I Was Taken by the Female Lead After Transmigrating into a Book - Chapter 97

Mosquito repellent can only repel mosquitoes; its anti-itch effect isn’t great.

Bai Feifei was scratching and twisting around, her two arms covered in swollen mosquito bites. Fortunately, the mosquitoes here weren’t venomous; there was no swelling or pus.

The staff also took the opportunity to adjust and rest, mostly tending to their own anti-mosquito products. They hadn’t felt it much during the rainy days, but on the first day of filming here after the rain, nine out of ten packages in the crew’s delivery truck were various mosquito repellent and anti-itch products.

The smell of mosquito repellent was so strong it was choking. Bai Feifei couldn’t breathe, so Fu Xiaoxiao, flustered, took her to wash her arms again. The cool sensation would last for a while.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Bai Feifei didn’t feel any pain from her wounds; perhaps the sweat around them had been absorbed by the gauze. She was still itching, scratching at herself like a cat covering its litter, and she said in a low voice, “At a moment like this, I don’t know whether the physical wounds are worse or being covered in mosquito bites is worse.”

“Neither is good,” Fu Xiaoxiao mumbled, gently scratching Bai Feifei with her unmanicured hands. “My dear, can’t you just be well? Who says modern dramas aren’t dangerous? You haven’t had a good day since you joined the crew.”

Bai Feifei let out a long sigh. When she looked up, she suddenly saw Huo Wu’s temporary assistant approaching, holding a green object that looked like a lipstick.

She suddenly remembered Guan Ziyao, whom she had met when she first arrived, and realized with a jolt that she hadn’t seen this careful and shy girl since then, nor had she thought to ask about her.

“Sister Wu asked me to bring this over.” The girl held the lipstick-like tube and opened it. Inside was a green, paste-like substance, designed to be used by twisting, just like a lipstick.

She looked left and right, then handed it to Bai Feifei, saying, “It’s for itching and swelling. Just apply it, and the itching will stop immediately.”

After the assistant left, Bai Feifei immediately prepared to apply the ointment to all the mosquito bites she could see. But before she could get to the third one, the first two, which were clustered together, had already stopped itching.

She grabbed Fu Xiaoxiao’s arm in shock. “Xiaoxiao, I’m not itching anymore!”

Fu Xiaoxiao had fewer bites but still had to scratch herself occasionally. She was surprised. “What is that? It’s so effective!”

She scanned the product with her phone, and the screen was immediately filled with a wide array of similar items. Fu Xiaoxiao couldn’t find the exact brand Bai Feifei was holding, so she simply bought all the ones she could find. She didn’t know if they would work, but she could give the extra ones to the crew members as a favor.

Fu Xiaoxiao helped her apply the ointment to the places she couldn’t reach herself. Bai Feifei looked up but didn’t see Huo Wu’s figure in the crowd.

But Bai Feifei realized that her initial reaction had already changed.

If this had happened before, she might have thought Huo Wu didn’t want to see her, or was too lazy to make the trip, and that sending the medicine was just to avoid delaying the filming schedule.

Now, her first reaction was that Huo Wu had seen she was uncomfortable but was tied up with something and couldn’t come, so she specifically sent her assistant to make the trip.

Bai Feifei’s eyes curved into a smile. She watched as Fu Xiaoxiao treated the tube of ointment like a treasure, applying it to a few of her friendly colleagues. She stared at them for a long time, afraid that Fu Xiaoxiao would use up the small tube of balm and then casually throw away the outer case.

But Fu Xiaoxiao was obviously very clever in this regard. She only showed them by applying a thin layer to just one bite, and she would absolutely not do a second application.

She excitedly returned to Bai Feifei. “I found out what brand this is! A whole box just arrived, and the staff on Huo Wu’s side all got one! I’ll buy some for you too. They said only the brand Huo Wu bought is effective. We’ll keep this tube for ourselves; it should last for two or three days… I’ll also buy you some more mosquito-repellent bracelets and stuff from around the city.”

As she spoke, Fu Xiaoxiao lifted Bai Feifei’s pant leg to look.

The itching on her legs wasn’t very noticeable, and Bai Feifei hadn’t applied any ointment there. She only had one bite on her knees on both legs, and she couldn’t see any more above that. Since she was wearing short sleeves, she couldn’t wear the mosquito-repellent bracelets on her arms, so Bai Feifei had put them on her ankles, which seemed to be working.

But Bai Feifei still shook her head, glancing at the very wide school uniform sleeves. “You don’t have to buy them. Wearing bracelets might ruin the shot.”

She thought that if she could wear the bracelets, Huo Wu would have told her when she was helping her with her clothes. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have specifically pointed out that her school uniform pants were big and could cover her ankles, and that wearing a mosquito-repellent bracelet on her foot would be much better.

More than ten minutes later, Bai Feifei saw Huo Wu sitting in front of the camera again. Not long after, the clapperboard was snapped, and filming continued.

The bloodstains on the stairs were still very fresh, having been deliberately avoided to keep them that way. They had turned into a brownish liquid, deeply seeping into the ground mixed with mud.

Fu Sang’s pace was not fast. She was here to look for something, although the chances of finding it weren’t very high.

But she hadn’t expected to find someone in the classroom when she pushed the door open.

It was Qi Yang.

She stood by the window, her long hair fluttering behind her with the breeze, and her entire body was looking downstairs with a very relaxed gaze. Fu Sang stood at the door in silence for a while, then said in a low voice, “When did you get here?”

“I’ve been here the whole time,” Qi Yang said.

After a moment, Qi Yang suddenly turned her head, pointed to the ceiling, and said, “It’s just that I was on the floor above at first. I only came down after they left.”

Fu Sang said, “Mm.”

She felt that today might not be a good time to look for things and planned to go back and come another day. The item she had dropped wasn’t too important, just a little troublesome to replace.

But as she was about to turn around, she suddenly heard Qi Yang say from behind her, “Are you looking for this?”

Fu Sang’s right foot stopped mid-stride, next to her left.

She turned around and saw a brand-new, lock-like object in Qi Yang’s hand. She nodded and said, “Yes.”

It was a brand-new lock clasp, which looked out of place in this dilapidated environment. But there were too many things that didn’t belong in this classroom.

Inside, there were half-burned pages torn from a new book, an unopened pack of cigarettes, and a new lighter that looked like it had just been bought and never used.

None of these items should have been in this classroom, and they were all placed in plain sight. Compared to these things, the shiny silver circular clasp that should have fallen next to the abandoned desk and chair looked particularly inconspicuous.

Fu Sang’s gaze lingered on the clasp for two seconds, then she looked away.

Qi Yang took two steps forward but then simply placed the clasp on a nearby broken but relatively dust-free desk, smiling as she said, “Here you go.”

Fu Sang watched her in silence for two seconds, then walked forward and took it.

The classroom, which had been the site of so many events, fell into an extreme quietness once again.

Qi Yang’s gaze was still fixed on Fu Sang. Bai Feifei found it hard to summarize what kind of look that was.

Back in the hospital basement, she had been startled by Li Mingming’s angry and distorted expression, but because she knew the resentment wasn’t directed at her, she quickly recovered.

This time was different.

Qi Yang’s gaze looked like she wanted to peel off all of her skin and devour it. She stared at her fixedly, her expression blank, making her seem like a vengeful ghost with eyes full of malice.

After a long time, Qi Yang almost had to physically force her trembling arms to stop. She turned her body, facing the green scenery outside the window again. “Why wasn’t it you?”

She then said a few more words that no one could understand. After her emotions seemed to have calmed down, she turned back and looked at Bai Feifei. “I wish so much that you were like me, beaten by your biological father since childhood, abused by a neighbor, and then, when you finally grow up and think you’ve escaped, you walk into another abyss. Do you know how much I want to escape from this cage? Do you know how disgusted I felt when Li Jianshu and Zhao Qiyue played with me together? Do you know how much I missed you when I had to swallow my disgust and please them just so they would give me the medicine?”

Qi Yang walked toward Fu Sang step by step. As her words became more intense, her expression became more distorted. She was filled with an uncontrollable madness. Her hands had already squeezed Fu Sang’s neck. The nails, which were kept for convenience in her work, scratched Fu Sang’s neck, drawing a bit of pale blood.

When Qi Yang’s eyes caught this hint of red, she suddenly froze. After a moment, she began to talk to herself again, as if countless people were surrounding her, constantly talking to her.

Suddenly, her hands released their grip, and her entire being fell into an extremely quiet state again.

She spoke softly, “I want to go play on the rooftop.”

The next second, Qi Yang looked up, leaned close to Fu Sang, and said in a whisper, “You have to hide well. I’m going to lure the tiger out, so you must not get caught.”

With that, she hummed a tune and skipped out of the classroom.

Fu Sang’s neck was stinging. She gently rubbed the spot where a liquid was dripping with the back of her hand, finding that it was blood. She then lifted the collar of her shirt and used the area near her chest to wipe the spot.

It was just a tiny bit of blood, and it stopped bleeding quickly.

She didn’t leave but walked to where Qi Yang had stood, taking the same posture as she looked down.

The floor wasn’t high. On the ground below was an old teddy bear doll. Half of one ear was gone, and a clump of white cotton was spilling out. Its mouth was sewn shut with dense black threads, both eyes had been gouged out, leaving only two pitch-black holes, and its clothes were tattered and draped over its body. It had only one half of a broken wing on its back, and its body was covered in various stains.

Fu Sang stared at the teddy bear for a while, then lowered her eyes and finally left the classroom.

She probably wouldn’t set foot here again. The abandoned building was eerie and old, forgotten on this piece of land awaiting development, leaving behind only a skeletal structure.

All along the way, she knew a gaze from the rooftop was watching her, but Fu Sang did not look back.

When she reached the school gate, she walked to the bus stop on the other side of the road, and Qi Yang’s figure was still there.

The distance was a hundred meters—not long, not short. But at that moment, many people seemed to hear the dull thud of something heavy hitting the ground.

It was like a firecracker exploding, or a firework blossoming in the daytime sky.