Turns Out Seducing the Movie Queen Can Break the Plot (GL) - Chapter 4
The Wen Corporation was not far from the filming location just a ten-minute drive.
At noon during the first days of summer, the scorching sun blazed down on the earth. The moment Jiang Chi stepped out of the car, a wave of sweltering heat hit her face, darkening her already displeased expression.
And to make matters worse, today’s shoot was outdoors.
Da Yu, the assistant who had rushed out from the set, had initially intended to greet her. But upon seeing her expression, she didn’t dare get too close, keeping her voice deliberately calm and unhurried. “Jiang Jiang, you’re here. Let me take you to hair and makeup now.”
Jiang Chi tossed her bag at Da Yu and refused. “No. Take me to find Su Jing first.”
What she really wanted to say was to take her to the director, she wanted to quit the role! But she couldn’t voice her true thoughts.
Da Yu swallowed hard, hesitating. “How about this? I’ll take you to the makeup room first, then I’ll bring Su Jing over. Besides, you can’t always be the one going to him first, right?”
Having worked with Jiang Chi for a year, Da Yu knew her temper well. The key was not to provoke her when she was in a bad mood just coax her gently. The young miss was certainly spoiled, but her temper flared up quickly and faded just as fast. She wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
And no matter the situation, bringing up Su Jing always worked.
Sure enough, Jiang Chi considered it for a second and found it reasonable, nodding in agreement.
In truth, Jiang Chi rolled her eyes internally. She truly wanted nothing more to do with the male lead. If she could turn back time, she’d go back and slap her past self twice wake herself up: Stop being so lovesick! This man will be the death of you!
Da Yu led the way while Jiang Chi followed behind. Along the way, the staff they passed all cast sidelong glances at her. Though no one outright glared or mocked her, their expressions carried varying degrees of resentment.
True to her word, Da Yu took Jiang Chi to the makeup room and immediately went to fetch Su Jing.
Jiang Chi sat down in front of the makeup mirror, feeling as if she’d perched on a bed of hot coals. Her spoiled temper flared instantly. “Did the Jiang family not invest enough money? Is this makeup room even fit for humans?”
The makeup artist flinched under Jiang Chi’s sharp glare in the mirror, nearly dropping her brush. She stood frozen, unsure how to respond.
Da Yu soon returned with Su Jing in tow. The moment Jiang Chi saw him, she pouted and stretched out her arms, whining, “Su Jing-gege, look how they treat me! There’s not even air conditioning in here, I’m dying of heat!”
Su Jing ignored her request for a hug, pressing her arms down instead. Though clearly impatient, he still spoke gently. “If you’re hot, then no hugging. Be good and get ready. Everyone’s waiting for you.”
Jiang Chi handed him a small fan, smiling sweetly. “Then Su Jing-gege, hold this fan for me.”
A flicker of irritation passed through Su Jing’s eyes, but he still patted her head and replied softly, “Alright.”
A moment later, Jiang Chi called out in a sugary voice, “Su Jing-gege, I want water.”
Su Jing immediately set down the fan and turned to pour a glass, placing it on the table.
Jiang Chi puckered her lips and shook her head. “Su Jing-gege, I want you to feed me.”
Su Jing took a silent, deep breath, then picked up the glass and brought it to her lips, forcing a smile. “Here, drink slowly.”
They say those who accomplish great things must endure much. Jiang Chi silently scoffed at this thought, no wonder Su Jing ended up achieving both career success and romantic fulfillment.
As they stepped out of the makeup room, they ran straight into Bai Yuetong.
Jiang Chi narrowed her eyes at her, clearly displeased. “What are you doing here?”
Bai Yuetong blinked her innocent, doe-like eyes, damp with a pitiable shimmer, and hid slightly behind Su Jing. “The director asked me to check if Sister Jiang is ready. If she is, we should head to the set together.”
Jiang Chi was about to retort when Su Jing stopped her, nudging her toward the set. “Alright, A’Chi, let’s focus on work first. Everyone’s waiting for us.”
The moment they arrived on set, Jiang Chi could feel the resentment directed at her intensify compared to earlier. Yet, she acted oblivious, simply commanding, “Let’s get started quickly. I’m roasting here.”
In the drama, Jiang Chi played a supporting female role, roughly fourth in importance, a spoiled young mistress infatuated with the male lead, Su Jing. Though her scenes were few, every one of them involved him.
Bai Yuetong, on the other hand, played Su Jing’s junior sect sister, with a role ranked about fifth. Her interactions with the male lead were roughly equal to Jiang Chi’s.
This series was funded by the Jiang family, giving Jiang Chi absolute authority. Given her temperament, Bai Yuetong should never have landed even a minor role. But the blame lay in Jiang Chi’s past antics Su Jing had been furious and demanded Bai Yuetong be cast, threatening to break up otherwise.
If this happened now, Jiang Chi’s response would be: “Get lost. Both of you can pack up and leave!”
But back then, she had been the epitome of a lovesick fool, valuing Su Jing more than her own life. She would sooner exile herself than let him go.
After finishing her scenes, Jiang Chi sat to the side, watching Su Jing and Bai Yuetong rehearse.
Her gaze lingered on Bai Yuetong compared to her, the girl was a far better actress. With her deer-like eyes and well-timed gestures, she effortlessly brought the lively, adorable junior sister to life.
“What the hell? These people just love running their mouths,” Da Yu suddenly grumbled beside her, glaring at his phone.
Jiang Chi turned to him. “What are you looking at?”
Da Yu hurriedly hid his phone behind his back. “Nothing, just some pointless nonsense.”
His reaction told her it was about her.
Though she wasn’t particularly close to her staff, she paid them well and was generous. In public, they usually sided with her.
Normally, her team should have been desensitized to online criticism by now, seeing it shouldn’t provoke such a strong reaction. She hadn’t been curious at first, but Da Yu’s defensiveness piqued her interest.
She had meant to say calmly, “Let me see.” But irritation at being brushed off sharpened her tone into a command: “Hand it over.”
Her young mistress temper flared instantly, her previously mild expression darkening into something unyielding.
Jiang Chi sighed inwardly. Sometimes, she had to admire her own ability to switch moods on a dime.
Without a second’s hesitation, Da Yu immediately raised his phone to Jiang Chi. He knew that spouting empty platitudes now would only further provoke this young mistress.
Jiang Chi looked at the screen, which displayed a smear article comparing her to Bai Yuetong, written by a marketing account.
She clicked on the video, it was footage of their recent acting scene together.
Da Yu said, “Someone’s definitely pulling strings behind this. It’s already trending within an hour.”
The article lavished praise on Bai Yuetong as if she were heaven-sent, while tearing Jiang Chi down with vicious comparisons, clearly a paid hit piece.
Jiang Chi’s gaze drifted to Bai Yuetong, still acting on set. Now that she thought about it, in her past life, Bai Yuetong had climbed the ranks by stepping on her too. Every time Jiang Chi slapped Bai Yuetong, Su Jing would force her to “make amends” with some hollow gesture. Over and over, Bai Yuetong carved her path to stardom, eventually standing at the peak with Su Jing, bathed in applause.
Meanwhile, Jiang Chi’s reputation rotted away, sinking deeper with each step.
So she was the fool who “lost the battle and the war.”
But she had to admit Su Jing’s scheme was brilliantly executed.
Realizing it now, what good did it do? The damn plot’s control was probably stronger than ever. Did she owe Su Jing or Bai Yuetong in some past life?!
Wen Wen!
Only Wen Wen could save her!
At the very least, couldn’t Wen Wen become her personal accessory, sticking to her side every day? Failing that, she’d gladly become Wen Wen’s accessory instead!
Jiang Chi sighed heavily inwardly. Her fingers moved, scrolling to the comments. The top one read: “Forget family background, what does Jiang Chi have over Tongtong? Jiang Chi’s the ugly duckling, while Tongtong’s already a graceful swan!”
Controlled by the plot, Jiang Chi stared blankly, though internally she disagreed. This was just shallow appearance-bashing, she definitely considered herself prettier than Bai Yuetong.
The second top comment: “Bai Yuetong is the next Wen Wen!”
Just as Jiang Chi mentally scoffed, Da Yu voiced her thoughts aloud: “Who does she think she is? Daring to crown herself with Actress Wen’s title!”
The moment he spoke, Da Yu froze, clapping a hand over his mouth but it was too late. Jiang Chi’s sharp, icy glare was already on him.
He lightly slapped his own cheek. “Sorry Jiang Jiang, my mouth slipped.”
Truthfully, Jiang Chi agreed completely. Bai Yuetong wasn’t fit to hold a strand of Wen Wen’s hair. But the plot-controlled version of her would never admit it everyone knew she and Wen Wen were sworn rivals. Praising Wen Wen in front of her was like slapping her across the face.
“Get lost.”
Da Yu promptly retreated with his phone.
By now, Su Jing and Bai Yuetong had finished their scene and were resting nearby. The three still had one final shoot, and the crew was hurriedly setting up props.
Bai Yuetong held her script, murmuring lines as if rehearsing with Su Jing except her body kept inching closer and closer to him.
As expected of the main leads. Before Jiang Chi could finish praising the two, the next second she was controlled by the plot and abruptly stood up, charging toward their positions in a fit of rage!
What the hell? Under the bright sky and broad daylight, with so many eyes watching, she really didn’t want to provoke these two living disasters!
If she were the female lead, and Wen Wen were also the female lead, then according to the cliché tropes, Wen Wen would probably descend from the heavens to save her from this mess, right? Sob.
But reality was reality there was no fairy-tale scenario of a prince rescuing a princess.
Jiang Chi yanked Bai Yuetong up by the collar and raised her hand to slap her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Su Jing’s hand lift, clearly about to stop her.
So there was a prince-saves-princess scenario just that the princess wasn’t her.
A crisp smack echoed through the sweltering afternoon.
What the hell?
Su Jing could have stopped her just now, why didn’t he?
Bai Yuetong was sent sprawling to the ground by the slap. Su Jing hurried to help her up, but she pushed him away, covering her face with one hand while looking up at Jiang Chi with deer-like, teary eyes, pitifully pleading, “Sister Jiang, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what I did to upset you. Could you tell me? I’ll be more careful next time.”
Her words were masterfully crafted apologizing, playing the victim, and enduring humiliation in one smooth sequence. Every point was delivered perfectly, maximizing her own pitifulness while painting the aggressor as utterly despicable.
Jiang Chi was inwardly stunned by the layers of meaning in those words, but outwardly, she remained domineering, showing no remorse as she snarled, “Stop pretending! If we’re rehearsing, then rehearse, why are you leaning into the person I… like? Don’t you know the saying ‘men and women should maintain proper boundaries’?”
Jiang Chi and Su Jing’s real relationship wasn’t public in the industry, but everyone knew she was pursuing him.
“I’m sorry!”
Before she could finish, Bai Yuetong fainted outright. The director and assistant directors immediately rushed over to check on her, while everyone else glared at Jiang Chi with either reproach or disdain, as if their eyes alone could flay her alive.
Jiang Chi wanted to explain but found no words. Instead, her face remained haughty, though the slight tremble in her grip on her skirt betrayed her guilt.
But that guilt was only for Su Jing.
Su Jing shot her a furious glare and growled, “Jiang Chi, did you forget what you promised me again?”
With that, he moved to carry Bai Yuetong away. Jiang Chi, unable to control herself, grabbed his wrist. Even her guilt couldn’t stop her from throwing a tantrum. “Brother Su Jing, you can’t leave! Who knows if she’s faking it?”
“Jiang Chi.” Su Jing practically spat her name through gritted teeth. Jiang Chi flinched, her hand jerking back in fear.
Su Jing tossed out a final threat, “We’ll settle this later” before carrying Bai Yuetong off the set.
Jiang Chi’s eyes reddened as she noticed everyone staring at her. She waved a hand and viciously threatened, “What are you looking at? If even a single word or photo of today’s incident leaks, I’ll make sure none of you ever work in the entertainment industry again!”
The moment those words left her mouth, the mysterious force controlling her abruptly vanished.
Her mind raced was Wen Wen nearby?
She hastily looked around, searching for Wen Wen’s figure.