Yun Ni was roaming the vast ocean of the internet.
She had only managed to figure out how to use it by scouring her memory; her right hand rested on the mouse while her left index finger tapped away at the keyboard.
She studied communication tools like QQ (“Penguin”) and discovered that the original owner of this body had almost no contacts. Aside from the landlord who had previously chased her for rent and Zhang Lingyu, who wanted to introduce her to producers, there were no other messages.
While checking her belongings, she found the original owner’s laptop. After a bit of research, she learned how to search and immediately looked up the dramas the original owner had filmed, watching them with great interest.
She noticed that the original owner’s acting wasn’t actually too terrible—just a bit over-the-top. She could certainly squeeze out tears for crying scenes, but she failed to move the audience’s emotions.
As a newcomer, the original owner’s acting was actually passable. Unfortunately, comparison breeds resentment; the male lead and second female lead were veteran actors whose skills were levels above hers. In comparison, the original owner’s slight acting ability suddenly seemed like zero or even negative.
“Buzz buzz buzz—”
Yun Ni snapped out of the drama character’s world and checked her phone. It was a message from Zhang Lingyu.
“Xiao Ni, I was too impulsive before; I’m saying sorry to you now. Also, the time and location for joining the film crew have been set. Are you free to take a call right now?” — Manager Sister Zhang
Yun Ni raised an eyebrow and paused the drama. She searched for news and found that the cast list had already been released; her name was on it.
It wasn’t hard to understand why Zhang Lingyu’s attitude had suddenly turned so gentle. Otherwise, given the woman’s personality, would she care if Yun Ni was “free”? She would have just called directly.
Yun Ni thought for a moment. Since the woman was still her manager and there were matters that needed to be handled through her, she tapped the call icon in the top right corner.
The call connected quickly, and Zhang Lingyu’s voice came through. “Hello, Xiao Ni.” Her tone was incredibly gentle, but it gave Yun Ni a layer of goosebumps.
Yun Ni rubbed her arm and picked up the remote to turn up the AC temperature before giving a cold “Mm” in response. “What is it?”
On the other end of the line, Zhang Lingyu almost ground her teeth to dust to keep from cursing. She pinched her thigh to adjust her emotions and softly explained the details of joining the crew for filming. Finally, she asked, “Xiao Ni, I heard this role was specifically given to you by President Lin?”
Hearing her mention Lin Zijin, Yun Ni perked up a bit. She let out a yawn and gave a heavy-sounding “Mm.”
“What does President Lin plan for you after this filming is over? For example, arranging magazine covers or endorsements—”
Yun Ni interrupted her probing. “I’m not her, so how would I know what she plans? It’s better if you ask her yourself.”
Listening to this, Zhang Lingyu felt even more strongly that there was something going on between the two.
Otherwise, how could a person who used to be so submissive suddenly change into a different person? First, she pushed her back at the company, and now she wouldn’t let herself be outdone in conversation. She must have found a backer and become arrogant.
Thinking this, Zhang Lingyu started ringing alarm bells. She thought of several ways to apologize, but just as she was about to speak, she heard the “beep-beep-beep” of the disconnected line.
Zhang Lingyu’s face, which wasn’t very fair to begin with, instantly turned blue and purple. Her features were so contorted with rage they could scare a child to tears.
After hanging up on Zhang Lingyu, Yun Ni watched the drama while looking at the notification, noting down the time and location.
The drama had many episodes—a total of sixty-three. However, after removing the recaps and the few minutes of previews at the end, each episode was only about twenty minutes long. Since she was watching at double speed, she finished most of it in half a day and gained some understanding of what “TV dramas” were.
When night fell, she didn’t go out to eat but ordered food through a mobile app. This was the most practical aspect she had found since scanning for payments, as it meant she didn’t have to worry about where to eat or getting lost.
After eating, she took out the script for Dreaming Back to Mid-Autumn.
Yun Ni had a great memory; she scanned the pages and quickly memorized the lines. After finishing, she realized that Princess Dong’er had quite a lot of screen time and even underwent a “darkening” process.
In the beginning, Princess Dong’er was pure and kind. In the middle, the male and female leads led an army into the palace, and her parents committed suicide, unable to bear the humiliation. She “darkened” because of this, escaped through a secret passage, lived under an alias, and led an assassination attempt on the leads on their wedding day. The ending was, naturally, a failure—she died by the sword.
Looking at this ending, Yun Ni couldn’t help but let out a sneer.
A weak princess taking a few remnants to assassinate two people who knew martial arts—it would be a miracle if she succeeded.
As the saying goes, “a gentleman’s revenge is never too late even after ten years.” If she had transplanted into that princess, she would definitely have studied martial arts diligently, secretly recruited soldiers, and bribed the people around the two leads. Then, she would have sowed discord between them, taken the lives of their families step by step, and finally delivered a fatal blow to the two of them.
Unfortunately, Princess Dong’er was not her.
Yun Ni withdrew her thoughts and began to immerse herself in the character to study the psychological changes.
Two days later, Yun Ni followed a much more subdued Zhang Lingyu to a hotel near the filming site.
Not everyone stayed together. Yun Ni was assigned a suite in the new wing of the guesthouse, while those with minor roles stayed in standard rooms. The male and female leads stayed in rooms with a view.
When Zhang Lingyu handled the check-in and handed the room card to Yun Ni, she was worried that Yun Ni, relying on President Lin, would be dissatisfied and demand a room change, so she was on edge for a while.
Yun Ni didn’t know the difference, and even if she did, she wouldn’t have cared. After all, she knew her current situation. She took the room card and headed straight there.
The suite was on the second floor; it was larger than the apartment she rented, and the decor was newer, so Yun Ni was quite satisfied.
After a quick look at her living environment, Yun Ni began to pack. She was to join the crew tomorrow morning, and it was only evening, so she could take her time.
She didn’t have much luggage—just some clothes and daily necessities. As for the toothpaste and toothbrushes provided by the guesthouse, she didn’t dare use them. After all, the original owner’s memory contained plenty of negative news about hotel items being unclean.
Once she finished packing, she felt hungry, so she took her phone and room card and headed out.
Just as Yun Ni closed her door, she heard the sound of a door closing next door. She reflexively looked over and found the girl looked familiar.
The other girl saw her too, smiled at her, and walked over. “Miss Yun.”
Yun Ni remembered—wasn’t this girl the one she met when she first arrived in this world?
“Miss Tao.” She smiled. “Congratulations on passing the audition.”
The only people appearing here would be actors who passed the audition. And since she was staying on the same suite floor, she probably wasn’t a nameless character.
“Congratulations to you too. I saw your name earlier and knew you passed, but I didn’t expect we’d be so lucky as to live right next door.” Tao Ningchu was a head shorter than Yun Ni; looking up at her was a bit tiring, so she took a step back. “If you don’t mind, can I call you Sister Yun? You can call me Xiao Chu.”
“Xiao Chu,” Yun Ni changed the form of address naturally. “Are you heading out?”
“Yes, I want to buy some daily necessities and grab a meal.” Tao Ningchu tilted her head. “What about you, Sister Yun?”
Yun Ni nodded. “Me too.”
“In that case, let’s go together so we have some company.”
Although she had memories, Yun Ni was still unfamiliar with the place. After thinking about it, she agreed to the suggestion.
Through their conversation, Yun Ni learned that Tao Ningchu was playing the role of the third female lead, Xun Yu. Xun Yu was the younger sister of the female lead, Xun Ning. The two were originally very close, but unfortunately, they fell for the male lead at the same time. The younger sister, not wanting to make things difficult for her sister, stepped back and married the male lead’s lieutenant. Later, when a rift formed between the leads, she even helped them reconcile.
Her screen time wasn’t as much as Yun Ni’s Princess Dong’er, but at least it was a role without controversy; if she performed well, she could easily stand out.
Since it was near the film studio, things in the shops were a bit more expensive than outside. Yun Ni thought about her balance and was glad she had brought the things she needed, saving an unnecessary expense.
In contrast, Tao Ningchu bought two large bags of things—one for daily necessities and one for various snacks.
Seeing her struggling to carry them, Yun Ni took the initiative to help carry the bag with daily necessities.
Tao Ningchu thanked her gratefully and then held one bag with both hands.
Seeing how relaxed Yun Ni looked, she was very impressed. “Sister Yun, don’t you find it heavy?”
“It’s alright.” Yun Ni hadn’t been idle these past few days; she occasionally practiced martial arts. Without internal power, she practiced the forms. Her strength was greater than the original owner’s, so carrying this big bag didn’t feel tiring.
She said that, but Tao Ningchu didn’t believe her, taking it as a polite way of speaking, and quickly found a nearby restaurant to rest in.
Tao Ningchu insisted on treating her, and Yun Ni couldn’t talk her out of it, so she let her be.
While Tao Ningchu was ordering, Yun Ni looked around and unexpectedly spotted a familiar figure.
Why was this person here?
After Tao Ningchu finished ordering, she saw Yun Ni was motionless. She followed her gaze and looked back but didn’t see anything. Confused, she asked, “Did you see an acquaintance?”
Yun Ni withdrew her gaze. Hearing the question, she shook her head. “I’ve only seen them twice; not an acquaintance.”
Tao Ningchu didn’t take it to heart; as an actor, one always interacts with people, but few truly become acquaintances.
After eating, the two went straight back, as it wasn’t convenient to go shopping while carrying two bags of things.
On the first day of joining the crew, there is a ceremony to worship the Buddha.
Yun Ni didn’t originally understand this, but she heard Tao Ningchu mention it and checked the original owner’s memories to confirm it was a thing, mainly to pray for smooth filming.
There’s a specific time for the worship. They went early, and Zhang Lingyu came over to tell Yun Ni to go for makeup and costume first.
Since Yun Ni was the second female lead, she had scenes right from the start. Moreover, the princess’s head ornaments were complex and required more time.
With her memories, Yun Ni wasn’t completely lost and went with Tao Ningchu to prepare.
For period drama characters, it’s usually hair and makeup first, then costume. When Yun Ni and Tao Ningchu went to the dressing room, only one or two other actresses were putting on makeup.
Yun Ni learned from her memories that major characters have dedicated stylists, while extras have different ones.
The two found their respective seats. The stylists asked which roles they were playing and then began to work.
Which role got which look had already been discussed beforehand, and the props were all ready.
Yun Ni looked away and let the stylist do their thing, occasionally smiling and saying thank you when the other person praised her for her “good skin” or “long eyelashes.”
Stylists had seen many difficult celebrities—many with no fame but more attitude than A-listers. Seeing that Yun Ni was strikingly beautiful yet so gentle and polite, their fondness for her increased greatly.
When Princess Dong’er first appeared, she was a young girl who hadn’t reached adulthood. The hairstylist gave Yun Ni a “Yuanbao” (ingot) bun, coiling and layering the hair, flipping up two strands in the front and back, and then inserting pins and flower ornaments. It was a masterpiece.
Yun Ni’s makeup was elegant and pinkish-nude, with a plum-blossom-shaped “huadian” painted between her eyebrows, showing her playfulness and cuteness. She wore a light pink “Yuehua” skirt, and she carried a noble aura, looking as if she had stepped out of a painting.
The stylist had originally been worried that the glamorous Yun Ni wouldn’t be able to portray the playful and cute feeling of Princess Dong’er’s early stages, but seeing the dressed-up Yun Ni, those concerns vanished instantly.
“Miss Yun, I wonder if I could take a photo with you?” the stylist asked a bit nervously.
Yun Ni naturally wouldn’t refuse and nodded with a smile.