s voice cut off the electronic tone’s next words, making Fang Qingying suspect that the system in her head might have some ulterior motive.

Fang Qingying: “I think I just heard something about ‘returning’? Where exactly can fortune like this be returned to?”

888: [“You must have misheard. I never said anything like that from the start.”]

Support