Transmigrated as the Future Movie Queen's Arch-Nemesis - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Su Mi began to suspect that every job under the sun shared the same “urinary nature”—they were all equally agonizing.

Although her previous job was completely different, the mood Su Mi felt now, while acting like a “salted fish” pushed to meet artistic requirements, wasn’t much different from back then.

She had initially thought that a photo shoot for an e-magazine—a requirement from a certain department—would be relatively simple. She hadn’t expected the photographer to be the spitting image of her former boss, refusing to stop until he had stripped a layer of skin off every single model.

They had changed positions hundreds of times, not to mention the specific demands for facial expressions.

After much struggling, they finally finished the shoot. All she could say was: Long live the “stink-face.”

Before the shoot, she thought the advice about “stink-faces” was just a joke; now, Su Mi seriously suspected that the post she had read was written by an industry insider.

A group of people spent the entire morning busy with work, and finally, it was time for lunch.

As soon as the shoot ended, the group automatically split into two factions: one was Xin Keke; the other was everyone else besides Su Mi.

Xia Lei likely kept her mouth shut because of what Su Mi had said to her that morning. Instead, another girl spoke up: “Mi Mi, we’re planning to check out that new trending hotpot place for lunch today. Why don’t you come with us?”

“Huh?” Su Mi was stunned for a moment. She glanced at Xin Keke’s receding figure and quickly waved her hand at the girl. “No thanks, you guys go ahead… Hey, Xin Keke, wait for me!”

She gave a hurried excuse and ran off to find Xin Keke. The remaining group looked at each other, wondering what kind of wrong medicine Su Mi had taken.

However, Xin Keke acted as if she had eyes in the back of her head; she was walking incredibly fast.

Su Mi ran for quite a while before catching up: “Huff… slow down, slow down. Why are you walking so fast?”

Xin Keke stopped abruptly. Su Mi barely managed to brake in time to avoid slamming into her.

She looked at Su Mi coldly: “Is there something you want?”

That guarded expression made her look exactly like a little fox encountering a hunter.

But Su Mi didn’t take it to heart.

After all, many unpleasant things must have happened between the original host and Xin Keke. Her job now was to close the distance between them as quickly as possible and dissolve the previous animosity.

She flashed a smile: “Where are you going for lunch? Let me join you.”

She was certain Xin Keke wouldn’t slap someone wearing such a “shameless” smile.

After all, one does not strike a smiling face.

Xin Keke: “…”

Su Mi watched her purse her lips and scan the surroundings. Then, dropping a low-voiced “Follow me,” Xin Keke wove through the corridors until they reached the most secluded corner.

Su Mi followed right at her heels. Before she could even get her bearings, she heard Xin Keke say seriously: “Please stay away from me.”

Su Mi: “?”

She hadn’t even started her offensive yet; how was Xin Keke already unable to stand her?

So, she took a small step back, moving away from Xin Keke.

Xin Keke was speechless: “…Not that.”

Su Mi: “Then what?”

“…” Xin Keke seemed a bit stumped by Su Mi’s antics and simply started her topic directly. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do—whether you’ve truly had a change of heart or if you’ve come up with a new way to mess with me—but the rift between us isn’t something that can be erased so easily…”

“Furthermore,” she paused, her expression looking somewhat pained, “between us… that kind of thing happened.”

Su Mi suddenly remembered Xin Keke’s tearful face on the bed yesterday.

Nope, can’t talk about that. I’ll get hit.

“This kind of trick is too low-class. Hearing it from your mouth makes me feel like you’re looking down on me. Besides, the word ‘like’ coming from you sounds a bit ridiculous when applied to me.”

Xin Keke put her hands behind her back.

Su Mi didn’t know if she had started nervously kneading her sweater sleeves.

“Su Mi, I have no desire to be your enemy; I only want to do my job well.” Xin Keke’s gaze finally settled on Su Mi’s face, as if gauging her expression. “You have many ‘friends’; you don’t need me as one. As long as you give me the recording, from now on, our grudges will be wiped clean.”

Hearing this long speech from Xin Keke, Su Mi’s mind had already drifted off to another galaxy.

Just like in the original novel, Xin Keke was indeed someone with her own set of principles and was very serious.

When she first entered the entertainment industry, this personality caused her to suffer many losses, to the point where she eventually had to learn to be “smooth” and diplomatic.

But the version Su Mi liked best was still the Xin Keke from the very beginning.

It felt real to her.

Xin Keke soon noticed Su Mi was spacing out.

She frowned and called out: “Su Mi?”

Seeing no reaction, Xin Keke waved a finger in front of her: “Su Mi!”

“Huh?”

Su Mi seemed to be zoning out, but in fact, she had heard everything.

She looked back into Xin Keke’s eyes: “What did you just say? ‘The rift cannot be erased so easily,’ right?”

“…”

Seeing that Xin Keke had gone silent, Su Mi rubbed the bridge of her nose with a finger: “But you only said it wouldn’t be easily erased, you didn’t say it was impossible, did you? Besides, as for ‘liking’ you, I can’t even control my own heart, so how could I promise to stop liking you?”

Xin Keke bit her lower lip, seemingly dissatisfied with Su Mi’s flippant attitude.

Seeing her like this, Su Mi knew she definitely didn’t believe her again.

Su Mi sighed and reached out to grab her sleeve: “Alright, alright. I promise I’ll stop saying things that bother you so much, okay? But regarding the recording, I’ve told you many times this morning: I really didn’t record anything. If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to come to my house anytime to verify.”

She rubbed her empty stomach: “We can talk about the rest later. I’m starving. Can we go eat first?”

In the whole wide world, eating comes first.

Xin Keke didn’t move.

Su Mi gave her hand a squeeze, then quickly withdrew her restless “claw” before the other could pull away.

She beamed with a broad smile: “Oh, come on, let’s go. Eat first.”

The thing that exceeded Su Mi’s expectations most about this transmigration was the fact that “Shengxing Entertainment has its own cafeteria.”

But thinking about it, it made sense. For such a large company, if there were no cafeteria, how many sleep-deprived directors and actors would be crying and screaming while ordering takeout?

The cost is one thing, hygiene is another, and convenience is yet another.

This was much better than her company in the real world. Anyway, she was too lazy to cook.

Xin Keke quickly selected her lunch and took her tray to the furthest corner of the cafeteria.

Her movements were so fast that Su Mi almost lost her after buying her own food; it took her scanning the room over and over again to finally spot Xin Keke.

Su Mi walked over with quick, small steps and placed her tray opposite Xin Keke.

Xin Keke glanced at her, but someone’s skin was thicker than a city wall; she acted as if she couldn’t see the annoyance in Xin Keke’s eyes.

She snapped her chopsticks, ready to eat.

Seeing that Su Mi remained as steady as a mountain despite several meaningful looks, Xin Keke reached her limit: “Go sit somewhere else.”

“Oh, come on. It’s lunch hour and it’s so crowded. I don’t want to squeeze onto a table with strangers,” Su Mi grumbled.

“…”

Not everyone ate at such a regular time; the Shengxing cafeteria was open from morning until late at night, basically ensuring everyone’s dining needs were met.

So, even though it was lunch hour, the crowd wasn’t as exaggerated as Su Mi claimed.

There were quite a few empty tables.

Seeing Su Mi wouldn’t budge, Xin Keke picked up her tray to move to another table.

Su Mi: “Wait, wait, wait! I’ll move, I’ll move. Don’t be like that.”

Luckily, the people at the table next to Xin Keke had finished and were leaving. Su Mi simply moved her tray one spot over and sat at the adjacent table.

Well, whatever. Patience is a virtue. As long as I’m next to Xin Keke, it’s fine; at least I can build some presence.

Su Mi refused to believe it—unless Xin Keke’s heart was made of stone, if she persisted, even the future Movie Queen would eventually be moved.

Su Mi sat there staring at Xin Keke like a stalker, while Xin Keke continued eating her food without changing her expression, too lazy to acknowledge her.

Su Mi followed Xin Keke’s gaze and noticed the dishes in her bowl were very simple.

And without exception, they were all very cheap vegetarian dishes.

She thought to herself that even being an actress shouldn’t mean mistreating oneself like this. The moment that thought surfaced, Su Mi suddenly remembered one of Xin Keke’s settings in the original novel.

She was an orphan.

No parents, no relatives. In this world, she was all alone.

If she wasn’t filming, she had no income; she had to rely on taking e-magazine shoots and other odd jobs to support herself.

The Shengxing cafeteria wasn’t free. Xin Keke, she…

Sigh, this dummy.

At this thought, Su Mi immediately got up and went to the meat counter to buy two Braised Lion’s Head meatballs.

Anyway, she was using the original host’s money.

Fearing Xin Keke wouldn’t accept “charity,” Su Mi deliberately moved one into her own bowl and placed the other in a small side bowl, cheerfully delivering it to Xin Keke’s table.

“There’s a promotion on Lion’s Heads today—buy one get one free.” Before Xin Keke could speak, Su Mi very cleverly spoke first, blocking the words in her throat. “I can’t finish two by myself, and it would be a waste. Could you help me finish one?”

“…”

Xin Keke looked at the meatball in her hand, then looked at her: “On your last birthday, you only ate the top layer of a person-sized cake and threw away the rest, which was still perfectly fresh. When a young server tried to pick it up, you even scolded them.”

Su Mi: “Uh…”

That really was way too much.

But Heaven as my witness—that was the original host, not her!

She was just a regular 996 worker who tried to make every penny count (well, maybe not that exaggerated)!

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Seeing Su Mi silent, Xin Keke’s eyes were cold. “Do you really think I wouldn’t remember what happened yesterday just because I woke up?”

At the mention of yesterday, Su Mi’s heart skipped a beat.

Sigh, I messed up.

How could she have forgotten that!

Why did they end up on the bed yesterday? Wasn’t it because Xin Keke drank the beverage the original host had drugged? Xin Keke wasn’t so stupid that she’d forget that!

But she really did feel bad that Xin Keke was eating so poorly, which is why she bought the meat…

This feeling of having good intentions spurned, even in a transmigration, made Su Mi feel a bit unsettled.

If she had a tail, it would be drooping by now.

She had just called Xin Keke a dummy; now look at her—she was the dummy.

“S-sorry…”

Su Mi apologized pitifully. Knowing she couldn’t push Xin Keke further, she prepared to take the meatball back to her own seat.

“Oh? Teacher Su? Teacher Xin?”

Just as Su Mi was feeling dejected, another voice rang out nearby.

Su Mi looked up and saw the girl from this morning—the one who had been carrying a pile of clothes and reminded her about work—holding a tray and greeting them with a smile: “What a coincidence! You guys came to the cafeteria for lunch too?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Su Mi finally realized her name was Ji Yuan, an executive assistant at Shengxing Entertainment. “Teacher Ji is here too?”

“Mm-hmm~ I’ve been busy all morning, I’m starving.”

Seeing a familiar face, Ji Yuan simply crowded in and sat down at Su Mi’s table.

Glancing at the meatball on Su Mi’s table, Ji Yuan flashed a mischievous smile: “Eh? Teacher Su bought two? Perfect. You’re so slender, you definitely can’t eat two by yourself, right? I’ll help you finish this extra one!”

“?”

Su Mi watched as Ji Yuan unceremoniously took the meatball she had originally intended for Xin Keke. She rubbed her head, feeling somewhat helpless.

Xin Keke only cast a brief glance over and didn’t say anything else.

Su Mi felt a bit bitter in her heart.

Whatever. Since Xin Keke rejected her, and she couldn’t finish it anyway, let Ji Yuan eat it.

But she was very angry! It was all the original host’s fault for causing such massive trouble for her transmigration job!

Tonight, she was definitely going to use the original host’s secret stash of money to order three KFC Family Buckets to vent her frustration!