I Was Taken by the Female Lead After Transmigrating into a Book - Chapter 54

Fu Xiaoxiao had no idea where Bai Feifei had been. When she received the message to meet her, she wavered several times about whether to tell Bai Xue, but their years of friendship finally won out, and she chose to secretly go and help Bai Feifei. The group returned to the building, a perfect covert operation thanks to the staff’s help. The moment Fu Xiaoxiao saw Bai Feifei’s lips, she exclaimed in surprise, “How did you guys go eat hot pot without me?! You didn’t even try to hide it. Look how red your lips are from the spice.” Bai Feifei, flustered, felt a wave of affection for Fu Xiaoxiao and stammered, “I’ll treat you to some later.” Fu Xiaoxiao finally gave up and went back downstairs.

On the way back, Huo Wu briefly explained the structure of the gala to her. As time passed, the main hall would gradually be cleared out. The people who remained at the end were either key figures of the gala or those with the qualifications to stay. Most of the legitimate resources were controlled by these people. It was enough to show your face at the beginning, and you could choose to disappear during the boring middle part. The last hour or so was the truly useful time.

Bai Feifei, with her newly styled look, went back downstairs ahead of Huo Wu and indeed found that there were far fewer people. The conversations were less frantic and more sincere, and many people’s faces showed that they had gained a lot. Bai Feifei walked over to Bai Xue and Xi Rong and realized that, subtly, their group had become the center of the formal part of the event.

“How are things going with Bai Xue?” Xi Rong wore a simple, professional white gown with her hair tied back, which was no different from her usual look. Bai Feifei nodded instinctively. “Very well. Aunt Xue takes good care of me.” Xi Rong’s smile widened. She reached out and patted Bai Feifei’s head, saying softly, “I once visited your set and saw your performance. You’re getting better and better.” Bai Feifei was surprised that Xi Rong had come to see her and looked up in astonishment. Xi Rong just smiled. “I didn’t want to disturb you all. I happened to have a case that required me to go to Luo City, so I just stopped by. I was only there for about ten minutes before leaving.” Their filming location was a forty-minute drive from the airport and train station, and even more during rush hour. Bai Feifei didn’t comment on the “just stopped by” part. Instead, she said to Xi Rong, “Xiaoxiao is doing really well, too. Aunt Xue says she’s made a lot of progress. In less than three months, she’ll be able to manage on her own.” Xi Rong looked at her daughter. Although she said, “She still has a long way to go,” her eyes were clearly smiling.

As Bai Feifei’s WeChat contacts grew from a few dozen to nearly a hundred, the gala finally drew to a close. After a full day of activity, even the most energetic people were running out of steam. Bai Feifei leaned against the window, lost in thought. She realized that, over this period, Huo Wu seemed to be, in her own way, slowly bringing her into a world she hadn’t been a part of for many years. The small afternoon eatery, the rainy amusement park at night, the Ferris wheel at its peak… these were all memories the “original host” had forgotten but that they were now sharing again. The old restaurant was still there because of Huo Wu, a tourist attraction that would easily sustain the elderly couple who owned it. The abandoned amusement park was being redeveloped and would soon become a landmark in Yanshi. Her and Huo Wu’s pictures from the Ferris wheel would be displayed on the park’s celebrity wall. Every old place in her memory was being given a new mark. When her thoughts reached the end, the image was fixed on the kiss from today. They kissed at the ninth minute of the Ferris wheel’s ascent and then embraced until the end of the ride.

“What are you thinking about, baby?” Fu Xiaoxiao waved her hand in front of Bai Feifei’s face. “I got you a variety show. It’s at the end of the year, just for one week as a guest. You just have to show your face.” The timing was perfect, right after Glimmer finished filming. Going on the show would be great for promoting the series. Bai Feifei patted her face, coming back to her senses. “Okay, where are we going?”

“Dali. The show’s theme is intangible cultural heritage, mainly to promote culture. But the details haven’t been finalized yet.” It was also a rare variety show from a central TV station. Bai Xue had a clear career plan for Bai Feifei: to develop her into a mainstream celebrity. Bai Feifei’s looks were naturally stunning, and her acting was a genuine, naturalistic style. Although her past was difficult, the recent scandal had been resolved, which gave her an excellent public image. With the heat she had, along with the support of Li Ke and Huo Wu, becoming a top-tier actress was only a matter of time. Bai Feifei happily agreed.

After a relaxing night, the next day’s filming schedule was packed. Fu Xiaoxiao was worried that Bai Feifei wouldn’t be able to get into character quickly and would be scolded by Li Ke. But Bai Feifei didn’t have that concern. She methodically spoke with Jiang Yueming’s caretaker to confirm her treatment plan for the next week. After a brief call with Jiang Yueming herself, she immediately immersed herself in filming.

“Today is the first time you meet Wuling,” Li Ke said, sitting on a small folding stool with his legs bent inward, his script open in his lap. “This meeting is very important.” Li Ke’s gaze darted strangely between Huo Wu and Bai Feifei. He looked up at the behind-the-scenes camera operator, then fixed his eyes on Huo Wu. He let out an ambiguous ‘tsk,’ holding back the words, “You can’t be ambiguous with each other.” This caused a brief pause in what he wanted to say. After a while, under the suspicious gazes of the crew, he said, “Let’s just film it. Find your feelings.”

There was no such thing as a preconceived notion of “I must do this” in acting. There was only the feeling that came from repeated discussions, filming, and collaboration. Li Ke had no reservations. He would often rewrite the script on the spot, even if it affected the entire plot. He had been criticized for promoting specific people, but no one could deny that those films were successful. He didn’t tell Bai Feifei what kind of shot or meeting he wanted, nor did he tell Huo Wu, even though they had worked together many times and had a great rapport. He still wanted a surprise, something unexpected from his actors.

There weren’t many lines in this scene. As if mirroring Fusang’s state of mind, the school building was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The corridor was long and seemed endless. Bai Feifei wore the newly applied makeup. To fit the character, they didn’t just lightly mist her with water. They poured water from a kettle directly onto her from her head down. She also had to sit down, stand up, sit down, and stand up repeatedly with the fake blood so that the wrinkles on her skirt would look as realistic as possible. At that moment, Bai Feifei felt like she was Fusang. Whether it was the crew members laughing as they poured water on her or the extras pointing at her, Bai Feifei felt an urge to disappear.

She left the classroom. Although it was the middle of summer, she walked in the shadows close to the wall as if she was afraid of the sunlight touching her. She didn’t pretend to be timid or intentionally angry. She just wanted to leave that place quickly, but in her heart, she was constantly praying that no one would appear along the way and no one would see her in her current state. At this moment, the stairs became her only salvation.

To maintain a single, uninterrupted shot, Li Ke quietly signaled the camera to follow her without a sound, capturing Bai Feifei’s stumbling steps, her excitement as if she were about to be saved, and the faint glimmer of water in her eyes. Then, just as she reached the stairs and thought she had finally escaped this hell, everything stopped.

What she feared most was precisely what she encountered. Someone was slowly walking up from below. It was a girl with a refined and mature appearance that didn’t fit a high school student. Her hair was slightly curled, and she was tall and slender. She was looking down at the stairs intently and didn’t seem to have noticed someone in the bright space ahead. Bai Feifei instinctively took half a step back. In that moment, her eyes were filled with terror, but her expression was almost numb. She instinctively put on the expression that had been etched onto her face for days—she lifted the corners of her lips into a smile.

Long after, Li Ke would recall the stunning effect of that smile. He couldn’t help but watch it over and over again, always talking about it with sincere admiration. It was an expression that couldn’t be simply described as pretty or well-acted. In that one smile, he saw numbness, a kind of indifferent and detached self-dissociation that a person thought could withstand an army.

In front of the camera, Li Ke watched in silence, his eyes slightly squinted from lack of sleep. Filming this show was no accident. He wanted to do something as a director, to rebel against something, and to warn against something—whether it was the past he himself had experienced, the past that countless others had gone through, or the future that many people might face.

Campus bullying has always existed, regardless of region or age. The types of violence are diverse: physical fights, verbal abuse, and so on. The perpetrators had a variety of faces—arrogant, excited, reckless, or smirking. But the victims usually had only one expression, or rather, no expression at all: numbness and self-dissociation. He had chosen Bai Feifei because of her unyielding spirit and vitality, which he felt suited Fusang. But now, what truly made him feel that Bai Feifei was Fusang was this one smile.

The performance in front of the camera continued. Fusang seemed to realize that the person in front of her hadn’t looked up. She was even confused as to why she was smiling. But in less than a second, the smile on her face disappeared. She quietly lowered her head and walked to the very edge of the stairs. But the person walking up stopped.

Fusang also stopped, feeling a sense of resignation. Of course, what I hoped for didn’t happen, and what I feared most is with me all the time. She didn’t know why this person had stopped, whether it was to mock her, to show pity, disgust, or something else… it didn’t matter anymore. She almost coldly raised her head again, believing herself to be invulnerable, and waited for whatever was about to happen.

The other person didn’t look up, but her hand first reached into her pocket. After she got what she was looking for, she looked up but only pulled out the corner of an item before putting it back. Fusang noticed it was a plain white sanitary napkin. There were no cute patterns or extra colors, just a cheap, unpackaged sanitary napkin. She had never known that sanitary napkins could be sold by weight, but she had recently learned. A tear seemed to be welling up in her eyes again. The strong facade she had just put on instantly crumbled, leaving only a blank void.

The person in front of her finally looked at her, but her expression was something Fusang couldn’t understand—a kind of nonchalant acceptance. In the end, only one sentence reached her ears, “There’s no use in running away.”

With that, the girl took a few steps to pass her and continue walking up. Just as they were about to brush past each other, Fusang heard an extremely small voice say, “I didn’t want to run away.” Wuling stopped and turned to look at the small, disheveled girl. The girl was looking down, her expression unclear. Her voice was trembling a little, but her words were clear. “I just wanted to go change my clothes, and then…” Fusang looked up, her tone very slow and clearly full of thought. “Find a solution.”