After a Contractual Romance with the Scumbag Movie Queen - Chapter 36

This was a relatively remote district of City B, with almost no pedestrians on the streets at night.

After taking a couple of steps, Qi Puzhi belatedly realized that in her haste to get out of the car, she had forgotten to put on her mask and hat. Although this area was out of the way, the street where the cake shop was located could be considered a commercial area, making it unsuitable for her to go there without any disguise.

Resigned, she sighed softly. Just as she was about to wander around for a bit before heading back to the car, she saw Jiang Tian step out fully equipped, bringing along her hat and mask for her.

Watching the young woman approach, Qi Puzhi quickly weighed her options between stubbornly clinging to her pride and suffering the consequences or simply buying the cake. She decided on the latter.

Pretending as if the earlier awkwardness had never happened, she calmly took the mask and put it on. Jiang Tian waited for her to adjust her hat before gently smoothing her long hair. The familiarity and ease of the gesture made Qi Puzhi feel as though they had been partners for years.

Pressing her lips together, she silently allowed Jiang Tian to carefully finish tidying her up.

“All done,” Jiang Tian withdrew her hand. “Shall we go buy the cake now?”

A night breeze swept by, and under the dim streetlights, Jiang Tian looked down at her, her shoulder-length hair swaying gently, her eyes holding a soft, amused glint.

Seeing Qi Puzhi staring at her without saying a word, Jiang Tian waited patiently. “What’s wrong, sister?”

Qi Puzhi reached out and lightly touched the tips of Jiang Tian’s hair, where a speck of white had settled. It vanished the moment her warm fingers made contact.

“It’s snowing, Jiang Tian.”

Qi Puzhi blinked, her voice carrying a clear note of delight.

It was the first snow of the year.

At first, only faint, barely visible snowflakes drifted down, but after Qi Puzhi’s remark, the snowfall noticeably grew heavier. Fluffy and delicate, it filled the air between heaven and earth.

Qi Puzhi stretched out her hand, and a small cluster of snowflakes obediently and lightly landed in her palm.

“Sister, do you like snow that much?”

While she was watching the snow in her hand, Jiang Tian was gazing intently at her.

“Isn’t snow just adorable?”

Qi Puzhi smiled slightly, her eyes curving, as she led Jiang Tian toward the cake shop.

Jiang Tian glanced at her a few times, seeming to hesitate before speaking. Finally, she said softly, “Actually, the first time I saw you was on a day of the first snow, too.”

Curious, Qi Puzhi asked, “Which year’s first snow?”

But Jiang Tian played coy and didn’t tell her.

Qi Puzhi stopped walking, about to accuse her of leaving her hanging, when Jiang Tian leisurely continued, “But that day, just like today, I thought you were incredibly adorable.”

She seemed to be reminiscing, a tender, affectionate smile in her eyes.

Qi Puzhi’s gaze flickered, feeling both an awkward sense of joy and annoyance at Jiang Tian’s vagueness. Just when was the first time they met?

She decided to directly press her snow-chilled hand against Jiang Tian’s neck, deliberately giving her a chill, and complained, “I hate it when people talk in riddles.”

Jiang Tian caught her wrist, intending to wrap her cold hand in her own palms to warm it, but just then, Qi Puzhi’s phone suddenly vibrated.

She signaled for Jiang Tian to wait and answered the call.

Zhang Hua sounded somewhat weak on the other end. “Alright, my two dear stars, stop flaunting your affection on the street so late at night. There are paparazzi live-streaming your every move right now.”

Qi Puzhi: “…”

Zhang Hua sighed in exasperation. “Hold back a little, don’t just come out like that. I haven’t even prepared the press release yet.”

On such a cold night, in such a remote area, paparazzi had still managed to track them down.

Qi Puzhi’s eyes darkened.

It seemed someone was particularly intent on targeting her lately.

Jiang Tian stood beside Qi Puzhi and also clearly heard Zhang Hua’s words.

“Let’s hurry and buy the things, then get back to the car.”

After hanging up the phone, Qi Puzhi no longer lingered on the road with Jiang Tian and headed straight for the pastry shop.

Perhaps having watched the earlier livestream, the pastry shop owner seemed to know something.

She handed the pastries to Qi Puzhi and shyly glanced at the two of them.

Just as they were about to leave the shop, she finally spoke up: “Wishing you two a hundred years of happiness!”

Probably aware that she shouldn’t push the CP narrative in front of the actual people involved, her voice wasn’t loud, but it still struck the two of them as rather deafening.

At that moment, neither refuting nor acknowledging the comment felt appropriate, so Qi Puzhi and Jiang Tian tacitly pretended not to hear it.

When they finally returned to the car, Qi Puzhi first went online to check.

As expected, she and Jiang Tian had made it to the trending topics.

According to screenshots from marketing accounts, the livestream had attracted millions of viewers.

Fortunately, there were no overly inappropriate actions, just Jiang Tian fixing her hair and her slipping her hand into Jiang Tian’s neck to tease her. Even close friends might do such things naturally.

Although the video still looked a bit ambiguous.

Some netizens commented: “Are they really dating? Their vibe is even sweeter than mine with my girlfriend, constantly unable to resist touching each other.”

Solo fans argued: “They’re just friends. My friends and I do this all the time.”

As for the CP fans, they had already used clips from the livestream to create countless stunning GIFs, reveling in the ultimate joy of their idols feeding them sugar directly.

“Some couples, huh? Frolicking and being all lovey-dovey on the streets on the first snowy night, throwing sugar around without a care for our well-being (meaning: give us more!).”

The two of them frequently made headlines with their rumors, which was something they had anticipated even before joining “Cross-Border Date.” Thus, Puxing’s publicity department wasn’t too flustered and stepped in to steer the public opinion toward friendship.”

Meanwhile, the official Weibo account of “Cross-Border Date” took advantage of the situation by releasing some behind-the-scenes interactions from the first episode’s recording, riding the wave of rumors to boost popularity.

With high fame comes high discussion, both Qi Puzhi and Jiang Tian were used to it and weren’t too affected.

The hotel room booked by the production team was still a double room with two large beds, and the cameras inside were already set up.

Qi Puzhi had some work to attend to and let Jiang Tian take a shower first.

When Jiang Tian came out of the bathroom, she saw that Qi Puzhi was still busy and didn’t disturb her. She skillfully covered the cameras, then picked up the script to read.

Tomorrow, they would be performing the first major segment of the script, the day Ye Su and Pei Ying first met.

Although it was almost like playing herself, Jiang Tian didn’t slack off. She had already memorized her lines thoroughly and squeezed in several acting lessons during her busy schedule.

Every time she read those lines, an indescribable emotion stirred in her heart.

As a result, she was quite adept and natural at building up emotions, and her acting coach even praised her for having talent.

Only Jiang Tian knew deep down that it felt more like instinct than talent.

She became engrossed in reading, her emotions surging as she followed the interactions between Ye Su and Pei Ying, almost as if she were seeing fragments of her own past with Qi Puzhi.

Click.

The bathroom door opened, and Qi Puzhi emerged from the hazy steam.

She was wearing a bathrobe, her face flushed from the heat, but it seemed to carry a hint of something else.

The sound of the door opening pulled Jiang Tian out of her thoughts. She set down the script and walked toward Qi Puzhi. “Are you done showering, sis?”

Qi Puzhi watched her approach, a faint trace of wariness flickering across her face.

Jiang Tian had initially moved closer out of habit, but now Qi Puzhi’s uneasy expression piqued her curiosity.

Her brow lifted slightly as she took a few more steps toward Qi Puzhi. “Sis, you look like you’re hiding something.”

Qi Puzhi replied calmly, “What could I possibly be hiding?”

She held Jiang Tian back as the younger woman tried to lean in, changing the subject. “How’s the script reading going?”

Jiang Tian said, “Almost done.”

After a pause, she added softly and earnestly, “I don’t know why, but reading it made me miss you.”

It sounded like sweet, romantic flattery, but it was a genuine feeling stirred within her.

Every time she read about Ye Su and Pei Ying, she couldn’t help but think of Qi Puzhi.

Qi Puzhi had been about to put some distance between them, but those words made her pause.

Truth be told, she often felt the same way while reading the script.

It was inexplicable, yet intense.

Jiang Tian gazed at her and, sensing her reaction, said gently, “Do you feel it too, sis?”

Qi Puzhi met her eyes, reluctant to admit it outright but unable to deny it either.

So, in Qi Puzhi’s hesitant silence, Jiang Tian found her answer.

She chuckled softly, the sound making Qi Puzhi’s ears tingle faintly in the quiet night.

Something weighed on Qi Puzhi’s mind, part of her wanted to slip away, yet she couldn’t bear to leave the sight of the younger woman’s captivating smile.

Jiang Tian could tell something was off about Qi Puzhi.

She mulled it over internally but didn’t show it. Instead, when Qi Puzhi subtly tried to inch away along the wall, Jiang Tian reached out and held her in place.

“Why do you always try to run, sis?” Jiang Tian murmured, leaning in to brush her lips against the corner of Qi Puzhi’s mouth, her nose gently nuzzling Qi Puzhi’s cheek. The faint fragrance of her skin enveloped them.

Qi Puzhi felt a little ticklish but replied calmly, “What are you talking about? Who’s running?”

Hearing her stubborn denial, Jiang Tian couldn’t help but laugh.

“If you’re not running, then how about a kiss before you go?”

The light in the hallway outside the bathroom was dim.

Jiang Tian lifted her chin and kissed her. In a moment of inexplicable guilt, Qi Puzhi forgot to resist.

Their bodies, clad only in thin bathrobes, pressed softly together as they kissed deeply, unhindered in the undisturbed room.

Amid the wet, tangled kiss, Qi Puzhi was pressed against the wall outside the bathroom, and the matter she had been worrying about gradually faded from her mind.

All she could think of was the sweet taste of the younger woman’s lips and tongue.

When their lips parted, a silvery thread glistened between them for a fleeting, intimate moment.

Jiang Tian, not yet satisfied, gently kissed the corner of Qi Puzhi’s mouth and whispered temptingly, “Sis, you’ve fully recovered now.”

She had remembered clearly that day when Qi Puzhi had tried but failed to go further, waiting for the right moment to claim what was owed.

Jiang Tian’s question was direct, and the heat in her eyes as she awaited an answer was scorching.

Qi Puzhi’s breath was still uneven. Under that gaze, she found it hard to stay composed, her cheeks flushing even deeper.

After a moment of silence, she struggled to defend herself in a small voice, “That time… I just wanted to sleep.”

“Really?” Jiang Tian stared at her unhurriedly, a languid smile in her dark, ink-like eyes. She moved her hand from Qi Puzhi’s waist. “But right now.”

Two seconds later, Qi Puzhi gasped sharply.

Jiang Tian’s words abruptly stopped as she stared blankly at Qi Puzhi.

She had only intended to tease the other woman with the dampness of desire, just like last time at the hotel.

However.

She finally understood why Qi Puzhi had been so uncomfortable with her proximity after emerging from the bathroom.

Because Qi Puzhi had forgotten to bring her underwear inside.