The Stand-in is Exceptionally Clingy [Quick Transmigration] - chapter 15

Chapter 15: The CEO and Her Canary

◎Falling, Falling◎

The next day at the pier, Jian Ke sat on a plastic stool, watching the crew set up the scene and tilting her head back for the makeup artist to touch up her makeup. Jian Ke had naturally good skin and a beautiful face that looked great on camera. The overall filming atmosphere of Sea of Fog was dark, so the makeup was required to be semi-natural. Usually, she only needed a touch of lipstick. But today, Jian Ke’s complexion was too good, so the makeup artist had to add dark circles under her eyes.

However, the makeup artist was surprised. “Jian-laoshi, did you not sleep well last night? You have eye bags.”

Jian Ke: “I had a bit of insomnia. I just couldn’t fall asleep.”

Makeup artist: “You’re such a good actress, even Director Chen, who is always picky, can’t stop praising you. I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Jian Ke wanted to say that her insomnia had nothing to do with filming, but her peripheral vision caught sight of a gracefully late Shen Zhi. The resentment in her heart deepened.

Shen Zhi: “Jian-laoshi, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? These are buns my assistant just bought from the breakfast shop. Have a couple.”

Jian Ke: “No, thank you, Shen-laoshi. I woke up early this morning and already ate.”

Shen Zhi sat down next to Jian Ke, taking small sips from a cup of soy milk, her eyes involuntarily drifting towards Jian Ke. “Actually, I’m a little afraid of heights. In today’s scene, I have to stand on a railing. I’m so worried I might fall. Jian-laoshi, please be sure to grab me, okay?”

Today’s scene was the first encounter between Li Zhi and Ning Xuan. In the shot, Li Zhi rides her bike past the pier and sees Ning Xuan standing on the railing, her slender figure looking like she’s about to fall in the wind. Li Zhi rushes over and pulls her back.

Looking at Shen Zhi’s expectant eyes, Jian Ke pointed to a prop in the distance: “We’re using camera angles for that shot. If you really fall, you just have to get back up. And there are mats in front. Even if you fall and I don’t catch you, there are still the mats.”

Shen Zhi reached out a hand towards Jian Ke’s arm. “…It would hurt so much to fall on the mats. It’s better if Jian-laoshi holds on to me.”

Jian Ke quickly stood up. “My makeup is done. I’ll go over there first.” She left only a cool back for Shen Zhi.

Shen Zhi: “…” Was she that scary? Why did Jian Ke always run away so fast?

The scene could be roughly divided into three steps: first, Li Zhi grabs Ning Xuan’s hand; second, Ning Xuan falls into Li Zhi’s arms; and third, the two embrace and fall to the ground. They didn’t need to be continuous shots, but the camera language had to be fully expressed.

Jian Ke pulled Shen Zhi, who was standing on a box. Her clothes flew up as the other woman fell into her arms with a look of surprise, looking at her with a flustered expression.

“Hold that! Hold that! Zoom in!” the director shouted through a megaphone from a distance.

Jian Ke suddenly heard a sound in her mind. “Ding—The female lead’s favorability rating is dropping…”

Jian Ke: ?? She was confused, thinking she was hearing things.

Then she heard the director shout through the megaphone again: “Jian Ke, put your arm around her waist!”

In the next second, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist.

Jian Ke looked down: !! I was supposed to put my arm around you, not the other way around!

“Ding—The female lead’s favorability rating is dropping again…”

Jian Ke was stunned. She tentatively put her arm around Shen Zhi.

Immediately after: “Ding—The female lead’s favorability rating is dropping again and again…”

She took a step forward. “…dropping.”

She took a step back. “…dropping.”

She decisively let go and pushed Shen Zhi away. “…Dropping paused.”

Shen Zhi reluctantly let go, a sly smile appearing on her face. “Jian-laoshi, we haven’t finished this take yet. How did you mess up?”

But Jian Ke paid her no mind and looked around. Sure enough, she saw a familiar sports car parked on the greenway by the pier. A tall figure stood by the car, watching in their direction with her arms crossed. The sea breeze blew her hair around. Lou Bianxia was wearing a sexy floral beach dress, and a pair of black sunglasses covered most of her face.

Jian Ke couldn’t see her expression, but her survival instinct told her that Lou Bianxia was definitely not in a good mood.

Jian Ke didn’t understand why Lou Bianxia’s favorability rating had suddenly started to drop. She remembered that when they first got together, the rating had shot up. Why was it falling now instead of rising?

“Ding—The female lead’s favorability rating has started to drop.” The Lou Bianxia on the other side seemed to have noticed her staring.

Jian Ke quickly turned her head away.

“Ding—The female lead’s favorability rating is dropping again.”

It drops when she looks, and it drops when she doesn’t.

Jian Ke: “…520, is your system broadcast malfunctioning?”

The 520 System was on the verge of tears. “No, I ran a self-check last night. It’s definitely not malfunctioning.” The 520 System’s voice was full of pain. “Anyway, no matter what, the host should hurry and appease her. If it keeps dropping, we’ll be back to square one!”

But in the distance, Lou Bianxia suddenly opened her car door and drove away.

Director Wen walked over to Jian Ke with a concerned look, asking what was wrong.

Jian Ke, without changing her expression, placed the blame elsewhere. “Shen Zhi poked my ticklish spot when she hugged me just now. I might need about five minutes to readjust.”

Shen Zhi, on the side: ?

Jian Ke: “I also hope that Shen-laoshi won’t add any unnecessary movements. When I start laughing, I tend to kick my legs. It wouldn’t be good if I accidentally kicked someone.”

Shen Zhi’s smile was forced. “I’m so sorry, Jian-laoshi. I’ll be careful next time.”

Exhausted after a day of filming, Jian Ke took off her makeup and took a shower. The steam condensed on the mirror like a fog. Jian Ke wiped the mirror with her hand and looked at her reflection. She suddenly understood why Lou Bianxia’s favorability rating had dropped. It was probably the “white moonlight effect.” Seeing her, a look-alike of Shu Yu, acting intimately with another woman felt, to Lou Bianxia, like a scar on her heart being torn open again.

But this was acting. Physical contact was unavoidable. Lou Bianxia had to come and see for herself. Could she blame Jian Ke for being hurt by what she saw? Jian Ke felt she was being incredibly wronged.

Speaking of the devil, the devil arrived. A knock sounded at the door. Jian Ke opened it and saw Lou Bianxia’s cold face.

Jian Ke poured Lou Bianxia a glass of water. She saw Lou Bianxia leaning against the cushions on the windowsill, flipping through the script. The script was filled with dense annotations and notes, showing how much effort she had put into it.

“Do you have many intimate scenes?” Lou Bianxia suddenly asked.

Jian Ke: “No intimate scenes. Given the scale of this show, there probably won’t even be any kissing scenes. Besides, holding hands doesn’t count as an intimate scene.”

“The cut content in the script is just to help the actors better understand the characters and plot.”

Lou Bianxia’s brows seemed to relax a little. Jian Ke sat in front of her, feeling it was necessary to have a proper conversation with her.

“There aren’t any in this show, but there might be in the next one. This is my job. We already agreed, didn’t we, that you… wouldn’t interfere with my work.”

Lou Bianxia put the script down, her fingers curling slightly on the cushion. She frowned with a look of extreme displeasure, anger filling her chest. “I’m not interfering with your work. We agreed that your private life would only include me.”

Jian Ke’s eyes widened, thinking Lou Bianxia was being unreasonable. “Where did I have anyone else? Are you talking about Shen Zhi? She’s just a colleague I’ve known for a few days. Please don’t force your wild imagination onto me, Ms. Lou.”

Lou Bianxia pursed her lips and said nothing. Of course, she knew Jian Ke hadn’t “cheated on her,” but seeing her hugging and holding someone else just felt particularly jarring.

“That’s just how acting is. If you come to me every time you’re upset, Ms. Lou, that will cause me a lot of trouble.” Jian Ke said with a courage that defied the threat of a favorability drop.

The 520 System was terrified. “The host’s tone should be more tactful. The female lead’s expression is really bad. What if you make her angry and she decides to terminate the contract?”

Jian Ke swallowed hard. “I can’t not say this. If she keeps dropping the favorability rating like this, when will I ever complete my mission? It’s so frustrating to be a replacement, with all these ‘don’t do this, don’t do that’ rules.”

“She’s being unreasonable about this, so why can’t I push back a little?”

Even though she said that, Jian Ke was still a little nervous, watching Lou Bianxia’s reaction. Lou Bianxia’s face was unpredictable. After a long while, she said in a low, restrained voice, “It won’t happen again.”

Jian Ke nodded. “That’s better.”

“But I’m staying here tonight.”

Jian Ke’s head, which was in the middle of a nod, paused when she heard this. “Huh?”

Lou Bianxia frowned, her finger lightly tapping the cushion. She replied in a serious tone, “If I drive back now, it’ll be midnight. I’ll just make do here for the night and leave early tomorrow morning.”

“Do you have a problem with that?”

Jian Ke: ‘I do, but I don’t dare say it.’

Jian Ke shook her head. “You can stay, you can stay. As long as you don’t mind.”

Shen Zhi had rarely met anyone who fit her ideal type as perfectly as Jian Ke, and her strong intuition told her that Jian Ke wasn’t all that “straight.” Love at first sight, and even more infatuated after seeing her again—that’s how simple and direct a “face-con’s” love was. But Jian Ke had ignored all the small moves she had made, which was a huge blow to her. She was confident that she was good-looking and charming, so why didn’t Jian Ke like her?

Refusing to give up, she decided to make a bigger move. After taking a shower, she put on some perfume, threw on a bathrobe, and went to knock on Jian Ke’s door. To be more seductive, she pulled down the neckline of her bathrobe a little, revealing a beautiful curve.

The door opened quickly. Shen Zhi’s smile had just appeared on her lips when she saw who was there and her expression immediately froze. A stunningly beautiful, unfamiliar woman was staring at her with icy eyes, as if looking at a dead person.

From those beautiful lips, a cold sentence was uttered: “Can I help you?”

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