After I Picked Up the Movie Queen Who Was Pretending to Be an Alpha - Chapter 16

In the end, Pei Suyuan still used the excuse that she had something to do and did not go eat with Qiao Yaning. Instead, she rode in the car Mu Xinyi drove and went home.

Before leaving, Mu Xinyi told her that she would notify her in advance before the next recording. She also said Tong Lin had found a few scripts for her, and they would be sent to her within the next day or two.

Pei Suyuan responded to each point. After Mu Xinyi left, she still could not help thinking of Wei Jinzhi’s cold expression. She also felt awkward because she would have to spend time with Wei Jinzhi over the next few days.

“Pei Suyuan, you spaced out again. I called you for ages. Can you pay attention when you’re walking outside?” Yan Xin complained a little. Pei Suyuan knew she was in the wrong, so she pressed her lips together and said nothing.

In the end, Yan Xin was only worried about her and did not really intend to say too much. Then she shook the bag in her hand. “I bought a lot. Enough for both of us. Go back and shower first, then come over?”

“Okay.”

After returning home, the first thing Pei Suyuan did was tidy her room. When she was cleaning the bathroom, she thought about it for a moment, then still took off her clothes and rinsed herself off again. After that, she lay on the freshly changed bedding and rested for a while.

However, even during that short while, her mind did not stay idle.

She had lived in this apartment for almost a year now. The sheets, duvet covers, and larger daily necessities had all been bought back then.

At the rate she washed them every time she came home from outside, it was about time to replace them.

The one beneath her right now, mm…

It had already been washed until it was somewhat faded.

Pei Suyuan’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies came and went. Basically, whatever she thought of, she had to do.

But today, she did not want to do it.

She had spent the past few days recording a show and had already thought about enough things.

She first went home and took a quick shower. Looking at the dust all over the apartment, she hesitated for a while, then called Yan Xin and told her she would arrive a little later.

Yan Xin guessed that she had gone home to tidy her apartment and said without even thinking, “Then I’ll stream first. When you come over, bring me some luosifen and fried skewers too. What I bought isn’t enough anymore…” The more Yan Xin spoke, the quieter her voice became, sounding a little guilty.

Just now, she had gone to the supermarket and bought chips, tiger-skin chicken feet, and a large serving of mala tang. She had thought it would be enough for the two of them, but she had still overlooked her own bottomless stomach.

After she finished speaking, Pei Suyuan let out a low laugh. Yan Xin did not feel embarrassed either. She even pinched her voice and acted spoiled. “Xiao Yuan~ I want lots and lots of fried skewers!”

“All right, shut up already!”

After hanging up,

she might as well go play with Yan Xin for a while and clear her mind.

Pei Suyuan changed into a T-shirt and casual pants, grabbed a thin jacket, and went out.

It was already late September. The nights should not have been this chilly, but Huajiang Garden’s landscaping was too good. Walking along the road, it always felt cool and breezy.

Pei Suyuan was definitely skilled when it came to taking care of herself.

If it was hot, she could simply not wear the thin jacket, but she could not be without it.

She walked to a small alley near the entrance of Huajiang Garden, bought some fried skewers, then went to the supermarket and bought several bags of luosifen.

There were actually stalls selling it by the roadside too, but the smell truly was a bit stinky. She was afraid it would bother people on the way back.

……

When Pei Suyuan entered, Yan Xin was fighting in the final circle and had no time to pay attention to her. She did not even give her a glance. Pei Suyuan did not disturb her either. She went to the kitchen and started cooking the luosifen first.

By the time Yan Xin’s game ended, she had also finished cooking.

“Family, I’m going to eat first. In a bit, I’ll help people rank up. Today won’t follow the old rules.”

The old rules Yan Xin mentioned meant that during this period, whoever sent the most gifts would be brought along first.

However, in her heart, she was actually rather conflicted too.

The ID [Xin Baby, Revive Me] had occupied her top donor spot for a month now. If she was going to bring someone, she still had to bring her.

At this point, calling it a fan-carry segment was not as accurate as calling it a segment specifically for carrying her.

Normally, she always had to look toward the money.

But today, she did not have that mood. Before eating the luosifen, Yan Xin added, “In a bit, I’ll take a screenshot. Whoever is first gets brought along.”

The moment she said that, sure enough—

[Xin Baby, Revive Me] stopped sending gifts.

She started spamming the chat instead.

Yan Xin angrily ate a big mouthful of luosifen, then choked.

Pei Suyuan looked at her with a face full of disdain and quickly handed her a wet wipe.

Usually, Yan Xin had never let her appear on camera during her streams. Today’s situation was special, and the hand Pei Suyuan used to pass over the wet wipe appeared in frame.

In an instant, the livestream chat filled with people asking Yan Xin who that person was.

[Wow, those fingers are long and fair. So pretty.]

[Definitely an alpha!]

[Her fingers are even longer than Xinxin’s. I don’t care whether she’s an alpha or not, I want her to be my wife!]

There were piles of comments, and Pei Suyuan inevitably saw them.

With a whoosh, her face turned red.

She furrowed her brows, lowered her head, and ate her luosifen, not wanting to look anymore.

Yan Xin, however, became interested in teasing her. While eating, she said, “She saw your comments and blushed. Stop spamming~~” The more she spoke, the less she could hold it in. In the end, she stopped eating the luosifen and started laughing at Pei Suyuan.

Because of what Yan Xin said, Pei Suyuan’s face turned even redder. She picked up her luosifen and moved a little farther away from her.

But even like this, Yan Xin was still unwilling to let her go.

“Hahaha, I bullied her so badly she can only shrink into the corner and eat luosifen!”

Yan Xin laughed more and more exaggeratedly. In the end, Pei Suyuan also laughed helplessly along with her.

There was no helping it. Her friend just had this kind of magic.

It was clearly nothing much, yet she could laugh like a fool.

In the end, Pei Suyuan also smiled and secretly stepped on her foot, telling her to behave.

But there was no force in it at all, and a faint smile still hung at the corner of her mouth.

The more Yan Xin looked at her, the happier she became. Later, she even began talking about her with the fans, her tone full of showing off. “My very, very, very best friend is an amazing singer. The song I used to play often? She wrote it! She wrote it specially for me!!”

Pei Suyuan’s heart felt warm because of her words, and she had no temper left at all. She even fed a chicken skewer to Yan Xin’s mouth.

Yan Xin ate happily, completely forgetting that she was still streaming, and shouted loudly, “Xiao Yuan, I love you! Mwah~”

“Ugh~” Pei Suyuan was truly disgusted by her.

But she was also very happy.

……

Although Yan Xin had set new rules, and the person in the screenshot was not [Xin Baby, Revive Me], when she accepted the team invitation, Yan Xin was still dumbfounded.

Pei Suyuan was also dumbfounded.

Because the person who sent the invitation was [Marshmallow301].

Once the game started and the mic was turned on, Pei Suyuan immediately relaxed, while Yan Xin scratched her head in irritation.

Because the person operating [Marshmallow301] was still [Xin Baby, Revive Me].

When the stream ended, Yan Xin was in a bad mood and wanted to drink.

Pei Suyuan did not drink with her. Instead, she drank cola herself. The two chatted idly for a while, and Yan Xin, whose alcohol tolerance was poor, quickly became dizzy and muddled. Pei Suyuan dragged her to bed to sleep, then went home herself.

If it were an ordinary day, she might have drunk with Yan Xin. But after she entered Yan Xin’s apartment, Mu Xinyi had sent her a message. What she sent over, besides the web drama scripts, also included a dating variety show. Pei Suyuan wanted to go back early and take a look.

After returning home, Pei Suyuan washed away the smell of luosifen clinging to her body. Then she sat on the recliner on the balcony and used her computer to receive the files Mu Xinyi had sent.

Most of the scripts sent this time were still web dramas, similar to the ones she had accepted before. However, this time, they were not second or third female lead roles, but female lead roles.

The one Mu Xinyi had specially marked was The Runaway Omega Sweetheart. The female omega partnering with her was also a Yuefeng newcomer, Lin Qianwen. She had a sweet appearance and was only twenty-one, still studying in university. Previously, most of her work had been guest roles in films invested in by Yuefeng.

According to Mu Xinyi, Lin Qianwen’s manager had a pretty good relationship with Tong Lin. For now, the two sides could be considered to have reached a consensus. They had no intention of deliberately hyping up a CP, but they were also not opposed to CP fans. There might also be further collaborations later.

But all of that would depend on the situation after the drama aired. For now, there was no mandatory requirement.

When Pei Suyuan heard that, she relaxed. After all, hyping a CP after working together was also a conventional form of promotion. Although she had never done it before, this kind of thing was all fake, and she did not care.

Moreover, what Mu Xinyi said was right. She needed to improve her standing… but it was also not suitable for her to rise too quickly. First accumulating some popularity by appearing in web dramas like this was just right.

It was just that… this The Runaway Omega Sweetheart seemed far too similar to the drama she had filmed before, The Tyrant CEO Alpha’s Pregnant Runaway Little Wife.

The same tyrant CEO alpha, the same running away…

It was only missing the baby.

But Mu Xinyi gave her a logical analysis. Dramas of this type had a fixed audience, so they were very unlikely to flop.

Thus, Pei Suyuan yielded.

On top of that, Tong Lin later called her personally and informed her of the pay.

It was a full three times higher than what she had earned as the second female lead in her previous drama.

The number of episodes and production period were about the same. For that drama, she had filmed continuously for nearly two months and earned one hundred and fifty thousand.

But this one… the amount she could receive was probably over four hundred thousand. Also, her fee for the next season of the variety show had increased too.

Her mood was truly far too wonderful.

The drama and the variety show would be filmed during the same period. Tong Lin’s meaning was that the broadcast period of her previous drama would happen to coincide with Hello, Detective going online. After filming the next drama, she would immediately go on the dating variety show, striking while the iron was hot.

Pei Suyuan did not have much expectation toward these things. In any case, it was all earning money.

The only thing she was looking forward to was…

The theme song for The Runaway Omega Sweetheart would be sung by her. Tong Lin had even asked whether she could write the lyrics and compose the music herself.

Of course she could!

This also stirred up her enthusiasm. She read the script for three or four days, then began composing.

But no matter what, the feeling was always a little off. So she went back to reading the script again.

Shortly before filming, Tong Lin called her to the company again. Aside from discussing the contract, she also talked with her in detail about her career plan.

They had already gone over the general idea on the phone before, and Pei Suyuan did not have any objections. Her conversation with Tong Lin was quite pleasant.

Her contract with Yuefeng was for five years. Whether she would renew after five years was still too early to think about. For now, Pei Suyuan was fairly satisfied.

After making all the necessary preparations, Pei Suyuan began thinking about when she should return to Lin City.

The next recording of Hello, Detective was during the National Day holiday. She estimated that she would not be able to go back then, so she could only postpone it. She called Zheng Xuncheng to let him know, only for Zheng Xuncheng to tell her that Zheng Yi would be going to Xijing during National Day, and that he had even brought local specialties for her and Yan Xin.

Pei Suyuan hung up the call looking listless.

Her mood carried an indescribable awkwardness.

However, the awkwardness she felt because of Zheng Yi did not last very long. That night, while Pei Suyuan was packing her luggage, she suddenly received a WeChat message.

The sender was Qiao Yaning.

This WeChat contact had remained for many years. They had only occasionally exchanged a sentence or two back when the group had just disbanded. After that, there had been nothing.

Pei Suyuan opened WeChat to check the message.

—[What time are you leaving tomorrow? Want to go together?]

It was an invitation.

But…

Pei Suyuan was unwilling.

Only after a long while did she reply.

[The time isn’t set yet tomorrow. My manager will come pick me up.]

After sending that, Pei Suyuan continued packing her luggage.

After showering at night and preparing to sleep, Qiao Yaning replied with: [Oh.]

Pei Suyuan glanced at it, locked the screen, and went to sleep.

……

As a result, when she went out the next day, Mu Xinyi arrived a little later than the agreed time. While Pei Suyuan waited for her at the entrance of the residential compound, she ran into Qiao Yaning.

“Suyuan, what a coincidence~”

The omega’s sweet, sugary trailing tone made Pei Suyuan somewhat uncomfortable. She answered faintly, “It is quite a coincidence.”

Qiao Yaning did not mind her coldness. She even walked up to her warmly and asked with a charming smile, “Do you live in Huajiang Garden? I live in Huaqing Manor next door…” Qiao Yaning pointed casually, and Pei Suyuan subconsciously looked in that direction.

Of course she knew Huaqing Manor. When Pei Suyuan and Yan Xin had been looking at apartments, the sales staff had also dragged them over to see it, but they could not afford it.

Huajiang Garden was positioned as apartment housing, while Huaqing Manor was a higher-end residential area of garden houses and villas. Both had been developed by Chi Real Estate.

For Qiao Yaning to be able to live in Huaqing Manor meant that she truly had earned quite a lot over the past few years.

It would be a lie to say she was not envious. The two of them had debuted from the same platform, but their development opportunities had been completely different.

However, that envy only lasted for a short while. Pei Suyuan clearly knew that wanting to earn money could not be accomplished by envy alone. She still had to rely on herself.

“Suyuan, since it’s such a coincidence, why don’t we go together? Our destination is the same anyway.”

Pei Suyuan did not want to agree, but for a moment, she could not think of what excuse she should use to refuse.

In the brief moment she hesitated, an Alphard drove out from Huajiang Garden’s main entrance.

Both of them looked back, and Pei Suyuan saw the car stop. At the same time, Qiao Yaning’s voice also rang out.

“Ah, I’ve seen that car before. It belongs to Teacher Wei. But why would it be driving out of Huajiang Garden?”

Pei Suyuan was somewhat puzzled and subconsciously asked her, “What’s wrong with it driving out of Huajiang Garden?”

“Because Teacher Wei clearly lives in Huaqing Manor. I’ve seen her there a few times before…”

Wei Jinzhi’s killing power was truly strong. Qiao Yaning, who had been constantly trying to talk to Pei Suyuan just now, was now staring at the car that had already driven far away. When she finally withdrew her gaze, she still looked a little reluctant to part with it.

……

In the end, Pei Suyuan still did not leave together with Qiao Yaning. Not long after, Qiao Yaning’s manager’s car stopped in front of the two of them. Before leaving, she politely asked Pei Suyuan whether she wanted to come along. Of course Pei Suyuan refused.

Qiao Yaning also did not dare say anything. In front of her manager, she was very obedient.

About ten more minutes later, Mu Xinyi finally arrived late.

“I’m sorry, Suyuan. I got held up by a personal matter.”

Mu Xinyi did look somewhat rushed. Her makeup and hair were both a mess, and the collar of her shirt was turned outward.

Pei Suyuan did indeed have a strong sense of time, but if there had been something urgent, there was no helping it. She nodded slightly, indicating that it was fine.

After getting into the car, Mu Xinyi prepared to set off. Pei Suyuan glanced sideways at her, but still could not help saying, “Your collar is turned outward. Your hair should be fixed too. And… your lips.”

When she reached the last two words, Pei Suyuan’s voice was extremely quiet. As adults, it was hard not to tell what Mu Xinyi had experienced from the way she looked.

Mu Xinyi looked in the rearview mirror. She was not embarrassed either. She thanked Pei Suyuan, then said helplessly and sweetly, “Ah, you really don’t know how troublesome it is to have a little enchantress at home.”

Oh. Wasn’t it just a troublesome little enchantress?

Pei Suyuan felt nothing toward the idea of something being too troublesome. She looked at her faintly and urged, “Drive. Otherwise, we’ll be late.”

……

When they arrived at Qijiang Hotel, it had just passed noon. The two of them parked the car, first put their luggage in the room, then went upstairs for the meeting.

Most of this shoot would take place in Linshan City. Originally, they should have gone there on their own, but last night, Director Lin Ling had suddenly notified them that there was another segment to film.

It was said to be because of the special guest.

When Pei Suyuan arrived, only Wang Pei, Zhai Lina, and Jiang Zhan were there. She greeted them simply and let out a breath of relief.

She had thought that after waiting for Mu Xinyi for so long, she would be late. Fortunately, she was not.

After waiting a while, the director arrived, followed by several people.

From a distance, Pei Suyuan saw Wang Shiming, Qiao Yaning, and…

Wei Jinzhi!

Wei Jinzhi wore a white shirt paired with black casual pants. The outfit was very simple, but her appearance was eye-catching, and her aura was cold and glamorous. Even such a simple combination drew people’s eyes.

Almost everyone’s gaze landed on Wei Jinzhi.

Except Pei Suyuan’s.

She did not quite dare look, afraid that when she saw Wei Jinzhi, she would fail to control her expression and give herself away.

But Wei Jinzhi greeted everyone one by one, and soon, it would be Pei Suyuan’s turn.

In her heart, Pei Suyuan repeated “calm down” several times.

Yet when Wei Jinzhi curved her peach blossom eyes and smiled while greeting her, she still dazed out for a moment.

At that moment, Qiao Yaning beside her gently tugged at her sleeve. Only then did Pei Suyuan’s gaze focus on Wei Jinzhi’s face. She lowered her head slightly, her tone obedient to an almost unbelievable degree. “Hello, Sister Wei. I’m Pei Suyuan.”

When she lifted her head again, she discovered that Wei Jinzhi’s gaze was on Qiao Yaning, and there was even a trace of amusement in her eyes.

Pei Suyuan felt a chill run down her back.

Qiao Yaning, however, smiled with a shy expression.