NOVEL NEXT Chapter 81 - Eighty-One: Incident
Chapter 81: Chapter Eighty-One: Incident
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
However, something happened early in the morning on the weekend. “Gao Bei—our female lead actress—just quit,” Fang Xi gravely told Yun Nan.
“Wait, did you just say she quit? Why?! Filming began a week ago, so why is she quitting mid-production? Is she planning to pay the penalty for her breach of contract?” Yun Nan asked as she gaped at Fang Xi in disbelief. Fang Xi gently nodded.
“Where is she?” Yun Nan demanded.
Fang Xi handed her a letter. “Her manager—Xiao Ya—sent this to us. She’s going nuts looking for Gao Bei. Gao Bei didn’t let on about her plans and suddenly left last night with a guy, saying that she’d found her first love. Xiao Ya called the police.”
“She called the police?” Yun Nan questioned, more confused than before.
“The whole thing seemed odd. She’s worried something might have happened to Gao Bei,” Fang Xi explained.
This explosive news caused a stir in the production team. How could the movie continue filming without the lead actress? Everyone was at a loss. Harried and troubled, Yun Nan and Fang Xi went to the police station to meet Xiao Ya.
Xiao Ya’s eyes were red; evidently, she had been crying. “Yun Nan, she left. She left the country. She’s so irresponsible—she just up and left,” Xiao Ya sobbed as she held Yun Nan’s hand. Yun Nan was speechless; she didn’t know what to say.
Xiao Ya had filed a missing person’s report at the police station and asked around. Through various official and private channels, she finally found an image of Gao Bei at the airport with a man and tracked down their plane tickets—they were flying abroad.
Fang Xi and Yun Nan headed back after receiving the news. Yun Nan was driving when she sighed heavily. “Do you think she’s gone mad?”
Fang Xi looked out the window and replied, “I don’t know about her, but I’m going crazy!”
“We can recast the female lead,” Yun Nan offered, knowing how much pressure Fang Xi was under.
“Are you serious? A recast?” Fang Xi facepalmed and leaned back in her seat. “Do you know how many people Mika auditioned before he chose Gao Bei for the role? We’re already a week into filming; how can we find a suitable actress on such short notice? We need someone who fits the character and is familiar with the plot—scratch that, I won’t even ask for that much; at worst, we’ll just have to explain and discuss the script again. But where on earth are we going to find a fresh young actress with adequate acting skills?” Fang Xi held up her fists, feeling an intense desire to punch something, but no target was in sight. She was so frustrated she cursed, “Argh, f*ck this sh *t!”
Yun Nan calmly comforted her, “Don’t worry; everything will work out. We’ll get back to the studio and have a meeting right away. We’ll figure this out together with everyone’s help.”
“I doubt Gao Bei will stay abroad and never come back. When she does come back, I’m totally suing her *ss!” Fang Xi resentfully vowed.
Yun Nan glanced at her. “That would affect Xiao Ya as well. She’s an innocent victim too, you know.”
“Innocent my *ss! She couldn’t even keep track of her artiste, and she still dares to call herself innocent? Gao Bei left the country, not the province! She left so quickly she must have prepared her passport and visa beforehand. Is Xiao Ya deafblind? How does she not know anything?” Fang Xi retorted, her anger burning like a raging wildfire.
Yun Nan sighed. She knew Fang Xi was angry and needed to vent, so she teased, “Fang Xi, look at it this way. Don’t you think that young lady is quite admirable, rushing off with solitary courage just for the sake of love? At least, both of us wouldn’t be able to achieve such a feat in our lifetime.”
Fang Xi snorted coldly, “You call that a feat?! She’s an airhead if you ask me! There’ll come a day when she will regret abandoning everything for a man. It’ll be too late for her to cry then! Hmph! That’s not bravery; that’s stupidity!
Stupid I tell you!”
Having unloaded her grievances, Fang Xi tightly closed her eyes as her mind worked rapidly. She called Xiao Ya and asked, “Did you find out who that man
“Not yet. Gao Bei never mentioned such a person. Fang Xi, I’m so sorry for all of this,” Xiao Ya cried.
Fang Xi interrupted her and said, “Never mind that; you still have to apologize to a lot of people, so let’s just cut to the chase. Let me know immediately if there’s any news. Remember to count me in when you get your revenge on them.” Fang Xi ended the call and didn’t speak for a long time.
By then, Yun Nan had regained her composure and began to analyze the situation. “Fang Xi, if those two are lovers, why didn’t Gao Bei just tell Xiao Ya straight out? Why did she choose to elope instead? She’s an adult; she knows she’ll face a huge penalty if she does this. Is this man worth it? Is he really that attractive?”
Fang Xi remained silent. She imagined herself seven years ago; if she was Gao Bei and that man asked her to let go of everything and leave with him to prove her love for him… Would she have left?
The answer was a resounding Yes! She would!
Fang Xi muttered, “If she loved her man enough, she would go to the ends of the earth for him.”
Yun Nan still couldn’t understand such a mindset and stated, “But that man doesn’t love her! If he even has one iota of feelings for Gao Bei, he wouldn’t let her throw her life away so irresponsibly!”