ISWMQ – Chapter 120

Without looking up, Rong Guang applied the medicine to Chu Feiliang’s waist, gently spreading it with a cotton swab. “Don’t be afraid,” she said.

Then she glanced at the hand Chu Feiliang had placed on her hip, noticing that some parts were already touching the wound. She patted Chu Feiliang’s waist and said, “Lie still, don’t move…”

Chu Feiliang fell back onto the bed, completely stunned.

After a moment of silence, she looked at Rong Guang and said, “You patted me.”

Rong Guang looked up, bewildered. “Yes… I did… What’s wrong?”

Chu Feiliang shook her head and said slowly, “Nothing.”

Rong Guang was utterly confused.

Chu Feiliang smiled at her, her slender ankles swaying restlessly. “It felt pretty good. Pat me a couple more times.”

The medicine on her back was now applied.

Chu Feiliang rolled over, propping herself up on one hand to lie on her side. She looked at Rong Guang, her expression looking like she was asking for a lesson. “How about it, Teacher Rong? Pat me again, it’s like a massage.”

Teacher Rong… Her face flushed. She looked at her own hand, then cautiously reached out and patted Chu Feiliang’s waist again.

Although she didn’t use much force, a small red mark appeared, but it vanished after a few seconds.

Chu Feiliang couldn’t hold back her laughter and broke into a wide grin.

Rong Guang couldn’t stay serious either and laughed along with her, saying helplessly, “I’m applying medicine, Sister…”

Outside, the white light flashed intermittently again. After finishing with the medicine, Rong Guang glanced out the window a few times. Sure enough, there was a traffic camera on a road about a hundred meters away, taking pictures every so often.

She didn’t pay it much mind—after all, there was nothing to hide between her and Chu Feiliang. If they were exposed, so be it. Even if people said she was clinging to Chu Feiliang’s coattails to climb up, she would accept it.

Time and accomplishments would prove everything in the end.

There had been plenty of rumors about her before, and hadn’t she made it through all the same?

The room was warm, and the medicine dried quickly.

When they went to bed that night, Chu Feiliang clung to Rong Guang, refusing to let go. Her eyes were already drowsy with sleep, but she kept asking, “Are you staying for three days?”

“Mhm.” Rong Guang nodded, gently patting Chu Feiliang’s back up and down. “I’ll go back Sunday night. I have class the next day.”

“Okay, I’ll see you off.” As Chu Feiliang spoke, her voice grew softer.

Rong Guang left a small night light on. Using the faint moonlight, she traced Chu Feiliang’s features, feeling so happy she could almost float away.

For the next two days, Chu Feiliang had a full schedule of filming.

While Chu Feiliang was busy, Rong Guang spent a long time chatting with Zhang Nanchuan about The Lover.

Before filming for The Lover began, Zhang Nanchuan had already given her a heads-up that many scenes would require a closed set, telling Rong Guang to be mentally prepared.

It wasn’t just about closed sets; similar situations often occurred during professional training. After four years of it, she had grown accustomed to it. It was all part of the job, and no one would think anything of it.

Rong Guang had no psychological barriers in this regard, and her reaction actually surprised Zhang Nanchuan.

He said with a smile, “Don’t just talk tough with me. This is the first modern film I’ve taken on—I want quality, and I want speed. If you really back down on set, I won’t show you any mercy just because we’ve worked together before.”

“You don’t need to show me any mercy,” Rong Guang said truthfully. “Getting scolded can also help me improve.”

Only by working with a senior actor with exquisite skills could she reach the next level.

Rong Guang had later watched the edited clips from the crew. To be honest, she felt that her portrayal of some details was still too raw.

For any micro-expression, even for close-ups of her hands or feet, Rong Guang used the performance state she had at twenty-six.

It was very mature, but for someone her current age, it seemed a bit too seasoned.

She had to rein it in a little.

This was something Chu Feiliang did very well.

Whatever age she played, she embodied it perfectly. Her range spanned from a teenage girl to even a single mother in her forties or fifties who had lost her only child. She portrayed them all vividly and had even won several awards for a public service announcement about child trafficking.

The urgency, despair, and hysteria after losing a child; the long journey to find the child, where hope was nearly extinguished but she stubbornly refused to give up; the unrestrained crying upon finally finding the child; and even the awkwardness, distance, yet constant desire to show concern after reuniting with the child… and so on.

Rong Guang still remembered how the trending topics at the time were filled with people crying.

That was a peak she couldn’t reach in her current state.

Rong Guang watched Chu Feiliang on set, whose live performance brought the surrounding staff to tears, and the admiration in her eyes was almost impossible to hide.

Zhang Nanchuan sighed and said, “It’s good that you have this awareness. Much better than Xiao Chu back in the day.”

Rong Guang snapped back to reality, rubbing her arm. She asked in a low voice, “Can you tell me what exactly happened with Teacher Chu back then…?”

“When you get down to it, it’s always the same old story.” Zhang Nanchuan’s face was obscured by smoke, making it look somewhat dim and unclear. “She was being attacked by the entire internet. No matter what she did, it was maliciously misinterpreted. She accidentally wore the same outfit as an artist from the same company and was accused of deliberately trying to outshine her. She merely exchanged a glance with another artist at a gala and was screenshotted and accused of looking down on a senior… I don’t know the full details, I just remember her whole family had to move several times because of her, finally settling down where they live now.”

Rong Guang pressed her lips together.

No wonder in her past life, she often saw longtime fans in Chu Feiliang’s fan club, who had followed her for over a decade, constantly saying, ‘These people still owe us an apology.’

Some people truly did owe Chu Feiliang an apology.

Rong Guang asked in a low voice, “How old was she then?”

Zhang Nanchuan paused, took the cigarette from his mouth, and glanced at Rong Guang. “Thirteen.”

Rong Guang felt a distinct lump forming in her throat.

Starting from the age of thirteen, Chu Feiliang was relentlessly insulted, insinuated against, and cyberbullied by those people online, and it continued until she was twenty-two, when she achieved god-like status by winning a grand slam of awards?

What kind of malice was that?!

“It’s a good thing she pulled through,” Zhang Nanchuan said, stubbing out his cigarette. “Big Dipper rose up along with her, and everything got better. Not just your Xiao Chu, but her older sister and grandmother didn’t have it easy back then either. Chu Siyue was only sixteen when her parents died in a car crash, leaving behind a huge mess and company shares scattered among many people. The Chu family’s old matriarch had just had a gastrectomy but forced herself out of the hospital to take over that mess. It took her nearly seven years to push Chu Siyue to her current position… See that head of white hair on the old lady? It turned white overnight, saved her the cost of hair dye. None of the three women in the Chu family have had it easy.”

Rong Guang was silent for a long time.

After a while, Zhang Nanchuan said, “Perhaps because they’ve experienced so much, they’ve become indifferent to many things. They enjoy life when they should, work when they should, and dabble in whatever interests them. But when it comes to personal relationships… they always seem a bit detached. I told you before that the two Chu sisters were on good terms with that little girl from the Duan family, but that was when they were kids. After Duan Nong started middle school, they didn’t interact much anymore.”

Rong Guang blinked in confusion, not understanding why Zhang Nanchuan was suddenly telling her all this. “I’ve talked to Xiao Chu about this, I asked her once.” Zhang Nanchuan rubbed his chin and looked at Rong Guang. “As people grow up, their desires multiply. Xiao Chu once told me that when Duan Nong was little, she got whatever she wanted, but her family wouldn’t give her electronic gadgets, afraid it would affect her studies. When she couldn’t get them, she’d ask the Chu sisters. If she still couldn’t get them, she’d go to Grandma Chu. And if she still failed, she would immediately throw a tantrum.”

Rong Guang gave an awkward laugh and rubbed her nose. “Well…”

That did sound like something Duan Nong would do.

“So, they particularly like people who are very simple,” Zhang Nanchuan said. “People who don’t want anything from them, who can genuinely spend a lifetime with them.”

Rong Guang blinked, the realization slowly dawning on her.

Everyone could claim they didn’t care, but it’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, and hard to go from luxury to frugality.

Especially in this materialistic era, not caring about worldly possessions was easy to say, but very, very hard to do.

Zhang Nanchuan patted her shoulder and said with a smile, “There are plenty of people like that, supposedly. That little girl Siyue has always been popular. Countless suitors claim to have cars, houses, and savings, and are willing to give everything without asking for anything in return. But when it gets serious, every single one of them is as cunning as a fox, scheming to scrape a layer of skin off her.”

Rong Guang nodded and said softly, “That’s human nature…”

“Mhm, it is.” Zhang Nanchuan nodded, gave Rong Guang a frank look, and smiled. “Before Xiao Chu joined the cast, she was constantly singing your praises to me, saying you were worthy, that you could handle it, her words full of nothing but compliments for you. At the time, I thought she must have been completely smitten by you…”

Rong Guang raised an eyebrow at him.

Zhang Nanchuan shrugged. “It seems she really was. But it’s not surprising. Forget her, I’m about to become your fan too. So, you’re probably going to be a big star after The Eldest Princess airs. Add The Lover to that, and you might even make it to the A-list. When you raise your rates, could you put in a good word for me with that little girl Siyue and get me a discount? How about it?”

Rong Guang was a bit dazed by the sudden change of topic.

Then, she felt a pat on her shoulder.

Immediately after, Rong Guang felt someone sit down behind her. A hand suddenly appeared on her waist, her shoulder felt a weight, and a lazy voice sounded, “What are you two talking about so happily? Let me in on it, huh?”

Rong Guang blinked, her gaze falling on Zhang Nanchuan. Zhang Nanchuan looked at Rong Guang, then at Chu Feiliang.

He was silent for a moment, then stood up, hitching his pants. He said with a look of disdain, “Tone it down, my dear young lady. There are paparazzi on set, paparazzi!”

Chu Feiliang snorted coldly. “Mere paparazzi. You think I’m afraid of them?”

Rong Guang felt like Chu Feiliang’s words had a triple meaning.

She just wasn’t sure if the pun on “paparazzi” was meant to sound like “puppy” or “dog scoundrel.”

Then, she instinctively raised a hand and stroked Chu Feiliang’s head up and down, soothing her.

Chu Feiliang’s grumbling faded away, and she leaned her whole body against Rong Guang and yawned.

Zhang Nanchuan, the single dog, walked away, muttering curses.

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