Chapter 117: Revenge
When Tian Xiaoxiao slapped her face this time, Little Bei no longer held her footing despite trembling, which Director Lu had praised her for previously. Instead, she fell heavily to the ground.
Bam! Little Bei didn’t get up for a long time.
Everyone was startled. In the end, Shao Nan was the fastest. Not caring whether they were still filming or not, he ran over. “Little Bei!”
Shao Nan pulled Little Bei up, who then revealed her bruised knees and elbows.
When Little Bei saw Shao Nan, tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn’t cry. She quickly wiped her tears and apologized to the director.
“I’m sorry, Director. I lost my balance…”
Director Lu didn’t expect Little Bei to apologize to him. He felt upset. “It’s okay. You’re in an awful state, so why are you apologizing to me? Quick, someone come over and treat her wound.”
After saying that, Director Lu noticed that something was amiss. He looked at Little Bei’s flushed cheeks and abruptly shifted his gaze to Tian Xiaoxiao.
“Tian Xiaoxiao, what’s wrong with you? Did you hit Little Bei for real? Why did you use so much strength?”
“I didn’t. I didn’t use any strength.” Tian Xiaoxiao was dumbfounded by Little Bei’s reaction.
She knew that she had hit her hard, but she was only eight years old. How could she have so much strength? Little Bei couldn’t have been sent flying by her until she fell to the ground so heavily.
At the thought of this, Tian Xiaoxiao knew that Little Bei was deliberately implicating her. “Director Lu, she’s putting on an act. She fell on purpose. Even if I hit her a little harder, it was not that bad!”
However, Tian Xiaoxiao’s accusation only made everyone angrier due to the tragic comparison and Little Bei’s tears.
“You still dare quibble now? Look at how hard you slapped Little Bei.”
Director Lu had been too focused on the show to notice these details, but he wasn’t a fool who couldn’t tell even now.
The others were the same. Previously, they had sensed that something was off, but Director Lu hadn’t said anything, and Little Bei’s family hadn’t complained either, so they’d simply stood by and watched.
Now that they had all seen it, they began to criticize Tian Xiaoxiao. Shao Qiyang was so angry that he almost made a move.
No matter how Mother Tian tried to explain that Tian Xiaoxiao was just too engrossed in her character, it was no use. Although Tian Xiaoxiao was very mature at times, she was still only eight years old. Feeling upset due to all the criticism, she ran away crying.
Since Little Bei had been slapped so badly and had even gotten injured, the filming session ended. Only then did Shao Qiyang and Shao Nan learn that this kind of scene could be faked.
Shao Qiyang was so angry that he went to argue with them. However, he ended up getting scolded by fearless Mother Tian, who had no problem dealing with a young man like Shao Qiyang.
“What? Do you want to fight? Try hitting me. That’s what filming is like, do you understand?”
She bumped against Shao Qiyang, causing him to retreat in defeat.
Shao Qiyang returned with a defeated look. Shao Nan pursed his lips and looked at Little Bei, who was being bandaged by the crew members. Then, he looked at her increasingly swollen, red face. His countenance grew terrifyingly dark. However, because they hadn’t said a word before and what needed to be said had been said, he knew that this matter was more or less over.
It was impossible to replace Tian Xiaoxiao because of this. After all, this was filming. Just as Mother Tian had said, it could be said that she was too engrossed in the role. Surely one couldn’t chase after her and slap her back?
If they did this, the nature of the matter would change. Shao Qiyang had gone to reason with them, but there was nothing that could be done.
However, Shao Nan couldn’t take this lying down. When he saw Little Bei’s red face, he felt a mixture of self-reproach and fury.
Although Little Bei had suffered a little in the past, as their only sister, they had tried their best to protect her. They had carefully shielded her since she was young, protecting her from Zhao Lan and the rest.
In the end, Little Bei, whom they were so protective of, had been beaten up by that brat because of the filming process.
If Mommy had been around, she wouldn’t have allowed such a thing to happen. He had failed to do his duty and protect Little Bei well. To think he’d even specially come to the set to protect Little Bei.
The more Shao Nan thought about it, the angrier he got. In order to avenge Little Bei, he thought of a way to drug Tian Xiaoxiao and her mother’s food with laxatives that night.
Tian Xiaoxiao and her mother started having diarrhea that night. The entire production team ate and drank almost the same things as them, but they were the only ones who got diarrhea.
Mother Tian, who was initially feeling guilty and had only managed to hang on thanks to her shamelessness, suddenly perked up and insisted that this must be the doing of Little Bei. After all, the only person they had offended was Little Bei.
“You put on an act to frame Xiaoxiao yesterday and even drugged her today. You’re so lawless. This time, you drugged her with laxatives. Are you going to poison her next time?”
Mother Tian clutched her stomach and pretended to be pitiful on set. “You’re so young, yet you’re really vicious. You put on an act and you drugged our food with laxatives. If you don’t give me an explanation today, I won’t let you off!”
Mother Tian thought to herself that Little Bei could forget about filming from now on.
Little Bei kept saying that it wasn’t her. However, the timing was too coincidental and Mother Tian kept harping on about this matter, so things became complicated.
Although Shao Nan hadn’t left any evidence behind and they couldn’t find any proof, Mother Tian was certain that they were the culprits and kept acting pitiful. This caused Shao Nan and Little Bei’s position to become complicated.
Tian Xiaoxiao and her mother were clearly the ones who had bullied others first, but because it now appeared that they had been drugged with laxatives, everything was reversed.
When Mu Jingzhe returned to the production team, she faced this situation. After hearing a simple recount of the incident, Mu Jingzhe knew what had happened. She immediately told Mother Tian, who was acting pitiful and throwing a tantrum.
“Don’t be in such a hurry to point fingers. I wasn’t around yesterday. I want to see how you guys filmed that slap scene.”
Mu Jingzhe looked at Director Lu. “Director Lu, can you show me the slap scene?”
“Sure.” Director Lu’s head hurt. He just hoped that the problem would be solved soon.
After she took a look, Mu Jingzhe’s expression turned increasingly icy. She looked at Tian Xiaoxiao, who said that she wasn’t feeling well, and reached a conclusion. “Tian Xiaoxiao, you did it on purpose. You hit her very hard, and when you hit her, there was a flash of smugness in your eyes.”
“I did not. I was just in a bad state. I merely used a little bit more strength to get a feel for—”
“If you were in a bad state, how could you have slapped her so hard? Is this your first day filming? If you’re not in a good state, you can adjust. What do you mean you slapped Little Bei to get a feel for it? You could’ve just told me if you like slaps so much. I can slap you a few times to wake you up and show you how it feels. Wouldn’t that be faster than hitting Little Bei?
“If you can act, then act. If you can’t act, then get lost. This is the first time I’ve heard of slapping someone to get a feel for acting. Based on your method, if you have to film a murder scene, you’ll really have to stab someone to get a feel for it?”
Tian Xiaoxiao was left speechless. Mother Tian quickly defended her. “You can’t put it that way. Xiaoxiao just isn’t in a good state today…”
Mu Jingzhe cut her off. “Don’t talk to me about your state. You filmed the other scenes just fine, but when it was time for the face-slapping scene, your condition wasn’t good? You keep blaming this problem or that problem. Do you think we’re all so blind that we can’t tell?
“Tian Xiaoxiao, all of us can see the expression on your face. I won’t ask you why you don’t like Little Bei. Even if you don’t like Little Bei, you can’t take revenge on her by using filming as an excuse. Do you know how to separate public matters from private matters? If you can’t even separate the two, stop acting!”
Mu Jingzhe didn’t give Tian Xiaoxiao a chance to speak, nor did she hold back because Tian Xiaoxiao was still young. Just by looking at the filmed scenes and Little Bei’s swollen face, one could tell how much strength she had used.