Acting Out of Character (GL) - Chapter 19

Luo Jingyi was still holding Chen Ge’s wrist.

The confrontational atmosphere had turned into a one-sided restraint after Chen Ge learned the truth.

Chen Ge pressed her back tightly against the car seat, stretching her neck as she tried to retreat as far as possible.

Seeing her confused, flustered, and slightly frightened expression, Luo Jingyi remembered that she was still ill. She worked to suppress the fire in her heart and spoke as calmly as possible:

“Don’t believe everything you overhear. I’m straight.”

Chen Ge nodded with utmost seriousness, as though accepting an official command.

Luo Jingyi said, “Even if I ever became bent, it wouldn’t be for Feng Yunxin.”

Chen Ge: “…”

“She and I are childhood friends. There’s nothing like that between us.”

Chen Ge lowered her head. “I understand. I’ve been misunderstanding everything this entire time. I’m sorry.”

Luo Jingyi saw how pitiful she looked. Chen Ge had merely been upholding her own moral principles and had not actually done anything wrong, yet she was standing there feeling guilty.

Still, Luo Jingyi had the sudden urge to rub her head and continue teasing her.

“I’m not blaming you. What are you apologizing for?”

Only then did Luo Jingyi realize that the distance between them was far too close.

She had just announced that she was straight. Continuing to pin down a young woman like this did not seem particularly appropriate.

Luo Jingyi released her, sat upright, and returned to her seat.

Chen Ge smiled gratefully. “As long as Sister Luo doesn’t blame me. My mind doesn’t work very well. I believe whatever people tell me.”

Thinking back on how Qian Yu had fooled her into picking up Luo Xin that night, Chen Ge realized that not a single word he had said was true.

She was genuinely impressed by him…

He simply had not wanted to go to the airport in the middle of the night. Had it really been necessary to invent lies about Luo Xin being Director Feng’s closeted lover?

Luo Jingyi started the car and skillfully drove out of the parking lot.

“I already told you this wasn’t your fault. Qian Yu was the one who fed you that nonsense, wasn’t he? He tricked me too. The entire journey, I thought you were my CP. In the end, you weren’t.”

The car traveled upward from the uneven gravel road outside the parking lot. After a series of mild bumps that Luo Jingyi had done her best to control, they reached the relatively smooth concrete road.

Chen Ge sighed softly. “I originally thought my CP had been changed to you too. Unexpectedly, it was still Song Ruyu.”

Luo Jingyi turned toward her and asked meaningfully, “Disappointed?”

Chen Ge did not dare look at her. “A little…”

“Only a little?”

Chen Ge did not know how to answer. Afraid she might say something wrong again and make Luo Jingyi dislike her, she stammered:

“It wasn’t only a little. It was just…”

From the corner of her eye, Luo Jingyi noticed that Chen Ge’s ears had turned completely red. Her complexion was still poor, so Luo Jingyi restrained her desire to tease her, despite feeling slightly unsatisfied.

Luo Jingyi knew that there was a hospital a little over three hundred meters west of the HY Hotel at Wuyi Mountain.

Although she did not drive often, her sense of direction was excellent. Even in an unfamiliar place, once she remembered a location, she could find her way without navigation.

Chen Ge had been about to take out her phone and check the map when Luo Jingyi said:

“Don’t trouble yourself. I know how to reach the hospital. Rest for a while.”

Chen Ge gave a soft “Mm,” locked her phone, held it against her chest, and leaned back with her eyes closed.

Luo Jingyi glanced at her when she had the opportunity. “How do you feel now?”

Chen Ge did not open her eyes. “A little better.”

“You’re already feeling better? You aren’t saying that just to reassure me, are you?”

“Maybe arguing with you distracted me. I genuinely don’t feel quite as miserable now.”

“So arguing with me can cure illnesses. Wonderful. All right, let’s stop talking. Rest quietly for a while. We’ll arrive soon.”

“Thank you, Sister Luo.”

“You’re welcome.”

Luo Jingyi thought: Please call me the benevolent white moonlight who performs good deeds without seeking recognition.

Chen Ge rested with her eyes closed and did not speak again. Luo Jingyi occasionally glanced over to check her condition.

Chen Ge did not vomit anymore, but her tightly furrowed brows and firmly pressed lips showed that she was still suffering. She simply did not want anyone to worry and was desperately enduring it.

When they reached the hospital, Luo Jingyi told Chen Ge to sit and wait while she registered her.

When Luo Jingyi returned, she found Chen Ge sitting hunched over on a blue plastic chair, clutching her stomach with her head lowered almost to her knees.

“What’s wrong?”

Luo Jingyi hurried over.

“I need to use the bathroom…” Chen Ge’s entire body was covered in sweat from holding it in.

“Then go!”

“I was afraid you’d come back and panic when you couldn’t find me.”

Luo Jingyi helped her stand. “Hurry up. I can’t believe you managed to endure it.”

Chen Ge immediately went to the bathroom and did not emerge until a long while later, walking weakly.

Standing inside the old, dilapidated hospital, Luo Jingyi looked tall and striking, like a famous actress who had wandered onto the wrong set.

“Diarrhea?” Luo Jingyi approached her.

Chen Ge nodded.

“Do you have a fever?”

“I… don’t know.”

Luo Jingyi lifted a hand to feel her forehead and touched a layer of cold sweat.

“Your forehead doesn’t feel particularly hot. Does your skin feel tight?”

“A little. My eyes feel somewhat hot too.”

Chen Ge blinked, seemingly trying to sense the temperature of her eyes.

Her already long, narrow fox-like eyes had now become perfectly shaped phoenix eyes.

“There’s a high chance it’s food poisoning.” Luo Jingyi glanced toward the consultation room. “It should be our turn. Let’s go.”

Holding Chen Ge’s arm with one hand, Luo Jingyi supported her as they walked inside.

Chen Ge did not dare move too quickly. The nauseating discomfort remained near her chest, and she feared that taking larger steps might cause the urge to vomit to surge upward again.

Seeing her inch forward, Luo Jingyi assumed she lacked the strength to walk. She raised her other arm and supported the shoulder farther away from her, practically gathering Chen Ge’s entire body into her embrace.

Shielding Chen Ge with her own body, she slowly guided her into the consultation room.

Chen Ge looked back weakly and lifted her eyes. Luo Jingyi gazed at the person in her arms and said:

“If you fall here, it’ll count as a workplace injury. Feng Yunxin will have to pay compensation.”

After learning that Luo Xin and Director Feng were childhood friends rather than lovers, Chen Ge no longer had so many complicated thoughts.

Even though Luo Jingyi was currently holding her, this was perfectly normal between two straight women.

Chen Ge said, “I’m heavy.”

Luo Jingyi dismissed the concern. “What’s heavy about you? Your arms and legs are so thin. If I weren’t afraid the movement would make you worse, I could carry you directly in my arms.”

After Luo Jingyi guided Chen Ge into the consultation room, the doctor examined her and asked detailed questions.

Luo Jingyi stood nearby and listened.

The doctor’s conclusion was similar to Luo Jingyi’s earlier guess. He also believed Chen Ge had food poisoning, but fortunately, it was not severe.

Worried that the vomiting and diarrhea might dehydrate her, he recommended an IV drip so they could continue observing her.

The doctors here did not even use computers. They still wrote prescriptions and forms by hand.

The doctor was somewhat elderly and wrote slowly, so Luo Jingyi and Chen Ge waited patiently.

Luo Jingyi asked, “Do you still feel like vomiting?”

“A little.” Chen Ge cleared her throat.

“Are you thirsty?”

“I’m all right…”

“Wait here.”

Luo Jingyi returned to the car and retrieved two bottles of water. When she walked back into the hospital, she found Chen Ge standing at the entrance waiting for her.

“Why did you walk over by yourself? Aren’t you afraid you’ll fall?”

Chen Ge smiled. “It’s only mild food poisoning. It isn’t serious, so Sister Luo doesn’t need to worry so much. You’re the one who’s been inconvenienced, driving me all this way and taking care of everything.”

They walked together to several rows of plastic seats. Chen Ge sat down, while Luo Jingyi remained standing beside her as they waited for a nurse to begin the IV.

“Fortunately, it isn’t serious. Otherwise, this would count as indirect murder on my part.”

Luo Jingyi unscrewed the cap from the bottled water and handed it to Chen Ge.

Chen Ge looked startled as she accepted it. “What do you mean?”

“There must have been something wrong with the roasted squab this morning. Otherwise, why are you the only person in the entire production with food poisoning?”

“The roasted squab…”

Chen Ge held the bottle and slowly brought the opening toward her lips. Her voice echoed faintly inside the bottle, sounding muffled.

“I didn’t eat it.”

“What? You didn’t eat it? Then how did you get food poisoning?”

“I don’t know either. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been eating properly these past few days…”

Luo Jingyi thought for a moment. “Because you believed Feng Yunxin and I were a couple, you refused to eat the food I specifically brought you?”

Chen Ge neither confirmed nor denied it, utterly ashamed.

Luo Jingyi lectured her. “In your mind, am I really someone who eats from her own bowl while staring into someone else’s pot?”

At that moment, the nurse arrived. After confirming Chen Ge’s name, she began the IV.

With the nurse present, Luo Jingyi could not shout at a patient.

Once the nurse adjusted the drip rate and left, Luo Jingyi stood directly in front of Chen Ge.

“As expected of an actress. You certainly create plenty of drama inside your head.”

Chen Ge hurriedly explained, “I’ve heard many stories like that within this industry, so it was difficult not to make those kinds of messy assumptions. I didn’t know you well before and could only draw conclusions based on what I already knew, so…”

“What kind of ridiculous stories have you heard?”

Chen Ge’s face turned red. “Things like cheating and keeping mistresses.”

Luo Jingyi said, “Why are you blushing? Has someone tried to keep you as a mistress?”

Under normal circumstances, Luo Jingyi would never ask such a private question.

Not only would she never inquire into this sort of personal matter, she would never approach someone who was vomiting, casually touch another person, or allow her bare hands to come into contact with someone else’s sweat.

If all those things had happened one after another with anyone else, she would have wanted to flatten the entire planet.

But Chen Ge seemed different.

Luo Jingyi felt that anything coming from her, even if slightly dirty, could simply be wiped away and did not make her feel disgusted.

Chen Ge watched the medicine drip slowly from the IV bag and remembered something from the past.

“Someone once suggested it, but I refused.”

“Oh? Someone wanted to support you?” Luo Jingyi was somewhat surprised. “What kind of person? A major figure in the entertainment industry?”

“They counted as a major figure to me.”

Luo Jingyi continued questioning her. “Who? A director? Producer? Investor?”

Chen Ge smiled. “I don’t want to say.”

Luo Jingyi gave a soft “Mm.” She looked at the IV bag with Chen Ge and remained silent for a moment before asking:

“Is it dripping too quickly?”

“It’s fine.”

“How do you feel now?” Luo Jingyi studied Chen Ge’s thin face. “Do you still have a fever?”

Chen Ge lifted a hand and touched her own forehead. “I don’t think so.”

The two fell into a brief silence.

Luo Jingyi disliked such stiff atmospheres, so she asked, “You acted in one of Luo Jingyi’s films before?”

At the mention of the name “Luo Jingyi,” Chen Ge’s entire demeanor immediately changed. She sat upright, unable to conceal the admiration in her eyes.

“Yes. I acted in one a long time ago. That movie failed terribly. Sister Luo, how do you know about it?”

Luo Jingyi said, “I’m half a member of the entertainment industry myself, and I enjoy films. I’ve watched all of Luo Jingyi’s movies.”

For once, Chen Ge asked a follow-up question. “You like Teacher Luo too?”

Luo Jingyi nearly laughed. This child became so happy whenever she spoke about her.

“She’s all right,” Luo Jingyi said. “Look at how excited you are. Do you like her that much?”

Chen Ge nodded rapidly. “I’ve watched every movie Teacher Luo has written. I can recite almost every line, and I can perform all the major scenes!”

“Oh? You’ve put in that much effort? She has written quite a number of scripts since entering the industry, yet you can perform them all? It seems this truly is love.”

Chen Ge chuckled.

Usually quiet and reserved, she immediately transformed into an endless chatterbox whenever Luo Jingyi was mentioned.

“Actually, I’ve always admired her quietly in my heart… Even now, I’ve never had the opportunity to meet her in person. When we filmed Skinny-Dipping, Teacher Luo never came to the set. To this day, I don’t even know what she looks like.”

Luo Jingyi asked, “You don’t even know what she looks like, yet you like her?”

Chen Ge nodded furiously. “I do! I like her very much! Why would I need to know her appearance? I don’t admire Teacher Luo for her looks. Her inner self is what deserves admiration most.”

Luo Jingyi lowered her head slightly and smiled with satisfaction.

Chen Ge continued, “Even if she were an ugly old woman, I would still like her.”

Luo Jingyi: “…”

I advise you to choose your words carefully.

Chen Ge said, “I still need to keep working hard. I hope that one day, Teacher Luo will notice me again. The reason I haven’t given up acting is because I still have one wish—to appear in Teacher Luo’s work one more time someday!”

Chen Ge continued speaking excitedly. When she noticed Luo Xin looking at her as though she were a foolish child, she became slightly embarrassed.

“Sister Luo, do you think I’m indulging in an impossible fantasy?”

Luo Jingyi considered it, her voice becoming gentler.

“A dreamer isn’t truly foolish. She’s merely protecting the ideal in her heart. I think you have a very good chance of becoming Luo Jingyi’s female lead again.”

Author’s Note:

Chen Ge: Someday, I hope I can be with Teacher Luo one more time…

Luo Jingyi: ??

Chen Ge: …in one of her productions!

Luo Jingyi: “……Do you have to pause that dramatically?”