Chapter 90: Blushing

They finished eating quickly.

After Song Wan had tidied up, Jin Youqian suddenly asked her, "Shouldn't you be on set filming today?" Then he coughed lightly. "Does it still hurt?"

Song Wan paused. "Did Butler Feng not tell you? I only had one scene today, and once it was done I could rest. I figured there was nothing else to do hanging around the crew, so I simply asked for half a day off and came back to rest."

As for why she wanted to rest...

Jin Youqian's gaze drifted away, the tips of his ears quietly turning red.

Song Wan held back a laugh. "I did want to take it easy today, but of course I can't sleep the entire afternoon and evening away. If I did, I'd be groggy tomorrow and film badly."

Jin Youqian looked at her, his expression puzzled.

Song Wan smiled and sidled up beside him, kissing his cheek. "Are you free? How about陪 me去看电影?"

Though they were married, theirs was not a relationship that had begun in the usual way. The things ordinary lovers did, the dates ordinary couples went on, were experiences they had never shared.

Even in her past life, Song Wan had never had the time to date because the pressure to survive was too great and opportunities vanished all too quickly.

Now that she had some spare time, she naturally wanted to try the sorts of things couples did with Jin Youqian.

Jin Youqian's lashes trembled. In the end, he still nodded. "Any good movies showing lately?"

That happened to be Song Wan's area of expertise. The moment she saw him agree, she immediately began listing them one by one.

"Big foreign blockbusters like those giant robot films, Alien Life, and Surviving the End of Days all have pretty good reviews online; local films like Hello, Miss, To My Dearest Dearest, and Hero are worth a look too, and there are also..."

Jin Youqian covered her hand with his. "Enough. Once we're at the theater, you can just pick one you like."

Song Wan turned her head and met his eyes, deep as the sea. Because of the fleeting tenderness there, she opened her mouth slightly in surprise.

Jin Youqian's lips curved upward. Before Song Wan could recover from the beauty of the moment, he seized the chance to lace his fingers through hers.

Tight, so tight they could not be separated.

Looking down at their joined hands, Song Wan's brows and eyes softened.

-

In the end, the two of them chose the romantic comedy Hello, Miss.

The reason was simple: it would begin in three minutes, and neither of them was fond of waiting.

Since Jin Youqian was, in a sense, a public figure, Song Wan took the opportunity to dress him up just as she was dressed herself, wrapping him head to toe in a scarf like a Middle Eastern woman.

But it was absurd beyond imagining to use a scarf to cover a man's face, and when they lined up to buy tickets, even the ticket clerk gave them a wary look.

She probably thought they were terrorists.

The two exchanged a tacit glance, and Song Wan's eyes immediately curved with laughter.

Jin Youqian's hand, locked tightly with Song Wan's, moved slightly, and he instinctively tightened his grip, as though he feared at any moment that Song Wan might slip away.

After Song Wan got the tickets, she dragged Jin Youqian straight into the screening room.

As the title suggested, it was just a feel-good popcorn movie, brisk in pace, simple in plot, with a handsome hero and a beautiful heroine.

The story opened with the male lead catching his ex-girlfriend in the act in the rented apartment they shared. There was no shouting match, no drawn-out mess; the ex-girlfriend only appeared briefly before the two of them were cleanly and decisively over.

But it did explain very clearly why the ex-girlfriend had cheated.

The male lead could not satisfy her physical needs.

Simply put, the male lead was impotent.

Song Wan almost burst out laughing. An impotent male lead? That was truly...

Just that one detail was enough to lock the audience's attention firmly on the screen, impossible to tear away.

She accidentally turned her head and caught sight of Jin Youqian's side profile, as if carved by the gods, and could not help laughing softly. "Jin Youqian, do you know? At first I suspected you too."

Jin Youqian looked at Song Wan in confusion. Suspect him? Suspect what?

The light from the film fell just right across Song Wan's face, illuminating the mischievous smile there in perfect clarity, and Jin Youqian's expression split at once.

Suspect what? Of course suspecting that he was impotent.

The pitiful thing was that words like, "Am I impotent or not? Didn't you feel it deeply last night?" were far too crude and shameless for Jin Youqian to ever say out loud.

Jin Youqian was nearly enraged to death.

Seeing that he truly was angry, Song Wan hurriedly pulled him close, kissed the corner of his mouth, then shoved him away.

If it weren't for the sparkling roll of her eyes, Jin Youqian would have truly thought everything that had just happened was his imagination.

It was both exasperating and amusing; for a moment, Jin Youqian did not even know what expression to wear.

Still, he touched the corner of his mouth, where Song Wan's warmth remained. That feeling did not seem bad at all.

-

The plot soon moved to the first meeting between the male and female leads.

The male lead, devastated beyond bearing, went to a bar to drown his sorrows, only to accidentally drink a cocktail laced with an aphrodisiac and end up spending the night with the heroine in a haze.

When he woke the next morning, the male lead was nearly scared to death.

He thought the heroine was the kind of woman who made her living with her body and rushed straight to the hospital for a full examination.

Only after the results came back and confirmed that he had not contracted the disease whose name began with A did he have the energy to recall everything that happened the night before. Then he noticed one point that mattered to him more than anything else.

He had gotten hard, even with the help of the aphrodisiac, even though the object of his hardness was a woman selling herself.

Yet this woman undoubtedly became the male lead's salvation.

Before seeking out the heroine again, the male lead also tried being with other women, but even with the aphrodisiac added, the result was exactly the same as when he had faced his ex-girlfriend.

Only then did he finally realize that if he wanted to live a normal life, he would have to find that woman.

Still, deep down, the male lead was somewhat male-chauvinistic, and he looked down on women like her. Precisely because of that, once he met the heroine, the conflict became all the more compelling: on one hand he wanted to pursue her, while on the other he unconsciously revealed his truest thoughts, even while believing he had hidden them well.

And the heroine? She was usually an older single woman with thick-lensed glasses and frumpy, outdated clothes, driven nearly insane by her family's relentless pressure to marry. That was why she had deliberately dressed up and gone to the bar, simply wanting to hook up with someone.

Yet deep in her heart, the heroine was a thoroughly rebellious, middle-school-type girl, for whom all the rules of the world were trash.

These two people, after meeting and stumbling through one accident after another, ultimately grew together, came to know each other, fell in love, and finally walked into the hall of marriage.

When they stood beneath the sunset and, facing the officiant's question, said "I do" in unison, the scene was breathtakingly beautiful.

No wonder this film's reputation was so high.

After watching it, that was Song Wan's only thought.

It was undoubtedly a film above the usual standard. Though a typical commercial production, its various odd yet captivating elements were woven together with great skill, and the director had edited it into something lively and engaging, impossible to sleep through halfway.

If she had to pick a flaw, she could only say that the actress playing the heroine's performance was not quite in place, with certain details not handled perfectly.

But that was all.

Whenever anything related to film or performance appeared, Song Wan always found herself unable to resist immersing every ounce of her mind in it. She did not know that when she was lost like that, the bright, glittering light in her eyes was deeply captivating.

Jin Youqian tilted his head, watching Song Wan's face with concentration.

People always said that a serious man was the most handsome, but in Jin Youqian's heart, a serious Song Wan was the most beautiful.

By the time the film ended, it was only around three or four in the afternoon, but after thinking about it, Song Wan decided to head home.

"Are you sleepy now?" Jin Youqian asked in some confusion. Song Wan looked energized at the moment, not at all like someone listless and in need of rest.

"We're going back to the company," Song Wan explained seriously. "I'll keep you company while you work, and then we'll go home together."

Song Wan was, by nature, someone who liked peace and quiet. In her eyes, there was nothing more moving than quiet companionship.

Unless it crossed his bottom line, Jin Youqian generally would not interfere in areas he knew nothing about.

For example, he knew absolutely nothing about dating.

So he simply nodded and agreed to Song Wan's suggestion.

-

In the blink of an eye, another half month passed, and Song Wan's filming for the movie Best Friends was also nearing its end.

Today was her last scene on set, and also the final scene of the entire film.

Zhao Ke stood on the world's largest runway, receiving the honorary trophy for the world's number one supermodel from the judges amid a crowd's adulation.

Even though the trophy was valid for only one year, for the people of Jiuzhou, who had never received such a distinction before, it was immensely meaningful and instantly sparked a frenzy among domestic audiences.

Standing at the center of the runway, wearing a crown and looking like a true queen, she lifted her chin with regal pride. Wherever her gaze fell, there were all her subjects beneath her skirt.

At that moment, the host, looking uncertain, took a sealed letter from a staff member.

Holding the letter, the host seemed hesitant, clearly torn.

Zhao Ke noticed what was happening nearby and looked over curiously. "What's going on?" Could someone really dare to cause trouble at such a grand award ceremony?

Yet under Zhao Ke's sharp gaze, the host actually relaxed.

He handed the letter directly to Zhao Ke. "I don't know who wrote this, but a staff member just asked me to give it to you and said it was a letter from a friend of yours from five years ago, and that you would definitely read it."

The host carefully watched Zhao Ke's expression and found that although there was not the slightest trace of joy on her face at hearing from an old friend, she did indeed take the letter, and eagerly tore open the envelope on the spot.

My friend Zhao Ke, may this letter find you well!

I am your long-lost friend, Tan Yao. You should still remember me well, shouldn't you? Back then, when Ling Feng and I stole your opportunity and left without saying goodbye, it must have dealt you quite a blow. This was not what I wanted, but I had no choice.

Let me state in advance that this matter had nothing whatsoever to do with Xi Kuan from start to finish. Though I was fond of him, that fondness could never compare with your love for Ling Feng. It was only the infatuation of youth, and I even knew from the beginning that the one he liked was you.