The Ex-Wife of the Scumbag A Who Abandoned the Female Lead - Chapter 47.1

While saying this, she tried her best to maintain a calm expression, but inwardly, she felt somewhat flustered, not even daring to meet the other person’s gaze.

After a moment, she only heard the other person softly utter an “Mm,” and nothing more. Unable to resist, she glanced at her and was surprised to find that Nuocen was actually lost in thought?!

Shi Nuocen had just recalled the registration scene, where the staff member, after telling her that she would need to play the role of mother and daughter on the program, bent down and, smiling, pointed at Shi Nuocen, saying to An’an, “An’an, you’ll have to call her Mommy then.”

“Mommy?” An’an tilted her little head, repeating the words almost instinctively.

But when Shi Nuocen heard this, for some reason, a warm surge rushed straight to her heart, and she felt inexplicably moved, as if she were about to cry.

This emotion had come so suddenly that even now, recalling the way An’an had called out to her then, Shi Nuocen felt her heart beating rapidly.

She instinctively glanced at An’an sitting in the back seat. The little girl was sitting quietly, and when she noticed Shi Nuocen looking over, she opened her round eyes wide and gave her a happy smile.

Just like a little angel.

“Nuocen, have you met the director yet?” Ru Xi Cheng asked her while driving.

“Huh?” Shi Nuocen snapped out of her thoughts, a trace of confusion still lingering on her face. After processing the question, she shook her head and said, “No. The staff at the registration said there would be an initial screening, but they mentioned that An’an and I should be fine.”

As her attention shifted, Shi Nuocen felt her heartbeat gradually returning to normal.

After hearing Nuocen’s words, Ru Xi Cheng also thought there shouldn’t be any issues. This time, to avoid unnecessary trouble, they had considered many things in advance.

Once she had thought it through, she began considering another matter.

“Nuocen, any suggestions for lunch?” she asked, slightly raising her voice, though a hint of anticipation was hidden in her eyes.

Shi Nuocen glanced at her sideways and smiled knowingly, “Seems like you already have an idea?”

“Mm…” Since she had been found out, Ru Xi Cheng simply admitted it.

“Then let’s go with your plan.” Since she had no objections, Shi Nuocen replied with a smile.

“How about dinner together too?” Ru Xi Cheng asked again, quickly planning in her mind.

“Dinner?” Unexpectedly, Shi Nuocen’s lips twitched slightly, and she responded in a strange tone.

“Yeah…” Ru Xi Cheng glanced at her, mumbling somewhat confusedly, not quite understanding why Nuocen was reacting this way.

Seeing that she still hadn’t caught on, Shi Nuocen couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Tapping her fingers on her thigh, she said leisurely, “I’m afraid I won’t have time for that.”

“Why?” Ru Xi Cheng was taken aback, unable to hide the anxiety in her expression, thinking she might have unintentionally done something to upset the person in front of her.

“Have you forgotten that the girl group recording is tonight?” Shi Nuocen’s smile faded. “And I have to be at the practice room by 5 p.m. to rehearse with everyone before the competition.”

As she spoke, she took out her phone and showed her the message she had arranged with her team members: “See, it’s all set.”

Ru Xi Cheng finally realized belatedly, “Oh, right.”

But no matter what, at least they still had the afternoon and a few hours after lunch—that would be enough.

“Let’s have lunch at this restaurant.” Ru Xi Cheng pointed to a spot on the car’s display screen map. “The food here is quite good. I’ve brought An’an here several times.”

An’an nodded. “And the owner is really nice. Every time we go, she makes me a pudding cake.”

“The owner of that place is trustworthy. No need to worry about our whereabouts being leaked,” the ex-wife added to the conversation.

Shi Nuocen caught the implication. “Seems like you’re quite familiar with the restaurant owner?”

“Yes, we’re fairly good friends,” Ru Xi Cheng replied frankly. “Shall we go eat there then?”

Meeting her ex-wife’s questioning gaze, Shi Nuocen’s lips curved slightly. “I’ll follow your lead.”

At the same time, she noticed the restaurant’s location seemed rather familiar. Quite close to their high school. It appeared her ex-wife had some plan in mind.

She lowered her gaze, already forming suspicions in her heart. Sure enough, after lunch, Ru Xi Cheng suggested, “Nuocen, let’s go for a walk. It just so happens we’re near our alma mater. I haven’t been back to visit in so long. Come with me, won’t you?”

Ru Xi Cheng’s thinking was simple. High school was filled with shared memories between her and Nuocen. Revisiting those old haunts might help bring them closer again.

“I don’t mind,” Shi Nuocen agreed readily, though she then hesitated as something occurred to her. “But what about An’an?”

“We can ask the owner to look after her,” Ru Xi Cheng replied without hesitation, having already planned for this.

She then went over to An’an and quietly negotiated with the little girl: “An’an, would you mind playing here for a while? Auntie needs to go out alone with Sister Cen for something.”

An’an looked up at Ru Xi Cheng, then glanced at Shi Nuocen standing further away. Making a little fist, she gave Auntie Orange an encouraging gesture and whispered, “You should make up quickly.”

Ru Xi Cheng looked slightly surprised, then nodded as if making a promise. “We will.”

After speaking, she lovingly kissed An’an’s forehead. An’an covered the kissed spot, blinking shyly.

Sitting at the table, Shi Nuocen quietly watched their interaction. The tender scene between adult and child. Actually, Ru Xi Cheng and An’an looked quite alike, especially when they were close together, their resemblance became even more noticeable.

After gazing distractedly for a while, she dismissed the thought as strange. An’an was after all from the Ru family, sharing blood relations with Ru Xi Cheng. Wasn’t it perfectly normal for them to look similar?

Still, she’d lived with the Ru family for quite some time now, yet she’d never heard any news about An’an’s biological parents. That was rather odd.

If only An’an were my daughter. After all, the child was so well-behaved and adorable. If she hadn’t divorced her ex-wife back then, and they’d had a child in their first year of marriage, that child would be about An’an’s age now.

Various thoughts flashed through Shi Nuocen’s mind. Suddenly, an insight seemed to dawn, but just then her phone rang. She took it out and glanced down. It was the rookie female director who wanted her to film a campus movie.

The director’s surname was Cui.

After clicking to answer, Director Cui immediately asked, “Miss Shi, where are you now? I have something very important to discuss with you?” His tone carried a barely suppressed excitement.

“Must it be now?” Shi Nuocen glanced at the two figures; one tall, one short not far away, her expression darkening slightly.

“Not necessarily,” Director Cui’s voice softened a bit. “Actually, I’ve had some new ideas and wanted to share them with you.”

So it wasn’t that urgent after all. Shi Nuocen politely declined, “I’m sorry, but I’m not really available right now.”

Director Cui blurted out, “A date?” The moment the words left his mouth, he wished he could cover it.

He quickly tried to make amends, “Sorry, I can be a bit too familiar sometimes. Please ignore that.”

“It’s fine.” Shi Nuocen gave an understanding smile.

After that, they exchanged farewells and hung up.

“What’s wrong?” Ru Xi Cheng walked over nervously, gazing into her eyes. “Do you suddenly have something to attend to?”

“Someone did just ask to discuss something with me,” Shi Nuocen said, feigning thoughtfulness.

Seeing this, Ru Xi Cheng’s expression dimmed slightly, then she curved her lips into a seemingly generous smile. “I see. If you have things to do, you should go. We can always visit the school another time.”

Her smile was beautiful, but upon closer look, there was a hint of disappointment. Shi Nuocen’s gaze deepened, and she decided not to tease her any further. Blinking, she said lightly, “But I turned them down. Because right now, keeping my promise to you is more important.”

“Really?” Ru Xi Cheng was taken aback, then her face bloomed with an utterly delighted smile.

“Really.”

Shi Nuocen reached out her hand, palm up, waiting for her ex-wife to place her hand in hers. Once she did, Shi Nuocen clasped it tightly, their fingers interlocking as they swung their hands back and forth.

Ru Xi Cheng felt both shy and overwhelmingly happy, her heart racing wildly.

After covering their faces, they walked hand in hand to their high school alma mater. Whether her ex-wife had made prior arrangements or not, the security guard merely glanced at them before readily letting them in.

The campus scenery was just as it had been years ago. With each breath, it felt as if they had returned to the past.

They wandered among the teaching buildings, watching students studying during morning self-study from a distance. Eventually, her ex-wife led her to the sports field.

To Shi Nuocen’s surprise, the field, which she had expected to be empty, was actually crowded with people. Since the midday sun was scorching, many of them were dressed similarly to them.

Thus, their presence didn’t stand out. Most people just glanced up at them before returning to their own activities.

An event was taking place on the field, with a banner proclaiming it an alumni gathering. It turned out that today was a special gathering for past alumni.

However, it seemed none of their graduating year had attended, which felt a bit regrettable.

As Shi Nuocen was looking around, a young woman suddenly approached her. After giving her a once-over, the woman said, “You look so young. You must have graduated not long ago, right?”

“Yeah,” Shi Nuocen nodded.

“This noon, they insisted on holding some kind of competition and divided all the alumni present into two teams to compete against each other. Why don’t you join our team? How about it?”

“Well, no!” The words of refusal hadn’t even fully formed when she heard her ex-wife approach with a cheerful laugh and say, “Sure.”

Shi Nuocen immediately looked over in surprise, but her ex-wife met her gaze calmly, even playfully winking.

Could it be that participating in this event was also part of her ex-wife’s plan?

Suddenly, she understood why the security guard hadn’t stopped them. He must have assumed they were alumni joining the activity. Though they were indeed alumni, and now they were indeed participating.

And so, Shi Nuocen and Ru Xi Cheng joined the young woman’s team.

“Wow, your legs are so long! You’ll definitely do great in the relay race,” someone remarked, drawing envious glances from the rest of the team.

But first came the three-legged race, and the team unanimously suggested that the two with the longest legs Nuocen and Xi Cheng should participate.

With one leg each tied together, they stood at the starting line.

“Go for it, you’ve got to win against them!” Their teammates, standing on the grassy field in the middle of the playground, cheered them on.

Though Nuocen felt a bit helpless amid their enthusiasm, since she was already there, she was determined to give it her all.

Standing shoulder to shoulder with her ex-wife, she felt an unexpected sense of calm as their warmth mingled.

Suddenly, her hanging hand was grasped. Nuocen looked up in slight surprise to see her ex-wife’s smiling face and a shy explanation: “This way, it’s more convenient.”

Her fingers twitched, and under her ex-wife’s slightly puzzled gaze, she interlaced their fingers. “This way, it’s even more secure.”

They exchanged a smile, and as the starting gun fired, they quickly strode forward. At first, their movements were a bit awkward, but they soon adjusted their posture, moving more smoothly and swiftly, until it felt as if they were walking as one.

Amid the continuous cheers and applause around them, their eyes crinkled with joy.

“We won!” Ru Xi Cheng exclaimed breathlessly after crossing the finish line first, her face flushed with excitement.

In her exhilaration, she spread her arms to hug the person beside her but forgot their legs were still tied. Losing her balance, she stumbled forward, her expression a mix of panic and confusion.

Shi Nuocen instinctively tried to catch her but ended up falling with her. Their noses bumped, a little uncomfortable, but what was most startling was that their lips met through their masks. Their eyes locked in mutual surprise.

“Wow!” exclamations erupted around them. “They kissed!”

“Through masks, that doesn’t count.”

“Well, at least it’s an indirect kiss.”

Hearing their teammates’ comments, Ru Xi Cheng’s eyelids fluttered shyly, certain her face was bright red beneath the mask. Shi Nuocen untied the strap binding their legs first, then helped her ex-wife up.

Once they were standing, their teammates winked suggestively and said with a teasing tone, “You two have great chemistry.” Then, with a sly grin, they added, “Make sure to cherish it.”

Shi Nuocen couldn’t help but cough lightly, while Ru Xi Cheng lowered her head in embarrassment.

Someone with sharp eyes noticed something and laughed, “Maybe they really are a couple.”

“Really?” someone nearby exclaimed in surprise and immediately pressed for more details from the person involved.

Shi Nuocen could only respond vaguely. To avoid the barrage of follow-up questions, she quickly pulled her ex-wife away and walked off.

Hand in hand, they strolled back and forth along the shaded path beside the teaching building, reminiscing about amusing moments from their school days. Even now, her heart still raced a little too fast.

As they walked, they ran into a few alumni who were talking to a woman. When they got closer, Shi Nuocen overheard the conversation and quickly understood: they were giving advice. The woman had secretly admired someone back in high school, and now, unexpectedly reunited with that person. Both still single, she wanted to confess her feelings but wasn’t sure how to increase her chances of success.

“You should be bold. If it doesn’t work the first time, try a few more times,” someone suggested.

Somehow, this topic piqued Ru Xi Cheng’s interest. She voluntarily followed behind the group, enthusiastically offering her own advice.

Faced with her suddenly enthusiastic ex-wife, Shi Nuocen cast a few probing glances her way. But each time Ru Xi Cheng looked back, she lowered her eyes, concealing the emotions within.

She didn’t join the conversation, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that her ex-wife was brewing some new idea.

When it was time to leave, as they walked toward the school’s side gate, Ru Xi Cheng suddenly remarked, “Seems like Qixi Festival is coming up soon, huh?”

“Isn’t there still some time left?” Shi Nuocen had no idea why she brought it up and responded casually.

Just as Ru Xi Cheng was about to say more, she noticed a woman nearby with a camera, taking photos of the teaching building. Not wanting to be photographed or draw attention, she fell silent and prepared to change direction with Nuocen, heading out through a smaller gate.

But the moment she turned, the woman called out excitedly in their direction, “Ms. Shi? Is that Ms. Shi? What a coincidence!” Her voice grew even louder.

Startled, Shi Nuocen exchanged a glance with her ex-wife, thinking they had run into a reporter, and immediately broke into a run.

The woman promptly gave chase, shouting as she ran, “Ms. Shi, why are you running? I’m not a reporter, don’t panic!”

Shi Nuocen slowed her pace slightly and looked back again. Now that she listened more carefully, the voice did sound somewhat familiar, as if she had heard it not long ago. “Who are you?”

“I’m Director Cui!” the woman exclaimed excitedly.

“…So it’s you.” Shi Nuocen came to a complete stop. When the female director caught up, she looked her over carefully. Since their previous conversations had all been on WeChat, she had no idea what the director actually looked like.

Now that she saw her, she thought she didn’t seem very old perhaps because the director had a youthful face?

“What an incredible coincidence, running into you here,” the director marveled, muttering to herself. “This high school really does have a deep connection with this production. It seems choosing it as a filming location was a great decision.”

Shi Nuocen had originally intended to ask the director why she was here, but upon hearing those words, she immediately understood and saw no need to inquire further. Instead, she recalled the “important matter” mentioned during their earlier phone call. Could it be referring to this? “So when you called, you were actually inviting me to discuss the filming location together?”

“Hmm?” The female director let out an instinctive sound of confusion before quickly waving her hand as her mind caught up. “Well, not entirely. I actually wanted to ask if you’d be interested in filming another campus movie with me. I already have the script. Would you like to take a look?”

“Another one?” Shi Nuocen was genuinely surprised. She never expected the director to approach her with such a proposal.

“Yes, yes!” The director nodded emphatically, emphasizing that she was entirely serious and not joking around.

“But the current project hasn’t even started filming yet. Isn’t it a bit premature to discuss a new movie now?” Shi Nuocen’s gaze gradually deepened as she studied the other woman with a probing look.

“Not at all, not at all!” The director instinctively replied before hastily correcting herself in a flustered manner. “No, I mean it’s actually very urgent. This matter really can’t be delayed.”

Her words were both vague and chaotic. Shi Nuocen furrowed her brow slightly, feeling increasingly confused. Moreover, this new director seemed to act on whims, giving off an impression of unreliability.

Not only Shi Nuocen but even Ru Xi Cheng shared the same sentiment.

Under their subtly shifting gazes, the female director lowered her head dejectedly. She gripped the camera strap tightly with one hand, her voice tinged with melancholy as she said, “Miss Shi, you must be disappointed in me, right? You probably think I’m not very reliable, don’t you?”

Shi Nuocen hadn’t expected her to be so blunt and was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

“Actually, I know my explanation just now was a mess. So, if you’ve lost confidence in my abilities, I completely understand.”

After saying this, she glanced at Ru Xi Cheng. “This must be your friend, right? Then it should be fine for me to speak openly in front of her.”

Truthfully, the moment she met Shi Nuocen, she had noticed this person. Although she couldn’t clearly see her face, her appearance and aura were exceptional, and there was a faint sense of familiarity—though she couldn’t quite place it. She guessed this person must be an actress, likely a friend of Shi Nuocen’s from the industry.

Afterward, Shi Nuocen listened as the director laid out all the reasons behind her proposal.

“After you asked me about the budget, I confidently assured you it would be enough. But afterward, I recalculated several times and realized that if we consider everything comprehensively, the budget might indeed fall short. So, I decided to shoot a low-budget film first to earn some money before tackling the original project. Initially, I hadn’t even settled on a genre.”

Here, she paused briefly before turning to Shi Nuocen, her eyes suddenly lighting up with an unusual brilliance. “But then I watched that dating show episode where you performed in the underworld setting. It struck me instantly, I decided to make a horror film first. Horror films don’t require a high budget, and if done well, the returns can be quite substantial.”

As she spoke, she pulled a stack of printed papers from her bag and handed them over. “This is the script I’ve been working on recently. Would you like to take a look?”

Shi Nuocen was genuinely taken aback. “You wrote the script yourself?”

“Yes.” The female director nodded apologetically. “It’s a bit rushed, so it’s still quite rough. We’ll refine it further later.”

Shi Nuocen opened to the first page and began reading carefully. As she read, her eyes lit up. The opening was full of suspense, making her eager to continue.

“Let me take a look.” Seeing Nuocen’s expression, Ru Xi Cheng could tell her interest was piqued and suddenly grew curious about the script’s content.

Hearing this, Shi Nuocen immediately slid the script closer. Ru Xi Cheng reached out to take it.