Chapter 13 The protagonist is still hung up on his ex's Adam's apple...
After filming began, Jiang Jiaoming never came to the set again. News about him was like shattered glass shards scattered around Liang Kongxiang's feet, pricking her wherever she went.
As the opening day of the film festival drew closer, the seating chart became clearer.
As the sounds of equipment being moved and organized, and the wheels of containers scraping against the ground, faded into the distance, Liang Kongxiang left the film set, got into her car, returned to her hotel, removed her makeup, did a quick skincare routine, and immediately packed her things to go to the airport.
I landed in Songjin City at night, and the familiar cold rain slid sparsely down the glass.
Chang Xin was so sleepy that her eyelids were drooping. She was holding her bulging bag, her chin resting on it, but she didn't dare to fall asleep. She kept rubbing her forehead to keep herself awake.
The boss wasn't asleep yet, so the workers dared not fall asleep. She glanced at Sister Kong Xiang; yellow raindrops were pattering and slanting across the clear car window, but Chang Xin didn't know why, she felt as if the rain was getting into the car.
It was all wet around us.
What's outside the window...?
Chang Xin was mostly awake and frowned as she carefully looked out the window to see what was there. She found only a few pedestrians on the street, a drunkard with unsteady steps, car lights, and yellow rain.
These were all common scenes, but Sister Kong Xiang watched them very intently, gazing at every raindrop drifting across the street, as if the street in her eyes was completely different from what she actually saw, leaving Chang Xin utterly bewildered.
"Sister?" Chang Xin suddenly realized something and asked, "Sister, are you missing this place? I remember you went to university here."
No wonder you were so engrossed in watching it.
Chang Xin's voice brought her back to her senses, and she softly hummed in agreement.
The rain had stopped, but Liang Kongxiang wasn't used to a completely enclosed space, so she opened a small crack in the window, letting in a wispy breeze.
Chang Xin said "Oh," pursed her lips, and dared not ask for clarification no matter how gossipy she was. She could only suppress her curiosity and look around, imagining Kong Xiang at twenty years old.
Liang Kongxiang was completely unaware of this. She thought Chang Xin's silence was due to the cold, so she closed the window tightly and soon arrived at the hotel arranged by the organizer.
As soon as she got off the car, three or four men and women wearing masks and heavy cotton-padded coats rushed out of the bright lobby. As soon as they saw Liang Kongxiang, they immediately raised their phones and started taking pictures of her.
Two of the taller boys, with their superior physiques, pushed the girl aside and followed closely behind Liang Kongxiang, walking alongside her into the lobby.
When her shoulder was bumped, Liang Kongxiang frowned and glanced at the man next to her. Chang Xin immediately put her arms around Liang Kongxiang's shoulders and shouted gruffly at the paparazzi, "What are you doing! What are you doing! Get away from me!"
She had studied martial arts and was tall enough, so she had a lot of strength to push people away. After the two boys were pushed away, the girls behind them followed closely and relentlessly pressed their cameras against Liang Kongxiang's face.
A dozen or so pairs of feet were close together on the floor, moving forward in a messy line, their sneakers screeching against the marble surface.
Liang Kongxiang pulled her hat tighter and strode away, head down. There was no way to have a proper conversation with this group of people; every word she uttered would only excite them more. Ignoring them was the best option.
The elevator was right in front of her, so she quickened her pace.
Bang!
Suddenly, a sharp, loud noise came from behind.
Liang Kongxiang turned around.
There was a phone on the ground with a shattered screen. The parts were scattered, and the screen was broken into pieces, which showed how much force the person who smashed it used.
Jiang Jiaoming, dressed in a black overcoat with slightly damp hair, had entered the crowd sometime earlier. He stood expressionless at the edge of the group, one hand in his pocket and the other hand slightly bent at the knuckles, clearly having just handled something.
"Still filming?" he asked, looking at the unshaven middle-aged man.
"Are you fucking crazy?!" The man whose things were thrown squatted down, picked up his phone, put it in his pocket, and angrily tried to fight, but was stopped by the man next to him.
Those staying here tonight must be people involved in the film festival, all wealthy capitalists, people you can't afford to offend.
Seeing the opportunity, the others seized the chance to take pictures of Liang Kongxiang again. Jiang Jiaoming took a few steps forward, accurately grabbed the phone closest to Liang Kongxiang, and smashed it against the door. With a loud bang, several more phones were broken.
His voice was icy: "Isn't that enough?"
The commotion was so loud that the security guards finally showed up. However, one of the slightly overweight girls was clearly very unhappy with Jiang Jiaoming's act of throwing her phone. She shouted foul language such as "bitch," "slut," and "beast" and lunged at Jiang Jiaoming with her claws outstretched.
Liang Kongxiang was still in a daze and subconsciously tried to push Jiang Jiaoming away, but Jiang Jiaoming stepped forward to protect her first. The girl's fingernails left two long scratches on Jiang Jiaoming's pale neck, which were slowly bleeding.
Liang Kongxiang then realized that the girl had grown long nails.
Jiang Jiaoming raised his hand and touched his Adam's apple. Without looking at her, he frowned and shouted at the security guard, "Why are you moving so slowly?"
"Stop filming! Get out!" The uniformed security guard dragged away the most disruptive one first, and the rest left disappointed. One of the boys lingered on Jiang Jiaoming for a while, and Jiang Jiaoming looked back at him.
This farce often happened to Liang Kongxiang, but I never expected it to affect Jiang Jiaoming today. The three long red lines on his neck look swollen...
How are you?
She subconsciously raised her hand to touch Jiang Jiaoming's neck, but only realized what was happening after her knuckles touched him. Then she curled her fingers and pulled them back after two seconds.
Jiang Jiaoming followed her hand as it fell down, and sneered.
Neither of them spoke.
Chang Xin's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't dare to show it too obviously. She lowered her head and pretended to be busy. "Uh, Sister Kong Xiang, should I put the luggage up first?"
"I'll go up with you." We don't know where the paparazzi or paparazzi might be hiding down there, and it's not safe in the lobby.
Jiang Jiaoming took out a packet of paper and wiped his neck. When he took it off, he saw that there was a long red stripe printed on the paper.
Liang Kongxiang caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of her eye and suddenly said, "Come up with me."
She had already ordered iodine and cotton swabs. "I'll treat your wound."
Jiang Jiaoming crumpled the paper into a ball. "No need."
Liang Kongxiang pressed the elevator button, glanced back at him, and said, "Jiang Jiaoming."
A few seconds passed.
“Okay.” Jiang Jiaoming casually stuffed the trash he had just wiped up into the hood of her cotton-padded coat and followed her into the elevator: “You were quite a good friend.”
Liang Kongxiang did not respond to him.
Upon hearing those words, Chang Xin's eyes widened for a moment, but she only dared to glance at the two bodies reflected in the elevator. Seeing that they were not close to each other, Chang Xin breathed a sigh of relief.
Since it was a suite, Chang Xin followed her in. Jiang Jiaoming didn't say anything. In the past, he would have said something like, "You really want to show off your love to me?" But tonight, he obediently followed Liang Kongxiang in, showing no awareness of being a guest at all, and asked her, "Where are you sleeping?"
Liang Kongxiang put down her things and pointed to the room inside. Jiang Jiaoming opened the door and went in first.
Chang Xin finally seized the opportunity to kiss Kong Xiang in front of her to show her loyalty, but Kong Xiang simply said, "Knock on my door when the takeout arrives," and went inside.
Liu Changxin, like a badger drooling in a melon patch, darted around.
After Jiang Jiaoming went in, he sat on the small sofa, looking down at his phone without saying a word. He showed no intention of communicating with Liang Kongxiang and seemed to look down on Liang Kongxiang's entanglement with her ex.
Liang Kongxiang wasn't a talkative person. She quietly went about her business, taking out her toiletries, planning to take a shower and go to bed as soon as Jiang Jiaoming left. It was almost midnight.
“You called me here,” Jiang Jiaoming said, though he was holding his phone, the screen seemed to have been black for a long time. He looked at Liang Kongxiang, who was sitting on the edge of the bed with her head down, looking at her phone. “Just so you could make me play on my phone with you?”
Completely baffled by his thinking, Liang Kongxiang frowned and said, "I'll apply the medicine first, then I'll leave."
Jiang Jiaoming rubbed the edge of his phone with his thumb and said the same thing: "You're pretty good to your ordinary friends."
"What are you trying to say?" Liang Kongxiang knew there was something more to his words.
Jiang Jiaoming asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"It's the middle of the night, let's not play guessing games," she said. She had rushed over immediately after finishing filming, and then ran into some troublesome things, making her even more tired. She really didn't want to waste her energy dealing with Jiang Jiaoming. "Aren't you tired?"
“It’s much more interesting to see you upset than to see you pretending to be calm. How can I be tired?” Jiang Jiaoming replied.
The space felt cramped again, so Liang Kongxiang turned on two more lights, making the room as bright as day. "It's nothing, anyone would be the same in this situation."
Jiang Jiaoming's eyes widened for a moment, but his fighting spirit increased considerably. "You deliberately provoked my Adam's apple at the elevator entrance, didn't you?"
“…What?” Liang Kongxiang rarely had a moment of being speechless, and felt momentarily at a loss for words at Jiang Jiaoming’s counterattack.
Her expression was somewhat blank, like someone walking into the college entrance exam hall only to be questioned by the proctor about why they didn't bring a gun to the exam—it was almost absurd.
“Here.” Jiang Jiaoming pointed to his wound and commented, “You used to love biting me here. Haven’t you met anyone better over the years? You’re probably the first person to openly touch your ex’s Adam’s apple in public.
He sounded as if he really meant it, so Liang Kongxiang remained silent for a few seconds and simply ignored the topic. No matter what she said, Jiang Jiaoming would just take her words out of context and use them against her, so it was better to just ignore it.
Jiang Jiaoming had anticipated Liang Kongxiang's reaction and was about to say something when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Sister Kong Xiang, the medicine has arrived."
"They're here."
Liang Kongxiang opened the door, and Chang Xin's eyes remained obedient and focused. After handing over the yellow paper bag, she consciously stepped back.
In addition to iodine and cotton swabs, the seller also included two band-aids in the bag.
Liang Kongxiang unscrewed the iodine solution, and Jiang Jiaoming sat behind the small round table, holding a cotton swab soaked in the solution: "Come here."
Jiang Jiaoming leaned closer and stared intently at her.
"Isn't it the neck that's injured?" Liang Kongxiang looked away, used a cotton swab to lift Jiang Jiaoming's chin, and looked up at the long wound on his neck.
Actually, the bleeding had already stopped. Liang Kongxiang didn't apply the ointment directly; instead, she dampened a tissue and roughly wiped the wound.
A cool, wet wipe was pressed against him, and Jiang Jiaoming tilted his head back, but his eyes were fixed on the head in front of his chest.
Liang Kongxiang gently pressed and swept a cotton swab across his neck, as lightly as a goose feather. Even without looking, one could tell how serious, gentle, and meticulous her expression was.
Serious, gentle, and meticulous, just like before.
Jiang Jiaoming suddenly pressed down hard on that hand, meeting Liang Kongxiang's confused gaze. He increased the pressure, forcing her hand to rub the wound forcefully, trying to stop himself from indulging in the gentle illusion Liang Kongxiang had created for him.
Liang Kongxiang's hand holding the cotton swab immediately loosened, and the swab fell to her feet. She frowned, her voice turning cold: "Isn't it painful enough?"
"Do you apply medicine to other people like this now?" Jiang Jiaoming suddenly asked.
“I have no obligation to answer this question.” She glanced at the cotton swab that had fallen to the ground, picked up another one, moistened it, used one hand to hold Jiang Jiaoming’s chin and lift it up forcefully, and used the other hand to gently apply the swab again.
Being very close, Jiang Jiaoming could feel the slight warmth from Liang Kongxiang's breath.
Being near her is like being near the equator; it's always hot and humid.
“Then let me ask you another question,” Jiang Jiaoming asked, “Why did you choose to act?”
After applying the medicine, Liang Kongxiang cleaned up the dirty tools, squatted down to pick up the cotton swabs, and said in a cold voice, "It's none of your business."
When I looked up, I met his gaze, which seemed to be both smiling and not smiling.
“I didn’t say it was related to me, Teacher Liang,” Jiang Jiaoming stared straight at her, took the band-aid from her hand, his fingertips accidentally touching hers, and his voice became very soft, like a feather falling.
"You've confessed without being asked."
A note from the author:
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Liang Kongxiang lost because she was bad at talking and too lazy to argue with Jiang Jiaoming, while Jiang Jiaoming won because he was shameless, hahaha! [hugs][hugs][hugs]
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