The Entertainment Industry's Famous Fraud Couple - Chapter 3

“Sweetie, are you okay?”

Jin Xi had a long, miserable face as she turned to look at Shen Guai, whose expression was equally wretched.

“Do you think… if I said my account was hacked, anyone would believe me?”

Shen Guai gripped her phone tightly, her large eyes squeezed shut as she prayed toward the ceiling light.

“According to incomplete statistics,” Wu Tong chimed in, “the last male star who used that excuse is now doing livestream sales. The female star before him who used it is now a stay-at-home mom with two kids. And the male star before her has been in prison for three years…”

“Wu Tong, would it kill you to talk a little less?”

Jin Xi glared at Wu Tong, then offered a forced smile. “It was their side that bought the smear campaign first. Our Guai Guai is just… her personality is… a bit more straightforward, that’s all…”

Jin Xi’s voice trailed off until it was barely a whisper.

Shen Guai bit down on her stainless steel fork in despair, stabbing it fiercely into her steak as she wailed, “Jin Xi, just scold me! Or I’ll just quit the entertainment industry tomorrow…”

“Guai Guai, the contract termination fee is… this much.”

Jin Xi held up the number eight.

“Eight million? Why don’t they just rob a bank?”

Shen Guai buried her face in her napkin. At this moment, her fragile little heart felt like eight million ants were crawling all over it.

“Guai Guai, it’s not eight million…”

Jin Xi paused. Seeing Shen Guai’s wide, hopeful eyes, she forced the words out with great difficulty. “It’s… eight figures.”

THUD.

With a loud noise, Shen Guai practically collapsed onto the table. It wasn’t just her delicate body that fell; it was her rising, yet instantly shattered, dreams of stardom.

“No, seriously Guai Guai, how could you go on Weibo and curse at Teacher Qin?”

Wu Tong couldn’t wrap her head around it. She knew Shen Guai wasn’t exactly the brightest bulb and had a short fuse, but… posting a Weibo to insult Qin Chaomu? That was the equivalent of taking an AK-47 and unloading it into your own temple.

“I… I…”

Shen Guai didn’t know how to explain. Yes, she had cursed at Qin Chaomu, but… she had forgotten to switch to her burner account…

When Shen Guai saw the trending topic :

#Shen Guai has been secretly in love with Qin Chaomu for eight years, along with malicious fan edits of their intense kissing scenes on set and videos of her offering watermelon to Qin Chaomu only to be rejected…

Her brain had simply ceased to function.

Possessed by fury, the Shen Guai of thirty minutes ago was like a woman possessed by the Goddess of Revenge. Only two words were in her head: Start blasting.

How could she explain? Was she supposed to tell the public: I didn’t mean to use my main account to curse her, I meant to use my burner?

Jin Xi’s phone was ringing off the hook. She kept walking in and out of the room to handle the mess. Fearing that Shen Guai would be affected by the calls, she took every single one outside.

Tonight was supposed to be a celebratory dinner hosted by Director Xin Shang, but because of a single Weibo post, the atmosphere had dropped to freezing point for everyone.

Except for Qin Chaomu.

With half a glass of red wine down, a faint blush touched Qin Chaomu’s cheeks. She looked less like a director’s guest and more like she was celebrating her own wedding day.

“Come, Director Xin, a toast to you.”

Qin Chaomu wore her trademark smile, patting the dejected Xin Shang on the shoulder. “Look on the bright side. The more trending topics and controversy we have, the more attention our show gets, right?”

“Thank you, Teacher Qin…”

Xin Shang didn’t know what to say. She was worried about the show, but she was even more worried that her favorite “CP” (couple pairing) was dead in the water.

Xin Shang raised her glass and glanced toward Shen Guai at the next table, hesitating. She sighed and drained her red wine in one gulp.

Did Shen Guai really hate Qin Chaomu?

Or…

Xin Shang stole another glance at Shen Guai and noticed she was secretly watching Qin Chaomu.

Wait, could it be?!

Suddenly, a powerful jolt of electricity surged through Xin Shang!

She remembered the trending hashtag. She remembered how Shen Guai and Qin Chaomu had almost zero communication in private.

Could it be… that Teacher Shen really is in love with Teacher Qin, but Teacher Qin rejected her, and now Teacher Shen is acting out of “love turned to hate”?!

Now that she “understood” the situation, Xin Shang looked at Shen Guai again. She caught her stealing another look at Qin Chaomu!

And her expression… it was clearly filled with sorrow!

Xin Shang let out a long breath of relief!

Wonderful! Her CP! It hadn’t “BE-d” (Bad Ending) yet!

There was still hope for Shen Guai and Qin Chaomu!

Shen Guai had lost count of how many times she had looked at Xin Shang. Every time she did, Xin Shang would look back at her with an extremely complex gaze.

“Wu Tong, should I apologize to Director Xin?”

Shen Guai was starting to feel creeped out by Xin Shang’s stare. She knew exactly how much damage her behavior had caused the show. Looking at Xin Shang’s intense eyes, Shen Guai wondered: Is Director Xin planning to assassinate me?

The more she thought about it, the more scared she became and underneath the fear, there was a sting of sadness.

“Of course you have to. But most importantly, you need to apologize to Teacher Qin…”

Wu Tong shook her head helplessly. Just how big was the impact of that Weibo? In less than an hour, three brand endorsements had already requested to terminate their contracts.

“I’m sorry, Wu Tong…”

Shen Guai was crying like a blooming pear blossom in the rain. She hugged Wu Tong’s arm, wiping her damp tears all over Wu Tong’s clothes and skin.

Wu Tong made a “tsk-tsk” sound. Hardening her heart, she grabbed Shen Guai and practically dragged her over to Qin Chaomu.

Wu Tong whispered to Shen Guai: “Save those acting skills and those tears for Teacher Qin…”

“Why the tears, little sister? Who upset you?”

Asking the obvious, Qin Chaomu didn’t even bother to hide her amusement. She took a sip of red wine, her dark eyes scanning Shen Guai from top to bottom like a hungry wolf.

With the wine kicking in, Qin Chaomu found the pitiful Shen Guai quite pleasant to look at. She felt immensely satisfied; seeing Shen Guai cry made her want to laugh.

Clearly, in this battle between them, Shen Guai had lost miserably.

“Teacher Qin… I’m sor…”

“Director Xin is hosting this dinner; don’t be a killjoy.”

Qin Chaomu wasn’t about to give Shen Guai an easy chance to apologize. She stood up, ignoring all table etiquette, and poured the remaining red wine from the decanter into an empty glass.

Pushing the full glass in front of Shen Guai, Qin Chaomu narrowed her eyes and licked a stray drop of wine from her lip. She smiled, “On such a good day, you’re crying? Little sister, shouldn’t you take a penalty drink?”

Qin Chaomu’s tone carried a hint of flirtatious sulking. Like a high-level “green tea” (manipulator), even her revenge felt like acting cute specifically, acting cute toward her arch nemesis.

Xin Shang’s eyes were crinkling with joy. She looked from Shen Guai to Qin Chaomu, convinced she was witnessing a “Real Life Couple.”

To anyone who didn’t know the two of them, it looked like Qin Chaomu was giving Shen Guai a graceful way out.

But Shen Guai was allergic to alcohol. Qin Chaomu had known this ever since they worked on their last drama together.

“No, no, no… Teacher Qin… Teacher Shen doesn’t…”

Wu Tong was breaking into a cold sweat. Shen Guai couldn’t drink.

“Doesn’t what?”

Qin Chaomu’s voice turned cold instantly. Her red lips curved into a smirk. “Maybe I’m drunk. What did you just say your Teacher Shen doesn’t do?”

The subtext was clear: Who do you think you are to speak for her?

Wu Tong pulled her neck back in fear, not daring to say another word.

“It’s okay.”

Shen Guai frowned, patting Wu Tong’s arm to comfort her.

She grabbed the glass, closed her eyes, pinched her nose, and gulped it down like it was bitter medicine. The red wine surged down her throat.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

The bitter, spicy liquid burned her esophagus. Shen Guai’s head began to spin, the sting of the alcohol hit her much faster than she expected.

For the first time in her life, Qin Chaomu saw someone drink wine like it was plain water.

She remembered Shen Guai couldn’t drink. Was she wrong? Looking at this, could Shen Guai be a closet alcoholic?

“I’m sorry! Teacher Qin!”

Shen Guai gave Qin Chaomu a deep bow, then another, almost looking like she was about to drop to her knees and kowtow.

“There you go with those words again. Come, one more penalty.”

Qin Chaomu wasn’t going to be easy on her. Being insulted for no reason, did she think a single glass of wine would settle the score? Did she think Qin Chaomu had survived all these years for nothing?

To reach the status of Movie Queen, Qin Chaomu had plenty of ways to deal with disobedient newcomers.

Qin Chaomu picked up a bottle of beer from the floor. With her lips slightly parted, she effortlessly bit off the cap, holding it in her teeth as she smiled at the disheveled girl before her.

But in the next second, Qin Chaomu’s smile vanished.

Because Shen Guai, in front of everyone in the room, lunged straight into Qin Chaomu’s arms.

“I’m sorry… Teacher Qin… I’m so sorry…”

Shen Guai was crying with snot and tears, smelling of alcohol. She tilted her small face up, her drunken eyes occasionally locking into a “deep” gaze with Qin Chaomu.

“Wait, you…”

Qin Chaomu held her breath, trying her best not to smell the annoying scent of alcohol on Shen Guai.

“I’m sorry… so sorry…”

Shen Guai mumble cried, her words slurred. Her smooth, fair face was flushed red from the inside out. She looked at Qin Chaomu with a dazed expression; it was unclear if it was the alcohol or Qin Chaomu’s beauty that had intoxicated her.

In the eyes of Xin Shang and the rest of the crew, Shen Guai was absolutely using the alcohol as an excuse to confess her feelings to Qin Chaomu in a roundabout way!

This was just a lovers’ spat!

But in Qin Chaomu’s eyes, the current Shen Guai was…

So… freaking… dirty!

Qin Chaomu cursed internally. Since she couldn’t snap in front of everyone, she spat out the beer cap and gave an awkward smile. “Little sister… you’re drunk. Someone, take her home…”

“No, no… I’m not going home… Teacher Qin… I’m sorry…”

Shen Guai remained aggrieved, her slender fingers tightly gripping Qin Chaomu’s neck while she rubbed her face frantically against Qin Chaomu’s chin.

Qin Chaomu didn’t dare move, and she had nowhere to hide. She shot a fierce yet helpless glare at Wu Tong.

Finally, the bewildered assistant pulled Shen Guai away, saying with a sheepish smile, “Sorry, Teacher Qin. Our Teacher Shen just… she really can’t drink…”

“……”

After watching Shen Guai and Wu Tong leave, Qin Chaomu sat down, her body stiff. She wiped away the sticky mixture of tears and snot from her clothes, finally speaking slowly: “You guys keep eating. I’m going back to the hotel to change…”

“Teacher Qin and Teacher Shen are both leaving already?” one crew member whispered.

“What do you know?!” another replied quickly. “Teacher Qin is worried about the drunk Teacher Shen. She’s using the clothes as an excuse to go take care of her…”

“Hahaha!”

Xin Shang laughed out loud. “You guys are still too green. Teacher Qin and Teacher Shen… that’s dry wood meeting a raging fire. Neither of them can hold back anymore, get it?”