After the Breakup, the Crazy Movie Queen Clings to Me Every Day (GL) - Chapter 9

“In the warm and fragrant room, there was still a lingering scent that made people blush and their hearts beat faster.”

******

The warm, fragrant room still held the intoxicating scent of passion. Lan Jingli’s slender, icy-white fingers were lightly stained with bl00d.

She had thought that in a moment like this, Tan You would crave intimacy. Was she wrong?

A strange feeling churned in her chest. She blurted out, “Sister, who is this Miss Wei?”

Tan You’s eyes were slightly closed. Her beautiful face, still flushed with desire, was unreadable.

After a long pause, she finally explained, “A friend.”

“Just a friend?”

“Yes.”

Aunt Wan was still waiting outside and knocked again. “Miss Wei has arrived and is waiting for you.”

“Li-li, you should go now,” Tan You said, gathering Lan Jingli’s hair with a gentle touch. She repeatedly rubbed the pad of her thumb over Lan Jingli’s beautiful lips. “Be a good girl. I’ll give all my time to you later.”

The woman’s eyes were as beautiful and enchanting as a succubus. Lan Jingli lowered her gaze, a bitter feeling swelling inside her, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

She didn’t know why she felt so heartbroken, or why she still believed Tan You.

Outside the door, Aunt Wan waited calmly and politely for Tan You’s instructions. When she heard Tan You say that she would receive her guest on the third floor, she acknowledged the order and prepared to go guide Wei Xueyin in.

“Aunt Wan,” Lan Jingli said politely, “Could I ask you some questions?”

“Of course,” Aunt Wan replied, feeling a sense of inevitability. How could a young person in love not be jealous?

“Could you tell me some of her likes and dislikes?”

Lan Jingli had noticed that Tan You’s lifestyle was, how to put it, pristine. It was like distilled water, almost entirely untouched by the influence of modern industry.

She drank only boiled spring water—no tea, no coffee, no beverages of any kind. She was like an ascetic monk in the mountains, without desires or wants. Even her daily routine was modeled after the ancients.

Aunt Wan paused for a moment, surprised that Lan Jingli hadn’t asked anything about Miss Wei. She considered her answer carefully before giving an honest reply.

“Miss Seven doesn’t lack anything, and she rarely shows a particular interest in anything. I’m afraid I can’t give you any useful advice.”

“I see. Thank you anyway,” Lan Jingli said with a faint smile, a decision seeming to form in her mind.

Aunt Wan shook her head and walked with a steady pace to the front gate to tell the security guard to let Wei Xueyin in.

Twenty minutes later, Wei Xueyin’s car drove in. She got out with large bags of gifts and a wide smile.

“I’m so sorry to bother you so late. I heard Youyou isn’t feeling well, and I was so worried. I brought some medicine and wanted to take care of her.”

Aunt Wan smiled and took the bags. “No bother at all. Miss Seven is very happy to have you as a guest.”

A slight smile appeared on Wei Xueyin’s lips. “I knew it. I knew she still cared about me.”

“This way, please. Miss Seven is waiting for you on the third floor,” Aunt Wan said, without offering any comment on her words. Who could truly know what was on Tan You’s mind?

The one thing she was sure of was that Lan Jingli was in no way qualified to be anything more than a fleeting mistress, a little bird to be played with.

“If I invite Youyou to travel to Europe, do you think she would agree?” Wei Xueyin whispered to Aunt Wan.

“I don’t know. Perhaps you could try.”

******

Backstage after a performance, a weary Lan Jingli sat in the dressing room, letting a makeup artist work on her face.

“Jingli, your dark circles are so bad,” the makeup artist said, patting powder on her to conceal them. She then gasped when she saw a bandage on her neck. “Did you get hurt? You didn’t hurt your face, did you?”

Lan Jingli let out a small laugh. Their faces were valuable assets to the company, and she was someone who took contracts seriously; she wouldn’t damage the company’s property.

“It’s nothing. Just a small cut.”

The next second, Wei Yixi sat down beside her and mercilessly exposed Lan Jingli’s “lie.”

“That’s not a small cut; it’s almost a wound on your vocal cords,” she grumbled, revealing Lan Jingli’s secret. “I don’t know what got into her head, but she said she wanted to go into the mountains to collect samples. She climbed a really high place to get a flower, fell, and got her neck cut by a sharp rock. She almost died.”

Lan Jingli frowned and defended herself. “It wasn’t that dangerous. Don’t listen to Xixi. I just missed my footing by accident.”

The makeup artist gently peeled off the bandage. The wound, though scabbed over, still looked quite gruesome. She shook her head.

“I can’t even put powder on this cut. You’ll just have to leave the bandage on. Let’s see what you do when your fans get upset.”

Lan Jingli was about to say something, but she saw others coming in to get ready and gave Wei Yixi a pointed look, telling her to shut up.

The makeup artist asked casually, “What kind of flower did you get?”

“The same kind of black cumin seeds you can see everywhere in this city. I don’t know what’s wrong with her.” Wei Yixi gave Lan Jingli a look that said, “Let’s see what you do.”

“No, that’s not it. The black cumin seeds there are different from the ones here. They’re more wild. The ones here have been domesticated,” Lan Jingli said, her eyes shining. “I know exactly where to find the most beautiful black cumin seeds.”

“I don’t see how they’re different.”

“They just are,” Lan Jingli insisted stubbornly.

Transplanting and domesticating plants in an unsuitable area, then having them bloom and bear fruit, was a highly specialized and difficult task.

Some people did it for scientific research, and others for the economic value of horticultural displays.

To her, domestication was a reluctant compromise. No one truly preferred a domesticated plant over something that was more natural, more wild, and untouched.

While cultivated horticultural plants were certainly magnificent, she had once seen the wilderness with that person. They had ventured into the mountains and rivers, lay in the grass and looked up at a sky that was stained rose-colored by the fog, and walked together among glowing flowers and plants.

How could she settle for a domesticated flower?

At the very least, the person she loved would surely feel the same way.

“Oh, then let me see the black cumin specimen you made.”

“No, I’m giving it to someone,” Lan Jingli refused with determination.

Her skin was very fair, almost to the point of being cold. Her mirror-like eyes were very black, to the point of purity.

A few stray strands of hair fell over her forehead. This expression made her look both well-behaved and difficult to please—a perfect contradiction.

“Who are you giving it to?” Wei Yixi asked, giving Lan Jingli a piece of bread. “Eat up, you don’t want to faint on stage.”

When only the three of them were left backstage, another trainee, wearing a fluffy princess dress, came over and handed them each a bottle of electrolyte water. “Xixi, of course Jingli is giving it to the sister she likes. Why even ask?”

“Whoa, you guys are dating?”

Lan Jingli’s lips curled up in a bright, lovely smile. “We just started.”

“Is your sister in the industry or not?” Wei Yixi gave her a wink. For a quiet person like Lan Jingli to admit to being in a relationship, she must be head-over-heels in love.

“Well,” Lan Jingli tilted her head, thinking for a moment. “I guess she’s a civilian now.”

“Then you have to be careful not to let the company find out. If those snobs find out you’re dating a regular person with no power, they’ll definitely try to break you up.”

“Don’t worry, even if I’m in a relationship, it won’t affect my work. If I do anything wrong, you have to tell me.”

Wei Yixi smiled. “I know you’re not that kind of person.”

Lan Jingli gave her whole heart to the people she cared about. When she found out Lan Jingli couldn’t afford to eat because of debt, she had left a portion of her own money without a second thought and given the rest to her.

After the performance, Lan Jingli held the black cumin specimen. After a long hesitation, she decided to try her luck at the mountain villa. Maybe Tan You had already returned from Europe.

Even if she hadn’t, she could still have the specimen delivered to her by the security guards.

In the villa’s yard, there were various scenic spots, including a coffee table and wicker chairs. Bamboo shadows danced on the white walls, and a single koi fish swam gracefully in the lotus pond.

On a white marble table were refreshments for guests. Tan You was lazily reading company documents, listening to her directors’ quarterly reports through her Bluetooth earpiece.

After a long time, she tiredly rubbed her temples and softly instructed Aunt Wan to add a trip to Africa to her schedule next week, as she wanted to personally inspect the mining sites.

“Miss Lan is here.”

“Did something happen to her?” Tan You asked, a smile on her face, but her beautiful eyes were cold and thin, clear as snow. “It’s been a long time. I missed her a little.”

She saw the bandage on Lan Jingli’s neck and the clear, spring-water light in her eyes. Tan You smelled a faint scent, a mix of spring warmth and damp leaves.

It was like an old scent, long forgotten, that had finally been rediscovered.

Since Tan You’s meeting with Miss Wei, Lan Jingli hadn’t seen her for over a month. She couldn’t get through to her on the phone and had secretly tried to visit her at the mountain villa, only to be told by the security guard that Tan You had gone to Europe.

“Sister, I have a gift for you.”

Tan You had seen countless specimens—ones she had made herself, ones in national museums. It was like she had seen countless magnificent vistas and was now easily bored.

The fruit, petals, bracts, pollen walls, and branches—every part of the black cumin was meticulously displayed, exuding the elegance of a fluttering blue butterfly.

Perhaps only someone who truly understood black cumin could so precisely condense its ultimate beauty into an eternal specimen.

The girl’s thin, dark eyelashes were like flower petals, giving her a docile, pure, and easily pleased look, like a green bamboo in the snow, so clear it reflected the light.

As Tan You looked at the black cumin specimen—a gift she loved so much she wanted to immediately add it to her collection—her displeasure reached a boiling point.

The feeling of being so thoroughly pleased made her feel a loss of control, a desire to completely destroy the source of that feeling.

Tan You remained silent for a long time. Lan Jingli looked at her nervously. The woman’s face was smiling, but her eyes were apathetic and cold, as if she would never truly be moved or care about anything.

“Sister, don’t you like it?”