A OO Love After Officially Announcing with the Best Actress - Chapter 31

In early July, the temperature on set rose again. Shen Feng began requiring Lin Bingran and Lin Ke to lose weight, and the meals for the lead cast were all changed to vegetarian food without even the slightest hint of oil or meat.

After Lin Ke indulged in that one huge meal last time, she was supervised by Lu Tu into quitting sugar and carbs for a week. Combined with the high-intensity filming every day and the heat, after a little over a week, Lin Ke had lost five or six jin.

Lu Tu said she had turned into a little black monkey. Lin Ke refused to believe it and argued that it was only the effect of the makeup.

Lin Bingran had also lost weight. Her waist had gotten even thinner, and there was more looseness around the middle of the qipao. She looked even more like a weak willow swaying in the wind, graceful and elegant.

Chu Feng had been dismissed from the Li family and was herding ducks in the countryside. A flock of water ducks quacked wildly. Lin Ke failed to herd them properly once and chased the ducks into the filming shed, causing the whole crew to stop filming for half the day and descend into chaos catching ducks.

After herding ducks during the day, Chu Feng would go secretly meet Ji Fengling at night. In the scorching weather, she sat in a tree and flipped through a worn-out textbook, while Ji Fengling sat by the window weaving flower cords. When their eyes met, both of them would smile.

When Chu Feng returned home, beneath the starry night sky, she ran happily along the ridges between the fields. Thick smoke was rolling from her house. Seeing it from afar, she rushed inside.

Chu Qiu had fallen asleep while cooking and set the kitchen on fire. The sisters fought the fire for a long time before a man suddenly pushed the door open, carrying two wooden buckets. With a splash, he poured the water out.

Cold water poured over them from head to toe. Chu Feng and Chu Qiu were both drenched. The man held Chu Qiu in his arms, one hand carefully protecting Chu Qiu’s abdomen, and asked if she was all right.

Chu Feng stared blankly. Her heart turned cold. Chu Qiu looked at her helplessly and gently tried to break free from the man’s arms, but the man would not listen and carried Chu Qiu horizontally into the main room.

Chu Qiu said anxiously, “Xiao Feng, listen to me!”

Chu Feng abruptly lowered her head and wiped her face with her sleeve. Black ash smeared into two streaks across her face. She cleaned up the messy kitchen while angrily kicking the wall.

Chu Qiu was pregnant. The man became even more cautious when entering and leaving the Chu family’s home. He came to the Chu house in the middle of the night to chop firewood, carry water, and cook. When he caught rabbits, he did not take them to the market to exchange for money, instead secretly leaving them for Chu Qiu. He even clumsily learned how to thread a needle so Chu Qiu would not have to do any work.

There was laughter in the main room, and Chu Qiu had new clothes. Someone in the village got married, and the three major household items were tied with red silk cloth and carried past the Chu house in a lively procession into the newlyweds’ home. Chu Qiu’s eyes showed envy. After returning home, she wove clothes even more carefully.

Chu Feng opened the old chest at the bottom of the family’s storage. Inside was a piece of red silk cloth. She stuffed it into her clothes and ran outside the Li residence. After circling the Li residence once, she found the lowest section of the wall, clambered over it with much effort, landed in the courtyard, and felt her way upstairs in the dark.

A quarrel was happening in the room on the second floor. Granny Zhou was vicious. She grabbed Ji Fengling’s wrist and threw her to the floor.

Ji Fengling cried out softly. She was dragged to the ground, but after falling, she quickly climbed up and gritted her teeth as she confronted Granny Zhou.

Granny Zhou slammed the door and left. “Young Madam, think carefully!”

Ji Fengling sat on the floor, her hair messy and her expression wretched. When she heard the door creak, she raised her head like a startled bird.

It was Chu Feng.

Chu Feng dropped the door bolt. Her expression was violent, and veins bulged on the back of her hand. She helped Ji Fengling up and pulled her into her arms, her arms locking tightly around her.

Ji Fengling’s reddened eyes finally shed tears. She held Chu Feng’s face and urgently sought a kiss, as if only by losing herself in passion could she ignore the pain from just now.

Chu Feng did not want it. She moved half an inch away, only for Ji Fengling to chase her relentlessly. Their kiss was messy, more like gnawing and struggling together, their breaths coming rapidly as they leaned against each other.

Chu Feng said, “Speak.”

Ji Fengling said, “Uh…”

Chu Feng growled angrily, “Speak!”

Ji Fengling was horrified.

Chu Feng kissed her once, then softened her tone. “Call my name…”

Ji Fengling said, “Feng…”

Chu Feng asked, “What happened? Tell me.”

Ji Fengling fell ill. She lay at the head of the bed, not eating, not drinking, not speaking, worrying everyone in the Li family.

Granny Zhou pinched open her mouth and forcefully poured rice soup into her, but it was all spat back out. Granny Zhou suspected she had done it on purpose, and while bathing Ji Fengling, angrily pressed her into the bathtub.

Ji Fengling remained bedridden. Master Li dragged his nearly dead body over to see her. His yellowed eyeballs moved, as if he were thinking about something.

Lin Ke turned the page of the script, eager to read the next page. She was engrossed when a small shadow fell in front of her.

Lin Ke raised her head and was startled. Lin Bingran had on a haggard makeup look. Her lips were snow-white, and there was no color in her face. She looked terribly frail.

“Teacher Lin…” Lin Ke stood up and gave up her folding stool. “Do you want to sit?”

Lin Bingran yawned. Her whole body was terribly exhausted. Last night, she had filmed the scene where her head was pushed into the water. It had been filmed over and over again. Lin Bingran choked on water several times, and her makeup had to be touched up repeatedly in between. After all that, it took up half the night. She rested only four or five hours during the day before coming back to set.

Lin Ke said, “Why did the coordinator schedule so many night scenes for you?”

Lin Bingran leaned crookedly against the wall, her long lashes half-lowered. “What?”

Lin Ke pressed her lips together and rummaged through her pocket, finding a green plum candy. She tore open the wrapper and fed it to Lin Bingran’s mouth. “Want one?”

Lin Bingran looked at her. “You’re supposed to be off sugar, and you’re still sneaking food?”

Lin Ke said, “It’s sour. It’s for waking up. Paired with strong tea, it can save your life when staying up late.”

Lin Bingran smiled.

After saying that, Lin Ke pulled a handful of green plum candies from her bag and stuffed them to Lin Bingran. “I’m leaving now. I’m going to do makeup first.”

Lin Bingran leaned against the wall. The green plum candy bulged in her cheek. Lin Ke went to do her makeup, and Lin Bingran rested for a few minutes before going to run lines with the actors.

Guo Rongrong watched and felt that these two had been much colder lately.

On the same crew, they saw each other whenever they looked up or down. Seeing but not being able to eat had made their hearts itch at first, but slowly, as work got busy, they could no longer care about those things. Lin Bingran yawned listlessly.

The weather on set was hot, and N City had another high-temperature warning today. The crew had no time to rest. Male staff members worked shirtless, female staff members wore shorts, and empty blocker bottles in the corner had piled into a small mountain.

Several standing fans buzzed loudly, but what they blew out was all hot air, mixed with all kinds of pheromone scents, making people’s heads swell.

“Help me take a drama that films in winter,” Lin Ke said, pulling open her collar to let in air, hot to the point of dying. “I’d rather freeze to death than be suffocated to death by summer pheromones.”

Lu Tu had practically occupied an entire fan. “I still have to suffer with you. Isn’t that even worse?”

Lin Ke held her phone. A hot news alert popped up on the screen.

Midsummer was also the peak season for AO incidents. Yesterday at a water park, an omega who had fainted from heat and entered heat triggered a group rut incident involving more than ten people. The scene had been chaotic.

Lin Ke looked at it, clicked into Weibo, and sure enough, a group of Lin Bingran’s fans were reminding her to take good care of Lin Bingran. They said the set environment was difficult, so it would be best if she bought a few air conditioners for Lin Bingran and placed them on set to cool things down so Lin Bingran would not get heatstroke.

Lin Ke: “…”

“Do we still have cooling patches?” Lin Ke asked.

Lu Tu said, “There’s one last pack. Want me to put one on you?”

Lin Ke said, “Send them to Teacher Lin. What if she gets heatstroke? Do you think Director Shen would agree if I asked her to buy a few air conditioners?”

Lu Tu: “…”

In the afternoon, the temperature reached its highest point of the day. Lin Bingran’s qipao was custom-made. It looked beautiful, but the fabric was not very breathable, and she was also wearing a chest binder underneath. The moment she stepped down from the RV, she felt a little dizzy.

Guo Rongrong said, “Jie, Teacher Xiao Lin brought you a pack of cooling patches. Do you want to use them?”

Lin Bingran said, “Hm?”

Lin Bingran touched her forehead. Her forehead was not hot, but her palms were a little warm.

“Stick a few on,” Lin Bingran said. She returned to the changing room to adjust her clothes and asked Guo Rongrong to place the cooling patches somewhere beneath the qipao where they could not be seen.

Guo Rongrong applied two and said, “Done. If I put on more, there might be marks on the clothes.”

Lin Bingran’s skin was delicate, and she never used these things. It was her first time using them, and they seemed to have some effect. “Put two on my inner thighs.”

The skin on the inner thighs was extremely sensitive. Guo Rongrong said, “On the inside of your thighs? It’ll hurt when you tear them off later.”

Lin Bingran said, “It’s fine.”

Shen Feng went to supervise Group B. She had grown terribly thin. As the director, after filming finished every day, she still had to go back to the office to review footage. She also had to make decisions for the entire crew’s coordination. After following Group A, she had to turn around and go to Group B. One person was often split into several people for use, and it was no easier than being an actor.

Lin Ke followed Shen Feng to Group B. The honorable excuse was that she was learning from the seniors’ acting, but in truth, she had sent a message to Great Demon King and that certain someone had not replied, so she wanted to go take a look.

The moment Shen Feng went over, the assistant director gave up the monitor. In the director team, the director and assistant director were both good at the same filming style. Their aesthetics were similar, and they often collided with new ideas on set.

The assistant director said, “Director Shen, take a look at this scene…”

Lin Bingran sat on the bed with her eyes closed, letting someone touch up her makeup. She was so tired she had almost fallen asleep. After her assistant shook her awake, she opened her eyes and was hit by the strong light, making them sting until two tears blinked out.

Lin Ke wanted to go over and check on her, but Shen Feng called for preparation. The set was about to start filming, so Lin Ke could only stand to one side.

Lin Ke followed Group B’s filming for an hour. The actor acting opposite Lin Bingran could not keep up with her. After two consecutive NGs, the actor was very guilty, but Lin Bingran patiently said they could start over.

Lin Ke quietly left the set and returned to the makeup room to continue studying the script. As she flipped through it, the image of Lin Bingran’s completely different states in and out of character surfaced in her mind. Lin Bingran was too amazing… Professionally, Lin Ke could not catch up even if she whipped her horse. What would it take to catch up with her…

The makeup room had air conditioning. Lu Tu was sleeping inside. After waking up, she took two phone calls, then started scrolling on her phone.

“Holy crap!” Lu Tu abruptly sat up.

Lin Ke picked up her water cup and unscrewed the lid. “What happened?”

Lu Tu shoved her phone in front of Lin Ke.

Lin Bingran had fainted on set and had been taken to the hospital.

Lin Ke was drinking water, and a mouthful went straight into her windpipe. “Cough! Cough, cough, cough!”

Lu Tu hurriedly stood up. “Drink slower. What are you doing!”

Lin Ke did not even have time to wipe her mouth. “How is she?”

Lu Tu said, “It should be heatstroke. Nothing serious. Don’t worry.”

Lin Ke threw down the script. “I’ll go see her!”

Lu Tu glanced at her watch. “Rest time is almost over.”

Lin Ke wanted to speak but stopped. “…”

The makeup artist pushed open the door. “Teacher Xiao Lin, I’m here to touch up your makeup.”

Lin Ke said, “I…”

“Xiao Lin!” Shen Feng shouted from downstairs. “What are you dawdling for!”

Lin Ke pressed her lips together and pulled Lu Tu aside. “Ask which hospital she went to. I’ll go see her after filming this scene.”

Lin Bingran had been taken to a private hospital. It was moderate heatstroke. She was on an IV in an isolation ward. Guo Rongrong booked a VIP room. When Lin Ke arrived, Lin Bingran had not even taken off her costume yet and was lying on the bed asleep.

Guo Rongrong said, “I’ll stand guard at the door.”

Lin Ke nodded. “Thank you, Rongrong.”

Guo Rongrong hesitated and said, “…Ran-jie doesn’t let people touch her when she’s asleep. Can you help loosen the collar of her qipao? She’ll be more comfortable sleeping that way.”

Lin Ke asked, “Can I touch her?”

Guo Rongrong choked. “…Try it.”

Lin Ke closed the ward door and tiptoed to the bedside. Lin Bingran was asleep, her brows tightly furrowed. Her whole body was bound inside the qipao, and she looked very uncomfortable.

Lin Ke moved a chair over and sat down. She reached out, gently lifted Lin Bingran’s chin, and began undoing the frog buttons of Lin Bingran’s qipao.

“Did the cooling patches not work?”

“You can still get heatstroke like this. If your fans find out, they’ll scold me again…”

Lin Ke muttered very softly to herself, focused on unbuttoning Lin Bingran’s collar. When she reached the side, she stood up, almost half her body covering Lin Bingran. A little white showed at Lin Bingran’s side—it was the cooling patch Lin Ke had given her.

Lin Ke froze, then looked up at Lin Bingran.

She saw Lin Bingran staring at her with both eyes open, even lazily yawning.

Lin Ke: “…”

Lin Ke said, “You were awake and didn’t make a sound.”

Lin Bingran opened her mouth. Her voice was still hoarse. “Have you finished taking it off?”

Lin Ke: “…”

Lin Bingran’s face was a little red, and her lips were a little dry. She licked them and said, “If you haven’t finished taking it off, continue. Sleeping in this is uncomfortable.”

Lin Ke said, “Loosening two buttons is enough. Are you more comfortable?”

Lin Bingran shook her head. “My whole body is sore and weak. I have no strength.”

So Lin Ke massaged Lin Bingran’s shoulders and legs, massaging until Lin Bingran began humming and almost fell asleep again.

Guo Rongrong knocked and came in to deliver food. “Does Teacher Xiao Lin have scenes tonight?”

Lin Ke shook her head.

Guo Rongrong said, “Jie, Director Shen gave you half a day off. Stay at the hospital tonight. Rest properly. It’ll still be in time if you go back tomorrow.”

Lin Bingran said, “You go back to the hotel. Xiao Lin can stay here with me.”

Guo Rongrong: “…”

Lin Ke said, “Okay. Then I’ll go back and get a change of clothes.”

Guo Rongrong stood up and said, “I’ll go back and get them.”

Lin Ke, her face red, sent Guo Rongrong away and called Lu Tu to tell her.

A faint smile hung by Lin Bingran’s lips. She patted the narrow single bed. “Come sleep for a while?”

Lin Ke carefully lay down, paying special attention not to touch the IV line. Leaning against Lin Bingran, the two half-hugged each other. Only then did Lin Ke realize that Lin Bingran’s temperature was still a little high.

“You’re still a little hot.” Lin Ke pressed her lips together and touched Lin Bingran’s forehead.

They were close, and because Lin Bingran’s body was weak from heatstroke, she could not properly hold back her pheromones. Lin Ke’s face reddened uncontrollably. “…Should I sit on the chair instead?”

Lin Bingran raised her eyes, placed her chin on Lin Ke’s shoulder, her breath hot and all brushing against Lin Ke’s sensitive gland. In a flirtatious tone, she said, “Why? Are you thinking of doing something bad to a patient?”

Lin Ke: “…”

Author’s Note:

I’m too tired, so that’s all for today. Remember to come on time at nine tomorrow.

P.S. They’re switches, okay? Switches. Stop picking a fixed side. Crybaby can’t switch back anymore. When Big Lin tops, readers will howl, okay? Also, these two still have career lines. The outline is complete.