I Ran Away After Flirting with the Goddess - Chapter 27.2

Chapter 27.2

Stretched her face out, then don’t blame my sister for being a bit heavy-handed. 

Before Shen Lishu posted this Weibo, everyone else in the circle thought she might just turn a blind eye and let it pass. How big of a deal could it be? It was just a Weibo post.

Who would have thought that Shen Lishu would actually confront Ji Ning head-on, leaving no room for sentimentality? She stopped just short of calling her out by name to tell her that not everything is up for grabs.

Shen Lishu’s slap was quite loud; one wonders if Ji Ning can endure it.

After reading it, the corners of An Rongrong’s mouth were nearly split to her ears. She was so excited she wanted to do a split!

The dressing room door opened from the inside. Shen Lishu had been on the phone, and she hadn’t finished the conversation yet.

She gave a perfunctory “Mhm” into the phone, “My methods are quite adult. What elementary schooler does reading comprehension?”

Shen Lishu leaned against the doorframe, crossing one arm over her chest as she smiled at An Rongrong. “At my age and status, is there anything I can’t just clap back at directly?”

They were all adults; the way to solve problems might as well be simpler. If the other party could leech off her heat without saying hello, why should she have to say hello before posting a Weibo to clarify?

As if intentionally speaking for An Rongrong to hear, Shen Lishu raised an eyebrow slightly. “Besides, I told a certain young person that ‘enduring for a moment leads to breast hyperplasia, and taking a step back leads to ovarian cysts.’ I can’t exactly fail to lead by example, can I?”

An Rongrong stared straight at Shen Lishu, unable to look away for even a second. She felt that Shen Lishu had never made her heart flutter as wildly as she did today!

The sound of her heartbeat thundered against her eardrums, and it felt as if all the people and objects around her had disappeared. There was only Shen Lishu, and only her unhurried, smiling voice. She stood there as if she were glowing, drawing An Rongrong to walk toward her slowly.

Shen Lishu pinched An Rongrong’s slightly chubby cheek with one hand, her tone sounding very casual. “I said I wouldn’t let you suffer grievances, so I won’t let you suffer grievances.”

Forget Su Jiang’s face; even Su Lin’s face wouldn’t have worked here.

What do you mean “it’s just a Weibo”? Forget a Weibo, even if it were a sesame seed! If she said she was giving it to An Rongrong, no one else could touch it!

An Rongrong’s eyes grew inexplicably hot as she looked directly at Shen Lishu. The person who had just been able to calmly call Aunt Xu a moment ago now wanted to perform a full-blown breakdown on the spot for Shen Lishu!

An Rongrong couldn’t help but reach out and hug Shen Lishu, holding her tightly, and unhappily refuted one of her previous sentences.

“Who said Sister is old!”

“Sister is forever eighteen!”

Sister is the GOAT (yyds)!

Two minutes later, there is a soft knock on the bedroom door.

“A-Yue.” Ye Tan’s hand rests on the doorknob. She presses down lightly, pushes the door open, and sees Luo Yue turned away from her. Her heart tightens with pain. In a raspy voice, she says, “You wanted to know about the past, didn’t you? I’ll take you somewhere.”

“Cut!”

Director Mao lowered his head to review the footage. He added two close-up shots of An Rongrong’s face and decided it was good enough to pass.

The next step was a location change to film at Ye Tan’s high school. The set there was mostly ready; they just needed to take the bus over.

While the others were packing the equipment, Shen Lishu walked up to An Rongrong with a tissue and handed it to her. Shen Lishu’s voice carried a smile. “The crying scene was great, little lady.” She had captured all the layering Director Mao wanted.

An Rongrong took a tissue to wipe her eyes and nose, then looked up at Shen Lishu. Her eyes, washed by tears, were clean and dark, appearing exceptionally bright. Shen Lishu looked down at her and could clearly see her own reflection in those eyes. In that clean, pure world, there was only her.

Shen Lishu’s heart fluttered inexplicably, just for a moment, so fast it felt like an illusion. She couldn’t help but smile, bent down with a tissue, and gently wiped away the tear hanging on An Rongrong’s long lashes. Her tone softened. “Sorry about that. I scared you just now.”

An Rongrong stared at Shen Lishu without blinking. A smile slowly appeared in her eyes. Holding the tissue, she asked in an expectant whisper, “Then, can I have a consoling hug?” She held up one finger and said cautiously, “Just once.”

Shen Lishu burst out laughing. She took a half-step forward and hugged An Rongrong, gently patting her thin, slender back. “I won’t scare you next time.”

An Rongrong actually hadn’t been scared by Shen Lishu. No matter how fierce the Goddess was, as long as she looked at that stunning face, she couldn’t be afraid. Besides, who could be more terrifying than Director Mao?

However, getting a hug for free An Rongrong made a huge profit!

Snuggle, finally snuggling with the Goddess.

She leaned into Shen Lishu’s arms with satisfaction, breathing in the quiet, alluring scent of her perfume. Her breath grew hotter, and her original happiness slowly turned into a restless endurance. She wanted to hold her, but was afraid of things going wrong.

An Rongrong’s hands rested “gentlemanly” on Shen Lishu’s back, not daring to move. It was summer, so clothes were thin, and Shen Lishu was wearing a soft, skin-friendly cotton T-shirt. When An Rongrong’s hand rested there, she could even feel the hooks of her bra through the fabric. She silently reddened and moved her hand down a bit.

As if a button had been triggered, An Rongrong suddenly remembered the Goddess’s impressive “career line” (cleavage). Her brain uncontrollably began to speculate if she was a C-cup or what. Regardless, it was a height she could never reach even if she ate all the papayas in the world.

An Rongrong thought to herself: I don’t have it, but the Goddess does! Snuggling with the Goddess feels so good—soft and elastic!

Seeing the two still lingering in the room, Director Mao let out a roar. “Hurry up! What is this? After filming, do you still need a kissy-huggy-hold-you-high?”

Everyone looked over at the sound. An Rongrong’s face grew hotter, and she awkwardly let go of Shen Lishu. A person whose head was usually a racing train turned into a coward in reality.

On the contrary, Shen Lishu generously ruffled An Rongrong’s head and said to Director Mao with a raised eyebrow, “Then you have to help us close the door first. Are we supposed to live-stream a kissy-huggy-hold-you-high for you all to see?”

Acting fees were for acting; live-streaming was separate. If the director wanted to add scenes, he’d have to add money.

Director Mao was silenced by Shen Lishu’s words. He mumbled with a scowling face, “You should put on some clothes.” This was a phrase Shen Lishu had said to him before. Director Mao, who usually surfed on a “2G network,” thought this phrase meant something similar to “have some shame.”

Once the group finished packing, the people and equipment were stuffed into a van, and they headed toward a high school in the city according to the GPS. The crew had made an agreement with the school to borrow it for just one night, trying not to affect the students’ normal classes.

Since the van couldn’t hold everyone, the assistant director and several makeup artists hitched a ride in Shen Lishu’s RV. This was An Rongrong’s second time here. Shen Lishu went to the dressing room and naturally told An Rongrong to take her place in inviting everyone to eat fruit and drink beverages.

When An Rongrong opened the fridge to take out yogurt for the others, she served the guests like a hostess, feeling a bit of unexplainable secret pride.

While the group was chatting outside, Shen Lishu found a blanket in the dressing room and tied her hair into a high ponytail. It didn’t feel like much outside, but after sitting in the air-conditioned car for a while, her legs would feel cold—especially since she was wearing shorts today.

When Shen Lishu was grabbing things just now, she put her phone on the nearby table. it had been buzzing and vibrating for a while. She walked over and looked; it was Su Lin.

“Something up?” Shen Lishu answered with one hand. Her voice was cheerful, and she sounded like she was in a good mood.

On the other end, Su Lin heard her tone and paused the words she was about to blurt out. “There’s a little something.”

Shen Lishu and Su Lin were old friends and knew each other too well. She could practically hear the other’s expression through her voice. With the blanket over her forearm, Shen Lishu casually closed the dressing room door to shut out the external noise. She tilted her head and asked, “What happened?”

The Best Actress didn’t know if her luck was just bad lately, but she had been getting “leeched” (parasitized by others for fame) and ending up on the trending searches every few days. This year wasn’t even her zodiac year. A few days ago it was Jiang Yi; today it was Ji Ning. Su Lin, who usually didn’t believe in superstitions, was starting to consider checking on Mercury Retrograde.

Su Lin knew from Xiao Zhang that Shen Lishu was filming a night scene and wouldn’t have time to look at her phone. The other party likely thought so too, which was why they chose this time to post on Weibo.

She summarized the situation for Shen Lishu in a few sentences. “Didn’t you post a Weibo yesterday morning? Were you talking about Ji Ning or An Rongrong?”

Weibo?

Shen Lishu suddenly remembered it was the post she made on a whim praising An Rongrong for being diligent and serious in her acting, saying she had a limitless future. At the time, An Rongrong had even taken a screenshot as a memento.

“Rongrong, of course. What does it have to do with Ji Ning?” Shen Lishu sat on the single sofa, legs crossed, with the blanket spread over them.

“I guessed it was her too.” Su Lin frowned. “After Ji Ning finished her scenes today, she first ‘Liked’ your post praising An Rongrong, and then she made an ambiguous post herself thanking a ‘Senior Sister.’ Now the marketing accounts are all saying your post was praising Ji Ning.”

Thanking a Senior Sister? Which Senior Sister? The drag-queen Director Mao?

The smile habitually hanging on Shen Lishu’s lips faded. She switched out of the voice call mode and opened Weibo to search for “Ji Ning.”

Su Lin didn’t tell Shen Lishu that she basically didn’t even need to search. Among the comments under her latest post, the top-trending one had already become:

@NingIsMyOnly: Thank you for the senior’s affirmation! Ningning will definitely work harder in the future!

Shen Lishu’s fans weren’t willing to let just anyone claim to be their sister’s “little sister,” so they were trying their best to control the comments. Despite this, a large number of Ji Ning’s fans had flooded Shen Lishu’s Weibo.

The car was moving, and the signal was a bit poor. It took several seconds for the page to refresh. Ji Ning had updated an hour and a half ago:

@JiNingV: Very happy to work with Senior Sister. Learned a lot of things. I will work harder in the future and strive to become an excellent actor like Senior! (Image)

The ambiguous words weren’t the main issue; it was the photo. In the photo, Ji Ning was making a “V” sign with one hand held above her head, facing the sun with a very happy smile. The background, purely by “coincidence,” was near the hotel where Shen Lishu was previously trending.

In just half an hour, the marketing accounts had used this photo to dig out who the “Senior Sister” Ji Ning was talking about. According to the itinerary Ji Ning released earlier, she entered the set yesterday morning, and the location was near the Best Actress’s set. Coincidentally, Shen Lishu had posted a Weibo praising a junior that same morning. Connecting the dots, it was “obvious” who Shen Lishu was praising.

The Best Actress had publicly praised Ji Ning for her serious acting and limitless future! The marketing accounts had already begun to hype up Ji Ning’s acting and beauty, even expressing anticipation for her new drama with Shen Lishu.

The trending search came too fast. Shen Lishu’s fans were a bit dazed, but they all chose to debunk the rumors first. At this point, one could still grit their teeth and insist Ji Ning’s thoughts were simple and she had no ulterior motives, but later she actually replied to one of the comments.

Ji Ning deliberately ignored the group of debunking comments and only chose the one asking if she was acting against Shen Lishu. She replied:

It’s not a lead role; I’m just doing a guest appearance for a small character.

This directly confirmed that the “Sister” mentioned in her Weibo was Shen Lishu.

She isn’t famous, but she sure loves to leech.

Shen Lishu wondered why Ji Ning was so quiet today. Turns out she planned to give her a “surprise” after leaving, letting her win the trending search again. She really should thank her!

Shen Lishu laughed out of anger. “Should I give her a call and praise her acting? And ask her if that ‘Sister’ she’s talking about is Director Mao?”

Hearing her tone, Su Lin advised, “Don’t be angry yet. It’s not the first time you’ve encountered this. Don’t be as impulsive as a newcomer.”

This wasn’t the first time Shen Lishu had dealt with someone playing these edge-of-the-boundary “leeching” games. Unless it was a blatant hype-up like Jiang Yi’s, she usually turned a blind eye and let it pass, not bothering to clarify each one. Otherwise, with so many leeches, Shen Lishu would have to debunk rumors every day if she took them seriously, which would lower her prestige as a Best Actress.

But this time was different. Shen Lishu was clearly praising An Rongrong. Now that this praise was being claimed by Ji Ning without a word, how could Shen Lishu not be angry? If it were someone well-behaved who didn’t cause trouble, Shen Lishu might feel uncomfortable but wouldn’t necessarily “slap her face” (humiliate her). But has Ji Ning been well-behaved in the two days she’s been on set?

Hogging scenes, showing off acting, shifting blame to An Rongrong—weren’t those all her doing? For Shen Lishu to praise such a person… she couldn’t get the words out. She was afraid that if she lied, lightning would strike her!

“I’ll contact Su Jiang first. After all, she’s her artist,” Su Lin’s voice paused unnaturally when she mentioned those two words.

Su Jiang and Shen Lishu had a decent relationship; there was no need to let her artist leech off her fame without a word. This could be Ji Ning’s personal behavior and unrelated to the manager. Not all artists’ public social media accounts were managed by the company. Someone like Shen Lishu, for instance, could post whatever she wanted.

“You contact her or should I?” Shen Lishu asked. Although Shen Lishu wasn’t clear on the details between Su Lin and Su Jiang, she at least knew the two didn’t get along.

“I’ll do it,” Su Lin said professionally. “I’m your manager; I should be the one to handle this.”

Before hanging up, Su Lin reminded Shen Lishu, “Your popularity has been too high these past few days. It might affect your reputation among the general public. Don’t reply personally again.”

Shen Lishu nodded in agreement. “Don’t worry. We’re all adults; naturally, there are adult ways to solve things.”

The more she said that, the more Su Lin’s right eyelid jumped.

Having a name constantly on the trending search wasn’t a good thing. If Shen Lishu’s name appeared there every other day, it would make the public think she was intentionally buying popularity. Especially since these cases weren’t very positive, it damaged her goodwill. At Shen Lishu’s level, she no longer needed to rely on “heat” and exposure like a newcomer like Ji Ning.

As Su Lin said, Ji Ning’s popularity was currently very high. Basically, opening Weibo would lead to receiving push notifications from marketing accounts.

In the RV’s living room, the assistant director was eating chilled lychees and scrolling through Weibo when she saw Shen Lishu’s name at a glance. She nudged An Rongrong next to her with her elbow. “Rongrong, this Weibo of Teacher Shen’s is about you, right?” She handed the phone to An Rongrong. “I remember you mentioned it yesterday.”

How did it turn into praising Ji Ning today?

An Rongrong was still teaching the makeup artist the lychee-peeling trick “passed from women to women, not to men.” Hearing the assistant director, she leaned her head over. “Which one, which one? Let me see.”

Did the Goddess post another Weibo to praise her? She was quite embarrassed one a day! What would she do if she became big-headed? An Rongrong’s invisible tail had already started wagging.

However, the screen clearly read:

Best Actress Shen publicly praises Ji Ning for her good acting.

An Rongrong blinked. “This… this is written wrong, right?” Did they accidentally type Ji Ning’s name instead of hers? An Rongrong is three characters; Ji Ning is two. Whoever edited this Weibo was too unprofessional. Could they have a little professional spirit?!

“Sister Lishu didn’t @ you in that post, so Ji Ning claimed it?” the makeup artist asked. “Or is she leeching?”

The result was quite obvious.

An Rongrong pursed her lips tightly. Her fingernail picked at the rough skin of a lychee, and her mood visibly dropped. That was the first time Shen Lishu had publicly praised her; it held a different meaning for An Rongrong. Now Ji Ning’s behavior was like a thief stealing something she treasured most but couldn’t talk about, then putting her own name on it to display it publicly.

An Rongrong’s heart felt like a balloon being inflated—filled with an expanding fire, squeezing her heart until it felt stifled and blocked. It was dry, hot, with nowhere to vent, and her eyes turned red from the discomfort.

“Ji Ning’s behavior is so shameless,” the makeup artist felt aggrieved on An Rongrong’s behalf. “How can she have the nerve?”

The assistant director had seen this kind of thing all too often in the circle. Ji Ning had much better resources and more fans than An Rongrong and was certain An Rongrong couldn’t openly tear into her. What the assistant director wondered was: “How does she dare?” Leeching off Best Actress Shen isn’t she afraid of being slapped in the face in public? Jiang Yi from two days ago was an example; the drama he was stuck in still hasn’t passed censorship.

“Maybe she thinks Sister Lishu and her manager have a good relationship,” An Rongrong suddenly said. She looked down and picked at the lychee skin like before, as if she were angry at someone, not knowing why she felt so bad. She said softly, “Sister Lishu won’t ignore Su Jiang’s feelings over one Weibo.”

After all, she had been to the wine gala and knew Shen Lishu and Su Jiang had a good relationship. An Rongrong stuffed a whole lychee into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out. So Ji Ning assumed she could definitely force her to “swallow this mute loss.”

Once she said that, the assistant director suddenly understood. Even if Shen Lishu knew Ji Ning was leeching, she wouldn’t bring things out into the open for Su Jiang’s sake. By the time Ji Ning had leeched enough popularity and gotten what she wanted, she could just give a half-hearted apology to Shen Lishu.

Disgusting. Even more disgusting than Jiang Yi. With Jiang Yi, you could just cut ties; with Ji Ning, you had to endure her.

The group lost their appetite for fruit. Only An Rongrong, the person involved, ate five or six lychees in a row before grabbing a wet wipe to clean her juice-covered fingers.

“I’m going to wash my hands.” She picked up her phone with a calm mood and went to the bathroom.

After closing the door, An Rongrong gripped her phone and sat on the toilet lid, looking up in a daze. Just half an hour ago, the moment she hugged Shen Lishu, she felt like she possessed the whole world. Then, in the blink of an eye, her whole world was being exploited by someone else using despicable means.

In this matter, Shen Lishu was indeed in a difficult position due to social obligations. It was just one Weibo—how big of a deal could it be? How could she give a cold face to a friend over an insignificant Weibo, the kind you can post hundreds of a day?

Was there anything An Rongrong didn’t know? An Rongrong knew everything, which was why she was suppressing an indescribable sense of grievance and pain. She couldn’t show her emotions to Shen Lishu, or it would make things difficult for her. An Rongrong wasn’t willing to compare herself to a friend Shen Lishu had known for years and force Shen Lishu to choose between them. She didn’t dare to compare. What if she lost?

An Rongrong took a deep breath and gave herself some optimistic, cheerful comfort. How big of a deal is it, An Rongrong? Have some backbone! She knew she and Shen Lishu were good one Weibo proved nothing. Let this matter pass. Be mature. By the afternoon, maybe there would be other “heat” to cover up Ji Ning.

Endure for a moment and the winds will be calm; take a step back and the ocean and sky will be vast. Deep breath, yes, breathe, exhale… exhale your mother!

An Rongrong grew furious; she still couldn’t swallow this anger! She cursed under her breath, her fingers heavily unlocking her phone to make a call.

F*ck! Ji Ning is such a bitch! Why take away things that belong to me? Even if it’s a Weibo that didn’t @ my name, it’s still mine! Does she think she can bully me just because I’m a newcomer? Just because she bet that Shen Lishu wouldn’t tear into her for the sake of appearances, she doesn’t need to have a face anymore?

An Rongrong’s chest ached from the suppressed anger. I absolutely won’t let her have her way!

The phone on the other end rang twice and was picked up. An Rongrong called out in a calm voice, “Auntie.” She gripped the dress on her legs, took a deep breath, and repeated the events from start to finish in a very organized way.

The angrier she got, the more rational she became. The summary was: I’m being bullied, and it’s right on my own film set. Does that sound right? It sounds completely wrong!

The other person said something, and An Rongrong slowly exhaled, her fingers gripping her dress slowly loosening. She looked down and used her palm to smooth out the wrinkles on her dress one by one. “Mhm, okay, fine. Hehe~ I feel better now.”

An Rongrong’s eyes curved into crescents. She stood up, went to the sink, and looked in the mirror. Although the corners of her eyes were still a bit red, a big smile was on her face. “Thanks, Auntie! When you come back, let’s have hotpot! My mood got better so fast! Mhm, bye-bye.”

An Rongrong put away her phone. When she washed her hands, she was already humming an out-of-tune tune. The assistant director was worried An Rongrong was secretly crying in the bathroom and came to knock on the door. “Rongrong.”

An Rongrong can’t have gone crazy from anger, right? Why is she humming?

An Rongrong opened the door and came out, beckoning to the assistant director. “Let’s go, I’ll peel lychees for you all.”

She must have gone stupid.

Right?

The assistant director sighed in her heart about Ji Ning’s sin such a good kid had been driven crazy by her.

“I’m fine. I’m not angry. Karma is a wheel; just wait and see.” An Rongrong picked at a lychee shell, a mischievous smile appearing in her eyes.

The assistant director took it entirely as self-comfort and followed along. “Right, evil people will get their comeuppance. People with bad character definitely won’t go far in this circle.”

More than not going far, Ji Ning was narrowing her own path.

An Rongrong chewed on the lychee, her gaze turning toward the closed dressing room door. Shen Lishu had been in there for a while now. An Rongrong didn’t know if she was hiding from her. Mama Su must have notified her of such a big event.

An Rongrong hesitated for a moment and walked over to knock. She didn’t want the Goddess to be in a difficult position. It was fine; she could solve it completely by herself. This didn’t even require Shen Lishu to step in.

An Rongrong’s finger picked at the smooth door panel as she called softly, “Sister Lishu?”

She thought that when she saw Shen Lishu, she would take the initiative to comfort her and tell her that giving a cold face to a friend over a Weibo wasn’t worth it. She could just post another one later.

Before Shen Lishu could open the door, An Rongrong heard a sudden burst of sharp, excited screaming from behind her. It startled her, and she turned around in confusion.

“Aaaaaah!!! Teacher Shen is too tough!” “Rongrong, come look! Teacher Shen just posted a Weibo response!” “That’s so f*cking satisfying! That kind of person shouldn’t be given any face!”

An Rongrong blinked and instinctively reached into her pocket for her phone, only to realize belatedly that she was wearing a dress! The assistant director ran over and handed her own phone to her, looking exceptionally happy. “Just let me ask: does Ji Ning’s face hurt?!”

@ShenLishuV: I didn’t want to be high-profile, nor did I intend to announce this so early, lest someone say I was buying popularity to promote her.

But after reading @JiNing’s Weibo, I think she is right good newcomers deserve praise and encouragement.

Come, let me introduce everyone to the new baby newcomer signed to my studio, a very serious young person @AnRongrong. Please give her your guidance in the future.

After An Rongrong held the assistant director’s phone and read through it line by line, the muscles at the corner of her mouth twitched upward uncontrollably.

“That’s not even the best part. The best part is the ‘Reading Analysis’ the ‘Book Fans’ (fans of Shen Lishu) did for Teacher Shen’s words.” The assistant director swiped to show An Rongrong the Weibo that Shen Lishu had “slipped” and liked.

@BookBookBookBookBagV: The first paragraph clearly explains why the previous Weibo didn’t @ An Rongrong. It’s because she was afraid of her being blacklisted across the whole network again by people buying water armies. Sigh, we aren’t short of this popularity, so we don’t climb up by stepping on ‘black traffic.’ (Calling out a certain someone here).

The second paragraph… those who understand, understand. If you don’t, please look at the last smile :). This expression is the essence.

The third paragraph officially responds to today’s trending search. It @’d exactly who was being praised. A certain someone who isn’t famous but loves to leech can step down now.

Finally, I want to say to a certain group of fans: since your master stretched out her face…

Support I Ran Away After Flirting with the Goddess