The Film Queen Is Cold and Ruthless, Only Sends Money - Chapter 40.2

Su Yun, who had been chatting casually just moments ago, glanced toward the fitting room and hesitated before speaking, “Ah… should I go in?”

For some reason, the scene from the manga Deliberately Falling she had read a few days ago suddenly flashed through her mind.

In that story, the two main characters were in the middle of an argument, yet when the shop assistant offered help inside the fitting room, they both instinctively refused.

The scene had left her torn between frustration and adoration, wishing the protagonists would just clear up their misunderstandings and confess their feelings already.

Even in the midst of their emotional turmoil, one of the leads had helped the other zip up her dress from behind no unnecessary movements, just a faint tremble in her fingertips and the other’s tense posture yet the moment had been breathtakingly beautiful.

The comments section had been flooded with praise and demands for updates, and Su Yun, just like the other readers, had loved it so much that she even took a screenshot.

Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine she’d find herself in a similar situation today. Of course, she knew the shop owner’s offer was purely out of helpfulness!

But!

After mentally replaying the manga scene, Su Yun suddenly felt anything but pure!

[Shop owner, what a perfect assist! Just one simple sentence, and you’ve got my heart racing, hahaha!]

[Look, is Su Yun blushing?! It’s so rare to see her flustered like this!]

[It’s just changing clothes, nothing more, don’t overthink it! Trust me, nothing’s gonna happen in that fitting room!]

[Jiang probably needs help, right? She could manage alone, but it’d be tricky. Su Yun, go for it!]

[The Su Yun x Jiang Zhi fan community is going wild right now, hahaha! Everyone’s thanking the shop owner for providing such a perfect scenario!]

After all, as long as they saw Su Yun step inside, even if the rest remained unseen, their imaginations could run wild leaving plenty of room for creative interpretations.

Su Yun stood frozen for a moment. She didn’t refuse the shop owner, but she didn’t rush in either. Instead, she knocked lightly on the fitting room door and asked Jiang Zhi, who was still inside, “Let me know if you need any help. I’ll be right here.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Zhi’s voice came from inside, soft but clear despite the muffling effect of the enclosed space. “Could you come in for a second?”

The sound, softened by the door and curtain, inexplicably made Su Yun’s heartbeat quicken by a beat or two.

“Then… I’m coming in?” Su Yun pressed her hand against the door handle, ignoring the erratic thumping in her chest.

On the livestream, Su Yun disappeared from view, leaving the screen momentarily empty. Yet, the audience was more excited than ever so much so that even with the barrage of overlapping comments, the screen was completely covered.

[She actually went in… My life as a shipper is now complete…]

[Honestly, all the pairs on this show are great, but why is it only Su Yun and Jiang Zhi who get me this hyped? I’m shaking while typing this!]

The other guests had also bought quite a few clothes, and some of the more intricate outfits indeed required assistance to put on.

Even if the live-stream audience joked about how the “madams” in the fandom would have new material to work with, their tone was lighthearted nothing as intense as this.

[Same here, but thinking back, maybe it’s because Su Yun and Jiang Zhi haven’t had many intimate moments on the show?]

The other guests occasionally held hands while walking, and in the relaxed evenings, when the mood was right, there might even be a brief kiss.

But Su Yun and Jiang Zhi never did any of that. The “Pure Water Duo” suddenly venturing into new territory and given the extent of everyone’s imagination was bound to be intense.

That’s why the moment Su Yun said she was going into the fitting room, everyone got so excited.

Once inside, Su Yun saw that Jiang Zhi had already changed, with only the zipper at the back left undone.

Even though she had been mentally preparing herself not to look where she shouldn’t, Jiang Zhi’s fair, smooth back now filled her entire field of vision.

Despite sharing the same bed for so long, their nighttime attire and sleeping postures had always been proper, never crossing any boundaries. This was the first time Su Yun had seen Jiang Zhi like this.

Her usually faint heartbeat suddenly became loud and insistent, as if reminding her that the person before her was Jiang Zhi yet somehow different from the Jiang Zhi she had always known.

“Could you help me with this?” Jiang Zhi turned her head slightly upon hearing Su Yun enter, her voice warm, seeping into Su Yun’s eardrums and snapping her out of her daze.

“Sure.”

The zipper traced the curve of Jiang Zhi’s waist, the slight tension accentuating the elegant lines of her figure.

Fortunately, unlike in certain novels where zippers always snag on fabric or hair, this one slid up smoothly, allowing Su Yun to exhale in relief.

She worked carefully, finishing in just a few seconds. “All done! Should be fine now.”

At that, Jiang Zhi turned around, adjusting the rest of her dress before extending her arms slightly and asking, “Does it look okay?”

Jiang Zhi’s fair skin stood out vividly against the deep blue fabric. Her slender waist tapered into delicate side tassels that shimmered faintly with every slight movement. The intricate design of the long dress didn’t overwhelm her; instead, it elevated her natural grace.

Especially compared to the casual clothes Jiang Zhi usually wore, the contrast was striking.

Beautiful. Stunning.

That was Su Yun’s first thought.

No exaggerated expressions or poetic verses came to mind, but she was certain this was everyone’s immediate reaction upon seeing Jiang Zhi.

When Su Yun didn’t respond, Jiang Zhi teased, “Speechless?”

Unexpectedly, Su Yun nodded earnestly. “It’s really, really, really beautiful!”

So of course she was stunned, who wouldn’t be?

Jiang Zhi, caught off guard by such a direct compliment: The triple “really” told her Su Yun meant every word.

The last time Su Yun had given such an emphatic review was when they’d tried Aunt Liu’s new dish. After devouring half the plate, Su Yun had exclaimed, “It’s really, really, really delicious!” to Aunt Liu.

By the same logic, it could be inferred that Su Yun must really like how she looks now.

The mirror was outside the fitting room, and Jiang Zhi hadn’t seen herself in the new outfit yet. She asked, “Should we go out now?”

Su Yun also wanted to leave. After all, if they stayed too long, who knew what wild theories the live-stream audience might come up with and spread?

But before stepping out, Su Yun took something from her pocket and placed it in Jiang Zhi’s hand. “Put this on too.”

Jiang Zhi looked down at the item, a pair of deep blue earrings that Su Yun had picked up from the tour bus earlier that morning, saying they were beautiful.

Before leaving, they had worried the show might not provide funds, so they brought them along in case they needed to exchange them for money in an emergency.

“But aren’t these the ones you liked?” Jiang Zhi asked.

The fitting room was small, and with both of them standing inside, the other’s presence felt even more pronounced.

Su Yun nodded. “But I think these earrings will go perfectly with your outfit!”

It had only just occurred to her that Jiang Zhi’s ensemble seemed to be missing something. She absentmindedly felt her pocket and remembered the earrings.

Unexpectedly, the color of the earrings matched the outfit flawlessly.

“Shouldn’t we save them to exchange for money?” Jiang Zhi was still thinking about their original purpose.

“No need!” Su Yun’s internal scale was already tipping heavily. Between letting Jiang Zhi wear them or keeping them for emergency funds, the choice was obvious without a second thought.

Once Jiang Zhi put on the earrings, they finally stepped out.

The shop owner, waiting outside, was momentarily stunned by Jiang Zhi’s appearance before snapping back to reality and leading them to the mirror.

[Oh my god! Actress Jiang is absolutely stunning. The moment she stepped out, the whole screen lit up!]

[+1, +1! And Su Yun has such great taste in clothes. I’ve never seen Actress Jiang like this before, it’s breathtaking!]

[I’m so full from the dog food these two are feeding us! Don’t mind me, just keep being sweet, I can handle even more!]

Standing before the mirror, Jiang Zhi lowered her gaze to her reflection. Neither the outfit nor the last-minute addition of the earrings felt out of place.

She turned to Su Yun. “The clothes you picked are beautiful.”

Su Yun blinked. “Do you like them?”

“Very much.” Jiang Zhi’s gentle voice soothed Su Yun’s slight nervousness, leaving only a sense of contentment and reassurance.

The feeling made Su Yun think back to the game earlier, imagining how Jiang Zhi’s voice might have sounded when she said the hidden phrase, “I love you.” Would it have been just as tender?

Quietly, she made a mental note to watch the edited version of the show once filming ended and they returned home.

Especially the segment where they played the game, the part where she hadn’t heard Jiang Zhi’s voice.

Though not long ago, she had expressed confusion over Lin Yan’s habit of revisiting her own embarrassing moments.

But when it came to Jiang Zhi, she felt it might not be so unbearable after all.

After filing away that thought, her focus returned entirely to the present.

Hearing Jiang Zhi say she liked the outfit, Su Yun had only one thought left: time to pay!

When the shop owner saw the two standing before her, she did her best to suppress her excitement and prepared to ring them up. “Would you like to pack the clothes you’re wearing, or will you wear them out?”

When she heard this question, Su Yun’s first thought was to just wear it away without changing after all, she had only admired it for a few minutes.

She really hadn’t had her fill of looking at it yet!

But this decision was clearly up to Jiang Zhi, so Su Yun didn’t answer and left the choice to her.

“Let’s take it to go,” Jiang Zhi decided, noticing the lingering regret in Su Yun’s eyes. She smiled and explained, “Wearing this outfit wouldn’t be very convenient for completing tasks.”

Her earlier comment about liking the dress had been sincere, not just a polite excuse. But since they still had a lot of shopping to do, her original clothes were more practical.

Su Yun nodded. “I totally understand, just a tiny bit of regret.”

Jiang Zhi comforted her, “If you like it that much, I can wear it for you more often at home?”

Su Yun: “!!!”

She understood Jiang Zhi’s meaning, but having read too many novels and comics, her mind immediately jumped to certain… implications.

So impure, Ms. Su! she silently scolded herself.

[Su Yun’s face is still flushed! All Jiang Zhi did was change clothes, why are you suddenly acting so shy?!]

[Aww, Jiang Zhi is so doting! Who dares say they’re not a real couple now?!]

[Their dynamic is totally different from the other groups. While everyone else is diligently doing tasks, these two are surrounded by pink bubbles, lol!]

The shop owner waited for Jiang Zhi to change back into her original outfit and carefully packed the new one. When she returned, she overheard Jiang Zhi’s earlier remark.

Her steps slowed. Is this really something I should be hearing?!

Having bought clothes for herself, Jiang Zhi didn’t want Su Yun to leave empty-handed. She asked, “Is there anything you’d like to try on?”

Su Yun wasn’t particularly interested in dressing herself up. Originally, she had planned to buy coordinating outfits for Su Xue and Jing Zhaozhao after picking something for Jiang Zhi since that sounded more fun than shopping for herself.

But after seeing how stunning Jiang Zhi looked in the new outfit, the mission suddenly didn’t seem so important anymore!

As for Su Xue and Jing Zhaozhao? They were long forgotten.

She could easily spend the whole afternoon shopping for Jiang Zhi instead.

“I don’t need to try anything on,” Su Yun said dismissively, then turned the question back to Jiang Zhi. “But if there’s anything else you like, we still have plenty of time left for the mission!”

Jiang Zhi chuckled. “Why are you still trying to buy me clothes?”

It was clear that Su Yun was far more enthusiastic about picking outfits for her than for herself. So Jiang Zhi didn’t press further. Instead, she asked the shop assistant to bring two outfits she thought would suit Su Yun and handed them over, even opening the fitting room door for her. “Try these on.”

Su Yun looked down at the clothes in her hands, then up at the now-closed fitting room door.

Had her words triggered some kind of script?

Like Domineering Actress’ Forced Love?

Su Yun shook her head, banishing the ridiculous title from her mind, and started changing.

–

By the time they left the store, Su Yun still felt a little dazed. When they’d entered, she had only intended to buy clothes for Jiang Zhi.

Yet now, Jiang Zhi had one new outfit while she somehow ended up with three!

Jiang Zhi, oblivious to Su Yun’s existential crisis, was in high spirits, recalling the fun they’d had shopping.

Although she wasn’t a professional stylist, she still had a basic understanding of fashion coordination. The clothes she picked for Su Yun were perfectly suitable in both style and size.

When Su Yun emerged from the fitting room, Jiang Zhi looked at her and could almost understand exactly how Su Yun had felt earlier.

Seeing the other person looking so beautiful not only gave her that initial sense of awe but also filled her with a deep sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

So, she couldn’t help but put together just a few more outfits for her.

[Hahahahaha! Su Yun looks exhausted where’s all that energy you had before the mission started?]

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