I Swear I Don’t Want to Be Everyone’s Favorite - Chapter 22.1

As soon as the program crew descended the mountain, Yu Qing, her face full of anxiety, rushed straight toward Jiang Luoyue. “We’re going to the hospital now.”

“I’m already fine.”

Jiang Luoyue tried to explain but was still forcibly escorted into the car. Before getting in, Fu Yunqing deliberately approached, seemingly wanting to say something, but Yu Qing stopped her. “Miss Fu? Luoyue needs to go for a check-up now. If there’s anything, we can talk next time.”

Her resistance was obvious. Fu Yunqing froze for a moment before remembering who was responsible for Jiang Luoyue’s current condition.

But just before the car drove off, Fu Yunqing suddenly raised her voice, “Jiang Luoyue, remember to check the message I sent when you get back!”

The car window was half-open. Just as Jiang Luoyue was about to respond, the car sped away with a “whoosh” under Yu Qing’s instruction.

At the scene, Fu Yunqing was stared at by several people but didn’t seem to care. Crossing her arms and humming a tune, she raised her eyebrows as if she were the ultimate victor, saying, “Really? Don’t tell me I’m the only one who has Jiang Luoyue’s contact info, and none of you do?”

The live stream hadn’t been cut off yet, and viewers witnessing this childish scene:

What is there to boast about?

But oddly enough, the expressions of everyone present simultaneously darkened.

Live chat: “Master, I’ve attained enlightenment.”

Soon, a hashtag #SixDegreesOfSeparation# began trending on Weibo. Clicking on it revealed a gossip post from a few days ago: “According to the six degrees of separation theory, who can get in touch with Jiang Luoyue? After all, knowing her means knowing the entire ‘Everyone Hates Me’ cast.”

At this moment, the comments section was flooded with netizens enjoying the drama:

“LMAO, if you know Jiang Luoyue, you know Fu Yunqing. And if you know Fu Yunqing, you basically know no one.”

“Ning Fuguang, Yu Jingtang, and Xiang Fan probably want to ask the same question.”

“Damn, it’s like the Great Khan summoning his troops.”

On the way back, Jiang Luoyue came across this Weibo post and chuckled softly. Just as she was about to show it to Yu Qing, she noticed the other’s serious expression and had to suppress her smile. “I’m really fine.”

“If something like this happens again, just end the recording,” Yu Qing said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Nothing is more important than your health.”

She spoke with such confidence that Jiang Luoyue was left speechless. “Can the company afford the breach of contract penalty?”

“These were President Shi’s exact words,” Yu Qing replied. “As for the compensation… It’s a good thing we didn’t demand reimbursement from them.”

The last sentence was spoken softly, and Jiang Luoyue didn’t catch it. She nodded to show she understood and turned to look out the window. On the mountain road late at night, the car’s headlights illuminated a mere fraction of the steep ridges. The mountain wind rushed in through the window, making it feel exceptionally cold.

She wrapped her clothes tighter, her wrist feeling bare. Fu Yunqing’s watch had ultimately been returned to its owner. Having grown accustomed to wearing it, the emptiness on her wrist felt unfamiliar to Jiang Luoyue.

Just as she was contemplating whether to buy a watch herself, Jiang Luoyue opened the messaging app. She hadn’t forgotten Fu Yunqing’s deliberate reminder.

Fu Yunqing had indeed sent her a message, but it was just a sticker saying “Drink more hot water.”

Jiang Luoyue: This was completely different from what she had imagined some serious matter to discuss. Still, she replied with an “OK” sticker.

It was unclear if Fu Yunqing had been staring at her phone the whole time, but she replied almost instantly: “Why so perfunctory!”

Jiang Luoyue asked sincerely, “Were you being serious?”

Fu Yunqing: “At least I meant it when I sent it.”

After chatting for a while, Fu Yunqing finally addressed Jiang Luoyue’s confusion: “Actually, it’s nothing. I just wanted to show off that I can chat with you.”

What was there to boast about? Jiang Luoyue didn’t understand, but she chose to remain respectful.

Even though she repeatedly emphasized that she was in good health, Yu Qing still dragged her to the hospital for half a night of IV drips. It wasn’t until the next day that Jiang Luoyue took a flight back to City B.

After a brief rest, it was time to begin the reshoots for the drama Palm Darling.

Having just bid farewell a few days earlier, they met again on set not long after. After an inexplicable awkwardness, Jiang Luoyue and Fu Yunqing both felt a sense of familiarity. During mealtime, Fu Yunqing even specifically invited Jiang Luoyue to her trailer to eat together

To avoid giving rise to baseless rumors, Jiang Luoyue declined, but Fu Yunqing insisted on staying and shared the meal with her anyway.

Noticing the bland, watery food in Jiang Luoyue’s meal, Fu Yunqing was taken aback: “Is this all you’re eating?” It wasn’t even as good as the food they had during their survival days. How could a normal person eat something like this!

Jiang Luoyue: “Well, I’m about to join a new crew soon, so I need to lose a bit more weight.”

Fu Yunqing tried hard to recall what Jiang Luoyue had looked like before, but found that those images had faded. All she could remember now were the various versions of Jiang Luoyue from their time surviving together.

“You’re already very thin,” Fu Yunqing said, pulling up a photo of Jiang Luoyue wearing a veil to emphasize her point. Comparing the two, Jiang Luoyue’s face now looked even smaller. “Any thinner and you’ll turn into paper the kind that could be knocked down with one punch, ten at a time.”

The assistant covered her face, not wanting to admit she knew Fu Yunqing.

Jiang Luoyue couldn’t help but laugh. Was she supposed to thank Fu Yunqing for not hitting her?

But soon, she realized that Fu Yunqing wasn’t entirely wrong.

After finishing the reshoots for Palm Darling and officially wrapping up the project, director Song An, who had somehow seen recent photos of Jiang Luoyue, angrily criticized her for being too thin and not fitting the character’s image.

As a result, Jiang Luoyue had to spend her days learning how to play a corpse and her nights indulging in heavy eating and drinking. It wasn’t until she could portray a corpse convincingly that she barely met Song An’s requirements.

On the day she joined the new crew, the sky was overcast.

Jiang Luoyue’s first scene was set in a cemetery. To achieve realism, the Soul Calling crew opted for an actual location shoot, choosing an extremely secluded cemetery in the suburbs of City B.

Inside the cemetery, the light was dim. Rows of tombstones seemed shrouded in mist, and walking among them evoked a suffocating feeling.

The deeper they went, the more palpable the lifeless atmosphere became. Yu Qing, suppressing her fear, remarked, “This feels dangerous.”

“If this were a novel, a ghost would definitely possess a crew member and cause chaos for the entire team.”

Jiang Luoyue commented, “How unfortunate for the crew member.”

Just trying to do their job, and now they have to deal with possession too.

But having died once herself and lived for several years in a ghost-like state, Jiang Luoyue thought for a moment and said, “Let’s not say such unlucky things.”

It wouldn’t be good if it actually happened.

She said it very seriously, but Yu Qing took it as a joke and relaxed a bit: “You’re right. It wouldn’t be good if someone overheard and thought I was cursing them.”

Jiang Luoyue: Huh?” If that’s how she wanted to interpret it, it was fine. She didn’t say anything more.

When the two arrived, a scene was being filmed on set. Logically, for a scene with such a minor role, there shouldn’t have been so many people present once it was done, they could have wrapped up. Yet the set was bustling with a crowd of seventeen people.

Yu Qing quickly counted them and remarked, “What a grand display.”

Seven were crew members, while the remaining ten were part of the female lead Yu Qiu’s team.

Before doing anything, Jiang Luoyue always made a habit of researching her collaborators to avoid stepping on any landmines, and Yu Qiu was no exception. The other woman had only entered the entertainment industry in recent years, and there were frequent rumors in the industry about her being difficult and uncooperative, though such news was quickly suppressed.

Before coming, Yu Qing had subtly hinted that Yu Qiu’s mother was a major shareholder of a listed company.

As long as the shoot could be completed, Jiang Luoyue didn’t care if Yu Qiu brought a hundred people. She merely glanced over and let the makeup artist do her work while she contemplated the scene they were filming that day.

Her character was named Luo Gaixiang. As the fifth female lead, Luo Gaixiang had fewer than ten lines. In most of the script, she merely stood beside the protagonist, serving as a decorative presence, making it difficult for Jiang Luoyue to piece together the character’s life from such fragmented scenes.