After Cannon Fodder A Accidentally Marked the Cold Film Queen - Chapter 35

“Cough, cough!”

The associate director suddenly coughed twice.

Inside the room, everyone’s attention instantly turned to her.

Including Zhu Songning and Shen Qingyu.

“Associate Director, do you have a sore throat?”

Zhu Songning turned her head to look at her.

“No,” the associate director scratched her head. “It’s just that if you and Film Empress Shen have something to say, you can just say it directly. You don’t need to secretly text each other under the table.”

“Regarding the content of this performance, don’t worry, our production team will not reveal it to the public in advance!”

Zhu Songning: “…”

Shen Qingyu: “…”

Director: “…………”

The expression on Zhu Songning’s face froze.

If their conversation were brought out into the open, that would be a real problem, wouldn’t it?

The director’s face was covered in dark lines, and he suddenly jumped up and slapped the associate director on the head.

“Oh, you kid, really!” The director looked exasperated. “Listen, when we get back, I’m going to buy you a copy of The Art of Speaking to study.”

The associate director said, aggrieved, “Director, I told you not to hit my head. I’m only 22, I can still grow taller…”

Shen Qingyu lightly laughed when she saw the lively scene in the room.

“Alright, we’re still looking for inspiration.”

She smoothed down her coat, covering the ambiguous red marks on her body, before slowly pulling a pair of earphones out of her pocket.

In this era where everyone uses Bluetooth, someone is still retro enough to use wired earphones plugged into their phone. Zhu Songning looked at the tangled ball of pure white earphone wire, sighing internally.

Shen Qingyu’s slender fingers unhurriedly untangled the intertwined lines, put on one side of the earphone, and handed the other to Zhu Songning.

“Since we have no inspiration, why don’t we listen to some music?”

She extended the invitation.

Zhu Songning looked down at the messy lines on her draft paper, then looked up at the half of the earphone resting quietly in Shen Qingyu’s palm.

She took it and put it in her ear.

A gentle melody instantly flowed out.

The sound of the intro tapped repeatedly at their ears, like the sound of raindrops falling.

It was Stefanie Sun’s “Rainy Day.”

Zhu Songning looked up in surprise, seemingly astonished by her choice of song.

“What’s wrong? Am I not allowed to have a nostalgic song list?”

Shen Qingyu’s eyes looked at her playfully.

“Nothing,” she lowered her gaze. “It sounds very nice.”

Just a little sad.

At the same time, the foot that Shen Qingyu had extended towards her started gently nudging her leg under the table again.

Zhu Songning couldn’t see what was happening underneath the tablecloth.

But she remembered Shen Qingyu’s ice-clear nude pink nail polish, a translucent, light color.

Shen Qingyu felt the warm touch under her toes and kept circling her foot.

Zhu Songning’s body temperature was rising little by little, her entire being felt like she had a fever, her mind started to swell, and her thoughts floated.

She gritted her teeth tightly, desperately biting back the fractured sounds that were about to spill out.

There were other people here.

She stared straight at Shen Qingyu.

Hoping she would understand her meaning and restrain herself a little.

Unexpectedly, Shen Qingyu merely glanced at her, quickly shifted her gaze away, and refocused her attention on the music playing on her phone.

The force is so heavy…

She felt the air entering her lungs becoming thinner, all her attention was focused on Shen Qingyu, floating and swaying along with the song in her ear.

Zhu Songning’s fingers gripped the edge of the table tightly, the corner of the tablecloth wrinkled where she clutched it, her fingertips white, and her fingers red.

It wasn’t until the song finished that Shen Qingyu smiled and let her off the hook.

“Student Zhu, you haven’t heard me sing yet, have you?” Shen Qingyu tidied the coat around her body and stood up.

Zhu Songning still had Shen Qingyu’s half of the earphone in her ear, and the white earphone wire connected the two of them tightly.

Seeing Shen Qingyu walk towards the window, she was forced to stumble and follow her footsteps.

By the window was a closed door, which Shen Qingyu reached out and pushed open.

Beyond the door was another world—a piano room.

Inside the room, a crystal-colored grand piano was placed in the center, and when the curtains were drawn, a huge floor-to-ceiling window was revealed.

Outside the door, the flowing stream, the bridge over the stream, and the fresh scenery after the morning rain came into view.

Shen Qingyu pushed open the piano lid and sat down on the bench.

The piano was entirely pure white, transparent white on top, like snow, spotless and sacred.

Together with the Omega’s pale complexion and snow-white hair, it made her look even more like jade.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, refracting a rainbow of colors on the piano.

The camera operator’s eyes glazed over when they saw this scene and they quickly recorded it.

It was too beautiful.

It didn’t resemble a scene from the mortal world, nor did the person resemble a mortal.

Zhu Songning was pulled by her to sit beside her.

The music in the earphone happened to be playing for the second time.

It was the instrumental version from the album, without vocals.

The sound from the earphone perfectly overlapped with the sound of the piano under the Omega’s hands.

Zhu Songning had heard Shen Qingyu’s voice countless times.

Both in reality and in dreams.

But this was undoubtedly the first time she had heard her singing voice.

Shen Qingyu got into character quickly; almost as soon as her fingers struck the first key, a faint sense of melancholy appeared on her face.

It was as if they were both caught in the same rain.

Zhu Songning’s eyes brought up the theme word she had looked at for a long time and racked her brain over:

‘Color.’

Rain has no color; it is formless and colorless.

But whenever the rain falls, the colors of the world are washed anew.

The vibrant ones are no longer glaring, and the noisy ones are no longer boisterous.

Even her worries were seeped into by the rain, densely packed, fully revealing themselves in a heavy downpour.

“You can understand my rainy days, you understand my occasional timidity.”

“The moment those heavy rains fell in the past, I suddenly realized.”

Shen Qingyu’s voice had a very unique timbre, like the sound of snow, falling in flurries, with a sense of etherealness.

Zhu Songning felt a strange sense of familiarity.

This kind of voice, though beautiful, could sometimes feel too lofty and pure.

Yet, the owner of this voice was Shen Qingyu.

Her singing was very skillful, and unexpectedly, it was very moving and evocative.

When Zhu Songning heard her sing, she genuinely thought that Shen Qingyu had truly cried for someone before, tears accumulating in her eyes, unable to find her way to that person’s side no matter how hard she tried.

The thought had barely surfaced before she nipped it in the bud.

How was that possible?

The pattering sound of rain in the earphone accompaniment fell, accompanied by the coda of the piano outside the earphone.

Shen Qingyu blended the two sound channels well.

Zhu Songning observed the absorbed person next to her, with a serene profile, the sunlight seemed to brighten her eyes significantly, giving them a black glass-like sheen.

The hand holding the pen was writing incessantly on the draft paper.

Perhaps, what she truly found moving had never been how magnificent that face was.

But the color of those eyes.

Beneath the icy exterior, resided a pair of eyes filled with deep affection and compassion.

The room was quiet for several seconds before the audience’s soft gasps could be heard.

“Oh my god, I always knew Film Empress Shen was a brilliant actress, I never expected her singing to be so good too…”

“How can there be such a perfect person in the world—when she sits by the piano, she looks as beautiful as an angel.”

“…”

Zhu Songning watched her withdraw her hands from the keys, then looked up at her, lifting her chin proudly.

“How is it? Are you mesmerized by me too?”

Zhu Songning gave a snort through her nose.

She leaned in close to her ear and said, “Cocky.”

Shen Qingyu glared at her in annoyance.

Zhu Songning, unable to withstand her threatening look, reluctantly added, “Instructor Shen is really amazing.”

“…That’s so perfunctory.”

Shen Qingyu pouted in dissatisfaction.

Under her threatening gaze, Zhu Songning quietly added another sentence: “I really like Instructor Shen’s… singing.”

The cameraman’s lens zoomed in, landing on the white paper in Zhu Songning’s hand.

On the white paper, black pen quickly outlined Shen Qingyu concentrating on playing the piano, as seen from her perspective.

It is always difficult to draw excessively beautiful people well, but Zhu Songning’s casual sketch was extremely expressive, omitting no detail. It was as if she was already intimately familiar with the person, and just a few strokes could convey the subject’s elegant grace.

“?”

The associate director nearby widened her eyes, “Director, the atmosphere between this Zhu Songning and Film Empress Shen… it’s not right, is it?”

“What’s not right? What’s not right? What’s not right?!”

The director got angry looking at the associate director’s clueless expression, grabbed the back of her collar, and started dragging her out.

“Alright, alright, we’re wrapping up today!”

“Go, go, go, don’t disturb Film Empress Shen and little Zhu from getting down to business.”

A group of people, hearing the director’s words, immediately said goodbye and left in a hurry.

The door outside closed with a bang.

Shen Qingyu was still sitting on the piano bench, looking at Zhu Songning, who was leaning diagonally against the piano beside her.

“What’s this? Is this your inspiration?”

Shen Qingyu’s gaze fell on her draft paper.

“Am I your muse?”

“I suppose so.”

Zhu Songning certainly already had a general idea for a stage performance in her mind, and the inspiration for this idea did indeed come from Shen Qingyu.

However, admitting it outright felt a little bit—shy.

Shen Qingyu leaned closer, her head tilted as she peered beneath Zhu Songning’s downcast eyes: “Are you shy? Our Ningning.”

She struck a pose, opening her mouth wide: “I saw how aggressive you were this morning, I thought you wouldn’t get shy.”

Shen Qingyu mimicked her tone and demeanor: “‘Sister, sister, sister, sister… please, please give me…'”

Zhu Songning’s ears turned red, and she pressed down on Shen Qingyu: “That’s enough.”

How could she bring up what was said in such a delirious state?

So mean.

Shen Qingyu was about to stand up but was pressed back down by the Alpha. She sat on the piano, and the keys let out a chaotic, disorderly, and harsh sound.

Zhu Songning, using Shen Qingyu’s hand that was braced behind her, slid her fingers into Shen Qingyu’s fingertips, intertwining their fingers from the back of her hand.

Between the two of them, the long wired earphones were tied in an inextricable knot, wrapped around each other.

A chord was struck.

Shen Qingyu was startled by the sudden sound, looked up at her, and saw Zhu Songning’s light-colored eyes staring back at her.

That look, she had seen it before…

It was exactly the same look Zhu Songning had this morning when she wanted to devour her.

“Why is Sister such a mischievous troublemaker?”

Zhu Songning’s fingers gradually tightened, trapping Shen Qingyu’s fingertips, pressing her firmly against the piano.

Truly worthy of a million-level piano; even the sounds produced by random striking were still pleasant.

And in Zhu Songning’s heart, there was a sound even more beautiful than the piano.

The sounds that were suppressed in the darkness when the heavy rain fell.

“I just wonder if my muse would be willing to play another song for me?”

Zhu Songning held her and sat down on her lap.

Shen Qingyu’s body was tightly pressed against hers.

“Don’t be nervous. If you hit the wrong note, shouldn’t it be my turn to punish Sister Yuyu?”

Shen Qingyu’s hands were vaguely placed on the piano keys by her.

She was still wondering in her heart, what kind of punishment?

Support