Foreseeing the Future: The Scheming Film Queen and I Got Married - Chapter 19

No, even if she felt guilty, she absolutely could not show it. If she got embarrassed just because Gu Shiqiu looked at her a couple of times, how humiliating would that be if word got out?

Dong Yao cleared her throat and said, “If you want to look, then look. After all, I am indeed devastatingly beautiful. It’s understandable if you were momentarily captivated by me.”

The moment the words came out, time froze for two seconds.

Gu Shiqiu held back her laughter. Then she could not hold it in anymore. Her shoulders trembled, and she laughed aloud.

Dong Yao flew into embarrassment-fueled anger. “What are you laughing at!”

Sure enough, this kind of shameless bragging was fine in front of her mother and Lin Yunyi, but saying it in front of Gu Shiqiu still made her a little embarrassed.

Dong Yao suddenly regretted saying it like that, but since the words had already been spoken, she could not let her momentum weaken.

Gu Shiqiu was still laughing, as if what Dong Yao had said just now was truly especially funny, when clearly it was not funny at all.

Dong Yao snorted and ignored her, focusing wholeheartedly on painting. She stopped teaching her too.

She was teaching so seriously, but this person had not been listening properly at all and was even laughing at her.

As she painted, she pouted.

“Why does it feel like you’re angry?” Gu Shiqiu said.

How could Dong Yao admit it? Was she supposed to say that because Gu Shiqiu kept looking at her, she felt guilty, and then because Gu Shiqiu laughed at her bragging, she got angry over such a trivial little matter? That was too childish.

“No,” Dong Yao said stiffly.

About a minute passed, and she still did not hear any movement from Gu Shiqiu. Unable to endure it, Dong Yao turned her head and glanced over.

Gu Shiqiu seemed to have expected that she would look over and raised her brows.

For some reason, from Gu Shiqiu’s gentle and beautiful face, Dong Yao somehow saw a hint of something that deserved a beating.

“Are you still learning or not?” Dong Yao said irritably.

Gu Shiqiu nodded. “Of course I’m learning.”

Dong Yao said, “Then I’ll continue.”

“I was looking at you just now because I felt that when you paint, you’re a little different from usual,” Gu Shiqiu explained.

Dong Yao was slightly surprised. “Different?”

Gu Shiqiu only smiled without speaking.

Dong Yao said, “Especially charming, right?”

Gu Shiqiu smiled. This child was not only silly and dazed, but also seemed a little narcissistic.

But very cute.

Gu Shiqiu nodded, not wanting to dampen her mood. “Yes, yes, yes. Especially charming.”

“All right, I won’t mess around with you anymore.” Dong Yao handed the brush to Gu Shiqiu. “Do you want to try it yourself?”

Gu Shiqiu took it. “If I ruin the painting, don’t blame me.”

Dong Yao smiled. “I won’t blame you. Just paint boldly. Worst case, I’ll paint over it and start again.”

Gu Shiqiu held the brush and painted a few strokes according to the method Dong Yao had taught her earlier.

“Not like that,” Dong Yao corrected. “When you paint here, you have to brush in the opposite direction.”

Dong Yao tried to make Gu Shiqiu understand through explanation, but every time, Gu Shiqiu only looked at Dong Yao with a confused expression and then continued painting the wrong way.

It was clearly such a simple point. Why had Gu Shiqiu suddenly become so clumsy?

Dong Yao could not endure it anymore. She reached out, held Gu Shiqiu’s hand, and corrected her. “Not along this direction. Like this. Reverse it. Like this…”

Gu Shiqiu’s gaze fell on their overlapping hands, and her brows lifted.

Dong Yao taught very seriously, guiding Gu Shiqiu’s hand stroke by stroke.

“Like this?” Gu Shiqiu asked.

Dong Yao’s voice rose slightly, delighted. “Yes, yes, yes. Exactly like that.”

She had finally taught her properly. Dong Yao inexplicably felt a sense of accomplishment.

Only belatedly did Dong Yao look at their overlapping hands.

Gu Shiqiu’s hand was a little cold. Holding it in summer was actually quite comfortable…

Dong Yao coughed lightly and pretended to naturally withdraw her hand, hiding it behind her back.

After that, they painted for a while longer. By evening, the sun was setting in the west.

Gu Shiqiu’s gaze fell on the lingering red sunset.

Gu Shiqiu said, “It’s been a long time since I saw such a beautiful sunset.”

Dong Yao’s gaze fell on Gu Shiqiu. The dusky yellow light refracted over her, adding a few more traces of softness and approachability to her already gentle face.

The sunset stretched both their shadows extremely long.

“When are you leaving?” Dong Yao asked.

Gu Shiqiu looked at her. “Are you in such a hurry to chase me away?”

Dong Yao quickly waved her hands. “No, how could I be chasing you away? It’s just that it’s getting late. It’s about time for dinner. If you’re not in a hurry to leave, why don’t you come to my house for dinner?”

After saying that, she felt something was not quite right. Clearly, there was nothing wrong, but Dong Yao still added at the last moment, “My mom’s cooking is pretty good.”

Gu Shiqiu did not decline and immediately agreed. “Sure.”

Because she agreed, Dong Yao’s joy increased by another point. She took out her phone. “Then I’ll call my mom and tell her to prepare food for one more person.”

Gu Shiqiu nodded.

Dong Yao walked to the side and lowered her head to make the call. She did not turn on speaker, and there was a distance of one meter between them, but Zhong Ximei’s loud voice on the other end did not need speaker mode for others to hear it.

“What? You’re bringing a friend home for dinner? What friend? Did you get a boyfriend?” Zhong Ximei shouted excitedly over the phone. “Whose child is he? Is it that boy from the Cheng family? I’ve noticed you’ve been close to Cheng Jun lately. That child isn’t bad either. He and you…”

Dong Yao glanced at Gu Shiqiu and lowered her voice. “Mom, keep your voice down. This is a phone call, not a loudspeaker.”

“It’s not a boyfriend.”

“It has nothing to do with Brother Cheng Jun. Where are you even going with this? It’s a girl.”

After hanging up, Dong Yao put away her phone and walked back over.

“The call is done. Let’s tidy up and go back.” As Dong Yao spoke, she went to pack up the somewhat scattered painting tools.

“I’ll help you.” Gu Shiqiu walked over, squatted down, and helped her pack up.

Dong Yao said, “No need. These pigments can easily dirty your clothes. I’ll do it.”

Gu Shiqiu said, “It’s fine.”

The two of them grabbed the same paintbrush at the same time, and Dong Yao’s palm covered the back of Gu Shiqiu’s hand.

It was cool to the touch.

Dong Yao abruptly withdrew her hand.

Gu Shiqiu laughed softly.

Dong Yao stole a glance at her. What was she laughing at?

Gu Shiqiu said, “You pulled your hand back so quickly. If someone didn’t know better, they’d think my hand had grown barbs and pricked you.”

Dong Yao: “…”

Dong Yao awkwardly explained, “Wasn’t I just afraid you’d think I was taking advantage of you?”

Gu Shiqiu looked at her thoughtfully.

For a moment, Dong Yao could not figure out what her gaze meant.

“What is it?” Dong Yao said.

Gu Shiqiu shook her head.

Dong Yao could not stand this kind of “wanting to say something but not saying it” behavior. “What is it? Say it.”

Gu Shiqiu was helpless and said, “Holding hands doesn’t count as much compared to what you did before.”

Before?

After getting drunk, pulling at someone’s clothes. After spilling noodle soup all over someone, helping wipe it off and ending up wiping somewhere rather inappropriate…

Compared with that, holding hands did indeed not count as taking advantage.

Dong Yao was silent for two seconds, then said very seriously, “Can we not mention before?”

Gu Shiqiu was very easy to talk to. “Okay.”

Thinking about it, it actually was not Gu Shiqiu who had wanted to bring it up. Dong Yao was the one who had insisted on asking, and Gu Shiqiu had only answered because she had no choice.

Dong Yao secretly gritted her teeth. Next time, she absolutely would not ask more just because her mouth felt itchy.

After packing up, Dong Yao picked up the toolbox and walked home together with Gu Shiqiu.

“I’ll help you carry it,” Gu Shiqiu said, looking at the toolbox in her hand.

Dong Yao shook her head. “No need. It’s very light.”

Gu Shiqiu hummed and did not insist.

Along the way, there was no conversation. They had opened up a little more while chatting online, but when they met in real life, Dong Yao still did not know what to talk about.

From childhood until now, Dong Yao had never had this kind of trouble. She could chat with anyone, and she could chat with them happily. But only when she was with Gu Shiqiu did she not know what to talk about.

Not speaking the whole way seemed a little awkward too.

Dong Yao thought left and right. What topic should she find to chat about?

“Can you eat spicy food?” Dong Yao asked.

Gu Shiqiu said, “A little.”

Dong Yao nodded, then fell into a long silence again.

Under the sunset, their shadows overlapped from time to time.

Dong Yao turned her head to look at Gu Shiqiu. Gu Shiqiu happened to look over at the same time, and their gazes collided.

Dong Yao quickly withdrew her gaze and walked forward, looking straight ahead.

“Then what dish do you like eating the most?” Dong Yao began looking for a topic again. No matter how she searched for one, the topic never left food. Of course, they were indeed about to go back and eat.

Gu Shiqiu thought for a moment and said, “Braised pork belly.”

Dong Yao’s eyes lit up. “You like eating that too?”

Gu Shiqiu hummed.

When it came to this, Dong Yao no longer felt the atmosphere was awkward. She immediately became interested. “Then do you like the meat a little firmer, or soft and sticky? I like both kinds, but my favorite is the kind that melts as soon as it enters your mouth. It’s super delicious!”

Gu Shiqiu looked at her eyes, which lit up the moment she talked about food, and smiled. “My taste is about the same as yours.”

About the same? Actually, they were very different. Gu Shiqiu rarely ate things high in oil and fat.

She might have eaten braised pork belly once a few years ago, but she had already forgotten what exactly it tasted like. How could she talk about liking it or not liking it?

But she was very willing to pretend to like it. After all, this little one seemed to really like talking about these things.

Just like learning mural painting earlier. In fact, before that, Jiang Qi had already hired a professional teacher for Gu Shiqiu, and she had studied systematically for over half a month.

She might not be able to paint a complete mural on her own, but she was not so ignorant of the basics. Not to mention, Gu Shiqiu’s learning ability was already faster than most people’s. She did not need the other person to hold her hand and slowly teach her bit by bit.

Gu Shiqiu said, “Later on, if I still have questions about murals, can I keep asking you?”

“Of course. You can ask me any questions you have.” Dong Yao was very happy to be this teacher.

Gu Shiqiu said, “All right. Then I’ll thank you in advance.”

Dong Yao said, “You don’t have to be so polite.”

“I’m not being polite. You asked me to stay for dinner, and I wasn’t polite at all. I just stayed to eat,” Gu Shiqiu said.

Dong Yao smiled foolishly. That seemed to be true.

From far away, Dong Yao waved ahead. “Mom, I’m back.”

When they reached her, Dong Yao introduced her. “Mom, this is the friend I mentioned.”

Gu Shiqiu nodded politely. “Hello, Auntie.”

Zhong Ximei looked at Gu Shiqiu. The girl in front of her had snow-white skin, so pale it seemed translucent. Her appearance was gentle and graceful, like someone who had walked out of a painting.

She looked somewhat familiar, but for a moment, Zhong Ximei could not remember where she had seen her.

“So you’re Dong Yao’s friend. You’re really pretty,” Zhong Ximei praised sincerely. Then she looked at Dong Yao and said, “You should learn from her. Look at what you wear every day. A big T-shirt and a pair of slippers every day. Where’s your girlishness?”

Dong Yao pouted, unhappy.

Gu Shiqiu said, “Auntie, you’re joking. Dong Yao looks very cute dressed like this.”

Dong Yao turned her head to look at Gu Shiqiu.

It seemed she could always hear Gu Shiqiu praising her as cute.

She really did not know what Gu Shiqiu was thinking. How was she cute wearing a big white T-shirt?