I Was Taken by the Female Lead After Transmigrating into a Book - Chapter 51

The sound was incredibly soft and subtle, but Bai Feifei, wearing her headphones, heard every detail clearly. The voice was as light as a butterfly that had landed on her cheek without a care, ready to flutter its wings at any moment. The person in the mirror was cautious, holding back every movement, afraid to disturb the extreme beauty she might see in the next second. It made her heart ache and her mind race.

Bai Feifei stopped in a daze. She unconsciously scratched her heart with her index finger, feeling that it wasn’t just an ache. She wanted to hear the owner of that voice say something more. Huo Wu seemed to have anticipated Bai Feifei’s wish. She spoke, her voice noticeably slower, softer, and laced with a hook. “Go back and wear it for me to see.”

Even with a screen between them, and even though the other person only existed in that small rectangle, Bai Feifei was left completely flustered by a single sentence. She remembered the gentle evening breeze, their arms pressed together, their hands intertwined, and her own seemingly bold but actually timid teasing from the night before. Her face grew slightly red. She looked left and right, then, like a thief, took her schedule for the day from Fu Xiaoxiao. Before hanging up, she whispered, “You did that on purpose.”

Today’s schedule wasn’t tight. According to Li Ke, the first month of filming mainly focused on solo scenes and initial meeting scenes for the main cast, as their relationships were very intertwined. This morning, she had a scene with Ling Xinghe, picking up from where she was bullied after entering the school gate.

In this scene, Ling Xinghe had very few lines, but his expression was the main focus. Wearing a dress soaked with fake blood was incredibly uncomfortable. The weather was hot, and Bai Feifei’s long hair was constantly getting wet and then dried by the summer heat. The gum stuck to her wig was also constantly being removed and re-attached, making her feel heavy-headed. But every time she felt like she was about to faint, the cold, sticky feeling below her waist would bring her back, ready for the next take.

Because the fake blood was slow to dry and would dilute glue, the dress had to be glued to the chair before the blood was put on. This one scene, of her sitting down, was shot over and over for almost the entire morning. After a series of pranks, Fusang sat down in her seat, realizing she was just facing a new round of humiliation. She finally pursed her lips and took a deep, deliberate breath. The clean chair a boy had swapped out was now under his foot, while she was sitting in a messy spot that reeked of blood. The sticky liquid, whether blood or red ink, dripped continuously from the chair. Blended with the drops of water from her hair, Bai Feifei couldn’t help but think randomly, At least Li Ke set it as tap water instead of specially treated sewage.

“Ohhh—woah—” Boys’ rowdy shouts and jeers came from the side, accompanied by desk-thumping and clapping, filled with the unfiltered malice of boys that age. It seemed to excite and thrill them to see a beautiful, once-unattainable girl fall from grace and be so humiliated.

Even though it was just acting, being scrutinized with such malice by so many faces made Bai Feifei shiver uncontrollably. Goosebumps rose on her skin, and the hairs on her arms stood up. She brushed the stray hairs stuck to her face back. Her smile, which had disappeared the moment she walked in, was replaced by a stubborn, downturned mouth. She scanned the faces of these people one by one, but she found no trace of remorse or fear. Instead, she was met with increasingly blatant stares and glee.

“Look, look—the rich beauty is looking at you!”

“She’s looking at you! She’s looking at you! She’s got her eye on you!”

“Go on, make a move! Maybe she’ll be in your bed tonight.”

Sarcastic laughter and crude language came non-stop. Bai Feifei tightened her grip on her backpack strap. A single, crystalline drop of water fell from her eyelashes onto her pleated skirt, which was already stained, looking just like a tear. She didn’t know that the director, Li Ke, was signaling for a close-up of her face. She only knew that her knuckles were white from how tightly she was clenching her hands.

At that moment, she suddenly thought of the next scene in the script. Fusang’s choice was to walk out of the classroom. But as she reached the stairwell, she would meet Wuling walking up. It was like the intersection of two different shadows: Fusang, like a moon falling from the clouds, and Wuling, like the rising sun heading straight for the light.

Maybe it was because she had immersed herself in the character and this idea of “based on a true story,” or because she empathized with the protagonist who had experienced all of this, or for some other reason, but at that moment, Bai Feifei genuinely thought, If only a Wuling had existed in that real-life society. No matter who it was, someone to save me when I was at my most hopeless, my most helpless. But the Fusang in this moment had no one.

No one could save her, just as she found her father’s cold body below the window she had opened. No one could save her, just as when she found the bathroom door wouldn’t open and she instinctively called 911, and the firefighters pulled her lifeless mother from a bathtub of warm, blood-stained water.

The noise in her ears continued—

“Look, look, she’s getting angry!”

“A beautiful girl is losing it. Come on, slap my face—”

But Fusang didn’t respond. Her lips remained stubbornly pursed as she stood up from her seat and walked towards the only door where light was entering.

I have to escape this, Fusang thought.

But where can I run?

With every step, she moved a little further away. As Fusang stood at the doorway, she inexplicably stopped and looked back. As she looked back, a boy with a delicate, pretty face and shiny lips smiled at her. Fusang didn’t have the energy to show any expression, and she didn’t think much of the smile. But they didn’t chase her. They stayed in their seats and, seeing that she wasn’t collapsing into tears or getting angry like the girls they had previously teased, they lost interest and kicked over the stool Fusang had just been sitting on.

The stool hit a girl in a school uniform. She shivered violently. Finally, among a group of deeply bowed, black-haired heads, Fusang saw a pale, thin face filled with tears. She didn’t know her and couldn’t remember her name, but she seemed to see the girl’s silent cry: “Don’t go.” Fusang looked at her one last time, seeing a mix of emotions she couldn’t recognize—longing, fear, and resentment. Finally, as a tear fell from that girl’s eye, Fusang silently left the classroom located at the very end of the hallway.

I can’t keep running away.

I have to change everything.

Running away is useless.

When she got to the hallway, Bai Feifei’s scene was technically supposed to end. Huo Wu wasn’t there today, so no one would be waiting for her at the stairs. But she still walked to the stairwell, looking at the empty tile pattern below, and whispered, “Running away is useless.” She was supposed to say this when she was handed the dorm key by Wuling. Wuling wasn’t there, but she said it anyway.

Suddenly, someone caught up behind her. Bai Feifei heard footsteps, turned around, and saw that it was Ling Xinghe. It was common for a co-star to change or add a scene. Bai Feifei knew what his character would do later and what he wanted to do by chasing after her now. She looked back, her expression as calm as still water.

When Ling Xinghe stepped closer, Bai Feifei’s nose twitched, and she smelled a very pleasant fragrance. It was a gentle scent that made a person unconsciously let down their guard. But Ling Xinghe stood in front of her and smiled in a way that was completely different from how he was off-camera. It was a standardized, trained smile, but paired with the lip gloss on his lips, it looked creepy.

“The blood on your skirt is real,” Li Mingming’s smile became more genuine after he said this. “They don’t know. They’re just having fun splashing it around inside.” After saying that, Li Mingming kept his hands behind his back and leisurely walked away.

At this point, Li Ke finally yelled, “Cut!” The morning’s filming was over. As soon as they got the signal, the crew swarmed forward. Bai Feifei stood under a faucet and unhesitatingly washed the fake blood off her body with cold water, finally getting a moment to breathe.

Ling Xinghe wiped the lip gloss off his lips, but beneath it was another layer of purple special effects makeup. After wiping off the top layer, his makeup looked even more like a sullen, late-stage heart disease patient. “Director Li, did that last bit ruin the scene?” Ling Xinghe came over and asked the director first. Without waiting for an answer, he asked Bai Feifei, “Was I scary? Was I scary? Was I scary enough?”

Bai Feifei smiled and gave Ling Xinghe a thumbs-up, telling him he was great, but she didn’t say whether his method was correct. This scene was already in the script, but Ling Xinghe had brought it forward. Li Ke watched the playback and then said, “We can keep it, but the timing is not right.”

Ling Xinghe pouted, looking unhappy. “Why not?” Li Ke didn’t answer directly. He looked at Bai Feifei. Bai Feifei wrinkled her nose and bravely took on the responsibility of explaining. “If you say that, wouldn’t I know that you’re the leader of this group of people? How can I act in the scenes that come after that?” Ling Xinghe was stunned. He thought about it, slapped his thigh, and said in surprise, “You’re right!”

Li Ke tapped his head, laughing at him. Ling Xinghe had mostly filmed idol dramas, and his scripts were usually good. The one that made him a breakout star was in line with his character, but his acting was genuinely good; otherwise, Ling Xingchen wouldn’t have put him in this crew. But idol dramas generally have a weak plot and focus on being sweet and romantic, so Ling Xinghe’s acting style was tailored to that. This was his strength but also a drawback. Because not all scenes could be changed like that. If he developed this habit, his career path would be hindered. At a young age, he could become a greasy actor, and once he ran into someone with a background who he couldn’t offend but had a similar acting style, it would be easy to have a bad accident.

All that was beside the point. Li Ke looked at the time and said to Bai Feifei, “Go get ready. We’re leaving in an hour.” Bai Feifei wanted to teleport to her room to wash her hair, but she was still confused. She instinctively asked, “Where are we going?”

“Yanshi,” Li Ke said, pinching his small goatee with his thumb and index finger. “I’ve already borrowed the dress for you. The ‘Endless Summer’ dress from your ‘Four Seasons’ photoshoot.” Bai Feifei’s face immediately darkened when she heard the words “Endless Summer.” She then reacted and asked excitedly, “What are we going to Yanshi for?”

“To attend the charity gala,” Li Ke said. “Just stay hungry today. We’ll eat together when we get back tonight.” As soon as Li Ke finished speaking, Bai Feifei was already rushing toward her RV, which had its own shower and closet. There were very few people on the crew who had RVs. There were only five parked here, and two belonged to the crew. Ling Xinghe got into another black one. Bai Feifei didn’t even look closely. She rushed in and then rushed back out to grab her phone, quickly typing a message to Huo Wu: [A-Wu, I’m coming to find you!]