Chapter 24: Thoughts Going in the Different Directions

The dim room, heavy curtains blocking out the stinging sunlight. On the neatly made bed, a flash of silver and black flashed across a moon-white ankle. A long chain, repurposed, wrapped around the bedpost. Dense, cyan and red marks trailed up her calf, hidden beneath her thin pajamas.

Ji Shi'an slept unsteadily, his eyes tightly shut and his body curled up. With a creak, the bedroom door slid open a crack, and slender fingers pushed it aside, revealing a tall figure. Qin Yinghuai's profile, half hidden in the darkness, was filled with gloom and pain, and the emotion in his eyes shifted between tenderness and hatred.

"Why did you betray me..."

He slammed the door shut, isolating the only source of light outside, as if tearing all his rationality and reserve apart, revealing the viciousness beneath his gentle exterior.

He stood in front of the bed and stared quietly at the woman who was in a state of confusion, his hands at his sides gradually clenching into fists.

Perhaps it was because the gaze mixed with hatred and love was too heavy and sharp, Ji Shian's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and he gradually woke up.

Tears streaked at the corners of her eyes, and her pupils shrank sharply after focusing. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and the chaos and entanglement of days and nights resurfaced in her mind. Pure love had long been overshadowed by pain. She opened her mouth to speak, but due to the strain on her voice, she could only utter a few short, meaningless murmurs.

Qin Yinghuai forcefully reached out and pulled the fleeing man back. His bony palm wrapped around his ankle, his thumb rubbing the inside of the ankle. Ji Shian shuddered uncontrollably, and subconsciously kicked the man's thigh.

Ji Shian: Ouch. It was so itchy I couldn’t help it.

The system held its breath silently, anxiously hoping that the two of them would hold their composure and not burst out laughing.

Due to various reasons, they have been forced to repeat this small dark room plot no less than five times.

The room was too bright and not oppressive, so I had to do it again. The male lead's emotions weren't rich enough, so I had to do it again. The female lead had no traces on her body and her character didn't fit in. So I had to do it again. The explicit lines weren't delivered well, so I had to do it again. I couldn't cry at the crucial moment, so I had to do it again...

There is no other way. As the highlight of the entire novel, the plot judgment this time is particularly strict. Not only does it require complete makeup and creation, but it also has requirements for the actors' emotional expression.

For this purpose, Ji Shian specially contributed her eyeshadow palette and lipstick, and also cut several onions and mixed them with mustard to apply on the corners of her eyes.

The system stared at the detection panel intently, cursing the designer in its heart. Look, it had turned a monitoring system into an acting training system.

Qin Yinghuai felt a soft touch on his legs, his throat rolled and he closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, they were as dark as ink, with strong emotions surging. He slowly raised his hand to tidy up the other's messy hair, his eyes glanced at the red on the inside of his thumb, and paused slightly, his voice a little hoarse, "Why are you crying?"

"No, no more, I really can't do it anymore." After a violent coughing fit, Ji Shian raised his head and looked at the other person pleadingly, "Please, let me go."

She didn't understand how things could turn out like this, how could the man she once loved so deeply do such a thing.

She pressed her hands weakly against the man's chest to push him away, and after a long time, she let them fall as if she had completely given up. Tears flowed from the corners of her eyes and wet the pillowcase.

The man paused for a moment, his fierce eyes flashed with a moment of hesitation, then he turned over and pressed forward, threatening in a hoarse voice:

"Don't even think about it. You must die in my arms in this life."

[Click! Hold this position for three hours and we'll win!]

Ji Shian breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that.

[Don't show that expression. You should be in pain, desperate, and broken right now, not just running away after having fun.]

Ji Shian: ...

Ji Shian's mouth moved, the curse stuck in her throat, and she struggled to hold it back. She was sure the system must have been secretly reading some random shit lately, otherwise why would the words it used become so restrictive?

However, there was probably someone else who was even more upset than her. She looked at the man above her with pity.

At least she could still lie down, but Qin Yinghuai had to kneel for three hours with a fierce expression.

Ji Shian nodded in satisfaction in her heart. She would be happy as long as there was someone worse off than her.

Qin Yinghuai, who was upset about being replaced, subconsciously avoided her gaze and looked aside when he met her gaze. His fingertips were stained red, and the warm touch seemed to still linger on his fingertips.

All kinds of emotions surged wildly in the darkness, heat rose from the heart, and spread densely along the blood to the limbs.

For a moment, he felt a sense of relief. Fortunately, Ji Shian didn't have to go through all this. Fortunately, he was the one acting with Ji Shian. Fortunately, Ji Shian didn't reject him...

The two looked at each other silently in the darkness, completely unaware of the diametrically opposed thoughts in each other's minds.

This rare and stimulating scene and atmosphere seemed particularly suitable for fostering relationships, and the system didn't want to disrupt it at this moment if possible.

but……

[You two are too quiet.]

Which good person would be as quiet as a chicken when doing things?

[Even if it's embarrassing to say "I'm embarrassed to breathe", at least there should be some crunching!]

The two people who were blushing after being told by the system paused at the same time. What was that creaking sound?

"Tsk," the system said with great experience, "That's the sound the bed makes when it shakes."

I've never seen these two people so difficult to lead when I was going through the story before.

Two difficult people to take care of: They suddenly realized that they only had porridge and side dishes before, but now they have the main meal.

Ji Shian opened and closed his mouth: That is, is there a possibility that if the quality of the bed is good enough, there will not be that kind of sound.

Qin Yinghuai clenched his hand slightly on Ji Shian's ear, his ears burning. He tried to grab the edge of the bed and shake it a few times, but the quilt only made a rustling sound.

"That's fine." The system nodded reluctantly. "Hold on, don't stop." This was already the compressed time given to the two of them.

After all, after the domineering president in the novel locked up the heroine, he was busy farming all day and night.

Recalling the noisy scenes in the novel, Ji Shian silently calculated. The overbearing CEO spent twenty-one of the twenty-four hours in the day busy farming, because he had seven three-hour sex sessions a night. Then there was an hour for eating, and the final two hours were spent completing work.

Damn, doesn’t the boss sleep?

And why does the other party have so little work to do? It can be done in two hours.

God knows she had been working non-stop with Qin Yinghuai for almost two weeks before she could get a weekend where she could turn off her phone and not be disturbed.

The reliable assistant Ji reached out and grabbed a corner of the quilt and shook it, considerately helping the boss relieve the pressure.

Qin Yinghuai breathed a sigh of relief and moved in a farther direction. Beads of sweat slid down his forehead. He cursed himself as a bastard in his heart, his mind in a mess.

After a long time, the corner of his clothes was suddenly pulled by someone. Qin Yinghuai leaned over and tried to maintain a distance between them. He subconsciously asked, "What's the matter?"

The system coughed twice as a warning, fierce, fierce!

"You want to run? No way."

There were so many things going on. Qin Yinghuai was already upset, and now he was even more unhappy. A crack appeared on his calm mask, and the viciousness and brutality in his tone solidified into reality.

The detection panel in front of the system instantly lit up with a large green light.

[High emotions mean high scores and lots of energy. Well done, keep going.]

Qin Yinghuai closed his eyes helplessly, gritted his teeth, and continued to maintain his current somewhat awkward posture waiting for Ji Shian's response.

Ji Shian's thoughts wandered slightly, and she felt a little surprised. She had never heard Qin Yinghuai speak like this before. It was a bit wild and a bit out of character.

Oh, it’s not the domineering president character in the original novel, but Qin Yinghuai’s own noble and self-respecting character.

Wait, the other person's personality seemed to have collapsed in her eyes a long time ago. After all, her boss was a chairman who would secretly drink milk tea.

Her thoughts were slightly scattered in the darkness. Although there was air between them, she felt that she was wrapped in the warmth of Qin Yinghuai's body. She began to lose her focus and even felt like yawning.

She held the quilt in one hand, her upper body swaying diligently to create background noise, the hem of her shirt rolled up slightly, and her knees occasionally rubbed against the man's body.

Qin Yinghuai was puzzled by the other party's sudden disappearance, but he couldn't speak due to the plot monitoring, so he imitated Ji Shian's actions and tried to pull the corner of his clothes back.

Then he suddenly felt a warm hand, and Ji Shian shook his waist, feeling itchy.

He suddenly withdrew his hand and bit the tip of his tongue to stop the apology that was about to come out subconsciously. Then he sneered and asked her in a very bad tone what tricks she had up her sleeve.

Qin Yinghuai: The person has been broken into pieces.

Ji Shian came back to his senses and whispered sheepishly, "I'm tired." "Can you shake the quilt instead?" He even pretended to cry a few times before saying this.

The two of them had a difficult communication just on the verge of failure in the plot.

"Wuwuwuwu, Brother Huai, Boss, Director Qin?" Ji Shian's question came from the darkness.

Qin Yinghuai wiped his face, thinking it sounded like he was offering condolences. Thinking her legs were numb from sitting apart for too long, he suggested, "Change positions?"

The voice was too low, swallowing up the question mark at the end. Ji Shian nodded subconsciously, "Ah." Then he whimpered a few times.

Qin Yinghuai chuckled and picked him up. Ji Shian was frightened by being manipulated, and because of the unexpected, he seemed too obedient.

No one informed her that she was changing to this position.

However, considering that Qin Yinghuai had been kneeling for almost two hours and was afraid of offending himself, it was normal to feel tired even though the mattress was soft.

While brainwashing herself, she awkwardly sat in Qin Yinghuai's arms with her back to him, moving uncomfortably.

Ji Shian: Help, help, when will it end? She finally experienced the feeling of living a year longer than when the shift was almost over.

"Are your legs numb?" Qin Yinghuai said with the most ferocious tone, expressing his most sincere concern.

Ji Shian: "Wuwuwu, no, ah wuwuwu."

Her hands were just tired, so she pulled the quilt over and stuffed it into Qin Yinghuai's hands, and patted his arm: It's your turn.

Realizing his misunderstanding, Qin Yinghuai silently began to shake the quilt. He had never been so grateful for the long legs his parents had given him. Ji Shian sat close to his knees, preventing him from being completely exposed.

In the darkness, there was a hint of despair on his face: When will this double torture of physical and mental end?

When the system sounded, they both sighed at the same time, feeling relieved after surviving the disaster.

The system tore open a bag of cookies and ate them, then jokingly said, "I didn't ask you two to hold each other and chew them, so why are you being so awkward about this?"

This statement is too rough and crude.

Snap! Ji Shian flicked on the light: "Appear, the light of righteousness! It's time to sterilize."