I Became the White Moonlight’s Ex-Wife (GL) - Chapter 16

Fang Yingru was surprised that Wen Su looked so cool and distant but was so unreserved when it came to flirting. Looking at Chu Jingshu, there wasn’t an ounce of reserve in her. Her soft, lingering gaze looked like it was about to melt. They didn’t even have to pretend.

She started to regret agreeing to this whole thing. Why did she, a single person, have to watch these two flaunt their affection in front of her? And, come to think of it, they were doing it on purpose for her.

Fang Yingru didn’t enjoy the hot pot at all, which conveniently fit the role she was supposed to be playing.

Chu Jingtong was even worse. Her eyes were glued to the pot, and she wished she could plug her ears. A few more lovey-dovey sentences and she’d get goosebumps all over. She never imagined Wen Su was so reserved yet passionate.

Even Chu Jingshu, the person who should have been relishing the atmosphere, wasn’t as happy as they imagined. The thought of Wen Su treating Shen Manhui this way made her feel a little uneasy.

Throughout the meal, only Wen Su was truly enjoying herself, even wanting to do this again.

Wen Su naturally paid for the meal. In her words, “You’re Chu Chu’s best friend. Consider this a welcome meal from the two of us.”

Honestly, if Fang Yingru wasn’t constantly reminding herself that she was Wen Su’s love rival, she would have a whole new respect for Wen Su.

It wasn’t that Wen Su didn’t know social etiquette; she just didn’t bother with it. The fact that she was willing to do all this for Chu Jingshu—what did that mean?

Fang Yingru had picked up Chu Jingshu on her way out, but now that Wen Su was here, they said goodbye at the entrance of the commercial street and went their separate ways.

They got into the car after watching Fang Yingru’s car merge into traffic.

Wen Su sat in the passenger seat, leaving the back to the two sisters. As soon as Chu Jingshu got in, she saw the familiar bag, and her heart skipped a beat. She quickly glanced at Wen Su in the passenger seat, deciding she would question her sister thoroughly when they got home.

Wen Su caught Chu Jingshu’s change in expression clearly in the rearview mirror. She calmly looked away, finding it slightly amusing.

Since Fang Yingru wasn’t around, Wen Su naturally wouldn’t treat Chu Jingshu the way she had just done. She picked up her phone to scroll through funny posts, then remembered that Bo Yuan had sent her another text message.

“Is this a plan targeting you and me?”

Wen Su glanced at Chu Jingshu, who looked slightly tense in the rearview mirror, and replied with a text: “Obviously.”

She wanted to see how long this act would last.

When they got home, even though Chu Jingshu tried to maintain a calm demeanor and treat Wen Su as she normally would, Wen Su noticed her distraction. It seemed like something was on her mind.

“Something bothering you?” Wen Su rested her elbow on the arm of the sofa, leaning her head on her hand, looking relaxed and comfortable.

Chu Jingshu was preoccupied with the bag and the matter between Wen Su and Shen Manhui, making her feel restless. Hearing Wen Su’s voice, she suddenly remembered Wen Su’s gentle and affectionate tone from before. This contrast made her feel a little lost and wronged. She quickly composed herself and said, “It’s just that… I don’t know what to do next.”

Wen Su looked at her thoughtfully, a fleeting, slight smile crossing her eyes. She spoke in her usual calm tone. “Just wait until she gives up.”

Those words made Chu Jingshu’s heart flutter. She looked at Wen Su, wanting to speak but holding back, unsure if she should ask. Yet, she was incredibly curious. It had been a long time since she had felt this way.

The last time she felt this was probably on her birthday when she turned an adult. She had received a gift from her mother, but her mother told her to wait until the evening to open it. The wait had been agonizing.

Seeing Chu Jingshu look at her with that hesitant, wanting-to-say-something look several times, Wen Su finally asked, “What is it?”

“I…” Chu Jingshu started hesitantly. She felt like asking this was prying into someone’s privacy, but the person was Wen Su, and she couldn’t help but want to know.

“Just say it,” Wen Su said calmly.

Chu Jingshu bit her lip, then asked hesitantly, “Have you ever been in a relationship before?”

The question surprised Wen Su. She thought Chu Jingshu wanted to ask something else. So it was just this.

Wen Su was busy thinking about whether the original owner had any romantic history and didn’t notice Chu Jingshu’s expression darken slightly. She focused on figuring out if the original owner had ever dated.

After confirming that the original owner hadn’t been in a relationship, Wen Su denied it. “No.”

Chu Jingshu, who should have been relieved by this answer, had a strange look on her face. “Why did you take so long to think about it?”

Wen Su looked away. She couldn’t very well say that she had to think about whether the original owner’s past actions counted as dating. On closer inspection, the only two girls the original owner had a good impression of both ended up with boyfriends.

This expression, to Chu Jingshu, naturally looked like guilt. Chu Jingshu wanted to press the issue, but suddenly realizing that Wen Su was guilty about this made her feel much better. She raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are you trying to hide something from me?”

Wen Su found this amusing and countered, “Why are you so curious?”

Chu Jingshu faltered, a flash of panic on her face. She quickly composed herself and said, “Because you were so good just now.” Considering her expression, this statement wasn’t very convincing.

Wen Su was about to tease her, but suddenly realized that her behavior was like playing with fire. She immediately suppressed the urge to tease.

The best thing she could do now was to expose the game that Chu Jingshu and Fang Yingru were playing. Letting this continue wasn’t a good idea, yet she found Chu Jingshu incredibly cute like this.

This was going to be the death of her. This was essentially flirting. She knew that Chu Jingshu and Shen Manhui would end up together, and yet she was toying with Chu Jingshu. Wasn’t this just playing with someone’s feelings?

She couldn’t be a jerk like that!

Wen Su was thinking about how to subtly let Chu Jingshu know that she had seen through their plan when her phone chimed.

She glanced at it. It was a text message from Bo Yuan:

“I agree with you.”

A subtle feeling arose in Wen Su’s heart. She was just thinking of subtly exposing them, and now this guy was telling her not to?

If she were to expose Fang Yingru and Chu Jingshu, there would be no need for her and Bo Yuan to agree on anything. In other words, Bo Yuan didn’t want to expose them.

This guy was indeed full of mischief.

Wen Su grumbled inwardly and quickly replied to the text: No, I hate playing with people’s feelings.

Just as the message was sent, she heard Chu Jingshu say, “Hmm? Are you lying to me?”

Wen Su almost laughed out loud. “You want to know that badly?”

Her cool voice carried a clear hint of amusement. Chu Jingshu felt her cheeks start to heat up. She forced herself to control her emotions and looked straight at Wen Su. “Yes, I’m very curious.”

In that instant, Wen Su lost her playful mood. “Seriously, I’m not lying to you.”

Chu Jingshu clearly didn’t believe her. “But you—”

“I’m an actor. Performing is my profession,” Wen Su interrupted her coolly.

Chu Jingshu froze, her eyes dropping in disappointment. She pressed her rosy lips together.

Seeing her like this made Wen Su feel a little bad, but she still didn’t apologize. She simply left with a “I have work, I’m going upstairs,” and went straight up without looking at Chu Jingshu’s expression.

She could tell that Chu Jingshu probably had feelings for her. If this were before, she would have been overjoyed, but the problem was that Chu Jingshu was Shen Manhui’s soulmate, her future partner. If she got closer to Chu Jingshu, who knows what might happen.

As soon as she got back to her room, Bo Yuan’s text message came again. A line of text left Wen Su speechless:

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you expose us before?”

That’s right, why didn’t she expose them before? Why did she play along? She clearly found their little game incredibly interesting.

Now saying that she didn’t want to play with people’s feelings, it was no wonder others would laugh.

Wen Su simply tossed her phone aside, pretending that this would help her escape her inner turmoil.

Hearing the door close upstairs, Chu Jingshu lowered her eyes. She also went upstairs, but instead of going to her room, she knocked on her sister’s door.

Chu Jingtong was currently eating the dessert she brought back. Even though it was cold, it was still delicious.

Seeing that her sister looked troubled, Chu Jingtong put down her small spoon and quickly asked, “Sister, what’s wrong?”

Chu Jingshu’s gaze fell on the dessert on the table. Chu Jingtong thought she wanted to eat it, so she scooped a spoonful and offered it to her. “This is really good, too. Do you want to try a bite, Sister?”

Chu Jingshu turned her head away, avoiding the spoon. “What happened at the cafe?”

Although she didn’t understand why her sister was asking this, Chu Jingtong told her everything that happened at the cafe, especially how the owner broke his rules just because she was Wen Su.

“I thought that owner had some character, but I didn’t expect him to be Wen Su’s fan,” Chu Jingtong pouted. She wanted to say what kind of taste the person had, but remembering that her sister likely liked Wen Su, she swallowed the words.

Chu Jingshu’s eyebrow twitched. She didn’t believe that Bo Yuan was Wen Su’s fan. Bo Yuan probably figured something out. But then again, Wen Su didn’t know Bo Yuan, and it was impossible for them to have any connection. Even if Bo Yuan was suspicious, he wouldn’t have any evidence.

And Wen Su shouldn’t know, otherwise, their plan would have been exposed a long time ago, and Wen Su wouldn’t have bothered to play along.

After thinking it over, Chu Jingshu decided to let Fang Yingru know, at least to be a little more careful around Bo Yuan.

Because of Wen Su’s sudden coldness that night, Chu Jingshu didn’t go to bother her. Coupled with the fact that Wen Su was busy with promotional photo shoots and was often not home, the two didn’t see much of each other for a while.

Chu Jingshu would contact her on WeChat every day, but Wen Su’s replies were always very late. It was common for her to reply the next day, and their conversations were very fragmented.

It wasn’t that Wen Su didn’t want to reply, but she was genuinely too busy to use her phone. When she finally got a break, she would close her eyes and rest until she fell asleep, leaving no time to be on her phone.

Chu Jingshu also noticed that Wen Su seemed to be incredibly busy. Aside from the daily greetings and simple conversations, she didn’t try to engage her in long chats.

Once Wen Su finished the promotional photos, she had to return to the set to film her final scenes.

Chu Jingshu was a little reluctant, but she knew Wen Su’s schedule was packed. It had been the same for the past two years. On the surface, she seemed glamorous, but she was so busy that she rarely had time to be home, sometimes not even for the Lunar New Year.

Unlike Chu Jingshu’s reluctance, Wen Su was shamefully relieved. She was a little scared to face Chu Jingshu now, afraid that she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from becoming a jerk.

After much thought, Wen Su decided to use the time she was on set to subtly let Chu Jingshu know that she was aware of their plan.

As for Bo Yuan and Fang Yingru, since they already liked each other, exposing them directly would save them the trouble of going back and forth.

Although she had been away from the set for a while, Wen Su maintained her high standard of getting things in one take when she returned. This also brought the entire crew’s atmosphere and efficiency back to its previous tense state.

The thoughtful Shen Manhui soon noticed that something was off with Wen Su.

“You look preoccupied?” Shen Manhui put down her script and sat next to Wen Su.

Wen Su used to be focused on her phone, scrolling through funny posts. She was just staring blankly at her phone now.

Others might not notice Wen Su spacing out, but Shen Manhui was sure that Wen Su was spacing out.

Considering that Wen Su had helped her several times and the emotional debt she owed Wen Su from her past life, Shen Manhui felt she should do something for her.

Wen Su glanced at her, feeling inexplicably guilty. She couldn’t very well tell Shen Manhui that she wanted to date her future wife, even if this future wife was her current wife.

It was a truly bizarre situation.

Wen Su rolled her eyes internally and said, “It’s nothing.” She opened Weibo to continue scrolling through funny posts. Her usual source of joy now seemed like gibberish. Not only could she not focus on a single word, but it also made her feel restless.

Seeing her like this, Shen Manhui was even more certain that she was troubled. But since they weren’t even friends, she couldn’t press the issue.

Wen Su mindlessly scrolled through three posts, then turned her head and asked Shen Manhui, “Do you have someone you like?”

The question caught Shen Manhui off guard. She hesitated for a few seconds, unsure if she should answer. Shen Manhui looked at Wen Su and met her beautiful dark eyes. She couldn’t help but let go a little. “I used to, but not anymore.”

Wen Su tried to figure out who Shen Manhui was talking about, but the break time was over. Director Su Qiao was calling them to the filming area. She had no choice but to give up guessing and walked toward the filming area.

Halfway there, Wen Su suddenly had a realization.

Why was she so conflicted? She wasn’t the real Wen Su, and this wasn’t the story in the book anymore. If she and Chu Jingshu liked each other, why couldn’t they date?

They were both adults. Couldn’t they be responsible for their own feelings?

Author’s Note:

Shen Manhui: She said she figured it out on her own, but it’s only because I said I don’t like anyone anymore.

Wen Su: (Covers Shen Manhui’s mouth) I didn’t, I don’t, stop talking nonsense.

This is a very normal shift in thinking. Wen Su wanted to keep her distance from Chu Jingshu before, afraid of falling for her. Now, Chu Jingshu likes her, and she likes her back, but she still remembers that Chu Chu and Shen Manhui are a couple. She feels a little uneasy, and Shen Manhui’s words give her a reason for self-deception.