Reborn as an Alpha and Still Wanting to Engage in Lesbian Relationships - Chapter 16

The tension between Wen Qing and Wen Yu had become common knowledge to all viewers of the show’s live stream.

Yet, as biological mother and daughter bound by blood, they shared similarities in appearance, expressions, demeanor, and even preferences.

Just like now.

The moment they stepped out of the car, both began scanning the bustling, hectic film set, searching for that little sun-like adorable toddler.

But despite the crowds and their prolonged search, Wen Qing couldn’t spot the cherished little one she longed to see.

The beautiful toddler in the cold, brooding alpha’s arms, failing to find the person she wanted to see, began to mirror her alpha mother’s aura and expression.

Xu Nuo noticed Liu Ying finishing her scene, smiling and greeting colleagues she had worked with before, while quickly making her way over.

Standing before Liu Ying, whose face was still smeared with fake blood, Xu Nuo’s first question was: “Where’s Manzai? Why isn’t Manzai here?”

The trio looked left and right but couldn’t find the adorable toddler they were yearning for.

Xu Nuo cast a suspicious glance at Liu Ying, unable to resist a dark speculation: “Liu Ying, how old are you? You’re not lying to me here, are you?”

Seeing her distrustful expression, Liu Ying unceremoniously rolled her eyes. Not bothering to explain, she strode over to the director under Xu Nuo’s doubtful gaze and tapped the director on the shoulder.

Wen Qing’s eyes closely followed Manzai’s mother. She watched as the director removed her headphones, turned around with a puzzled look, and faced Liu Ying.

And there, nestled in her arms, the chubby little toddler appeared, fresh and vibrant!

The toddler in the director’s arms clearly hadn’t noticed her little friend’s arrival. Sitting obediently on the director auntie’s lap, her tiny hands pressed against the black-and-white printed script, she lifted her little face and gazed sweetly at her mother.

But one toddler couldn’t wait any longer.

Perched in Wen Yu’s arms, Wen Qing anxiously patted her mother’s shoulder, urging her to carry her over.

If you thought about it carefully, Wen Qing hadn’t had her “Manzai fix” all morning!

This was already her limit!

Unlike Wen Qing’s restless impatience, Wen Yu remained as steady as an ancient tree, rooted silently beside Xu Nuo until she received instructions from her wife.

Seeing that her mother was useless, Wen Qing braced herself, clenched her little fists, took a deep breath, and called out loudly to her beloved toddler with a “Pfft-yah!”

Liu Ying happened to be wearing a bathrobe brought by her assistant and picked up the toddler. Seeing the little one’s confused reaction to the sound, she couldn’t help but laugh: “Qingzai is here to play with you! Are you happy, Manzai?”

What?!

Jiang Man’s eyes widened.

Following the sound, she saw a beautifully dressed toddler who looked like a doll from a shop window, her eyes red and slightly swollen, pouting as she stared pitifully at Jiang Man.

Remembering how quickly and easily she had adapted to life without her little companion, Jiang Man felt an inexplicable pang of guilt.

But after hiding for a moment, Jiang Man recalled that it wasn’t her choice to be separated from Wen Qing, it was those pesky adults who had made them part ways.

She was a good kid!

She hadn’t done anything wrong!!

The toddler’s round eyes blinked, shifting from guilty evasion to firm resolve.

Patting her mother’s shoulder, Jiang Man signaled for Liu Ying to carry her over to Wen Qing.

The moment she saw Jiang Man, the little magnet Wen Qing swiftly and proactively attached herself to her.

The beautiful little one had red-rimmed eyes, with downturned corners at both eyes and mouth, sitting pitifully in her mother’s arms while burying her head against the fair golden-brown-haired child. Her small shoulders trembled pathetically.

How could Jiang Man, the ultimate aesthetics enthusiast, bear to see such an adorable little one crying so sorrowfully!

She quickly reached out to hug Wen Qing tightly, pressing her chubby cheek against Wen Qing’s equally plump one, gently nuzzling as comfort.

Wen Qing was easy to soothe as long as Jiang Man was nearby, even just holding hands would make her happy all day, let alone nuzzling.

The previously sniffling child stopped her tears, her glistening eyes fixed intently and earnestly on Jiang Man.

The director approached, shaking hands and exchanging words with Xu Nuo, then handed over the script she had just spread on her lap using the script explanation as a way to coax the child.

Being an impromptu script, it was thin with minimal content. After flipping through a few pages, Xu Nuo had roughly grasped the storyline.

Returning the script, Xu Nuo glanced at the two little ones clinging to each other and looked up at the director to ask, “So you brought Qingzai here to audition for the young female Omega role?”

Observing the inseparable childhood friends, their dynamic perfectly matched the emotional development described in the screenwriter’s impromptu pages!

Feeling like she had struck gold, the director nodded cheerfully.

Seeing her delight, Xu Nuo’s expression turned somewhat peculiar.

“Do you have any concerns?” Noticing Xu Nuo’s odd look, the director stopped her gleeful chuckling and inquired curiously.

Expecting Xu Nuo to raise issues about the script or filming location, the director felt her heart tense up.

Instead, after watching the affectionate pair, Xu Nuo covered her face with a deep sigh. “My daughter might not be suitable for the female Omega role, Director. Would you prefer to try filming a take first, swap the roles between the two little ones, or perhaps bring in a few more child actors for auditions?”

Xu Nuo had phrased it as tactfully as possible, nearly stating outright in front of Wen Qing: A little angel-like character like the female Omega is completely incompatible with Wen Qing! On the other hand, the cunning, scheming stepsister role aligns perfectly with Wen Qing’s personality!

Unfortunately, the director missed the underlying implication.

After briefly coordinating with the camera crew, the two little ones were placed on a deliberately aged-looking small bed.

Pretend toddlers can understand adult explanations or read scripts Jiang Man belonged to the former category.

During her mother’s filming breaks, the director aunt had held her and carefully explained the plot outline and character traits from the impromptu script.

Occasionally, she even shared a few tips and precautions for acting.

After listening to the director aunt’s ramblings, Jiang Man couldn’t help puffing out her chest.

Though it was her first time acting, she was already different from the clueless Wen Qing!

With ample theoretical knowledge, Jiang Man had reached the next level in the realm of child acting!

If she weren’t already settled on the small bed, Jiang Man would have loved to use her short, chubby hands to grip her round belly.

Who could be more skilled than the next Oscar winner, the future holder of a full sweep of film awards, the coming actress Man!

She was even more adept at acting!

After all, she had been pretending to be a toddler for eleven months straight!

To this day, her two foolish mothers still hadn’t noticed!

At this thought, Jiang Man nearly couldn’t resist planting her hands on her hips and letting out a triumphant laugh.

With the director’s call of “Action!”, all crew members began moving in an orderly manner.

According to the script notes and the director’s explanation, the camera captured an adorable infant sucking its thumb. Two seconds later, the dark eyelashes fluttered slightly, and the baby opened its eyes, looking dazed and groggy as if just waking up.

Behind the monitor, the director’s eyes lit up as she watched the baby’s natural, seemingly genuine performance and called “Cut.”

Any director who has worked with infant actors has likely been tormented by their unpredictability. Especially in close-up shots, the scenes are rarely acted out deliberately; instead, they are often captured by the cameraman following the baby’s movements closely.

But a baby like Jiang Man, not even a year old, who can instantly grasp the emotional demands of the script and deliver flawless acting, is truly one in a million!

Watching the baby roll over and sit up in the crib, smiling at everyone, the director couldn’t help but exclaim, “Actress Liu, Manzai is a natural-born actor!”

Hearing the praise, Liu Ying puffed out her chest with pride, like a contented cat.

But Jiang Man’s surprises didn’t end there.

Scene after scene was shot in a single take, making the director feel almost giddy.

After wrapping up Jiang Man’s solo shots, the exhilarated director picked up the walkie-talkie and directed the camera to focus on Wen Qing.

At first, Wen Qing cooperated well. Though not as exceptional as Jiang Man, the director could usually get the desired shot within three to five takes.

By midday, Wen Qing’s solo scenes had been completed without a hitch.

Assuming that the two talented infant actors would breeze through their scenes together, the director was quickly brought back to reality.

“Cut.”

“Cut…”

“Cut!”

“Cut!”

Once again, due to Wen Qing’s mismatched emotions and expressions, the director had no choice but to call for another retake.

The scene required the stepsister to approach the female lead, but the female lead, being timid, was supposed to shy away. However, Wen Qing, playing the female lead, kept acting like a little magnet, rushing toward Jiang Man before she could even get close. This led to over a dozen retakes.

Walking over to the two infants, the director reached out to pinch Jiang Man’s chubby cheeks, a flawless performer even after so many retakes hoping to relieve some stress.

But as soon as her hand approached, the other baby slapped it away fiercely.

“Hmph… Hah!”

The beautiful, green-eyed infant tightly hugged the adorable, dazed baby, glaring warily at the director’s hand.

Though infants aren’t particularly strong, Wen Qing’s slap left a noticeable red mark on the back of the director’s hand.

Seeing how Wen Qing shielded Jiang Man so protectively, the director suddenly understood what Xu Nuo meant when she suggested swapping the roles if necessary.

If they didn’t switch, the “female lead” would wag her tail and cling to the “stepsister” before any gesture of goodwill could be made. How would that create the misunderstandings that would arise in their teenage and adult years?

The director saw it clearly now: Wen Qing, with her cold and beautiful exterior, was nothing but a little sticky rice ball when it came to Jiang Man!

Rejecting Jiang Man’s affection simply wasn’t in her current life’s vocabulary.

But this couldn’t go on.

Frustrated, the director ran her hands through her neatly styled hair, messing it up completely.

Seeing her so troubled, Xu Nuo walked over and handed her a cup of pear tea with rock sugar, suggesting with a smile, “Why don’t you consider swapping the roles of Manzai and Qingzai?”

The director had indeed thought of it before.

Aside from the similar appearances of Jiang Man and Liu Ying, if they weren’t portraying different stages of the same person, the scenes would appear disjointed.

With Xu Nuo and Liu Ying persuading her in unison, and watching the two young children sitting together, the director downed the cup of pear tea in one gulp, tossed the empty cup into the trash, and instructed the crew to switch the positions of the two children before starting over.

After the role swap, Wen Qing’s progress improved significantly.

Her emotions toward Jiang Man were almost identical to those of the “stepsister” toward the “female lead O” in the script.

In fact, Wen Qing’s feelings were even more intense and fervent.

Having watched Wen Qing perform so many times, Jiang Man had already pieced together the script’s storyline, making it perfectly natural for her to nail the scene in one take.

Under the watchful eyes of the crew, the scene that had been retaken over a dozen times concluded with Jiang Man shrinking back, flustered and fearful, as she avoided Wen Qing’s affectionate advances.

The shoot was over, but when Jiang Man turned her head, she noticed that Wen Qing’s eyes were red too!

Since getting to know Wen Qing, Jiang Man had become quite skilled at comforting her. She resorted to her tried-and-true methods of “kisses, cuddles, and hugs.”

However, after comforting her for a short while, Jiang Man couldn’t help rubbing her eyes with her little hands, covering her mouth as she let out a small yawn.

Early that morning, in order to hand Jiang Man over to Jiang Feng without disturbing Wen Qing, Xu Nuo had stealthily taken the child out of the house.

As soon as they returned home, before Jiang Man could even close her eyes to sleep in her mother’s fragrant embrace, she and her mother had to head to the set.

After all the commotion and the long hours of filming, as dusk fell, the little child Jiang Man finally succumbed to exhaustion.

Her head nodded sleepily, and with a soft “thump,” she collapsed onto Wen Qing, letting out tiny snores as she drifted into a deep, peaceful slumber.

Her dreams were chaotic, and the chubby little child slept restlessly.

When she suddenly woke from her sleep and opened her eyes, she realized she was in yet another unfamiliar place.

Rubbing her eyes obediently and yawning, Jiang Man sat up and looked around, taking in the decor and furnishings.

The place felt both familiar and strange, and for a moment, the little child couldn’t quite recall where she was.

But seeing the empty room around her, Jiang Man felt reassured and lay back down, pulling the little blanket over herself.

Even though her mother and mom weren’t around, they had left her alone here.

That meant this had to be a very safe place, one where she wouldn’t be kidnapped or get hurt!

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