Foreseeing the Future: The Scheming Film Queen and I Got Married - Chapter 18

After setting up the tripod and adjusting the shooting angle, Dong Yao took the tools she needed for painting out of the toolbox one by one.

She stepped back a few paces and stood about one meter away from the white wall.

The paintbrush in her hand tapped her cheek from time to time as she frowned, thinking about where to start.

She had already decided yesterday what she was going to paint on this wall.

Braised pork belly.

The inspiration naturally came from the fact that she already liked this dish. But that was not actually the main point. The main point was that some time ago, she had eaten a portion of braised pork belly ordered all the way from the county town.

Although it had gone cold, and the taste was far from as fragrant as when it had just come out of the pot, for some reason, she felt that this braised pork belly was many times more delicious than any she had eaten before.

It was so delicious that she absolutely had to paint it and record it.

Dong Yao looked at the photo she had taken before, then at the wall in front of her. Once she had roughly finished forming the idea, she began painting.

She had just finished cleaning the dust and stains off the wall when she heard someone walking toward her. The footsteps were uneven. It was Uncle Li.

As the saying went, it took a hundred days to recover from injuries to the muscles and bones. Ever since the fire, when a bookcase had smashed onto his leg, Uncle Li’s leg had never fully healed.

“Little Yao, painting again?” Uncle Li walked up to her.

Dong Yao smiled. “Yeah. I’m planning to paint braised pork belly.”

“Why are you thinking about food all day long?” Uncle Li teased her.

Uncle Li glanced at the walls along the road. Five or six out of ten had already been painted on. “If some more time passes and you fill all the walls along this street with paintings, maybe our little town could even become a tourist attraction.”

“Uncle Li, when did your mouth become even sweeter than mine?” Dong Yao teased.

Uncle Li laughed twice, then said, “After my house is rebuilt in a while, when we decorate it, you’ll have to help me paint a flying dragon in the living room.”

“No problem. I’ll definitely paint it super domineering for you, Uncle Li,” Dong Yao agreed readily.

After chatting a little, Uncle Li left. Later, acquaintances passed by from time to time, and every time, Dong Yao smiled and exchanged a few words with them.

Sitting on the A-frame ladder to paint limited her movements. Dong Yao’s neck was sore and stiff. She rolled it slightly, and the creaking of her bones could be clearly heard.

Halfway through rolling her neck, she noticed someone standing below the ladder.

Her long hair fell like a waterfall. She was looking up slightly, her long eyelashes trembling faintly. The shadows of the trees were reflected on her fair skin, making the sight almost dazzling.

One person was above, looking down. One person was below, looking up. At the tail end of summer, they were reflected in each other’s eyes.

Dong Yao’s pupils shrank slightly, and the paintbrush in her hand slipped from her fingers.

With a pat, the brush fell to the ground.

Dong Yao’s body swayed, and the A-frame ladder beneath her feet also shook nonstop. The person below hurriedly steadied the ladder.

“Be careful,” the person below said.

Her voice was as pleasant as always.

Dong Yao hurriedly gripped the edge of the ladder and steadied herself. She lowered her head to look at her. “Why are you here?”

Gu Shiqiu said, “To see you.”

She said it very naturally, as if it were only right. As if Dong Yao lived on First Street and she lived on Second Street, and she had simply walked over for a few minutes to see her.

But Gu Shiqiu’s distance from here was far from something as simple as First Street and Second Street.

She was such a busy person, flying here and there every day for work. For her to come once to such a remote little town, one could imagine how much time it had delayed her.

“Actually, I’m not entirely here to see you. There’s mainly something else too,” Gu Shiqiu added.

Communicating like this, one above and one below, was a little tiring. Dong Yao climbed down from the top of the A-frame ladder.

Gu Shiqiu held the bottom steady to prevent the ladder from slipping.

When Dong Yao reached the last two steps, she jumped straight down. She usually came down like this, and every time, she landed steadily.

But for some reason, today, when she jumped, her foot twisted, and her whole body fell backward.

Gu Shiqiu was quick-eyed and quick-handed. She reached out, pulled Dong Yao, and drew her into her arms.

Dong Yao had just recovered from the weightless feeling of almost falling and had not yet had time to think when she suddenly crashed into a soft embrace.

The familiar faint fragrance lingered around the tip of her nose.

It smelled very good.

“Are you okay?” Gu Shiqiu lowered her head and looked at the person in her arms with concern.

Dong Yao hurriedly pulled herself out of her embrace and smiled awkwardly. “I’m fine. I just didn’t stand steady.”

Gu Shiqiu instructed, “Be more careful next time. Don’t rush and jump down just because you find it troublesome. Climb down step by step.”

Dong Yao nodded like a pecking chicken. But what she was thinking about was not this matter. Instead…

“What perfume do you use?” Whatever she was thinking came straight out of her mouth. “It smells really nice.”

Gu Shiqiu froze for a moment, then laughed. “I’m not in the habit of using perfume.”

Dong Yao blinked, a little stunned. If she did not use perfume, why did she smell so fragrant? Was it the scent of body wash?

Gu Shiqiu glanced at the wall. Only a messy outline had appeared so far, and it was hard to tell what had been painted. “What are you painting?”

“Braised pork belly,” Dong Yao said.

After Dong Yao said it, Gu Shiqiu could indeed seem to make out the shadow of braised pork belly from those messy lines.

Gu Shiqiu said, “Looks like you really do like eating this.”

Dong Yao touched her nose sheepishly. “It’s all right. As long as it’s delicious, I generally like it.”

Gu Shiqiu nodded thoughtfully.

“Right, you said earlier that you came here for something else.” Dong Yao asked, “What is it?”

Dong Yao truly could not figure out what business Gu Shiqiu could possibly have here. The last time Gu Shiqiu appeared here had already been strange enough. Dong Yao had once summed up Gu Shiqiu’s appearance as fate at work.

“To return clothes,” Gu Shiqiu answered.

Dong Yao was not quite sure and asked again, “The outfit I lent you last time?”

Gu Shiqiu nodded.

Dong Yao said, “That outfit isn’t worth much. There’s no need for you to make a special trip just to return it. You could’ve just thrown it away. Or at worst, sent it by express delivery.”

Gu Shiqiu said, “Why does it seem like you don’t want me to come here?”

Dong Yao froze, then quickly shook her head. “No, that’s not what I mean. I just think making a special trip here delays your time. You’re so busy every day. This is too much trouble.”

There was a smile in Gu Shiqiu’s eyes. “It’s not trouble.”

Dong Yao met her smiling, gentle gaze and coughed lightly. Because of those three words, “not trouble,” her expression became somewhat unnatural.

Clearly, Gu Shiqiu had not said anything else, but for some reason, Dong Yao’s face felt hot.

“Then where are the clothes?” Dong Yao tried to change the subject and looked around. Gu Shiqiu’s hands were empty. Where was there any sign of clothes?

“Are they in the car?” Dong Yao asked.

Gu Shiqiu shook her head. “No.”

Dong Yao looked at her in confusion.

Then she saw Gu Shiqiu slowly part her lips and say, “I forgot to bring them.”

She had specially come to return clothes, yet had forgotten to bring the clothes. Dong Yao’s gaze upgraded from puzzled to utterly confused.

Gu Shiqiu lowered her head slightly, closing the distance between them by a fraction, and said, “I did it on purpose.”

Dong Yao looked at the person who had suddenly come closer, and her mind instantly went blank. What had she said? What did she mean? For a moment, Dong Yao could not tell.

“This way, the next time I come to see you, I’ll have another reason.” Gu Shiqiu smiled. Her laugh was very soft, like a refreshing breeze in summer.

Dong Yao came back to herself in a daze. “If you want to come see me, then just come. You don’t need any reason.”

Gu Shiqiu nodded and followed her words. “Is that so? Then next time, I won’t look for a reason.”

Dong Yao looked at her, and her heartbeat began to become embarrassingly uncooperative.

Dong Yao took a step back, putting some distance between them. “Before you came, why didn’t you tell me first? What if I happened to not be home?”

“Work happened to bring me to Tobei, so I decided at the last minute to come over. I did send you a message before coming. Maybe you didn’t see it,” Gu Shiqiu said.

Dong Yao took out her phone and looked. It really was true. When she painted, she usually put her phone on silent.

“Can you teach me this?” Gu Shiqiu pointed at the wall and suddenly asked.

Dong Yao was surprised. “You’re interested in murals?”

Gu Shiqiu laughed softly. “I suppose it counts as interest.”

Gu Shiqiu was clearly saying she was interested in murals, but when Dong Yao heard it, it did not sound quite like that.

Not interested in painting, but interested in the person?

Dong Yao shook her head and warned herself not to be overly confident. Even if Gu Shiqiu was her future partner, judging from their current level of contact, at most Gu Shiqiu thought she was cute and wanted to make a friend.

“I accepted a script. The main character is a mural artist. Although I’ve learned a lot of related knowledge, I haven’t actually tried painting myself, so I wanted you to teach me,” Gu Shiqiu explained.

Dong Yao understood. “All right. If you don’t mind that I’m amateur, I can teach you some basics.”

For the next hour, Dong Yao did her duty conscientiously and told her many basic things.

“When painting shadows, you need to use this kind of brush. If it’s too big or too small, it won’t be easy to control,” Dong Yao demonstrated for her. “First, find the boundary between light and dark. For example, this area should be painted a little deeper, while this area should be relatively darker…”

Dong Yao taught very seriously. The hand holding the brush was slender and straight. When she painted, she was skilled and decisive, her movements smooth and flowing.

Gu Shiqiu’s gaze gradually shifted from the mural to her hand, then to the side of her face.

She usually looked dull and silly, but when she painted, she was rather different.

“If I explain it like this, can you understand…” Dong Yao turned her head to look over.

Their gazes met.

Dong Yao’s words stopped. She felt puzzled. Had Gu Shiqiu been looking at her the whole time just now?

Gu Shiqiu smiled lightly. “I can understand. Continue.”

Dong Yao gave an “oh” and continued painting.

Gu Shiqiu’s gaze once again landed on the side of her face, and the smile in her eyes gradually deepened.

Originally, Dong Yao had been painting very smoothly. Now, she painted a stroke, paused for a moment, painted another stroke, then paused again.

In the end, she really could not take it anymore and looked at Gu Shiqiu. “You’re looking at me, aren’t you?”

Gu Shiqiu raised her brows. “No. I’m looking at the painting.”

Was it her imagination? But Gu Shiqiu was clearly looking at her, and had been staring the whole time. She was staring so much that it made Dong Yao uncomfortable.

“All right, then. Let’s continue. We just talked about painting shadows. Now…”

Suddenly, Dong Yao turned her head.

“See? I told you you were looking at me, and you still wouldn’t admit it. I caught you!”

Gu Shiqiu tilted her head and smiled faintly, as if asking her, I was looking at you, so what?

Dong Yao awkwardly touched her face.

Gu Shiqiu asked, “Am I not allowed to look at you?”

Dong Yao avoided her gaze, her expression awkward. “It’s not that you’re not allowed.”

What was this? Gu Shiqiu was clearly the one secretly looking, so why did Dong Yao feel guilty?