Of course I’m proud. I have ambition, flowers, wind, love, and sunshine. I grow wildly, and I am the moon myself.
—From “Interview with Actress Song Ying”
#Song Ying Homewrecker
#Song Ying Caught Meeting Shen Linzhou at Night
#Song Ying Interferes with Jiang Yuyao and Shen Linzhou
The moment she opened her eyes, Song Ying was jolted awake by three glaring hot search topics.
Marketing accounts had seized upon a blurry, shadowy photo to stir up drama. In the comments section, aside from a few of her pitifully loyal fans still trying to explain, the rest were a stream of insults directed at her.
?
A small head, filled with big question marks.
Shen Linzhou was the male lead in the first drama she filmed after her comeback. The total time they spent filming scenes together was less than ten days. How on earth did this mess land on her head?
Exiting the page, Song Ying prepared to post a Weibo to clarify, but then another trending topic popped up.
#Jiang Yuyao Posts
She casually clicked in and found a tearful, emotional essay.
In short, she and Shen Linzhou had been in a four-year-long relationship, and Shen Linzhou had always cherished and respected her. This time, being caught on camera was simply Shen Linzhou, as a senior, looking out for a newcomer, but inadvertently giving someone an opportunity. For the sake of their years of feelings, she was willing to trust Shen Linzhou.
“How foolish. Cheating only has two categories: zero times and countless times.”
After muttering this offhand comment, Song Ying shook her head and was about to exit when she suddenly realized—wait, was this a subtle dig at her?
Her fiery temper flared up instantly. Just as she was about to enter battle mode, a hand suddenly reached over from beside her, pulling her into an embrace and knocking her phone away.
A wave of warm breath washed over her as Song Ying was tightly held by a strong arm. The other person’s fuzzy head nuzzled against her face, emitting a sleepy, hoarse, and seductive voice.
“Be good, sleep a little longer.”
Sleep? How could she possibly sleep now?
Pushing away the hand on her, Song Ying leaned over to grab her phone from the floor. Her seaweed-like curly hair cascaded down, accentuating her jade-like, glowing skin.
Once she had it in hand, she realized—
Oh, by accident, she had liked Jiang Yuyao’s Weibo post.
[Is Song Ying the homewrecker getting too arrogant? Not only not speaking up but also liking the original partner’s post?]
[I’ve seen shameless people, but never someone this shameless. My childhood admiration for her is shattered. Song Ying, get out of the entertainment industry!]
Unliking it was out of the question now. At that moment, that large hand reached over again, carrying a sense of neglect, both coquettish and sulky.
“Am I not more fun than your phone… Sleep a little longer…”
Song Ying raised her phone higher to prevent it from being knocked away again, then suddenly remembered something. She sat up abruptly and patted the face of the man beside her.
“Stop sleeping, wake up. Come on, yes, look at the camera!”
Click—
With a sound, she had the photo.
Thirty seconds later, Song Ying posted on Weibo.
[Thanks for the invitation, already have a boyfriend, and he’s handsomer.]
The hot search exploded.
So did Song Ying’s ears.
Curled up on the sofa, her ears were assaulted by the frantic voice of her manager, Sister Hong, who had stormed into her home.
“Song Ying, you’d better explain to me exactly what’s going on! Who is this man!”
“When did you secretly get a boyfriend behind my back? How far has it progressed!”
“And what’s going on between you and Shen Linzhou!”
One question after another, like a lion’s roar, made Song Ying cover her ears. “Sister Hong, calm down. Getting angry hurts your health.”
“You think I’m overreacting? Don’t you know exactly why I’m angry?”Song Ying quickly stood up, poured a cup of warm water, and personally handed it to Sister Hong. In a sweet, coaxing voice, she said, “Have a sip of water to soothe your throat. Whatever you want to hear, I’ll tell you slowly. Don’t be so hard on yourself! And how could I ever find you annoying?”
Sister Hong glared at her fiercely but eventually sat down under Song Ying’s flattering and appeasing efforts.
This girl was always using her beauty to get her way. With her delicate, sweet voice and that fairy-like face, even a volcano would hesitate to erupt, afraid of harming such a porcelain beauty.
Sister Hong gulped down the water in one go, slammed the cup heavily on the table, and mustered her last bit of stubbornness.
“Explain everything to me right now, word for word!”
Three minutes later.
Sister Hong clutched her forehead, feeling like she was about to faint from shock.
The good news was that Song Ying and Shen Linzhou really had nothing going on.
The bad news was that Song Ying not only had a boyfriend but had been dating him for three years, and the two were even already married!
“Don’t stop me, I’m going to jump out of here right now!”
After years as a talent manager, this was the first time she had encountered such a situation—an artist under her care pulling off such a major move right under her nose.
“Don’t you know how short an actress’s prime years are? You debuted as a child star, had a bright future ahead of you, but then you left the industry to study and further your education. Now, after finally making a comeback, you’re starting over at 24, already much later than others. You’ve only acted in two dramas so far, haven’t even come close to becoming popular, and now you’re marrying young? If the media finds out, what good roles will be left for you in the future? Song Ying, oh Song Ying, you really must want me dead!”
“But 24 is already past the legal marriage age…” Song Ying blinked her bright, sparrow-like eyes, playing cute and acting weak, but her words were full of excuses. “Besides, I was afraid it would be hard to handle, so I didn’t say ‘husband’—I said ‘boyfriend’…”
“So I should thank you?” Sister Hong laughed bitterly in anger.
“Hehe, you’re welcome.”
“You…”
“Phone call, Sister Hong.” Song Ying blinked, smiling as she cut off Sister Hong’s words and pointed at the phone in her hand. “Shouldn’t you answer it first?”
Sister Hong took a deep breath.
When she had chosen to manage Song Ying, it was purely because of her exceptionally talented childhood acting skills. Even though Song Ying was at a disadvantage age-wise upon her comeback, Sister Hong had still taken a gamble and become her manager.
Now it seemed she had picked a path riddled with landmines at every turn.
Angry as she was, Sister Hong remained extremely composed when it came to work. While answering the call, her expression was oddly unreadable, and she kept glancing at Song Ying, making the latter feel uneasy.
After hanging up, Sister Hong walked over. “The Director of Journey of Detective Love called to invite you as a guest for their next episode.”
Song Ying’s eyes lit up. It had been almost a year since her comeback, and she had only acted in two dramas that came with her company contract—both as minor supporting roles. Although the characters were good, one was still awaiting release, and the other was under review, so she hadn’t gained much exposure.
Recently, during her downtime, Sister Hong had been searching for variety shows and scripts for her, but nothing suitable had come up yet. Song Ying was practically growing mold from boredom at home.
Journey of Detective Love was a fairly popular variety show at the moment. For them to reach out, even as a guest for just one episode, was an unexpected delight.”Don’t celebrate too soon. Sending you an invitation at this time is ninety percent because of that Weibo post you made this morning. They want to take advantage of your current popularity to dig up some exclusive gossip.”
“Mhm, mhm.”
Song Ying nodded. This was all too common in the industry—just mutual exploitation! Not only that, she added something Sister Hong hadn’t mentioned: “Besides, Jiang Yuyao is also participating in this show. The production team is clearly stirring up drama, hoping to watch us tear each other apart in a fiery showdown.”
“As long as you’re aware.” Sister Hong most admired Song Ying’s liveliness and her intelligence. “But there’s one thing: they’re asking you to bring your boyfriend along.”
“What? I refuse!”
Song Ying crossed her arms in front of her chest, her previously cooperative attitude completely gone. “If the production team wants gossip, I’ll tell them everything I can. But asking my husband to join the show? No way.”
It wasn’t that Song Ying was being difficult; she simply didn’t want to disrupt another person’s life rhythm.
As a public figure, she didn’t mind revealing whether she had a boyfriend, was married, or had children. But telling people whether she did or didn’t was entirely different from dragging the person into the spotlight to boost her own popularity.
Even when she posted on Weibo earlier to clarify things, she hadn’t dared to show her husband’s full face—she had blurred half the photo before posting it.
Asking her to bring him on the show?
She wanted fame, but not to that extent.
Sister Hong understood Song Ying’s concerns. If it were her, she would also choose to protect her family’s privacy. After all, ordinary people and celebrities had very different levels of acceptance when it came to public exposure online.
But the problem was:
“Do you know what people are saying online right now?”
Sister Hong opened the Weibo comment section and shoved her phone in front of Song Ying. “Some are saying you just found a random stock photo to make up the numbers, others are saying you’re just stubbornly refusing to admit the truth, and there are even those claiming you started with half a photo and will end up making up the rest of the story. If you can’t produce a boyfriend who’s even more handsome than Shen Linzhou right now, this matter won’t end so easily. My suggestion is that you should at least ask your husband.”
“No need to ask him. I can decide.” Song Ying still gritted her teeth, refusing to budge.
Sister Hong took a deep breath. “Alright then, I have one last idea. I’ll go back to the company now and find someone from this year’s batch of newly signed young idols to pretend to be your boyfriend. After the show finishes filming, you can announce your breakup after some time. That way, both of you will gain popularity, and it’ll avoid exposing your husband—this is the last resort.”
“I don’t think that will work.”
Before Song Ying could say anything, a slightly cold male voice sounded as the door clicked open.
In the next moment, a tall figure emerged from the bedroom. Despite his steady steps, he seemed to carry an unsettling whirlwind with him as he approached the two women step by step. He extended his hand to Sister Hong.
“Hello, I’m Qin Shu, Song Ying’s husband. I’m willing to appear on camera and accompany her on the show.”
Though it was a greeting for their first meeting, his captivating fox-like eyes held a fierce warning, reminiscent of a young wolf.
Sister Hong’s heart skipped a beat.
Remembering what she had just said, she suddenly felt a bit awkward.
But more than awkwardness, she was mostly stunned by his appearance.
The man before her carried an aura all his own. Beneath his tousled hair, apart from those mesmerizing eyes, his sharp nose and thin lips were exquisitely wild in every way. Having been in the industry for years, Sister Hong had never seen a man so handsome and uniquely charismatic.
At that moment, Sister Hong truly believed Song Ying’s Weibo post.Not only that, Sister Hong even let her professional instincts take over, immediately pulling Qin Shu aside to poach him on the spot. “Um… Mr. Qin, would you be interested in joining the entertainment industry? With your looks, if you entered the business, you’d definitely rise to the top in no time! Shengshi Entertainment has been making waves in the industry these past few years…”
“Sorry, not interested.”
Qin Shu withdrew his hand, walked over to Song Ying, and sat down beside her. He stretched out a long arm, pulling her into his embrace with a rather domineering air.
“Who told you to come out?” Song Ying, however, seemed to know exactly what he was up to. She straightened up, pushed Qin Shu away, and frowned with a hint of anger. “And who gave you permission to agree?”
“If I hadn’t come out, you would’ve been putting a green hat on me…”
The fierce, icy wolf with an intimidating presence from a moment ago suddenly softened his tone. His captivating fox-like eyes grew misty, transforming into an obedient little wolf dog as he gazed pitifully at Song Ying, his voice tinged with grievance and indignation.
“Even if it’s fake, it’s not allowed.”
Beside them, Sister Hong opened her mouth, watching Qin Shu’s seamless acting skills as his expression changed like the weather. Three big words flashed through her mind once again:
Sign him!
But for now, the top priority was clearly not discussing this matter.
“Well, A Ying, since your husband has agreed to participate, I’ll go ahead and sign the contract with the director. You two take your time to talk it over. We’ll catch up later!”
Sister Hong slipped away as if on greased wheels, leaving the couple to negotiate privately.
Two hours later, Song Ying supported her waist, glaring resentfully at the instigator of it all.
“If you want to participate, fine. But you’ll have to explain it to Grandpa yourself tonight.”