Love Contract with the Queen Actress - Chapter 11

Wearing Shen Wu’s sunglasses, Su Yuchen felt as if her steps had become noticeably lighter.

Along the way, she encountered many staff members, and having built good rapport in a short time, she greeted nearly everyone she met.

The assistant director who had filmed her yesterday spotted her from afar and waved, “Xiao Su, you’re here.”

Still habitually clutching a rolled-up script in his hand, the assistant director grinned from a distance, “Xiao Su, you seem to be in a great mood today!”

The sunlight was warm and bright, casting a gentle glow on her face.

Su Yuchen smiled brightly in return.

“Yes, good morning, Director Chen.”

The makeup team sisters saw her from afar and waved, holding steamed buns while chatting and laughing with her.

“Oh, Xiao Su, those sunglasses look amazing!”

“Absolutely! By the way, Xiao Su, want a bun? Just bought them this morning, still fresh and warm.”

“Honestly, with your petite face, those sunglasses make you look even more delicate and beautiful!”

The sunglasses weren’t just “amazing”, they were downright extraordinary.

What Su Yuchen didn’t know was that these were a brand’s spring-summer new release, not even on the market yet.

None of them were from the fashion industry, so they hadn’t seen the latest runway pieces fresh off Milan’s models. Everyone just assumed they were knockoffs from some overzealous local manufacturer, complete with a luxury brand’s logo.

Only the person involved knew, Shen Wu’s belongings could never be fake.

As Su Yuchen approached, she took off the sunglasses and carefully retrieved a dustproof pouch from her canvas bag. She removed the small items inside, meticulously placed the sunglasses in, secured them properly, and only then looked up with a radiant smile.

“No thanks, I’ve already eaten. Appreciate it, everyone.”

Her smile was like a little sun, brightening even the assistant director’s mood. “Go get changed. The makeup team’s free right now, and I reckon by the time you’re ready, filming should be starting.”

“Got it, thank you, Director Chen.”

Surrounded by the sisters, Su Yuchen headed to the makeup room, chatting and laughing along the way.

Meanwhile, Liu Ruomeng and her entourage arrived at the set with a grand entrance, yet no one greeted her.

Her phone never left her hand, her eyes glued to the screen as she typed away without a glance at anyone around her.

[Mozheng, I’m so mad. This nobody really has her tricks, I just saw her getting out of Shen Wu’s car.]

[Video.AVI]

[I’m so furious I could scream.]

[We’re sisters, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to teach this homewrecker a lesson for messing with someone else’s fiancée.]

“Ah!” Liu Ruomeng stumbled as she walked, too engrossed in her phone to notice her skirt getting caught on something.

Looking down, she saw a chubby orange cat she often fed playfully chasing the tassels on her skirt.

“Shoo, shoo!” Her male assistant kicked the cat, sending it flying far away.

The orange cat yelped in pain, whimpering pitifully before scurrying off.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Liu Ruomeng’s temper flared. Without hesitation, she lifted her foot and kicked the assistant, sending him staggering several steps back.

“If you dare kick it again, I’ll kick you!” She shot him a glare before lifting her skirt and stomping forward, her steps uneven.

But in her distraction, she suddenly twisted her ankle.

It wasn’t a bad sprain, the assistant, who had rushed back, caught her in time but it did nothing to curb her outburst.

She pushed away the assistant who was supporting her, raising her voice to scold, “Are you blind? Didn’t you see the pit ahead? You wanted me to walk straight into it, trying to kill me?!”

Hearing her start to berate, the surrounding staff knew trouble had arrived again, and each of them sighed, some lightly, some heavily.

“Great, the ‘Little Princess’ has arrived.”

…

Su Yuchen sat quietly in the makeup room. Originally, her role didn’t warrant a dedicated makeup space, but the makeup artists adored her and pulled her in, meticulously applying her makeup.

As they worked, they couldn’t help but praise her flawless skin and beautiful features, assuring her she’d look stunning on camera.

Su Yuchen simply smiled politely, cooperating with the sisters as they worked on her.

The makeup room was the fastest channel for gossip, bar none.

“Hey, didn’t Xiao Mei just do makeup for Actress Ruan?”

“Yes! Actress Ruan has three sons and one daughter, yet her skin is still impeccable. Truly worthy of the legendary Ruan Mengqing!”

“Not just her skin, I helped apply her highlighter. That bone structure is absolutely perfect!”

Listening to the sisters discuss Ruan Mengqing, Su Yuchen immediately perked up her imaginary kitten ears to listen.

Partly out of curiosity about Fu Mozheng’s mother, but mostly because she deeply admired and revered Ruan Mengqing, she was practically her role model and guiding light.

“People always say beauty lies in the bones, not the skin, but in the entertainment industry, those with both exquisite bone structure and flawless skin are as rare as phoenix feathers, you can hardly find a second one.”

As one makeup artist spoke, another, busy with her work, mused, “Speaking of which, we’re quite lucky. When it comes to great bone structure and skin, don’t we have one right in front of us? Xiao Su here fits the bill.”

“Oh, you’re right! Honestly, Xiao Su’s eyes and brows really resemble Actress Ruan’s.”

“Exactly! I’ve thought so before, didn’t expect you all to feel the same! Even her face shape is similar, especially her eyes, they’re strikingly alike!”

“Me?” Su Yuchen, who had been straining her imaginary kitten ears to catch the gossip, didn’t expect the topic to shift to her.

She froze for a moment, retracting her kitten ears, and pointed at the tip of her nose. “I… resemble Actress Ruan?”

“You do! We’ve been makeup artists for years, we’re sensitive to facial structures. Even others in the crew think so. Assistant Director Chen always says you look more like the ‘Little Princess’ from ‘Empress Saint’ than a certain someone.”

“Not just that, you even resemble her more than that so-called ‘Foam’ girl.”

“Hahaha, ‘Foam’, what a nickname!”

While the others laughed and joked, Su Yuchen chuckled along, though a strange, fleeting feeling passed through her heart, something she couldn’t quite grasp.

Then, one of the makeup artists said, “Oh, I overheard Actress Ruan talking to her daughter on the phone earlier.”

“What did she say? What did she say?”

“Sounded like her daughter said she’d come pick her up after wrap, or maybe visit the set. The makeup room was noisy, so I couldn’t hear clearly.”

“Fu Mozheng is coming? Well, today I’ll finally see if Actress Ruan’s real daughter looks as good as her retouched photos.”

“Hahaha, you’re ruthless.”

As Su Yuchen listened to the sisters gossip, they tilted her face up and turned it side to side, continuing their work.

Fortunately, her natural beauty made the makeup process quick, but the makeup artist insisted on adding more touches, showing off her skills to enhance perfection. By the time Su Yuchen was fully dressed and walked onto the set, everyone couldn’t help but turn their heads to look.

“Oh my, she’s stunning.”

“Well, she’s always been gorgeous, but today she seems especially radiant, must be in a good mood.”

Praise like this poured in endlessly, making Su Yuchen a little shy. She nodded and greeted everyone frequently to mask her slight fluster.

“Yuchen, your phone buzzed a few times. You should check it before we start filming, just in case there’s something urgent,” said a sister from the costume department, noticing Su Yuchen had no one to look after her things and kindly offering to hold her canvas shoulder bag.

“Thank you, sis.”

Su Yuchen had a sweet mouth and an even sweeter face, with two adorable dimples when she smiled. Her grateful expression made the costume sister want to pinch her cheeks right then.

“Don’t mention it. Let me know if you want some hot water later.”

“Mm-hmm!” Su Yuchen thanked her again and picked up her phone to see a message from Shen Wu:

[What time are you wrapping up today?]

It had only been a few hours, and her scene hadn’t even come up yet, but Shen Wu was already checking in.

Su Yuchen immediately held her phone with both hands, typing carefully:
[My scene hasn’t come up yet, but it looks like it’ll be soon. Probably before noon.]

She hesitated, deleted the first part, and corrected herself:
[I should be done by 3 p.m.]

Even if she had to wait longer herself, she didn’t want Shen Wu waiting around on set for her.

Shen Wu replied quickly:
[Got it.]
[Any plans after that?]

Su Yuchen’s fingers moved faster than her brain, sending before she could think:
[I want to go home and see my mom today.]

Shen Wu responded just as swiftly:
[Alright. You can grab some clothes from home then. I’ll pick you up in the afternoon.]

Su Yuchen froze for a moment. Who was Shen Wu to act as her chauffeur?

She regretted listing her schedule so matter-of-factly, as if she were the boss.

And “grab some clothes”, that sounded ambiguous, almost like they were moving in together.

Though she knew it was just for taking care of the kitten and that she’d mostly be going home, her ears still burned a little.

Clutching her phone, lost in thought, she was suddenly shoved hard on the shoulder.

“Hey, supporting actress! What are you doing on your phone? Don’t you see our Xiao Meng has been waiting for you forever?”

The push nearly made her drop her phone. Turning around, she saw the sharp-faced male assistant glaring at her with an exaggerated eye roll. “Making the lead actress wait for a supporting role, how unprofessional.”

His accusation of “unprofessional” drew the attention of the entire crew.

The looks on everyone’s faces seemed to say, “Who’s really the unprofessional one here?”

The assistant director, who had waited with her for two hours by the fake mountain earlier, wasn’t having it and spoke up to defuse the tension: “Alright, alright, let’s get into position. We’re on a tight schedule.”

“Non-essential personnel, step back a bit,” said the AD who habitually rolled up scripts to tap heads, shoving the weasel-faced assistant aside as he passed. The other assistants shot dirty looks at his retreating back, resembling a flock of birds with upturned eyes straight out of Bada Shanren’s paintings.

“‘Lady Official,’ come over here, stand on this mark. It’s a bit dark in the room,” he signaled to the lighting technician, “Give ‘Lady Official’ a bit more light.”

Once on set, the nickname “Xiao Su” transformed into “Lady Official.”

Originally, this role was so minor it could almost be overlooked, hardly deserving the title “Official.” Yet, the director showed clear favoritism, insisting on addressing her as such.

It wouldn’t have been a big deal, but as soon as the director finished speaking, someone immediately raised their voice to interrupt.

“Why should she get more light?!”

The male assistant with a perpetual sneer instantly protested, “All the lighting should be focused on our Xiao Meng!”

Perhaps eager to prove himself after just being kicked, his flaring nostrils nearly resembled a hippo’s.

“Liu Ruomeng already has enough light.”

“No way! Our Xiao Meng is naturally… fair-skinned! A peerless beauty, she absolutely can’t look dark.”

“Are you just being unreasonable? If all the light’s on her, she’ll be overexposed, and the supporting characters will be left in the dark. What are the audience supposed to watch?”

“Exactly. We’re in charge of the filming effects, everything’s been carefully considered. The visuals need to be balanced.”

Some on set argued back, but the assistants wore expressions of arrogant confidence, utterly unbothered.

“No, no, we don’t care about the supporting roles. We just care that if Xiao Meng doesn’t look fair enough, what then?”

“You’re worried about filming effects, but we’re worried about maintaining fan engagement. If she loses followers, will you take responsibility?”

As the assistants bickered loudly, a few crew members nearby whispered among themselves.

“Fair-skinned my ass. She’s always obsessing over lighting, exhausting us reflector holders.”

“In real life, she’s all skin and bones. It’s just her fans hyping her up. How does she even believe it herself?”

“Seriously, she’s always causing trouble, nitpicking everything, even refusing to work sometimes. Someone like her will never earn the ‘Dedication Blessing.'”

“Like she even needs to scrape together a few bucks scanning for ‘Dedication Blessing’ like us?”

“Didn’t they say she and Fu Mozheng were close? But yesterday, it seemed even Ruan the award-winning actress didn’t give her much face.”

“Close? Please. I bet ‘Empress Sheng’ is exhausted acting opposite her. She probably can’t wait for ‘Little Princess’ to get her character killed off.”

Liu Ruomeng, who had been sitting in her chair playing on her phone, finally put it down.

Her eyes swept over Su Yuchen, lingering on her flawless complexion before rolling in irritation as she looked away.

This woman stole someone else’s fiancée.

And worst of all, she was fair-skinned!

Fair-skinned and beautiful!

Liu Ruomeng, accustomed to being the center of attention, was now thoroughly provoked.

“That’s right! She’s so fair and pretty, if I lose followers, will you take responsibility?!”

“…”

The bluntness of her outburst almost made it sound like a compliment.

The male assistant’s eyes darted craftily before he spoke up loudly.

“If you want the visuals to look balanced, there is a way.”

This assistant was scrawny and unusually dark-skinned in the dim room, if not for his human speech, he’d have been practically invisible.

“What way?” The assistant director turned, glancing over skeptically.

The special assistant handed a teacup to Liu Ruomeng, waited for her to take a sip, then leisurely straightened up.

Slowly, he raised a finger and pointed at Su Yuchen. “Isn’t it simple? Just cut her scenes.”

“…”

A heavy silence fell over the set.

The assistant director crumpled the paper tube in his hand until it was all wrinkled.

Even Liu Ruomeng was stunned. “I didn’t say-”

Before she could finish, the assistant quickly pressed her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Have you forgotten about securing the investment from the Fu Group? We have to help Fu Mozheng deal with Su Yuchen.”

“…”

Liu Ruomeng was even more surprised. “But Fu Mozheng never explicitly said to do this.”

“She doesn’t need to say it outright. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

After a few seconds of thought, Liu Ruomeng abruptly stood up. “Call our screenwriter. Have them draft another revised script. I’ll do it myself, no supporting roles needed.”

“Cut her scenes.”