Chapter 15

Joy That I Return Has a Time Limit（15）

Chapter Fifteen

Mu He had always thought that tattoos, whether on a man or a woman, were incredibly sexy, giving off a strong sense of personality. Like her college roommate, who had a black rose tattoo on her lower back—wearing a sheer, slightly revealing dress, her slim waist swaying lightly, alluring and captivating.

Speaking of which, she had almost gotten a tattoo herself, but at that time, the girl next to her was crying while getting hers, and just watching it hurt, so she backed out at the last moment.

In a sense, she had a bit of a tattoo obsession.

“Want to see?”

Of course she did…

But… wouldn’t that spot be a little too private?

After all, it was on the waist.

Mu He hesitated slightly, but another voice gradually took over. Well, since he didn’t mind… then she would reluctantly take a peek.

Her hand covering her eyes obediently fell to her side, yet she still asked demurely, “Really okay?”

Huo Shiheng caught her wandering glance precisely. His narrow eyes narrowed slightly, bottomless and unreadable. His long hand landed on her shoulder, and with a little force, he turned her entirely around.

Mu He had already prepared herself—she would only look at the tattoo, not the collarbones or abs, refusing to take any extra advantage. Who would have thought that when she turned around, all she saw was a cold, dark expanse.

Now, not only the tattoo, even the collarbones were hidden.

When did he put on a shirt?

!

She sighed in disappointment: “So stingy.”

She had thought she could really see it.

Huo Shiheng leisurely leaned against the wall, not missing the expression on her face, and couldn’t help but smile lightly with lowered brows.

Mu He made a last effort: “Really can’t?”

He met her gaze directly, his tone lazy: “Are you sure you really want to discuss the ‘can or can’t’ question with me?”

Mu He froze. Some not-so-old memories were instantly awakened—

“My right eyelid keeps twitching; I still think it’s the bra.”

“Can we… pretend we didn’t see it?”

“No.”

Sure enough, he still wanted to settle that score with her.

And it seemed she had walked right into it herself.

Mu He pursed her lips and replied with a question: “With our life-and-death level friendship, if I can’t see it, who can?”

Huo Shiheng’s voice deepened, yet was clear, carrying a hint of teasing but also serious: “Only my wife can see it.”

Mu He: “…Okay, I lost.”

They had never discussed feelings before. For some reason, hearing the words “wife” from him made her heart feel gently plucked, and then, that hand disappeared without a trace, so fast that she couldn’t grasp it.

The autumn evening sunlight streamed through the window, slanting between the two of them. Mu He tilted her head to look at him; his face was in the shadow-light border, the contours slightly blurred, expression unreadable.

She murmured in her heart: Shiheng’s wife… wanting to recapture the fleeting, hazy feeling that had suddenly appeared, after many twists and turns, she heard him say: “Actually, if you really want to see, it’s not impossible.”

Hmm?

Mu He immediately snapped back to attention, her eyes bright with joy as she looked at him sparkling: “Really?”

Huo Shiheng glanced at the time: “At this hour, he probably hasn’t finished work. Go get your ID first.”

Mu He was confused. Who hasn’t finished work?

What does seeing a tattoo have to do with an ID?

She asked: “Why?”

He answered succinctly: “To get the certificate.”

Certificate?

!

Get?

Certificate!

Mu He’s eyelashes fluttered heavily. Could it be the certificate she thought of?

A man and a woman, both unmarried… to get a certificate, that can only mean going to the civil affairs bureau…

Wait.

How did the topic jump from tattoos to certificates?

Mu He spent a minute thinking, finally piecing together the connection between “Only my wife can see it” and “if you want to see, it’s not impossible,” instantly realizing he was teasing her indirectly.

He was currently dodging marriage. Although it was only a verbal agreement from the elders at home, he expressed resistance through his actions. She shared his stance—the marriage agreement didn’t count. He still had the right to free love and autonomous marriage.

But at a time like this, besides the person being forced into marriage, which other woman would have the courage to go get a certificate with him? His family’s piercing eyes alone could shred her to pieces.

After clearing her thoughts, Mu He lightly patted his arm, disdainfully: “Your market value is too low, only me to be your shield?”

Huo Shiheng naturally wouldn’t let her become the target of everyone’s arrows. It was just a playful joke because she was so insistent on seeing the tattoo. He followed her train of thought, half-serious, half-joking: “Yeah, will you help me?”

Mu He pretended to think seriously, her eyes spinning, dragging out her voice to answer “Help…,” then quickly darted behind the door to a safe distance, making an “X” gesture with her hand: “No way!”

Imagining his reaction, she walked out in high spirits, heading to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Huo Shiheng chuckled helplessly.

The smile faded.

Had he been smiling a bit too much lately?

Dinner was lavishly prepared. As usual, Mu He didn’t eat much. After finishing, she pulled Shiheng to help rehearse lines. He almost played the role of the cold Emperor Qing Li naturally. But when it came to the part where their feelings began to develop, he frowned while reciting slightly cheesy lines, causing her to break into laughter repeatedly.

“Emperor, now you’re starting to like Xiyin, your tone can’t be so fierce…”

“Uh, can your eyes be a little gentler?”

“Hahaha, I really can’t do this. You should just be a lines-reading machine with no feelings.”

In the vast, empty room, laughter echoed.

The bowls on the carpet lazily lifted their lids to glance at the two on the sofa, sensing a bad premonition. Could it be that in the future they’d be forced to eat dog food?

“Meow!”

Refused!

The second night of “cohabitation” passed in a joyful atmosphere.

However, for Zhao Yike, who was hooked up to an IV in the hospital, this was destined to be a sleepless night. Always pampered by her fans, she finally experienced the pain of being universally criticized.

It felt like a nightmare, falling from the clouds into the abyss. The treatment was drastically different. No fan was willing to speak up for her. The Weibo comment section was a mess, unbearable to look at. Just reading a few scathing comments made her head pound and her heart ache. She could only close the comment section.

Zhao Yike couldn’t believe how things suddenly escalated to this point.

She could do nothing, only watch herself be accused of abusing her assistant, having recordings leaked, being blacklisted online, mocked within the industry, while her Weibo fans disappeared visibly—less than half remaining…

Something was wrong.

She was losing too fast! Someone must be targeting her.

The first person Zhao Yike thought of was Mu He, suspecting Mu He had discovered her secret moves and retaliated.

But thinking further, it seemed unlikely. Mu He didn’t have that much power, and neither did her financial backer, Hua Yang Wang. So, who could it be?

Also, what puzzled her endlessly was why the trending topic wasn’t removed for so long?

! This isn’t something glorious, nor is there any need for hype. The more it’s hyped, the more fans turn away. Now she’s as unpopular as can be—why hasn’t the company taken action yet?

Zhao Yike wiped her tears, continuously comforting herself. Xingyu had spent a fortune to poach her—there was absolutely no way they would just sit back and do nothing!

Refusing to give up, she called her agent, Luo Li, again.

The phone screen lit up repeatedly and then went dark. Exhausted to the extreme, Luo Li waited for the ringtone to automatically stop. In the brief silence, she pressed her aching temples hard, remembering how she had gone to the PR department earlier, hoping they could take down the trending topic, only to be subtly told that they had received instructions from above and couldn’t offer help for now.

As a senior agent, Luo Li knew exactly what that meant—Zhao Yike had already become a discarded pawn.

She found it unbelievable. How could a rising second-tier actress fall into such a miserable state in such a short time?

In contrast, Mu He had faced just as many insults and boycotts online earlier. Why was she able to make a stunning comeback?

In a similar situation, Zhao Yike was simply crushed.

The power of capital was immense. If they were willing to spend money, rehabilitating Zhao Yike wouldn’t have been difficult. That one recording alone was easily exploitable, yet Xingyu’s PR had taken an unusually indifferent stance…

Instructions from above?

Luo Li’s back went cold.

Could it be… Mu He’s backing was the very top of Xingyu?

Could it be that from the very beginning, she had picked up peanuts and lost the watermelon?

The next day, without any prior notice, Luo Li saw Xingyu’s official Weibo post stating that the company was in the process of terminating its contract with Zhao Yike. The reason given: the agent’s abilities were limited and didn’t match the artist’s ambition.

Luo Li felt a burning pain in her face, and her heart sank almost completely.

Her guess had been entirely correct.

Zhao Yike had become a discarded pawn because her so-called cleverness had long been seen through. She thought she was targeting a small, inconspicuous player, but didn’t expect the other party to have such powerful backing…

Netizens, shocked, began analyzing Xingyu’s official Weibo post:

“The entertainment industry is so deep. Signing and terminating a contract in less than ten days? Definitely some insider information.

Has Zhao Yike completely fallen out now?

After being kicked out by Xingyu, which company would dare to hire her?”

“The word ‘ambition’ is quite intriguing.

Looking at Xingyu PR’s completely different attitude, it’s obvious Mu He is the true favorite. I irresponsibly guess—could it really be, as rumored before, that Zhao Yike orchestrated the online attacks on Mu He behind the scenes?”

“Just goes to show, what goes around comes around.

She should have thought of this back when she was abusing the assistant and hurting the fans.”

“In the past, the fans would have rushed out to defend her. Now, not a single person speaks for her.

Sigh, seeing him build a tall tower, seeing him entertain guests, and now seeing the tower collapse…”

“The fans have all left, the remaining few million are probably zombie followers.”

“I’ll say it—Zhao Yike is the fastest and hardest flopping female artist signed by Xingyu. Anyone disagree?”

[Likes] 26,986

“I think ‘flopping’ is an understatement. I’m afraid there will never be another Zhao Yike in the entertainment industry.”

[Likes] 92,678

“Let’s wait and see how long @Mu He can hold out.”

Mu He heard from Tan Mian about Zhao Yike terminating her contract with Xingyu. She didn’t comment at all. After nearly a week of intense martial arts training with her teacher, she smoothly joined the Xianxia Romance crew.

The other main staff had already taken their promotional photos and announced it on Weibo. So the first thing she did upon joining was take her own promotional photos.

Unlike the audition, this time the makeup and styling alone took almost three hours. Because her previous portrayal of the pure Xiyin in a black dress had been so stunning, they directly used this shooting plan. With the skillful hands of the stylists, Mu He saw in the mirror a fresh, lively, and radiant image of herself—she hardly recognized it.

The female screenwriter, hearing Mu He was taking promotional photos, came over to watch, once again impressed by her pure, untainted beauty, more convinced than ever that her choice was right. No one else could fit Xiyin better than Mu He.

Halfway through the shoot, Director Xie took a moment to check the progress. He was satisfied with the results, but also not entirely satisfied—not that Mu He’s performance was lacking, but he thought it could be even better.

“Change into a white dress—shoot Xiyin after her dark transformation.”

This sudden twist made the female screenwriter gasp. Knowing that Director Xie had a reason for changing the plan, she looked at Mu He with particularly expectant eyes—perhaps there would be a pleasant surprise.

So Mu He changed into a flowing white dress and, under Director Xie’s personal guidance, completed the promotional photoshoot.

That evening, the official Xianxia Romance Weibo posted the promotional photo of Mu He as Dragon Girl Xiyin, causing the long-waiting fans to scream in excitement.

In the photo, Mu He wore a white dress, her makeup exquisite, her beauty overwhelming. Fans initially assumed she was the innocent, naive Xiyin, saving the picture and gushing, shouting, “Ahhh so beautiful, ahhh I’m dead from this beauty…”

“Oh my god, a fairy has really descended!”

“I feel like I’ve seen a third kind of unparalleled beauty besides moonlight and snow.”

“Just this face alone—I could watch this show a hundred times!”

“Friends, open your eyes—are you sure this is the pure Dragon Girl Xiyin?

Do you dare to look at her eyes?”

“See… it… Mom, there’s killing intent in her eyes! This is definitely dark Xiyin!”

“Eye-kill!!”

“Her eyes changed, and her entire aura changed with it.

It’s clearly the same photo—did I just go blind?”

“Sorry, I… went blind too.”

“Amazing, the purest, harmless exterior, the coldest, most decisive eyes—how did she do it?”

Fans now genuinely anticipated Mu He’s Xiyin. They repeatedly begged for more content on the official Weibo. Qianzhizhe enthusiastically ran the first line of promotion. Soon, #MuHeEyeSkillsFaction# trended, reaching over a hundred million views, attracting widespread attention along with some critical comments.

“Can only say this is all the stylist’s work—turning decay into wonder.”

“+10000, stylist worked hard, treat yourself to a drumstick for dinner.”

“Her looks are average, I thought she was a fairy descended. Buying this trending topic is awkward for me.”

But these were just a small number of people trolling; they didn’t matter. Once Mu He’s promotional photos came out, the role of Dragon Girl Xiyin became even more deeply ingrained, and general audience anticipation for Xianxia Romance skyrocketed.

As for Mu He, after sharing the official photos, she tossed her phone aside and went to the kitchen at home, teaching Shiheng how to… roll noodles.

While teaching, her eyes felt uncomfortable. With flour-covered hands, she couldn’t rub them, so she blinked hard.

Huo Shiheng noticed her discomfort: “What’s wrong?”

“Feels like something got in my eye.”

Mu He intended to flush it out with tears. As the faint tear shimmer appeared, she felt his cool fingers gently pinch her chin. Then his handsome face loomed closer, fair-skinned, flawless, deep-set eyes like natural eyeliner, slightly upturned at the corners…

Alluring peach blossom eyes, unaware of their effect.

“Don’t move,” Huo Shiheng lifted her chin. “Let me see.”

Ah, did she move?

His shallow breath brushed her face as he spoke. Mu He widened her clear eyes. Was his tone… a little softer?

This was clearly the tone reserved for the Emperor when moved by Xiyin.

Could it be that he… learned it naturally?

As the distance closed, his beautifully lined thin lips hovered just a few centimeters from hers. Time seemed paused, and in her world, only he existed.

In the complete stillness, Mu He couldn’t help but recall that day—the kiss that had lightly touched her cheek…

If only, she moved a little closer, she could kiss him.