Love Contract with the Queen Actress - Chapter 16

Su Yuchen sat in Shen Wu’s car, secretly observing the rearview mirror.

Noticing the white jeep still following them, she finally broke the silence: “Is Sister Nan coming back with us too?”

Shen Wu kept her eyes on the road but glanced at the rearview mirror upon hearing this.

“Mm.”

Her response was brief. After a pause, she spoke again, her tone flat and mechanical: “When you went home earlier, Fu Nan called me. Said someone from her hometown brought free-range chickens, and her family made American ginseng chicken soup. She wanted to bring me a jar.”

She usually disliked talking, and the more she spoke, the more languid she became.

Yet certain words in her sentence caught Su Yuchen’s attention.

“So,” Su Yuchen ventured cautiously, “you told Sister Nan about what happened at my place earlier?”

At this thought, Su Yuchen suddenly recalled the scene from before.

After resolving the matter, Fu Nan turned to her.

“Yuchen, come with me for a moment. We need to talk.”

“Okay, Sister Nan.”

Su Yuchen could more or less guess what Fu Nan was about to say, so her reply betrayed a hint of unease.

Ironically, her lack of confidence only seemed to fuel someone else’s combativeness.

“What do you need to say that can’t be said in front of me?”

“…”

“…”

Fu Nan and Su Yuchen simultaneously turned to look at the woman standing there with her arms crossed, visibly displeased, dressed in luxurious faux fur, defiantly baring a stretch of snow-white thigh despite the winter chill, knee-high boots, cascading wavy hair, dazzling and bold: Shen Wu.

Whatever Fu Nan had planned to say probably wasn’t pleasant, but dragging Su Yuchen away to talk privately now would be inappropriate.

Fu Nan had no choice but to pull Su Yuchen a few steps farther away before speaking. “Yuchen, although today’s issue was resolved, it was only because I happened to call her. Things could’ve gone much worse.”

“Yeah, I know…” Su Yuchen lowered her long lashes, fingers fidgeting with the thick stitching inside her pocket.

Fu Nan sighed. “You know her temper, so I won’t lecture you.”

After a pause, she continued, “But today’s problem is solved, what about tomorrow? What if something else happens the day after? I can’t fix everything.”

“…”

“I’ve watched her climb her way up step by step. At first, her family didn’t support her, so she pushed herself to the limit to prove she could make it. If a role required it, she’d jump into a frozen lake in subzero temperatures. Reaching Triple Crown status by 27 wasn’t just talent and insight, it took relentless effort.”

“She might seem indifferent, but is she really? Have you ever considered that?”

“Remember what I told you before? The contract you signed… You promised me you wouldn’t get involved romantically, yet here you are with Shen Wu.”

“We’re not-”

Su Yuchen wanted to say they weren’t dating, but Shen Wu’s voice cut in first from behind them.

“We’re not dating.”

The words made both women turn to look at her.

Shen Wu tossed her voluminous, silky waves. “We’re just discussing a contractual marriage.”

“…”

The shock was too sudden.

Fu Nan’s mouth fell open into a perfect “O.”

It took her a long moment to regain her voice.

“Contractual… marriage?!”

At first, she was utterly disbelieving.

Until Su Yuchen innocently and naively added, “Isn’t it an engagement?”

Fu Nan’s inner monologue: A red panda pressed against the wall with a “Huh?” expression.

Shen Wu: “We can get engaged first, then married.”

Then Fu Nan’s inner expression changed to a red panda spinning like a top at high speed: “Ahhh!!”

Su Yuchen wanted to say something, but Shen Wu raised a slender finger to stop her and dropped another bombshell: “Besides, I forced her. If she didn’t agree, I’d just keep pestering her.”

In the end, Fu Nan’s mental red panda shot into the sky with a shriek, turning into a fleeting star.

“You guys play this hard?”

…

In the car, Shen Wu pondered Su Yuchen’s question and gave a rather serious answer.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t say much. After all, if you don’t tell me, my knowledge is limited.”

It sounded like she was still a little bothered that Su Yuchen hadn’t told her about what happened on set.

But Su Yuchen’s mind was still stuck on Fu Nan’s earlier “advice” not to get into a relationship, so she didn’t catch the sudden shift in Shen Wu’s tone.

She bit her lip.

“So…”

“How much did you tell Sister Nan?”

Because the thing she least wanted Shen Wu to know about seemed to have finally caught her attention.

And she didn’t want Fu Nan to know too much either. She was afraid… afraid that if Fu Nan learned about her family situation, she’d vehemently oppose Shen Wu being with her.

But… was Shen Wu really with her?

This was supposed to be an agreement, one that had nothing to do with dating.

Even both of them tacitly agreed: they weren’t in a relationship.

Yet she had undeniably caused trouble for Shen Wu, and there might be even more complications in the future.

A dim star trying to touch the radiant moon being illuminated is beautiful, but in the shadowed side, there’s always hidden insecurity.

Shen Wu glanced at Su Yuchen at a red light.

When the light turned green, she stepped on the gas, the taillights dimming as the sports car glided forward.

“I didn’t say much about you. Just what I plan to do.”

What Shen Wu planned to do… sounded anything but simple.

Back in the day, she had once shoved a stalker’s DSLR lens back into his mouth. The incident trended for two days, but she didn’t care about losing fans over it.

Thankfully, her uncle had run into Fu Nan, that was his good fortune.

Su Yuchen pressed her pale fingertips into her palm.

Biting her rosy lips, she finally spoke up: “I won’t be going to your place anymore.”

“What?!”

Another red light ahead. Shen Wu slammed on the brakes so hard and fast that the white Jeep behind them nearly rear-ended them.

The glaring red light, its countdown numbers like a grim countdown to doom.

Shen Wu turned her head, her gaze complex as she stared at Su Yuchen.

“What did you say? Say it again.”

Su Yuchen bit her lip hard. “I… won’t be going to your place anymore. I might not be able to take care of One Yuan in the future.”

“If it’s too much trouble, you can have someone bring him to the set when you have time. I’ll try to find another home for him.”

Shen Wu frowned, her usually alluring eyes now sharp with intensity.

But Su Yuchen kept her gaze lowered, speaking softly, unable to see the sorrow and dimness hidden in Shen Wu’s eyes.

“If you don’t like any of them, I’ll take her away from your house today.”

“Beep beep!!!”

The cars behind honked impatiently, and some even rolled down their windows, leaning halfway out to yell at Shen Wu’s white Jeep: “What’s the hold-up? Can’t find a color you like?!”

“The light’s green! Why aren’t you moving?!”

“Do you even know how to drive?!”

Shen Wu gripped the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white.

She paid no attention to the blaring horns behind her or perhaps she simply couldn’t spare the energy. Her eyes, filled with an unreadable emotion, remained fixed on Su Yuchen.

“Are you saying you want to cut ties with me?”

After the words left her lips, another unbearable silence followed.

The distant clamor seemed to fade into meaningless background noise.

Su Yuchen thought for a moment before finally lifting her gaze to meet Shen Wu’s.

Her almond-shaped eyes, usually soft and gentle, now carried a resolute sharpness at the corners.

“That wasn’t my intention, but… this seems like the best way to avoid causing you trouble.”

“I’ll take One Yuan with me and try to stay out of your sight as much as possible in the future.”

Speaking of avoiding trouble, One Yuan was the biggest trouble of all.

Yet neither of them could bear to let go of that trouble.

“No,” Shen Wu finally tore her gaze away, staring at the road ahead through slightly lowered lashes. “One Dollar is my cat. I even named her. What right do you have to take her?”

“…”

“Then… I’ll leave her in your care. I’ll be going now.”

With a soft click, the car door unlocked.

The red sports car swung its door open with the same arrogant flourish as before.

A rush of cold air flooded in, making Su Yuchen’s fingertips tremble slightly.

She stepped out, standing on the sidewalk curb, and bowed toward the slowly closing car door.

“Thank you for the ride. Goodbye.”

“…”

No response came.

Shen Wu answered with action before the door even fully shut, the roaring engine propelled the car forward with a violent lurch.

As the car vanished, Fu Nan’s white Jeep, which had just started moving, was forced to stop again at another red light. She rolled down the passenger window, her gaze lingering on Su Yuchen, her expression unreadable, but undeniably complicated.

There was also a faint sense of guilt, as if she’d just torn apart a pair of lovers.

Su Yuchen bowed to Fu Nan as well.

“I’m sorry for the trouble today, Sister Nan.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve always known that what isn’t mine was never meant to be. I’ll keep working hard from now on. Thank you for everything.”

She had always relied on herself in the past, and nothing would change now. With both feet firmly on the ground, she would keep moving forward.

Fu Nan sighed almost imperceptibly, offering her a faint smile before rolling up the window.

The traffic light turned green, and Fu Nan’s white Jeep disappeared into the night.

Su Yuchen stood silently, staring into the dark void of the sky, the bitterness in her heart surging uncontrollably.

She had once been so close to the moon but she was just a speck of dust. The closer she got to that radiant light, the more her own muddy, earthly nature was exposed.

Perhaps that was the real joke.

All that had happened between them, even that night, should be treated as nothing more than a beautiful, fleeting dream.