CHAPTER 81

She was getting closer and closer to Qin Yinong, close enough to see her long and thick eyelashes one by one.

Qin Yinong didn't dodge or avoid it, her lips curved into a contented smile.

Tang Ruoyao's warm breath gently brushed Qin Yinong's lips.

Their lips were just about to touch, no more than two centimeters apart.

If Tang Ruoyao leaned down just a little bit more, they would touch. She was eager to try, and her throat unconsciously swallowed.

Qin Yinong, however, just stared at her intently, her gaze deep and tranquil, not saying a word.

Tang Ruoyao's fingers, propping herself up on the sofa, suddenly tightened. With just these two centimeters, she couldn't continue any further.

But she didn't want to leave either, so the two of them remained in a stalemate.

Maintaining the posture of wanting to kiss but not kissing, their eyes met, their breaths intertwined.

Guan Han: "..."

Are they both playing hard to get? How can they not kiss like this?!

Tang Ruoyao glanced at her wristwatch. After about two minutes, she lightly brushed Qin Yinong's lips with her fingertip, not just slightly slow, but as if the entire length of a song had slowed down. She softly said, "Got some soup on there."

Qin Yinong didn't take her eyes off her and murmured softly, "Hmm, thank you."

Tang Ruoyao still spoke gently, "Shall I go and freshen up then?"

Qin Yinong replied with a simple "Okay."

But Guan Han felt that something was off about her tone. She inexplicably detected a gentle and tender flavor.

Tang Ruoyao probably felt the same way. She briefly paused, her gaze sweeping over a strand of stray hair on her forehead. As if guided by an invisible force, she raised her hand and gently tucked it behind her ear.

A smile blossomed in Qin Yinong's eyes.

Tang Ruoyao smiled too.

The two of them gazed at each other affectionately.

Guan Han took a deep breath, not knowing why it felt more thrilling than watching a kissing scene.

In the end, Tang Ruoyao left the lounge without doing anything.

Qin Yinong changed her sitting position to lying on the sofa, covering her face with a veil.

Even so, Guan Han could still catch a glimpse of the corner of her lips, which had barely moved from under the veil.

.....

Xin Qian had already grown accustomed to Tang Ruoyao's occasional "seizures," so when she suddenly burst into laughter while doing her makeup, Xin Qian merely lifted an eyebrow and calmly continued with her work.

It amused Tang Ruoyao's makeup artist, who chuckled, "Miss Tang, can you be a little more composed?"

Tang Ruoyao immediately restrained her laughter and replied solemnly, "Of course."

Ten minutes later, the makeup artist accidentally smudged Tang Ruoyao's eyeliner.

Tang Ruoyao apologized sheepishly, "Sorry."

The makeup artist smiled.

After Tang Ruoyao finished her makeup, she ran into Qin Yinong unexpectedly as they both exited their respective lounges. They nodded to each other and naturally walked side by side to find Han Yuping.

Han Yuping glanced at Qin Yinong and didn't even bother to speak to her.

The assistant director, seeing the situation, stepped in to defuse the tension and said, "We still have a while to go here. The two of you can sit and rest for a bit."

Qin Yinong went along with it, and the chairs were immediately surrounded by assistants, leaving only a gap for Tang Ruoyao. Tang Ruoyao skillfully took the small stool next to her and, glancing at the pale-faced Han Yuping from time to time, silently contemplated things during her spare time.

Han Yuping had been angry for quite some time, a full two days. It wasn't until Qin Yinong received a good face from him that she felt relieved.

That page had been completely turned.

Next, the crew would temporarily leave Y City and head to another city to shoot the crucial scenes of the film, commonly known as the "honeymoon" stage where sweet moments were captured.

The night before, Tang Ruoyao had been flipping through the script repeatedly, so excited that she couldn't sleep. Fu Yujun had always teased her about having a government-funded love affair, but now she was truly experiencing it.

Qin Yinong removed the finger cot from her hand and discarded the used tissues into the trash can. Gradually descending from the clouds, she let out a yawn and slowly sank into a dreamland.

Early the next morning, the two leading actresses boarded the flight to the new filming location. With a large number of crew members, a few people were sent ahead to do some basic setup, while the majority would arrive later.

The production team took care of the plane tickets—first-class seats, adjacent to each other. Qin Yinong had a window seat, while Tang Ruoyao was by the aisle. As soon as they boarded the plane, Qin Yinong closed her eyes to rest.

Tang Ruoyao opened her mouth but swallowed the words she wanted to say.

In these past few days, Qin Yinong's attitude towards her hadn't changed much, even with the online rumors that had caused a stir. Except during filming, Qin Yinong seemed mentally absent on set, always looking seemed listless, lazily leaning there, with her droopy eyelids, as if she could fall asleep at any moment.

Tang Ruoyao saw Qin Yinong like this and felt too embarrassed to disturb her, which resulted in very few conversations between them recently.

Tang Ruoyao was anxious but couldn't do anything about it.

This morning, when they went downstairs, Qin Yinong greeted her listlessly and then remained silent until they boarded the plane.

"Senior Qin," Tang Ruoyao couldn't help but speak up.

"Hmm?" Qin Yinong didn't open her eyes and let out a tired nasal sound, as if she would fall asleep in the next second. Perhaps she was already asleep and Tang Ruoyao had awakened her.

Tang Ruoyao hesitated for a while and said, "It's nothing." Let her sleep.

"Hmm." Qin Yinong's slightly fluctuating heart calmed down.

Why was she feeling so down recently? Half of it was genuine exhaustion from being self-sufficient too frequently. The other half was an act she put on to avoid Tang Ruoyao's advances.

Perhaps Tang Ruoyao didn't consider it an advance, oblivious and unaware, but Qin Yinong couldn't resist anymore.

If Tang Ruoyao had kissed her that day, maybe she could have scolded her back and then deluded herself for a while. But she didn't. What Qin Yinong saw in Tang Ruoyao's eyes was a deeper emotion than just liking, intense and vivid, threatening to overflow.

Her gaze, her words, her actions, everything made Qin Yinong's heart race, so she had no choice but to temporarily avoid it in this way, allowing her overheated mind some time for clarity and calmness.

But the film shoot didn't give her a chance, instead pouring fuel onto the fire, as if afraid she wasn't chaotic enough. Qin Yinong was worried about how to handle the remaining half of the month's scenes. She could hide outside of filming, but inside the scenes, she had no way out.

Qin Yinong's eyelashes trembled slightly.

Tang Ruoyao, who was always attentive to her, thought she was having a nightmare and naturally leaned over, half-embracing her, gently patting her arm.

As an unfamiliar scent approached, Qin Yinong almost reacted aggressively. But after identifying the person, her tense nerves gradually relaxed. In her ears, she heard the clumsy and coaxing whispers of a young woman, saying, "Don't be afraid, be good."

Qin Yinong sneered inwardly.

What a cliché phrase. Who falls for that nowadays?

And then, surrounded by Tang Ruoyao's faint yet comforting fragrance, she drifted off to sleep.

Above the clouds, the sunlight was shining intensely, causing Qin Yinong to furrow her brows unhappily. Tang Ruoyao raised her hand and lowered the window shade on her side. Qin Yinong, in her half-asleep state, twitched her ears. Tang Ruoyao, being observant, immediately stopped and followed the same routine, coaxing her with a couple more sentences.

Qin Yinong opened her eyes slightly and closed them again.

Tang Ruoyao maintained her coaxing posture and completely lowered the window shade.

Guan Han, who had witnessed the entire process, was stunned.

But what shocked her even more came next.

After setting the shade, Tang Ruoyao didn't return to her own seat. Instead, she propped one elbow on the armrest and supported her chin with one hand, leaning sideways to observe Qin Yinong's sleeping face.

Qin Yinong sleep lightly, and if someone stared at her for a long time while she was asleep, she would inevitably wake up. Therefore, Guan Han never kept her gaze fixed on Qin Yinong's face when she closed her eyes to rest, as if making that mistake too often would cost her job.

Guan Han started to count the time.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes, five minutes.

Qin Yinong must have woken up by now, but she showed no response. Her acting skills were exquisite.

Guan Han thought to herself, 'Truly worthy of you, Miss Yao.'

There were only four people in the first-class cabin, and Xin Qian, another assistant, was already fast asleep. As soon as Tang Ruoyao showed signs of turning around, Guan Han cleverly pretended to be asleep, tilting her head as if completely unconscious.

Upon seeing both assistants asleep and Qin Yinong's face so close, Tang Ruoyao's heart raced.

Her lips were plump and rosy, on the verge of a kiss.

Tang Ruoyao inched closer, until she could feel the woman's fragrant breath. Her gaze shifted from the lips to Qin Yinong's snow-white earlobe. She leaned in, her slightly heavier breath brushing against it, teasing but not initiating.

Qin Yinong, pretending to be asleep, clenched her right hand into a fist.

Tang Ruoyao parted her lips, about to make contact, but then recoiled.

Qin Yinong's temple twitched twice. "..."

She didn't know whether to feel joy or anger.

Tang Ruoyao moved away, staring at her ear for a while before approaching again.

This time, she aimed for Qin Yinong's lips. Tang Ruoyao adjusted her posture with delicate movements, gripping the armrest with one hand, leaning over Qin Yinong, and gently covering her thin lips.

Her heart pounded wildly as she remained still for a moment. Seeing no response from Qin Yinong, she hesitantly extended the tip of her tongue, cautiously sliding it inside, touching the other person's teeth, and then paused, waiting.

Qin Yinong continued to maintain her stillness, not even fluttering her eyelashes.

Only then did Tang "Snail" Ruoyao slowly push into her teeth, exploring further inside.

Qin Yinong made a judgment in her heart about Tang Ruoyao—whether she was bold or timid. If she was timid, how could she dare to steal a kiss while she was asleep? If she was bold, why was she as unresponsive as a log, not even moving a muscle?

Wasn't she quite skilled at this before?

After what felt like a century of waiting, Tang Ruoyao finally moved. Their tongues met, lightly teasing each other with a couple of playful motions.

Qin Yinong resisted the urge to let out a soft moan and responded with her eyes closed when Tang "Snail" Ruoyao tasted her shallowly. She thought this young girl was quite good at seducing and could finally quench her thirst a little in her dreams—there hadn't been any kissing scenes in the scenes they had filmed for the crew during this period.

Little did she know that as soon as Tang Ruoyao sensed her response, she immediately retreated as if startled.

Then Qin Yinong felt the scrutinizing gaze fall upon her face.

And then... nothing.

Nothing?!

Qin Yinong almost couldn't control herself and "woke" up directly.

What was this? Teasing and then running away?

Tang Ruoyao suppressed her erratic heartbeat, calmed herself by adjusting her breathing, and looked at Qin Yinong pretending to be asleep next to her. The veins on her temple faintly pulsed, and the corners of her lips lifted slightly.

Shouldn't this be considered her victory?

If she didn't like her, why did she let her steal a kiss?

Leaving the dissatisfied Qin Yinong behind, Tang Ruoyao lowered her head and took out a memo pad. She completed the unfinished kiss in her imagination, almost making the plane fly out of control. After finishing, she felt reluctant to delete it, so she read it twice more before finally deleting it.

Tang Ruoyao's mouth felt dry, so she asked the flight attendant for a glass of lemon water and drank it all in one gulp before falling asleep.

After Tang Ruoyao fell asleep, Qin Yinong "woke" up, her face full of frustration. She wanted to imitate Tang Ruoyao's actions, but if Tang Ruoyao suddenly opened her eyes, she wouldn't know how to explain herself. She suddenly had a strange feeling of being passive. Tang Ruoyao could do whatever she wanted, while she could only watch silently, unable to even retaliate.

The flight lasted three hours in total, and Qin Yinong was awakened by the voice of the broadcast before landing.

"... Estimated landing time is X o'clock XX minutes. Please fasten your seat belts, passengers..."

She rubbed her sleepy eyes, thinking she was still in a dream. It wasn't until she heard a familiar and gentle voice by her ear, "Senior Qin."

Qin Yinong suspiciously looked at the young woman in front of her, who looked exactly like Tang Ruoyao. Did she dream about Tang Ruoyao again? How could the person in her dream be so clear?

Where was she planning to do it this time? Why were there other people around?

She looked around with a confused expression, and Guan Han, who understood her the best, timely said, "Qin Jie, you just fell asleep."

Qin Yinong shook her heavy head and pondered Guan Han's words.

She fell asleep?

Qin Yinong pinched her left wrist with her right hand, feeling the pain, and her memories before falling asleep slowly returned to her mind. After Tang Ruoyao seduced and ran away, Qin Yinong became a replica of Tang Ruoyao herself. The difference was that she stared for a long time but couldn't do anything. In the end, she could only sit back in her seat and mentally b*lly Tang Ruoyao.

During the process of fantasizing, she fell asleep.

Sigh.

"..." Qin Yinong pinched her forehead.

The flight landed, and they disembarked.

The four of them walked as VIPs, with Qin Yinong and Guan Han in the front, and Tang Ruoyao and Xin Qian in the back. Qin Yinong still couldn't believe that she had fallen asleep amidst the roaring sound of the plane.

"Did I really fall asleep?" she whispered to Guan Han for confirmation.

"Yes," Guan Han nodded, adding without any emotion, "You slept soundly."

Ah... she sighed internally.

"Then..." Qin Yinong glanced at Tang Ruoyao's figure in front and lowered her voice, asking, "Did she do anything to me?"

So you were pretending to sleep after all, and entered to the trap willingly.

Guan Han's eyebrow raised almost imperceptibly, and she continued to fulfill her duty in a flat tone, saying, "No. Oh, by the way." She took out her phone from her pocket and tapped on the screen a few times before handing it over.

Qin Yinong took it, held it in her hand, and looked closely. It was a memo.

Inside, there were precise time intervals down to the second, such as 13:32:10-59, look.

"What's this?"

Guan Han pushed her glasses up slightly. "Miss Yao started looking at you at one minute and thirty-two seconds, and stopped at fifty-nine seconds." She pointed to the notes, "The ones with the word 'look' represent her looking at you, and the ones with the word 'hand' represent her touching your hand."

Qin Yinong quickly scrolled down but didn't see any words like "kiss" or "touch." She breathed a sigh of relief. "Looking" naturally occurred most frequently and lasted the longest, almost every one or two minutes Tang Ruoyao would stare at her. But there were also quite a few instances of "hand," and Qin Yinong had absolutely no recollection of them.

This surprised her more than Tang Ruoyao secretly taking advantage of her.

"Did I really not wake up?"

Guan Han nodded earnestly, repeating her previous statement without changing a word, "You slept soundly." If only this movie could be filmed for several decades, Qin Yinong could maintain an unprecedented state of relaxation.

Qin Yinong looked ahead with a complex expression in her eyes.

Tang Ruoyao, who was multitasking, felt quite pleased. While enjoying the occasional glances from behind, she asked her assistant, Xin Qian, "Did you see anything on the plane just now?" Although she had fallen asleep as soon as she got on the plane and slept until landing, a genuine deep sleep, Tang Ruoyao still asked just to be sure.

Xin Qian replied, "Huh? What?"

Tang Ruoyao lightly tapped Xin Qian's head and said, "Alright, forget it."

Xin Qian became even more confused. "Huh?"

Tang Ruoyao chuckled.

She turned her head and called out to Qin Yinong, "Senior Qin, do you have time for a meal together at noon?"

A few members of the production team temporarily came over to the set, naturally to welcome and host them, although the conditions might not be great. Qin Yinong gave a signal to Guan Han, who understood and said, "Isn't it the production team's treat for lunch?"

Tang Ruoyao's spirits were high, undeterred. "Then how about dinner?"

Guan Han replied, "In the evening, Sister Qin is on a diet."

Tang Ruoyao said, "Okay."

She continued walking forward, showing no signs of discouragement.

Guan Han looked at Qin Yinong, and Qin Yinong whispered, "Let's go."

 After leaving the airport, the production staff from this side came to pick them up in a black seven-seater SUV, accompanied by a young man. After loading their luggage into the trunk, they set off towards their accommodation.

The young man acted as the driver, while the production staff sat in the passenger seat, engaged in conversation with the lead actress in the back.

Tang Ruoyao remained true to her usual silence, while Qin Yinong was the one chatting with the production staff. The production staff explained that they didn't book a hotel this time due to the filming location and instead rented several vacation homes extravagantly.

Qin Yinong suddenly had a bad feeling.

Upon reaching their destination, the driver opened the door, and Qin Yinong saw that the car was parked in front of a two-story red brick building. As everyone started to get out of the car one by one, Qin Yinong's intuition grew stronger. She glanced back and saw the driver pushing all the luggage into the courtyard.

Qin Yinong: "..."

She halted her steps towards the entrance and asked the production staff with forced composure, "Is this our accommodation?"

The production staff replied, "Yes."

He sensed that Qin Yinong seemed dissatisfied and assumed she felt neglected, so he hurriedly explained, "Miss Qin, don't worry. You and Miss Tang will be the only ones staying in this entire building. There's no one else, and it's quite spacious. As for the others..."

He gestured towards the surrounding buildings that were rented by the production team, "That one is for the supporting cast, three floors with one room per person. The remaining larger buildings are for the crew members to share; each room accommodates several people."

Qin Yinong closed her eyes and waved her hand, saying, "...Let's go inside."

This arrangement suited Tang Ruoyao just fine, but she didn't show any expression on her face and maintained her cool demeanor.

The production staff felt anxious but led the way with a brave face.

Did he make a mistake with the arrangement?

Previously, they were just across from each other at the hotel, and now they are next to each other. Moreover, the space is much larger than the hotel. What could be unsatisfactory about that? Did she expect to have a whole building to herself? That would be too extravagant, wouldn't it?

The exterior of the vacation home was well-maintained, with sunlight shining on the red bricks, giving it a rustic yet charming atmosphere. To be fair, Qin Yinong really liked this place, but... she had to share it with Tang Ruoyao.

After entering the front door, the whole interior of the house was visible. It was indeed spacious, clean, and bright, just as the production staff had described. Since the entire property was rented by the production team, there was no one at the reception desk, but there were various drinks at room temperature and a well-stocked refrigerator.

"The first floor is the living room and kitchen," the production staff walked inside and introduced, "The living quarters are on the second floor. This vacation home is quite upscale, like a villa. Upstairs, there are three rooms, two large ones and one small. There's also another room downstairs if you want to arrange for an assistant to stay."

Qin Yinong remained expressionless.

Tang Ruoyao concealed her joy.

The production staff wiped off some sweat and almost tripped on the stairs.

Upon reaching the second floor, the production staff opened both rooms. They faced north with plenty of sunlight, and surprisingly, there was a lake view outside the windows. It was indeed a lakeside villa, showing the thought put into it.

The production staff thought, 'This should be satisfactory, right?'

Qin Yinong looked up and fixedly stared at a corner above the corridor where there were traces of something being dismantled. The production staff followed her gaze and immediately smiled, saying, "Oh, there used to be a surveillance camera here. We've removed it, so don't worry."

After the incident that happened before and the thorough clean-up of the set, they couldn't afford to leave any evidence behind. It was better to dismantle the camera altogether and for all and reinstall it after filming was completed, once again ensuring peace of mind.

Qin Yinong's figure swayed, and she nearly blacked out.

Guan Han, quick to react, stepped closer, and Qin Yinong's hand rested on her arm for support.

With the surveillance camera gone, what could she use to restrain Tang Ruoyao and her restless heart?

After introducing everything, the production staff felt anxious and nervously asked, "Are the two seniors satisfied with this arrangement?"

Qin Yinong's eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Tang Ruoyao responded coldly, "Satisfied. You've worked hard."

The production staff looked at Qin Yinong again. Qin Yinong didn't want to make things difficult for the person in charge, but she was afraid of unforeseen and uncontrollable incidents with such a dangerous arrangement. Qin Yinong pursed her lips and asked, "Are there any other vacant rooms?"

"Are you referring to..."

"Besides this building."

The other person indeed looked uneasy and hesitated, saying, "Well... the accommodations were arranged based on hierarchy and the number of people."

"Are there no available rooms?"

"There are." Skipping over the option of staying with the crew members, the production staff said, "But the building where the supporting actors are staying is shared by many other seniors. It's crowded, and the location is not as good as here. If you want to assign bodyguards, it would be more convenient to guard this building."

As the person responsible for arranging accommodations, the production staff had done extensive research, especially for renowned actors like Qin Yinong, who was a super megastar. He knew that she didn't like noisy places, so initially, he only arranged Qin Yinong and Tang Ruoyao on the same floor — the expensive and serene floor that few guests would choose to stay on.

Later, after the incident on set, there were some individuals who appeared to be undercover bodyguards wandering nearby. Outside her own rest area, there were always four individuals in black suits and sunglasses standing guard. For safety reasons, this time they had arranged a separate building for her. Of course, they had considered giving Qin Yinong her own suite, but that would have exceeded the accommodation budget. It wasn't feasible for Qin Yinong to have a suite to herself while Tang Ruoyao had to squeeze in with others. After all, Tang Ruoyao was not an unknown figure either.

Upon closer observation, it seemed that the two of them had a good relationship, and they were both of the same gender. So, they followed the previous arrangement at the hotel and placed both lead actors here.

After hearing the production staff's explanation, Qin Yinong hesitated.

If it were anyone else, Qin Yinong wouldn't be so conflicted. She had stayed in similar guesthouses before, and her neighbor at the time was the "Empress" her online fans had playfully crowned her. The two became friends after filming a movie together.

The resourceful and tactful production staff couldn't anticipate Qin Yinong's dissatisfaction, and he was sweating profusely in panic.

Qin Yinong said reluctantly, "Forget it, let's leave it like this." She would figure out a solution on her own.

The production staff clasped his hands together and bowed, expressing his gratitude. "Thank you, Senior Qin." He didn't forget about Tang Ruoyao and thanked her as well.

Tang Ruoyao narrowed her eyes and lowered her gaze.

She pondered over Qin Yinong's various behaviors since they entered the house. It was all so unusual, as if she was afraid of something. 

Was she afraid of her?

A faint smile tugged at the corners of Tang Ruoyao's lips.

"Senior Qin."

"Hmm?" Qin Yinong turned her head.

"Which room are you staying in?" Tang Ruoyao asked, her voice carrying a hint of playful amusement.

Author's Note:

Sister Qin, the big bad wolf is here, be careful~

BACK | TABLE OF CONTENTS | NEXT