Chapter 32: She Really Was a Little Concerned.

Before kissing her, Xue Erbai nodded like a woodpecker, agreeing to everything in one breath. She even added, “Then I’ll be gentle.”

Ji Wushan instantly felt something off...

She... seemed to have heard that line before?

But before she could think carefully about when, she was hit by Xue Erbai’s not-at-all-gentle kiss.

Her fingers weakly clutched at Xue Erbai as soft moans escaped her uncontrollably.

And even less controllable was Xue Erbai.

She lightly hooked down one of Ji Wushan’s shoulder straps; the kiss moved from her lips to her shoulder.

Ji Wushan looked over dizzily, letting out a soft hum. “...You’re pushing your luck.”

Xue Erbai, still lost in the kiss, froze. Her pink tongue quickly retreated; she gave an awkward laugh, then put the strap back in place and lay down on her side.

The two of them were pressed far too close together. Ji Wushan, still dizzy, glanced at the space beside Xue Erbai and nudged her. “Move over a little.”

“Okay.” Xue Erbai agreed and started scooting, only her movements were tiny. Ji Wushan didn’t feel any room at all, so she looked at Xue Erbai again; Xue Erbai scooted again.

After this repeated a few times, Xue Erbai looked like she was about to cry. “Wife, the tent is only this big. I really can’t move anymore.”

Only then did Ji Wushan stop looking at her and close her eyes to sleep.

But when she was half-asleep and half-awake, she felt a bit of dampness on her cheek. She lifted a hand to touch it; it was soft too.

When she opened her eyes to look over, Xue Erbai was lying there properly, breathing evenly.

Ji Wushan was a little dazed.

Something seemed to flash through her mind, but she couldn’t catch it.

She thought for about a few minutes, then finally gave up.

She wasn’t the sort of person who liked to dwell on things too much. Maybe she just wasn’t very quick to trust...

At that thought, her train of thought broke. She looked at Xue Erbai beside her.

She didn’t trust people easily, yet somehow she had still chosen to trust Xue Erbai.

“Mm! Shengsheng jie... ”

Xue Erbai’s sudden sleep-talk made Ji Wushan, who had been staring at her, feel a bit guilty. She immediately turned over; just then, someone reached from behind and hugged her.

Warm breath brushed against the crook of her neck, ticklish and tingling.

She had already been startled awake, and now falling asleep again became even harder.

She silently thought that tomorrow, she would definitely settle accounts with Xue Erbai.

Unfortunately, before she could settle anything, after breakfast Xue Erbai came to her looking listless.

Ji Wushan frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”

Xue Erbai didn’t answer right away. Instead, she looked left and right, took Ji Wushan’s hand, and placed it on her lower abdomen. With grievance written all over her face, she said, “My period!”

Her cycle was never very regular; that had always been a headache for Xue Erbai.

This time it was delayed by more than half a month again. When she got up in the morning, her lower abdomen already felt heavy and aching; now it hurt badly.

She had come to Ji Wushan specifically to show her how vulnerable she was, so Ji Wushan’s question felt only natural.

Placing Ji Wushan’s hand on her stomach wasn’t enough; she also guided that hand to move slowly, not forgetting to say, “Rub it for me~”

In broad daylight, Ji Wushan felt a little at a loss. She didn’t move, nor did she pull her hand away. After letting Xue Erbai lead her in a few circles, she finally lifted her hand away, brushed her hair back a little unnaturally, and said with a slightly distant gaze, “I brought a heat patch. I’ll get it for you in a bit.”

“We won’t be staying in the tent this afternoon. You can rest properly tonight.”

That had been the plan.

The camping experience only lasted one day; they were going down the mountain in the afternoon and checking into the resort.

So the day was busy again.

And aside from Xue Erbai... everyone else was in excellent spirits.

Even Zhong Dai was practically glowing.

When they took the special bus, Zhong Dai sat on the other side, with the aisle between her and Ji Wushan. Looking at Xue Erbai’s pale face, she asked with certainty, “Cramps?”

“Mm! It hurts so, so much...”

Xue Erbai’s weak, feeble voice was a little soft; if one listened closely, it even sounded a bit like she was acting spoiled. But she herself didn’t think so, and neither did Zhong Dai. In fact, Zhong Dai even forgot the setting and said, “How can you still be exactly the same as when you were little?”

“I used to have cramps too, but now I’m fine...”

A menstrual-cramp support group was born: Xue Erbai and Zhong Dai.

That had all been back when they were eighteen or nineteen. After Zhong Dai turned twenty-something and started exercising often, she had urged Xue Erbai to do the same.

Unfortunately, Xue Erbai was only interested in swimming. Though she swam well, she went less and less often.

Thinking of that, Zhong Dai reminded her, “You should still go swim more.”

Who would have thought that as soon as she said that, Xue Erbai’s pale face twisted into a miserable grimace. She even scratched her head, blinking repeatedly.

Zhong Dai was just about to ask what was wrong when she followed Xue Erbai’s gaze and saw Fu Lingnan sitting in the back.

She shut her mouth.

Then she pretended nothing was happening and looked out the window.

Xue Erbai, who had been grimacing from holding back laughter, also looked toward Ji Wushan.

Finally, she could laugh!

But her laughter was a little too obvious; seeing it, Ji Wushan could only give her an exasperated glare.

By now, the three of them all knew exactly what their own identities were. When faced with the occasional intimate exchanges between Xue Erbai and Zhong Dai, Ji Wushan accepted them very well; she even found them a little funny.

But just now, she had vaguely noticed Fu Lingnan’s expression wasn’t quite right.

If she’d only noticed a little, it wouldn’t have meant much. She had gotten up early today, and it felt like Zhong Dai and Fu Lingnan were a bit awkward with each other.

That curiosity was interrupted quickly by Xue Erbai’s period-related spoiling.

Now it was about the same.

Ji Wushan’s gaze flicked between the two of them, and then Xue Erbai tightened her grip on her hand, with a bit too much force.

She turned around, about to ask what was wrong, when she saw Xue Erbai frowning hard. “It hurts!”

Ji Wushan was anxious too. She took her hand back in hers and wrapped an arm around Xue Erbai’s waist, but when their eyes met, she suddenly forgot what she had been about to say.

The warm sensation at her waist made her cheeks burn.

Only belatedly did she realize this was out in public.

But now letting go was awkward, and not letting go was awkward too.

Her hand unconsciously rubbed over Xue Erbai’s waist a few times; then she heard Xue Erbai lean closer and whisper, “It’s so itchy.”

Ji Wushan bit her lip and did not look at Xue Erbai. In a soft voice, she asked, “Does the heat patch not feel warm anymore?”

As soon as she said it, she bit her lip harder. She knew from experience that while a heat patch helped when it was warm, it couldn’t fully get rid of the discomfort.

Her hand on Xue Erbai’s arm tightened a little, no longer soft and limp; then she said expressionlessly, “Don’t record this afternoon. I’ll go talk to them for you.”

She couldn’t help Xue Erbai with the cramps, but she could at least let her rest.

So without waiting for Xue Erbai’s reply, she let go and walked over to Lv Wan.

After explaining Xue Erbai’s condition, she suggested that they go straight to the hotel and cut the recording time.

Lv Wan only glanced at Xue Erbai once before nodding without another word.

In the production staff’s eyes, Xue Erbai was the sponsor, Boss Xue.

Actually, even if Ji Wushan hadn’t come to ask, Lv Wan had already noticed Xue Erbai didn’t look well and had been thinking of letting her rest.

This saved her the trouble, but she still didn’t forget to say, “Take good care of Boss Xue!”

In her mind, even if the two of them were closer now, Ji Wushan was still one of their own.

She simply hadn’t thought...

But once Ji Wushan understood what Lv Wan meant, her face grew a little hot. She nodded and hurried back to Xue Erbai.

The two of them entered the room first.

The moment they got inside, Xue Erbai lay down.

She was nothing like the person who had been watching gossip on the bus.

Looking at her, Ji Wushan felt a trace of reluctance. She walked over, intending to place her hand on Xue Erbai’s lower abdomen, when she heard Xue Erbai make soft, complaining noises; then she took Ji Wushan’s hand and put it on her stomach, staring at her pitifully.

Before Ji Wushan could say anything else, she started drawing small circles over Xue Erbai’s lower abdomen.

After a few circles, she raised her hand again; Xue Erbai suddenly caught it and asked in a low, dissatisfied voice, “What are you doing?”

Then she explained, “My hand’s too cold. I’m rubbing it warm.”

Only then did Xue Erbai let go, watching her rub her hands together...

Ji Wushan couldn’t help but feel something strange.

Being watched and attended to so intensely; normally she would have disliked it, but Xue Erbai’s gaze was so open and straightforward that she didn’t find it unpleasant.

Instead, she even felt a kind of closeness she couldn’t quite understand.

She had little experience with intimate relationships, but she wasn’t completely unable to sort them out.

Still, she was a little surprised at herself.

After rubbing for a long time and feeling her hands grow a bit sore, she stopped thinking about it and softly asked Xue Erbai, “What do you want to eat? I... I’ll go make you something.”

Actually, the others were still recording, and it was dinner time now; the kitchen should be lively at the moment.

Ji Wushan found that a little troublesome, but seeing Xue Erbai like this, she stood up. Who knew that the moment she moved, Xue Erbai hugged her from behind.

“Stay with me a little longer.”

“Or I can go with you!”

Her voice was still a little weak.

Damn period cramps; they had completely robbed her of her usual energy!

And because she felt vulnerable, she didn’t want Ji Wushan out of her sight at all.

That was why she acted like this.

But after doing so, she began watching Ji Wushan’s reactions.

Ji Wushan was calm as usual.

She patted the hand wrapped around her waist and gently agreed, “Okay!”

Xue Erbai cheered in her heart and completely ignored the camera and everyone else, sticking close behind Ji Wushan.

Still, she didn’t do much; she only looked at her with sticky, starry eyes, full of admiration.

---

The filming in G Province was relatively simple, and because Xue Erbai had been granted a pass for her cramps, the next few days of filming were easy too.

She just wasn’t making any money.

But her relationship with Ji Wushan had advanced by leaps and bounds; she also felt that money wasn’t all that important anymore.

On the last night before they left, she finally got rid of the discomfort of her period. At dinner that evening, she stayed especially obediently by Ji Wushan’s side.

The trending topics made her grin from ear to ear.

#Earbuds Get Married On the Spot#

But the next one made her smile freeze.

#Fu Lingnan Yi Fan age-gap ship#

This pairing was exactly the same as the drama they were going to star in next; it even had a deliberate air of creating atmosphere.

Xue Erbai looked toward Zhong Dai at the other end of the sofa, a little worried, only to find her expression calm.

Calm?!

She looked again, then quietly tugged at Ji Wushan’s sleeve and asked, “Wife, I wasn’t feeling well these past few days. Did I miss something?”

Ji Wushan noticed her gaze; she also knew what she was asking about.

Her expression was somewhat unreadable as she asked in a very low voice, “What do you not want to miss?”

Xue Erbai: “?”

Ji Wushan had already been feeling fairly at ease about Xue Erbai and Zhong Dai’s relationship, and she hadn’t expected herself to ask something like that either. The moment she did, she regretted it.

But Xue Erbai teased her with a smile. “Is Shengsheng jie...”

Ji Wushan immediately denied it sharply. “No!”

But her heart was beating very fast; a little flustered, she looked at Xue Erbai.

Xue Erbai didn’t keep laughing. She took Ji Wushan’s fingertips and said in a soft, coaxing voice, “Oh~ Then it isn’t, it isn’t.”

But that expression on her face clearly said she didn’t believe it.

Ji Wushan, however, could no longer say another word of denial.

Because she vaguely knew that explanation would be useless.

She really was a little concerned.

TL Note:

watching gossip/ eating melons (吃瓜) means watching drama unfold as an amused bystander. Not actual melons, but cracking sunflower seeds, which are called 瓜子 for some reason.