Shrine - Chapter 99

Chapter 99

The sun rose in the east and set in the west over Shucheng, and in the entertainment industry, the tides ebbed and flowed. No one stayed in the limelight forever; there was always someone new climbing up.

Shi Ran and Ruan Ruan began another round of "mutual help and support." Shi Ran learned from Ruan Ruan how to "care about others," and Ruan Ruan learned from Shi Ran how to "care about herself."

Ruan Ruan, wearing a pair of glasses, took on the role of a little teacher. She broke down the illogical script, explaining the screenwriter's "casual character creation method" to Shi Ran bit by bit. She could even pinpoint which dog-blood plot points were added by the producers for sensationalism, and what the screenwriter had originally intended to express. She never thought that her experience struggling at the bottom could one day be used to help Shi Ran. It had to be said, life's arrangements were always wondrous.

She used a ballpoint pen to make notes and highlight sections, helping Shi Ran find the common threads between the fragmented pieces. First, they established the character, then they explored performance methods. The movie had some exaggerated scenes with twisting waists and swinging arms. Ruan Ruan would demonstrate them first in front of the walk-in closet mirror, while Shi Ran stood beside her, playfully bobbing her neck along.

"Don't do it like a little duck," Ruan Ruan said, using a cheap disposable chopstick as a teaching tool to gently tap Shi Ran's lower back.

"If you can't be happy, baby," she coaxed while pondering, "hmm… actually, a world-weary face is fine too, but your body language has to be on point. Acting cute with a cold face like that is especially funny."

As she spoke, she broke into a soft smile, her eyes bright and teeth white, her charm in full bloom.

On August 27th, Shrine was scheduled for broadcast on the platform. The number of pre-release reservations hadn't been particularly high, but the visuals and pacing were excellent. Coupled with a massive promotional campaign, the tense, suspenseful, and supernatural feel of the show quickly captivated the audience. By the second episode, its popularity index had broken 4,000.

Ruan Ruan bought a fish to make a nourishing meal for Shi Ran. Shi Ran had wrapped up work early and come home to teach Xiao Hei how to play a retrieving game.

She tossed out a small sponge ball with a cold expression. Xiao Hei stared at her blankly, then at the ball. The moment she raised an eyebrow, it dashed over, not picking the ball up, but just batting the little toy with its paws, running back and forth, having a grand time.

"Perhaps it wants to be a soccer kitten," Shi Ran decided after repeated failures, opting for a new training path.

On August 28th, Shrine had three topics trending. They were "Shrine," "Ruan Ruan Qiao Qiao," and "Shen Bai the chosen Su 1." Comments flooded in like a waterfall, marketing accounts seized the opportunity to jump in, and memes proliferated. The first signs of a massive hit were showing.

On her way home, Ruan Ruan attempted a running jump onto Shi Ran's back and failed. Afterward, the two ate dinner while watching a variety show.

They finished eating halfway through the episode. Shi Ran went to wash the dishes and heard Ruan Ruan, who had been working, come out for a glass of water and call out softly, "Where's my baby?"

"Kitchen," Shi Ran said coolly.

"I was calling the cat, not you." Ruan Ruan crouched in the dining room, rubbing Xiao Hei's face.

That night, none of the four kittens were allowed into the bedroom. Ruan Ruan tried to negotiate in a soft voice, "It was Xiao Hei who seduced me. Can the other three come in?"

"Why would Xiao Hei seduce you?"

"Because I secretly gave it canned food."

"I want some too," Shi Ran said, blinking impassively.

"Huh? Cat food?" Ruan Ruan was incredulous.

Shi Ran tapped a button on her pajamas. Ruan Ruan obediently undid it. Cases of humans eating Little Bread raw often occurred in this house. She lay back and watched it unfold.

On August 29th, the variety show promoting Shrine went online. The Baidu Index for Shrine, Ruan Ruan, and Zhong Yi soared across the board.

Shi Ran's movie, 360 Times of Missing You, successfully wrapped filming. They sank into each other and did it again. In the dim light, Shi Ran took Ruan Ruan's fingers into her mouth. Ruan Ruan's fingertips probed deeper, while Shi Ran's hand slid up inside Ruan Ruan's pants.

On September 1st, Shrine's on-site popularity value broke 12,000, the highest record for a revenue-sharing drama that year.

Ruan Ruan set off for Jiangcheng to film a variety show. Having not made a public appearance in a while, she was met by fans at the airport who had come to see her off. She didn't have time to stop for autographs or to chat. She looked up and saw a few familiar faces from the film set. They were squeezed in the crowd, watching her from a distance. Ruan Ruan smiled at them and gave a slight nod before lowering her head and walking quickly inside.

On September 5th, Ruan Ruan's team at Dianxing Entertainment began comprehensively monitoring the artist's Yunhe and Aiman data. The search volume for "Ruan Ruan" on all platforms multiplied. The data grew like a great tree watered with the nectar of the gods, spreading its branches to the heavens.

On the stage of the variety show, Ruan Ruan saw the bustling crowd of audience members below. They held exquisitely made hand banners and light-up signs, cheering and screaming every time she made an expression or spoke. Standing just out of the camera's view, Ruan Ruan pressed her palms together, closed her eyes, and nodded slightly, signaling that she had received their support but asking them not to interrupt the other guests who were speaking.

On September 10th, Shrine's on-site popularity broke 30,000. The platform and various sponsors all made posters and posted on Weibo to celebrate. The topic trended for an entire day, and discussions about Shrine occupied half of the front page on online drama forums.

Ruan Ruan finished filming another variety show. It ended very late that day, and the iRuans were waiting for her at the back exit of the venue. She took a turn and went to the back exit with her assistant and bodyguard, but she couldn't get down. She could only stand on a high platform and wave, saying to everyone, "Go home and rest early, okay?"

The young girls shook their heads, dragging out their words like elementary school students, "No."

Ruan Ruan laughed, and they laughed too, saying sporadically, "You look so good today, Ruan Ruan."

"Do I?" Ruan Ruan looked herself up and down, then tilted her head and smiled. She had stolen that move from Shi Ran.

Many people said that her expressions and way of speaking were becoming more and more like Shi Ran's. The stylistic traits of artists cultivated by Dianxing were very distinct.

"But I need to rest," she said softly.

"Good night, then." "Bye-bye, bye-bye." "See you." "See you next time."

Ruan Ruan nodded slightly. "See you next time. Thank you all."

On September 15th, Shrine's on-site popularity value was approaching 40,000, a very competitive figure even among the exclusive dramas of that year. All the press releases declared that the dual-female-lead drama Shrine was a hit, and a massive one at that, with unprecedented success for a revenue-sharing drama. The production company prepared to hold a celebration banquet, sending the proposal to Ruan Ruan's team for review.

At that time, Ruan Ruan was practicing a girl group dance for her birthday party. Her slender, fair waist swayed, and a powerful, on-beat move was paired with a casual tilt of her head. The gaze she had honed over years as an actress swept around the room like a silk thread being slowly reeled back in.

The mirror perfectly captured the image of a white magnolia in full bloom, filling the room with its fragrance and the sheen of her sweat.

On September 30th, the assistant she had met at the High Jewelry Exhibition commented on Ruan Ruan's Moments feed. Meanwhile, Shrine's advertising sponsors began to frequently interact with Ruan Ruan's Weibo posts. The scenes that had once played out around Shi Ran were now being replicated for Ruan Ruan. Brands competed with dazzling displays, racking their brains for witty remarks to grab the top comments.

In October, Ruan Ruan appeared at the recording of a reality show, a lifestyle variety program about old friends reuniting. Ever since the charity gala incident, Ruan Ruan had been very cautious. Every time she attended an event, she would find out in advance where she would be sitting, who would be around her, whether she could interact with them, and what precautions to take.

And during the meeting for this show, she pointed to one of the guest's names. "Can I afford to offend her?"

An Lu glanced at it and chuckled. "Her? Offend away."

Ruan Ruan pursed her lips in a smile and nodded in understanding.

On camera, several friends were sitting around a sofa, chatting. Zhang Nuoran, the one Ruan Ruan had pointed out, was right there among them. She wore her hair in a side braid that day, looking like a plain and simple Little White Flower. While eating the snail noodles the sponsor required them to advertise and shelling edamame, Zhang Nuoran leaned closer to Ruan Ruan and suddenly said, "Hiss, we've known each other for ten years, haven't we?"

"Have we?" Ruan Ruan asked, tilting her head as she shelled an edamame.

"I think so. Hey, did you guys know? She and I debuted on the same show," Zhang Nuoran said to the other guests after taking a bite of snail noodles.

"For real? You two?" A regular cast member was clearly skeptical, taking her headband off and putting it back on.

"It's true. We were in a talent show together back then. Can I say the name?" Zhang Nuoran smiled, putting down her chopsticks to look for a napkin. Ruan Ruan handed one to her. She took it, wiped her mouth, and continued, "I was auditioning for Daiyu, and she was in the…"

"The Three Kingdoms group."

"Oh, right. We used to hang out all the time back then. I was so sad when she got eliminated later," Zhang Nuoran said, sniffling a little, her nose red from eating the spicy noodles.

Ruan Ruan smiled and tilted her head, teasing, "Was it because you had no one to run lines with anymore?"

"You still remember us running lines?" Zhang Nuoran sounded pleasantly surprised.

"I do," Ruan Ruan recalled gently. "You asked me to run lines with you for the role of Xiangling, and even told me that if you couldn't recite the poem, you'd just recite 'Moonlight Before My Bed.'"

The atmosphere became a bit awkward. The regular cast member shifted her headband again. Another guest, oblivious, scratched her nose and looked up from her snail noodles. "And then what?"

Zhang Nuoran hesitated, at a loss for words.

"And then I recited it," Ruan Ruan said, handing her another napkin. "She was so cute back then. When she saw I could recite it, she got upset and said, 'Let's not rehearse anymore, let's not.'"

She mimicked Zhang Nuoran's coy manner, her eyes sparkling like stars as she smiled. The other girls found it funny too and playfully nudged Zhang Nuoran's arm. "You were that petty?"

Zhang Nuoran froze from the awkwardness, but to ensure the recording went smoothly, she could only play it off as a joke. She tucked her hands under her armpits and puffed out her cheeks. "Yeah, I was so petty."

After saying that, she burst out laughing with a "pfft" and started roughhousing with the other guests.

Ruan Ruan smiled faintly and lowered her gaze, gently wiping the edge of the table with the remaining napkin. She committed the conversation to memory, planning to repeat it word-for-word to An Lu after the recording. They needed to prepare a statement; there would be a battle to fight when the show aired.

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