I Swear I Don’t Want to Be Everyone’s Favorite - Chapter 50

Jiang Luoyue was unaware of the conflicts within the Jiang family.

While she was fully immersed in studying the script, the “Yin Hun” production team had already registered their official Weibo account. Without even creating promotional graphics, their first post tagged Jiang Luoyue.

【Yin Hun V】: Director @Xiang Fan
Lead Actress @Jiang Luoyue

The accompanying image was a simple A4 sheet with the words “Yin Hun” printed in black on a white background.

Xiang Fan casually reposted it, and the comments section exploded instantly.

【Wait, what? Who announces only the director and lead actress for a movie promotion? Is this some kind of marriage certificate?】

【Xiang Fan, I’m so disappointed in you. As a director, you’re failing at your job, abusing your power, and favoring your friends. Don’t you realize your films have completely lost their former quality? Heartbroken, I’m unfollowing unless you release the new movie for me to watch right now.】

【Hold on, what does “lead actress” mean? Is there no male lead in this film?】

【Probably dead. Who cares?】

The public opinion was in an uproar. Although many were jealous of Jiang Luoyue and questioned how she landed the lead role, even more were envious of her.

After all, even if Xiang Fan’s movies turned out like chocolate-flavored crap, someone would still find a way to praise them. As long as Jiang Luoyue didn’t drag the production down, her future was clearly bright.

Two months ago, no one could have imagined that Jiang Luoyue would have such incredible luck because of a variety show.

Just as many were genuinely discussing Jiang Luoyue’s career fortunes, she received a call from Fu Yunqing.

As usual, Fu Yunqing started off hot-tempered, demanding to know why she was working with Xiang Fan. While Jiang Luoyue was still puzzled about how the news had leaked, she opened Weibo and saw countless trending topics related to herself and the “Yin Hun” crew: “…”

“She invited me, so I went,” Jiang Luoyue replied honestly. “Do you want to join too?”

Fu Yunqing snapped, “Who wants to act in her film?!”

She fumed on her own for a while. Jiang Luoyue listened to her grumbling while multitasking until Fu Yunqing finally calmed down a little. Smiling, Jiang Luoyue said, “I’ll take care of myself. You be careful while filming the variety show too don’t get hurt.”

Although horror movies don’t have long shooting schedules, it would still take at least over a month. Jiang Luoyue had already prepared to take two episodes off from the variety show, but Fu Yunqing sounded dejected: “Oh.”

After hanging up, Jiang Luoyue saw a message from Ning Fuguang, also inquiring about the film crew but doing so with far more restraint and politeness than Fu Yunqing. As she typed out the same reply, she thought to herself how Ning Fuguang online seemed to maintain such clear boundaries nothing like the person she encountered in real life.

No sooner had she praised her than Ning Fuguang, upon receiving the reply, expressed understanding and then asked: 【Can I visit you on set?】

Jiang Luoyue: “…”

【No.】

A few seconds later, Ning Fuguang sent a disappointed emoji. Jiang Luoyue closed the chat but reopened it moments later to reply: 【We’ll see if there’s time.】

Though Jiang Luoyue had only given an ambiguous answer, Ning Fuguang immediately sent a series of emojis expressing her delight. Jiang Luoyue found them oddly familiar and, after a moment, remembered they seemed to be from the same series as the “kiss” emoji she had sent to Yu Jingtang.

How petty.

Jiang Luoyue could even picture Ning Fuguang secretly scrolling through Yu Jingtang’s social media feed, frowning as he searched for similar reaction images. The thought made her chuckle silently. After rolling around on the sofa for a while, she returned to studying her script.

But Xiang Fan didn’t give her much time to prepare. Jiang Luoyue had only memorized a dozen or so pages before being whisked away by bus to a village in a neighboring city.

On the day of their departure, it was pouring rain. Despite it being daytime, the sky was dark and gloomy. Raindrops and wind beat against the windows, making the mountains outside blend into the gray haze.

If not for Xiang Fan sitting beside her, Jiang Luoyue would have thought she was being trafficked into the remote mountains.

“Scared?”

Xiang Fan couldn’t ignore how Jiang Luoyue’s gaze kept lingering on her face.

Autumn was approaching, and the weather had turned chilly. Jiang Luoyue was dressed in a knit sweater and a skirt warm enough, yet the fuzzy texture made her look especially adorable. Xiang Fan resisted the urge to adjust her collar for her.

Jiang Luoyue shook her head, then after a moment, nodded and asked, “Will there be ghosts?”

Strictly speaking, this was Jiang Luoyue’s first time filming a supernatural horror movie. As for the previous film, Calling Souls, since she had played the ghost herself, she conveniently overlooked it.

Xiang Fan raised an eyebrow. “The producer said they’ve performed rituals to ward off ghosts, but I don’t know if it worked. Want to test it out?”

“Why don’t you test it?”

Xiang Fan replied matter-of-factly, “I’m the director. If I die, who’s going to direct?”

Jiang Luoyue mimicked her tone, “Aren’t I the lead actress? If I die, who’s going to act?”

Xiang Fan nodded. “Let Fu Yunqing go. She talks so much even ghosts would be annoyed to death by her.”

Jiang Luoyue wholeheartedly agreed.

From the back seat, the assistant director, who had been eavesdropping, chimed in, “Can’t we just have no one die?”

The bus instantly filled with laughter. Gradually, people began chatting, and the previously tense atmosphere lightened.

Listening to the idle chatter, Jiang Luoyue started to relax. But Xiang Fan, sitting beside her, wasn’t about to let her off easy. “How’s the script reading going?” she asked abruptly.

It felt like being called on in class to answer a question out of the blue. Jiang Luoyue stammered nervously.

For the rest of the journey, she endured an “I’ll test you” study session, and fear became the least of her worries.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Jiang Luoyue, the bus arrived at the village entrance. As soon as it stopped, she hopped off, escaping the clutches of her “teacher,” Xiang Fan.

Before she could even take a few breaths of fresh air, she looked up and unexpectedly spotted a familiar figure.

“Sister Fang Yuan?” Jiang Luoyue was surprised to see Fang Yuan, dressed casually, pacing back and forth.

The woman put away the camera in her hand. Dressed intelligently, she looked like a real journalist while taking photos, which momentarily disoriented Jiang Luoyue.

“Luoyue,” Fang Yuan greeted with a smile, then noticed Xiang Fan following closely behind. “Director Xiang, long time no see.”

“Playing stone lion here?” Xiang Fan glanced at her. “Why not go in?”

Without missing a beat, Fang Yuan replied, “I wanted to tour the village but got lost. I was hoping to hitch a ride, but I haven’t seen a single person.”

Xiang Fan understood she was here to freeload a ride. She chuckled and contacted someone before chiding Jiang Luoyue, “Why did you run off so fast?”

The ground was especially muddy after the rain. Remembering a previous incident, Xiang Fan was now extremely concerned about Jiang Luoyue’s physical and mental well-being.

Jiang Luoyue knew she meant well and replied sheepishly, “It’s been too long since I last saw Sister Fang Yuan.”

Fang Yuan raised an eyebrow, surprised that she was trying to shift the trouble onto him. He chuckled and said, “Miss me? Want a hug?”

As he spoke, he actually spread his arms open, while observing Xiang Fan’s expression.

As expected, the woman immediately furrowed her brows. “Hug what hug? Are you two that close? Have you even exchanged more than five sentences?”

Jiang Luoyue tentatively replied, “Including the one just now, probably more than five?”

As her words trailed off, she was met with a glare from Xiang Fan, so she silently mimicked zipping her lips.

It wasn’t until the car picking them up arrived that Jiang Luoyue curiously asked, “Why did we have to wait so long? Aren’t there any villagers around?”

Logically, even the smallest village would have people coming and going. Fang Yuan’s claim that he hadn’t seen a single person was extremely hard to believe.

Fang Yuan smiled and motioned for her to look out the window. Jiang Luoyue turned her head, the car had already driven halfway down the street, but all the houses along the way were tightly locked, with no sign of a living soul.

The wind rustled, swaying the willow branches. A delayed shiver ran down her spine, and she instantly thought of the openings of many horror movies.

“Why are you scaring her?” Xiang Fan frowned, visibly displeased.

Fang Yuan sighed and explained to Jiang Luoyue, “The villagers took the money and all went on a ten-yuan, five-day, four-night tour. Right now, aside from the film crew, there aren’t many living things in the village.”

Jiang Luoyue fell silent. Even if she were knocked unconscious several times, she couldn’t have imagined such an absurd reason.

Xiang Fan sneered and commented, “Just wait. After the movie comes out, there will definitely be people coming to the village to sell health supplements.”

Seeing Jiang Luoyue staring at her with wide, expectant eyes, she thought the other woman was about to share some profound insight. She raised an eyebrow, signaling her to speak, only to hear Jiang Luoyue ask, “Is there an age limit for the tour? I want to sign up too.”

Xiang Fan paused for a few seconds, then tapped Jiang Luoyue’s forehead with her fingertip. “If scammers show up, you’ll be the first one needing anti-fraud education.”

Amid the bickering, the car stopped outside the film set.

The movie, themed around feudal superstitions, naturally chose a particularly backward location for filming. Most of the buildings were old, dilapidated tile-roofed houses, and the living conditions weren’t great either.

Although Jiang Luoyue had her own room, the soundproofing was terrible. Most importantly, Xiang Fan lived on her left, and the assistant director lived on her right.

Every night around midnight, her left ear would pick up Xiang Fan questioning the assistant director, “What did you even shoot today?” As soon as she turned over, her right ear would catch the assistant director sobbing and cursing Xiang Fan for being overly demanding.

Lying in bed, Jiang Luoyue recalled Xiang Fan’s notorious reputation as the “tyrant of the set.” Six or seven out of ten actors who worked with her ended up crying from her scolding. Thinking that she might soon become one of those six or seven, Jiang Luoyue took a deep breath and silently offered her most sincere condolences to the assistant director.

But whether it was because Jiang Luoyue’s performance met Xiang Fan’s expectations or for some other reason, during the first few days of filming, aside from a few minor mistakes where Xiang Fan would frown slightly and ask for another take, Jiang Luoyue mostly nailed her scenes in one go. It was so effortless that she could hardly believe it.

In her previous acting jobs, although she had often gotten scenes right on the first take, there were still times when she struggled. Occasionally, she’d run into domineering directors who would nitpick unnecessarily, adding to her workload.

The ease of it all made Jiang Luoyue increasingly uneasy over time. She wondered if Xiang Fan was going easy on her.

After yet another day of filming passed without a hitch, Jiang Luoyue finally took a deep breath, brought some desserts she had asked a crew member to buy for her, and knocked on Xiang Fan’s door.

For several seconds, through the door, Jiang Luoyue heard Xiang Fan ask, “What is it?”

Her voice carried a hint of coldness, as if she didn’t want to be disturbed.

“Guide, it’s me.”

Jiang Luoyue spoke, still carefully choosing her words, when footsteps suddenly sounded.

The next second, the door opened.

Xiang Fan stood before her, eyes lowered. She seemed to have just taken a shower, the ends of her hair slightly damp. Her shirt hung loosely, untidy, revealing her neck and collarbone.

Out of politeness, Jiang Luoyue tried to lift her head to meet her gaze.

When their eyes met, Jiang Luoyue noticed a trace of weariness between the woman’s brows, with faint dark circles beneath her eyes. Noticing Jiang Luoyue’s small gesture, despite her fatigue, Xiang Fan curved her eyes into a smile.

“Taking the initiative to find me is there something about the role you don’t understand, or.”

Xiang Fan deliberately drew out her words and asked, “Does Luoyue want to do something else?”