The Second Fall - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Kiss Scene

“How did you get hurt!” Seeing the alarming color of the dense marks on Rong Yushu’s body, Lan Cixing thought they were from filming—or perhaps because she had gone home to care for her sister last night and neglected her duties as a bodyguard, leading to Rong Yushu being injured.

For a moment, she didn’t even care about etiquette. Her steps were extremely fast, nearly rushing to Rong Yushu’s side as she leaned down to check the injuries.

Rong Yushu looked up, her green eyes flashing like a torch, freezing Lan Cixing in place. The chill contained in those fox-like eyes snapped Lan Cixing awake.

What met her eyes was Rong Yushu’s apricot-pink skin. A vast expanse of white dazzled Lan Cixing’s eyes, while the angry red marks looked like plum blossoms in the snow. Paired with those fierce eyes, it had a unique flavor—as if a proud child of heaven were being humiliated.

Lan Cixing finally realized she had nearly overstepped her bounds again; insubordination was something she could not repeat. She hurriedly lowered her head, not daring to look at Rong Yushu like this any longer. Her ears were flushed deep red. Her breathing sent the scent of white tea straight to her head.

Lan Cixing simply turned around and closed her eyes tightly. From behind came a very soft clicking of the tongue.

Lan Cixing’s voice trembled as she apologized. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean to barge in…”

A tap came on her shoulder. Her shoulder began to tremble too.

“Dumb girl,” Rong Yushu chuckled, her tone devoid of any kindness. It was part teasing, part angry. It made Lan Cixing even more nervous. Though she didn’t understand the specific dialect Rong Yushu used, she knew it likely wasn’t anything good. She was definitely being scolded.

She felt the sensation of a fingernail scraping against her neck. Lan Cixing jolted; she felt as if that nail was a blade about to slice her throat open. Yet, because they had been intimate just yesterday and the lingering “sticky” feeling hadn’t passed, within half a second, Lan Cixing began to feel that something was off.

“Besides you, who else could touch my body?” Rong Yushu spoke one word at a time, using a perfectly standard broadcasting voice. It was worse than her usual voice with a slight Cantonese lilt. Such a serious voice saying such improper things.

Lan Cixing’s gaze went blank; her soul had likely departed this world. Memories suddenly flashed into her mind. Late yesterday… no, it was exactly at that time. She had happened to kiss Rong Yushu’s shoulder. Being in the middle of her rut, what she thought was a kiss had actually been more of a bite. Her conscious biting had probably tortured Rong Yushu quite painfully.

Lan Cixing’s throat moved slightly. It turned out those red marks all over her body weren’t injuries—they were left over from their intimacy! And they were left by her own mouth.

“Sis-Sister… I know my mistake. Let me help you, help you apply the medicine!” Lan Cixing nearly knelt before Rong Yushu. She wasn’t the one being bullied, yet her tear ducts were quite active; her eyes were rimmed with red. Anyone who didn’t know better would think Rong Yushu was abusing her power and bullying her little bodyguard again.

“Turn around.” Rong Yushu hadn’t called her over just to hear her cry. Of course, Lan Cixing’s tears were interesting—it’s just… the location of the flow wasn’t right.

Lan Cixing was very obedient. Her shuffling steps were small, as well-behaved as a model student.

“Can you apply medicine with your eyes closed?” Rong Yushu nearly tapped the ointment tube against Lan Cixing’s head.

Lan Cixing was forced to open her eyes. Fortunately, Rong Yushu’s clothes stayed decently above the vital areas. Aside from the pinkish-white skin and the curves, Lan Cixing couldn’t see anything else. But it wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen it before. Her brain worked too fast; by the time she took the ointment from Rong Yushu’s hand and her fingertips touched the softness of the skin, Lan Cixing had already mentally filled in the rest of the picture.

“…” Lan Cixing bit her lip hard, not letting go, restraining her inner self. She focused her vision strictly on the inch of skin that needed medicine, never looking a bit further.

Lan Cixing’s movements were very slow. She was gentle as always; she wanted to care for every single “wound” since she was the culprit and should take responsibility. Rong Yushu, however, grew a bit impatient, seemingly annoyed by her slowness. Lan Cixing’s hand speed could be very fast—Rong Yushu knew that best.

Seeing her boss’s brow etched with irritation, Lan Cixing had to speed up. However, Rong Yushu’s next move was merely to shrug her shoulders. Lan Cixing’s hand instinctively left Rong Yushu’s body.

The shirt, which was already hanging precariously, collapsed.

“! I-I-I… I’m closing my eyes now!” Lan Cixing still saw the image she had imagined. Only it wasn’t quite the same; Rong Yushu had clearly been bitten hard by her yesterday—a patch of red here, a patch of pink there.

“What are you afraid of? These were all sucked there by you. You looked and bit yesterday, and I didn’t see you being half as shy then.”

Rong Yushu was much more open than she was. At some point, she had snatched the ointment back, holding it to scrape against Lan Cixing’s nose, brushing her eyelashes to pry her eyelids open. Lan Cixing was burning up all over, yet her eyes obediently stayed open.

Her teeth itched. Lan Cixing’s heart was restless, but the dogmas in her mind kept her bound by etiquette; she didn’t dare move an inch further.

“I really don’t understand you. Nearly thirty and you still look for your mother to nurse.” The most “miserable” part of Rong Yushu was… the place where Lan Cixing found it easiest to bite. Heaven knows how many times she had slapped Lan Cixing yesterday, yet Lan Cixing had clung on with her mouth like a newborn puppy.

“!” Lan Cixing was so startled by these words that she actually jumped back. Her pupils shrank to tiny dots as if her soul were about to fly away.

Rong Yushu gazed at her, merely raising an eyebrow. Her emerald fox-eyes reflected all of Lan Cixing’s reactions without a single ripple.

“Since you don’t want to help me, I’ll just call someone else. He Lanli—” Rong Yushu raised her voice as if she were really going to call her assistant in.

Thud.

Lan Cixing knelt at Rong Yushu’s feet, raising her hands as if receiving a divine blessing.

“Heh. Now that’s more like it.” Rong Yushu released her grip from above, and the ointment fell into Lan Cixing’s palm, hurting slightly.

Lan Cixing didn’t dare say another word. She wiped the medicine on Rong Yushu while smelling the white tea fragrance on her body. She wanted to keep her distance, but… Rong Yushu’s hand rested casually on her head. It was as if she were Rong Yushu’s armrest, existing solely to serve as her cushion. Lan Cixing couldn’t pull away; her heat was nearly transferring to Rong Yushu’s palm.

She finished most of the application like this.

“Good girl.” Rong Yushu suddenly stroked the top of Lan Cixing’s head gently.

…What is this? This puppy-petting way of comforting me. Lan Cixing lowered her head, but the crimson color climbed to the tips of her ears. Red like her restless heart, and like the pure eyes of a puppy, she stared blankly up at Rong Yushu.

By the time Lan Cixing finished, she had only one feeling: she was so violent. She had only ever had Rong Yushu; counting yesterday, she had only had two experiences. She naturally assumed that because her strength was too great, Rong Yushu’s skin had been left with patch after patch of red.

In reality, it was just that Rong Yushu was sensitive. She was diligent about skincare; her skin was thin and translucent, which is why the color was as beautiful as fine jade. But there was too little protective fat and not much muscle, resulting in a red mark appearing with just a touch.

Because of her noble status and eccentric personality, no one dared to bump into her, so this wasn’t usually apparent. Lan Cixing wouldn’t know that after they parted four years ago, Rong Yushu had to nurse herself for a long time before all the marks on her body faded. And she had spent so much effort, yet couldn’t preserve even one mark Lan Cixing had left.

The gaze fixed on Lan Cixing gradually deepened. Rong Yushu lowered her eyes, the light in her fox-eyes fading, replaced by a somewhat sinister darkness.

“There are more on my legs.” Seeing that Lan Cixing was finished and about to leave, she spoke up to stop her.

Lan Cixing looked up with a face full of disbelief, only to meet Rong Yushu’s demon-like smile. Heavens. Lan Cixing had to bury her head to suppress the waves in her heart. I’m actually such a pervert! I didn’t even spare her legs!

Lan Cixing looked down to search, but she couldn’t see a single trace of red. Thinking she wasn’t being careful enough, she leaned closer, intending to go around to the back of the ankle to check. Without paying attention for a moment, her lips nearly touched the arch of Rong Yushu’s foot.

Suddenly, a sharp pain hit her face.

When Lan Cixing opened her eyes again, she realized she had just been kicked by Rong Yushu, right in the cheek. Lan Cixing sat on the floor, a bit dazed. Rong Yushu had kicked her quite mercilessly. Though it hurt, Lan Cixing was more stunned; her mind was confused by the white tea sweetness carried by the breeze, falling into a state of total shutdown.

Did I kick too hard? Rong Yushu peered down cautiously, momentarily forgetting to hide the panic in her eyes.

“Again.” Lan Cixing suddenly looked up, an unexpected light bursting from her gray-blue eyes.

“…I didn’t say anything.” After saying it, Lan Cixing realized she wasn’t quite right and hurriedly sat back, withdrawing her previous sentence.

A silent gaze followed. Lan Cixing swallowed; she didn’t know if Rong Yushu hadn’t heard or just didn’t want to respond, but her heart beat faster and faster. Until she was kicked in the shoulder again.

Rong Yushu stood up irritably, pulled on her clothes, and walked out. Lan Cixing shuffled a few steps on her knees, still not reacting. Rong Yushu, seemingly furious, rushed back, grabbed Lan Cixing, and led her out. Lan Cixing followed her dazed, her steps surprisingly steady. Although Rong Yushu was forceful, she didn’t let her stumble.

The two of them left the building like this; Rong Yushu had to rush to the set for filming. Sunlight streamed through the main doors. As Rong Yushu stepped out, the hand gripping Lan Cixing’s unconsciously changed into a proper hold. Lan Cixing followed behind her, her eyes obscured by strands of hair as the scent of white tea came with the wind.

“So stupid.” Before the held hands separated, Lan Cixing heard a curse that was almost silent. Rong Yushu passed by her side, the corners of her eyes tinted with a touch of red. She spoke in Cantonese.

Lan Cixing had studied it. Yet, she still didn’t understand Rong Yushu’s meaning. Perhaps… her skills were just lacking.

They got into the car for the film set. Rong Yushu seemed not to care at all about the previous actions or her offhand words. She leaned lazily against Lan Cixing, using her as a human cushion, and closed her eyes to rest. It made Lan Cixing, who had been obsessing over meanings, look a bit foolish.

Lan Cixing simply stopped thinking about it and turned her face away. The Omega leaning against her seemed to have no weight. There was only continuous softness and a gentle temperature. And the consistent scent of white tea.

In all the world, only Rong Yushu probably had such a twisted sense of humor to use the scent of her own pheromones as perfume. And only Lan Cixing would know this. Rong Yushu was aloof; she usually disliked interacting with other Alphas or even Omegas. Likely only Lan Cixing had tasted this heart-sweetening scent.

Lan Cixing couldn’t help but look at Rong Yushu again, only seeing her long gold-brown eyelashes trembling slightly. Is she faking sleep? The famous Triple Crown Movie Queen wouldn’t make such a mistake. But the more Lan Cixing thought about it, the less she understood Rong Yushu’s meaning. The more she pondered, the brighter the fire in her heart grew. After being abandoned for four years, the roots that had been dead for four years were reborn through the fire. She only knew her heart rate was very strange. If it went on, she would get sick.

Lan Cixing bit her lip and simply opened her phone to distract herself. Since Rong Yushu was faking sleep, she wouldn’t call her out.

An Yu had sent the daily greetings. It seemed the “busyness” of a few days ago was an illusion. However, An Yu’s messages were sent before Lan Cixing helped Rong Yushu with the medicine. During the nearly hour-long application, An Yu was silent. Even after discovering Lan Cixing was online, she didn’t come to bother her, which was very unlike her.

Lan Cixing recalled her suspicion from last night and unconsciously glanced toward Rong Yushu. If An Yu and Rong Yushu were the same person… then An Yu shouldn’t be able to reply now.

Lan Cixing prepared a test. “When we date definitely depends on your performance. You have to reply to my messages in seconds, and you have to do whatever I ask.”

The next second, An Yu actually replied.

“Meaning, you finally have a sense of possessiveness over me, and you hope I’ll be obedient and care for your feelings?”

“I like this very much. You can ask for more.”

“…” No! How can this scum Alpha interpret her words like that! She swore she was making things difficult for her; she definitely had no intention of keeping her in mind!

Lan Cixing sent An Yu a “Smiling Face” emoji. Half a second later, she felt it was rude and withdrew it.

“Did I make my darling angry? Do I need to apologize?” An Yu replied in seconds again.

Lan Cixing felt she had withdrawn too quickly. Now, besides smiling, she truly had nothing else to say. She simply sent more than a dozen “Smiling Face” emojis at once.

An Yu replied with a link. Lan Cixing clicked it. “The other party has invited you to join the Dual Cultivation Space. Dear guest, though dual cultivation is good, do not overindulge; it’s an online game, remember to protect your wealth.”

It was the “adult mode” of the game they played together.

Lan Cixing threw her phone away with a bang. She was pinched by Rong Yushu, only then noticing that Rong Yushu had started playing with her own phone at some point and seemed to be putting it away now. Rong Yushu rolled her eyes at Lan Cixing. Lan Cixing’s mind immediately went blank, and she bent down to pick up her phone. She wanted to apologize to Rong Yushu, but they had already arrived at the set. Left with no choice, Lan Cixing put on her mask.

It must… just be a coincidence. Lan Cixing followed Rong Yushu out of the car, acting as the one-dollar-a-month bodyguard, being dutiful and no longer obsessing over what just happened.

Lan Cixing had been absent for nearly a week. Director Nian Guanqi’s pace was indeed fast; filming was over a quarter finished. Today’s scene was the climax of the female lead’s romantic plotline. As a film primarily about a career, the romantic line wasn’t a large part and was filmed separately.

The beginning and end had already been filmed over the past few days. The screenwriter had specifically placed the start and end of the two characters’ story in the same scene, which both saved time and money and pushed the emotions better. Today’s scene involved several major events, including two key moments of the romantic line.

Two kisses, each with different meanings: testing and a final parting. The scene of them falling in love was in another setting. This meant she would have to watch Rong Yushu and Mu Huai kiss twice… maybe more.

Lan Cixing calculated this outside the set; her eyelid twitched, and for some reason, she didn’t want to watch. She simply took out her phone to reply to An Yu to reduce the irritation in her heart.

Opening it showed that embarrassing invitation. Lan Cixing decisively clicked “decline,” not expecting An Yu to still be online. Lan Cixing stole a glance at the set. Rong Yushu was filming now; it was impossible for her to reply. It definitely wasn’t Rong Yushu.

Lan Cixing breathed a sigh of relief as she saw a message from An Yu. “Baby, are you working?”

“We aren’t dating, you aren’t allowed to call me so intimately.” Lan Cixing hurried to correct her.

“Oh, Master~ Are you working?”

“?” Lan Cixing accidentally sent her inner thoughts without editing them.

An Yu withdrew the message. “Little sister, are you working?”

“Yes.” Lan Cixing was speechless, for a moment unable to confirm if what she saw was real.

“I remember you said you have a boss. What kind of job is it, can I know?”

Here it comes. The scum Alpha is testing her job! Lan Cixing sharpened her focus and began to beat around the bush to lie to An Yu. “The boss is very rich. Currently kissing someone else.”

Lan Cixing was describing things truthfully, but left out some info, wanting to shape herself into a role like a secretary for a rich second generation. Just as she sent the message, she heard Director Nian scold Mu Huai. Lan Cixing put away her phone, thinking she had to protect Rong Yushu, and walked over.

She saw Rong Yushu sitting on the luxurious chair crafted by the production crew, maintaining the pose of seducing Mu Huai. The curve of her shoulders and the position of her nails were all pure temptation. Yet her gaze was cold, full of thin, chilly snow, without a trace of genuine warmth.

“Kiss her! She’s seducing you like this. Get into character; even if you haven’t been in love, you should have feelings, right? Your character isn’t innocent…”

Director Nian was furious. Scolding people wasn’t usually her style, but Mu Huai had dawdled for over ten minutes and hadn’t even managed to kiss her. If the kiss didn’t happen, filming couldn’t start. It wasn’t Director Nian’s fault; today’s set was the most expensive one, and every second wasted was money down the drain.

Mu Huai shrank beside Rong Yushu, tears hanging in her eyes, gasping but not daring to make a louder sound. Only she knew what she had experienced. Rong Yushu’s eyes…

Rong Yushu withdrew her hands and pose, her gaze still mocking, her tone winding. “Director Nian, don’t be so anxious. Maybe it’s me who’s the problem?”

Nian Guanqi nearly laughed from anger. “If you’re the problem, who isn’t? I’m telling you, with your performance, even a random passerby would be better than her! You, over there, yes you.”

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