Chapter 82 — The Scripted Murder Mystery: “Who Is the One I Truly Love?” (Part 1)

Gu Beicheng, Mu Ran, and Milans were brought to a pink backdrop wall outside the makeup room.

"Miss Mu, press your face against President Gu's chest, yes, a little more intimate."

"Good, let's change positions. President Gu, lift Miss Mu's chin with your fingers, yes, make your gaze a bit more ambiguous."

Gu Beicheng glanced at the woman before him, her delicate, rosy face, with a smile that hovered between amusement and seduction. He let out a quiet laugh, the tone laced with both temptation and mischief.

Mu Ran's foxlike eyes curved as she stared at the camera, her lips pursed just enough to form a slight arc. Suddenly, she felt the man's gaze burn hotter than before, and let out a muffled groan.

"What is it?" Gu Beicheng didn’t answer, just raised his brows, his eyes full of laughter and flirtation.

Abruptly, he lowered his head, wrapped his arms tightly around Mu Ran’s waist, enveloping her snugly in his embrace.

His lips traveled down, finally settling on hers.

Everyone present was stunned by the scene.

These two really didn’t care about their audience!

Milans, following behind the photographer, was also slightly surprised, then smiled quietly, patting the photographer’s shoulder.

"Click—"

Gu Beicheng released Mu Ran, whose body had gone rigid. “There, wake up.”

A rare, sly smile appeared on the man’s face.

His hand brushed over the peach blossom at the end of the woman’s eyebrow.

"They've all gone. The show’s about to start," Gu Beicheng said, his voice tinged with amusement, his gaze lingering affectionately across her face.

"Hmm?" Mu Ran subconsciously licked her lips, letting out a small whimper.

Her movement deepened the man's gaze and thickened his breath.

"Ranran?" Gu Beicheng’s voice carried an untimely hint of desire.

"Behave yourself!" Mu Ran’s eyes cleared instantly, even showing a hint of annoyance.

She pushed him away and darted toward the recording set.

Luckily, there weren’t many people around just now; otherwise, she’d have nowhere to hide her embarrassment. She wasn’t as thick-skinned as Gu Beicheng.

—

DM Blossom Like Brocade: [Welcome to the second episode of ‘Immersive Script Shark.’ Today's theme is a tragic youth romance, titled ‘Who Is the One I Love?’ This story is adapted from real events. As usual, the five players have half an hour to go through the character details in the script.]

Although there was only half an hour to read the script on site, each guest had already fully mastered the character relationships and finer details before the official recording.

The previous episode of Script Murder received an excellent response.

On one hand, the variety show was fresh and new; on the other, the most captivating aspect was the pairing of the show’s director, Gao Minglang, and Mu Ran, Cheng Bei Gu.

After the first episode, everyone was impressed by Mu Ran’s reasoning skills and Gu Beicheng’s acting.

DM Blossom Like Brocade: [Time’s up. Please briefly introduce your character, then we’ll enter the real scene to play the script.]

The five guests remained seated at the long deduction table, facing the cameras.

The first was Mu Ran: Hello everyone, my name is Jiang Qingyue, a sophomore English major at Imperial Capital University. I enjoy live streaming and have five million fans on a streaming platform.

The second was Wei Xingran: Hello, I am Jiang Qingyue’s ex-boyfriend, Ye Qiao.

The third was Gu Beicheng: Hello, I am Jiang Luoyu, a professor in the history department at Imperial Capital University.

The fourth was Xu Yunshu: Hello, I am Huang Qin, Jiang Qingyue’s best friend and university roommate.

The fifth was Lan Yanzhi: Hello, I am Jiang Qingze, Jiang Qingyue’s twin brother, a sophomore history major at Imperial Capital University.

Other character relationships would be discovered through immersive play.

DM Blossom Like Brocade: [Please follow me into the campus setting and begin the script murder.]

The scene shifted—

Jiang Qingyue (Mu Ran) and Huang Qin (Xu Yunshu) appeared in a university classroom.

"Qingyue, why did you choose history? I hate history the most!"

Huang Qin (Xu Yunshu), bored, propped her face on her arm, complaining as she looked at Jiang Qingyue beside her.

Noticing her friend’s energetic expression, she felt extra irked. "It’s just a younger professor, what’s so interesting about him? To me, he’s not even good-looking."

"That’s not true! Are you really my friend? Jiang Luoyu is super handsome, his looks are a real knockout!"

Jiang Qingyue (Mu Ran) sat bolt upright in the front row, her eyes shining as she gazed toward the door.

Huang Qin, unconvinced, pulled out her backpack, took out a college English test paper, mumbling, "Not good-looking and you won’t let people say so!"

"Yeah, yeah, go do your paper. It’s normal you don’t like the man I fancy. Don’t ruin my mood; I worked hard to snag this class."

Jiang Qingyue gave a half-hearted wave to the sulking Huang Qin.

In this classroom, the majority were girls—none of them history majors. Everyone was here just to catch a glimpse of Professor Jiang.

"Oh my god!"

"Help! So handsome!"

"Family, my defenses are shattered! How can a teacher be this good-looking!"

"This class was worth it!"

The chatter died instantly when Jiang Luoyu stepped onto the podium.

"Hello, everyone. I am Jiang Luoyu, lecturer for this course. I hope none of you miss class in the future—attendance counts heavily, and I will call roll before each session."

Many girls covered their faces with their hands, eyebrows arched, eyes squinting, barely able to hide their smiles and excitement.

"Professor Jiang isn’t just handsome, his voice is so husky too! Help!"

"Huang Qin, Huang Qin, look at Professor Jiang’s Adam’s apple—it looks so kissable. Don’t you think our kids will be good-looking if I end up with him?"

Jiang Qingyue (Mu Ran) poked her friend’s waist, her eyes sparkling like stars.

Huang Qin (Xu Yunshu) twitched her lips, rolled her eyes, propped her face up with one hand, and looked disdainfully at the man speaking just steps away. "Hmph, just ordinary. What kind of taste do you have?"

The two girls whispered in the front row, critiquing the man on the podium from head to toe.

Suddenly, the classroom fell silent.

Jiang Luoyu (Gu Beicheng) cast an amused glance at the two women arguing heatedly before him.

For two minutes, Jiang Qingyue (Mu Ran) and Huang Qin (Xu Yunshu) chattered away, oblivious to the danger looming.

"He’s handsome! Great temperament, look at those long legs—looks like a good hug. And those hands, definitely worth touching."

"Jiang Qingyue! Stop being stubborn, I just don’t like him, I won’t let you like him either!"

Jiang Qingyue (Mu Ran): "Are you okay? Look at his lips—they’re so kissable. Are you single and just tired of men?"

"I am not tired of men, Qingyue, are you hurt by Ye Qiao? Why so desperate? What’s so good about Jiang Luoyu’s lips? Have you kissed them?"

"How could I not…"

At this moment, the classroom was silent. The NPCs (extras in the script murder game) exchanged confused glances—why weren’t they following the script?

Was this scene even in the original script?

Players nowadays were hard to manage, always improvising.

DM Blossom Like Brocade stood up from the corner, walked over to Mu Ran and Xu Yunshu, pointed at the script in her hand, and gently reminded, "Let’s stick to the script, move the plot along."

Mu Ran and her partner, ready to argue a bit longer, both looked up in surprise, then smiled at each other.

They’d gotten too immersed in their roles…

"Xiao Ran, Teacher Cheng is handsome, but my character Huang Qin just doesn’t like him. I wasn’t deliberately disparaging him, please don’t get mad."

Hearing Xu Yunshu’s words, Mu Ran paused, glanced at Gu Beicheng on the podium, who was watching her with a pampering look. Her face flushed, and a peach blossom bloomed at the end of her brow.

Seeing Mu Ran’s shy, delicate appearance, Gu Beicheng chuckled softly. He knew that whenever Mu Ran blushed, the tattoo at her brow would appear.

DM Blossom Like Brocade: [Let’s continue with the plot.]

On the podium, Gu Beicheng’s pampering smile quickly morphed into the forbidding coolness of Professor Jiang Luoyu. He swept a cold gaze over the two women, opened his lips, his voice void of emotion and warmth.

"Are you two from our department? You look unfamiliar."

The male god suddenly spoke to them. Jiang Qingyue (Mu Ran) blushed, shy and coy, gently smoothing her hair over her shoulder, eyes lowered, not daring to meet his gaze. "Professor Jiang, we’re from the Foreign Languages Department, but…"

"Professor, we’re not from your department. We couldn’t get into the course, so we had to take this one. Don’t worry, we’ll drop it right away," Huang Qin (Xu Yunshu) cut in coldly, picking up her bag and grabbing her friend’s hand to leave.

The man’s already stern face darkened further as he stared at Huang Qin, his tone full of restraint and helplessness. "Sit down. Since you’ve chosen it, you’ll attend every class."

"But…"

Huang Qin (Xu Yunshu) frowned, about to retort, but Jiang Qingyue pulled her back to her seat.

Jiang Qingyue (Mu Ran) smiled apologetically at Jiang Luoyu (Gu Beicheng), "Sorry, Professor. We’ll definitely listen attentively."

But the man’s gaze wasn’t on Jiang Qingyue; instead, he fixed his eyes on the flushed Huang Qin.

After a minute of stalemate, Jiang Luoyu took out his textbook and began the lecture.

Huang Qin pulled out her bag, took out her test paper, and slapped it heavily onto the desk.

The action was so forceful that the book made a loud noise as it fell.

"Professor, sorry, my friend isn’t feeling well. I’ll take her to the medical office."

Jiang Qingyue (Mu Ran) could tell her friend was fed up with the teacher, worried that any longer might drive Huang Qin mad.

Jiang Luoyu glanced at Huang Qin, his eyes tinged with concern, and nodded for them to leave.

After the two exited the classroom, a handsome man stood and raised his hand toward Jiang Luoyu. "Professor Jiang, I’m the brother of that girl with long curly hair, Jiang Qingyue. Please don’t take it to heart—my sister is just a bit starstruck, but she’s definitely not a slacker."

Jiang Qingze (Lan Yanzhi) was genuinely worried that Professor Jiang might hold a grudge and fail his sister at the end of the semester.

"Your sister? You two don’t look alike."

Jiang Qingze scratched his head, "Fraternal twins."

Jiang Luoyu (Gu Beicheng) smiled faintly, "Tell Jiang Qingyue to come to my office at five."

Meanwhile, Jiang Qingyue and Huang Qin, now on the athletic field, both looked uneasy.

"Huang Qin, do you know that Professor Jiang?"

Huang Qin (Xu Yunshu) glanced at the inquisitive Jiang Qingyue (Mu Ran) and slowly replied, "Yes, we know each other. But don’t provoke him, he’s terrifying!"

Huang Qin gripped Jiang Qingyue’s arms, pleading earnestly.