Chapter 64: "Meeting at the Summit".
Ye Wei opened the drawer: "The prisoner is hidden in the drawer."
"The thief hid in the toilet."
"The robber was hiding inside the water heater."
"stop."
Jiang Yan stopped Ye Wei, who was about to pry open the water heater to check it: "How about this, you guys keep watch around here, I want to take a shower tonight, okay?"
Qin Lan was speechless: "I told you to be careful, not to be paranoid."
Jiang Yan tugged at her: "Sister Weiwei is probably scared of being hit."
She greeted everyone as she entered the house: "Hello, Grandpa and Grandma, this is my girlfriend, Qin Lan."
Qin Lan was startled and looked around warily: "Who are you talking to?"
Jiang Yan brushed the dust off the portrait: "Don't be afraid, there really are no bad guys this time."
Qin Lan calmed herself down and slowly walked to the portrait. After a moment's hesitation, she said, "Hello, Grandpa and Grandma. My name is Qin Lan. I'm twenty-five years old, 1.72 meters tall, weigh 53 kilograms, have blood type A, and my zodiac sign is..."
"Alright, stop now. Ye Wei and the others have almost finished cleaning up. We can just cook some dinner tonight."
Jiang Yan opened the refrigerator and exclaimed softly, "It's full!"
She took out a box of fruit slices, opened the lid, and ate with Qin Lan: "Let me introduce you to the place where I lived when I was a child. First, take a look at my bedroom."
Qin Lan looked around curiously.
A smile, like a fleeting ray of light, swept across Jiang Yan's eyes and brows. She casually ruffled Qin Lan's hair and said, "Silly fox."
Qin Lan's expression froze even more, and she said angrily, "Who's stunned? Who's stunned?"
Jiang Yan laughed loudly, put her hands behind her back, and tiptoed inside.
The old room was run-down but tidy, with lots of wooden furniture, giving it the feel of living in a tree hollow. The bed was a single bed, placed by the window, with a wooden cabinet next to it.
Jiang Yan unlocked the clasp and showed her her toys: "These are all toys that my grandfather made for me by hand. The dresses on the dolls were sewn by my grandmother."
"Your grandparents are amazing!" Qin Lan spotted a wooden truck and curiously examined it.
"That's how you play it." Jiang Yan put the truck on the ground and pulled hard on the rope at the back. The truck rolled forward until it crashed into the wall.
Qin Lan was startled and immediately took it in her hand to study the principle, as if she wanted to take it apart to see.
"And there are wooden chess pieces, wooden spinning tops, bamboo dragonflies..."
Jiang Yan took things out one by one, and in the end she even pulled out two chess boxes.
"I learned Go from my grandfather, so my skills are rather basic."
She smiled and opened the box, inside were two sets of wooden chess pieces, one of which was blacked out with watercolors.
"Let's play a round." Qin Lan raised an eyebrow.
As dusk fell, Jiang Yan selected the ingredients and started cooking.
Qin Lan stood curiously to the side, even wanting to help her. She did a pretty good job, especially with the things that needed to be cut; her knife skills were so swift and precise, it was as if she had dismembered a corpse.
Soon, five dishes and a soup were ready. Qin Lan was busy serving the dishes and asked Jiang Yan to call Ye Wei and Yu Shan in for dinner.
Ye Wei cautiously glanced at Qin Lan's expression, making Qin Lan feel like some kind of ruthless villain: "Why are you staring at me like that? Your employer is over there."
Ye Wei sat upright.
Qin Lan kicked her under the table: "Relax, eat."
Yu Shan's face twisted in pain: "Sister Qin, those are my feet."
"Why are your feet on Ye Wei's feet?" Qin Lan asked, her mind racing. "Did you two talk about it too?"
The two women were startled and waved their hands repeatedly. However, they also caught a crucial piece of information. Yu Shan asked gossipily, "Sister Qin, you two talked?"
"Ah," Qin Lan said, picking out a fish bone, "Yes."
Yu Shan immediately showered him with flattery.
Ye Wei also stood up at attention and loudly recited a blessing.
Qin Lan and Jiang Yan were both speechless. Seeing that Ye Wei was really too reserved, they kicked them out after dinner.
"I want to take a shower."
Jiang Yan pouted and said, "I can't take it anymore."
"Your injury hasn't healed yet." Qin Lan strictly followed the doctor's orders: "No."
"I don't care, I want to take a shower!" Jiang Yan wailed, "Domestic violence! Abuse! Not letting your girlfriend take a shower!"
Qin Lan was at her wit's end, so she had Yu Shan buy the smallest size bathtub.
It was just big enough for Jiang Yan to sit sideways, with her calves hanging outside.
"Take your right hand out too." Qin Lan took the showerhead.
"You have to wash it for me."
Jiang Yan sat inside and slowly unbuttoned her clothes.
"It's inconvenient for you to use only one hand," Qin Lan explained.
"Okay." Jiang Yan unbuttoned her clothes, taking them off completely. "Come on."
"..."
Qin Lan silently recited the four-word mantra and lowered her head to turn on the shower.
"Teacher Qin, it's cold."
Jiang Yan grabbed her wrist as if trembling.
Qin Lan also shuddered and quickly turned the tap up a bit.
She closed the bathroom door as well, and soon the small space was filled with steam.
Qin Lan was terribly hot, so she simply took off her coat as well.
"Why is Teacher Qin taking off her clothes?" Jiang Yan blinked.
"It's hot." Qin Lan rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. "Lift it up a bit, let me rinse off the foam."
The foam dissipated, but what was revealed was still a pure white expanse.
Qin Lan's mouth was dry and she felt a bit tormented: "Can you wash yourself for a while? I'll rinse myself too, it's uncomfortable to be too wet."
Jiang Yan's pupils trembled.
"I said the air was too humid," Qin Lan realized.
Jiang Yan, her ears burning red, took the showerhead and awkwardly used her left hand to rinse herself.
Qin Lan quickly went to the side and turned on the shower in the bathroom.
Steam quickly filled the glass. She went inside, closing the door behind her, and silently thanked Jiang Yan for installing a wet and dry separation system.
Hot water was poured over her head, and Qin Lan quickly cooled it down a bit before wiping her face.
The heat from the two showerheads quickly made her feel short of breath and her chest tightness. As she wiped her body, images of the bathtub kept flashing before her eyes.
Qin Lan was about to open the outside door when she felt a refreshing breeze suddenly rush in from behind her.
Before she could turn around, someone hugged her waist from behind.
Jiang Yan pressed herself against her back, her face and wet hair also touching her: "Teacher Qin, there are some places I can't wash."
"Where...where?"
Qin Lan's legs were about to give way, so she forced herself to stay calm and leaned against the wall.
Remembering that Jiang Yan was still injured, he immediately turned off the shower.
"Here," Jiang Yan said hoarsely, hooking her left hand around hers and intertwining their fingers, then leading her towards Xia: "My hand is injured, so it's inconvenient to wash it."
Qin Lan's fingertips trembled, and they became soaked with water.
She had originally planned to take a cold shower, but now she had to change her mind.
She turned and kissed Jiang Yan, roughly pushing her shoulders: "Lie down."
Jiang Yan, panting, turned around and pressed her face against the bathroom glass.
Qin Lan lowered his wrist, reached his left hand in front of her, and forced her to turn her head and kiss him.
"No...don't." Jiang Yan suddenly groaned, "Don't touch that."
Qin Lan licked her sharp teeth and covered Jiang Yan's mouth: "What did you say?"
"I...ah..."
Jiang Yan was on the verge of tears, her beauty mark clearly visible through the mist: "Don't...don't touch there..."
Is there any part of you that I can't touch?
Qin Lan pressed her down, trapping her in a small gap between himself and the glass: "Why won't you let me touch you?"
Jiang Yan suddenly slid down, but Qin Lan caught her again. She supported herself on the only support, her legs trembling, and she looked at Qin Lan pleadingly, sobbing.
Qin Lan strained fiercely: "Call me."
"Teacher Qin."
Qin Lan wanted to kill her because of her beautiful voice.
"Shout something else."
"Qin Lan, Qin Lan," Jiang Yan called out, her voice trembling with tears.
"Mmm," Qin Lan replied happily, lifting her up to the clouds.
＊
Qin Lan cleaned the bathroom, rinsed it again, and returned to the bedroom wrapped in a bath towel.
The view outside the window is beautiful, with a cool, clear light. The view inside is also beautiful, as pristine as a white jade wall.
Jiang Yan was lying on the bed when the thin blanket that had just been placed over her was kicked aside.
"Cover yourself up, it'll get chilly at night." Qin Lan pulled the person over and wrapped them up again before climbing into bed herself.
She asked Jiang Yan, "Do you sleep inside or outside?"
The single bed wasn't big, so the two people sat very close together.
"Outside," Jiang Yan grumbled, "I need to protect Teacher Qin."
"Okay, you can sleep inside." Qin Lan carried her inside and leaned over to draw the curtains.
Jiang Yan suddenly tugged at the bathrobe, and it fell off on the spot.
Qin Lan paused, then leaned down to look at her: "Jiang Yan, what do you want to do?"
Jiang Yan's tone was domineering, her eyes scanning up and down with a gluttonous look: "I'm not wearing any, so you're not allowed to either."
"Then you'd better lie still and not touch me," Qin Lan said through gritted teeth, pulling the curtains shut tightly.
Jiang Yan reached out her hand: "Why should I? It's all mine. I can do whatever I want with it."
Qin Lan pressed her back down: "Rest!"
"Okay... then I want a goodnight kiss."
Jiang Yan reached out and tapped the corner of her mouth: "Teacher Qin is completely unqualified."
Qin Lan felt a pang of shame and lowered her body. At first, she only intended to touch him briefly, but later thought it best to stop there. So when Jiang Yan pinned her down on the bed, she was a little dazed and tried to turn on the light to see what was going on.
"Sigh, my right hand is injured." Jiang Yan sighed. "Fortunately, I've learned to use chopsticks with my left hand now. Although it's not as dexterous as my right hand, it's still usable. Teacher Qin, please make do with it."
"Didn't we agree not to cause trouble?" Qin Lan roared, "Jiang Yan, what are you doing now!"
"Fuck you." Jiang Yan's voice was seductive, taking advantage of her worry, her injured right hand darting around: "So beautiful... of course I have to have some fun with her. Teacher Qin won't think I'm a pillow princess, will she?"
Qin Lan gritted her teeth: "I really underestimated you. Even with your hand almost broken, you still have this kind of thought."
Jiang Yan was actually quite excited: "I love the way Teacher Qin scolds me from below."
Qin Lan: "???"
"A woman's impotent rage." Jiang Yan licked her lips, withdrew her hand, and leaned down: "It smells so good here, is it the shower gel I bought?"
Panting, Qin Lan grabbed her hair: "You damned Jiang Yan, who gave you permission to do this—"
"Keep cursing." Jiang Yan's voice became indistinct: "He kisses me here, he curses me there."
"Who kissed you???"
Qin Lan forcefully lifted her upper body, the sight was so impactful that she fell back down with a thud.
Jiang Yan licked her lips and bit the spot where the kiss was twitching.
＊
Three poles in the sun.
No one woke up.
The sun sets in the west.
Someone woke up, but didn't leave the bed.
Qin Lan got up and took a shower.
"Sister Lan, I want to wash too." Jiang Yan stretched out her arm.
"Okay, Yanmei," Qin Lan replied casually, then paused for a moment.
Jiang Yan also watched her silently.
After a long pause, Qin Lan numbly said, "This world is becoming more and more like Tulip Tree."
"Now there's also Xiahou Cheng," Jiang Yan added.
"I'll rinse you out. This is the last time, you hear me? We can't go on anymore. A whole day has already passed," Qin Lan warned her.
"Okay, I understand, I got it."
Jiang Yan reached out and hugged her neck, saying in a coquettish voice, "Isn't it a bit inappropriate for us to keep going like this... partying every night and then going to see Grandpa and Grandma?"
"You know you're still clinging to me."
Qin Lan impatiently put her into the bathtub and turned on the shower.
"Because I like Teacher Qin so much." Jiang Yan leaned back in the bathtub, her smile captivating. "It's been six years, and I'm finally getting my wish. I'm a little excited."
"Are you a little too excited?" Qin Lan's heart softened again as he rinsed her soft, long, black hair. "Are you that happy?"
"I'm even happier than you can see," Jiang Yan said with a smile. Qin Lan noticed that she had been smiling almost since yesterday. In fact, Jiang Yan's smile had never faded since the moment they confirmed their relationship.
"Look at you, so useless." Qin Lan muttered as she carried her out. "Get dressed, I'll go get the food."
Ye Wei was in charge of delivering all the meals today, leaving them outside the window on time and adding some fruit and snacks from time to time.
After dinner, just as the sun was setting, Jiang Yan changed into plain clothes and pulled Qin Lan toward the back mountain.
“When I was little, I was very playful and always ran around the mountains and fields. My grandma would pick wildflowers and weave them into a wreath for me to wear on my head. She said that every little princess should have a crown, and I was her and grandpa’s little princess, so I should have one too.”
"Look over there, the sunset clouds." She casually pointed to the horizon, then stole a kiss from Qin Lan through her mask: "Teacher Qin, I like you so much."
Tender feelings flow like water, a beautiful moment like a dream; even the wind seems gentle. The distant mountains stretch endlessly green, and she is breathtakingly beautiful in the setting sun, each eyelash adorned with a touch of gold, as pure and flawless as a mountain fairy.
Qin Lan paused for a long time before saying, "What are you babbling about?"
"Teacher Qin, you're staring a little too intently." Jiang Yan chuckled, leaning closer mischievously. "Are you looking at me? Am I prettier than the scenery?"
"Of course you're beautiful," Qin Lan said matter-of-factly, though he really wanted to hug her, but remembered they were still outside and held back. This was Jiang Yan's hometown, and many people knew her here.
But Jiang Yan didn't care at all, and leaned over to lift up her mask and kiss her.
"Were there any bullies in your village before?" Qin Lan asked her with her eyes half-closed: "The kind of little boys who pulled your braids?"
“Yes,” Jiang Yan smiled. “But not with little boys. I was very wild when I was a kid, and I could beat up all the kids in the village. Besides, with my grandparents around, they would only say a few words, and no one dared to bully me.”
"Are you injured?" Qin Lan asked her again.
Jiang Yan felt a warmth in her heart and couldn't help but shake her hand twice: "Yes, but I'm very aloof in front of others, but as soon as I get home I cry and ask my grandma to apply medicine to me."
"Who bullied you?"
“After my grandparents passed away, I lost all my relatives and was in a particularly bad mood. The old women in the village couldn’t stand me and said that I had the face of a vixen and that I would definitely seduce the men in the village in the future.”
Qin Lan's face turned cold: "Who said that?"
Jiang Yan smiled and said, "Don't worry, Teacher Qin, I smashed a head full of rotten cabbage leaves on her right there and then. Later, when I became famous for my acting, I wanted to come back and humiliate her, but I found that the old woman had already passed away."
After moving to the city, her personality gradually changed. She lost her wild and roguish nature and gained elegance and restraint. After starting university, Liang Jin intensified her manipulation, and the entertainment industry taught her a lesson every day. She became increasingly unfamiliar; the child who grew up running wild in the mountains disappeared, replaced by a language that was both human and deceptive. Many praised her for her politeness and high emotional intelligence, but when she returned to her village, the elders said she had become hypocritical and heartless. Truly a vixen.
When she first heard these words, she panicked and hid at home, wondering if she had really become unrecognizable. She smiled bitterly at herself in the mirror; how many people in the entertainment industry could maintain their true nature? Even someone as proud as Qin Lan had to restrain her temper and say a few polite words when facing big directors and producers.
Qin Lan looked at her very seriously, her eyes filled with deep heartache, as well as a hint of admiration and appreciation.
"Besides, my face isn't just a source of trouble." Jiang Yan smiled and leaned closer to her: "That's how I managed to hook up with Teacher Qin."
Qin Lan pinched her chin: "You're very arrogant, Teacher Jiang."
"I'm just a bit arrogant by nature." Jiang Yan calmly led her forward, "Overall, I'm quite calm and collected."
You calmly suppressed her for an entire afternoon, didn't you?
"Do you really enjoy being on top?" Qin Lan asked her, her face slightly flushed. "I feel like you're having a good time on the bottom too."
Jiang Yan chuckled twice: "Teacher Qin's ears are red."
"Speak quickly."
"I like them both, but they're different feelings. I like being teased by Teacher Qin, and I also like teasing Teacher Qin."
She led Qin Lan to the hillside and sat down: "Grandpa and Grandma, I've brought my girlfriend to visit you."
Qin Lan looked around and asked, "Where are Grandpa and Grandma?"
Jiang Yan patted the spot next to her: "Under your feet."
Qin Lan was taken aback, unsure whether to stand or sit.
"Sit down, it's alright." Jiang Yan smiled and pulled her to sit down. "Back then, I didn't have the money to erect a tombstone, so I had to scatter their ashes here according to their will. In the summer, this place is a sea of flowers, it's very beautiful. Grandma said she can continue to make flower wreaths for me, and Grandpa also loves the scenery on the mountain."
Qin Lan listened quietly as she recounted her past stories.
"Teacher Qin, let's make a promise." Jiang Yan lay on Qin Lan's lap, looking at the stars.
"What agreement?"
"We've agreed to meet in many, many places."
"This job will keep us very busy, and I probably won't have many opportunities to see you for a while."
"Of course we should meet." Qin Lan hugged her, but Jiang Yan sat up with a bright smile: "Teacher Qin, see you at the top!"
"What?"
“I said, let’s meet at the top.” Jiang Yan’s long hair danced in the night wind. “When I first started out, I saw you as a rival and an enemy, someone I wanted to conquer. Things are different now, but you are still my biggest rival. I not only want to meet you secretly on set or in hotels, but I also want to stand with you on the red carpet and on the awards stage, under all the cameras and flashes, to stand shoulder to shoulder with you, to be your equal.”
She would always remember that Qin Lan's eyes shone brighter than the stars at that moment.
"It's a deal, we'll meet at the summit."
Her crush, whom she had secretly admired for years, reached out and gave her a high five under the starry sky, her eyes smiling beautifully.
Jiang Yan smiled and reached out her hand to touch the warm palm.
Suddenly, I was transported back to yesterday, when she was still a young child.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com