Chapter 11

That little incident from the night before didn’t affect the drama’s official start of filming.

In the morning, Director Zhang personally held the opening ceremony.

Jiang Lai didn’t go. She hid in the changing room, altering the costumes that would be used in the drama.

“Big Sister Jiang, can I come in?”

Xiaoman, the little assistant by Cheng Shuyang’s side, peeked her head in sneakily. The moment she saw Jiang Lai, her eyes practically disappeared from smiling.

“Hm? Xiaoman, what are you doing here?”

Jiang Lai kept working as she spoke.

Xiaoman was Cheng Shuyang’s little assistant, young and fond of acting spoiled and cute. She had a blind admiration for Jiang Lai, but when it came to work, she was decisive and efficient, so everyone doted on her too.

Xiaoman came in and casually closed the door before sitting down in front of Jiang Lai. She rested her chin on the table and watched boredly as Jiang Lai altered the clothes.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, don’t even get me started.”

Xiaoman slumped back in the chair dejectedly. “You have no idea how annoying that Lin Wanqiu is. She practically wants to stick herself all over Huaicheng-ge.”

Jiang Lai paused, then smiled faintly. “That’s her freedom. If you don’t like watching, then just don’t watch.”

“Ahhh!”

Xiaoman shook Jiang Lai’s arm and asked pitifully, “Big Sister Jiang, why did you two break up? I used to ship you so hard. Besides you, I really don’t think anyone else is worthy of Huaicheng-ge…”

The smile on Jiang Lai’s face faded a little. “Since I’ve already broken up with him, don’t say things like that anymore.”

“Was there really no chance to fix it…”

“Xiaoman, not all love ends happily.”

“But…”

“Xiaoman.”

Before Xiaoman could finish, Cheng Shuyang pushed the door open and came in.

“Aunt Cheng? Is the opening ceremony over?”

Jiang Lai put down the clothes in her hands and asked.

Cheng Shuyang nodded, then looked at Xiaoman with a hint of helplessness. “What did I let you in here for? Why can’t you hide your feelings at all?”

Xiaoman stuck out her tongue. “I know I was wrong, Aunt Cheng…”

“All right.”

Cheng Shuyang sighed. “I ordered coffee for everyone. Help me hand it out.”

“Got it, I’ll go right away!”

After Xiaoman left the changing room, Cheng Shuyang looked at Jiang Lai with some apology. “Sorry, Alai. Xiaoman didn’t mean anything by it.”

Jiang Lai knew what Cheng Shuyang meant. She waved it off. “It’s fine. Xiaoman is like a little sister to me. I won’t blame her.”

“Oh, right.”

Jiang Lai lifted the piece of clothing in her hands and waved it at Cheng Shuyang with obvious pride. “Since you’re here, Aunt Cheng, why don’t you try this on? If anything doesn’t fit, I can still alter it for you.”

Cheng Shuyang smiled as she took the clothes, turned, and walked toward the fitting room. Jiang Lai thoughtfully drew the curtain closed for her.

The room was quiet to the point of feeling unnatural. Faintly, one could hear the sound of Cheng Shuyang’s clothes being unfastened. With the atmosphere like this, Jiang Lai felt inexplicably irritable. She hurried to the table, grabbed a bottle of mineral water, and gulped down half of it before finally managing to calm down.

“Alai, are you still outside?”

Right then, Cheng Shuyang called for Jiang Lai again.

“What is it, Aunt Cheng? Is something uncomfortable about the clothes?”

“No. Can you come in for a moment?”

“Ah... that doesn’t seem appropriate…”

Jiang Lai’s emotions were rising and falling like a roller coaster.

“It’s fine. Come in.”

Since Cheng Shuyang had said so much, refusing again would seem a little bad. Jiang Lai took a deep breath and carefully lifted the curtain, afraid she might see something she shouldn’t.

Fortunately, Cheng Shuyang had already finished putting on the costume. Only then did Jiang Lai let out a breath of relief, though a trace of disappointment still slipped through her heart.

As if she had seen through her thoughts, Cheng Shuyang smiled and tapped her on the head. “You weren’t thinking something you shouldn’t have been thinking, were you…”

“No, no, absolutely not!”

Jiang Lai shook her head so fast it was practically a rattle.

Seeing this, Cheng Shuyang couldn’t help wanting to tease her. “Then why is your face so red, Alai? You have to tell the truth…”

“Aunt Cheng, stop teasing me, okay?”

Jiang Lai looked like she was about to cry.

At that, Cheng Shuyang broke into a wide smile and swept her hair to one side. “All right, I won’t tease you anymore. The zipper at the back won’t go up. Can you help me zip it?”

“Oh, okay…”

Jiang Lai reached out and brushed against Cheng Shuyang’s skin; it was a little itchy, and Cheng Shuyang couldn’t help shrinking slightly.

“All right.”

Jiang Lai’s voice was a little hoarse. She stepped back two paces and studied Cheng Shuyang from head to toe, admiration in her eyes without the slightest attempt to hide it. “Aunt Cheng, you’re so beautiful.”

“Are you praising me, or praising your clothes?”

“Of course I’m praising you!”

Cheng Shuyang fiddled with the hem of the costume. Just as she was about to bend down, Jiang Lai grabbed her wrist.

“I’ll do it. It’s inconvenient for you to bend over in a skirt.”

With that, Jiang Lai crouched down and smoothed out the wrinkles in Cheng Shuyang’s clothes.

“I heard that Zh... Xu Zhiyi also wants you to be her exclusive designer?”

“Mm, she mentioned it to me.”

“...Then what are you thinking?”

Jiang Lai kept her head down, so her expression couldn’t be seen clearly. “I told her that I’m the designer the director invited, and also your designer, Aunt Cheng. If she wants that, she needs your and the director’s agreement.”

Cheng Shuyang looked at the girl’s face and couldn’t help reaching out to pat her fluffy head, then held out a hand toward her. “Get up. Don’t keep squatting there.”

Jiang Lai placed her hand in Cheng Shuyang’s palm and used the pull to stand. But she had squatted too long; everything went black before her eyes, and she nearly fainted to the floor. Luckily, Cheng Shuyang reacted quickly and caught her. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“I’m fine. I just squatted for too long. I’ll be okay in a bit.”

Jiang Lai was a little dizzy, so she could only cling to Cheng Shuyang for support, resting her face on Cheng Shuyang’s shoulder and closing her eyes comfortably.

Cheng Shuyang didn’t dare move around carelessly, so she could only let Jiang Lai stay like that. The posture continued for a very long time.

“Big Sister Jiang, your coffee!”

Xiaoman pushed the door open excitedly, only to see this scene. She stared in shock, her mouth falling open so wide the coffee in her hand nearly dropped to the floor.

That voice jolted Jiang Lai awake too. She hurriedly let go of Cheng Shuyang, took the coffee from Xiaoman’s hands, and ran out of the changing room with a flushed face. “Aunt Cheng! Thank you for the coffee!”

With the warmth in her arms suddenly gone, Cheng Shuyang’s heart felt as if it had gone empty all at once. Looking at the girl’s retreating back as she ran away, she smiled and shook her head, calling after her, “Alai, slow down. Don’t fall.”

But Xiaoman beside her was already so excited she could hardly contain herself. Who knew what it felt like to watch your idol run into the arms of your other idol?

She only felt like she was about to go crazy. And those two somehow looked really well matched, too; the chemistry was way stronger than the one Jiang Lai had with Qin Huaicheng!

Forget it. She decided from today on, she was going to start shipping the two of them. Gentle older top and straightforward younger bottom or whatever; this was way too easy to ship!

At that moment, Jiang Lai still had no idea how much Xiaoman would help her in her future chase for love. But that was a story for later...

Author’s Note:

Xiaoman: “Shh! I think I’ve discovered something incredible…”