After Becoming the Mother of the Scumbag Stand-In Female Lead - Chapter 54

Knock knock knock.

The office door was rapped.

Si Mu glanced up. “Come in.”

Zhao Yuanqi pushed the door open and entered, noticing Si Mu still engrossed in her work. It was clear she planned to stay late at the office again tonight.

Taking a seat across from her, Zhao Yuanqi wore a teasing smile.

“I’ve noticed you’re quite the workaholic. How long has it been since you’ve seen your girlfriend? And yet, you don’t seem the least bit anxious.”

Without looking up, Si Mu replied, “We video call every day.”

Zhao Yuanqi clicked her tongue and leaned back in her chair, shaking her head with a sigh.

“No wonder they say our CEO Si has incredible self-control. Just seeing her through a screen is enough for you.”

“Ah~ I couldn’t do it. At my age, I prefer hugging and kissing a sweet girl to relieve my… urges.”

The pen in Si Mu’s hand paused mid-signature, her lips pressing together briefly.

She missed Sheng Yunjin too. But lately, all her free time had been devoted to designing their couple rings, which was why she hadn’t visited Nan City.

However, a few days ago, she had finally finished crafting the rings—from design to completion, every step had been done by her own hands.

…

As for Sheng Yunjin, though she no longer followed Chen Yan’s strict rules, her days were still packed.

Between rehearsals for the play and filming on set, she hadn’t taken a single day off.

Her guest role in the drama wasn’t particularly lengthy—originally scheduled to wrap in two days.

But last week, the male lead fell ill after shooting a rain scene, delaying some of Sheng Yunjin’s scenes. The postponement dragged on until her next break from rehearsals.

…

“I’m planning to go to Nan City tomorrow. Want to come with me?”

Noticing Si Mu’s momentary distraction, Zhao Yuanqi guessed that despite her composed demeanor, she was longing to see Sheng Yunjin.

“Why are you going to Nan City?”

Si Mu closed the signed document, feigning indifference.

With a chuckle, Zhao Yuanqi reminded her, “I knew you’d forget. The drama Qing Guo is filming in Nan City—J&M is one of the sponsors.”

“As a sponsor, it’s only natural to check on the production, right?”

Si Mu was genuinely taken aback.

Zhao Yuanqi had mentioned the sponsorship a while back, but since Si Mu wasn’t involved in such matters, she hadn’t paid it much mind.

“Besides, your girlfriend’s in Nan City too. Why not tag along?”

Zhao Yuanqi wasn’t aware that Sheng Yunjin was currently guest-starring in the drama—she only knew she was there for play rehearsals.

With work being relatively light these days, she figured she’d invite Si Mu for a casual visit to the set.

Normally, Zhao Yuanqi handled these laid-back tasks alone—she was in charge of external liaison work.

But this time, with Sheng Yunjin coincidentally in Nan City, it felt wrong not to bring Si Mu along.

Over a month without seeing her girlfriend…

Tsk…

Just thinking about it was unbearable.

…

Si Mu’s gaze unconsciously drifted to the top drawer of her desk, where the couple rings she had prepared lay hidden.

Noticing her glance, Zhao Yuanqi raised an eyebrow curiously.

“I heard from your secretary that you rushed to the factory right before closing the other day.”

Si Mu neither confirmed nor denied it. “Mhm.”

Seeing her so composed and unruffled, Zhao Yuanqi inexplicably felt a pang of irritation.

Without even thinking, she knew it must be a gift for Sheng Yunjin.

Otherwise, what kind of jewelry would require a CEO like Si Mu to personally craft it?

…

When they returned to the hotel that evening, Xiao Feng handed Sheng Yunjin the ointment she had just bought from the pharmacy.

“Jie, apply this after your shower tonight. I asked the clerk—this one works the best.”

As she spoke, she nodded confidently.

Taking it from her, Sheng Yunjin glanced at the box and then smiled faintly.

“Thank you.”

Scratching her head sheepishly, Xiao Feng shook her head. “Xiao Nan went to the nearby mall to buy knee pads. She should be back soon.”

She then glanced at Sheng Yunjin’s knees. “Next time you rehearse, Jie, wear the knee pads. They should help a bit.”

Honestly, being Sheng Yunjin’s assistant was a pretty easy job.

The two of them only needed to drive her to the training site in the morning and pick her up in the evening.

For the rest of the day, Sheng Yunjin let them go off and explore, even covering their expenses.

So within just a few days, Xiao Feng and Xiao Nan had practically toured the entire southern city.

Today, however, they were too tired to go out again, so they decided to stay at the rehearsal courtyard and wait for Sheng Yunjin to finish.

Since the alley had no other residents, Chen Yan had left the courtyard gate open these past few days.

Xiao Feng and Xiao Nan sat on either side of the entrance, patiently waiting and occasionally watching the rehearsals.

Tonight’s rehearsal seemed to be a new scene—Sheng Yunjin’s character had to cast aside her pride and kneel before another actor playing a warlord, pleading for an opportunity.

The rehearsals took place entirely in the open courtyard, on weathered stone bricks mixed with dirt.

So, when Sheng Yunjin suddenly dropped to her knees with a thud, Xiao Feng and Xiao Nan were completely stunned.

Just like that—straight down onto the hard ground…

They couldn’t even imagine how much that must have hurt.

And this was just a rehearsal.

After Chen Yan’s adjustments and explanations, Sheng Yunjin ended up kneeling over a dozen times in total.

Not a single person suggested giving her a cushion or knee pads.

Maybe they were used to it.

Maybe they had all gone through the same thing themselves.

…

Though they were just assistants—technically, they had no reason to feel sorry for these glamorous actors.

But…

To be fair, Sheng Yunjin had treated them well these past few days…

Besides, even if they didn’t buy the ointment now, Sheng Yunjin might ask them to get it later anyway.

With that in mind, while the troupe was still rehearsing, Xiao Feng and Xiao Nan split up—one to buy ointment, the other knee pads.

What surprised Xiao Feng, though, was that Sheng Yunjin said nothing on the way back.

She just browsed through some incomprehensible information on her tablet as usual, not even a frown on her face.

It made Xiao Feng wonder if she had overthought things—maybe Sheng Yunjin didn’t even feel the pain.

…

After wrestling with the thought the entire ride, Xiao Feng finally handed Sheng Yunjin the ointment before she went to her room.

Before entering the room, Sheng Yunjin glanced through the script on her phone and reminded, “We need to leave an hour earlier tomorrow morning. The crew is going to film at a distant equestrian club.”

Xiao Feng nodded, “Got it.”

Tomorrow was the troupe’s day off, but Sheng Yunjin still had to join the film crew to shoot some scenes with the male lead.

Back in her room, Sheng Yunjin looked at the ointment in her hand and silently canceled an order she’d just placed at a pharmacy on her way back.

…

When Si Mu called, Sheng Yunjin had just finished showering and was sitting on the bed applying ointment to her knees.

Both knees were bruised purple without exception, with some areas showing red scrapes from being pressed against stones.

Following the instructions, she first applied the ointment, then gently massaged the bruises with her fingertips to disperse the stagnant bl00d.

Being alone in the room, Sheng Yunjin didn’t hold back her reactions, grimacing in pain.

Her beautiful face contorted, eyes slightly reddened from the stinging pain.

Answering Si Mu’s call, Sheng Yunjin sniffled slightly from the physiological response to pain—not because she was crying over such minor injuries.

Clutching the phone between her shoulder and ear, she stumbled toward the bathroom with ointment-smeared hands.

So, when Si Mu connected the video call, she was greeted with an unusual angle—not Sheng Yunjin’s face filling the screen, but rather her slightly open collar.

She must have just showered, with damp strands of hair clinging to her fair skin, the curled ends resting against her collarbone.

The contrast of black against white was mesmerizing.

Fortunately, the view soon shifted to the pristine white ceiling.

Hearing running water, Si Mu chuckled and waited patiently.

After washing off the ointment, Sheng Yunjin held the phone properly, her smiling eyes crinkling as she cooed at Si Mu.

Within moments, she was lying on the bed with the phone, accidentally letting out a soft hiss when turning over—she’d been so happy seeing Si Mu that she forgot about her swollen knees.

Noticing her expression, Si Mu asked worriedly, “What’s wrong?”

Not wanting Si Mu to know she’d gotten hurt again—especially when her hand injury had just healed—Sheng Yunjin lied calmly, “Nothing, just stubbed my toe while turning over.”

Relieved, Si Mu said gently, “Be more careful. You shouldn’t keep bumping into things.”

She remembered Sheng Yunjin had stubbed her toe before, unaware it had been out of anger toward her, simply assuming her playful girlfriend liked jumping around.

Changing the subject, Sheng Yunjin asked, “Si Mu, about the ring design you asked me before—how’s it coming along? Is it ready yet?”

Si Mu paused, deciding to keep tomorrow’s surprise trip to Nan City a secret for now. “Almost. I’ve given the design to the craftsmen. They’ll finish it in a few days.”

This being her first time lying like this, Si Mu felt slightly awkward, her ears turning red beneath her hair.

Sheng Yunjin was currently busy rubbing her knees out of the camera’s view, so she didn’t notice this at first.

…

When the two chatted, they always spoke their minds freely. Sheng Yunjin was sharing her thoughts about recent rehearsals with Si Mu.

But Si Mu found her attention constantly distracted by the increasingly open collar in the video frame – the pale curves and that hint of cleavage making it impossible to focus.

After a long moment, she couldn’t help but speak up, her face flushing red.

“You… should fix your clothes…”

Sheng Yunjin paused, then looked down.

It’s not that revealing…

You’ve already touched and kissed them all over…

Raising her eyes to see Si Mu’s embarrassed expression, Sheng Yunjin smirked mischievously and leaned even closer to the screen.

“Xiao Mu, do you miss me?”

Her voice came out sweet and soft, making Si Mu’s heartbeat spiral out of control.

Though Sheng Yunjin’s teasing had already made her blush furiously, Si Mu maintained a composed expression with effort.

“…I do.”

This was exactly the response Sheng Yunjin had been waiting for.

Her lips curling into an even more alluring smile, Sheng Yunjin spoke slowly.

“Then… would you like to see me?”