006
The sound of footsteps in her ears pulled Tang Ruoyao away from her memories.
She lifted her eyelids as Qin Yinong came out draped in a snow-white bathrobe. The belt around her waist was tied loosely, and her skin was pink and covered with small droplets of water. The droplets on her neck dripped onto her collarbone, and then slowly slipped to the bathrobe opening and disappeared.
She looked good: tall and feminine, even without makeup. When she first came out of the shower, she was less glamorous than usual, but seemed more innocent and charming.
Tang Ruoyao couldn't help it, and she watched her walk over.
Qin Yinong went around to the other side of the bed, lifted the blanket, and got in. There was a cool breeze as the blanket fell, settling onto the bed. The air was so quiet that they could hear each other's breathing. Qin Yinong leaned back onto the headboard lazily and looked down at Tang Ruoyao: "Go to sleep."
She didn't shy away from the fact that Tang Ruoyao knew that she wouldn’t sleep in the same bed with her.
Tang Ruoyao propped her elbows on the pillow and pushed her body up a little. Leaning towards her, she shook her head and said softly, "I'm not sleepy yet."
"So?" Qin Yinong raised her eyebrows and looked at Tang Ruoyao’s eyes. They were bloodshot, and Qin Yinong wasn’t fooled.
x
Perhaps it was the night that wore off Qin Yinong's strong defense, or the intimacy that caused her to let her guard down to Tang Ruoyao. Her face was pale, her eyes were even lighter. Deeper still was the heavy fatigue.
Like a traveler running through the night, losing her direction, obviously exhausted, but unable to stop.
"I'll cut your nails for you?" Tang Ruoyao inexplicably felt sad for her, and deliberately added a little playfulness in her tone.
Qin Yinong was amused, as Tang Ruoyao had hoped. She lifted the corners of her lips slightly, and then said softly: "Next time."
Tang Ruoyao didn't insist, and said, "Okay."
Qin Yinong never over-indulged in her desire. She was willing to ask her only once a night, but each time she would be completely satisfied. However, there had been several occasions where it was clearly hard to resist, when Tang Ruoyao had boldly touched her. But Qin Yinong had held her hand down tightly, sighing and pushing her away.
Tang Ruoyao didn't know why. Was it because Qin Yinong thought she didn't deserve to touch her? Or was there another reason? Or was it the reason that she didn't want to think about: Qin Yinong had other lovers, and it wasn’t her turn to address Qin Yinong's needs.
Tang Ruoyao's bright eyes darkened, and for a moment, she could not bring herself to coax her again.
In the next moment, Qin Yining continued: "Go to sleep."
Her expression was indifferent.
Tang Ruoyao laid down with her eyes still open: "Jiejie."
Qin Yinong paused as she held onto the corner of the blanket. Her eyes fell on Tang Ruoyao’s face: "What's wrong?"
"Are..." Tang Ruoyao gritted her teeth and spoke the doubt in her heart, "Are there any other lovers besides me?"
Qin Yinong raised her eyebrows and asked lightly, "What do you think?"
Tang Ruoyao anticipated in advance that she might answer this way, and said bluntly, “I don’t think so.”
She had only known Qin Yinong for so long that she did not dare to say she knew her well. But Qin Yinong was like her teacher, and in regards to her career, her intentions were very clear.
Qin Yinong was diligent to a fault. Except for necessary film promotion, she did not accept interviews and did not go on any shows. She posted online less than a handful of times a year. She focused solely on filming, moving from one crew to another. Every year, she participated in two or more movies, possessing a notoriously high quality and yield. Anytime she was nominated in any domestic award ceremonies, she would almost certainly win best actress. Anyone who crossed her to win the award would surely be criticized as shady. Fame begets fame, and acting gives rise to acting skill. The audience was not blind.
It was the same in any industry. Pure genius is not to be feared; what’s frightening is a genius that worked harder than you.
In truth, there was another saying that Qin Yinong frequently filmed only to widen her ‘stamp collection,’ meaning that she would have sex with celebrities, and collect them as if they were stamps. It was not uncommon for men and women to collect such stamps in the entertainment world. However, the rumors about Qin Yinong were heavily exaggerated. They said that she had no qualms about having relationships with either men or women, even though there was no evidence for this statement. But because of Qin Yinong’s shadowy past, the rumor was intensely circulated until it became mainstream on the internet today.
Qin Yinong’s lack of response sent netizens into an even greater frenzy. The media made more of a fuss about Qin Yinong’s ‘new lover,’ with all sorts of gimmicky headlines in order to create such an image of her.
Because of this, Qin Yinong kept a low profile. Except for her work, she basically did not appear in public. The airport pictures that Tang Ruoyao saved today were all photos taken by fans who knew that she would be coming back from abroad.
Still, Qin Yinong’s name regularly made it to one of the most popular searches. First due to her stunning face: the occasional photos and news headlines, even screenshots and clips of previous TV shows and movies could attract a large number of insatiable fans. A large part of Qin Yinong’s fans were diehard for her beauty: no matter how bad her reputation was, they could follow her just for her face, and still have the strength to form a crush! The Qing Dynasty was long over, so what’s the point of erecting a chastity memorial?
The second was clout. Qin Yinong was the real hot topic, with countless speculations tied to her name. Anything about gorgeous women sold well, even if the female celebrity with said beauty is ridiculed by discerning passers-by. But their goal had been achieved. Today’s headlines of Tang Ruoyao as “Little Qin Yinong” was a case of the latter. As for who was behind it, it wasn't clear. In any case, it was definitely not pushed by Tang Ruoyao’s team.
Qin Yinong was very busy. Tang Ruoyao didn't have her itinerary, but she could roughly guess that with the intensity of her work, she probably didn't have the time to entertain a second lover.
Think about it: even if she didn’t love Tang Ruoyao, she cared about her. Qin Yinong believed that an actor’s cultural level was very important, and her knowledge and experience were directly related to her depth in understanding her characters. So she would assign her performance exercises, let her go to various exhibitions to broaden her horizons, and create notes for Tang Ruoyao to read. Qin Yinong herself might even read these aloud herself from time to time.
Could she do this with a second person? Even if there were 48 hours in a day, it still wouldn’t be enough for her.
Tang Ruoyao locked eyes with Qin Yinong.
As soon as these secret desires ran through her mind, they stirred up from hibernation, like a greedy beast with green eyes piercing through the darkness.
If she was really the only one, did she still have a chance with Qin Yinong?
Qin Yinong's eyes were calm, like a smooth pond’s surface without ripples. Her red lips opened and she spat out a word coldly: "Yes." As if afraid of being misunderstood, she told her plainly, "You are not the only one."
Tang Ruoyao’s face suddenly turned pale, and she tried to force a smile. Even her crying face would have looked more attractive than her expression now.
For a long time, she lowered her eyes, withdrew her gloomy expression bit by bit, and whispered: "I know, Jiejie."
Stop chasing after an unattainable fantasy.
The girl's feelings were still painfully raw. She tried her best to hold back tears, but she still let out a soft whimper.
Qin Yinong's hands behind her back clenched into fists. She ignored the soft hum of Tang Ruoyao’s crying, and urged her for the third time: "Go to sleep."
"Good night." Tang Ruoyao closed her eyes, feeling disheartened.
"Good night."
Qin Yinong turned off the bed lamp beside her and leaned quietly on the headboard. Her eyelids started to droop, as if she had been pulled into a dream. Not long after, she emptied the thoughts from her head and forced herself awake. The girl next to her was breathing heavily, and Qin Yinong tilted her head to glance at the bedside alarm clock. One hour had passed, and Tang Ruoyao still hadn’t fallen asleep.
Sitting in one spot with nothing to do made Qin Yinong instinctively anxious and uneasy, and it made her throat dry. She couldn't help but go down to the study to get a book. The books here were all chosen by Tang Ruoyao. She was a neat and organized person. The cover of "Brave New World" in her hand was as clean as a new book, but there were many reading notes written, dated two months ago.
Qin Yinong was filming in France at the time. You could say she was busy, but during that time, she was still able to go back to China twice, and visited her family on the way. She just didn't come to see Tang Ruoyao. With only a year left between them, Qin Yinong was deliberately alienating her.
Qin Yinong flipped the pages of the book gently. The printed characters weren't anything special, but every last one of the reading notes was elegant, like the dance of the dragon and phoenix. The writer was a neat and organized person, and so was her handwriting.
Qin Yinong's eyes were soft, and the corners of her lips lifted unconsciously.
She turned to the last page to see that there were no notes. There were just two words and a symbol in the blank space.
Qin & Tang.
Each stroke was very solemn.
Qin Yi's eyelashes trembled, and she looked sideways at the person beside her with a slightly complicated expression.
Tang Ruoyao was fast asleep, her breathing even and smooth. Her red lips were naturally slightly open, and each inhale and exhale would slightly expose her rosy, soft tongue. What type of dream was she having? She stretched out her tongue and licked her lips, and then let out a gentle hum. The color of her lips was stained with moisture, and the light reflecting off the wet lips was eye-catching.
Qin Yinong felt her heart beating hard in her chest, and she swallowed. She couldn't help but slowly lean over.
Up close, Qin Yinong almost felt the warmth of those lips, sweet and slippery. She was almost intoxicated just thinking about it. In her heart, she could feel a war between her heart and her mind. Her expression was gloomy and her breaths were deeper and slower than usual. Her nose touched Tang Ruoyao’s face, and the sleeping girl let out an uncomfortable mumble.
Qin Yinong suddenly bit her lower lip, forcing herself to leave. She shook her groggy head, got out of bed, and went to the living room to make a call.
She took out the bottle of red wine that she was drinking before Tang Ruoyao came, and sat on the sofa to drink it by herself. When the phone on the table lit up, Qin Yinong put down the wine glass and got up to open the door.
At the door stood an alert and capable woman, about twenty-five or twenty-six, with shoulder-length hair and gold-rimmed glasses. Even though it was in the middle of the night, she was still meticulous with her clothes and makeup.
Guan Han--Qin Yinong's personal assistant--was about to speak when Qin Yinong raised her finger to her lips and made a "shush" gesture.
Guan Han understood. In the next moment, she quickly cleaned the coffee table and opened the door again.
Walking out together, Guan Han took a step forward to reach out and press the elevator button.
In the elevator, the midnight was quiet and secretive, and neither of them spoke, like silent, nimble ghosts.
As Qin Yinong watched the elevator numbers change, there was a spark in her eyes which slowly darkened. After a while, she said slowly: "Tomorrow at six o'clock in the morning, send a message to Yaoyao that I have left beforehand. If she asks anything, say it’s inconvenient to tell her."
Guan Han lowered her eyes, and said indifferently: "Yes." After a pause, she said mechanically with a flat, unwavering voice: "She probably wouldn't ask."
Qin Yinong sighed: "...That would be for the best."
The author has something to say:
thanks to the little angel who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution~
Thank you for the little angels who voted [long list of readers]
Thank you very much for your support to me, I will continue to work hard!
translated and edited by jaylin and mooie.