After Swapping Bodies with the Movie Queen, She Ended Up with Me (GL) - Chapter 34

That night, Rong Qing lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep, her mind filled with thoughts of Xia Yiran. After rolling over for the thirteenth time, she was suddenly pulled into an embrace from behind.

“Stop moving. The bed isn’t that big, and your tossing keeps me awake too.”

Mu Lingwan’s lazy voice drifted from behind her, startling Rong Qing. She hadn’t expected the other woman to still be awake at this hour. Hearing that her restlessness had disturbed Mu Lingwan filled her with guilt.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Mmm.”

Mu Lingwan didn’t press the issue, tightening her arms and pulling Rong Qing closer. In a low voice, she murmured against the back of Rong Qing’s neck, “Why can’t you sleep?”

Rong Qing hesitated for a long moment before finally lowering her gaze and whispering, “I’m afraid Xia Yiran might… expose my secrets.”

At this, Mu Lingwan opened her eyes. In the darkness, she could vaguely make out Rong Qing’s silhouette. The faint scent of shower gel—provided by the show’s crew—lingered on her skin, identical to the one Mu Lingwan herself used.

She tightened her embrace, nuzzling Rong Qing’s hair like a cat, breathing in the familiar fragrance before speaking. “Those things don’t matter. Even if she says something, it won’t hurt you. Don’t dwell on it.”

Would it really be that simple?

Rong Qing was still worried. She had no special talents, lacked Mu Lingwan’s sharp instincts and vision, and had never been sure what she truly wanted. Becoming a trainee had been a last-ditch effort, and after years of practice, she still felt like a failure, even considering giving up.

If not for what had happened with Mu Lingwan, she might have danced for another year or two before returning to her hometown to work an ordinary job, wasting her life away in obscurity.

Rong Qing glanced back at Mu Lingwan, who seemed exhausted, arms wrapped around her waist, breathing steadily with her eyes closed.

“I understand,” Rong Qing murmured, settling into her embrace. “Goodnight.”

Mu Lingwan was silent for a few seconds before softly replying.

“Goodnight.”

Early the next morning, Rong Qing was jolted awake by her alarm. Rubbing her eyes, she fumbled for her phone to silence it, then sat up and stared at Mu Lingwan, who was sprawled haphazardly across most of the bed, leaving Rong Qing barely any room to move.

Mu Lingwan was still in the same position as the night before, arms wrapped around Rong Qing’s waist, face buried against her side, fast asleep.

Outside, the sky had already brightened. Rong Qing carefully pried herself free, freshened up, changed into loungewear, and tied her hair into a high ponytail before heading downstairs to cook.

“Good morning.”

As soon as she reached the first floor, she spotted the crew setting up equipment and nodded in greeting. The staff returned the gesture, watching as she made her way to the kitchen before exchanging puzzled glances.

Unaware of their odd looks, Rong Qing walked past the living and dining areas as usual, planning to make a simple breakfast—porridge, boiled eggs, and the marinated chicken cutlet she’d prepared the night before.

But the moment she stepped into the kitchen, she froze.

Standing at the stove, spatula in hand, was a familiar figure—frying eggs.

Xia Yiran turned around and spotted Rong Qing, her eyes lighting up as she quickly turned off the stove and hurried over to greet her. “Teacher Mu, you’re up so early! I’m making breakfast—is there anything special you’d like to eat?”

Rong Qing looked at her in surprise, then glanced at the assortment of food laid out on the island—steamed dumplings, soup buns, fried dough sticks, and leek-stuffed pastries. At the moment, Xia Yiran was frying eggs.

Noticing Rong Qing’s gaze, Xia Yiran quickly explained, “Oh, I had my assistant pick these up. They’re all fresh and hot! I’m not great at cooking breakfast, so I thought I’d at least fry some eggs. I’m really good at frying eggs.”

Rong Qing eyed the carb-heavy spread and instinctively started calculating the calories. In the past, she would prepare carb-heavy breakfasts too, but after receiving feedback from everyone, she had simplified it to just corn and eggs, occasionally having a sandwich.

“Mm… it looks great, thank you,” Rong Qing said, meeting Xia Yiran’s hopeful gaze. “There’s skim milk in the fridge—everyone likes it.”

“Great, we’ll have milk with breakfast then!” Xia Yiran beamed at her. “Is there anything else you’d like, Teacher Mu?”

“No, I… I don’t have anything in mind. I’ll head upstairs first.” Rong Qing turned and left the kitchen, quickly making her way up the stairs. Even as she climbed, she could feel Xia Yiran’s eyes on her, but she didn’t dare look back.

Only after shutting the door behind her did Rong Qing finally exhale deeply. Honestly, Xia Yiran used to hurl insults at her all the time—now, suddenly being so attentive was downright unsettling. Even knowing that Xia Yiran’s politeness was meant for Mu Lingwan and not her, it still made Rong Qing’s stomach churn.

Mu Lingwan emerged from the bathroom, toothbrush in hand, and frowned when she saw Rong Qing’s expression. “What’s wrong? Weren’t you going downstairs to make breakfast?”

Rong Qing looked up, her expression complicated. After a long pause, she finally said, “Xia Yiran is making breakfast.”

Mu Lingwan raised an eyebrow, as if recalling something amusing, and nodded before continuing to brush her teeth. “Then we’ll just wait for the meal.”

Half an hour later, everyone had gathered in the dining room, staring at the overloaded breakfast spread with varying degrees of awkwardness. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Xia Yiran straightened up and announced, “I wasn’t sure what everyone likes, so I got a bit of everything—steamed buns, fried dough, eggs and spam I made myself, plus milk and soy milk. Please don’t hold back! If there’s anything else you’d like, just let me know, and I’ll have my assistant get it.”

The expressions around the table grew even more strained at her words.

Shen Nian blinked, glancing between Xia Yiran and the others before finally settling her gaze on Ming Qiao.

Ming Qiao didn’t even bother looking up, sipping her milk slowly while ignoring the buns and fried dough entirely.

Rong Qing hesitated, but in the end stayed silent, picking up her chopsticks to slowly eat a soup dumpling.

Mu Lingwan, never one to miss a chance to stir the pot, grinned and said to Xia Yiran, “I don’t think we needed this much. It’ll take us months to finish all this.”

Xia Yiran didn’t quite understand and turned to Xu Qing, who was sitting beside her, for clarification.

After last night, Xu Qing had time to reflect and felt unsettled recalling the other’s exaggerated acting, but also thought it wasn’t easy for a young girl on her first variety show. Besides, since she’d gotten along so well with everyone yesterday, suddenly turning cold now wouldn’t be appropriate.

“No, we really enjoy all these. Thank you for buying us breakfast—it must have cost quite a bit?” Xu Qing asked her.

Xia Yiran smiled. “It’s nothing, didn’t cost much. My assistant handled it. Everyone, eat while it’s hot.”

Jiang Jiang subtly tugged at Xu Qing’s sleeve, signaling her to stop talking and just eat the breakfast.

Though Xia Yiran found the situation odd, she couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong. Forcing a smile, she ate breakfast with everyone. After the meal, Director Wan came to assign tasks.

“Since we have a rare guest today, let’s all go out together to help Xia Yiran buy some local specialties and gifts.” Director Wan waved the cards in his hand. “Yesterday’s housework reward was seven amusement park tickets. You can arrange your dates freely today.”

Unlike group dates, free dates allowed the three pairs of guests to go wherever they liked. But with a visitor today, they decided to visit the amusement park together.

After dispersing, Xia Yiran stopped Mu Lingwan who was about to leave.

“Rong Qing, wait.” Xia Yiran blocked Mu Lingwan’s path, frowning delicately. “Let’s talk.”

Mu Lingwan arched an eyebrow but didn’t refuse, following Xia Yiran to a camera-free corner. Turning around, Xia Yiran snapped, “What’s your game? Freezing me out?”

Xia Yiran wasn’t blind—she’d noticed the awkward breakfast atmosphere but couldn’t speak up with cameras rolling. Now without surveillance, she dropped the act, crossing her arms irritably. “If you don’t want your dirty laundry aired, you’ll come clean. Otherwise, one tweet from me and you’re finished in this industry.”

Leaning against the wall, Mu Lingwan glanced at the live-streaming camera with its blinking red light overhead before asking slowly, “What do you want?”

Xia Yiran studied her. “What do you think?”

“Fame, money, or me?” Mu Lingwan’s gaze burned. Xia Yiran’s behavior yesterday and this morning clearly showed interest, making this confrontation all the more amusing.

Though convoluted, that was indeed the situation, which intrigued Mu Lingwan further.

Xia Yiran looked her up and down, baffled. “I truly can’t understand what Mu Lingwan sees in you. Back when you were washing my clothes and cleaning our dorm daily, I never imagined you had such skills. When did you seduce Mu Lingwan? Teach me your ways—are you that good in bed? Extra nimble fingers? Is that what she likes?”

Mu Lingwan lifted her eyelids, watching her silently.

Xia Yiran was still hurling sarcastic remarks, seemingly intent on venting all the frustration she’d bottled up since morning onto the person before her. Mu Lingwan simply lowered her eyes and listened without retorting. Eventually, Xia Yiran probably grew tired of berating her. Finding no fun in Mu Lingwan’s lack of response, she bumped her shoulder and walked away.

Before leaving, she snapped at Mu Lingwan, “Stay away from me and Mu Lingwan today. I don’t want to see your face—it annoys me.”

Only after Xia Yiran had left did Mu Lingwan raise her head, touching her own face. She turned to examine her reflection in the nearby glass and muttered, “It’s actually quite cute. What’s so annoying about it? I rather like it.”

The more she looked, the more pleased she became. She even began to predict that their guest wouldn’t last half a day before being asked to leave.

Xia Yiran, still completely unaware, had just reached the second floor and immediately went to find Rong Qing, even enthusiastically helping her pack her things. Rong Qing stood in the room, flustered and confused, unsure of what Xia Yiran was trying to do.

Soon, a hashtag titled #XiaYiran’sSuddenMoodShift slowly began climbing from the very bottom of the trending list…