After My Cross-dressing Cover Was Blown, the Movie Star Became My Accomplice - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

◎What is with this person? Has he lost it?◎

Kong Yanfei didn’t stay by Mu Yao’s side for long before being called away by Qu Fu. Watching the young girl’s energetic, bouncing silhouette, Mu Yao felt the heavy mood brought on by the female ghost relax slightly.

Recalling the invitation the ghost had extended to him by manipulating the red silk thread, Mu Yao narrowed his eyes and made a silent decision.

Since the red thread invited me, I’ll go and have a look.

No matter what plot the ghost had in mind, he wouldn’t be afraid; he had already dealt with spirits many times before.

The boat traveled very slowly. By the time it began its return journey, half of the afternoon had already passed. The scenery on both banks remained the same; the group went from watching with great interest at the beginning to gradually becoming fatigued, eventually retreating into the cabin to start chatting. Once the production crew had filmed enough footage on the boat, they stopped chasing them for shots.

When the boat docked, the Village Chief was already bathed in the warm orange-red glow of the sunset. As the group stepped from the swaying boat onto solid ground, they felt a temporary sense of imbalance after getting used to the rhythm of the water.

Mu Yao stamped his feet lightly, feeling the undulating sensation brought by the boat gradually fade away. A black business van was parked by the shore, and Cheng Zeyi stepped out, walking toward the pier.

“Brother Cheng, it’s a pity you didn’t join the boat trip; the scenery was beautiful,” Qu Fu greeted him with a smile.

Cheng Zeyi replied with a smile, “It’s fine. The crew said they’d compensate me; I’ll get to see it eventually.”

“Movie King Brother, did the shot hurt?” Kong Yanfei looked around and asked in a small voice.

“It hurt—I have to get three shots! So, our little champion needs to protect herself well, okay?” Cheng Zeyi looked down and cooperated by whispering back. Instead of acting tough and saying it was nothing, he reminded Kong Yanfei to be careful and protect herself.

Mu Yao happened to overhear Cheng Zeyi’s words from not far away, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Is he sure he’s not just scaring the little girl?

At that moment, Bi Tu walked over with the exaggerated smile of an old comedian, his movements grand. He was holding a cup of hot water that seemed to appear out of nowhere. He skillfully bypassed the three people surrounding Cheng Zeyi and handed the hot water to him.

“Here, Movie King Cheng, you’ve worked hard. This round trip must have been exhausting; quick, have some water and rest.” He thrust the cup into Cheng Zeyi’s hands and then took several steps back. He glanced at Kong Yanfei and said quickly:

“I, well, as I’ve gotten older, it’s inevitable to have an avoidance mindset when things happen. Today I was so startled my reactions couldn’t keep up. Thinking back now, I definitely handled it poorly. If only I had been timely… sigh, for now, I can only bring some hot water to let our big hero relieve his fatigue and warm up!”

Hearing Bi Tu’s words, Qu Fu frowned and turned to look at Kong Yanfei. Seeing the girl’s body visibly stiffen for a moment, Qu Fu arched an eyebrow and spoke up.

“Oh, Teacher Bi has quite the awareness, knowing to bring warmth to our hero. Since you’ve taken over the logistics and support work, we won’t be polite then. Right, Little Yanfei?”

Kong Yanfei looked timidly at Qu Fu. Seeing Qu Fu give a small nod, she took a deep breath.

“Then I’ll trouble you, Uncle Bi.” Kong Yanfei’s voice still carried a trace of a tremble, lacking the relaxed, upward lilt she usually had when calling him Uncle Bi.

“Oh, no trouble, no trouble at all! This is what I should do; the elders should be a solid backup!” Hearing Kong Yanfei’s request, Bi Tu’s eyes crinkled into a smile.

Impressive. Forgiven just like that? As expected, the older the ginger, the spicier it is. Mu Yao stood aside watching the exchange, knowing Bi Tu was skillfully admitting his mistake. He marveled at it in his heart.

“Teacher Bi, the hot water is very timely. Thank you.” Cheng Zeyi also maintained a proper smile. He raised his hand, gesturing with the cup toward Bi Tu, and slowly drank the water. Halfway through, staff members brought more cups of water for the others, and they all warmed up as well.

After a brief reorganization, the production crew took them to the village riverbank for some fun. The riverbank was one of the village’s famous attractions—an open stretch of land composed of natural pebbles of all sizes.

In the spring, rainfall wasn’t abundant, leaving the wide riverbed exposed. The clear river water flowed gently in its channel, making a pleasant gurgling sound. The unique pebbles on the shore were multicolored: some were ink-like blue-black, some were deep ochre-brown, and others were a gentle milky white. Of course, there were even more special colors among them, but they required careful observation to find.

The Village Chief walked at the head of the group, pointing at the river water and carefully reminding them, “The water is freezing right now; it’ll chill your feet to the bone, so you absolutely can’t go in!” After pointing at the water, his finger moved slightly to point at the shore. “Even though you can’t go in the water, there are plenty of treasures on the riverbank. Guests, you can look down at the pebbles beneath your feet; they’re a specialty here. Finding the most beautiful stone means picking up good luck!”

As soon as the Chief finished speaking, Kong Yanfei’s eyes lit up. She was at a playful age and was extremely interested in activities like stone hunting. She immediately crouched down, carefully rifling through the stones by her feet, occasionally picking one up to look at it against the sunlight.

Qu Fu still maintained the poise of a popular starlet, but she was also curious about the stones. She avoided the damp areas of the beach, walked to a drier spot, and bent slightly to nudge the stones with her foot. “Let me see which one is the prettiest!”

Mu Yao looked around and saw that the riverbank was wide open with no cover. Judging it to be safe, he also lowered his head to search the shore. Of course, he wasn’t actually looking for stones; he just didn’t want to be caught by the camera looking too out of place.

Having just received his shots, Cheng Zeyi didn’t want to strain his arm too much. He simply sat on a large rock, his gaze inadvertently following Mu Yao, occasionally looking down at the stones beside him.

Seeing everyone moving about the beach, Bi Tu seemed to realize this was a good time to perform. He hurried to crouch down, digging through the stones and loudly critiquing them from time to time.

“Ooh, this stone is round enough; looks like it could be a mini bowling ball! Whoa, this piece is so black, looks just like the charcoal we burned today! Oh my, this stone is so green, is it moss?” His voice was loud, drawing everyone’s attention toward him.

Kong Yanfei looked at the stone in her own hand, frowned, and then ran toward Bi Tu with a determined expression. “Uncle Bi, what kind of stones have you found?”

“Quick, quick, quick! Start the live stream and record this!” Seeing Kong Yanfei strike up a conversation with Bi Tu, the director seized the opportunity and hurriedly signaled the cameraman holding the live equipment to move closer. This was great material for a reconciliation, and it would also let the live audience see how the guests were doing.

As soon as the live stream began, a large number of fans flooded into the room. The fans had just experienced the panic of yesterday’s sudden disconnection. Upon entering, they immediately spammed the chat, demanding to see their favorites.

Seeing Kong Yanfei and Bi Tu exchanging stones, their fans breathed a sigh of relief, exclaiming that the atmosphere between them was harmonious—very much like a father or grandfather with a child. To that end, their fans began a heated debate over whether Bi Tu counted as a grandfather or a father.

“Teacher Bi isn’t that old and has maintained himself well; he looks like Kong Yanfei’s dad! I’m on Team Father-Daughter!”

“No, don’t ignore Teacher Bi’s actual age. Yanfei’s parents are only in their thirties; I still think Grandfather and Granddaughter is more appropriate!”

“It’s Father!”

“It’s Grandfather!”

“Yanfei could be the daughter!”

“No, no, no, definitely granddaughter!”

While the bullet comments were arguing, one drifted out lazily: “Can’t it be Uncle and Niece? That’s what Yanfei calls him anyway, is there a need to argue?”

The chat went silent for a moment. After a long while, another comment popped up: “Look at the Movie King! I’m curious if there’s any interaction between Movie King Cheng and Mu Yao!”

“Oh right! Didn’t Movie King Cheng just hug Mu Yao yesterday?”

“I want to see, I want to see!”

Under the prodding of the comments, the staff stopped filming Kong Yanfei and Bi Tu, turning the camera toward Cheng Zeyi and Mu Yao instead. One of them was sitting on a rock while the other was head-down searching for stones on the beach; to any observer, they looked like they weren’t very familiar with each other.

However, this didn’t stop the audience from scrutinizing the scene for clues, especially when they noticed Cheng Zeyi was watching Mu Yao!

“Ahhhhh! Is Movie King Cheng staring at Mu Yao! That gaze is such a “casually-not-casual” watch!”

“No, they aren’t familiar, no… actually, they’re kind of ship-worthy!”

“No one is forcing Movie King Cheng, right! Hahahaha!”

“I feel like Movie King Cheng has fallen for him, but Mu Yao is very clear-headed. No, I really want to watch the drama!”

“Haha, same here!”

“Mu Yao, look at the stones I found. What do you think?” Seeing that Kong Yanfei and Bi Tu were getting along, Qu Fu turned to talk to Mu Yao. She inadvertently stepped into the live shot, and the atmosphere in the comments shifted instantly from “watching the show” to something else.

“Ah, Qu Fu is still so beautiful!”

“Scheming woman, go away, no one wants to see you!”

“Hey, you above, don’t start a war. Qu Fu didn’t provoke you!”

“She is just calculating and arrogant; who knows how much she’s bullying Mu Yao!”

The chat immediately broke into an argument. However, Mu Yao, on-site, was unaware of the storm in the live comments. He watched as Qu Fu held out the stones, and he turned to look as well.

The stones Qu Fu had picked were of a substantial size, and their color was a gentle milky white—clearly high-quality pebbles. These white pebbles made Mu Yao feel a bit dazed. He suddenly remembered traveling with his parents as a child; his mother had also picked up a beautiful white pebble. That stone was still placed in his old family home, carrying his beautiful childhood memories.

“It’s a very beautiful stone.” Mu Yao suddenly smiled. That smile dissipated the coldness around him, making him look gentle and exquisite.

The chat went silent instantly. It was a long time before comments started appearing again.

“So… so beautiful!”

“Heavens! Mu Yao is stunning whether as a man or a woman! Who could resist that!”

“Ah! I suddenly feel like Mu Yao could marry me! I don’t mind his gender!”

“You above, get out of the way! Mu Xiaoyao belongs to Movie King Cheng!”

“Exactly, don’t steal our Movie King Cheng’s “wife”!”

While the comments were buzzing, on the other side, Cheng Zeyi froze as he looked at Mu Yao’s smiling face. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He didn’t know if it was because there was a trace of sadness in Mu Yao’s smile, or because Mu Yao was smiling at someone else.

He suddenly stood up, no longer sitting on the rock. Without a word, he lowered his head and quickly gathered a pile of stones.

Mu Yao was talking about stones with Qu Fu when he suddenly felt a large presence appear beside him. Before he could see clearly, a handful of stones was thrust into his arms.

“Hmm?” He scrambled to catch them. He barely managed to hold them all before hearing Cheng Zeyi’s deep voice:

“Here. They’re all yours!”

“No…” Mu Yao was about to refuse, but Cheng Zeyi turned away decisively, giving him no room for argument.

Wait, what is with this person? Has he lost it?