The next day dawned with a blanket of white, the earth adorned in a silver cloak. Plum blossoms burst into bloom beside the house, their crisp fragrance filling the air. Lin Muci was already seated in the car.
She was going to a film shoot.
In the car, Uncle Li began talking to Lin Muci about Ling Qianhe.
"That boy from yesterday was quite polite."
"But I think he's not ordinary."
Lin Muci pondered for a moment and then asked Uncle Li.
"How is he not ordinary?"
Uncle Li couldn't quite articulate it.
"He's not ordinary in any aspect... His face alone couldn't possibly be considered plain and unremarkable, right? Such a handsome man, it's as if... I don't know how he grew to look like that. His mother must be a great beauty."
"This kid seems friendly, but I feel like he might be hiding some secrets."
"You and your mother are both pure and kind, little Ci. You don't realize that some people are elegant on the surface but dark underneath, especially in the mixed bag of the entertainment industry."
"If you encounter any danger, you must call me, Uncle Li, understand?"
Lin Muci nodded and then walked towards the film crew.
Ling Qianhe's secrets, she knew them better than anyone.
She wasn't worried.
...
On set, Sister Lan, wrapped in the ubiquitous black down jacket worn by everyone on set, was waiting. Working with her for a while, Lin Muci's admiration for the film empress grew.
The main reason was that Zhao Lan had no airs of a film empress. She didn't see herself as a senior figure at all, and there was no trace of arrogance about her.
Lu Ke, on the other hand, was still proud on a program, but Zhao Lan genuinely ate and lived with the crew. She was completely devoted to her craft.
Among the top five actresses in the entertainment industry, she was also ranked among the best in terms of award prestige.
Last year, she had even served as the chairperson of a jury at a prestigious overseas film festival, so it wasn't surprising that she was targeted by other actresses.
Ling Qianhe didn't seem to have arrived yet. Lin Muci walked over to Sister Lan and began learning how to help the crew alongside her. These were all invaluable experiences.
Then, from a distance, she saw an inconspicuous black van parked on the set. Ling Qianhe stepped out of the car, with Chen Fei by his side. Chen Fei seemed to be saying something to him, but his expression was cold, and a flush of unnatural redness graced his cheeks.
Chen Fei handed him a pill.
He frowned, took a bottle of mineral water, and swallowed the pill.
The unnatural flush gradually subsided.
Lin Muci felt a pang of concern for him.
"He has a fever?"
The system responded leisurely.
"Yes, he was out in the cold for so long yesterday, and he's not made of iron. Moreover, you know Ling Qianhe's personality best; he never takes care of his body. He fainted this morning. Chen Fei couldn't reach him by phone, so she went to find him and discovered it. Once he woke up, he insisted on coming to the shoot, probably because he wanted to see you."
Lin Muci let out a soft snort.
"Idiot."
The system mused internally.
When would the host's habit of being soft-hearted but sharp-tongued ever change?
Soft-hearted it was.
Ling Qianhe's actions...
Weren't they all aimed at making their host soft-hearted?
Ling Qianhe walked over, acting as if nothing was wrong. Of course, Lin Muci wouldn't expose him. Zhao Lan looked a bit regretful.
"Your scenes will be wrapped up today."
Lin Muci looked up, finding it hard to believe.
"So soon?"
Zhao Lan hummed in affirmation.
"Yes, didn't Qianhe tell you? Today is his last scene. Then we'll reshoot that most heartbreaking part from earlier, the scene where you miscarry, tell him you'll never forgive him in this life or the next, and die before his eyes. After these two scenes, you'll be finished."
Lin Muci had grown accustomed to coming to the set to film occasionally. Being suddenly informed of the wrap-up by Sister Lan, she was still a bit slow to react.
Ling Qianhe, on the other hand, nodded. He turned to look at Lin Muci, whose eyes had widened, and lowered his gaze.
"Today's scene is difficult."
Lin Muci glanced at the script. She was mentally prepared.
...
When she was once again tied up in the basement, her limbs felt numb. The young woman looked up at the man before her. His military boots stepped on the floor tiles, chilling her to the bone. He gripped her chin, his fingertips brushing against her skin. She heard his sharp voice, as piercing as a knife to her chest.
"Why? Why did you take the abortion pill?"
"Tell me, do you just not want our child?"
The taste of blood welled up in her mouth. The girl's dark pupils were filled with panic and a flicker of unease, but she bit her lip tightly, uttering each word as if squeezing it through clenched teeth.
"Our child?"
"You don't deserve to have a child... Shen Jin'an, I want you to regret this for the rest of your life!"
He lowered his head, staring deeply into her eyes.
Those eyes were filled with a complex mix of emotions: entanglement, pain, and a trace of bone-chilling madness.
The next second.
As if making a momentous gamble, he then looked at her lips and kissed her in one fluid motion.
His breath filled her mouth, the coppery scent of blood making her tremble. Her body pressed against the cold, still-damp wall. She shivered, tilting her head back. He held her, his voice choked with emotion. The man who had been brutally tormenting her moments before was now shedding tears that fell into the hollow of her shoulder.
"Qi Qingling... why do we have to come to this?"
"I want to have our child."
"I clearly love you, so why must you be so cruel to me, so cruel to our child?"
The girl opposite her spoke with a faint breath. She raised her head, looking into his eyes, and said.
"But how can we love?"
"In times of chaos, love is always a luxury."
"Kill me."
"I don't want to implicate you. Your subordinates, your father, everyone wants you to... to kill me, don't they?"
He remained silent. He was supposed to be cold and unfeeling. He had said he wouldn't bat an eye if the girl died before him.
He had said that tomorrow a thousand girls more beautiful, gentler, and more understanding than her would appear before him. He had said she wasn't irreplaceable. He had said so many girls in the world were better than her.
But now, tears streamed down his face. He held her tightly, as if embracing a soulless husk.
She said.
"Kill me."
He shook his head.
His heart was ashen.
In the underground prison, he held her. Blood seeped through his fingers, drop by drop. He looked down, disbelieving, at the blood falling onto his fingertips. He choked, roared, and finally, helplessly, held her, desperately begging her.
"Qingling... please, don't leave me."
The girl opposite him looked at him with a deathly pale face.
"There will be someone better than me."
His voice was heart-wrenching.
"There won't be anymore."
"There won't be anyone better than you."
He knew better than anyone.
He would never find anyone better.
The young warlord, the handsome man, removed his belt. He tied his hand to her hand. He picked her up with force, his panicked demeanor a state of disarray he had never experienced in his life.
He spoke.
His voice was a hoarse cry.
"I'll take you to a doctor, okay?"
"I'll get you medicine, get you painkillers. Please, don't go..."
She merely pursed her pale lips. Her eyes were bright, so beautiful, the finest scenery he would never see again.
She gently caressed his hardened features, looking into the depths of his once gloomy eyes for the panic, seeing him in so much pain that his soul seemed to shatter. She smiled and said.
"Don't... remember... me. This way, you can still..."
"Be a... spirited... young marshal."
He wouldn't be heartbroken, would he?
So many pretty girls would love him.
It was best if he wasn't heartbroken.
She didn't owe him anything either.
Her fingers slowly drooped, powerless. He held her body, watched her eyes slowly close. He knelt on the cold floor. The doctor arrived but regretfully informed him that the person he held was merely a corpse.
The young marshal stood up and took out his pistol.
"You're lying! She's just asleep."
"She's just sleeping with my child!"
"If you speak another word of nonsense, I'll shoot you!"
The doctor left, trembling. The young man knelt on the floor, tears falling. His heart felt as if it had instantly turned to ash.
He remembered seeing her for the first time outside the girls' school. She was wearing her uniform, holding flowers. He thought this young girl looked fragile and suitable for pampering, and thus began their connection.
Later, he learned she was passing messages for the underground party. Later, he learned she hated war. Later, he learned she only wished for more people to live safely.
He hated her, and he loved her.
He punished her in the most brutal way, confining her, possessing her, yet also falling captive to her stubborn, clear eyes.
"I will not love you. Don't expect anything. What are you, Qi Qingling, something insignificant? You are merely my plaything."
"Don't think I will be soft-hearted!"
"What if you die?"
"I won't feel a single pang of pain for you!"
But.
He touched her cold cheek.
His soul was numb with pain.
He wished he could die at that moment. His memories transformed into countless arrows, piercing his heart instantly.
The harsh words he had spoken were merely an instinctive reaction of his panicked heart, an attempt to conceal his love. He couldn't believe he had already fallen in love with her without realizing it.
He thought he was punishing her for not being obedient enough, for not listening.
But in the end, he realized he was punishing his own arrogance. In the end, the one who felt as if his heart was pierced by ten thousand arrows, as if he were being cut by a thousand knives, was himself.
He no longer had his Qingling.
...
This scene took a full five hours to film, from daylight to night.
When the director finally called cut, Ling Qianhe still hadn't let go of Lin Muci.
Lin Muci felt her entire body had gone numb.
Ling Qianhe rubbed her hand and asked her expressionlessly.
"Did I hurt you?"
His eyes were still red.
"Sorry, I got too into character... I remembered some... past."
The pain of losing her still lingered deeply in his heart.
Even knowing it was just filming, experiencing the pain again felt like he was dying.
Ling Qianhe looked at her wrist. Lin Muci softly said she wasn't hurt.
He leaned closer to her.
Lin Muci looked at him in surprise.
Ling Qianhe brushed away the stray strands of hair from her temples.
"When you were playing Qi Qingling just now, your lines were very smooth."
"It was as if you had said those words before."
Lin Muci gave a guilty chuckle.
"Really... Oh, perhaps I'm just talented at acting."
Ling Qianhe, still with red eyes, slowly traced his lips with his finger.
The director came over and asked the makeup artist to quickly touch up his makeup. His current state was perfect, his emotions in place. They could then proceed to shoot his final solo wrap-up scene, the one where he kills himself with a gun.
He had defended the city for days, allowing the citizens to evacuate, and finally died on the city wall.
Lin Muci stood there. Ling Qianhe turned and looked at her. He said something to her and then turned away.
The wind was too strong, and Lin Muci didn't hear him clearly.
"What? What did he say?"
She could only turn to the system for help.
The system hummed.
"He said you taste the same when kissed. Not changed at all."
"Host, I think there's a seventy to eighty percent chance you've really been recognized by this little scoundrel. What are you going to do?"
Lin Muci stood frozen.
What was she going to do?
Could she... could she run away again?
Forget it, she'd just play along for now. What else could she do?
"But you said his favorability was still at forty percent. You unreliable system. I'm going to complain about you."
The system became defiant at this moment.
"His favorability is indeed forty percent. Who knows what this little scoundrel is thinking. Perhaps he's not completely sure yet. Maybe our system settlement is delayed."
Lin Muci was so angry she wanted to curse, but the system's tone shifted.
"However, I advise you not to run. If Ling Qianhe abuses you to death again, there might not be a way to rescue you~"
"We suggest that the host act obedient for now. You've abused him to death in the play and in reality. I don't believe he doesn't want revenge."
Lin Muci's expression was cold.
Not allowed to run.
Did this mean she was going to be devoured by this damned Ling Qianhe again?