I Was Taken by the Female Lead After Transmigrating into a Book - Chapter 33

After Huo Wu left, Bai Feifei lay in bed lost in thought.

Before, she never thought about how far she wanted to go in her career. She just wanted to be closer to Huo Wu, which is why she auditioned for Light and Shadow. At the time, she didn’t even have the strong desire to be chosen for the role.

But Huo Wu’s words were right. She had to work hard and climb to the top to finally stand alongside Huo Wu one day.

Otherwise, she’d be stuck like this, where a single trending topic could lead to countless netizens reposting and insulting her, saying she wasn’t good enough for Huo Wu, that she didn’t deserve to act with her, and that she would only hold her back. This would even lead to the entire cast and crew being targeted, and Huo Wu herself would be branded as “past her prime.”

This was a situation Bai Feifei absolutely didn’t want to see happen.

When Fu Xiaoxiao entered, this was the scene she walked into. Bai Feifei was sitting alone on the bed, with an empty bowl in front of her. Only some dried remnants of seasoning were left, not even a drop of soup.

Her precious baby must have been starving!

Fu Xiaoxiao rushed over, tossing the small suitcase she was carrying to the side. She cupped Bai Feifei’s face and exclaimed, “Baby, what’s wrong? Are you still not feeling well? Was it because I couldn’t come to see you last night—let me explain, I couldn’t escape from Ms. Xi Rong’s clutches. I helped her at the law firm all night, and even made a huge pot of instant noodles for dozens of people at the firm, with two eggs each! Two eggs!”

Bai Feifei snapped out of her daze and looked at Fu Xiaoxiao with a hint of melancholy. After a moment, she said with a pained expression, “Can’t you tell the difference between ‘thinking’ and ‘being upset’ from my micro-expressions?”

Fu Xiaoxiao shook her head like a rattle.

Bai Feifei changed her analogy: “Can you tell the difference between when your mom is working and when your mom is about to hit you?”

“…I can,” Fu Xiaoxiao suddenly choked up and started whimpering. “Baby, you’ve become a bad influence. You’re using my mom to pressure me again! You haven’t done that in so long!”

Bai Feifei patted her face to the side and asked, “What’s in the box over there?”

“I went on a shopping spree through several malls this morning!” Fu Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up. “It’s all full of daily necessities and makeup for you. I put everything I could think of that you like in there. It took me a long time to get all this stuff together. I’m definitely going to be a good assistant!”

Bai Feifei was taken aback, surprised that someone as carefree as Fu Xiaoxiao could be so meticulous and put in so much effort. She pursed her lips, looked out the window, and said, “Okay, then I will definitely be a good actress.”

For the next few days, Bai Feifei didn’t go online. She just wanted to recover quickly. She was afraid that being careless in her youth would lead to health problems later in life, so she decided to avoid anything that might upset her stomach—for instance, reading certain morbid news headlines might cause a stomach ache due to emotional distress.

Just as Huo Wu said, the two wouldn’t see each other again until they started filming next month. Bai Feifei tried to contact her a few times on WeChat, but Huo Wu didn’t reply. She was probably busy.

Bai Feifei sighed and poked the WeChat interface. Her conversation history was filled with only her own messages, and scrolling up felt endless.

Today was her release day from the hospital. While she was there, she visited Jiang Yueming once. After several surgeries, Jiang Yueming’s condition was completely stable, but the post-surgical side effects were very apparent. Jiang Yueming was eerily calm.

Bai Feifei had no one to consult with. She had originally planned to bring Jiang Yueming to a hotel near the film set for them to live together, but Xi Rong advised against it. Xi Rong seemed to have other plans regarding Bai Feifei’s maternal family.

Bai Feifei didn’t know much about these matters. She only knew that Xi Rong must have received a great kindness from the Jiang family back then. The fact that she had come so far and had such a good relationship with a wealthy young lady like Jiang Yueming must have many intricate connections. Because of this, Jiang Yueming would be staying with Fu Xiaoxiao for the time being after she was discharged.

“Baby, I’m all packed!” Fu Xiaoxiao held a bag in each hand, not minding the weight, and said as she walked out, “My mom kicked Jumbo and Little Cutie out, so besides you and me, we’ll have two dogs at home now—do film sets allow dogs? They both have their licenses!”

“They do,” Bai Feifei said after thinking for a moment. “A-Wu also has a cat that follows her everywhere. When she’s not on set, she keeps the cat in her hotel room, and Guan Ziyao is its official pooper scooper.”

“That’s a relief!” Fu Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up. “I was thinking I’d have to hire a nanny for them, but I was worried about finding someone reliable. It’s unsettling to leave the kids at home without an adult watching them—so I’ll bring them to the set then!”

“Okay,” Bai Feifei readily agreed. She paused when she saw a motorhome outside the hospital entrance. “Did you drive that here?”

“Yep,” Fu Xiaoxiao said, quickly running over to put the luggage inside and open the door. “I had the car customized. It has a rest area for you inside. You can lie down there when you’re tired, and Jumbo and Little Cutie can wait for you in the car. If we ever shoot a historical drama on location, we can even let them see the world, like a mountain or the sea!”

Bai Feifei let her imagination run wild with Fu Xiaoxiao’s words and suddenly felt that it might not be a bad idea.

Huo Wu actually liked dogs the most, but dogs required more love and care. They needed to be walked every day and needed a lot of companionship. Huo Wu was too busy to do that, which is why even though she often visited animal shelters, she was never able to adopt her own dog. Cats were not as hard to care for and didn’t need to be walked, which made them a great fit for Huo Wu.

If Little Cutie and Jumbo could come to the set in the future, and if she and Huo Wu could collaborate on another project after Light and Shadow, that kind of life would be wonderful.

It was still early when they got home. During Bai Feifei’s hospital stay, Fu Xiaoxiao had learned to cook from somewhere. Although her knife skills were terrible, the food was edible and even tasted much better than takeout. Bai Feifei finished the entire meal in a state of surprise and once again clutched her bloated stomach, saying, “When did you learn all this?”

“I asked a chef to teach me while you were in the hospital!” Fu Xiaoxiao looked up, putting the pots and pans into the dishwasher. “I’m going to take an advanced class later to learn how to make things like low-fat and nutritious meals… Ugh, I’m going to be so busy. Being an assistant is tough.”

Bai Feifei was incredibly moved. “The company has people for that. You don’t have to learn it yourself.”

“No way,” Fu Xiaoxiao mumbled. “I can choose not to do it, but I have to know how.”

Bai Feifei fell silent. She remembered something she had heard before. In this industry, actors and their teams are always interdependent. One person’s strength is often small, and they need to rely on the team to go further and last longer. Because of this, the team can help the actor become more outstanding, and the actor can, in turn, provide greater value back to the team.

Right now, Fu Xiaoxiao was following her, but she wasn’t getting any benefits at all. She would be looked down upon because she was just an assistant to an “unimportant” D-list celebrity. Only when she did well would the people around her also do better.

Bai Feifei clenched her fists, hugged Little Cutie’s big head, and kissed him. She said happily, “From now on, you’re the Dog King!”

Little Cutie, with a confused look in his eyes, buried his face in Bai Feifei’s lap and wagged his stumpy tail.

Her phone vibrated. Bai Feifei was startled and opened it. It was a message from Huo Wu.

[Huo Wu: Mmm.]

Bai Feifei had sent her a lot of messages. She talked about the checkups she had, how she saw a kid at the hospital being chased by his dad, only for the dad to fall into a pond while chasing him. She said she didn’t want soup anymore and wanted to eat rice. She said she had been lying down for so long that she felt lazy, and she also said she was discharged from the hospital today. And Huo Wu replied with an “Mmm.”

Bai Feifei looked at the screen with a bit of sadness.

[Bai Feifei: A-Wu, you’re so distant.]

[Huo Wu: I know.]

The two messages popped up almost at the same time. Bai Feifei blinked, switched to the chat history, and saw that there was only a one-second difference between them!

[Huo Wu: I’m very busy. I pulled two all-nighters and just wrapped up.]

Bai Feifei immediately forgot about Huo Wu being distant and quickly typed a few words:

[Bai Feifei: Then get some rest. I won’t bother you.]

[Huo Wu: You’re not a bother.]

Bai Feifei blinked and let out a small “aww” before falling back onto Little Cutie’s soft belly. Jumbo walked around a few times, probably feeling that the floor was a bit cold, and finally burrowed into Bai Feifei’s arms.

Bai Feifei thought for a moment, opened her front camera, took a picture, and gave a “peace” sign. Then she sent a message:

[Bai Feifei: Do you remember Little Cutie and Jumbo? Can I bring them to the set with me? Little Cutie must miss you.]

Huo Wu didn’t reply. Bai Feifei didn’t know if she had fallen asleep. Bai Feifei held her phone, looking over the chat history many times. She stared at Huo Wu’s “You’re not a bother” for a long time, smiling so wide she couldn’t close her mouth.

When Bai Xue’s call came in, Bai Feifei’s toothy grin was still visible on the dark screen. She managed to compose herself a little, but her voice was still full of cheerfulness. “Auntie Xue?”

“Baby,” Bai Xue’s voice came through, also sounding a bit happy. “The contract has been finalized. You’ve signed on to play the female lead, Fusang, who has many scenes with Huo Wu. Are you happy?”

Bai Xue had been busy with this for the past few days. A lot was involved before the contract could be signed. Bai Feifei’s scandals were a mess, and the production crew had to haggle back and forth with various investors, but in the end, no one could stop Li Ke, who insisted on using Bai Feifei against all objections.

Just as Bai Feifei was about to say she had to thank the director, she heard Bai Xue continue, “You really have to thank Huo Wu. I heard that she personally treated the investors to dinner to get this done for you. They finally gave in and gave her some face. She normally never touches alcohol.”

Bai Feifei’s words of gratitude got stuck in her throat, feeling sour and astringent, a swelling discomfort. She said to Bai Xue on the other end of the phone, “She went to have dinner with the investors?”

They had just been chatting a moment ago. If Bai Xue hadn’t told her, Huo Wu’s personality would have meant she would never have brought it up herself. And if Huo Wu didn’t mention it, no one else would have either.

Bai Xue had some inkling of what was going on between her and Huo Wu, but she didn’t know much. She could only guess based on their interactions over the past few days.

She pondered for a moment and said, “She probably feels a little guilty and wanted to make it up to you. In any case, it’s a good thing.”