Chapter 17

After a lot of coaxing, Cheng Shuyang finally managed to get Jiang Lai, who was completely drunk, back to the guesthouse. But she still couldn’t bring herself to leave her alone in the room; worried something might happen, she had no choice in the end but to take Jiang Lai to her own room and look after her there.

“Aunt Cheng..."

“Shh..."

Cheng Shuyang covered Jiang Lai’s lips with a hand, her voice soft and coaxing. “Be good, A-Lai..."

Seeing Cheng Shuyang standing right in front of her, Jiang Lai obediently closed her mouth.

When Cheng Shuyang glanced at the wall clock, she saw it was already nearly midnight. Everyone else had long since gone to sleep. Afraid of waking the others, she moved with the utmost care and finally got the girl into her room without any mishap.

She gently lowered Jiang Lai onto the bed, and only then did she let out a long breath of relief.

Normally, she never had the chance to look at Jiang Lai this closely. Every time Jiang Lai saw her, she would either blush or look away, refusing to meet her eyes.

Suddenly, Cheng Shuyang felt a little mischievous. She leaned in slowly and studied Jiang Lai carefully. Mm, her eyelashes were long; she was beautifully delicate in a very pleasing way too. Unable to resist, she reached out and poked Jiang Lai’s cheek. It was as soft as she’d imagined, and her personality was so well-behaved...

Satisfied, Cheng Shuyang was just about to stand up and pour her some water when her wrist was suddenly caught. Thinking she had been caught sneaking a look, she felt a little guilty.

“A... A-Lai?"

Jiang Lai didn’t answer. Instead, she tightened her grip on Cheng Shuyang’s wrist. Cheng Shuyang instinctively lurched forward, but her reflexes were still faster than gravity; she managed to brace herself with both hands and avoid the embarrassment of falling onto Jiang Lai.

The position between them was now especially intimate. Cheng Shuyang could only feel something shifting in an uncontrollable direction, and that thought made her uneasy...

Before she could think any further, Jiang Lai reached out and touched Cheng Shuyang’s eyes and brows, tracing them inch by inch. Her voice was a little hoarse. "Aunt Cheng, how can you be this beautiful..."

Her breath brushed Cheng Shuyang’s face, and all Cheng Shuyang could think was that even she was starting to feel a little drunk...

“A-Lai..."

Cheng Shuyang swallowed hard, trying to push Jiang Lai away.

But for some reason, Jiang Lai had unbelievable strength. She clung to Cheng Shuyang’s neck and refused to let go, her eyes misty, as if she were the one being bullied, making it impossible to bear scolding her.

Cheng Shuyang was most afraid of Jiang Lai’s eyes, especially in a situation like this. She drew a deep breath and gently covered Jiang Lai’s eyes with her hand.

Cut off from the light all at once, Jiang Lai grew a little frightened. Panic crept into her voice. “Aunt..."

Jiang Lai was already beautiful to begin with, and now that she was drunk, even the rhythm of her speech carried a teasing allure, like a kitten scratching at Cheng Shuyang’s heart. Cheng Shuyang only felt as if she’d gone mad; her usually calm heart was beating wildly now...

“If I let go, will you behave and go to sleep?"

Her tone was coaxing.

“Okay..."

Jiang Lai answered quickly, like a child.

Following her own words, Cheng Shuyang slowly removed her hand and looked at Jiang Lai.

“Aunt Cheng..."

“Mm?"

“You’re so beautiful..."

Cheng Shuyang felt helpless, but she still couldn’t bring herself to be harsh, so she could only keep coaxing her.

“You are too."

“Aunt Cheng, do you like me..."

Cheng Shuyang froze. Her face flushed red from the tips of her ears all the way to her cheeks. “A-Lai..."

“Aunt Cheng..."

Jiang Lai clung to Cheng Shuyang and kept acting spoiled.

“All right..."

Cheng Shuyang pressed Jiang Lai down, her voice gentle. “I like you. I like you."

Like a child who’d finally gotten the candy she wanted, Jiang Lai smiled brightly.

“A-Lai, will you sleep now?"

Jiang Lai ignored her completely, her fingers rubbing over Cheng Shuyang’s lips again and again.

“A-Lai..."

Jiang Lai suddenly tightened her arms, sat up, and without warning pressed a kiss to Cheng Shuyang’s lips.

Seeing her face suddenly fill her vision and feeling the warmth on her lips, Cheng Shuyang forgot how to move for a moment; her mind went completely blank.

Jiang Lai suddenly opened her eyes and met Cheng Shuyang’s gaze directly. Hot breath washed across her face, and in the whole room, only the ticking of the clock could be heard.

It was only a fleeting kiss, ending very quickly; the warmth on her lips vanished just as fast...

“Aunt Cheng..."

The warmth still seemed to linger on her lips. Cheng Shuyang let out a breath, her voice trembling so slightly that even she didn’t seem to notice it. “Sleep..."

Like a pebble dropped into the center of a still lake, sending ripples spreading outward layer by layer, that night Cheng Shuyang, who usually slept very well, suffered from insomnia for the first time...

She realized something was wrong with her. When Jiang Lai kissed her just now, her heart had raced almost beyond control...

“Something’s wrong. Really wrong..."

She turned over and looked at the sleeping Jiang Lai, warning herself over and over in her heart: “Cheng Shuyang, one pit is enough. Don’t fall into it a second time..."

The next day, perhaps because of the aftereffects of her hangover, Jiang Lai woke up very early. The moment she opened her eyes, she held her breath and quietly looked at Cheng Shuyang, who was sleeping in front of her...

They were only a few inches apart; so close that Jiang Lai could make out the fine down on Cheng Shuyang’s face...

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she stared at the woman without blinking. In the past, on set, she had only dared to steal glances, and if she was caught, she would quickly look away; she had never looked at her from so close before...

The woman suddenly frowned, and Jiang Lai startled and leaned back a little.

After a while, seeing that the woman had no reaction, she slowly sat up, carefully got out of bed, and on her way out picked up the clothes scattered across the floor. Before leaving, she even thoughtfully tucked the corner of the blanket around Cheng Shuyang.

Just as she gently closed the door, she didn’t notice that the woman had already opened her eyes and was staring fixedly at her back...

Only after closing the door did Jiang Lai finally let out a breath of relief. But the moment she turned around, she froze again. She had assumed no one would be out at this hour...

Xu Zhiyi, standing across from her, looked at her with a faint, unreadable smile. Then she glanced at the room number beside Jiang Lai and asked in a probing tone, “You slept in Cheng Shuyang’s room last night?"

“Ah..."

Jiang Lai rubbed the bridge of her nose in embarrassment. “I got drunk last night... Aunt Cheng brought me back..."

“Oh..."

Xu Zhiyi drew out the last syllable. “Being drunk and losing control... that’s a very convenient excuse."

“Teacher Xu!"

Hearing Xu Zhiyi say that, Jiang Lai’s expression turned cold at once, and her tone became indescribably stiff. “If you have nothing else to say, I’m going now. Also... I’m completely clean with Aunt Cheng, so please don’t damage her reputation!"

After saying that, she didn’t care what expression Xu Zhiyi was making and turned straight back to her own room. Only after closing the door did Jiang Lai seem to lose all her strength and slide down against it. Her memory of what happened after she got drunk last night was completely blank, so when Xu Zhiyi said that just now, she had actually been a little panicked...

She knew she was hard to take care of when drunk; more importantly, the person who had taken care of her was Cheng Shuyang, the woman she had admired since she was little, almost like an idol, and even the type she had subconsciously used as her ideal partner when looking for someone to date...

“Alcohol really does cause trouble..."

Regretfully, she knocked her own head, filled with remorse. If she really had done those things to Cheng Shuyang, even she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself...

“But..."

She sighed, staring blankly at the ceiling. Was her liking for Cheng Shuyang really just the simple kind of admiration a fan feels for an idol...?

Author’s Note:

Xia Wanwan: “(Grinding her teeth) You’re still treating your feelings like a fan’s admiration for an idol. Honestly, your wooden head just won’t open up!”