Chapter 5
“…” Xu Ling looked at her long, fair neck. Her leg twitched with the urge to go in, but she still said, “Maybe not.”
Qin Cong’an didn’t say anything and pulled the door shut again.
When she came out after her shower, she didn’t say another word. Without even glancing at Xu Ling, she left the room.
Xu Ling was still lying on the bed, thinking how awkward this was and how they were supposed to continue, only to see that she was already gone.
Her feelings were incredibly complicated. Part of her wanted to follow her and ask her to stay, while another part felt she shouldn’t.
After Qin Cong’an returned, the filming schedule went back to normal.
Everything was smooth.
Meng Bai came to visit the set every day for the next few days. When she got tired of exploring outside, she would come find her. Everyone on the crew now knew how close the two of them were.
During these few days, Xu Ling didn’t go looking for Qin Cong’an, and Qin Cong’an didn’t suddenly appear in her room like last time.
The day Meng Bai was to return to North City, she treated everyone to a lot of food again as a farewell gift.
“Please take good care of Xu Ling from now on.”
Everyone readily agreed. Meng Bai, that little ray of sunshine, had made everyone happy, and their fondness for Xu Ling had increased as well.
The very important night scene was finally finished.
Xu Ling was exhausted. Fight scenes were truly difficult to film. They were physically demanding, and having to do multiple takes meant that by the end, she was completely drained but still had to muster the same strength as in the beginning.
For the next three days, the scenes were relatively easier. There weren’t as many fight scenes, but there were more lines.
That day, Xu Ling once again overheard Qin Cong’an on the phone.
“We’ve finished part of the fight scenes. I bumped into a wall while running and scraped my shoulder a bit… Stop nagging, I know.”
This time, there was no one nearby to ask if it was Xie Jing, but Xu Ling had a subtle intuition that it was. After all, why would she talk so much? It had to be with someone she was especially close to.
That night, Xu Ling, script in hand, knocked on the door of Qin Cong’an’s hotel room.
“I’m here to run lines.” The door opened, and Xu Ling held up the script to the person inside.
Qin Cong’an stepped aside to let her in, then closed and locked the door.
Xu Ling’s script was filled with notes. She had listened very attentively during the pre-production meetings. This was her first time playing a lead role, and it was opposite Qin Cong’an, with Chang Ning as the director. Even if she didn’t have the slightest feeling for Qin Cong’an, she would have still taken it seriously.
There was a bottle of red wine on Qin Cong’an’s table. She asked, “Want some?”
Xu Ling nodded. Just one glass of red wine wouldn’t affect their line reading.
“Where did this wine come from?” Xu Ling asked.
“A gift from someone.”
“Which someone?”
Qin Cong’an glanced at her and uncorked the bottle with a wine opener. As she poured the wine into a glass, she asked, “Is that important?”
“You’re right, it’s not.” While she was opening the bottle, Xu Ling had been staring at the muscle lines on her arm. Now, she flusteredly lowered her head and pretended to look at the script.
She knew she had asked too much. Who was she to ask such a thing? What was the point?
Qin Cong’an handed her the wine glass. “Your friend left, so you came to find me?”
“What?”
“Is what I said hard to understand?”
Xu Ling blinked. She really hadn’t processed it. What did she mean, her friend left, so she came to find me? Her coming to find her had nothing to do with Meng Bai.
She said, “I just came to run lines with you.”
Qin Cong’an let out a soft laugh, swirled the wine in her glass, and took a sip, her eyes narrowing.
The two of them drank their wine, neither speaking for a moment.
After half a glass, Xu Ling flipped through the script and began to get into character as Jian Yu, speaking to Wen Xi. “Help me see if I have any issues.”
Qin Cong’an didn’t agree, but she didn’t refuse either, just watched her quietly.
Xu Ling had never systematically studied acting. Fortunately, she didn’t have an accent, but she was still worried about her line delivery. This scene had a lot of dialogue and required some emotional handling, which was a challenge for her.
She had originally thought that after she delivered Jian Yu’s lines, Qin Cong’an would pick up with Wen Xi’s, but she didn’t. She just glanced at her, her gaze indescribable.
Lowering her head, Xu Ling skipped over her part and continued as Jian Yu.
After finishing the long passage, Xu Ling asked, “How was it?”
“I wasn’t listening.”
“…” Xu Ling hadn’t come entirely for the sake of running lines, but her words still caught her off guard.
She had gotten into character, and Qin Cong’an hadn’t interrupted her. Even if she had covered her ears, she couldn’t say she hadn’t heard, right?
Xu Ling put down the script, picked up her wine glass, and took another sip. “Honestly, do you think it’s a big problem?”
After hearing this, Qin Cong’an tilted her head back and took a deep breath, her jawline impossibly beautiful. She said, as if sighing, “You actually came here to run lines with me.”
“Cough!” Xu Ling choked and coughed a couple of times.
Qin Cong’an leaned over and gently patted her back.
Xu Ling slowly recovered, her eyes a little red from the coughing. Qin Cong’an’s hand caressed her face, wiping away the tear that had escaped from the corner of her eye.
Xu Ling’s breath hitched. She looked at that cool yet bewitching face, the elegant bridge of her nose, the small mole at the corner of her eye. How could anyone’s face be so perfect? It was a gift from the heavens to the mortal world.
That face leaned closer, and those beautiful lips kissed her eyelashes.
Xu Ling trembled, her throat moving involuntarily. She gently pushed her away, pulled aside the fabric on her shoulder, and, with a frown, kissed the scrape on her shoulder from that afternoon’s filming.
Her mind was blank. All she knew was that she wanted to be close to her right now. No matter how despicable it was, she just wanted to be closer, and closer still.
…
After they were done, Xu Ling felt a little regretful again.
How could she do something like this? She had brainwashed herself into believing she didn’t know Qin Cong’an had a boyfriend, that they were just doing this for the sake of the film, but she still couldn’t help but despise herself for what she was.
And the fact that it felt so good only made her feel more guilty. She felt she was letting her down, letting herself down, letting her parents down, letting down morality, letting down the entire world.
Qin Cong’an suddenly leaned over and kissed her cheek, then gently turned her face and kissed her on the lips.
Xu Ling responded enthusiastically. She loved kissing her.
Qin Cong’an stopped, her fingers lightly tracing her throat. “Have you and that friend of yours ever slept together?”
“Huh?” Xu Ling was momentarily stunned. “You mean Meng Bai?”
“I don’t know her name.”
Probably not true, Xu Ling thought. Meng Bai had been quite a presence on set these past few days; there was no reason for her not to know her name.
“How could I possibly have slept with her?”
“Is that so.”
Xu Ling watched her roll over. She leaned in, looking down from above at her face, which was still excessively beautiful even when lying flat. “Why do you ask?”
“You two seemed very close.”
“Just friends.”
Qin Cong’an looked at her, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly into a subtle smile. “And we are just colleagues filming together.”
Xu Ling was momentarily bewitched by her smile. Hearing her words, she sobered up a little. Her hand slid over her collarbone as she said in a low voice, “That’s right. That’s why we’re like this. My friend and I have no need to do this.”
Qin Cong’an’s smile deepened, but a chill rose in her eyes. She grabbed Xu Ling’s hand, brought it to her mouth, and took her fingers inside, her tongue swirling around them.
The wet, soft sensation on her fingertips made Xu Ling’s scalp tingle.
They had a tacit understanding not to leave marks on visible skin, but the parts hidden by her tank top were covered in the colors of spring.
The sharp, piercing ring of an alarm clock went off.
Xu Ling woke with a start, grabbing the phone to see it was 7:30.
She breathed a sigh of relief, then her eyes refocused on the ocean wave wallpaper. Wait, this isn’t my phone.
Xu Ling searched the bed and realized she had come over last night without her phone again.
If it weren’t for Qin Cong’an’s alarm, she probably would have been late again.
An arm suddenly wrapped around her waist, and Xu Ling fell into Qin Cong’an’s embrace.
Her usually clean and crisp voice was now a little husky. “Are you leaving?”
Xu Ling’s heart was pounding. This felt so much like she was her girlfriend. She told herself to calm down and replied, “Mhm, I have to meet up at eight. What about you?”
“I’m at ten.”
“Then why did you set an alarm for 7:30?”
“I was afraid you’d get scolded again.”
She said it so naturally, as if it were nothing, but Xu Ling’s heart beat even faster than before. She was worried about me getting scolded?
Xu Ling could feel her ears burning.
She turned over and looked at Qin Cong’an, who was clearly still half-asleep. She didn’t look so cold now; she was more like a soft, fluffy kitten.
Xu Ling leaned down and kissed her cheek, saying in her heart, What do I do? I like you so much.
She heard Qin Cong’an’s soft laugh.
Xu Ling was startled. Did I say my thoughts out loud? She looked and saw that it was just her hair brushing against her face.
“It tickles,” Qin Cong’an said, pushing her hair away and turning to the other side to sleep a little longer.
Xu Ling couldn’t resist. She leaned in and held her from behind, cherishing the moment. When it was finally time to go, she kissed her behind the ear and got out of bed.
On the bus, right on time, Xu Ling headed off to film the scene of her buying buns in the morning.
Chang Ning’s vision for the final cut of this sequence was a time-lapse, editing together every day that Jian Yu bought breakfast for Wen Xi. That was why, every few days, they would shoot a scene of Xu Ling walking down the same street.
The street was the same, but the light and shadows in the background, as well as the blooming and withering of the flowers, had to change. This could be done in post-production, but Chang Ning preferred practical effects.
After Xu Ling finished filming, she moved to the next location, and Qin Cong’an arrived as well.
Jian Yu was a girl whose parents had been killed during a rainstorm. Her parents had witnessed a murder and were silenced by the killer the next day. She had hidden and managed to escape through her quick wits.
She had fainted on the run and was found and taken home by a passing Wen Xi.
At that time, Jian Yu was in her first year of high school, and Wen Xi was twenty.
The killer’s whereabouts were unknown, and Jian Yu was also missing. The police assumed the killer had taken her and that her chances of survival were slim.
In reality, Jian Yu had been in Mist City all along, just hidden away in a corner with Wen Xi. From then on, she stopped learning math and physics and instead learned how to kill most efficiently.
Wen Xi hadn’t taken her in out of pity; she simply couldn’t shake her off.
Wen Xi had no parents and had been raised as an assassin for as long as she could remember. After the person who raised her was killed, she started working alone. She had no emotions, and her life was simple: take jobs, train, eat.
After Jian Yu entered her life, two more things were added: teaching her to train, and feeding her.
