I Ran Away After Flirting with the Goddess - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

As if her gaze had been scalded, An Rongrong quickly turned her head away. She pressed the tip of her index finger firmly against her lower eyelid, wiping away the moisture.

Dragging Shen Lishu through six consecutive NGs was already enough to make An Rongrong want to vanish into the ground. If the Goddess saw her hiding in the stairwell crying secretly just because Director Mao said a few words, she truly wouldn’t have the face to see anyone.

“Teacher Shen, why haven’t you gone to eat yet?” An Rongrong tried her best to keep her voice neutral. She took a deep breath, forced a smile, and turned to look up at her. “The crew’s lunch boxes are actually quite delicious.”

The lunch box gripped in An Rongrong’s hand hadn’t even been opened; she didn’t even know how to lie properly.

Shen Lishu looked down at her. When An Rongrong met her gaze, her eyelashes fluttered downward. Her head felt too heavy to lift, so she stared at the floor.

An Rongrong was like a student who had made a mistake, facing a strict dean. Her scalp was tight, her heart was in her throat, and her thumb picked at the lid of the lunch box. A chill ran down her back, and she didn’t even dare to take a deep breath.

It was fine for Director Mao to scold her, but An Rongrong couldn’t accept—or rather, couldn’t bear—condemnation or disgust from Shen Lishu.

If she showed even a hint of disdain, An Rongrong would be crushed into the earth by a thousand pounds of force, unable to lift her head.

She wanted to tell Shen Lishu that she would work hard, that she would practice her blocking and learn to ignore the camera right after eating. But under Shen Lishu’s calm gaze, all the words got stuck in her throat.

An Rongrong was so afraid that Shen Lishu would say, “How can you not overcome such a simple flaw?” She knew the Goddess wasn’t that kind of person, but she still couldn’t stop herself from overthinking.

Shen Lishu’s professionalism and dedication were obvious to all. Even the most patient actor would lose their temper when dealing with someone who repeatedly failed to understand the basics.

In the quiet stairwell, thin high heels stepped on the smooth marble floor, slowly approaching one step at a time. The crisp, unhurried sound felt like it was drumming on An Rongrong’s heart, making it jump up and down.

An Rongrong picked harder at the lunch box lid. From the corner of her eye, she saw Shen Lishu’s silver stilettos stop in front of her.

Hesitating, she slowly followed the line from Shen Lishu’s feet upward.

Shen Lishu was wearing black cropped pencil pants, revealing a pair of slender, bony ankles. Above them were two perfectly proportioned long legs—not a bit too thick, not a bit too thin.

Her figure was practically a golden ratio; her wrist line passed her crotch, and she had long legs and a thin waist. She was simply the perfect muse in An Rongrong’s heart.

Now, the Muse Goddess had stopped beside her. She didn’t say any of the things An Rongrong had imagined. Instead, she stepped down from her pedestal and sat directly on the stairs without a hint of hesitation.

An Rongrong blinked, not reacting for a moment, looking at her in a daze.

Shen Lishu opened her lunch box, her voice gentle. “Eat first. After we’re done, I’ll walk through the scene with you a few more times.”

An Rongrong thought she had misheard. She stared blankly at Shen Lishu, her gaze trembling. Her mouth opened slightly, then slowly pressed into a tight, flat line.

The Goddess didn’t scold her?

Not only did she not scold her, but she was going to help her rehearse.

What kind of angel was this?

An Rongrong was internally sobbing and biting her handkerchief. How can the Goddess be so wonderful?!

An Rongrong scooted forward a couple of steps with her lunch box and sat on the same step as Shen Lishu, hunching her shoulders and stealing glances at her.

Finally, she gritted her teeth and mumbled through her chopsticks, “I’m sorry, Teacher Shen, for dragging you through so many NGs.”

“It’s filming; there’s no such thing as never having an NG,” Shen Lishu glanced over, her shimmering gaze exceptionally beautiful. “Besides, I went over to Director Mao’s place to take a look just now. As a newcomer, your performance in the last take was actually quite good. Director Mao’s requirements are just very high; it’s not entirely your fault.”

For a rookie actress, An Rongrong’s performance was commendable—hardly the “useless trash acting” she imagined it to be.

An Rongrong bit down on her chopsticks. Her nose felt slightly tingly and a wave of warmth rose in her heart. She said in a muffled voice, “Thank you, Lishu-jie.”

Shen Lishu noticed the change in how An Rongrong addressed her and looked down with a smile. “Director Mao is just like that. Why else would his nickname be ‘Nitpicker’? He has a short fuse; he gets cranky if a scene takes more than three tries. He wasn’t targeting you specifically.”

“I know,” An Rongrong sniffled. Her watery, dark-grape eyes were full of Shen Lishu. “Director Mao is a good person.”

“A good person?” Shen Lishu’s brow furrowed as she shot a sharp, sideways glance over, her tone full of “hating iron for not becoming steel.” “Good person my ass!”

An Rongrong’s eyes went wide, looking at Shen Lishu in disbelief. She couldn’t believe she would live to hear such words come from the Goddess’s mouth!

She had thought the private Shen Lishu was a lofty, ethereal goddess who didn’t eat the food of mortals. It turns out she could curse too!

Although the words weren’t vulgar, they sounded so cool!

An Rongrong’s heart hammered wildly. She stared straight at Shen Lishu, feeling like she had moved one step closer to the Goddess’s private life.

Shen Lishu opened her lunch box. Looking at the boiled carrots her assistant had prepared, her mood soured even more. “A ‘good person’ would scold you until you cry? A ‘good person’ wouldn’t explain the scene properly?”

What’s the use of getting angry with a newcomer? Shouldn’t you teach them slowly? How can you just blow up and be fierce from the start? For someone like An Rongrong, the fiercer you are, the more scared she gets, right?

How can someone who’s been a director for so many years not understand this?

Especially the last point: “A ‘good person’ would make me go on a diet?” Shen Lishu’s expression was incredibly resentful, looking at the carrots as if they were her mortal enemies.

An Rongrong peeked over and realized Shen Lishu’s lunch was different from hers. It wasn’t the standard crew order; it looked like a specialized meal plan prepared by a nutritionist for an actor’s weight management—not a drop of oil or fat in sight.

“A diet? Director Mao made you go on a diet!” An Rongrong’s eyes widened in shock as she scanned Shen Lishu from top to bottom.

Look at those slender, bony ankles. Look at those perfectly proportioned legs. Look at that standard “manhwa waist.” And finally…

An Rongrong’s gaze landed on Shen Lishu’s “career line” (cleavage), then she looked down at her own. Subconsciously, she hunched her shoulders and started shoveling rice into her mouth.

She had heard that eating papaya and drinking soy milk was helpful. She wondered if it was too late to start trying for a “second development” now.

To An Rongrong, Shen Lishu’s appearance and figure were gifts from the heavens—completely natural.

And now Director Mao wanted Shen Lishu to control her diet?

“Preparing for the ‘intense period’ in the later stages. It’s bad for the body to lose weight too suddenly,” Shen Lishu explained, having zero appetite for the food in her hands.

An Rongrong understood. In the final stage of the drama, the character Ye Tan would become much thinner, so she needed to start losing weight consciously now.

Acting like a thief, she secretly turned her head to look behind her. Seeing that the stairwell door was closed, she immediately flipped her chopsticks over. Using the clean ends that hadn’t touched her mouth, she transferred the oil-braised prawns from her lunch box into Shen Lishu’s.

“Just eat one, you won’t get fat,” An Rongrong knew it was all for the movie, but she couldn’t help but feel bad seeing Shen Lishu lose her appetite over such bland food. “I know from dancing—shrimp has lots of protein. It doesn’t put on fat and it’s good for the body.”

She spoke with such conviction that Shen Lishu… believed her.

The originally bland meal was suddenly wrapped in the savory aroma of oil-braised prawns, making it much easier to swallow.

Shen Lishu wasn’t a picky eater, but she truly hated carrots, especially steamed ones.

Even rabbits wouldn’t eat this stuff; how did Xiao Zhang think she would like it?

Xiao Zhang was Shen Lishu’s assistant, responsible for her daily life and diet. She was currently eating at the entrance.

Shen Lishu imitated An Rongrong’s movement, peeking behind her. After learning An Rongrong wasn’t picky, she secretly moved the carrots onto An Rongrong’s plate.

The two only emerged from the stairwell after finishing their meal. Xiao Zhang, who had been sitting nearby, immediately walked over to check the lunch box in Shen Lishu’s hand.

It was clean; everything was gone.

“Sister, did you actually eat it all, or did you throw it away?” Xiao Zhang said with deep suspicion, even pushing open the stairwell door to poke her head inside, giving Shen Lishu zero face.

It wasn’t that she was paranoid; it was because Shen Lishu was a repeat offender.

Don’t be fooled by the glamorous, swaying, sexy, and charming Best Actress the public sees. In private, she was more picky and cunning than a kindergarten child. If you took your eyes off her for a second, she’d pick out all the vegetables she didn’t like. Quite childish.

The stairwell was empty. The floor was clean, without a single scrap of food.

Shen Lishu crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow. “Done looking?”

“Done.” Xiao Zhang was still suspicious, muttering to herself that Shen Lishu couldn’t have changed her nature in the span of one meal. But since she couldn’t find evidence, she couldn’t challenge her further. She could only take the lunch box and leave half-doubtingly.

With her back to Xiao Zhang, Shen Lishu winked her right eye at An Rongrong, pressed her lips into a smile, and quietly put her index finger to her lips in a “shush” gesture.

It was like a special little secret between the two of them that couldn’t be told to outsiders.

An Rongrong nodded like a chicken pecking grain, her face burning slightly. After Shen Lishu turned to go touch up her makeup, An Rongrong clutched her chest.

Lethal. She had just been electrocuted by the Goddess’s wink; even her spine felt soft now.

After lunch, while everyone was resting, Shen Lishu walked through the scene with An Rongrong two more times.

When filming officially resumed, An Rongrong didn’t disappoint. She passed in a single take, and her expression was incredibly natural—none of the tension or stiffness from the last attempt.

When Director Mao shouted “Cut” with a satisfied tone, An Rongrong sucked in a breath and pumped her fists. Her heart soared; she almost jumped up to celebrate!

If she hadn’t been wearing a skirt, she would have loved to perform a vertical split right there for everyone!

An Rongrong turned to look at Shen Lishu, who was leaning against a desk resting and drinking water. The light in her eyes was more brilliant than the stars at night.

The person she was staring at seemed to sense it, looked up, and silently gave her a thumbs-up.

It was just an ordinary scene, but being validated by Director Mao and Shen Lishu made An Rongrong feel like she had won an Oscar. She puffed out her chest and lifted her head high, looking like a proud white swan.

Shen Lishu walked over with a smile and sat in a chair next to Director Mao. She crossed her legs, rested her elbows on her knees, and leaned forward to look at the monitor in front of him.

On it, An Rongrong’s performance from just now was being replayed frame by frame.

“She has potential,” Director Mao pointed at the starlight and secret joy in An Rongrong’s eyes. “This is Luo Yue’s true reaction. She has an introverted personality; all her emotions are expressed only through her eyes.”

Shen Lishu nodded in agreement. An Rongrong’s eyes were large and bright, so clean and pure they seemed to speak.

If these eyes could be used in acting, within two years, there would definitely be a place for her among the industry’s powerhouses.

Director Mao felt a sense of pride. He turned to Shen Lishu and said, “And you said newcomers need more praise. If she performs like that and I praise her more, she’ll fly off to the heavens!”

Director Mao expressed disdain for the “gentle encouragement method.” “If you ask me, you still have to be strict. Let them know where they stand so they can settle down and study their craft without becoming restless.”

The subtext of his words was clearly telling Shen Lishu:

Look at An Rongrong, the unpolished gem I’ve refined.

Shen Lishu leaned back lazily, crossing her arms against the back of the chair. She lifted her eyelids to squint at Director Mao. “Why don’t you put some clothes on?” (Stop being so shameless).

What “his” refinement? That was clearly someone she had spent the whole afternoon personally training.

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