After Transmigrated as the Movie Star's Omega - Chapter 7

By the end of the day’s photoshoot, both Xia Ran and Shen Baibi were utterly exhausted.

It wasn’t just physical fatigue; mentally, it was even more draining.

After their break, despite the lingering resentment between them, they’d had to force on smiles and act as if nothing had happened to continue the shoot.

However, the ambiguous marks on Xia Ran’s neck and collarbone were everywhere. Anyone with eyes could tell they had just been through a “fierce battle.” Although no one said it out loud, their looks and whispered conversations gave away exactly what they were thinking. In the end, the makeup artist had to apply a thick layer of foundation just to barely mask the traces. The photographer had actually suggested keeping the hickeys to “increase the sexual tension,” but he was firmly shut down by both of them.

While being stared at by others with strange looks focused on his neck, Xia Ran maintained a radiant smile for Shen Baibi, but in his heart, he had already hacked that “less-than-a-beast” bastard into ten thousand pieces.

If not for this guy, how could he have ended up parading these marks around for everyone to gawk at?

Shen Baibi wasn’t having a great time either. Those stares didn’t spare him. While not exactly unfriendly, the meaningful depth in their eyes made him very uncomfortable. He knew what they were thinking—or rather, what they were imagining—even though none of it was the truth.

But they were professional entertainers, after all. Despite their inner discontent, they performed perfectly. Their cooperation was so flawless that no faults could be found, leaving the photographer howling with praise while clicking the shutter.

This continued until the shoot was over. Still sporting perfect smiles, the two bid farewell to the staff and left together in an affectionate manner—only for that affection to turn into cold indifference the second they stepped into the car.

Xia Ran was the first to shake off Shen Baibi’s hand, sitting in the front row of the van, while Shen Baibi took a seat in the back by himself.

Neither acknowledged the other.

The two managers shook their heads at the sight but didn’t stop them. Since no outsiders were watching, they let it be.

“Is there any more work today?” Xia Ran asked.

“No,” Jiang Shen replied. “You can go home now.”

“Oh.”

Xia Ran nodded and was about to lean back to take a nap when he suddenly remembered something. “Home? Which home?”

Jiang Shen gave a suggestive smile, curling his hands together to make a heart shape for them. “Your love nest, of course.”

Xia Ran protested: “I want to go back to my own place!” His warm, comfortable home—even if Jiang Shen described it as a dog’s kennel—was a thousand times better than the place he shared with Shen Baibi!

Jiang Shen dropped a cold dose of reality: “The fact that you two moved in together after getting married is public knowledge. You want to go back to your own place? Believe me, rumors of your discord would be out by tomorrow morning.”

Xia Ran wilted. “So I have to be tied to that pervert even outside of work hours?”

“I heard that,” Shen Baibi’s faint voice drifted from the back seat.

“So what if you heard it? I’m not afraid.” Xia Ran turned around and made a face at him.

Shen Baibi gave a light snort. “Childish.”

“You’re the childish one! Boomerang!” Xia Ran turned around fully to bicker with him.

“Still with the ‘boomerang’? You’re such a brat.”

“Boomerang back! You’re the brat!”

Jiang Shen stepped in to mediate. “Stop it, stop it. What’s there to argue about? You’ve already slept together; stop being so petty about the little things.”

“Who the hell slept with him!” Hearing this, neither could stay seated. They both retorted in heated unison.

Jiang Shen just looked at them.

Shen Baibi sat back, his posture elegant, though his words were not: “Only a dog would sleep with him.”

Xia Ran sneered: “Aren’t you exactly that dog?”

Shen Baibi huffed: “Even a dog wouldn’t sleep with you!”

Xia Ran’s laugh grew colder: “You’re worse than a dog!”

What did dogs ever do to deserve being brought into this? Jiang Shen felt a deep sense of helplessness. He had only made a joke to lighten the atmosphere, but these two brats had turned it into a contest.

Actually, from this perspective, their chemistry was quite good.

Jiang Shen said: “Fine, stop fighting. I was just talking; if you don’t like it, pretend I never said anything.”

The two looked at him and sneered in unison.

Jiang Shen sighed: “Just treat it as a beautiful misunderstanding…”

Shen Baibi countered: “Beautiful my ass! The mere thought that I actually slept with him makes me nauseous.”

Xia Ran ground his teeth: “The thought of being slept with by a dog is what’s actually nauseating, okay!”

…Wasn’t that just an admission that they slept together?

Jiang Shen wanted to say more, but Meng Lu barked from the side: “Both of you, shut up!”

They fell silent instantly.

Jiang Shen felt a wave of admiration. Although they were both big-name managers, his personality was too easygoing; he couldn’t control the room like Meng Lu did.

Meng Lu didn’t care what he thought. She scolded the two: “You are stars! Public figures! Using such foul language—what does that look like?!”

The two immediately lowered their heads and apologized together: “Sorry, Sister Lu, I was wrong.”

Again, in unison. Jiang Shen simply crossed his arms to enjoy the show.

Meng Lu turned to glare at him, her eyes full of dissatisfaction. “Jiang Shen, don’t always indulge them. No matter how much you spoil Xia Ran, and regardless of whether Baibi is your artist or not, as a manager, you must properly restrain your artist’s words and actions!”

“Sorry, Sister Lu, I was wrong,” Jiang Shen also bowed his head.

Seeing all three bowing to her, Meng Lu sighed softly. Not a single one of them was easy to manage.

When she spoke again, her tone had softened considerably. “You can go home in a bit, but before you rest, there’s something else we need to do.”

“What?” Shen Baibi and Xia Ran asked at the same time.

Glancing at the driver who was focused on the road, Meng Lu said, “We’ll talk when we get back.”

Once they arrived home, Shen Baibi and Xia Ran sat upright on the sofa, looking at Meng Lu, who was as serious as a schoolteacher.

Jiang Shen stood by and handed her a glass of water, asking flatteringly, “Sister Lu, whatever it is, just tell us.”

Meng Lu took the glass and took a sip to clear her throat. “You have an interview tomorrow.”

“An interview?”

“Yes. A duo interview.”

The two looked at each other and then turned away simultaneously. Another joint job!

“It’s a live-stream format. The content mainly revolves around your relationship history,” Meng Lu continued.

“Relationship history?” Xia Ran was the first to shout, pointing at Shen Baibi. “What relationship do I have with him?!”

“Don’t even think about it,” Shen Baibi swatted away the hand pointing at him.

Meng Lu’s eyes narrowed. The two sat back properly. She continued, “It’s exactly because you have no feelings that it’s a problem.”

Jiang Shen shook his head. “During the interview, you can’t exactly answer that there are no feelings.”

Xia Ran wailed: “What kind of hellish jobs are you guys taking?!”

“You were the ones who were dying to show off your love back then,” Jiang Shen teased. “Who could stop two people with ‘love-brain’?”

“That was the ‘me’ of this world!” Xia Ran didn’t even know who to be angry at, so he settled for shifting his hatred toward Shen Baibi with a glare.

Shen Baibi acted as if he didn’t see it and said, “If there’s no relationship, then we’ll just have to make one up.”

Meng Lu nodded. “That’s what I was thinking.”

With that, she took two sheets of paper and pens from her bag, handing one set to each of them. They looked down to see a list of questions.

“These are some questions I predict will be asked. We’ll make things up according to these,” she said.

Jiang Shen started praising her: “As expected of Sister Lu, so reliable!”

“It’s because you aren’t!” Meng Lu glared at him.

Jiang Shen backed away with a laugh. “Don’t say that; I’m actually very useful.”

“Oh?” Meng Lu raised an eyebrow.

At that moment, Xia Ran shouted again: “What kind of questions are these? Why are they so mushy!”

As he spoke, he read one out: “‘Name what you think are the other person’s strengths’…”

He turned to look at Shen Baibi, observing him seriously for a moment as if inspecting a piece of cargo, before answering solemnly: “I believe Shen Baibi has no strengths!”

Shen Baibi gave him an elegant roll of the eyes.

Meng Lu massaged her temples. “Xia Ran, think properly. Don’t throw a tantrum.”

“But I really can’t think of any!” Xia Ran looked at Shen Baibi with a face full of disdain. “He’s not gentle, he’s not considerate, and he always snaps at me. With such a bad personality, where are the strengths?”

“And you think your personality is so great?” Shen Baibi couldn’t help but retort after being picked apart.

Xia Ran nodded without hesitation. “Yeah. It’s common knowledge in the industry.”

Shen Baibi sneered back. “What industry? Does that include me?”

Meng Lu was grinding her teeth. Clearly, even someone with a good temper like hers couldn’t stand their bickering.

But before she could snap, Jiang Shen spoke up, proving his usefulness with practical action: “Actually, this problem is very easy to solve, isn’t it?”

“Hmm?”

All three looked at him.

Jiang Shen smiled slightly. He reached out, took the papers from their hands, swapped them, and handed them back. “Just write down your own strengths.”

“That’s a great idea!” Supporting his own manager’s plan, Xia Ran immediately grabbed his pen and leaned over the coffee table to start writing.

Watching him respond so enthusiastically, Shen Baibi also began writing.

He wrote quickly, finishing in just a couple of lines. In comparison, Xia Ran was much slower.

“Are you finished yet?” Shen Baibi prodded, frowning.

“What’s the rush? I have a lot of strengths, so of course it takes longer to write.” Xia Ran was writing furiously, not even looking up.

Then his pen stopped. He turned to glare at Shen Baibi in annoyance. “It’s all your fault for breaking my train of thought! I don’t even remember where I was!”

“You’re blaming me for that? It’s clearly because you aren’t focused.”

“If you hadn’t talked to me, would I have been distracted?”

“Stop it, stop it!” Jiang Shen saw Meng Lu’s expression souring again and quickly smoothed things over. “Let me see how you’re doing, Ran-ran.”

He leaned over to look at Xia Ran’s answers and clicked his tongue. “Ran-ran, you wrote way too much.” The paper was packed with tiny, neat characters; it made his head spin just looking at it.

“Well, unlike some people, my strengths can be listed from the tips of my hair to my toes,” Xia Ran said confidently.

Jiang Shen took the paper. “This is enough. You can’t fit any more anyway.”

“Fine.” Xia Ran cooperatively stepped back.

Jiang Shen handed the paper to Shen Baibi for him to read and simultaneously took Shen Baibi’s paper and gave it to Xia Ran.

The two began to “appreciate” each other’s strengths.

Shen Baibi took one glance and felt a dull ache in his forehead. The page was filled with exaggerated praise. He clicked his tongue: “Don’t you feel guilty writing this?”

“Everything I wrote is the absolute truth! Am I not kind, generous, smart, and witty?” After his rebuttal, Xia Ran pointed at the text on Shen Baibi’s paper. “As for you, aren’t you being a bit too shameless? ‘Gentle and considerate’? Didn’t you hear me say just now that you are neither of those things!”

Shen Baibi hadn’t written many words, but they were concise. Those two lines contained over a dozen strengths. However, Xia Ran couldn’t even get past the first one. Gentle and considerate? Excuse me? How high is your self-esteem? Does this man have any sense of shame at all?

“That was only for you,” Shen Baibi snorted.

Hearing this, Xia Ran’s words tumbled out before his brain could stop them: “But you should be gentle and considerate to me! Otherwise, why on earth would I fall in love with you!”

Both of them froze.

Xia Ran cleared his throat and explained: “I mean… you have to be good to me, that’s why I’d fall in love with you and marry you.”

Shen Baibi looked at him and said nothing.

Xia Ran’s eyes flickered as he added: “Besides, the public’s eyes are sharp. Only if they feel your love for me will they stop doubting our relationship and we won’t blow our cover, right?”

Shen Baibi looked at him for a while, then turned away, leaving only two words: “Sophistry.”