Chapter 33: A Touch of Tenderness, a Hint of Pain

Jiang Wenting quickly followed her inside.

“Yi Lan.”

Hearing the sound of someone chasing her, Yi Lan quickened her pace towards the master bedroom.
Jiang Wenting, taking long strides, caught up and encircled her wrist.
Yi Lan tried to shake her off.
Jiang Wenting tightened her grip.
Yi Lan turned back, her phoenix eyes wide and round: “Let go!”

Jiang Wenting: “No.”

She used her other hand to pry at Yi Lan’s fingers.
As she pried a little open, Jiang Wenting tightened her grip a little.

Yi Lan’s tone was icy: “Clingy.”

Jiang Wenting smiled, the mole at the corner of her eye softened by the light.
She explained: “I truly was just going out to see them off.”

Her voice was like being soaked in warm water.

Yi Lan listened, unable to stop herself from softening, but said with a stubborn tone: “What does that have to do with this General!”

Jiang Wenting stepped forward, freeing a hand to stroke her head: “Afraid our General would overthink.”

Yi Lan tilted her head, trying to dodge, but then she heard the other party suddenly say: “No matter how difficult it gets in the future, I won’t let go of Yi Lan again, okay?”

Jiang Wenting’s voice was very low, lacking much conviction.
Yi Lan’s head-tilt paused, and she studied Jiang Wenting carefully.

“Tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll take Yi Lan to meet Teacher Zhou.
“If Teacher Zhou approves, Yi Lan can act in ‘Beauty’s Bones’ with me,” Jiang Wenting said, then rubbed her nose with her fingertip, “Does Yi Lan want to act in ‘Beauty’s Bones’ with me, huh?”

“No!” The cold beauty didn’t hesitate for a moment, then added, “You’re not allowed to act either!”

Jiang Wenting smiled, her limpid eyes filled with tenderness: “Silly, if we don’t act, where will we get money to eat?”

Having suffered through hardship with her mother when she was young, Jiang Wenting dared not miss any opportunity to earn money.
Even now that she was no longer short of money, she would still hoard a lot of “food” like a little hamster, just in case.

Yi Lan said nothing, lowering her gaze to her wrist, which Jiang Wenting was holding.

Jiang Wenting also looked down.
The platinum diamond clover sparkled brightly under the lights.
She swung Yi Lan’s wrist slightly, smiling softly: “Work hard to earn money, to buy Yi Lan a Frivole series ring and necklace, okay?”

Yi Lan looked at the bracelet.
She remembered the emotion that had flashed in Jiang Wenting’s eyes when Beiye handed her the exquisite gift box.
She had held the chain, constantly comparing it against her wrist, her face and eyes filled with delight, yet after doing so, she had very naturally asked, “How much is it?
“I’ll transfer the money to you.”

She valued money greatly.
Even with a relationship like hers and Beiye’s, she still couldn’t comfortably accept the other’s gifts.
But in the end, she still put the chain on her wrist.

Beiye had asked her if it looked good, and if it did, to ask Jiang Wenting to earn more money in the future to buy her a matching ring and necklace from the same series.
Jiang Wenting hadn’t agreed then, but now, she casually made the same promise.

Yi Lan didn’t understand.

Jiang Wenting saw the other person staring at the chain, looking moved, and once again offered guidance.

“When we earn money from filming, whatever Yi Lan wants, I’ll buy for Yi Lan.
“Of course, it’s okay if we don’t make money.
“Whatever Yi Lan wants, you can still tell me, and I’ll do my best to take care of Yi Lan.
“It’s just that days without money will be a little difficult…”

Jiang Wenting stopped halfway, a flicker of darkness in her peach blossom eyes, but the smile on her lips remained.

“Jiang Wenting,” a clear, cold voice called her name.

Jiang Wenting composed her smile and looked at her.

Yi Lan swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
She knew that Jiang Wenting in this world hadn’t had an easy life, but she had no standing to offer any comfort.
Between them lay the lives of seventy thousand soldiers.
She had no standing, and it was even more impossible for her to soften.

“I said, you’re not allowed to go filming!” She looked into Jiang Wenting’s eyes, and when she spoke again, her voice was imbued with a certain firmness and decisiveness.

The next second, the System, which hadn’t appeared for a long time, gave a “ding.”

[Congratulations, Host, for resolutely preventing the mission target from achieving her career line. Lifespan +2.]

Before Yi Lan could fully react, the mechanical voice spoke again.

[However, Host, you can go to the northwest with the mission target this time.]

Yi Lan: “?”

Seeing Yi Lan hesitate, the mechanical voice explained methodically.

[This System has carefully weighed the pros and cons and believes that it is beneficial for the Host to go to the northwest with the mission target this time. Firstly, the Host can deepen the mission target’s reliance on you during filming. As the saying goes, the deeper the love, the truer the pain.]

[Secondly, Jiang Wenting is a public figure. The more interaction the Host has with her, the greater your influence among her fans. This way, if the mission target cannot provide an emotional response, the Host can also have other options.]

[Thirdly…]

The System listed a bunch, and finally pre-advanced Yi Lan 20 years of lifespan, encouraging her to use this relatively good body to actively entice Jiang Wenting during the upcoming northwest filming, so that the other party would become dependent on her in all aspects.
If the mission was completed successfully, these 20 years of lifespan would be given to her for free, plus an additional 5 years as a reward.

Otherwise, even the few years she had painstakingly earned would be reset to zero.

[Host, keep up the good work!]

After that, without giving Yi Lan a chance to get angry, it stealthily disappeared.

Jiang Wenting saw that Yi Lan wouldn’t budge, so she temporarily dropped the topic.
She reached out and pinched Yi Lan’s cheek: “Alright, let’s not think about that for now.
“You’ve been in the car all day, are you hungry?
“Let’s get ready, I’ll take you to eat something delicious!”

Yi Lan stood still.

Jiang Wenting smiled helplessly: “Not allowing me to act, and not allowing me to eat either?”

Yi Lan said, “Eat.”

Jiang Wenting’s peach blossom eyes curved, and she asked good-naturedly: “Then how about we buy ingredients online and cook it ourselves?”

Yi Lan heard this and nodded.

Jiang Wenting, getting a response, was very happy.
She picked up her phone and started browsing, asking as she looked: “Is there anything Yi Lan particularly wants to eat?”

The woman in front of her pondered for half a second, then coldly listed the dishes: “Pigeon soup, botuo noodles.”

“Botuo noodles?” Jiang Wenting’s scrolling finger paused.
She tilted her head to look at her: “What’s that?”

Yi Lan was left speechless.
She thought back to the past, when Jiang Wenting’s favorite dish to make for her was botuo noodles.
Every time she hunted wild pigeons from the mountains, Jiang Wenting would clean them thoroughly and take them to the mess hall to make soup and noodles for her to eat.

But now, the person in front of her didn’t even know what botuo noodles were.

Jiang Wenting saw that she wasn’t answering.
She tapped into a certain app, quickly searched, and found a pile of botuo noodle recipes in the list.
She clicked on a few videos, watched for a while, and realizing it wasn’t too difficult to make, she agreed: “Okay, I’ll make botuo noodles for Yi Lan.
“And pigeon soup, right?”

Yi Lan was wooden, showing no reaction.

She switched her phone back to the ordering page, bought a fresh pigeon and some ingredients for the noodles, as well as some fruit.
After paying, she looked up, her eyes sparkling: “I’ve bought everything!
“Once the ingredients arrive, I’ll make botuo noodles for Yi Lan, okay?”

Yi Lan didn’t answer.
Jiang Wenting saw her bare feet on the floor and couldn’t help but feel a pang of concern: “The floor is so dirty, why did you run out without wearing shoes?
“You’re not allowed to do that again next time!”

As she spoke, she picked Yi Lan up and walked towards the sofa.

Yi Lan’s current body had little weight, and Jiang Wenting in this world often practiced fighting scenes, so her arm strength was quite good.
Carrying her in her arms took almost no effort.

After carrying her to the sofa, she returned to the bedroom to get shoes.
Upon entering, she saw the messy bed and paused for a moment, then smiled: “My little silly, you don’t treat yourself as an outsider at all, making such a mess on my bed.”

In fact, Jiang Wenting was a very clean person, to the point of being a bit obsessive-compulsive.
Even when Xiao Ru and Beiye left wrinkles or marks on her bed after sitting on it, she would subconsciously smooth them out.
Yet, seeing the room like this now, she uncharacteristically didn’t tidy up.
She grabbed the slippers and the phone from the bedside table and left the room.

Yi Lan was curled up on the sofa, deep in thought.

Jiang Wenting handed her the phone, a sweet smile on her lips: “Here!”

Yi Lan reached out, wanting to take the phone.

Jiang Wenting’s fingertips moved slightly, dodging her.
A hint of playfulness glimmered in her peach blossom eyes: “Call me Jiejie, call me Jiejie and I’ll give you the phone.”

Yi Lan pursed her lips, retracting her outstretched hand.

Jiang Wenting tilted her head to look at her.
The other party’s expression was wooden.
She raised her voice, lightly calling her name in a teasing tone: “Yi Lan?
“Call me Jiejie, okay?”

The person huddled on the sofa turned her face away.
Jiang Wenting didn’t dare to tease too much.
She tucked the phone into Yi Lan’s arms.
As she left, she pressed her palm against Yi Lan’s cheek.
The other’s skin was hot.
She smiled: “Are you shy?”

Yi Lan ignored her, casually picked up the phone, opened a certain app, and aimlessly scrolled.

Jiang Wenting watched her for a few seconds, the amusement in her eyes growing even stronger.
She couldn’t help but sigh: “Why is she so cute?!”

Yi Lan shifted her body, clicked into a video, watching it disinterestedly.
In her mind, it was still that mole at the corner of Jiang Wenting’s right eye, and those lingering calls of “Jiejie” again and again…

Jiang Wenting watched for a while, then her gaze moved.
She went to tidy up the mess in the living room.
Halfway through, the takeout arrived.
Afraid Yi Lan was hungry, she stopped her work after getting the ingredients and went to the kitchen to cook.

Yi Lan saw her leave, stared at her back for a few seconds, then stepped down in her slippers and squatted on the floor to organize Jiang Wenting’s half-packed suitcase.

Her knees hadn’t fully healed, and squatting for a long time would be very painful.
So she simply carried the contents out, placing them on the sofa to slowly organize.

Jiang Wenting put the pigeon soup on to stew.
When she came out after waking the noodles, the living room had been tidied up thoroughly.
She was startled, not seeing any sign of Yi Lan, so she went to the bedroom and found her trying to make the bed.

“Yi Lan,” Jiang Wenting walked over and hugged her from behind.

Yi Lan felt the softness of the other’s embrace.
Her body stiffened for a moment but didn’t immediately pull away.

Jiang Wenting hugged her for a few seconds, then released her, guiding her by the shoulders to sit on the head of the bed.
Looking into her eyes, she earnestly instructed: “Yi Lan, your hand wounds haven’t fully healed yet.
“In the future, just let me do these kinds of things, okay?”

The familiar voice, the gentle tone.
Yi Lan remembered that in the past, when she was injured, this person had also cared for and protected her so meticulously.

She didn’t know with what mindset Jiang Wenting had offered that tenderness back then.
But at this moment, she clearly knew that she, receiving that tenderness, was now replicating the path Jiang Wenting had walked, in an equally cruel way.