Transmigrated as the Scumbag Alpha of a Cold Movie Queen - Chapter 63

On the way back, the three-wheeled cart wobbled down the road in a crooked, meandering path.

That’s because the one driving—Qi Siyu—had her soul floating up to the clouds every few seconds, lying on soft, fluffy daydreams.

Gu Qing’s words had drifted straight into her heart, but Qi Siyu didn’t dare ask anything. Maybe it was just a passing thought triggered by the nickname “Green Lemon” and the sweetness of lemon candy. Or… maybe it hinted at something more.

Either way, she didn’t dare dwell on it too much.

It didn’t matter. What mattered was—Gu Qing cared about her. The two of them would always be good friends!

By the time they got back to the fishing village, it was already 1 p.m. Between Jia Junjie getting arrested and Gu Qing’s ridiculous excuse for parents, Carefree Vacation was practically monopolizing the Weibo trending charts.

The production team seized the moment and released the edited version of the previous episode—90 minutes long—and dropped two episodes back-to-back!

New viewers were flooding into the livestream while simultaneously opening their video apps to catch up.

The production team was absolutely raking it in.

Even so, they were all swamped with work. Still, they managed to stick to the original schedule and finish filming lunch with the rest of the cast—which, unsurprisingly, led to more unexpected sparks flying.

That afternoon was the time for participants to accept and complete personal tasks.

Qi Siyu, too restless to just nap, daydream, or read all day, had secretly submitted a few missions of her own.

Tasks like searching for sea mussels with the locals, opening them to find pearls, making simple jewelry, and collecting pretty shells to craft into bracelets, necklaces, or brooches.

A nice little way to showcase local specialties.

If they could actually finish the pieces, the plan was to give them away to fans through livestream raffles.

Qi Siyu wasn’t being unreasonable—these tasks had low rewards. Completing a piece of jewelry earned just ten coins, and only after getting approval from two local villagers.

Anyone could take on the task, and anyone could give their creations away to fans.

But with so many high-reward missions out there, who would actually pick this kind of low-pay task?

“I’ll take it,” Gu Qing said mildly. “If I can finish a piece, I’ll give it to the fans who’ve been helping make my videos.”

She had seen the “Detective Squad’s” efforts in the livestream chat and quietly committed them to memory.

The “Detective Squad” was instantly in tears. Not only had Gu Qing remembered them, she’d affectionately called them her “little birds”!

Their fan name had been created by combining Gu Qing’s surname and the name of her first breakout role.

And it sounded cute too—the Gu Gu Birds weren’t going to let her down.

In the past, Gu Qing had rarely interacted with fans. She was always buried in work, diligently filming. Her social media was managed entirely by her assistant, Gu Xiaoling.

They’d supported her simply because she was their idol. Never in their wildest dreams had they expected a direct response from her.

Now they were crying their eyes out. The life of a fangirl really didn’t take much to be fulfilling.

On the beach, the expensive wheelchair moved along surprisingly well.

“Gu Qing, you collect the pretty shells here on the sand. I’ll go look for sea mussels. Just call me if you need anything,” Qi Siyu said, like she was warning a child not to wander too far. She was terrified Gu Qing might get hurt if she wasn’t careful.

Gu Qing looked at the binoculars Qi Siyu had placed in her hand and nodded slightly.

This was the first time Gu Qing had ever held a pair of binoculars—let alone received one for the specific purpose of watching someone else.

It was… novel.

Gu Qing raised the binoculars to her eyes, and the rhythmic rise and fall of the distant sea filled her vision.

Suddenly, Qi Siyu’s smiling face popped into view through the lens. “I’m off!”

“Be careful,” Gu Qing replied, lowering the binoculars and looking into Qi Siyu’s eyes as she spoke calmly.

Qi Siyu stood there dazed, her mind bursting like fireworks.

She still remembered that the first time she’d told Gu Qing she was heading out, Gu Qing hadn’t shown the slightest bit of curiosity—hadn’t asked where she was going or said anything like “Be careful” or “Come back soon.”

Now… she was someone worth worrying about.

Oh yeah!

Qi Siyu couldn’t help but hop in delight, startling the local villager beside her.

Noticing the villager’s shocked expression, she quickly composed herself and put on a serious face.

She cleared her throat twice and tried to smooth over the awkward moment by striking up a conversation. “Are there a lot of sea mussels around here? What are the pearls usually like?”

“There aren’t too many wild ones, and the pearls tend to be small and not very well-shaped. But we do have pearl farms in the village. The pink pearls from those are really pretty.” The villager lit up when speaking about their expertise and began to chat enthusiastically.

Qi Siyu naturally followed the topic. “Then I guess we probably won’t find much today. Can you take me to your farm later? I would love to buy some of your cultured pearls.”

The villager’s smile grew even warmer, more sincere—after all, her family ran one of the farms. “Sure thing, no problem!”

They were having a pretty lucky day. Whether or not the mussels contained pearls—or good-quality ones at that—at least they were finding some.

“These mussels are edible too. They’re great grilled on an iron plate. Just a heads-up: the meat from older mussels is tough. The younger ones are way tastier.” The villager chatted on, sharing everything she knew with Qi Siyu.

Qi Siyu learned quite a bit of ocean knowledge—the foodie version, at least.

She started planning in her head to prepare a seafood feast for Gu Qing once they got home.

After all, if it was her, stuck by the sea pretending to be sick and missing out on all the seafood, she’d definitely be craving it.

So, this time, she will just treat Gu Qing the way she would want to be treated.

After more than half an hour of digging, Qi Siyu began to feel a bit chilled. She decided to call it a day and carried her haul—more than a dozen mussels of various sizes—back to shore.

As she got closer, she saw Gu Qing’s silhouette in the distance. Gu Qing had moved a bit farther away, her head lowered as she carefully sifted through the sand, occasionally bending over to pick up a shell.

Looks like the binoculars hadn’t been much help after all.

What Qi Siyu didn’t know was how long Gu Qing had held up those binoculars, watching her while she searched.

A flicker of disappointment passed through Qi Siyu, but it was quickly replaced with renewed energy. She ran up to Gu Qing. “Gu Qing, look! I found so many mussels!”

As she got closer, Qi Siyu noticed the net bag hanging from the armrest of Gu Qing’s wheelchair—it was brimming with seashells.

“Wow, you’re amazing! You picked up so many, and they’re all so pretty!”

“You’re amazing too,” Gu Qing replied. She wasn’t good with flowery compliments, but coming from someone as cool and reserved as her, even a simple praise meant a lot.

“Pick one you like—I’ll give it to you.” Gu Qing added, as if it was obvious. Since she wanted to show her gratitude, the first person she wanted to thank was Qi Siyu.

Even though it was the same body, in Gu Qing’s heart, the current Qi Siyu and the one from before were completely different—almost as if they were two unrelated people.

Qi Siyu’s eyes lit up like a bulb being switched on. “How am I this lucky?! Thank you! I’m so happy!”

Gu Qing responded with a simple “Mm,” not quite used to such open and exuberant emotions.

Qi Siyu immediately fished out a small pinkish-purple shell from the net bag. It was just a bit larger than a fingernail. “Hehe, I spotted this one from far away and fell for it instantly.”

She tucked the shell into her pocket, planning to pair it with a pearl later to make a necklace.

Soon after, the group headed to the local mussel farm. The villagers first gave them a quick tour of the site, where rows of floating rafts stretched across the water—it was quite a striking sight.

The farm let visitors choose mature mussels by hand. All mussels of the same year had the same price, and the pearls you got from them were purely a matter of luck.

Everyone boarded a small boat. One villager casually scooped up a mussel from the raft and, with a quick flick and twist of a knife, opened it up. After a bit of rummaging, she pulled out two pearls—one was a uniquely shaped “moon” pearl, and the other was a near-round pink pearl, around 9mm in diameter.

“Woohoo, not bad at all,” Qi Siyu said to the camera. “Come on, you guys choose. Since these are gifts for you, let’s see how your luck holds up. Drop your coordinates, and we’ll fish according to your picks!”

The sense of interaction was perfect. Gu Qing, who had been looking down at the pearls, raised her eyes and gave Qi Siyu a long look.

She couldn’t help but compare. If it was the old Qi Siyu, she might’ve instructed someone to prepare gifts for fans, but she would never have personally sat here, following fans’ directions to open mussels one by one.

At her core, that version of Qi Siyu believed she was above the average person—on a completely different level.

Now, Qi Siyu was beaming, and she turned to Gu Qing for affirmation. “Right, Gu Qing?”

But to her surprise, Gu Qing was already looking at her. Their eyes met, and Qi Siyu quickly looked away, as if Gu Qing’s gaze could burn.

“Mm. I hope everyone has a good time,” Gu Qing said softly.

After picking out thirty mussels, Qi Siyu called it. “Alright, that’s it for today. Time to go make some jewelry. If this task is available again tomorrow, we’ll continue then.”

“Now it’s time for the thrilling, heart-pounding blind box reveal!”

They had moved back onto shore, where a villager had specially brought over a table for them to place the mussels.

“My luck is terrible, truly bottom-of-the-barrel bad. So I’m leaving the mussel-opening task to your big sister here—not because I’m slacking!” Qi Siyu joked with the fans, clearly in high spirits.

The audience flooded the chat, encouraging her to open the first one.

Even Gu Qing said, “You go first.”

Qi Siyu shook her head dramatically. “Alright then, watch closely!”

She picked up a mussel at random. Her movements were swift and practiced—it took her only ten seconds to open it, hardly what you would expect from a novice.

The cameraman zoomed in for a close-up of the mussel’s interior. The flesh looked smooth and flat—it seemed like an empty shell.

The villager: “!!!”

“Let me see, let me see!” the villager rushed over in a panic and carefully searched the mussel flesh.

But the harsh truth remained—it really was empty.

Sweat began to bead on the villager’s forehead. “This almost never happens…”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry—I’m just that unlucky,” Qi Siyu quipped, poking fun at herself. Then she turned to Gu Qing and said, “Alright, it’s your turn now.”

Gu Qing responded with a simple “Mm.” She had never opened a mussel before, but under Qi Siyu’s verbal instructions, she eventually pried it open.

A raised, rounded bump in the mussel flesh was clearly visible. She reached in and carefully picked out a large, perfectly round pearl—visually estimated at 13mm in diameter.

She held it up to the sunlight. “Can’t see any flaws.”

The villager let out a relieved sigh—there was nothing wrong with their mussels after all. She smiled and praised Gu Qing’s luck. “Pearls of this quality are extremely rare. I’ve been farming mussels for over ten years and only seen five or six like this. It’s worth tens of thousands.”

“Hehe, Gu Qing’s got amazing luck,” Qi Siyu chimed in, admiring the pearl before placing it in a tray. “You can probably tell I’ve done this before—my best record is opening fifty in a row, all of them empty. The pearl farmer back then was sweating bullets, terrified I’d demand compensation.”

The audience: Stunned.

The villager instinctively wiped her forehead again. She had no idea how anxious she’d just been.

Gu Qing went on to open a few more mussels, each one yielding high-quality pearls. Eventually, the villager joined in to help, and within half an hour, all the mussels had been opened.

Except for the first one that Qi Siyu opened, every single mussel contained a pearl.

She had absolutely earned her title as the Queen of Bad Luck.

Qi Siyu, however, took it in stride. She was used to it by now.

Gu Qing gently brushed the back of her hand against Qi Siyu’s and said quietly, “There, now you’ve borrowed some good luck.”

Qi Siyu: “!!!”

Gu Qing’s hand was cool to the touch, but the moment it grazed her skin, Qi Siyu felt like she’d been scalded.

No one had ever said they would share their luck with her before. Most of her friends would just shrug and say things like, You have rich and loving parents, a brilliant mind, and perfect health—so what if you’re unlucky with blind boxes? It’s nothing.

And honestly, if she wanted something badly enough, she could just buy it.

But the strangest thing? Since spending time with Gu Qing, her draws from lottery systems really had improved.

She was genuinely riding the luck of a main character.

Her heart was pounding wildly—Qi Siyu felt like she couldn’t take it anymore.

How can Gu Qing be this good to a friend?

Just thinking about how every day from now on might be filled with this kind of warmth made her feel dizzy.

If this kept up, she wasn’t sure she would be able to stop herself from wanting even more from Gu Qing.

The viewers: “!!!”

Same shock, but with a completely different line of thought than Qi Siyu.

Sure, brushing someone’s hand wasn’t inherently intimate or romantic—but this was Gu Qing we were talking about. And she had initiated the gesture, offering Qi Siyu a share of her good luck.

Could their relationship really be just platonic?

If what Qi Siyu said earlier was true—that the care from her was purely a CEO protecting her cash cow, with no ulterior motives—then what about Gu Qing’s feelings?

By their own accounts, Gu Qing was now dealing with a crippled leg and facial injuries. Even if she stayed in the entertainment industry, her acting opportunities would be severely limited.

And then came this warm, affectionate, sunny, rich, and devoted CEO. How could her heart not waver?

The viewers had no idea that Qi Siyu was the cause of most of Gu Qing’s suffering. All they saw was how incredibly kind Qi Siyu was to her.

The more they thought about it, the more shippable it became.