I Ran Away After Flirting with the Goddess - Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Since today was the first official day of filming, no late-night scenes were scheduled. They wrapped up the final take around six or seven in the evening.

The assistant director had already booked a hotel, which was not far—only a few minutes’ journey from the filming location.

For the next few months, unless something else came up, the actors and crew members would be staying here temporarily.

After finishing the check-in process, the assistant director handed back the room cards and identification documents to everyone one by one.

There were only five or six people in the crew currently—the two leads and a few key supporting actors; some of the actors with later scenes hadn’t joined the group yet.

Seeing that everyone else had assistants while An Rongrong was all alone, the assistant director asked a few caring questions as she handed over the room card. “Do you have a lot of stuff? Do you want me to find someone to help you carry it up?”

Looking at how thin and small An Rongrong was, the assistant director complained, “What is wrong with your company? They didn’t even think to arrange an assistant for you.”

An Rongrong laughed awkwardly, thinking to herself, Because I haven’t signed with a company yet.

Unfortunately, the assistant director didn’t know this. Since the topic of assistants had brought up the company, the assistant director couldn’t help but nag a bit more. “Rongrong, I understand you’re a newcomer and need ‘traffic’ and exposure. Having you bury your head here to film for months without any other commercial activities isn’t realistic, but we can’t let other things affect the shoot.”

If it were anyone else, the assistant director wouldn’t have bothered with such meddlesome and thankless advice; she only gave these pointers to An Rongrong because she liked her.

In today’s entertainment industry, it’s very common for actors to “double-dip” (work on multiple projects at once). After all, joining a crew means being away for months or even half a year, and it’s impossible to have zero exposure and traffic during that time. Especially for a newcomer like An Rongrong, if she doesn’t appear for two or three months, she’s basically considered “flashed out.”

However, Director Mao was extremely nitpicky. He didn’t like his actors double-dipping, especially filming multiple projects simultaneously.

Even if an actor is extremely confident in their energy and skills, a human is not a machine. Rushing between sets inevitably affects the quality of the performance.

Even someone like Shen Lishu wouldn’t dare say that if she filmed three movies in one day, she could maintain her best state for every single one.

The best approach is to focus on one.

But for a newcomer like An Rongrong, that was somewhat unrealistic.

The assistant director had worked with traffic stars before who filmed one drama during the day and another at night, while squeezing in time for magazine shoots, variety shows, and marketing. It seemed like they were balancing everything, but they actually completed nothing well.

In just a few short months, the acting was so poor the drama flopped, the actor looked exhausted on variety shows due to lack of sleep, and because they had lost so much weight, rumors started flying outside about whether they were doing drugs.

Director Mao said An Rongrong was an unpolished gem that needed patience to be refined and would surely make it big in the future. Therefore, the assistant director didn’t want to see her ruin a bright future for the sake of petty, immediate profits.

If she weren’t working with Director Mao, double-dipping for money would be fine, but when filming with Director Mao, one could truly learn a lot if they settled down and focused.

An Rongrong understood the assistant director’s intentions. She said seriously, “Don’t worry, I haven’t taken on any other roles, nor any magazines or variety shows, and I don’t need marketing. During this period, I will just focus on filming. I have no other plans besides this.”

For a traffic star who debuted in a girl group, this was equivalent to cutting off all exposure.

The assistant director was momentarily speechless. She wanted An Rongrong to focus on filming without distractions, yet she didn’t want the girl to leave herself with no safety net.

She was simply worried to death for this silly child.

“It doesn’t have to be that extreme. A little marketing during occasional breaks is fine,” the assistant director mumbled. “If something really important comes up, you can still ask for leave.”

She was being contradictory, confusing even herself.

An Rongrong looked at her with a beaming smile. “Sister, I know. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

The assistant director was in her thirties and older than her, so calling her “Sister” wasn’t a loss.

“As long as you have a plan,” the assistant director breathed a sigh of relief. “Go up and rest.”

“Oh, right,” the assistant director remembered something and told An Rongrong, “You and Sister Lishu are on the same floor in adjacent rooms. One is 1419 and the other is 1420. Don’t go to the wrong one.”

It would have been fine if she hadn’t mentioned it, but the moment she did, An Rongrong’s mind was filled with “going to the wrong one, going to the wrong one.”

The room number she held was 1419. An Rongrong bit her lower lip, using her thumb to cover the “1” in front of the room number. Suddenly, only 419 was left.

(Note: 419 is internet slang in China for a “One Night Stand” / For One Night)

The “train” in her head began to whistle “woo woo woo” as it sped toward the edge of the city.

An Rongrong didn’t bring much—just daily clothes, skincare products, and such—packed in two suitcases.

She pushed one in each hand into the elevator, sat on one of them, and pressed the button for the 14th floor.

Watching the numbers jump, An Rongrong’s mind went blank.

What excuse should she use to go find the Goddess tonight?

Should she say she wanted to go over the lines?

No, no, the Goddess had been filming all day and must be tired. It wouldn’t be good to go over lines now, right? An Rongrong vetoed her own suggestion.

Unlike those drama fans who wished Shen Lishu would be a high-productivity filming machine twenty-four hours a day, she only knew how to feel bad for her “Sister”~

An Rongrong was amused by her own “green tea” inner monologue.

How about ordering a fruit platter and bringing it to Shen Lishu? Since she was controlling her weight and not eating dinner on summer nights, surely some fruit would be okay!

Got it!

One problem solved, but there was another.

An Rongrong scrunched up her face. What should she wear when she went over?

If she wore long-sleeved pajamas, would they be too long and look too intentional? If she wore hot pants and a short-sleeved top, would they be too short and too revealing?

An Rongrong began to regret not buying a few more outfits.

Ding—

The 14th floor arrived. The elevator doors opened, and An Rongrong sprinted with her two large suitcases through the hallway, finally stopping at the door next to Shen Lishu’s room—her own door, 1419.

She timidly swiped her card and went in.

The hotel conditions in the city were not bad. An Rongrong looked around, then opened her suitcases to unpack.

Squatting on the floor, she first followed her plan and ordered a fruit platter to be sent up before organizing her clothes.

The delivery was fast. About ten or twenty minutes later, the fruit platter arrived.

After receiving it, An Rongrong paced around the room holding the slightly chilled platter, occasionally pressing her ear against the wall she shared with Shen Lishu to listen for movement next door.

Whether there was no one there or the soundproofing was too good, she heard nothing.

An Rongrong took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and went to knock on the neighbor’s door.

She had come out in the hotel slippers, her toes gripping the soles for dear life as she stared unblinkingly at the closed door in front of her.

She waited one minute. No movement.

She waited two minutes. Still no movement.

At the third minute, An Rongrong knocked again and finally confirmed that Shen Lishu was out.

Her straightened back slumped instantly, and she trudged back to her room, dragging her slippers.

She turned her head to look out the large bay window. It was eight o’clock; the sky was dark.

However, for a city that never sleeps like Shanghai, eight o’clock was just the beginning of the nightlife.

An Rongrong sat cross-legged on the floor leaning against the sofa, scrolling through her phone while stabbing pieces of fruit with a toothpick. Did the Goddess go out to play?

Thinking about it, it was possible. Shen Lishu had many friends here. Since she was here to film, she would definitely take whatever rare evening time she had to get together with them.

At the thought of her being like a blooming red peony—petals unfurled and swaying gracefully, leaning against a bar with a shimmering gaze while drinking and laughing with friends—An Rongrong couldn’t help but puff out her cheeks.

This orange is too sour! Bad review!

An Rongrong leaned back lazily on the sofa, opening the “Hot Search” list to see if there were any new “melons” (gossip) to consume.

The fruit she ordered tonight wasn’t sweet, but other “melons” would surely be fragrant.

It was a good thing she hadn’t brought the platter to Shen Lishu. This place only had good presentation; the taste was actually mediocre.

The hotel internet speed was decent. An Rongrong logged into her main Weibo account, looked through the private messages from her fans, and after picking a few to reply to, she switched to her “smurf” account and opened the Hot Search list.

Although she was already an “18th-tier” transparent nobody in the entertainment industry, An Rongrong still loved “eating melons.”

When there was gossip, she was no different from an ordinary netizen; once she put on her “vest” (alias), she was the most active “badger” jumping around the melon field.

Especially gossip about others—it was always fragrant, crispy, and satisfying.

An Rongrong happily clicked into the Hot Search list. The top ones weren’t very interesting. She scrolled down casually until her eyes sharply caught three words: “Shen Lishu.”

An Rongrong’s eyes went wide. “???”

Thinking she had misread it, she returned to the home page and clicked into the Hot Search list again, refusing to believe her eyes.

Her Goddess was currently filming with her—how could there be gossip!

It must be fake!

An Rongrong clicked in with absolute conviction.

However, the name “Shen Lishu,” which was just lower down a moment ago, had surged to the number one spot in just a few seconds, followed by a deep red character: “EXPLOSIVE”!

—— “Shen Lishu meets a man at night, suspected to be in a relationship.”

An Rongrong sprang up instantly, sucking in a sharp breath, nearly fainting from lack of oxygen. “F*CK!!!”

It was truly a case of “sitting up startled from a deathbed, only to realize the melon is from my own house!”

An. Melon-Eating. Badger was dumbfounded on the spot.

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