CHAPTER 26: Tea Him

The film king’s kneel sent shockwaves through the entire entertainment industry.

But what really happened at the audition that day was—

“25: Leg cramp. Pain level: 9.”

“Relief time: 1 minute.”

In that moment, just as he was reciting his lines, Wen Heng’s muscle spasmed, and a wave of searing pain shot up from his foot. If he hadn’t heard the alert in advance—and if he weren’t so used to enduring pain—he might really have interrupted Gu Sheng’s scene.

But that day, not a single person present—staff or director—noticed anything off. All they thought was: Sīyè’s pain is so natural, so real!

Even when Wen Heng was helped up, he wore a calm face.

—He was used to it. 🙂

It was just another round of total body shutdown from pain. No big deal.

Gu Sheng might not be the softest person, but at least she knew to repay kindness. She understood that Wen Heng personally acting opposite her was a rare privilege others didn’t get. So when he collapsed, she lifted the flowing hem of her fairy costume and walked over to help him up.

“You okay?” she asked.

She was still in costume as Li Shuang, light gauzy robes making her skin look even fairer than snow. Up close, her features were so vivid, too vivid. To outsiders, it looked like a fairy from the drama had descended to the mortal world, gently showing concern—Wen God might be godly himself, but in this moment, who wouldn’t envy him?

Wen Heng, of course, felt it too. His usually stoic face softened. He rested a hand on Gu Sheng’s arm and replied as if nothing had happened: “I’m fine—your performance was just too good.”

Everyone else: You’re fine this fast?!

Was this just a move to get his wife’s attention???

Meanwhile, Director Feng Yan, who hadn’t even gotten the chance to give praise, was left thinking:

Alright then. I guess I don’t exist anymore.

The remaining assistant directors covered their mouths, eyes sparkling with joy as they looked at Wen Heng and Gu Sheng—firsthand CP moments right at the scene.

Top-tier CPs really are that sweet! Wuwuwu——

…

Though Wen Heng’s reaction didn’t speak for everyone, Gu Sheng’s acting had indeed left a strong, undeniable impression across the internet.

From then on, when people mentioned her, no one would think of her as a total outsider to the film industry anymore, but as a rising star—soon to share the screen with a movie emperor, with a future full of promise.

Except for the cold elimination of Jin Yueyao, the one who suffered most was Song Qingzhi. Just thinking about having to record episode four, she wanted to run and hide—she had a growing, unshakable sense that no matter what she did, she’d always be crushed by Gu Sheng!

Not to mention, she’d taunted Gu Sheng so many times before the audition—how was she supposed to face her now?

“I-I’ll go film a drama instead, okay? Just say my schedule doesn’t match—”

Her agent shot her a fierce glare. “You go and record that variety show properly! Work with Qin Tian like you’re supposed to. That’s your value to the company right now!”

Song Qingzhi turned pale.

After Rewind officially announced its male and female leads, Wen Heng’s fans, the Hengxing, all sent their congratulations, excited for their idol’s new project. Gu Sheng’s fans, the Echoes, were riding high—finally able to hold their heads up, proud of their unni’s big win!

As for the WenSheng couple fans, this was nothing short of an epic sugar drop.

This wasn’t just a variety-show-only fantasy—WenSheng were meeting at the peak of their careers too! Their couple dynamic was continuing beyond the dating show and into real collaborative work—how many celebrity couples could say they were cast in the same project together?

You could say this was top-tier treatment for CP fans in the entire country!

That’s what you get when you stan a CP made of A-listers!

Chang Yan’s team continued hammering out contract details with the production side, while agents across the industry looked on with envy.

He only managed two artists, and they’d just landed the lead male and female roles in a mega IP drama—was that even fair??

Chang Yan’s nostrils practically flared to the sky: totally fair. Hahaha!

After all, his artists were just that good.

But the biggest loser—Jin Yueyao—had taken a hard fall.

In the same industry, rivals were watching. The moment she got publicly slapped down by a total rookie, fans from other top-tier actresses started shading her with backhanded posts all over the place.

Listening to her agent rattle off who was releasing veiled PR articles against her, who was eyeing another lead role she had her sights on, Jin Yueyao gave a cold little smile.

Gu Sheng probably had no idea just how deep the waters ran in this circle she was dying to squeeze into. Since she insisted, she’d better be prepared for the consequences.

Jin Yueyao had heard it from Li Muze before: Gu Sheng used to be a directionless nobody. Her family never cared about her. She was just a pawn in their marriage alliance with the Wen family. The Gu family had no stake in the entertainment industry, so they weren’t going to help her either.

And besides, her contract marriage with Wen Heng was already more than halfway through its term! Once they divorced, Wen Heng wouldn’t tolerate her clinging onto him for hype.

That was all good news to Jin Yueyao—and only strengthened her belief that Li Muze was deeply embedded in the Wen Group’s core leadership.

Since she hadn’t landed Rewind, her agent lined up plenty of other appearances. Luckily, her popularity was still solid, and her fans had just taken a pretty big emotional hit.

“—In two weeks our magazine cover is going to drop,” the agent said. “Right now’s the perfect time—your fans are heartbroken and extra loyal. Sales are guaranteed.”

Jin Yueyao nodded, but then frowned. “You said VOL’s golden September cover is Wen Heng and Gu Sheng? Gu Sheng’s fashion resources are that good?”

The agent shook his head. “No, that’s from their dating show connection. She’s not tied to the fashion world otherwise, and her taste before was… uh…”

He pulled up a few of Gu Sheng’s old, cringe-worthy, emo-style photos—exactly the ones Xu Ziling had seen before their first shoot.

“Heh.” Jin Yueyao finally smiled.

Magazine sales were a key metric in the industry—how fast it sells out, how many copies move—all reflected an artist’s commercial appeal. Yearly cover photos were also used constantly by gossip and marketing accounts to compare and contrast stars.

Seeing Gu Sheng’s ridiculous old pics, Jin Yueyao refused to believe she’d pull off a good studio shoot! Fashion styling was exactly where rookies stumbled the most—and she herself was the image ambassador for a global luxury brand. Her stage presence was guaranteed to crush Gu Sheng.

Going head-to-head, she was determined to win those sales numbers back.

She stole her role—Jin Yueyao would make sure she regretted stepping into this world.

—

As for Gu Sheng, life didn’t really change much after landing Rewind.

Let others speculate and react—she remained unmoved.

Wen Heng’s life was even less affected. Despite being a top-tier celeb, things like traffic and buzz hardly registered for him.

But Gu Sheng had stirred up so much noise in the entertainment world that even the Gu family—who usually ignored her “lovebrain” antics—were alerted.

Her eldest brother, Gu Song, managed to send her a WeChat despite his packed schedule:
[Heard you’re off acting in a TV drama now?]

Gu Sheng didn’t have much memory of him from the original host, so she replied simply:
[Yeah.]

Clearly, he didn’t care about her attitude either, and went straight to the point:
[Are you even any good at it?]

Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow:
[Good enough.]

After a moment of silence, probably thinking she didn’t sound too confident, he suddenly sent over a bank card number and password.

[There’s some money in here. Use it to buy some nice dresses. Look decent.]

The Gu family had always kept their distance from the original host. Other than that one reminder not to cause trouble at Wen Yuesong’s birthday banquet, they barely interacted with her. Even the dating show was left entirely to her own devices. Gu Sheng hadn’t expected that now, when she was finally getting serious about her career, they’d start showing concern.

She opened her mobile banking app, entered the card info Gu Song sent, and got ready to see just what kind of “nice little dresses” her brother wanted her to buy.

——My account balance: 50,000,000 yuan.

Gu Sheng: …?

A dress?

Now it was Gu Sheng’s turn to fall silent.

She hadn’t expected this older brother to be so blunt and direct.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Gu Sheng logged out of the account.

She figured she’d better earn her own money.

…

“Damn, Gu Song, you really gave your sister everything you’ve got?”

Fu Chonghe couldn’t help but click his tongue after witnessing Gu Song’s smooth, decisive move.

Gu Song, the eldest son of the Gu family, had been doing pretty well in recent years. But to suddenly hand over that much money—he was bound to be broke for a while.

Gu Song lit a cigarette with an expression of total indifference. “She’s been yelling about wanting to be a star since she was a kid. Now she’s finally doing something serious, not just messing around with romance all day. It’s worth encouraging.”

Fu Chonghe gave a soft “ah” and then recalled something. “Now that you mention it, I’ve got a younger cousin who used to really like your sister when they were little. Thought she was a superstar. He’s in the entertainment circle too now.”

Gu Song clicked his tongue. “Well, my sister is good-looking.”

Fu Chonghe let out a jealous grunt, then suddenly remembered something. “Wait a sec. Isn’t your sister’s drama the one where she’s acting with her husband?”

The cigarette slipped from Gu Song’s lips. “?”

Fu Chonghe: “You sure she’s not still messing around with romance? Their CP is crazy popular right now.”

A minute later, Gu Song opened WeChat again and long-pressed the line with the account number and password.

—“Shit, I can’t unsend it.”

He tossed the phone.

Forget it.

At least she was doing better than before.

—

Over the next few days, Tracing Back’s official account gradually announced the full main cast.

Yu Shanbei, as expected, landed the role of the fourth male lead. Gu Sheng knew that character was a lively younger martial brother—his personality matched Yu Shanbei’s perfectly. He was a great fit.

The second male lead had starred in a few low-budget hits, and though his billing got pushed down by Wen Heng, he didn’t dare complain. Just getting the role had already taken a huge effort.

The second female lead was a young actress born in ‘95, with a bit of fame. Thanks to the fair and transparent audition process, she actually managed to edge out bigger names like Jin Yueyao and Song Qingzhi.

Tracing Back’s theme song would be exclusively composed by popular singer Fu Shan.

While the internet was buzzing, the two leads at home were practically cut off from the world—and from each other too, since the house was too big.

With the upcoming filming of The Four Laws of Happiness’s fourth episode taking them deep into the mountains, both of them were busy preparing.

Aside from watching movies and dramas to learn, Gu Sheng was buying up all kinds of gear online to ward off bugs and wild animals, and she’d read up on a bunch of survival guides.

Wen Heng, on the other hand, was quietly working out at home.

The system had been unusually quiet lately. He had a feeling a storm was brewing.

…In the kind of environment they’d face in episode four, being tough and healthy would be more important than ever.

The director of The Four Laws of Happiness was a total schemer. With Tracing Back trending hard and three of the cast members also being part of the “couples,” there was no way he’d miss the chance to ride the wave.

So before the shoot, he hurriedly arranged for crews to go film pre-interviews at each couple’s home.

The assistant director knew full well what his boss was up to and looked embarrassed when he arrived at Huating.

“Gu—Gu laoshi,” the assistant scratched his head, “We just have a few quick questions, and we’ll be gone right after!”

Gu Sheng opened the door in loungewear, smiling with her peach blossom eyes curved sweetly: “Why so nervous? It’s not like I’m rushing you.”

The assistant followed her in dazedly, clutching his heart—

He’d been struck! Aaaah! No wonder she was his CP and goddess!

The first question, of course, was about Tracing Back. The assistant asked, “Now that the full cast has been announced, and we have three of our guests in the show, are you two looking forward to meeting on set?”

Gu Sheng smiled: “I am.”

Because she looked forward to filming with anyone. Joining a set meant meeting the director, the producers, learning new things, and making new friends.

Wen Heng nodded in agreement. “Mm.”

After ticking the “trend-chasing” questions off the list, the assistant sneaked in a CP-fan-style one: “Then may I ask—Wen laoshi, Gu laoshi—do you think each other is the most suitable choice for the male and female lead?”

Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow, then answered openly, “Definitely.”

She believed in her own ability, and never denied Wen Heng’s strength either.

A faint smile surfaced in Wen Heng’s eyes.

Then, still calm as ever, he nodded: “Mm.”

The assistant director: instantly overwhelmed again.

Wen Shen didn’t say much, but the vibe was too strong—it was all “whatever my wife says is right”. Aaaah she was dying from the sweetness qaq——

At the end, the assistant asked a few show-related questions. “The next episode’s setting will be much tougher. Are you two nervous?”