The Movie Queen And Her Rival Just Went Public! - Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Su Cancan, for once, wasn’t one of the two little “wine ghosts.” After the crew set up the static cameras and moved to a base nearby, she helped settle the others in. She then found Shen Luoyan sitting alone on a wooden bench at the edge of the camp, holding a cup of hot tea and gazing at the starry sky. Wisps of steam rose around her face, making her look hazy and tinged with a faint sadness.

The night air was biting. Worried that this big star might catch a cold and delay the filming schedule, Su Cancan grabbed a blanket from the tent and tossed it over her. She then took a glass of red wine and sat down a short distance away.

The ambient noise was thick—the chirping of cicadas was much louder than when they had first started recording, occasionally punctuated by the soft mumbling of the drunken guests.

Shen Luoyan placed the water cup in front of Su Cancan and unfolded the blanket to share it, draping it over both of them.

“I’m not cold.” Feeling the sudden warmth, Su Cancan’s hand swirling her wine glass paused.

Shen Luoyan ignored the rejection and asked in a cool voice, “Is drinking wine before bed a habit of yours?”

She didn’t realize she had touched a sore spot. Shen Luoyan watched the distant woods to observe the shape of the wind. When no answer came for a long time, she realized she had misspoken and stole glances at Su Cancan.

Su Cancan’s long hair was loose, leaving only the tip of her nose visible. It looked slightly red—perhaps from the cold, or perhaps from emotion.

“I’m sorry.”

“Mhm.”

The two voices came out at once—one cold, one damp with unshed emotion.

“I’m sorry,” Shen Luoyan apologized again. “Just pretend I never asked, okay?”

Su Cancan sniffed, her voice muffled and buzzing. “It’s nothing. The air is too cold; it’s just irritating my nose.” Knowing she was proud and never showed weakness to others, Shen Luoyan didn’t expose the lie.

Su Cancan continued: “When I was younger, I cared too much about what others thought of me. Any bit of negative news would make me miserable. That period was truly hard to get through. Sometimes I couldn’t sleep, so I gradually developed the habit of drinking red wine before bed.”

As for exactly which period that was, both of them knew without saying.

What Su Cancan glossed over so lightly wasn’t just countless sleepless nights; it was bottle after bottle of hard-to-swallow pills, pillows soaked with tears, and eyes that were perpetually swollen.

The ill-timed topic plunged them into silence. After a while, Shen Luoyan stood up from the bench and walked toward the supply area set up by the crew.

Su Cancan’s gaze followed her. She watched her pick up ingredients and set them down, selecting them one by one before carrying an armful to the sink to wash. Then, she brought them back to the table and lit the fire to boil them.

“What are you making?” Su Cancan asked, looking at the ingredients in the pot. There were a few she couldn’t identify. “What did you put in there?”

“A calming soup. My grandmother occasionally suffered from insomnia, and this was a prescription from the hospital. It’s quite effective, or at least having something hot in your stomach makes you feel better. I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I just put in lily bulbs, red dates, Poria cocos, longan, goji berries, and wheat,” Shen Luoyan explained, pointing as she spoke.

Su Cancan gave a long “Oh.” She set down her wine glass, propped her elbows on her thighs, and rested her face in her hands, waiting for the “Shen Brand” calming soup to boil.

The flame from the butane stove reflected on her face, the warm air flushing her cheeks a deep pink. No one broke the peace until the clear water in the pot began to change color. When small bubbles rose to the center, Shen Luoyan took a ladle and a bowl, lowered the heat, and stirred slowly with great patience.

The bubbles grew larger, popping violently on the surface with a gurgling sound. Shen Luoyan dropped two chunks of crystalline solids into the pot without stopping her movements: “Rock sugar. The lily bulbs are slightly bitter; this makes it more palatable.”

Under the high heat, the sugar quickly dissolved. Shen Luoyan ladled out a bowl to let it cool.

Youyou, drinking freely for the first time, had no clear understanding of her own tolerance. She simply thought the wine was sweet and easy to drink, so she had finished half a bottle without defense. She didn’t go “crazy” like her idol; she just collapsed into Zhouzhou’s arms holding her glass. Now, her bladder had reached its limit, and she was mumbling as Zhouzhou hoisted her up to find a toilet.

In a rare helpful mood, Su Cancan pointed them in the right direction. When she sat back down, the porcelain bowl of soup, complete with a small spoon, was nestled in Shen Luoyan’s hands.

“I’ll do it myself.”

Su Cancan reached for another bowl, but found there was only the pot left on the table. The only bowl was in Shen Luoyan’s hand. Shen Luoyan gripped the side of the bowl, confirmed the temperature wouldn’t scald, and handed it over: “You drink it. My sleep is fine; I don’t need it.”

“Didn’t you say it warms the stomach?” Su Cancan took the bowl suspiciously, taking small sips with the spoon.

The sweetness of the rock sugar completely masked the bitterness of the lily. She picked a date, blew on it cautiously, and popped it into her mouth. The thick sweetness filled her mouth as the warm liquid flowed down her esophagus into her stomach. She felt warmth spreading from the inside out.

After finishing half the bowl, she glanced sideways at Shen Luoyan. Shen Luoyan was holding her previous teacup, which no longer had steam rising from it. She looked just like the tea in that cup—eyes downcast and empty, appearing so cold it was as if she were locked in an ice house, lost and lifeless.

In this situation, Su Cancan couldn’t ignore her and leisurely drink sweet water. She gulped down the rest of the bowl and called out to her.

“I’m finished.”

Shen Luoyan snapped back to reality, blinked, and gripped the wooden ladle. “Another bowl?”

“It’s too cold. Let’s wash up and sleep.”

Su Cancan avoided her gaze, stood up, and left immediately. She had read something strange in Shen Luoyan’s eyes again. Her mind was clear, but her heart was a mess.

…

The next morning, Su Cancan woke up feeling miserable. While camping was fun, the living conditions were mediocre. Her “spoiled princess” body was delicate; this was her first time sleeping in a tent in the wild, and the hard ground beneath her left her entire body aching.

Squinting, she reached her hand out of her sleeping bag to feel around for her phone to check the time. She felt Shen Luoyan’s sleeping bag and found it empty. Just then, her hand brushed against cold metal. Thinking it was her own phone, she twisted her body to grab it and light it up.

The probability of having the same phone model was too high these days. When the screen lit up, she couldn’t process the image on the wallpaper for a moment.

She had seen that image yesterday—just before their argument.

Why did she choose this as her wallpaper?

Rustling sounds came from outside the tent. Su Cancan hurriedly turned off the screen, put the phone down as fast as possible, and closed her eyes to pretend she was asleep. When she lost her sight, her other senses seemed infinitely magnified.

She seemed to “see” long fingers hook the metal zipper and slowly slide the tent door open. The owner of the phone entered along with a rush of cool air. She was very careful, moving extremely slowly across the sleeping bags to Su Cancan’s side. The phone seemed to be picked up by her.

Why hasn’t she left yet!

Su Cancan felt like countless ants were crawling on her back; every second of endurance increased the agony.

Suddenly, a coolness approached her cheek. The “ants” scattered, and she froze, forgetting to breathe.

In a flash of inspiration, the Goddess of Acting descended. Su Cancan smacked her lips twice, twisted with feigned restlessness, and reached out to scratch her own face.

The cold sensation was real in her hand. She jolted and slowly opened her eyes.

“What are you doing?” she asked lazily, her eyes sleepy.

Shen Luoyan remained calm. “There was a bit of grass stuck in your hair.” As she spoke, she pinched a piece of dry grass to show her.

Su Cancan craned her neck to look, her teeth leaving a row of marks on her lower lip.

How embarrassing!

I was almost… no, I was already overthinking things…