The Scumbag A Really Doesn't Want to Become Famous [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 68.1

Shen Tingyao left with her suitcase in tow.

When Shen Tingyao was just here talking to her, Yu Youshen felt completely fine, not a hint of guilt in her heart. But now that the woman was gone, standing before Jiang Musheng, Yu Youshen suddenly felt guilty.

She spoke first, “It’s not what you think.”

“Then tell me, what do I think?” Jiang Musheng teased her deliberately. “Did I arrive at just the right time? I had no idea Shen Tingyao would stop by your room before leaving.”

Yu Youshen asked, “Are you jealous?”

She moved closer to Jiang Musheng, trying to scrutinize her expression, but neither her tone nor her face betrayed even the slightest hint of jealousy.

Jiang Musheng said, “I don’t get jealous.”

Really?

Those words only stirred up Yu Youshen’s mischievous side.

She leaned in closer and said, “What do you mean, you don’t get jealous? So no matter what your girlfriend does with someone else, you wouldn’t care? Teacher Jiang, I never realized you were so magnanimous.”

“Magnanimous?” Jiang Musheng mused, her gaze fixed on Yu Youshen as she drew near. “Like we discussed before, it depends on who it is and what they do. My tolerance varies.”

“You’re not jealous because you didn’t see anything scandalous.” Yu Youshen huffed, completely unaware of how close she was to Jiang Musheng so close that the tip of her nose was nearly brushing against the other woman’s.

Yu Youshen’s eyelashes were long, and even without makeup, Jiang Musheng could feel the feathery touch of them against her skin, sending tiny waves of tingling sensation across her face.

Seeing Jiang Musheng stay silent, Yu Youshen assumed her words had successfully intimidated her. Smugly, she said, “For example, if you saw your girlfriend doing this and that with another woman, you’d definitely lose control and get jealous.”

Jiang Musheng: “This and that? Like what?”

Yu Youshen thought, Why does this woman become so dense at the most crucial moments? How could she not understand? Even if she’s never been in a relationship, she must have at least seen or acted in one, how does she not know this?

“For example! What if they kissed? If you got cheated on, wouldn’t you be angry?” Yu Youshen was practically fuming as she spoke.

“Kissed?” Jiang Musheng chuckled inexplicably at Yu Youshen’s urgency to explain. “What kind?”

Yu Youshen felt like Jiang Musheng had turned into an endless stream of questions, no matter how she answered, there was always another one waiting.

She gave up and resorted to body language, pressing her fingers together. “Like this.”

Only then did Yu Youshen shift her attention from her fingers and realize just how close she was to Jiang Musheng.

Her body’s first reaction was danger, but another part of her insisted this was someone she could trust completely. By the time her rationality won over the voices in her head and she decided to pull away, Jiang Musheng’s hand was already resting on her waist, pressing down lightly.

Yu Youshen found herself loosely encircled in Jiang Musheng’s arms with no way to escape.

The familiar scent of snow-capped mountains, pure and refreshing, enveloped her in a sense of security. In the intimate space between them, lips warm against the icy chill of the mountains gently brushed her upper lip before she could even react. Jiang Musheng had already pulled away, yet the alpha’s ears were flushed red, her voice laced with restless agitation.

“Is this what you meant? The kind of scene that would make someone jealous after seeing it.”

Yu Youqing wanted to speak, but it felt as though her ability to form words had vanished. Her mind replayed that fleeting moment over and over.

“…” Yu Youqing parted her lips slightly, unsure if she was the only one feeling this bashful. She couldn’t hear Jiang Musheng speaking either her gaze was fixed on her own toes, acutely aware of her own clumsiness in the face of such an event.

“I’m hungry,” she finally muttered.

“Right, right. Let’s go out now. Yes.” Jiang Musheng’s words came out oddly. If Yu Youqing had been paying closer attention, she would have noticed that even Teacher Jiang was far from her usual composed self. But Yu Youqing was too flustered to maintain her own composure, so she missed it entirely.

In a daze, she followed Jiang Musheng out for barbecue. To mask her nerves, she focused solely on eating, ending up with the fullest meal she’d had in a long time. Strangely, Jiang Musheng was unusually quiet too. When they returned, Yu Youqing stiffly bid her goodnight at the door, feeling like a robot.

The moment the door closed, Yu Youqing grabbed her pillow and bounced wildly on the bed, screaming internally:

She kissed me? She kissed me!

SHE KISSED ME!

Yu Youqing wanted the whole world to know, but she also knew the best thing to do was sleep it off.

After Liang Yitang and Shen Tingyao’s guest appearance, the show’s impact was undeniable.

For a while, the production team struggled to find guests who could match their chemistry, appeal, and entertainment value. Over the next two days, though Yu Youqing and Jiang Musheng continued completing tasks and activities together, an unspoken tension lingered between them neither mentioned that brief kiss.

When the edited episodes aired, the response was overwhelming. Yu Youqing’s reputation had completely turned around, and her fanbase exploded. These two episodes outperformed the previous ones in viewership, surprising even the director, who hadn’t expected such an uncontrollable, free-form approach to yield such success. The show was undeniably a hit.

This only made the director more meticulous about future guest selections.

The show’s popularity meant scheduling became a nightmare. The live format required intense coordination between guests and the crew. After back-to-back filming, everyone’s workload skyrocketed.

Yu Youqing and Jiang Musheng’s schedules were especially tight. After reviewing everyone’s availability, the team finally carved out time to film the fifth episode.

But due to the rush, the fifth episode didn’t have any guest stars, prompting fans to demand two guest stars for the sixth episode.

However, the wait turned out to be much longer than expected.

After the fifth episode wrapped, Yu Youqing officially received the script offer for Reversal, securing the role her team had originally wanted, a beautiful omega pretending to be a scummy alpha, only to be outplayed by a genuinely righteous alpha.

Thanks to thorough preparation, she joined the filming crew immediately after confirmation.

Working on set with Jiang Musheng gave them more time together.

For nearly two to three months, apart from variety show recordings, Yu Youqing hadn’t spent more than two consecutive days with Jiang Musheng. Looking back, those two back-to-back episodes had actually been their longest stretch of time together during this period.

Yet, after that unexpected kiss, it felt like a pause button had been pressed between them.

Yu Youqing knew Jiang Musheng had tried several times to bring it up, but she always deflected with other topics.

She felt like she was getting closer to the answer and outcome she had initially wanted, as if the light of happiness was almost within reach just a stretch of her hand away.

But unexpectedly, she began to hesitate. Yu Youqing had thought she wouldn’t be afraid.

Deep down, she had never told anyone why she had returned or how she knew to seize this opportunity. If the turning point in her fate hadn’t been because of Jiang Musheng, she might not have felt such immense self-imposed pressure. But it was Jiang Musheng.

Yu Youqing wasn’t sure where her choice would lead her this time or whether she should tell Jiang Musheng everything.

After noticing Yu Youqing’s reluctance to talk about it despite multiple attempts, Jiang Musheng decided to give her time.

On set, neither showed any signs of abnormality. In front of the cameras, they followed the director’s instructions perfectly, cooperating seamlessly.

On the day of the sixth episode’s recording, the crew happened to be filming the scene where Yu Youqing forcefully kisses Jiang Musheng.

It was an outdoor evening scene, requiring the right hues of twilight, so timing was crucial. The director said, “We’d really prefer this in one take, ladies! At most, we can do two otherwise, we’ll have to schedule a reshoot next week.”

Yu Youqing was nervous.

She and Jiang Musheng had been filming together for nearly a month, but all the intimate scenes had been pushed to later in the schedule this was their first kiss scene.

At the same time, the variety show’s production team arrived on set and opened the livestream.

“Hello, everyone! It’s been such a long time since we last met, we’re sure you’ve missed us as much as we’ve missed you!”

“We’re honored that our show’s popularity has helped all our guests elevate their careers. But as we regretfully announced on Touchbo earlier, due to time constraints, this recording will only last two days. However, we’ve prepared something special to make up for it.”

“We’ve coordinated with the production team and obtained permission to livestream inside the set. This will be the first kissing scene between Little Yu and Teacher Jiang. Due to confidentiality agreements, we can’t film the visuals, only audio recording is allowed. Our other guests are waiting outside the studio, and we’ve invited two special guest stars for this episode.”

[I’m alive!!! Finally alive!!!!]

[Seriously, oh my god. While waiting for episodes two and three, I thought I’d reached my limit and couldn’t go on. But this time, the wait was so long, a whole month!]

[I’ve gone completely insane waiting.]

[More than insane! I used to watch this show during meals, but now I’ve gone so long without eating that I’ve lost weight /joking]

[Are Little Yu and Teacher Jiang together today? No? Okay, I’ll ask again tomorrow.]

[They might not be together, but today they’re finally filming their kiss scene!!!!]

[I was so excited after seeing the director’s post last night that I could barely sleep, just waiting for this moment.]

[Sniff! Even though we can’t see Little Yu and Teacher Jiang actually performing, having the audio is enough. This must have been hard for the production team to arrange.]

[They might play tricks on the guests, but they’re genuinely good to us viewers. Haha, thank you to our conscientious production team!]

[This is torture! You’re making us listen to them kissing without letting us see it? I won’t be able to sleep tonight!]

[Question: Isn’t it too rushed to start recording the variety show right after filming a kiss scene? Won’t they need time to recover from the awkwardness?]

[Not at all. They’re both professional actors and know how to handle it.]

[Professional actors, sure, but it depends on who they’re acting with. As Teacher Jiang famously said: “Tolerance levels vary depending on the person.”]

[Hahahaha, you all understand Teacher Jiang so well.]

Yu Yousheng and Jiang Musheng were already preparing. Under the direction of the choreographer, Yu was moving closer to Jiang.

The scene required her character to go straight in quick, precise, and decisive planting a firm kiss before storming off (though it was all an act).

There was also a line: “So what if I kissed you?”

The director advised Yu, “Little Yu, make sure your emotions come through. You can be more forceful or exaggerated. In the drama, the omega is trying to act like an alpha, so she deliberately intensifies it almost like ravishing her? Do you understand?”

“…Huh?” At the word “ravish,” Yu looked up and saw amusement in Jiang’s eyes. What was wrong with her? Was she actually happy about being ravished?

Jiang, reading Yu’s expression, simply said, “Go ahead.”

Yu: “…”

“Excellent,” the director said. “Teacher Jiang’s reaction perfectly fits the alpha’s character knowing exactly what the omega is up to but indulging her anyway.”

Yu Youqing always felt this scene and these words bore an uncanny resemblance to her relationship with Jiang Musheng. Between them, it had always been Jiang Musheng who showed more tolerance, it seemed no matter how she acted or what she did, Jiang Musheng would never get angry. To this day, Yu Youqing had never seen Jiang Musheng lose her temper with her.

During filming on set, Yu Youqing often experienced a sense of disorientation. The script had incorporated some of the actors’ personal traits, so many times, she felt like she was essentially playing herself.

Jiang Musheng was already fully immersed in her role, and Yu Youqing mentally reminded herself to do the same to take her work seriously. The variety show crew was still waiting.

The acting coach reassured her, “Xiao Yu, don’t overthink it. Just focus on one thing kiss her! So what if you kiss her? Own it! Just do that one thing with confidence, and you’ll be fine.”

The director called out, “Ready? Everyone in position.”

Once the cameras rolled, the confusion in Yu Youqing’s eyes vanished instantly. She immersed herself in her character, and when she looked up at Jiang Musheng again, her gaze was a mix of determination, frustration, and impulsive emotion.

She shoved Jiang Musheng against the wall, a specially constructed set piece designed for optimal sound, which amplified the heavy, dull thud of impact.

“So what if I kiss you?!” Yu Youqing snapped fiercely before shifting her gaze to Jiang Musheng’s lips and pressing forward without hesitation.

“You!” Jiang Musheng’s words were cut off as their lips met.

But after the kiss, it was Yu Youqing whose ears burned red. She pulled away after barely a second and bolted.

“Cut!”

Once the director called it, Yu Youqing touched her scorching ears. Her hair was tied up for the scene, leaving no way to hide her blush. She feigned composure as she and Jiang Musheng walked over to the monitor. “Jiang laoshi, I didn’t hurt you just now, did I?”

“No, you did great.” Jiang Musheng’s hair was down, so only she knew that her own ears were even redder than Yu Youqing’s.

Damn it.

This was the first time Yu Youqing had to watch a kissing scene with Jiang Musheng on the monitor.

“Right here,” the director said, pausing the playback at the exact moment their lips touched making things even more unbearable. “Xiao Yu, you pulled back here. You need to commit fully no holding back. Let’s do another take.”

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