After I Transmigrated into the Novel, I made the Heroine Fall for Me - Chapter 52

Fang Qingying had just wrapped up filming and currently had no work on her plate.

Alone in her newly rented apartment, she held her digital drawing tablet, absolutely thrilled.

Finally, she had time to use her beloved tablet again.

Sitting in her chair, Fang Qingying skillfully booted up her device and connected the tablet.

She twirled her stylus maybe she should start with a cute chibi character?

About ten minutes later, an adorable chibi version of Gu Shengxiao appeared before her.

Fang Qingying: “…”

888: “Were you thinking about Gu Shengxiao the entire time you were drawing?”

Fang Qingying coughed a few times, awkwardly averting her gaze, the tips of her ears turning red as if 888 had just exposed her innermost thoughts.

888: “The female lead’s birthday is coming up soon. Have you prepared your gift?”

Not long ago, 888 had seen Fang Qingying sketching a small portrait of Gu Shengxiao, and even now, she was still drawing her.

Fang Qingying nodded in response. “It’s ready, but I’m just worried it might not be good enough.”

Most of her money was managed by Shen Lixie, and to her, that money belonged to the original owner, not her.

As for her own earnings, the only thing she could truly call hers was the two million yuan from her acting fee. But if she wanted to give something meaningful, her best option was her art.

888: “Qingqing, would you like to check out the system shop? The exchange rate here is 1 point to 10 yuan~”

Leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs, Fang Qingying adopted a knowing expression. “Are you trying to scam me into spending money?”

As a frugal, non-competitive player, Fang Qingying had never spent a single cent on in-game purchases anywhere.

888: “Are you really not going to consider it?”

Along with 888’s electronic voice, images of various trinkets flooded her mind everything from jade pendants to protective charms.

There were even exaggerated items like futuristic weapons and laser cannons.

Fang Qingying fell silent for three minutes, then suddenly felt that her little portrait wasn’t so bad after all. Thanks to 888, she had regained her confidence.

888: “Wait, why won’t you at least take a look? These items span from ancient times to the distant future wouldn’t that give you plenty of options?”

It hadn’t expected Fang Qingying to react with such blatant disdain after browsing the system shop. Other systems had told it that their hosts absolutely loved the shop!

Its Qingqing really was different from all those flashy, materialistic people out there.

888: “Qingqing, don’t you think this carved jade pendant is pretty?”

After some thought, it decided to try recommending a few items that might actually catch Fang Qingying’s eye.

It wanted to learn how to sell things like the other systems.

Fang Qingying: “Boring.”

With that, she logged onto Weibo and created a new account.

The username: Little Shadow Who Loves to Draw

In fact, she already had another alt account, one dedicated solely to fangirling.

The name was very much in line with the style of a devoted fan: “Will My Wife Xiao Xiao Marry Me Today?”

Most of the posts on that account were about Gu Shengxiao, and Fang Qingying had even uploaded all the merch she’d gotten from 888. She believed good things should be shared with everyone.

So, she had to create yet another account just to post her artwork.

She picked up the unfinished comic she’d been working on before transmigrating into the novel. Since she’d already drawn it once before, her speed improved significantly the second time around.

For the next few days without work, Fang Qingying spent her time in the study. If it weren’t for 888 fearing that Fang Qingying might starve herself to death, it absolutely wouldn’t have reminded her to eat at fixed times every day.

A system had practically turned into an alarm clock.

On this day, Fang Qingying was deeply engrossed in her painting when suddenly, her phone rang.

She frowned, put down her brush, and saw that the caller was Shen Lixie.

Her finger, which had been about to decline the call, paused slightly. Fang Qingying thought there must be something important after all, Shen Lixie rarely called her.

With that in mind, she answered the call and put it on speaker.

“Hey, Xiao Ying, do you remember agreeing to Director Liu about going for that audition?” Shen Lixie’s voice came through the phone.

Fang Qingying froze for a moment, blinking her eyes. Hmm… was there such a thing?

Perhaps because she didn’t respond, Shen Lixie asked again, “Don’t tell me you forgot?”

Feeling guilty, Fang Qingying immediately retorted, “No, I remember.”

Director Liu had mentioned that his friend had a drama in late July that needed a “vase” role, of course she remembered.

Fang Qingying thought this very guiltily.

In reality, she had almost completely forgotten about it.

“Just don’t forget. I’ll pick you up at your place tomorrow at 10 a.m. for the audition. If you pass, great. If not, no big deal.”

Shen Lixie spoke with an almost indifferent tone, as if this role, one that others would fight tooth and nail for was utterly insignificant in his eyes.

“Got it,” Fang Qingying replied.

“Don’t stress about it,” Shen Lixie added after a pause, his words stiff but clearly meant to reassure her.

The role she was about to audition for was from a highly anticipated fantasy drama adaptation of a popular IP called The Legend of Su Yue, recently taken on by Director Xu. The novel had a massive following among its original fans.

Even before filming began, the drama had never left the trending lists on Weibo.

However, perhaps because it was an IP adaptation, many book fans were worried. They feared that the adapted plot might not live up to their expectations.

As a result, countless fans had left comments under the author’s posts:

Wuwuwu, I hope the author herself can oversee the script!

What should I do? I’m already heartbroken for Palace Master Hua! No one can capture her peerless beauty!

Ahhh! The only one who can pull off “peerless beauty” is Actress Gu!

Don’t even think about it. Actress Gu only does one drama every six months, and her next one is already with Director Liu, almost finished filming.

The mention of Gu Shengxiao’s name seemed to spark a wave of comments like “Petition for Actress Gu to play Palace Master Hua!”

The power of the book fans was undeniable. Soon, a related hashtag was trending on Weibo.

Meanwhile, the author, whose Weibo had long been flooded sat at the audition venue, wearing thick black-rimmed glasses as she observed the candidates.

“Ah, why can’t I find the perfect actress for my Hua?” The author slumped lazily on the table, staring at the resumes in frustration.

Beside her sat a burly middle-aged man who tapped his pen on the table and said sternly, “Xu Huanhuan, if you don’t want to work, go home and sleep.”

The original author, known as Xu Huanhuan, pouted upon hearing these words and immediately retorted, “Old Man Xu, look at these people which one even comes close to the beauty of Palace Mistress Hua? How could I bear to tarnish my beloved daughter like this?”

The ‘Old Man Xu’ she referred to was Director Xu, who was already in his sixties, even older than Director Liu. However, thanks to Director Xu’s ageless face, Director Liu actually appeared older than him.

Because of this, Director Liu took great pleasure in finding ways to keep Director Xu busy.

“You wrote the character as too flawless, so naturally, no one can live up to it,” Director Xu mused for a moment before picking up the script on the table.

It described Palace Mistress Hua as having the grace of an immortal, like the bright moon in the sky something one could only admire from afar.

She was cold and aloof on the surface, yet possessed a heart of pure innocence, with eyes like crystal clear and luminous.

Director Xu thought to himself, where in the world could such a person exist?

“Hmph, I actually had a real-life reference, isn’t Actress Gu Shengxiao exactly like that?” Xu Huanhuan protested defiantly.

Originally, based on the outline she had drafted, there wasn’t supposed to be a character named ‘Palace Mistress Hua’ in the story. But that day, she happened to pass by Gu Shengxiao, and that fleeting glimpse inspired her.

It was this very inspiration that made The Legend of Su Yue even more perfect.

If the role of ‘Palace Mistress Hua’ were cut from the script, it wouldn’t actually affect the overall plot of the fantasy drama. However, the emotional grip of the story would lose several layers of depth.

If The Legend of Su Yue couldn’t become a hit, why would she have begged them to take on this project in the first place?

“I’ve already asked Shengxiao, she can’t take it. She has one drama in the first half of the year and another in the second half. Her schedule is completely packed,” Director Xu said, rubbing his temples as if nursing a headache.

Seeing Xu Huanhuan’s expression, Director Xu set a firm deadline. “If we can’t cast the role by tomorrow, then the character will be cut. The production schedule can’t be delayed any further.”

Hearing this, Xu Huanhuan immediately sat up straight, no longer slouching over the table.

Her eyes widened, round and full of disbelief. “What? I don’t agree with that!”

Cutting this role would be practically the same as killing her!

Unfortunately, once Director Xu made a decision, it wasn’t so easy to change.

Under his stern gaze, Xu Huanhuan wilted.

“Fine, cut it if you must,” she muttered in response, though her heart was filled with resentment.

Without the ‘Palace Mistress Hua’, the crowning touch would the drama still reach the heights she envisioned?

Xu Huanhuan thought, probably not.

The next round of auditions began soon after, leaving no time for further idle chatter.

A few hours later, Xu Huanhuan covered her eyes and wailed, “Old Man Xu, I need to cleanse my eyes with a look at Actress Gu!”

The candidates had been utterly disappointing nowhere close to the ‘Palace Mistress Hua’ in her mind.

Frustrated, Xu Huanhuan opened her Weibo app and was nearly overwhelmed by the flood of notifications. She randomly clicked on a few.

Most of them were comments begging for Gu Shengxiao to play ‘Palace Mistress Hua.’

Xu Huanhuan murmured to herself, “I want Actress Gu to take the role too! But the timing’s off, we can’t book her!”

With that, she shot a glare at Director Xu. It was all his fault for not securing her earlier letting Uncle Liu get ahead of them instead.

“Keep looking and tomorrow’s audition is canceled.” Director Xu could tell exactly what was on the other person’s mind.

“Don’t!” Xu Huanhuan instantly backed down.

Frustrated, she mindlessly scrolled through Weibo when suddenly, a photo of Gu Shengxiao chatting and laughing with a woman caught her eye.

This was the first time Xu Huanhuan had seen someone who could hold their own against Gu Shengxiao’s stunning looks someone who, in fact, seemed like a perfect match for her.

Excited, she clicked on the photo to get a better look, then scrolled through the comments and quickly zeroed in on the woman’s name.

She dug up the most flattering photo from the woman’s Weibo account and shoved it in Director Xu’s face.

“Look!”

Director Xu: “Her?”

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