The Movie Queen is Flirtatious and Doting - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Gu Yinglian was studying the script when Ye Yansheng called. She answered immediately. “Sister Ye.”

Ye Yansheng chuckled. “Mm. Seen the new script yet?”

“I have,” Gu Yinglian said. “Sister Ye, are you really coming back to film?”

“That’s right. What do you think of the new script?”

Gu Yinglian flipped through the pages. “There seem to be quite a lot of scenes with you…”

“I had them change it into a dual-lead drama,” Ye Yansheng explained. “You’re a lead now, just like me.”

Gu Yinglian was stunned. “Dual leads? Dual…” She frantically flipped through the pages again. Had she missed something? She knew her screen time had increased and that most of it was shared with Ye Yansheng, but she hadn’t looked at it through that lens. Hearing it now—dual female leads? Would the censors even allow that to air?

Hearing the rustle of pages over the phone, Ye Yansheng laughed. “Stop flipping. There are no intimate scenes.”

“Oh.” Gu Yinglian breathed a sigh of relief, though she wasn’t sure why.

Ye Yansheng teased, “Or were you hoping for a kiss scene? It’s fine; we don’t have to use camera tricks if you don’t want to. I don’t really mind…”

I mind, lady! Gu Yinglian screamed internally, but out loud she asked, “What’s the point of a drama like this then?”

“Point? What point are you looking for?” Ye Yansheng said. “Aren’t dramas just for entertainment?”

“There must be a deeper meaning!” Gu Yinglian argued. “This is art. Do you understand art?”

Ye Yansheng laughed. “I don’t understand art, I only understand acting. I heard your acting is quite green, and the director specifically asked me to give you some guidance. Since you’re a lead now, you can’t let my aura suppress you—it’ll make you look too weak, little rabbit~”

Who are you calling a rabbit? You’re the rabbit, your whole family are rabbits! Gu Yinglian grumbled to herself. “I’ll do my best to cooperate with you, Sister Ye.”

“You don’t need to ‘cooperate’ with me,” Ye Yansheng corrected. “You need to work hard to be your character.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“Be ready for your lessons,” Ye Yansheng said.

“Are you really going to teach me?”

“Why wouldn’t I? The director said you lack experience and need to be finely polished. Mm… I’m going to polish you carefully, until you become nice and smooth…”

Gu Yinglian listened to those words, wondering why they sounded so much like flirting. What did “finely polished” even mean? And “smooth”? Her mind started to wander before Ye Yansheng cut in: “Alright, that’s all for now. I’ll let you know when the lessons start.”

“Okay.”

Gu Yinglian stared at her phone after the call ended, feeling a bit dazed. Having Ye Yansheng personally mentor her wasn’t a bad thing—she was a veteran, and getting her guidance was a rare stroke of luck. But Gu Yinglian couldn’t stop worrying: what if the “guidance” involved Ye Yansheng getting handsy? Ye Yansheng might not have a “bad” reputation in terms of crimes, but the rumors about her being a “predator” were the worst rumors of all…

Gu Yinglian was worried sick. She knew she couldn’t pull off this role on her own. She had briefly relaxed when Ye Yansheng returned, but the “dual lead” revelation had her heart in her throat again. Dual leads… there were plenty of dual-male-lead shows, but dual-female? She couldn’t help but flip through the script one more time, looking for any hidden ambiguity.

In fact, there was none. Even with a magnifying glass, she couldn’t find any. Was it really just “Socialist Pure Friendship”? Is there even such a thing between women? Before, Gu Yinglian would have said “of course,” but now she wasn’t so sure. Between women, it isn’t always “pure.” Holding hands, hugging, and kissing might be normal for friends, but from another perspective, those are also the interactions of lovers. Lovers hold hands, hug, and… well, that other stuff.

After pondering for hours, she realized she had no choice but to push forward. The director had called her acting green and inexperienced—for the proud Gu Yinglian, this was a humiliation. She vowed to use her performance to wash away the shame. She immediately started memorizing the script. One advantage she had was an excellent memory, so memorizing lines wasn’t a struggle.

She spent several days committing the whole thing to memory—not just her lines, but the opponent’s lines and the scene directions as well. With the script as her foundation, she began to analyze her character. A “black-bellied” (scheming) heiress… how does one act “black-bellied”? For the “white rabbit” Gu Yinglian, this was a significant challenge.

However, because her outward appearance was so gentle and harmless, playing a scheming character actually suited her image perfectly. Isn’t a “black-bellied” person someone who looks kind on the outside but is dark and calculated on the inside? She watched enough anime to understand the archetype.

“Hehehe…” Gu Yinglian practiced a sinister smile in the mirror. It didn’t look quite right. A smirk? A charmingly evil grin? A fake smile? Baring teeth? Why would a spoiled little princess go undercover at a rival company? Because it’s fun, because it’s interesting, because she can steal secrets… The original “CEO falls for secretary” plot with the male lead would likely be cut; after what happened, his scenes wouldn’t be allowed on air anyway.

Thinking of Xu Feifan, she smirked. She felt a surge of vengeful pleasure. He was “cold” now, and he deserved it. Who knows how many women he had harassed before? He was the architect of his own downfall. Gu Yinglian looked at her reflection—the “evil” image appearing before her eyes. Ah, so that’s how it works.

Being “black-bellied” is about enjoying that kind of dark pleasure. A princess who has everything but sees a neighbor girl with a doll she doesn’t have—so she cuts the doll to pieces and stomps on it, laughing while the other girl cries.

The more Gu Yinglian thought about it, the more she felt like that dark, scheming princess. She could almost see herself on set, bullying that girl, mocking her. She could almost hear her own wicked laughter: Heh…

Snapping back to reality, she touched her face in the mirror, almost unable to believe it. Was this face hers? Was this the real her? Why did it feel like she was looking at a mask? No, this isn’t me! she denied frantically in her mind. This isn’t me! This is the black-bellied heiress from the drama! Yes, that’s it!