Chapter 13: The Film Empress Who Jumped Off a Building to Commit Suicide (13)

The silk nightgown was lightly tugged open at the collar by slender fingers.

Her snowy white skin, tender as fresh snow, took on an alluring faint pink hue under the soft glow of the yellowish bedside lamp.

The deceitful little troublemaker tried to shrink away, but her wrists were bound tight by a tie, leaving her helpless—like a lamb awaiting the slaughter. Her eyes trembled with grievance and fear, able to do nothing but watch as the woman above her leaned down.

The first kiss landed on the fragrant softness of her neck.

The cool press of those lips drew a delicate shiver from her. As she stammered in protest, they trailed downward, reaching her collarbone. There, they no longer showed mercy, nipping with punitive intent.

Her delicate skin bloomed with a decadent, vivid red mark from the bite.

This time, the girl was truly frightened. She whimpered, trying to pull back. “Bai Qian… wuu… I was wrong… wuuu… I swear I’ll never… mmph.”

Her remaining pleas were swallowed whole by the woman’s lips.

The wedding night of “Empress Jiang” and “Dugu Han.”

Discarding the monotonous routine of the past, they embraced a more adventurous progression.

The two visited several classic spots.

Bathroom, kitchen, balcony…

Only as dawn broke was the pitiful empress—who had cried herself hoarse over the loss of her only son—finally spared.

Shao Zizhi slept straight from dawn until dusk. When she awoke, she sensed something amiss in the room.

Bai Qian’s pillow was gone.

“Bai Qian!”

She called out several times, but no one answered.

With a sigh, she rolled out of bed to go look for her.

But the moment her toes touched the floor, her legs gave out, and she pitched forward uncontrollably.

Fortunately, the floor was carpeted, so her knees didn’t hurt too badly when they hit.

Shao Zizhi sat there for a moment to catch her breath, then limped awkwardly along the wall and out of the room.

Sensing something, she turned directly toward the secondary bedroom next door.

The door swung open, and the sight of the furnishings inside sent her stumbling to the floor once more.

This time, it hurt enough to bring tears springing instantly to her eyes.

~~~

Everything belonging to Bai Qian in the room had been cleared out completely.

Bai Qian had decided to teach that girl a lesson she’d never forget—to see if she’d dare spin such an outrageous lie again!

Dragging her suitcase, she stormed out the door, unsure at first where to go.

Finding a new place on short notice wasn’t easy, so she checked into a hotel for the time being.

Having gone all night without sleep, she rushed straight to the set after moving out. Once filming wrapped, exhaustion hit her like a wave; all she wanted was to collapse back at the hotel and sleep.

Zhao Tong cornered her. “Shao Liangrong’s coming by later with some bird’s nest porridge. You sure you don’t want to stick around and try some?”

“No thanks. Right now, all I want is to go back and crash.”

Seeing how genuinely drained she looked, Zhao Tong didn’t push. “What exactly did you get up to last night? You really didn’t call Shao Zizhi to pick you up? Don’t tell me you’re gonna sleep right through to the end of the line.”

Bai Qian waved her off. “I’m heading out.”

Yawning, she stepped out of the old building being used to film the new storyline unit. Right in front of her pulled up a car she knew all too well.

The girl inside didn’t honk obnoxiously to announce her presence this time. She simply stopped quietly before Bai Qian, then lowered the window to reveal her face—eyes still puffy from a long crying jag.

“Bai Qian, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lied to you. I’m sorry. Please don’t move out. I was wrong… wuu wuu… I was wrong.”

Bai Qian’s expression darkened. “Didn’t I tell you not to come to the set?”

“Wuu wuu… Otherwise, how would I find you? Bai Qian, come back home. I was wrong. Come back with me, please?”

Bai Qian glanced around warily, still uneasy. She hardened her face into a stern command. “Drive away now. You’re not allowed to come to the set looking for me again, got it?”

“Wuu wuu… No! If you won’t come with me, I’ll just follow you everywhere.”

“Shao. Zi. Zhi.”

“Come home with me, and I’ll be good. I promise I won’t come looking for you anymore.”

Bai Qian gritted her teeth. “You’ve gotten bold, haven’t you? First you figure out how to trick me, and now you’re threatening me?”

Shao Zizhi shook her head, her little face a picture of pitiful grievance amid the tears. “I didn’t mean to. I was wrong—I know I was wrong. Don’t abandon me, Bai Qian… wuu wuu… Come home with me. Please come home.”

“And if I say no?”

Shao Zizhi sniffled. “Then tomorrow, I’ll post on the X Platform that we’re living together!”

“Shao Zizhi!”

“Bai Qian, I like you. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like me back—I like you, and that’s enough. You don’t have to agree to anything, but you have to come home with me.”

Having laid her confession bare, Shao Zizhi suddenly felt fearless. “Anyway, if you don’t want to see our names trending together tomorrow, come home with me! Bai Qian… wuu wuu… I promise I won’t pull any more tricks like that to deceive you. Really, I swear!”

Bai Qian had had enough of this love-struck fool. She yanked open the car door and slid inside, not even bothering with her seatbelt as she urged, “Drive. Hurry up and go.”

Shao Zizhi refused to budge. “Bai Qian, I just confessed to you, and you haven’t answered me yet.”

“Drive first. Then I’ll answer.”

“Oh.”

The car proceeded at a steady pace, but Shao Zizhi’s choked sobs filled the air. Bai Qian couldn’t take it anymore. “Can’t you calm down for a second?”

The young woman sounded deeply aggrieved. “The moment I saw your things were gone, my heart just broke. I held it together until I got out of the house, but then I couldn’t anymore. I want to calm down now, but you have to give me a little time to process your reaction.”

“Fine. Then calm down properly.”

“Bai Qian, we’ve been driving for ages now. You can answer my question.”

Bai Qian replied without a shred of mercy. “If I answer, you won’t be able to calm down at all. So it’s better if I stay quiet.”

Shao Zizhi hesitated before murmuring, “It’s okay. I’m ready. No matter if you like me or not, I can handle it calmly. Bai Qian, tell me—will you go out with me?”

“No.”

“I understand.”

Shao Zizhi delivered the words with remarkable composure, only to let out an involuntary sob-hiccup right after.

“I’m fine, Bai Qian. Don’t worry about me. I… boo-hoo… I’m totally calm. I… waaah… Why don’t you like me? Waaah, what’s wrong with me? How can you say something so cold? Waaah, Bai Qian, how can you be so cruel?”

“Pull over.”

“Waaah, no way! If I can’t have your heart, I’ll take your body!”

Bai Qian: ?

Where on earth had she picked up that line from some trashy domineering-CEO romance?

“Pull over. I’m still young—I don’t feel like dying today.”

“Wuuuh? What do you mean?”

“You nearly clipped the guardrail back there. I’m not entrusting my life to you right now. Pull over. I’ll drive.”

They switched seats. Shao Zizhi curled up pitifully in the passenger seat, sniffling as she asked, “You really don’t like me, huh? What if you don’t like me this year, but you start next year? Is that okay?”

Bai Qian kept her eyes straight ahead, nose to the grindstone, completely tuning out the constant buzzing from the woman beside her.

“Wuuuh, this isn’t the way home. Wuuuh, Bai Qian, wh-where are you taking me?”

“To pick up my luggage.”

The young woman’s tear-streaked face twitched with every sob, making her look as pitiable as could be. “Bai Qian, you can’t do this to me again. You have no idea how scared I was. You wouldn’t even let me call anyone to look for you. I can’t bear not seeing you. Just thinking about it… wuuuh…”

“Just the thought that I might never see you again makes my heart ache like it’s being squeezed. It hurts so much, wuuuh. Bai Qian, you can’t leave me like that ever again. I like you so much. And I’m loaded, too. You don’t have to like me back—wuuuh—but you can’t like anyone else. You can’t take my money and spend it on being nice to other people. That would make you the worst. Wuuuh, why would you even like someone else? Why?”

Bai Qian: “…” The sheer size of the Shao Family’s imaginations shattered her worldview yet again.

…

Bai Qian discovered that the door to the secondary bedroom was completely locked. Abandoning her suitcase, she marched into the kitchen to confront the woman sipping water there.

“Why won’t the secondary bedroom door open?”

Shao Zizhi had calmed down by now, though her eyes were still puffy and red. “I locked it. It’s staying locked forever!”

“Then where am I supposed to sleep?”

The young woman huffed. “You slept in the master bedroom last night? That’s where you’ll sleep tonight. And every night after!”

“Don’t you remember what you told me before? You said you weren’t some love-brained idiot. Take a look at yourself now—isn’t this exactly what a love-brained idiot does?”

“Then I take it back! I am love-brained! Starting now, I’m going to force you to love me! You can only stay right by my side—no going anywhere else!”

Bai Qian rubbed her forehead. “Try to cut back on that weird stuff from now on. And as for ‘forcing love’—”

The woman curved her lips into a smirk. “What happened yesterday? That was forcing love. If you don’t know how to use the word, don’t throw it around.”

Shao Zizhi’s face flushed bright red. “I need some water! Stop looking at me!”

Bai Qian decided not to tease the thin-skinned yet stubbornly bold young woman any further. Whether it was the master bedroom or the secondary one made no difference to her. They’d already shared the most intimate act possible—getting hung up on trivial details now would just come off as pretentious.

She had just finished arranging her clothes when Shao Zizhi came in carrying a shopping bag.

“These are couple’s indoor slippers. I got the black pair for you, and white for myself. Put on the new ones when you go shower later.”

“These two pairs are the cotton slippers for after a bath. They’re the same color, but the patterns on top are a little different—yours has a piggy, mine has a kitten. I took them apart. If you’re cold, just wear these.”

“This tooth mug set and electric toothbrush are yours. Mine’s right here. Help me carry them inside and set them out together.”

“Wait a minute. If I’m not mistaken, little miss, didn’t I just say no?”

Shao Zizhi puffed herself up with confidence despite her utter lack of logic. “I know! But right now, I’m forcing my love on you, so I can’t hear your rejections at all!”

“…”

Bai Qian gave up arguing with anyone from the Shao family.

Their “forced love” cohabitation life officially began.

Bai Qian felt it wasn’t really any different from before.

Aside from all her personal items being forcibly upgraded to “couple’s editions,” the daily routines they followed at home stayed exactly the same.

Shao Zizhi’s Autumn Chill Cold River Waters finally started filming.

Bai Qian received a selfie of her in costume and finally let out a breath of relief.

The scumbag man’s hidden threat had been truly uprooted at last.

All that was left was to supervise Shao Zizhi safely finishing Autumn Chill Cold River Waters and Sha. Then this world’s mission would be complete.

Shao Zizhi came home late that night. Bai Qian had already climbed into bed and was about to sleep when she walked in, carrying a chill from outside.

Her first words upon seeing her were as familiar as ever.

“I’m home, Bai Qian! Did you miss me?”

Bai Qian calmly pretended she hadn’t heard a thing.

Undeterred, the other pressed on. “I missed you! Bai Qian, I missed you so much!”

She came over and squatted by the bedside, staring up at Bai Qian with big, pleading eyes like an adorable little puppy. “Bai Qian, are you about to sleep? I hardly ate anything today. I’m starving now. Can you keep me company for some late-night snacks? I want to eat with you.”

Bai Qian sighed helplessly. “Are you still in elementary school? Can’t eat unless someone’s there to hold your hand?”

“If pretending to be an elementary schooler gets you to say yes, then sure, I’m one! I picked up some braised meats and bought two packs of luosifen. Are you hungry? If you are, I’ll cook your share too after my shower, and we can eat together!”

Bai Qian was speechless. “Luosifen this late at night? You’re not worried the stench will keep you awake?”

Shao Zizhi looked genuinely troubled. “What do I do then? It’s all I bought. The braised meats alone won’t fill me up.”

Bai Qian felt less like a guardian and more like a full-time nanny.

“There are dried noodles in the cabinet, aren’t there? Cook those. Touch the luosifen, and you’re sleeping on the couch tonight.”

Shao Zizhi nodded obediently. “Okay, fine. But don’t go to sleep yet. Wait for me to shower, then keep me company while I eat.”

“I didn’t agree to that.”

“Doesn’t matter, woman. You don’t want to find out what happens when you anger me!”

“…”

Someone come take this short-circuit-brained fool away!