The Entertainment Industry's Famous Fraud Couple - Chapter 5

“Teacher Qin!”

The youthful female voice reached Qin Chaomu’s ears. She frowned, instinctively pulling away from Shen Guai. Her long legs had gone numb from crouching, and she had to support herself against the wall to barely stand up.

“Thank you! Teacher Qin!”

Wutong, seeing Qin Chaomu actually keeping watch beside Shen Guai, cried out in excitement. “Thank you for helping take care of Teacher Shen!”

“It was nothing.”

Qin Chaomu rotated the signet ring on her thumb to the correct angle and then proceeded to straighten her collar, her cuffs, the hem of her skirt, her strands of hair, her earrings…

When people are embarrassed, they pretend to be very busy.

“Ahem…”

After completing these tedious and redundant movements, Qin Chaomu pressed her half-curled index finger to the corner of her lips and intentionally coughed twice.

“It’s getting chilly. I’m heading in first. You two have fun.”

Qin Chaomu picked up her handbag and turned to look at Wutong. Her eyes curved into crescents, her smile so perfect it looked like she was hosting a fan meeting.

“Oh my god! Teacher Qin is truly the greatest person in the entertainment industry! Ahhh!”

Wutong was so excited she bit her fingers. “Teacher Qin and Teacher Shen! They really are a match made in heaven! My god!”

Wutong had clearly forgotten that at this very moment, the hashtag

#Shen Guai Calls Qin Chaomu a Motherless Animal.

was still trending on the search charts.

“How unlucky!”

The moment the elevator doors closed, Qin Chaomu’s expression turned gloomy. If looks could kill, Qin Chaomu could definitely enter a Chef King competition right now and serve the fans a dish of “Wensi Tofu” sliced with her eyes.

“So filthy.”

The room card beeped. Qin Chaomu kicked the door shut with her high heels, rushed into the bathroom, stripped off her clothes in a few swift motions, and turned on the shower.

Fine droplets of water flowed down her long hair. Qin Chaomu tilted her head back slightly, letting transparent beads of water hang from her rounded, tight jawline as if they were loath to leave her beauty.

Wiping the water from the tip of her nose with her middle finger, Qin Chaomu slowly opened her eyes. Those dark, bright eyes had lost their affectionate charm.

Qin Chaomu was rolling her eyes.

“Truly… bad luck.”

She reached out to grab a white bathrobe, tied the belt in one smooth motion, and turned off the shower. In the bathroom, the dense mist slowly began to dissipate.

The woman in the mirror leaned over the sink with both hands, staring at the reflection of herself on the other side.

“You little brat!”

Qin Chaomu pointed a finger fiercely at the person in the mirror. “Dare to make me miserable again, and see if I don’t get ruthless with you!”

With that, she raised a fist, pretending to strike the person in the mirror.

“What kind of person… actually thinks a cat is going to get hit by a car…”

“So ridiculous.”

Qin Chaomu pursed her lips, her brow unconsciously relaxing. She shook her head to herself, strode out of the bathroom with her long legs, and hopped onto the bed.

Sitting up with her legs crossed, she smoothed her semi-dry hair and grabbed a pillow from her right side to rest on her lap.

“She really is just a kid…”

Pressing her clean, fair face tightly against the down pillow, Qin Chaomu licked her lips and let out a long sigh.

She leaned down to sniff her arm.

There was only the scent of tea flavored body wash. Qin Chaomu frowned and sniffed again, confirming that it was gone.

She closed her eyes and lay quietly for five minutes, then suddenly scrambled back up.

“Why can’t I sleep?”

“I must have forgotten to turn off the light…”

Qin Chaomu tapped her forehead in frustration. Her slender arm reached over the nightstand, and with a “snap,” she flipped the light switch.

Closing her eyes again, Qin Chaomu’s mind was filled with images of today of her pinning Shen Guai down and kissing her…

“Oh my god…”

The thought made her sit bolt upright. She patted her chest, her heart skipping another beat from the scare.

The light, which had been off for less than thirty seconds, was switched back on by Qin Chaomu.

She tapped her lower lip with her index finger, her almond eyes wide with fear.

“That brat… could she have put some kind of curse on me?”

“Qin Chaomu, oh Qin Chaomu! You useless thing!”

She bit her lip and quickly opened her phone to search:

【What to do if you’ve been cursed?】

She became so absorbed in reading that she didn’t move until her long hair was completely dry.

From the 19^th floor window, one could overlook the entire city. On the wide roads below, pedestrians and vehicles shuttled back and forth. This was the atmosphere unique to the city: busy and crowded.

After staring blankly out the window for half an hour, she finally put down her phone.

Sitting properly at the desk, she took a deep breath, picked up a pen and paper, and began to transcribe the Diamond Sutra word by word.

Her handwriting on the white paper was neat and elegant. She wrote stroke by stroke, and while she wrote, she occasionally made the sign of the cross over her chest.

This was called a “Sino Western fusion” approach attacking the problem from both sides.

The phone screen beside her lit up; it was a call from her manager.

Qin Chaomu frowned. Her manager knew her temperament and never called after midnight.

It was now nearly 3:00 AM.

“It’s so late, is something wrong?”

Qin Chaomu’s voice was flat, revealing no emotion.

“Something’s happened! Quick, look at the trending searches!”

The voice on the other end was frantic. Qin Chaomu, however, unhurriedly began to browse the hot search list.

The trending searches tonight were dominated by her and Shen Guai.

“What exactly is going on between you and Shen Guai?”

“I understand. You should get some rest, thank you for your hard work.”

Qin Chaomu didn’t answer her manager’s question. She spun her fountain pen once between her fingertips, her dark eyes half-closing as a hint of weariness settled in.

Shen Guai was the first to arrive at the dressing room.

Rubbing her bleary eyes, she shuffled to her seat like a walking corpse. Ordinarily, an actress of Shen Guai’s status should have a private makeup artist, but it was nearly nine o’clock and the artist hadn’t arrived yet, so Shen Guai decided to do it herself.

“My head hurts so much…”

Shen Guai’s memory had cut off right after she finished that glass of red wine. She pounded her head hard, praying she hadn’t vomited on the dinner table last night.

“Why is there no one here? Could it be…”

Had filming been suspended because of her?

“If that’s the case, I’ll just have to die to prove my innocence…”

Shen Guai slumped onto the table, listlessly fiddling with her makeup brushes.

“Apologize to Qin Chaomu?”

Shen Guai immediately shot down the idea. “This world is driven by eternal interests. We’re not children anymore; how could an apology possibly work?”

“But you still have to apologize, Shen Guai! You’re the one who did something wrong…”

Shen Guai grabbed her cushion foundation and patted it heavily onto her face several times. “If you’re brave enough to do it, be brave enough to own it, right? When Qin Chaomu’s team gets here later, you need to be polite, well-spoken, humble, and work like a dog for them, you hear me, Shen Guai?”

Staring into the vanity mirror, Shen Guai frantically brainwashed herself. Her pretty face was pale, and she seemed to have grown thinner overnight.

Shen Guai was truly terrified. She wasn’t afraid of Qin Chaomu, she was afraid of the eight-figure contract termination fee.

“Last night… did I dream about her?”

Shen Guai sighed heavily and smoothed her messy hair. “God damn it…”

Bang!

The double doors of the dressing room were thrown open. From the sharp, rhythmic sound of high heels, Shen Guai knew Qin Chaomu had arrived.

“Is the makeup artist not here yet?”

Qin Chaomu’s manager vented her frustration at the production staff, scaring the crew members so much they hardly dared to breathe.

“Acting like a big shot,” Shen Guai muttered under her breath.

Some people just have a certain magic even if you tell yourself a thousand times to be polite and proper, the moment you actually see them, you can’t help but want to hurl insults. Hatred was woven into her very marrow.

“Heh.”

Shen Guai’s murmur naturally reached Qin Chaomu’s ears, who responded with only a cold, curving smirk.

Qin Chaomu sat down in the seat next to Shen Guai and waved her hand, her tone gentle: “Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Please step out for a moment.”

The moment the door closed, Qin Chaomu rested her face on one hand and turned her head to look at Shen Guai.

Shen Guai felt an instinctive shiver. Qin Chaomu was beautiful, but she had “sanpaku” eyes where the white is visible below the iris.

Lower sanpaku eyes the mark of someone cold and ruthless. Applying that to Qin Chaomu… Shen Guai grabbed her glass of water, blinked, and took a sip.

“You’re quite something.”

Qin Chaomu’s vermilion lips parted slightly as she squeezed the words through her teeth.

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Shen Guai set down her glass, ready to snap back with a retort, but the moment her gaze met Qin Chaomu’s fierce eyes, she actually chickened out…

Lower sanpaku…

Shen Guai looked around frantically. There were no cameras in this room. If she were trapped in this small space with Qin Chaomu… what if Qin Chaomu decided to dispose of the body and eliminate all evidence?

Shen Guai’s suspicions weren’t entirely groundless. She watched as Qin Chaomu pushed back her chair, unbuttoned her cuffs, and slap….slammed her hand onto Shen Guai’s vanity table.

“What I mean is…”

Qin Chaomu glanced at the glass in Shen Guai’s hand, snatched it away, held it high, and tilted it a full 180 degrees.

“Ah! Qin Chaomu! Have you lost your mind?”

The half-glass of water that hadn’t made it into Shen Guai’s stomach was now poured over her head.

“I stopped using these little tricks back when I graduated elementary school,” Qin Chaomu said with a disdainful gaze. She raised an eyebrow, her bright red lips curving into a beautiful arc.

“Your brain must have been caught in a door…”

Shen Guai was so angry she started laughing. She had no idea what kind of madness Qin Chaomu was currently entertaining. If this was about her insulting her on social media, she could apologize, but did Qin Chaomu really have to stoop to physical humiliation?

“Teacher Qin, Teacher Shen, sorry to keep you waiting…”

The door to the dressing room was knocked open. The late-arriving makeup artist was stunned by the scene before them.

Shen Guai was also stunned.

It was as if Qin Chaomu had a split personality. The ruthless sanpaku look was gone, replaced by an expression of deep affection and heartbreak.

“Frantically,” Qin Chaomu grabbed tissues from the table and began dabbing at Shen Guai’s wet hair. Before Shen Guai could react, she was pulled into Qin Chaomu’s embrace.

“Darling, I’m sorry… it’s my fault. Please don’t torture yourself like this anymore, okay?”

Shen Guai was completely baffled. She nodded blankly, even wondering if Qin Chaomu’s acting addiction had kicked in and she was simply rehearsing a scene.

“Sorry, Teachers… I didn’t come at a good time…”

The makeup artist stood frozen at the door for half a minute before snapping out of it, closing the door, and tactfully leaving.

Knock, knock, knock…

After three knocks, Qin Chaomu’s manager walked in.

As if a switch had been flipped, Qin Chaomu pushed Shen Guai away and asked in a cold voice, “Did you get it all on film?”