After Taking Advantage Of An Opening [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 12

Ji Chenxi knocked for quite some time without receiving a response and assumed Gu Rongqing hadn’t awakened yet. Then she heard voices inside the room.

One belonged to Gu Rongqing.

The other sounded like Wen Ling.

Ji Chenxi’s expression darkened. She clenched her fist and knocked again.

Inside the room, Wen Ling kept her head lowered, not daring to look at Gu Rongqing. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl into a crack in the floor and disappear.

The knocking continued, but Gu Rongqing didn’t move, so Wen Ling didn’t dare move either.

Remembering what she had just blurted out, Wen Ling wanted to slap herself. Nothing had happened between them, yet her own mouth had landed her in trouble.

After a while, Wen Ling forced herself to look up at Gu Rongqing and discovered that Gu Rongqing had been staring at her.

Following her gaze, Wen Ling realized that Gu Rongqing was looking at her legs.

Wen Ling’s face reddened…

She drew her legs farther beneath the blanket but accidentally brushed against Gu Rongqing’s.

Only when their legs touched did Gu Rongqing return to her senses. Remembering what she had been doing, she became embarrassed…

She had merely noticed that Wen Ling’s legs were fair and straight. She couldn’t resist looking, and then… she had been caught.

“Rongqing… Ji Chenxi is outside.”

“…So?”

“I should hide first. Then you can open the door.”

Wen Ling prepared to stand as she spoke, but the moment she rose, the blanket slipped from her body.

She stood completely naked before Gu Rongqing.

Wen Ling hurriedly covered all the important areas. Gu Rongqing turned her head away, the tips of her ears bright red.

Gu Rongqing never looked up again.

Only after Wen Ling slowly shuffled into the bathroom did Gu Rongqing get dressed and open the door.

The moment the door opened, Ji Chenxi glanced into the room.

She didn’t see Wen Ling.

“Rongqing, is someone in your room?”

“No.”

Ji Chenxi nodded and prepared to enter, but Gu Rongqing showed no intention of letting her inside. She remained in the doorway, looking at her.

“Is there anything else?”

“You’re filming today. I was worried you might not wake up.”

“I’m awake.”

Gu Rongqing was about to close the door when Ji Chenxi’s sharp eyes noticed something on her neck.

“Rongqing… You…”

Ji Chenxi gestured toward her own neck, then pointed at Gu Rongqing’s.

Gu Rongqing didn’t immediately understand. She touched her neck but didn’t feel anything.

Then she noticed Ji Chenxi’s expression darken…

“I…”

Before Gu Rongqing could say anything, Ji Chenxi interrupted her.

“Don’t be late for filming.”

With that, Ji Chenxi left.

Gu Rongqing continued touching her neck. Then, suddenly realizing something, she hurried back into the room and found a mirror.

Sure enough, Wen Ling had left a mark there.

Afterward, Gu Rongqing finally let the stark-naked Wen Ling out of the bathroom.

But when Wen Ling returned to her own room, she received an even greater shock.

Two naked women were lying on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms…

Lin Xu woke the moment Wen Ling entered. She rubbed her eyes, and when she saw Wen Ling standing there, she was startled too.

Then she looked at the person beside her and hurriedly pulled the blanket up to cover both of them completely.

“Sister Wen Ling… Um…”

Liang Mei shifted on the bed and woke up.

She was also bewildered by the scene.

“You two should get dressed.”

Wen Ling turned around and retreated into the bathroom.

Who could have imagined that nothing had happened between her and Gu Rongqing, while these two had actually slept together?

Seriously!

It was enough to make her jealous.

So what if they had sex lives? Did that make them so impressive?

By the time Wen Ling emerged, Liang Mei had already left.

Lin Xu was sitting on the bed waiting for her, looking somewhat embarrassed when she appeared.

“Sister Wen Ling, Sister Liang Mei and I…”

“I understand. Two single women alone in the same room—these things are bound to happen.”

Wen Ling waved dismissively, then threw herself onto the bed and tightly gripped the corner of the blanket.

She felt terribly bitter inside.

Last night, she and Gu Rongqing had also been two single women alone in the same room. Gu Rongqing had even taken the initiative, yet Wen Ling had…

She shouldn’t have overthought everything!

Several days passed after that incident.

Filming officially began, while Wen Ling continued avoiding Gu Rongqing. She stayed away from the set whenever possible, and when she had to be there, she made herself as inconspicuous as she could.

Even Lin Xu began to resent it. Wen Ling’s behavior left her with no time to chat with Sister Liang Mei.

Whenever Wen Ling did appear on set, she saw Ji Chenxi almost every day.

Each time they met, Wen Ling felt as though Ji Chenxi’s gaze could shoot flames at her.

After hiding for several days, Wen Ling finally reached a scene she couldn’t avoid: Jin Nanfeng and Fang Cao’s first kiss.

This was a scene Wen Ling considered particularly important, so she had to be present during filming.

It followed the scene Xu Mengmeng had performed during her audition.

After Jin Nanfeng discovered Fang Cao’s secret, the two opened their hearts and confided in each other. Fang Cao told Jin Nanfeng everything that had happened to her family, while Jin Nanfeng confessed that she didn’t love her fiancé at all.

Fang Cao had another secret.

She had loved Jin Nanfeng since childhood.

As the two sought warmth and comfort in each other’s arms, Fang Cao lost control and kissed Jin Nanfeng.

Caught completely off guard, Jin Nanfeng slapped her.

By the time Wen Ling arrived on set, Gu Rongqing was already there, rehearsing the scene with Xu Mengmeng.

They ran through it several times, but Xu Mengmeng still couldn’t find the right emotional state. Gu Rongqing patiently continued rehearsing with her, showing no impatience whatsoever.

Wen Ling watched from the side without intending to approach.

Then Gu Rongqing noticed her.

Wen Ling tried to hurry over to Director Li Xin, but Xu Mengmeng ruined her plan.

“Sister Wen Ling!”

“Uh… Mengmeng. Teacher Gu.”

Left with no choice, Wen Ling forced herself to greet them.

Gu Rongqing didn’t even look at her.

“Sister Wen Ling, could you explain this scene to me? I keep feeling that something isn’t right.”

“Teacher Gu can help you perfectly well…”

“It’s your work. I don’t understand it as well as you do.”

Wen Ling hadn’t expected Gu Rongqing to say that.

Now she had no choice but to help.

“Which part?”

“The part where Fang Cao kisses Jin Nanfeng. Something about it keeps feeling wrong. I’ve never secretly loved anyone before… so I can’t quite capture it.”

“Ahem… Well…”

Wen Ling glanced at Gu Rongqing awkwardly.

When it came to unrequited love… she certainly had the right to speak.

“Fang Cao has secretly loved Jin Nanfeng since they were young, so her feelings should be extremely deep. If you’ve never experienced feelings like that, you can imagine an object you love. It could be a doll or anything else.”

“Feelings accumulate over time. For instance, you may like many dolls, but the first one that accompanied you will always be different. It might have been with you through your fear and your happiness.”

“Secretly loving someone is actually rather similar.”

“That person may have given you warmth like that doll. They are a lamp illuminating your dark life—a source of companionship and faith.”

“In your eyes, that person is the most wonderful being in the world. Their every movement and every smile affects you. You feel happy because of them and sad because of them.”

“They have always been beyond your reach. Then one day, you suddenly discover that they’re standing beside you.”

“You want to reach out and touch them, but you’re afraid. You fear that it’s only a dream and that it will shatter. Yet you’re also afraid that if you don’t touch them, you’ll never have another chance.”

The more Wen Ling spoke, the more she remembered what it had been like to secretly love Gu Rongqing.

Back then, that must have been exactly how she felt.

But now, the dream had shattered.

Xu Mengmeng watched Wen Ling’s expression rise and fall like a roller coaster. She had seemed happy at first, but now she looked somewhat sad.

Gu Rongqing also wanted to ask whom Wen Ling had been thinking about.

Was it her?

When Wen Ling returned to her senses, she discovered both women staring at her and became uncomfortable.

“Sister, are you all right?” Xu Mengmeng asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Do you understand the feeling I described?”

Xu Mengmeng said she understood it a little better now.

Wen Ling told the two women to rehearse again, then returned to Director Li Xin and sat down to wait for filming to begin.

After watching them rehearse, Wen Ling nodded.

“All right. Let’s prepare to film.”

She returned to sit beside Director Li Xin.

This time, the scene progressed smoothly. Both women’s gazes and emotions felt right.

But when they reached the kiss, Xu Mengmeng made a mistake.

After the third failed take, Director Li Xin told her to take a moment and adjust her state of mind.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Xu Mengmeng apologized to Gu Rongqing, Director Li Xin, and the rest of the crew.

Wen Ling walked over and asked what was wrong.

Xu Mengmeng hesitated without answering.

Every time Wen Ling watched Xu Mengmeng wrap an arm around Gu Rongqing’s slender waist and lean down to kiss her, she felt uncomfortable.

And Xu Mengmeng had failed three times!

She had embraced Gu Rongqing three times!

“I’m just a little…”

“Wen Ling, she’s already nervous. Don’t scold her.”

Wen Ling was already unhappy. Hearing Gu Rongqing defend Xu Mengmeng made her feel even worse.

She irritably asked Xu Mengmeng, “Everything felt right earlier. Why do you keep failing at the final moment?”

“Kissing my own sister-in-law feels far too strange!”

Xu Mengmeng’s answer rendered Wen Ling speechless.

Gu Rongqing looked at Xu Mengmeng in confusion.

“Sister-in-law?”

“Why am I your sister-in-law?”

Gu Rongqing’s gaze moved between the two women.

Both of them lowered their heads and remained silent.

Wen Ling: “…”

Xu Mengmeng: “…”

Even someone as oblivious as Gu Rongqing began to understand.

Wen Ling was Xu Mengmeng’s older sister.

That meant Xu Zhe was Wen Ling’s older brother.

They had been married for so many years, yet Gu Rongqing had never known any of this.

“Wen Ling, are you connected to Yiyang?”

Wen Ling opened her mouth to explain, only to discover that she couldn’t find anything to say.

She truly had concealed it from Gu Rongqing.