After Swapping Bodies with the Movie Queen, She Ended Up with Me (GL) - Chapter 22

Upon hearing this, Mu Lingwan didn’t get angry. Her expression remained calm, and there wasn’t the slightest ripple in her eyes as she looked at Rong Qing.

“In your eyes, do I have relationships with all these people?” Mu Lingwan asked after a two-second pause. Rong Qing awkwardly averted her gaze, staring at her own reflection in the cup for a long time without speaking.

Rong Qing’s silence was tantamount to admission. Mu Lingwan sighed, pressing her fingers to her forehead, feeling the need to explain things clearly to her.

She walked over and sat on the bed. Rong Qing felt the mattress dip beside her and quickly looked up, only to meet Mu Lingwan’s eyes.

“I don’t know why you’d have such strange thoughts, but I have no relationship with those three women,” Mu Lingwan said softly, sitting beside Rong Qing. “If I had to say, apart from Xu Qing, I’d rather never see the other two again in this lifetime. As for what they think of me, I don’t care and don’t want to care.”

Mu Lingwan didn’t know why she felt compelled to explain so thoroughly to Rong Qing, but she continued, “If they bother you again, you can just walk away or come find me. After all, we’re in the same boat now. If anything happens to you, I’d be more worried than anyone.”

Rong Qing’s heart skipped a beat at these words. She stiffened, her neck rigid as she looked at Mu Lingwan, feeling her ears burn as if on fire.

“Don’t say that, I… I…” Rong Qing wanted to say something, but her mind was in such disarray that no words would come out.

Mu Lingwan sighed softly, reaching out to caress Rong Qing’s cheek before leaning in to whisper, “Get some rest.”

As night fell, most of the filming work ceased. Not all staff stayed in the villa—only a few were on duty. Rong Qing lay on her side all night, unable to sleep properly, her mind filled with Mu Lingwan’s words: “I’d be more worried than anyone.”

In the darkness, Rong Qing’s eyes were wide as saucers, utterly baffled as to whether Mu Lingwan was naturally this flirtatious or deliberately trying to unsettle her.

But the truth was, a beautiful woman only needed to crook her finger to make hearts flutter.

Rong Qing had a terrible night’s sleep. In fact, Mu Lingwan didn’t sleep soundly either—the constant tossing and turning beside her was irritating. Eventually, she pretended to be asleep, rolling over and draping an arm around Rong Qing’s waist, which finally brought her some peaceful rest.

Early the next morning, two assistants arrived for work.

Both were fresh graduates from the directing program, having taken these odd jobs due to the tough job market. Zhou Ying had handpicked them.

The assistant assigned to Rong Qing was Qu Xiaojing, a petite girl with black-framed glasses. By 7 a.m., the makeup artists were already in their room. Rong Qing sat in the chair, her dark circles barely concealable, staring blankly ahead.

She was exhausted.

The first night, she hadn’t slept well, waking before dawn. The second night was no better—she’d only fallen asleep as the sky began to lighten.

Now, Rong Qing felt utterly lifeless, seeing the sun as a sickly green, her whole spirit wilted and drowsy.

She could only blame Mu Lingwan for not letting her sleep properly last night, clinging to her with arms and legs that refused to let go. And after everything Mu Lingwan had said that evening, Rong Qing simply couldn’t find rest.

Unable to move yet unable to sleep, she could only tough it out until 4 or 5 AM before finally closing her eyes, only to be woken shortly after with news that work was starting.

Ugh, what kind of workplace starts at 7 AM?!

Rong Qing wanted to cry but had no tears left. She could only yawn three times in succession as the makeup artist gave her a simple natural look, covering her dark circles and finishing with some setting powder. This minimalist makeup would appear natural on camera without looking haggard.

“Teacher Mu, is this breakfast alright for you?” Assistant Qu Xiaojing placed the meal before her—a tea egg, a corn cob, and a bottle of milk.

“Yes, this is fine,” Rong Qing nodded. Just as she reached for the fragrant corn cob, someone snatched it from behind.

“Too much corn,” Mu Lingwan said expressionlessly, wrapping the cob in a plastic bag before snapping it in two with a crisp ‘crack.’ After glancing at the larger piece, she handed it to assistant Qu Xiaojing and returned the remainder to Rong Qing.

“You ate too much last night,” Mu Lingwan told her. “Technically you should do a liquid fast today, but since you probably can’t handle that, we’ll just control your diet for now.”

Rong Qing stared blankly at the palm-sized piece of corn in her hands.

Being a female artist was hard—being a top-tier female artist was even harder. Only two meals a day, neither ever filling. Last night she’d only eaten half a radish roll, and now most of her morning corn had been snapped away.

Nibbling on her meager portion, Rong Qing felt this wouldn’t even fill the gaps between her teeth.

Heading downstairs after breakfast, Mu Lingwan walked ahead while Rong Qing’s stomach growled. She calculated that if all six women ate like this, that fridge full of food might indeed last a month.

No wonder female celebrities survived on thin air—they practically lived off the northwest wind.

As Rong Qing silently complained, she looked up to see Shen Nian sitting in the living room holding a coffee cup. She and Ming Qiao sat close together on the sofa, clutching red and blue couple mugs while whispering intimately.

And they call this a fake relationship?

Even her act with Mu Lingwan was more convincing.

Noticing their arrival, Shen Nian turned to look. Today she was dressed beautifully—a short denim jacket over a white dress, her hair half-up in a princess style crowned with a large white bow, giving her the appearance of a runaway princess.

“Big Sister Mu, Rong Qing,” Shen Nian greeted them with a soft smile. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Mu Lingwan replied impassively.

Rong Qing, however, grew flustered. Meeting Shen Nian’s gaze instantly brought back memories of last night’s embrace, making her face pale as she stammered, “G-good morning.”

Shen Nian’s eyes lingered on Rong Qing before she finally smiled and said, “Big Sister Mu, you look absolutely stunning today.”

Rong Qing blinked, glancing down at her sneakers, jeans, and plain white T-shirt, utterly confused about what part of this constituted dressing up. Still, she had to acknowledge the compliment, forcing an awkward smile as she and Mu Lingwan sat on the sofa. “You’re very beautiful too, Shen Nian.”

After saying this, Rong Qing immediately regretted it. Sure enough, Shen Nian’s eyes lit up, her lips pursed as she looked at Rong Qing with a beaming smile.

Rong Qing closed her eyes in despair, deciding to be a turtle with its head tucked in for now.

Soon, Xu Qing and the others came downstairs, greeting everyone warmly before sitting down with Jiang Jiang to happily munch on meat buns. Rong Qing watched enviously as Xu Qing devoured the soup-filled buns, dipping them in vinegar and pairing them with pickles. Her stomach growled loudly from hunger.

Mu Lingwan glanced over lightly and sighed helplessly only after seeing Rong Qing staring blankly from hunger. She turned to Xu Qing and said, “Teacher Xu Qing, aren’t you afraid of gaining weight from eating so many buns?”

Xu Qing turned to her in confusion. “No, why would I be? You can’t become fat from just one meal.”

Mu Lingwan continued, “But I remember you weighed 47 kilograms when you debuted. How much do you weigh now?”

Xu Qing’s hand, holding the bun, froze mid-bite.

Mu Lingwan added, “This year marks your tenth anniversary since debut, right? I recall there’s a nationwide concert tour scheduled for October. Will your performance outfits still fit by then?”

Xu Qing: “…”

Mu Lingwan looked at her sympathetically. “It’s fine, though. Teacher Xu Qing still has a great figure now—not too much excess fat around the waist. Might as well finish this meal first.”

Xu Qing turned to glare at Mu Lingwan. “What exactly are you trying to do?!”

Mu Lingwan smiled. “Nothing much. I just thought you might not be able to finish all those buns, so why not share some with us?”

Xu Qing: “?”

If you wanted buns, you could’ve just said so! It’s not like they’re some expensive delicacy. Was it really necessary to go around in circles and insult her first?

Xu Qing distributed the buns to everyone. Shen Nian took one, Ming Qiao waved her hand to decline, and Mu Lingwan picked a vegetarian one, leaving the rest for Rong Qing.

Rong Qing stared at the large meat buns in front of her, practically drooling. She asked softly, “Can I eat them?”

“Go ahead,” Mu Lingwan said, leaning back on the sofa as she took a bite. “We’ve already asked for them—it’d be rude not to finish. Don’t you think?”

Rong Qing found her reasoning sound and immediately picked up her chopsticks to eat heartily, thoroughly satisfied.

The director walked over, pleased to see everyone getting along so harmoniously, and clapped his hands to gather their attention.

“Today marks the third day of recording for Heartbeat in Progress. Yesterday, Teacher Xu Qing obtained our show’s ‘Cheat Card,’ granting her the privilege of choosing a task first.” The director pulled out three familiar cards from his pocket and announced, “Today, there are still three cards. Aside from Teacher Xu Qing, the other two pairs of guests can only draw their tasks blindly.”

He beckoned to Xu Qing. “Teacher Xu Qing, come pick your task for today.”

Xu Qing happily ran over, peering at the three cards the director held up behind him, her gaze drifting uncertainly between them.

“Do I choose one out of these three tasks?”

“Yes.”

“Can I discuss it with my assistant first?”

“Of course.”

“Then give me a moment.”

Xu Qing waved Jiang Jiang over to help her choose. The two whispered and gestured for a while before finally settling on one.

After Rong Qing and Shen Nian each picked a card and flipped them over, Rong Qing saw her card read today’s task—Furnish the new room with a complete set of furniture.