The Paranoid Film Queen Doesn’t Want to Remarry - Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Although the script was pretty awful, Xu Weishuang still studied it and her role seriously.
In the story, the minor antagonist is the childhood friend of the koi spirit protagonist—and also a koi spirit herself. With modern technology, these minor demons are able to take on human forms from a young age, looking almost indistinguishable from real people.
But this antagonist was born with a defect—her transformation is never complete. She retains monster-like traits, such as visible fish scales on her forehead and body, and is often bullied by other demons. Only the female lead never laughed at her and even protected her.
The antagonist came to admire and love the female lead deeply. Later, due to her exceptional talent, she was taken in as a disciple by a wandering mountain Taoist and went into seclusion to study spells.
When they meet again, the female lead has already fallen in love with a girl possessed by resentment.
The antagonist’s jealousy toward the girl and her love for the female lead cause her to grow increasingly unhinged. After forcibly taking the girl away, she ends up unable to be with the female lead, returning to the mountains, never to reappear in the world.
Today, Xu Weishuang was just shooting a costume fitting.
Because her character has an innate defect that prevents a full transformation into a human, leaving obvious fish scales on her forehead and skin, her costume covered her entire body, revealing only her face.
She isn’t good at socializing, and her long hair covered the fish scales around her temples. She gave off a cold, aloof vibe.
But with low-budget web dramas, they don’t care much about whether things make sense—beauty is all that matters. The audience watches for good looks.
When the fish-scale prosthetics were applied to Xu Weishuang’s face, the pale blue scales shimmered with a ghostly sheen, adding a trace of sinister charm to her cold beauty.
That monstrous, eerie trait, paired with Xu Weishuang’s indifferent expression, created a striking contrast between divine aloofness and demonic allure—beautiful like a sharp blade stabbing straight into one’s heart.
Li Yun watched through the camera. When Xu Weishuang turned her gaze toward it at the photographer’s request, Li Yun felt a sudden chill.
Her heart raced.
It felt like that cold, obsessive demon had truly stepped out from the mountains and was standing right before her.
Li Yun had seen Xu Weishuang act before—her film back then was quite a hit. But after so many years, the audience had long forgotten the once-brilliant young actress, and Li Yun was no exception.
Sometimes, Teacher Lin would talk about Xu Weishuang. Although Li Yun never said anything, she always felt that the teacher was overly fond of her.
She never understood what made Xu Weishuang so unforgettable to Lin after all these years.
Yes, the entertainment industry is chaotic now, with popularity and traffic ruling everything, but there are still skilled and talented actors around.
Until she saw Xu Weishuang’s performance in front of the camera again after all these years.
Even just a costume photo shoot—her posture, her gaze, everything was on point.
“She’s really beautiful,” said Dan Keke, the actress playing the female lead, who had also come over. Everyone appreciates beauty—she couldn’t help but praise Xu Weishuang.
She had already finished shooting earlier and was waiting for her partner Guan Shuxin. The two of them still had to appear in front of fans together before wrapping up, to put on a little CP (couple pairing) show.
Li Yun snapped back and rolled her eyes at Dan Keke before turning to the makeup artist and frowning. “Change the makeup—she looks too beautiful.”
Usually, a web drama would welcome actors with high looks. But Xu Weishuang wasn’t the main character—she looked so striking that even without appearing in the same frame, Li Yun could already tell she would outshine the dual female leads.
Maybe in another drama it would be fine. A popular villain could still draw attention and boost traffic.
But this particular web drama was Li Yun’s own investment, made specifically to boost Dan Keke and Guan Shuxin’s CP. She couldn’t let Xu Weishuang completely overshadow them.
After adjusting several versions of the makeup, Li Yun still wasn’t satisfied. She grabbed Dan Keke nearby and asked, “What do you think?”
“Hmm…” Dan Keke thought for a bit. “Still pretty, but not as captivating as the first version.”
“Then we’ll go with this,” Li Yun agreed. They had already modified it so many times—even if they tried to make Xu Weishuang look bad on purpose, her expressive eyes still radiated charm.
Li Yun gave the order to the photographer to take some motion shots. Dan Keke remained, still stunned by Xu Weishuang’s performance, reluctant to leave.
Just as she was completely absorbed, a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind her.
“Who’s captivating you?”
“Keke, who are you falling for?” Guan Shuxin had heard the makeup artist teasing Dan Keke earlier about liking the new actress. Now she caught another line of praise for Xu Weishuang.
“Uh…” Dan Keke didn’t know how to respond.
Guan Shuxin had already come up behind her and wrapped her arms around her waist, pressing her body close from behind.
Ever since they started playing a CP, they had been inseparable. Their company even arranged for their apartments to be next door.
“What, falling for someone else now?” Guan Shuxin’s public persona was that of a gentle older woman. The three-year age gap between them made this setup feel very natural.
“Of course not, I only love my Guanguan,” Dan Keke quickly turned around and hugged Guan Shuxin, explaining sweetly, “You know my idol is Yan Muyu—this is my idol’s wife! I’m just showing love to everything related!”
She nuzzled against Guan Shuxin’s clothes, playing up her affectionate image.
But inside, she felt a little helpless.
They had been a CP for quite a while, co-starring in several dramas and gaining popularity. At first, both were professional—they just wanted to succeed and climb the ladder.
Privately, they got along well enough, with no major issues. But at some point, Guan Shuxin had started getting increasingly possessive.
Last time, when a fan gave Dan Keke flowers solo, Guan Shuxin should’ve shown a hint of jealousy—just enough to thrill fans without causing offense.
But instead, she had gone full dark-face mode, nearly losing her temper on stage. If the host hadn’t smoothed things over, who knows how badly it would’ve turned out.
Fans later defended her, saying it showed how much she cared about Dan Keke. They took it as proof they were truly dating—and no one minded.
But Dan Keke felt uneasy.
Guan Shuxin wasn’t playing by the rules anymore, and her behavior was becoming more extreme. Now, the way she was squeezing Dan Keke in this embrace made it hard to breathe.
Dan Keke could feel Guan Shuxin’s mood. After being so close for so long, she could tell even though she was smiling, her eyes held hidden anger.
Sigh.
Dan Keke felt drained. She just wanted to work, make money, buy her mom a house so she wouldn’t have to struggle anymore.
She nudged up to Guan Shuxin’s neck, cheek pressed against her skin, and teasingly rubbed her nose along her neck.
“I like Guanguan best…” she whispered softly to soothe her.
Their posture was intimate, but the people around them weren’t surprised. They were always like this—sticky sweet, making it impossible to tell if it was real or just an act.
But fans loved this kind of ambiguity, and they were good at delivering it—that’s how they got popular in the web drama scene.
While Dan Keke was pacifying Guan Shuxin, Xu Weishuang also finished up.
After the photo shoot, filming was set to begin next week. Li Yun gave a few instructions and brought over an assistant, introducing her to Xu Weishuang.
“You can’t work without help during filming. Xiao Qi’s been an assistant before—let her follow you for now. You can find someone more suitable later.”
“Thank you, senior,” Xu Weishuang nodded.
She hadn’t fully removed her makeup. A gold flower mark still adorned her forehead, giving her cold complexion a trace of noble grace.
“Hello, Xu-jie,” Xiao Qi greeted her. Xu Weishuang’s chilly demeanor made her seem hard to approach, leaving Xiao Qi feeling intimidated.
Xu Weishuang didn’t say much. She exchanged contact info with Xiao Qi and drove off on her own.
Most people didn’t remember her. She had been away from the industry for too long, and even back then, she hadn’t been the lead. She had been young.
Now, her reputation mostly came from her legal wife, Yan Muyu. Seeing how cold she was, Xiao Qi felt a little frustrated—no one wants to work closely with someone so hard to deal with.
But Xu Weishuang didn’t care what others thought. Even if she knew, she wouldn’t mind.
It was nearly 11 p.m. when she got home. She was hungry—she hadn’t eaten much since midday, and the photo shoot had taken a toll. Now, at last, she had some appetite.
The housekeeper should’ve left by now. Xu Weishuang didn’t like anyone staying over besides Yan Muyu, so the villa was always empty at night.
But to her surprise, Yan Muyu was still home.
The lights were on, and Xu Weishuang saw her car in the garage when she pulled in.
Puzzled, she walked inside and saw Yan Muyu on the sofa, holding a laptop, clearly on a video call.
When she noticed Xu Weishuang’s return, Yan Muyu raised an eyebrow at her with a smile.
Xu Weishuang remembered her saying she wouldn’t be staying overnight, so she sat beside her, confused.
Yan Muyu was proud—so proud it bordered on arrogant. She wouldn’t say something in anger and then go back on it just to wait around for Xu Weishuang.
In all six years, she’d never once bowed her head to her—she always held the upper hand.
Seeing that Xu Weishuang seemed to want to speak, Yan Muyu quickly ended her call.
She closed the laptop and turned to her with a smile.
“Did you want to say something?” Yan Muyu leaned in closer as she spoke.
She gently took off Xu Weishuang’s coat and softly caressed her pale face.
“You really should eat more. That hospital from last time didn’t help—I’ll have Shi Yan book another one tomorrow.” Her fingertips slid slowly down Xu Weishuang’s cheek and traced her lips.
Her lips were still tinted with red lipstick from the photo shoot—a shade brighter than her natural tone. Vivid as bl00d, stunning.
Xu Weishuang always looked icy, her eyes distant and expression frosty.
Only when she was pushed to her limits in bed did she reveal a breathtaking, unmatched beauty. Right now, with the golden flower mark on her forehead, she looked elegantly regal—such a rare sight.
Yan Muyu stared at her lips and pressed her finger down slightly harder.
She leaned in even closer, until their lips nearly touched.
“What show are you shooting?” Yan Muyu didn’t kiss her right away, just brushed against her lower lip, teasing her breath.
Xu Weishuang didn’t shy away from her intimacy, but she couldn’t figure out what Yan Muyu wanted.
Since she couldn’t figure it out, she gave up trying.
She casually replied, “My Wife is a Vengeful Ghost.”
Yan Muyu had been about to squeeze her neck—but upon hearing that title, she paused, then let out a snort of laughter.
The sensual mood immediately evaporated.
“All right, do a good job acting,” Yan Muyu said with a helpless smile.
Though the mood was broken, she didn’t care—they didn’t need mood. If she wanted, she would just take.
Yan Muyu narrowed her eyes and kissed her directly.
“Xiao Shuang, I have one hour,” she whispered between kisses. Her deliberately low voice, mixed with the sound of their breaths, made one’s face flush red.
One hour for what?
Xu Weishuang didn’t get it, but before she could think further, Yan Muyu pried open her mouth and bit her tongue.
The pain sent jolts through her mind, making her thoughts follow wherever Yan Muyu led.
And their intimacy was rarely gentle. As the fingers at her throat pressed harder, she still remembered vaguely she was starting filming in a week—she didn’t want any marks left on her neck.
With difficulty, she opened her eyes and whispered, “I start filming in a week. Don’t…”
She could barely breathe.
Her hands pressed against the sofa, unwilling to push Yan Muyu away but hoping to avoid visible marks.
Yan Muyu paused slightly, eyes darkening, but didn’t loosen her grip.
Her fingers stayed clamped around Xu Weishuang’s throat, lips still locked to hers.
She watched her arch her neck uncomfortably, brows knitting. The golden flower mark on her forehead lost its noble air, now that she was being pushed and dominated.
Yan Muyu loved this submissive, controllable version of her—smiling, she finally eased her grip.
But she wasn’t done. She kissed Xu Weishuang’s brow gently, then pushed her down against the edge of the sofa, the smile in her eyes disappearing completely.
“But Xiao Shuang,” she murmured, “your face is practically begging to be bullied.”