Joining A Dating Show With Five Exes - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Hunter Hiding Its Fangs, Masquerading as a Pet.

Su Huai, the manager who came to pick up Cheng Shiyuan for the commercial shoot, saw the sight of Wang Shu embracing Cheng Shiyuan from afar.

She instantly had a vision: a story about a young bear cub in the wild, mimicking a human by affectionately resting its paws on their shoulders from behind, only to utterly devour the person the moment they turned around.

Under the bright sun, Su Huai inexplicably shivered.

She distinctly remembered that the CP personally chosen by her young master should have been the aloof and solitary Xie Zhiqing, who was polite to no one, right?

Where did this little wild beast come from?

And when Wang Shu sensitively noticed the covetous gaze from the side and looked over with a warning glance from those light-colored, inorganic-like eyes.

Su Huai couldn’t help but sneer: Hah! It’s a crossbreed!

Cheng Shiyuan, however, seemed completely oblivious to the possessiveness of the person behind her, who looked like she wanted to swallow her whole. Seeing Su Huai approach, she smiled and patted the hand on her shoulder, indicating that she needed to bring one more person to the studio today.

Su Huai then noticed that the kid who had been suspicious and wary of her moments ago instantly became obedient and polite:

“Then I’ll trouble Manager Su today.”

Her sweet tone made it seem as though everything Su Huai had just seen was an illusion.

But what storms hadn’t Manager Su seen in the entertainment industry? A mere child with two faces…

In the car, she immediately brought up a guest house she had once stayed at during her travels with Cheng Shiyuan.

The focus was on the innkeeper’s giant dog.

“It hardly ever barked. It just lay in its den chewing on a bone, but every tourist who passed by was terrified.”

“Its body was so big that people passing by that black shadow at night were afraid it would get tired of the bone and suddenly want a change of menu.”

The manager made her point definitively: “So, I don’t recommend keeping large animals around.”

Wang Shu’s face instantly darkened.

But she didn’t dare utter a single protest, instead shrinking her head in frustration behind the passenger seat.

This caused Cheng Shiyuan, who was beside her, to let out a chuckle and reach out to stroke Wang Shu’s head.

Putting everything else aside, she considered herself quite experienced in raising large dogs.

Twisting open the herbal cream handed to her by the manager, Cheng Shiyuan applied it to the wound on her lip, thinking:

This one is so obedient. Surely she won’t be harder to manage than Xie Zhiqing, right?

But Wang Shu, whose head had just been stroked, sensed the perfunctory nature of the action, the lack of even a single extra second of comfort.

She couldn’t suppress the urge to fiercely pull that hand back—

To press down on those slender, soft fingers.

To force her to seriously and attentively pet her until she was satisfied. Until then, no matter how much she complained of being tired or having a sore hand, she wouldn’t be allowed to stop.

Not just stroking her head, but continuing downward, using her fingertips to feel her now mature and full body, until reaching the source of the desire that was building.

Wang Shu took a quick breath. Those beautiful eyes, which usually conveyed innocence and clarity, narrowed with a satisfied, almost wolfish look.

She was reaching her limit.

But the cunning hunter still expertly wore her mask of docility and obedience.

Yet, when a child suddenly rushed in from the end of the hallway, crashing into Cheng Shiyuan’s arms and being treated with even greater tenderness, Wang Shu still felt a twinge of envious jealousy.

Even though, strictly speaking, the other person was just a child barely ten years old.

“Meko,” as the cosmetics sub-brand of a top international luxury good, had specifically hired a group of ten-year-old child models for the advertisement to embody the brand’s trendy, avant-garde feel.

The one who ran into her arms was the prettiest of the bunch, like a refined, living doll.

“The President of the Looks Committee,” Cheng Shiyuan, usually loved to tease these beautiful children when filming. She immediately bent down and gave the child a wide smile.

Who knew the child would stand there blankly for a moment, then suddenly turn and run away.

“Don’t misunderstand, it must be because you’re too beautiful to be mortal. The child is shy and socially anxious, that’s why they ran.”

The brand liaison, who approached her, could barely take his eyes off her. He saw how she, dressed in just a thin, fragmented piece of cloth, with a few white feathers casually attached, exuded an angelic, divine quality.

Considering the advertisement’s sequence—the transformation from an angel to a succubus after the lipstick was applied…

The hand holding the coffee trembled.

Cheng Shiyuan was accustomed to such gazes. She focused only on the child’s flushed ear tips, noticed the photographer was still directing people to set up the scene, and casually chatted:

“I’ve seen people more socially anxious than that.”

If it were to describe that child, “socially anxious” would be a compliment.

Thinking of a young actor she met during an internship in Hollywood, Cheng Shiyuan unconsciously smiled, recalling those foreign actors who bloomed too early and were excessively dazzling when they did.

Just then, Wang Shu came into her line of sight.

“He had those kind of beautiful, translucent eyes, like glass beads,” Cheng Shiyuan praised, then changed the subject.

“Although that kid had a terrible temper. On set, besides his own lines, he never spoke to anyone else unnecessarily. The moment he was off work, he swore constantly. Even a passing dog would get an insult…”

Wang Shu, who had just shielded her from the brand liaison’s annoying gaze and turned to look at her, instantly froze.

She swallowed with difficulty, urgently recalling her most challenging past—was she really that annoying?

“However, I heard that the kid’s parents died in an accident. The relatives who adopted him only wanted the family fortune, not the child. They kicked him around like a ball, and even took him on a ‘vacation’ and abandoned him in a foreign country. He had to work illegally to survive.”

“I couldn’t stand that. Since I was studying abroad alone and bored, I liked collecting nearby snacks and bringing them to the set to amuse him. It took two whole months for that kid to finally smile at me once…”

Amidst the exaggerated tone, Wang Shu pursed her lips.

She was just trying to recall the muscle memory of that smile when she heard Cheng Shiyuan sigh.

“It’s a shame. I kept looking for a long time afterward on the Hollywood screen for that handsome male actor’s face, but I never found him.”

Wang Shu: “…”

Wang Shu: “?”

She briefly doubted her Chinese comprehension, struggling to repeat:

“Male. Ac. Tor?”

Cheng Shiyuan took in her constantly shifting expression.

She seemed to guess something but couldn’t resist indulging her mischievous streak: “Yes, the character that kid played was a noble young master. Western faces are often beautifully androgynous, so he must have been a cute little boy, right?”

Cheng Shiyuan smiled faintly, fearlessly extending her hand toward her—

Like an owner who knows they are keeping a ferocious beast, but because the pet is overly docile, they can’t help but want to test its boundaries.

She wanted to pry open the beast’s mouth, brazenly stroke the sharp fangs, and check how much wildness it still retained.

Wang Shu couldn’t help but turn her head away.

But just as that hand hung suspended in the air, she held her breath for less than half a second before pressing that fully turned half of her face firmly against the soft palm.

Even her jealousy was whispered: “…Is he cuter than me?”

Seeing this tall person, who even in high heels had to struggle to bend down and stick to her, Cheng Shiyuan’s eyes filled with pity. She took two steps closer to her.

Wang Shu only needed to glance down to see the thin material barely covering her sensitive areas. Her gaze was almost fixed, only her voice drifting with concern:

“Cheng Cheng, won’t you be cold wearing so little? Should we go back to the dressing room to rest first?”

The sight of the two people intimately pressed together and walking side-by-side was captured by a telescope in a distant high-rise.

The person holding the lens ground her molars, but only kept thinking:

“Not enough, not enough, just a little more…”

It wasn’t until she personally watched the seemingly glamorous and highly visible Cheng Shiyuan slowly walk towards the dressing room closest to the main entrance, exactly according to her script.

Ji Sheng finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Imagining that expensive gown being instantly sliced into tattered rags, exposing that person to public ridicule, she couldn’t control her excitement.

Even the fingers resting on the telescope began to twitch uncontrollably.

“Cheng… Shi… Yuan…”

Ji Sheng delicately chewed the name, as if crushing the owner of the name between her lips and teeth, letting out a rich, rose-like fragrance.

Just like the fragrance she had spied in the Cheng family garden in her youth.

As a side-line member raised outside the family for years, not even permitted to use the surname “Cheng,” Ji Sheng had only seen Cheng Shiyuan once, when she was very young and brought to the Cheng main house to pay respects to the great-grandmother on her birthday.

At that time, she was dusty and timid, and Cheng Shiyuan mistakenly took her for a servant’s child.

The spoiled Princess Cheng casually gave her the custom-made dress she had just received as a reward for keeping her movements a secret.

This was the first luxury item Ji Sheng had ever received.

From that moment on, she couldn’t stop thinking: What if I had lived in the Cheng family and been designated as the heir…?

And now, the dream had finally come true.

Even if this “dream” was something Cheng Shiyuan had discarded and casually thrown away before it fell into her hands, Ji Sheng had to endure the disgust, beat down all competitors like a mad dog, and hold onto it tightly!

It doesn’t matter. The one who laughs last is the real winner.

That arrogant, willful, and naive fool, Cheng Shiyuan, must still not realize how important the thing she lost was!

It’s fine. She’ll make her understand soon enough.

Away from the Cheng family, Cheng Shiyuan wouldn’t even be able to protect her pampered, delicate skin!

Wasn’t Wang Shu captivated by the perks that came with being the [Cheng Family Heir]?

When this actress who had fallen to the lowest class couldn’t even protect her beautiful face, everyone would surely see how ordinary she was without the halo of the Cheng family heir, right?

—The victor is her!

Her internal organs felt like they were on fire, and her throat became dry. Ji Sheng couldn’t help but lick her lips, her gaze never wavering, still fixed on Cheng Shiyuan’s every move.

One step, two steps, three steps… Bang!

Everything was going according to plan.

But the next second, Ji Sheng’s almost sinister smile suddenly froze on her face!

“Cheng Cheng!”

In the studio, Wang Shu’s eyes were nearly splitting as she saw the sudden danger!

Her body moved faster than her thoughts. She practically leaped from the spot like a ferocious beast gone mad, charging toward the dangerous figure!

While fiercely pinning the attacker down, Wang Shu didn’t hesitate to look at the location of the blade and then grabbed the sharp knife with her bare hands!

Absolutely, absolutely must not let this touch Cheng Cheng…

“Drip, drop, drip, drop”

As the scent of blood spread before her, Wang Shu hadn’t yet recovered from the adrenaline-fueled scene.

Until a familiar voice fell into her ear, mixed with an unfamiliar panic and helplessness she had never heard before: “Little Moon!”

—Little Moon?

Her light-colored eyes moved.

She saw Cheng Shiyuan rushing towards her.

Her usually deep-set peach blossom eyes were filled with obvious worry.

Was she worried about her?

Wang Shu followed her gaze and saw the torn wound on her palm.

If it was because of this, would tearing it wider, making it more dramatically terrifying, elicit more, even more emotion from Cheng Cheng’s eyes?

She unconsciously licked her lips, until her peripheral vision caught Cheng Shiyuan’s skirt, which was swaying precariously from her continuous running.

“You’re going to have a wardrobe malfunction.”

“What?”

Cheng Shiyuan, holding the bandage the assistant handed her, heard the strange words that came out after such a tense and stimulating attack, and even wondered if she had misheard.

Until the next second, she suddenly gasped!

Wang Shu had picked her up straight again!

She had just managed to pat the child who was misbehaving in public when she heard a low warning near her ear: “Cheng Cheng, if you move, you’ll flash everyone~”

Cheng Shiyuan had previously felt the fabric loosen, but when she felt it with her hand, she realized it wasn’t exaggerated to that extent.

So, until she was slowly put down in the changing room, she was calmly waiting to see what mischief this child was up to—

However, the embrace only graciously allowed her toes to barely touch the ground.

Then, it tightened bit by bit.

Her slender figure began to inch, rub, and adjust, in order to press seamlessly against her.

Cheng Shiyuan couldn’t stand steadily, and the force around her lower back was too tight. In the constant fear of falling, she instinctively held onto Wang Shu’s neck.

She felt like a piece of soft clay being molded, forced to use her skin to memorize the impression of the other person’s body contour.

Compounding this was her uncomfortable outfit. The lining was thin gauze; it was airy and breathable, but any friction against the skin would cause a slight itch.

Now, pressed tightly and rubbing against each other like this, her delicate skin almost reacted, turning a frightening, flushed pink.

Especially the most sensitive skin on her chest, which caused her to momentarily lose her focus, her mind going blank, forgetting to even utter a word of protest.

Wang Shu, who was taking the opportunity to retaliate for being mistaken for a boy earlier, unexpectedly heard it.

A choked sound, close to a sob, escaped from the soft lips near her ear.

…It seems she’s more sensitive than I thought?

But the thought that this side of Cheng Shiyuan could also be casually enjoyed by others made Wang Shu’s eyes darken again, though her voice remained sweet and intimate:

“If I block you like this, your clothes won’t fall off, right?”

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Cheng Shiyuan struggled to regain her focus, belatedly realizing that this seemingly obedient young beast was not as simple as she had imagined.

However, it seemed there were no better targets available for her to choose from right now.

Thinking this, she slowly parted her lips, but Wang Shu, who was always attentive to her breathing, noticed it—

No, she didn’t want to hear anything unpleasant come from that mouth.

She didn’t hesitate to block that mouth.

[Successfully touched Life Extension Target ‘Wang Shu’. Character unlock successful! Friendly reminder: If the host is more than one meter away from the target, the life extension effect will disappear!]

The voice only Cheng Shiyuan could hear rang out in her mind.

Her eyes were still filled with surprise. She hadn’t made a move, yet the Little Moon had just collided with her.

Wang Shu, however, was startled by the shock in her eyes.

She had wanted to push deeper and taste the flavor of those soft, hot lips, hoping to leave her own scent in that haven of tenderness.

In the end, she could only give a hoarse explanation, her throat bobbing:

“I’m sorry, I… I was just…”

She looked like a puppy who knew it had made a big mistake, its ears drooping in sincere repentance.

Her face flushed, and finally, as if to convince her master, she paused, her full lips slightly parted, and leaned down—

Extending a section of a crimson tongue.

Suspended on the tip of her tongue was a tear-shaped crystal.

Cheng Shiyuan realized something and raised her hand to touch her lower lip, where a small, stick-on pendant should have been.

Yet, the person who so boldly displayed such an alluring object had eyes like glazed glass, filled with sincerity and fervor.

Cheng Shiyuan could almost imagine the innocent tone of her voice saying:

“I saw that Cheng Cheng’s was about to fall off and wanted to catch it for you. I apologize for accidentally offending you…”

The crimson soft tongue, the icy-white tear-shaped crystal.

The extreme visual shock tempted Cheng Shiyuan to reach out toward those lips.

The moment she reached for the pendant, the tip of the tongue suddenly coiled up.

The next second, the white teeth snapped shut, biting her finger!

Cheng Shiyuan’s heart leaped.

But she felt her finger completely encased in that warm, wet mouth.

It was all soft and sticky, a moist heat, as she instinctively tried to pull away.

The base of her finger was stained with a translucent wetness.

And the person who had performed this sensual act still looked innocent and obedient.

She even thoughtfully licked away the excess wetness, bit by bit.

But when she lowered her gaze, Cheng Shiyuan clearly saw the burning adoration that could no longer be concealed in her eyes.

In that instant, Cheng Shiyuan could no longer distinguish if the person in front of her was a tame and loyal puppy—

Or a hunter who had hidden its fangs and was masquerading as a pet.