Chapter 19
Xu Ling felt that every part of Qin Cong’an’s body was cold, except for her two mouths, which were hot. But she couldn’t let her speak; when she spoke, her words were also cold, even though her voice had a hint of warmth.
Xu Ling felt as if she were dying of thirst. Fortunately, the water source was plentiful, and she could quench her thirst well.
Each time was one less time. Xu Ling tried hard to make her remember every encounter they had.
Xu Ling really wanted to know what Qin Cong’an was thinking when she kissed her. Why did she kiss so seriously? As if she were handling something precious. Was their relationship worthy of that?
Their fingers were intertwined, clasped tightly. Xu Ling panted, her toes curled tightly.
They were both exhausted. Xu Ling still took Qin Cong’an’s hand and kissed it, then leaned in to kiss her again. The grapefruit flavor was much fainter, but their mouths were filled with a sweet taste.
Qin Cong’an reached out and wiped the sweat from the tip of her nose. “Want to take a shower?”
There it was again. Did she have some kind of obsession with showering together? Did she really like doing it in the water? Who had she done it with in the water that was so good?
Xu Ling rolled over, not wanting to move.
Qin Cong’an leaned in and bit her ear, taking her earlobe into her mouth. There was no real purpose to it, like a child who just likes to put something in their mouth to suck on.
But Xu Ling felt a little like crying. Her heart was beating irregularly. Every time after they finished, her hidden love and her guilt would surge up together.
“Don’t do that,” Xu Ling said. So annoying.
“Hmm?” Qin Cong’an pressed on her shoulder, making her lie flat.
Xu Ling immediately turned her face away, but Qin Cong’an still saw her tear-stained eyelashes.
“What’s wrong?” Qin Cong’an asked. “Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”
Why are you concerned about me? Xu Ling turned to her side again. “No, I just cried because it felt too good. So don’t do it. My eyes will be swollen tomorrow, and I won’t be able to film.”
“I’m not doing anything to you, just a kiss.” Qin Cong’an nuzzled her neck and confirmed again, “Are you sure you’re not uncomfortable somewhere?”
“Really, really, really.”
Qin Cong’an didn’t say anything more, nor did she kiss her again. She just held her for a while.
Xu Ling was so tired she fell into a hazy sleep. She felt like she was dreaming, yet she could also sense what Qin Cong’an was doing.
She was gently stroking her head. When Xu Ling realized this, she wanted to open her eyes but didn’t. She wondered if Qin Cong’an would say something. Her consciousness gradually cleared. She even heard her open her mouth, take a breath, about to speak.
But all Xu Ling heard was a sigh.
What was that? Under the repeated stroking, Xu Ling fell asleep again.
The morning alarm suddenly went off, scaring the soul out of her.
Xu Ling checked the time, stretched, and naturally burrowed into the arms of the person next to her. Qin Cong’an was already sitting up, leaning against the headboard. Xu Ling climbed up accordingly. From this angle, she could see Qin Cong’an’s phone, but she didn’t hide it or switch the screen.
Qin Cong’an was just watching a video of a kitten. Seeing Xu Ling climb up, she even moved the phone towards her. “Its name is Mo Yun.”
Xu Ling tried hard to open her eyes to distinguish the cat from the black cushion. It was so black it was hard to see clearly. She remembered the profile picture of her main WeChat account and asked, “Is this the cat from your profile picture? So it’s your own cat.”
“Mhm… not exactly my own cat.”
After the video finished, Qin Cong’an switched out of it. It was a WeChat chat screen. At the top were the two characters for Xie Jing. The video had been sent from him.
Xu Ling suddenly felt as disgusted as if she had swallowed a fly.
She got up, threw on her clothes, and went back to her own room to shower. She had the urge to strangle Qin Cong’an. How could she so naturally show her her boyfriend’s cat?
After showering and changing into clean clothes, Xu Ling checked her phone and saw a message from Yi Huai. She realized today was the day they were going to the mountains and quickly went to rummage through her suitcase.
Beauty is a distraction! Emotions are a distraction! She had almost forgotten.
Starting today, they were going to the mountains to film the burial scenes. It would take several days. The place was quite remote, and there would predictably be many mosquitoes. Xu Ling was the type who attracted mosquitoes, so she had to prepare medicine.
The crew had said they would prepare most of the necessities, so they didn’t have to worry. But those were just the basics. She still had to bring her own usual topical and anti-inflammatory medications.
Xu Ling slung her bag over her shoulder. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Qin Cong’an standing outside.
“What?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Qin Cong’an asked.
“What do you mean, what’s wrong?” Xu Ling closed the door and walked towards the elevator.
“There’s something wrong with you. Didn’t you tell me to just say it if there’s a problem? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“I don’t have a problem.” Xu Ling looked at her with a puzzled expression. “Oh, you mean me suddenly going back to my room? Because there was no time. I didn’t shower last night, so I had to hurry up and take one, and I still had things to pack.”
Xu Ling thought to herself that she wanted to say it, but could she? What standing did she have? What right? As the other woman, she should have some self-awareness.
She secretly glared at Qin Cong’an. You’re even worse than me, with no self-awareness at all, not even knowing to be discreet.
“What are you glaring at me for?” Qin Cong’an saw her in the reflection on the elevator door.
“…” Xu Ling rolled her eyes and blinked a few times. “My eyes are dry. You misunderstood.”
The elevator doors opened. There was someone inside. It was Yi Huai, who had just come up to get Xu Ling.
The two of them walked in and didn’t speak again.
Yi Huai looked at Xu Ling’s bag. “Did you bring everything?”
“I don’t think I forgot anything.”
Yi Huai nodded and glanced at Qin Cong’an, who was peeking at Xu Ling. The atmosphere felt strangely subtle.
The elevator reached the first floor, and Qin Cong’an got out first.
Yi Huai pulled Xu Ling aside and asked her, “Is there something going on between you and Qin Cong’an?”
“No.” Is it that obvious?
“No? I told you to get on good terms with her. Why do I feel like something’s off between you two?”
“Sister, it’s too hard to get on good terms with her.”
Yi Huai expressed her understanding.
The group got into the car. The journey was a bit long and bumpy.
Xu Ling got carsick easily. Short trips were fine, but for anything over thirty minutes, she had to take medicine in advance. After taking the motion sickness pill, she fell asleep in the car, but she didn’t sleep well, having countless dreams along the way.
When they arrived at their destination, Yi Huai had to push her a few times before she woke up.
Looking out the window, she thought, my god, where have they brought me? She knew it would be remote, but she hadn’t expected it to be this remote.
If they told her they were really going to silence her here, she would believe them.
Xu Ling sprayed a lot of insect repellent on herself before getting out of the car.
Chang Ning loved practical locations. She had scouted many places before filming began, and this was a burial spot she had carefully selected. It was sparsely populated, with a large open area, a beautiful long-distance view, perfect for watching the sunset, and a somewhat sparse forest nearby.
The sun was setting, making it look particularly desolate. Xu Ling suspected that if they kept filming here, they might actually run into a murderer coming to dump a body.
Fortunately, there were a lot of crew members, some of whom had arrived yesterday, so it didn’t look that desolate.
The crew had set up a few tents for everyone to rest.
The two of them sat in chairs while the stylists did their looks.
The body of the mission target, Ku Ai’s body, and finally that man’s body—all would be filmed in one go over the next few days.
Wen Xi was the one who drove. Jian Yu couldn’t get a driver’s license, but Wen Xi had taught her how to drive. Usually, Wen Xi drove, but she always emphasized that in necessary situations, Jian Yu had to drive.
Jian Yu didn’t think there would be any necessary situations.
When they first got out of the car, the two of them were still relatively clean, but after dragging the bag for a while, they looked a bit disheveled.
But after their looks were done, it actually looked very impactful.
Jian Yu was strong and had to do the heavy lifting.
The bag was filled with stuffing, not as heavy as a real person, but still a bit heavy. If it were too light, Xu Ling wouldn’t be able to act it out, and it would look fake on camera.
But it was exhausting for Xu Ling. Her stamina wasn’t bad. She had worked out when she was a model and had even practiced boxing.
But it was still enough to make her feel faint.
As soon as spring arrived, Mist City started to get hot. Even with the sun down, it still felt strangely hot and very humid, so stuffy that it was hard to breathe.
It looked like it was about to rain, but it felt like the rain wouldn’t come. This was the most uncomfortable time of the year.
Xu Ling sat to the side, drinking water and resting, watching Qin Cong’an dig a hole in the pit.
Is she trying to kill me with that look? Even with a mining lamp on her head, she looked so good digging a hole. In fact, she looked even more charming.
Those fluid movements, those arms, that bead of sweat dripping down her forehead…
Xu Ling forgave herself for a second. With Qin Cong’an looking like that, even if she were her fourth or fifth mistress, the line of applicants would be long. It was perfectly normal. Morality, what did it matter? It was just an illusion. Holding her in your arms was what was real.
Sigh. Xu Ling sighed. Still, it wasn’t right.
“Jian Yu’s turn,” Liang He called out.
“Okay.” Xu Ling threw away her messy thoughts and let Jian Yu’s thoughts take over. Finish the job and get off work. Finish the job and go home to eat with my wife.
Xu Ling stood above, reached out to pull Qin Cong’an up, threw the bag into the pit, and the two of them started to bury it together.
Chang Ning wanted to film a close-up of their hands.
They filmed from several angles, with different lighting. Chang Ning paid special attention to these details and had to film them many times.
Both of their hands were very beautiful, long and slender yet powerful. When they clasped each other, a tight grip, the veins on the back of their hands popped out, sparking the imagination.
Then they filmed a wide shot. Qin Cong’an went up and down several times before they finally finished a segment.
“Take a break,” Chang Ning said.
Qin Cong’an patted the dirt off her clothes, but there was no need to be perfectly clean. She just gave a couple of pats. Thanks to the humid weather, the dust didn’t fly up but fell to the ground.
Lin Xinnuo also helped pat her down from the side, unable to stop herself from saying, “Sister, you’re so cool.”
Qin Cong’an glanced at Xu Ling. She was choosing an ice cream and not looking at her.
She walked over and saw a mosquito buzzing around Xu Ling’s head. She waved her hand to shoo it away.
Xu Ling looked at her. “Do you want this lemon-flavored one?”
“No, I don’t like it.”
“…” So difficult. So she only liked the scent, not the taste? Xu Ling had been debating what to eat, but now she decided on the lemon-flavored one.
Qin Cong’an also took a long time to choose. There was nothing she wanted to eat. In the end, she just drank ice water.
“You don’t like sweet things, right?” Xu Ling remembered her drinking her cappuccino before and also thinking it was too sweet, even though it wasn’t sweet at all, just right.
“Mhm.” Qin Cong’an stood next to her, drinking her ice water.
Xu Ling didn’t know what she was doing, why she was standing here with her.
The mosquitoes were attracted to Xu Ling but were driven away by the smell of her repellent. Frustrated, they had no choice but to bite Qin Cong’an, who was standing next to her.
Before Qin Cong’an had even finished half a bottle of water, she started to feel itchy all over and scratched her arm.
“Hiss.” Xu Ling glanced at her arm and was startled by the mosquito bites on it. “Why do you attract mosquitoes so much!”
Xu Ling quickly pulled Qin Cong’an to her car, took out the medicine from her bag, and applied it for her.
“This medicine has hormones in it, just a little, it won’t do anything. The effect is very good, but don’t touch your face or eyes after applying it.”
As Xu Ling applied the medicine for her, her brows were tightly furrowed. “Why didn’t you use repellent if you attract mosquitoes so much?”
Qin Cong’an didn’t answer her question. Instead, she looked down at her serious face as she applied the medicine and said in a low voice, “Why are you so angry?”
“…” Xu Ling wanted to look up at her but held back. “As someone who knows how uncomfortable it is, I just empathized after seeing it. I can’t even stand to look.”
“Oh,” Qin Cong’an said. “I thought you were concerned about me.”
