Chapter 12: Your Hand on My Body

“Are you afraid I want to do it with you here?”

Ji Wushan had never expected Xue Erbai to ask so directly.

Some things—some words—

Thinking about them was one thing; saying them out loud was another.

Her amnesia still left her uneasy.

Work was making her anxious too.

But neither of those compared to having to face Xue Erbai on the show.

All of it piled together, and Ji Wushan was terrified she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Xue Erbai’s two sentences had completely thrown her emotions into chaos.

She didn’t even dare look at her. Staring at the bedsheet, she gently pushed Xue Erbai’s shoulder, then seemed to retreat from the moment altogether as she got off the bed.

“I still have to go over the rundown tonight.”

“You should put on more clothes.”

The concern came so naturally. Xue Erbai, “hurt” by being lightly pushed away, broke into laughter through her tears.

She caught Ji Wushan’s hand and stopped her from leaving so quickly.

It had been many days since that one kiss, and she hadn’t had any proper intimate contact with Ji Wushan since.

And from Ji Wushan’s reaction, she was also too afraid to make too many moves.

So she just held her and swayed a little.

She went on by herself: “What I’ve been busy with these past few days has basically all been about the chain stores.”

“This show is part of that too.”

“But more than anything, I wanted to be by your side and take care of you.”

Ji Wushan was standing sideways, not looking Xue Erbai in the eye, but she heard every word clearly.

Xue Erbai was answering the question she had asked before: how did you come back.

And she answered in great detail.

So detailed that Ji Wushan felt a little embarrassed.

Her ears were burning, but with her hand held so firmly, she had nowhere to hide. Especially now that her hair had been cut shorter, it no longer covered her ears completely.

That urgency made her hear Xue Erbai only half clearly. She could only feel her leaning closer, her breath brushing her ear and making it itch.

The words that reached her were clear and crisp: “As your wife, I have a responsibility to take care of you.”

“I didn’t say anything before because it wasn’t finalized yet.”

“And I wanted to give you a surprise.”

“This show is a women-only dating and travel-living program, right?”

“…Yes.”

Ji Wushan, who had memorized the script thoroughly, finally gave the answer; then she turned away as if fleeing.

She kept emphasizing, “We have to go over the rundown.”

“Huh? We still have to go over the rundown…?” Xue Erbai sounded a little wilted.

Ji Wushan had no choice but to turn back and ask her, “Is someone coordinating things for you?”

Xue Erbai shook her head; her expression wilted too.

She had liked anime before, liked following girl groups and watching performances, but she had very little experience with TV shows.

She knew even less about how television production worked, and had no idea what the process was supposed to be.

With Qiao You not here, there were a lot of small matters she didn’t even know who to ask about.

But right in front of her stood Ji Wushan.

She cast a pleading look at Ji Wushan.

A few minutes ago she had just said she would fulfill her duty as a wife; now she had no choice but to ask for help from her. “Sister Shengsheng, can you help me…?”

Xue Erbai, a complete variety-show beginner, versus Ji Wushan, who had graduated from a professional school and had years of hosting experience, but had lost her memory.

It was fair to say the situation had a lot of potential.

Ji Wushan was silent for a long while.

She didn’t dare brazenly say she would help; she only said, “Just stay by my side.”

“Okay!”

Xue Erbai answered with her body as well.

They were both wearing light clothes, so the contact was obvious; and Xue Erbai… was very well-endowed.

With her back turned, it was obvious, and easier to hide.

Ji Wushan unconsciously pressed her lips together and reached back as if to push her away. Xue Erbai moved too.

Her hand landed on Ji Wushan’s hip.

The bones were pronounced.

Warm and soft.

But only for a moment; Ji Wushan let go and tried to escape from Xue Erbai’s embrace, which was soft and carried the scent of a woman.

Yet Xue Erbai was not so easy to shake off. Her whole body seemed to go soft and clingy, inching forward shamelessly to wrap her in a fragrant haze, her tone even turning sticky and soft, almost like she was pouting: “Thank you, Sister Shengsheng~”

In her mind, she and Xue Erbai were already this close.

But her body only remembered one kiss, so Ji Wushan felt extremely unnatural; her heart was beating a little fast.

The tips of her ears burned even redder.

And standing right behind her, seeing everything clearly, Xue Erbai smiled slyly.

She took half a step back.

That felt right!

The fear she’d felt as Ji Wushan gradually became independent had eased quite a bit too.

She had originally planned not to keep pretending in front of Ji Wushan, but in the end she still did.

She was half real, half fake.

Pretending to be obedient and soft.

And genuinely showing her the less perfect side of herself.

She even wanted to push further.

But just as she was about to act, someone knocked on the door from outside.

A clear, sweet female voice sounded. “President Xue, I’m the temporary assistant for this season’s Her Romantic Encounter. During the recording period, I’ll be your contact for on-site scheduling, props, and anything else you need. If anything comes up, just tell me anytime~”

“In half an hour, we’ll confirm the recording rundown. I’ll be waiting for you by the elevator.”

Good. She no longer needed to rely only on Ji Wushan.

Her show savior had arrived.

But Xue Erbai was irritated; she scratched at her hair in annoyance. The tenderness vanished, and Ji Wushan had completely withdrawn from her reach too, turning around and saying with obvious distance, “Xue Erbai, I’m changing clothes.”

She didn’t say a single word about avoiding her, but from her expression, tone, and movements, she was guarded from head to toe.

As if the one with her chest and back exposed was some kind of female hooligan!

She didn’t even dare look at her, Ji Wushan!

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The proposal for same-sex marriage had passed two years ago. There had been no shortage of protests at first, but year by year they had gradually calmed down. Still, there were very few films, dramas, or variety shows that put it out in the open.

Most still followed the path of ambiguous tension between two female leads. Women-only variety shows did exist—detective role-play and script-killing shows, in-studio game strategy shows, niche dating programs; there were a few on certain platforms, but none of them had ever become especially hot. This time, XTV and Yuzu TV’s Her Romantic Encounter was one of the biggest productions among them.

Aside from the guest lineup, there was also the director, Lv Wan, who had many years of experience, and the professional host, Ji Wushan.

The seriousness with which she approached her work was something Xue Erbai was seeing face-to-face for the first time; it made her want to look away.

The usually cold tone had, at this moment, become calm and forceful, with the entire rundown in Ji Wushan’s hands.

Fully aware that she was just a decorative prop, Xue Erbai was diligently—and not entirely diligently—sneaking glances at her phone.

She even relied on her good hearing and, while Ji Wushan paused and took notes on paper, opened her memo app.

“The cool host and XXX’s secret affair.”

XXX was obviously herself, Xue Erbai.

She always let her imagination run wild; the more she thought, the more chaotic everything became. So after having a nightmare, and then Ji Wushan losing her memory, she had been fantasizing every day, just like now.

The story she’d been serializing before had already reached the part where she lifted Ji Wushan’s skirt…

“President Xue, what do you think…?”

The director’s voice suddenly rang out. Xue Erbai lifted her head in some panic, locked her phone, and flipped it face down. The fluster in her brows lasted only a moment; her voice was naturally relaxed. “I think there’s no problem. Since this is my first time joining a program, as long as it doesn’t cross any principles, I respect the production team’s ideas.”

Xue Erbai hadn’t listened at all, but the answer still conveyed respect. Director Lv Wan smiled and nodded, then turned to coordinate with Yi Fan and Fu Lingnan.

In this program, the two of them were the most talked about.

Next came Ji Wushan, then a game streamer who had become mildly popular on short video platforms in the past half year.

But she hadn’t gained more popularity through the show yet, and her styling was still very much wilderness-themed.

Fully geared up in outdoor wear, with a baseball cap and half her face covered, but you could still roughly see that her brows were tightly knit, as if she was in a bad mood.

Xue Erbai didn’t know if it was a persona issue, but she just felt this person seemed wild.

In May, Yunzhi Island had quite a big temperature difference between day and night. It was over thirty degrees during the day, and only a little over twenty now, yet she was still wearing more layers than anyone else.

There had been no difference between the person she saw during the day and the person she was seeing now; she was even still wearing hiking boots!

Wasn’t she hot?

Or was she hot and unhappy?

After letting her thoughts run wild, Xue Erbai would always have a period of lag. She stared at the woman for two seconds; just then, Lv Wan called out, “Teacher Zhong, any problems?”

People called each other Teacher in many settings, as if it were the default rule. In truth, everyone knew what respect meant.

It was as if Lv Wan was asking Zhong Dai for her opinion, but in fact it was more like a notification.

For popularity—oh, money.

Of course Zhong Dai had no objections.

Sure enough, she lifted her chin and said with a smile, “It’s my honor to work with Teacher Fu.”

Everyone had their own duties, and as a host as well as a guest, Ji Wushan’s responsibilities were heavier.

Xue Erbai felt a little indignant on Ji Wushan’s behalf.

But Ji Wushan’s contract with XTV was different from everyone else’s.

She couldn’t interfere.

She could only inch closer to Ji Wushan in a mild, measured way.

Ji Wushan sat upright, head lowered as she read the script. Loose strands of hair blocked her eyes, making it hard to see her face.

Yet a handful of fireworks exploded in Xue Erbai’s mind.

Neither Yi Fan nor Fu Lingnan.

No one was as beautiful as Ji Wushan.

And this person was her wife.

The more Xue Erbai thought about it, the happier she felt; she sat even closer to Ji Wushan, close enough that Ji Wushan looked over at her warily.

The others were still discussing the content. Ji Wushan, who had been listening seriously, had no choice but to stop.

She shifted slightly to keep some distance from Xue Erbai.

Then said in a low voice, “Pay attention.”

Pay attention to what?

Xue Erbai fell into thought. She shouldn’t have been daydreaming, which was why she hadn’t even understood what the director had said at the beginning. What was she supposed to do?

What kind of role was she even playing?

She had invested money, hadn’t she!

In the end, Xue Erbai still didn’t understand. She tugged at the strap of her top, feeling a little down.

When the daytime temperature on Yunzhi Island reached the thirties, the night turned a little cool.

They were holding the rundown meeting in the hotel garden; after all, it was a variety show, so the atmosphere was supposed to be more relaxed.

That was what she’d heard the assistant director say when she first sat down, but this was a little too relaxed.

Xue Erbai actually wasn’t very used to wearing dresses. That had been a dream from her distant girlhood, when she had hoped to wear a puffy dress and go see Ji Wushan, openly showing off herself.

That was how she dressed in the room; outside, she changed it up.

She chose a plaid camisole crop top, which did a clever job of outlining her waist, and cargo pants that hugged her legs and made them look long; sweet with a touch of cool.

She was pretty used to that, but combined with the night wind on Yunzhi Island, she felt like she couldn’t take it anymore.

Thin streams of wind kept slipping around her waist, making her uncomfortable all over!

She swayed left and right, drawing Ji Wushan’s attention.

“Does your body feel uncomfortable?”

The question was asked almost against Xue Erbai’s ear. Xue Erbai immediately put on a wronged expression and took Ji Wushan’s hand, pressing it against her navel.

She hummed pitifully, “Uncomfortable.”

“Help me keep it warm.”

The rundown meeting had already mostly ended. Next came confirming props, guest schedules and special requirements, food, rest, and physical taboos, among other things.

Actually, not many people would pay attention to them.

But Ji Wushan’s heart was pounding like a drum, as if terrified someone would notice. She used her cardigan to cover Xue Erbai’s figure, deliberately concealing the hand that was pressed tightly against Xue Erbai’s skin.

Xue Erbai, however, pushed her luck; she laughed softly by her ear and practically kissed her earlobe as she said, “Wife, isn’t this really exciting?”

“No one knows our relationship; they’ll just think we’ve only just met.”

“But in fact, your hand is touching me.”

“Touching my body in full view of everyone.”

Author’s Note:

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