Chapter 9: Am I Your White Moonlight? (9)

That familiar tone in those two sentences instantly gave Jiang Ning a bad premonition. She even began to wonder if this System had been planted by Lin Yiren as a spy.

With that thought in mind, Jiang Ning eyed Lin Yiren with scrutiny, but the way she acted so carefully and timidly made it seem like she didn’t have a System at all.

If anything, it made Jiang Ning feel like she was the Sugar Patron, and Lin Yiren was a Kept Canary hoping for a word of praise. The corner of Jiang Ning’s mouth curved as she shut down her laptop and set it on the nightstand.

“Wanting a reward, are we?” Jiang Ning deliberately pretended not to catch Lin Yiren’s meaning. Propping herself up on her left hand against the pillow, she tilted Lin Yiren’s chin up with her right, her thumb brushing slowly back and forth across her lips. Her pleasant voice carried a teasing hint of laughter.

Jiang Ning was only teasing, pure and simple, but in Lin Yiren’s eyes it took on a whole different meaning. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and she clutched the hem of Jiang Ning’s clothes, nodding slowly. Anticipation brimmed in her eyes, so full it was about to spill over; if she were refused, it would probably turn to tears in an instant.

At that thought, Jiang Ning smiled, pressed her thumb a little harder against Lin Yiren’s lips, then got up and went to the bathroom to wash her hands.

The sound of running water sent Lin Yiren’s heart racing. She even felt a little thirsty. When Jiang Ning came back out, her gaze darted about yet was full of expectation, sweeping over Jiang Ning’s lips. The lipstick was already gone, and her original soft, rosy lip color looked positively delicious.

Every one of Jiang Ning’s movements seemed to be exactly what Lin Yiren had imagined, and yet not. The moment Jiang Ning leaned in, her mind went completely blank. Her instinctive reaction was to close her eyes; she was afraid that if she kept looking, her heart wouldn’t be able to withstand the beauty before her.

First came a trace of moisture on her lips, then a slow, patient brushing. She felt the tip of her tongue being teased and licked, and Lin Yiren’s grip on her nightgown tightened as all the blood in her body rushed to her head. With a low roar, she felt as if she were floating on air.

Dizzy beyond all sense of direction, Lin Yiren wanted to raise her hands in surrender from a single kiss alone. When the phone rang, she felt both relieved and disappointed. Once she’d steadied her breathing, she realized it was only nine o’clock. No wonder her agent was still calling.

“Yiren, Director Lu moved the costume photos up to tomorrow. Be ready, okay?”

Lin Yiren put it on speaker, and Jiang Ning heard every word the agent said as clearly as she did, toying absently with Lin Yiren’s black hair, her expression unchanged.

At least when Lin Yiren saw that Jiang Ning felt no disappointment whatsoever, she still felt a little deflated.

Was she the only one hoping their relationship could go further?

Jiang Ning noticed Lin Yiren’s mood and smiled a little roguishly. Her next words made Lin Yiren’s face flush red from ear to ear: “If you’re not afraid of being unable to get up tomorrow, we can keep going.”

Lin Yiren flung her phone aside and immediately yanked the covers up over herself without replying. When she felt Jiang Ning’s arm wrap around her, she was mentally screaming like a groundhog.

“Get some rest. Goodnight.” Jiang Ning reached out and loosened the blanket a little so Lin Yiren wouldn’t suffocate, while still being considerate of her shyness.

For a moment, Lin Yiren’s head was filled with nothing but she’s so good at this! I want to marry her!

But remembering that she had to go out to work the next day, Lin Yiren pushed down her restless self and rested up, conserving her energy. Tomorrow she still had a Green Tea Bitch to fight.

That Green Tea Bitch was, of course, Bai Keke, the one who had previously screwed over Jiangtian Entertainment. Lin Yiren knew a fair bit about the situation at Jiangtian Entertainment, and after doing some digging, she’d put Bai Keke on her personal blacklist. When she spotted her at the costume photo shoot, the curve of her lips didn’t change, but in her heart she was already plotting how to deal with this White Lotus, this Green Tea Bitch of a bad woman who had bullied Jiang Ning.

When the two met the next day, they exchanged a few rounds of polite back-and-forth, hypocrisy hidden beneath their smiles.

“Young Miss Bai is every bit as they say on Weibo.” Just yesterday, someone had called out Bai Keke’s fake persona online, exposing her as a two-faced Green Tea Bitch. Though the trending topic was quickly taken down, film crews were full of gossips, and most of them had seen it.

Hearing this, the people around them exchanged glances. It seemed Lin Yiren didn’t think much of Bai Keke.

Bai Keke had originally planned to put on a surface-level show of friendliness with Lin Yiren, but at those words she immediately fired back: “Young Miss Lin’s older brother is also exactly as rumored, I see. Such a sister complex…”

Lin Yiren and Bai Keke were playing the dual female leads of the drama. By Lin Yiren’s standing alone, she wouldn’t have landed a role opposite Bai Keke, already a first-tier star, so quickly; it was Lin Zhiyuan who had pulled strings to get her in.

Bai Keke couldn’t stand the sight of Lin Yiren either. Lin Yiren might be Lin Zhiyuan’s younger sister, but she had joined Jiangtian Entertainment, making them sworn rivals. After the barb, Bai Keke thought of how Lin Yiren was surviving only on resources she herself had passed over, and the smile on her lips grew a touch more genuine.

So what if she was a Young Miss of the Lin Family? She was still being crushed under Bai Keke’s heel. A little background wasn’t worth fearing.

Lu Youen, the drama’s director, was famous for his sharp tongue. He had never shown a kind face to anyone who got in through connections or couldn’t act. Bai Keke could already picture Lin Yiren getting chewed out in a few days’ time.

After a few rounds of direct sparring, the two soon headed off to their respective dressing rooms to prepare their makeup for the day’s costume photos.

Lin Zhiyuan didn’t want Lin Yiren squeezed in with a crowd, so he had hired a personal makeup artist for her; the crew only needed to provide the space. Lu Youen didn’t refuse, and their little exchange of barbs went in one ear and out the other for him. As long as they acted well and didn’t cross his bottom line, he couldn’t care less.

Bai Keke emerged first, wearing a white dress scattered with small flowers, paired with an innocent smile. The girl-next-door image was on full display, the kind that easily stirred a protective instinct. Seeing the amazement in everyone’s eyes, Bai Keke felt secretly smug. But that smugness nearly cracked her smile right off her face when she saw everyone’s attention shift to Lin Yiren as she came out.

Lin Yiren’s features were also on the softer side, carrying the graceful air of a Jiangnan woman. The difference was that Lin Yiren didn’t beam like Bai Keke had. She came out with a blank expression, and when she saw Lu Youen, the corner of her lips curved into a smile so faint it was barely there, somehow sending a chill down people’s spines. Just as everyone else’s smiles froze stiff, Lu Youen, in a rare occurrence, actually smiled.

Exactly. Two girls with soft features: one genuinely radiant, the other faking it convincingly.

Whether Bai Keke’s sunshine was real, Lu Youen couldn’t say, but being able to act it was good enough. What struck him about Lin Yiren was how utterly genuine her first impression felt, as if she herself were Pure Outside Dark Inside to the bone.

One reason Lu Youen had agreed to Lin Zhiyuan’s request was that he knew Lin Yiren had acted before, and acted well. That was no secret to anyone who bothered to look. He had once overheard a friend mention her name in passing, and hadn’t expected her to return to the country and end up in his crew.

Shooting Bai Keke a glance, Lu Youen’s face betrayed nothing. Acting skills were fine, but attitude was another matter. He hoped she knew where the line was, or he wouldn’t mind replacing her.

Everyone who had just witnessed Lu Youen’s smile was astonished, and they all formed a new impression of Lin Yiren, understanding now that her earlier performance had been an act. Bai Keke was the same. She had meant to outshine Lin Yiren, only to be shown up by a newcomer. Her expression turned ugly, but an actor’s basic professionalism held, and she didn’t dare withhold face from Lu Youen.

She had actually preferred Lin Yiren’s role at first, but she’d been a step too late, and playing it might have become a point of attack against her own image anyway. So she’d let it go.

During the costume photo shoot, neither of them pulled any petty tricks to stall progress. While waiting their turn, Bai Keke and Lin Yiren “chatted and laughed merrily” together, and the stench of Plastic Sisters rolled off them in waves. Bai Keke had no intention of throwing mud at Lin Yiren in public for fear of getting flak herself; sooner or later someone would smear her anyway. As for Lin Yiren, she had spotted Jiang Ning standing in a corner.

With her beloved watching her, a blush rose on Lin Yiren’s face, and she instinctively sheathed her edge, her whole bearing turning reserved and gentle.

Jiang Ning hadn’t come to show off like some Domineering CEO visiting the set for the sake of presence. It was because the System had warned her that the Female Lead was about to cry. That was why she had dropped her work and rushed over without a moment to spare.

Jiang Ning met Lin Yiren’s gaze and gave a small nod, telling her to focus on her work. Lin Yiren’s smile pleased Jiang Ning and soothed her heart considerably, but since Lin Yiren wanted to enter the entertainment industry, crying scenes were inevitable. Jiang Ning couldn’t possibly attend every single one; even if she went bankrupt and became her personal assistant, she couldn’t shield her completely.

“System, isn’t this quest bugged?” If Lin Yiren flubbed take after take of some heartbreaking crying scene, wouldn’t Jiang Ning be cried into on-the-spot bankruptcy?

The System was silent for a moment. It hadn’t considered this problem. Flipping through its manual, it explained:

【Host 0368, the Female Lead always has a reason to cry, and it’s always accompanied by emotional turmoil or some kind of purpose. Therefore, every instance of crying will be counted in the point deductions.】

Jiang Ning fell silent, gazing at Lin Yiren leaning against the wall. She was smiling brightly, yet in the shadows there was a trace of something unreadable about her, leaning there lost in thought.

What Jiang Ning noticed were her long, straight legs, which looked like they’d be lovely to the touch. Her thoughts drifted inexplicably toward scenes beyond description.

“Then what if she cries in bed?” Jiang Ning asked only in passing, but it was enough to make the System crash.

The System looked at Jiang Ning seriously, then glanced at Lin Yiren. Recalling the Female Lead’s reactions in front of Host 0368 yesterday, it decided it wasn’t entirely impossible. In that case, docking Points would be rather unjust.

【I will submit a request to the Spacetime Bureau and report this special circumstance, to try to minimize the losses.】

Jiang Ning didn’t answer. Instead, she strode over quickly and wiped the tears from Lin Yiren’s face. When she heard the System notify her that the task had been salvaged in time, her expression softened a little.

The others had no idea what was going through Jiang Ning’s mind; they were simply startled by her action and privately speculated that something was going on between them.

It seemed their relationship wasn’t just that of a CEO and her employee.

“You crying gives me heartache.” Jiang Ning had no idea what the others were thinking. She only felt that her money was literally being washed away with the water. For some reason, hearing this, the System felt that Host 0368 seemed like a total scumbag, sweet-talking out loud while her mind was always on money.

The moment it finished that complaint, another System message sent itself out.

【Do the Female Lead’s tears make your heart ache so much you want to comfort her? If so, take the Female Lead out for a walk and help her clear her mind!】

【Limited-Time Quest Issued: Walk 9,999 steps together with the Female Lead within three hours, symbolizing long-lasting happiness ever after~】

The drawn-out lilt at the end left Jiang Ning in silence. Had this Conquest System forgotten that she still had an entire company of people to support?

Quests were issued at random, and the System had no way to control it. Noticing this grim fact, it volunteered:

【Don’t worry, Host 0368! Go have fun with the Female Lead. I’ll keep an eye on the company for you!】

With those words, hope welled up inside the System. Maybe Jiang Ning would praise it for being cute, for stepping up in such a critical moment, handling company matters so her host could focus on romance. Wasn’t a Little System like this a rare treasure indeed?

The System was already braced to receive its praise. Jiang Ning’s response, however, was utterly cold: “Mm. Off you go.”

The System’s smile instantly froze.

???

Does the Little System not deserve to be praised?