You Guys Wouldn’t Have Taken My Casual Acting Seriously, Right Chapter 54

【Holy cr*p. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. The Crown Prince counts as cute?! Put him in a military uniform and he could immediately star in one of those Republican-era dark romance novels where the possessive male lead locks people up. He’s terrifying! He only goes “Pika Pika Chu~ mua~” around Shen Fu. Around everyone else, he’s more like “Prepare to die!”】

【Be more confident. Remove the question mark.】

The “Never Give Up” CP fans felt like they had won everything.

Fans of other pairings spent their days desperately searching for tiny crumbs of romantic evidence, digging three feet underground for hidden sweetness. Meanwhile, their own couple practically carried around barrels of sugar and dumped them over their heads every single day. The sweetness hit so hard they were becoming dizzy, practically developing diabetes.

Just when the couple had finally experienced a small disagreement and the fans of other ships had united to stir up trouble… 

These two suddenly pulled off a complete reversal.

Their relationship had leaped forward by a massive step overnight.

Now that they thought back on it, even during the very first “Spring Date” segment, when Shen Fu was still being universally criticized online, a small group of veteran shippers had already quietly started shipping the two of them.

Those people truly had discerning eyes, remarkable foresight, and were genuine masters of shipping.

At the dining table, everyone remained stunned for quite a while after the production team announced Shen Fu’s answers.

It wasn’t just the male guests who had long suffered under Jiang Shu’s oppression who were shocked. Even Xu Tiaotiao, Zuo Mei, and Gu Qingshuang couldn’t help glancing at Shen Fu.

…Had Mr. Jiang pointed a gun at her and forced her to choose those answers?

Only after the production team announced everyone else’s results did the atmosphere at the table finally begin to recover from the overwhelming feeling of:

D*mn it, this is bizarre.

The nine guests silently continued eating breakfast.

The hotel dining table was different from the one in the villa. It was a wrought-iron long table fixed into Moroccan-style floor tiles. Gu Zhidao couldn’t move the table closer to Shen Fu, so as the last male guest to join the show, he could only sit at the far right end, right next to Chu Wei.

That left him on a long diagonal line from Shen Fu, who sat at the far left.

Even across such a distance, he suddenly looked toward her and spoke. “Last night I went looking for you, but I was stopped by Mr. Jiang’s friend and couldn’t see you. Did you… go to bed early?”

The three male guests seated in the middle all looked up and glanced at Gu Zhidao.

Chu Wei’s manipulative behavior was blatant and shameless at this point. Jiang Shu’s was more like stealthy, unexpected attacks from the shadows. But this composer, the fifth male guest, was the type who subtly acted manipulative without even realizing it himself.

This was truly the highest level.

If he didn’t get to see her, then he didn’t get to see her. Yet he deliberately mentioned that the guest star had stopped him last night. Wasn’t that obviously a complaint about Jiang Shu directed at Shen Fu?

Since Gu Zhidao was targeting Jiang Shu, Xiang Lingyun and the others were more than happy to watch.

The more those two fought, the better it was for them.

Given Jiang Shu’s temper, if Gu Zhidao openly took a jab at him in front of everyone, surely he would explode and fire back?

At the table, Xiang Lingyun held his breath and waited. He was just waiting for Jiang Shu’s face to darken before he erupted.

But after waiting quite a while, nothing happened.

Looking up, he saw that the Crown Prince sitting opposite him was unusually calm. In fact, for some reason, after hearing Gu Zhidao’s comment, the corners of Jiang Shu’s lips had curled upward slightly. Behind his sunglasses, he even seemed somewhat pleased with himself.

The other men: “…”

What was going on? Why had the Crown Prince become impossible to understand the moment the livestream started today?

Why did he look like a newlywed groom?

Just yesterday, Shen Fu had been cold toward him. They hadn’t spoken all afternoon or evening. So what exactly was he so happy about?

Had he imagined something in his own head?

Or had he finally given up after failing to pursue her?

Shen Fu finally finished chewing her food. She looked toward Gu Zhidao. “Did you need something, Teacher Gu?”

Gu Zhidao replied: “You didn’t eat much last night, so I wanted to bring you some food.”

Wait. They were actually having a conversation?

Did everyone else at the table not exist?

Just as Chu Wei and several others were about to jump in and interrupt this strangely intimate conversation taking place across the entire table, 

Shen Fu simply said: “Oh.”

And then…

Nothing.

“…”

Gu Zhidao looked at her several more times. But that single “oh” seemed to be the conclusion of the entire exchange.

She appeared completely uninterested in what he had done the previous night.

Gu Zhidao: “…”

The table fell into a silence that was somehow a hundred times more awkward than before.

Seeing Male Guest Number Five suffer such a defeat, Chu Wei and the others continued eating breakfast with composed expressions. But internally, they were all sneering.

Apparently this newcomer hadn’t yet experienced society’s harsh lessons. How dare he challenge her in front of so many people? Wasn’t this even more embarrassing than when they had been slammed outside Shen Fu’s room door?

Or did he think he was somehow special?

Talk about confidence.

The guests were trying to maintain their dignity and didn’t dare laugh.

The livestream comments, however, were dying of laughter. 【HAHAHAHA! The micro-expressions on Chu Wei, Xiang Lingyun, and the Film Emperor are killing me! Help! You’re all making fun of each other while being equally pathetic. Hurry up and look up to see how far Jiang Shu has already left you behind!】

【Sorry, I’m a terrible person. Don’t scold me, fans. But right now I only want to see the shocked expressions on these men’s faces when the final choice is revealed and the Crown Prince wins the crown without saying a word.】

At this point, most viewers cared more about the plot and the romantic developments.

The fans of the competing ships had already been mocked into despair and lacked the strength to fight back.

They could only tearfully post comments like:【Chu Wei was the first one to show schadenfreude. He’s the most overconfident of them all. And he was the one who created that group chat in the first place. Developing feelings for a female guest on a dating show is completely normal, but the Film Emperor and Xiang Lingyun got dragged into online ridicule because of him.】

Unable to win against the general audience, they still had enough energy left to criticize their fellow sufferers.

Chu Wei’s fans immediately exploded.【The Film Emperor’s fans and the top idol’s fans are acting up again, huh? Was my guy the only one looking pleased? The Film Emperor looked relieved too! And your idol still has that profound expression like, “Woman, I shall capture your heart through a rock-climbing date.”】

Xiang Lingyun’s fans sneered:【Enough already. Who wants to be fellow sufferers with your fandoms? One guy’s getting older and has back problems so he can’t even carry a tree, and the other is still being mocked across the internet for that “balance” meme.】

The user named “No One Ships Better Than Me” had completely lost their mind after last night’s drunken Jiang Shu incident and the kiss.

Still, they felt there was hope.

Their ship would be protected by them personally.【LMAO. The three fandoms above are panicking because they know their favorites have the least chance now, aren’t they? Nobody wants to finish in last place. But what can you do? Right now, apart from the Crown Prince leaving everyone in the dust, Teacher Gu Zhidao is running second! At least we can still enjoy a wife-stealing NTR storyline. You guys don’t even have a ship left to ship!】

That comment was so vicious that the three fandoms instantly flew into a rage.

They immediately turned around and concentrated all their firepower on Gu Zhidao’s fans.

Although Gu Zhidao didn’t have as many fans as those other groups above, he still had a niche fanbase of his own. On top of that, Gu Qingshuang’s fans would naturally support her Ge.

A whole crowd was utterly bewildered: “I give up. This guy is really going all out to make everyone hate our side. Why did he suddenly pull out a shotgun and start blasting at all those other fanbases?”

Running Lighthouse: 【Stealing your dad? Get lost, d*mn it.】

Watching the barrage of comments tear into each other, the Never Admit Defeat CP fans only wanted to go:【Hahahahahaha】

They only wanted to laugh now.

They were winning so hard their scalps were tingling!

After last night, the CP super-topic gained another hundred thousand followers.

Overnight, countless new CP videos appeared on the video platform. It was obvious that all those content creators had become completely obsessed with the pairing and had stayed up all night editing them.

Although the Crown Prince hadn’t worn suits very often since joining the show, he had briefly worn a military coat for a day during the Cuirujia event. As a result, overnight there was a flood of masterpiece edits depicting a romance amidst turbulent times, national hatred and family feuds, a sinister Republican-era warlord × a proud and aloof heiress.

The comments below were filled with things like: “What a pity Jiang Shu isn’t in the entertainment industry. Otherwise Republican-era CPs would finally have a face.”

With recommendations like that, even more people fell into the ship.

And that was only one subgenre.

There were also edits of the two in historical costume dramas, modern-time-travel romances, past-life-and-present-life stories, mutual secret crushes in school, runaway Jinjiang-style scummy-but-charming CEOs × soft yet cold-faced canaries, and even yandere-doctor-basement-storyline videos.

It had to be said that editing technology was incredible these days.

The two had only shared a single kiss last night, yet some editing masters had already pieced together videos complete with sounds of them panting in bed together.

What could the Never Admit Defeat Girls even say at this point?!

More content, please!

More, more!

Help them up, they could still contribute more wedding money!

Besides that, there was also the voting for the magazine photoshoot featuring Shen Fu and Jiang Shu. Previously, because the other groups had larger fanbases, their votes had always been closely chased by those other pairings.

But after last night, they directly crushed the competition by a factor of five, leaving second place far behind.

Among all those photoshoots, only the Crown Prince was an outsider to the entertainment industry.

Everyone else had experience with professional photoshoots.

Xiang Lingyun and Xu Tiaotiao’s poolside photos were the sexiest, their gazes practically dripping with chemistry.

Although Wen Zhenghan and Zuo Mei’s relationship had basically already reached the point of a breakup, their kitchen-themed photos were still incredibly warm and cozy.

Even Xiang Lingyun and Gu Qingshuang’s gym photos carried a bit of CP chemistry.

Only Jiang Shu and Shen Fu’s bed photos were different.

One was looking at the sky, the other at the ground.

One faced south, the other north.

One was as stiff as a Greek statue.

The other wore an impatient frown.

There was absolutely no CP feeling whatsoever.

Although their looks were stunning enough to carry the entire shoot, they looked more like two mortal enemies who had been handcuffed together and forced into a prisoner’s dilemma.

When the photos had first been released last week, Jiang Shu and Shen Fu’s set occasionally managed to reach first place purely because their visuals were leagues ahead of everyone else’s.

But who could have predicted that the pairings whose gazes seemed full of chemistry in the photos would turn out to have no feelings for each other at all, while the pairings that seemed completely at odds would become the ultimate dominant ship in the end?

The Never Admit Defeat Girls clutched the endless feast of content they had been fed and cried tears of victory.

…

After lunch, the production team told Shen Fu to return to her room and collect her rock-climbing equipment. They were about to take her and Xiang Lingyun to a nearby climbing facility.

Even though he knew it was a hidden mission, Jiang Shu was still somewhat dissatisfied.

If only the show could end immediately, right this second, and they could fly by plane straight to the Civil Affairs Bureau.

His gaze couldn’t help but keep following Shen Fu, making sure that everything that had happened last night wasn’t a dream.

He still felt a little insecure, afraid she might run away the next moment.

If only handcuffs existed.

All around them were former suitors who had once attracted her. Who knew if she might suddenly rekindle old feelings for one of them at any moment?

Just imagining such a possibility was enough to drive Jiang Shu mad with jealousy.

The more he thought about it, the more he began to suspect he had developed “wife-suspicion syndrome.”

That wouldn’t do.

Being jealous once or twice was romantic. Being jealous too often would definitely annoy Shen Fu.

And if she got annoyed, she’d run away again.

Jiang Shu desperately suppressed all those dark emotions and tried to move closer to the image of a sunny, considerate boyfriend.

Honestly, he could have given Shen Fu the ten million yuan from the hidden mission himself.

But Shen Fu insisted on earning the production team’s money instead.

Sure enough, she treated him as one of her own and the production team as outsiders. She didn’t want to earn his money, she only wanted to earn the production team’s.

That was love!

The moment he thought of it that way, Jiang Shu felt completely relieved and became smug again.

As Shen Fu stood up from her chair, she saw Jiang Shu sitting there with one eyebrow raised, peering at her over the top of his sunglasses. His expression was constantly changing, stormy one second, sunny the next. Then, after apparently finishing some complicated internal struggle, he let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Shen Fu: “…”

Although she had no idea what he had been thinking about, it felt like an extremely convoluted journey.

Xiang Lingyun had already gone ahead with the production crew.

Shen Fu glanced at the camera team, avoided the cameras, and said to Jiang Shu: “It’s just a mission. You know that, right?”

What was that supposed to mean? He wasn’t jealous at all.

Why was she specifically explaining it to him?

Was this what being in love felt like?

He was in love.

Jiang Shu’s heart was overflowing with bashfulness and joy, but on the surface he coolly lifted his head and maintained his usual pretentious, aloof demeanor.

With a cold laugh, he said: “Don’t worry. I’m not thinking about beating up that guy Xiang.”

Shen Fu: “…”

The way you said that makes it sound like you’ve already punched him several hundred times in your imagination!

Although he had promised Shen Fu not to get angry, when the production team’s vehicle drove away, Jiang Shu still couldn’t resist chasing after it in his own car all the way until it entered the climbing facility.

Xiang Lingyun was practically driven crazy by him.

How could there be such a relentless competitor? Hadn’t Shen Fu’s cold treatment of him yesterday been enough of a blow?

If she really had feelings for him, the person she would have invited last night would have been Jiang Shu, not him.

This guy really had no sense of reality at all.

Xiang Lingyun’s inner thoughts were incredibly active, but he had no idea that the livestream viewers no longer cared whether he was happy or upset.

Everyone was fixated on shipping the moment of “escorting his wife a thousand miles.”

…

Meanwhile, after Shen Fu and Xiang Lingyun left for rock climbing, only Wen Zhenghan, Chu Wei, and Gu Zhidao remained at the hotel.

The three of them did want to find some way to prevent Xiang Lingyun and Shen Fu from spending the day alone together.

However, Shen Fu appeared extremely determined.

Not only had she paid little attention to Gu Zhidao at the breakfast table, but the moment she finished eating, she had insisted on leaving for rock climbing immediately, the sooner the better.

There were only three days left until the final choice day. Chu Wei was becoming increasingly anxious and couldn’t help wondering what exactly Xiang Lingyun had done recently to suddenly gain Shen Fu’s favor.

For some reason, the production team had suddenly removed cameras from several locations in the hotel last night.

The swimming pool was one of them.

Feeling troubled, Chu Wei didn’t particularly want the livestream audience watching him, so he quietly went up to the rooftop and entered the pool area alone.

As soon as he walked in, he discovered that Wen Zhenghan was already sitting there, and there were empty liquor bottles on the table.

Startled, Chu Wei asked, “You’ve already drunk this much in such a short time?”

Even if he was heartbroken, he couldn’t just treat alcohol like water, could he? Was the Film Emperor so miserable that he was trying to drink himself unconscious?

Wen Zhenghan looked at him as if he were an idiot and said flatly, “I didn’t open those bottles. They were already empty when I got here.”

Apparently someone had been drinking there last night.

The entire hotel had been reserved, so the staff couldn’t have been drinking there.

Everyone else had been on the beach last night. Although Gu Zhidao had briefly left, it had only been to look for Shen Fu. According to what he had said at breakfast, one of Jiang Shu’s friends had stopped him, so he never managed to see her.

Shen Fu never drank alcohol.

That left only one possibility.

Jiang Shu had opened the bottles.

The two exchanged a glance and simultaneously imagined Jiang Shu sitting there alone in sunglasses after being coldly rejected, drinking his sorrows away. Drinking himself into a stupor with no one noticing, then crawling up looking miserable the next morning.

… For some reason, both of them felt a little pleased.

That small bit of pleasure temporarily eased the tension between them.

Chu Wei sat down across from Wen Zhenghan.

With the final decision approaching, even the tablets they used to pass the time had been confiscated.

Bored out of his mind, Chu Wei pulled an object from his pocket and began fiddling with it in his palm.

It was a moth-shaped keychain.

As he stared at it, he once again sank into memories, and his heart ached.

Wen Zhenghan’s expression suddenly turned strange. “Why do you have one of those too?”

“Too?” Chu Wei was baffled. “What do you mean? Of course Shen Fu gave it to me.”

There was even a hint of pride in his voice when he said the last part.

The last time he had returned to the show, he had deliberately brought along this one item, the only thing Shen Fu had ever spent money to give him. He had hoped it might prove useful at a critical moment, jog Shen Fu’s memory, and influence her final choice.

Unfortunately, the last time they had sat together by the villa pool, spending so much time alone together, the keychain had been left in his room. He hadn’t had the chance to take it out.

Learning from that mistake, Chu Wei now carried it everywhere.

Wen Zhenghan’s expression became rather ugly. “…I have one too. Exactly the same.”

Judging by his reaction, it clearly had been a gift from Shen Fu as well.

Chu Wei’s face instantly stiffened. “What?”

At that moment, Gu Zhidao also came looking for a quiet place away from the livestreams to spend the afternoon.

The moment he walked in, he overheard their conversation. After taking a look, he froze. “Why do you have one too? I have one as well.”

Wen Zhenghan: “…”

Chu Wei: “…”

Chu Wei glared at both of them and snapped, “Are you screwing with me? How could you possibly have identical ones too?! When Shen Fu gave mine to me, she said it had a special meaning. She said a moth fluttering toward a light looked like it was dancing gracefully, and she hoped I would shine on stage just like a moth shines in the light!”

Wen Zhenghan’s face turned dark. “I don’t have mine with me, but when Shen Fu gave it to me, she said that moths flying beneath a light cast unyielding shadows. She hoped my acting career would always triumph and never lose the Film Emperor title.”

“If it’s not with you, who’d believe that?” Chu Wei exploded, standing up and cursing. “You two look respectable on the outside, but are your brains broken? How could you…”

Before he could finish, Gu Zhidao calmly pulled out an identical keychain from his pocket.

Chu Wei: “…”

Gu Zhidao looked utterly confused. “When Shen Fu gave mine to me, she said butterflies can cross islands because there are moths waiting on the other shore. I’ve been carrying this keychain with me for two or three years.”

The three of them suddenly realized something at the same time.

Wen Zhenghan immediately went outside with a grim expression, borrowed a staff member’s phone, and contacted Xiang Lingyun at the climbing gym.

On the other end, Xiang Lingyun became even angrier. “Of course I have one. Did one of you happen to see it, and now you’re all claiming you have one too? Let me tell you, mine has a special meaning. The moth flies upward, Lingyun means ‘soaring into the clouds.’ It’s connected to my name!”

He was convinced the other three were simply jealous that he was out rock climbing with Shen Fu today and were deliberately making things up to disrupt him.

“This stupid idea was Chu Wei’s, wasn’t it?”

“Whatever. I’m hanging up.” Xiang Lingyun immediately ended the call.

The three men stared at one another in silence.

…

So Shen Fu had given all four of them identical keychains and then explained completely different meanings to each person?

Why?!