Superstar Assistant [GL] - Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The author of that fanfiction was quite talented. Although the characterizations differed slightly from the real Li Ziyu and Zhou Tiantian, the dynamic was incredibly compelling. Li Ziyu started following the updates whenever she had a break from filming, even registering a burner account to leave comments.

When Zhou Tiantian caught her reading it, her face turned a deep shade of crimson. “Why are you reading that? What if fans track down your IP?”

“So what if they do?” Li Ziyu laughed arrogantly. “If they have the guts to write it, they shouldn’t be afraid of me reading it.”

Tiantian glared at her and muttered, “Then at least don’t read it in front of me.”

Li Ziyu leaned in, teasing, “Are you shy because I’m reading the scenes where we’re getting… intimate… right in front of you?”

“Intimate scenes?!” Tiantian hadn’t realized the story had gone there yet.

Li Ziyu’s phone let out a notification ping. She glanced at it and waved it in front of Tiantian. “The author just sent me the link to the ‘R-rated’ chapter. Well? Want to read it together?”

Tiantian’s eyes widened as she scanned their surroundings warily. “We’re still on set!”

The smile in Ziyu’s eyes deepened. “So? It’s not like we haven’t done it before.” Her gaze dropped pointedly toward Tiantian’s belly.

Tiantian felt like Li Ziyu was her lifelong weakness. She had become so much more mature and composed lately, but every time she faced Li Ziyu, all her progress seemed to vanish instantly.

A crew member called Ziyu for her next scene. She handed her phone to Tiantian, gave her cheek a light brush with her fingers, and headed off to film.

Tiantian held the phone, her face burning as she stared at the link in the Weibo private messages. Her thumb hovered over it, hesitated, moved away, and then drifted back.

I’ll just see what it is. If it’s something inappropriate, I’ll delete it for her.

Using that excuse, Tiantian opened the link and downloaded a text file. Within ten seconds of opening it, her face felt like it had been set on fire.

Zhao Qing happened to arrive with lunch just then. Seeing Tiantian sitting there with a face as red as a beet, she asked worriedly, “What’s wrong? Do you have a fever? Why is your face so red?”

Tiantian scrambled to hide the phone, stuttering badly, “No… no heat… I mean, I’m not in heat…”

Tiantian: “…”

Zhao Qing: “Pfft! ‘Not in heat’? Then why is your face like that? And why are you hiding the phone? Is there something on there I’m not allowed to see?”

Tiantian shook her head guiltily. “Nothing.”

Zhao Qing sat down in Dong Minsi’s chair and looked at Tiantian mysteriously. “Do you know what I saw online yesterday?”

Tiantian had a bad premonition. “What?”

“I saw a fanfic about Ziyu and Dong Minsi! It even had 18+ scenes!”

Tiantian: “!!!”

Zhao Qing looked heartbroken. “Do you know how I felt? I wanted to transmigrate into the book, beat Ziyu to death, and take our Minsi for myself!”

“Take who for yourself?” Dong Minsi walked over, looking graceful and gentle in her costume. “What are you two chatting about?”

Zhao Qing blurted out, “Ziyu and Tiantian’s fanfiction.”

Tiantian: “!!!”

Dong Minsi smiled faintly as she opened her lunchbox. “Oh, I read that one too.” She shot a meaningful look at Zhao Qing. “I also saw one about Ziyu and me. It was… quite spicy.”

Looking at Minsi’s expression, Zhao Qing suddenly wanted to whimper, but that would have totally broken her “cool” persona.

Tiantian quickly intervened to stop the chaos. “Sister Minsi, do you have a lot of scenes today?”

Minsi nodded as she started eating. “Yes, very little rest time. I need to eat quickly and get back to it.”

When Li Ziyu returned and took her phone back, her eyes went wide. “What did you see?” Zhao Qing tried to peek over, her curiosity burning.

Tiantian’s face exploded into a blush again. She reached for the phone. “Give it to me!”

Li Ziyu smirked. “Why were you reading this? There are so many people on set—weren’t you afraid someone would catch you looking at this stuff?”

Tiantian was speechless with embarrassment, her eyes almost tearing up. Luckily, Ziyu had to get back to filming, so she handed the phone back. “Keep reading. I won’t laugh at you.”

As soon as she left, Zhao Qing leaned in. “What were you looking at? Why did she have that look on her face?”

Tiantian moved with lightning speed to delete all the history and shook her head, refusing to say a word.

…

That night back in their room, Tiantian was packing Ziyu’s bags for the Mommy, Here I Come! variety show. As she sat on the bed folding clothes, Ziyu sat behind her, pressing close.

Hot breath hit the nape of Tiantian’s neck, sending a tingle through her whole body. She tried to stand up, but Ziyu wrapped her arms around her, resting her chin on Tiantian’s shoulder. “Where are you going? I was too busy today to talk to you about that link. Why did you delete the message? I haven’t read it yet. You can’t keep the good stuff all to yourself.”

Tiantian felt her heart race, and even the baby in her womb started kicking restlessly. “What ‘good stuff’? Those people are just making things up! As the person involved, you shouldn’t be reading that. I can’t let you be led astray!”

Ziyu suddenly nipped Tiantian’s ear. “I’m not being led astray. You’ve got me on a ‘vegetarian’ diet every day. Since I can’t eat the real thing, reading about myself eating in a story gives me some comfort.”

The blatant suggestion made Tiantian feel like she was going to spontaneously combust. She broke free and stood up. “I’m going to take a shower!”

Ziyu watched her flee, licking her teeth. She wasn’t afraid of Tiantian hiding; she had all the time in the world.

…

Two days later, Ziyu returned from the variety show. It was now New Year’s Eve. Because of the heavy filming schedule, they couldn’t go home for the holidays. Zhao Qing invited the entire crew to her restaurant for New Year’s dinner, though she had to head home herself that night.

While eating with the crew, Tiantian’s phone rang. She stepped outside to answer. “Mom, Happy New Year.”

Han Ping’s voice was full of worry. “How busy is this job that you can’t even come home for the New Year?”

“It’s very busy. The bosses aren’t leaving, so I can’t either,” Tiantian explained. “But I get overtime pay, so it’s worth it.”

“You shouldn’t stay away just for overtime pay,” Han Ping sighed. Then, Tiantian’s stepfather’s voice rang out in the background: “It’s good for young people to earn more! That 8,000 she sends every month isn’t nearly enough. Tell her to work harder and send more back to honor her parents!”

Tiantian told her mother, “Mom, I’ll transfer 1,000 to you and 1,000 to Uncle later. Use my overtime pay as a New Year’s red envelope.”

Tiantian hung up and stroked her belly. Once the baby is born, it will be time to settle the score with my stepfather.

…

The variety show aired during the Spring Festival. Li Ziyu was the guest tasked with taking care of three children while the mothers were away.

Ziyu’s aura was so strong that when she stood among the kids and raised an eyebrow at their grumpy faces, the only little girl burst into tears.

Ziyu squatted down, looking puzzled. “Why are you crying? Do you miss your mom? Or did you wet your pants?”

The girl, who was about to nod to missing her mom, cried even harder at the mention of wetting her pants. “I… I’m a big girl now! I don’t wet my pants!”

Ziyu wiped her tears. “Stop crying. If you keep crying, the director will call your mom. If her mission fails because of that, she’ll be last place and the other moms will laugh at her.”

The audience thought Ziyu was terrible with kids, but surprisingly, the girl stopped crying! Ziyu then looked at the two boys. “You’re boys; you shouldn’t disturb your moms’ competition. They work hard to earn money for you. If they lose, they’ll lose face.”

The boys suddenly felt a surge of responsibility and became incredibly cooperative.

The bullet comments (Danmu) went wild: “What nonsense is Li Ziyu saying! The moms are in a hot spring right now, is the ‘competition’ seeing who can soak the longest?!” “I wonder what these kids will think when they see this video when they grow up?”

Later, Ziyu had the kids help her make lunch. She gave them a cabbage and a lettuce. “Tear these into small pieces. We’re having a competition—whoever tears the best pieces gets a reward!”

The kids took it very seriously, tearing leaves into various shapes. When lunch was ready, they looked at her with sparkling eyes. “Auntie, who won?”

Ziyu gave a gentle smile that made the kids shiver slightly. “Call me ‘Sister’.”

The comments exploded again: “Sister?! You’re 17 years older than them! ‘Auntie’ is perfectly fine!” “Li Ziyu feels her age is being challenged and is defending her youth with a smile!” “Ziyu is so scary, but it’s a miracle the kids didn’t cry again!”