Chapter 13: Love Scene

With Rong Si’s military training over, the official filming of 《Girls’ Fortress》 began. During this period, Cheng Jinzhi and Rong Si shot several sets of photos, including promotional stills and production stills. The photos were taken by Ah M and her assistant from start to finish, and retouching was naturally handed to her studio. Their studio was very efficient—within a week, the initial images had been refined three or four times. In between, Yi Yi looked at them once and sent them back twice for revisions. In October, Yi Yi officially released the production news of 《Girls’ Fortress》.

Earlier, there had been no overwhelming promotion—only a few leaked set photos from the ceremony. It wasn’t until the promotional stills that formal publicity began. One could say that only now was Yi Yi somewhat satisfied with the film’s casting.

“It’s losing the way, and it’s thorns. It’s indulgence, and it’s downfall. Cheng Jinzhi#Rong Si#.” Soon, the official Weibo of 《Girls’ Fortress》 also released the promotional stills, tagging Cheng Jinzhi. Rong Si had no Weibo, so she just brought the topic tag along.

After the promotional stills, Ah M’s studio also released the nude photos from earlier. The nude photos pushed 《Girls’ Fortress》 straight onto the trending searches. Ah M handled the explicitness of the nude shots very well—flirtatious enough to be racy, yet still containing Eastern restraint. At minimum, everyone could tell: this was a lesbian film with a considerable amount of explicit content.

“Want to support Director Yi’s film, of course… but the leads… I’m refusing.”

“Like if you’d crowdfund to replace the female lead. I’d donate a hundred thousand.”

“Rong Si’s so pretty… never heard of her before. Anyone have the tea?”

During her break, Cheng Jinzhi opened her Weibo. DC had already reposted the 《Girls’ Fortress》 promotional post for her. Reposts and comments had both exceeded ten thousand.

“Are you really going to give up on yourself and star in a pornographic lesbian film?”

“Waiting for your new seeds. See you in the cloud drive [shy smile].”

“Not cursing you out today. Begging for Rong Si’s Weibo.”

“Rolling around begging for Queen Rong’s Weibo… love her… please open one please ahhh…”

Look at that—natural passerby appeal. Her persona hadn’t even been established, and she was already getting popular. These days, to make herself more approachable, Cheng Jinzhi had posted several photos of herself at work. Yet the comments were still from that same batch of 《New Tang Dynasty》 viewers. Was 《New Tang Dynasty》 really that bad? Cheng Jinzhi had no memory of it. So she downloaded a few episodes onto her tablet to watch herself.

After her scene was done, Rong Si stepped away from the camera. She took off her fur coat—this was a winter scene, so she’d been wearing a lot. She stripped down to just a white shirt, which was already soaked through. She folded the clothes as she walked; without a manager, she had to carry everything herself. Rong Si sat to the side, drinking several mouthfuls from her water bottle, as if trying to “cool down.”

“DC, go hang up Rong Si’s clothes.” Cheng Jinzhi said to DC beside her.

“On it.”

“Arrange a contract. Sign Rong Si into the company.”

The moment the words left Cheng Jinzhi’s mouth, DC looked troubled. “Boss, about that… I’ve actually mentioned it to Miss Rong before.”

“She doesn’t want to?”

“She didn’t say anything.”

Cheng Jinzhi glanced at Rong Si in the distance. That was indeed Rong Si’s style. For others, silence meant agreement. For her, silence meant refusal.

“Boss? How about I arrange a manager for Miss Rong?” This Rong Si was deeply favored by the boss now and had to be minded carefully. DC suggested obsequiously. “Remember Ah Jian? The one who flipped the PR script on the big flower’s divorce case. He’s looking to switch jobs recently. If you’re willing, I can arrange it.”

“Switching to me?” Cheng Jinzhi said coldly.

“No…” The boss’s tone was off. DC retracted his neck.

“I don’t have spare money for that. If she doesn’t want to join the company, forget it.” Thinking of the Weibo comments that had unanimously praised Rong Si, Cheng Jinzhi’s irritation flared. Like she was wasting her warm face on someone’s cold backside.

He’d thought the boss’s temper had improved, but she was still as moody as ever. DC glanced at Rong Si in the distance but didn’t move. He said cautiously, “Then… should I still go hang up Miss Rong’s clothes?”

“Hang them up. She’s a little internet celebrity now. If she gets photographed, who knows, some little fans might accuse us of bullying a newcomer.” Cheng Jinzhi had intended to say this normally, but it came out sounding sarcastic, with a distinct note of jealousy.

After DC left, Cheng Jinzhi lowered her head to look at her tablet. If she hadn’t watched her own drama, fine—but once she did, even she felt awkward. That stiff expression looked like an idiot, and that tacky movement… Cheng Jinzhi was “scalded” by her own acting.

“You haven’t come home these past few days.” Rong Si walked over, a bottle of mineral water in hand, and placed it by Cheng Jinzhi’s side.

“I came back on the weekend. Just late—you were already asleep.” Cheng Jinzhi said, pulling out her phone. “People are asking you to open a Weibo. Well, I’ll pass the message along.”

“Mm.” Rong Si only glanced at the screen, then looked back at Cheng Jinzhi. “Why didn’t you wake me when you came back?”

“You were asleep.”

Rong Si paused. “Really?”

“You’ve never been this considerate before.” Rong Si said, her tone self-deprecating.

…What had she done before? Cheng Jinzhi thought hard and seemed to remember something. When Gao Yi had ignored her, she’d had a few drinks and stumbled to Rong Si’s bed in the middle of the night. She’d meant to vent, but it turned into her begging Rong Si… Crying and begging beneath Rong Si, pleading for Rong Si to take her—she might have even shouted Gao Yi’s name… Such an embarrassing memory, and she hadn’t blacked out the next morning. Even more awkward was that she’d felt… good… Rong Si had barely any experience, yet she’d somehow given Cheng Jinzhi a wonderful experience. That was why Cheng Jinzhi had never been able to forget her. They’d slept together a few more times after that, and every time she was on top of Rong Si, she’d secretly glance at Rong Si’s fingers…

Cheng Jinzhi picked up the mineral water and took a small sip. “Mm… has your brother enrolled?”

“Mm.” Rong Si looked at Cheng Jinzhi. “Thank you.”

“No need.” Cheng Jinzhi had wanted to add “you deserve it” but stopped herself in time. “You deserve it” sounded more like a mockery.

“Mm… I’ve been busy with company stuff these days.” Since Rong Si had asked, she might as well clarify—she hadn’t been out having fun these days, she’d been doing real work. There was also one thing in the company that displeased her: Secretary Sun had been transferred to the materials receiving department, not fired. She’d been watching that Sun woman for days, afraid she’d get close to her mother. Yes, it was that woman who’d previously driven her mother to divorce her father. And knowing her mother also liked women, Cheng Jinzhi had doubted herself for a moment—so she’d inherited liking women?

Before meeting Gao Yi, Cheng Jinzhi had no concept of it. She’d first noticed Gao Yi for her acting. How naive she’d been back then—Gao Yi said they could discuss acting techniques, and she’d actually believed it. No acting was discussed, but plenty of bed techniques were practiced. Gao Yi had many “tricks,” and Cheng Jinzhi had long forgotten her original purpose.

“Mm.”

Just then DC slipped back from the director. “Boss, the next scene needs to be closed set. If you’re tired, I can tell the director we’ll shoot tomorrow.”

“It’s fine. Don’t delay the schedule.”

“Alright, I’ll clear the set.”

This scene was a steamy one—the first time Miss Jia met Weicheng. Weicheng was singing on stage, practically flirting with Miss Jia’s warlord father, which unexpectedly caught Miss Jia’s attention. In the dressing room backstage, Miss Jia came to invite Weicheng to the Marshals Mansion to perform. What followed was a fierce love scene: Miss Jia pressed Weicheng onto the makeup table and got intimate with her.

Rong Si had a perfect handle on Miss Jia. Cheng Jinzhi knew Rong Si could play Weicheng, but she hadn’t expected her to be able to play Miss Jia too. Probably because in her past life, she’d grown used to Rong Si playing Weicheng, seeing Rong Si play Miss Jia stirred something different in Cheng Jinzhi. It made her feel the role of Miss Jia had been made for Rong Si—even though the two were completely different people. Miss Jia was greedy and wanton; Rong Si was calm and restrained.

The preceding exchange of glances and subtle flirtation went smoothly. Rong Si’s Miss Jia, after inviting Weicheng, turned and walked to the door. Miss Jia stopped. She lit a cigarette for herself, picked at the splinters in the doorframe, her eyes full of desire. Then she took a hard drag and flicked the cigarette away.

Cheng Jinzhi’s Weicheng, in front of the mirror applying rouge, saw Miss Jia return in the mirror and smiled knowingly.

Rong Si’s hand rested on Cheng Jinzhi’s shoulder, then tested her way up to the back of Cheng Jinzhi’s neck.

“Eldest Miss, whatever is the matter?” Cheng Jinzhi thought Rong Si was amazing. Usually, she was cold as ice, but once in character, even her hands were warm.

Rong Si lowered her head and whispered into Cheng Jinzhi’s ear. “You’re so beautiful.”

Then Rong Si kissed Cheng Jinzhi’s ear, her cheek. It started slowly, but then Rong Si lifted Cheng Jinzhi up and hastily unbuttoned her cheongsam. Cheng Jinzhi glanced at Rong Si’s hands. Rong Si was truly in character—even her wrists trembled with nervous tension, perfectly matching the desire-consumed Miss Jia.

“Mm ah…”

In this scene, Miss Jia hadn’t fully taken Weicheng yet; she still had reservations. There was a production still from this scene: Cheng Jinzhi was naked, while Rong Si’s Miss Jia was fully dressed, looking especially refined. In this scene, Rong Si didn’t take anything off, but Cheng Jinzhi was stripped clean.

Once the take was done, Rong Si took off her costume and wrapped it around Cheng Jinzhi. Cheng Jinzhi looked at Rong Si. A moment ago Rong Si had been excited; the instant the director called cut, she returned to her calm self.

After the scene, the director went out, leaving room for Cheng Jinzhi to change. Cheng Jinzhi held her clothes and glanced at Rong Si. The director left—why are you still here?

“I need to… change…” Cheng Jinzhi said awkwardly.

Rong Si’s calm expression cracked slightly. She turned her face, took two steps, then suddenly spoke. “Because it’s not her?”

Her? Who’s her? Cheng Jinzhi thought for a long time. Only after Rong Si left did she realize—was Rong Si talking about Gao Yi?