The Rebirth of a Top Star

Undeterred, Wu Miaomiao waved her hand and approached Shen Nanqiao, saying, "Hello, may I get to know you?"

Shen Nanqiao then looked up, saw Wu Miaomiao's sincere expression, and asked her expressionlessly, "Is there something you need?"

His expression was cold, and even the words that came out of his mouth lacked warmth.

They displayed a cold attitude in every aspect.

Noticing that Wu Miaomiao was standing too close to her, Shen Nanqiao grabbed the stool with one hand and her phone with the other, moving far away to the side.

Without words, their dislike was already evident.

In fact, Wu Miaomiao wasn't the only one paying attention to Shen Nanqiao. She wasn't the only one among the extras who rose to prominence after being beautiful. Whether it was finding a powerful backer to cling to or being noticed by a great director, the underlings around her benefited a lot.

When Wu Miaomiao first sat next to Shen Nanqiao, countless eyes were already fixed on her.

It wasn't until Shen Nanqiao removed her seat that everyone's gazes secretly shifted from jealousy to disdain and mockery.

Wu Miaomiao's face flushed red, mostly from shame and indignation.

Don't know what is good and what is bad!

Without saying a word, as she turned to leave, Wu Miaomiao could sense so many eyes following her, and felt utterly humiliated.

Shen Nanqiao had no time to consider what she might think.

I was somewhat surprised when I first saw it. In my previous life, I had already become famous, but in this life, it happened so early.

My own time is more precious now than wasting it on Wu Miaomiao.

Shen Nanqiao looked down at her phone, paying attention to the information sent by Zhao Yinhu.

I plan to check out the situation on site tomorrow. Despite Zhao Yinhu's persistent pestering, Shen Nanqiao was quite satisfied with her performance today.

She knew Zhou Wei all too well.

The character he painstakingly studied was like the flesh and blood hidden within him; he became Zhou Wei without needing to fake it.

Shen Nanqiao's expression, with her head bowed, flickered between light and shadow, and no one could see the emotions hidden within her.

Perhaps it's an unseen ambition, or perhaps it's a desire to master the unknown.

The life of an extra is dull and boring. Shen Nanqiao stayed in the first corner where the sun was setting. The first time the sun set, there was no melancholy in it, only hope for tomorrow.

It's almost tomorrow again, Shen Nanqiao thought to herself.

The next day, Shen Nanqiao dressed up carefully before going out. Her clothes were simple in style, but she had altered them herself, with a fitted waistline and a slender neck that were anything but ordinary.

Zhao Yinhu was waiting at the entrance of the film set early in the morning. Shen Nanqiao had promised to come and see him at nine o'clock yesterday, but Zhao Yinhu was already waiting at the entrance at seven o'clock. He hadn't slept all night and was still full of energy.

Zhou Wei awaited Zhao Yinhu, with the screenwriter and producer "lying in ambush" behind him. The excitement from last night was infectious, and everyone was eager to welcome Zhou Wei, whom Director Zhao had described as the chosen one.

At 8:59, Shen Nanqiao arrived neither early nor late. She nodded politely to Zhao Yinhu, "Hello, Director Zhao, have you been waiting long?"

Her innate scholarly demeanor emanated from every pore. At this moment, she was no longer Shen Nanqiao, but Zhou Wei, standing vividly before Zhao Yinhu.

"Zhou Wei, ah, no, Nan Qiao, come quickly, is the journey easy?" Whether it was the eye of a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law or not, the more she looked at him, the more she liked him. Zhao Yinhu's joy was palpable.

Shen Nanqiao nodded slightly, the light green hem of her dress fluttering just below her waist, swaying with her movements and connecting with the folds of her dress around her hips.

The screenwriter was a woman who was very confident in her aesthetic sense. Shen Nanqiao followed Zhao Yinhu's guidance and walked inside. This was a scene that the small production team had drawn up themselves.

The two people who didn't leave immediately upon seeing the person were now directly exposed to the view.

Shen Nanqiao stopped and glanced at Zhao Yinhu, wondering if he would introduce her, even though she knew him well and was even familiar with his temperament.

Zhao Yinhu stepped forward, first giving the two disapproving looks, then smilingly introducing them to Shen Nanqiao, "Nanqiao, this is your Sister Zhao, she's the screenwriter for our movie, and this is your Brother Wang, he's our producer."

She greeted them with a smile. The more Sister Zhao looked at Shen Nanqiao, the more she liked him; he was practically a character straight out of a drama.

Watching Director Zhao lead the group away, Sister Zhao pulled the producer aside, a hint of worry in her voice. "Old Wang," she said, "if this young girl is just naturally like this, it's really..."

He was interrupted before he could finish speaking, "Isn't that great? She's just like our Zhou Wei." Brother Wang's eyes were full of admiration.

Screenwriter Zhao expressed his disapproval, saying, "If we do this, her acting roles will be too limited once she becomes famous."

Actually, the film set wasn't very big; only a few sets were actually built. Because the female lead ran away, filming hadn't started for several days.

Shen Nanqiao looked around, seemingly observing the authenticity and atmosphere of the film crew, but actually she was observing Zhao Yinhu's face and expression.

Nothing seemed amiss. After observing everything discreetly, Shen Nanqiao looked at Zhao Yinhu earnestly and asked, "Director, do you have any thoughts?"

Unable to find the right words to start the conversation, Shen Nanqiao used these words to begin the chat. Zhao Yinhu had been observing Shen Nanqiao's expression since he entered the room, and only after Nanqiao spoke first did Director Zhao happily reply and introduce himself.

"Of course I have ideas, I have tons of ideas." Having seemed a little eager, Zhao Yinhu suddenly became quiet and stopped talking.

Unsure of what to say, Shen Nanqiao lowered her head and didn't respond, continuing to walk slowly behind Zhao Yinhu.

Zhao Yinhu was originally prepared to go all out and get to the bottom of things, but the moment he opened his mouth, he remembered what they had reminded him of the day before: the young girl was unfamiliar with the place and people, and if you came up so enthusiastically, anyone would think you were a swindler.

Zhao Yinhu suddenly stopped talking.

He then continued to describe what he saw around him, but interspersed a few details about Zhou Wei in an attempt to pique Shen Nanqiao's curiosity.

With a smirk, Shen Nanqiao didn't continue the conversation, but simply nodded slightly. In Zhao Yinhu's eyes, she was becoming more and more like Zhou Wei. If any staff member familiar with the drama came out, they would be stunned.

This is exactly Zhou Wei herself.

Zhao Yinhu could no longer bear it. He stopped and spoke earnestly to Shen Nanqiao, "Ms. Shen, I'll be frank with you. I really want to invite you to star in our movie. You are very suitable for the female lead role."

After finishing his sentence in one breath, Zhao Yinhu stopped hiding anything and took out a rolled-up script from the black bag on his back, handing it directly to Shen Nanqiao. "This is the script for our female lead. You can take a look at it first."

As Zhao Yinhu watched Shen Nanqiao take the script and begin to read it, he couldn't help but reason with her and appeal to her emotions, "You have to trust our casting. You will definitely be able to play the role well. That's what I thought the first time I saw you."

At this time, staff members would occasionally pass by and glance at the scene; not everyone knew what was going to happen today.

Shen Nanqiao seemingly flipped through a few pages, then casually glanced around before emphasizing to the director, "But I'm just a newcomer. Didn't you already have a female lead before?"

The question Shen Nanqiao asked was exactly what Zhao Yinhu had anticipated. He immediately replied, "We didn't reach an agreement with that actor because we weren't meant to be. That's why we've met you at a better time. You must trust my judgment."

Zhao Yinhu was anxious; he truly felt that only by swearing with three fingers could he prove his sincerity.

Shen Nanqiao finally gave up on making things difficult. "Alright then, can I go back and look at the script today?"

This is a reasonable request, but it's unclear whether Zhao Yinhu is willing to let her take the script. This can be considered Shen Nanqiao's final test.

Zhao Yinhu didn't hesitate for even a second, "Of course, but the script..."

Shen Nanqiao looked at him with clear eyes, waiting for him to finish speaking.

Zhao Yinhu smiled and then finished his sentence, "Remember not to let anyone else leak this out; it's very important to us."

Shen Nanqiao nodded, didn't look at the rest, packed her things and turned to leave. She hadn't gone two steps when she met the two screenwriters and greeted them with a smile.

Zhao Yinhu was genuinely anxious all day, until Shen Nanqiao sent him a message at 1 a.m.: "Thank you for your guidance, Director Zhao. I can join the crew tomorrow."

They adopted a slightly more assertive stance but didn't mention specific salary demands, demonstrating a measured approach.

Before receiving the news, Zhao Yinhu was so worried he couldn't sleep; after receiving the news, he was so excited he couldn't sleep.

Regardless, in the end, Zhao Yinhu, sporting dark circles under his eyes, greeted Shen Nanqiao, who had officially joined the cast, at the entrance of the film set.

Initially, everyone was worried about whether Shen Nanqiao, who did not have formal training, would be able to adapt to acting and whether she would feel unnatural in front of the camera.

Surprisingly, the one who is worrying is the male lead who has acted in one or two short web dramas.

The sweat on Fang Zihe's forehead dripped down with the Nth "cut" call.

In her previous life, Shen Nanqiao and Fang Zihe were very familiar with each other and later became close friends. Therefore, Shen Nanqiao was more patient with the still somewhat immature actor Fang in this life than she was with him in her previous life.

After another interruption, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's okay, we'll come back later."

Shen Nanqiao sat down on the ground with Fang Zihe, while the sounds of the scene being restored continued behind them. Shen Nanqiao looked down and fiddled with the phone she had just put down.

Fang Zihe finally couldn't help but say his first words to Shen Nanqiao, "I heard you didn't have formal training?"

When asked cautiously, Shen Nanqiao burst into laughter. There was no other reason, just a different tone but the same question.

In her previous life, Fang Zihe looked down on her, thinking that not having studied acting would be a burden. Shen Nanqiao deliberately bullied her, and Fang Zihe angrily asked her the same question.

This time, however, the tone was completely different.

Shen Nanqiao found it somewhat amusing, ignoring Fang Zihe's look of disbelief as if he were crazy, and waited until she had finished laughing before explaining, "Well, I'm not formally trained, but I love acting."

Fang Zihe curled his lip in disbelief at the official, vague language, asking, "Which company have you signed with now?"

While fiddling with her phone, Shen Nanqiao answered absentmindedly, "I haven't signed a contract yet, I'm single."

Two messages flashed across her phone. Shen Nanqiao stopped arguing with Fang Zihe and first saw the huge headline: "The crew of 'Begonia Blossoms' is throwing their weight around; a newcomer replaces a senior actor..."

Shen Nanqiao glanced at it and knew it was that Fei Lu'er who was causing all this trouble.

But his hand moved to the next message.

"Song Shiyuan, the newly appointed president of SY Group, attended a banquet at the China World Trade Center and a financial conference."

This text message clearly piqued Shen Nanqiao's interest more. She turned off the screen, put away her phone, and turned to look at Fang Zihe, who was still sitting on the ground. "Have you rested well?" A perfect smile appeared on Shen Nanqiao's face.

During this shoot, it wasn't the two lead actors who were even more distracted; it was the director, standing behind the monitor, who kept picking up his phone and fiddling with it.

Shen Nanqiao knew that filming wouldn't be possible today, so she stopped and stepped forward, "Director Zhao, I have something to say."

Zhao Yinhu also had something to say at the same time, "Let me tell you, Xiao Shen, don't take it to heart." Zhao Yinhu was already worried about Shen Nanqiao the moment he saw the public opinion ferment. She had just entered this field and was already suffering from a public opinion storm.

I never expected that Shen Nanqiao wouldn't take it to heart.

She simply said what she wanted to say first: "I see that everyone is not in good spirits today, so I would like to ask for the afternoon off. I have some personal matters to take care of."

"Huh?" Zhao Yinhu didn't expect Shen Nanqiao to say this. He didn't control his expression well, but he quickly realized what she meant and agreed.

Then she quietly asked Shen Nanqiao if she had been looking at those things online.

Fei Lu'er hired very professional paparazzi who could capture the crew's movements from afar without the risk of spoilers, and even edited the photos afterward to deliberately make them look bad.

The problem is that you just can't find any evidence to prove that their team did it.

They could only suffer in silence.

Seeing Zhao Yinhu's reluctant face, Shen Nanqiao thought that her request for leave had made things difficult for the director. She was thinking of leaving as soon as possible, but she couldn't help but turn back and ask, "Director, are you alright? I only asked for half a day off, and there's not much filming this afternoon."

It wasn't that Shen Nanqiao was being presumptuous by asking that question; it was just that Director Zhao's expression was quite frightening.

Zhao Yinhu waved his hand weakly, "Don't go online to look at it yourself. It's nothing, you can go now."

The online public opinion is overwhelming, and Fei Lu'er's fans are tearing each other apart online. Nobody knows how to handle this situation in the end.

Seeing that it wasn't his business, Shen Nanqiao turned to leave and casually remarked, "What a great opportunity! We don't even need to promote it or invest."

Zhao Yinhu smacked his forehead. Yes, what a great opportunity!

Zhao Yinhu hurriedly called over the person in charge of publicity, "Did you take any photos of the crew today?"

After receiving an affirmative nod, he quietly instructed, "Post the original stills online, especially Zhou Wei's expression. I need the side profile, the original image, not the retouched one. Let the netizens compare them themselves."

The online PR team had just received their orders and were about to leave when Zhao Yinhu stopped them again, saying, "Fang Gu could have some minor edits done to make him look better." He patted Fang Zihe's shoulder meaningfully and left, not noticing Fang Zihe rolling his eyes at him.

Discrimination!

Fang Zihe touched his face, thinking about Shen Nanqiao who had just left. He realized that he wasn't much worse than her.

It's really too much.

Not long after he left, Zhao Yinhu sneezed twice with earth-shattering force. He rubbed his nose and looked at the sky, but it wasn't cloudy.