“Are you losing your mind?!”
Qin Chaomu rubbed her cheek and stood up indignantly, it was an almost subconscious reaction to being slapped.
The skin under her fingertips stung. As Qin Chaomu frowned, the woman who had delivered the blow was the first to look aggrieved. Seeing Shen Guai curled into a ball, clutching herself with tear stains still wet on her pale face and her cherry lips bitten bloodless, Qin Chaomu’s heart skipped a beat.
“Listen to me, it’s not what you think…”
The scene looked like a script where a “scumbag woman” had forced herself upon an innocent girl. Qin Chaomu was the scumbag; Shen Guai was the innocent girl.
Looking at the messy clothes on the floor and the fact that she and Shen Guai were facing each other while unclothed, Qin Chaomu guessed that Shen Guai must have misunderstood, thinking they had acted out some melodramatic late-night TV drama plot.
“Then what is it supposed to be?”
Shen Guai’s voice was icy. She stared fixedly at Qin Chaomu’s exposed collarbone for a long while before finally lifting her gaze.
Feeling uncomfortable under the scrutiny, the “aggressor” Qin Chaomu actually panicked and grabbed a shirt from the floor to cover her chest. Despite having done nothing, she felt guilty as hell, as if she really had slept with Shen Guai the night before.
Qin Chaomu composed herself and looked away, not quite daring to meet Shen Guai’s eyes. She went silent for a moment, seemingly realizing something. Suddenly, a smile surfaced on her face. She leaned over with one hand braced beside Shen Guai. Noticing Shen Guai’s flustered expression, Qin Chaomu’s smile broadened.
“So arrogant now? You’re not being ‘obedient’ (Guai) at all. Last night, you weren’t nearly this defiant.”
Qin Chaomu cupped her own face, feigning interest as she bragged about how “impressive” she had been last night. She mocked Shen Guai for being a paper tiger, a “wilted eggplant,” and teased that she was destined to be a “0” (bottom) for life.
She made it sound as if something earth shattering had truly happened between them.
Shen Guai froze for two seconds before squeezing words out through gritted teeth. “Qin Chaomu, have you no shame?”
“I don’t know about my shame, but as for you… I’ve claimed you regardless.”
After saying this, Qin Chaomu pinched Shen Guai’s chin, leaned down, and slowly approached her lips. Shen Guai’s pupils contracted, her face flushed crimson, and she closed her eyes, her heart racing wildly.
As their body heat rose, the surrounding air felt warm. Qin Chaomu slowly released Shen Guai’s chin and instead took her hand, interlacing their fingers and stroking the spaces between them with her index finger.
However, after waiting for a long time, the kiss never came.
“Are you playing with me?”
Shen Guai opened her eyes in a fit of pique. Qin Chaomu’s lips were barely two centimeters away, but she had stopped right there, refusing to move an inch forward.
Watching Shen Guai’s flushed face with a grin, Qin Chaomu squinted her almond eyes and ran her fingertip along the lines of Shen Guai’s lips.
“Compared to kissing, I prefer other places. After all… your moans were quite seductive.” Qin Chaomu arched an eyebrow and then covered her mouth, unable to stop herself from breaking into laughter.
“You mother!”
Shen Guai’s cheeks puffed out in rage, her ears and face turning a deep shade of red. She cursed as she pushed Qin Chaomu away, leaped off the bed, and dressed with lightning speed. Ignoring the order of the buttons, she ran out of the room.
“Pfft.”
Qin Chaomu laughed and hugged the pillow Shen Guai had used. Resting her chin on it, her long hair cascading down, she watched Shen Guai’s flustered retreating figure.
“Teacher Chen…”
The moment Shen Guai pushed the door open, she ran right into Chen Qinghe. Both of them froze. After a hurried greeting and two awkward coughs, Shen Guai brushed past her.
“Did you see everything?” Qin Chaomu squinted at Chen Qinghe, who was standing dazed at the door, her lips curling into a smug smile.
Chen Qinghe shook her head and gave a thumbs up. “Didn’t see the ‘battle,’ but I certainly saw the aftermath.”
“What are you looking for me for?” Qin Chaomu was in a great mood today. Usually, she looked half-dead when seeing Chen Qinghe, but today her tone was even gentle.
“I wrote a new book and I’m holding a signing. Could you be a guest? I want to hitch a ride on your ‘Qin-teacher’ clout.”
“I could…”
“Yes!” Chen Qinghe jumped with excitement.
“But on one condition,” Qin Chaomu pivoted.
“No way, Qin-teacher, you know I’m so poor I can barely afford rent…”
Qin Chaomu held up an index finger and shook it, her expression serious. “Chen Qinghe, can you… please find a girlfriend quickly?”
When Shen Guai opened the door to her own room, Jin Xi and Wutong snapped to their feet, clearly having waited for a long time.
“How was it with Guaiguai last night?” “Did you confess? Did you kiss?”
Shen Guai walked like a zombie to the bed and threw herself onto it, pounding the sheets in frustration. “Don’t even mention it…”
“She rejected you?” Jin Xi and Wutong exchanged glances.
Shen Guai sighed and sat up. With her messy hair and a look in her eyes that suggested she wanted to murder someone, she looked like a little beast that had failed a hunt.
“More than just kissing… I even… took my clothes off…”
“Oh my god!” Wutong reacted instantly, pouring melon seeds into a tray and dragging over two chairs. The two of them crowded around Shen Guai. “Details! Now!”
Shen Guai bit her lower lip, feeling helpless. “I went in and hugged her, then kissed her.”
“Holy mother of….!” Jin Xi and Wutong clapped their hands in excitement.
“Then she didn’t react, so I took off my clothes and kept kissing her… she still didn’t react. Then… she actually ran to the bathroom.” Shen Guai tilted her head, paused, and continued. “I waited for a long time and she didn’t come out. I thought she was scared of me, so I ran to the bathroom to explain…”
“She was actually… taking a bath!” Shen Guai got angrier as she spoke, punching her pillow. “I thought, I’ve already stripped, and you’re in here acting all relaxed? So I went in.”
“In where?” Jin Xi caught the key point.
“Into… the bathtub!” Shen Guai cleared her throat. “Don’t interrupt. I’m continuing. I didn’t have any improper thoughts or anything, I just wanted to explain myself so she wouldn’t think I’m a creep.”
“Understood. Explaining with words wasn’t enough; you had to stay in the tub to explain,” Wutong added.
As Shen Guai shot a murderous look at Wutong, Jin Xi hit Wutong’s head and smirked. “How bold of you to expose Guaiguai like that. Do you still want your internship certificate?”
Shen Guai rubbed her red ears impatiently. “Stop interrupting! So I kissed her again…”
“So you two were buck-naked in the tub kissing?” Jin Xi covered her face and looked at Wutong, who accidentally spat out her water.
“Is Qin Chaomu made of cement? I did all that, and she didn’t have a single reaction!” Shen Guai sighed at the ceiling, slamming the pillow onto the bed. “Do I really have no charm?”
“After the kiss, nothing else happened?”
Shen Guai shook her head dejectedly, frowning deeply. “Why? Even if there’s no feeling, it shouldn’t be zero reaction…”
Jin Xi shook her head. “I don’t know if she felt anything, but Guaiguai, you’re doomed. You’ve been played.”
“I have not!” Shen Guai insisted stubbornly.
“So weird. Why no reaction? Could it be that Qin Chaomu doesn’t like women?” Wutong looked at Jin Xi.
Shen Guai’s heart sank.
“But aren’t there rumors that Teacher Qin has slept with half the actresses in the industry?” Wutong asked, looking more confused.
“What?!” This time, Shen Guai’s eyebrows knitted together, her nails digging into her palms.
“Nonsense,” Jin Xi waved it off. “Qin Chaomu has been a workaholic all these years, filming two or three movies a year. Between work and more work, where would she find the time to sleep with actresses?”
“But she does have a lot of scandals…” Shen Guai cupped her face. Without makeup, she looked a bit more fragile. Her eyes drifted toward the door.
“Scandals?” Jin Xi thought for a moment. “They’re probably all fake. I’ve never heard of her actually being with anyone. It’s mostly just other celebrities trying to leech off her popularity.”
“Guaiguai is actually the first person she’s ‘officially’ announced a relationship with in the industry. Even if it’s fake, she’s probably not as scandalous as the rumors say.”
“Really?” Shen Guai breathed a sigh of relief.
“Then is it possible Teacher Qin is actually a ‘0’ and she’s waiting for Guaiguai to take the lead?”
“That’s possible!” Jin Xi nodded in agreement. “But Guaiguai has never been in a relationship, so she obviously wouldn’t know how to… do that.”
Shen Guai fell into deep thought.
Jin Xi and Wutong ate half a tray of melon seeds, gossiping about everything from Qin Chaomu’s past roles to her celebrity connections, her zodiac sign, and her MBTI…
“Wait! Out of everyone, there is one person…” Jin Xi suddenly remembered and slapped Wutong’s arm. “I heard Qin Chaomu has a secret crush on her. It sounds quite plausible.”
The two of them turned their gazes toward Shen Guai as if facing a great enemy. Shen Guai sat up straight, asking nervously, “Who is it?”
“Chen Qinghe,” Jin Xi said slowly. “Your idol.”
“Chen Qinghe?!” Shen Guai looked at the wall covered in Chen Qinghe posters, her lip bitten until it lost all color.
She remembered this morning, Chen Qinghe appearing at Qin Chaomu’s room. She remembered the numerous times Qin Chaomu had warned her not to like Chen Qinghe…
At the time, she thought Qin Chaomu simply had a bad relationship with Chen Qinghe and would “go crazy” at the mention of her name. It turns out… Qin Chaomu likes Chen Qinghe?
“Chen Qinghe and Qin Chaomu were childhood friends. Qin Chaomu has been single all these years, and there’s a theory that she has an unrequited love for Chen Qinghe.”
Jin Xi looked at Shen Guai solemnly. Shen Guai’s face grew increasingly pale.
“Childhood friends…”
Shen Guai hugged herself helplessly. She thought Qin Chaomu liked her, but it was Chen Qinghe?
“They’re incredibly close. Qin Chaomu rarely has private dealings with others, but she’s different with Chen Qinghe. Years ago, the movie ‘Folding Waist’ it was Chen Qinghe who gave the lead role to Qin Chaomu. That’s the role that made Qin Chaomu blow up and become a top-tier star,” Jin Xi recalled.
“Good one, Chen Qinghe!”
Shen Guai lifted her head, her expression flashing with a rare, dark gloom.