I Ran Away After Flirting with the Goddess - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

An Rongrong stared straight at Shen Lishu, who was leaning against the door with her arms folded. Her brain instant-stalled, and for a moment, she thought she was hallucinating.

Who am I? Where am I? Why is Shen Lishu here?!!!

An Rongrong’s scalp felt tight. Her toes gripped the floor; she desperately wanted to claw a hole in the ground right then and there and bury herself alive.

In front of Shen Lishu, she had always maintained the image of a soft girl occasionally a bit playful or “Husky-like,” but those were minor flaws.

However, right now, her per-son-a had col-lapsed!

The Goddess would definitely think she was a common internet troll. The favorability points she had painstakingly ground out over the last few days were surely going to plummet to zero.

An Rongrong gripped her water bottle. Clinging to that last shred of hope, she looked at Shen Lishu with expectant eyes, her voice sickeningly sweet, “Sister, when did you get here?”

Maybe she arrived right as I finished cursing and started drinking water?

An Rongrong struggled to pull herself out of the “social death” coffin, her dark, bright eyes looking at Shen Lishu imploringly.

She didn’t hear, she didn’t hear, she didn’t hear. The Goddess heard nothing!

An Rongrong prayed to every deity she could think of in her heart, only to watch as Shen Lishu parted her red lips and said in a clear, pleasant voice:

“I didn’t arrive too early. I got here just as you were adopting a son over the phone.”

An Rongrong: “…”

An Rongrong’s vision went dark. she fell back into her chair, lying back into her coffin in despair and manually pulling the lid shut.

So she heard everything!!!

An Rongrong let out a silent “marmot scream” in her head and closed her eyes to comfort herself:

A lifetime isn’t that long; it’ll be over in the blink of an eye. Or maybe I can move to another planet. I heard you can farm on Mars now.

Dying from embarrassment is one thing; she just really wanted to go to Mars.

An Rongrong’s expression turned numb as she unscrewed the bottle. Like a soulless water dispenser, she began gulping down the water, glug glug glug. Her eyes darted around, stealing glances at Shen Lishu’s expression through the vanity mirror, calculating the possibility of claiming selective amnesia.

If she insisted to the death that the person just now wasn’t her, would Shen Lishu believe it?

She advised Shen Lishu that it would be best to believe it, otherwise… she would kneel and beg her QAQ.

An Rongrong sat in the chair, her face shifting between red and pale; her changing expressions were quite a sight. Shen Lishu leaned against the door for a while, enjoying the view, and only walked in once she’d had her fill.

An Rongrong was truly so vivid and interesting; even her fluttering eyelashes looked more full of life than anyone else’s. Being with her felt as though everything else was black and white, and only she was in color.

Shen Lishu hadn’t originally planned on coming over. Her manager, Sister Su, had called her earlier to mention An Rongrong was trending and warned her to be careful with this newcomer.

Sister Su feared that An Rongrong might be deep-scheming despite her pure appearance, using this Yuri drama to bind herself to Shen Lishu in a CP to leech off the Sapphic circle’s heat especially since this girl might not even have a company.

If she didn’t even have a company, how did she land a role in this drama?

Generally, drama auditions aren’t like Zhaopin Recruitment where roles are posted online for anyone to apply. Usually, only those within the industry can get an audition slot and recommend actors for screen tests.

Sister Su feared An Rongrong was using the Best Actress as a springboard to increase her value for future contract negotiations. Some people don’t care if fame comes from being “black-and-red” (infamous) as long as they get famous.

Shen Lishu, looking at the overwhelming wave of trolls attacking An Rongrong online, didn’t quite believe Sister Su. Especially after opening the door and seeing An Rongrong’s ferocity in defending her even at the risk of being blackballed she felt Sister Su was overthinking it.

An Rongrong was just a very pure kid. Everything was written in those moist, dark eyes; there wasn’t a hint of a scheme.

“Why aren’t you going to eat?” Shen Lishu stood in front of An Rongrong, leaning her leg against the vanity table behind her.

“I’m not very hungry yet.” An Rongrong lowered her head to pick at the plastic bottle. Like a bad student being lectured by the dean, every hair on her back stood up in tension.

She was afraid Shen Lishu would bring up what just happened, yet she was also afraid Shen Lishu would say nothing and just gloss over it. Her heart was in a knot; she wanted to know Shen Lishu’s opinion of her, but was also terrified of knowing it.

“Who was that on the phone?” Shen Lishu finally asked, saying with a smile, “Let me see if I recognize this ‘son’.”

Mocked like this, An Rongrong’s face instantly turned bright red, so hot she was practically smoking. She muttered, “A manager from X Agency, named Li Yuan.”

Shen Lishu raised an eyebrow, a hint of sarcasm in her eyes. She let out a long “Oh” and said with disgust, “I definitely don’t want that son.”

The agency An Rongrong mentioned was notorious for exploiting artists. They signed small stars with little fame, gave them no resources, and wouldn’t let them go, just waiting to profit from breach-of-contract fees.

Li Yuan was even more infamous in the circle. People called him “Li the Pimp.” He was an expert at finding “sugar daddies” for his artists, and his methods were beyond disgusting.

The dirty trick of hiring trolls to smear An Rongrong across the internet to force her into signing was exactly the kind of thing only he would do. Li Yuan was waiting for An Rongrong’s reputation to stink so much that no decent agency would sign her. Then he would step in and pick her up with an air of charity.

Shen Lishu understood the ins and outs of this much better than An Rongrong. Precisely because she understood, she felt nauseous; it didn’t sit right with her.

Shen Lishu looked down at An Rongrong. She was huddled in the chair with her shoulders slumped, her long, thick eyelashes fluttering nervously like a child who had done something wrong. Her obedience was unexpectedly heart-wrenching.

If a girl like her ended up under Li Yuan, she would only get bottom-tier resources, and her male co-stars would likely be “oil fields” like Jiang Yi. By then, she’d be chewed up until not even a scrap remained.

Director Mao had just praised An Rongrong’s eyes for having “light” and being able to bring a character to life. In the future, those big, grape-like eyes should see the brilliant starlight, not be filled with filth and rot.

“Sister.” An Rongrong suddenly called her in a low, tense voice, her tone trembling at the end.

Shen Lishu snapped out of her daze. She realized that while she was lost in thought, she had subconsciously reached out to pinch An Rongrong’s chin, lifting her face in a semi-forceful manner.

The scene was momentarily strange. An Rongrong’s gaze wavered. Her thumb dug into the bottle to restrain her emotions as she looked up at Shen Lishu, her heart skipping a beat.

“Rongrong,” Shen Lishu naturally gave her chin a little squeeze before letting go. She suddenly said, “How about you sign with my studio?”

Shen Lishu had her own studio. While not huge, it was “small but complete,” fully equipped with all the necessary staff and perfectly qualified to sign artists. Previously, Shen Lishu couldn’t be bothered with such things; she made more than enough to support the whole studio on her own and didn’t want the trouble of signing others.

But now, she suddenly felt that signing An Rongrong wouldn’t be bad. Though her acting was green and not yet mature, her future was limitless. She would surely make a lot of money later.

From an employer’s perspective, signing An Rongrong was a guaranteed win.

Sign who?

An Rongrong’s eyes blinked rapidly. Her hands gripped the armrests as she straightened up and stared at Shen Lishu, her beautiful eyes shining with incredible brightness. “You want to sign me!”

Is this a dream? Even in her wildest dreams, she hadn’t dared to think in this direction!

An Rongrong reached out and pinched her own thigh. She was a bit heavy-handed and let out an “Ow!” of pain.

After confirming it wasn’t a dream, An Rongrong asked Shen Lishu for confirmation again with teary eyes, “Do you really want to sign me?”

Shen Lishu smiled. “Yes. I’ll message Sister Su to have her draft a contract. We’ll sign you before the whole internet blackballs you.”

Not a dream! Not a dream!

An Rongrong stood up in excitement. She walked straight to the wall and, under Shen Lishu’s confused gaze, pulled her leg up to the top of her head in a standing split.

While burying her face against her leg to calm her mood, she asked nervously in a small voice, “What if… what if I don’t make any money?”

Thinking of that possibility, the excitement and joy from a moment ago dimmed significantly. An Rongrong looked at Shen Lishu with a dejected face, already starting to worry for her boss. “Will you lose money?”

Shen Lishu: “…”

Ah, this.

If she didn’t act like a greedy landlord now, she’d be failing An Rongrong’s “model laborer” awareness as a corporate slave.

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