The Stand-in is Exceptionally Clingy [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The CEO and Her Canary

◎Don’t Bother Her◎

Lou Bianxia, in a silk nightgown, stood leaning against the door with her arms crossed. The faint light shone on her satin-like long hair, and her face, free of makeup, held a certain lazy ease. Yet, her eyes were sharp and piercing. Her proud, independent posture was like a plum blossom blooming in the snow. Her waist was slender and graceful, and if you got close enough, you could probably smell the cool fragrance that clung to her.

Shen Zhi froze, unable to utter a single word. Her mind was filled with a torrent of “bullet screens.”

“Shit, another top-tier one?” “Where did she get this kind of luck? I knew coming here to act was the right move.” “So beautiful, like a delicate doll. That murderous look… oh, I’m dead.”

Lou Bianxia narrowed her eyes and repeated, “Can I help you?” This time, her tone was even colder.

Shen Zhi snapped out of her daze. She glanced at Lou Bianxia, then craned her neck to peek inside the room, but Lou Bianxia shifted to block her view.

“Isn’t this… Jian Ke’s room?”

“So you’re looking for Jian Ke?”

Shen Zhi stood properly, having completely forgotten her seductive plan. “It’s nothing major. I just wanted to go over the lines for tomorrow’s scene with Jian-laoshi. I’m her co-star, Shen Zhi.”

“And you are?”

Lou Bianxia sneered inwardly. Coming to someone’s room in a bathrobe to rehearse late at night? Nobody would believe that.

Lou Bianxia replied stiffly, “Her assistant.”

Shen Zhi thought to herself, What kind of assistant has such a powerful aura and is as beautiful as the artist?

She was still wearing disposable hotel slippers, and her calves were bare. After nightfall, the temperature in the small town dropped sharply. The cold wind blowing in from the window at the end of the hallway made her shiver.

“Just let me in, it’s so cold out here.” Shen Zhi hugged herself, looking like she wanted to be pitied. She tried to get in, but Lou Bianxia blocked the doorway, refusing to budge.

Shen Zhi: “I need to see your artist. Why are you stopping me?”

Lou Bianxia gave her a cold stare and lifted the two sides of her bathrobe. “I think you should put on some clothes first.”

“It’s already very late. Jian Ke needs to rest. Whatever you need should be discussed during the day. Don’t bother her.”

With a third person present, Shen Zhi couldn’t continue her seductive plan. But to be sent away like this, she felt a little unwilling. “What’s your name? I’ve never seen you around Jian-laoshi before.”

Lou Bianxia met Shen Zhi’s direct, ill-intentioned gaze: “…”

“You’re so pretty, it’s such a waste for you to be a mere assistant. Want to be a star? I can help you~” Shen Zhi winked and raised her hand, intending to stroke Lou Bianxia’s cheek.

Lou Bianxia, with a cold expression, slapped her hand away.

Shen Zhi: “Are you really not considering it? I think…”

Lou Bianxia decisively closed the door before Shen Zhi could say anything more lewd. Shen Zhi watched in disbelief as the door was shut in her face. The cold wind blew past her, and she shivered again. Being so ruthlessly rejected by two women in such a short time, she shrank her body and started to doubt her life choices.

The sound of the door closing with a thud startled Jian Ke, who had just come out of the bathroom.

“What was that? Was someone here?”

Lou Bianxia lay back down on the bed and said casually, “No one. They must have had the wrong room.”

Jian Ke didn’t doubt her. She turned off the lights and lay down beside her. The B&B was by the sea. The balcony door opened to the tide that ebbed and flowed day and night, giving the room a damp feeling. The blankets and sheets were cool to the touch, and it felt sticky and wet against the skin.

Jian Ke felt Lou Bianxia shrink and burrow into her arms. The white, soft arms wrapped around her waist. As she snuggled closer, she complained, “The weather here is so humid. I’m cold.”

The voice, like a cooing hook, was filled with ambiguity. Jian Ke tried to control her wandering thoughts, believing that Lou Bianxia wasn’t trying to flirt and was just genuinely cold. But in the next second, her thigh was pressed against a warm, soft palm.

The fire seemed to be burning everywhere. Jian Ke’s thighs were entangled. In the dark room, without sight, her other senses became more sensitive. It felt like she was having that enchanting dream again. The continuous sound of dripping water echoed in her ears, occasionally replaced by the urgent crashing of waves against the rocks, one higher than the last. As dreams and reality overlapped, the siren’s seductive song was ethereal, causing Jian Ke to lose control. The supple waist became like water and mud. She felt like what she was tangled up with was a snake demon that captivated all beings and consumed their souls—one side human, the other side demon. The cold, aloof side and the alluring, seductive side.

Jian Ke slowly opened her eyes. Her arms were filled with a warm body. The woman was still asleep, her face in the morning light, surrounded by a soft glow, peaceful and beautiful.

Jian Ke got up and out of bed. Today’s filming started a little earlier. As the warm body beside her was pulled away, Lou Bianxia closed her eyes, frowned, and muttered, “Going to film?”

Jian Ke’s gaze swept over the marks on her back, a mix of pink and white, like a white silk canvas accidentally splattered with paint. “The fog on the mountain will clear in the morning. I heard the sunrise view is beautiful.”

“Could you… stay one more day?”

Lou Bianxia opened her eyes and looked at Jian Ke, who was standing by the bed with an expectant look. Her voice was flat. “…I have work. Coming out for two days was already a whim. I’ll probably leave in a little while.”

Jian Ke wasn’t too disappointed to hear this. Lou Bianxia was always busy with work. It was common for her to work overtime and spend the night at the company. Her sudden appearance here yesterday had truly surprised Jian Ke. How could such a big CEO have the free time to mess around with her?

Jian Ke: “Then drive safely. Text me when you get home.”

Lou Bianxia didn’t say anything and closed her eyes again.

The film set today seemed much quieter than usual. Shen Zhi, who always loved to show off in front of Jian Ke, seemed to have completely changed. She sat quietly and obediently next to her, waiting for the filming to start, and didn’t make any small moves. Jian Ke didn’t know how she had suddenly understood the professional spirit of an actor, but it was undoubtedly a good thing for the entire crew.

Director Chen, in a rare moment of kindness towards Shen Zhi, said, “I knew my casting was right. You have a knack for acting. You weren’t in a good state before, but now you’ve finally gotten into character.”

Shen Zhi smiled and nodded, but shot resentful looks at Jian Ke. Jian Ke was bewildered, feeling that Shen Zhi had been looking at her all day as if she had something to say but couldn’t. During their lunch break, Shen Zhi finally seemed unable to hold it in any longer.

“If you had a girlfriend, you should have said so earlier. I wasted all that effort.”

Jian Ke: “…What girlfriend?”

Shen Zhi’s expression was one of “how can you still hide it from me now, that’s so disloyal.” “You’re still hiding it? I saw her when I went to your room yesterday, that assistant who’s as beautiful as a celestial fairy.”

“An assistant? What kind of assistant is that beautiful? That’s a waste of a God-given beauty.”

Jian Ke connected this to the sound of the door closing last night and realized what had happened. “Why can’t she be an assistant? Who says an artist’s assistant can’t be good-looking?”

Shen Zhi glanced at her. “The way she looked at me was like she was looking at an enemy. That’s obvious jealousy, I’m not blind.”

Jealousy?

Jian Ke: “You look like you’re blind to me.”

Shen Zhi, with a perfectly innocent expression, tried to poach her. “Seriously, are you two planning to break up? Or you could let me join. I don’t mind.”

Jian Ke couldn’t understand. When they first met, Shen Zhi had a shy and introverted persona. It had only been a few days, and her persona had completely collapsed. Silently labeling Shen Zhi as an “idiot,” Jian Ke suddenly received a special message notification.

—”Arrived home.”

There were no other words. The entire message only had these three characters. Short and clean.

Jian Ke felt a sense of melancholy loss as she looked at the message. Lou Bianxia’s arrival and departure were like the great fog before dawn, dispersing cleanly and without a trace. After a moment, another message popped up.

“We’ll watch the sunrise next time.”

Jian Ke couldn’t help but smile. This feeling of making a promise with someone filled her with joy. She didn’t know at the time that it would be a very long time before that promise was fulfilled.

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