I've Transmigrated Into This Movie Before Chapter 9

Chapter 9 is up, enjoy!

Chapter 9 – I Believe

Chen Junyan initially thought that he would come face-to-face with a wailing Miss, but that wasn't the case.

The huge bout of snow was sudden, and since there was no way Boss Qu would allow Ning Ning to watch the performance in the snowstorm, they had all gathered in the room, sipping on wine beside the red clay fireplace.

Ning Ning was the one who broke the silence; she unhurriedly turned the porcelain bowl in her hands.The warm rice wine inside followed her movement by swirling along the rim of the bowl, the steam a.s.sailing her nostrils. It left her a little intoxicated without having taken a single sip. She lifted her gaze and asked in an unusually calm voice, "You're here to persuade?"

Chen Junyan took a quick glance at her- she not only had a calm voice, but a calm expression as well.

…The only problem is that she's too ugly.

From his side Boss Qu stared intensely at him, hence he didn't dare to lower his head nor s.h.i.+ft his line of sight. All he could do was fixate his gaze on Ning Ning's face, "I'm not here to persuade."

"Really?" Ning Ning wore a mischievous smile as she placed the bowl down, stood up, and began to walk towards him. She crossed her arms behind her back while her upper body tilted towards Chen Junyan. That face which could either make babies stop wailing or even make them cease breathing came very close to him. "Look at me and tell me, what do I look like in your eyes?"

Boss Qu coughed lightly- a clear warning signal.

A Qing dynasty princess, a fairy that fell from heaven, and a n.o.ble flower in the mortal realm… all these cliché terms had been memorised carefully by Chen Junyan. However, he had no intention of using any of them at this moment, for they were truly too fake. Every single word was fake!

"You… aren't pretty." Chen Junyan had just spoken those three words when he heard the sound of a gun being loaded. The palm he placed on his knee immediately clenched into a fist. He endured the fear inside and resolutely told Ning Ning without blinking even once, "Is that what you think?"

Ning Ning was stunned into silence.

"Miss, why do you have to think of yourself this way?" Chen Junyan spoke slower this time. "No one has ever said that you're ugly, or perhaps someone has, but besides him, everyone else says you're a beauty. Why do you not believe the people around you, but that one stranger instead?"

"I…" Ning Ning hesitated before continuing, "Because I know that what he said was the truth."

"Why are you so sure?" Chen Junyan countered.

Because I'm not Qu Ning'er, and I do not believe Boss Qu's words at all. Ning Ning relaxed her shoulders and faked a relaxed smile. "Isn't it obvious? The reason why there isn't even one mirror in my room is because they're afraid I might faint from the shock. Also, isn't it because I might frighten the pa.s.sers-by on the road the reason why I have never been allowed out of the house my entire life?"

Chen Junyan started laughing. "Miss, you seemed to be talking about someone else and not yourself."

Ning Ning was once again stunned into silence. Then, her cheeks heated up as a sudden bout of shame overcame her.

If this was a film set, I reckon the director would have called 'cut'. Not only have I failed in playing the role of Qu Ning'er, I've also almost broken myself entirely from the role.

"You, yes, you!" The director threw his script to the ground and walked over to point at her while swearing. "Why are you always breaking character?!"

Breaking character.

This was the reason why Ning Ning could never become popular.

No matter the role she acted in, it would all end up with the same feeling- the uncomfortable feeling of an actor breaking character.

To an actor, this was practically a fatal shortcoming.

Many people wanted to know the reason why, as did Ning Ning herself. Initially, she thought it was because she lacked in fundamentals, but despite training desperately to get better, there was no progress made. Then, she thought it could be because of her lack of experience, however, when she took up a bunch of roles, the same problem arose in every one of them…  

"You don't believe." That is, until today, when Chen Junyan hit the nail on the head with his words, "You don't believe your papa's words, nor your maid's words, neither do you believe my words, nor yourself… Wait!"

Chen Junyan sized Ning Ning up with an extremely strange gaze, then asked, "Do you… not believe yourself to be Qu Ning'er?"

There was a split second when Ning Ning thought he had seen through her disguise…

She gave Boss Qu a look as her face went pale as a sheet, extremely nervous that his next words would be, 'Miss is ill again, call Physician w.a.n.g over to prescribe medicine and do acupuncture, quick!'

In order to avoid suffering, she quickly retorted, "How can that be, of course I'm Qu Ning'er."

… How could I be Qu Ning'er…

Ning Ning, "Who would I be if not Qu Ning'er?"

… I'm Ning Ning, daughter of a movie empress. I can't let others laugh at me, I must become even better at acting…

Ning Ning, "I, I…"

There was no need for any more words, for she had already understood.

As it turns out, her most fatal shortcoming- was that she didn't believe.

Many a times, the first thought she had upon receiving a script was, 'Such a stupid story actually exists???', her second thought was, 'Such a dumb female lead actually exists???' Following that she would tell herself, "As a movie empress's daughter, I can't act horribly and let others mock me and mummy."

…Yet the more effort she put in, the worser her acting was…

She had tried very hard to act, act the way she felt the character should react and move. However, she could never believe in herself, believe that others would be able to see through her horrible acting…

"Ning'er." Boss Qu got up and walked towards her to grasp her hand in his and asked with a face full of concern, "Are you alright?"

Ning Ning had no idea how she looked at this moment, but reckoned it wasn't too good, hence why everyone in the room was currently looking at her with concern.

"I'm alright." She forced herself to smile. "Give me some time, I need some time alone."

Once she finished speaking, she turned around and left. As she walked, she slowly began to run and very soon, she disappeared from everyone's sight.

The minute she left, Boss Qu's facial expression made a one hundred and eighty degree change as he picked up the wine bowl on the table and threw it at Chen Junyan, shouting, "What nonsense have you just said! What do you mean by 'do you not believe yourself to be Qu Ning'er?' Is this any way to talk? Do you know how to speak?! If you don't, then there's no point in keeping your mouth!"

Burning hot wine splattered onto Chen Junyan's body, but he had neither the guts to wipe it off nor to retort. He quickly stood up from the chair and stood still with his head lowered as beads of sweat trickled down. Drip, drip, he started to regret his previous course of action, I shouldn't have been so forward earlier and perhaps should have started off with a brief: Miss is a Qing dynasty princess, a fairy that fell from heaven, and a n.o.ble flower in the mortal realm…

No, I couldn't do that.

Time is already running out, I must get into Miss's good graces as soon as possible, and those superficial words will get me nowhere. I have to speak heartfelt words that will get through to Miss.

Furthermore, I was in no way lying.

Though I'm not sure what's going on, Miss seems to truly believe she isn't Qu Ning'er…

"I'm Qu Ning'er"

In her room, Ning Ning sat all alone with the doors shut tight, changing postures from time to time while revealing a smile at times or even talking to herself. In the end, she scratched her head harshly in frustration. "Wrong, wrong, all wrong. There's no way Qu Ning'er would smile this way or speak these words."

Ning Ning's original plan to figure out the secret of this movie in order to find the way back had now been thrown aside.

"…What's the point of returning now?" Ning Ning looked down at her hands, her empty hands that were trembling uncontrollably. "I'm still my former self, unable to even get into character for such a simple role…"

She resolutely clenched her hands together, just as if she was attempting to grasp onto something. With eyes shut tight, she repeated again and again in self-hypnosis, "I'm Qu Ning'er, a Qing dynasty princess, a fairy that fell from heaven, and a n.o.ble flower in the mortal realm… I'm the most beautiful girl in the world…"

This script that once made her incomparably ashamed gradually brought her into a serene mood.

"I'm not really intelligent because I've never been out of the house, nor been to school. But that's of no importance. I'm so pretty that I'll have everything." The very first change was her voice that slowly became giddy and wilful, the kind of giddy where it was as if her stomach was filled to the brim with cotton.

(T/N: this means she's feeling light)

She took two steps forward, then stopped.

"No," Ning Ning mumbled with her head lowered, "There's no way I would walk so steadily."

"No," Ning Ning mumbled with her head lowered, "There's no way I would walk so steadily."

Then, she proceeded to walk to and fro around the room with light footsteps that practically kicked up her skirt with every step. Such a manner of walking would be described as cute if it were done by a five to six year old girl, but seen from a young lady of her age would be considered childish.

However, no one had ever taught her the proper way for she was only surrounded by servants who would obey her every command, and never had a mother to correct her mistakes.

Taking a few more steps forward, Ning Ning paused and mumbled, "I still need to have a hobby."

She took out and placed an exquisite cheongsam, an expensive jewelry box, as well as a blonde doll onto the table. Her finger slowly hovered above them, this won't do, nor this, "Since there's no way to confirm my past hobby, why don't I have a new one?"

A suitable target quickly came to mind.

"A boy that can perform acrobatics." The corners of Ning Ning's lips lifted up. "Is there anything fresher and more interesting than this?"

This will do.

A girl that has never left home will not have too complicated a personality. Naive, wilful, self-absorbed, adding to it a small hobby will be sufficient for Ning Ning to construct a character that has blood and meat. Didn't matter even if there was a slight difference. As the saying goes, a girl changes eighteen times between childhood and womanhood. Girls at this age would practically experience change daily- changing according to changes, going around and around.

"I find it extremely interesting to have those boys fight for my affection in front of me or in secret… Until one of them dies." Ning Ning's upturned lips slowly drop, "Right before me, he was killed by my papa. Should I feel sad?"

She closed her eyes, and started pondering… pondering from Qu Ning'er's point of view.

Outside, Chen Junyan, who had been forced by Boss Qu to come over and apologize coincidentally overheard this line. He took a sharp breath, wis.h.i.+ng he could answer in her stead: I would.

These two words could save his life, could save many, many others' lives.

"…I will not." Then he heard her continue, "I'm not familiar with him, what was his name again… Little Sparrow or Little Magpie?"

Author has something to say:

If this was a system novel, there would be a system notice beep here.

Ning Ning: "What was his name again… Little Sparrow or Little Magpie?"

System notice: Chen Junyan's good opinion of you -10, -10, and -10…

Ning Ning: =A=! Stop o'hero!

Translated by: Ruisi

Edited by: Ely and mossyrabbit

Thanks for reading!