Chapter 16: Saving the PUA’d Supporting Female Lead (16)

Tang Qi had never kissed anyone before. During missions, she had a puppet double to handle such affairs.

This was the first time she had directly felt the moisture and warmth of another person.

Luo Xue’s body was soft, her scent fragrant, and even the gentle nibbling on her lips carried a hint of sweetness. Tang Qi was completely stunned, frozen without any reaction.

“I like you. Can we be together?” Luo Xue looked up, her eyes glistening as she gazed at Tang Qi.

Tang Qi’s mind went numb, a complete blank. This was the friend she had always cherished and protected, but now the other party was lying soft and tender in her arms. She could feel the other’s heartbeat and breathing.

Luo Xue’s heart was filled with both anxiety and shame. Having come this far, she didn’t dare give up, nor could she. Steeling her heart, she took Tang Qi’s hand and guided it under her own nightgown. She didn’t know if Tang Qi liked girls; she was gambling that Tang Qi wouldn’t recoil.

Tang Qi felt a delicate sensation under her palm, a touch that sent a violent shudder through her very soul. Unconsciously, her grip tightened. Luo Xue let out a pained hum.

It was this sound that suddenly snapped Tang Qi awake. She subconsciously pushed Luo Xue away and scrambled backward, tumbling right off the bed.

“Tang Qi…”

“I’m going to have a cigarette. You go to sleep.” Tang Qi scrambled to her feet in a fluster and fled without looking back, as if chased by a vengeful ghost.

Watching Tang Qi’s disheveled retreat, Luo Xue couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. The courage she had mustered vanished completely, leaving only regret and unease.

…

On set, the staff watched Tang Qi filming and Luo Xue sorting the script nearby, sensing an odd atmosphere between the two.

“Don’t you think Teacher Tang and Teacher Luo seem off?” one staff member muttered. She had been secretly shipping the couple for a long time.

“Seems normal to me. What’s the problem?” another staff member asked, puzzled.

The first staff member stroked her chin. Before, their interactions, while normal, carried an unspoken understanding that no one else could penetrate. “I used to notice before that whenever Teacher Luo was on set, she’d glance at Teacher Tang every ten minutes. It’s been two hours now, and Teacher Luo hasn’t looked at Teacher Tang once.”

“So what? Teacher Luo is busy!” someone else disagreed.

“Teacher Luo doesn’t like celery. Before, Teacher Tang would always eat the celery from her lunchbox. But today, Teacher Tang didn’t take the celery out of Teacher Luo’s lunchbox.”

Just as she finished speaking, the director called “Cut!”: “Reshoot this scene. Tang Qi, your positioning is off.”

“Okay.” Tang Qi nodded, taking a towel from her assistant to wipe off sweat.

The staff member who had been analyzing earlier turned to her companion in surprise: “Is this the first time Teacher Tang has ever been stopped by the director?”

Her companion nodded silently: “Never before. She always gets it in one take.”

Tang Qi unconsciously glanced over at Luo Xue, the events of that night involuntarily replaying in her mind.

She had stayed out until dawn, bought breakfast, and then returned to the hospital room. They ate breakfast as usual, and then Luo Xue went to handle the discharge procedures.

It seemed they had tacitly agreed to forget what happened that night. Over the past few days, Luo Xue had been as dedicated as ever to her work, but Tang Qi felt something was different.

Days passed, and that night’s kiss and Luo Xue’s confession seemed buried in time.

“Stop. Tang Qi, you weren’t looking at the camera.” The director wasn’t angry, instead, he smiled: “Tang Qi, not in top form today? How about taking the day off?”

Everyone expected Tang Qi to refuse, but to their surprise, she nodded: “Thank you, Director.”

The director moved on to film other people’s scenes. After a moment of hesitation, Tang Qi took a few steps towards where Luo Xue had been. The Second Female Lead she had saved, Shao Xin, suddenly rushed in front of her, blocking her view: “Teacher Tang, can I have a word with you?”

“What is it?” Tang Qi stopped, her tone gentle and patient.

“I wanted to thank you for saving me the other day. It’s my fault for being so busy these past few days, I haven’t had a chance to properly express my gratitude. Now that I’m free, I’d like to invite Teacher Tang for a meal. Would Senior Sister do me the honor?” Since they played fellow disciples in the film, Shao Xin addressing her this way was an attempt to close the distance.

Tang Qi wasn’t in a good mood, but adhering to her principle of not directly refusing a girl: “Another day, perhaps.”

“Alright, then I’ll bring Teacher Tang some snacks tomorrow as a pre-dinner treat,” Shao Xin beamed brightly. She raised a hand to straighten Tang Qi’s collar, but Tang Qi instinctively stepped back to avoid her touch.

She wasn’t particularly fond of physical contact with others; her closeness with Luo Xue had only developed after they became familiar.

Shao Xin’s smile didn’t falter: “Teacher Tang, your collar is a bit messy. Please fix it yourself then. I won’t bother you.”

After exchanging pleasantries and sending her off, Tang Qi noticed that the spot where Luo Xue had been sitting was empty. She looked around, but couldn’t find Luo Xue anywhere.

Sighing helplessly, Tang Qi immediately had the System watch over Luo Xue, worried something might happen to her.

“You’re not going to accept her, so why worry so much?” the System pouted.

“Can’t I care for a friend?” Tang Qi retorted. She truly had no interest in romance. Over the past few days, she had wanted multiple times to clarify things with Luo Xue, hoping they could remain friends.

But although Luo Xue acted perfectly normal, Tang Qi could sense the suppressed pain and distress in her eyes, causing her to swallow her words every time.

This time, she truly didn’t know how to comfort Luo Xue.

After some thought, she sent Luo Xue a WeChat message, telling her she was heading back to the hotel and to come back early to rest. She returned to the hotel feeling somewhat weary. Just as she lay down, she received a call from her agent, informing her that Shao Xin’s side had released promotional articles to stir up a CP (couple pairing) between them.

Someone claiming to be a staff member had posted a so-called “exclusive reveal” online, playing up Tang Qi’s selfless rescue and claiming the two shared an incredibly close bond on set, complete with a few attached photos.

In the pictures, the two were standing and talking, with the surroundings blurred. Through color grading and Photoshop, the images appeared somewhat ambiguous. A crowd of netizens below commented about shipping them.

“What are your thoughts on this?” the agent asked. Tang Qi had a headache. The agent continued: “The other party wants to use your fame to rise. I don’t have a strong opinion; a bit of hype for movie promotion isn’t an issue. But if you don’t like it, I’ll have someone take it down.”

“I don’t really care either.” If the young girl wanted a boost to her fame, she wasn’t too bothered by such tactics.

The next day at noon, Tang Qi and Luo Xue were having lunch. Before, they used to chat non-stop during meals, and sometimes they’d be on their phones without speaking, yet it never felt awkward.

But now, sitting together, a strange atmosphere lingered.

Luo Xue kept her head down, eating without saying a word. Tang Qi wanted to break the ice: “Try this tofu, it’s really good.” She picked up a piece of tofu for Luo Xue, who merely responded with an “Mm.”

Ever since that day, Luo Xue hadn’t known what to say to Tang Qi, letting the silence persist between them. She wanted to ask Tang Qi if she still considered her as her best friend but couldn’t bring herself to voice the question.

Yet deep down, Luo Xue knew that even if Tang Qi gave a positive answer, they could never go back to the way things were.

Luo Xue wished she could transmigrate back to a few days ago and beat her past self to death. Wanting to repair their relationship, she took out a thermos: “I made some soup this morning…”

Just then, Shao Xin came running over with her lunchbox: “Senior Sister, let’s eat together!” She casually sat down beside Tang Qi as if just noticing Luo Xue, her face full of innocent surprise: “Teacher Luo is here too?”

Luo Xue looked at her soup, suppressed the bitterness in her heart, put down her chopsticks, and stood up: “I’m full.” Seeing she had barely touched her food, Tang Qi tugged on her sleeve: “Eat a few more bites.”

“No, I need to discuss your schedule for the day after tomorrow with the director,” Luo Xue said quietly before turning and leaving. Shao Xin looked innocent: “Is Teacher Luo upset? Senior Sister, I brought braised pork. I made it myself. Here, try it!”

Saying this, she picked up a piece of braised pork from her lunchbox and attempted to feed it to Tang Qi.

Tang Qi pursed her lips, her eyes dark and unreadable. She didn’t want to accept Luo Xue’s confession, but she had no intention of making her sad, especially because of someone else. She reached out and pushed the other’s hand away: “No need. I don’t like it. Eat it yourself.” She picked up the thermos and left.

That afternoon, another batch of promotional articles about her and Shao Xin was released online, complete with a photo. In the photo, Shao Xin was trying to feed her; she was pushing her hand away, but in the photo, it looked like she was reaching out to accept it.

A large crowd of fans cheered, claiming the two must be real.

“Host, Luoluo saw the news about you and Shao Xin and is crying,” the System suddenly spoke up. It could understand Tang Qi’s reasoning and couldn’t persuade her either. But it truly felt sorry for Luo Xue.

Tang Qi silently asked the System for Luo Xue’s location and went to find her, carrying the thermos. Luo Xue was still wiping away tears. Seeing Tang Qi, she quickly dried her eyes: “Why are you here?”

“Just checking to see if you’ve turned into a goldfish,” Tang Qi set the thermos down. “You won’t look pretty if you keep crying.” She wanted to reach out and pat Luo Xue’s head but then thought it inappropriate. She just sighed helplessly, sounding both like a rejection and a promise to Luo Xue: “Even if I’m not with you, I won’t be with anyone else.”

Luo Xue looked somewhat despondent. Tang Qi said, “I’ve never considered romance or marriage. If you’re willing, we can be like before, keeping each other company as friends and family.”

“Host, that’s so scummy!” the System complained. Luo Xue remained silent. Tang Qi reached out and patted her head, thinking that this should stop her from being sad.

Feeling she had resolved the matter, a rather pleased Tang Qi returned to the hotel. Her newly hired little assistant rushed over, phone in hand, in a panic: “Teacher Tang, Teacher Tang, this is bad!”

The little assistant was out of breath: “Teacher Tang, you… you’re on the trending searches.”

In just over a month, Tang Qi had once again landed on the trending searches.

Tang Qi’s eldest uncle’s family had gone on a cliché, low-viewership family search show, tearfully claiming they wanted to find the niece they raised for twenty years who now wouldn’t acknowledge them.

On the show, they shed tears, telling the story of how their younger brother and his wife died in a car accident, and how they, facing financial hardship, took Tang Qi in to live with them. They claimed they’d rather their own children drop out of school for lack of money than not send Tang Qi to university.

But after Tang Qi became famous, she disappeared without a trace, showing no concern for their family.

Her cousin, Tang Ju, came forward to cry about it, saying that if his father hadn’t contracted a serious illness and desperately needed money for treatment, they wouldn’t have sought out Tang Qi. Tang Qi had never answered their calls, leaving them with no choice but to appeal to this show.

They also said Tang Qi had been famous for several years now; if they wanted money, they would have come forward long ago and wouldn’t have waited until now.

Their words sounded reasonable and well-founded. Coupled with their simple attire, and when the host asked how much money they needed, they only expressed a hope that Tang Qi would help pay for medical treatment, refusing to make extravagant demands. In an instant, the family gained a lot of goodwill and sympathy from the public.