Rong Guang looked pitifully at the RV’s enormous body.
She was only tall enough to vaguely see the edge of a window, and couldn’t clearly make out the situation inside at all.
Besides, some of the windows had their curtains drawn, so of course, she couldn’t see what it was like inside.
She glanced around and asked in a low voice, “Sister Lulu, where is Teacher Chu?”
Wang Lujie thought for a moment. Since Rong Guang couldn’t get on the RV anyway, she pointed to the other side and said, “Over there. The view is nice on that side. You can see a pretty big lake. Looking at the scenery for a while might improve her mood.”
Rong Guang nodded and eagerly trotted over.
After she left, Wang Lujie remarked with a sigh, “Only these young girls would choose a time like this, daring to press on despite the difficulties. I’m old now, I don’t have that kind of energy anymore.”
Chacha had just unwrapped her Alps lollipop.
Hearing this, she astutely turned her head, carefully observing the occasional lonely expression on Wang Lujie’s face, and said seriously, “Age isn’t important at all—Sister Guangguang’s grandma still does the Eight Brocades qigong every day and meets up with the old ladies from the village to have dance-offs at the dance hall. She’s very fashionable.”
Wang Lujie raised an eyebrow, unable to imagine what a group of white-haired old ladies having a dance-off in a dance hall would look like.
However, the mental image successfully made her laugh, and she watched in a pleasant mood as Rong Guang trotted over to a small grove of trees.
Rong Guang had to be quite far away to properly see Chu Feiliang sitting by the bed without having to constantly jump like Super Mario.
Chu Feiliang didn’t seem to see her either. After all, people from the crew went to the lake area every day to scout locations and take pictures. The road was bustling with noise, yet it surprisingly created a sense of being in a busy city—clamorous, yet calming to the heart.
The sun was beginning to rise to its zenith.
Rong Guang was a little hot, and she could barely keep her eyes open as she looked at Chu Feiliang. She glanced around but couldn’t find anything to block the light, so she simply pulled her costume up over her eyes—it was a gauze robe, so it could block a little bit of sun.
And just then, Chu Feiliang pushed open the window.
Rong Guang froze for a moment, opened her eyes, and subconsciously jumped in place a few times.
Chu Feiliang’s gaze froze, and a smile rose to her face so quickly that even she didn’t notice it.
In broad daylight, under a clear sky.
Rong Guang was wearing a light blue costume, her forehead covered in sweat from the heat. Large parts of her clothes were stained with blood, much of which had already dried… Standing there in a thicket of trees, staring straight at her, the scene was truly quite horrifying.
Many passersby were startled, thinking it was a murder scene.
If this continued, it would probably cause a real panic.
She beckoned to Rong Guang.
Rong Guang instantly leaped up and ran over joyfully, shouting with a brilliant smile, “Sister, how are you?!”
“I’m fine.” Chu Feiliang’s expression was faint, and her eyes were still a little red. You could see the exhaustion that comes after crying, but at least the corners of her lips were turned up in a smile.
She looked at Rong Guang and said, “You, on the other hand, don’t look so good right now.”
Rong Guang looked down at herself and scratched her head. “This…”
After the last scene, both she and Chu Feiliang had a long break. Their next scene wasn’t until around four in the afternoon, so there was plenty of time to change into their next costumes.
Besides, Zhang Nanchuan knew very well that no matter how good an actor’s skills were, they were still human. No matter how freely they could control their emotions, they had to manage the intensity and not overexert themselves.
Zhang Nanchuan wasn’t short on money, people, or time. There was really no need to exploit the actors just to speed up the schedule.
If he pushed the actors to the point of rebellion, causing them to become resistant to filming for a while and turning their performances into mechanical actions, it would truly be a case of the losses outweighing the gains.
That was why… Rong Guang hadn’t been in a hurry to change. Worried about Chu Feiliang, she had run straight over.
As a result, she looked as if she had just walked out of a murder scene, with half a broken arrow sticking out from under her armpit—a prop tucked into her clothes by the special effects artist.
Rong Guang silently pulled the arrowhead out.
“Go wash up.” Seeing her action, Chu Feiliang smiled and said, “There’s a place in the RV—I have a spare change of clothes inside. You can use them for now. You can get properly cleaned up back in the dressing room later.”
Rong Guang nodded gratefully, but before going in, she asked again, “Are you really okay?”
“It’s nothing major. I can handle it.” Chu Feiliang rested her chin on her hand. “If you’re that worried, come out and chat after you’ve washed up.”
Only then did Rong Guang feel completely at ease, and she turned and went into the bathroom.
Because the RV itself had limited space, the bathroom felt a bit cramped even though its area had been maximized as much as possible.
The good thing was that there was a skylight above the bathroom, and the upper half of one wall was a window. Bathing in this natural light was especially pleasant.
It was perfectly normal for actors in the same crew to borrow each other’s bathrooms. However, an actor of Chu Feiliang’s status usually had a private bathroom. If the production itself could provide the facilities, they would do their best to meet the daily needs of all the main actors.
Rong Guang didn’t overthink it. Plus, with her mind constantly on Chu Feiliang, she just wanted to get it over with quickly. She couldn’t even muster any more amorous thoughts.
After taking off her dirty clothes, she hesitated for a moment. Instead of putting them in the laundry basket, she placed them on the sink, planning to take them with her later. The props department teacher would probably still need them.
If she remembered correctly, this costume was needed for later use. The production had prepared many identical ones to be aged even more for later scenes.
A blood-stained, semi-worn robe, yet Ji Ying carefully removed the tie from its wrist and wrapped it in her hair. For several years after, she wore no hairpins or ornaments, only plain clothes. Just by looking, one would know who she was mourning, and for whom.
Rong Guang stared at the clothes, a little lost in thought.
Ji Ying’s affection seemed mostly like teasing and playful banter, but it was the most bone-deep.
In stark contrast to her was the old emperor, who professed deep love but fell for one person after another, ruining countless lives.
Two knocks sounded on the door.
Rong Guang paused and asked, “Sister…?”
“It’s me.” Chu Feiliang paused, then said, “Sorry, I remembered wrong—Lulu put the change of clothes outside to dry this morning. I just brought them in. I’ll hang them on the door for you. You can grab them when you’re done washing.”
Rong Guang had just stripped completely naked.
She said softly, “Okay, I’ll get them after I’m done.”
“Okay.” After saying that, Chu Feiliang fell silent.
Rong Guang waited a little longer.
After confirming that Chu Feiliang had left, she turned on the faucet and started to shower.
The prop blood plasma used by the crew was very difficult to wash off if it got on your skin, especially in hard-to-reach places like the back.
So, when filming a large-scale bleeding scene like today’s, which could require countless takes, Rong Guang’s body had been wrapped in several layers of plastic wrap beforehand.
The removal process was a bit difficult. Rong Guang was exhausted several times, but she was finally saved when she spotted a small pair of black-handled scissors in the corner and cut the wrap open in one go.
When she sat in front of Chu Feiliang again, Rong Guang’s eyes were sparkling, and she felt refreshed all over.
Her hair had grown to a medium length, just past her shoulders. The ends weren’t trimmed evenly, giving it a more natural look, but water was still dripping from the tips.
Chu Feiliang went to get a towel and handed it to Rong Guang, saying, “Wrap your hair with this, don’t catch a cold.”
Rong Guang took it, her eyes curving into a smile as she thanked her, “Thank you, Sister!”
While Rong Guang was dealing with her hair, Chu Feiliang took out two bottles of fruit wine, swirled them gently, and asked, “Can you drink?”
Rong Guang glanced at it. The alcohol content was only five percent, so she nodded immediately and said, “I can.”
The bottle was quite pretty, made of a semi-transparent frosted material.
Even after the wine was finished, you could keep the bottle for some creative crafts, or when you had nothing to do, you could fill it with some soil and plant some flowers or grass.
Besides, Rong Guang also hoped to use the alcohol to get Chu Feiliang to open up.
Some things, you can digest on your own for a while, but not for a lifetime.
Talking about it with someone can make you feel better, and you can truly treat it like trash and dispose of it completely.
After half a glass of wine, a faint blush appeared on both Rong Guang’s and Chu Feiliang’s faces.
Rong Guang felt a kind of… ethereal, otherworldly sensation, as if she were incredibly content. This feeling of floating like an immortal was even a bit intoxicating.
Fortunately, her mind was still relatively clear. She frowned and asked, “Sister, what’s the… alcohol percentage on this?”
It smelled completely of fruit, but when she drank it, there was the spiciness of baijiu.
But the aftertaste was definitely peach… When did this wine come out?
Rong Guang was completely bewildered.
Without even looking, Chu Feiliang said, “Seventy.”
Rong Guang’s mouth fell open. She was stunned.
—Fruit wine mixed with seventy-percent-alcohol baijiu.
Even if the concentration of alcohol was low, diluted as it was, the kick would still be much stronger than ordinary wine.
No wonder she was feeling so dizzy.
She pressed her lips together, grabbed a nearby cup, poured herself some water, and tried to sober up.
Just then, Chu Feiliang suddenly said, “Guangguang.”
“Hm?” Rong Guang’s head snapped up.
On set, Chu Feiliang often called her Xiao Rong. Sometimes, when she was in a teasing mood, she would even deliberately call her Teacher Rong.
But this name, which only people close to her used, had never come from Chu Feiliang’s lips before.
Rong Guang’s eyes were watery. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”
Chu Feiliang was taken aback as she looked into those eyes.
Rong Guang was exceptionally beautiful and very delicate.
She had typical almond-shaped eyes that curved when she smiled. It should have been a very youthful and bright appearance, but the beauty mark at the corner of her eye made her look exceptionally alluring.
And at this moment, in those dark eyes, the only reflection was of her.
The wine glass in her hand was very close to her lips.
Chu Feiliang tilted her head back imperceptibly and took a sip, her slightly lowered eyelashes hiding the myriad thoughts in her eyes.
After a moment, she said softly, “Have you ever experienced death?”
At first, Rong Guang thought she had misheard.
She froze for a second, then said softly, “What?”
When she said this, even Chu Feiliang herself was a little stunned.
But the floodgates had opened.
She clearly saw the slight confusion and unconcealable heartache in Rong Guang’s eyes.
As if something soft had suddenly touched her heart, Chu Feiliang’s fingers tapped the wine bottle. She said, “Death.”
“Have you ever felt that sense of powerlessness when the people, things, or matters you love most die right in front of you, and you can’t do anything about it?” As Chu Feiliang spoke, her expression was somewhat vacant.
Her gaze wasn’t on Rong Guang; it seemed to pass through her, looking at something far in the distance.
When she said this, she didn’t even expect Rong Guang to understand, let alone say anything in response.
After all, Rong Guang was only eighteen.
At eighteen, one should be well-protected. How could she have experienced so much life and death, so many grievances and partings?
However, to Chu Feiliang’s surprise, Rong Guang pressed her lips together and then said softly, “I… I have.”
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