I Was Taken by the Female Lead After Transmigrating into a Book - Chapter 55

During a break, Bai Feifei rested on the side, wrapped in a towel. The scripts Li Ke gave them only contained information about their own characters, not the others. This meant they had to use their understanding of the script and their own characters to guess at the complexity of the others. It was like playing the role of a beggar. Some people would think there was something hateful about a pitiful person. Others would think that someone with self-respect wouldn’t resort to begging. These “some people” were the actors who only had their own scripts. They weren’t beggars and didn’t understand how others viewed beggars, nor did they know how others viewed them.

Bai Feifei watched the crew setting up for a while, slowly put down her phone, and said in a tone of disbelief, “Why would Wuling help Fusang?” She could only guess at Wuling’s background from these few scenes. Wuling was a low-income student who received financial aid. Since enrolling, she had been at the top of her class and was a favorite of all her teachers. Because she often participated in competitions and won prize money, she was one of the few students in the class who was never bullied. But she had so many things to do in her life: work, study, and just getting by. These simple words, when stretched over every day, could wear a person down. How could a person who was barely able to take care of herself help Fusang?

Huo Wu didn’t answer directly. Instead, she asked, “What do you think? She’s a top-performing student from a poor family, and a ward of the state.” Bai Feifei couldn’t figure it out right away. A ward of the state was someone who couldn’t work, had no source of income, and had no one to support them. In other words, Wuling was an orphan with no family or means of survival. Bai Feifei wasn’t Wuling, and she had never lived in such poverty. Even though she had gone through a tough time, she never got to the point where she couldn’t afford to eat or buy sanitary napkins. She had just tentatively searched the words “girls from the mountains” on her phone, and the next words that appeared were “sanitary napkins.”

In recent years, with calls from many people, these hardships had finally been exposed to the public. But most of those girls could barely take care of themselves. Among them, there were hardly any only children; most were left-behind children, and the endless farm work and heavy labor had already crushed their small bodies. This was a detail Bai Feifei had never noticed before, and it was also one of the reasons why Li Ke’s reputation was so widespread—because he paid attention to real-world issues. Many directors, when filming girls from the mountains, would just darken their skin, put dirt in their hair, dress them in torn floral clothes, and have them live in old houses. But that wasn’t enough.

Before she saw the packet of sanitary napkins Huo Wu took out of her pocket, Bai Feifei hadn’t even realized this. For women in impoverished mountain regions, the biggest hardship often wasn’t something that could be seen on the surface, and what she knew was only the tip of the iceberg. But Wuling was lucky compared to them. She was fortunate to have been born near the capital, far from the real deep mountains. She eventually relied on her own willpower to become a top student and, through layers of recommendation and additional tests, ended up in a prestigious high school.

Bai Feifei suddenly realized something, her eyes moving. Layers of recommendation! If a student was just poor, no matter how good their grades were, they wouldn’t have been exposed to the outside world. How could a poor middle school student know to apply to a provincial high school, and how could they have access to that spot? On her path to maturity, there must have been one, or even several, people who acted as guides. And it was those people who influenced Wuling and her attitude toward others. Seeing that Bai Feifei had figured it out on her own, Huo Wu reached out and patted her knee as a form of praise. Bai Feifei was quick to learn. “But she shouldn’t be helping people unconditionally, right?” Bai Feifei thought about her own script and said, “Besides Fusang, the others who were bullied in that class were Qi Yang, played by Wu Qingying, and some others. But Wuling didn’t help everyone. Fusang was her first person to help.” The first and only one. There was no one before or after her. Because after Fusang, no other victims appeared. But why no one before? This was one of the points the show was trying to make, but Bai Feifei clearly wasn’t aware of it yet.

This time, Huo Wu also didn’t give her an answer. Bai Feifei had to figure this out on her own as well. Bai Feifei was a little discouraged and said dejectedly, “I’m so green.” Since joining the crew, she had been praised by Li Ke, Bai Xue, and even Huo Wu. But it was only now that Bai Feifei realized she was still far from being a truly qualified actor. A good actor could complement the director and writer, fully understand and master a role, becoming the character while also making the character their own. But after just a few simple chats with Huo Wu, Bai Feifei felt that even the script she had already memorized had now become something she didn’t recognize.

Huo Wu watched Bai Feifei silently. She couldn’t make any intimate gestures in public, but a few small ones were fine. She patted Bai Feifei’s arm and said softly, “People can’t reach the sky in one step. You’re already doing very well.” Bai Feifei gave her a sideways glance. “Really? You’re not just comforting me, are you?” Huo Wu said, “No, really.”

As they were talking, Wu Qingying’s scene ended. Bai Feifei had been watching the whole time. After Huo Wu’s words of comfort, her mood brightened a little. She marveled at the smoothness and fluidity of Qi Yang’s performance and couldn’t help but say to Huo Wu, “Qi Yang is a great actress, and her lines are amazing. Being professionally trained is just too good.” But Huo Wu didn’t look impressed. Instead, she said, “Not necessarily.” Bai Feifei didn’t understand, so she followed Huo Wu’s gaze toward Li Ke.

Li Ke had just called cut but didn’t say anything about the scene. After thinking for a while, he talked to the assistant director and writer for a bit and then said, “Little Wu, adjust your performance and do it again. It’s too over-the-top.” Bai Feifei was shocked. This was when Huo Wu said, “It’s because everything is too smooth.” Bai Feifei didn’t understand at first, but as she kept watching, she started to get what Huo Wu meant.

The bullies, played by Ling Xinghe and others, were mostly a bunch of troublemakers who took turns tormenting their victims. Since multiple people were playing the same role, their collective actions even gave Li Ke unexpected surprises during filming. When the camera was on them, the required expressions and body language were very easy to perform. Plus, the guys had been drinking a little beer before the scene. They acted like wild dogs, their weird howls echoing on set. But Wu Qingying’s performance was too smooth. She was scared at the right time, she cried at the right time, and she said her lines in a perfect, even tone. At first glance, it might have seemed amazing, and she was considered a good actress. But as the filming continued, Bai Feifei felt that she could always see the same, completely replicated expressions and small gestures on her face. This made her feel detached and awkward, and she even found herself thinking, “How many times have I seen that expression now?”

Sure enough, this time, Li Ke called cut again and told them to take a break. He called Wu Qingying aside. Just then, Ji Meng called Huo Wu away. Bai Feifei watched her leave, her eyes falling on the filming again. After a while, Li Ke called the boys over and finally called Ling Xinghe. One group after another was called in. When they came out, their expressions were all different. You couldn’t just describe them as good or bad.

Bai Feifei herself had never experienced one of these “little meetings.” She didn’t really want to, but she was curious about what they talked about and if she could learn anything. Just as she was thinking this, the crew next to her started talking about it. “Wow, this is the first time we’ve had a meeting since we started filming.” “I know, it’s a new record. We usually have a meeting at the beginning. This time it’s just happening now.” “Feifei and Sister Wu are performing so well, there’s nothing to pick apart, so there’s no need for a meeting, right?” “Who knows what changes there will be this time? I hope it has nothing to do with us.” “I don’t know, let’s pray.”

Bai Feifei listened in. Unable to control her curiosity, she decided to go find Huo Wu. She could also ask her for gossip. After all, she had worked with Li Ke many times and must have heard some things. During the break, Huo Wu and Bai Feifei couldn’t spend all their time together. They had their own resting places. The set wasn’t exactly private, so they still had to hide when they could. Bai Feifei knocked on the door in a serious way, calling out, “Ms. Huo? It’s Feifei.” But on her phone, she had already sent a message that said, “I’m almost at the door, open up now!”

Ji Meng opened the door, but only Bai Feifei was allowed to enter. It was her first time in Huo Wu’s private lounge. She instinctively looked left and right and said, “Hello, Ms. Huo.” Huo Wu looked up, watching Bai Feifei’s every move in the mirror like a thief. She couldn’t hide her mischievous side and simply gave a cold “Mm.” Bai Feifei, thinking there were cameras in the room, immediately became cautious. She scooted to Huo Wu’s side in small steps. She couldn’t say a word of what she wanted to ask. After sitting awkwardly for a while, she blurted out, “It’s so cool in here.” Huo Wu covered her mouth with one hand, hiding a smile. “Yeah, the first floor is pretty cool in the summer. Did you need something?”

Bai Feifei struggled to find something to talk about. She wondered how she could be natural in front of a “camera.” This time, there was no live audience, just a video to be edited later. What if it was an interview or a live stream? After a long pause, she finally said, “Ah, well, I just… I’ve always wanted to thank you… for speaking up for me before…” The opening sounded like she was ready for a dramatic scene, but the lines were made up on the spot and came out all jumbled. Bai Feifei was completely flustered and could barely form a sentence. She wanted to run out of the room.

Huo Wu was just about to reveal her prank when the door was pushed open. Ji Meng, who had gone and returned, was carrying two cups of milk tea. She saw them sitting far apart. (To Ji Meng, any distance more than an arm’s length was far.) She couldn’t help but say, “What are you two doing, acting like strangers? Here, Feifei, this is the sugar-free cappuccino Huo Wu ordered for you.” Bai Feifei took it like a puppet and asked in a daze, “There are no cameras in here?”

“No,” Ji Meng said, completely confused. “Why would we have cameras in a private makeup room? No one else can get in. The door is usually locked, and there’s a camera outside the door. That’s enough. The behind-the-scenes crew has to ask for permission to come in.” Bai Feifei finally realized she had been pranked. She was a little annoyed and wanted to pout but thought it was childish and held back. She just said, “Why would you do that… I had something I wanted to ask you.”

Huo Wu felt no remorse. She opened her own bitter chocolate drink and said, “What is it?” Bai Feifei, revitalized, slid her chair closer to Huo Wu. “You left too early and didn’t see it, but all the main actors from the classroom scene were called into a meeting with Director Li!” Huo Wu looked at Bai Feifei’s eyes, which were shining with excitement, and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

She seemed to have a natural passion and love for everything. It was an emotion that Huo Wu herself had never possessed. She couldn’t help but look at her for a moment before saying, “It’s just about personal style. Li Ke probably has some new arrangements for them later, including you. The script might change a little.” Bai Feifei, hearing the gossip was about her, was so startled she took a big slurp of her drink. With pearls and jellies in her mouth, she said indistinctly, “What do you mean, me?”