Reborn! Caught Up by the Critically Obsessed Actress - Chapter 78

After two days of touring the city where the drama was being filmed, the crew resumed operations. Song Qingxing was surprised by the new associate director and screenwriter, as they were both industry veterans who had been famous for a long time.

But then she realized that this must be due to Xie Jingcheng’s influence, and she understood.

The favor wasn’t for her, nor was it for the crew—it was for a certain movie queen.

Filming continued for two days.

The director was quite satisfied with Song Qingxing’s acting. After all, to cut costs, web dramas usually keep the takes unless there are major errors.

However, with Xie Jingcheng and Song Qingxing working seriously, the rest of the cast had no choice but to be fully focused and strive to improve their acting.

The one who suffered the most was probably the male lead.

He was often up late at night memorizing lines.

“If you ask me, people like him aren’t suited to be actors.”

Xie Jingcheng brought over a cup of hot tea—pure tea mixed with pure milk, with just a little sugar. It was quite refreshing to drink in the evening.

It was the same today; because the male lead’s acting was subpar, they were held back again. Xie Jingcheng didn’t have many scenes, and even when she did, they were as the female lead’s best friend.

She rarely had scenes with the male lead.

Therefore, she finished work early today.

She had even changed out of her youthful costume.

“He’s been acting this long and still hasn’t figured it out. He should just go back to being the pampered young master who has everything handed to him, instead of dragging others down.”

Xie Jingcheng handed the milk tea over.

“I only added a little sugar. You drink some, and the rest is for me.”

Song Qingxing opened her mouth, puckering her lips to avoid messing up her lipstick while drinking.

Sometimes she couldn’t blame celebrities for being fussy; once makeup was smudged, it had to be reapplied, which was a hassle for the makeup artist.

“It can’t be helped, the company invested in this drama.”

Song Qingxing swallowed a sip of milk tea and looked at Xie Jingcheng. She felt a strong sense of impatience in the other woman’s eyes.

It was probably because the male lead’s procrastination meant they had less time for intimacy at the hotel.

“I know, it’s just annoying.”

Xie Jingcheng ran a hand through her hair. If it were up to her, she would change the male lead, but right now, she didn’t want the little bunny’s effort to go to waste, especially since they had already filmed for so long.

Song Qingxing thought the milk tea tasted quite good. The richness of the milk blended with the slight bitterness of the tea, creating a smooth texture, but she couldn’t drink too much.

Just as she was about to hand back the half-drunk tea, the area suddenly plunged into darkness. Thunder boomed close by, followed by flashes of lightning.

The lightning illuminated the windows, and the curtains billowed wildly.

A collective gasp and cry of surprise rose from the people around.

“Are you okay?”

Through the flash of lightning, Xie Jingcheng saw a slightly panicked Song Qingxing and quickly moved closer. The next moment, Song Qingxing’s waist was tightly hugged.

“The power went out…”

Song Qingxing’s voice trembled, as if recalling an unpleasant scene.

That was before she was reborn, when her popularity hadn’t dropped too drastically, and she hadn’t been reduced to playing the male lead’s wicked stepmother.

At that time, she was still playing the second or third female lead.

Because of a few night scenes, Song Qingxing had to stay up late shooting, and her mental state wasn’t very good. When she was popular, she hadn’t really honed her acting skills.

So, she kept messing up, and the director frantically called “Cut!”

She had no choice but to go to the lounge to touch up her makeup. It was then that the power went out. Song Qingxing initially thought it was just a regular outage.

She planned to wait quietly for the power to resume when suddenly, a hot hand pressed against her neck.

“Qingxing… I’ve been watching you for a long time. Just give in to me.”

The man’s voice was coarse and accompanied by heavy breathing, but Song Qingxing was all too familiar with it—it was the director who had been furiously insulting her on set.

It was at that moment that she understood: her acting wasn’t getting worse; the director was deliberately making things difficult for her.

“You know, your resources are getting worse, but I… I can give you resources. I can cast you as the female lead in my future dramas!”

The man leaned against her ear. Song Qingxing couldn’t hold back anymore. She frantically backed away, knocking over cosmetics and lipsticks.

The cosmetics shattered on the floor with a “ping-pong-pang” sound.

“Director, please have some self-respect!”

Song Qingxing couldn’t see, so she was hiding clumsily, tripping over a table leg. Her knee hit the ground, immediately drawing blood.

The pain made her bite her lip until it almost broke.

“Self-respect?”

“What self-respect? You can barely take care of yourself now. It would only take a word for me to replace you as the third female lead.”

Song Qingxing felt a sour ache in her nose then. She desperately dodged, almost crawling on the floor, until the power finally came back on.

She saw the director clearly; his eyes were filled with lust.

He seemed to be fumbling with his leather belt. Song Qingxing couldn’t bear it any longer. She had always had this kind of temper, which was why her popularity had fallen—because she always refused to back down when facing issues.

So, she grabbed a chair and chased the director out of the makeup room.

Predictably, it ended up on the trending topics. She had to pay compensation and lost her role as the third female lead.

Song Qingxing felt wronged then. She resented herself for not being able to control her temper, but deep down, she knew that if she didn’t agree to the director’s demands, he would definitely find another excuse to kick her out of the crew and then find an actress willing to accept his terms.

She was going to be kicked out either way.

She might as well just hit him.

But now, Song Qingxing admitted that she was wavering.

Xie Jingcheng was not one of those sleazy directors or lewd male actors.

She would even ask for permission many times before kissing her and only then would she cross the line of intimacy.

How could anyone not be moved by that?

Her nose was almost touching the soft fabric. Song Qingxing inhaled the cool scent on Xie Jingcheng’s body, feeling that all the bad memories were being driven away.

It’s okay… it’s okay.

This was a memory from a past life. It didn’t exist now, nor had it ever happened.

Her knee didn’t have the scar from that time.

“Why are you hugging me so tightly? Are you afraid of the dark?”

Or was she afraid of the thunder?

Xie Jingcheng raised her hand and embraced the person, gently patting her back, like coaxing a little girl to sleep.

Song Qingxing didn’t speak, seeming to be temporarily avoiding something.

Xie Jingcheng recalled that when she used to play certain roles, if she couldn’t fully understand them, she would consult a psychologist, as a psychologist could analyze the complex psychological changes of a person.

Thus, she often had moments of sudden realization after listening to them.

But after consulting them so many times, she could also figure things out herself.

Song Qingxing’s reaction seemed to be recalling bad memories. She was seeking someone who could give her comfort.

Xie Jingcheng’s fingers patted her back rhythmically, like smoothing the fur of an agitated cat.

It wasn’t until the dazzling light came back on that Xie Jingcheng noticed tears in the corners of Song Qingxing’s eyes. She pulled a tissue from her pocket.

“Why are you crying?”

“I just remembered some bad things.”

Song Qingxing answered truthfully.

But in her heart, she felt fortunate. Thank goodness, compared to that lecherous director, Xie Jingcheng was practically a treasure!