Chapter 38: Jiang Yi vaguely thought, "I actually taught you your kissing skills."
Jiang Yi swore she had never walked such a difficult path in her life.
She and her driver took them from the airport, along highways and country roads, to the town where they were filming. It wasn't that the road conditions were particularly bad, but the constant winding mountain roads and tunnels made Jiang Yi feel like her dinner from the night before was bubbling up. If she were really allowed to drive herself, a glance at the winding mountain roads made her feel more at ease and she sat back down.
Even though he was middle-aged, Jiang Yi never knew he could get carsick.
Jiang Yi was in a terrible mood. When he couldn't take it anymore, he took out his phone and texted Gu Lai, "A Lai, come pick me up." After sending the message, he didn't dare to look at his phone for long and hurriedly hung up. A little while later, he started harassing Gu Lai again.
When Lao Feng said "We've arrived," Jiang Yi felt that the sky over her liberated area was bluer than her father's.
She got out of the car, holding onto the door, her face full of annoyance. Her ugly expression could be described by Gu Lai as the fault of what she saw. When she looked up and saw the person she had been longing for right in front of her, she could only manage a weak smile before rushing forward and hugging him tightly.
With the beautiful, soft woman he had been longing for in his arms, Jiang Yi rested his head on her shoulder and let out a long sigh.
Gu Lai whispered in her ear, "Jiang Yi, if others see this, they'll think I just returned from the battlefield and we've been apart for a long time."
Jiang Yi: "Let him do as he pleases."
Are you carsick?
"A little."
Jiang Yi closed her eyes and felt Gu Lai gently stroking her back.
Gu Lai was still speaking in a low voice.
"I knew I shouldn't have let you come."
"No."
"Disgusting?"
"slightly."
"I feel a little nauseous, should I take some medicine?"
"No."
After a few breaths of silence, a soft laugh suddenly came from my ear, like an electric current running from top to bottom, sending a tingling sensation through my whole body.
Jiang Yi felt his dizziness and nausea disappear instantly from his body after being electrocuted.
Bioelectric currents can really cure diseases: Ms. Jiang Yi's latest scientific discovery.
Jiang Yi stood up straight and put a little distance between them: "This is my sincerity in pursuing you."
Gu Lai stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly wrapped his arms around her and leaned in to kiss her.
Jiang Yi was neither surprised nor stunned. She caught it as she had done a thousand times before, looking down at the soft cotton candy that was being offered to her.
A series of chaotic gasps could be faintly heard from the surroundings.
Then Jiang Yi suddenly realized that what was originally a pure, fleeting kiss had suddenly become more intimate with her lover.
"The atmosphere on this set is fantastic," Jiang Yi thought.
The thought had barely crossed her mind when she realized that Gu Lai had suddenly moved away a little and heard her whisper, "Concentrate, sister."
Then, Gu Lai kissed him again.
Jiang Yi suddenly felt something explode silently in his ear.
Like a hurricane whipping up towering waves, crashing down heavily, robbing the self-proclaimed brave surfer of his last breath. All reason, all spirit, shattered in an instant, swirling in a frenzied exchange, transforming into countless particles that scattered and fell, every ganglion and every nerve bundle from the spinal cord to the brain trembling in rebellion.
A familiar feeling suddenly arrived from afar, but the real, intense, and forceful touch repeatedly and forcefully pulled her back to reality from the edge of the abyss of memory.
Gu Lai rarely takes such initiative or is so aggressive.
Jiang Yi had no desire to resist or fight; she simply accepted it. As a result, she was forced to lean back, feeling her back about to touch the cold, hard car door, but was stopped by a hand placed on her waist, and the back of her head was pressed against a warm palm.
Jiang Yi vaguely thought, "I taught you your kissing skills, and you suddenly became so passionate."
Did you know that rain after a long drought can be addictive?
Gu Lai finally decided to end the conversation, and as soon as she stepped away, the silent surroundings suddenly erupted into enthusiastic applause.
Gu Lai: "..."
A slight blush crept onto her fair face, whether from the kiss or from the enthusiastic applause of the audience, it was hard to tell. Gu Lai calmly turned her head and looked around, finally fixing her gaze on He Xiaoqing.
She cleared her throat and reminded him, "Director He, the money's burning." Are you just going to lead everyone to skip work and watch like this?
“Everyone is eager to act,” He Xiaoqing said solemnly. “I think it’s better to guide than to block.”
Gu Lai sighed, somewhat speechless, but the smile in her eyes remained. She stepped aside slightly to introduce him: "My lover, Jiang Yi."
As Gu Lai spoke, she turned around and saw that Jiang Yi had been leaning against the car and staring at her. Only after she finished speaking did he look away. The lust and the indescribable, deeper emotions in her eyes receded like the tide, and she became the gentle and kind President Jiang.
Jiang Yi took a step forward, nodded, and smiled, saying, "Nice to meet you all. I just arrived here after navigating the winding roads of our beautiful country. I was so flustered and only focused on finding a sense of security. Luckily, I brought something to apologize to you all." She turned to look at her personal secretary.
The people around her applauded politely. He Xiaoqing said a few words to complete the formalities, and then led her people off to film, while her secretary and production assistants went to socialize—actually, it wasn't far from here, and you could basically see the busy scene on set from where the car was parked.
Driver Lao Feng drove the car away, thus completely clearing the area.
Jiang Yi's gaze lingered on the film set for a moment before turning to meet Gu Lai's gaze: "The rest of the day is mine?"
"Yes, I'm directing a film tomorrow, so I have the day off today." Gu Lai took her cold hands and warmed them, tilting her head slightly as she smiled. "Still feeling nauseous?"
Jiang Yi looked down at their clasped hands, then looked up and said, "It's definitely not nauseous anymore, but what about the attending physician?"
"Um?"
"Is the dosage too high? Such a sudden increase in dosage makes me feel like I could easily become addicted."
"That means the female patient has a very weak immune system. I'm a professional, and I didn't even use a large dose."
“A large dose,” Jiang Yi looked around. “This place is too open and exposed. We should at least go to the operating room.”
Gu Lai chuckled, whether from laughing heartily or from recalling a flood of memories, a fiery blush slowly rising from the roots of her ears: "Oh dear, is the patient so eager to have surgery?"
Jiang Yi stared at her for a while, then suddenly leaned down and gently bit her bright red, almost transparent ear.
Gu Lai felt a slightly itchy and warm sensation on her earlobe. Her teeth lightly rubbed together briefly, like a curious and adorable puppy or kitten teasing her, adding a strange shyness to the ambiguous fantasies that had been swirling in her mind. Then Jiang Yi's warm breath lingered in her ear, accompanied by her intentionally soft and tender voice:
"What do you think? Of course, the patient wants to push their luck, but they have no choice but to listen to the attending physician."
Gu Lai gave her a rather alluring glare: "...Let's see how the medication goes!"
Jiang Yi glanced around; everyone else was working diligently, and no one noticed the two of them.
At this point, Ah Lai belatedly realized that she was starting to feel shy.
Jiang Yi blinked, her long, slightly upturned eyelashes trembling like raven wings. She bit her lower lip and said slowly, "Oh, okay then."
The dam that Gu Lai had just built immediately collapsed by half. She glanced to the side and lowered her voice: "Alright! In broad daylight."
Jiang Yi suddenly burst into laughter, and Gu Lai instantly understood the smug and radiant look in her eyes:
"Oh, you said it yourself."
Jiang Yi did not give Gu Lai a chance to condemn him.
She quickly became serious: "Take me around."
Gu Lai pulled her along another path.
Apart from the bustling area where the film crew was located, the rest of the village remained a peaceful and tranquil Dong village. Gu Lai had already roughly explored the area once before, and now she skillfully introduced the different places to Jiang Yi as they walked, occasionally revealing anecdotes about other people.
“Look over there, that’s the Satan, and further over there is the Drum Tower. I didn’t want to stay in the county, it’s too far and too much trouble, and this place is interesting, so I stayed near the Drum Tower. The Dong folk song you heard when I called you was from there.”
She turned around and met Jiang Yi's gaze. She immediately smiled and gently tugged at Jiang Yi's sleeve: "Were you looking at the place I pointed out to you?"
"Yes, I saw that ten-story pagoda." Jiang Yi grabbed Gu Lai's hand. "You live in a stilted house?"
Gu Lai said with a smile, "No, it's a newly built building. It used to be a local guesthouse, but now it's been booked out."
Jiang Yi seemed to be deep in thought.
Gu Lai scratched Jiang Yi's palm: "What are you thinking about?"
Jiang Yi's eyes held a smile that seemed to say, "You're the one who told me to say this." He continued, "Didn't I tell you when we were video chatting that I wanted to bring you something? I just don't know how good the soundproofing is."
Gu Lai was stunned for a moment, then gave her a reproachful look with a complicated expression: "I thought you were a decent person, I thought you were going to bring a chef or something, you... sigh!"
Jiang Yi gave her a teasing look and changed the subject: "I heard from Tan Junming that you haven't been here for more than a few days?"
Gu Lai: "The filming of 'Full House of Spring' has a long cycle, and one of the main actors is still a student. Lao He said that if he wants to make it well and compete for awards, the filming period will take at least half a year. So I won't stay here forever. 'Gansui' is about to start filming. 'Gansui' is a TV series, so it can be filmed in two or three months. If I want to come here again, I can. But I'm afraid I'll finish filming 'Gansui' before this is even over."
Jiang Yi said "Oh," and Gu Lai turned to look at her: "So I wanted to tell you that you didn't need to come." But I was afraid you would misunderstand.
Jiang Yi vaguely guessed what she meant, but said nothing, only squeezed her hand.
Gu Lai playfully pinched and fought back against her childishly, her face remaining expressionless: "How many days are you staying?"
Jiang Yi: "Wait until you leave, then pack me up and take me with you."
Gu Lai asked in surprise, "You're so relaxed? Don't you have a job?"
“I’m not working for anyone, I already have flexible hours. It’s only been ten days or so, unless there’s an emergency, I can contact you via computer.” Jiang Yi glanced at her, “I’ll just stay where you live, and every day when you come back, the food will be in the pot and I’ll be in bed.”
Gu Lai's heart skipped a beat: "But where did the rice from the pot come from?"
Jiang Yi, who is used to a life of luxury, feels like he would choke to death if he went into the kitchen. He once tried to cook instant noodles and made a video call to the head chef who was on vacation for an hour.
At this point, she looked eager to try it out: "I heard that you can cook where you live."
The image of Jiang Yi wearing an apron only lingered in Gu Lai's mind for a moment. She felt as if she had imagined a horror movie: "Forget it, let's just give Xiao Zhang more bonuses and let him do it."
Jiang Yi didn't press the issue. After ten years, they both knew what kind of people they were. However, she still tried to smooth things over: "Hey, everyone has a first time, just like when you were a director."
Gu Lai asked helplessly, "Is that the same thing?"
Jiang Yi naturally followed up on her words, saying, "I haven't asked you yet. It's strange, why do you suddenly want to be a director?"
Gu Lai wanted to say something like "it's normal for actors to become directors," but her previous conversations made her swallow her words.
She could speak openly to He Xiaoqing, so she shouldn't remain silent to her lover.
But Gu Lai still hesitated.
She said slowly, "I'm afraid you'll be unhappy if I tell you the truth."
While Gu Lai hesitated, Jiang Yi waited quietly, and after hearing this, he could roughly guess five or six tenths of the truth. She still smiled calmly and said, "How could that be? I still want to stay for more than ten days. Would we start arguing on our first day?"
Gu Lai glanced at her lightly and said, "I am thinking of switching to behind-the-scenes work. Being an artist is ultimately a public figure, which has too many restrictions and makes it easy to get involved in all sorts of messy things."
Jiang Yi didn't try to persuade her immediately. She had realized that her previous statements about the differences between them, such as "I don't mind" or "I don't think so," had never truly convinced Gu Lai. As long as a complete social consensus existed, Gu Lai wouldn't be influenced by just one person's opinion.
Jiang Yi followed up on her question: "Aren't directors public figures too? And you're not considered a celebrity now. With the internet so developed these days, those directors, including some famous entrepreneurs, are pretty much the same as you."
Gu Lai remained silent for a long time: "But... I don't want something like the fake box office last year to happen again."
"This is the studio's fault for not being careful enough in their review. They thought you wanted to agree to Director Mu's request because of our past relationship, so they approved of you filming it. I also didn't realize this obvious risk at the beginning. By the time I realized it, it was just retaliation, but let's not talk about me for now."
Jiang Yi said calmly, "I think the problem with those people is that they don't treat you like their boss. They probably think that Tan Junming is the president, a high-level employee, and that he belongs to a small subsidiary like Fenglu, whose main role is to take care of you, the top-level family member, and incidentally act as a nanny. But is that really the case? When I helped you recruit and set up the company, that wasn't my original intention, was it?"
Gu Lai listened quietly and slowly shook her head.
Jiang Yi said casually, "So this isn't about being an artist. You could encounter this kind of thing in any other profession. It can't be that after all these years, you suddenly start discriminating against the entertainment industry, can it?"
Gu Lai didn't answer for a while, then said, "Are you explaining in such detail because you're afraid I'll choose to work behind the scenes because of you?"
Jiang Yi met her bright eyes, and after a moment sighed as if giving up: "Yes."
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Thank you for the one "landmine" in Chongchong's Growth Diary! [rainbow fart]
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