You Guys Wouldn’t Have Taken My Casual Acting Seriously, Right Chapter 16

Wen Zhenghan was so angry he didn’t sleep the whole night.

Literally the whole night, he couldn’t sleep at all.

When he gave her the gifts, Shen Fu wiped his trophy carefully right in front of him, studied the carat weight on the diamond brooch, smiling from ear to ear, absolutely delighted.

How could she do something like this the moment he looked away?

But thinking from another angle… 

She shouldn’t be unaware that selling them would eventually be discovered by him.

And yet she still did it. Why?

Could it be she did it on purpose to get his attention?

The next morning, Wen Zhenghan didn’t look well at all, with obvious dark circles from an entire night without sleep.

It was so obvious he had no choice but to put on sunglasses.

Jiang Shu had a habit of morning runs; just as he returned to the villa hallway after removing his Bluetooth earphones, he ran into Wen Zhenghan coming out of his room.

It wasn’t even light yet, and the filming crew hadn’t arrived.

Both wore sunglasses, like two handsome blind men brushing past each other.

Jiang Shu glanced at him from the corner of his eye and let out a cold snort.

Wen Zhenghan was baffled: ?

On the very first night entering the villa, he already felt that Jiang Shu had some inexplicable hostility towards Chu Wei, but he didn’t think much of it, only assuming that since they were around the same age, Jiang Shu might see Chu Wei as competition.

Besides, there is a hierarchy in the industry: the capital circle looks down on the entertainment circle, those who shoot movies look down on those who shoot dramas, actors look down on idols.

Chu Wei was at the bottom of the food chain, so it was normal he’d be looked down on.

But he didn’t know if he was just too sensitive, how come now it felt like Jiang Shu looked at every male guest in the villa with gunpowder and contempt behind those sunglasses?

Wen Zhenghan frowned.

Do all these rich heirs have something wrong with their brains?

“Limited-Time Heartbeat” ran for thirty days, with a total of nine date-selection segments. After each date, the next two days were rest days, and guests could stay in the villa to interact and get to know one another.

After yesterday’s text-sending segment results came out, the audience was dying of anticipation.

At 9 a.m. when the livestream began, the number of viewers doubled again.

【Who would believe I didn’t sleep the whole night? Thinking about the Film Emperor and Film Empress holding hands all day today, I literally couldn’t sleep at all.】

【Wuwuwu before the handholding scene I’m already prepared to screen record, hurry up and drop a butt squat.】

【I wonder what mascot costumes the production team prepared, ahhhh I’m begging, please let it be something cute, like a baby dinosaur.】

However, no one expected that as soon as the livestream started, a notice appeared in the bottom right corner apologizing: Wen Zhenghan had to film an advertisement today and would be taking a day off; he wouldn’t appear in the villa livestream during the daytime.

Wen Zhenghan’s fans let out a sigh of relief, but Zuo Mei’s fans and the Emperor-Empress CP fans were as disappointed today as they had screamed yesterday.

【???】

【What the h*ll? Seriously? Delaying the commercial shoot by one day won’t kill anyone, why today of all days?】

【And based on the schedule released by Wen Zhenghan’s company earlier, he should be in the villa today, so why a sudden change?】

Zuo Mei also received the rushed notice from the production team early in the morning, saying Wen Zhenghan had taken a day off due to work and had left the villa, and would only return at night.

Zuo Mei gave an awkward smile.

What else could she do? She could only pretend that Wen Zhenghan had discussed it with her beforehand.

She didn’t expect he’d be this unwilling.

If she stayed in the villa alone today, she’d surely face plenty of awkwardness.

Feeling upset, Zuo Mei contacted her agent.

Soon after, the audience received another notice, not only was the Film Emperor not in the villa today, the Film Empress also couldn’t adjust her schedule and wouldn’t return until nighttime.

Before the barrage could start wailing, someone posted: 【Everyone, be understanding. For adults, career comes first in love, but isn’t that exactly what makes it even more shippable?!】

No, it isn’t, Blue Sky and Sea thought.

She already felt before that Wen Zhenghan and Zuo Mei were nowhere near as real as these CP fans insisted they were!

The atmosphere between them was clearly tinged with faint distance, yet these CP fans acted like they were blind, every day shipping them as “the truth is real,” it was laughable!

But the last time she expressed doubt, she got chewed out, so now she didn’t dare casually post anymore.

Just wait, this CP that’s already hit peak popularity will definitely crash sooner or later.

Chu Wei hadn’t slept well either. He tossed and turned all night, his mind full of questions about how Wen Zhenghan and Shen Fu had known each other beforehand. He felt he needed to find a way to talk to Shen Fu privately. After entering the show, they were constantly under cameras, and he had no chance to communicate with her.

Even if she still hated him, she should at least give him a chance to clear things up.

Chu Wei, in his mascot suit, searched the villa for Shen Fu everywhere, but never saw her leave her room.

But instead, Gu Qingshuang, wearing the same mascot suit, suggested they go to the garden and play on the swings.

It wasn’t an excessive request, so Chu Wei couldn’t refuse and went with her.

【Even though it’s not a baby dinosaur, my Ge in a bear mascot suit is still so cute, uwu.】

【These two are getting closer, could they actually become a thing?】

【I’ve already given up on Chu Wei x Xu Tiaotiao. They started dismantling that CP the moment the show began. I just hope he stops getting entangled with Shen Fu.】

Shen Fu didn’t stay in her room the whole time, she simply avoided Chu Wei as much as possible.

Chu Wei, in the mascot suit, had a huge silhouette. The moment Shen Fu spotted a fluffy bear in her line of sight, she immediately changed locations.

The villa was big enough that Shen Fu spent the morning soaking in the hot spring and the afternoon reading, all without letting Chu Wei find her.

The barrage watched her play guerrilla warfare and nearly died laughing: 【Hahahaha is Shen Fu actually hiding from Chu Wei?】

【Chu Wei’s fans keep whining, but honestly, since the show started, Shen Fu has never gone looking for Chu Wei. It’s always Chu Wei who’s looked for her three or four times.】

Chu Wei’s fans trembled with anger: 【Who knows what that woman is plotting?】

【Shen Fu’s fans got inflated just because my Ge picked her once. I already said that was gentlemanly manners! Afraid no one would pick your fave so he looked after you guys, okay? So she wants to avoid my Ge, fine, avoid then, what’s so great about that, does she think my Ge will pick her again next time? Dream on!】

【We’ll see tonight in the game segment (smile). Whoever the h*ll’s stan actively goes to the other, that stan is the dog!】

Someone watching the drama and not afraid of chaos: 【Holy sh*t you two fandoms are playing this big? How about playing even bigger, losing side goes under their fave’s Weibo and pastes all their black material, how about that?】

【Hahaha the one above is too good at playing, you’re going to kill me laughing.】

The “game segment at night” mentioned in the barrage refers to the small games the program team prepared during the guests’ rest period. Today’s mini-game is “Three Minutes of Darkness,” and the program team had already announced the rules on the official blog.

At night they would play a horror movie.

After the movie ended, the villa would fall into three minutes of darkness.

During that time, the guests would still be on the living room sofas without having left. Each person had a ring, if they could slip their ring onto the wrist of the person they wanted to “ring,” they could make a request to the person who was ringed.

And the person who got ringed must agree to the request.

A date, a private chat outside, grabbing coffee, anything.

Rong Xiaozhen had never believed any of that cr*p about Shen Fu “clinging relentlessly” to Chu Wei, and immediately had fans reply: 【Shen Fu’s fans say no problem, if the rival fans don’t dare to bet then they’re cowards.】

In Running Lighthouse’s group, a radical Chu Wei fan sent: 【Bet then bet, what, you think our Ge is still gonna be a simp?】

Other Chu Wei fan groups nearly exploded from anger when they saw this.

“Is this person sick? Are they a disguised anti? Actually using Gege to gamble?”

The barrage was a mess, torn apart, and bystanders were enjoying the show: 【I’m dying, you two fandoms actually got me excited to see who rings who tonight.】

【+1】

Soon it was nighttime.

Tonight’s dinner was originally supposed to be prepared by Wen Zhenghan and Zuo Mei, but since both asked for leave, the production team prepared it instead, and their cooking slot was postponed by a day.

When dinner ended and it was time for the movie segment, Zuo Mei and Wen Zhenghan finally returned one after the other.

All the guests gathered in the living room and sat on the sofa.

After the staff finished explaining the rules, they turned on the projector: “Different people have different colored rings, please remember your own color. And please also remember there are only three minutes of darkness, once the three minutes end, you can’t move anymore.”

Zuo Mei held her ring in her free hand and unconsciously glanced at Wen Zhenghan from the corner of her eye.

Ever since they came back, they’d been forced to hold hands. Though it wasn’t long, they’d held hands around twenty to thirty minutes. This was much better than Zuo Mei expected, fans in the barrage had probably been screaming for those twenty to thirty minutes too.

The only problem was, although Wen Zhenghan cooperated with the segment, his gaze always avoided her, he barely communicated with her, and his expression was slightly cold. As if what he was holding wasn’t a person but a prop mannequin.

Once the game moved on, the reward and punishment from the previous segment could stop.

As soon as the staff announced the movie officially started, Wen Zhenghan immediately let go of Zuo Mei’s hand.

Zuo Mei’s face didn’t look great, and she quickly pulled her hand back too.

The barrage kept shipping: 【Hahahaha are the Film Emperor and Film Empress embarrassed now?】

【D*mn, which little genius came up with this show rule? I took hundreds of screenshots of them holding hands! Even though it was only 27 minutes and 38 seconds, I’m satisfied, sob.】

【I bet my head! In the ring-toss segment later the two of them will still ring each other!】

Chu Wei and Gu Qingshuang had taken off the mascot headpieces. It wasn’t convenient to take off the rest of the costume now, so they left it on for the moment.

The horror movie background music started, and only Shen Fu watched seriously.

Since this segment didn’t have point rewards, she couldn’t be bothered to think about who she’d ring later, whatever, whoever.

The other guests all had their own thoughts, nervous and unsettled, no one was actually watching the movie!

Chu Wei sat on the chaise at the right end of the sofa; taking advantage of the dim lighting from the movie, he secretly turned his head toward Shen Fu sitting farthest to the left.

He’d been worrying about having no chance to talk to Shen Fu in private, and now the chance was delivered to his door.

Had he known earlier, when they walked from the dining room, he would’ve tried to grab a seat next to Shen Fu! But the rules were only announced at the last minute, he had no idea this was the game!

Thinking this, he sneakily glanced at the man sitting on Shen Fu’s left.

Why was Jiang Shu sitting next to Shen Fu again?

Coincidence?

The movie brightened a bit, and Chu Wei quickly turned his head back.

The barrage took in the guests’ seating and couldn’t help analyzing: 【This round, they’ll either not throw the ring or throw it on someone beside them, right?】

Two five-seaters were pushed together; the distance wasn’t close, and there were coffee tables in front creating obstacles. Trying to reach far in total darkness to ring someone you wanted, this difficulty was no joke.

Who would risk tripping and stumbling around in the dark?

【Right now Chu Wei and Gu Qingshuang are sitting together, Xu Tiaotiao and Xiang Lingyun together, Wen Zhenghan and Zuo Mei together, Shen Fu and D.】

【Wait why is the young master sitting next to Shen Fu again?】

The barrage’s attention turned to Shen Fu and Jiang Shu, nearly dying of laughter: 【Help, my entire comedy value is in the young master, he’s insane! Why is he wearing sunglasses while watching a movie?!】

This round, if you didn’t ring someone, or didn’t ring anyone at all, there was no punishment.

So the barrage guessed most guests wouldn’t act.

If you go ring someone, that means you want to make an “unrefusable date request” to that person. Once you move, your intentions are exposed!

Who would be that bold, that A, to go for it?

Jiang Shu sat beside Shen Fu, leaned slightly back, and under his sunglasses his gaze slid coldly to the right.

His glance happened to meet two pairs of eyes in the darkness.

One belonged to Chu Wei, who was eagerly calculating the distance and itching to make a move.

The other belonged to Wen Zhenghan, who was separated from Shen Fu by only a single person, Zuo Mei.

The h*ll are you trying to pull?

Jiang Shu’s face instantly darkened, and he glared back at both of them one by one.

Unfortunately, the lighting was dim, and neither of them could feel the fury burning in his gaze.

Zuo Mei was also leaning back on the sofa. Thinking Jiang Shu was looking at her, she found it a little strange but still smiled and nodded politely.

Jiang Shu: “…”

Irritated, Jiang Shu turned his head away.

A moment later, he couldn’t help glancing at Shen Fu, who was seated on his right.

Too lazy to hold her ring, Shen Fu had tucked it under her backside and was sitting on it. Arms crossed, she stared intently at the projection screen, completely uninterested in making eye contact with him.

Jiang Shu: “…”

He discreetly glanced at the ring underneath her.

Wen Zhenghan was also considering whether he should toss his ring onto Shen Fu.

He was far more rational than Chu Wei, but after the incident with the trophy being sold the night before, no one could stay completely calm.

The conversation time in the storage room had been far too short. Cameras were everywhere in the villa; if two people disappeared for more than three minutes, viewers would become suspicious.

He needed an opportunity to ask Shen Fu what exactly she was trying to do.

The movie finally ended after what felt like an eternity.

The credits slowly faded away.

The production team suddenly announced:

“The game segment is about to begin. Contestants, please get ready!”

The next second, the entire villa was plunged into darkness.

When people suddenly go from bright light into darkness, there’s always a moment when they can’t see anything at all.

Chu Wei tried to seize the opportunity and rush leftward, but misjudged his direction. He tripped over the coffee table and crashed face-first onto the floor, seeing stars.

【Holy cr*p, who fell?!】

The audience’s screens were completely black; all they heard was a loud bang.

【That sounded painful! Hahaha, now I’m really excited. Did someone actually try to throw a ring across several seats?】

Chu Wei’s fans remained calm:

【Definitely not our Ge. He’s danced for years. His balance is excellent. He never falls.】

Gu Qingshuang herself had been debating whether to ring Chu Wei during this round. But after spending the last two days interacting mostly with him, she felt she should get to know someone else.

So she tried to slip past Xu Tiaotiao and place her ring on Xiang Lingyun’s wrist instead.

Xu Tiaotiao never expected to get flanked while sitting in the middle.

Cursing inwardly, she took advantage of the darkness and pinched the hand Gu Qingshuang had extended toward Xiang Lingyun.

As for Xiang Lingyun, he was unusually calm during this segment.

There wasn’t anyone he particularly wanted to have a private chat with.

The Shen Fu he used to know had been gentle and clingy, like a delicate vine.

But the Shen Fu on this variety show seemed like an entirely different person.

That made him extremely curious.

Still, if he revealed his interest too early, wouldn’t that make the game less fun?

Wen Zhenghan stood up and stepped over Zuo Mei. Unexpectedly, he collided with Chu Wei, who had finally managed to grope his way over in the darkness, and the two ended up tripping over each other.

Someone cursed “Sh*t” in the dark.

The moment the game began, Shen Fu found herself glaring at the person who had suddenly stood up and trapped her against the sofa.

The audio pickup would be reduced during this segment, and the constant sounds of people falling nearby meant the audience probably wouldn’t hear quiet conversations.

Lowering her voice, Shen Fu asked: “What are you doing?”

Jiang Shu tried to pull her up. “You’re sitting there like a giant bell. Can you move your butt for a second? My ring fell into the gap behind your sofa!”

So that’s why?

Just now, he had leaned in so close that his breath brushed her face, startling her.

Shen Fu snapped: “Then move first and let me stand up! How am I supposed to lift my butt when you’re pinning me down like this?”

Jiang Shu snapped back: “Hurry up. Less talking.”

The two men behind him were squeezing and shoving. Why the h*ll would he move?

With that awful dog-like temper of his, Shen Fu wanted to slap him.

Being pinned down was uncomfortable, so she started crawling toward the empty space on her left.

Suddenly, someone behind them bumped Jiang Shu in the waist.

The hands he had braced against the back of the sofa nearly gave way.

Enraged, Jiang Shu simply stood up, turned around, grabbed the person who had crashed into him by the collar, and tossed him aside.

Chu Wei suddenly realized Wen Zhenghan had disappeared from beside him.

Just as he was about to celebrate, he walked straight into a man’s chest.

“Huh?”

Already squeezed in the middle, Jiang Shu was caught off balance by the collision and staggered backward.

Before Shen Fu could crawl away, a familiar scent suddenly crashed into her embrace from above.

Then someone landed directly on her lap.

She finally couldn’t take it anymore.

She raised her hand and smacked the guy in front of her hard.

At that exact moment, the production team switched the lights back on.

What the audience saw was:

Gu Qingshuang and Xu Tiaotiao with completely disheveled hair.

Wen Zhenghan somehow lying on the floor.

Chu Wei sitting backward on the coffee table, only to lose his balance and tumble down at Shen Fu’s feet.

Xiang Lingyun mysteriously calm, taking a sip of beer.

And Jiang Shu—

sitting in Shen Fu’s lap.

Shen Fu was leaning against the sofa.

Both of her hands were on his butt.

Around Jiang Shu’s neck was Shen Fu’s ring.

After a second of silence, he suppressed the redness creeping into his ears and exploded in embarrassment: “Who the h*ll put a ring on me?!”

The comments:

【?】

Shen Fu:

【?】

Wait.

No, seriously—

How had her ring ended up around his neck???

It wasn’t her!

She hadn’t done anything at all!

Author’s Note:

Jiang Shu: It’s not like I wanted to get seduced! But she touched my butt!