Chapter 61: Caught in the Act Part 1

“Teacher Jian, is this… your girlfriend?”

Thousand Cranes, who had been standing awkwardly in the background for what felt like an eternity, finally couldn’t help but ask.

For Jian Yan to care this much—to the point of immediately clarifying her relationship status—it had to be a girlfriend, right?

Hearing this, Xu Yinian had to suppress the strange, fluttering sensation in her heart. Terrified of a misunderstanding, she shook her head vigorously to clear her name.

“No, no! I’m not!”

“I… I’m just here for voice acting. I’m the newcomer you mentioned earlier.”

Xu Yinian’s stumbling, soft voice finally rang a bell for the other woman, who stood frozen in place, processing the revelation.

Before Thousand Cranes could wrap her head around it, Ji Yan issued an impatient dismissal. “If there’s nothing else, you can leave.”

Having one Qin Jiashu trying to steal what was hers was already enough of a headache.

Ji Yan turned back to Xu Yinian. “Come inside.”

Xu Yinian followed her into the lounge with great reluctance. She could feel the gaze of Ji Yan’s new admirer burning into her back until the moment the door closed.

Just as she was pulling the door slightly ajar, she heard a voice from behind her. “Close the door.”

“You didn’t have it closed before…” Xu Yinian murmured softly. Being in Ji Yan’s territory and having the other woman insist on closing the door made her nervous.

“What are you thinking? It’s just so we don’t disturb the people outside while we go over the lines.”

Ji Yan turned around. Her eyes were stained with a deep, ink-like darkness—or perhaps that was just Xu Yinian’s imagination.

Ji Yan was no longer the helpless, injured soul she had been a few days ago. The sharp, aggressive edge of her cold eyes had softened considerably, and beneath the shadow of her thick, long lashes, there was an ethereal, almost fragile beauty.

Hearing the explanation, Xu Yinian realized she had been letting her imagination run wild. The fact that the other woman had seen right through her made her face flush a deep crimson.

She bit her lip and slowly shut the door, hoping the embarrassing heat in her cheeks would fade.

“So, you’re saying that if I leave the door open, it proves my innocence?”

The moment the latch clicked shut, that low, husky voice drifted lazily into her ear.

Xu Yinian’s fingertips trembled. She knew “innocence” referred to the report Ji Yan had just given her.

Why did she keep saying these things to her?

She… she didn’t care if Ji Yan was “innocent” or if she was a total player.

“…I thought we were here to practice lines,” she muttered, her voice trembling with a mix of bashfulness and resentment she couldn’t quite voice.

“Alright then.”

Ji Yan’s easy compliance left Xu Yinian choked up, unable to advance or retreat. She felt that the current Ji Yan was even harder to deal with than the one who used to be overtly aggressive.

This lounge appeared to be Ji Yan’s private space. The furniture and layout were similar to her apartment—complete with a carpet, a beanbag chair, and a projector.

The only place where they could sit face-to-face was the sofa where Ji Yan had already taken a seat.

Left with no choice, Xu Yinian sat down, practically huddling in the farthest corner of the sofa to keep a massive gap between them.

As soon as she sat, her gaze inevitably shifted from the script papers in Ji Yan’s hands to the gauze wrapped around her palm.

The gauze was stained with dried blood, and at the knot, there was a familiar Butterfly Knot.

It stood in stark contrast to her pale, almost translucent arm where blue veins traced a path through the skin. The sight added a touch of soft warmth to her cold silhouette.

Xu Yinian’s heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t help but gasp. “You haven’t changed the dressing since that night?”

She had helped her with the medicine and bandages on Wednesday night. Today was Saturday!

The blood had clearly seeped through and dried; who knew if the wound had become re-infected?

Then she remembered Ji Yan’s “Eldest Daughter” temperament and how she hadn’t cared about her own body at all last time.

…What was she expecting? There was no way Ji Yan would change her own bandages.

Hearing those long-awaited words—a scolding born of concern—Ji Yan felt them land precisely on the wretched Vacancy in her heart.

While Xu Yinian was focused on the wound, Ji Yan narrowed her long, narrow eyes.

She watched Xu Yinian’s every expression, drinking in every flicker of emotion caused by her presence, hungering for more.

“You never asked me about it after that night, either.”

Xu Yinian’s movement stilled as she looked up. By chance, she glimpsed a swirling storm of emotions she had never seen before in those usually gloomy, cold eyes.

Those beautiful, almost demonic eyes seemed to fit any emotion; even the focused gaze she used to fake now seemed profoundly deep.

Beneath the gloom was a damp, cold hue, and beneath the obsession was a pitch-black chaos. It was a heavy, intense darkness that made it impossible to look away.

But… why did she look a little pitiful?

Xu Yinian suddenly remembered how Ji Yan’s WeChat had remained silent for the past few days. A guess flashed through her mind—

She couldn’t have been waiting for me to ask about the wound first, could she?

Her heart instantly fell into disarray.

Even if she had acted out of a momentary Saint Mother impulse to save the fearsome Ji Yan, Xu Yinian had no intention of continuing to worry or take responsibility.

It was like passing a scrawny kitten on the street and feeding it out of pity, only for the kitten to start following her exclusively.

Did Ji Yan really have a vulnerable side that needed care?

Thinking of that mysterious, eerie injury—the way Ji Yan could let no one see it and could only lick her wounds in a dark corner—Xu Yinian guessed it had come from one of Ji Yan’s “family members” within that seemingly glamorous household.

Her compassion was stirred once more.

“At… at least let me change the bandage first.”

Although she didn’t answer Ji Yan’s question, it was an act of atonement born of concern.