Chapter 58
“When?” Xu Ling seriously considered this question. “That’s too hard to answer. Who knows when you start to like something?”
Qin Cong’an didn’t say anything, just nudged away the hand that was touching her with her elbow.
Xu Ling looked down at her profile, not understanding why she had suddenly gotten angry. She kissed her earlobe, then thought of a brilliant answer and said in her ear, “Now. I started to like it from now on. Just imagining what you would look like wearing it, I started to like it.”
Qin Cong’an didn’t buy it at all. She even turned her head away to prevent her from kissing her again and asked in a low voice, “What about the other two questions?”
“What questions were they?”
“…” Qin Cong’an felt a little like throwing her out.
After she repeated them, Xu Ling said, “Oh.” She had thought that Qin Cong’an hadn’t been asking a question, but it turned out it was the kind of question that needed an answer.
She didn’t know what was going on, but Xu Ling answered seriously, “Have I seen someone wear an apron? Uh, the most should be my family’s auntie, then my dad, my mom…”
“Get out.”
“…You were the one who asked me the question!” Xu Ling hugged Qin Cong’an’s waist, clinging to her and refusing to leave. “There’s still one more question. The one without clothes. Mmm, I’ve seen it in a movie. Does that count?”
Qin Cong’an pondered for a moment. “What movie?”
“Just that kind of movie. The kind with no plot or a very boring plot. You haven’t seen one?” Xu Ling didn’t get her answer. Her fingers twirled a strand of her hair. “Two beautiful women like us, doing this, doing that… I don’t believe you haven’t seen one.”
Qin Cong’an knew what she was talking about, but she really hadn’t seen one. She had seen some real movies. She loved to watch movies herself. There were some very interesting and beautifully filmed WLW romance movies that she had seen several times.
So when Chang Ning had asked her to play a dual-female-lead role, she had agreed after reading the script. But before Xu Ling had come to find her, she had never thought of actually having a relationship with a woman.
But it had happened very naturally. She liked Xu Ling’s body, it was very beautiful, and her reactions, the way she looked at her, made her empty heart feel… kind of fluffy.
“Not talking?” Xu Ling leaned over to look at her face again. “Then I’ll take that as a default.”
Qin Cong’an finished cutting the apricots, picked up half a piece, turned around, leaned against the counter, and held it up to Xu Ling’s lips.
Xu Ling opened her mouth to eat it and also took Qin Cong’an’s fingers in her mouth.
Qin Cong’an’s fingers also took the opportunity to probe inside. She looked at her with a smile on her lips. “But I haven’t seen one without clothes and just an apron. Is it very beautiful?”
If it weren’t for Qin Cong’an’s expression, Xu Ling would have really thought she was curious about whether it was beautiful or not. But this smile of Qin Cong’an’s… Xu Ling realized this was a deadly question.
“Speak.”
With an apricot in her mouth, and Qin Cong’an’s hand stirring around, Xu Ling was trying her best not to drool. She couldn’t speak.
Tears were about to well up in Xu Ling’s eyes. She shook her head. Not beautiful, not beautiful at all.
Qin Cong’an let her go, licked her fingers, and pushed Xu Ling aside.
Xu Ling felt like Qin Cong’an had drugged her. She pressed against her again, nuzzling her neck, never satisfied.
The apricot jam was ready.
It was sweet and sour and delicious. Paired with the freshly baked bread, it was so fragrant you could eat several pieces.
“Wow!” Xu Ling’s eyes were shining. So delicious. “You really know how to make it!”
Qin Cong’an glanced at her impatiently. “I told you a long time ago that I did. It seems you never believed me.”
Indeed. But Xu Ling couldn’t believe it. How could her goddess learn to bake for her? And in the year they had been apart.
Xu Ling was so annoyed. This big misunderstanding had made her suffer for so long, and it must have made Qin Cong’an feel uncomfortable too. Qin Cong’an must have been so confused, not knowing why she had just run away without a word.
“So delicious,” Xu Ling kept praising her cooking, absolutely not letting her feel that her efforts were in vain.
Xu Ling also remembered that Wen Qianning had received bread from Qin Cong’an on the day of the wrap. Then… could it have been bought for her?
“You just realized?” Hearing her ask this, Qin Cong’an wanted to roll her eyes at her. “Who loves to eat these things the most? Don’t you have a clue?”
“No, I mean, was it specifically for me?”
“What else?”
Xu Ling’s lips pouted, and she was about to cry.
Qin Cong’an frowned. “What are you crying for?”
Xu Ling put down the bread, as if she didn’t know how big she was, and squeezed in between Qin Cong’an and the table, sitting on her lap and hugging her pitifully. “Then you should have said so earlier.”
“And now you’re blaming me for not saying it earlier.” Qin Cong’an was helpless but patted her back.
“Yeah, why didn’t you say earlier that Xie Jing was your brother? When you were on the phone with him, you never called him brother.”
Qin Cong’an sighed. “I never got into the habit.”
“Does that need to be a habit?” Xu Ling let her go and looked at her face, not quite understanding. She didn’t have any siblings, but she had cousins. Wasn’t it natural to call them sister or brother? It wasn’t something you had to get into the habit of. “Are you and your brother not on good terms? No, that’s not right. If you weren’t on good terms, you wouldn’t talk on the phone so much.”
“For as long as I can remember, he’s always been crying. I really can’t bring myself to call a crybaby ‘brother’.”
“Huh? Why was he crying?”
“He was scared. My parents often argued, threw things, and made a lot of noise.” Qin Cong’an patted her bottom. “What time do you have to leave?”
“What time is it now?” As soon as Xu Ling saw Qin Cong’an, she completely lost track of time. She always felt that time should stop for them. After getting the answer, she wrinkled her nose. “I should be leaving now… but I still want to hear about your story.”
“What work do you have today?”
“A photoshoot in a studio. I don’t know how long it will take. And it’s so far away. It takes a lot of time to get there and back.”
Seeing Xu Ling wrap her arms around her neck and whine about not wanting to be separated from her, Qin Cong’an couldn’t help but lean in and kiss her. Nuzzling the corner of her lips, she said, “I’m off today. I can go with you.”
Xu Ling was so scared she fell back. “Really?”
“Really.” Qin Cong’an was actually not as busy as Xu Ling, especially after she had set up her own studio and turned down a lot of work. Correspondingly, she naturally had fewer opportunities to be in the public eye, but she didn’t need these. She had always let her roles speak for themselves.
Xu Ling was stunned. “But, if we get photographed, is that okay?”
“What’s the problem?”
Right, what was the problem? “But didn’t you say before that we can’t be like that outside?”
“Will you sit on my lap and kiss me outside?” Qin Cong’an tilted her head.
Generally speaking, she wouldn’t.
Then… wasn’t this just what Xu Ling had fantasized about? They were on a date outside, and the public was guessing about their relationship. Were they still promoting? Were they good sisters? Were they lovers? Let everyone think whatever they wanted.
“Aren’t you tired?”
“A little. But I had already planned not to sleep during the day today. I want to go to bed early tonight to adjust to the jet lag.”
Xu Ling’s clothes couldn’t be worn. Qin Cong’an found a set that suited her and had her change into it. The underwear was a new sports bra.
But still, Xu Ling never wore such light colors. If they didn’t appear together, it could be passed off as her changing her style. But if they appeared together, anyone could tell that her clothes were Qin Cong’an’s.
The two of them left the house together and went to the garage. Qin Cong’an drove her to the studio.
Xu Ling sat in the passenger seat and felt like this was all a dream again. She had stayed at Qin Cong’an’s house for a night, had done it from the bathroom to the bedroom, and had even eaten the bread Qin Cong’an had baked in the morning. And now, Qin Cong’an was personally driving her to work.
Such a beautiful thing. It was hard for Xu Ling not to laugh out loud.
Qin Cong’an glanced at the passenger seat. “What are you laughing at for no reason?”
“I’m happy. Can’t I laugh?” Xu Ling looked at Qin Cong’an driving with starry eyes. It wasn’t the first time she had seen her drive. She had seen her during the movie filming, but it felt very different. So handsome, so handsome. She really wanted to sit on her.
The studio was very far away, in the suburbs, almost out of North City. But it was perfect. They had a lot of time to chat on the way.
The thing Xu Ling was most curious about was, “Then what about you? Weren’t you scared?”
“Maybe I was, but I don’t know when I stopped. I just felt that the three of them were all very noisy.”
Xu Ling was completely turned to the side, looking at the calm-faced Qin Cong’an as she said these things, and felt that she must have experienced many things she couldn’t imagine when she was a child.
With a brother who was always scared and crying, even if she was also scared, even if she was clearly the younger sister, she couldn’t show it, right? She was used to suppressing her emotions, which was why she was always so calm now.
“It must have been hard for you, right?”
Qin Cong’an shook her head. “It’s not as bad as you think. I’m very good at detaching myself from my emotions.”
Xu Ling looked at her and said, “But that might not be a good thing. You didn’t let your emotions out. You thought you had detached, but in reality, they were just piling up there. You were just pretending not to see them.”
Qin Cong’an was a little surprised that Xu Ling would say such a thing and really wanted to pat her on the head.
“When it’s time to vent, I will,” Qin Cong’an said. She would vent while filming. The only time she had vented outside of a drama was when she didn’t understand why Xu Ling had left.
She was also very surprised herself. It turned out that Xu Ling had such a great influence on her, that she could bring her this kind of emotion that she couldn’t detach from at all, a completely new experience.
Xu Ling was still looking at her and suddenly really wanted to dote on her like a younger sister. She was the youngest in her family, and everyone called her Little Bao. But she wanted to call Qin Cong’an Little Bao.
Because she was driving, they only talked about some simple topics in the car. But when they got to the studio, Xu Ling had to get her styling done, and with other people around, it wasn’t good to talk.
Every staff member who came in was startled to see Qin Cong’an. Someone even ran out to ask if Qin Cong’an was in this shoot.
Yi Huai was even more dumbfounded. She stared at Xu Ling, wanting an explanation, but Xu Ling acted as if she hadn’t seen her, asking what this was and what that was with a curious baby expression. Makeup, what else could it be?
Qin Cong’an just sat quietly to the side the whole time, not disturbing anyone, sometimes watching Xu Ling get her makeup done, sometimes spacing out, sometimes looking at her phone, and sometimes going out to take a call.
Makeup and styling always took a lot of time and was always very boring. But this time, with Qin Cong’an by her side, Xu Ling found it incredible. Even though they couldn’t chat, and even when they did, they had to be careful not to say the wrong thing, just being able to see her through the mirror was very reassuring.
Seeing Qin Cong’an wave her phone at her in the mirror, signaling that she was going to take a call, Xu Ling nodded. Go, go. How could she not answer her brother’s call?
Meng Bai sent her a message, asking if she had work tonight, to get together.
Xu Ling replied with [No work, but I’m not going] to refuse.
Meng Bai sent a long string of question marks. If she didn’t have work, why wasn’t she coming? Something was wrong. But no matter how many she asked, Xu Ling didn’t reply, so she couldn’t do anything.
Meng Bai finally sent another message: [I saw the news online. Your movie is coming to streaming in July. Yanzi said she had an agreement with you to watch it at your place. You’re not going to stand her up, are you?]
Xu Ling: [No problem with that! But can she take a vacation until July?]
Meng Bai: [No, but she said she’ll take leave and come back to watch it.]
After the shoot, Xu Ling took off her makeup and changed into her own—no, to be precise, Qin Cong’an’s clothes, preparing to slip away, but was caught by Yi Huai.
Yi Huai asked her, “What’s the situation with you and Qin Cong’an?”
“What!” Xu Ling said with an exaggerated smile. “Good sisters, what situation? Didn’t you say you wanted us to have a good relationship? Isn’t this it? Sister, I have to go. I can’t let a senior wait for me.”
Yi Huai really couldn’t refute and let her go.
Xu Ling jumped into Qin Cong’an’s car. This time, it really felt like they were eloping. “Let’s not go straight back. How about we have dinner outside?”
“Okay.” Qin Cong’an rarely ate out. She always ate alone at home. But since they were out, and Xu Ling wanted to go, then they would go.
Today happened to be a weekend. Xu Ling used her phone to book a restaurant. The private rooms at her favorite places were all booked. She remembered that the one she had gone to with Li Yan last time was not bad and tried her luck. She actually got a reservation.
Xu Ling entered the navigation. Qin Cong’an drove over. The further they went, the more familiar it looked. “Is this the one you went to a few days ago?”
“How did you know?” Xu Ling hadn’t even finished editing the picture and hadn’t posted it yet. But then she thought it must have been from what others had posted and answered her own question. “Oh, you saw it online, right? Yeah, yeah, it’s very delicious.”
This time, the direction they were coming from happened to pass by that dessert shop. Xu Ling had Qin Cong’an stop the car, and she went down to buy some directly. The cakes were easy to collapse, and some of the styles were not on the delivery platform, but she wanted to eat them.
Qin Cong’an could have stayed, but she silently got out of the car and followed her.
The scene that CP fans had dreamed of, of Xu Ling and Qin Cong’an appearing together in private, had actually come true.
[Not much to say, AnLing 99.]
[Damn it, I go to this shop often. I’m going to go there more often to try and run into them.]
[Ling Yu’s clothes…? Could they be An An’s?]
[No way, are they selling it this big again??? I’m a little scared, what do I do? I don’t dare to believe it anymore.]
Someone who had unfollowed quickly came out to pour cold water: [Of course you can’t believe it. Look at what day it is. They just announced that it’s coming to streaming. They’re just promoting again.]
