Shrine - Chapter 66
Chapter 66
Some moments can be healed by a single sentence, perhaps with just the word "you."
Shi Ran let Little Bread have a taste of the new flavor, and afterward, the two fell asleep, their minds weary. From the moment their eyes met, Shi Ran knew that Ruan Ruan still liked her, and only liked her.
She only needed to confirm this one thing. As for the rest—the professional act, the lottery ticket—Ruan Ruan didn't need to explain anything.
They lay on their sides, facing each other. Ruan Ruan would offset her breathing from Shi Ran's, then match its frequency, then offset it again, as if playing a game of chase.
She missed her so much. After making love, she missed her even more, a slight ache blooming at the tip of her heart.
"Xin Chen said you weren't in the right state of mind today," Shi Ran said, gazing at Ruan Ruan's damp bangs and her bare shoulder line.
Why? Her eyes asked Ruan Ruan.
Ruan Ruan nestled within Shi Ran's gaze, thought for a moment, and whispered, "Did you know? Kittens can understand human speech too."
Shi Ran waited quietly for her next sentence.
Ruan Ruan continued, "If I told Xiao Ju that I don't like her anymore, Xiao Ju would be so sad she'd squat like a mother hen."
"But you don't dislike Xiao Ju," Shi Ran said softly.
"Don't I?" Ruan Ruan asked in a hoarse voice.
"You don't." Shi Ran shook her head, her hand, hidden under the covers, resting on the small of Ruan Ruan's sweaty back.
"You like Xiao Ju very much. You're even mentioning her now, which means... you've been thinking about her this whole time." Shi Ran's eyes were calm and faintly bright, her voice like a kiss upon Ruan Ruan's gaze.
Ruan Ruan's heart was seized by Shi Ran. Like a marble, it ricocheted around her chest, leaving a dent wherever it struck.
"Oh, right," she said, helplessly toying with Shi Ran's hair. "Thank you for telling me."
After making love once, her whole body was burning, like she had a fever, like she was hungover.
"You're welcome."
Ruan Ruan felt a little wronged, a belated feeling, but it dissipated the moment she buried herself in Shi Ran's embrace. Shi Ran held her gently, and both the Gobi Desert and the Jiangnan region fell into a peaceful sleep.
Fortunately, neither of them overslept, and they didn't delay the next day's main event.
After filming five episodes, Shrine finally reached its first climax.
In the empty break room, half of which had been converted into a makeup area and the other half piled with messy costumes, Qiao Qiao led Shen Bai to a corner. Facing a slightly old-looking shrine, she said, "Shen Bai, this is it. This is the one."
"This shrine... is there something strange about it?" Shen Bai examined it carefully. It looked very ordinary, nothing unusual. She didn't understand how it could be connected to the strange events happening on set.
Qiao Qiao explained patiently, "I've observed the actors and staff who have been acting strangely. They've all used this break room, and they've all prayed to this shrine."
"You mean..."
"I'm not sure how much it has to do with it, but as soon as I get close to it, I get a headache," Qiao Qiao said with a frown.
"A headache?"
"Yes, I think... I can hear a voice coming from inside..." Qiao Qiao involuntarily stepped forward, as if bewitched, and reached out to touch a half-burnt stick of incense.
"Cut." The director's camera stopped on her fingertips, smoke curling around them, the scent of sandalwood spreading through the gaps between her fingers.
"Alright," the on-set assistant director announced into his walkie-talkie, "as we discussed, clear the set, clear the set. Anyone not involved in filming this scene, please move out, move out."
Good-natured laughter rippled through the crowd; everyone knew what was coming. Ruan Ruan and Zhong Yi each took a sip of water from their assistants and lowered their heads to review their scripts.
In the original novel, Qiao Qiao, bewitched by the greed within the shrine, unleashes her own lingering desire for Shen Bai. Shen Bai, looking at the intentionally seductive Qiao Qiao, also loses control. The two of them end up doing it in the changing cubicle inside the break room.
The changing room built on the set had no door. The camera was aimed at the narrow corner, and the crew quickly cleared the area. Since the lighting and everything else remained unchanged, only the director, the cinematographer, the producer Xin Chen, and the investor—who had come to visit the set, Shi Ran—remained.
In their line of work, they were all professionals. Xin Chen didn't think there was anything wrong with Shi Ran being on set. In fact, she felt that having a master overseeing things might even be reassuring.
To put it gossip-wise, it wasn't that rare in the industry for one half of a couple to keep watch while the other filmed a passion scene.
Xin Chen understood, from every possible angle.
Zhong Yi was as relaxed as ever. While her assistant fed her a couple of spoonfuls of jelly, she looked up at the changing room and joked, "Pretty wild. You sure there are no cameras?"
The crew members all laughed. Ruan Ruan asked curiously, "Are you eating jelly?"
"Yeah, what flavor of passion scene do you like? I've got..." Zhong Yi turned to look at the food container, "matcha, strawberry, and red bean."
Xin Chen stood with her arms crossed, impressed. "You seem like a real veteran."
Zhong Yi also crossed her arms and tilted her head with a "tsk." "Professionalism."
Ruan Ruan laughed again, covering her nose with her script, and glanced at Shi Ran, her cheeks faintly pink.
"Although I'm not sure what wicked things you're thinking," Xin Chen said to Ruan Ruan, "your face is perfectly red right now. You look exactly like you've been drugged."
"Oh, for heaven's sake," Ruan Ruan covered her face. She heard Shi Ran let out a faint chuckle beside her.
Ruan Ruan composed herself, cleared her throat, and waited for the director to come over and block the scene.
"Okay, you, Shen Bai," the director gestured with his hand, "you come over and kiss her, Qiao Qiao. From the neck here, to the shoulder, kissing as you pull her clothes down. Finally, the collarbone. I'll get a close-up of the collarbone."
"And your hand, from the hem of her clothes here, goes up. I'll have a close-up here."
"Finally, Qiao Qiao, you need to close your eyes and give me some expression. I'll push in from your mouth here, you get it?"
"Yes," Ruan Ruan nodded.
Xin Chen listened with great interest, but there was no movement from the person beside her for a while. She turned her head and saw Shi Ran uncross her arms. Her right hand flipped through the storyboard manuscript on the table, coolly turning a page, then turning it back. Her ring finger rested on the manuscript, then she raised her wrist, her index finger tapping it. "Will this pass the censors?"
Her voice was very soft, and her gaze was fixed on the storyboard, but Xin Chen could tell with one ear that the question was for her.
Xin Chen answered honestly, "It probably won't. We'll see if we can edit it to look like she's healing her wounds or something."
"Healing wounds by taking off clothes?" Shi Ran was still pondering the scene.
"Right, something like passing on a secret martial arts technique or something."
"That's not logical. Shrine is a modern drama," Shi Ran said.
Xin Chen cleared her throat and said nothing.
The director was still over there blocking the scene; she had no intention of stopping him.
"Besides," Shi Ran added, "I've had dinner with the author. She's very protective of her work. I doubt she'd accept an adaptation that deviates so much from the spirit of the original."
"The author was the one who changed it," Xin Chen said, clearing her throat again.
Shi Ran's eyelids drooped coolly. She didn't speak again.
"Actually," Xin Chen thought for a moment, scratching her arm, "it most likely won't pass the censors anyway. We'll probably end up cutting it all, maybe."
She was offering her boss a way out.
But Shi Ran asked again, "If it's going to be cut, is there any point in filming it?"
Xin Chen burst out laughing internally. How many scenes were filmed only to be cut or deleted later? What a strange thing to say. Besides, even if the platform version was cut, they could release some behind-the-scenes footage later to satisfy the dear audience's desire to see the yuri flowers bloom.
But she didn't dare to argue back, only sighing, "Let's go. We'll talk in my office."
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