The Stand-in is Exceptionally Clingy [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 34.1

Chapter 34.1: The CEO and Her Canary

◎”You’re not allowed to go.”◎

When Xiao Yang received a message from Lou Bianxia saying she was bringing a first-aid kit, she was a little dazed. The emotions in her heart were a mix of five flavors, so complex she could open a dye shop.

Ms. Lou… is she really going to commit domestic abuse??

Imagining a scene where the big boss gets incredibly jealous and starts a fight with both her original partner and the “mistress,” Xiao Yang’s eyes widened in horror, and she picked up her pace.

So when she opened the training room door, she still had an expression of righteous indignation.

But the atmosphere inside the classroom was not as intense as she had imagined. On the contrary, it was excessively quiet and silent.

The “mistress” was nowhere to be found. The “original partner” and the boss were sitting side-by-side on two wooden chairs by the window.

The boss had one hand on the armrest of her chair, looking at Jian Ke with a relaxed air. She said to Xiao Yang, “Put the first-aid kit here.”

As Xiao Yang got closer, she saw a large area of scrapes on Jian Ke’s arm from friction. The fair skin was broken, with a large pink patch and streaks of blood.

The wound was only a minor abrasion and not serious, but on Jian Ke’s fair, tender forearm, it did look a little scary.

Xiao Yang: “Sister Jian, how did you get hurt?”

Lou Bianxia took a tube of ointment from the first-aid kit, carefully read the instructions, and then used a cotton swab to apply the medicine to Jian Ke.

The milky white ointment gave off a faint scent of traditional Chinese medicine and felt particularly cool when applied to the affected area.

Lou Bianxia’s movements were very gentle, and Jian Ke didn’t feel much pain. Instead, it was a little itchy.

“I was practicing some moves with Qingyi just now,” Jian Ke subconsciously glanced at Lou Bianxia. “I suddenly… fell. It’s just a scrape; there’s nothing to fuss about.”

“When you leave, take a few plasters to give to Qingyi. We fell together, so her back is probably pretty sore.”

Xiao Yang nodded and took a few plasters from the first-aid kit. She then saw Jian Ke’s eyes widen as she gave her a meaningful look.

Jian Ke’s eyes shifted to the side, and her chin lifted slightly. The meaning was obvious: Why did Ms. Lou suddenly show up? Did you say something?

Xiao Yang’s face scrunched up. It really had nothing to do with her. So she shook her head firmly, indicating she had no idea.

Jian Ke was puzzled. Lou Bianxia had made a rare surprise visit without notice, and she had been caught red-handed. What kind of luck was this?

She had only herself to blame for her mouth. Why did I have to ask? Why did I have to talk about going abroad?

She couldn’t possibly tell Lou Bianxia that her goal in going abroad was Shu Yu’s engagement ceremony.

—So, she could only look up, her eyes pleading as she blinked at Xiao Yang.

“The scriptwriter said he wanted to talk to me about the drinking scene tomorrow. Did he call me?”

Please say yes!

But Xiao Yang didn’t understand what Jian Ke meant, nor did she understand her current predicament. She thought this was a great opportunity to strengthen the relationship between Jian Ke and Lou Bianxia.

“Screenwriter Wang left half an hour ago. He can go over the scene with you tomorrow just the same.”

Jian Ke was a little anxious. She shook her head and pursed her lips. “Then are you absolutely sure I have no more work for today?”

Xiao Yang readily replied, “No, the last thing was the martial arts class, right? Don’t worry, Sister Jian, I won’t disturb you and Ms. Lou.”

Jian Ke: “…I can’t keep this assistant.”

Lou Bianxia, on the other side, helplessly grabbed Jian Ke’s flailing arm. “I just put on the medicine. Don’t rub it off.”

She couldn’t help but curve her lips as she watched Jian Ke’s ever-changing expressions. The other woman was pouting, her clear, round doe-like eyes full of sadness, and then they started darting around.

She was probably thinking of a lie to tell her.

“Xiao Yang, it’s getting late. Shouldn’t you… be getting off work?” Lou Bianxia’s peripheral vision caught a glimpse of Xiao Yang, who immediately understood.

“Sister Jian, then I’ll head off now. I’ll take my car. You can take Ms. Lou’s car back to the hotel later.”

Before Jian Ke could protest, Xiao Yang had already scurried out the door with the plasters, and she was gone.

Lou Bianxia: “Your little assistant is quite a firecracker.”

She’s probably taking after Jian Ke, right?

Jian Ke gritted her teeth. “She’s got a screw loose. I gave her a raise for nothing.”

“The fact that she thought to tell me about Lin Jing’s incident immediately shows that she’s actually quite clever.”

Lou Bianxia put down the ointment and cotton swabs and suddenly knelt next to Jian Ke, reaching up to slowly lift Jian Ke’s pants leg.

Jian Ke’s training pants were wide, and when she sat on the wooden chair, only a small portion of her fair ankle was visible. She was about to stop Lou Bianxia’s movement, but Lou Bianxia had already quickly pulled the leg up to her knee.

The area around her right kneecap was covered in reddish-purple bruises and blotches.

Lou Bianxia: “You didn’t want Xiao Yang to know?”

Jian Ke hadn’t expected Lou Bianxia to notice that. “If Xiao Yang knew, everyone else on the crew would know in a day… It’s just a bruise from a bump. It’ll be fine in two or three days.”

Ever since Lou Bianxia’s visit, Jian Ke could clearly feel a certain “special treatment” from the crew, including the director and scriptwriter.

Their attitude had become more respectful. When filming a fight scene, they would ask her several times if she was uncomfortable anywhere. If she made an NG, the director would smile and say it was no big deal and to just do it again.

“I got a separate makeup room and dressing room. The associate director even thought that with only Xiao Yang by my side, I couldn’t be taken care of in all aspects, so he specially assigned three PAs to look after me.”

“It’s really not necessary. I don’t like having too many people around me.” Even Xiao Yang wasn’t by her side every second of her work day.

Jian Ke mumbled her complaints to Lou Bianxia. “Ms. Lou, your ‘CEO halo’ is now shining on me.”

Lou Bianxia lowered her eyes, the strands of hair on her forehead moving slightly. While she listened to Jian Ke’s soft complaints, she used her thumb to gently massage the area around the bruise, moving in a regular circle.

After a while, she asked very softly, “Do you think this is a bad thing?”

Jian Ke was silent for a moment. “It’s certainly not a bad thing to have someone protecting you. It saves a lot of trouble. Like with Lin Jing before, if she had known my backing was you, she wouldn’t have dared to cause me trouble.”

Lou Bianxia: “You don’t have to care about people who suddenly change their attitude toward you because of my ‘halo.'”

Feeling the warm, gentle rubbing on her knee, the medicated oil was warmed by Lou Bianxia’s palm, releasing a faint, stimulating scent. Jian Ke felt a warm current flowing through her heart.

“But—” Lou Bianxia suddenly looked up, a glimmer in her eyes. “Do you want me to be your backing for life?”

Their eyes met. The black pupils clearly reflected each other’s faces. The words, like a vow, landed and created a tumultuous flood that impacted her pounding heart.

The training room was very quiet. Even the “clang” of the windows rattling in the wind was clearly audible.

The clear and tender confession, bypassing the broken chandelier glass from the restaurant that day, was laid bare before Jian Ke, and it also broke down her teetering defenses.

Although she had a feeling, actually hearing it made Jian Ke feel dazed for a long time.

No wonder Lou Bianxia chose to reject Shu Yu. No wonder Shu Yu looked at me with that kind of look backstage at the theater. No wonder Lou Bianxia so brazenly announced that I was her girlfriend in front of He Wei.

—That wasn’t acting. Lou Bianxia’s ‘new love’ is me.

Lou Bianxia pursed her lips. Seeing Jian Ke in a daze, she stood up, took Jian Ke’s hands that were resting on her thighs, and took another step closer. “If you want to go abroad, I’ll go with you.”

“I just need to arrange my work beforehand.” She kissed the back of Jian Ke’s hand, and her curved lips were like a gentle spring breeze stroking a willow branch. “Jian Ke, will you stay by my side every year from now on?”

Jian Ke fell silent. Her complex eyes were cold and empty, completely devoid of any surprise. She lowered her head, swallowed hard, and firmly pulled her hand back.

“Ms. Lou, this joke isn’t funny.”

Lou Bianxia’s hope cooled little by little, and the faint light in her eyes went out. Although she had mentally prepared herself for rejection, the empty feeling of her hand being pulled away still made her heart tremble.

Lou Bianxia pursed her lips. “This isn’t a joke. What I said at the restaurant that day was also true. Maybe you can’t accept it for now, but I still…”

Jian Ke forced a smile. A simple sentence from her was enough to overturn all of Lou Bianxia’s restraint. “Is it because I look like Shu Yu? Some kind of psychological transference?”

Lou Bianxia gritted her teeth. “Is my loving you really that hard for you to accept? Why do you have to find other excuses?”

Jian Ke cried out in her heart. Facing Lou Bianxia’s reddened, annoyed eyes, her heart seemed to be pierced. She lowered her head, not daring to meet her gaze.

But you are the female lead. The one you love is your ‘white moonlight’ Shu Yu, not Jian Ke, the stand-in.

You shouldn’t… and you can’t.

Jian Ke could almost feel the alarm sirens ringing in her ears like thunder. If Lou Bianxia fell for her, her third phase of the mission would be a failure.

She closed her eyes, barely able to find her voice. “You’ve loved Shu Yu for seven years, and I’m just a stand-in you found to remember your ‘white moonlight.'”

“Ms. Lou, what exists between us is an agreement, a contract, a transaction.”

“You seem to be getting confused right now.”

This was a complete rejection of her impossible hopes.

That’s brutal enough.

Lou Bianxia’s eyes were crimson. Her usually cold and proud face, for a rare moment, showed a hint of sadness and a plea as she listened to Jian Ke’s cold, emotionless tone.

All those beautiful, romantic memories in her mind seemed to shatter instantly, trampled into the dust by the person in front of her.

“So, in this transaction, you, from beginning to end, didn’t put in even a shred of emotion?”

She grabbed Jian Ke’s chin, forcing her to look up and meet her eyes.

If you can say such heartless things, then why are you trembling with your head down?

Jian Ke’s eyelashes trembled, and she clenched her hands so tightly that her nails dug into the soft flesh. The pain didn’t stop her from being overwhelmed by the fragmented emotions.

The messy, damp, ambiguous, lustful, heart-burning, pounding, and questioning feelings seemed to be about to drown out Jian Ke’s forced coldness.

Feeling Lou Bianxia’s persistence and ruthlessness, Jian Ke curled her lips in a sneer and replied, “I’m an actress.”

So it was just an act. So it was fake charm, without a single ounce of sincerity.

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