After Secretly Marrying the Top Celebrity, I Fell in Love - Chapter 46

“…” Bai Yiyan stood rooted to the spot. This was the first time she had seen Ye Manqing angry.

The woman stood with a cold, severe expression in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. A soft, snowy moonlight shrouded her, giving her an intensely aloof feeling that discouraged people from approaching.

The moonlight delicately traced her deep-set features, making the lines of her chin, with its dimple, appear even smoother under the glow.

Sure enough, her sixth sense had been right.

But even now, Bai Yiyan couldn’t understand why Ye Manqing was suddenly angry.

Bai Yiyan lightly lowered her eyelashes and carefully recalled what had happened during the dozen or so hours since they parted. She had been on set the whole time and hadn’t done anything besides filming.

Filming?

Bai Yiyan suddenly frowned, and the fingers of her naturally drooping left hand curled slightly. Although the bleeding had stopped long ago, the pinpricks on her finger were still throbbing faintly.

Though the needle marks were small, the saying goes that the ten fingers are connected to the heart.

Bai Yiyan had pricked herself twice consecutively, and worried that the blood wouldn’t be enough to achieve the desired effect on camera, she had deliberately pushed the needle quite deep.

Could it be that Ye Manqing was angry because she had pricked herself with a needle? But how did Ye Manqing know about it? Was it possible that Fu Yu…

In just one minute, Bai Yiyan had a guess that was close to the truth, practically infinitely close to it.

During this minute of eye contact with Ye Manqing, Bai Yiyan felt a strange sense of guilt, yet she clearly felt she hadn’t done anything wrong.

Bai Yiyan lightly pursed her lips and tentatively spoke again: “Teacher Ye, you didn’t leave today?”

Ye Manqing still didn’t speak. She lightly lowered her thick, butterfly-wing-like lashes and took a small sip of the red wine in her glass. The woman’s inherent noble temperament ensured that she would not lose her composure even when angry.

Ye Manqing lifted her eyelids to look at Bai Yiyan, her tone somewhat cold: “Have you eaten?”

Bai Yiyan was slightly taken aback, then immediately shook her head.

Ye Manqing: “Go shower first. I’ll call room service.”

Bai Yiyan lowered her head and quietly responded, “Okay.”

Hearing this, Ye Manqing walked straight towards the landline, standing sideways with her back to Bai Yiyan. She picked up the receiver and held it to her ear with one hand, while dialing the hotel’s front desk with the other.

Bai Yiyan’s eyes followed her all the way. She paused, then decided to shower first.

After a whole day of filming, wearing layer upon layer of complicated wedding attire, she had sweated a lot. The one thing Bai Yiyan wanted to do most right now was indeed to shower.

When Bai Yiyan finished her shower and blow-dried her long, damp hair, dinner had already been laid out on the table.

Ye Manqing sat sideways at the dining table, her single hand propping up her defined jawline, her elbow resting on the edge of the table. Hearing footsteps, her thoughts were pulled back to reality. She reached out and gently crooked her finger at Bai Yiyan, motioning for her to come over.

Bai Yiyan obediently walked towards Ye Manqing. When she got closer, she pulled out the chair opposite the table and sat down.

Neither of them spoke, quietly eating the steak in front of them. The only sounds they could occasionally hear were the clinking of cutlery cutting the steak and faint chewing.

In addition, there was the barely audible “gulp” sound when Ye Manqing drank her wine.

Ye Manqing barely touched the steak in front of her, but she drank the wine glass after glass.

Bai Yiyan put down her knife and fork, subtly furrowing her brow, and offered Ye Manqing a sincere apology.

“Teacher Ye, I’m sorry, I was wrong.”

“…” Ye Manqing’s fingers tightened around the stem of the wine glass. She lifted her cool, fair eyelids, meeting Bai Yiyan’s apologetic gaze. “You guessed it?”

Bai Yiyan nodded.

Ye Manqing took a sip of red wine and said leisurely: “Yiyan, you’ve always been very smart.”

“But sometimes you’re not so smart.”

Bai Yiyan blinked, not quite understanding the meaning of Ye Manqing’s words, and chose to remain silent.

Ye Manqing put down her wine glass, then reached out to Bai Yiyan, palm up.

“Give me your hand.”

Bai Yiyan: “…”

Ye Manqing: “The hand you pricked.”

Bai Yiyan complied, placing her left hand on Ye Manqing’s.

The moment their two hands touched, temperature transferred between the back of her hand and her palm.

Sure enough, there were two needle marks clearly visible on Bai Yiyan’s left index finger. The marks were actually very small, but under the strong light pouring down from above, they were very clearly seen.

Ye Manqing lightly lowered her eyelids, her gaze lingering on Bai Yiyan’s left index finger for a long time. These two pinpricks felt as if they had been stabbed right into her heart.

Having acted for over ten years, Ye Manqing had suffered many injuries, big and small. Once, she fractured her lower leg, spending a month in bed and then two months in a wheelchair; another time, Ye Manqing fell from a wire several meters high, instantly losing consciousness, and had to stay in the ICU for a whole week before waking up. The injury to her waist left a lasting effect, causing back pain whenever she overworked.

Therefore, Ye Manqing was not a delicate person; getting injured while filming was perfectly normal in her view. But when the matter fell upon Bai Yiyan, Ye Manqing immediately became agitated.

Especially since it was Bai Yiyan who actively sought out injury for herself. This completely changed the nature of the situation.

Ye Manqing’s heart ached. She lifted a pair of cool, beautiful eyes full of shimmering moisture and looked at Bai Yiyan with heartfelt distress.

“Why did you do this? For the performance effect?”

Bai Yiyan remained silent, implicitly confirming it.

Ye Manqing scolded: “This is not taking care of your body.”

Bai Yiyan remained silent: “…”

Ye Manqing gently frowned and countered: “Do you think I’m making a big fuss over nothing?”

Bai Yiyan continued to be quiet, because that was indeed what she thought.

Ye Manqing suddenly became serious: “To harm yourself for the sake of filming—this time you pricked yourself with a needle. So, what about next time? What else will you do?”

Bai Yiyan’s lips moved, unsure how to explain: “I…”

Ye Manqing: “An actor needs not only skill but also a healthy body to film well. Show me which actor is constantly sick and weak; poor stamina simply cannot handle the high intensity of filming…”

“Yes, getting injured while filming is unavoidable, but what we need to do is to avoid injury as much as possible.”

“Yiyan, I’ve said all this, and I hope you understand.”

Bai Yiyan nodded solemnly and said, “I understand.”

Hearing Bai Yiyan say this, Ye Manqing’s expression finally softened a lot, and she said blandly: “Eat properly.”

Bai Yiyan softly “Mm-hmm’d,” withdrew her hand, and then picked up the knife and fork on her plate.

…

This was the first time the two of them had a quarrel since they met and married.

Although the issue seemed to be resolved, Ye Manqing was still a little uneasy. She felt that given Bai Yiyan’s personality, even if her apology was sincere, she might still do the same thing the next time a similar situation arose.

Ye Manqing had to persuade herself, hoping that she was overthinking things.

Changing her schedule suddenly today was quite willful. She must leave tomorrow, as the promotion for her current movie starts then. For the next month, she needs to promote the film in major first-tier cities across the country, followed by roadshows.

As the lead actress, Ye Manqing absolutely could not be absent.

A voice suddenly came from above.

“Teacher Ye, can’t you sleep?”

Bai Yiyan closed the script in her hand, ready to sleep. She subconsciously turned her head and saw that Ye Manqing, who was lying beside her, was not asleep, and looked preoccupied.

Ye Manqing lightly lifted her eyelids, meeting Bai Yiyan’s beautiful brown pupils, and said gently: “Waiting for you.”

Bai Yiyan lightly bit her lower lip, blushing a little. She turned her body, gently placed the script on the bedside table, then turned off the light, and lay down.

“Go to sleep now, it’s getting late,” Ye Manqing’s voice, carrying a clear hint of tiredness, sounded in her ear.

“Good night, Yiyan.”

Bai Yiyan turned over, facing Ye Manqing as she lay on the large bed, gazing at the woman’s features by the moonlight filtering through the window.

Ye Manqing waited for a while but didn’t receive Bai Yiyan’s “Good night,” so she slowly opened her sleep-heavy eyes.

“Mmm…!” Ye Manqing’s eyes were half-closed when her lips suddenly felt softness.

Bai Yiyan kissed her without warning. She grabbed Ye Manqing’s hand, which was hidden under the quilt, and squeezed it hard.

As the kiss deepened, Ye Manqing’s grasped fingers were forced apart. Immediately, Bai Yiyan threaded her own five fingers in between, locking them tightly with hers in an intertwined embrace.

At nine in the evening, the day’s military training finally ended.

Jiang Le walked among the crowd with an English dictionary, memorizing English words as she walked.

Jiang Le was somewhat weak in certain subjects; her English wasn’t very good, which was related to her starting English late. Unlike other students in the class, who had all started learning English early—some even finishing New Concept English 1 in elementary school.

“Jiang Le! Slow down, wait for me!” Xiang Min, a roommate, ran and shouted after Jiang Le.

Hearing the sound, Jiang Le stopped and turned to look at her running roommate.

Xiang Min’s entrance exam scores were not great, ranking near the bottom of the class, but she was an art student, and her family was in business and very wealthy. Therefore, she didn’t care about her academic scores at all.

Her heart was set on entering the entertainment industry to become a big star.

“Minmin, I’m a little hungry. Let’s go to the minimart,” Jiang Le said to Xiang Min, who was hooking her arm, while rubbing her flat stomach.

“Okay!” Xiang Min nodded.

The minimart was crowded. Jiang Le stood at the back of the checkout line, holding snacks for both of them. Beside her stood Xiang Min, who was buried in her phone.

“She’s truly too beautiful,” Xiang Min clicked on Nine Heavens’ official Weibo again and opened the second female lead’s promotional photo separately. “I wish I were this beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful too!” Jiang Le, who didn’t understand, suddenly interjected.

It wasn’t just Jiang Le having a filter for her friend; Xiang Min was indeed very pretty, the publicly acknowledged class flower of their class one.

“No, no!” Xiang Min shook her head repeatedly. It wasn’t humility; she knew her place.

“This second female lead is the most beautiful newcomer I’ve ever seen.”

“What second female lead? What newcomer?” Jiang Le knew nothing about the entertainment industry.

“Here, look!” Xiang Min said, handing over her phone. A full-screen photo appeared before Jiang Le. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

“…!” Jiang Le was stunned for a moment, and blurted out, “Sister Bai.”

“Who?” Xiang Min asked in surprise. “Is she the ‘Sister Bai’ you often talk about?”

“Mm-hmm! Yes.” Jiang Le nodded repeatedly.

“When did your Sister Bai become a celebrity?” Xiang Min widened her eyes.

“Just recently!” Jiang Le said proudly. “Sister Bai even told me specifically that she was going to film a movie, and it was a big director’s production.”

“Is your Sister Bai also an orphan?” Xiang Min asked.

“Yes! Why?” Jiang Le looked at her friend blankly, not understanding why she would ask that.

“Nothing… nothing,” Xiang Min said.

Xiang Min wrinkled her two delicately trimmed, willow-leaf eyebrows, and her oval face crumpled up. She suddenly felt very jealous. She was jealous that Jiang Le had such a beautiful celebrity sister, and even more jealous that an orphan from a welfare institution could also become a celebrity.

“Minmin, what’s wrong?” Jiang Le freed one hand and waved it in front of Xiang Min’s eyes.

“Le Le, can you tell me more about your Sister Bai?” Xiang Min regained her focus and offered Jiang Le a sweet, innocent smile.

Jiang Le thought about it and nodded.

“Sure~”

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