I Stole the Male Lead's White Moonlight [Transmigration] - Chapter 24

The filming was postponed, so Zhu Xinya went directly back to the house Que Hanfu had bought.

On the second floor, there was a large bedroom with an extra-soft Simmons mattress on the big bed.

Seeing that Zhu Xinya liked the master bedroom, Que Hanfu said, “You can sleep in this room tonight. I’ll take the smaller bedroom next door.”

“Sister!” Zhu Xinya quickly grabbed Que Hanfu’s hand, her eyes blinking pitifully. “I’m scared to sleep alone. Could you stay with me?”

Que Hanfu glanced at the delicate hand holding hers. Reason told her to refuse, but before her rationality could intervene, she had already nodded and agreed, “Okay.”

“Sister, you’re the best! I like you so much!” Overjoyed, Zhu Xinya hugged Que Hanfu and bounced up and down a couple of times.

Que Hanfu knew full well that the “like” in Zhu Xinya’s words wasn’t the kind she herself longed for, yet she couldn’t help feeling a faint ripple of happiness in her heart.

After washing up, the two lay side by side on the bed. Zhu Xinya stayed still for only a short while before glancing at Que Hanfu’s beautiful profile. Slowly, she shifted closer, cautiously reaching out to wrap her arms around Que Hanfu’s. Seeing that Que Hanfu made no move to pull away, her anxious heart immediately settled.

“I’m an only child, so I’ve always been alone. Although I have good friends, friends are different from a sister. Every year on my birthday, I wished for a sister who would love and care for me, but I knew it was impossible. Now, that impossible wish has come true. Sister, I’m so glad I met you.”

Que Hanfu felt Zhu Xinya tighten her embrace, her small, soft curves pressing fully against her arm. A sensitive shiver ran down Que Hanfu’s arm, raising goosebumps. She wanted to pull away but feared upsetting Zhu Xinya, so she remained stiff, letting the younger girl hold her tightly.

“I’m glad to have met you too, Xinya.” Que Hanfu’s high intelligence allowed her to quickly grasp situations. After noticing how differently she behaved around Zhu Xinya, she spent two days carefully observing and analyzing her feelings. With the help of some online searches, she soon confirmed that all her reactions stemmed from having fallen for Zhu Xinya.

She had actually fallen for a sweet, innocent girl!

For twenty-three years, Que Hanfu had believed she was a committed singleton, incapable of loving anyone. Yet, within less than a week of meeting Zhu Xinya, she found herself irresistibly drawn to her.

The feeling of liking someone was wondrous like a heart that had always felt hollow was now filled with cotton candy, sweet and soft, utterly captivating.

Before Que Hanfu could decide whether to pursue Zhu Xinya, she discovered that the girl already had a fiancé. Fortunately, he turned out to be a scumbag, and Zhu Xinya was fully aware of his true nature. Their engagement would inevitably be called off.

Que Hanfu’s emotions had been on a rollercoaster, all because of Zhu Xinya.

Yet Zhu Xinya seemed unaffected, seeing her only as a sister.

After hearing what Zhu Xinya had just said, Que Hanfu hesitated to confess her feelings.

If Zhu Xinya were to dislike her or distance herself because of it, she knew she wouldn’t be able to bear it.

Que Hanfu lifted her other hand and gently stroked Zhu Xinya’s soft hair. She’s still young, she thought. There’s no need to rush. If she can’t accept love from a woman, then I’ll stay by her side as her sister, protecting her.

Zhu Xinya was too caught up in her happiness to notice the turbulent emotions churning within Que Hanfu.

She had spent the entire day busy with hair extensions, makeup, and styling, without even getting a chance to nap at noon. The moment she lay down on the bed, exhaustion overwhelmed her. Holding Que Hanfu’s hand brought her immense comfort, and after expressing her feelings to Que Hanfu and receiving a response, Zhu Xinya quickly fell asleep.

Zhu Xinya continued to hold her without letting go, and Que Hanfu dared not move a muscle, lying stiffly as she stared blankly at the ceiling.

Later, when Zhu Xinya was sound asleep and began to softly snore, Que Hanfu slowly turned over and looked down at her.

The girl clinging to her arm slept peacefully, her body pressed close without shifting. Her long eyelashes cast delicate shadows on her eyelids, and her soft pink lips were slightly parted, the source of the gentle snores.

Que Hanfu’s cool gaze warmed with affection. Yaya is truly adorable.

She carefully leaned down and placed a light kiss on Zhu Xinya’s nose as fleeting as a breeze, as faint as a breath, leaving no trace behind.

“Goodnight, my Yaya.”

Zhu Xinya woke up in the middle of the night, feeling too warm.

When she opened her eyes, she realized she was curled up entirely in Que Hanfu’s embrace. Her grip on Que Hanfu’s arm had shifted to wrapping around her waist, and they were facing each other, tightly entwined.

Zhu Xinya didn’t suspect Que Hanfu, assuming instead that she had been restless in her sleep and inadvertently overstepped.

Blushing, she quickly withdrew her hand, grabbed the blanket, and rolled to the other side.

Turning her back to Que Hanfu, Zhu Xinya picked up her phone from beside the pillow and hid under the covers to check the screen.

3:30 a.m.

It was the middle of the night, a time for deep sleep, why had she woken up so suddenly?

Zhu Xinya found it baffling.

Her mind was now wide awake, buzzing with energy.

Deciding not to force sleep, she reasoned that even with her eyes closed, there was a 99% chance she wouldn’t drift off again. It was better to play on her phone for a while; maybe she’d tire herself out and fall back asleep later.

She opened Weibo’s trending topics and browsed through the ones that caught her interest.

One hashtag, which had been at the very bottom of the list earlier, had already climbed to fifth place in a short time.

The tag read: #HowToSlapDownActressesWhoLandRolesThroughConnections#

Suspecting it might be related to her, Zhu Xinya quickly tapped on the hashtag.

The top post was from an account called “Expose Club,” known for breaking news about minor celebrities’ scandals.

@ExposeClub:

Exposing those actresses who land roles through connections, let’s see how they get their comeuppance despite their powerful backers.

Below the post was a long infographic. Zhu Xinya opened it and read through from start to finish, her face darkening with anger.

The Meng Guansheng crew really is relentless buying a trending spot in the middle of the night, afraid I’d notice during the day and have my “patron” suppress it, huh?

They sneak it up the rankings overnight so that by morning, when everyone’s awake, the topic naturally gains traction, making it impossible to curb.

The infographic detailed three actresses with tarnished reputations in the entertainment industry, describing how they used their patrons to land roles, acted arrogantly, and were eventually humbled and faded into obscurity.

After introducing these three well-known actresses, the infographic continued: Besides the three mentioned above, Expose Club has another recent scoop. Two pretty young actresses used connections to join a crew, pushed out the original actress, and then arrogantly bullied her. The righteous director, defying the investors’ demands, kicked them off the set. Director Meng Guansheng declared: Even if the investors pull out, I will never work with such shameless actresses.

Following that were the deliberately darkened makeup photos of Zhu Xinya and Que Hanfu.

Zhu Xinya opened the comments section under the Weibo post. The commenters either posted an emoji or a couple of random words clearly bought shills.

Zhu Xinya really wanted to kick the heads of the Meng Guansheng brothers right off. When people have no shame, they are invincible, and these two had reached a level of shamelessness that was truly unparalleled in the universe.

If she and Que Hanfu were truly helpless minor actors, they would have no way to resist the Meng brothers’ schemes. But she wasn’t, so tomorrow, the Meng brothers could just wait to be KO’d!

Fuming, Zhu Xinya turned off her phone, poked her head out from under the covers, and tossed her phone aside. They wanted to make a big deal out of it? Fine, let it blow up. She’d just watch them ruin their own reputations step by step.

Zhu Xinya closed her eyes, her heart racing. Frowning, she couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard she tried, so she rolled around restlessly on the bed in small movements.

Perhaps her tossing and turning was too loud, because the deeply sleeping Que Hanfu suddenly stirred.

Zhu Xinya immediately curled up and pretended to be asleep.

Que Hanfu, eyes still closed, stretched out an arm and fumbled around the bed. Zhu Xinya’s heart pounded nervously, afraid Que Hanfu would discover she’d been secretly playing on her phone in the middle of the night.

Finally, Que Hanfu’s hand touched Zhu Xinya under the bunched-up blanket. Just as Zhu Xinya thought Que Hanfu would sit up and lecture her, Que Hanfu began to slowly shift closer, inching toward Zhu Xinya until they were pressed together. Only then did Que Hanfu seem satisfied, wrapping her arms around Zhu Xinya and settling down.

Huh?

Zhu Xinya lay there bewildered, wrapped in the blanket and held by Que Hanfu.

“Sister?” Zhu Xinya whispered.

Que Hanfu was sound asleep and didn’t respond.

Zhu Xinya couldn’t help but smile. So Que Hanfu hadn’t actually woken up. She’d been so scared her heart nearly jumped out of her throat.

Come to think of it, when she’d woken up earlier, it was probably Que Hanfu who had initiated the hug, and she’d just hugged back.

She’d thought it was strange, she wasn’t the clingy type, and holding an arm was her limit. How could she have dared to sleep with her arms wrapped around Que Hanfu’s waist?

Breathing in Que Hanfu’s comforting scent, Zhu Xinya closed her eyes and quickly relaxed into sleep.

The next morning, when Zhu Xinya woke up, Que Hanfu was already out of bed. Hearing sounds from the bathroom, Zhu Xinya knew Que Hanfu was showering. She couldn’t resist hugging the blanket and rolling around on the big bed a couple of times.

Sleeping with Que Hanfu had been so comfortable her whole body was signaling “bliss.”

Since her parents passed away, she hadn’t slept this well in a long time.

On the surface, she seemed to be adjusting easily to this world from the book, but deep down, she was anxious. She was afraid she might one day lose the parental love she had regained. All the uncertainties pointed to Li Heng as long as he remained a threat, she couldn’t truly feel at ease.

But last night, sleeping beside Que Hanfu, she had slept deeply and peacefully, her mind completely blank, feeling utterly secure.

Zhu Xinya draped one leg over the blanket and secretly wondered if she could find a way to sleep with Que Hanfu every night from now on.

But then she thought of Que Hanfu’s cool and reserved personality and quickly dismissed the idea.

Although Que Hanfu had taken the initiative to hold her while sleeping, it didn’t necessarily mean she enjoyed sharing a bed or sleeping closely with others. Perhaps Que Hanfu was simply used to hugging a doll at home and had mistaken her for one while asleep.

When Que Hanfu emerged from her shower, she was dressed in a snow-white bathrobe, her long hair damp and cascading down her back. Seeing Zhu Xinya awake and lost in thought, a flush of warmth crept across her face.

That morning, upon waking and realizing she had held Zhu Xinya all night, Que Hanfu felt a mix of sweetness and lingering fear. If Zhu Xinya had woken up midway and noticed her actions, she might have grown to dislike her.

Even if she didn’t dislike her now, once she discovered Que Hanfu’s feelings and desires for her, she would surely feel disgusted.

Que Hanfu gazed deeply at Zhu Xinya’s sweet, sleeping face before withdrawing her arm, leaving the bed to take a shower.

After her bath, she finally calmed down, feeling ready to face Zhu Xinya. But as soon as she stepped out and saw her, the tranquility in her heart rippled once more.

Que Hanfu sadly acknowledged a truth: she could never remain composed around Zhu Xinya.

“Sister, good morning!” Zhu Xinya, noticing Que Hanfu had finished her shower, immediately sat up in bed. Her fair face beamed with a radiant smile as she greeted Que Hanfu with lively energy.

“…Good morning.”

“Oh, right! I need to call my dad!” Remembering the events of the previous night, Zhu Xinya picked up her phone and dialed Zhu Yin’s number.

“Hey, Dad, I have something to tell you!” Zhu Xinya quickly recounted her discoveries from the night before and asked him to have the legal team at Fangyin Group draft a lawyer’s letter on her behalf.

“Dad, don’t worry. I have a recording as evidence. Everything will be fine.”

Zhu Yin said sympathetically, “Those two have gone too far. Thank goodness my daughter is so clever.”

After hanging up, Zhu Xinya looked up to see Que Hanfu standing stiffly by the bed, watching her.

“Sister?” Zhu Xinya waved her hand worriedly in front of Que Hanfu. “Are you okay?”

A flicker of intense emotion passed through Que Hanfu’s cool eyes, now filled with shyness as she turned her head away, avoiding Zhu Xinya’s gaze. She replied somewhat awkwardly, “Did you wake up in the middle of the night?” Had she discovered that Que Hanfu had been holding her?

Zhu Xinya looked puzzled. “Yes, I did.”

“Then… did anything strange happen?” Que Hanfu’s icy voice trembled slightly.

“Strange? Do you mean Meng Guansheng and his brother slandering us on Weibo?” Innocence and anger mingled in Zhu Xinya’s eyes. “Sister, you have no idea how furious I was when I first saw that post. How could there be such malicious people in the world? But evil deeds bring their own punishment, they’ll pay for what they’ve done! Hmph!”

Seeing that Zhu Xinya made no mention of the “sleeping embrace,” Que Hanfu subtly breathed a sigh of relief.

“What did they post on Weibo?” Que Hanfu asked calmly, having regained her composure.

Zhu Xinya shared the Weibo post with her via phone. “Sister, take a look. It’s already climbed to the top of the hot search list!”

Que Hanfu picked up her phone from the bedside table, opened WeChat, and read the post.

By the time she finished, all expression had vanished from her face.

“When are you releasing the recording?” Que Hanfu asked in a low voice.

Zhu Xinya didn’t mind being angry herself, but seeing Que Hanfu upset immediately made her heart ache. She climbed out of bed, rushed to Que Hanfu’s side, and wrapped her arms around her, saying, “Once my dad’s lawyer finishes drafting the legal notice, I’ll immediately release the recording to shut them down. Don’t be angry, sister getting too worked up harms your health.”

“Those two deserve to die,” Que Hanfu said coldly.

“They do, they do! This time, we’ll definitely take them down with one decisive blow!” Zhu Xinya grinned playfully and flashed a victory sign.

Que Hanfu didn’t smile.

Zhu Xinya wasn’t sure how to comfort her further.

After a moment, Que Hanfu suddenly spoke, “It’s my fault for not being able to protect you.”

Zhu Xinya quickly replied, “It’s Meng Guansheng and his brother’s wrongdoing, not yours.”

“I actually couldn’t protect you,” Que Hanfu murmured, feeling as though her exceptional intelligence had become a joke.

She had achieved success in so many fields, yet she couldn’t even safeguard the person she loved.

“Yaya, give me some time. After this is over, I will never let you suffer any harm again,” Que Hanfu said earnestly, her gaze fixed on Zhu Xinya.

Zhu Xinya nodded immediately, “Sister, I believe in you.”

Her sister must be deeply upset this time.

“Sister, come sit down. Let me dry your hair for you, you might catch a cold,” Zhu Xinya said, pulling Que Hanfu to a chair. “Is there a hairdryer here?”

“In the bedside drawer,” Que Hanfu replied, slightly dazed.

Zhu Xinya retrieved the hairdryer from the drawer and began gently drying Que Hanfu’s hair with care.

Que Hanfu sat motionless on the chair, and Zhu Xinya smiled inwardly. Her sister looked so obedient and adorable!

By the time Zhu Xinya finished drying Que Hanfu’s long hair, the online exposé had fully blown up.

Zhu Xinya received an image of the legal notice from her father, Zhu Yin, and promptly posted it on Weibo along with the recording.

She tagged several influential bloggers to help spread the word and even paid to boost the topic’s visibility.

Netizens, who had been fervently criticizing her, were suddenly faced with a dramatic reversal: the two actresses accused of jumping the queue into the cast were actually victims of Meng Guansheng and his brother’s predatory behavior. The brothers’ disgusting remarks in the recording left everyone appalled.

Realizing they had been deceived, the netizens’ anger intensified. They flocked to Meng Guansheng’s Weibo to vent their fury, and the hashtag #MengGuanshengPredatoryBehavior quickly soared to the top of the trending list.

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