Acting Out of Character (GL) - Chapter 19

Luo Jingyi still held Chen Ge’s wrist.

The atmosphere of confrontation had shifted into a one-sided restraint once Chen Ge learned the truth. Chen Ge pressed her back firmly against the car seat, stretching her neck and leaning back as far as possible.

Seeing her confused, flustered, and slightly frightened look, Luo Jingyi realized she was still a patient. She forced down the surge of irritation in her heart and spoke to her as calmly as possible:

“Don’t take every little thing you overhear as the truth. I’m straight.”

As if receiving an order, Chen Ge nodded very seriously.

Luo Jingyi: “Even if I were gay, I wouldn’t be gay for Feng Yunxin.”

Chen Ge: “…”

“We grew up together; there’s none of that going on.”

Chen Ge lowered her head. “I understand. I’ve been misunderstanding all along. I’m sorry.”

Luo Jingyi looked at her. The girl looked so piteous, feeling guilty even though she had only been standing up for her own values. Luo Jingyi felt a sudden impulse to rub her head and keep teasing her.

“I didn’t blame you, so why are you apologizing?”

Luo Jingyi finally realized they were sitting too close. It wasn’t quite appropriate to keep pinning a young girl down right after announcing she was straight. Luo Jingyi let go of her hand, released her, and sat back straight.

Chen Ge gave her a grateful smile. “It’s good that Sister Luo isn’t mad. I’m just slow; I believe whatever people tell me.”

Recalling the whole story of how Qian Yu had tricked her into picking up “Luo Xin” that night, she realized there hadn’t been a single word of truth. She really had to hand it to that guy… just because he didn’t want to go to the airport in the middle of the night, did he really have to fabricate lies about Director Feng’s lover not being out of the closet?

Luo Jingyi started the car and slowly drove out of the parking lot, her movements behind the wheel very practiced.

“I told you it wasn’t your fault. You heard that nonsense from Qian Yu, right? I was played by him too; I thought you were my CP the whole way here, but it turns out you aren’t.”

The car moved from the bumpy gravel path of the parking lot onto the smoother cement road, with Luo Jingyi making an effort to minimize the jolts.

Chen Ge let out a soft sigh. “Originally, I thought my CP had been changed to you too. I didn’t expect it to still be Song Ruyu.”

Luo Jingyi looked back at her meaningfully. “Are you disappointed?”

Chen Ge didn’t dare look her in the eye. “A little…”

“Just a little?”

Chen Ge didn’t know how to respond, fearing she might say the wrong thing and annoy Luo Jingyi again. She stammered, “It’s not just a little, it’s…”

Luo Jingyi caught a glimpse of her ears turning beet red. Noticing the girl’s complexion still wasn’t great, she reined in her desire to tease her, though she felt a bit unsatisfied.

Luo Jingyi knew there was a hospital about 300 meters west of the HY Hotel in Wuyi Mountain. Although she didn’t drive often, her sense of direction was excellent; once she memorized a location, she didn’t need a GPS.

Chen Ge reached for her phone to check the map, but Luo Jingyi said: “Don’t bother with that. I know how to get to the hospital. Just rest for a bit.”

Chen Ge gave a soft “Mhm,” locked her phone, pressed it to her chest, and leaned back with her eyes closed.

Luo Jingyi took a moment to glance over. “How do you feel now?”

Without opening her eyes, Chen Ge replied, “A bit better.”

“Just ‘a bit better’? You aren’t just trying to comfort me, are you?”

“Maybe because we were bickering just now, it distracted me. It really isn’t as bad as it was.”

“So bickering with me can cure illnesses? Good to know. Alright, let’s stop talking. Rest quietly; we’ll be there soon.”

“Thank you, Sister Luo.”

“Don’t mention it,” Luo Jingyi thought. Just call me the ‘White Moonlight’ who does good deeds without seeking fame.

At the hospital, Luo Jingyi told Chen Ge to sit and wait while she handled the registration. When she returned, she found Chen Ge clutching her stomach, hunched over on a blue plastic chair with her head hanging low.

“What’s wrong?” Luo Jingyi hurried over.

“I need the bathroom…” Chen Ge was breaking out in a cold sweat from the effort of holding it in.

“Then go!”

“I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to find me when you got back and you’d worry.”

Luo Jingyi helped her up. “Go, quickly. I can’t believe you actually waited.”

Chen Ge hurried to the restroom and didn’t emerge for quite a while, her steps weak when she finally did. Standing in the middle of the dilapidated little hospital, the tall and striking Luo Jingyi looked like a movie star who had wandered onto the wrong set.

“Diarrhea?” Luo Jingyi walked up to her. Chen Ge nodded.

“Do you have a fever?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Luo Jingyi reached out and felt her forehead; it was covered in a layer of cold sweat. “Your forehead isn’t hot, but is your skin feeling tight?”

“A little. My eyes feel warm, too.” Chen Ge blinked, trying to gauge the temperature of her eyes. Her naturally elongated eyes looked even more like classic “phoenix eyes” now.

“It’s very likely food poisoning.” Luo Jingyi glanced at the consultation room. “It should be our turn. Let’s go.”

Luo Jingyi gripped Chen Ge’s arm and supported her as they walked in. Chen Ge didn’t dare walk too fast; the nausea was still swirling in her chest, and she feared a large stride would bring the urge to vomit back up.

Seeing her shuffling forward, Luo Jingyi assumed she couldn’t walk, so she draped an arm around the girl’s far shoulder, practically pulling her into her embrace. She shielded her with her own body, guiding her slowly into the doctor’s office.

Chen Ge looked up weakly, and Luo Jingyi said to the person in her arms: “If you trip and fall here, it counts as a workplace injury. Feng Yunxin would have to pay up.”

Now that she knew Luo Xin and Director Feng weren’t lovers, Chen Ge didn’t overthink things. Even though Luo Jingyi was holding her, it felt perfectly normal for two straight women.

Chen Ge said, “I’m heavy.”

Luo Jingyi acted indifferent. “Where are you heavy? You’re all thin arms and legs. If I weren’t afraid of jostling you and making you sick, I could carry you bridal-style.”

Inside the office, the doctor examined her. His diagnosis matched Luo Jingyi’s: food poisoning, but fortunately not severe. To prevent dehydration from the vomiting and diarrhea, he ordered an IV drip so they could continue to monitor her.

The doctors here didn’t have computers; prescriptions were still handwritten. The doctor was elderly and wrote slowly, so Luo Jingyi and Chen Ge waited patiently.

Luo Jingyi: “Still feel like vomiting?”

Chen Ge: “A little.”

Luo Jingyi: “Thirsty?”

Chen Ge: “I’m okay…”

Luo Jingyi: “Wait here.”

Luo Jingyi went to the car to get two bottles of water. When she walked back in, she found Chen Ge standing at the door waiting for her.

“Why are you walking around? Aren’t you afraid of falling?”

Chen Ge smiled. “It’s just a bit of food poisoning, it’s not that serious. You don’t have to worry so much, Sister Luo. But thank you for the hard work, driving me all this way and running around for me.”

They walked to the plastic chairs. Chen Ge sat down, while Luo Jingyi remained standing until the nurse came to start the IV.

“Fortunately it isn’t serious, otherwise I’d be guilty of indirect manslaughter,” Luo Jingyi said as she unscrewed the cap of a water bottle and handed it to Chen Ge.

Chen Ge paused as she took the water. “What do you mean?”

“The roast squab from this morning must have been the problem. Why else would you be the only one in the whole crew with food poisoning?”

“The roast squab…” Chen Ge gripped the bottle, bringing it slowly to her lips. Her voice echoed inside the bottle, sounding muffled. “I didn’t eat it.”

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

“I don’t know. Maybe I just haven’t been eating well these past few days…”

Luo Jingyi thought for a moment. “Because you thought Feng Yunxin and I were a couple, you didn’t even eat the food I specifically brought you?”

Chen Ge didn’t answer, looking utterly mortified.

Luo Jingyi (Admonishing her): “So, in your heart, I’m the kind of person who keeps one eye on the bowl and the other on the pot (cheating)?”

The nurse arrived to start the IV. With the nurse there, Luo Jingyi couldn’t very well keep lecturing the patient. Once the drip was set and the nurse left, Luo Jingyi stood directly in front of Chen Ge. “You really are an actress; you have so much ‘inner dialogue’ going on.”

Chen Ge quickly explained: “In this industry, you hear about those kinds of things all the time, so it’s hard not to have those messy associations. I wasn’t familiar with you before and could only infer based on what I thought I knew, so…”

“What kind of ‘messy associations’ have you heard?”

Chen Ge blushed. “You know… affairs, sugar babies, things like that.”

Luo Jingyi: “Why are you blushing? What, has someone tried to ‘sponsor’ you?”

Normally, Luo Jingyi would never ask such a personal question. She wouldn’t pry into privacy, wouldn’t go near someone who was vomiting, and wouldn’t have physical contact—especially not touching someone else’s sweat with her bare hands. If those things usually happened, she would have wanted to flatten the Earth.

But Chen Ge seemed different. Luo Jingyi felt that anything coming from her, even if a bit messy, could just be wiped away; it didn’t disgust her.

Chen Ge watched the medicine drip down and remembered a past event. “Someone suggested it once, but I refused.”

“Oh? Someone wanted to be your ‘patron’?” Luo Jingyi was actually surprised. “What kind of person? An industry big shot?”

“He was a big shot to me.”

Luo Jingyi: “Who? A director? Producer? Investor?”

Chen Ge smiled. “I’d rather not say.”

Luo Jingyi gave a soft “Mhm” and looked at the IV bottle with her. After a moment of silence, she asked: “Is it dripping too fast?”

“It’s okay.”

“How do you feel now?” Luo Jingyi looked at Chen Ge’s slender face. “Still feeling warm?”

Chen Ge felt her forehead. “I don’t think so.”

The two fell into a brief silence. Luo Jingyi, not liking the stiff atmosphere, asked: “You said you were in a Luo Jingyi movie before?”

At the mention of “Luo Jingyi,” Chen Ge’s spirit instantly changed. She sat up straight, her eyes filled with an unmaskable admiration.

“Yes! I was in one a long time ago. That movie flopped; I’m surprised you know about it, Sister Luo.”

Luo Jingyi: “I’m halfway in the industry myself and I love movies. I’ve seen all of Luo Jingyi’s films.”

Chen Ge asked a rare follow-up question: “Do you like Teacher Luo too?”

Luo Jingyi almost laughed. This kid, she gets so happy just talking about me.

“She’s alright,” Luo Jingyi said. “Look how excited you are. You like her that much?”

Chen Ge nodded vigorously. “I’ve seen all her movies, I can recite almost all the lines, and I can perform all the main scenes!”

“Oh? That much effort? She’s written quite a few scripts since she started; you can do them all? That sounds like true love.”

Chen Ge chuckled. Usually a person of few words, she became a chatterbox the moment the subject turned to Luo Jingyi:

“Actually, I just keep the admiration in my heart… I’ve never had the chance to meet her in person. When we filmed Skinny Dipping, Teacher Luo didn’t stay with the crew, so to this day, I don’t even know what she looks like.”

Luo Jingyi: “You’ve never seen her, but you still like her?”

Chen Ge nodded frantically. “I do! I really do! Why do I need to know what she looks like? I don’t like Teacher Luo for her appearance; her inner self is what’s worth liking.”

Luo Jingyi looked down slightly, a satisfied smile on her face.

Chen Ge: “Even if she’s an ugly old lady, I’d still like her.”

Luo Jingyi: “…” I suggest you watch your words.

Chen Ge: “I have to keep working hard. I hope that one day Teacher Luo will notice me again. The reason I haven’t given up on acting is because I have a wish: to one day be in one of Teacher Luo’s projects again!”

Chen Ge was talking to herself in excitement when she noticed “Luo Xin” looking at her with a “silly child” expression. She said a bit embarrassedly:

“Sister Luo, do you think I’m dreaming?”

Luo Jingyi’s expression softened, and her voice slowed down. “A ‘dreamer’ isn’t actually a fool; they are just protecting the ideals in their heart. I think you have a very good chance of becoming Luo Jingyi’s female lead again.”