Oh No, My Tail Has Been Seen! - Chapter 45

Chapter 45

◎Su Miao, Heart, Bai Jin.◎

Even if the studio posts pretty pictures of her on Weibo, it still ultimately comes down to her performance in the drama.

Judging by this one scene, her acting skills didn’t seem to be up to par.

Su Miao just watched quietly, not saying a word.

After filming two more scenes in the afternoon, Su Miao and Bai Jin got into a car and headed to the press conference for the variety show, Star in the Making.

In the car, Su Miao made sure to sit next to Bai Jin.

“I think I understand what you meant by influence,” Su Miao said, telling Bai Jin everything she had been thinking about. “But isn’t it all about who has the most influence now? Who can make a drama popular?”

Bai Jin looked at Su Miao and chuckled softly. “Is that what you think?”

Su Miao was stumped by the question and couldn’t say anything.

She naturally didn’t want a drama to become popular based solely on influence.

Seeing her fall silent, Bai Jin continued, “A blockbuster drama’s success is, first and foremost, due to acting. Influence comes second. Take Qin Xue for example. An Yixin wasn’t very well-known at the time. She was still a third or fourth-tier actress. She relied on that drama to gain both fame and fortune, becoming a first-tier star with countless fans. The influence followed naturally.”

Su Miao seemed to understand a little. She murmured, “So, you get acting skills first, then the influence comes later?”

“You can think of it that way. Qin Xue is already a national-level film. You can often find explanations of it in short videos, or analyses of a single frame from a particular actor. It’s still the only film in the entire industry to reach that level,” Bai Jin patiently explained her perspective to Su Miao. “The second drama I chose for you has a lot of influence, and the script’s character is good. But whether you can seize this opportunity and draw that influence to yourself is entirely up to you.”

Up to her?

Then she had to make the most of this opportunity.

Su Miao nodded determinedly and said, “I won’t let you down.”

She also wanted to stand at the top, the pinnacle of acting, and tell everyone that Bai Jin had cleared the path for her every step of the way.

“You seem especially inspired today,” Bai Jin said, seeing her lost in thought and looking a little dazed. She couldn’t help but reach out and gently ruffle her hair.

Su Miao’s hair was already down. When Bai Jin ruffled it, it became a little messy. From Bai Jin’s perspective, she could see that the tip of Su Miao’s small nose was a little red, making her look even more like a pushover.

It was all because Bai Jin had scared her with her angry face today. Su Miao was thinking she had to perform well so that Bai Jin wouldn’t cast her aside in the future.

But she couldn’t say that reason out loud.

She could only give Bai Jin a slightly resentful glare.

Seeing her look of slight grievance was like being tickled by a feather—uncomfortable yet addictive.

As if she had realized her own strangeness, Bai Jin silently averted her gaze and looked out the window.

This was the second time Bai Jin had backed away from her first. Now it was Su Miao’s turn to be bold.

Was Bai Jin shy again?

No, she had to see if Bai Jin’s face was flushed.

So Su Miao moved closer to Bai Jin, shifting her body in front of her to check if she was blushing.

Suddenly, the driver slammed on the brakes.

Su Miao immediately grabbed onto Bai Jin’s arms in fear, burying half her body in Bai Jin’s embrace, her face pressed against her collarbone.

She belatedly realized that Bai Jin’s arm was also around her waist.

At such close proximity, she could smell the scent from Bai Jin’s neck, and Su Miao’s face immediately flushed.

“I forgot to put on my seatbelt,” Su Miao said, quickly sitting up and fumbling for the seatbelt.

Bai Jin looked down at her hands, as if savoring the feeling of the slender waist she had just held.

Unlike Su Miao’s panic, Bai Jin calmly withdrew her hand. The only unruly part of her was the slight flush on the tips of her ears.

Wait, she felt like she had bumped into something just now.

Su Miao belatedly took out a mirror and checked. Her dusty rose lipstick was gone.

She then secretly glanced at Bai Jin’s neck, where a lipstick mark was clearly visible.

She had gotten lipstick on Bai Jin.

Su Miao was at a loss. Should she tell her that she had accidentally kissed her?

While she was still hesitating, Xu Qingqing suddenly turned around and handed her a document.

“By the way, Sister Bai Jin, this is your package. It just arrived this morning,” she said, raising her eyes to look at Bai Jin.

Plop! The document fell to the floor of the car.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Jin bent down to pick up the fallen document and lightly brushed off the dust.

“You, you…” Xu Qingqing’s eyes widened. She didn’t dare to say anything. After all, this was her boss. If she embarrassed her in front of her, would she still have a job? She could only look at Su Miao for help.

But she saw that the color of Su Miao’s lips was the same as the lipstick mark on Bai Jin’s neck.

Xu Qingqing decided it was better to pretend to faint.

But she wasn’t a good actress. The two people in front of her—one was an actress, and the other was an old hand at the industry. Either of them could tell she was faking it.

“What exactly is wrong?” Bai Jin’s tone became a little more serious, and the atmosphere grew tense.

Su Miao saw that Xu Qingqing was about to faint and decided not to make things more difficult for her. After all, it was her own fault, and it would be better if she handled it.

“Um, Bai Jin, can I take a picture of you?” Su Miao suddenly had an idea. She picked up her phone, moved closer to Bai Jin, and perfectly captured both of them in a photo.

“Here, see for yourself,” Su Miao said, handing the phone to her.

Bai Jin’s eyes scanned the photo. Her expression was calm, but Su Miao’s face was a wide smile.

Her gaze shifted down and finally landed on the pink mark on her collarbone.

Bai Jin’s pupils dilated, but her expression remained unchanged.

Su Miao knew that she had figured it out. She quickly pulled a makeup remover wipe from her bag and handed it to her.

But Bai Jin didn’t take it. Instead, she tilted her head back, signaling for Su Miao to wipe it herself.

Su Miao’s hand, holding the wipe with her thumb and middle finger, trembled a little. She looked at her hesitantly, and after confirming that was what Bai Jin meant, she tore open the wipe.

She used her index finger, covered by the wipe, to gently press against Bai Jin’s collarbone and slowly moved it, wiping away the mark.

She could almost feel Bai Jin’s breath near her ear. It felt ticklish, and her heart felt ticklish, too.

Bai Jin’s skin was very fair and delicate. Even with a light wipe, it turned a little pink.

Looking at the pink collarbone, Su Miao took a deep breath, trying to control the urge to bite it.

Even after all the lipstick was wiped off of Bai Jin’s skin, it was still a little pink—a mark left by Su Miao.

Bai Jin silently enjoyed the moment.

The drive was very long. Before long, Su Miao fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up, she found herself sleeping on Bai Jin’s shoulder again.

She didn’t know how long she had been asleep, or if Bai Jin’s shoulder was sore.

Bai Jin was looking at a document on her tablet. When she saw that Su Miao was awake, she turned off the screen.

“Awake? We’re almost there. Get ready to get out of the car,” Bai Jin said, putting her tablet back into her handbag.

Su Miao sat up straight, checked her appearance in the mirror, and got out of the car with Bai Jin.

As soon as she stepped out, she heard the chatter of fans.

“It’s Su Miao! Su Miao’s here! She’s so beautiful!”

One person’s voice was especially loud, and Su Miao could hear everything she said.

As soon as she finished, a group of people surrounded Su Miao. Three or four of them handed her books.

“Su Miao, can you sign my book?”

“Me too! Me too!”

…

This was the first time Su Miao had faced her own fans. She smiled, took the books and pen, signed her name, and drew a few hearts.

“Um, Bai Jin, can you also sign for me?” The fan who had just gotten an autograph from Su Miao now asked Bai Jin.

“I’m sorry, I’m not an artist. I can’t sign for you,” Bai Jin said gently, but she was declining.

“Bai Jin, I’ve always liked you. Please, can you sign for me?” The little fan looked at Bai Jin with starry eyes.

She even used the word “please.” Bai Jin would probably agree, right?

Sure enough, Bai Jin frowned slightly but still took her book and wrote her name next to Su Miao’s signature.

Su Miao secretly glanced at the page.

Su Miao, Heart, Bai Jin.

Seeing this page, Su Miao even wanted to buy it back at a high price.

On the way to the venue, Su Miao greeted and took photos with her fans. Bai Jin followed silently behind her, watching.

Once inside the venue, non-staff members weren’t allowed, so it was no longer as noisy as it was outside.

“Su Miao, you’re here,” Zhang Linyu, who had arrived the earliest, was already sitting in the recording studio. “Come sit here.”

She pointed to the seat next to her.

The show had set up two-person seats. Su Miao couldn’t resist her enthusiasm and went to sit down. Bai Jin sat next to her.

“I heard you’re filming Stubborn Summer recently. I also auditioned for that show, but I didn’t get in,” Zhang Linyu said. “By the way, what character are you playing? I auditioned for Xia Anlin.”

“I’m playing Xia Anlin,” Su Miao said, feeling a little awkward. After all, Bai Jin had just given her the script, and she hadn’t even had to audition.

She suddenly remembered that she hadn’t had to audition for the last two roles Bai Jin had gotten for her, either.

It seemed this was the power of a top agent. She didn’t even need the actor to go to an audition; her recommendation was enough to get hired.

After hearing Su Miao’s words, Zhang Linyu opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say.

She couldn’t say congratulations, and questioning it would make her seem petty, especially on camera. So she could only nod in response.

Su Miao knew that Zhang Linyu didn’t like her but was pretending to be friendly.

So now that she wasn’t talking, Su Miao didn’t try to start a conversation either.

A little while later, everyone from the show had arrived. After checking their camera positions, the recording began.

The familiar host walked in and sat in a solo seat. She sighed, “Everyone, it’s been a long time.”