After a Contractual Romance with the Scumbag Movie Queen - Chapter 28

Opposite the bathroom door was a recording camera. The two of them staying in the enclosed bathroom wasn’t ideal after all.

Moreover, being this close to Jiang Tian and locking eyes with her, Qi Puzhi instinctively felt a sense of danger.

So she didn’t engage in much verbal back-and-forth. After a moment’s thought, she only said ambiguously, “Same as you.”

With that, she walked over and opened the bathroom door.

Jiang Tian’s voice followed behind her: “Really?”

Qi Puzhi paused, turning back to look at her. The young woman’s eyes didn’t hide the flicker of delight in them.

For some reason, Qi Puzhi felt a touch of sweetness in her heart. She raised an eyebrow and curved her lips into a smile. “Of course.”

They had come for each other, how could they choose anyone else?

It was getting late, time to wash up and sleep.

By the time Jiang Tian came out of the bathroom, Qi Puzhi was already in bed.

The two beds were placed side by side, separated only by a nightstand.

Jiang Tian’s steps toward Qi Puzhi were abruptly halted by the cameras set up in the room. She changed direction and sat down by her own bed.

Qi Puzhi had never been on a variety show before, and during her time on Star Journey, the cameras turned off when the dormitory lights went out. Thus, neither of them knew the mechanism of the bedroom cameras here, assuming they recorded all night.

In the end, they ended up as chastely as ordinary senior and junior colleagues, simply wishing each other goodnight before going to sleep.

The next morning, the guests gathered for breakfast and happened to discuss the camera issue.

The award-winning actress said, “They’re turned off at night, and we even covered them with cloth.”

Jiang Tian’s movements paused mid-bite, her gaze flickering toward Qi Puzhi as if by accident.

Qi Puzhi: “…”

Why did she feel like tonight wouldn’t be peaceful?

Today marked the first official segment of Cross-Border Date after the pairings were formed.

To prevent limiting each pair’s cross-border experience to just their own professions, the guests would first draw lots to jointly experience a profession outside of both their fields, serving as an initial way to get acquainted.

Qi Puzhi and Jiang Tian drew “screenwriter,” requiring them to collaborate on writing a complete short script.

This was relatively challenging among the available options, as compared to simply mimicking a task, conceptualizing and creating was clearly much harder.

The production team specially invited Gu Wen, a renowned golden-screen screenwriter in the industry, to guide them.

Qi Puzhi had previously collaborated with Gu Wen on two films, so they were fairly familiar.

The moment Gu Wen entered the villa and saw Qi Puzhi, she grinned rather mischievously. “Teacher Qi, I’ve finally waited for this day.”

Qi Puzhi looked at her, puzzled.

“I’ve offered you countless romance scripts before, but you never picked a single one, completely avoiding love themes.” Gu Wen smiled. “And yet here you are now. I’ve always thought it was a huge loss that you never acted in romance.”

“We’re just writing a script,” Qi Puzhi raised an eyebrow. “We don’t have to act in it.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she inexplicably felt a sense of foreboding.

Well, that wasn’t necessarily true.

Although they were independently writing the script, the show’s task had already set the theme and basic premise.

It had to be a love story about Ye Su, the third daughter of a prominent family who fled to avoid an arranged marriage, and Pei Ying, an orphaned girl who performed and sold herself in an opera house.

Gu Wen didn’t give them specific guidance on the plot, only saying, “For those without writing experience, crafting a poignant and complete love story right off the bat isn’t easy.”

After a pause, she said, “If you find yourselves stuck along the way, perhaps you could consider drawing from your own experiences.”

Once Gu Wen left, Qi Puzhi and Jiang Tian sat in front of the computer, silent for a moment.

What was harder than the creative process itself was that every discussion about it would be fully captured on camera.

Qi Puzhi, after all, was more familiar with the script than Jiang Tian. She suggested, “We could start by fleshing out the characters’ backgrounds.”

After another pause, she continued, “Ye Su was likely spoiled from childhood, bright and cheerful but with a mischievous streak, someone who loves freedom. That’s why, when faced with an ancestral marriage arrangement, she chose to run away.”

Jiang Tian looked at her and calmly picked up the thread, “Then, perhaps Pei Ying grew up under oppressive family pressure and had no choice but to wander. With her exceptional talent for acting, she turned to the stage to make a living.”

As if her thoughts had unlocked, she went on, “She only wanted to perform honestly, but without any backing and constantly being suppressed, her stubbornness not only left her struggling to survive but also made her a target for many.”

Qi Puzhi’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

She pressed her lips together, as if holding something back. After a moment, she asked, “So, was it under these circumstances that Pei Ying began selling herself?”

Jiang Tian’s gaze was soft as she looked at her, her lips parting gently. “No, she never did, not from beginning to end.”

Qi Puzhi avoided her eyes, gripping the task sheet in her hand. She smiled carelessly, “This sheet says Pei Ying sold both her body and her art. Why do you interpret it differently? Without basis, what makes you believe that?”

Jiang Tian spoke slowly but firmly, “To escape such a harsh family environment, she must have been exceptionally clever, with an innate pride in her bones. So even when forced into desperate straits, she never gave up looking for a way out. Later, everyone assumed she had sold herself to some untouchable power, but in truth, it was just a carefully crafted ruse, a way to secure her freedom once and for all.”

The production team watching through the cameras was momentarily stunned. The two of them had progressed too quickly, too engrossed in their discussion. The strange emotional tension between them seemed to go beyond just discussing script characters.

Faced with Jiang Tian’s answer, Qi Puzhi fell silent for a while before neither agreeing nor disagreeing, shifting the topic instead. “Since we’ve covered the characters themselves, we can talk about the dynamic between them.”

With that, the slightly heavy atmosphere between them lightened somewhat.

This time, Qi Puzhi didn’t let Jiang Tian subtly allude to things, she took the initiative to imply deeper meanings herself. “Though Ye Su may seem naive, she grew up in a family accustomed to the world of fame and desire. When pursuing Pei Ying, she might appear obedient on the surface, but in reality, she’s probably full of schemes and cunning.”

A deep amusement flickered in Jiang Tian’s eyes. She curved her lips slightly, unwilling to back down. “Then Pei Ying, though she puts on a tough front and pretends to be worldly, is actually tender-hearted and soft inside, tsundere and contradictory, saying one thing but meaning another, playing hard to get.”

No one noticed the faint spark of something fiery in Qi Puzhi’s gaze as she looked at Jiang Tian.

A mix of embarrassment and irritation at having her core laid completely bare.

The brief exchange left the production team baffled. While the character dynamics were intriguing, how had Qi Puzhi and Jiang Tian come up with such detailed interpretations in such a short time?

Seeing the look in Qi Puzhi’s eyes, Jiang Tian realized she might have pushed a little too far and quickly changed the subject. “I think Ye Su should fall in love with Pei Ying at first sight.”

Qi Puzhi lifted her gaze to meet hers, as if waiting for her explanation.

Jiang Tian smiled with curved eyes. “A feeling. So, Teacher Qi, what do you think Pei Ying’s feelings were toward Ye Su?”

Qi Puzhi’s lips moved slightly before she calmly replied, “Naturally, it was affection that grew over time.”

Her tone sounded perfectly natural to everyone present, but only Jiang Tian could detect the familiar hints of tsundere and saying one thing while meaning another.

“Is that so?” Jiang Tian’s smile remained unchanged. “Actually, what I wanted to say is that Ye Su’s feelings for Pei Ying likely didn’t begin on the day she ran away from home and met her at the opera stage, it was much earlier.”

Qi Puzhi’s gaze sharpened slightly. Amidst the cameras, she didn’t let her surprise and curiosity show, maintaining her composure as she asked, “How much earlier?”

“Perhaps when the girl was coming of age, or even earlier, on some accidental day when she first encountered Pei Ying, her heart fluttered, and she fell in love at first sight.” Jiang Tian spoke with reason and evidence. “Otherwise, as the daughter of a strictly disciplined noble family, how could Ye Su have fled straight to the opera stage as if she had already decided on her destination before leaving home?”

“Therefore,” Jiang Tian continued, “Pei Ying never knew that the person who seemed to meet her by chance and then inexplicably pursued her for so long might have already.”

“Loved her for a very, very long time.”

Her gaze locked firmly onto Qi Puzhi as she spoke those final words with sincerity and deliberate slowness.

Qi Puzhi stared back at Jiang Tian, her chest rising and falling as emotions surged within her, whether joy or sorrow, she couldn’t tell.

No one knew.

Neither the production crew behind the cameras at that moment nor the future audience who would watch this episode would ever know.

This story, gradually unfolding in their conversation, was actually a reflection of themselves, using the task’s given premise to narrate their own hidden truths.

The script’s protagonists seemed like characters entirely unrelated to them, yet they were the truest, innermost parts of themselves that no one else had ever seen.

And those unspoken feelings, which hadn’t even been fully revealed in reality, were now being poured out unreservedly by the younger woman through the script, confessing her profound emotions to the woman she loved.

One could consider this script as Jiang and Qi’s past life.