You Guys Wouldn’t Have Taken My Casual Acting Seriously, Right Chapter 37

The air froze once again.

Jiang Shu looked at the jacket in his arms, then at Shen Fu.

His face was full of confusion. “What kind of garbage clothes did the production team provide? I didn’t even do anything and they ripped apart?”

Looking at his completely open shirt collar, Shen Fu felt her face growing hot.

She fanned herself with her hand and lowered her eyes awkwardly. “And you’re still blaming the production team? Aren’t your reactions a little slow? Your shirt burst open and you didn’t even notice.”

Jiang Shu looked astonished. “How is this my fault?”

“If it’s not your fault, whose fault is it? Mine? Did I rip your buttons off?”

Shen Fu couldn’t help giving him a once-over. “Did you eat too much at lunch?”

Jiang Shu exploded. “I barely ate anything at lunch, okay? I was sitting right next to you while we ate. You didn’t pay any attention to how much I ate at all, did you?”

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. “No, seriously, even if I had eaten a little more, that wouldn’t make my shirt burst open! Are you saying my physique is bad now?”

The more Jiang Shu spoke, the more indignant he became.

There was even a trace of bitterness in his voice. “Do you have any understanding of men’s physiques at all? A top-tier specimen like me, and you’re still criticizing me?”

Not liking him was one thing.

But now she was even criticizing how much he ate? “And you prefer someone like Chu Wei? That slab of pork belly?”

Shen Fu: “…”

Her head was buzzing.

On her conscience, she had only said one sentence.

And while Chu Wei’s physique wasn’t as good as Jiang Shu’s, calling him pork belly was outright slander.

Jiang Shu continued angrily: “I’ve never worn clothing this poorly made in my entire life!”

Shen Fu closed her eyes. “Fine, fine, fine. It’s all the clothing’s fault.”

Jiang Shu: “…”

“Why are you still standing there?” She pushed him toward the bathroom. “Go change already.”

Jiang Shu was still dissatisfied.

“I’m one hundred eighty-eight point nine centimeters tall. I work out all the time. It’s all muscle. There is absolutely no way the shirt burst open because I ate too much.”

Shen Fu gave him a thumbs-up. “Sure, sure, sure. You’re the pinnacle of male physiques.”

Jiang Shu was about to die from anger. “Shen Fu, you’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“How am I doing it on purpose?” Shen Fu felt like her head was splitting in two. “I didn’t even say anything about you. Aren’t you being unreasonable? Fine, if that’s how you want to think, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Jiang Shu: “…”

Jiang Shu felt like this woman was about to give him high blood pressure.

Seeing him still standing there without moving, Shen Fu urged him, “Now the door is broken too. It won’t look good if the production team comes and sees it later. Hurry up and go change your clothes.”

Jiang Shu took a deep breath. “Move aside first. If you don’t move, how am I supposed to get to the bathroom?”

“Who’s looking at you?” Shen Fu stepped back two paces, clearing the entire passageway for him.

Although she said that, when Jiang Shu turned and headed into the bathroom, Shen Fu couldn’t help sneaking a glance at him.

Her earliest education regarding the male body had actually come from the teenage Jiang Shu.

Back then, he and a group of his friends had taken her fishing on motorcycles. He drove too fast, forcing her to grab the fabric at his waist. The young man’s body had been strong and powerful, his lines smooth and beautiful, full of strength.

Although the wind blew fiercely into her face the entire ride, whenever she got off his motorcycle, the teenage Shen Fu would lower her eyes, only to find her palms drenched in sweat.

The present-day Jiang Shu had obviously long since shed the awkwardness of youth.

What remained was only the raw vitality of a young man.

Broad shoulders. Long legs.

After taking off his shirt, he wore only a pair of trousers, and the lines of his shoulder blades were exceptionally attractive.

Jiang Shu pulled off his shirt in the bathroom.

Sensing a gaze behind him, he immediately whipped his head around. “Don’t stare at me!”

But Shen Fu wasn’t staring at him at all.

She had already walked over to the window and was casually flipping through a magazine.

Jiang Shu: “…”

Jiang Shu blushed at his own wishful thinking.

Picking up his original clothes, he quickly began putting them on.

At that moment, Shen Fu suddenly spoke. “Wait a second. What’s that?”

Her expression changed.

Throwing down the magazine, she hurried over and grabbed at his collar, trying to expose his right shoulder again.

Standing on tiptoe made her unsteady, and she instinctively braced a hand against Jiang Shu’s chest.

Jiang Shu instantly turned red.

Muttering under his breath, he said, “If you’ve got something to say, just say it. Why are you suddenly putting your hands on me?”

Ignoring him, Shen Fu pulled open his shirt and exposed his right shoulder.

She hadn’t been mistaken earlier.

A faint scar stretched from his shoulder down below his shoulder blade.

Because the color had faded over time, it was hard to notice at first glance.

But upon closer inspection, the wound it had once been was clearly horrifying.

Jiang Shu didn’t stop her.

After she finished looking, he calmly put his clothes back on.

Shen Fu frowned. “What happened?”

“There was a minor car accident before.”

Jiang Shu fastened his cufflinks as he spoke, sounding completely unconcerned.

Shen Fu asked, “Within the last few years? Where? When? Why?”

Jiang Shu suddenly paused. “How do you know I didn’t have this scar before?”

Shen Fu: “…”

Jiang Shu abruptly realized something.

He stared at Shen Fu suspiciously, looking as though enlightenment had struck him. “When you were staying at my house, did you secretly peek at me?”

Shen Fu: “…”

“When did you peek?” Jiang Shu pressed relentlessly, staring fixedly at her. “Location. Time. Reason.”

The questions made Shen Fu’s face grow even hotter.

She wanted nothing more than to smack him. “Peek at my *ss. Stop dreaming. I accidentally saw it when you were swimming.”

Jiang Shu was about to continue, but Shen Fu quickly gathered her things and headed for the door.

“I’m going to meet up with the production team first. Once you’re done, come downstairs.”

***

The staff outside had actually been looking for the two of them.

If the director hadn’t stopped them and assured them the pair wasn’t upstairs, they would have found them long ago.

Now, seeing Shen Fu and Jiang Shu coming downstairs one after the other, the crew looked surprised.

“Teacher Shen Fu, Mr. Jiang, we thought you’d gone outside the resort.”

Shen Fu explained, “There seemed to be a problem with the door. We were trapped inside the room for a while.”

The staff immediately apologized. “Sorry. That was our mistake. We should’ve checked beforehand.”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t a big problem,” Shen Fu said.

The staff then asked, “Then how did you get out?”

“You might need to talk to the resort about compensation.”

Shen Fu glanced at Jiang Shu behind her, who had one hand in his pocket, sunglasses on, and was swaggering down the stairs like he owned the place.

“He pulled the door panel off.”

The staff: “…”

Jiang Shu: “…”

Did she really need to emphasize that?

And why did that look in her eyes seem to imply once again that he had eaten too much at lunch?

“The clothes you provided had problems too.”

Jiang Shu walked over and casually tossed the ruined shirt to the director. “The quality’s terrible.”

Cold sweat instantly broke out on the director’s forehead.

He scrambled to catch it.

“That can’t be right! We bought very expensive clothes!”

Even if they wanted to cut costs, they would save money on other guests’ outfits.

There was no way they would cheap out on clothes provided to Jiang Shu.

Hearing this, Jiang Shu glanced at the shirt again.

With his sunglasses on and his mouth closed, he looked distinctly cold and intimidating.

No one could tell what he was thinking.

***

Meanwhile, Chu Wei was still alone in the villa and nearly dying of boredom.

Part of the production crew remained there, and every move he made was still being livestreamed, meaning he couldn’t even use his phone to watch the resort’s broadcast.

Unable to resist, he sent a message to the group chat: “How’s it going over there?”

Xiang Lingyun was still shooting his second set and hadn’t finished yet.

Wen Zhenghan, however, had already wrapped up with Zuo Mei.

The two sat stiffly in the resort reception area, drinking tea in awkward silence.

Shen Fu and Jiang Shu had also finished their photoshoot and found a place in the reception area to sit while waiting for the production team to finish work.

Wen Zhenghan glanced toward them.

Shen Fu and Jiang Shu sat facing each other.

Although neither of them was speaking, each held a Nintendo Switch provided by the production team and was playing games.

They didn’t appear awkward around each other at all despite the incident Chu Wei had orchestrated.

Wen Zhenghan frowned and replied in the group chat: “What kind of terrible idea did you come up with? Shen Fu’s attitude hasn’t changed at all.”

He even suspected that Shen Fu and Jiang Shu were playing games together online at that very moment.

“That’s impossible.”

“His shirt literally split open in front of Shen Fu and she still didn’t dislike him?”

Chu Wei said firmly: “When Shen Fu and I were dating, there was one time after dance practice when I didn’t have time to put my shirt back on. She saw me, and then ignored me for an entire week. She clearly hates it when men behave improperly.”

Wen Zhenghan couldn’t be bothered with him. “Then it seems Shen Fu’s feelings for you weren’t that deep after all. She wasn’t even interested in looking at your abs for an extra second.”

Chu Wei reacted as if he’d been bitten by a dog. “What right do you have to talk about me when she was acting the whole time with you? At least after we broke up, she left hundreds of comments for me on an alt account.”

Just as Xiang Lingyun finished filming and picked up his phone, he saw them arguing in the group.

“Didn’t we agree to unite against the common enemy for now? Why are you fighting again?”

Xiang Lingyun sent another message: “I just asked around. Apparently some thick-headed staff member locked the two of them in a room together and gave them an extra half hour alone for no reason.”

“Which idiot did that?” Chu Wei cursed. “What bad luck.”

“Do you have any other ideas?” Xiang Lingyun asked coldly. “Stop being so useless.”

After repeatedly being humiliated by Jiang Shu and having someone snatched from right under his nose, Xiang Lingyun couldn’t swallow this grievance either.

This building at the resort was only for taking photos. The guests ate dinner and stayed overnight in another building.

The livestream from the resort ended once the photoshoot was over.

The posters from each group would be uploaded to the show’s official website in a couple of days, where viewers would vote for their favorite. The poster with the most votes would win.

[The livestream ended this early today?]

Since the audience couldn’t see what was happening at the resort anymore, they flocked to Chu Wei’s stream back at the villa to discuss things.

[Ahhh, d*mn it! Shen Fu moved too fast just now. We didn’t get to see anything.]

Someone couldn’t help asking:

[Do you guys think Shen Fu has feelings for D now? She immediately threw her jacket over him to cover him.]

[Honestly, it’s hard to tell.]

[That doesn’t prove anything, does it? Even if it were someone else, she’d probably help. After all, having someone’s clothes rip apart on a livestream would be embarrassing if it spread online.]

Even the CP fans in Jiang Shu and Shen Fu’s fan forum couldn’t help choking up when they saw the question.

[At this point, the Young Master’s feelings for Shen Fu are pretty obvious, but Shen Fu really doesn’t seem to have any feelings for him.]

Aside from that one rumor spread by the “Random Numbers Gibberish Brother,” Shen Fu had never really shown any particular concern for anyone.

As Chu Wei’s fans watched the discussion, they suddenly felt a little smug.

Even Jiang Shu had to lose to Chu Wei in this regard, didn’t he?

At the very least, everyone in the world knew Chu Wei and Shen Fu had dated before!

Even if it was in the past, they had once loved each other mutually!

[Why ship that fake CP? Come ship our tragic little couple instead, torn apart by the company, reunited by fate among the crowd, facing obstacle after obstacle on the road ahead, but charging toward the future together!]

…

Back at the resort.

Ever since the director learned that the Jiang family was actually the major investor behind the show’s investors, his attitude toward Jiang Shu had become even more cautious and respectful.

He had gone to great lengths to find out Jiang Shu’s favorite foods, which was why such a lavish spread had been prepared tonight.

Yet for some reason, Jiang Shu barely touched his food.

The director carefully asked, “Is it not to your taste?”

It was to his taste.

But Jiang Shu hesitated, glanced at Shen Fu, and still didn’t eat much.

Shen Fu: “…”

Shen Fu calmly said, “If you want to eat, then eat.”

Jiang Shu replied coolly, “I’m dieting.”

Shen Fu: “…”

She had only casually asked whether he’d eaten too much at lunch.

Was he planning to hold that grudge into his next life?

Xiang Lingyun and Wen Zhenghan couldn’t help glancing at the two of them.

Why did it feel like, after Chu Wei’s little stunt, the atmosphere between Shen Fu and Jiang Shu had actually become closer?

Now they even seemed to have exchanges through looks alone that nobody else understood.

Jiang Shu lifted his eyelids and glared at them.

The two frowned and looked away.

Zuo Mei glanced at Wen Zhenghan, growing increasingly displeased.

Gu Qingshuang quietly observed the atmosphere around the table. Why did she feel like a complete outsider? What exactly were they all looking at?

Of course, she wasn’t the only outsider.

Xu Tiaotiao was still staring at the placemat Zuo Mei had taken, the one she herself had spotted first, and silently fuming.

After the funeral-like dinner ended, the production team assigned rooms to the seven distinguished guests.

Next to the resort was a guesthouse with limited rooms. The production crew occupied most of them, so everything had been carefully arranged: each guest received one room, and there were no extras.

Jiang Shu, Shen Fu, Wen Zhenghan, and Zuo Mei stayed on the second floor.

Xiang Lingyun, Xu Tiaotiao, Gu Qingshuang, and the director stayed on the third floor.

All the other staff squeezed onto the first floor.

Jiang Shu entered his room, casually tossed aside his sunglasses and jacket, and went to take a shower.

After changing into a bathrobe and coming out, he frowned and glanced up at the ceiling.

The floor above sounded as though someone was moving house. Chairs scr*ped constantly across the floor, producing sharp, grating noises.

When that finally stopped, Jiang Shu thought things would quiet down.

Instead, there came the sound of heavy footsteps running back and forth overhead.

Jiang Shu called the front desk.

A staff member quickly came over. “How about we contact the director and arrange another room for you?”

Jiang Shu asked, “Who’s staying above me?”

The staff member looked troubled.

It wasn’t exactly appropriate to tell him that the person staying directly above him happened to be Xiang Lingyun.

The guesthouse wasn’t particularly soundproof to begin with. If someone was running around inside their room, the noise below would be crystal clear.

The staff member answered vaguely, “A guest may be exercising. Why don’t we move you to another room instead? Our staff can squeeze in together.”

“No need.” Jiang Shu opened the window, glanced upward, and said, “You can leave first.”

“This will wear him down eventually,” Chu Wei said in the group chat. “Xiang Ge, keep dragging the chairs around and making noise.”

Unless Jiang Shu changed rooms, there was no way he was getting a good night’s sleep.

But changing rooms meant packing up all his belongings and going through a whole ordeal. The staff all had piles of luggage, including equipment.

And Jiang Shu was a clean freak. By the time someone managed to clear out a room for him, it would definitely be the middle of the night.

If he didn’t sleep well, then at the very least he’d need to rest after returning to the villa tomorrow, which meant he wouldn’t have any chance to interact with Shen Fu.

There were three of them on this side, while Jiang Shu was alone.

They could outlast him.

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you, Chu Wei?” Xiang Lingyun cursed. “What kind of stupid plan is this? It’s a classic case of hurting yourself more than your enemy. You’re tormenting Jiang Shu and me at the same time.”

He still had to keep running and working out in the middle of the night, and there wasn’t even a treadmill here.

But imagining Jiang Shu staring at the ceiling with a dark expression, wanting to lose his temper but unable to because everyone was a guest and he couldn’t exactly complain about someone exercising in their room…

Xiang Lingyun still felt thoroughly satisfied.

Served him right.

Who told him to use underhanded tactics first?

Wen Zhenghan was also on the second floor, the same floor as Jiang Shu. Looking through the peephole, he reported: “The staff member came out.”

Chu Wei was delighted.

“What about Jiang Shu?”

“He came out too,” Wen Zhenghan said. “He’s carrying a pillow in one arm and luggage in the other. Probably going to find the director and ask for a room change.”

The moment he finished speaking, he watched Jiang Shu walk to Shen Fu’s door carrying his pillow.

“…”

Dressed in pajamas, Jiang Shu knocked on Shen Fu’s door.

Shen Fu was a little confused. She glanced behind him and saw that he was alone. “Why aren’t you asleep at this hour?”

Jiang Shu’s tone was low and gloomy. “They’re excluding me. I can’t sleep in my room anymore. The ceiling is leaking. My bed’s completely soaked.”

Shen Fu had heard some noise from next door earlier. Her own room wasn’t too bad, but Jiang Shu’s side had probably been noisy enough to make sleeping impossible.

Unable to help herself, she asked: “Who’s staying upstairs?”

Jiang Shu said quietly: “Who do you think? The guy surnamed Xiang.”

Then he sighed and added: “I should probably ask the staff to switch rooms. The staff have been working all day and are more exhausted than we are, but we’d still have to trouble them. What do you think…”

Wen Zhenghan couldn’t hear the rest.

Because Shen Fu had already let Jiang Shu inside.

The other two people in the group chat:

“…………………………”

How was this b*stard such a green-tea schemer?!

When had they ever made his ceiling leak?!

That hadn’t even crossed their minds!