I Was Taken by the Female Lead After Transmigrating into a Book - Chapter 98

The highlight of this scene was on Qi Yang, but the pressure was high for both of them.

Compared to an outward display of emotion, scenes with no dialogue and a lot of internal emotion are much harder to act.

Both new and experienced actors probably fear this kind of situation the most. But Bai Feifei felt that her performance was pretty good this time; at least she didn’t feel like she was acting—she was simply being Fu Sang. And Li Ke didn’t ask them to do a retake.

Bai Feifei was stunned for a moment when Li Ke yelled “cut,” quietly zoning out on the prop car arranged by the crew.

The school building a hundred meters away was already filled with crew members. Below, Qi Yang was hanging from a wire, and others were trying to pull her up.

The nearby staff began to clean up the prop car again. The extras arranged by the crew also walked back from a distance, waiting at a designated spot. Their chatter pulled Bai Feifei’s attention back to reality. She poked her head out the window and looked at the main control monitor not far away.

Huo Wu and Li Ke were both there. The real-time footage from the abandoned building was being played, and both of them were reviewing it.

This scene had been filmed several times, with the last one being a huge, empty shot, from low to high. One person’s soul was forever left in the gloomy, abandoned building, while another person’s life walked out of the shadow covered by green plants, returning to the human world on a distinct boundary line.

It was a significant scene, marking the end of a conflict. It was calm but deeply meaningful. The shots for this scene alone had been filmed over and over, with various close-ups, medium shots, and wide shots constantly switching. Fortunately, it was finally over.

Bai Feifei couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. She glanced at the rooftop of the abandoned building again before jogging toward Huo Wu.

When she arrived, a few directors were reviewing the footage with serious expressions. Bai Feifei didn’t say anything; she just squatted by Huo Wu’s legs, propping herself up with her arms on Huo Wu’s lap, and watched the playback with her.

The total unedited footage was twenty-three minutes long. The waiting time was long, and Bai Feifei’s legs went numb within two minutes. She simply squatted down, resting her head on Huo Wu’s lap, and watched with her head tilted.

After a few more minutes, when Huo Wu gently patted her awake, Bai Feifei realized she had accidentally fallen asleep. She had only slept for two or three minutes before Huo Wu woke her up.

“Go rest in the car for a bit,” Huo Wu said, her finger gently pointing to the dark circles under Bai Feifei’s eyes.

Fu Sang’s state during this period in the show was extremely suppressed, and Bai Feifei was inevitably affected.

The things she carried on her were too much: from a bystander’s perspective, there were several human lives, Qi Yang’s death, the ‘prey’ theory that had been circulating in the school for who knows how long, all the related evidence, and also the need to guard against unknown forces that would render all ‘evidence’ null and void.

She didn’t know who she could trust and who she couldn’t, but she also needed to find a glimmer of light in the darkness. But on this path, her companions were decreasing one by one, whether they were enemies or friends.

Perhaps those people weren’t even her friends, but even someone like Qi Yang, who was only slightly close to her and could be considered a life-and-death acquaintance, or Li Ran, who liked her but died saving her, and even Li Mingming, who seemed like the instigator, all died in a way that was hard to forget.

With so many things on her mind, even a person as mature as Fu Sang would find it hard to maintain a lasting sense of calm. How much more so for Bai Feifei, who couldn’t handle too much at once?

Huo Wu’s eyes suddenly curved into a smile, realizing that just thinking about Bai Feifei always made her smile.

She stroked Bai Feifei’s hair again and said softly, “We still have to review the footage for a while. The ending might need to be revised and reshot.”

The ending part likely referred to the final content. Bai Feifei had seen it, but she couldn’t tell what was wrong with it.

She chose not to ask at this moment. There was no need to; the answer would come after they discussed it. She listened to Huo Wu and went back to the car to rest.

It was a bit surprising when Fu Xiaoxiao woke her up. It had been a full forty-plus minutes, allowing Bai Feifei to get a thorough rest. She woke up feeling refreshed, and she didn’t even need a life-saving coffee.

The result of the discussion about the ending had already been reached: they needed to reshoot it, but not the whole thing, just a few shots.

“The dramatic tension isn’t enough,” Li Ke said, pointing at the paused screen as he spoke to Bai Feifei and Qi Yang. “You two need to have a moment of farewell.”

Neither of them understood. Their four eyes blinked simultaneously, and no one spoke.

“At such a far distance, even in an open space, all you can see is a person standing on the roof of the opposite building. You can see their big movements, but unless you have a pair of binoculars, you can’t see their expression at all,” Li Ke said, recalling the content captured in the shots.

Both of their performances were up to standard and had achieved the state he had initially requested, but the result wasn’t good.

The straightforward cut to their faces, using their expressions to tell the audience, was too dry. Li Ke didn’t want that.

Bai Feifei didn’t initially have a deep understanding of Li Ke’s true intention. Li Ke didn’t lecture her alone; instead, he took Wu Qingying to the side to talk.

As they talked, Qi Yang nodded seriously and eventually showed a look of realization, glancing at Bai Feifei from a distance.

Bai Feifei, boneless, leaned against Huo Wu. “Every time we film, when Director Li takes my co-star away, I feel a little scared.”

The last time she had been startled was by Ling Xinghe’s midnight “jumpscare smile.” Bai Feifei had a nightmare that night, dreaming of being chased by a ghost. The ghost’s face had the same smile as Ling Xinghe’s, and what’s more, the ghost was holding a large pair of scissors, saying her hair was gone and asking if she could just give her her head. There was a huge area of headless corpses on the ground, all crawling around looking for their heads.

Huo Wu gently hooked Bai Feifei’s finger, signaling that she heard her.

Bai Feifei was silent for a while, then suddenly said, “A-Wu, have you seen that fool near the house who stares at people?”

The house Bai Feifei was referring to was the rented apartment they lived in in the show. Although it was small and simple, it had slowly become more lived-in because two girls were staying there.

The initial setup was completely controlled by the director’s team—though there wasn’t much to control. But after they actually moved in, the overall arrangement slowly began to follow Fu Sang’s habits and preferences.

Small woven decorations that Fu Sang would make, leftover old drawing paper after she finished wrapping her books, floral fabric and semi-new old furniture and appliances given to them by a neighbor who had moved out—these things slowly filled the room and gave it the atmosphere of a ‘home.’

So Bai Feifei also started saying it more and more naturally. Sometimes, she didn’t even want to go back to the hotel to sleep and would just stay the night in that little home.

But an idea was just an idea; it was still a prop room after all.

When there was no filming schedule, it was messy most of the time, with footprints all over the floor, and there were probably a lot of snack wrappers on the floor and on the bed.

It was only later, during one filming session, that Li Ke accidentally saw a snack bag in the corner of the frame, next to a small vase used as a prop. He got angry, and this issue was finally curbed.

That scene was also forced to be reshot in several different shots because of that reason, adding a lot of extra work for no reason. Everyone had to be consulted, and everyone was very resentful.

But even so, every time they went to film, Huo Wu and Bai Feifei’s assistants, as well as the crew members, would clean the place again. If they were certain they would be filming the next day, the bedsheets, blankets, and other items they would be using would be specially washed.

Thinking of this, Bai Feifei added with a bit of regret, “I really like that room. I was thinking that after all the scenes there are filmed, we could just live there nearby.”

But now, due to a combination of factors, it had become the place they most wanted to live but couldn’t.

Huo Wu knew about the fool and said in a low voice, “Stay away from him. If you like that room, we can pack up the props. When we go back…”

She suddenly stopped there.

Bai Feifei was still leaning on her, but she looked up curiously. “Mm?”

“When we go back, we can clear out a guest room and recreate it with a simple setup,” Huo Wu finished her sentence calmly. She then paused for three or four seconds and said, “When do you want to move in?”

Bai Feifei slowly straightened up. Her mouth opened, and she stared at Huo Wu blankly.

“I…” All her thoughts rushed back and forth, crammed into her brain in a very short amount of time. Bai Feifei was speechless for a moment. She felt like she understood what Huo Wu meant, but she also felt like she had just been hallucinating.

She repeated blankly, “Move in when?”

Huo Wu looked at her and said, “You want me to move in?”

Bai Feifei instinctively said, “Ah.” It was just a response that meant she hadn’t figured out what to say yet and her brain wasn’t in a state to think. But Huo Wu thought she was thinking about that question.

So Huo Wu thought for a moment and said, “Although your house is in a villa complex, it’s been a long time, so the services have degraded and the security is not good. If you’re followed, you might not be able to get rid of them and they could follow you right to your door.”

Bai Feifei’s not-very-analytical brain followed Huo Wu’s words and thought about it carefully, realizing that Huo Wu made a lot of sense.

Huo Wu was quiet for a few seconds. “You can stay for a while, but I don’t recommend living there permanently.”

Bai Feifei nodded in agreement.

“Your mother will also be living there after she’s discharged,” Huo Wu said. “How will you explain our relationship to her then?”

Bai Feifei hadn’t even thought about that. She suddenly realized that, for all this time, although she felt that her relationship with Huo Wu had been progressing step by step, in reality, it seemed like nothing had changed.

Their feelings had deepened, no doubt, but very few people knew about it, and she hadn’t introduced Huo Wu to her truly important family members.

Bai Feifei had completely forgotten what the original topic was.

But Huo Wu hadn’t. She had gone in a big circle, and after analyzing the pros and cons with Bai Feifei, she asked her again, “When do you want to move in?”

Bai Feifei’s mind went to all the plants on her balcony, and she hesitated for a moment.

Huo Wu didn’t ask for an answer right away. She gave Bai Feifei some time. “Let me know after you’ve thought about it tonight.”