Chapter 20: Notice of Premium Release

Fu Lingnan had left in such a hurry that she’d casually stuffed the production crew’s phone into her bag. Not long after, she realized what she’d done and called Ji Wushan.

At first, she’d only meant to ask whether Ji Wushan had left her phone on the nightstand. She hadn’t expected Ji Wushan to actually bring it downstairs to her.

And she certainly hadn’t expected...

Xue Erbai and Zhong Dai to be “horsing around” in the kitchen.

She only glanced once before quickly walking toward Ji Wushan. “Wushan, don’t move.”

She had long legs; in just a few steps, she was in front of Ji Wushan. Ji Wushan stopped reluctantly and handed the phone over to Fu Lingnan.

“I’ll take you upstairs.”

“…Mm.”

Ji Wushan gave a soft hum and let Fu Lingnan support her arm as they went upstairs together.

From start to finish, she didn’t even spare Xue Erbai and Zhong Dai a proper glance.

After the two of them left, Xue Erbai’s face fell. “I’m done for.”

--

Fu Lingnan had come on this show with her own plans. Shipping CPs was fine; she needed the money.

Not shipping them was even better; less trouble that way.

She wasn’t especially warm by nature, but after spending two days with Ji Wushan, she found that Ji Wushan was actually pretty much to her taste.

In a very simple sense, they clicked.

And the fact that Ji Wushan, injured as she was, still came downstairs to bring her phone made Fu Lingnan like her a little more.

So after taking her phone back, she didn’t leave right away; instead, she looked at Ji Wushan with a hesitant expression.

Ji Wushan was sitting on the edge of the bed, her hand lightly brushing the edge of the wound as she tilted her head up. “What did you want to say, Sister Lingnan?”

“…Are you all right?”

Fu Lingnan asked quietly, and saw Ji Wushan’s expression freeze.

It was the same look she’d seen downstairs just now.

Maybe because she’d been standing off to the side, Xue Erbai and Zhong Dai hadn’t seen it clearly, but she had seen it very clearly.

More than that, when Ji Wushan was injured and Xue Erbai rushed over to pick her up, Fu Lingnan had been closest. That concern had been genuine.

And the tiny bit of dependence Ji Wushan had shown hadn’t escaped her eyes either.

She didn’t know what history lay between the two of them; she just wanted to check on the person who had helped her.

After she asked, Ji Wushan lowered her head slightly. When she looked up again, the dazed look was gone, and in a very soft voice she said, “I’m fine.”

“Sister Lingnan, go ahead and do your thing. Don’t worry about me.”

Seeing that, Fu Lingnan didn’t say anything else. But before she could leave, she heard Ji Wushan ask from behind her, “Sister Lingnan, you’ve dated before, right?”

It was a question, but also a certainty.

Fu Lingnan didn’t lie, and gave a slight nod.

“I have.”

“Then... what does it feel like to love someone?”

“Th-that...”

Fu Lingnan was put on the spot. She couldn’t tell whether Ji Wushan’s question had a deeper meaning or not.

In the end, she could only answer vaguely, “Well... when you see that person, you’ll be happy, I guess.”

“A kind of happiness without any reason.”

“What about being unhappy?”

Ji Wushan followed up immediately. Fu Lingnan hesitated for a while, as if caught up in some memory, before answering her seriously, “That would happen too. Because your emotions get pulled along with theirs.”

“Whether it’s good or bad.”

Ji Wushan seemed to understand. She nodded slightly and looked out the window.

There was an indescribable loneliness in her posture.

Since the two of them weren’t close, Fu Lingnan could only sigh inwardly. She walked over and gently patted her shoulder. “Get some rest. Take care of your wound.”

Ji Wushan turned back and nodded hard. “Okay. Safe travels, Sister Lingnan.”

The moment Fu Lingnan’s hand left Ji Wushan’s shoulder, she heard a very small, almost inaudible, “...Thank you.”

Fu Lingnan smiled faintly and turned to leave.

She had only taken one step before she stopped.

She had come upstairs just to deliver the phone and leave, so the door had been left open. Xue Erbai was standing at the doorway with an unreadable expression, holding a bowl of soup. She called out, “Sister Lingnan.”

Fu Lingnan smiled at her. As she walked past, she noticed Xue Erbai’s fingers, white at the tips, gripping the tray.

The two of them passed each other.

Xue Erbai then carried the pork knuckle soup inside.

Seeing her approach, Ji Wushan didn’t speak, only watched her quietly.

As Xue Erbai put the soup on the table, she said, “I also bought some fruit. Wait a moment.”

She was in and out quickly.

Ji Wushan hardly moved at all; even her gaze barely changed.

“You might not believe me when I say this.”

“Wasn’t there one time I was on the phone at home? It was actually Zhong Dai.”

“But back then I didn’t know Zhong Dai was Zhong Dai...”

“So I guess it was kind of an accidental real-life meetup.”

“You know what ‘meeting your online friends in real life’ means, right?”

“...I go online.”

Xue Erbai rattled off several sentences in a row, quick and anxious, and finally got a response from Ji Wushan. She couldn’t help but smile and nod repeatedly. “Right, right, right...!”

“So, it really is kind of amazing.” As she spoke, she brought the soup over to Ji Wushan and spooned it toward her lips.

But then she heard Ji Wushan say, “Then you and her must be very fated.”

The wording was too formal, so formal that Xue Erbai frowned, feeling that something was just a little off.

But Ji Wushan didn’t continue. She opened her mouth and drank the pork knuckle soup Xue Erbai had made.

“It’s very good.”

“Then drink more!”

Xue Erbai had always thought her cooking was one of her weak points; being praised like that made her smile the whole time she was feeding Ji Wushan.

Only after the bowl of pork knuckle soup was emptied and she had tidied up a bit did she return to the topic from just now. “So there was definitely nothing improper between me and her! She just... was telling you embarrassing stories from when I was younger.”

Younger.

Those two words struck straight into Ji Wushan’s heart.

What she and Xue Erbai lacked most was a younger past.

It felt especially uncomfortable, and she didn’t understand it either; why did Xue Erbai insist on coming on this show?

Their premarital agreement couldn’t be made public, and her work contract also forbade any actual romantic or marital relationship from being exposed.

Lost in thought, she didn’t notice the fruit plate being brought closer and closer. The blueberries and peaches were directly in front of her. Xue Erbai lifted a hand and placed it on her shoulder.

Ji Wushan looked up. Xue Erbai was slightly bent over; they were too close. Ji Wushan unconsciously leaned back.

Xue Erbai moved quickly, wrapping an arm around her back and drawing her into her embrace.

“Careful.”

Her voice was warm and gentle, very much like how it had felt when Ji Wushan saw and heard her after being discharged from the hospital.

Ji Wushan’s eyes lowered.

She remembered nothing.

She could only try to rely on the person in front of her.

So she followed the force of that pull and was almost half-held in Xue Erbai’s arms, then quietly cooperated as Xue Erbai applied medicine for her.

“Since this afternoon and until noon tomorrow, we probably won’t be filming. Get some good rest.”

“I’ll go prepare some food for tonight. Do you want to sleep for a bit?”

“Okay.”

Ji Wushan was truly exhausted too. After Xue Erbai left, she lowered the curtains, curled up under the quilt, and drifted off in a daze.

She didn’t sleep soundly. Her dream was a shattered series of fragments; the red bedsheets were glaringly bright, and Xue Erbai sat at the bedside, awkward and stiff. “The bedsheets... my mom prepared them.”

She heard herself answer very coldly, “Mm.”

Then she tugged at Xue Erbai’s white veil and kissed those red lips that were already nearly bitten raw...

She didn’t feel any softness before she was dragged into another nightmare, replaced by a familiar, sharp-faced woman pointing at her and cursing, “Ji Wushan, you don’t deserve her!”

She didn’t know how long had passed before the faint noise downstairs woke her.

Still groggy, she walked to the window. The curtain was pulled open halfway, and then she froze.

Just like in her dream, her breathing started to tighten.

Beneath the pavilion outside her window, Yi Fan, wearing a dress and looking faintly shy, was walking step by step toward Xue Erbai, holding something in her hands. Her smile was sweet, her eyes curved into crescents.

Because she couldn’t hear, Ji Wushan could only rely on imagination.

Just how sweet Yi Fan’s voice sounded; what about Xue Erbai...

At that moment, Xue Erbai looked up.

Ji Wushan reacted quickly and pulled back. The wind from the curtain stirred her hair, and she took a few steps back to sit on the bed again.

After a few quiet minutes, footsteps sounded on the stairs. There was a knock at the door, and Xue Erbai’s voice came through: “Ji Wushan...”

Ji Wushan turned her back to the room and kept facing the window. Listening to Xue Erbai’s slightly labored breathing, she gradually calmed down.

Fu Lingnan’s words—“good” and “bad”—became clear in her mind.

The racing of her heart when she was picked up was good.

Choosing to rely on her counted as good too; but discovering how helpless she was, that she could only rely on her, did not count as good.

Seeing her intimate with someone else over and over again was even less good.

No; it was very bad.

She hated herself; she hated Xue Erbai.

She hated the person in her dream even more.

Why couldn’t she deserve her?

“Ji...” Xue Erbai called again, this time more urgently.

Xue Erbai crouched in front of her and reached out to touch her, but Ji Wushan suddenly stood up.

She looked at Xue Erbai, who had also stood, with a hint of guardedness and distance.

In a low, trembling, hoarse voice, she asked, “What were you doing downstairs just now?”

Even as she asked, she didn’t give Xue Erbai a chance to speak. She took a few steps forward, pressed Xue Erbai into the corner by the wall, and lightly pinched her chin, staring at those half-open red lips.

A trace of familiar suppression and pain made her unable to stop herself from leaning in...

The second before their lips touched, Ji Wushan felt Xue Erbai’s arms wrap around her waist.

Their breaths tangled; she didn’t move again.

Then, from the corner of her eye, she caught Yi Fan’s slightly surprised expression. Slowly, she lifted her hand and drew the curtain closed...

Author’s Note:

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