I Was Taken by the Female Lead After Transmigrating into a Book - Chapter 50

The next morning, Huo Wu boarded a car bound for Yanshi. The charity gala had been scheduled a long time ago, and since it was being live-streamed, Huo Wu, as the foundation’s general manager, couldn’t be absent. With the production crew’s filming proceeding smoothly and Bai Feifei adapting very well, Huo Wu felt it was fine to leave.

“Fine?” Ji Meng scoffed at Bai Xue’s message that read, “You and Huo Wu can leave without worry.” She glanced to the side. They were in a seven-seater SUV. Huo Wu was sitting next to her, also on her phone. The windows had privacy film that also blocked out light, so even though it was already dawn, a small light was on in the car. The light was dim, but her phone screen was even brighter. Huo Wu seemed to be staring at something, as the screen hadn’t moved for a long time. Her fingers were idly tapping the edge of her phone. On Ji Meng’s screen, she saw the message from Bai Xue.

[Bai Xue: Have you left yet?]

[Bai Xue: You and Huo Wu can leave without worry, I’ll watch over Feifei here.]

Ji Meng pursed her lips slightly and began typing furiously. The keyboard sound effect on her phone was on—something she’d inexplicably picked up from spending a lot of time with Bai Feifei. The rapid-fire tapping sound was surprisingly therapeutic. The fast typing made a distinct popping sound, causing Huo Wu to glance over at her.

“What has you so energetic this early in the morning?” Huo Wu’s tone was flat. She looked back at her own phone screen, sliding her finger up and down twice. “Didn’t you say you were going to quit and go home to inherit your family business an hour ago?” They had finished work after midnight the day before and now had to catch a 7 a.m. flight. They’d left the hotel just as the first rays of light were appearing. Everyone in the car who could was catching up on sleep. But as an agent, Ji Meng wasn’t so lucky. She’d woken up early to deal with all kinds of work messages.

Her work had just reached a temporary stopping point. Ji Meng saw that they were about twenty minutes from the airport, and after hearing Huo Wu’s comment, she let out two more “hmpf” sounds. Ji Meng pouted. “I said I want to inherit all the money, not the work they left behind.” Huo Wu recalled a similar conversation she’d had with Bai Feifei recently, and her lips curled up slightly.

Ji Meng looked at Bai Xue’s last message saying she was going to wake up Bai Feifei. An idea for a joke popped into her head. She pretended to be casual as she continued the conversation. “It’s nothing, it just sounds like something happened on Feifei’s end.” Bai Xue’s original message had said: “Feifei played with Little White for too long yesterday and can’t get out of bed. Xiaoxiao is trying to persuade her, so I’ll go check on her.”

Huo Wu turned to look at her. She said emotionlessly, “Is that so?” Ji Meng was clearly trying to build suspense and wouldn’t give a straight answer. She made a few more vague humming sounds, then deliberately added, “Why don’t you ask? Bai Xue said the commotion was pretty big.”

The commotion was indeed quite big. Thanks to the existence of Jumbo and Cutie, Bai Feifei and Fu Xiaoxiao had never been in contact with a creature as soft as a cat. Little White, on the other hand, was an evil-tempered dog, notoriously clumsy and big. While Jumbo was small, she was always in a combat pose, ready to take on any living thing, so she had nothing to do with being soft, either. Therefore, the two troublemakers, who had never touched a cat before, completely lost control when they saw Little White yesterday. The sounds of their exclamations didn’t stop until late at night. When they finally went to bed, each held a cat paw. Little White was in the middle, and they were on either side of it.

Huo Wu hadn’t seen this herself, and because she hadn’t said goodbye to them in the morning, she naturally had no idea. She pretended to fiddle with her phone for a while, constantly changing her posture. The sound of her clothes rubbing against each other was noticeable in the quiet car. Ji Meng struggled to hold back her laughter. Just as Huo Wu reopened the chat with Bai Feifei for the umpteenth time and was about to give in, she received a video call request from Bai Feifei. Huo Wu’s expression immediately relaxed.

Bai Feifei had only slept for less than four hours, but young people always have endless energy. She was full of life early in the morning, and her voice was bouncy as she greeted Huo Wu. “A-Wu! Little White is being so good here! It’s playing well with Jumbo and Cutie, and it even licked Little White’s fur!” Bai Feifei’s tone was cheerful. She held the cat in one arm and skipped along, with a very obvious happy expression on her face. She sat down and rubbed the cat against her cheek. The soft, white fur felt very comfortable against her face. Bai Feifei rubbed the cat in a state of bliss for a while and then said, “Little White is so friendly, too. It slept in my arms all night and didn’t even struggle.”

Huo Wu raised an eyebrow. Little White, friendly? The cat seemed to understand what Bai Feifei was saying. Its head flopped into Bai Feifei’s neck, instantly earning an excited and syrupy sweet response from Bai Feifei. “Look, look! A-Wu, look, it’s just like this! Little White loves to cuddle!” Huo Wu had no doubt that if Bai Feifei didn’t have a scene to shoot today, she would spend the entire day cuddling this cat in her room.

Huo Wu said, “She hasn’t had a bath in almost ten days.” Bai Feifei didn’t care. She even kissed the cat a couple more times. Still rubbing the cat’s face with hers, she said, “It’s okay. How can a little cat be dirty? Ten days without a bath for a kitten is just like ten minutes without a bath for a human…” As she spoke, Bai Feifei made a sappy, cute sound that she never used. Even when she was trying to be cute, she usually just called Huo Wu’s name in a pitiful way.

Huo Wu realized her thoughts were straying and hadn’t even figured out why. Then she saw Bai Xue enter the room. Bai Feifei reluctantly handed the cat over to her. The cat was taken away, letting out a weak meow of protest. For some unspoken reason, Huo Wu found herself in a better mood.

Bai Feifei’s attention finally returned to Huo Wu. As if just remembering, she said, “Aunt Xue told me some good news this morning. Guess what it is!”

Huo Wu asked, “What is it?” Bai Feifei seemed to be pacing back and forth, her eyes constantly searching for something, so she wasn’t looking at the screen much. This allowed Huo Wu to stare at Bai Feifei on the screen without a problem. The video call was not high-definition, and the only light source was a single overhead hotel lamp, yet Bai Feifei was still very beautiful.

At that moment, Ji Meng let out a sound of surprise. Huo Wu looked over and heard Ji Meng say, “Feifei is incredible.” She was wearing headphones, so Ji Meng and Bai Feifei couldn’t hear each other. Their voices were now simultaneously reaching Huo Wu’s ears. Ji Meng said, “Remember that magazine Feifei shot a while ago? The physical and digital versions were released at the same time, and they broke all of this year’s…” Ji Meng paused and looked closely at the message her friend had sent her. This time her voice was much more serious. “No, it broke all sales records for any domestic magazine released in the last three years.” Huo Wu and Ji Meng made eye contact. They could both see the surprise in each other’s eyes.

At the same time, Bai Feifei’s voice continued in her ear, “The sister from the magazine company contacted Aunt Xue and said the magazine sold really well. They were sold out as soon as they went on sale, and they want to collaborate again…” Huo Wu pulled her gaze back. Ji Meng had already sent her the data sheet on her phone. There hadn’t been any blockbuster shows or breakout stars in the past three years, and sales of entertainment merchandise had always been poor. Although the magazine Bai Feifei shot for was a top brand, she didn’t have a large fan base herself. The magazine’s main selling point at the time was banking on the show Glory and on Huo Wu. No one expected this set of photos of Bai Feifei to become such a sensation. The popularity was not just about the magazine itself; it seemed to have been given a different meaning. The sales were completely sold out not only domestically but also abroad.

But Bai Feifei clearly didn’t understand what this meant. Huo Wu could probably guess why Bai Xue hadn’t told her. Huo Wu looked at the screen, listening to Bai Feifei. After a moment, she asked, “How did the shoot feel?”

“It was great.” Bai Feifei thought for a moment. She didn’t know what she was thinking of, but she said, “Sister Man is great at giving directions, and she said I have so much charisma!” Bai Feifei really did have charisma. Not only had the photographer Shen Man said so, but Li Ke had also said it—and Bai Feifei herself had said it, too.

Huo Wu looked at Bai Feifei with a gentle expression that she herself wasn’t even aware of. “Mmm.” She didn’t say much, but Bai Feifei already knew that this was her way of telling her to continue. Bai Feifei thought for a moment and then said, “The theme of this shoot was the four seasons. When we were shooting for spring, Sister Man asked me if I’d ever been in love. I said yes, and she told me to think of my sweetheart…”

Huo Wu had just opened the digital version of Bai Feifei’s magazine on her tablet. The issue was being sent to buyers’ inboxes based on their purchase time, and Huo Wu’s copy had just arrived. While the page was still loading, she was caught off guard by Bai Feifei’s words. She looked up and into Bai Feifei’s eyes on the screen. The video call wasn’t very clear, and Huo Wu was disappointed that she couldn’t see if Bai Feifei was blushing. But her expression and movements all screamed that she was indeed a little shy.

Bai Feifei said, “I was thinking about you the whole time.” Huo Wu accidentally tapped the screen, closing the unimportant preview page. She didn’t even seem to notice this small gesture of nerves. She slightly lifted her chin and tapped the Bluetooth headset with her index and middle fingers. She responded in a very soft voice, “Mmm.”