I Don't Want To Fall In Love With The Heroine [Quick Wear] - Chapter 4

A brief touch, like a dragonfly skimming the surface of the water.

Bai Qian pulled her lips away. She had no intention of going further; the mistake she’d made with the female lead should stay buried in the previous night. She only did this now as a warning.

Don’t tempt me again.

The young girl, whose face was flushed crimson by the gesture, failed to see the warning hidden beneath it. Instead, she stubbornly chased the same question she had asked twice before.

“You really don’t like me? If you don’t like me, why did you kiss me again?”

Bai Qian stood up calmly. “We’ve done much more intimate things than that. Are you really hung up on this?”

“Scumbag!” Shao Zizhi snapped. “And you say you’re not experienced? Only a total player could say something that cold. You scumbag!”

“I’ve settled what needed to be settled,” Bai Qian said. “I have things to do, so I’m leaving.”

“You aren’t allowed to go! You haven’t finished the massage!”

Seeing that Bai Qian was truly leaving, Shao Zizhi panicked. She bounced out of bed and rushed in front of her, spreading her arms wide to block the way. However, she forgot her body was still recovering. The moment she lunged, her legs gave out, and she plummeted straight toward the other woman.

Once again, Bai Qian caught her. She scooped her up by the knees, tucked her back into the duvet, and said sternly, “You have my number. I won’t block you. If something serious happens, call me. Right now, I really have work. Sit still, rest, and go home when you’ve recovered. Do you understand?”

Staring into those deep, ink-black eyes, Shao Zizhi’s pampered facade crumbled. Finally, she nodded piteously. “Fine. But you better not block me! If I find out you did, I’ll go straight to your house and harass you!”

Bai Qian pressed the elevator button and pulled out her phone to message the assistant director. He replied quickly. She let out a sigh of relief; the job was still available.

Tomorrow’s shoot was in the Shao District. Bai Qian opened an app to search for nearby hotels. After scrolling through several pages, she finally found a single room 1.6 kilometers away for only 98 yuan a night. Although the rating was barely over three stars, for the current Bai Qian, it was the best value for her money.

Lunch was covered by the leftover half-bowl of wontons. For dinner, a cup of instant noodles would suffice. When you’re broke, you have to tighten your belt: increase income, decrease expenditure.

*****

Being an extra wasn’t difficult.

They were called “actors,” but in reality, they were just twenty-odd women of similar ages hired to serve as human wallpaper. Standing in line next to Bai Qian was a recent drama school graduate. She was the “delicate and clean” type—striking among ordinary people, but somewhat plain in an entertainment industry overflowing with beauties.

Bai Qian didn’t notice her at first until someone behind them started whispering complaints, grumbling that the female lead’s terrible acting was forcing them to stand in the sun for longer. As one person spoke up, others joined in, cursing the oblivious lead under their breath.

Bai Qian listened quietly. People were grumbling all around her, but the girl to her right remained as silent as she was. Bai Qian couldn’t help but glance over.

The girl stood as straight as a pine tree. The sun was fierce, causing sweat to pour down her forehead, but she didn’t look frustrated. When she reached up to wipe her face, her calm expression never wavered.

Impressive, Bai Qian thought. As she was looking, her gaze met the girl’s. The student paused, then gave her a small smile. That smile made Bai Qian reconsider her initial thought.

This girl has a certain charm when she smiles.

A scene that should have taken twenty minutes dragged on for hours because the lead actress couldn’t get into character. Just as Bai Qian felt she was reaching her limit, the director finally called a grudging “Cut!”

“Hard work this morning, everyone! Lunch is here. Take a break. We have a similar scene this afternoon, and then you can collect your pay and head out.”

The lunch boxes were standard: two vegetables, one meat, and a small portion of rice, plus a box of iced tea. Bai Qian found a corner to eat. As she was finishing, someone sat down next to her.

It was the graduate. She didn’t have a lunch box, just a chilled iced tea. Without a greeting or introduction, she asked familiarly, “Why didn’t you join them in cursing Zhao Tong?”

Zhao Tong was the lead actress—a “nepotism hire” with zero acting skills.

Bai Qian countered with a question: “Why didn’t you?”

“I’ll scold her later.”

Bai Qian blinked. ?

The girl winked. “Didn’t she get the role because of an investment? Well, I’m the ‘investment.’ She’s my sister. Since she’s acting so poorly, I’ll deal with her when we get home tonight.”

Bai Qian’s shocked expression delighted the girl, who burst into laughter. “You’re so fun! I was just joking. You actually believed me?”

“Yes,” Bai Qian admitted. “I did.”

The girl shook her head and poked her straw into the tea. “Someone as naive as you won’t last long in this industry. By the way, I haven’t asked—what school do you go to? You look young. Sophomore year?”

Bai Qian smiled. “I’m twenty-eight.”

Cough, cough, cough! The girl sprayed her drink across the pavement. Once she caught her breath, she gasped, “You’re lying, right?”

Bai Qian stood up and patted her shoulder. “You lied to me first, so I lied to you. To tell you the truth… I’m actually eighteen.”

******

The afternoon shoot was easier. Perhaps the lead had received some coaching, as her expressions were much more fluid.

Bai Qian watched the lead actress from a distance. She was stunning and had a great figure. Suddenly, Bai Qian’s eyes narrowed. She noticed that the woman’s lipstick was slightly smudged—specifically, a tiny patch at the corner of her mouth seemed to have been bitten off. Because the mark was faint and the sun was bright, it wasn’t obvious.

She glanced back at the graduate. The girl’s eyes were fixed intently on the lead actress. If Bai Qian wasn’t mistaken, there was a tiny smudge of a different shade of lipstick on the corner of the student’s own mouth.

Bai Qian quietly looked away, pretending she’d seen nothing.

The shoot ended around 2:00 PM. Since it was too early for dinner boxes, the paymaster asked, “Anyone want to stay for dinner? If not, we’ll give you a 15-yuan meal allowance instead.”

Bai Qian took the cash. A meal at a cheap noodle shop wouldn’t cost more than ten yuan; she could save the change, and it would taste better than a boxed lunch anyway. With this 200 yuan, she could stay another night at the hotel, but that wasn’t a long-term solution. She needed to rent an apartment.

The original owner was an actress, so if she wanted to earn money, she had to stick to that path—a rule the Guardians had to follow once they stepped into a role.

Standing by the roadside with nowhere to go, she started scrolling through her WeChat contacts. Her manager was useless, so she had to find her own auditions.

Beep beep!

A sudden horn blast made her jump, nearly dropping her phone. She looked toward the source of the noise, annoyed, and met a pair of sparkling, mischievous eyes.

Shao Zizhi was clearly having a great time. After being snubbed by Bai Qian so many times, seeing the woman lose her cool for once made her feel triumphant.

“Bai Qian! What are you doing here?” she chirped.

“What about you?”

Unlike the student, Bai Qian’s redirected question didn’t faze Shao Zizhi. “I asked first! You have to answer me!”

“I just finished work. You?”

Shao Zizhi looked confused. “You’re filming near here? I thought only the Legend of Consort Yan crew was in this area. Are you in it? I didn’t see your name on the list.”

Bai Qian asked casually, “You seem to know the cast list pretty well. Did your family invest in the show?”

Legend of Consort Yan hadn’t appeared in the original plot, so Bai Qian didn’t know much about it.

Shao Zizhi didn’t hide it. “My uncle’s daughter insisted on investing. She wanted me to do a cameo as a favor, so I glanced at the cast list.”

“But you didn’t take the role.”

The woman smiled. “Nope. The character was too similar to ‘Tong Minglan,’ a role I’ve already done. You probably don’t know this, but I only like taking roles that are different.”

Mentioning acting changed Shao Zizhi’s entire aura. If she had seemed like a pampered house cat before, she now looked like a lioness running toward the sun—ambitious, driven, and brilliant.

This is who she really is, Bai Qian thought. This is the real Shao Zizhi.

“You still haven’t told me what you were doing,” Shao Zizhi reminded her.

“I played a palace maid. I was an extra.”

“An extra!” Shao Zizhi’s excitement sent her hand slamming into the steering wheel again, the horn blaring in their ears. Seeing Bai Qian’s angry look, she gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it! I was just so shocked. How could you be an extra?”

“Why not?” Bai Qian countered. “Don’t most stars start out as extras or bit players? What, do you have a problem with the profession?”

Shao Zizhi shook her head frantically. “No, no! I respect all actors. I just feel like… you don’t seem like the type to be an extra.”

“Reason.”

Shao Zizhi thought for a moment, her eyes turning uncharacteristically serious. “I see a light in you. You look like a natural-born protagonist. Yeah, that’s it.”

Bai Qian was speechless for a moment before she laughed. “Shao Zizhi, are you crazy? We’re having a normal conversation and then you drop a line like that. I don’t even know what to say.”

Shao Zizhi unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to open the passenger door. “Get in. If you don’t know what to say, just say whatever comes to mind later.”

Bai Qian couldn’t help but ask, “Shao Zizhi, you don’t secretly like me, do you?”

The girl didn’t call her crazy. Instead, she considered it thoughtfully, then grinned. “I don’t know. I just feel comfortable around you. I don’t want to make promises about the future, but right now, I definitely see you as a friend.”

“We only started talking yesterday. When did we become friends?”

The little princess immediately flared up, her spoiled side returning. “I say we’re friends, so we’re friends! You don’t get a choice! There are more people than I can count who want to be my friend. You’re lucky I’m choosing you—how dare you refuse!”

Bai Qian changed the subject. “Where are you taking me?”

“Home.”

“?”

Shao Zizhi hummed. “No one leaves me halfway through a massage just as I’m starting to enjoy it. So I’ve decided—I’m locking you in my house until I’m satisfied, and only then will I let you go!”

“Are you serious?”

“I never lie! If I say I’m locking you up, I’m locking you up!”

“Then first, take me to this hotel. I told the owner I might stay another night, and my luggage is still there.”

The car let out a piercing screech as Shao Zizhi slammed on the brakes. Bai Qian, thrown forward by the momentum, glared at her. “Don’t tell me you’re driving without a license?”

“I passed all my exams on the first try, thank you very much! Why are you staying in a hotel? Don’t you rent that apartment in XX District?”

“…We live in a society governed by law. Do you realize how creepy your behavior is?”

Shao Zizhi pouted. “It’s because you ran away so irresponsibly! I had to have someone look you up to find you. I thought if you wouldn’t take my calls, I’d have to corner you at home. Fine, looking up your address was wrong, but ultimately, it’s your fault too!”

Bai Qian sighed. “From now on, can we both just forget about last night? Deal?”

“Deal! So, you’re doing extra work because you’re broke?”

“Yeah. Turn right here.”

“Well, it looks like I’ll have to take you in.”

“?”

“You helped me once, and I believe in repaying kindness. You can stay with me for a while. Once you’re back on your feet, you can move out. I have plenty of money anyway; it’s no big deal to feed one more mouth.”

“One more mouth” Bai Qian: “…”

The little princess, who had never spent a cent on a “freeloader” in her life, grew annoyed again. “You’re refusing? I’m not asking you to do anything, and you’re still refusing!”

Bai Qian spoke up immediately. “I’m not stupid. I’ve never lived off a woman before, but that’s okay. Living as a ‘kept woman’ is something I can learn.”

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