Shrine - Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Having resolved the major issue on her mind, Ruan Ruan transformed into a fresh, warm, and soft little bread. Smiling, she went to the wet market to buy a fish, preparing to cook a meal for Shi Ran.
She bought the groceries first before calling Shi Ran. If Shi Ran wasn't free, she would just go home and cook for herself and her cat. Ruan Ruan's personal code was to always have a grateful heart; after borrowing the tiger's might, one must still sincerely apologize to the king of the mountain.
Shi Ran had a lot of free time these past few days, so Ruan Ruan went straight to her room. She put on a newly bought apron and began to prepare the fish. Most people would have the vendor clean the fish for them, but Ruan Ruan, having grown up in a wet market, was a first-rate expert at handling fresh seafood. To ensure the fish was as fresh as possible, she always killed it herself.
It was hard to imagine that in the most luxurious presidential suite in Shucheng, a pale, slender young woman in a cat-head apron was earnestly killing a fish. The fishy smell battled with the hotel's inherent scent of disinfectant and aromatherapy, each refusing to yield an inch of the room.
In the living room, Xiao Lin, who was going over the itinerary for the next few days with Shi Ran, wanted to say something but hesitated, her face turning pale at the sight.
The steamed fish was placed on the table, along with a side of braised fish roe. After finishing her work, Shi Ran sat down to eat with Ruan Ruan, and the two chatted idly. Ruan Ruan didn't mention that she was going to sign with Xin Chen, only saying that everything was almost settled and going smoothly.
It was rare to see Ruan Ruan so relaxed and at ease, her anticipation for the future practically shining from her smiling eyes.
Seeking out Xin Chen was a decision she had carefully considered. The thought had crossed her mind the day Shi Ran mentioned Xin Chen was registering a management agency. Ruan Ruan didn't want to be a "free agent" fighting alone; that would mean diverting too much of her focus away from acting. She would have to negotiate resources, contracts, and publicity all by herself, which was too draining. She had to have a professional agency.
However, with her current connections, the teams she could reach out to and vie for were extremely limited. Large companies wouldn't sign her, and smaller workshops were even shrewder—you'd get fleeced coming and going. Moreover, with filming about to start, she didn't have that much time.
After thinking it over and over, her only real options were Xin Chen or Shi Ran.
Shi Ran had a personal studio and had never signed anyone, so that seemed unrealistic. Xin Chen's company was the best destination—they had a shared chain of interests, the prospect of long-term, stable cooperation, and she could become one of Xin Chen's "own people."
When Shi Ran had said, "She'll promote them, I'll promote you," Ruan Ruan had taken an entire night to digest the fact that Shi Ran had chosen her so decisively.
When morning came, however, she found herself thinking: if the two weren't mutually exclusive, could she have both?
She wanted the opportunity Shi Ran gave her, and she also wanted Xin Chen's support.
"A good wind lends me strength, sending me up to the blue clouds." That day, looking at a project poster she'd come across for a stage play of Dream of the Red Chamber, she had murmured this line of poetry.
That night, Ruan Ruan took the lead with Shi Ran again, still through kissing. She kissed her from top to bottom, a kiss filled with the longing from their days apart and her own newly-formed ambition.
Shi Ran, as usual, remained seated, her face tilted up towards the halo of the lamp. The light was layered—the outer ring was hot, the inner ring cold, brilliant yet solitary.
At the end, she still let out a soft sigh, patting the back of Ruan Ruan's head twice and murmuring a gentle "en."
Then she looked at the glistening liquid on Ruan Ruan's lips, her gaze looking as if it would become intoxicated.
Shi Ran was often gazed at with such drunken expressions, but others were gazing at an imagined version of the unapproachable Shi Ran. Ruan Ruan, however, gazed at the nakedness and fragility beneath her layers of clothing.
Even with her desires laid completely bare, someone was still utterly captivated by her.
Shi Ran was pleased by this thought. She silently pressed forward, tasting the Little Bread she hadn't seen in days. They were growing more and more in sync, knowing what kind of pleasure the other craved.
Ruan Ruan was free for the next few days and would often come to find Shi Ran for meals. They were intimate occasionally, though not frequently. Ruan Ruan either read scripts or consulted Shi Ran on contract matters. She also scrolled through casting calls on her Moments, looking for a suitable production to join.
A project takes a long time to go from conception, to signing contracts, to pre-production, and finally to the start of filming. She couldn't just wait around.
But she was also truly experiencing her own base nature. With a major, well-funded female lead role in her pocket, she was no longer as motivated when looking at those roles on her Moments that offered little room for performance.
For the first time, she experienced the feeling of treating other opportunities as backups.
Her life was subtly shifting in the opposite direction. She could hear the sound of gears turning.
In October, Ruan Ruan was scheduled to shoot her final scene in Mystery Guest, which was also her only outdoor scene.
At a class reunion ten years after graduation, they gathered by a scenic reservoir. Some classmates were fishing in small groups, while others sat on the ground, chatting by a picnic blanket.
The production team chose a valley in the suburbs of Shucheng. It was a newly developed scenic area that had not yet fully opened to the public. The crew had gone through layers of paperwork to get special permission to enter. The mountain road was narrow and steep, and the drive from the city to the valley took a full five or six hours. Fortunately, they had estimated the time in advance and set off at three or four in the morning. Seven or eight vehicles entered the mountains in a line, swaying and slowly winding along the serpentine road.
They drove from the dim light of dawn until the sun was high in the sky. Upon reaching the valley, the rugged path suddenly opened up. In a low-lying area flowed a lake that embraced the green mountains, its sparkling blue-green surface like an uncarved piece of jade. A gentle breeze swept by, stretching the sun's halo across the rising and falling surface of the water, as if the light itself was being woven.
Everyone was stunned by the breathtaking scenery. Faint gasps of "wow" could be heard in the gaps between car doors opening and closing.
But time was of the essence. The on-site coordinator immediately got to work, setting up equipment in the previously scouted locations.
The cinematographer adjusted the lens to confirm the frame, while the director sat in front of the monitor, discussing the schedule with the producer. They had to rush to shoot during the day to catch the natural light. The line producer stood to one side, considering how to ensure everyone was fed without disrupting the call sheet.
"Whoa, they're really dedicated," the head of the props department said, watching his colleagues below set up a temporary tent while glancing at the cars approaching in the distance.
They were cars belonging to the media and proxy photographers. Having been followed so many times, he recognized them at a glance. He hadn't expected them to brave the bumpy ride all the way out to such a remote place.
Several colleagues laughed, unfazed, and looked up as the actors got out of their commercial vans.
Shi Ran stepped out in eight- or nine-centimeter-high heels, wearing a white shirt and trousers, holding onto Xiao Lin's hand. This was her look for the middle-to-late part of the drama. Her hair was styled in large, feminine curls, and her red lipstick was applied to look full and rich. Paired with her lonely and clear eyes, the effect wasn't gaudy at all. Instead, it created a sense of distance, like "the peony does not bloom for me."
The crew members were used to seeing beautiful people and didn't have an exaggerated reaction. The extra two seconds their gazes lingered on Shi Ran were telling enough.
And Ruan Ruan lingered for two seconds more than everyone else.
She held her slightly curled script, thinking over her lines by the lake. This was her last scene. Even though it was an ensemble scene where she wasn't the focus, she wanted to end on a perfect note.
After Shi Ran got out of the car, she stood about five or six meters away from her. The on-site assistant director was confirming her blocking. Shi Ran surveyed her surroundings, occasionally glancing down at her script and pushing stray strands of hair back.
She was already tall, and the high heels made her stand out like a crane among chickens. Every move she made drew attention.
After their conversation, she waited idly on the side for filming to begin. Her gaze swept over, and Ruan Ruan went over to greet her, stopping right in front of her.
"Teacher Shi."
"Hello," Shi Ran said.
They were in the proxy photographers' line of sight. Shi Ran used her eyes to remind her not to keep her back to them.
The Little Bread didn't hide her ambition to become famous. Besides, if she could make a name for herself, it would be beneficial for the official announcement of Shrine. And as an investor, it was perfectly reasonable for Shi Ran to give her a little boost to make a profit.
Xiao Lin handed a water bottle to Shi Ran, who sipped from the straw. Ruan Ruan took the opportunity to stand beside her, tilting her head to look at the bracelet on her wrist.
"Are you layering these?" she asked, leaning down slightly and reaching out to touch it.
Inwardly, Shi Ran's lips twitched into a smirk.
Even the clever Little Bread had areas she wasn't good at. She was so clumsy it was almost inspiring.
"Does it look good?" Shi Ran glanced at her coolly.
"It does," Ruan Ruan said, touching it again. "Teacher Shi has great taste."
"Sister Ling put it together," Shi Ran said, taking another sip from the straw.
Sister Ling was the production's stylist.
Ruan Ruan didn't know what to say. The corner of Shi Ran's mouth turned down in a subtle way, but she reined in the smile before it reached her eyes, deciding it wasn't that funny after all. She handed the water bottle back to Xiao Lin. "Are we shooting soon?"
Xiao Lin turned to check on the progress. "It'll still be a little while."
Ruan Ruan hesitated, wondering if she should leave and not bother her. The next second, the faint, clean scent of long, curly hair drew near. The bracelet that had just been praised appeared right before her eyes, dangling gently. Shi Ran had put her arm around Ruan Ruan's shoulder, just as she had done with Xiao Lin a few days ago.
She leaned against her, lazy and casual, fanning herself lightly with her script. The breeze cooled Ruan Ruan's cheek, then her chest.
Shi Ran looked down, loosened her foot in her high heel, and let out a small sigh. She shook her head almost imperceptibly at Xiao Lin across from them and said softly, "They're uncomfortable."
Xiao Lin bent down to check if there were any red marks, and Ruan Ruan followed her gaze to Shi Ran's ankle. The whole picture instantly became perfectly reasonable—Shi Ran was wearing ill-fitting shoes and was leaning on a colleague for a moment's rest.
They leaned against each other like that for a while without speaking. When they heard the director's voice over the walkie-talkie, Shi Ran straightened up, slipped her shoe back on properly, and gave Ruan Ruan a faint smile. "Thanks."
Then she walked towards the camera.
Her scent still lingered on Ruan Ruan's shoulder and neck. Ruan Ruan looked down, silently flipping through her script and pressing her lips together.
Tiny pebbles were tossed into the calm lake—plink, plink, plink—three or four, then seven or eight.
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