AVSFCBH 15

Chapter 15

When would she finally turn back into a human?

She wanted so badly to hurry up and become human again, so Shen Yunmiao would never have to worry about anything.

Sigh…

Such melancholy for a little cat.

Jian Shen happily accepted the cat carrier and placed it beside himself. He knew how precious this kitten was to Shen Yunmiao, so he didn’t dare neglect it and deliberately sat close beside the carrier.

Meanwhile, Shen Yunmiao had already gone off to change clothes and put on makeup.

Fortunately, her appearance matched the role perfectly. Since the Princess of Song was naturally someone who dressed simply and elegantly, the styling didn’t take long.

Jian Shen first filmed Yuan Duan’s scene, then it was Shen Yunmiao’s turn.

Counting everything up, Shen Yunmiao didn’t have many scenes left. At most, another two days of filming and she’d wrap up.

The filming order had been rearranged, so today’s scene took place several months after the Princess of Song first arrived in the Kingdom of Ying.

Since the Princess of Song had already given her heart to someone else and had been forced into coming here, she never tried to curry favor with the King of Ying.

The king felt both helpless and furious toward his cold, beautiful queen, and in a fit of anger, he stayed away from Jiaofang Palace for several months.

This scene began with a maid reporting that the king had once again spent the night with Lady Li.

The young queen sat quietly by the bedside.

Her expression never changed as the cool moonlight poured over her.

Her long hair remained unbound, cascading smoothly over her plain robes.

She held a chess piece.

Yet she could only finish the unfinished game by herself.

Black against white.

It was not a battle between left and right hands, but a struggle within her own heart.

She understood that the life of a pampered royal princess she once enjoyed could never return.

The candle flame swayed gently in the breeze, causing shifting light to flicker across her dark eyes.

After this single game…

For the rest of her life, she would never again touch black and white chess pieces.

Although the scene had no dialogue, it demanded exceptional acting.

The actress had to portray the gradual transformation of the Princess of Song’s state of mind.

She abandoned the tenderness of the past.

She chose supreme power instead.

Shen Yunmiao slipped into character almost instantly.

The breeze lifted her hair.

With nothing more than the slightest changes in her expression, she conveyed everything the scene required.

She was originally as pure and radiant as the moon.

Yet fate had cast her into the mortal world.

Even Cheng Jianian, who had won the Best Actress award years ago, was deeply shaken by Shen Yunmiao’s performance.

…Her expressiveness was overwhelming.

Acting was sometimes more than simply “acting.”

Emotions.

The explosive power of a single instant.

Technical skill could be refined through endless practice.

But those things required talent.

Some actors spent their entire lives pursuing nothing more than the ability to create performances that completely immersed their audience.

Shen Yunmiao…

Had been born with that gift.

She was the world’s favored child.

One day, everyone in the world would fall hopelessly in love with her.

Xiao Cheng Zong inevitably became one of those countless admirers.

She was utterly captivated by the woman both on camera and before her eyes.

All of her attention was fixed on Shen Yunmiao.

So much so that she lost the natural vigilance of a feline and failed to notice the footsteps quietly approaching from behind.

Not just her.

Even the busy crew members failed to notice what was happening.

Chapter 14

Wife, a Bad Person Is Bullying Me! Boohoo!

Cheng Jianian was furious.

She had been sitting obediently inside the cat carrier without bothering anyone.

Yet some blind fool had suddenly picked up the entire carrier—with her still inside—and walked off.

From inside the carrier she couldn’t see clearly.

She could only vaguely make out that it was an adult man.

His arms swung widely as he walked, and his hurried footsteps made it obvious he was nervous about being discovered.

Countless terrible possibilities flashed through Cheng Jianian’s mind.

Thinking about Shen Yunmiao, who was still filming, she forced herself to stay calm.

The tracking device was still hanging around her neck.

Once Shen Yunmiao finished filming and discovered the carrier missing, she’d definitely come looking for her immediately.

So there was no need to panic.

The real concern was whether this man would discover the tracker and throw it away.

If he did…

He would have to let her out first.

And once she was free, she’d find a way to run back herself.

For now, the priority was figuring out exactly what this man wanted.

A cat thief?

Probably not.

There wasn’t much demand for cat meat, and catching stray cats was far easier than stealing one from a film set.

Besides, there were surveillance cameras everywhere.

No one would take such a risk without reason.

Which meant…

Someone had done this intentionally.

She didn’t even need to think.

It had to be another scheme aimed at making things difficult for Shen Yunmiao.

The instant she reached that conclusion, Xiao Cheng Zong’s face turned cold.

They’d better pray she never returned to her original body.

Otherwise…

Every single one of them would pay dearly.

The man walked quickly, but not aimlessly.

He took deserted yet convenient paths.

It was obvious this had all been planned in advance.

Who knew Shen Yunmiao would bring her cat today…

And also had the opportunity to carry this out…

It had to be another actor from the production.

Cheng Jianian desperately tried to recall the rest of the cast from the original story.

Back then she’d never paid attention to any of them.

She’d only cared about everything that happened to Shen Yunmiao.

Naturally, her mind was completely blank now.

Xiao Cheng Zong awkwardly lifted one paw.

Well…

That really wasn’t her fault.

This movie had been Shen Yunmiao’s very first screen appearance.

The novel had focused almost entirely on Shen Yunmiao’s ridiculous romance with Ji Hanfeng.

Hardly anything had been written about her acting career.

Very soon, the man stopped.

Looking through the transparent cover, Cheng Jianian carefully surveyed the surroundings.

Sure enough.

It looked like a luxury trailer.

The interior was lavishly furnished.

Cheng Jianian immediately had a guess.

She lazily lay back down, flicked her tail, and decided to see exactly what the heroine thought she was doing.

She really was in a hurry to court death.

Qiao Jingshu looked disdainfully at the timid man carrying in the cat carrier.

With arrogant superiority, she lifted her chin.

“Put it here.”

She nodded toward her assistant.

“Transfer fifty thousand to him now.”

As soon as the staff member received the notification that fifty thousand yuan had been transferred into his account, his face lit up with joy.

He immediately started showering her with flattering blessings.

Qiao Jingshu couldn’t be bothered listening.

She waved him away impatiently.

“Hurry up and leave. Don’t let anyone see you coming here.”

He immediately patted his chest in assurance.

“Don’t worry. Even if you wanted me to tell someone, I wouldn’t dare. I’m risking my entire career to help you. I already planned everything in advance.”

The round cat eyes narrowed slightly.

Cheng Jianian had already pieced together the whole story.

Qiao Jingshu had probably intended to use the cat to drive Shen Yunmiao into a corner.

Unfortunately for her, the soul inside this cat was no longer the same one from the original storyline.

Her first plan had failed.

So she’d come up with another one.

She had someone steal the cat just to make Shen Yunmiao panic.

The carrier suddenly opened.

A heavy wave of overpowering perfume hit her face.

It made her instinctively nauseous.

The pampered hand slowly reached toward her.

Xiao Cheng Zong immediately entered full alert, baring her teeth in warning.

Qiao Jingshu clicked her tongue softly.

Her assistant standing nearby advised,

“This beast isn’t obedient. It might bite you.”

“A bite?”

Qiao Jingshu sneered.

“Let it bite me. If it does, it’ll only be its owner who suffers.”

Her sharply manicured fingernail slowly stroked across the kitten’s head.

A terrifying smile spread across her face.

“Didn’t they say this little beast is intelligent? I’d like to see whether it’s really that clever.”

Every strand of Cheng Jianian’s fur stood on end.

She arched her back.

Her paws clenched tightly.

Every instinct screamed at her to strike back at this suicidal idiot.

But reason restrained her with all its strength.

Qiao Jingshu probably wanted exactly that.

She wanted the cat to bite or scratch her.

That way…

Everything in the original storyline could proceed naturally.

She absolutely couldn’t.

She absolutely couldn’t allow Shen Yunmiao to end up following that same path because of her.

Yet Qiao Jingshu continued provoking her recklessly.

One woman.

One cat.

Locked in silent confrontation.

Meanwhile, Shen Yunmiao’s performance had been so outstanding that Jian Shen wanted absolute perfection.

He decided to film everything in one continuous take without calling “Cut.”

He simply continued shooting the following scenes as one uninterrupted sequence.

While immersing herself completely in the performance, Shen Yunmiao forced herself not to glance toward the cat carrier beside Jian Shen.

She wondered whether Sweetheart had gotten tired of waiting.

Fortunately, Shen Yunmiao remained calm.

Although no one had informed her beforehand that they’d change the shooting method on the spot, she handled everything with ease and completed the sequence flawlessly.

“Cut!”

The instant Jian Shen called it, Shen Yunmiao immediately stood up.

Jian Shen rose with her, smiling broadly.

“Amazing, Yunmiao! I’m telling you right now, the Golden Rose Award for Best Newcomer is definitely yours this year!”

He had originally intended to give her a high-five as she walked over.

Instead…

Shen Yunmiao never even looked at him.

She walked straight past him.

Jian Shen felt a little awkward.

But before he could say anything else…

He heard Shen Yunmiao’s voice.

It was colder than ice.

“Director Jian…”

“Have you… seen my cat carrier?”

If one listened carefully…

Her voice was trembling ever so slightly.

Jian Shen froze.

Following Shen Yunmiao’s gaze, he discovered that the carrier which had been sitting beside him moments ago…

Had completely disappeared.

“I… what the hell… I don’t know! It was just here!”

Yuan Duan had also been admiring Shen Yunmiao’s performance.

Hearing the commotion, she hurried over.

“Who took it? Hurry up and check the surveillance cameras, Director Jian!”

Her shout finally snapped Jian Shen out of his daze.

He rushed to the logistics department and ordered them to review the security footage.

The entire department immediately fell into chaos.

The young man responsible for monitoring looked troubled.

“Director Jian… it rained yesterday. The cameras got damaged by the storm. The footage is too blurry to see anything.”

Jian Shen’s vision went black.

He felt like killing the man on the spot.

He was finished.

Shen Yunmiao treasured that kitten more than anything.

She had repeatedly reminded him to look after it.

Yet somehow…

He had still lost it.

What unbelievable bad luck.

Shen Yunmiao, who had remained silent throughout everything, neither shouted nor broke down.

She looked remarkably calm.

The light from her phone reflected in shifting patterns across her dark eyes.

In an even voice, she said,

“Director Jian, don’t worry.”

“The red-string bell tied to my kitten’s paw is actually a tracking device.”

“We’ll find her very soon.”

The man responsible for the surveillance cameras suddenly twitched.

Jian Shen was puzzled.

What bell?

Wasn’t that just a forgotten costume prop?

Looking at Shen Yunmiao’s unwavering confidence…

He silently swallowed all the doubts that had risen to his lips.

Chapter 15

My Wife Is So Smart! WW

Qiao Jingshu toyed with the little white cat cowering inside the carrier as though she were a cat playing with a mouse, completely carrying herself with the arrogance of someone who believed she stood above everyone else.

Suddenly, the assistant beside her turned pale.

Holding up the phone screen, the assistant said,

“Sister Jingshu… look.”