Hooking Away the Male Lead’s White Moonlight, the Best Actress - Chapter 1

The summer wind always carries an endless, sweltering heat, and the noisy chirping of cicadas only adds to one’s irritability.

Shen Manyu was jolted awake by this ubiquitous stuffiness. Opening her eyes blearily, she realized she had forgotten to turn on the air conditioning.

The curtains in the room were tightly drawn, making it so dark that not a single ray of light could penetrate. Immersed in the shadows, she felt a sense of isolation, as if she had been abandoned by the entire world.

Shen Manyu got up to turn on the AC and took a quick shower. Just as she stepped out while drying her hair, her phone screen lit up.

Switching her towel to her left hand, she picked up the phone and glanced at it.

A text from an unknown sender read: [Hua Yanqiu has joined the cast. Her room is right across from yours. You snatched her original partner’s resources; she will definitely target you. Better to strike first.]

Shen Manyu’s brow arched slightly, and the corners of her lips curled into a faint smile. She didn’t bother looking at it further and tossed the phone back where it came from.

The room temperature gradually dropped as the air conditioner hummed. As Shen Manyu lifted her hairdryer, she caught a faint sound coming from next door over the light whirring of the device.

Almost instinctively, she pressed the “off” button and tilted her head to listen.

“Yanqiu is here, yes, she just arrived today. I’m so sorry, Director Chen. As I mentioned before, Yanqiu had to go abroad for some business and truly couldn’t get away. Fortunately, we haven’t delayed the start of filming.”

Water continued to drip from her hair. Droplets that hadn’t been wiped dry slid down Shen Manyu’s delicate, smooth skin, quietly disappearing into her thin pajamas.

The voices outside weren’t clear. To hear better, Shen Manyu subconsciously leaned closer to the door.

As she moved, she slipped her phone into her pocket. She leaned lazily against the doorframe, arms crossed, silently listening to the activity separated only by a door.

The person who had been on the phone with the director earlier was Hua Yanqiu’s manager. Now that the call had ended, her voice dropped lower.

If Shen Manyu hadn’t had the foresight to move closer to the door, she truly wouldn’t have been able to hear the following whispers.

“Yanqiu, I heard that before you arrived, Shen Manyu was blocking your door, trying to cause trouble for you?”

Hua Yanqiu didn’t speak. Instead, someone who sounded like an assistant complained, “Sister Qi, I asked at the front desk before I came up. I don’t know which paparazzo leaked fake news, but everyone thought Sister Yanqiu would join the cast early.”

“As soon as Shen Manyu arrived at the hotel, she aggressively came to Sister Yanqiu’s room and pounded on the door. She made quite a scene.”

Sister Qi asked in return, “If she made such a big scene, why didn’t the hotel change our room?”

“The entire hotel has been booked by the production crew. Everyone’s room numbers were settled in advance. Changing one thing affects everything else. If word gets out, people outside will say Sister Yanqiu is acting like a diva.”

The manager, Sister Qi, was silent for a moment before asking Hua Yanqiu, “Yanqiu, do you want to switch hotels?”

Hua Yanqiu finally spoke. Her voice was very light and cool, like mist after a rain: “There’s no need for such a fuss. As long as she doesn’t come looking for me, we can mind our own business and live in peace.”

Sister Qi said slowly, “Yanqiu, she went to great lengths to snatch Zhou Zhou’s role as the second female lead, and then managed to get the room right across from yours. Who would believe that’s a coincidence?”

Hua Yanqiu replied indifferently, “It might not be for me. Isn’t Jing Yanqing the investor for this drama?”

Inside the room, the lights remained off. Aside from the light hum of the air conditioner, there was only the sound of Shen Manyu’s own shallow breathing.

She idly pressed the lock button on her phone. With her movements, the screen flickered between light and dark. Her face was occasionally illuminated by the glow before fading back into the gloom.

She leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe. Water droplets slid from her wet hair onto her collarbone; the cold air from the AC blew past, causing a brief shiver.

Hearing that the assistant had finished tidying the room and that Hua Yanqiu was about to enter, Shen Manyu thought for a moment. She tossed her dripping hair back, picked up her hairdryer, opened the door, and walked out.

Her room was dark, so the people outside clearly thought she wasn’t in. They were all startled by the sudden movement.

“Shen Manyu?!”

Hua Yanqiu’s door was open. She hadn’t walked in yet and was standing at the entrance. Compared to Shen Manyu being all alone, the treatment Hua Yanqiu received was entirely different.

There were several assistants, and her manager was right by her side. If one didn’t know her identity, they might have mistaken her for a wealthy heiress on a trip.

Hua Yanqiu’s figure was completely obscured by the group, and Shen Manyu couldn’t see her clearly.

Facing the wary gazes of the crowd, Shen Manyu calmly held up her hairdryer and asked, “My hairdryer is broken. Does anyone have one I can borrow for a bit?”

The assistants exchanged glances, clearly shocked by her peaceful attitude. With one look, Shen Manyu could see the blatant loathing they had for her.

However, thinking about what the original owner of this body intended to do, Shen Manyu felt at ease. She didn’t feel at all dejected by their exclusionary attitude.

Her arm began to ache from holding up the hairdryer. The assistants seemed to fall into a strange silence, their expressions beyond description. Finally, they all turned their gaze toward Hua Yanqiu.

Hua Yanqiu moved, and her figure was finally revealed to Shen Manyu.

The fluorescent lights in the hotel hallway were very bright, leaving nothing of Hua Yanqiu’s appearance hidden.

Purely in terms of looks, Hua Yanqiu was undoubtedly beautiful. At first glance, she didn’t seem real, but rather like the most perfect masterpiece from a painter’s brush.

Yet, when most people faced Hua Yanqiu, the first thing they noticed wasn’t her outstanding beauty, but the aura of calm and composure she carried.

She simply stood there, and when she looked up, she was like a heartless, desireless deity from the heavens casting a brief glance at a believer.

Shen Manyu finally seemed to understand why people online always said Hua Yanqiu was cold and unapproachable.

Her heart skipped a beat. The smile on her face deepened as she said to Hua Yanqiu, “Help me out, please? My hair is still wet.”

Her tone was natural and intimate, as if the two of them were on great terms, and even carried a hint of unconscious coquettishness. It made the circle of assistants seethe with rage, wishing they could step forward and tear her mouth apart.

Hua Yanqiu studied her silently for a moment. Her gaze followed the water droplets falling from the tips of Shen Manyu’s hair, pausing briefly on her skin—white and smooth like fine mutton-fat jade.

She seemed to find her a bit strange today, but she had no intention of probing further. She quickly looked away and nodded to an assistant.

Although the assistant was extremely reluctant, she still obediently brought out a hairdryer for Shen Manyu.

Shen Manyu smiled and thanked them, then waved to Hua Yanqiu. “Sorry for the trouble. I’ll return it to you in a bit~”

Hua Yanqiu replied indifferently, “No need. You can keep it.”

Shen Manyu was highly sensitive to people’s hidden motives; she could easily see through Hua Yanqiu’s calm exterior to the well-concealed impatience beneath.

It was only Hua Yanqiu’s refined upbringing that prevented her from exposing this distaste to Shen Manyu’s face. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t developed a deep aversion to Shen Manyu’s repeated provocations.

Shen Manyu didn’t push further and thanked her once more.

The moment she returned to her room and closed the door, her smile faded.

The lights remained off, but the faint glow from the air conditioner’s digital display meant the room was no longer in total darkness.

Her phone screen lit up again. A new message from the unknown sender flashed: **[I’ve received word that Jing Yanqing will be joining the production in the next couple of days. You two have a bit of a history; if it weren’t for Hua Yanqiu standing in the way, you probably would have landed him long ago.

His family background is extraordinary. If you can latch onto him, you’ll be set for life. You must seize this opportunity.]**

Above these two messages was a tentative inquiry sent by the original owner of this body before Shen Manyu transmigrated into this world: [Who are you?]

Naturally, that message had been like a stone sinking into the ocean, receiving no response.

Shen Manyu saw the situation clearly: the person behind these texts had ulterior motives and was not to be trusted. However, the information itself wasn’t necessarily false.

“Hua Yanqiu.”

Shen Manyu’s lips parted slightly as the name slipped soundlessly through her teeth.

The voices outside had ceased. It seemed that Hua Yanqiu’s entourage was somewhat taken aback by her unusual reaction.

Soon, the soft click of a door closing echoed. All movement was swallowed behind the shut door across the hall.

Shen Manyu lay alone in the dark. The darkness wrapped around her tightly, the two blending together in perfect harmony, as if they were born as one.

Hua Yanqiu, huh.

She savored the name, her lips curling into a silent, brilliant smile.

Her hair was still damp, and the clammy sensation was unpleasant. Not wanting to suffer, Shen Manyu took the hairdryer into the bathroom.

The machine’s vibration hummed for a moment. As the steam rose and met the cold glass, a layer of mist gradually clouded the mirror.

In the blurred fog, Shen Manyu’s features grew indistinct. Looking from certain angles, her reflection actually seemed a bit foreign.

Holding the hairdryer in one hand, she ran the other carelessly through her soft, long hair.

As if talking to herself, she whispered, “Do you not want me to do this? You don’t want me to hurt her?”

She was smiling and speaking with a vivid expression, her eyes full of charm, yet her reflection seemed like another version of herself that had suddenly split off.

Though their features were identical, their vastly different temperaments made them two entirely separate individuals.

The girl in the mirror had eyes full of sorrow, a faint melancholy swirling around her. Though there were no tears, it was a sight more heartbreaking than actual weeping.

Once her hair was dry, Shen Manyu turned off the hairdryer. She flicked her finger against the forehead of her reflection and gave a playful smile. “Silly girl. Do you think atonement means serving someone hand and foot, like a maid attending to an Empress?”

“Never mind that she doesn’t need it—even if she did, with her status and wealth, there are plenty of people willing to crawl at her feet and be her dog.”

As she spoke, her brows lowered, her expression turning dark and unreadable. But the blurred face in the mirror didn’t feel comforted; it looked as though it might burst into tears at any second.

Shen Manyu couldn’t help but sigh, feeling a bit helpless. “Fine, fine. Since you let me live a second life, I will naturally help you.”

She unplugged the hairdryer and left the bathroom.

Behind her, the mist on the mirror cleared at some unknown point. Not a single water droplet remained on the glass; it was so clean it seemed as though the previous sight had been a brief hallucination.

Shen Manyu had slept all afternoon, but sleepiness still refused to let her go.

She was in the middle of a pleasant dream when her phone screen suddenly lit up.

The bright, upbeat ringtone was irritatingly loud. Shen Manyu forced her eyes open and squinted at the name on the screen.

The large words “Brother Yan” filled her with a sense of revulsion, making her stomach churn. She rolled over and impatiently cut the call.

The person on the other end seemed completely blindsided by her rejection. After a brief pause, a second call followed immediately.

The cheerful tune, filled with the innocent joy of a young girl’s love, had abruptly turned into a funeral dirge.

Every beat drummed against Shen Manyu’s sensitive nerves. She sat up with a snap and snatched the phone. Hang up, block, delete—the entire sequence was performed with fluid precision.

Only when it was finished did she breathe a sigh of relief. She tossed the phone aside and collapsed back onto the bed like a lifeless corpse.

Before her drowsiness could settle again, a barrage of notification sounds erupted.

The pings and dings were incessant. The messages flooded in without pause, one after another, as if the sender’s fury were crawling through the internet cables.

“You went to see Hua Hua?!”

“Didn’t I tell you never to show your face in front of her!”

“Who do you think you are compared to her? The gap between you is like heaven and earth. You’re just mud on the ground—where do you get the nerve to dance in front of her?”

“Did I not warn you?! Shen Manyu, remember your place! And yet you fucking treated my words like wind passing your ears?”

“Shen Manyu, I didn’t care what you did before, and I gave you whatever resources you wanted. I spoiled you this much, and I only had this one request, and you can’t even do that?”

“If you dare get close to Hua Hua again, don’t even think about making a comeback in this life! You’ve truly crossed my line this time. Shen Manyu, you just wait!”

Fueled by a mix of “waking-up-grumpiness” and the resentment of being disturbed, Shen Manyu was so angry she laughed.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard. With a cold sneer, she replied:

“Wow, big brother, you’re so powerful. Good brother, come over quickly, I’m waiting for you in bed~ [Cat blowing a kiss.jpg]”

She hit send, didn’t bother waiting for a reaction, and swiftly blocked him on every social media platform.

Then, clutching her thin blanket and holding the hairdryer Hua Yanqiu had just given her, she walked across the hall and gracefully knocked on the opposite door.

With a sweet, soft voice and a pitiful expression, she said:

“Sister, the AC in my room seems to be broken. It’s so hot… can I stay in your room tonight?”

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