Love Contract with the Queen Actress - Chapter 10

“Can I sleep with you tonight?”

The words carried a strange magic, like soft feathers gently tickling the depths of Shen Wu’s heart.

So, Su Yuchen had come to her on her own, bringing her bedding, to… sleep with her?

Shen Wu’s ears turned slightly red, but the flush was hidden beneath her thick, cascading hair, leaving no trace for others to see.

She tilted her chin slightly and looked at the person before her. “Why do you want to sleep with me?”

Though they had indeed slept together before, that night, neither of them had gotten any proper sleep, it had been wild from start to finish.

Now, faced with the same proposition again, for a moment, neither was entirely sure which kind of “sleeping together” was being implied.

Su Yuchen, feeling the weight of Shen Wu’s gaze, kept her head down, hugging her blanket and presenting the crown of her head, her hair whorl to Shen Wu.

“It’s just that script was a bit scary…”

After a brief hesitation, she finally admitted, “I’m a little scared.”

“Scared?” Shen Wu almost laughed but managed to suppress the curl of her lips.

Su Yuchen clung to her soft pillow like a kitten, looking so pitifully adorable that it was impossible to refuse.

“Yeah… the lights in the living room flickered earlier. I really don’t dare to sleep alone.”

This time, Shen Wu couldn’t hold back her smile. She really wanted to scratch under Su Yuchen’s chin.

“So, you want to sleep with me because of that?”

Su Yuchen: “…”

She couldn’t answer. It really was too difficult.

Shen Wu had teased her long enough and decided it was time to relent. She stepped aside from the doorway and tilted her head slightly.

“Come in.”

The moment the words left her lips, a fluffy little cat, looking like a singed chestnut, darted past her ankles and shot into the room.

“…”

Shen Wu stood there for a long moment before finally gritting her teeth. “Did I say you could come in?”

What are you doing here on such a fine night?!

One Yuan, the cat, had already scurried under the bed, making it clear there was no way she was leaving.

Shen Wu fell silent. Su Yuchen hugged her blanket and glanced back at the spacious living room before turning her gaze forward again, her eyes still tinged with fear.

“Sh-should we sleep?”

Shen Wu: “…”

With a soft click, the door closed. Shen Wu sat on the bed.

Her pajamas were a soft pink silk, clinging to her skin and draping elegantly over her curves.

With her legs bent and her back resting against the headboard, the lines of her legs and shoulders stretched even longer.

Her skin was like jade, smooth and fragrant, utterly flawless.

Amidst the soft sheets and silk blankets, her skin took on a creamy, lustrous sheen.

Su Yuchen stood by the bed, clutching her blanket, her gaze lowered.

She traced the delicate lines from Shen Wu’s slender ankles down to her toes, the pronounced ankle bones, the tendons on the tops of her feet, the perfectly shaped toes with neatly trimmed nails and soft pink tips.

Like a work of art, exquisitely beautiful.

In fact, Shen Wu’s entire being was that kind of perfection.

Su Yuchen suddenly felt a wave of shyness wash over her and still couldn’t bring herself to look up.

“Are you planning to stand there all night?” Shen Wu finally spoke, breaking the silence thick with unspoken tension.

“N-no, I… I can sleep on the floor.”

“Sleep on the floor?” Shen Wu had been about to sweep her hair back in a deliberately alluring gesture, but her hand froze mid-air. “So, you came in here just to sleep on the floor?”

Am I really worse than the floor?

Su Yuchen: “Not exactly. If you don’t mind, of course I’d still prefer to sleep on the bed.”

“…”

Shen Wu: …

“Do as you please!”

Shen Wu huffed and scooted further inside, slipping under the covers with a rustle.

Su Yuchen had always found Shen Wu’s temper hard to gauge. Seeing Shen Wu turn her back to sleep, she finally dawdled her way onto the bed.

Once lying down, she occupied only a very narrow sliver of space. Naturally slender and tall, her side profile already looked narrow, and now that she was deliberately curling up, she took up even less room.

Her intention was good, she didn’t want to crowd Shen Wu but this only made Shen Wu angrier.

Shen Wu lay on her side, presenting her back to the other, her dissatisfaction swelling like a tidal wave.

So stupid, this dumb cat!

That time you drank, you weren’t like this at all. You were so strong, so capable of wreaking havoc.

Ugh!

I should’ve had a glass of wine with her first.

This lightweight idiot.

Shen Wu’s thoughts churned, teetering between losing her temper and maintaining her cool, aloof image, when suddenly she heard faint rustling from the bedding behind her.

Frowning, she listened for a while.

Sensing subtle movements behind her, Shen Wu slowly turned over and saw Su Yuchen wrapping herself up in the blanket like a silkworm cocoon.

With her limbs tucked inside, she could only wiggle slightly from side to side, trying to tuck all the blanket beneath her.

Then, she lifted her feet, pressed the blanket under them, and stretched one foot out to adjust it before quickly retracting it, as if afraid some ghost might tickle her soles from outside the covers.

The whole blanket squirmed around her, making her look like a wriggling caterpillar.

This explained the constant rustling sounds behind her. Watching the “cocooned caterpillar” diligently bundle herself up, Shen Wu finally couldn’t hold back.

“What are you doing?”

Su Yuchen startled, turning her face from under the blanket.

Her fair, jade-like face peeked out from the covers, long hair splayed across the pillow, a few strands draping along her cheeks. The loose, disheveled locks made her face seem no bigger than a palm.

Su Yuchen’s wide, doe-like eyes blinked at her. “I wanted to tuck myself in properly.”

She left out the words I’m scared, but anyone could tell how frightened she was by how tightly she’d wrapped herself.

Shen Wu chuckled softly, extending an arm to playfully twirl a strand of Su Yuchen’s hair around her finger.

“Wrapped up like this, it’s like you’ve been delivered to me for the night.”

Both being actors, Su Yuchen had once been part of a Qing dynasty drama crew and even guest-starred as an extra palace maid. Naturally, she’d seen scenes of imperial concubines being presented for the night.

And honestly, this really did resemble that.

A faint pink tinged her ears. “It feels… safer this way.”

Shen Wu’s anger completely dissipated. It was as if this little creature beside her had some kind of magic, quick to annoy her, yet too adorable to stay mad at.

Really, what can I do?

Shen Wu gave a half-hearted “Oh,” then teased, “Then why don’t you make a wish to me now? Maybe it’ll come true?”

“Why would I make a wish?” Su Yuchen blinked her clear, spring-like eyes, staring intently at Shen Wu.

Shen Wu was speechless for two seconds before asserting, “Just make one because I said so.”

Then, she leaned down slightly, bringing the delicate fragrance of her neck and shoulders closer as she whispered seductively, “You can wish for anything, you know. Treasure this opportunity.”

Shen Wu thought to herself: Little brat, I refuse to believe that with my beauty, I can’t win you over.

Su Yuchen blinked her big eyes. “Really?”

Shen Wu: “Of course it’s true.”

Then, Su Yuchen spoke solemnly: “Could you please help me tuck in the blanket around my neck? My hands are pinned under the edges, and it’s too tight, I can’t lift my arms to reach it.”

“…”

“…”

At this moment, Shen Wu found herself pondering a deeply philosophical question: How much longer can I survive being infuriated by Su Yuchen? What truly measures life? If life isn’t a constant but a variable, then Su Yuchen must be the greatest variable in my destiny.

Su Yuchen continued staring with her clear, innocent eyes. “Can you?”

Clenching her teeth, Shen Wu reached out, suppressing the urge to strangle her, and roughly tucked in the blanket. Then she turned off the light, flopped back onto the bed with a thud, and stared tragically at the ceiling.

A long silence followed.

Then, Su Yuchen’s timid voice broke the quiet.

“Um… are you asleep?”

“…”

Shen Wu: “I am asleep!”

“Oh…”

Su Yuchen hesitated for two seconds before speaking again.

“So… why does your light keep flickering?”

“I don’t know!”

“Oh… why don’t you know?”

“Because I’m asleep!”

After that, the air was thick with silence.

Neither of them spoke again.

Just as Shen Wu was stewing in irritation, she suddenly felt something brush against her finger. Through the blanket, the touch was faint, but when it happened a second time, there was no mistaking it.

The corner of her lips curled, I knew it. You couldn’t resist, could you?

“Weren’t you going to sleep? Why are you touching me?”

Su Yuchen, who had been squeezing her eyes shut trying to force herself to sleep, froze. “I didn’t touch you.”

Then, Shen Wu felt a touch on her shoulder.

Hmph. You totally did.

Shen Wu snorted. “Still pretending?”

Su Yuchen: “Huh?”

This time, the touch traveled upward from her shoulder, stopping right by Shen Wu’s ear.

In the darkness, Shen Wu’s eyes widened.

The next second, she shuddered as something warm and wet grazed her earlobe, a soft, slick sensation.

Su Yuchen! Su Yuchen just licked my ear!!

Shen Wu could hold back no longer. “You made the first move this time, Su Yuchen. You’re done for. Tonight, I’m getting revenge for how you bullied me that night!”

She threw off the blanket, flipped over, and pounced on the troublemaker, pinning her down with her body, her slender legs straddling her like a duck. “You’re finished, Su Yuchen!”

Su Yuchen, wide-eyed with alarm, reached out and turned on the vintage bedside lamp.

Clueless about what was happening, she watched as Shen Wu, blanket in hand, pounced on… One Yuan.

The two of them and a cat, stared at each other in stunned silence.

…

“I was drunk last night. Don’t go blabbing about it.”

Early the next morning, Shen Wu, now dressed in casual sportswear and wearing white-framed sunglasses, drove Su Yuchen to the film set.

Those were the first words she spoke that day.

“Of course I won’t say anything.”

Su Yuchen sat in the passenger seat, clutching today’s script, nodding repeatedly.

But even as she nodded, she couldn’t help thinking: But… you didn’t drink anything last night.

“You got it wrong,” Shen Wu turned the steering wheel, forcing her tone to remain steady. “You can’t reminisce either.”

“…”

Oh, this.

Even reminiscing isn’t allowed anymore?

Su Yuchen pouted her lips. “Fine.”

Truth be told, Shen Wu had looked stunning last night. Surely it was okay to think about that quietly, right?

A screech of brakes shattered the morning’s tranquility as the crimson supercar pulled over to the roadside.

“We’re here. Get out.”

Su Yuchen unbuckled her seatbelt, her hand fumbling along the door until she finally found the side button. Yet she didn’t exit immediately, instead peering cautiously through the window at her surroundings.

Like a little kitten, wary of the unfamiliar environment outside.

Shen Wu observed all her movements, understanding dawning in her heart.

She took off her sunglasses and said, “Come here.”

Without hesitation, Su Yuchen turned to comply.

Neither was prepared, and suddenly they were very close.

Memories of sharing a pillow the night before flooded back, the faint fragrance of each other’s hair lingering at the tips of their noses.

After a two-second pause, Shen Wu placed her sunglasses on Su Yuchen’s face. “There. Now you can go.”

Su Yuchen, suddenly wearing Shen Wu’s sunglasses, froze for a moment before a smile blossomed on her lips.

Two adorable dimples appeared at the corners of her mouth.

“Thank you.”

Shen Wu tilted her chin slightly, glancing down at those dimples before her gaze finally settled on the faintly rosy lips that looked so vibrant.

“Don’t mention it.”

Su Yuchen stepped out of the car, donning Shen Wu’s sunglasses, and walked toward the film set with light, cheerful steps.

Shen Wu smiled, started the car, and drove off.

But not far away, at the edge of the parking lot, Liu Ruomeng stepped out of her car, phone in hand, muttering as if to herself or perhaps to her assistant behind her.

“They were so close, were they kissing?”