You Guys Wouldn’t Have Taken My Casual Acting Seriously, Right Chapter 32

This whole commotion today made Limited Time Heartbeat’s ratings explode.

Shen Fu didn’t say anything, didn’t do anything, but instantly trended again.

After OT Magazine finished shooting her cover, they worked overtime overnight, wanting to use this heat to sell quickly.

Fashion magazines say they are magazines, but in recent years they’ve completely become tools to serve celebrity fandoms.

Fans in the circle compare everything. They compare who gets which tier of magazine, and even the repost count of the magazine’s presale promo must be compared.

“The repost count on Shen Fu’s cover post already surpassed the reposts of a trending second-tier actress.” A staff member said in amazement.

The team leader put on glasses, scrolling backend data: “Look again.”

“Holy, ” the previous staff member suddenly realized, shocked: “These are basically one user one repost.”

Before, when stars sold magazines, it would look like ten-thousand, hundreds-of-thousands of reposts, but actually a lot were fans doing data, or agencies buying bot repost-likes-comments.

After dehydration, a second-tier star might only get ten or twenty thousand reposts.

But Shen Fu’s cover post, almost every repost was by a unique user.

Just like that, it could shoot up to hundreds of thousands?

How many fans did she suck in in this period?

At present, Shen Fu hasn’t come down from the variety show yet, hasn’t started taking new roles or endorsements, and since appearing on Limited Time Heartbeat, she hasn’t posted a single Weibo, so there’s no way to prove her commercial value.

In other words, the outside world only knows that Shen Fu has repeatedly appeared on trending searches during this time, becoming frequent entries, still gauging how much she has ascended.

Only OT beat them to it, probably estimating her current commercial value.

“Signing Shen Fu for this month’s monthly issue, we really f***ing signed right.” The team leader said: “Last night I came up with a marketing plan, absolutely a god-level move, forcing them to come back to work overtime!”

……

Here, the audience didn’t see the three male guests come down until the live broadcast ended, thinking they went to rest early.

It wasn’t until the production team worked until midnight, moving the packed equipment to the rooftop, that they realized three men were still stuck there, freezing in the cold wind.

Although the three brought phones, there was no contact info for the production team in their phones, only the one designated contact at the time.

At this late hour, who would drag themselves to call a friend and say they’re locked on the rooftop with two other men?

Those who know would know they went up to fight, those who don’t know would still wonder what they were doing up there.

“Which idiot locked the door?”

That could be scolded and forgotten.

The live broadcast had already ended.

Jiang Shu escorted Shen Fu back to her room’s door.

Jiang Shu looked at her.

Shen Fu couldn’t help asking first: “Where did you get the lock?”

Jiang Shu came down from the rooftop, expressionless. He lifted the corner of his mouth slightly, but there was no smile, just a little listless: “Is this all you care about?”

What else?

Shen Fu thought.

She didn’t care about the three men.

They were silent for a while.

In front of the corridor of the room, it was just the two of them. Quiet, so quiet it made you almost afraid to breathe.

Shen Fu looked at the two shadows on the floor.

Jiang Shu stared at her.

It was a little warm indoors, as if the steam from the hot springs had been carried in.

Shen Fu felt a slight sweat on the back of her neck, a restlessness she couldn’t explain in her heart.

She touched her sweaty neck.

Jiang Shu glanced at her, then looked up at the corridor air conditioner, which was set too high.

He said: “Go inside. I’ll ask the production team to lower the temperature.”

Shen Fu didn’t answer.

She stood still, occasionally touching her neck. Jiang Shu put both hands in his pockets, standing in front of her, watching her.

He watched her touch her neck, his long fingers curled slightly in his pockets.

“Why didn’t you go into the room with my nameplate?” Shen Fu couldn’t help but ask.

Her voice was small.

Jiang Shu paused.

He was silent for half a minute before asking: “Why should I go in?”

What right did he have to go in?

Was he planning to completely ignore that matter?

Pretend to forget?

Shen Fu, after being on the show so long, felt annoyed for the first time in her heart.

Good too. If the old matter was brought up again, how could they continue to get along?

Thinking that, Shen Fu still couldn’t help glaring at Jiang Shu.

“Sleep.”

After saying this, she turned and opened the door.

Jiang Shu didn’t even finish saying “good night” before being shut out.

Jiang Shu: “……”

……

Jiang Shu stood outside Shen Fu’s room for a long time, slowly shifting his feet, staring at his elongated shadow on the ground, then returned to his own room.

He took off his coat and tossed it aside.

He grabbed his phone and threw it on the bed.

Now he couldn’t sleep either.

Suddenly his phone vibrated. Jiang Shu scowled, picked it up, and answered.

On the other end, Wang Xuanheng had just finished watching the live broadcast, ecstatic, exclaiming: “The production team’s planner is talented! By the way, why did you pick ‘none’? It’s fine if Shen Fu doesn’t like you, but anyone with eyes could see that Gu Qingshuang likes you a little. You could have gone into the room with her nameplate.”

“Gu what-shuang?”

Wang Xuanheng: “….”

Of course, he knew Jiang Shu didn’t even remember her name.

“Forget it, the embarrassment is over, let’s not talk about it.” Wang Xuanheng sensed Jiang Shu’s mood was low, and asked: “My rich friend, what are you thinking about?”

Jiang Shu didn’t want to say. What happened between him and Shen Fu, if said, only made him seem humble.

But after just experiencing four men on the scene, three of whom had been liked by Shen Fu, while he was the only outsider, his mood was complex and low. He couldn’t help saying: “Shen Fu just said something to me.”

Wang Xuanheng got interested, abandoning the game: “What, did she tell you to f*** off?”

“Go to h*ll.” Jiang Shu said angrily. “It’s the middle of the night. You want to die or what?”

Wang Xuanheng’s neck chilled, he shrank it and forced a smile: “So what did she say?”

“She asked me why I didn’t go into the room with her nameplate.” Jiang Shu said gloomily. “Tell me, what does that mean?”

Wang Xuanheng had watched today’s live broadcast. He knew in this segment, if a guest thought someone had a crush on them, they went into that person’s room.

So Shen Fu asking this was asking Jiang Shu: So, I thought you narcissistically thought I had a crush on you. Turns out you’re not that narcissistic.

“I can guess what she means.” Wang Xuanheng said.

Jiang Shu sat up on the bed: “Right? You also think…”

Wang Xuanheng said firmly: “Because you were way too narcissistic before, now that you’re not as narcissistic, she’s confused.”

Jiang Shu: “…”

Jiang Shu lay back down again, put on his sunglasses, quietly hugged his phone to his chest, and wore an expression of tragic despair, as if he had completely died inside.

Wang Xuanheng remembered that when Shen Fu had first moved into the Jiang family at fifteen years old, that had indeed been the year this young master showed off the most. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, handsome, and a genius, what reason did he have to restrain himself?

When Shen Fu made a birthday wish: I hope Jiang Shu disappears on the spot and stops bothering me.

Jiang Shu could still blush furiously and think: Her wish is related to me.

Of course, that was no longer the case later on.

The current Jiang Shu always seemed to be putting on a brave front.

Time kept moving forward. Everyone had grown up.

Wang Xuanheng wanted to say something more, but a series of beeping tones came from the other end of the call.

Jiang Shu had already hung up.

“…”

That d*mned b*stard, after ten years, he still had the same habit.

…

After what happened last night, the group of Shen Fu haters, led by Zuo Mei’s fans, became even more unhappy.

Chu Wei had exposed himself as the number-one simp not long after the show started airing. Wen Zhenghan’s attitude had gradually become inexplicably strange. Jiang Shu and Shen Fu’s tangled past could be set aside for now. But now even Xiang Lingyun, who had always seemed completely uninvolved, appeared to have some connection with Shen Fu!

Had all these men lost their minds?

Moreover, the trending topic about Shen Fu from last night still had not dropped by this morning.

At eight o’clock in the morning, OT magazine announced the countdown to its pre-sale.

Originally, it was only a second-tier magazine. Zuo Mei had appeared on plenty of first-tier magazines before, so it should not have been worth paying attention to.

However, Zuo Mei’s fans and the other Shen Fu anti-fans who had gathered together understood very clearly the significance of this magazine as a stepping stone in Shen Fu’s career.

If the magazine’s sales flopped, it would prove that Shen Fu’s recent surge in Weibo followers was nothing but a bubble. People had only come because of the variety show and had not actually become her dedicated fans.

On the other hand, if the magazine became a hit, then other magazines, fashion resources, and endorsement deals would come knocking on Shen Fu’s door one after another.

So this battle to suppress her success would be decided here!

A group of anti-fans treated the matter as if it were their life’s mission. Starting from eight in the morning, they spread Shen Fu’s negative rumors across major forums and verified Weibo communities. At the same time, they reminded everyone not to buy the magazine and not to help advance the career of a problematic female celebrity.

Rong Xiaozhen and the people in the fan group fought back against the rumors while cursing.

“These people are shameless, aren’t they?”

Some anti-fans even forgot to switch to their alternate accounts and accidentally exposed themselves. It turned out they were simply Zuo Mei’s fans.

Originally, Shen Fu and Zuo Mei were not even in the same lane. Yet these fans insisted on comparing the two. Just because they had lost several fan-vote battles to Shen Fu, they treated her as some irreconcilable mortal enemy.

Some people even went back and deliberately downrated Shen Fu’s older dramas.

The ratings, which had not been high to begin with, fell again and again. That alone would have been one thing, but they even compiled screenshots into nine-image grids to mock her.

“Group leader, do you really think the Best Actress’s company wasn’t involved at all?” one newly recruited fan who was experienced in entertainment-industry circles asked in the group chat.

“Do you really believe that post Yinghua Media made last time? If Kuang Yueyi really had relatives in Yinghua Media, then why would she still be working at Chunqiu Film and Television?”

Rong Xiaozhen felt her heart skip a beat.

If Zuo Mei’s company had truly been involved in spreading the rumors about Shen Fu being a bully last time, then there would definitely be another wave of attacks against Shen Fu coming next.

As the president of the fan support club, Rong Xiaozhen tried to get in touch with Liang Xiaochun.

However, Liang Xiaochun was much calmer. She told them not to worry about any of that for now and simply focus on promoting the magazine.

President Liang had previously been very anxious about sales. Now she was not worried at all.

Looking at it this way, had OT come up with a brilliant marketing plan?

The fans immediately became excited with anticipation.

…

By afternoon, OT‘s magazine cover image and promotional campaign were finally officially released.

Someone in the fan group clicked on the pre-sale cover and immediately shouted: “Holy sh*t!”

What kind of marketing genius had this company hired?

The most eye-catching topic these past few days had been Shen Fu and the Jiang family’s young heir’s past.

After that photograph had surfaced, the fan community dedicated to the two of them had instantly climbed into the domestic top ten rankings, overwhelming fanbases that movie kings and queens had spent years building.

Everyone watching Limited-Time Heartbeat was dying to know what exactly the relationship between the two had been in the past.

The OT cover used Shen Fu’s previous cover shoot. Yet in the lower-right corner, under the title “Secret Crush,” there was an extremely blurry graduation photo.

A subtitle beneath it read:

Open the magazine to satisfy your curiosity.

Who the h*ll wouldn’t be curious?!

Could it be that OT had secured some exclusive interview??

Many viewers immediately called to inquire, but OT remained mysterious and refused all calls.

Inside the magazine office, a staff member said, “Won’t people curse us out afterward?”

Someone of Jiang Shu’s level had an extremely deep background. How could they possibly uncover details about his past in just a few short days?

That so-called graduation photo was completely fake. They had simply taken a photograph from a different graduating class at that outrageously expensive school, blurred it with mosaic effects, and used it as filler. Combined with deliberately suggestive wording, it made audiences mistakenly believe it was Shen Fu and Jiang Shu’s graduation photo, instantly arousing their curiosity.

When readers bought the magazine because of the cover and then opened it only to discover there was nothing inside, they would one hundred percent want to mail razor blades to the magazine office.

The team leader replied, “Do you even understand what marketing is? Do you really think we’re selling content? Wrong. We’re selling a gimmick.”

There would be a two-month wait between pre-orders and actual delivery. News exploded every day, with new ridiculous stories constantly appearing. By the time two months had passed, who would still remember this magazine’s deceptive marketing?

But the audience didn’t know that.

The moment the pre-sale link went live…

Within one hour, it sold out.

Sales exceeded 480,000 copies.

After tallying the numbers, the anti-fans nearly fainted.

This was almost enough to break the all-time sales record for female celebrities in the entertainment industry!

Back when Zuo Mei had not yet retired, the best-selling magazine she had ever appeared in had sold only seventy to eighty thousand copies!

And that had been after full sales statistics were calculated. Magazine sales were usually measured over twenty-four hours.

But for people in the fashion and endorsement industries, sales exploding within that first hour alone was enough to show them which way the wind was blowing.

That same afternoon.

Shen Fu’s career momentum, which had been building for a long time, finally burst forth with thunderous force.

Marketing accounts all started acting like opportunistic fence-sitters, posting nine-image grids of Shen Fu with captions like “I’m obsessed with this god-tier beauty shot of Shen Fu,” “Peak raw-camera visuals in the entertainment industry, come challenge this,” and “The number one cold-and-ethereal historical-drama heroine.” Anyone who didn’t know better would think they had been longtime Shen Fu fans.

The three endorsement deals Liang Xiaochun had been negotiating finally called back. They shook hands on the partnerships, announced them officially at the same time, and tagged Shen Fu.

The last Weibo post Shen Fu had made before joining the variety show saw its comments approach one million.

Two second-tier men’s magazines and one top-tier women’s magazine were enthusiastically interacting with Shen Fu’s fans in the comments.

During this period, Shen Fu’s fan groups had also grown from five or six to fifty or sixty.

Fans like Rong Xiaozhen, who had weathered all the hardships from the beginning, felt flattered and overwhelmed, while the newer fans, who had never suffered through the rough days, simply felt exhilarated. What kind of incredible celebrity had they started supporting? They had only just become fans, and there were already this many resources rolling in?

The fanbase gradually became more organized too, beginning to coordinate comment control and divide responsibilities like other established fandoms.

Fan-site photographers and individual fan stations all sprang up energetically.

@ShenFuFansite_FirstDayOfGettingRich:

@ShenFusf So lucky to have heard of you, so lucky to have met you. From now on, we’ll walk this road together forever.

@ShenFuFansite_IAmLittleShen’sEarring:

@ShenFusf Just casually posting a nine-image outdoor candid set I took on the first day of the variety show to celebrate.

Her fashion resources had not fully caught up yet, but judging from the popularity, Shen Fu was now firmly in the second tier.

A bunch of anti-fans were furious to the point their noses seemed crooked, but their mocking comments were instantly drowned in the public’s anticipation for the magazine content.

…

The direction of the entertainment industry changed this quickly. Shen Fu had gone from being a notorious pretty-but-talentless nobody to entering the second tier almost overnight, and Liang Xiaochun’s phone was being bombarded with calls.

Back when Shen Fu had still been an unnoticed newcomer, she had saved the phone numbers and WeChat contacts of many producers, directors, and small actors. In the past, they might not even reply to a question from her. Now her private WeChat had 999+ unread messages. The only reason she could not see them was that the production team had confiscated her phone.

To avoid distracting Shen Fu, Liang Xiaochun did not tell her about any of this.

Though even if she had, it probably would not have affected Shen Fu much. Shen Fu had always been interested only in how much money something could earn.

After dinner that evening, the production team started stirring things up again.

“Tomorrow we’ll move on to the fourth segment, Spring-Limited Editorial Shoot. Tonight we won’t arrange too many activities for the guests. There will only be an outdoor tea gathering, so please move to the terrace.”

Since the show began airing, viewers had hardly ever seen the guests casually chatting on camera.

At most, there had been a bit of polite small talk during the first few days.

Later, the atmosphere deteriorated more and more each day. By now, only Zuo Mei and Gu Qingshuang still chatted while arranging flowers in front of the cameras.

Clearly, the production team also felt that some casual conversation was needed, so they deliberately arranged this segment.

“I’m so hyped for this.”

On the terrace was a round table.

Following the previous seating arrangement, Shen Fu’s left side was Xiang Lingyun, and her right side was Jiang Shu.

Jiang Shu, wearing sunglasses, glanced at Xiang Lingyun several times.

While the filming crew had not yet pointed the cameras over, and while Shen Fu had gone to the restroom, he sprang up, moved a potted plant from the terrace, and placed it between Shen Fu and Xiang Lingyun.

Then he sat back down in his original seat, crossed his arms proudly, and acted as if nothing had happened.

Xiang Lingyun: “…”

When Shen Fu returned, she immediately noticed the oddly placed potted plant on her left and could not help glancing at Xiang Lingyun.

If he wanted to keep his distance from her, she did not particularly want to sit next to him either.

The filming crew finished preparing, and the cameras turned toward them.

“…” Xiang Lingyun no longer had any chance to explain.

“That potted plant between Xiang Lingyun and Shen Fu looks so strange.”

“Also, why is Jiang Shu sitting next to Shen Fu again?”

Undercurrents were swirling among the guests, especially between Xiang Lingyun, Chu Wei, and Wen Zhenghan.

Xiang Lingyun and Chu Wei had not appeared during the daytime, and only now showed up on the livestream camera. Viewers immediately noticed something seemed off about both of them.

“What happened to Xiang Lingyun’s mouth? The corner looks a little scraped. Is the air too dry? Is the production team slacking off again?!”

“And Chu Wei? Why is he wearing a dinosaur head?”

The production team asked the same thing. “Teacher Chu Wei, why are you wearing a mascot head today?”

Chu Wei had spent the entire day hiding in his room with an ice pack on his face. There was no way he could admit his swelling had not gone down yet, so he just smiled from inside the dinosaur head.

“I changed my hairstyle and want to surprise my fans tomorrow, so I’m covering it with the headpiece for now.”

His fans were touched.

“Aww, we love you, gege.”

“Then let’s get straight to the point. Tonight’s segment is this: open your phones and prepare for a video call with your one designated contact.”

“We’ll call each guest’s designated contact and ask them one private question. The relevant guest will leave during that part.”

“Ooooh, private? How private can it get?”

The live chat instantly grew excited.

“Can someone please ask what that princess-carry incident with the young master three years ago was actually about?”

“The first person who needs to step out…” The director’s gaze swept across the guests. “Shen Fu.”

All the recent romantic chaos revolved around Shen Fu, so starting with a question related to her would definitely boost ratings.

Shen Fu handed her phone to the production team.

At moments like this, she was grateful she had set Liang Xiaochun as her designated contact.

Liang Xiaochun probably would not say anything reckless.

Shen Fu returned to her room to wait off-camera.

The production team found Liang Xiaochun’s contact information in her phone, added her on WeChat, and initiated a video call on a large tablet screen.

Then, rather maliciously, they projected the screen onto the projector so both the guests and the viewers could see clearly.

Liang Xiaochun answered. Having worked in the industry for years, she remained completely calm as a manager.

“Hurry up and ask about the princess carry that day!”

The audience was practically dying of impatience, scratching at the walls in anticipation.

However, after glancing at Jiang Shu’s expression, which was impossible to read beneath his sunglasses, the production team chose not to ask that question.

“Miss Liang, the question you need to answer is: as Teacher Shen Fu’s manager and close friend, what do you think Shen Fu’s ideal type is?”

“Uh…” Liang Xiaochun nearly choked on the question. “Shen Fu has never discussed that topic with me.”

Jiang Shu relaxed slightly.

Fortunately, she couldn’t answer. Otherwise, if the answer involved any of the other three men present, he had no idea what he might do.

The director continued to press her. “Then what do you think? Just tell us your guess. Which of the four male guests here is closest to her ideal type?”

Chu Wei and Xiang Lingyun exchanged a glance. The expressions on their faces were extremely subtle.

Wen Zhenghan suddenly realized that he couldn’t even insert himself into their silent exchange anymore. His expression immediately darkened.

What did that mean?

Had those two already completely decided that Shen Fu could not possibly care about him anymore?

Liang Xiaochun’s gaze swept over the four men.

Chu Wei, the ex-boyfriend. If she picked him, his fans would tear her apart.

Wen Zhenghan was also out of the question. Everyone in the industry knew about his relationship with Zuo Mei.

Then her gaze paused briefly on Jiang Shu.

Jiang Shu met her eyes. His back unconsciously straightened slightly, and for a moment he was actually a little nervous.

The next second…

“I think it might be someone like Mr. Xiang.”

Jiang Shu was out as well. Who could possibly understand the thoughts of a wealthy young master like him? If she offended him, Shen Fu’s entire career might be ruined.

It was best to avoid all three of those men.

Wouldn’t that leave only Xiang Lingyun, the one who supposedly had nothing to do with Shen Fu?

“Holy sh*t, seriously? Shen Fu’s ideal type is someone like Xiang Lingyun?”

Chu Wei’s fans were somewhat displeased.

“This manager has no sense. If Shen Fu never liked our Ge, why did she date him?”

Xiang Lingyun’s fans felt inexplicably pleased. “Hehehe.”

The people secretly pleased weren’t limited to Xiang Lingyun’s fans.

Xiang Lingyun himself was pleased too.

He lowered the leg he had been crossing over the other and nodded politely toward Liang Xiaochun on the screen. “Hello.”

Sure enough, he had known it.

The type Shen Fu liked was still someone like him.

A sharp scraping sound suddenly rang out as a chair was dragged across the ground.

Jiang Shu abruptly left his seat.

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