I Joined a Fake Variety Show (GL) - Chapter 58

Zhou Xi saw Han Shutong’s gaze shift toward the area next to her.

Zhou Xi followed Han Shutong’s line of sight and saw a dark object pointed at her.

It was the camera.

Zhou Xi immediately guessed what Han Shutong was trying to convey.

Was she trying to imply that Zhou Xi was lying?

In truth, Zhou Xi didn’t care about what car she rode in or whether she was the lead or a supporting actress. But she had to admit that, knowing Han Shutong had come because of her, Zhou Xi suddenly felt the bus ride was incredibly bumpy.

Zhou Xi smiled, looking at Han Shutong. Her voice was sincere. “I absolutely did not say that because the camera is here.”

“Get in the car.”

Han Shutong believed Zhou Xi.

When Han Shutong arrived, the production crew had already installed a camera in her car, so the camera operator didn’t need to record anymore.

The camera operator sat in the passenger seat, Zhou Xi and Han Shutong sat in the middle row, and Bai Mo sat alone in the back.

“Are you hungry?” Han Shutong asked.

Han Shutong had ordered takeout for Zhou Xi a few minutes ago. Checking her phone, she saw the delivery would arrive in thirty minutes. She estimated it would be around the time they got back to the hotel.

Zhou Xi buckled her seatbelt. She replied, “I’m okay.”

Han Shutong: “The takeout I ordered for you should arrive when we reach the hotel.”

Bai Mo listened to the conversation between the two in front, rubbing her empty stomach. She called out weakly, “Sister Tong…”

Han Shutong gave Bai Mo a look, asking what was wrong.

Bai Mo chuckled awkwardly. “I wonder if there’s takeout for your cute assistant too?”

Han Shutong’s cool voice replied, “Do you even know you’re an assistant?”

The single sentence made Bai Mo bolt upright.

She had been spending too much time with Zhou Xi; she was getting too casual.

Bai Mo was about to apologize to Han Shutong when she heard Han Shutong add, “When I bought food for Teacher Zhou, I ordered some for you too.”

Bai Mo froze for a second, then cheered. “Long live Sister Tong!”

Cheering alone wasn’t enough to make up for her previous transgression. Bai Mo patted her chest. “I ate your food today, so I’m your person now. If you tell me to go east, I won’t go west. If you tell me to go north, I—”

Han Shutong’s ears were hurting from Bai Mo’s noise. She said coldly, “Stop.”

Bai Mo immediately fell silent.

Zhou Xi watched their interaction. She saw Han Shutong’s outwardly cold but inwardly warm nature. It seemed Han Shutong hadn’t realized this about herself.

Zhou Xi looked out the window. The car had just left the parking lot. They hadn’t driven fifty meters when Zhou Xi saw a group of people standing by the roadside ahead.

“Did you get a shot of Zhou Xi? Let me see how your footage turned out.”

“I filmed everything from the moment Teacher Zhou got off the bus until she left.”

“It’s a shame Han Shutong wasn’t there. Otherwise, I would have edited their entrance on the red path into a red carpet moment.”

“Then I’ll send you the video I took at the airport. You can edit it.”

“Perfect.”

“You called Teacher Zhou ‘Wife.’ How dare you?”

“Didn’t you all call her that too?”

“I saw Zhouzhou freeze when she heard the word ‘Wife.’ I bet she was thinking: Student Han hasn’t even called me that yet, and you guys already are.”

The others couldn’t hold back their laughter. “Hahahaha…”

Just as they were laughing and about to continue the conversation, a gentle voice asked them:

“What are you all laughing about?”

The familiar voice made the girls look over. They saw a black sedan had stopped beside them. The person asking the question was smiling at them.

The car window was only halfway down, so the girls could only see Zhou Xi’s face from the nose up.

Zhou Xi rested one hand on the car window. Seeing the girls looking at her, Zhou Xi waved at them. “Why are you all still here? The event is over.”

The girls immediately opened their cameras when they saw the person asking them questions was Zhou Xi. Hearing Zhou Xi’s second question, they replied one after another:

“Zhou Xi!”

“We’re watching the video we just took.”

“Nothing, nothing! We’re just about to go back.”

“Wife, we were waiting for you!”

They were so excited that Zhou Xi had stopped to chat with them. Their voices were loud.

Especially the last sentence.

A certain person in the car heard it clearly.

Han Shutong leaned out from behind Zhou Xi, lowering the window slightly. She asked, “What did you call Teacher Zhou?”

Because the window had been down, and their attention was focused on Zhou Xi, they hadn’t noticed Han Shutong.

Now, seeing Han Shutong suddenly emerge from behind Zhou Xi, the girls were all surprised.

One girl, covering her mouth, exclaimed in disbelief, “Han… Han Shutong?!”

She then shifted her gaze to Zhou Xi in front of Han Shutong. She thought: Han Shutong didn’t enter with the actors, but now she’s in the same car as Zhou Xi… Did she come specifically to pick up Zhou Xi?

A strange light appeared in the girl’s eyes. She lowered her hand and bowed slightly to the two in the car. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here. I shouldn’t have tried to steal your wife.”

This girl was the one who led the shouting of “Wife.”

Bai Mo, Camera Operator: “?”

Han Shutong glanced at Zhou Xi. Seeing Zhou Xi was unfazed by the girl’s words, she said quietly, “I was just curious.”

The girls smiled in return. “No need to explain. We understand.”

Bai Mo, Camera Operator: Understand what? We don’t understand. Explain, please.

Zhou Xi simply smiled faintly at their words, then waved goodbye to the girls. “We’re leaving now. You should head back soon, too.”

The girls waved the banner they were holding, nodding. “Okay! Goodbye, Teacher Zhou~ Goodbye, Student Han~”

“Drive safe,” Zhou Xi said as the car started moving.

After driving for a bit, Bai Mo couldn’t help but ask, “Sister Zhou…”

“Mhm?”

“What did they mean by ‘Wife’ and all that?”

Zhou Xi paused, then said with a gentle smile, “Children shouldn’t ask about adult matters.”

“I’m twenty-three.”

Zhou Xi smiled and refused her answer. “Ask Shutong.”

Bai Mo’s eyes drifted to Han Shutong. She saw Han Shutong wearing sunglasses, her head turned toward the window. She couldn’t tell if she was looking at the scenery or sleeping.

Regardless of what she was doing, after the earlier incident, Bai Mo didn’t dare ask her.

She looked back at Zhou Xi. Zhou Xi’s head was also turned toward the window.

Zhou Xi wasn’t wearing sunglasses, so Bai Mo could see she had her eyes closed and was sleeping.

Bai Mo had no choice but to close her mouth and say nothing more.

The car immediately fell silent.

Bai Mo looked at the two people in the front row. They were both leaning against the window glass.

Their posture made Bai Mo feel like they were actors in a variety show who didn’t want to talk to each other but had a script requiring a “sisterly bond.”

Bai Mo thought this, but just as she considered closing her eyes to rest, she saw Han Shutong’s head turn toward Zhou Xi.

Through the gap in the sunglasses, Bai Mo saw that Han Shutong’s eyes were open. She wasn’t sleeping.

Besides that, Bai Mo thought she also saw an expression in Han Shutong’s eyes that she couldn’t comprehend.

Watching Zhou Xi and the others leave, the girls took Zhou Xi’s advice and hailed a taxi at the corner.

After a brief discussion, they quickly edited the video they had recorded and uploaded it to the Super Topic.

As soon as the video was posted, the views skyrocketed.

Comments from Super Topic fans:

— Wuwuwuwu Zhouzhou is so beautiful!

— She even stopped the car to chat with fans. So gentle.

— Bold! Calling someone “Wife” right in front of the person herself (good thing a certain someone wasn’t there)

[Han Shutong appears in the video]

— Okay, I take back the words in parentheses.

— A certain someone was hiding in the car, clearly not wanting to be spotted by fans, but when she heard Zhouzhou being called “Wife”… I can only say: She’s panicking, she’s panicking!

— Ahhhhh! Zhou Han is real!

— Lol. The moment the sister said, “I shouldn’t steal your wife,” Han clearly smiled.

— Teacher Zhou is so gentle. I really want to meet Teacher Zhou in person.

— Sisters, am I behind the times? Is this the film set in L City?

Reply to the comment above: Yes. Zhou is starring in Li Junpeng’s new drama as the female third lead, Lu Qiang, and Han is making a cameo.

— I bet fifty cents that the 200% reason Student Han agreed to the cameo was for Teacher Zhou.

— I won’t say anything else. I don’t need sugar for my tomatoes and sugar tonight. This video is enough to go with the tomatoes.

…

The discussion in the Super Topic was heated, but it remained quiet on Zhou Xi and Han Shutong’s side.

They had returned to the hotel, but the takeout hadn’t arrived yet.

The three of them were in Zhou Xi’s room.

The silence was due to: Bai Mo quietly playing on her phone, and Zhou Xi standing by the window, looking outside.

Han Shutong sat on the sofa for a while. Seeing Zhou Xi standing motionless by the window, she hesitated for a few seconds, then got up and walked toward Zhou Xi.

Standing beside Zhou Xi, Han Shutong asked naturally, “Director Li is treating us to dinner tonight. Are you going?”

“Can I refuse?”

Han Shutong looked at Zhou Xi. “Of course, if you want to.”

Zhou Xi: “We’re filming a variety show, and we’d have to bring the cameras. It might be inappropriate.”

“Then we won’t go.”

Zhou Xi turned her head to Han Shutong and asked softly, “When are you leaving?”

Han Shutong was only making a cameo, and her scenes were scheduled for the beginning. She would likely finish filming in just three days.

By then, Han Shutong would probably leave.

“Teacher Zhou,” Han Shutong called out.

“Today is our first day here. Asking me when I’m leaving on the first day easily makes me think you hate me.”

Zhou Xi was surprised. “Do you really think that?”

“No, I don’t.”

Han Shutong raised her hand and tapped Zhou Xi’s forehead. “Do you remember Director Xiao Qi I mentioned before?”

Zhou Xi nodded.

Xiao Qi was a director, and Han Shutong was going to collaborate with her on a drama.

Han Shutong smiled when Zhou Xi didn’t flinch away from her touch, and continued, “We talked on the phone today. She said some scenes need to be filmed in L City. We can finish filming those scenes in L City first, then move to other locations.”

Han Shutong looked into Zhou Xi’s eyes. “So, I can stay with you for a few more days.”

“Are you happy?” Han Shutong asked again when Zhou Xi remained silent.

Zhou Xi lowered her eyes. “I’m okay.”

“I want to hear you say you’re happy.”

Bai Mo looked up and heard the last sentence. She asked, “Sister Zhou, Sister Tong, what are you two talking about? What’s happy and not happy?”

Han Shutong didn’t get angry that the atmosphere was interrupted. She just said calmly, “The takeout is almost here.”

Bai Mo nodded in agreement. “Now that is indeed a happy thing!”

Just as Bai Mo finished speaking, a knock on the door and the word “Takeout” reached the three of them.

As Bai Mo happily went to open the door and get the takeout, Han Shutong raised her arm to stop Zhou Xi from walking away.

In Zhou Xi’s questioning gaze, Han Shutong said, “You still haven’t said you’re happy.”

Zhou Xi looked down at the arm blocking her path, then turned to look at Han Shutong, who was staring at her, waiting for her response. She said hesitantly, “…Happy.”