I Ran Away After Flirting with the Goddess - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Ji Ning maintained an awkward yet polite smile, her eyes flickering as she gripped her chopsticks. “I… let me think.”

Crap, crap, crap!

Was there something wrong with Best Actress Shen? Why would she interrogate someone over such obvious flattery?

Ji Ning actually hadn’t watched Shen Lishu’s works, but she knew plenty of gossip about her. After all, Shen Lishu was the unique “ceiling” of both strength and traffic in the industry; one had to pay attention. She figured Shen Lishu had heard such polite talk countless times. Maybe she just liked hearing it and wouldn’t ask further.

Who would have thought the Best Actress would actually tilt her red lips into a smile and ask, “Oh? Which works of mine?”

Ji Ning’s scalp felt numb, her inner voice screaming: How the hell am I supposed to know which works you have! I just said it casually! Why don’t you ask An Rongrong!

Ji Ning felt that Shen Lishu might have a prejudice against her, or perhaps she was being xenophobic. Otherwise, why did it feel like Shen Lishu was targeting her?

From using breakfast as an excuse to ignore the handshake, to not wanting Ji Ning to sit next to her, to now intentionally causing her social embarrassment any of these could be used to say the Best Actress was excluding a newcomer and using her status to suppress others.

More embarrassingly, Shen Lishu was looking at her with a half-smile, her eyes filled with a lazy, insightful nonchalance that made Ji Ning unable to lift her head.

Having been in this circle for so long, what hadn’t Shen Lishu seen? It wasn’t that she didn’t understand Ji Ning was just brown-nosing; she clearly understood, and then intentionally asked.

Ji Ning felt indignant and couldn’t help but whisper, “Why are you only asking me? Rongrong also said she liked you the most.”

If I’m going down, we’re all going down!

Ji Ning figured An Rongrong was likely the same as her nothing more than a sweet talker. Why should Shen Lishu only ask her and not An Rongrong?

Shen Lishu looked at her meaningfully, raising a delicate eyebrow. She let out a rising “Oh?” feeling that Ji Ning was truly lifting a rock only to drop it on her own foot. It would be a disservice to that rock if she didn’t fulfill her wish.

Shen Lishu turned her gaze to An Rongrong. Her eyes shimmered, and she couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. “Which works of mine do you like?”

The conversation they had while returning from the wine gala seemed to echo in her ears. Since then, Shen Lishu had felt that An Rongrong was an exceptionally “clean” kid. What bad intentions could a die-hard fan have? Absolutely none.

An Rongrong was busy eating and didn’t expect the focus to fall on her again. Her big eyes blinked, and she pointed at herself. “Me?”

Ji Ning originally thought An Rongrong was just like her, giving polite lip service. But seeing her “If you’re asking about this, I’m getting excited” expression, a bad premonition rose in her heart.

Especially when An Rongrong set down her lunch box, unscrewed her mineral water, and took two sips to moisten her throat it felt like this wouldn’t be finished in just a sentence or two.

Every time An Rongrong mentioned Shen Lishu’s works, she was more excited than when mentioning her own. It was as if all the glory Shen Lishu had achieved was hanging in her own home, which was why she could name them like her own family treasures.

“There are too many that I like. We have to start with the Goddess’s breakout film, Toward the Sun…”

Ji Ning watched An Rongrong in a daze. The non-stop voice falling into her ears felt like it was playing at 1.5x speed, chattering on without end.

Holy crap, she’s a real fan!

An Rongrong truly liked Shen Lishu. She had watched every one of her works no less than three to five times. That was why she remembered even the lines and the costumes Shen Lishu wore—something that couldn’t be achieved by cramming at the last minute.

If Ji Ning had known the lead was Shen Lishu, she definitely would have skimmed through her representative works beforehand, but she never would have watched them as seriously and meticulously as An Rongrong.

Ji Ning went from being slightly embarrassed to being extremely embarrassed, her face burning hot. She thought An Rongrong was the same type of person as her, but in the end, the clown was actually herself!

Fortunately, An Rongrong’s review of Shen Lishu’s past works distracted the Best Actress, preventing her from continuing the previous topic. By extension, An Rongrong had technically helped her out of a tight spot.

Yet Ji Ning didn’t feel grateful at all. On the contrary, she felt that if it weren’t for An Rongrong providing such a contrast, she wouldn’t be this embarrassed. It seemed the Best Actress wasn’t targeting her; she just liked sycophants more.

Ji Ning lowered her head to eat, deciding that since she couldn’t win at flattery, she would focus on acting to let Shen Lishu see her professional dedication and skill. After all, she was someone who had properly played lead roles; her acting should be miles ahead of An Rongrong.

After filming started in the afternoon, An Rongrong began to feel the strain of acting with Ji Ning. It was as if the other party had turned her acting and aura to the max. She only needed a level 3 or 4 performance, but she was using level 8 or 9. She was overacting, making it impossible for An Rongrong to catch the cues.

Clearly, when she acted with Shen Lishu, she felt natural and relaxed. Back then, An Rongrong had said how comfortable it was to act with the Goddess. Thinking about it now, it was likely that Shen Lishu had been holding back the whole time, giving An Rongrong the illusion that she could keep up with her pace.

Now, every time she met the eyes of Ji Ning’s “Chen Yu,” An Rongrong felt like she was the niece while Ji Ning was the aunt; she felt suppressed. Ji Ning was already a few years older than An Rongrong, so playing a college student wasn’t out of place, but her overacting made something feel indescribably wrong.

Ji Ning was a bit out of character, and An Rongrong was easily influenced. Director Mao shouted “Cut” three times in a row for just a few lines of dialogue.

Director Mao’s face grew darker with each take, like a summer sky right before a storm—an oppressive feeling that rain was coming.

Shen Lishu, who didn’t have any scenes right now, folded her arms and leaned nearby to watch. Seeing Director Mao open his mouth to scold An Rongrong, she impatiently gave his stool a light kick. “Don’t scold yet. Do it again and see whose problem it actually is.”

Why scold An Rongrong the moment something goes wrong? An Rongrong wasn’t a punching bag.

Director Mao had already snapped at her in an unpleasant tone earlier, but this time, the fault clearly wasn’t hers. Perhaps because An Rongrong was a newcomer, every time she stalled while acting with Shen Lishu, everyone defaulted to the assumption that she was the one who wasn’t up to par.

But today’s problem clearly wasn’t her. Others might not see it, but Shen Lishu could: Ji Ning wasn’t holding back; her performance was too much. Her issues were affecting An Rongrong, which was why no matter how they filmed this part, it felt wrong.

It was like Ji Ning was supposed to play a quiet, gentle little bunny, and An Rongrong was supposed to hold her, creating a warm and peaceful atmosphere. But Ji Ning overacted and turned herself into a “violent bunny,” with ears pricked and a mouth full of shark teeth. An Rongrong wanted to reach out and hold her but was afraid of being bitten; she managed to pick her up but couldn’t relax. As a result, the warmth between them vanished, leaving only trepidation.

Was the only one at fault An Rongrong for holding the bunny? Not entirely; there was also Ji Ning for playing the bunny that way. The aunt and niece who were supposed to have a great relationship were being portrayed like “plastic sisters” who would pull each other’s hair and scratch faces the moment they turned around.

Director Mao suppressed his anger, his face grim as he told them to do it again.

An Rongrong’s palms were already sweating. She rubbed them against the side of her skirt and took a deep breath, trying to relax. Shen Lishu had rehearsed these lines with her; there shouldn’t be a problem. She didn’t even have stage fright when acting with the Goddess, so who was she afraid of?

Ji Ning was neither her Goddess, nor a Grand Slam Best Actress, nor her crush—so she was nothing! If she couldn’t catch the scene, she wouldn’t force it. An Rongrong bit her lip, mentally telling herself to just play her own part well and not try to cover for Ji Ning.

They did it again. Director Mao narrowed his eyes at the screen, looking at every frame meticulously. He originally thought An Rongrong wasn’t catching Ji Ning’s acting, but now that they were both acting separately, he realized that if you looked at An Rongrong’s performance in isolation, there was nothing wrong with it.

Then the problem could only be Ji Ning.

Acting isn’t about using as much strength as you have; sometimes, to fit a character, you have to learn to restrain and release. In this regard, Director Mao only admired Shen Lishu; she could release and restrain perfectly. Shen Lishu could adapt to any role. Not only could she act with veteran actors, but even when acting against a common supporting role, she could make the other person feel natural and under no pressure, rather than turning on her full aura to crush them. That is a Best Actress.

Ji Ning, on the other hand, was being a “scene hog.” She turned her acting to the max, completely ignoring the character’s personality and her co-actor, caring only about herself. This was a collaborative drama, not her solo show.

Hearing Director Mao call “Cut” again, Ji Ning took a deep breath and looked at An Rongrong. She forced a smile and asked her in front of the whole crew, “Rongrong, why weren’t you cooperating with me just now? Acting isn’t just about doing your own thing.”

What a strong scent of “Green Tea.”

An Rongrong’s eyes widened, and before she could refute, she heard Director Mao’s booming voice roar from behind, “She wanted to cooperate, but did you give her the chance to?”

An Rongrong jumped in fright, instinctively shrugging and lowering her head into a ball like a startled rabbit. She habitually assumed Director Mao was yelling at her, so she didn’t even listen to his words properly; she just felt the sound hurting her ears and sniffled aggrievedly.

Until she heard Shen Lishu’s voice: “Rongrong, come here.”

Shen Lishu beckoned to An Rongrong. Once the girl cautiously edged over to her side, Shen Lishu smiled and reached down to ruffle her fuzzy head.

Shen Lishu’s arm naturally draped over An Rongrong’s shoulder, pulling her in a half-embrace. “Director Mao is lecturing Ji Ning. Why are you standing there like a dummy?”

She was so close; the light, intoxicating scent of her perfume swirled around. An Rongrong’s head felt hot, and her breathing was heavy she couldn’t quite react.

Lecturing… lecturing who?

If it was in this position, An Rongrong indicated she was absolutely fine with it! Please, Sister, do not pity her just because she’s young! Please lecture her a few more times hugging her waist and whispering in her ear while lecturing is also fine!

An Rongrong’s mind wandered as she blinked her eyes. Once she snapped out of it, her timid little face instantly brightened. She slammed the brakes on the wild horses running through her mind, thinking: If he’s lecturing Ji Ning, I’m suddenly full of energy!

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