After Being Marked by the Popular Female Lead O (GL) - Chapter 15

Hot water streamed over her body; every drop seemed reluctant to leave. Her long hair was slightly damp. Xie Qingshu remembered Zhou Que was still outside. She wrapped herself in a towel, then, after a moment’s thought, put on a coat.

She was completely covered, with the only exposed part being her slender, delicate calves. As she walked, they swayed gracefully, drawing attention with every step.

Xie Qingshu brushed aside the strands of hair slightly dampened by steam and noticed Zhou Que sprawled on the sofa, her eyes half-closed, looking seductive and hazy, as if unfocused. She was lying listlessly, like a creature without bones. She held something in her hand, but it was hard to tell if she could actually see it. Her clothes were slightly loosened, revealing half of her snow-white shoulder.

Xie Qingshu paused, instinctively frowning, and walked toward the sofa.

Ruthlessness hid in Zhou Que’s eyes. Her teeth lightly ground against each other. If she dares to come closer, I will…

“It’s upside down. Is that how you read a script?” Xie Qingshu suddenly spoke, referring to the book in Zhou Que’s hand.

Zhou Que: “???”

“I—I find it convenient to read it this way.” Her tone suggested a hint of gritted teeth.

Xie Qingshu didn’t understand this habit but nodded in comprehension. However, for some reason, the scent of blue water lily in the air had become much stronger. She couldn’t help but take a few more deep breaths. Although she still felt the oppression was heavy, it was undeniably pleasant.

“It’s late. Run through the scene once, and then you should go back.”

Xie Qingshu didn’t feel she had said anything wrong, but she inexplicably sensed Zhou Que’s gaze become meaningful.

The scene wasn’t difficult; it was just a daily interaction between master and disciple. Yet, for them, it was indeed a little challenging.

Even when Ju Zhan was in seclusion, news of Qin Yun was constantly relayed to her. For example, she sprained her ankle trying to catch a bird, or she fell asleep while copying texts as punishment for being lazy during cultivation, sleeping while copying.

If possible, she could have stayed in seclusion forever, but this time was different. Every disciple needed to receive a ceremony from their master before reaching adulthood. Although Ju Zhan’s status allowed her to delegate the task, more importantly than the ceremony was the fact that Qin Yun had been bullied.

The lights were dim, the bamboo grove thick, and the house was slightly dilapidated. Ju Zhan had never set foot in a place like this. Her hand hovered in the air, hesitant to knock.

A conflict between several disciples arose. They mentioned her, assuming Qin Yun had been abandoned by her master, and started fighting her. Qin Yun was no match for those disciples.

Despite being covered in wounds, she insisted on coming up the mountain to find her.

Ju Zhan, cold and aloof for years, hadn’t felt her heart beat for too long. There was no movement inside. After a moment of hesitation, she chose to enter.

The girl’s shoulder was covered in blood, and even bone was visible. How she endured it was unknown. Her face was pale as she applied medicine to the wound. The hair on her forehead was practically soaked with sweat.

Ju Zhan’s attention was drawn to the wound. If she looked up slightly, she would see the triumphant smile in the corner of the girl’s eye. “Let me help.”

Qin Yun’s eyes widened. “Master knows how to do this?”

Saying this, she actively handed over the medicine.

Ju Zhan knew without even taking it that it was not a good medicine, just the most common herb. A trace of doubt crossed her brow. She took out a white jade bottle from her robe and poured the liquid onto the wound.

Her hand was clumsy, and though the medicine was good, it was applied too roughly.

For a brief moment, Qin Yun’s face turned even paler, almost fainting. Ju Zhan had never taken care of such a fragile thing. She panicked for a second, then suddenly remembered a method she had seen elsewhere. She leaned down and blew a breath onto the wound.

“Are you alright?”

Ju Zhan was surprised to see her little apprentice’s face wasn’t pale anymore, but bright red, looking about to faint. She didn’t dwell on it. A child of this age was simply difficult to understand.

The wound visibly healed before her eyes.

“How could this happen?” her voice was cold. “You don’t need to cover for them.”

Qin Yun moved her lips. “They’re jealous that I am your apprentice.”

Everyone wanted to take Ju Zhan as their master, but she chose an unknown, picked-up child. If they didn’t bully her, they wouldn’t have a reason to get close to Ju Zhan.

“I understand.” Ju Zhan stood up, her back resolute, as if she would never look back. “I have already punished them, but you also violated the rules. When your wound is healed, you will receive your punishment.”

Qin Yun let out a soft chuckle from her nose, showing none of the previous weakness. She subconsciously brushed the spot where Ju Zhan had blown.

It was icy cold there.

The rehearsal went unexpectedly smoothly. It was hard to believe this was their first time collaborating. Xie Qingshu had expected to run through it at least three or four times, but this suggested that her loss of focus during the last scene was just an accident.

Zhou Que lowered her gaze, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

“The scene tomorrow should be easy to get through,” Xie Qingshu said. “The incident from last time shouldn’t happen again.”

The time was long enough. Letting Zhou Que in was an exception, and continuing this might lead to further unforeseen incidents.

Zhou Que didn’t wait for Xie Qingshu to speak and prepared to leave on her own. As she left, she took the character biography section related to Qin Yun. Although Xie Qingshu thought it was useless, she consented since the other woman insisted, and it was just a small document.

Only one light was on in the corridor to save energy. The dim, yellow light was solitary and minimalist, but falling onto the alluring and beautiful Zhou Que, it became strangely ambiguous, making it impossible to look away.

Xie Qingshu suddenly remembered the viral photo sent by that fan on her alternate account. With the real person standing in front of her, the photo only captured her superficial beauty, not the true, authentic charm deep in her bones.

It’s less than three-tenths of the real thing.

“Sister, I forgot to tell you something.” Zhou Que turned her head. Her hair slightly curled with the movement, forming a perfect arc that obscured her deep, unfathomable dark eyes.

Xie Qingshu involuntarily caught her breath and looked intently at her, somewhat puzzled.

“Actually, I was the one who broke character first. Sister didn’t.”

The sound of that sentence echoed in the space. Xie Qingshu didn’t even know how she returned to her room. A faint scent of blue water lily still lingered, slowly dissipating as time passed.

In the end, nothing was left.

When Xiao Zhu woke up in the morning, she found that Xie Qingshu, who was always punctual, was a few minutes late. Although it wasn’t a long delay, it was enough to be surprising.

“It’s fine, let’s do the makeup.” Xie Qingshu rubbed her brow. Solving the issue of breaking character was enough, but she didn’t expect the real headache to be what followed.

The makeup artist had been replaced, switching from the Omega to a Beta. She was a fan of Xie Qingshu, but unlike the previous one, she only spoke occasionally. She assumed Xie Qingshu hadn’t slept well because she was worried about the upcoming shoot.

“Sister Qingshu, your acting is as good as ever, especially in yesterday’s scene. Zhou Que performed quite realistically, too. You two have great CP chemistry, and the ratings will definitely be very high.”

Her tone was calm, but the ending of her sentence trembled slightly.

Heaven knows how excited she was on set, almost screaming like a groundhog, instantly transforming into a key member of the ‘Force Them Together’ fan squad.

Xie Qingshu was momentarily stunned, a faint curve on her lips, as if she had heard something funny. Her and Zhou Que?

The makeup artist flinched. Some people were indeed sensitive about such topics. “I—I didn’t mean anything…”

Xie Qingshu shook her head. Of course, she didn’t take it to heart. “It’s fine.”

The makeup artist breathed a sigh of relief, and her hand movements quickened. There weren’t many changes needed, and soon, the Venerable Master Ju appeared before everyone.

Xiao Zhu, who had followed Xie Qingshu for a long time, had seen many costumes, but her eyes still lit up. She only reacted when her pocket vibrated twice.

“Hello?”

The moment she heard the voice on the other end, Xiao Zhu’s expression became indescribable. She quickly glanced at Xie Qingshu, lowering her voice. “Sister Qingshu is filming. I’m busy!”

She thought she was being secretive, but Xie Qingshu had already noticed.

“Who is it?” she asked.

If it were Song Mei calling, her expression wouldn’t have been like that.

Xiao Zhu stammered a couple of times. “It’s Mo Xun.”

Xie Qingshu paused. It wasn’t nostalgia, but hearing the name suddenly made her struggle to recall who he was.

“I don’t know where he found the number,” Xiao Zhu muttered.

Xie Qingshu coughed twice. No wonder Mo Xun found Xiao Zhu. I blocked all his contact information and politely told him to get lost.

If it weren’t for this phone call, she wouldn’t have remembered this detail.

Preparations for the shoot on the other side were complete, and Xie Qingshu had no reason to delay.

“Ignore it. Just block him.”

Xiao Zhu had already done so without being told.

Xie Qingshu didn’t have time to dwell on this. Perhaps because she had rehearsed the night before, this shooting session went much better than expected.

Even the notoriously picky Deng Yue couldn’t find fault.

Xie Qingshu specifically noticed that Zhou Que’s assistant had not shown up.

“If this keeps up, we can significantly reduce the budget,” Deng Yue quickly calculated the finances in his head, suddenly feeling unhappy about saving money for a certain investor. “Why did they suddenly become so harmonious?”

This harmony didn’t refer to cooperation but the atmosphere interwoven between the characters.

Given their relationship, he thought they would be at a stalemate for at least a few days.

Xie Qingshu also thought the effect was good and raised an eyebrow. “We practiced privately. Didn’t you know, Director?”

Deng Yue, who had just taken a sip of water, nearly choked and turned red. Although they had wrapped up early yesterday, as far as he knew, it would take them until at least midnight to practice and find their rhythm.

He blurted out, looking surprised, “Zhou, Zhou Que was willing? Someone else earlier…”

The words were spoken, and it was too late to take them back, and Xie Qingshu didn’t give him the chance.

She pursed her lips. Although she rarely saw the darkness of the entertainment circle, she wasn’t completely naive. From the time Zhou Que emerged from the shower, her attitude changed quickly and was not without clues. She had already been suspicious then.

She kept her voice low, ensuring no one around could hear. “Did Zhou Que have an incident like that before?”

A trace of struggle flashed in Deng Yue’s eyes. He didn’t believe Xie Qingshu would talk about it. He gritted his teeth and finally spoke. “I don’t know much about it. When Zhou Que first started acting, she met a director, and it was a similar situation. Anyway, nothing came of it in the end.”

Xie Qingshu couldn’t help but clench her fist, her breathing growing heavy. She had read that press release, though the version she read was the opposite, claiming Zhou Que had deliberately seduced the director.

The story was vividly fabricated, and the stream of abusive comments continued endlessly for pages.

“Actually, Zhou Que isn’t someone who lets herself be bullied easily…” Deng Yue said vaguely.

The downfall of the Bai family was only a matter of time. At least, that director now had completely disappeared without a trace.