Whoever Is Tempted First Is A Dog - Chapter 5
Chapter 5
When Shen Mengke appeared wearing a hat, a flurry of camera flashes greeted her.
White lights flickered across her vision. She frowned and instinctively stepped back. Looking up, she saw a dense crowd of people.
Xiao He, ever professional, quickly stepped in front of Shen Mengke to shield her from the cameras.
Normally, Shen Mengke didn’t allow fans to visit her on set—she feared it would disrupt filming. Frowning in confusion, she instinctively tugged her hat lower and asked Xiao He in a low voice, “Did we take the wrong turn?”
Xiao He looked just as puzzled. Even the fans holding cameras and phones looked confused, murmuring things like “Wrong person,” “She’s not here yet,” “She’s coming later…”
Shen Mengke got the gist. With Xiao He guiding her, she made her way into the set, but before entering, she glanced back—her eyes filled with envy.
Then she turned to Xiao He, eyes gleaming with curiosity. “Xiao He, go find out whose fans those are.”
Xiao He nodded and, after escorting her to the dressing room, left to investigate.
The drama Shen Mengke was filming was called “Wen Xin” (Ask Your Heart)—a historical revenge story with a same-s3x romance theme.
While LGBTQ+ dramas weren’t unheard of in the country anymore, most still avoided explicit depictions—playing it safe with light hints and ambiguous interactions.
Because of this sensitivity, the production team had kept a low profile. During filming, fan visits were rare, and certainly never as overwhelming as today.
As she was getting her makeup done, Xiao He quickly returned with the answer.
“It’s Jiang Ranfan. She’s making a guest appearance.”
Shen Mengke raised an eyebrow in surprise. Jiang Ranfan had started out as an idol, then shot to stardom a couple of years ago after a hit period drama. Since then, she’d been steadily transitioning into acting.
Lately, she’d gone quiet due to plastic surgery rumors and various tabloid scandals—but her fans were clearly still fervent.
Despite constant criticism from some fans about not singing or performing live anymore, in today’s industry, singing and dancing idols acting wasn’t rare. The fact that Jiang Ranfan stood out among them was actually impressive.
Shen Mengke stared into the mirror, her thoughts drifting unexpectedly to Chen Xingxing.
Could she act too? Did the Chen family think acting—where you physically interacted with others—was “dirty,” while singing and dancing on stage like Chen Xingxing was “clean”?
Then what about Chen Yanxing? She was also a member of the Chen family. Did she think the entertainment industry was dirty?
Unable to control her spiraling thoughts, Shen Mengke suddenly recalled the face so different from Chen Xingxing’s—and the hand that had roamed her body…
She frowned and clicked her tongue.
Spring has long passed—why am I suddenly acting lovesick now?
The makeup artist’s brush paused. She looked at Shen Mengke with concern. “Uh… Teacher Shen?”
Snapping out of it, Shen Mengke quickly apologized. “Sorry, that wasn’t aimed at you—I was just… thinking about the character.”
The makeup artist smiled. “You’re really dedicated. This drama will definitely be a success.”
Shen Mengke returned a small smile, brushing off the compliment as polite flattery.
Though the show wasn’t a massive production, Shen Mengke truly loved the script.
Her character was an innocent princess forced into a political marriage with a neighboring kingdom. Caught in a collapsing empire and endless schemes, she was pushed to grow and mature again and again.
From both a story and thematic perspective, the script was outstanding. In fact, when Shen Mengke first got it, she suspected her agent Fan-jie had pulled some strings. Still, it was her first time playing such a complex role, and she struggled with the emotional depth—her acting felt stiff and unconvincing.
Technically, she hit all the right academic beats—classic drama school performance—but Shen Mengke herself wasn’t satisfied. She kept reshooting her scenes, which drained her confidence and tested the patience of the entire crew.
That’s why she’d gone out last night to clear her head—and accidentally ran into Chen Yanxing at the hotel.
She hadn’t planned on going home, yet unexpectedly ended up in a one-night stand so perfectly in sync that all her stress and confusion evaporated.
She’d never realized… that s3x could have this kind of effect.
Her thoughts wandered in a hundred directions. Then she looked up and noticed Xiao He in the mirror, staring down at her phone with a conflicted expression.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Mengke asked.
Xiao He put the phone down with a bitter smile. “Sis, you’re on the trending list again.”
“Huh?”
Xiao He handed her the phone.
It had started when a fan who didn’t recognize Shen Mengke posted her photo on Weibo:
[@Just-JiangRanfan: Didn’t manage to catch Ranran, but here’s a shy little beauty instead! [Image][Image][Image][Image]]
She had captured the exact moment Shen Mengke lowered her head and stepped back. Since Shen Mengke wasn’t very famous—her scandals got more attention than her roles—many people didn’t immediately recognize her.
[@Just-JiangRanfan] was a major fan account for Jiang Ranfan, active for nearly ten years. Her entire feed was dedicated to Jiang Ranfan. So…
[What the heck? Thought it was Ranran! 😡]
[Where’s Ranran? J-jie, are you switching bias?]
[Haha I was at the scene too! Got the same shot. [Image]]
[She looked so cute backing away like that in person!]
[Why does she look familiar?]
[Familiar? She’s trending now!]
[J-jie, don’t lump this scandalous actress with Ranran, please?]
[Scandalous? Please. When Shen Mengke debuted, your idol was still studying for her high school entrance exam!]
[She may be a senior, but this still isn’t a good look.]
[Shen fans jumped in so fast—have you been lurking on our feed?]
[Lurking your butt! Can’t you see she’s trending?]
[…]
No one knew if it was Jiang Ranfan’s popularity or Shen Mengke’s reputation that fueled the fire, but the moment those photos dropped, chaos ensued.
J-jie quickly deleted the post and issued an apology to avoid harming Jiang Ranfan’s image, but the photos had already spread far and wide.
Other people who had also captured Shen Mengke at the scene—fans or not—started uploading their own pictures. Good or bad, it all got dumped onto Weibo. Soon, the two completely unrelated fanbases were dragged into a full-blown online war, landing them at the bottom of the trending list.
That said, Shen Mengke’s unedited pictures were still visually striking.
She had a very small face, and with her head lowered, the brim of her black hat almost completely obscured her features. Her lips were lightly pursed, and the sunlight illuminated her hat, making the white “SMK” letters stand out clearly.
[@DreamingOfYou_: SHE’S WEARING A FAN SUPPORT HAT!!! [Image][Image]]
It was the same set of photos, but now Shen Mengke’s fans had circled the “important” part and reposted it with fresh enthusiasm.
[This is infuriating! @ShenMengkeStudio DO SOMETHING! Are you just going to let people spread lies?]
[Ahhh! She’s so lovely!!]
[I want to see her film in person too!]
[Let’s not crowd the set and make trouble for her…]
[No leaks have come out from this set until now—why did jrr’s fans just barge in?]
[This is her set. Let’s not mention others here.]
[@ShenMengkeStudio REMOVE THE TRENDING TAG]
[Her fans are making up lies on the trending feed!]
[Babies, don’t fight—save screenshots as evidence!]
[@ShenMengkeStudio DO YOUR JOB!!]
[…]
And just like that, the whole focus shifted. Shen Mengke ended up trending again—this time, even higher.
Amid the noise, someone quietly commented:
[That aside… what’s that on Shen Mengke’s neck?]
Shen Mengke’s brow furrowed. She quickly zoomed in on the photo.
Because of the sunlight, there was some glare and blur—but that only made the reddish mark on her neck stand out even more clearly…
Her heart skipped a beat. She sighed and handed the phone back to Xiao He. “Let’s handle it. Take down the trending tag.”
“We’re working on it. But…” Xiao He hesitated.
“What?”
“Fan-jie said… someone already helped us take it down. She doesn’t know if it was Jiang Ranfan’s team.”
She sounded doubtful—understandably. Rivals helping each other remove trending scandals? Practically unheard of, even if they weren’t direct competitors.
Shen Mengke closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting the makeup artist finish the final touches on her face.