Three young men lifted the curtain and entered an old bookstore.
The first impression inside was of many books. The tall bookshelves on three walls had no gaps, filled with rows upon rows of closely packed spines. In the center stood several waist-high shelves, arranged somewhat haphazardly, equally full of old books, with stacks piled even on top.
Three beams of hazy light shone through the high windows, overlapping in the center of the store. Stepping into the light, one felt surrounded and enveloped by the layers of old books in the shadows, as if standing at an intersection of time.
The three young men were awed by this atmosphere, their movements unconsciously becoming cautious, afraid of disturbing something.
They circled between the shelves several times without seeing anyone, then called out softly, “Is anyone here?”
Their three voices echoed faintly in the bookstore, only to be scattered by the crisp sound of the curtain being lifted again.
A man carrying a shoulder-length sword stepped into the store.
His hair was cut very short, his gaze cold and sharp. His all-black uniform clung to broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs, unabashedly revealing powerful physical strength. Even the wind he displaced as he moved seemed capable of cutting.
As He Jing passed through the beam of light, a dragon-shaped glimmer flashed faintly on his right arm.
He stopped in front of a young man, who instinctively stood at attention and began to report, “Captain He, we haven’t seen anyone.”
Before he finished speaking, He Jing suddenly reached out and pulled the young man aside.
Almost simultaneously, something fell in front of him with a crisp thud.
The three young men around reflexively looked down, but He Jing looked up.
It was a half-open folding fan. The three looked up again, only then noticing a low mezzanine atop the bookshelf, hidden in the shadows, which they hadn’t noticed before.
A handsome young man lay on his side on the mezzanine, wearing a set of long tunic and trousers reminiscent of training clothes, with an air that matched the bookstore perfectly. He must be the owner, Liu Nanyue.
He lay very close to the edge, his long braid hanging down his side, a small section dangling off the floor, swaying slightly. However, the mezzanine had no railing. If he lost his balance even slightly, he would fall. The sight made one anxious for him.
But Liu Nanyue seemed not at all afraid. With a faint smile, he said, “Could you help me pick up my fan, dear customers?”
Though he spoke thus, his gaze was fixed solely on He Jing.
The young man who had nearly been hit by the fan looked back and forth between them. Seeing He Jing motionless, he slowly crouched down, reaching for the fan on the ground.
But before his fingertips could touch the fan, a scabbard blocked him.
The next moment, the tip of the scabbard poked the fan’s tail, then swept under the raised face of the fan, striking it upwards.
The young man tilted his head back following the fan, only to see a hand reach out, grab the flying fan, then with a swish, open it.
Liu Nanyue gently fanned himself, lowering his gaze to meet He Jing’s upturned eyes, his own full of interest.
◆
The bamboo planted around the small courtyard filtered out some of the sun’s heat. As the wind blew, the bamboo leaves swayed gently, producing a pleasant rustling sound.
Liu Nanyue and He Jing sat opposite each other at the stone table, with the three young men standing behind He Jing.
A scroll lay open on the table.
He Jing said, “As long as Mr. Liu is willing to translate this ancient text, Bureau 19 will try to meet any conditions you have.”
Liu Nanyue lowered his eyes to look at the scroll. After hearing He Jing speak, he raised his gaze to him, stood up, and slowly walked over, his eyes appraising He Jing up and down.
He Jing sat perfectly upright, his back ramrod straight, hands resting on his knees, with his long sword just beside his left hand.
Liu Nanyue stopped at He Jing’s right side and casually perched on the table.
He Jing looked up at him.
Liu Nanyue, still wearing a faint smile, snapped his folding fan shut, tossed it to his left hand, and reached out with his right to He Jing’s right upper arm, resting it on top.
He Jing lowered his eyes to look.
Liu Nanyue applied slight pressure, his fingers sinking in slightly, feeling the strength contained in the body beneath the clothing.
Then, his hand moved upward, gliding along to He Jing’s shoulder, then down across his chest, finally stopping slightly left of center, pressing his palm against He Jing’s heart.
“Nice physique,” Liu Nanyue’s voice carried a hint of casual indifference. He flipped his hand to grip He Jing’s chin. “The face isn’t bad either.”
He Jing’s gaze had been following Liu Nanyue’s hand, but now he looked up, his expression impassive.
Liu Nanyue seemed oblivious to the coldness in He Jing’s eyes.
“How about this: you stay by my side. As long as you serve me well, I’ll translate one section for you each month.” As he spoke, he glanced at the scroll on the table. “To finish all of this… it’s only about three years.”
The three young men all gasped, exchanging nervous glances.
Liu Nanyue tilted He Jing’s chin up, leaning in close to look him in the eye.
“That shouldn’t be too difficult to arrange, right, Captain He?”
◆
In the dark bedroom, Liu Nanyue opened his eyes.
For an instant, a flash of icy light gleamed in his pupils.
He threw off the covers and got out of bed, silently walking to the door, his hand on the doorknob. He paused for a moment, then yanked the door open.
A figure darted in.
They exchanged several swift moves before Liu Nanyue found himself pinned against the wall by the window by He Jing.
Moonlight streaming through the window fell beside them, revealing the unfathomable depths of each other’s eyes.
Liu Nanyue relaxed slightly, his lips curving into a smile. “Captain He, have you made up your mind and come to start work so eagerly?”
He Jing’s hand on Liu Nanyue’s shoulder eased its pressure but didn’t withdraw. Instead, as he had done earlier that day, it slid from the shoulder to the chest, finally resting over the heart.
Liu Nanyue glanced down, then looked up to meet He Jing’s gaze again, his smile unchanged as he continued, “Then you should remember, the thing I dislike most is having my sleep disturbed.”
He Jing withdrew his hand and stepped back, his expression still serious. “That ancient text is very important. We need you to translate it as soon as possible. Once this job is done, I’ll stay with you for three years. If there’s more work during that time, it won’t count towards the three years.”
Liu Nanyue leaned against the wall, raising an eyebrow with a derisive laugh. “I know, people like you always claim your word is your bond. Unfortunately, I don’t believe it.”
He Jing replied, “We can form a blood pact.”
With that, he bit his right middle finger and extended it toward Liu Nanyue.
A few drops of blood welled up on the finger.
Liu Nanyue stared at it for a moment, then gazed deeply at He Jing before raising his own right hand and biting his middle finger as well.
He turned his palm over, slowly extending it to press his middle finger against He Jing’s.
Their blood immediately mingled.
◆
As the director called “Cut!”, Jiang Lin and Li Qianxing both withdrew their hands. Xiao Zhu and Xiao Ding quickly ran over with their clothes and offered tissues to clean off the fake blood.
Jiang Lin and Li Qianxing put on thick jackets and walked to the director’s side to watch the playback.
In a corner of the studio, the three main actors huddled together, their faces flushed.
“It seemed so normal during the table read, how could Li-ge and Lin-ge create such intense chemistry! That eye contact just now was practically eye sex!”
“I felt they’d already gone for a ride this afternoon. Standing behind Lin-ge, my heart was pounding!”
“Do they have a CP? I just want to dive deep into this ship!”
At that moment, a voice sounded behind them: “Welcome to the 99CP. Although there isn’t much material, it’s all high-quality sugar. You won’t regret joining.”
The three jumped in fright, turning to find it was the accompanying screenwriter, Tang Yu. They quickly greeted her.
Tang Yu nodded with a smile.
The lead actress couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Xiao Yu-jie, in the upcoming plot, are Li-ge and Lin-ge really a couple?”
Regarding the future plot, they had only received their own character information and didn’t know the true identities of He Jing and Liu Nanyue.
Tang Yu smiled, “Not at all. I wrote normal interactions. These three scenes this afternoon were all about them testing each other. It’s their fault it turned out like this, nothing to do with me.”
Her gaze circled the three faces as she continued, “Following Guangya’s intention, the development of the relationships between the three main characters will be decided based on audience feedback. But I can’t write romance scenes anyway, I always mess them up, so it’s up to you. If you feel there’s room for interpretation somewhere, feel free to improvise boldly.”
With that, Tang Yu waved and walked toward Jiang Lin and Li Qianxing.
The three main actors looked at each other.
“Do you see anywhere we could improvise? I didn’t notice anything…”
“Well, I’m naturally not good at picking up on subtext. The script just shows comradeship…”
“Sigh, seeing the two award-winning actors perform so naturally, it’s only when it’s our turn that we realize how difficult it is…”
*
Tang Yu followed the crew. Her relationship with Jiang Lin’s agent was no secret, so she naturally became closer to Jiang Lin.
Over the month since filming began, everyone in the crew noticed her great admiration for Li Qianxing, often engaging him in discussions about the scenes.
Thus, no one found it strange when Tang Yu frequently brought Jiang Lin to Li Qianxing’s trailer for meals. Over time, Jiang Lin’s frequent visits to Li Qianxing’s trailer became commonplace.
This evening, there were no scenes scheduled for Jiang Lin and Li Qianxing, so they returned to the hotel after dinner.
Jiang Lin showered and flipped through a few pages of the script but felt distracted.
The crew’s arrangement was to alternate between action and dialogue scenes when possible. This allowed actors time to recover between physically demanding scenes.
They had mostly filmed action scenes for the first month, only switching to dialogue-heavy scenes in the past few days. Less exhausted and no longer collapsing into bed upon returning to the hotel, Jiang Lin found his longing for Li Qianxing harder to suppress.
Though they filmed together daily and could share meals and intimate words under Tang Yu’s cover, Jiang Lin wasn’t satisfied with just that in their newfound relationship.
During the month of practice, the two were able to live together. Even if they were tired, sleeping together at night was a way to recharge their energy.
But after filming began, they were assigned separate rooms. Despite being just a wall apart, each night brought a sense of lonely separation.
Jiang Lin checked the time. It wasn’t even 9 p.m. yet, so even if he was caught on camera looking for someone, it wouldn’t raise suspicions.
Without further hesitation, he left his room and rang Li Qianxing’s doorbell.
The door opened quickly. Li Qianxing, freshly showered, wore a bathrobe.
Upon seeing him, joy spilled uncontrollably from Jiang Lin’s eyes.
He couldn’t wait for Li Qianxing to fully open the door, eagerly squeezing in, pushing him against the entryway wall while kicking the door shut.
Meeting those eyes, Li Qianxing felt happy, warm, and slightly amused.
However, seeing Jiang Lin so unrestrained was a rarity, and it sparked a playful impulse in Li Qianxing. He feigned indifference and said, “I told you, no romance while on set.”
Jiang Lin wasn’t surprised by this and replied with a smile, “It’s not romance. We’re just rehearsing.”
Li Qianxing glanced at the hand beside his face: “There’s no such scene.”
Jiang Lin moved closer, almost pressing against Li Qianxing, one hand sliding to his waist, gently massaging as he said in a low voice, “Let’s explore our characters, deepen them reasonably…”
Before Li Qianxing could respond, Jiang Lin’s expression gradually became serious, revealing struggle and uncontrollable attraction.
He pressed his forehead against Li Qianxing’s. His hoarse voice tinged with self-destructive dejection. “Mr. Li, how would you like me to serve you?”
Li Qianxing raised an eyebrow, patting Jiang Lin’s face, his voice soft yet seductive. “Captain Jiang, we’re adults. Playing dumb isn’t interesting.”
He leaned in, whispering in Jiang Lin’s ear. “Show me your sincerity.”
Jiang Lin gritted his teeth, lifting Li Qianxing and quickly carrying him to the bedroom, as if to prevent himself from overthinking. He placed him at the foot of the bed, leaning over him.
Li Qianxing lay back, his loosened bathrobe revealing a patch of fair skin on his chest and two well-proportioned legs hanging off the bed.
He chuckled softly, kicking off a slipper and placing his foot on Jiang Lin’s knee.
The bathrobe’s hem slid open with this movement.
Jiang Lin looked down, the struggle in his eyes completely overwhelmed by surging, dark waves.
He grasped Li Qianxing’s ankle, slowly kneeling on the ground.
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