Chapter 15: Oh No

Shen Xingman sighed, turned her phone over, and scratched her hair. "Stuff in the circle."

She lifted the blanket, got out of bed, walked straight into the bathroom, and in less than two seconds, walked straight back out.

Almost forgot—someone had picked the bathroom door lock.

Shen Xingman gave Mu Zhihan a "don't try anything funny" look and cautiously headed to the living room.

After her shower, Shen Xingman felt completely relaxed. She blow-dried her hair and returned to the bedroom.

Mu Zhihan sat on the bed waiting for her.

The surroundings were eerily quiet.

Shen Xingman narrowed her eyes, smoothed her long hair, and tried to keep as much distance from him as possible.

"Are you leaving?" He set down the book in his hand and spoke softly.

"Yeah." Shen Xingman took clothes from the wardrobe and turned to answer him.

"Now?" He lowered his gaze slightly, dark lashes falling over his eyes, making the emotion in them hard to read.

But his tone sounded both like a complaint and like grievance.

The key thing was, hearing it, Shen Xingman actually felt a twinge of heartache...

She said nothing, silently taking the clothes off the hanger.

The man stood up and slowly moved toward her. "How can you trust me so much?"

Shen Xingman turned her head abruptly, and her forehead brushed against his chin.

"Not afraid I'll go out carousing?"

"..."

The man's handsome face was inches away, his jawline sharp and defined, his deep eyes seeming to hold a layer of cool, bewitching light.

His scent was fragrant—at odds with his ascetic, cool exterior. What should have been a fresh, tranquil jasmine fragrance carried a hint of restrained melancholy.

Wait...

Why would he have a jasmine scent on him?

"..."

As her thoughts spun in a hundred directions, Shen Xingman suddenly recalled what he had just said.

He asked, was she afraid of him going out carousing?

"Then of course I trust you," Shen Xingman said with a bright smile. "You're so good..."

Honestly, she didn't mean that against her will at all.

Because judging from his behavior in bed... there was zero chance of him finding a mistress—none at all. Sometimes when he got going, he'd even drag Shen Xingman into another round the next day.

"And you?" The man's pitch-black eyes bore down, his gaze deep. "Are you as good as me?"

His cool voice carried a captivating slight rasp, making it impossible to tell whether he was talking or seducing.

Shen Xingman pressed her lips together, her gaze sweeping over that ascetically shattered face. "Of course. I'm really busy—where would I find the time to cheat on you?"

"Then why do you always leave me home alone?"

"..." Shen Xingman felt a bit flustered.

The things he said truly made her feel that her actions over the past three months were a bit... uh, unfair to him.

But she really had been quite busy these three months, with an overwhelming number of gigs. Near year's end, sometimes she was so busy she had no time to rest at all.

However, things would be much better in half a month, with almost no schedule.

Xingshuang hadn't started filming yet, so she could rest well before joining the production.

"You can come find me too," Shen Xingman's fingers began stroking his chest again, like a coy little wife. "As long as you're not afraid of being discovered."

When it came to popularity, Beauty Mu was no less than Shen Xingman, right?

She just didn't know what Qiao Yun and Miao Miao's reactions would be if they saw.

As she thought this, she saw the man's lips press down toward her.

A soft touch soon came to her lips.

His hands began to roam restlessly over her body, and from the look of it, he seemed intent on taking off her clothes.

Shen Xingman: "Be good. Kissing is fine, but no hanky-panky."

"Why?"

"Why, why—why are there so many whys?"

The very first thing Shen Xingman did upon returning to the apartment was hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry to dab concealer over the little strawberry on her chest.

Little did she know, all of this was witnessed by Comrade Miao and Comrade Qiao Qiao from the shadows.

After finishing, Shen Xingman breathed a sigh of relief.

Miao Miao and Qiao Yun stealthily poked out half their heads.

Miao Miao: "See that? How ruthless—daring to plant a strawberry on a big star. Her husband must be sorely lacking a beatdown from society."

Qiao Yun: "And to think I actually believed her last night when she said she was going home to visit her parents. Instead, she rushed home to spend a romantic night with her husband."

Miao Miao: "Tsk tsk tsk. That husband of hers pops up like a corpse every few days, and there's no stopping it."

Qiao Yun: "Exactly. 'Rest in peace'—even the King of Hell would shake his head."

Shen Xingman curled up in bed scrolling through Weibo, and as she scrolled, she suddenly came across a rant bot.

This confessional blogger was pretty impressive—their follower count had actually reached twelve million.

【Rant: Hey bot, feeding you strawberry coconut milk candy. Today I was reading a novel, originally in a great mood, and good grief, the comment section was full of this star and that star. So unlucky. Can certain rootless fans have some shame? Can you let the paper characters keep their original beauty?】

【Rant: Hey bot, passing you jasmine milk green. When I said even dogs wouldn't date, I meant literally even dogs wouldn't date. When I said even dogs wouldn't ship my CP, I meant I'm worse than a dog.】

【Rant: Just fell into a new CP's pit, so excitedly crawled over to Lofter looking for some sugar. But from last night till now, the fics I've seen are basically all knives? All freaking knives! Dear authors, I really want to give each of you a big smooch hahahahaha 【a type of plant】】

【...】

Thinking, Shen Xingman scratched her head, and an idea popped into her mind.

She switched to a secondary account to complain about someone.

She followed the format to send a private message to the blogger.

【Bot good, serving jasmine tea. My husband is too clingy, what should I do? Moreover, this husband is super handsome and has a great figure.】

"Manman," Miao Miao walked over like a ghost, holding her phone, "Take a look."

Shen Xingman turned her phone away, looking at her screen.

——It's the news from the official blog of The Summer announcing the female lead.

The comment section descended into chaos.

【？Online rumors say it's not Shen Xingman? Why was she replaced?】

【I don't understand, what's going on…… Didn't the director previously reveal on Weibo that Manman was the female lead?】

/Comment attached a picture——

@Manman Three-part Sugar: Director Chen Director Chen, Manman really suits Gu Ran!!

Reply: @Chen Cheng: hahaha, you really predicted it. /

【Where's Director Chen? Come out and say something.】

【Is it that someone snatched it away, or is Manman's side unwilling to take it?】

Reply: 【Oh come on, I heard from the site sister earlier that Manman has been in touch with this movie; most likely it was snatched away.】

【What the hell does this mean? Are you kidding? Hahaha】

Shen Xingman's fan base is vastly larger than Jiang Xiaoyan's, so the situation now is completely one-sided.

But Jiang Xiaoyan's fans are not to be trifled with; knowing her older sister had landed a resource, they would surely be delighted and come to congratulate, yet upon opening the comment section, goodness gracious, it's all fans from some clueless faction rushing to attack the official account.

【I'm convinced, ky begone, okay??】

【The director didn't even say it had to be Shen Xingman, right? Why are the fans so extreme? Haha, how strange, the director can want whoever they want, and I think Jiang Xiaoyan would be more suitable for Gu Ran.】