Pregnant with the Alpha Best Actress's Child - Chapter 18

Despite mentally preparing herself, Sang Zhijiu still felt a bit awkward looking at Fan Wu’s face.

Fortunately, this scene in the script involved Chen Yue and Mu Yining arguing, so neither of them had to maintain a pleasant expression.

She closed her eyes, trying hard to immerse herself in the character, then looked at Fan Wu and asked blankly, “Sister Ning, what’s wrong?”

Fan Wu, who had been standing lazily to the side just a moment ago, transformed instantly upon hearing those words. Her elegance vanished, replaced by a gaze reflecting the fierce arrogance of reckless youth.

Facing a “Chen Yue” who wasn’t yet in the right state, she curled her lips. “What do you think? Don’t you know exactly what you did today?”

Sang Zhijiu worked to mold the innocent expression Chen Yue was supposed to have. “Didn’t I just slap that bitch? She was being so arrogant, dancing right in our band’s faces. Brother Peng and the others even said the lesson I gave her was too light.”

Mu Yining’s expression turned blank for a moment. When she first met Chen Yue, the girl had been so clean she practically reflected light. She didn’t know when Chen Yue had also become like her, someone covered in mud—swearing constantly and resorting to violence at the slightest disagreement.

She felt a moment of bewilderment, even wondering if her initial decision to let Chen Yue join the band was a mistake. A wrong beginning and a wrong process had led to this wrong situation. It was this realization that made Mu Yining go wild.

She violently swept the items off the table, letting beer bottle shards scatter into every corner of the rental room. Chen Yue was startled, and when she regained her senses, she only saw the other’s bloodshot eyes.

What followed was Mu Yining’s frantic cursing and insults. She was determined to drive the girl away forever, showing not a shred of mercy.

Sang Zhijiu was genuinely frightened by Fan Wu’s performance. For several seconds, her mind went completely blank, unable to recall any of the following lines or developments. Fan Wu had always been elegant in her eyes; even when acting against her, she was poised and beautiful. She never imagined that Fan Wu playing someone losing their composure could be so seamless and fitting.

Slowly, driven by Fan Wu’s lead, she entered the scene. The young Chen Yue thought everything she did brought her closer to her crush, never expecting to be insulted as worthless in the end. She offered a few dry rebuttals, but finally, unable to bear the humiliation, she ran out crying.

Sang Zhijiu ran all the way to the corner of the stage. By the time Li Shuang and Fan Wu signaled for her to return, her tears were still flowing, as she hadn’t yet emerged from those emotions.

Fan Wu hadn’t returned to the judges’ table yet. She took a tissue from Li Shuang and walked up to Sang Zhijiu. Even with the intention of comforting the “little one,” her words were still sharp. “Did I break a water main? Why are you crying so hard?”

Sang Zhijiu sobbed, snatched the tissue from her hand, and complained, “You’re so mean, you cursed so harshly.”

“It wasn’t me,” Fan Wu corrected. “That was Mu Yining. If it were me, I surely wouldn’t have the heart to be so mean to our Zhijiu.”

Sang Zhijiu froze, and once she realized what was said, she turned away awkwardly, ignoring her.

Fan Wu smiled and returned to the judges’ table. Fan Zhengzhi stepped in to manage the scene. “Well, Zhijiu, go back and rest first. Settle your emotions. We’ll finalize things here and notify you of the result later.”

Sang Zhijiu nodded and left the interview room supported by Lin Jiahe. Lin Jiahe suggested, “Zhijiu, why don’t we go back to the lounge and wait for you to calm down before leaving?”

Sang Zhijiu shook her head. “I can’t rest well here. Let’s just go straight back.”

Lin Jiahe nodded and consoled her. “Don’t cry, be good! You performed amazingly this time; this role is definitely ours!”

Sang Zhijiu felt uncertain. “I feel like I was being led by the nose by Fan Wu’s Mu Yining the whole time. I don’t know if I acted well.”

“Of course you did!” Lin Jiahe balled her fists. “Sister Fan Wu made you cry so many tears today; she has to pay for it. If she dares not to give you this role, I’ll go to the gossip media and leak the story!”

Sang Zhijiu was stunned. “What story?”

Lin Jiahe spoke recklessly, “That she abandoned you after leading you on!”

Sang Zhijiu lifted her foot and stomped down hard. Lin Jiahe wailed in pain. “Ouch, ouch! Let go!”

Despite the tear stains on her cheeks, Sang Zhijiu’s expression was now purely fierce. “Don’t you dare say that again!”

Lin Jiahe pleaded, “I won’t, I won’t!”

As soon as Sang Zhijiu retracted her foot, Lin Jiahe immediately changed her tune. “Alright, as long as you’ve stopped crying. If we walked out looking like we did just now, people wouldn’t think Sister Fan Wu abandoned you; they’d think I was being unfaithful to you.”

Sang Zhijiu knew she was trying to distract her. She wiped away the remaining tears on her face, wrinkled her nose, and asked, “Did it hurt?”

Lin Jiahe stomped her foot. “It’s fine, see? I’m perfectly okay.”

Sang Zhijiu nodded and quickened her pace. “Hmph, noted. Next time I’ll use more force!”

Lin Jiahe froze for two seconds before chasing after her with a giggle.

Meanwhile, in the interview room, Fan Zhengzhi made a show of tidying his notes and asked tentatively, “Both rounds are over. Can we decide on the final result?”

Li Shuang smiled enigmatically. “Hasn’t Director Fan already decided?”

The favoritism shown earlier was obvious even to a blind person. Fan Wu propped her chin on her hand, looking at her with a side profile so smooth it was practically unfair. “You can’t deny that in the second round, Sang Zhijiu’s performance was indeed better.”

Li Shuang countered, “I wouldn’t know. The other person wasn’t led by the hand by you like that.” However, she had already come around. “I have no objection to picking Sang Zhijiu. After all, this movie is about you and her playing a couple. Being able to gain your favor is a skill in itself. If I forced you to stand next to Fu Xinyan, tsk, it wouldn’t look like they’re dating; it’d look like a mentor taking a student on a field trip.”

Fan Wu smiled and asked, “So when Sang Zhijiu and I stand together, we look like we’re dating?”

Li Shuang glanced at her and said meaningfully, “If your eyes were any more naked, you’d swallow her whole on the spot.” After saying that, she packed her things. “Fine, Sang Zhijiu it is. I have other actors to confirm. I’m heading back.”

Fan Zhengzhi said “alright” and immediately got up to see Li Shuang and her assistants out. Once they left, Fan Wu looked thoughtfully at Jiang Mengzhi. “Is it really as exaggerated as Sister Shuang said?”

Jiang Mengzhi snapped out of her thoughts and turned away slightly. “Your acting has improved. Just don’t get too deeply into character.”

Fan Wu understood her meaning. She had studied the character of Mu Yining for a long time, and Mu Yining had liked Chen Yue from the very beginning. Put that way, it indeed explained everything.

Fan Wu quickly felt relieved. She picked up her handbag and said, “It’s a pity I didn’t get another signature for Xiaoyu. Well, forget it. Since Sang Zhijiu and I will have so many chances to meet in the future, it’ll be good to mend our relationship first before introducing her to Xiaoyu. That way, she’ll know her big sister is much better than Fan Zhengzhi.”

Jiang Mengzhi glanced at her and then gave a thoughtful smile.

Once the selection was finalized, a staff member naturally sent a message to Sang Zhijiu. Since the contact number provided was the manager’s, the message went straight to Lin Jiahe’s work phone. Lin Jiahe didn’t take the notification seriously at first, but when she saw the content, her eyes widened like copper bells.

Sang Zhijiu, sitting right next to her, asked in surprise, “What is it?”

Lin Jiahe took several deep breaths and covered her phone, acting mysterious. “Do you know?”

Sang Zhijiu’s curiosity was piqued. “Hmm?”

Lin Jiahe suddenly broke into a huge smile. “Sister Fan Wu is deeply in love with you!”

Sang Zhijiu froze for two seconds, then snapped in embarrassment, “What kind of nonsense are you dreaming up?”

Lin Jiahe finally revealed the answer. “It’s a success! The role of Chen Yue is yours!”

She danced with joy. “I told you Sister Fan Wu wouldn’t abandon you! You’re joining the cast soon!”

Sang Zhijiu froze for another two seconds. Before she could pursue the “nonsense” comment, she urgently confirmed, “Is it… is it true?”

Lin Jiahe nodded twice firmly. Only then did Sang Zhijiu squeeze her little fists and let out a happy cry. She instinctively picked up her phone, navigated to the contact labeled Senior W, and began editing a text to tell her the result.

During this time, she had briefly told the Senior about the situation, and the Senior had been comforting her, even guiding her on how to choose reference videos and books to improve her acting. Both Senior W and she cared deeply about this role.

Lin Jiahe watched her and teased, “What? Giving the good news to your little lover? Sister Fan Wu just ‘favored’ you, and you’re already in a hurry to find the next one?”

This time, Sang Zhijiu didn’t even bother to acknowledge her. She said, “If I must choose, I’d definitely choose my fan over that scoundrel Fan Wu.”

Lin Jiahe raised her hands in surrender. “Alright, I won’t disturb you. You guys chat.” She gathered her things. “You worked hard preparing for the interview; take a good rest for a couple of days. You’ll be joining the cast soon, and there’s a lot of preparation ahead.”

Sang Zhijiu nodded. “I know.” To win a Best Actress trophy, just joining a good crew wasn’t enough; she still had to improve her acting and shape the character of Chen Yue well.

Lin Jiahe left, and Sang Zhijiu returned her focus to the phone screen.

[Senior, I succeeded! I just got the news; I’ve been given the Omega lead for the movie.]

The other party seemed busy; a reply came after about five minutes.

[Senior W: Is that so? Congratulations.] [Senior W: I told you that you were more suited for that role than anyone else.]

Sang Zhijiu felt like she was floating from the praise.

[Being suited is one thing, but mainly I moved them with my exquisite acting during the interview!]

Fan Wu stared at the message and paused. Jiang Mengzhi entered the back seat of the car just in time to catch her expression. She asked, puzzled, “What are you smirking at?”

Fan Wu snapped out of it and touched the corner of her mouth. “Was I smiling?”

Jiang Mengzhi told the driver to start the car while retorting, “What do you think? Your mouth was almost reaching your ears.”

Fan Wu thought for a moment. “I’m about to have dinner with Xiaoyu. Am I not allowed to be happy?”

Jiang Mengzhi was skeptical but retracted her gaze and focused on her work. Fan Wu lowered her head and edited a reply.

[Senior W: That was quite heart-stirring.] (Note: In Chinese, “heart-stirring” and “moving” share a similar root word “dong”.)

Sang Zhijiu didn’t understand: [?]

[Senior W: Typo. I meant that it was quite moving; otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen you.]

Sang Zhijiu smiled somewhat sillily. [Hehe, I think so too.]

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