Chapter 59.2

The crew had stayed in a row of bungalows in the village at night. Due to the limited number of rooms, two people had to share one room. Xia Shutong and Yun Feiwu had stayed in the one at the far end, while Qian Lingling and assistant Xiao Dai had stayed in the one next door.

When Xia Shutong and Yun Feiwu returned to their room, they ran into Qian Lingling and Xiao Dai in the courtyard, chattering about something.

Qian Lingling, with her arms around Xiao Dai’s shoulders, had her eyes wide open with anticipation. Xiao Dai was gesturing about something, her mouth moving non-stop, they looked exactly like two primary school kids.

While Qian Lingling might have looked like a student, she was always serious and solemn at work. This was the first time Xia Shutong had seen her with such an expression, and she found it rather intriguing, raising an eyebrow in response.

“P-President Xia!” The moment Qian Lingling saw Xia Shutong and Yun Feiwu not far away, she had jumped up from the ground, her voice trembling slightly, “And Miss Yun… Miss Yun, good evening.”

Xiao Dai had also promptly lowered her head: “President Xia, Miss Yun, good evening.”

Yun Feiwu had chuckled lightly: “Good evening.”

Xia Shutong gave a slight nod towards them, not saying a word. Just when Qian Lingling thought she would, as usual, pass them by without interest, Xia Shutong had turned to them with a smile, “Little Qian, what were you and Xiao Dai chatting about?”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Mbl rypv Dky Fbwvsdt, obkzl jkde vs bla rlsrzl, bye dlhla nsdnladle blaplzq okvb vblka rakhyvl yqqykap. Fbl nlavykdzu oswzed’v byhl tsppkrle ycswv vblka nsdhlapyvksdp sa ynvkhkvklp. Ms Valpkeldv Dky, sdzu osaj bye xyvvlale.

Tsolhla, yqvla clkdt okvb Ykpp Zwd, pbl tayewyzzu alvwadle vs bla ralhkswp plzq clqsal vbl yxdlpky. Zlv, pbl bye yzps lhszhle kdvs psxlsdl ekqqlaldv. Mbl nwaaldv Valpkeldv Dky bye clnsxl xsal nsdqkeldv yde dsv yp hwzdlayczl yp pbl oyp obld pbl qkapv zspv bla xlxsau. Tla kdvkxkeyvkdt alpkzkldnl lxlatle obld qynle okvb nbyzzldtlp, yde vblal oyp ds bkdv sq ralvldpl. Fkxwzvydlswpzu, pbl pllxle vs byhl elhlzsrle y xsal nsxryppksdyvl pkel.

Valpkeldv Dky ds zsdtla xykdvykdle y nsze elxlydsa yzz vbl vkxl. Fbl pxkzle yv vblx oyaxzu yde pbsole nsdnlad qsa vblka olzz-clkdt.

Uywtbv sqq twyae, Ckyd Nkdtzkdt iwknjzu alprsdele, “El olal pbyakdt tbspv pvsaklp, Valpkeldv Dky. Eswze usw byhl zkjle vs fskd wp?”

“Qbspv pvsaklp?” Dky Fbwvsdt czkdjle, “Qs sd!”

Fwcvzu, pbl nzyprle Zwd Wlkow’p yax.

Lyvwayzzu, pbl oypd’v qaktbvldle, cwv pbl oyp nsdnladle vbyv Zwd Wlkow xktbv byhl clld!

“Dkys Pyk nzykxle vbyv vblpl aso bswplp ol kdbyckvle, zsnyvle swvpkel vbl hkzzytl, olal saktkdyzzu y ekpsatydkgle cwakyz taswde. Mbl hkzzytlap, nsdpkelakdt kv kdywprknkswp, bye nsdhlavle kv kdvs aso bswplp. Jwv, vbl dlo snnwrydvp sqvld blyae see dskplp yde pyo pvaydtl pbyesop. Ls hkzzytla eyale vs zkhl blal, ps vbl aso bswplp alxykdle hynydv wdvkz swa nalo xshle kd…” Ckyd Nkdtzkdt nsdvkdwle, pbkhlakdt pzktbvzu.

Xiao Dai chimed in, “That’s what the cook told me. She also advised that we should close the curtains at night and ignore any sounds from outside.”

Xia Shutong lightly laughed and shook her head. “We were all adults here, yet we still believed in such tales. Xiao Qian, Xiao Dai, Yun Feiwu, and I were going to retire to our room. You all should have rested soon as well.”

Yun Feiwu giggled, looking down.

Others might have perceived Xia Shutong as calm, but she could feel Xia Shutong gripping her arm tightly as if fearing she might suddenly flee.

So, when they entered the pitch-dark room, Yun Feiwu instinctively held Xia Shutong’s waist protectively from behind. As the light flicked on, Xia Shutong’s rigid body relaxed a bit.

Yun Feiwu closed the door and chuckled, “Silly Ruan Ruan, why did you insist on listening when you were obviously scared?”

Xia Shutong muttered, “… I was just curious.”

Logically, after recovering her memories from the age of 19 onwards, she shouldn’t have feared anything. But upon hearing Qian Lingling’s story, Xia Shutong’s first instinct was to seek comfort in Yun Feiwu’s embrace.

Even then, she didn’t want to be away from Yun Feiwu’s side.

Xia Shutong didn’t realize that after recalling her past, she wasn’t becoming more like her once cold and ruthless self. Instead, she was evolving in an entirely different direction. She was becoming braver, more self-assured, yet also more tender and gentle. These two personas were entirely different, yet harmonious.

Yun Feiwu had smiled, leading Xia Shutong to sit by the bed, “Should we change and freshen up together?”

Xia Shutong had looked towards the window, blinking sadly.

Yun Feiwu followed her gaze.

The curtains were open, exposing a pitch-black forest outside. The window wasn’t soundproof, allowing the faint “whoo whoo” sound of the wind to filter into the room.

The atmosphere was slightly eerie.

“Ruan Ruan, should I close the curtains?” Yun Feiwu asked.

Xia Shutong weakly shook her head.

“Should we close it together? I’ll hold your hand.”

This time, she nodded.

Yun Feiwu had escorted Xia Shutong to draw the curtains shut. After they had settled back on the bed, she couldn’t suppress a chuckle.

“Ruan Ruan, why were you always so timid?” Yun Feiwu had squatted in front of Xia Shutong, looking up at her. “You were like this when we were kids, too. I don’t know if you remember, but once, I told you a ghost story, and you actually started crying. I had no choice but to spend the night at your house to accompany you.”

“I don’t remem…” Before she could finish her sentence, a few fragments had flashed through Xia Shutong’s mind.

…

“Maomao, what book were you reading?”

“A ghost story.”

“Could you tell me the story?”

“There was a doctor who had finished his night shift in the wee hours, at a time when the hospital was deserted. He had to ride the elevator alone, only to find out someone had pressed the button for the morgue on the basement floor. As the elevator doors opened, a nurse and a little girl stood outside. The doctor let the nurse in but stopped the little girl. The nurse asked him why he wasn’t letting the little girl in… Could you guess why, Ruanruan?”

“Why?”

“The doctor said, ‘All the corpses in the morgue have a red string tied to their hands, and the little girl had one too. This meant she was a corpse.’ But when the nurse heard this, she didn’t seem scared. Instead, she smiled, rolled up her sleeve, and revealed a red string. ‘Is this the string you were talking about, Doctor?'”

“Ah!”

Before Yun Feiwu could react, Xia Shutong suddenly burst into tears and threw herself into her arms.

“I remember… I remember that ghost story!” Xia Shutong whimpered softly, then weakly hit Yun Feiwu’s shoulder a few times. “You meanie, Maomao.”

“Okay, okay, I was mean.” Yun Feiwu laughed helplessly but affectionately. “Ruan Ruan, let me help you change clothes, then we can wash up, alright?”

Xia Shutong sniffed a couple of times in her arms before nodding weakly.

Yun Feiwu immediately began to move gently.

As a child, Yun Feiwu could never understand why Xia Ruan, who grew up in such an environment, had such a soft and cute personality. But the Xia Shutong of that day, who was fierce in front of others, should not have been afraid of anything, yet her true nature was revealed in front of her.

She was scared of sharks, ghosts, and would tremble with fear when riding a horse. Xia Shutong’s fierceness in front of others was real, but so was her softness in front of Yun Feiwu.

Just the thought that only she could see this side of Xia Shutong had made Yun Feiwu’s heart go soft.

After the two of them had washed up and returned to bed, Yun Feiwu had gone straight to the side of the bed near the window, leaving the inside for Xia Shutong.

They had left a dim bedside lamp on, not turning off all the lights.

Now nestled in Yun Feiwu’s arms, Xia Shutong had heard the “whoosh” of the wind outside the window but didn’t feel scared. In fact, if Yun Feiwu hadn’t been by her side, she wouldn’t have been scared, right?

With these thoughts, Xia Shutong had snuggled a little more into Yun Feiwu’s arms, raising her head to gently nibble on her chin, “It was all your fault, Maomao.”

Yun Feiwu: “???”

Still, she lowered her head and kissed Xia Shutong’s forehead, “Okay, it was all my fault.”

The two had looked at each other and laughed softly at the same time, their eyes reflecting the same tender smile.

…

A dreamless night.

The next morning, the shooting had officially begun.

According to Director Hu Zinan’s plan, the first three days were all about Yun Feiwu and the supporting characters’ scenes.

The first scene was when Shu Jinyu had first arrived at the village, and another supporting teacher had introduced the surroundings to her.

Teacher Wang had introduced the entire village but intentionally overlooked the nearby farm.

On the way back to the village, it was Shu Jinyu who had blinked curiously, “Teacher Wang, I remember seeing a house on the mountain when we were going up. Did someone live there?”

“Teacher Wang had frowned in disgust, remaining silent. An old villager had overheard Shu Jinyu’s question and nonchalantly replied, “Ah, who wasn’t aware of that venomous widow living up the mountain? She was terrible, she caused the death of the Li family’s child. She lacked any self-discipline, not only did she seduce Auntie Zhang’s son, but she also…”

Interrupting herself, the old woman had stamped her foot in disgust, “Let’s not speak of her anymore, it brings bad luck. Just stay away from her, young lady.”

Shu Jinyu had been dumbfounded, “…Huh?”

Teacher Wang had finally snapped back to reality, her brow furrowed. “The woman who lived on the farm up the mountain was named Ke Yu. She was a young widow. Her husband’s surname was Li, he had died on their wedding day… I still remember Little Li, he was a good child and an orphan. He had built that farm all by himself and was finally living a good life. He even got married, but then mysteriously died in the pigsty. Since then, Ke Yu had been living alone on the mountain, barely seen throughout the year.”

Though Teacher Wang hadn’t explicitly accused Ke Yu of anything, her implications were clear – she suspected her of murdering her husband.

“Ah…” Shu Jinyu scratched her head, seemingly oblivious to the hidden message in Teacher Wang’s words. “She was a young woman, living alone in the mountains. She must have been so lonely… I’m scared of being alone. Even when I was seven or eight, I needed my parents to sleep with me.”

Observing through the monitor, Director Hua Zinan, satisfied, had called for a cut.

And with that, the morning’s filming came to an end. The earlier scenes were shot in the village. Yun Feiwu and the other veteran actors had performed flawlessly, with almost no need for retakes, so only then did the actors stop for a break.

Just as Xiao Dai was about to bring water to Yun Feiwu, she suddenly remembered something. She handed the water to Xia Shutong with a weak gesture.

Xia Shutong said, “Thank you,” and immediately walked over to Yun Feiwu to give her the water.

Yun Feiwu tilted her head back to drink, revealing her long, graceful neck. A drop of sweat trickled down it.

Xia Shutong took out a wipe and helped her wipe it off.

Yun Feiwu put down her water cup, obediently lowered her head, her gaze incredibly submissive, a smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

So, Xia Shutong wiped her forehead again.

Neither of them uttered a word, but the people around them averted their eyes – those who were single felt a pang of jealousy.

A friend of one of the crew members, who happened to work for the “Mountain Adventure” program, was initially skeptical when his friend complained about Yun Feiwu and Xia Shutong’s sweet interactions. But now, having seen it for himself, he was convinced.

Yun Feiwu, the film empress, was known for being aloof. How could she be so submissive? And Xia Shutong, renowned in the industry for her toughness, was being so gentle with Yun Feiwu?

He also noticed that every time Director Hua Zinan called for a cut, Yun Feiwu would glance at Xia Shutong. It was so endearing!

In the following plot, Shu Jinyu had stayed in the mountains for a week and visited all the villagers, but never saw Ke Yu from the farm. Throughout the week, Shu Jinyu had heard numerous negative rumors about Ke Yu.

Some said she had murdered her husband, others claimed she was having an affair with a man in the village, and even the village children referred to her as a man-eating demon.

Despite the various allegations, one thing was consistent: Ke Yu was a bad person. The old woman from the village reiterated this multiple times, urging Shu Jinyu not to go to the farm.

However, back in the city, Shu Jinyu had been a cherished and naive young girl with an innate curiosity about the world. The more the villagers spoke ill of Ke Yu, the more curious she became. She wanted to meet the young widow at the farm, to see what kind of person she truly was.