After a Contractual Romance with the Scumbag Movie Queen - Chapter 59

Qi Puzhi knocked on the bathroom door and cleared her throat lightly, “You can come out now.”

“Mm.” Jiang Tian responded and pushed the door open.

Qi Puzhi glanced at the girl’s flushed ears and the slightly awkward expression on her face, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

She was the one who got seen, so why does this kid look like she’s the one who got taken advantage of?

There wasn’t enough time to dwell on it, so Qi Puzhi quickly finished getting ready and took Jiang Tian out the door.

Near the bus stop was a pancake stall where Qi Puzhi usually grabbed breakfast before work.

Thinking that Jiang Tian was still growing, she added an extra egg to Jiang Tian’s order, something she rarely indulged in for herself.

“Sis.”

Qi Puzhi was looking up at the newly posted bus schedule when Jiang Tian handed her the pancake. She took it without thinking and took a bite.

Then paused.

This was the one with the extra egg.

She turned her head to look at Jiang Tian, who stood under the shabby bus stop sign in an expensive streetwear jacket, her delicate features serene as she quietly ate the other pancake.

A harmonious contradiction.

Noticing Qi Puzhi’s gaze, Jiang Tian lifted her eyes to meet hers, silently asking what was wrong.

Qi Puzhi looked away without a word and finished the egg pancake in silence.

It’s just that after struggling in the muck for so long, even a little kindness can send ripples through the heart.

It was rush hour, and the bus was packed.

There was still space near the back door’s handrail. Qi Puzhi grabbed hold and motioned for Jiang Tian to join her. “Come here.”

Jiang Tian squeezed through the crowd.

They ended up standing uncomfortably close.

Close enough for Jiang Tian to catch the sweet scent of Qi Puzhi’s skin.

Qi Puzhi glanced down and noticed the girl seemed to be struggling to breathe, thinking she might be too cramped.

Just as she considered shifting, the bus arrived at a stop, and a wave of passengers pushed forward to get off,

“Excuse me.”

As they squeezed past, Qi Puzhi was shoved forward by the momentum, accidentally pressing Jiang Tian against the handrail.

It was practically a full-frontal embrace.

Jiang Tian’s lips even seemed to brush against her neck.

“…”

The soft touch sent a jolt through Qi Puzhi, her skin burning where they’d made contact.

She had never been this physically close to anyone before.

As the bus emptied slightly, Qi Puzhi snapped out of it and quickly took two steps back, ending the accident.

She saw Jiang Tian with her eyes lowered, long lashes trembling slightly, lips pressed together pitifully, as if she’d just survived some great ordeal, nearly drained.

Perhaps between two people, only one is ever truly embarrassed. Because seeing Jiang Tian like this, Qi Puzhi’s own awkwardness suddenly faded.

This kid really seems shy about physical contact.

She studied her for a moment longer and found it oddly endearing.

By the time they reached the veterinary clinic, Jiang Tian had long since regained her composure.

She followed Qi Puzhi inside and saw the little dog.

Fresh from its morning shots, the pup looked a bit listless.

But when it spotted Qi Puzhi, its eyes brightened instantly, tail wagging faintly.

As Qi Puzhi reached out, it nuzzled its furry chin into her palm.

Maybe the snarling that day had just been a stress response from the pain.

Qi Puzhi’s heart softened as she gently stroked it.

The puppy basked in her touch while eyeing the person beside her warily.

Under the streetlight, Qi Puzhi instinctively turned her head and saw Jiang Tian staring at the puppy, her eyes even more wary than the dog’s.

The girl and the puppy seemed locked in a silent standoff.

Qi Puzhi was momentarily taken aback.

Sensing her gaze, Jiang Tian naturally averted her eyes and asked sweetly, “How did you and the puppy meet, sister?”

The girl’s clear, gentle gaze made Qi Puzhi wonder if what she had just seen was a trick of the light.

She brushed it off and answered Jiang Tian’s question first.

The neighborhood where she rented was notorious for its poor security.

One evening on her way home, a half-drunk man, seeing her alone, had ill intentions.

Under the dim streetlights, with no one around, Qi Puzhi had bolted. But after a long day of work, her exhausted limbs couldn’t outrun the man.

In that moment of panic, this little dog had charged out, barking ferociously as if it could tear the man apart, scaring him off.

From then on, Qi Puzhi had noticed the stray. Even though she struggled to make ends meet, she always made sure to share some food with the dog.

Though the puppy had a fierce temper, it softened around her.

It often waited at the intersection to escort her home, a guardian in the dark.

That was why, even in such dire straits, even though the vet bills would only add to her burdens, she couldn’t bear to leave the sick dog untreated.

After hearing Qi Puzhi’s story, Jiang Tian suddenly felt foolish for her earlier jealousy toward the puppy.

Watching the two of them, her heart swelled with gratitude and an aching tenderness,

At least this little dog had been there for her.

The woman’s slender fingers ran through the puppy’s soft fur, her delicate profile bathed in warm light, radiating gentleness.

Jiang Tian stared unblinkingly before suddenly saying, “Sister, can I take a photo of you two?”

Qi Puzhi paused, then happily handed her phone to Jiang Tian.

As the girl raised the phone, carefully framing the shot, Qi Puzhi pulled her back.

With a soft laugh at Jiang Tian’s puzzled expression, she said, “Let’s take it together.”

And so, the girl’s slightly dazed look, the puppy’s wide-eyed, grinning cuteness, and the young woman’s captivating smile were forever captured in the photo.

After leaving the hospital, Jiang Tian returned home.

On one hand, she didn’t want to add to Qi Puzhi’s financial strain; on the other, she wanted to get back before 24 hours had passed to avoid her family reporting her missing.

The day before, Jiang Tian’s conservative father had flown into a rage upon discovering she was reading lesbian-themed magazines. He had beaten his beloved daughter, whom he had cherished since childhood, for the first time.

He had roared that if she dared to like women, she should get out.

It was just words spoken in anger, but Jiang Tian had walked out without looking back, taking nothing with her.

When her mother returned and found out, she had berated her husband fiercely.

With their daughter missing for over twenty hours, Jiang Tian’s parents had grown frantic, their hair graying overnight from worry.

Seeing her return unharmed, the weight lifted from their hearts, and in their relief, they temporarily set aside the issue of their daughter’s rebellious and unconventional sexuality.

Both sides tacitly avoided the topic for the time being.

Jiang Tian’s holiday was coming to an end. She secretly visited the animal clinic a few times, buying nutritional supplements for the puppy.

She had hoped to see Qi Puzhi once more before leaving the country but worried about disturbing her.

Then one evening, as she was having dinner with her parents, she overheard them casually mention,

“Qi Ke truly has no qualms when it comes to his only daughter. To force her to submit, he apparently had her dog beaten to death the other day.”

“You’re not even working with him, where did you hear this?”

“He drank too much at lunch and said it himself. Xiao Chen mentioned it to me in the afternoon. Apparently, he was boasting about it.”

Jiang’s father had deliberately brought this up.

Ever since he had accidentally hit Jiang Tian, their father-daughter relationship had grown distant. He wanted to highlight Qi Ke’s cruelty toward his daughter to show that he himself still had redeeming qualities.

But then he saw Jiang Tian’s hand holding the chopsticks tremble, and the two chopsticks slipped from her grasp one after another.

With a clatter, they rolled onto the floor.

Her head was bowed, her long hair cascading down, obscuring her expression.

“I need to go out for a bit.”

Her voice was hoarse and barely recognizable when she spoke.

Before her parents could react, Jiang Tian had already abruptly risen from the table, grabbed her coat from the sofa, and dashed out.

“Where to, young lady?”

The taxi driver, seeing the red-eyed girl in the backseat silently shedding tears, kindly handed her a tissue.

Jiang Tian struggled to steady her trembling voice as she gave the address.

When Qi Puzhi returned home that night, she saw a familiar figure in a familiar place.

The girl was sitting on the street in the chilly midnight breeze, a scene so familiar that Qi Puzhi almost felt as if she had traveled back a month in time.

She stopped in front of Jiang Tian and asked softly, “Homeless again?”

Jiang Tian pressed her lips tightly together, stood up, and stared at her intently.

Qi Puzhi gazed into the girl’s eyes, brimming with pain, and suddenly understood why she had come.

Her breath hitched. The fingers at her sides curled slightly, and her lips parted, but no words came out.

She wanted to force a smile, to put on the facade of a strong, mature adult in front of the girl.

But she couldn’t.

Over the past month, she had first been betrayed by a friend who had shared hardships with her on set.

That person, having taken money from the Qi family, had abruptly abandoned their kindness. They spread rumors that Qi Puzhi was involved with a married supervisor, claiming that was how she landed the highest-paying roles among the extras. Amidst the scornful and disdainful looks, she lost her job once again.

Then, her little dog left her in cruel agony. She had buried it with her own hands.

She had always thought, once she earned enough money, she would take it home immediately.

How could she pretend to smile? At this moment, standing before Jiang Tian, she was merely an adult battered mercilessly by life, broken and defeated.

After all these years, she should have long grown accustomed to it. There was no reason to wallow in self-pity.

But the girl before her was perhaps the only one who could truly understand the pain of losing it.

Yet when Jiang Tian looked up at her, those bright, tear-filled eyes shimmering with sorrow reflected Qi Puzhi’s own image back at her.

As if the pain that belonged solely to Qi Puzhi could also sear through every breath of another person.

As if, like a traveler gazing up at the bright moon in the night sky, the name “Qi Puzhi” could cast a gentle, sacred glow in someone’s heart, cherished with care, revered with purity akin to worship.

In the lowest valley of her life, Qi Puzhi stumbled into that gaze, nearly collapsing under its weight, aching all over.

Before the flood of tears could spill, she turned sharply away, her back to Jiang Tian.

On the deserted midnight street, the walls were crumbling, and the broken streetlights emitted a dim, flickering glow.

Jiang Tian looked up at the young woman.

The person didn’t want her to hear the sobs, so they clenched their teeth and held back, their slender shoulders trembling faintly.

The dark, long curls swayed slightly with the tremors, as if caught in the relentless tide of overwhelming emotions.

Yet, occasional whimpers still escaped despite their efforts.

Even under life’s cruel oppression, their spine remained stubbornly straight.

This scene seared itself into Jiang Tian’s heart, burning so fiercely it left the flesh there mangled, an unbearable pain.

The cool night breeze brushed past, chilling her tear-streaked cheeks.

Unable to endure any longer, she took a few steps forward and reached out, embracing Qi Puzhi from behind.

With all her might, clumsily, she tried to offer whatever faint warmth she had, hoping it might bring even the slightest comfort, though it might amount to nothing.

Her voice trembled, hoarse as she spoke, “Jiejie, I.”

I’m willing to be your puppy forever.

But she couldn’t bring herself to say the rest.

She was still studying abroad and had to leave the day after tomorrow. There was simply no way she could give Qi Puzhi the companionship a puppy ought to provide.

It would only be a distant, futile vigil across the sea, across the gap of age. Qi Puzhi might not even need it.

She was at an age of unbearable contradiction.

Sixteen, old enough to want to cherish and protect someone, yet too young, too powerless.

Sixteen, burning with the desire to devote herself to the one she loved, yet unable to give anything at all.

All she could do was hold Qi Puzhi like this, listening to the howling storm in her heart, a storm that seemed to sweep into Jiang Tian’s own chest, bitter and piercing.

Even so, she prayed this moment could stretch on infinitely.

But the person in her arms stirred, suddenly turning around to embrace her in return.

It was so abrupt that Jiang Tian, still steeped in sorrow, was jolted out of all emotion.

She caught the faint fragrance of Qi Puzhi’s hair, felt the warmth and softness of her body.

Then she heard the woman murmur in a low voice, “Thank you.”

Her tone was like that of someone drowning in adversity, finally grasping their lifeline, as she choked out, “I’ll remember this hug forever.”

As if Jiang Tian’s presence mattered deeply in this moment.

As if simply having her eyes follow Qi Puzhi was already a grand offering in itself.

The purest love in my heart is to feel another’s pain as my own. Joy is easy to share, but pain is rarely understood. So however much it hurts Jiejie, it hurts Jiang Tian just as much and then some, because she can’t give anything in return. You two deserve to be bound together fiercely, life after life (typing this in the middle of the night with tears in my eyes).