After a Contractual Romance with the Scumbag Movie Queen - Chapter 73

Jiang Tian had to exert an immense amount of effort to finally lull Qi Bule to sleep.

The woman nestled in her arms, her thick eyelashes casting shadows under her eyes. She slept soundly, looking serene and utterly delectable.

But no matter how Jiang Tian looked at her, she couldn’t shake the feeling that two devilish horns were sprouting from the top of her head.

What was even more infuriating was that she found it incredibly adorable.

Jiang Tian adjusted her sitting position to let the little ancestor in her arms sleep more comfortably. She then reached for the nearby blanket and gently spread it over her.

Now, all she could do was pray that Qi Puzhi would sleep a little longer.

Because once she woke up, she would have to face the “gifts” left behind by her drunken self, the kind she’d never want to receive but had no choice but to accept.

As a result, the two skipped the evening gathering with the other couples on the show.

This was a free-form dating show, where no tasks were mandatory.

The production team was considerate enough to arrange a car to take the married couple back to the villa where they would rest for the night.

When the car arrived at the villa’s entrance, the two in the backseat remained completely still.

The driver, understanding the situation, tactfully got out to make a phone call.

Jiang Tian lowered her gaze to the woman’s tightly closed eyes, her own eyes darkening with intensity.

The temporarily assigned car had no cameras or audio equipment.

And so, the desire she had suppressed all night could no longer be contained.

She pinched Qi Puzhi’s chin and kissed her.

Pressing her against the backrest, she kissed her fervently.

Over an hour later, she finally acted on the bold, drunken temptation Qi Puzhi had teased earlier “Don’t you want to taste my tongue?”

She did. Very much.

And so, at this moment, she couldn’t stop tasting her.

Qi Puzhi was kissed breathless, yet she never opened her eyes or made much noise.

As if she were still deep in slumber.

Jiang Tian released her, lightly licking her lips as she silently observed her.

After a moment, her hand roamed a few times.

“You.” Qi Puzhi could no longer keep up the act. Her body trembled slightly as she abruptly opened her eyes and complained, “I was sleeping. Why are you disturbing me?”

“Sister, you’ve been pretending to sleep for over ten minutes,” Jiang Tian raised an eyebrow, calling her out directly.

Qi Puzhi’s expression stiffened.

Jiang Tian chuckled softly and gently nipped her cheek. “Sister, pretending to sleep won’t solve anything…”

Qi Puzhi fell silent, lowering her gaze without a word.

Under Jiang Tian’s patient waiting and unwavering stare, she finally let out a sigh, wrapped her arms around Jiang Tian’s neck, and buried her face in the crook of her neck in frustration.

“Wife, please tell Zhang Hua to draft a retirement statement for me”

After a pause, she continued dejectedly, “But I still want to act”

“What do you think about me making a comeback under a different stage name?”

Jiang Tian’s lips parted, but no words came out.

What a perfect case of self-deception. Everyone under the sun knew Qi Puzhi, this wasn’t about her stage name.

Qi Puzhi knew she was talking nonsense, too.

Feeling utterly hopeless, she sighed again and let out a soft whimper.

Alcohol causes trouble. Appearing on this show ruins lives.

“It’s alright, wife. Look on the bright side.” Jiang Tian patted her head, amused. “Since things have already come to this, won’t you be more at ease and relaxed from now on?”

At this point, there probably wasn’t much more chaos they could stir up on this show.

“…” Qi Puzhi bit her lower lip. “That’s exactly what I thought after derailing twice during the live stream earlier.”

But then, each wave of trouble only grew bigger than the last.

Jiang Tian: “…”

She had no retort.

The approach of reasoning with logic had already proven futile, because this matter inherently couldn’t be resolved through “logic.”

So she appealed to emotions instead, nuzzling Qi Puzhi’s ear like an affectionate puppy. “It’s okay, I’m here with you anyway. If two people embarrass themselves together, it doesn’t really count as anything.”

This tactic had some effect.

Eventually, Qi Puzhi was coaxed out of the car.

But once inside the villa, she hesitated upon seeing cameras everywhere.

As if haunted by psychological trauma, she immediately buried herself in Jiang Tian’s coat, hiding her entire being in a fragile and pitiable manner.

Despite being in her thirties, Teacher Qi had never felt so unsteady in her life.

[Hahahahaha, why is Teacher Qi hiding in her wife’s arms? Daring to act but not daring to face the consequences?]

[Look back at us! We’re not bad people, we won’t laugh at you (laughing loudly).]

[It seems Teacher Qi still isn’t used to messing up, even though she’s done it countless times in just one day.]

Jiang Tian suppressed a laugh, her heart softening with both affection and sympathy as she gently rubbed Qi Puzhi’s head, then promptly led her to the bathroom.

There were no cameras here, allowing Qi Puzhi to relax a little.

She stayed in the bathroom for two hours before emerging, and the live chat was already growing impatient.

[Two hours bathing together, what were they doing?]

[What were they doing? I really can’t guess.]

[Jiang Tian’s hands-on approach to comforting seems quite effective. Teacher Qi is already bravely facing the camera again, tears in my eyes.]

[Type “tears in my eyes” in the chat!]

[I thought I was watching a reality show about a couple messing up, but it turns out to be an inspiring story of growth and passion ]

By the time Qi Puzhi came out of the bathroom, her emotions had settled.

As an adult, one who had faced hardships since childhood, she had a broad-minded outlook and could accept almost anything.

Well, actually, it was because Jiang Tian had taken such good care of her in the bathroom, leaving her feeling comfortable both physically and emotionally.

Jiang Tian adjusted Qi Puzhi’s bathrobe collar, covering the red marks on her back.

To allow the guests to rest peacefully without having to manually cover the cameras, the bedroom’s live-streaming cameras were equipped with small automatic devices.

They would close and block the view at midnight and automatically reopen at 6 a.m.

By the time the cameras closed, Qi Puzhi and Jiang Tian had just turned off the lights to rest.

They had only been live-streaming for one afternoon and evening, yet it felt more exhausting than a full day of filming.

It had truly been a rollercoaster.

Even after eight years in the entertainment industry, she had managed to lose all her dignity in just one month from forums to live streams.

She really couldn’t figure out where things had gone wrong.

When Jiang Tian tucked Qi Puzhi in late at night, she heard her murmuring in her sleep, whimpering things like, “So embarrassing.”

Chuckling softly for a moment, Jiang Tian planted a kiss on her wife’s cheek and whispered, “It’s not really embarrassing. It’s just that you’ve always been this adorable.”

In a way, it wasn’t even a mess-up.

Because this was simply their real, everyday life and interactions.

It’s just that the contrast with their on-screen personas was a bit stark.

The next day, they woke up full of energy.

Qi Puzhi, with her resilient mindset, had already decided not to punish herself for yesterday’s mistakes.

“Today is the first day of the rest of my life” Qi Puzhi had always loved this phrase when reading.

Now, she would use it to let go of past embarrassments and live today and the future with grace and tranquility.

As long as she stayed away from alcohol. As long as she didn’t try to act overly confident.

She and Jiang Tian could sweetly make it through the rest of the show.

At this moment, Qi Puzhi was thinking optimistically, unaware that the law of misfortunes never coming singly was at play. She and Jiang Tian were about to face the first and only conflict in their relationship.

Today’s arrangement by the program team was for the four couples to go camping overnight.

Qi Puzhi and Jiang Tian set off a bit later due to work commitments.

Despite being busy, the two had registered their marriage as soon as same-sex marriage was legalized a year ago, but their wedding trip and honeymoon were postponed until a few months ago.

Jiang Tian’s new song drew inspiration from their honeymoon, and Qi Puzhi even contributed to the lyrics.

It was essentially their wedding song, carrying extraordinary significance, so both of them valued it deeply.

With the song completed, they had been discussing how to shoot the music video in recent days. It was already decided that both Jiang and Qi would star in it.

After several meetings, the content had taken shape. During the discussions, Qi Puzhi had a sudden inspiration and came up with a clever suggestion.

To match the lyrics, the MV would include a deep-sea diving scene, originally intended for Jiang Tian.

But with her suggestion, the plot and structure were slightly altered, and this scene would now be filmed by her.

With this change, the creative concept of the MV became more innovative and elevated in its message. Everyone in the discussion group praised it repeatedly, feeling there was no reason not to adopt the suggestion.

However, Jiang Tian disagreed.

During their wedding trip, she and Qi Puzhi had tried diving.

At the time, Qi Puzhi was lively and eager before the dive but discovered she had a phobia during it, resurfacing shortly after and remaining listless for three whole days.

Jiang Tian still vividly remembered how Qi Puzhi trembled in her arms back then. She even had nightmares for several nights in a row, crying pitifully and vulnerably.

Right then, Jiang Tian vowed to herself never to let Qi Puzhi attempt it again.

The deep-sea element was retained in the MV because those lyrics were written by Qi Puzhi, and she loved them dearly.

However, Qi Puzhi knew that Jiang Tian, like herself, was someone who pursued excellence and perfection in their careers.

If a more perfect plan existed but they settled for second best, it would inevitably be a regret.

Especially since this was their wedding song.

So after the meeting, she held Jiang Tian close and coaxed, “It’s okay, I can practice slowly.”

But after witnessing Qi Puzhi’s unprecedented fear last time, Jiang Tian had seriously consulted a psychologist.

Such innate psychological fears are not always surmountable.

The process of practice would undoubtedly be extremely difficult, yet it might not yield results. How could she bear to put her through that?

After explaining, Jiang Tian gently touched the woman’s ear and persuaded, “The original plan isn’t bad either. Or we could use special effects instead of diving?”

“Special effects can’t match the impact of real filming,” Qi Puzhi said earnestly. “And you and I both know how much better this new plan is compared to the original.”

Jiang Tian fell silent for a moment before whispering:

“Darling, have you forgotten how miserable and painful those days were? Don’t put yourself through that, okay?”

Qi Puzhi kissed her. “I know you’re worried about me. But you can’t just reject me without even letting me try.”

Both of them held their positions out of concern for the other, unwilling to yield. They communicated and talked softly and gently for a while but still couldn’t reach an agreement.

Finally, a staff member came to remind them that the car to take them camping had arrived.

Seeing that this was getting them nowhere, Qi Puzhi decided to throw caution to the wind and whispered temptingly in her ear:

“If you agree to this, as a trade, I’ll do all those things I was too shy to do last time, I promise you everything.”

After going to such great lengths and sacrificing so much, Jiang Tian still wouldn’t relent, though her tone remained gentle:

“I’d rather you didn’t agree to my request than see you trembling in fear again. Could you please be a little kinder to yourself?”

Qi Puzhi let out a soft hum of displeasure, nipped lightly at her cheek in annoyance, and threatened in a soft voice, “If you don’t agree, you’re not allowed to talk to me.”

In response, Jiang Tian silently bit her back on the lips.

And just like that, the two of them entered a cold war.

Even when they got into the car sent by the production team, they weren’t as inseparable as usual. They sat several centimeters apart.

[Damn, is there some kind of curse on this show? Even such a sweet couple is having a conflict.]

[But I have a feeling that even their arguments will be sweet. After all, their tones were so soft and gentle just now, as if they were afraid of hurting each other.]

During the ride, one of them gazed out the window, the other stared at the front windshield, and neither spoke.

Their expressions were equally impassive. For a full five minutes.

Just as the live chat was starting to get anxious, Qi Puzhi reached up as if to smooth her long hair. When she lowered her hand, she “accidentally” let it rest on Jiang Tian’s hand, which was braced against the seat.

Their expressions remained unchanged. Yet neither of them moved their hand away. They just stayed like that, touching.

A moment later, Jiang Tian, who clearly hadn’t shown any signs of drowsiness, suddenly fell asleep.

Her head “accidentally” tilted toward Qi Puzhi, nestling comfortably against the woman’s shoulder and neck, and even giving a light nuzzle.

And so, just five minutes into their cold war, the two of them ended up “accidentally” snuggling together.

Not anxious in the slightest. Not willing in the least.