Against the Light - Chapter 81
Chapter 81: Side by Side
After two hours of cleaning, the living room was basically presentable. Gu Xinran looked around, frowning. Many of the floorboards were warped, clearly water-damaged. The ceiling was even worse; one corner of the roof had collapsed outright and was letting in a draft.
Gu Xinran examined the house's structure again. The main support beams were made of new wood, so the production crew must have replaced them beforehand. That was one less thing to worry about. Aside from that, a few planks on the ceiling also looked newer. The crew had likely left the collapsed section intentionally for the guests to repair themselves. How ruthless.
The house was filled with wooden furniture—a sofa, stools, a dining table, and so on—all of which were very crudely made. The sofa, for instance, had a protruding block of wood on one of its legs.
As for appliances, besides a flashlight provided by the production crew, there was only a single, dilapidated electric fan.
This was going to be tough.
Just as Gu Xinran was pondering their situation, she suddenly heard a soft cry.
"Ah…"
"What's wrong?" Gu Xinran whipped her head around to see Bai Yilan squatting by the sofa, one hand clutching her ankle. She was frowning and sucking in a sharp breath of air.
Gu Xinran hurried over, helped her sit on the sofa, and knelt on one knee before her. She gently placed Bai Yilan's leg on her own knee and carefully examined the injury.
Her right ankle was visibly red. She must have hit it on the protruding block of wood on the sofa leg.
Gu Xinran's brows knitted together. "Wait for me. Don't move." With that, she rushed out to the yard and retrieved the first-aid kit from their suitcase.
She wiped her hands with a wet wipe, then fetched a clean towel. After soaking it in cold water, she carefully applied it to Bai Yilan's ankle.
"Does it hurt?" Gu Xinran asked, gently massaging the area without pause.
Bai Yilan's brow relaxed. She smiled softly and smoothed the space between Gu Xinran's eyebrows. "I'm fine. It doesn't hurt. You don't need to worry so much."
Gu Xinran wasn't just worried; her heart ached. How could she have been so careless? She'd looked away for just a moment, and Bai Yilan had gotten hurt.
"Yilan, I'm sorry," Gu Xinran said, her face full of apology.
"Hm? Why are you apologizing to me?"
"If it weren't for me, we wouldn't have ended up with this house."
Bai Yilan arched an eyebrow. "So you're saying I should have let the staff member lead me away earlier?"
"That's not what I meant, I…"
Bai Yilan chuckled. "Alright, I told you I'm fine. Don't worry so much."
"Okay," Gu Xinran murmured. She removed the towel to check the ankle. It was still very red and had clearly started to swell. She quickly sprayed it with some medicinal spray and began to gently rub it in.
"Huh? What happened to Sister Lan?" Footsteps approached from outside, and Qi Qiuyan poked her head through the doorway. Seeing the scene inside, she asked in confusion.
"It's nothing, I just bumped it accidentally," Bai Yilan replied.
"Wow, this house of yours…" Qi Yuwei followed her inside and glanced at the collapsed corner of the roof with a worried expression. "Is this place even habitable?"
"Sister Lan, we just finished tidying up our place and have a spare room. Why don't you two stay with us tonight?" Qi Qiuyan offered.
"Oh? There's no need. We couldn't possibly impose on you."
"It's no bother. The more the merrier! Besides, this house of yours… it's not going to collapse, is it?"
"It won't. Don't worry. If you look closely, the support beams are all new wood. That means the production crew renovated it before we moved in," Bai Yilan said.
"Huh? You're right. Then why didn't they patch up that hole? Did they do it on purpose?"
"Tsk, that's just mean," Qi Yuwei said. She then glanced at Gu Xinran and secretly nudged Qi Qiuyan.
The two of them looked over in unison. Gu Xinran was still tending to Bai Yilan's ankle, her face etched with worry, completely oblivious to their arrival.
Bai Yilan noticed their gazes and glanced over as well. She raised a hand—from her angle, she could just reach Gu Xinran's head—and unabashedly ruffled her hair.
"Alright, stop worrying. We have guests. Aren't you going to be a good host?"
"Hm? Oh, you're here. Please, sit." Gu Xinran finally snapped back to reality, standing up to get two chairs for them.
"Don't worry. Our house may look broken-down, but as long as Xinran is here, she can make an iron tree blossom."
Gu Xinran looked at her, somewhat surprised to hear Yilan say that.
"Isn't that right?" Bai Yilan asked.
After a brief silence, Gu Xinran nodded. "Yes. As long as you want it."
The smile on Bai Yilan's face deepened.
【Ahhh, that head pat is so heart-fluttering!】
【Damn! I really can't handle this side of Teacher Bai—】
【Ahhh, so doting, so doting! I can't take it! I want to find a Teacher Bai to dote on me too!!!】
【I'm not jealous at all, sob sob sob. Ranran, go for it!】
【I didn't feel any pain when Teacher Bai got hurt, but seeing Xinran's reaction, it suddenly hurts so much!】
【Watching them interact is so comforting. Even after getting a house like this, they don't blame each other. Instead, they share the burden together. I believe they've truly learned a lot after experiencing a failed marriage.】
Back in the wooden house, Qi Qiuyan and Qi Yuwei offered to help Gu Xinran clean the bedroom. Once it was done, Gu Xinran took out the bedsheets and duvet cover they had brought with them and made the bed.
The white sheets were dotted with small, light-blue flowers and carried a faint floral scent; it was the set Yilan liked. As soon as the new bedding was on, the bedroom's ambiance instantly improved by a level. The only pity was the bed itself, which was just a cheap, ordinary wooden plank bed.
The group rested for a while and had lunch together. In a rare gossipy mood, Gu Xinran pressed Qi Qiuyan and Qi Yuwei for details about their relationship history, and they all chatted happily.
Afterward, the two of them went over to Qi Qiuyan's house for a look around, waved to Ruan Tang and her partner from a distance, and then returned to their own place.
The two went to the bedroom, changed into clean pajamas in the bathroom, and lay down on the bed. Gu Xinran frowned. The bed was too hard. She didn't mind, but Yilan definitely wouldn't be used to it.
"Ready for a nap?"
"Mhm." Bai Yilan closed her eyes and nodded.
They lay flat on their backs, each keeping to their own side of the bed. Uncharacteristically, Gu Xinran didn't move to hug Yilan.
【Huh, why aren't they cuddling?】
【Exactly! Are they shy because of the cameras? Hahaha.】
【Sob, I wanted to see them wrestle in bed~】
【To the sister above, you can dream about it, but there's no way they'd ever broadcast that.】
【Hahaha, you guys are demons!】
Meanwhile, in the studio, the panel of commentators began to share their thoughts.
"I'm still skeptical about the state of Gu Xinran and Bai Yilan's relationship. When Yilan got hurt earlier, I felt that Xinran was a little too tense, don't you think? Bumps and scrapes are normal, but her reaction seemed a bit excessive. And now, as they're going to sleep, look at the other two couples. Even Qi Qiuyan and her partner have naturally moved closer to each other. But with this pair, Bai Yilan is intentionally trying to get closer, yet Gu Xinran seems to be avoiding her."
"Yes, I agree with Teacher Liu's point of view."
"Teacher Xie? You've been the most optimistic about this couple. What are your thoughts?"
"I still believe in what the eyes tell us. The heartache in Gu Xinran's eyes and her overall state earlier couldn't have been faked. As for Teacher Liu's point about her avoiding Yilan's attempts at intimacy, I believe she must have her own reasons. Why don't we wait and see?"
"Alright, thank you, teachers. Huh?" The host suddenly gasped. On the screen, Gu Xinran had turned on her side to look at Yilan. Seeing that she seemed to be sound asleep, she carefully tucked the corner of the blanket around her, then gently lifted her own side of the covers and slipped out of bed.
"You see? I told you she had something in mind," Xie Ling said with a confident nod.
As for Gu Xinran, after getting up, she slipped into the bathroom to change her clothes, then quietly exited the bedroom.
The crew members, who had been about to take their afternoon break, immediately perked up when they saw her emerge.
"You don't have to follow me. I'm not going anywhere, just staying in the yard for a bit. You can set up the camera here and go take a break," Gu Xinran told the camera operator.
As if the camera operator would dare to do that. They diligently shouldered the camera and kept it trained on her.
"Sister Ran, aren't you taking a nap?"
"No, the bed is too hard."
"Huh?" The camera operator was taken aback. "You can't get used to it?"
"Mhm." Gu Xinran nodded and began rummaging around the house.
【What the hell? You can't sleep on it so you just ditch your wife there alone?】
【???】
【Wait, I don't understand this turn of events. Aren't they supposed to be a sweet, loving couple? Why does it suddenly feel like they're abandoning each other in a crisis??】
【Calm down, calm down, let's keep watching.】
【Some people are hilarious. So not sleeping together means they're not in love? You know this is a live broadcast; don't you think she knows that too? If she were really just trying to create a loving persona, she'd commit to the act. Would she be stupid enough to sell herself out like this? I don't know what you're all in such a hurry for. Rushing to get reincarnated?】
【Holy crap, what is she doing with a pair of scissors?】
【I have an amateur theory… is she sharpening her knife for the sheep?】
【Holy crap, hahaha, she's really heading for the sheep pen!!】
"Sister Ran, what are you doing? Please, calm down!" The camera operator panicked upon seeing her approach the sheep with scissors, assuming she was about to slaughter it. "That's a member of your family! You can't eat it!!"
"What are you so worked up about?" Gu Xinran shot her a look. She walked over to the sheep pen, leaned against the fence to study the animal for a moment, and then broke into a wide smile.
"This sheep is pretty plump. Do you think… it has five jin of wool on it?"
"…Wool???"
The camera operator stared, completely dumbfounded, at the big white sheep that was innocently munching on grass.
Gu Xinran rolled up her sleeves, but then a worry crossed her mind. Would the animal resist being sheared? It wouldn't be good if its bleating woke Yilan.
After a moment's thought, she took the sheep by its rope, led it out of the pen, and brought it onto the path.
"Give me a hand. Help me get it on the ground," Gu Xinran said, looking at her camera operator.
"??? How am I supposed to do that?!" The camera operator looked terrified and backed far away.
【Hahaha, the camera operator is having a breakdown! Hahaha, yes, Sister Ran, that's our girl!】
【Hahaha, I feel so bad for this camera operator, so bad.】
【Sheep: I feel like I'm enduring a level of stress unbecoming of my age. :)】
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