The Entertainment Industry's Famous Fraud Couple - Chapter 1

What does it feel like to kiss someone you hate?

“She’s on the trending searches again?”

Shen Guai slammed her phone down, her face practically screaming the words. I wish Qin Chaomu would drop dead right now.

Seeing her artist have a total meltdown, Jin Xi nearly crumbled as well, frantically shooting warning glances at Shen Guai.

Shen Guai laughed out of sheer spite. She picked her phone back up only to throw it down again. “#QinChaomuNewHairColorSoCool they actually dared to buy a hashtag like that? Is that old lady getting so up there in years that she spends her sleepless nights dreaming about becoming a has-been?”

“Cough, cough, cough…” Jin Xi began to tremble, especially the moment she locked eyes with Qin Chaomu’s icy gaze.

Long, wavy, light blue hair cascaded down to her waist, framing an exquisite, tiny face. Qin Chaomu set down her e-cigarette and crossed her slender arms over her chest, partially obscuring the alluring curves revealed by her black leather tube dress.

Shen Guai was on a roll. She thought about the female lead role she’d worked so hard to get, only to be completely outshone by Qin Chaomu once it aired. The fans belonged to Qin Chaomu, the endorsements belonged to Qin Chaomu, even the Best Actress award went to Qin Chaomu…

Why? Just because Qin Chaomu was born lucky? Because she had a rich mother?

“That Qin Chaomu is a total scene stealer. Her acting is as shitty as it gets the only thing she’s good at is playing a stone face. She’s almost 30, yet her fans still brag about her ‘youthful vibe.’ It’s freaking hilarious…”

“Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough…”

Jin Xi felt like she was about to lose her dinner from yesterday.

She stole a glance at Qin Chaomu, only to find that there wasn’t a hint of anger on her face. Instead, she had her eyes narrowed, revealing faint dimples.

Damn! Being cursed out like that and she’s actually smiling!

Jin Xi’s heart skipped a beat. She had a strong premonition that her artist had picked a fight with the wrong person this time.

“Jin Xi, book a stylist for me. I’m dyeing my hair red. I want to hit the trending searches too!”

Shen Guai kept her head down, furiously scrolling through hairstyle photos, her finger moving so fast the screen almost caught fire.

“Heh.” Qin Chaomu partially covered the corner of her mouth with two fingers, offering a graceful smile. “Little sister, you’re already quite cute just the way you are.”

Shen Guai’s body froze. She blinked her large eyes and looked up in disbelief, meeting Qin Chaomu’s half-smiling lips and those soulful, almond-shaped eyes.

“Qin… Sister Qin, I was just… joking…”

Saying that Shen Guai was a rising starlet was no exaggeration her acting was truly top-tier. The moment she saw Qin Chaomu, she bounced out of her chair, her hands rubbing together nervously and obediently in front of her.

If you didn’t know better, you’d think she was meeting her long-awaited idol, not her arch-rival.

“I know.” Qin Chaomu took a puff of her e-cigarette. The raspberry scented vapor was slowly exhaled into Shen Guai’s face, making the latter furrow her brows.

Qin Chaomu curled her lips, her brow relaxing. At 173cm, she was slightly taller than Shen Guai. She leaned down now, ruffling Shen Guai’s hair with extreme “doting” affection. “Of course little sister was joking.”

Jin Xi breathed a sigh of relief hearing this, but in the next second, Qin Chaomu’s tone shifted. “However, little sister, don’t be discouraged. Even though you didn’t even get a nomination this time, maybe in another six years when you reach my age you’ll be able to do it.”

“It’s over… it’s all over…” Jin Xi looked at Shen Guai with deep concern. No matter how dim-witted her artist was, she could certainly understand Qin Chaomu’s mockery…

Sure enough, Shen Guai was dizzy with rage. She moved to raise a hand to teach Qin Chaomu a lesson, but in the next heartbeat, Qin Chaomu effortlessly caught her by the wrist.

With almost no effort, Qin Chaomu pushed Shen Guai back into her chair. She leaned halfway down, using the e-cigarette to tilt Shen Guai’s chin up, stowing away her trademark smile for once. “Little sister, learn how to be a person before you learn your craft.”

With that, she “thoughtfully” smoothed out Shen Guai’s disheveled hair and made a stylish exit.

Shen Guai glared furiously at Qin Chaomu’s impressive long legs. As the “clack-clack” of those high heels faded, Shen Guai pouted and viciously switched to her burner account on social media.

“Your Auntie Qin Chaomu has zero acting skills. A 29-year-old entertainment industry old lady living off her looks is bound to crash and burn sooner or later!”

She accompanied the post with nine ugly screenshots of Qin Chaomu.

The film set in August was hot, but the fire in Shen Guai’s heart was hotter especially when she saw the crew members swarming around Qin Chaomu like she was the center of the universe.

In contrast, only Jin Xi stood by Shen Guai’s side.

“My little Guai-guai~” Jin Xi looked at her artist with a face full of pity. “I think you should work on your expression management. Look at her…”

Meeting Shen Guai’s murderous gaze, Jin Xi promptly swallowed the second half of her sentence.

What Jin Xi wanted to say was: Learn some emotional intelligence from Qin Chaomu. Why did everyone like Qin Chaomu and not Shen Guai?

Because Shen Guai was a newcomer who wore her heart on her sleeve. To put it bluntly, she had zero tact.

Shen Guai was a classically trained theater major. Because of her extremely sweet looks, she had become an internet sensation during university, dubbed “Aspartame” by her fans.

Right after graduation, she landed a female lead role.

Even though she was completely overshadowed by Qin Chaomu (who played the second female lead) and ended up being nothing more than a background prop, Shen Guai was already very lucky in the sea of beauties that was the entertainment industry.

It was precisely because of that last drama that Shen Guai was able to join the current production. This time, Qin Chaomu was the female lead, and Shen Guai was the second lead.

But unlike the last project, this was a “Double Female Lead” (GL) drama.

It was something the “CP” fans of Shen Guai and Qin Chaomu had begged and cried for.

Shen Guai never expected that she and Qin Chaomu would go from playing love rivals to playing lovers.

“Teacher Shen is treating everyone to fruit!” Treating the whole crew to a meal was a basic social skill for actors.

When Wu Tong (the assistant) rushed onto the set lugging bags and boxes, Shen Guai rolled her eyes. This clearly hadn’t been her idea, but since Wu Tong had already made the announcement, Shen Guai had to force a fake smile at Qin Chaomu. “Teacher Qin, it’s hot out. Have some watermelon to cool down”

“Thank you, little sister~” If there were a ranking for “high-pitched cutesy voices,” Qin Chaomu would be second to none.

Shen Guai held the watermelon right up to Qin Chaomu’s lips, but the latter didn’t budge. She didn’t refuse, and she didn’t take it, she just looked at Shen Guai with a beaming smile.

The atmosphere remained frozen for five seconds before Qin Chaomu’s assistant stepped in with an awkward laugh. “I’m so sorry, Teacher Qin isn’t feeling well today. She can’t eat cold things~”

In reality, Qin Chaomu was a germaphobe who didn’t eat things others had touched especially things Shen Guai had touched.

“Total poser…”

Shen Guai angrily bit off the tip of the watermelon, her cheeks puffing out. “Didn’t she just have her period two weeks ago?”

Wu Tong looked at Jin Xi in confusion, not understanding what was happening. Jin Xi’s hands moved rapidly, looking like she was performing ninja hand seals.

Wu Tong finally understood and whispered, “They’re tearing into each other again?”

Jin Xi nodded solemnly.

“Ugh…”

While Jin Xi and Wu Tong were still communicating in sign language, Shen Guai, caught in the middle, was clutching her chest and dry heaving.

“Guai-guai!”

“Little Guai-guai, what’s wrong?”

Jin Xi and Wu Tong turned their heads at the same time, only to see their artist eating durian gagging while she ate.

“My little Guai-guai! Don’t scare me! Why are you eating durian?!”

Wu Tong was heartbroken. She had been with Shen Guai since she joined the company and knew that the thing Shen Guai hated most in the world was durian.

Shen Guai took a long breath and closed her eyes, looking like a soldier heading to her execution.

“Actors ready, we’re rolling!”

At the director’s command, Wu Tong and Jin Xi looked at each other and instantly realized what was going on.

“This scene is the breakup between Luo Yang and Bei Qing. Bei Qing thinks Luo Yang is cheating; she hits Luo Yang first, then kisses her out of heartache. Are you two teachers OK?”

Qin Chaomu rubbed her fingers and nodded with a smile, then covered her mouth, looking at Shen Guai with “extreme concern.” “Director, let’s fake the slap. I don’t want to hurt my little sister.”

“This scene is very important; faking it would ruin the effect. Just be gentle, Teacher Qin.”

The director patted Shen Guai’s shoulder as if to encourage her. “Good luck, Teacher Shen.”

“Scene one, take one, Action!”

Behind the monitor, the director had just sat down when he nearly fell off his chair.

Qin Chaomu raised her fair arm, and before the director could even react, her soft, boneless hand slapped Shen Guai hard across the face.

The slap left Shen Guai seeing stars and her ears ringing. She looked at Qin Chaomu in disbelief. That woman truly deserved her Best Actress title even though she was the one who did the slapping, her expression was so aggrieved it looked like she was the one who had been hit.

“Luo Yang! Why?!”

Qin Chaomu tilted her head back to keep her tears from falling. She bit her crimson lower lip, closed her eyes, and delivered another slap.

This slap completely dazed Shen Guai.

Shen Guai wobbled and gripped the corner of the table just to stay upright and see Qin Chaomu’s pained face.

Shen Guai swore that at this very moment, Qin Chaomu must be feeling absolutely ecstatic inside!

The director didn’t call “cut.” Instead, he sat behind the monitor praising Qin Chaomu’s acting and the layers of her performance.

Shen Guai was truly scared now. She curled into a ball by the table when suddenly a force lifted her, causing her to fall back against the dining table.

No way, old lady… not again…

Shen Guai tried to raise her arms to fight back, but her arms were pinned down firmly. In the next second, a pair of soft lips pressed against hers.

Shen Guai’s heart skipped a beat. She went rigid. No one had ever been this close to her before.

Shen Guai instinctively tried to turn her face away, but her chin was held in a death grip by Qin Chaomu. There was no escape.

Outsiders always said Qin Chaomu’s kissing scenes were peerless, and Shen Guai finally understood why today. Even though she had eaten so much durian, Qin Chaomu was actually going through with it.

Not only did she kiss her, good god! She used tongue!

Shen Guai was about to explode with rage. She tried to push Qin Chaomu away, but she was no match for her. She was pinned down tight. Seeing Shen Guai resist, Qin Chaomu bit down directly on Shen Guai’s lower lip.

Unlike the thunderous slaps from moments ago, this bite was gentle, and her gaze was tender.

So tender that it gave Shen Guai an illusion, the illusion of a racing heart.

The sensation between their teeth and lips felt like an electric switch hitting her heart. Looking at Qin Chaomu’s beautiful face, Shen Guai, for some unknown reason, actually felt a ghost of a desire to kiss her back.

Qin Chaomu gave a light chuckle and stopped her movements teasingly. Her lips pulled away from Shen Guai’s, then slowly moved toward Shen Guai’s ear. In a voice only Shen Guai could hear, she said with a half-smile:

“How did you know that durian is my favorite food?”