Oh No, My Tail Has Been Seen! - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Everyone Must Pay the Price

The plot remained the same; Zhang Bingyue felt that a rainy day would better reflect the impact and despair she was feeling.

The crew had already started setting up the scene, using sprinklers to wet the stone bench.

“The rain is still too light; make it heavier,” Zhang Bingyue said, watching the scene being set up from the side. She was not yet in position.

Director Li, however, disagreed. “But if the rain is too heavy, the scene will lose its beauty, and the effect it has on the audience won’t be as good.”

Zhang Bingyue insisted on her opinion. “I don’t think so. This scene is supposed to show how miserable Tang Meng is, which will make her later retaliation more exciting. It’s how we’ll give the audience the most satisfaction.”

Director Li knew Zhang Bingyue had her own ideas, and there was always a chance to reshoot. He didn’t want to publicly reject her opinion, so he nodded in agreement.

“Then we’ll do it your way. If the effect isn’t good, we’ll just shoot it again.”

“It’s settled then,” Zhang Bingyue said, then walked straight into the fake rain and pretended to be drunk, collapsing onto the stone bench.

The plot proceeded as before. Su Miao stood outside the rain, waiting for Director Li to call her in.

“Su Miao, go in,” Director Li said when he was almost done with his shot, calling Su Miao to enter.

Su Miao walked slowly into the rain with an umbrella. In front of her was a thug trying to take away the intoxicated Tang Meng, played by Zhang Bingyue. Su Miao saved her. Just as she was about to drop her umbrella and help Zhang Bingyue up, Director Li shouted, “Cut!”

The director’s gaze was fixed on Su Miao’s face.

“Director, is there a problem with me?” Not only was Director Li looking at her, but Su Miao also felt everyone’s eyes on her.

This was her first time filming, and her heart immediately sank.

The crew stopped the rain. Both she and Zhang Bingyue were soaked. A gust of wind made her shiver.

It was both from the cold and from fear.

“Who did Su Miao’s makeup? Don’t they know to use waterproof makeup?” Director Li didn’t answer Su Miao’s question. Instead, he started looking for Su Miao’s makeup artist.

At this, Su Miao immediately understood what the problem was. She glanced at an anxious Xu Qingqing standing nearby.

Xu Qingqing immediately understood and handed a compact mirror to Su Miao.

The mirror reflected her face, where her makeup had melted into a mess.

How could this happen?

She had been beautiful since she was a child and loved being beautiful. So, she always paid attention to her every move and presented her best self to everyone.

But why did she have to make a fool of herself this time?

She was already beautiful without makeup, and her bare face wouldn’t have been any less radiant in the rain. It was the makeup that failed her.

But shouldn’t the crew use makeup with strong staying power and waterproof properties?

Zhang Bingyue’s makeup was still perfect, with no changes.

Why was the makeup applied to her so easy to smudge?

Su Miao couldn’t understand.

She looked up and could feel the stares of the people around her. This feeling of shame made her eyes well up with tears.

But she couldn’t cry. Crying would make her look even uglier.

She couldn’t cry here.

Su Miao bit her lower lip tightly, trying to stop the tears with pain.

“It’s okay. You can go and get your makeup redone. We can wait for you,” Zhang Bingyue said, seeing Su Miao’s upset expression. “These are just minor issues. Don’t take it to heart.”

Su Miao shook her head and didn’t move an inch.

She couldn’t leave until Director Li told her to.

Her face was ashen, and she was just waiting for the director to give the order to leave.

“Director, I did Su Miao’s makeup,” a familiar voice said. It was the makeup artist who had just done her makeup.

“What’s wrong with you? Why did you use makeup with such poor staying power? You ruined the whole scene!” Director Li pointed at the makeup artist and started scolding her. “Why do you look so unfamiliar? Who brought you in?”

At this, everyone’s eyes turned to the young makeup artist.

“I’m a newcomer. The assistant director asked me to do the makeup for the supporting roles. I didn’t know I had to use waterproof makeup. I’m sorry,” the makeup artist said, bowing deeply after being scolded.

The assistant director she mentioned also stepped forward. “Director, she’s a new makeup artist I hired. I didn’t expect her to make such a basic mistake. I’ll have her leave now.”

Director Li waved his hand, signaling for the assistant director to take the makeup artist away. He then turned to Su Miao.

“This is not your fault, so don’t blame yourself too much. We can actually cut this scene. We only added it at the last minute to compare two different effects. The first take we shot already passed. I think the rainy day effect isn’t good anyway, so we don’t need to reshoot. You can go back to the hotel and rest,” Director Li said. Seeing her face so pale and knowing it wasn’t her fault, he couldn’t bring himself to be harsh. “Bingyue, we’ll continue with the outdoor scenes. You go and change your clothes first so you don’t catch a cold.”

“Thank you, Director,” Su Miao said calmly, then left the set.

Xu Qingqing quickly covered her with a towel, afraid she would catch a cold.

She went back to the dressing room to change out of her costume and into her own clothes. In the small cubicle, the tears finally started to fall.

Tears rolled down her cheeks, one after another.

She felt so wronged.

Su Miao sobbed softly.

If she had known she needed to use waterproof makeup and had reminded the makeup artist, none of this would have happened.

If Bai Jin had been there, with her meticulous attention to detail, she would have noticed that the makeup was not waterproof.

So why hadn’t she noticed anything herself?

She didn’t cry for long, as she didn’t want Xu Qingqing to know about her breakdown. She was afraid Xu Qingqing would tell Bai Jin.

So she quickly wiped away her tears and walked out of the dressing room, pretending to be normal.

“Sister Su Miao, are you okay?” Xu Qingqing asked with concern. Now that her makeup was completely gone, her face was as white as a sheet. She must have caught a cold.

Her foot injury had just healed, and now she might be getting sick again.

It was truly one unfortunate event after another.

“I’m fine,” Su Miao said, trying to sound calm. “I’m going back to my room to rest. Unless it’s an emergency, don’t come looking for me.”

She needed to take a good look at what happened today.

“Okay.”

Xu Qingqing helped her back to her hotel room. When she closed the door, she saw Su Miao give her a slight smile.

Xu Qingqing thought to herself, no way. After something like this, she had to tell Bai Jin. Even though Su Miao seemed optimistic, she might not be okay on the inside.

So she composed a message, telling Bai Jin everything that had happened that day.

After returning to her room, Su Miao went to the bathroom first and filled the tub with water, then soaked herself in it.

Her legs turned into a big, white mermaid tail.

This was her most comfortable state.

She buried her head in the water. That way, no one could see if she was crying or not.

But this could only deceive others, not herself.

It felt so awful.

The first time she embarrassed herself was on a film set.

The only thing to be grateful for was that Bai Jin wasn’t there.

The person she cared about most wasn’t there.

After being submerged in the water for a long time, she surfaced, turned her tail back into legs, and walked barefoot on the floor to the large full-length mirror.

Her face, freshly out of the water, was still beautiful.

Even with her wet hair plastered to her neck and shoulders and some water droplets on her eyelashes, it didn’t affect her beauty in the slightest.

So why was she presented to everyone in such an ugly state?

Su Miao stared for a long time before putting on her robe, going back to bed, and picking up her phone to look at Weibo.

There was a lot of gossip news today.

She scrolled down casually and saw a photo of herself in an entertainment news article.

The title was: No matter how beautiful the disguise, it’s bound to fall apart.

It was posted five minutes ago.

The author claimed to be a resident near the set who started following the filming after coincidentally seeing Zhang Bingyue. The author then saw Su Miao trying to steal the spotlight with her makeup, a newcomer trying to outshine the female lead, only to have all her disguise washed away by a rain scene.

The author of the post also shared pictures of Su Miao before and after her makeup melted, making her look like a completely different person. The caption said, “Exposed.”

But it wasn’t her fault! The director even said it wasn’t her fault.

Why were they so one-sided in their accusations?

Su Miao’s emotions, which had finally calmed down, flared up again, even more intensely than before.

Su Miao hugged the blanket and cried, completely immersed in her own world.

She didn’t know how long she had been crying when she heard a knock on the door.

She looked up, wanting to pretend she didn’t hear it, but the knocking continued persistently.

She had told Xu Qingqing not to come unless it was important. From the sound of it, it must be something important.

Su Miao casually wiped her tears, got out of bed, and went to the door. When she opened it, she saw Bai Jin standing there.

At this moment, her eyes were red, and her nose was red. She looked like a wounded little animal.

A flash of heartache appeared in Bai Jin’s eyes. Without waiting for a reaction, she took Su Miao’s hand, led her inside, and sat her down on the sofa.

Su Miao looked at her as if she had found a safe and reliable person. The tears she had been holding back started to flow again.

“Bai Jin, I performed so badly today,” she said. She couldn’t accept her own vulnerability.

She had embarrassed herself and was now vulnerable.

Bai Jin reached out, stroked her hair, and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, letting her lean on her and cry.

“You actually did very well. The director even praised your performance, saying it didn’t look like a newcomer’s,” Bai Jin said, patting her shoulder gently as if comforting a child.

Her usual seriousness was gone.

“But I messed up afterward,” she said. She couldn’t forget the photo taken by the netizens. Many people might have already seen it.

Maybe Bai Jin had already seen it.

“You didn’t mess up. This is my fault. Someone bullied you,” Bai Jin’s tone became slightly more serious. She had only been gone for a little while, and someone had already tried to mess with her person.

“I promise you, something like this will never happen again.”

And those who bullied you will all pay the price.