Chapter 40: It's rare to see Jiang Yi so childish.
Appropriate exercise is beneficial to physical health.
Gu Lai slept soundly, feeling like she hadn't slept so comfortably in a long time.
Gu Lai woke up not too late. Jiang Yi was still fast asleep, probably because of the long journey the day before. Gu Lai quietly got up and tucked the blanket around her.
Breakfast had already been prepared. She washed up, ate, and changed. Seeing that it was getting late, she went back into the bedroom to wake Jiang Yi.
When Jiang Yi was sleeping, her thick eyelashes drooped down, casting a small shadow on her eyelids, which from a distance looked like a heavy eyeliner drawn with charcoal. She hugged the corner of the blanket tightly, occasionally twitching her nostrils, appearing rather docile.
Gu Lai drew back the curtains, and sunlight streamed in.
Jiang Yi frowned slightly in his sleep and turned his back to the windowsill.
Gu Lai was amused by what she saw.
She walked over, thought for a moment, pulled her pillowcase away, lowered her head and kissed Jiang Yi's forehead, then whispered, "Get up."
Jiang Yi's eyelids twitched, but he didn't open them, and he shrank further into the blankets.
Gu Lai sensed something was wrong. She reached out and touched Jiang Yi's forehead again, then went out of the bedroom to ask her assistant for a thermometer and cold medicine, and called the doctor. When she returned to the bedroom, she saw Jiang Yi peek at her through a crack, watching her until she approached before closing his eyes again.
Gu Lai didn't say anything, but just sat quietly next to Jiang Yi, waiting for the assistant to bring up a bag of things before leaving the bedroom.
As she stood up, Jiang Yi opened his eyes again and looked at her in the direction of the sound.
Gu Lai was not surprised, as she was quite familiar with Jiang Yi's illness.
She brought back a glass of water and looked down at the person with their eyes closed, saying, "You seem to have a fever. Let's take your temperature now, under your armpit."
Jiang Yi huddled under the covers and whispered his request: "An ear thermometer."
"I didn't bring an ear thermometer, and it's not allowed anyway," Gu Lai threatened her skillfully. "Will you do it yourself, or should I dig you out?"
Jiang Yi finally opened his eyes, gave her a weak glare, and took the thermometer: "Aren't you going to the film set?"
Gu Lai leaned closer and kissed her: "Let's talk about it after you get your temperature."
Jiang Yi thought to himself, "When you weren't here, I had a low-grade fever on and off, but I still survived. I'm not as fragile as you think."
But she could never give up this opportunity to openly enjoy Gu Lai's tenderness.
She complained in a hoarse voice, "The thermometer is so cold."
Gu Laizhen couldn't do anything about her, but she also knew that Jiang Yi was acting this way when he was sick—clingy and demanding.
Gu Lai took off her coat, turned around and got back into bed, leaning against the headboard towards Jiang Yi. Sure enough, Jiang Yi moved closer and lay down next to her.
She took out her phone and typed a message to He Xiaoqing's assistant.
Gu Lai: [Is your sister filming?]
Xiao Zhu: [I'm filming right now, sis]
Gu Lai: [I told her I was going to shoot this afternoon, and asked her to shoot Su Ru's part first.]
Xiao Zhu: [Yes, sir! [rose jpg]]
Xiao Zhu: [Sister Gu, Sister Gu [peeking out jpg] Sister Gu asked what's wrong]
Gu Lai: [Jiang Yi is not feeling well]
Xiao Zhu: [qaq Okay, just let me know if you need anything]
As if sensing something, Jiang Yi, who was lying down, said with her eyes closed, "Are you adjusting the time?"
Gu Lai hummed in agreement and gently stroked her hair, saying, "Don't worry about me, go and rest, your voice is hoarse."
Jiang Yi cleared his throat, but his voice was still muffled: "I can't sleep. It's okay, I probably just caught a cold on the way yesterday."
"It seems like just being exposed to the wind doesn't automatically make you catch a cold," Gu Lai said, regretting her words. "You were too tired from the journey yesterday, you shouldn't have..."
Jiang Yi interrupted weakly, "I want it, I want it!"
Gu Lai laughed and gently patted her.
Jiang Yi quietly shrank back into the blankets, while Gu Lai continued to reflect: "Besides, you've never been to Guizhou Province before, so you might not be used to the local environment. Actually, we shouldn't have invited you here, as transportation is inconvenient."
Jiang Yi wanted to speak again, but Gu Lai covered his mouth and silenced him: "Don't be unreasonable."
Jiang Yi opened his eyes and looked at her for a while. Gu Lai and he looked at each other with some confusion. After a moment, he suddenly felt that his palm was a little wet and warm.
Gu Lai realized what was happening and stared at her with wide eyes. Jiang Yi met her gaze for a while, then slowly closed his eyes as if he were very weak.
Drama queen.
Gu Lai cupped her face and kissed her as Jiang Yi dazedly opened her eyes again.
Jiang Yi was truly ill; she stood frozen for a full two seconds before suddenly realizing what was happening and immediately tried her best to turn her head away. However, even when she was healthy, she couldn't completely suppress Gu Lai, and now she could only be easily held in Gu Lai's grasp.
She felt the same intense, boiling heat exchanging with her, carrying the scents of sage, sea salt, and bergamot, like a sea breeze rushing into her mind, suddenly making her clear-headed and awake.
Gu Lai ended the kiss and slowly pulled away a little. However, they were still very close, so close that Jiang Yi's eyes, which felt very sore, could clearly see Gu Lai's entire face if he opened them even slightly.
"What are you doing? Do you want to get sick?"
Jiang Yi was no longer pretentious, and her voice returned to normal, though a slight huskiness could be detected if one listened carefully. She sighed, took out the thermometer, glanced at it against the light source, and handed it to Gu Lai.
"Look, it's over 38 degrees Celsius, A-Lai. I'll just take some medicine and lie down for a while. You go ahead with your work, really."
Gu Lai took the thermometer and glanced at it: "It really is 38.5 degrees Celsius. That's quite a high fever. You didn't want to infect me, so you were just teasing me?"
Jiang Yi wasn't thinking clearly at the moment and couldn't argue with her, so she hugged Gu Lai's forearm and pretended to doze off. Gu Lai stared at her profile and said softly, "You're holding me back, do you even want me to leave?"
After pausing for two or three seconds, Jiang Yi let go and hugged the corner of the blanket again.
Gu Lai was propped up above Jiang Yi at this moment, and from this angle, no matter how Jiang Yi changed his sleeping position, he was still within Gu Lai's line of sight.
It's rare to see Jiang Yi so childish.
After thinking it over, Gu Lai raised her hand and glanced at the thermometer again, suddenly recalling the scene of Jiang Yi smoothly looking at the thermometer just now.
—This is the old-fashioned mercury thermometer; they don't use this kind at home.
She also remembered Jiang Yi telling her that she wasn't very good at reading the thermometer's temperature, "because the drawing was dizzying."
It's so smooth, has she used this thing recently?
Gu Lai realized she was being a bit paranoid, but she decided to probe, "Jiang Yi, what was your fever last time you had a cold?"
"A low-grade fever, around thirty-seven or thirty-eight."
After Jiang Yi finished speaking, he suddenly remembered that he was referring to the time at the end of last year.
Aside from that one time, when was the last time you caught a cold?
She turned to look at Gu Lai, but before she could casually ask "What's wrong?", she stopped in her tracks under Gu Lai's gaze.
Gu Lai gazed at her intently and slowly asked, "When?"
Jiang Yi: "...At the end of last year."
Gu Lai didn't say anything, but lowered her head and nuzzled her face: "Go to sleep, I'll draw the curtains and write something next to you."
Time flew by. Gu Lai was quietly writing songs and reading books. After watching Jiang Yi drink a small bowl of porridge and fall asleep again at noon, she quietly changed her clothes and went to the film set.
He Xiaoqing was throwing a tantrum at the actors on set; she was an absolute tyrant there. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Gu Lai, not only because it was rare to have someone who was on par with Director He to ease the tension, but also because He Xiaoqing and Gu Lai had better chemistry and things wouldn't get in the way with her around.
Sure enough, He Xiaoqing glanced at her, took a few sips of water from her assistant, stood up and asked, "How is Jiang San?"
"I'm tired and resting. I called the doctor over." Gu Lai didn't want to say more. "Shall we take some pictures? Are you swearing again?"
He Xiaoqing glanced again at Huo Yun, who was trembling in front of her—a young actress who had replaced Fan Zi as one of the female leads and was still an undergraduate at the film academy.
“Did I scold her? Her eyes were wide open like dead fish eyes, these days college students…” He Xiaoqing clicked her tongue, then called to another female lead, “Su Ru? We’re about to start filming here.”
Gu Lai is not one to talk the talk; she has worked with numerous renowned directors on both the big and small screens, and she put in a lot of effort this time, giving her a high starting point. Moreover, she quite liked the script itself and was responsible for the simpler and lighter parts of the story, so filming proceeded quickly.
He Xiaoqing kept harassing the new actors, so Gu Lai filmed scenes with another female lead and other supporting actors. When they were filming a new scene in the evening, the usually good-tempered Gu Lai frowned and called for a stop.
"Su Ru, what are you looking at?" Gu Lai looked up from the monitor. "What's making your expression so varied all of a sudden?"
Kang Su-ru realized what was happening and quickly apologized before saying, "I saw President Jiang arrive."
What?
Gu Lai frowned and turned her head. Sure enough, she saw Jiang Yi wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, leaning against a tree and looking this way. When he saw her turn around, he waved.
Gu Lai pursed her lips, this time her smile vanished completely, and turned back coldly: "Do it again."
The crowd was caught off guard by this reaction. The assistants and secretaries brought by Jiang and Gu, along with He Xiaoqing, were not the type to engage in idle chatter with people on set, so most were unaware of Jiang Yi's illness. They only knew that Gu Lai was "not holding court" today, and had misunderstood the situation. At this moment, they were bewildered but quickly took action to avoid angering both of their only superiors.
Gu Lai is in two different states when directing and when acting.
When directing, actors sometimes move out of rhythm, the camera suddenly goes out of focus when looking at the actors' faces, the logic of lighting and movement are not to one's liking, and even the acting is criticized. With all these messy things piled up, it is hard for Gu Lai not to be like He Xiaoqing, directing this large group of people with sharp words or cold and tough attitude.
Moreover, unlike TV dramas where they are divided into A and B groups, after these scenes were filmed, Gu Lai had to discuss with He Xiaoqing whether the review was appropriate and whether the style was consistent. Although Gu Lai did not slam the table in anger when she argued her case, she was still unyielding.
Jiang Yi watched her do all this from behind, occasionally exchanging a few words with his assistant, until Gu Lai finished work and strode towards her.
Jiang Yi stepped forward to greet her: "A-Lai."
Gu Lai looked her over and asked, "Are you all better?"
Jiang Yi, wearing a mask, shook his head honestly.
Gu Lai wanted to ask, "Then why did you come down here to enjoy the breeze?" but she didn't.
Although Jiang Yi kept telling her to go about her business, she left without saying goodbye. Even though she could use "it's not good to wake Jiang Yi up" as an excuse, she still felt a little guilty.
Gu Lai grabbed her hand; it was icy cold. Gu Lai pressed it against her face and asked, "What should we do? I was supposed to have a night scene to assist Lao He with. Do you want me to go back?"
Just as Jiang Yi was about to speak, Gu Lai kissed the back of her hand: "Tell the truth, sister."
Jiang Yi felt even more dizzy from her calling him, but he calmed himself down and said, "Logically, I don't want to delay your business, but emotionally, I don't want to let you go."
Gu Lai thought for a moment: "The crew has wheelchairs. I'll have someone find you a clean sheet to sit on, cover you with a small blanket, and watch. Don't tire yourself out anymore, okay? If it's not over by nine or ten o'clock, you can go and rest."
Jiang Yi nodded.
Gu Lai turned her head and ordered someone to tidy up. It wasn't until she saw Jiang Yi sit down that she suddenly noticed that Jiang Yi's gaze towards her was somewhat peculiar.
Gu Lai didn't care how many people on set were secretly watching them. He leaned down and kissed her eyes: "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? What are you thinking about?"
"Sigh, another case of relatives being so close." Jiang Yi muttered under his breath before saying, "I suddenly feel like you're not quite the same as before."
Gu Lai gave a puzzled "hmm".
Jiang Yi spoke slowly: "This is the first time I've seen you so...decisive and assertive."
Gu Lai thought for a moment and smiled, "It's probably related to the director's position. When there are too many things to do, one gets anxious and that's how it is."
Jiang Yi thought for a while before saying, "It has nothing to do with that."
Gu Lai rarely saw Jiang Yi like this, and inexplicably found her sloth-like behavior both strange and adorable. But this thought was only fleeting, quickly followed by a deep sense of heartache.
Gu Lai took a small stool and sat down in front of Jiang Yi, staring at her seriously as she asked, "When did you get a fever at the end of last year? Was it just a common cold?"
Jiang Yi's strategic shift: "Dizzy—"
Gu Lai: "Shall we go back to sleep?"
"..." Jiang Yi sighed, hands clasped in her pockets, like an old lady in charge, "It's all over now, just a common cold."
"You didn't see a doctor to avoid letting me know? So you probably didn't go to the hospital either?"
"..."
Just when Jiang Yi thought Gu Lai was about to say something, and she was ready to act coquettishly and nod along, Gu Lai simply leaned on the armrest of her wheelchair and looked at her, saying, "I suddenly understand now."
"What?"
“I understand your concerns. Just as you worry about me and give me all sorts of substantial assets to rely on, I also worry that you are careless about your health. To be honest, I’ve always been quite angry about this. I feel that you remember every word your subordinates and partners say, but you don’t take my words to heart.”
Gu Lai said gently, "Look, even if I encounter something, you can help me, right? But if you ruin your health, I can't help you. I still want to live with you until I'm ninety-nine."
Jiang Yi was speechless for a long time before finally saying, "Okay, I understand, yes—"
Gu Lai once again reached out and covered the words she was about to say.
“No need to apologize, it’s actually my fault too. I don’t know when I started to have this mindset of ‘since you won’t listen anyway, I might as well just arrange it myself’. I let the assistant nutritionist and the others do things directly, as if I’m exercising some kind of ‘wife’s power’ to coerce them.”
Jiang Yi lowered his gaze, glanced at the hand she was covering, and then winked at Gu Lai.
The entire sequence of movements is slow, and the slow motion naturally creates a sense of allure.
Gu Lai was so burned by her gaze that she suddenly withdrew her hand, as if she herself had caught a fever.
Fortunately, it was late and Jiang Yi was somewhat drowsy, so she didn't see his loss of composure.
Otherwise, that would be too embarrassing.
Gu Lai felt the shyness and nervousness she had felt when she first met Jiang Yi, a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time.
She cleared her throat: "Are you trying to say that this is coercion?"
"No, I meant that I'm used to using assistants and secretaries for everything, and I'm used to it. I ended up getting infected by you."
Jiang Yi chuckled softly, his voice slightly hoarse, and touched Gu Lai's face, which was a little chilly from the wind: "I'd better go upstairs and rest."
Gu Lai subconsciously helped her up, then smiled and asked, "How did you suddenly come to your senses?"
"Didn't you say you'd be assisting He Xiaoqing in tonight's night scene? I'll come see how you direct night scenes when you direct your own film someday," Jiang Yi said. "Suddenly, I'm thinking about valuing my life. If I live to ninety-nine, I still have a long time ahead of me."
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Thanks to Laoshan Cola for the landmine, and thanks to Jierou Not Zero for the +5 nutrient solution.
good evening.
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