Chapter 117
On New Year's Day, the Ning family had the custom of ancestral worship. However, not everyone was required to attend. In previous years, it was Father Ning and Ning Haoyuan who went. This year, no one from Ning Manqing's branch of the family was available, so she went with her uncles.
When she got up, Li Chu was still sleeping soundly in bed. Even when she returned at noon, Li Chu hadn't woken up.
Li Chu's sleeping posture was actually quite restless. Without anyone beside her, she slept even more carelessly, her arm exposed outside the quilt, her round shoulders covered in deep and shallow marks.
She was really tired last night. Ning Manqing brushed aside the dark hair on her face, pressed her flushed cheeks, and sat at the desk in the room, smelling the faint peach scent in the air as she dealt with documents.
Li Chu slept for a long time. When she woke up, she felt like her bones were falling apart. Every muscle movement brought a sore, stiff feeling.
Ning Manqing rubbed her waist, watching her slowly shuffle towards the bathroom to wash up.
When Li Chu came out of the bathroom, breakfast was already set on the small round table in the room: lily and lotus seed porridge and shrimp crystal buns. In this cold winter, the steaming aroma warmed her whole body.
"Can I go out like this?" Li Chu touched the back of her neck. Although she couldn't tell, she knew she must be covered in Ning Manqing's scent.
"It's okay. Everyone in the family knows, and most of them have already left," Ning Manqing said, resting her chin on her hand and looking at Li Chu's shy appearance, her eyes curving with a smile.
Li Chu first sent a message to Tang Congnan, asking him to postpone all activities for the week after the New Year. Tang Congnan was no longer the easily fooled "Mama Nan" he used to be. As soon as Li Chu said this, he understood why.
Mama Nan sent a long, heartfelt message: "It's normal for young people to be passionate, but if you don't want to get pregnant at the peak of your career, you should still take precautions."
Li Chu choked, not knowing how to reply. So she sent back a sticker that said, "Goodbye, Mama, tonight I'm sailing away," and received a roaring "I'm not your Mama!" sticker in return.
Li Chu and Ning Manqing left the Ning family's old house in the afternoon. Just like when they came in, it took about twenty minutes to walk out. Li Chu had just exercised vigorously last night, and her legs were still a little wobbly. Walking for five minutes was fine, but any longer and her muscles started to ache.
Ning Manqing simply picked Li Chu up horizontally. Li Chu let out a gasp, then swallowed it back down.
Having lived this long, both before and after transmigrating, Li Chu had never experienced the feeling of being carried like a princess in public. There were still people along the way, so Li Chu couldn't help but bury her head in Ning Manqing's arms, thinking that she really was like a Mary Sue protagonist.
If she were to read this kind of scene in a novel, she would probably curl her toes, but experiencing it herself, it was really nice.
An alpha's physique was impeccable. This was evident from the fact that Ning Manqing could still get up early for the ancestral worship after Li Chu was exhausted last night. Carrying her omega for fifteen minutes wasn't a difficult task.
It wasn't until they were on their way back to the mountain villa that Li Chu had time to take out her phone.
There were quite a few well wishes inside. Li Chu picked some people to reply to, sent red envelopes to her assistants who had worked diligently for another year, and then went to reply to Zhao Zhichun and Ming Zhi's messages.
Zhao Zhichun had also faced the deadly marriage urging last night, while Ming Zhi hadn't gone home, busy singing at the Spring Festival Gala.
Regarding her friend's misfortune, Ming Zhi sent a voice message.
Li Chu put on her earphones and heard a burst of laughter. Although the laughter was as beautiful as a silver bell, it couldn't hide its extremely insulting nature.
【Xiao Chu】: Sister Zhizhi! You've changed! You actually laughed at me! Shouldn't you have deep sympathy for me?!
【Ming Zhi】: Hahaha, thinking about that scene, it's actually quite interesting. But as for children, there's no rush. Sometimes having them is a burden. No matter how you choose, it will be difficult. I'm very glad I didn't have children with my ex-husband after all that time.
【Xiao Chu】: I understand. Neither Teacher Ning nor I are people who are easily swayed by others' urging, not even our own parents, let alone others.
【Ming Zhi】: That's good. But my life isn't that easy either. My moms are urging me to find someone else.
【Xiao Chu】: Why?
Li Chu was very puzzled. Ming Zhi had just escaped from a relationship quagmire. That relationship had really exhausted Ming Zhi. The endless love and boredom had worn her down. The not-so-dramatic memories, when recalled, were like an old lady's foot-binding cloth, smelly and long, enough to wear down one's view of love. She, as an outsider and friend, knew this. Why were Ming Zhi's relatives still urging her?
【Ming Zhi】: They're worried that I'll grow old alone, as if without a partner and children, I'll be helpless. I said, 'Don't worry, given my gland condition, I might die earlier than you.' They were so angry that they kicked me out. There's no helping it. They won't listen to reason, so I'll just drag it out. They'll understand eventually.
【Xiao Chu】: Yes, they'll understand eventually. A rich woman's happiness isn't just about love. Sometimes, choosing the wrong person is just asking for trouble.
【Ming Zhi】: Bingo.
Li Chu initially thought the same way. Love wasn't everything in life, and for some people, it only needed to occupy a small part, or even no part at all. There were so many things one could pursue in life.
Until she met Ning Manqing, she realized that a life filled with someone else's colors seemed pretty good too.
Li Chu looked at Ning Manqing, who was reading documents in the car, and leaned on her shoulder.
"Are those documents very important?"
Ning Manqing stopped and looked at her. "Not very important. What's wrong?"
"Then take a break. It's uncomfortable to read in the car."
Li Chu covered Ning Manqing's eyes with her warm hands and pulled her back to lie down.
Ning Manqing followed Li Chu's strength and lay back, hooking Li Chu's fingers.
Love, in its most basic terms, was nothing more than intervening in and merging with each other's lives.
A week later, Li Chu returned to work.
While running errands, she also kept an eye out for scripts suitable for her and Ning Manqing, and she actually found one.
The script had been submitted to Juxing Pictures in hopes of securing investment, but it was rejected. Juxing felt that the film script wasn't their preferred investment type. So the director took the script to Li Chu, asking someone to act as an intermediary and inviting Li Chu to dinner.
Li Chu was actually hesitant when she received it because she had no experience in making movies, having always been involved in television dramas. But like many actors, she also yearned for the big screen.
Li Chu didn't make a decision quickly, which was understandable. The other party only held such an expectation.
After returning home, Li Chu carefully read the story outline again.
It was a love movie, of course. That was what Li Chu wanted to take on.
The movie that Li Chu considered naturally had something special. It incorporated fantasy elements, telling a story of returning to the past to pursue love.
The protagonist of the story was a sixty-seven-year-old woman who lived alone in a manor. Her adopted children were all very filial. Before retirement, she was a political leader, and even now, after leaving politics, she still enjoyed high prestige.
On her birthday, her favorite daughter came to visit her with her child. The granddaughter was very curious about this grandmother and often asked her many questions.
In the granddaughter's imagination, her always impeccably dressed, elegant, and erudite grandmother should have come from some aristocratic family, grown up in a manor with vast rose gardens, and been raised under the meticulous care of maids.
The child's wild words made the woman laugh. Sitting on the bed, she stroked her granddaughter's hair and shook her head.
In fact, she was born in a dirty and chaotic slum, and ambition had driven her forward.
The granddaughter was startled and patted her chest, thankfully saying, "Fortunately, those times are over."
The old woman shook her head a second time. She said, "I would rather give up all this and return to those times."
"Why?"
The old woman smiled and said, "I have love in my heart, and this love needs someone to bear it. That person is in that time."
The granddaughter asked, "Is that your lover?"
The old woman shook her head a third time. "When I met her, she was already someone else's wife. She was covered in wounds, and I was powerless."
This was the content printed on the first page of the booklet. Li Chu turned to the second page, which held the title of the movie:
—《Fifty Years Rewound》
Li Chu flipped through it as quickly as possible and found that the story was actually quite exciting, with a sweet and refreshing core, mutual redemption, and a happy ending.
The female protagonist's redemption and unattainable love in her youth was someone else's uncherished wife. Time reversed by fifty years, and the protagonist changed her circumstances, successfully "winning" her wife.
Li Chu gave the script to Ning Manqing. After reading it, Ning Manqing decided to take the role.
There was no other reason. The female lead's mindset in this script was too much in line with her personality. If Ning Manqing were the person in the script, she would not hesitate to do the same thing.
Without even having to deliberately get into character, Ning Manqing already had the crazy idea of "winning" a wife just by thinking that the person would be Li Chu.
Her chest was completely occupied by the rich and intense, ugly and twisted emotion called jealousy, clearly echoing with a despicable voice.
Ning Manqing's red lips curved slightly. Her fingertips tapped the script as she looked at Li Chu and said, "Take it."
Li Chu nodded, turning to grab her phone from the bed as she said, "Then I'll reply to them now and let them know. I'll also ask about their approximate budget..."
Li Chu didn't finish her sentence before being interrupted by the person behind her.
Ning Manqing pulled off her tie with one hand and lifted Li Chu's shirt, placing light kisses on her spine.
"Ning!" Li Chu only managed to shout Ning Manqing's surname in a hurried tone, accusing, "We agreed not to get too deep into character! Don't be so hypocritical!"
When Li Chu was filming "Model Couple," she couldn't get out of character quickly and was lectured by Ning Manqing, having to meekly promise that she could distinguish between the script and reality.
At least she had acted in that one. How could Ning Manqing get into character now, without even starting filming or having a complete storyline?
The blatant possessiveness in her pheromones directly pierced into Li Chu's mind, as if she was someone else's wife and Ning Manqing was yearning for her.
"I'm trying to get out of character, Tao Tao. You have to help me," the woman's voice was filled with bewitching laughter as her slender fingers ruffled Li Chu's dark hair.
The black tie hung loosely, binding her possession.
Post a Comment