Chapter 87
Li Chu wasn't actually too surprised by this result. She congratulated the teacher on stage, but couldn't completely hide her own disappointment.
Her grip on Ning Manqing's hand slowly loosened, indicating she was gradually adjusting her mood.
By the time the senior actor on stage finished their acceptance speech, Li Chu had fully composed herself.
Her hand was still held by Ning Manqing. The friction of the silk fabric against her palm was distinct. She turned her head to find Ning Manqing wiping the cold sweat from her palm.
From palm to fingers, she wiped meticulously.
"You'll have to do the other side yourself. If I wipe it, we might steal the spotlight from the other teachers tomorrow."
Ning Manqing wasn't leaning too close, her low whisper carrying a hint of amusement that could almost be mistaken for an illusion.
This form of comfort was more effective than any other, warming Li Chu's heart.
Li Chu took the handkerchief and dried her other hand. By now, the speech on stage was concluding. She joined the applause, her smile gentle and bright.
This time, 《Die at Dawn and Dusk》 won Best Director and Best Screenplay. Director Ji looked quite worried after coming off stage.
"I forgot to have a breath mint before going up just now. I hope I wasn't too excited. Hopefully, it doesn't smell like boneless chicken feet up there."
This remark successfully made Li Chu laugh. Seeing her laugh, Director Ji's expression softened slightly.
Li Chu knew instantly he was deliberately trying to make her laugh, and she felt both amused and touched.
Li Chu whispered to her girlfriend beside her, "Director Ji is so nice."
Ning Manqing hummed lightly. "If he'd shown half this consideration to the Omega he went on a blind date with back then, he wouldn't still be single."
How harsh, Li Chu thought.
Suddenly, Li Chu thought of something else and asked, "Do we have to go back tomorrow?"
Ning Manqing was still very busy over there, Li Chu knew that. And Li Chu also knew that while Ning Manqing seemed to be here because the drama was nominated and she was invited, if Li Chu hadn't been nominated for Best Actress this year, Ning Manqing probably wouldn't have come at all.
Perhaps this certainty stemmed from their love and understanding of each other.
"Not going back just yet. I'll spend New Year's Eve with you."
Before coming, Ning Manqing had already handled everything she could. She would work remotely for the next few days.
They weren't sitting too close, appearing like a normal conversation on camera. No one knew the content of their discussion, except for Zhao Zhichun sitting nearby.
"Could you please treat me like a person? Show me the respect a human being deserves."
Brother Zhao was tired. He began to resent why he had eyes that could see through love. If only he could be as blissfully ignorant as Director Ji beside him, how wonderful the world would be.
"Spend New Year's Eve together?"
Ning Manqing raised an eyebrow at Zhao Zhichun. Zhao Zhichun shook his head.
"No, no, history absolutely will not repeat itself. Salute to you, goodbye."
He didn't want to go to Africa again, thank you.
After the event, because Tang Congnan was waiting outside for Li Chu, she couldn't just leave in Ning Manqing's car. She could only arrange to meet Ning Manqing later.
Although Li Chu looked fine when she got into the car, the people inside were still cautious.
"Baby, it's okay, there's always next time. You're still young, your acting career has a long way to go, and you're so talented. We'll get it sooner or later, it's just a matter of time. Brother Nan will go back and pick scripts for you right away, we have plenty of resources."
Tang Congnan, fearing Li Chu was feeling down, poured out all sorts of sweet talk.
He praised everything from Li Chu's appearance to her acting skills. Even when Li Chu said she was fine, he didn't believe her, leaving Li Chu unsure whether to laugh or cry.
To stop the doting male 'mom' from nagging, Li Chu nodded and said, "I understand, Brother Nan. I won't be crushed by a small setback. I want to be quiet for a while now."
Tang Congnan immediately nodded and fell silent, letting Li Chu have her peace. He whispered to Qian Duoduo, telling her to prepare Li Chu's bath when they got back.
Qian Duoduo gave an "OK" sign, assuring Tang Congnan she would handle it perfectly.
Li Chu looked at her phone, and everyone else in the car picked up their phones too.
Yuanzi and A Yao had each been assigned two or more Weibo accounts by Tang Congnan – accounts of well-established minor fan leaders, used for boosting Li Chu's rankings and guiding discussion topics.
Li Chu hadn't won the award, and the fans were quite disappointed, but disappointment couldn't be the main theme. Morale was important.
After replying to messages from Ming Zhi, Zheng Ru, and others on WeChat, Li Chu stared out at the night scenery for a while. She decided to check her supertopic, see if the fan artists had produced any 'happy' content recently, allowing her to unlock more knowledge and happily choose a 'play' for tonight.
But upon entering the supertopic, the screen was filled with shipping experts.
@MyCPMustMarry: Sisters! Come ship! I was screen-recording the live broadcast the whole time and found an unexpected surprise! Multiple images below, warning! All decomposed frame by frame from my recording, sweet enough to give you cavities!
[Image] This is before the Best Actress announcement. You can see Li Zi's hands are empty, right? Nothing before either, you can check any previous camera shots.
[Image] This is after the Best Actress announcement. The cameras scanned forward, Li Zi is only in a distant shot here, hands not in frame.
[Image] This is about two or three minutes after the Best Actress announcement, recording time confirms. When the camera pans over, Li Zi seems to be holding something in her hand.
[Image] Zooming in on the screenshot, we can determine it should be a dark green handkerchief.
So the question is, where did the handkerchief come from? Li Zi can't magically conjure it out of thin air, right? Let's shift the camera to the right, ta-da! It's Teacher Ning!
[Image] This is when Teacher Ning sat down upon entering, caught by the camera scan. You can see there should be a small handkerchief in her suit's upper pocket.
When Li Zi was holding the handkerchief, Teacher Ning's shot was blurry, so it's unclear if the handkerchief was still in her upper pocket, but we can deduce that Teacher Ning gave the handkerchief to Li Zi then.
Conclusion: Qing Li is real!
@IHaveAQingLiTree: I recorded it too! Went back and checked, it's true! What we ship is real!
@QingAndLi: Sister, you're amazing! Sob sob sob, what we ship is real!
Damn, they're good, Li Chu thought.
CP fans were terrifyingly skilled! Truly contemporary Leeuwenhoeks!
Li Chu immediately clicked on the "Peach's Official Girlfriend" account and found that, sure enough, she had liked this post two minutes ago.
This post was trending; anyone following the supertopic would likely see it upon entering.
However, Li Chu thought that even if a camera had been pointed directly at them at that moment, Ning Manqing would still have given her that handkerchief.
They sometimes met at her place, sometimes at Ning Manqing's, and sometimes at a nearby private property, but most often, they met at Li Chu's place.
Because Li Chu always had trouble waking up the next day, it was usually Ning Manqing who took on the role of waking up early, tidying everything, and leaving.
When Ning Manqing arrived, Li Chu was soaking in the bath. She looked at the message from Ning Manqing on her phone, unsurprised by the footsteps outside the bathroom. She continued soaking, watching the woman who pushed the door open and walked in.
Different from the formal attire she wore at the event just now, she was dressed more casually. Her long, slender legs encased in jeans caught Li Chu's eye.
"Join me."
Li Chu waved lazily. Her hair was coiled into a bun at the back of her head, revealing a smooth, fair neck that shimmered subtly with the movement of her limbs.
Ning Manqing's gaze darkened slightly. She scooped up a handful of water and splashed it from below Li Chu's cheek, her fingertips following the sliding droplets downwards.
Those droplets vanished into the pool, untraceable, but the shadow cast by her fingers flickered on the water's surface.
A gentle touch, slow caress, light and shadow uncertain.
"Hurry up, or I'll get wrinkly from soaking."
Li Chu urged, unable to hold back laughter when her soft flesh was touched.
"You hit my ticklish spot."
"You cheered up so quickly, it almost makes me feel useless."
In the warm water, Ning Manqing leaned against Li Chu's shoulder, feigning distress.
Ning Manqing had indeed prepared some words, but Li Chu's mood adjusted much faster than she had anticipated.
"Who says? You're comforting me right now."
Li Chu rubbed her cheek against Ning Manqing's, feeling her warmth.
This was enough; many words weren't necessary. Li Chu wasn't someone who set high expectations, which meant she wasn't easily disappointed, and it also meant she wouldn't break down emotionally after disappointment.
"Teacher Ning, you were the one who recommended this script to me back then," Li Chu pressed closer to Ning Manqing, letting out a soft sigh. "Teacher Ning, it's so good to have you."
Ning Manqing kissed her forehead and said, "Being with you, I feel very good too."
The bathtub was ultimately too restrictive. Water droplets dripped down the instep of her foot, forming a trail from the bathroom door, dampening the duvet.
The operating air conditioner emitted a faint hum. The scent of pheromones mixed with moist water vapor filled the air.
The surface moisture evaporated in the warm air, but the inner moisture was uncontrollable.
Ning Manqing had no choice but to use the handkerchief to block the source, lest it soil the duvet.
"It's not the one I used to wipe my hands, is it?"
Li Chu's eyes were red. The texture of the fabric was too distinct, seeming somewhat similar to the one she had used to wipe her hands.
"It's a new one. Don't let it fall out."
Ning Manqing chuckled softly, stroking Li Chu's long black hair. The long hair, like fine satin, swayed slightly with her movements.
Hearing this, Li Chu thought it made sense. The handkerchief she had wiped her hands with was already dirty. Teacher Ning was a bit of a neat freak, so she probably replaced it. Besides, Teacher Ning wouldn't possibly use a sweat-soaked handkerchief to plug the source, as it might contain bacteria. Li Chu wasn't an expert in this, she didn't know, just speculating based on normal logic.
However, this one was dirty now too, irredeemably so. Perhaps its destiny was the trash can, but given Teacher Ning's cautious nature, maybe she would wash it before throwing it away. Hmm, that wasn't certain either, maybe it would be reused?
Also, Li Chu felt Ning Manqing's warning was entirely superfluous. No matter how smooth the handkerchief's fabric was, it was still rough against the soft area.
Leaning against Ning Manqing's shoulder, Li Chu dazedly almost blurted out the trending post she saw in the supertopic, the handkerchief incident discovered by the CP fans.
Luckily, she didn't say it. She didn't want to blow her cover at this moment. If Ning Manqing got curious and asked for her alt account name, Li Chu would die of social embarrassment. How could she dare expose her "yellow peach" (dirty-minded) nature to Teacher Ning?
That handkerchief was eventually tossed aside. After all, the ancestors left behind the truth of water management: better to dredge than to block.
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