Lady By The Pillow - Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Bathing (1)

 

…

 

“It’s not perfume, it’s a kiss.”

 

[Wei Jiuyi: How’s the medicinal wine Yulan gave you?]

 

When the message popped up, Shi Qing was lying on the lumbar spine therapy device Wei Jiuyi bought for her. The device vibrated her spine, causing the words on the screen to shake as well.

 

She adjusted the massage device to a lower amplitude and pressed the voice-to-text button, replying:

 

[Shi: It’s pretty good. I just drank a cup. It’s not bitter or astringent. I feel a little warm.]

 

Wei Jiuyi’s message came back almost instantly:

 

[Wei Jiuyi: Then while you’re feeling warm, hurry up and use the therapy device.]

 

[Shi: Mhm, I’m using it.]

 

[Wei Jiuyi: I secretly drank a sip yesterday. It’s really good. If you drink one cup, you should sleep very well tonight.]

 

[Shi: Why are you so greedy, even for medicinal wine?]

 

[Wei Jiuyi: I was worried it would be too bitter for you.]

 

[Shi: I don’t like it too sweet either.]

 

[Wei Jiuyi: So when Yulan was having her family prepare the medicinal wine, I specifically told her not to make it too bitter or too sweet.]

 

Shi Qing didn’t reply. One session ended, and the vibration of the therapy device stopped. Her lumbar spine, which was pressed tightly against the device, also returned to a state of calm. The low humming sound she had grown accustomed to disappeared. Everything was making way for something unknown.

 

Shi Qing stared at the phrase “not too bitter, not too sweet” that had become so conspicuous in the quiet. The warmth in her heart was further steamed by the medicinal wine. The warmth filled her heart along her veins.

 

[Shi: It’s very good. Thank you both.]

 

Time slowly slipped away with the busy filming schedule. Soon, Wei Jiuyi’s action scenes were finished, and Shi Qing’s dramatic scenes, which had been delayed due to her injury, were also caught up. The A and B teams merged, and they began filming the confrontational scenes between the two female leads in the later part of the story.

 

With the crew’s progress caught up to the original plan, they didn’t have to work overtime every few days. As Fan Erhua said on the first day of the script reading, she didn’t like working overtime. They would wrap up on time at 7 p.m. every night. Sometimes, if filming went smoothly, they could even finish half an hour early.

 

The film and television city had a low latitude. Spring there was already similar to summer in many places, with occasional heavy rain and thunder.

 

Just two weeks after Shi Qing started drinking the medicinal wine, a thunderstorm suddenly hit the set just as they were about to wrap up. The rain poured down. Lightning in the sky cut jagged lines through the black clouds. The thunder from the clouds’ collision sounded like a drum beating in their eardrums, roaring in a series of rumbles.

 

“Hurry and pack up the equipment!”

 

“Tarps! Get the tarps over here first!”

 

“Props! Protect the props!”

 

Fan Erhua directed the entire crew to clean up the mess. Even the main actors helped out, bringing whatever they could into the large tent.

 

When most of the things were packed up, the actors’ makeup was completely ruined. They looked at each other and burst into laughter.

 

“Hahaha, my fake eyelashes flew off!” Fang Fei peeled a misplaced fake eyelash from her chin.

 

“I’m so done. My eyeshadow is completely smudged. It looks like I was beaten up!”

 

“And the costumes! What are we going to do about them? The one I’m wearing is embroidered.”

 

“It’s okay, it’s okay. The costume designer has a way. As long as they’re not torn, they can be fixed.”

 

Fang Fei quickly pulled out her phone from an inner pocket. She turned it on and swiped twice.

 

“My phone seems to be a little broken!”

 

The top half of the screen didn’t respond. Only the bottom row of the keyboard worked. The phone was secondary. The important thing was the fanfiction about 97Time that she had just commissioned from the author “Sun and Moon in the Same Light”!

 

She couldn’t type, so she used voice input:

 

[AprilInTheWorld: Author, it’s pouring here, and my phone is a little broken. Can you wait until I get back and log in on my computer to send me another copy?]

 

[Sun and Moon in the Same Light: Sure. It’s raining here too.]

 

[AprilInTheWorld: You’re so nice! I offer you the sincere kiss of a devotee mua—]

 

[Sun and Moon in the Same Light: You’re welcome. Go home and take a hot shower so you don’t catch a cold.]

 

[AprilInTheWorld: Okay, okay~]

 

A colleague saw Fang Fei “mua”-ing and saying “okay, okay” to her phone and asked suspiciously:

 

“Fang Fei, are you dating?”

 

Fang Fei’s eyes were wide.

 

“What are you talking about? I’m talking to an author from my fanfiction community!”

 

A group of people huddled in the tent, laughing and talking. Dong Ya poured a cup of hot water from her thermos for Shi Qing.

 

“Sister Qing, have some hot water. Even though the temperature is rising, you still have to be careful not to catch a cold.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Shi Qing took the cup lid with the hot water and took a big gulp. She didn’t want her back injury to heal only to have her filming progress be affected by a cold.

 

“No problem.” Dong Ya took the cup back after she finished drinking. “Do you want more?”

 

“No, thank you. I’ll have some ginger soup when I get back.”

 

“Okay, but I don’t know when we’ll be able to leave.”

 

Dong Ya’s concern wasn’t for “us,” but for “me.”

 

When the rain started, all the assistants were in a meeting room. Recently, the number of visitors to the set had been increasing. Some were officially invited media, some were fan groups of the actors, and some were scalpers pretending to be professionals. In response to this chaotic situation, the crew had a plan and called the relevant departments and actors’ assistants for a training session.

 

When they saw the rain, they quickly ended the meeting and rushed over, only to see that their artist was drenched.

 

To protect the costumes, the actors needed to quickly take them off and hand them over to the costume designer. Since most of the crew was drenched and needed to go back and take a hot shower, there weren’t enough people to do the remaining work. Most of the assistants would be called to help.

 

“It’s okay. I’ll just take a taxi back.”

 

With Dong Ya’s help, Shi Qing changed out of her heavy costume and put on the clothes she wore that morning. Her long hair, which had been unpinned, was still dripping.

 

“It’s a storm right now. It’ll be hard to find a taxi.”

 

Dong Ya was worried. If they were in Jiangcheng, she could drive Shi Qing’s car. But most of the people in the film and television city were from out of town, so there were a lot of people but few cars. With the heavy rain, there was no hope of getting a taxi.

 

“I drove here. You can take my car.”

 

Wei Jiuyi also changed her clothes and came out.

 

“You drove here?” Shi Qing was surprised.

 

“Yes. I’ve been enjoying driving around lately, so I just drove here this morning.” Wei Jiuyi’s reason was completely logical.

 

“But I’m soaked right now. I’ll get your car dirty.” Shi Qing was a little resistant.

 

“What’s the big deal? I’m wet too. It’s just rain. There’s nothing dirty about it. The important thing is to get back and take a hot shower.”

 

“I…”

 

“…I’ll call Fang Fei and the others and give a few more people a ride back.”

 

At this point, if Shi Qing continued to hesitate, she would seem pretentious.

 

Besides, both of their management companies were promoting the 97Time coupledom. It was only right for her and Wei Jiuyi to create opportunities to be together.

 

Fang Fei and the two actresses who played Shi Qing’s maids got into the back seat of Wei Jiuyi’s car. The three actresses had only been in the industry for a year. They were young but perceptive. They were all quick to act. As soon as the car door was unlocked, they quickly got into the back seat.

 

“This is my first time riding in an Audi.” Zhang Yu touched the soft leather seats. “Teacher Wei, we’re making your car dirty. We’re so sorry!”

 

Wei Jiuyi smiled generously. “It’s fine. I’m all wet too. Rainwater isn’t dirty. I’ll just get it washed tomorrow.”

 

Zhang Yu chuckled awkwardly. “Rainwater isn’t dirty, but my shoes are a little dirty, hehe…”

 

Fang Fei opened her canvas bag. “I have wet wipes. You can wipe them off.”

 

Li Shushu raised her hand. “Me too, me too.”

 

So the three of them cleaned up in the back seat.

 

“Shushu, how did your hand get cut?”

 

“Maybe I accidentally hit something while I was packing up the equipment.”

 

Fang Fei opened her canvas bag. “I have a bandage.”

 

“Why do you have everything in your bag?” Li Shushu was surprised.

 

“Well, I have no choice. My manager doesn’t take care of me, so I have to take care of myself.”

 

“Do you have candy, Sister Fei? I have low bl00d sugar, and I’m a little dizzy.”

 

“Yes, wait a second.”

 

“Are you Doraemon?”

 

“Hmph, you know it.”

 

The three of them rustled through Fang Fei’s bag, turning it upside down.

 

“Teacher Shi, I have a towel here. It’s new and unused. Do you want to use it?”

 

Fang Fei handed a pink towel in a cloth bag from the back.

 

Shi Qing turned around from the passenger seat and smiled gently:

 

“Thank you, but you should use it. You’re wet too.”

 

Fang Fei pushed the towel forward again:

 

“Oh, the three of us ran to the tent as soon as it started raining, so we didn’t get that wet. You and Teacher Wei were standing outside and got soaked.”

 

Fang Fei was right. When the rain started, Wei Jiuyi and Shi Qing were filming in an open area. It was over 200 meters from the performance area to the tent. By the time they ran back in their heavy costumes, there wasn’t a single dry spot on them from head to toe. Especially since they both had long hair for this historical drama, their soaked hair felt like water-filled towels, dripping water even now.

 

But if she used it, what would Wei Jiuyi use?

 

“Teacher Wei, you should use it first.”

 

She took the towel and handed it to Wei Jiuyi.

 

“Oh, thank you.”

 

Wei Jiuyi held the steering wheel with one hand and took the towel with the other. She wiped her soaked neck and then handed it back to Shi Qing, not forgetting to praise Fang Fei for providing the supplies.

 

“Fang Fei, I didn’t expect you to have everything in your bag.”

 

Fang Fei was delighted. “Of course! It’s a treasure chest, okay? I even have a Polaroid!”

 

Li Shushu was excited. “A Polaroid? Is it the one you said last week that can flip for selfies?”

 

Fang Fei showed it off generously. “Yes, and it’s mint green. I love it!”

 

The three of them were laughing and chatting, but Shi Qing, in the passenger seat, had been silent for more than ten seconds, holding the slightly damp towel.

 

The three people in the back didn’t notice Shi Qing’s strangeness, but Wei Jiuyi, in the driver’s seat, saw it clearly out of the corner of her eye.

 

“You can use the other side.”

 

This was a phrase only the two of them would understand.

 

It was a summer back then. The weather was so hot. If they closed the windows, it was a steamer. If they opened them, it was a hot pot. The power in the neighborhood went out. The two of them were fanning themselves, but the more they fanned, the hotter they got.

 

The power finally came back on in the middle of the night, and they took turns showering. But when Wei Jiuyi entered the bathroom, she held the towel that should have belonged to Shi Qing and stared at the soft towel around Shi Qing’s neck, wanting to say something but stopping herself.

 

“A-Qing, it seems you took the wrong one.”

 

Only then did Shi Qing suddenly pull the towel from her neck and realize it was Wei Jiuyi’s. At that time, they had only been intimate twice. They were both sensitive to each other’s bodies. Shi Qing even wore a shirt during it and never fully exposed her body to Wei Jiuyi.

 

A bath towel was something that was in close contact with the skin, and it had even touched private parts that Wei Jiuyi had never seen.

 

At that moment, Shi Qing stiffly got up. Her usual composure as the older one seemed a little thin. She opened the closet:

 

“I’m sorry. I’ll get you a new one.”

 

But Wei Jiuyi said, “It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

 

Shi Qing was a bit of a neat freak. “I’ve already used it.”

 

Wei Jiuyi pointed to the towel. “No big deal. I’ll just use the other side. You can use it too if you flip it over.”

 

Shi Qing liked to have a front and a back. Even her towels did. One side was lake green, and the other was light blue. She usually liked to use the light blue side.

 

But Fang Fei’s towel was pink on both sides.

 

When they reached the intersection, Wei Jiuyi stepped on the brake to wait for the red light. She unfolded the towel in Shi Qing’s hand, flipped it, and folded it twice, putting the side she had used on the inside.

 

Shi Qing understood what she meant. By putting the used side on the inside, she wouldn’t touch her skin.

 

But the two of them had once had the most intimate relationship. That folded-up towel felt like a bottle of perfume with Wei Jiuyi’s unique scent. Once it touched her skin, the heat carried away by the liquid’s vaporization made her skin sensitive, followed by a sensation of warmth that even the room temperature felt hot.

 

No, it wasn’t perfume.

 

It was a kiss.

 

A kiss that was more fiery and sticky than a simple perfume. With every kiss, a whisper that could melt a person would sound in her ear.

 

A-Qing.

 

A-Qing.

 

A-Qing.

 

The light turned green, and the black private car slowly started to move. Shi Qing, in the passenger seat, used the folded towel to wipe the remaining rainwater from her neck.

 

Under her loose black hair, her ears were as red as rouge.