Chu Feiliang’s words came out with great difficulty.
She clearly knew the person before her was Wen Mou, a character who only existed in the drama.
But when those two fair wrists were extended, covered in red marks, she felt a true pang of heartache and couldn’t help but frown.
Chu Feiliang’s tone softened. Her years of experience prevented her from making a mistake that would require a retake. She lowered her head and said, “It was my fault.”
So Rong Guang waved her hands and said, “I want to eat more preserved fruit—my stash is almost gone. On the way back this time, if you see Fengsheng Zhai, pick out some more for me. Get the expensive ones.”
“I’ll listen to you today,” Chu Feiliang said, conveniently rolling up Rong Guang’s sleeves.
The bruises scattered all over Rong Guang’s arms were suddenly completely exposed before her. A look of confusion flashed through Chu Feiliang’s eyes again.
In that instant, she seemed to suddenly forget what she, as the Eldest Princess of the Li Dynasty, had been fighting for all this time, and what meaning there was in the peace she had achieved through life and death.
Her foot was touched by something.
Kicked by Rong Guang, Chu Feiliang snapped back to her senses and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Rong Guang was still lying there nonchalantly, pouting. “I said I want to eat preserved fruit—you’re holding my hands, how am I supposed to get it?”
“Where is it?” Chu Feiliang looked around.
The interior of the carriage was simple, with nowhere to hide anything, but she didn’t see any preserved fruit.
“In my bosom,” Rong Guang blinked, a sly glint flashing in her eyes. She said with a smile, “Get it out and feed me.”
Chu Feiliang froze, her gaze subconsciously falling to Rong Guang’s chest. “You…”
“Why are you staring at my chest?” Rong Guang managed to hold back a smile and said, “I said it’s on me—my waist pouch, my waist pouch.”
Only then did Chu Feiliang realize, feeling embarrassed. She reached out and took out the small bag of preserved fruit.
Rong Guang bit into one and chewed slowly, saying with a smile, “You weren’t like this back when you first brought me to your residence.”
Chu Feiliang glanced at her, turned her head away, and said nothing.
Rong Guang took a step forward, the sweet scent of the fruit wafting from her mouth. She moved closer to Chu Feiliang and said with a smile, “If the Emperor were to find out that the lecherous and greedy persona you’ve painstakingly created is all a deceptive facade… what do you think his reaction would be?”
Chu Feiliang shot her a sidelong glance and gently squeezed the hand holding Rong Guang’s wrist.
“Ow, ow, ow, ow!” Rong Guang cried out repeatedly, slumping back down like a dejected puppy and muttering, “It was just a joke.”
“Open your mouth.” Chu Feiliang glared at her and picked up another piece.
Rong Guang opened her mouth. “Ah—”
Chu Feiliang popped the preserved fruit into Rong Guang’s mouth.
However, as she withdrew her hand, they failed to coordinate. Her fingers were caught in Rong Guang’s mouth, pressing against her teeth, and… something soft.
Both of them froze.
After a long moment, Chu Feiliang pulled her fingers out, clenched her hand into a fist without a change in expression, and said, “It seems you really were hungry.”
Rong Guang hummed in agreement, her face slightly flushed. She leaned back against the carriage wall, relaxing her posture.
“Okay, cut—! Next scene, change of location!” Zhang Nanchuan called a halt, his face cheerful.
“Why does filming feel so smooth these past two days?” The assistant director rubbed his chin at the side. “It’s not just the main cast; the supporting cast’s side has become much more harmonious too.”
Zhang Nanchuan didn’t know why either. He could only say, “Who can say for sure? When the actors are in the zone, filming goes fast. When they’re not, it’s just NG after NG. No one can avoid it—have you forgotten how I chewed out Xiao Chu years ago when she had dozens of NGs for a single shot?”
At the mention of the past, the assistant director opened his mouth, then closed it again.
After a moment, he said softly, “You have the nerve to bring that up now.”
Zhang Nanchuan was choked by this light remark. He wiped his face and said, “That’s all in the past.”
Rong Guang and Chu Feiliang were still in the carriage and hadn’t gotten out.
Rong Guang’s scenes for the day were pretty much done. She had asked the director for leave in the afternoon to pick up Chacha. The final check-up and the travel time would take quite a while.
The progress had been quite fast these few days, so Zhang Nanchuan didn’t refuse and gave her the entire afternoon off.
Chu Feiliang, on the other hand, still had more scenes to film. The makeup artist was busy touching up her makeup.
But her hand was still tightly gripping Rong Guang’s, not letting go.
Rong Guang was taken aback. There were people all around, and she felt a bit embarrassed, but she still called out, “Sister?”
Chu Feiliang raised her hand to eye level and examined it carefully for a while. Confirming that the injuries were real and not special effects, she frowned and asked, “What happened to your hands?”
“It just… happened.” Rong Guang looked innocent. “My skin is naturally delicate. The slightest scratch leaves a red mark that takes a long time to fade. The crew didn’t have any better quality straw ropes, so this is the result.”
Zhang Nanchuan was strolling over to discuss the scene with Chu Feiliang when he suddenly saw the state of her hands and was startled. “Did you roll around in a cactus patch?”
Rong Guang’s face darkened. “Does our crew even have a cactus for me to roll in?”
“We do!” Zhang Nanchuan nodded casually and chuckled. “I got pricked in the butt by one before. The doctor spent over half an hour picking out the spines.”
That’s quite an experience.
Rong Guang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Chu Feiliang stared at Rong Guang’s wrist for a moment, then turned her head and said, “Lulu, go with Teacher Rong to get that treated.”
“But what about you…?” Wang Lujie frowned.
“I don’t need you here,” Chu Feiliang said. “Just go and come back quickly.”
Hearing Chu Feiliang say this, Wang Lujie didn’t refuse any longer. She nodded and left the carriage with Rong Guang, heading to the set’s infirmary.
After getting her wounds treated, Rong Guang was planning to rent a car, but unexpectedly, a very cool sports car appeared in front of her.
She was stunned. She looked up and saw Ye Zi’s little face smiling from the lowered car window.
“Sister Guangguang, let’s go! Time to pick up Chacha!” Ye Zi waved excitedly and unlocked the car door.
Rong Guang got into the back seat and nodded at Sun Yuzhi, who was driving. “Thank you, Teacher Sun.”
“Ah, don’t mention it.” Sun Yuzhi looked completely exasperated, his face dark as he glared at Ye Zi. “If Chacha doesn’t come back soon, this little terror is going to tear the set apart.”
Ye Zi, sitting in the front seat and constantly beatboxing ‘oontz-oontz-oontz,’ dismissed Sun Yuzhi’s words with a simple phrase: “You’re full of it.”
When they arrived, Chacha was sitting on the hospital bed, wearing overalls and a bunny-ear hat. She sat with a perfectly straight posture, looking like a well-behaved child waiting for her guardian to pick her up.
The moment Ye Zi saw Chacha, she went wild, letting out a cry and pouncing on her. “Ahhh, Chacha baby, you’re so cute like this—where did you get the hat? Can I buy one just like it?!”
“A nurse gave it to me,” Chacha said obediently, pinching the two ears on the hat. She thought for a moment. “Do you like it? I’ll give you one later. This one was a gift, so it wouldn’t be right to give it to you.”
“I love it!” Ye Zi gave it a squeeze. The bunny ears were soft, and to her delightful surprise, they could even stand up straight.
Rong Guang took two steps forward, glanced at the luggage at the foot of the bed, and paused. “All packed?”
“All packed!” Seeing Rong Guang approach, Chacha’s eyes instantly lit up. She trotted over, hugged Rong Guang’s waist, buried her face in her embrace, and looked up, saying, “We can leave right away, Sister Guangguang!”
“Okay.” Rong Guang pinched Chacha’s cheek and said with a smile, “Let’s go home.”
On the way out, Chacha encountered many nurses. Upon seeing her, they would always pull a few pieces of candy from their pockets. Chacha accepted them all and even smiled when people pinched her cheeks.
Rong Guang looked at Chacha’s tender cheeks, which had been pinched countless times, fastened her seatbelt, and asked, “Were you happy here?”
“Happy,” Chacha said, swinging her legs. “But I’m not happy when I can’t see you.”
Amused, Rong Guang tapped Chacha’s nose. She squinted, inhaling the late autumn evening breeze in a deep breath.
Chacha was lively the whole way. Before leaving, Rong Guang had asked the doctor again and learned that Chacha was recovering very well. She didn’t even have any retrograde amnesia, just occasional memory confusion, which would get better with more rest.
“We’ll have to go back for a follow-up check-up in a while,” Rong Guang said seriously, stroking Chacha’s head.
Chacha agreed at once. “Will you go with me, Sister Guangguang?”
“Yes, I’ll go with you,” Rong Guang promised.
“I’ll go too!” Ye Zi popped up from the front seat, her eyes shining.
Sun Yuzhi, driving with a straight face, used one hand to push Ye Zi back down. “You sit your ass down—!”
With these two little ones around, the chatter never stopped the entire way.
Sun Yuzhi, deciding to see the job through to the end, simply drove them all the way to their hotel.
After Rong Guang and Chacha returned to their room, they both couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
Chacha, as was her habit, did a patrol of the room to confirm everything was as she remembered it. She said cheerfully, “We’re finally back! Sister Guangguang, did you buy perfume? It smells so good.”
“Teacher Chu gave it to me before,” Rong Guang said with a smile.
When Chacha learned it was from Chu Feiliang, she didn’t ask any more questions. Instead, she asked, “What about that Mao Xiaosong? I saw Auntie Jiang at the hospital. She looked awful, her face was all wrapped in gauze. The doctor said she might be disfigured.”
Rong Guang was stunned. “It’s that serious?!”
“Yeah,” Chacha said. “Her vision is supposedly damaged too. I don’t know what she got in her eyes, but she can’t look at light. It’s so tragic.”
Hearing this, a chill ran down Rong Guang’s spine.
Although Jiang Ruyi had brought this upon herself, seeing her end up like this was still chilling.
If any step in this process had gone wrong, or if she and Chacha had been careless, she would probably be the one in the hospital right now.
Rong Guang stroked Chacha’s head and said, “We have to be more careful from now on.”
“Mhm,” Chacha nodded. “I’ll definitely take good care of you, Sister Guangguang.”
Rong Guang smiled and said, “I’ll take good care of you too, Chacha.”
Before long, watching Chacha bustle about, Rong Guang began to relax a little.
It was true that this industry had many people like Mao Xiaosong and Jiang Ruyi, but there were even more who were diligent, working their way up step by step.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Rong Guang put down what she was holding, went to open the door, and found Wang Lujie outside.
Seeing her there, Rong Guang subconsciously looked left and right but didn’t see Chu Feiliang.
Wang Lujie’s eyes curved into a smile. “Teacher Chu didn’t come. She has heavy scenes tonight—so she asked me to bring you dinner.”
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