After the Harem Novel’s Female Lead was Spoiled by the Comments - Chapter 29

In a certain scenic area in Xiangxi, Wen Hebai, who was searching shops for clues to obtain quest items, suddenly saw Lu Tie waving her phone and mouthing words.

After reading her lips and realizing it was a call from Yan Qingwen, Wen Hebai weighed her options for a second in front of the camera: take the call, or find the clue first.

Half a second later, she decisively greeted the director and ran out of the shot to answer the phone: “Wifey~~”

Her teammates, who found themselves left behind, stared at her with resentful eyes.

As the “brain” of the group, running away halfway through finding clues left those of them with no leads completely stranded.

Furthermore, the show was still recording; running away meant her screen time would decrease. Did she not care?

In fact, as long as it didn’t delay the recording of the show, Wen Hebai didn’t care much about whether her screen time was high or low. Besides, with her present, the ratings would be higher; even if she had less footage in this environment, the production crew would surely make it up to her in other segments.

It was unclear what Yan Qingwen said, but Wen Hebai suddenly said very exaggeratingly: “What? You want to take wedding photos? Alright then, wait for me to get back and we’ll plan it out properly.”

A massive scoop! The director and guests on the front line of gossip pricked up their ears.

True, everyone knew Wen Hebai had posted the marriage certificates with Yan Qingwen, but there were no wedding photos or a ceremony yet! Now that they were talking about wedding photos, did it mean the wedding was near?

On the other end of the line, Yan Qingwen was choked up by Wen Hebai’s words.

Who said anything about taking wedding photos with her?

But on second thought, it seemed no photo could prove their marital status better than a wedding photo.

The wedding ceremony could wait, but as for wedding photos—it seemed they could take them first?

The thought flashed by, and Yan Qingwen quickly reached a decision, responding: “Mhm.”

Wen Hebai, who had deliberately called it a “wedding photo” instead of a “group photo” to test Yan Qingwen’s reaction, widened her eyes in surprise. Instead of being smug, she became flustered: “Then… then I’ll finish recording first. I can head back once I’m done.”

After ending the call, she immediately found the director: “Director Wang, we’ve been delayed too long earlier. Let’s work overtime and finish recording the show!”

Due to various reasons, part of the recording plan had changed, and correspondingly, the duration had been extended. The guests were anxious, and the director was worried. Now that a guest had proactively suggested speeding up the recording, the director was more than happy, but he still had to put on an act: “But it’s going to be dark soon.”

“Exactly because it’s getting dark, we need to record it all in one go. Otherwise, when the show airs and the audience sees the lighting outside is off, they’ll think we’re scripted. Besides, recording over several days will affect the businesses’ trade.”

The director thought for a moment and said: “I need to discuss it with the other guests.”

Some guests had tight schedules; although they were tired after a day of recording, they wanted to finish early as long as their appearance fee remained the same. Some less famous guests were afraid of offending people and didn’t dare refuse.

As for the crew, pulling all-nighters was the norm; they were used to it.

Fortunately, there were no intense physical activities left. It was basically just finding clues in the shops. Once the clues were found and the quest items obtained, the day’s filming could end.

Only one guest star raised an objection: “Why do we have to follow Wen Hebai’s arrangements?”

The scene the director most expected and feared had arrived.

For no other reason than this guest being the one with the biggest ego among the stars besides Wen Hebai.

Her name was Wang Qihuan. She debuted through a talent show at age twenty as a non-celebrity. Since her debut, she had endless resources, and rumors circulated for a time that she had several major sugar daddies behind her. It wasn’t until paparazzi later dug out that her parents were high-ranking officials that the rumors of being “kept” gradually faded.

With more resources, her fame grew, and within a few short years, she became a top star in the entertainment industry.

Although her resources were good, her acting wasn’t actually very impressive; thus, she missed the Golden Pear Best Actress award year after year.

This year, she was finally nominated, only for Wen Hebai to take the award. Most intriguingly, when Wen Hebai went on stage to accept the award, the broadcast director deliberately cut the camera to her side and lingered for over thirty seconds—very meaningful.

Incidentally, the anti-fan who prepared to attack Wen Hebai with rotten eggs at the Yan manor was a “toxic” solo fan of Wang Qihuan.

Originally, the production crew invited Wang Qihuan and Wen Hebai as guest stars at the same time to exploit the rumors of their discord to ignite hype—a common marketing tactic for many shows.

The crew hoped for conflict, but the director was worried that if they started tearing into each other, innocent bystanders would be caught in the crossfire. After all, one had the Wen family behind her, while the other had political backers.

Their fanbases’ combat power was also very strong; they often argued across platforms and even swamped each other’s “super topics” with hate. It was only recently, due to Wen Hebai’s marriage and a loss of over a hundred thousand solo fans, plus the rise of CP fans busy shipping the couple, that they hadn’t bothered with the rival fans.

Now that the stars themselves were engaging, wouldn’t the fans go crazy?

The director kept quiet, waiting for the situation to develop.

Wen Hebai’s attitude was formal: “Teacher Wang wishes to record according to the original plan?”

Wang Qihuan lifted her chin, very arrogant: “Of course!”

Wen Hebai clapped her hands: “Good thing I’m not in the same group as you. If you want to record by the original plan, you and your group’s guests can go back first, while our group continues.”

Wang Qihuan was stunned.

Wen Hebai said to the director: “We aren’t competing on stage; there’s no need to determine a winner. Since it’s not a competition, it’s normal for Group A and Group B to have different recording speeds! It’s just like filming a movie—some groups film at the studio, while others go on location. Everyone films their own part without affecting each other.”

After all, the earlier segments where they met up and needed interaction had already been recorded.

Director: “…”

Guests: “…”

Wang Qihuan’s face dropped immediately. She turned back to ask the other guests in her group for their opinions.

The guests beat around the bush. She understood; all these people agreed with Wen Hebai’s suggestion.

Although she was annoyed, she didn’t want to go against the majority, so she could only yield.

Wen Hebai didn’t want to offend her too deeply, so she said with a playful grin: “Oh, don’t be angry. How about I treat you to a late-night snack after we finish?”

Wang Qihuan rolled her eyes. Who wants your snack?

However, was Wen Hebai backing down by offering a “ladder”?

At this thought, Wang Qihuan raised her head proudly and said arrogantly: “Hmph, who wants your snack? But since you’ve brought it up, I’ll reluctantly accept!”

Hearing this, the director immediately announced the start of recording.

Around ten o’clock, the group of guests finally finished filming and returned to the hotel.

Wang Qihuan sat in her van, applying a face mask while waiting for something.

After a long while, she asked impatiently: “Where is Wen Hebai?”

She said she’d treat her to a snack; don’t tell her she’s going back on her word!

Her assistant cautiously called Wen Hebai’s phone as instructed, but the line was busy, so she called the assistant Lu Tie instead.

“Sister Huan… Teacher Wen’s assistant said the snacks have already been sent to the hotel. They were wondering why you hadn’t returned yet.”

Wang Qihuan: “???”

No—wasn’t “treating to a snack” supposed to mean taking her out to eat? Why was it delivery sent to the hotel?

When Wang Qihuan returned to the hotel and found that it wasn’t just her, but all the other guests had received a portion of snacks, her face turned black as coal.

Damn it, I was played by Wen Hebai!

In the hotel’s luxury suite, Lu Tie came in and said: “Sister, I heard Wang Qihuan is angry. She thought when you invited her for snacks, you were only inviting her.”

Wen Hebai was preparing to remove her makeup and shower. Hearing this, she said nonchalantly: “Everyone worked hard to rush the recording; how could I only invite her?”

Not only the guests, but the production crew also received her snack condolences.

Lu Tie added: “Also, she asked why we didn’t go out to eat.”

“After recording all day, even if someone treats them to snacks, everyone would rather eat back at the hotel. Since the group isn’t going, would just Wang Qihuan and I go?” Wen Hebai looked up at Lu Tie. “Xiao Lu, I am a married person. I have to maintain distance from them.”

Lu Tie suddenly realized. If the whole group went for snacks, no one would say anything, but if she and Wang Qihuan went out alone, the news “Wen Hebai cheats with Wang Qihuan” would be all over the place by tomorrow morning.

“You should go rest early too!”

After sending Lu Tie off, Wen Hebai took a shower and checked the time. Estimating that Yan Qingwen was still processing documents, she gave her a call.

Yan Qingwen wasn’t surprised by Wen Hebai’s call at all; after all, Wen Hebai had been proactively calling her every night recently—sometimes to report recording progress, sometimes to share gossip.

When Yan Qingwen asked why she was telling her these things, she replied: “I didn’t mention it before because we weren’t married. Now that we are, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to share these things with anyone else. Right, wifey?”

Yan Qingwen: “…”

I’ll concede that you’re right for now.

So Yan Qingwen put her on speaker, processing documents while listening to her, occasionally multi-tasking to respond.

The duration of each call ranged from half an hour to an hour, depending on when Yan Qingwen finished her work.

The total call duration over these few nights had already exceeded their total for the entire past year.

Over the past few nights, Yan Qingwen’s replies had been somewhat perfunctory, but tonight she suddenly felt interested: “Wang Qihuan recorded the same show as you?”

“Yes, we were both guest stars for these two episodes.”

Yan Qingwen instantly guessed the crew’s intentions. She asked: “Then did you two… go head-to-head?”

She originally wanted to say “rip into each other,” but the term was too crude; the well-bred President Yan couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Wen Hebai smiled with lowered eyes: “Hmm? Since when did our serious and upright President Yan start gossiping proactively?”

Yan Qingwen felt a bit uncomfortable from the teasing. She turned her chair, stood up, and looked at the moon hanging high outside the floor-to-ceiling window. “Just asking. If you don’t want to say, then forget it.”

Wen Hebai let out a soft laugh and replied: “Since you’ve asked, how could I be unwilling to say? I’ll tell you anything you want to know, my dear wifey.”

Whether it was because the moonlight was too charming or Wen Hebai’s tone was too melodious and lingering, it felt as if an invisible red thread had wound its way from a thousand miles away along the signal, silently enveloping Yan Qingwen’s heart and then giving it a sudden tug.

The corner of her mouth tilted up, and she offered immense patience: “Then you speak. I’m listening.”

Author’s Note:

When President Yan got used to “Wen the Mutt” calling her “wifey” every day, one day, “Wen the Mutt” didn’t call her that. President Yan’s face went cold, and she was in a very bad mood.

Wen the Mutt: What’s wrong?

President Yan: Do you have another dog outside?

Wen the Mutt: ?