As the chief director, Zhang Nanchuan had to be able to see everything happening on set, even if he wasn’t directly involved, so he could maintain control at all times. Naturally, he didn’t miss the commotion between Chu Feiliang and Rong Guang.
Seeing that Rong Guang was getting sleepy, he thought for a moment and decided not to call her over to wash her face. He very seriously and properly intended to try filming a scene with her genuinely asleep, just to see if it was feasible.
But if she were truly dead asleep, it would be difficult for the actress to control her actions. If Chu Feiliang were to catch her off guard and wake her up, they would have to do another take. That much was obvious.
On the other hand, Rong Guang being half-awake and half-asleep right now, though painful for her, was actually easier to control.
He made an ‘OK’ gesture in Chu Feiliang’s direction, silently asking if she was ready.
Chu Feiliang nodded and returned the gesture, indicating that she could start at any time.
Only then did Zhang Nanchuan nod in relief. He put down his megaphone, picked up the walkie-talkie beside him, and said, “All units, get ready. Action!”
Ji Ying was carrying a massive wooden box, struggling to move it from outside into the room.
Inside the box were stacks of green bricks and tiles. Their color was rustic, yet they were brand new and neatly stacked, clearly having been purchased recently.
Outside, a fine snow was still falling, blanketing the entire ground in layers.
She gently placed the box in the corridor next to the room, flexed her fingers, and the first thing she did was draw a basin of water from the well to wash her hands clean.
A moment later, she added some hot water, soaked a towel, and sat down by the bed to slowly wipe the face of the person lying quietly there.
Her movements were practiced, clearly having done this more than once.
As she wiped, she squinted at the rustling snowscape outside the window and said, “You used to always complain about missing the first snow. You said snow was a rare sight in your hometown, and seeing the first snow was a matter of luck, something you could only hope for. But this year’s snow has been heavy and long, and you still ended up missing it.”
The person on the bed had their eyes closed, their breathing peaceful and deep.
At some point, the snow outside had stopped.
Ji Ying put down the borrowed book she was reading and squinted, looking at a ray of sunlight that had found its way in through the window.
The sunlight was perfect, falling precisely on the corner of Jiang Wenmou’s lips before disappearing by her ear, casting a hazy golden glow over the lower half of her face.
Ji Ying propped her chin on her hand, her head tilted slightly, and stared intently at the person on the bed. After a while, she murmured, “I’ve been here watching over you for three years, using countless fine medicines. Every doctor who has come to see you says your internal injuries have healed. The fact that you haven’t woken up yet is all because you don’t want to.”
As she spoke, her hand gently touched the strands of hair at Jiang Wenmou’s temple.
The hair was soft and dark, just like Wen Mou had been after becoming Jiang Wenmou. She showed no temper at all; no matter what Ji Ying said, Jiang Wenmou would always smile and say yes.
She was nothing at all like Wen Mou.
Wen Mou was always full of life, cheerful and exuberant, scampering about all day like a little monkey. If you took your eyes off her for a second, she’d genuinely be up a tree picking peaches, always covered in dirt. She really had no connection to the words ‘Jiang Huai’ or ‘great contemporary Confucian scholar’.
“Then why on earth…” Ji Ying said, gently lying down beside Jiang Wenmou on the pillow, “are you unwilling to wake up?”
Jiang Wenmou’s breathing was faint and long. As Ji Ying watched, she seemed to be mesmerized, nuzzling against her neck and letting out a long, slow sigh.
Then, her head slowly moved upward, and she placed a light kiss on Jiang Wenmou’s lips.
She then slowly moved to the corner of her mouth, her gaze lingering and gentle as she looked at her sleeping face.
It was only the slightest touch, but as Ji Ying pulled away, it was filled with an immense reluctance.
She sat back down on the low stool by the bed, her gaze distant as she looked out the window. “The Li Dynasty’s power is all but gone now. After the fall of Lu Xi, the late emperor passed away, and the new emperor ascended the throne. The old court officials all have their own agendas, and the regional lords are getting restless, dreaming of becoming the true masters. But I can’t manage any of that. I’ve been living here in anonymity, terrified of anyone discovering your existence, just watching over you. But what about you?”
After she finished, her gaze fell on something not far outside the window.
In the distance stood two tombstones.
On one was carved, ‘Tomb of my late maternal grandfather, Jiang Huai,’ while the other was an unmarked stone.
It had been there when Ji Ying arrived; she hadn’t erected it.
She knew Jiang Wenmou had left it for herself. She also knew that if Jiang Wenmou had continued to drag on in that body, hollowed out by the feigned death potion, it was only a matter of time before her lamp ran out of oil and she died a premature death.
So she had prepared a tombstone for herself in advance.
Intending for Ji Ying to never even find her.
“You were so ruthless,” Ji Ying murmured, reaching out to gently take Jiang Wenmou’s hand, which was resting near the window, and squeezed it in her own.
Sensing it was too cold, she carefully cupped it and blew a warm breath on it, rubbing it in her hands for a while.
“You never, not once, left me a way out,” Ji Ying’s final words made even her own lips curve into a bitter smile.
She placed Jiang Wenmou’s hand back under the covers, added more charcoal to the fire in the room, and then put on a thick fur coat, muttering under her breath, “I never blamed you, but you should hurry up and wake up to see. This house, every brick and tile, I built it for you exactly as you once described. I finished it today. The pigsty and chicken coop in the backyard are done too. I even used the finest green bricks and tiles, carrying them up the mountain box by box. It’s enough for you to chase piglets and gather eggs to your heart’s content every day, and I promise it won’t collapse.”
After speaking, Ji Ying seemed a little unhappy about having done so much work. She turned back and resentfully gave the still-unconscious Jiang Wenmou a light bite on the lips before heading out the door.
For an instant after Ji Ying left, a white ring appeared around the bitten lip.
Ji Ying left quickly, so she didn’t see that after she was gone, the person on the bed seemed to struggle to move a finger, and her lips, whether from rebounding or trembling, also moved imperceptibly.
“Alright, cut!” Zhang Nanchuan called out, thoroughly satisfied.
This scene wasn’t actually difficult to shoot, but they had discussed it for a long time, as if they had hit a bottleneck.
It was clear that any approach would work and be logical, but it just didn’t feel good enough. It was acceptable, but not brilliant.
Chu Feiliang’s earlier suggestion had logically cleared up many of the sticking points.
Including the final scene for Rong Guang, which he had been stuck on for a while, unable to figure out how to proceed.
Now, everything was crystal clear.
Zhang Nanchuan was watching the playback on the monitor when he looked up and saw Chu Feiliang approaching. He paused, instinctively glancing behind her. “Where’s Xiao Rong?”
She had been so sleepy just a moment ago, looking like she could pass out any second. Why wasn’t she still in bed?
Was she awake?
That was a bit too fast.
Zhang Nanchuan scanned the area but couldn’t find her. He could only retract his gaze and sigh with emotion that it was good to be young; their energy was just boundless.
Chu Feiliang’s lips curved into a smile. “She got shy and ran off.”
On the playback monitor, the scene had just reached the part where she kissed Jiang Wenmou with great reluctance.
They were all professionals, so no one felt embarrassed.
Zhang Nanchuan watched for a while to confirm there were no issues with the take, then glanced at Chu Feiliang.
Chu Feiliang shot him a sideways glance. “If you have something to say, just say it.”
Zhang Nanchuan rubbed his nose. “It’s nothing particularly special.”
Chu Feiliang crossed her arms, hummed softly, and took a sip of water from the cup Wang Lujie handed her.
Only then did Zhang Nanchuan rub his hands together and say in a low voice, “I saw you kissed her more than once. After kissing her, you even went back and bit her. That’s not quite what we discussed before, is it? Why did you suddenly turn into a dog?”
“There’s nothing wrong with it.” When facing Zhang Nanchuan, Chu Feiliang was completely invulnerable, feeling not the least bit embarrassed. She said openly, “We already agreed I would improvise, and you would follow my lead. Since that’s the case, how I improvise is up to me, isn’t it?”
Zhang Nanchuan was rendered speechless. After a moment, he muttered under his breath, “I didn’t say it wasn’t up to you, but it looks to me like you’ve decided to stop being a decent person. Bullying a little girl like that, launching a sneak attack while she’s half-asleep, you must be so proud of yourself! If I didn’t know what kind of person you are, I’d think you were some…”
“Some what?” Chu Feiliang raised her eyelids and gave Zhang Nanchuan a cool, indifferent look. “An old pervert deliberately taking advantage of someone?”
Zhang Nanchuan stared at his nose, which was pointing at his heart, not about to admit that was his implication.
Chu Feiliang didn’t mind. She shrugged, sighed leisurely, and said, “You think being a decent person is so great? To tell you the truth, not being a decent person is where true happiness lies.”
“Nonsense,” Zhang Nanchuan scoffed.
Chu Feiliang shrugged and said with a smile, “Are you still holding on, old man? You’ve been a decent person for so many years, have you won sister-in-law back? No. Now look at me. How long has it been? The big fish is already about to take the bait.”
Zhang Nanchuan froze completely.
The first half of her sentence had wounded him so deeply that he completely missed the second half.
After a long moment, he said sullenly, “Our relationship isn’t what you think.”
“Yes, I know,” Chu Feiliang nodded. “You both care too much about face, and you both can’t let go. That’s why you two have only been able to miss each other all these years. Sometimes I wonder what you’re trying to achieve, just making yourselves suffer, making things difficult for yourselves.”
She seemed to remember something and murmured, “To put it bluntly, you just haven’t tasted the sweetness yet. Once you do, you’ll know just how good it feels to not be a decent person.”
Zhang Nanchuan glanced at her, pursed his lips, and, fuming, walked off with his hands behind his back to take a stroll.
The next shot was for a different group of actors, and the main set was elsewhere. He was very busy and needed to go explain the scene.
Chu Feiliang watched Zhang Nanchuan leave, then let out a soft humph. She sat down in her chair, crossed one leg over the other, and said, “Play that last take back for me again.”
“Sure.” The cameraman knew Chu Feiliang’s status and, without a word, replayed it. This was the most common thing for actors in the crew to do after finishing a scene.
After all, no one wanted to look bad.
Chu Feiliang knew her own acting and what she looked like, so this time, she focused mainly on Rong Guang.
Finally, her gaze lingered for a moment on Rong Guang’s lips, which had turned slightly pale from her bite before instantly flushing a deep crimson. She squinted, feeling a pang of regret.
If she had known, she would have bitten a little longer.
With Rong Guang’s cat-like personality, she would have known it was for the scene and gone along with it, not resisting in the slightest.
What a pity.
After biting her, she should have taken a good look for a while longer.
Rong Guang’s lips were crimson and moist, looking very kissable.
And now, all she could do was stare at the monitor, trying to quench her thirst by gazing at plums.
Not only did it fail to quench her thirst, but it actually made her feel even more parched.
Chu Feiliang stood up.
The footage had already looped to its second playback. The cameraman had nothing else to do and was watching along with her.
When he saw Chu Feiliang suddenly stand up as if to leave, he was taken aback and said, “Teacher Chu isn’t going to watch anymore?”
Chu Feiliang usually watched a take at least five times, taking notes in between, and sometimes even asking for the opinions of those around her.
If there were many people and a lot of action in the scene, the number of viewings would only increase, and she would watch even more seriously and with greater concentration.
But this time, she had only watched it once… and now she was leaving?
The cameraman was a bit dazed, staring at the replaying footage, unable to snap out of it.
Chu Feiliang waved her hand and said, “I’ll watch it later. I need to find someone, it’s urgent.”
She was going to find Rong Guang.
There was no urgent matter, of course; it was just a casual excuse.
But once she caught her, it would become an urgent matter. After that, she would have to quench her thirst, and badly.
The cameraman could only nod, watching Chu Feiliang’s back. For some reason, a word suddenly came to mind: monkey-anxious.
Rong Guang was at the sink, splashing water on her face.
In winter, the water from the tap was so cold it was bone-chilling.
She was actually still sleepy, her mind dizzy and not at all clear.
She was so sleepy she even felt like she might have been hallucinating just now. She felt so light-headed that even walking required Chacha to support her, otherwise she would lose her direction, her legs as soft as cotton.
Chacha watched with a worried expression as Rong Guang splashed water on her face. “Sister Guangguang, are you okay?”
Rong Guang shook her head in a daze and looked up at her reflection in the mirror.
She only had a layer of foundation on her face. At this moment, she looked exceptionally clear. The water droplets clinging to her face didn’t smudge her makeup at all, instead making her look even more tender.
Rong Guang finally felt a bit more awake and said softly, “I’m fine, I just feel…”
“Feel what?” Chacha blinked her big eyes.
She was still holding her iPad, occasionally glancing down to work on a problem while still being able to respond to Rong Guang, not letting either task interfere with the other.
Rong Guang paused, hesitating, but finally said, “It’s nothing.”
As she spoke, she gently pressed her lips together, feeling that they were still burning hot.
Moreover, the sensation of being bitten with perfectly judged force was still there on her lips.
It wasn’t forceful enough to cause her pain, but the pressure was definitely not light… at least right now, her lips were still tingling hotly.
It didn’t hurt, but there was a numb, itchy sensation. For some reason, her lower lip felt hotter than her upper one.
And between her lips…
Rong Guang’s breath caught. She couldn’t bear to think about it anymore, feeling for a moment that she must have gone mad.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was possible. Looking at herself in the shattered piece of the mirror on the wall, Rong Guang dazedly turned on the faucet again, cupped her hands underneath, and splashed more water on her face.
After a while, she lifted her head, panting.
Then, out of the blue, she saw in the broken mirror that not far away, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed, was Chu Feiliang, watching her coolly.
Rong Guang: “!”
In the moment she was stunned, Chu Feiliang seemed to know she had been spotted. She stopped leaning against the tree and walked over.
Her pace was unhurried, like a leopard closing in on its prey.
Rong Guang stood quietly in place, watching her, feeling an indescribable nervousness.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The atmosphere instantly peaked, tinged with a strange awkwardness.
Chacha’s eyes were wide with innocence as she looked back and forth between them.
Finally, Chacha cautiously raised her hand, turned on the adjacent faucet, and broke the silence, asking in a small voice, “Sister Chu, are you here to wash your mouth too?”
Rong Guang’s breath hitched. When she registered what Chacha had said, she nearly fainted.
The corner of Chu Feiliang’s mouth twitched visibly. She turned to Rong Guang and said with a deadpan expression, “Wash my mouth?”
Rong Guang nervously licked her lips, offering a pale and futile explanation, “No, not wash your mouth, Sister, let me explain…”
“What’s there to explain?” Chu Feiliang pointed expressionlessly at the nearby faucet, then glanced at Chacha. “Does Chacha lie?”
Chacha’s little radar finally detected that something wasn’t quite right.
She looked up in confusion and, instinctively trying to help Rong Guang without any concern for her own reputation, said very clearly, “Chacha knows how to lie.”
Chu Feiliang: “…”
Rong Guang just wanted to find a hole in the ground to crawl into immediately!
On the verge of tears, she pulled a crumpled five-yuan bill from her pocket and said, “Chacha, go buy a lollipop—you can also take my phone and video call Ye Zi. Just don’t be here!”
“Okay.” Chacha cheerfully took the phone and skipped away.
Watching Chacha’s retreating back, Rong Guang belatedly felt a flicker of suspicion.
However, the reality of the situation didn’t give her much time to think.
Chu Feiliang stood with her arms crossed, waiting for Rong Guang to look at her, then reminded her coldly, “Washing your mouth.”
The topic Rong Guang thought Chacha had managed to divert was brought right back by Chu Feiliang with ease. She was about to fall to her knees.
She waved her hands, looking completely overwhelmed. “I really wasn’t—I washed my whole face, I was just trying to wake myself up!”
Chu Feiliang stared at her face for a long moment before letting out a cold syllable from her nose: “Hmph.”
Rong Guang detected a hint of yielding in that “hmph” and quickly pressed her advantage, saying in a small voice, “I really wasn’t specifically washing my mouth. Besides, we… we had discussed it beforehand, I was pre…”
No.
She wasn’t prepared.
Or rather, she was prepared for Chu Feiliang to kiss her.
But she hadn’t expected that Chu Feiliang would not only kiss her but also bite her after kissing her.
And after biting her, she had even licked her.
God only knew how much willpower it took for Rong Guang not to actually open her eyes at that moment!
Her legs hidden under the blanket were shaking; she refused to believe Chu Feiliang hadn’t noticed!
Not only that, but Chu Feiliang had even held her arm down, preventing her from moving, clearly anticipating her potential subconscious reaction and stopping it in advance.
Chu Feiliang had premeditated kissing and biting her!
Chu Feiliang hadn’t given her a heads-up about this beforehand!
Chu Feiliang looked at her, pointed at the faucet, and seized the initiative. “Then why did Chacha say you were here washing your mouth?”
Rong Guang covered her face and said weakly, “I wasn’t washing it, I was just… cooling down.”
Chu Feiliang’s heart stirred. “Cooling what down?”
Rong Guang was getting a little frantic, her face flushing red.
Did Chu Feiliang really not know, or was she just pretending not to know?
Her voice was a little rushed. She glanced around, making sure no one was there, before saying, “Just now, you…”
“Oh.” Chu Feiliang seemed to have been waiting for Rong Guang to bring this up.
Hearing this, she responded slowly, a corner of her lip twitching upwards. She deliberately avoided saying it herself, slowly asking, “What about just now?”
Rong Guang braced herself and said, “Didn’t we agree on just a couple of kisses…”
“Did we?” Chu Feiliang tilted her head as if thinking, then spread her hands. “I don’t really remember.”
Then, using the same line she had used to fool Zhang Nanchuan, she spun it again for Rong Guang. “Plans can’t always keep up with changes. I didn’t expect the improvisation to have such a good effect—but you see, doing it this way better releases Ji Ying’s mixed feelings of love and hate for Jiang Wenmou. Besides, she’s been bottling it up for three years, with no one to talk to and no one to play with. It’s a wonder she hasn’t gone mad. How could she possibly treat Jiang Wenmou with such tenderness and gentleness forever?”
Rong Guang was left stunned by her explanation.
Every time Chu Feiliang seriously analyzed the characters and their psychology with her, she had a way of convincing people, even if a million things felt off.
Chu Feiliang glanced at Rong Guang without a trace of being noticed, cleared her throat, and continued, “So, after she kisses her so preciously, she thinks about how she gave up almost everything for Jiang Wenmou. But what about Jiang Wenmou? She died in front of her twice without ever taking her into account—if that were you, wouldn’t you be angry? Wouldn’t you be anxious?”
Rong Guang nodded hesitantly. “I’d definitely be angry and anxious.”
“Then that’s right.” Chu Feiliang bared her teeth in a smile, one filled with pride and temptation. “So, it’s only logical for her to bite someone. And after biting, she feels bad, so… cough, licking you is also logical. You see, how do animals show affection? They lick fur, right? For a person, wouldn’t that be licking lips?”
Rong Guang: “…”
She had a profound feeling that something wasn’t right, and at that moment, she was finally starting to get it.
However, she hesitated for a long time, unable to bring herself to expose the lie.
Besides, she had her own selfish reasons.
If Chu Feiliang had to go to such great lengths to explain a single kiss, what about in the future?
Would she need even more excuses to kiss her again?
This was not the development Rong Guang was hoping for.
What if it became difficult to find excuses later? Would the kissing stop?
Rong Guang longed for a time when Chu Feiliang could kiss her, lick her, and bite her whenever she wanted.
That was what she was hoping for!
Seeing Rong Guang nod along absently with her train of thought, Chu Feiliang looked at her carefully and said slowly, “So, for your upcoming final scene, are you all prepared?”
“Mm…” Rong Guang was still thinking very seriously.
She was thinking about how to make it more logical.
Chu Feiliang continued, slowly, speaking a very long sentence without giving Rong Guang any time to react: “Director Zhang said my kiss scene today gave him an idea. The bottleneck for that scene you were stuck on is gone for him now. The method is simple. If we want to highlight the unguarded, trusting, and beautiful memories of the Wen Mou period, and have it echo this scene to create a sense of beginning and end, so that Ji Ying’s affection and adoration don’t seem too abrupt… the best way is to add another kiss scene, and, it has to be initiated by Wen Mou kissing Ji Ying.”
Finally, she said slowly, “What do you think?”
“Huh?” Rong Guang finally looked up blankly, blinking her eyes. “Wha… what…?”
What did she think?
Chu Feiliang slowly tapped her finger on the faucet, playing with it until a water droplet that had welled up disappeared. Only then did she slowly pull her hand back and say, “About your final scene… cough, Director Zhang’s arrangement for you, what do you think? Are there any changes needed?”
“Director Zhang’s arrangement?” Rong Guang asked, then thought for a moment and said with great trust, “No, I trust Director Zhang.”
Chu Feiliang nodded with profound meaning, her smile brilliant. “Right, we should all trust the director.”
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