I Swear I Don’t Want to Be Everyone’s Favorite - Chapter 55.2

During their conversation, Fu Yunqing had already started filming. As a guest star, her role naturally didn’t have many scenes. Just as Jiang Luoyue finished her makeup, she heard Fu Yunqing berating Xiang Fan: “I’m doing this guest appearance for free out of respect for Jiang Luoyue.”

Xiang Fan: “When others guest star, it brings honor to the production. When you guest star, it’s purely my bad luck for not being able to find a suitable extra.”

That one remark successfully broke Fu Yunqing’s composure. Listening to her retorts, Jiang Luoyue couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

If she couldn’t win the argument, why insist? The harder she tried, the more pitiful it seemed!

Fortunately, all the actors were ready, which prevented the war of words from escalating into a physical fight.

It took Jiang Luoyue a few minutes to clear her mind and get into character.

Ever since Gu Ling discovered she had been matched in a ghost marriage to a woman, she had been able to see Sheng Ling, who had died several years ago, every night. As time passed, the two grew closer.

A few days ago, Gu Ling asked Sheng Ling if ghosts truly existed in this world. If they did, could she see her own sister?

“Ordinary people can’t see you, but I can. Does that mean my sister is like you, and I just can’t see her?”

In Gu Ling’s memory, her sister had died of illness three years ago. After her death, her birth details were sold, and she was matched in a ghost marriage. It was precisely because of this precedent that Gu Ling didn’t resist the idea of a ghost marriage. When her family arranged it, she accepted it. She even felt it was a meaningful act. After all, there was nothing else she could do. If selling herself could earn money to treat her mother’s illness, she considered it a blessing.

Sheng Ling asked about the cause of her sister’s death and how old she was when she died. Upon hearing she was sixteen, Sheng Ling replied, “Only vengeful spirits can remain in this world. She died peacefully, without resentment.”

After hearing the answer, Gu Ling remained quiet for a long while before asking Sheng Ling, “Are you a vengeful spirit?”

Sheng Ling smiled it was the first time Gu Ling had seen her smile. The woman countered, “Are you human?”

Gu Ling lowered her gaze and whispered, “I’d rather be a ghost.”

Able to traverse heaven and earth, omnipotent, and capable of curing her mother’s illness, anything would be better than being a mere mortal.

Sheng Ling’s smile didn’t fade as she simply said she would arrange things. Gu Ling didn’t trust her, or rather, she didn’t trust anyone. But when she woke the next day, the Sheng family informed her that her mother had been transferred to the city’s best hospital. Overwhelmed with joy, she wept. That night, when she went to thank Sheng Ling, she discovered the woman had become alarmingly frail.

If Sheng Ling had been solid the night before, she now seemed ethereal, flickering between reality and illusion, making it clear she wasn’t human.

“Delivering dreams consumed too much spiritual energy,” Sheng Ling said calmly. Gu Ling grew frantic: “How can I give you spiritual energy? Should I transfer my yang energy to you?”

No sooner had she spoken than she realized her mistake, ghosts belonged to the yin realm, and yang energy would harm them. The thought made her wrap her arms gently around Sheng Ling’s waist. Though she couldn’t actually touch her, she buried her face against the woman’s shoulder and neck, murmuring, “It’s a good thing I’m a woman. If I were a man, I’d surely be the death of you.”

Sheng Ling laughed and explained that a vengeful ghost’s power came from hatred and killing. The people she hated were dwindling, and her spiritual energy was no longer sufficient to sustain murder. She might vanish any day now.

Without hesitation, Gu Ling declared, “I have plenty of people I hate. If I kill them, will that keep you alive?”

But if she were the one killing them, how could the spiritual energy be transferred to Sheng Ling?

Sheng Ling remained unperturbed. “You just need to tell them before they die that I sent you.”

Under Sheng Ling’s guidance, Gu Ling picked up a hunting rifle for the first time. She realized it wasn’t as heavy as she had imagined; anyone except a child could lift it easily. She learned to load, aim, and fire. Day after day, bullets tore through straw targets, only for the stacks to be restored by the next morning.

On the seventh night, deep in the darkness, Gu Ling returned to her old home for the first time. The tiled house of her memories had been expanded into a two-story courtyard. Her uncle, Gu Zheng, who had sold her off, was sleeping soundly inside. For the first time in her life, a profound sense of injustice and rage surged within her. Why were they treated as commodities to be traded? Why were they scorned as ungrateful for merely expressing discontent, while the truly wicked slept peacefully and even gained reputations as devoted siblings?

Gu Zheng was jolted awake by heavy knocking. When he saw Gu Ling, he froze in shock, stumbling backward several steps. Before he could speak, his eyes fell on the rifle in her hand.

She gave him no chance to react. Gu Ling pulled the trigger. At such close range, she saw the bullet tear through the wrinkled right side of his face, flesh and blood spraying everywhere. She saw the bullet embedded deep in the bone beneath the shredded skin.

Excruciating pain made Gu Zheng’s eyes widen. He began scrambling backward, screaming Sheng Ling’s name in terror. He tried to flee, but a second shot followed, then a third. He had no means to fight back, just as Gu Ling remembered her mother being beaten by him time and again.

She watched him coldly. At first, Gu Zheng still twitched, but after his face was rendered unrecognizable, reduced to a pulp, even his ragged breaths faded away.

Gu Ling holstered the rifle and wiped away the blood that had splattered onto her face unnoticed.

“It’s over.”

She returned to the Sheng family, the rifle in hand, her clothes stained with blood.

“That’s a wrap for today.” As soon as Xiang Fan announced the end of filming, Ning Fuguang had already taken out a wet wipe and was frowning as she wiped the fake blood from Jiang Luoyue’s face.

Jiang Luoyue was about to thank her when Fu Yunqing, unwilling to be outdone, started wiping from her chin down to her neck. Jiang Luoyue squinted and leaned back, trying to avoid it: “That tickles ”

Fu Yunqing hummed but before she could say anything, Yu Jingtang handed over a drink with a straw already inserted.

Jiang Luoyue instinctively bit the straw. It wasn’t until she was practically carried back in front of the camera that she noticed the astonished gazes from everyone around her.

Belatedly, she felt a bit embarrassed: “Alright, don’t make such a fuss. People are watching.”

“What’s the fuss?” Ning Fuguang laughed. “You just have three assistants. Compared to other celebrities, your treatment is actually pretty poor, isn’t it?”

Jiang Luoyue had worked on many sets and had even encountered a few “on-set emperors” who brought over a dozen assistants with them, but she had never imagined she would become one of them. After all, her assistant Xiao Lu had some family matters to attend to, and Jiang Luoyue had been managing on her own for half a month.

Suddenly being treated so lavishly left her a bit flustered: “Uh, one assistant is enough.”

“Is that so?” Fu Yunqing seemed to ponder something after hearing her reply, then suddenly asked, “If you could only choose one of us three, who would you pick?”

With that one question, even Xiang Fan turned to look at her.

Jiang Luoyue was growing more accustomed to their gazes and answered without changing her expression: “I’d choose to be on my own.”

“What do you mean!” Fu Yunqing immediately protested. “Am I not better than them? My sister wanted to hire me as her assistant, and I didn’t even give her the chance!”

“You can turn around and go find your sister right now, and no one would say anything,” Xiang Fan approached, delivering a knockout blow with her words. She glanced at Jiang Luoyue and said, “We need to reshoot the gun scene. Practice more during this time.”

Jiang Luoyue nodded. She had never handled a gun before; even the shooting posture she used today was something she had hastily practiced at a shooting range in the city just a couple of days ago. Making mistakes was practically inevitable. In a way, she and Gu Ling were both starting from scratch when it came to shooting.

On this topic, Fu Yunqing and Ning Fuguang were somewhat helpless after all, they hadn’t gone abroad with the intention of joining the mafia.

In contrast, Yu Jingtang, who had been quiet all along, suddenly lifted her eyelids and stared straight at Jiang Luoyue: “I can.”

“You can?” Jiang Luoyue was momentarily confused. “Can what?”

Yu Jingtang said, “Shooting.”

“I can teach you.” After a pause, she added, “If you need it.”

Jiang Luoyue hesitated, unsure if she was serious or joking. Before she could question it, Ning Fuguang smiled and said, “Even if you’ve done some shooting, it’s just at an amateur level. I might as well hire a professional instructor for Luoyue.”

Yu Jingtang then pulled out her record of hitting ten rings to prove she wasn’t exactly an amateur.

Fu Yunqing was indignant: “Does the scene require her to hit a certain number of rings?”

Yu Jingtang calmly replied, “Even if it doesn’t, I’m still useful to her. What about you two?”

The two who felt targeted immediately scowled.

Xiang Fan finally spoke up: “Even if you hadn’t mentioned it, the crew has already hired an instructor.”

“Will the instructor work from 9 a.m.?” Yu Jingtang glanced at her watch and retorted, “How much are you paying them?”

Xiang Fan choked on her words before she could retort, when an unfamiliar face suddenly brought over the replica gun from the scene and presented it to Yu Jingtang like a treasure. “Xiao Tang, Luoyue!”

She was acting furtively and wearing a mask, so it took Jiang Luoyue a moment to recognize her as Yu Jingtang’s assistant.

“Xiao Ning?” Jiang Luoyue tentatively called out.

The assistant, looking earnest and honest, remained silent. Instead, Ning Fuguang lifted her eyes and asked with a half-smile, “What is it, Sister Jiang?”

So she was right the entertainment industry was a melting pot of influences!

Since when did Ning Fuguang learn to use that kind of teasing, overly polite talk?

Jiang Luoyue took a deep breath, but before she could speak, Xiang Fan sneered, “Do you even know how much older you are than her? Stop pretending to be young.”

After the jab, she frowned and asked the assistant, “Who gave you permission to bring the prop over? Did I allow”

Before she could finish the word “allow,” Yu Jingtang had already taken Jiang Luoyue’s hand and said cheerfully, “Let’s go.”

She seemed like a detached bystander, indifferent to anyone other than Jiang Luoyue, naturally tuning out everything the others said.

Jiang Luoyue, suddenly having her hand held, asked in confusion, “Go where?”

Yu Jingtang replied, “To practice shooting.”

Though Jiang Luoyue had no idea where one could find a target for shooting practice in the desolate wilderness late at night, she chose to trust Yu Jingtang and nodded hesitantly.

Yu Jingtang hooked her fingers with Jiang Luoyue’s, and Jiang Luoyue instinctively interlaced them. Fu Yunqing immediately shrieked, “Yu Jingtang! Do you think I didn’t see that?”

How dare Yu Jingtang hold her future girlfriend’s hand and with their fingers intertwined, no less? This was an absolute insult!

Faced with her outburst, Yu Jingtang merely raised an eyebrow, gave her a provocative look, and continued walking forward.

Assistant Xiao Lin quietly translated, “What she means is, Luoyue didn’t say anything, and it has nothing to do with Miss Fu.”

Watching the group walk away, Ning Fuguang stood still for half a minute before suddenly raising her voice, “Luoyue? You left something behind.”

“Huh?” Jiang Luoyue halted and indeed saw Ning Fuguang holding her jacket. She instinctively tried to turn back, but her hand was held tightly. Only after a slight struggle did Yu Jingtang release her, though she still wore a guarded expression.

It was just a jacket, what was Yu Jingtang so worried about?

Jiang Luoyue found it both amusing and exasperating but kept the thought to herself. She reached out toward Ning Fuguang, but before handing over the jacket, the woman took a few steps closer.

The distance suddenly became uncomfortably close. Before Jiang Luoyue could react, Ning Fuguang’s hair brushed against her, and her cool, soft lips lightly grazed Jiang Luoyue’s cheek in a fleeting kiss.

“Goodnight kiss,” Ning Fuguang said with a smile, her eyes curving happily. “See you tomorrow.”

Under the pale moonlight, only three suddenly frosty faces remained, along with Jiang Luoyue, who covered her cheek and took a long moment to regain her senses. “Huh? Oh, oh.”