Turns Out Seducing the Movie Queen Can Break the Plot - Chapter 16

Wen Wen watched her retreating figure, her slender pale fingers digging fiercely into the bedsheet.

She wanted to chase after her, drag her back, lock her by her side make it so she couldn’t go anywhere, could only look at her.

The obsessive thoughts gathered like storm clouds, growing darker and heavier, forming a looming shadow that threatened to consume her until the sudden ring of her phone shattered the darkness.

In an instant, the shadow dispersed.

Wen Wen’s pinky twitched involuntarily. She realized her hands were trembling slightly, uncontrollably.

Even though this was just a show, even though none of it was real, even though going on a date didn’t instantly make them an actual couple,

Still.

The person Jiang Chi wanted to go on a date with.

Was her.

She answered the call, only to hear a pitiful voice on the other end: “Jiejie…”

Suppressing her emotions, Wen Wen replied calmly, “Go on.”

Silence followed.

For a moment, neither spoke, the line filled with empty static.

Just as Wen Wen was about to break the silence, a sound came from the door. She looked up to see it slowly being pushed open, revealing a head of red hair. Jiang Chi peered in, her eyes pitiful, her expression aggrieved like a puppy afraid of being abandoned by its owner. “Jiejie, I want to go on a date with you. Call me later, okay?”

If Jiang Chi asked for her life right now, Wen Wen thought, she’d give it without hesitation.

But…

If Jiang Chi knew the thoughts running through her mind, her first instinct would probably be to run not to realize how much Wen Wen loved her.

“I’ll have to think about it,” Wen Wen said, meeting her gaze, the corner of her lips curling as she deliberately drew out her words. “After all, as you just saw, you’re not the only one who wants to go out with me.”

Jiang Chi’s expression crumpled further. She hung up, pushed the door open fully, and plopped down beside Wen Wen, looking utterly shameless. “I don’t care. I’m sitting right here. You’re not allowed to call anyone else.”

Wen Wen eyed the distance between them. Even though Jiang Chi was already pressed against her, it wasn’t enough. She feigned helpless amusement. “What, is coercion the new trend now?”

“I don’t care.” Jiang Chi wrapped her arms around Wen Wen’s, resting her head unceremoniously on her shoulder, fully committed to her tantrum.

Ding. Wen Wen’s phone buzzed with a message. She felt the arms around her tighten.

Leaning over to pick up her phone, she allowed herself a small, satisfied smirk before turning back with an exaggeratedly hesitant expression.

Jiang Chi propped her chin on Wen Wen’s shoulder, blinking up at her. “Jiejie, I’m Contestant No. 1.”

The contestants’ numbers were assigned based on their order of arrival at the Love Cottage.

The contact list displayed all the guests’ numbers. Wen Wen’s smooth fingertip tapped the screen, scrolling down slightly.

Seeing this, Jiang Chi nuzzled against her neck. “Jiejie, pick me~”

The ticklish sensation made Wen Wen shiver, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, her finger flicked upward, and without hesitation, she pressed the call button on the very first contact.

Jiang Chi quickly knelt up on the bed, answered the phone beside her, then took Wen Wen’s hand and clasped it tightly with her own, fingers interlocked. With a radiant smile, she announced, “Congratulations to female guest number 1 and female guest number 5 for successfully pairing up.”

Wen Wen looked at their tightly clasped hands and unconsciously tightened her grip. If only they could hold hands like this forever.

The broadcast soon sounded again.

[Congratulations to Jiang Chi and Wen Wen for becoming the first and only successful mutual match on this show. The remaining four guests who didn’t match successfully, please come to the living room tomorrow morning for a draw. Wishing everyone a pleasant evening.]

As the broadcast ended, knocking sounded at the door.

Jiang Chi and Wen Wen exchanged glances, still holding hands. Jiang Chi was the first to let go, rising to answer the door when she suddenly remembered something. Estimating the distance between Wen Wen and the door about five meters, she felt a sudden dread. In her earlier haste to answer the phone, she’d completely forgotten about the plot’s control mechanism!

Thankfully, the plot hadn’t forced her to call Su Jing just now, or she would have banged her head against the wall in frustration at her own stupidity!

She quickly looped her arm through Wen Wen’s. “Sister, let’s go answer the door together.”

Wen Wen glanced at their linked arms and gave a slight nod.

Together, they opened the door to find Su Jing standing there, looking at Jiang Chi with sorrowful eyes. “Jiang Jiang, can we talk?”

A flash of impatience crossed Jiang Chi’s brow before she smiled politely. “Is it something urgent, Teacher Su?”

Su Jing looked crestfallen. “Can we talk outside?”

“If it’s not urgent, let’s talk tomorrow,” Jiang Chi maintained her composed smile. “It’s late, and we’re about to rest. You should get some sleep too, Teacher Su.”

Without hesitation, she closed the door.

Throughout this, Wen Wen had been carefully observing Jiang Chi. She realized Jiang Chi wasn’t deliberately ignoring Su Jing out of anger, she genuinely wanted to distance herself, permanently and completely.

Why things had come to this, Wen Wen couldn’t help but wonder, though her curiosity was overshadowed by joy.

The next morning, in the haze between sleep and wakefulness, Jiang Chi felt like she couldn’t breathe. She swiped at her nose, and her breathing eased. Just as she was about to turn over and go back to sleep, she was pulled back, the suffocating sensation returning.

Jiang Chi slowly opened her eyes. Upon seeing Wen Wen’s beautiful face, she instinctively whined, “Sister, stop teasing me. Let me sleep a little longer.” She grabbed Wen Wen’s mischievous hand and tucked it under her head, drifting back to sleep.

Wen Wen shook her head helplessly, exerting force to sit Jiang Chi upright. “Wake up, sleepyhead. Have you forgotten we’re filming a show?”

At the mention of filming, Jiang Chi’s mind cleared slightly, but sleepiness still held sway. She wrapped her arms around Wen Wen’s waist and continued to protest. “Just five more minutes.”

Wen Wen let her cling, calmly stating, “Director Xu said if you don’t get up, he’ll confiscate all the spicy strips you bought yesterday.”

Jiang Chi let out a dramatic groan, lifting her head to look at Wen Wen. “Sister, he’s so unreasonable. You have to protect my spicy strips for me.”

Wen Wen pinched her nose. “Who could be more unreasonable than you? Get up now.”

Jiang Chi slowly dragged herself out of bed. She had intended to go wash up, but suddenly considering the distance, she pulled Wen Wen to the bathroom doorway: “Sis, can you wait here for me?”

“Are you three years old? Need an adult to accompany you while brushing your teeth?” Wen Wen teased verbally but showed no intention of leaving.

Jiang Chi persisted with her antics: “I don’t care. You’re the one who woke me up, and I’m not fully awake yet. What if I collapse halfway through brushing? So you have to watch me.”

Seeing no refusal, Jiang Chi immediately started brushing and washing her face, taking the opportunity to ask Wen Wen when she had gotten up.

Wen Wen had woken at 6:30 that morning. Barring special circumstances, her biological clock was set at that time. She had originally planned to prepare breakfast downstairs but found the production crew had already set it up when she went down.

It was prepared only for her and Jiang Chi, as a reward for successfully choosing each other, while the other guests had to make their own breakfast.

Seeing the nutritionally balanced meal, Jiang Chi’s slight resentment toward the crew for forcing her awake completely dissipated as she happily enjoyed breakfast.

After breakfast, the crew announced the day’s task, CP hide-and-seek.

There were three filming locations for the guests to choose from: a shopping mall, a flower market, and a park. Each CP pair would be divided into “cats” and “mice.” The mice would select a location, and the cats had to guess and go to the chosen spot. Both needed to find each other as quickly as possible under certain restrictions.

The CP that reunited in the shortest time would enjoy a luxurious dinner prepared by the crew. The next group would have to prepare their own dinner with only one ingredient, while the slowest pair would get nothing but a bowl of plain rice.

“A little reminder, the fastest individual also gets an extra reward, so do your best!”

To thoroughly test the CPs’ tacit understanding, the directors didn’t allow much communication between guests, instead deciding the cat-mouse roles by drawing lots.

After the draw, the cats were Jiang Chi, Su Jing, and Jin Jinyi.

Having successfully chosen each other, Wen Wen, as the mouse, had the first pick of locations.

Jiang Chi stared at Wen Wen’s retreating figure, distinctly feeling that with each step Wen Wen took away, her unease grew. Fortunately, even after Wen Wen walked two meters away, she remained free.

Wen Wen approached the table displaying the location options and unhesitatingly chose one of the pictures. She glanced back at Jiang Chi before leaving the “Heartbeat Cabin” under the staff’s guidance.

Jiang Chi stood at the table, examining the three distinctive pictures. After a moment’s thought, she picked the flower market image and left the cabin.

On the way to the flower market, the crew handed Jiang Chi a set of clothes, accessories, and makeup: “Ms. Jiang, we need you to disguise yourself something normal but unrecognizable. The flower market is crowded, and being recognized might cause a commotion.”

None of the items could fully conceal her. The crew’s idea of a “normal disguise” was to transform into someone else as much as possible without covering up.

It didn’t matter who just not a celebrity who would cause a stir.

Jiang Chi felt her level of fame didn’t really require a disguise someone as household-name famous as Wen Wen was the one who needed it.

No, she was quite famous too, but compared to Wen Wen’s stellar reputation, hers was notorious.

“Does Sister Wen also disguise herself?” Jiang Chi asked.

“Yes, because aside from finding each other, you have other tasks to complete. Teacher Jiang, you aren’t entirely sure whether Teacher Wen is at the flower market right now, are you?”

Should she say she wasn’t sure?

She felt like she was. Wen Wen’s office was minimalist, yet adorned with various floral-themed decorative pieces subtle but elegant, exuding a refined taste that spoke volumes about the owner.

That was precisely why, after visiting Wen Wen’s office once, Jiang Chi disguised herself as a flower delivery person the second time.

But what if she was wrong?

Jiang Chi nodded, indicating her uncertainty.

“So,” the staff member continued, “if you can obtain 52 different types of flowers without spending a single penny, we’ll provide you with Teacher Wen’s exact location.”

“This task will require you to be out in the open, so we hope Teacher Jiang will disguise herself well, just in case.”

Aside from that reason, it was also to make recognizing each other more challenging.

But would recognizing Wen Wen really be that hard?

Jiang Chi didn’t think so.

Though they hadn’t known each other for long, she inexplicably felt that way, the kind of feeling people describe as being able to recognize Wen Wen even if she turned to ashes.

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