Chapter 3: No Chapter

"No." Mu Zhihan spoke after a long while.

Shen Xingman, who had been lost in thought, also gathered her thoughts and asked, "Why?"

The man kissed her delicate collarbone, "I haven't slept enough."

Shen Xingman almost swore, "So you're with me just to sleep with me?"

"Not exactly," the rebuffed Mu Zhihan, still wanting more, licked his thin lips, savoring, "I like you."

"……"

Shen Xingman smiled: "Thank you."

Mu Zhihan's expression unchanged: "I really like you."

Shen Xingman: "I really thank you."

Mu Zhihan: "……"

A serious topic was thus wasted by the two of them.

But Shen Xingman truly didn't want to mess around with him, "I'm serious, look how busy we are—we hardly have time to see each other during the day..."

Mu Zhihan nodded while pretending to listen, but kept his eyes fixed on the woman's spring light at her chest, unblinking; suddenly his gaze darkened, his Adam's apple rolled, and he said, "So don't waste time at night."

"Can we?" he asked, lifting his head pleadingly.

"……"

Oh God, his fans surely don't really think he's a chaste, extraordinarily handsome beauty, do they? If they do, that's too superficial.

During the day, he goes to work in a suit and tie; every word and deed is so elegant, like a gentleman from an old European painting.

But once night falls, the scene changes to this—

"Don't bite me!!!"

He buried his head in her chest and misbehaved.

"It hurts, let go, where's your decency?" Shen Xingman was forced to tilt her head back to accommodate his kiss.

"I'm giving it to you."

"Not even a dog would want it!"

Damn it.

Mu Zhihan smiled, curling his lips, listening with satisfaction to her angry scolding, as if everything she said sounded pleasant to him.

Then, amid the scolding, he moved to her neck, kissing her again and again, finally from the bar counter to the bed, pressing her beneath him, towering over her.

……

……

The next day.

The night curtain fell, dawn light faint. Outside the window, the early sun had at some point climbed the treetops. The wind blew past nameless branches, swaying where birds had once rested.

Shen Xingman woke very late; when she opened her eyes, there was no one beside her.

She struggled to sit up, but before her feet even touched the ground, her calves already ached and trembled.

"Scum."

"Beast, lecher."

Shen Xingman wished she could curse him with the worst words in the world.

Because she moved as slowly as a turtle, by the time she got back to her apartment it was already past one in the afternoon.

"Tsk tsk..." Miao Miao sat at the computer desk, smacking her lips nonstop, as if she'd seen some world wonder, "Sister Manman, your fake-corpse husband is impressive—he pretended to be dead all night."

Shen Xingman lay with effort on the tatami, "Miao classmate, do you really have to praise someone like that?"

Miao Miao pursed her lips, not very happy: "Who made you not keep me company last night? I'm dying of boredom."

"……"

I knew she was going to settle the score.

Miao Miao frowned, as if complaining: "I just don't get how charming your husband is, worth you ditching a beauty to be with him?"

Honestly, Miao Miao depends on Shen Xingman; she doesn't want her to go home just because of a man she hardly sees, even if he's her husband.

"Or why don't you call him over so we can eat together and get to know each other?" Miao Miao clasped her hands, her big doe eyes shining.

Shen Xingman twitched her fingers: "No way, no way—after pretending to be dead he still has to go back, to rest in peace."

"……"

"Why keep hiding it? Not letting the fans know, nor letting me and Qiao Qiao know?" Miao Miao, comrade, has devoted her life to exploring Shen Xingman's plastic sham husband; just a moment ago she was irritable, the next she was eager, "Can you quietly tell me what his looks are really like?"

This is probably Miao Miao's utmost concern.

As a top female star in both looks and traffic, she has reason to suspect that Manman's husband would be a super-handsome guy who could dazzle the solar system, making people lose their souls with a blink.

Yet someone's reply, as always, was disappointing: "It's fine, he looks like a person."

Miao Miao, instantly slapped in the face: "??"

"My goodness, what does 'looks like a person' even mean? Is there such a way to describe someone's appearance?"

"Is... he very ugly?" she asked tentatively.

Shen Xingman didn't deny: "Anyway, you'll cry when you see him."

"??"

"Made to cry by his ugliness?"

"……"

Miao Miao suddenly began to doubt life...

Seeing her silence, Shen Xingman thought her purpose was also achieved, and wanted to take the opportunity to lie down for a beauty nap.

But heaven did not comply with human wishes...

Baby, don't sleep, don't sleep!! Get up and work!

She hadn't even lain down for a minute when Qiao Yun's high-heel footsteps came from outside the door all the way to Shen Xingman's ears.

"Manman," her voice sounded urgent, "hurry up and tidy up a bit; we're going to see Director Chen in a moment."

"Oh dear..." Shen Xingman's face buried in the pillow, she felt utterly stifled and irritated to death, "Didn't we agree on tomorrow morning? How did the schedule suddenly change?"

She was really sleepy.

This feeling is like when you're dozing off in morning self-study, but the homeroom teacher just happens to wander aimlessly right in front of you.

Qiao Yun anxiously explained, "It was indeed agreed for tomorrow morning, but I heard from a source that Jiang Xiaoyan brought people to visit Director Chen."

"How is it her again?" Miao Miao suddenly spoke.

"Yeah, I've been wondering too—how can this person be so shameless?"

Chen Cheng's notebook has always been a piece of juicy meat that everyone wants to take a bite of.

Qiao Yun had also been trying to use connections to meet Old Chen, hoping to snag a role for Manman.

But she never expected that, just half a month ago at the awards ceremony, he actually took the initiative to ask for Qiao Yun's business card and extended an olive branch, hoping the new film 'Midsummer' could collaborate with Shen Xingman.

But this was only a verbal arrangement; whether the role could actually be secured remained unknown, and if not careful, there was a high chance it would be snatched away.

For example, last year Jiang Xiaoyan used her methods to steal Shen Xingman's film resources.

Although the team behind that film wasn't very famous, Qiao Yun didn't care so much; she felt the film's positioning was quite good, the subject matter fresh, and for Shen Xingman it would be a new breakthrough.

But there are always flies drawn to blood; knowing Qiao Yun was best at picking resources, the team got wind of it in advance and specifically went after the choice morsels in her hands.

As expected, relying on this film she enjoyed smooth sailing, her popularity soared early in the year; although she hadn't yet smoothly risen to the rank of a traffic-starlet, press releases flew everywhere, various bought water armies touted her acting skills and ability to endure hardship, and she literally gave herself an 'late bloomer' inspirational image.

Shen Xingman has focused on TV dramas since her debut, not a film variety star; in recent years she hasn't collaborated with any notable big-name directors on the big screen, and now that she finally has a film resource, it's been snatched away by Jiang Xiaoyan time and again—Qiao Yun is furious but helpless.