Chapter 18

Because Xu Xiaoye had said she wanted a massage, An Rong was so excited that she barely slept during the first half of the night.

Ever since being reborn, it felt as though nothing had gone particularly smoothly. Although she had the experience from her previous life to rely on and was performing better this time, she had somehow inexplicably attracted Wang Yunshui’s hostility right from the start.

As for Xu Xiaoye, because of that accidental kiss, she had directly told An Rong that she absolutely could not like women.

Everything about An Rong’s past could be traced. Where she had gone to school during her first seventeen years, what awards she had won, what activities she had participated in, whether she had ever known anyone connected to the entertainment or music industries, or had any related experience—it was all transparent.

In an era when information traveled so quickly, being reborn had become a secret she needed to hide with extreme caution. If anyone ever became suspicious, she had no internally consistent explanation she could use.

All of a sudden, both her future and her love life seemed completely uncertain.

But now, at last, she could see the faintest glimmer of hope. This was practically a milestone in the history of her secret crush since being reborn! Xu Xiaoye had agreed to let her give her a massage! An Rong was so excited she couldn’t sleep at all.

The instant the alarm rang for the first time the next morning, An Rong sprang upright like a carp and immediately turned to look at Xu Xiaoye by the table.

It was the same every morning. Xu Xiaoye had already gotten ready again, with light makeup on, looking radiant, energetic, and full of life.

An Rong’s heart was filled with anticipation as she slowly climbed out of bed, waiting for Xu Xiaoye to bring it up.

But even after she had washed up, put on makeup, eaten breakfast, and entered the dance studio, Xu Xiaoye still hadn’t mentioned it.

An Rong had barely slept all night, and now she couldn’t help developing the faintest suspicion. “Don’t read the original at bailiantales.comtell me I’ve secretly loved her so hard I’ve gone completely insane and started hallucinating?”

No way, right?!

At lunch, An Rong finally couldn’t hold back anymore. She spent ages working up to it and rehearsed several possible scenarios in her head, making sure she could respond no matter how Xu Xiaoye answered. Only then did she blink and ask, “Last night, you said you wanted me to massage you. Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?”

Xu Xiaoye had just finished eating. She put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth, and nodded frankly. “Not really uncomfortable. Just a little tired.”

The intensity of their current schedule was actually about the same as her normal training, but during ordinary training there were no cameras and nowhere near as many things to worry about, so she could relax more. Unlike now, when even saying a single sentence required a little caution for fear that the machines set up nearby might capture it. It really was somewhat exhausting.

An Rong carefully let out a breath of relief. “Then should we start when we get back?”

Xu Xiaoye gave a quiet “Mm” and waited for An Rong to finish eating.

An Rong instantly sped up and finished in no time. Then Xu Xiaoye said she wanted to walk around a little to digest their food, so the two of them walked from one end of the floor to the other and back again twice.

An Rong could tell that Xu Xiaoye was a little tired. She was already under a lot of pressure, and being watched by cameras made her extremely uncomfortable, but she kept all of that exhaustion and pressure hidden away, showing it only to herself and refusing to let the cameras capture even a trace of it.

“Idol girl group, idol girl group.” Xu Xiaoye muttered the words twice under her breath. She frowned slightly as she looked at An Rong, her eyes carrying an indescribably complicated mixture of emotions. “I really envy you. You have the best talent and the best opportunity. You have to work hard!”

An Rong was slightly surprised and was just about to say something when Xu Xiaoye suddenly clapped her hands and immediately returned to normal. Draping an arm over An Rong’s shoulders, she said, “My waist hurts a little. Massage it for me when we get back.”

The words An Rong hadn’t managed to say could only be swallowed again.

Xu Xiaoye’s waist was slender, so slender An Rong could almost encircle it with both hands. She exercised regularly, so her hips were full and lifted, making the hollow where her lower back connected to her waist dip inward. An Rong estimated that it could probably hold a mouthful of water.

The pressure An Rong used was just right. She seemed exceptionally familiar with Xu Xiaoye’s body—where it hurt, where it tickled, where she needed more pressure, and where she needed less, she knew it all perfectly.

Xu Xiaoye lay on the bed and hummed comfortably. “Ah~ That feels so good~~”

An Rong’s heart trembled.

Xu Xiaoye rested her cheek against the pillow and looked at An Rong sitting beside the bed. With a satisfied sigh, she said, “You’re really good at this.”

The tip of An Rong’s heart quivered again. She swallowed awkwardly, stared at Xu Xiaoye’s back, and said with complete seriousness, “I learned at home.”

An Rong’s teacher was getting older and often suffered from aching legs and back pain, so every few days he would visit a massage parlor. An Rong always went with him and secretly learned while she was there, so she had picked up quite a lot.

Xu Xiaoye laughed softly and raised a thumb. In a lazy voice that was slightly airy, she said, “Not bad. You learn everything, huh?”

Xu Xiaoye’s long, wavy hair covered part of her cheek and fell smoothly and springily over her back. Her eyes seemed filled with water and scattered points of light as she looked at An Rong, bright eyes and red lips against skin as white as snow.

With such a beauty beside her, An Rong inevitably became distracted. Without realizing it, she pressed a little too hard.

Xu Xiaoye’s brows immediately tightened. She bit her lip and let out a small, restrained groan.

An Rong instantly lifted her hands. “Sorry, sorry. Did I hurt you?”

Xu Xiaoye exhaled, the breath making strands of her hair flutter. “It’s fine. ​read the original at bailiantales.com​It actually felt pretty good.”

An Rong pressed her lips together, feeling a little guilty. Beauty really was dangerous. It had completely robbed her of reason.

“All right.” Xu Xiaoye reached over and rested a hand on An Rong’s arm, speaking lazily and casually. “That’s enough. Let’s rest for a while.”

Xu Xiaoye lay limp across the bed, stretching languidly in that hazy state between sleeping and waking, completely unaware of just how tempting she looked.

An Rong lightly bit the inside of her lower lip and gave a quiet “Mm.” Then she restrained herself and stood up, moved the chair away, and let her peripheral vision linger greedily on Xu Xiaoye’s face for just a moment.

Because of the company’s requirements, after training they now had to come up with little games or activities too. An Rong had absolutely no interest in them. Xu Xiaoye invited her to join in, but after thinking about it, An Rong still refused.

She didn’t want to play. She didn’t want to put on a show. She was already exhausted every day and genuinely didn’t want to rack her brain trying to perform this kind of thing.

“Captain, I don’t care whether I make it into the show or get any screen time. I’m tired.” An Rong sat in the corner against the wall, holding Xu Xiaoye’s hand and refusing to move even an inch.

Xu Xiaoye also knew that relaxing naturally was completely different from deliberately trying to create footage worth editing into the show.

“That’s fine too.” Xu Xiaoye rubbed An Rong’s head and sat down beside her, leaning against the wall. “I think the two of us probably have enough footage already. It should be enough for one episode.”

Xia Chunhua was holding a screaming rubber chicken. It shrieked “Aaah!” in her hands while she happily ran over like a little kid and handed it to Xu Xiaoye.

Xu Xiaoye froze for a moment before taking it.

Xia Chunhua said, “It’s really good for relieving stress. Seriously. Try it if you don’t believe me.”

Xu Xiaoye squeezed the chicken’s stomach completely flat in one hand.

Its cry sounded like someone screaming at the top of their lungs, starting violently before gradually weakening at the end. “Aaaah—”

Xu Xiaoye squeezed it again and asked, half laughing and half helpless, “Why do you have so many toys?”

Xia Chunhua tossed her head, her little curls bouncing as though someone had added special effects—boing, boing—fluffy and springy. “Not that many. I have lots of older brothers and sisters at home. They gave them to me.”

At that, she couldn’t resist reaching out to stroke the back of An Rong’s hand. She put on the air of a gentle older sister, forcing the corners of her mouth into a mature smile and deliberately lowering her voice to make herself sound deeper and more grown-up.

“Little sister, do you want a toy? Sister will give you one.”

Xu Xiaoye glanced at An Rong and immediately started holding back laughter.

The way Xia Chunhua was touching her made An Rong’s skin crawl. She immediately shook her head. “You already gave me one yesterday.”

“It’s okay.” Xia Chunhua slowly lifted her hand, trying to stroke An Rong’s head. “Sister still has lots and lots of other toys.”

An Rong pressed her head against the wall and dodged her. “Did you eat something dirty or something?”

Xu Xiaoye laughed so hard she slapped the floor, while the screaming chicken shrieked along in accompaniment.

Humiliated into anger, Xia Chunhua [bailiantales.com]lightly smacked An Rong’s knee with a slap. “Why are you so uncooperative? I’m your Sister!”

It was rare for her to get the chance to be an older sister, yet An Rong wouldn’t give her even the slightest opportunity to show off. How infuriating. She couldn’t help starting to envy her own older sisters for having such an understanding, cooperative younger sister like herself.

Xu Xiaoye burst into loud laughter, laughing so hard that even An Rong turned to look at her.

Only then did Xu Xiaoye stop and say to Xia Chunhua, “Ignore her. She’s the classic type who acts old beyond her years. Don’t be fooled by the fact that she’s biologically seventeen. Her mental age might already be seventy. Basically grandma-level. Very difficult.”

An Rong softly shot back, “You’re the seventy-year-old grandma.”

Xu Xiaoye grinned shamelessly and leaned forward until her face was almost pressed against An Rong’s. “Take a good look. I’m obviously only fourteen. My mental age is three years and a few hundred… Anyway, round down and it’s three. Look at this face. Look, look.”

An Rong’s research had shown that when the person you liked came extremely close—so close that your noses almost touched—the sympathetic nervous system released catecholamines, causing your heart to beat faster and increasing blood flow, which naturally led to blushing and a racing heartbeat.

And when all that blood rushed toward the brain, it became very easy to have certain irrational impulses, such as—

Wanting to kiss her!

Really, really wanting to!

They were so close that all An Rong had to do was move forward one centimeter—no, two centimeters—and in the blink of an eye, she could press her lips against Xu Xiaoye’s and kiss her! And then…

An Rong’s body instinctively leaned backward, her lowered gaze fixed on Xu Xiaoye’s lips.

And then she would get beaten half to death, thrown out of TS, earn herself a lucky one-week tour of the police station, and, if she were especially fortunate, make it onto the trending searches and receive overwhelming [unauthorized copy]public attention along with an abundant outpouring of colorful verbal artistry.

A bucket of cold water dumped over her head.

An Rong immediately came back to her senses.

She swallowed and leaned her body backward in resistance, doing her absolute best to put some distance between herself and the endlessly chattering Xu Xiaoye.

Too dangerous.

If Xu Xiaoye kept getting this close, An Rong might commit a crime!

But in Xu Xiaoye’s eyes, this little fool must have borrowed her courage from a bank. She actually dared to look disgusted by her and move backward?

“Say something.” Xu Xiaoye kept pressing closer. “Look at this naturally beautiful face of mine. I’m seventy? Hm? Where’s your conscience?”

That husky, low, slightly nasal voice was practically a knife stabbing straight into An Rong’s heart with deadly precision.

An Rong touched her face, nodded repeatedly, and pushed Xu Xiaoye toward the opposite side while maintaining an arm’s length of distance. “Yes, yes, yes. You’re the prettiest. Beautiful lady, your spit got on my face.”

Xu Xiaoye: …

Slightly.

Just slightly embarrassing.

But Xu Xiaoye was a woman with plenty of experience. Even when embarrassed, she could glare at An Rong without changing expression. “So what? What’s wrong with my spit? You think it’s disgusting?”

An Rong immediately shook her head. She even thought Xu Xiaoye looked incredibly beautiful right now—embarrassed but still forcing herself to glare, proud and adorable. Even when angry, she looked good.

“Hmph. Then why are you wiping it?”

An Rong flicked her hand and shook her head. “I’m not. I’m spreading it evenly.”

Xia Chunhua recoiled and made a disgusted sound. “Eww—gross!”

Author’s Note:

An Rong: Every day, I resist temptation, preserve my chastity, stay true to myself, obey the law, and absolutely refuse to engage in behavioral or verbal harassment toward a certain person. Everyone, please learn from me: exercise restraint, self-discipline, self-improvement, and guard your heart! Strive to become a model class monitor of a harmonious society!