Foreseeing the Future: The Scheming Film Queen and I Got Married - Chapter 3

Dong Yao hurriedly pressed down on her hand and could not help stammering, “W-wait a second.”

Gu Shiqiu turned her hand over and pinned Dong Yao’s wrist down, taking advantage of the motion to press her down. “I can’t wait.”

Dong Yao was about to say something else, but Gu Shiqiu sealed her lips, leaving her unable to utter another word.

Just at this critical moment, a voice called by her ear.

“Little Yao, why did you fall asleep again? If you sleep now, will you still sleep tonight? The food is ready. Come help carry the dishes.” Zhong Ximei’s voice came from far away.

Before Dong Yao could react, Gu Shiqiu, who had been pressing down on her and making trouble, disappeared.

Zhong Ximei called for a long while, but when Dong Yao still did not come over, she poked her head out from the kitchen window. “Why is your face so red?”

Zhong Ximei turned off the stove and walked out of the kitchen. “Do you have a fever?”

“Your face is abnormally red.” Zhong Ximei felt Dong Yao’s forehead. There was nothing unusual, but she was still worried. “I’ll go get the thermometer.”

Dong Yao grabbed her hand. “No need, Mom. I don’t have a fever.”

“Your face is this red. No, we have to take your temperature, or I won’t feel at ease.” Zhong Ximei took out the spare medicine kit.

Medical care in the small town was underdeveloped. There was only one clinic, and it operated from nine to five. If someone had a sudden illness in the middle of the night, there was nowhere to buy medicine, so they always kept emergency medicine at home.

Zhong Ximei shook the thermometer. “Put it in your mouth.”

Dong Yao was helpless and bit down on the thermometer. Although she knew very clearly that she did not have a fever, she really did not have the face to say that she had had an erotic dream—and that the person in the dream had been a woman.

The drama was still playing on the television. The female lead, Gu Shiqiu, smiled at the camera, her glance graceful and lively, exactly the same as the person in the dream.

Exactly the same. Yet somehow, not the same.

The Gu Shiqiu on TV had clean, gentle eyes.

The Gu Shiqiu in the dream had eyes that were too… full of desire.

Her face heated up again.

Zhong Ximei frowned worriedly. “Why is your face getting redder and redder? It should be about time. Let me see.”

“Thirty-six point seven degrees. No fever. Has this thermometer been unused for too long and gone bad?” Zhong Ximei looked at the thermometer from left to right.

Dong Yao snatched the thermometer and coughed unnaturally. “I’m fine. I’m not feeling unwell. It’s just stuffy today. Too hot.”

Zhong Ximei studied her carefully. Seeing that, other than her face being a little red, there seemed to be nothing wrong with her, she finally felt temporarily reassured.

Dong Yao silently let out a breath of relief. As if trying to cover things up, she turned off the TV. For the time being, she really did not dare look at the person on the screen again.

Although the TV was off, her mind was still active.

Finally, she took out her phone and typed into the search bar: A woman dreams of kissing a woman…

Her fingers paused several times on the following words. As if too embarrassed to say them aloud, she hesitated and slowly typed them out.

A woman dreams of kissing a woman and quite enjoys it—why?

Top liked answer one: Because you like women.

Dong Yao frowned.

She looked at the second answer: Dreams are naturally wild and unconstrained. It is not strange to dream of anything, and most dreams have little connection to reality.

Dong Yao’s brows relaxed.

She let out a long breath and exited the search page.

That was true. It was only a dream. Why think so much about it?

Dong Yao took out her sketchbook and began drawing casually, trying to use it to shift her attention.

Dong Yao had always drawn rather casually. If she saw a butterfly fly past, she drew a butterfly. If she saw a bicycle pass by, she drew a bicycle.

She rarely drew people, but today, the moment she picked up her pen, she unconsciously started drawing a person. When the rough outline of the sketch appeared, Dong Yao’s expression froze, and only then did she come back to her senses.

Why had she drawn Gu Shiqiu?

Dong Yao looked at the person on the paper. The hand holding the pen stopped, then moved, then stopped again. In the end, she crumpled the paper into a ball, raised her hand, and threw it toward the trash can.

A perfect shot.

She let out a long breath of turbid air and forced herself not to think about the things from the dream anymore.

One minute later, Dong Yao stood up, picked the paper back out of the trash can, spread it open, pressed out the wrinkles, and finally tucked the paper into the last page of her sketchbook.

She had already drawn it. Why throw it away? She might as well keep it.

Dong Yao turned to a new page and thought about what she should draw, but her mind seemed bewitched. It was Gu Shiqiu, and still Gu Shiqiu.

“What are you thinking about? You look like you’re facing some bitter, deep hatred. What, did you run into some difficult problem?” A person walked in through the shop entrance. Her hair fell past her shoulders. She wore a loose white T-shirt, casual shorts, and a pair of slippers.

Her outfit was rather similar to Dong Yao’s. This person was Dong Yao’s “little childhood sweetheart,” someone she had grown up playing with since they were small.

“Why do you have time to come over today? No classes at school?” Dong Yao looked at her with slight surprise.

Lin Yunyi walked in. “Have you been so busy that your brain stopped working? Today is Sunday. The students are all on break. Am I supposed to teach the air?”

Lin Yunyi sat opposite her and familiarly picked up the teapot on the table to pour herself some water.

After gulping down a cup of water, she said, “This damned weather. I’m almost dying from the heat.”

Dong Yao smiled. “Since it’s this hot, instead of hiding at home, you still came to find me.”

“Isn’t that because I missed you? You heartless thing. I think about you every day. Have you ever thought about me?” Lin Yunyi looked at her indignantly.

Dong Yao ingratiatingly poured her another cup of water. “My fault, my fault. Drink some water.”

Lin Yunyi snorted but did not argue with her. She leaned over to glance at Dong Yao’s sketchbook. “What are you drawing?”

Dong Yao said, “Braised chicken with rice. After I finish drawing it, I’ll go act pitiful in front of my mom and make her cook it for me.”

Lin Yunyi: “…”

Lin Yunyi said she had come to hang out with Dong Yao, but in truth, the two of them did not really do anything together. Dong Yao focused on drawing her braised chicken with rice, while Lin Yunyi focused on playing with her phone.

When Lin Yunyi saw something funny, she shoved her phone over, then laughed so hard at the comedy video that she could barely catch her breath.

After that, the two of them went back to doing their own things.

“Want ice cream?” Dong Yao asked.

Lin Yunyi glanced toward the kitchen. “Your mom isn’t here?”

Dong Yao nodded.

Lin Yunyi raised her brows, then finally could not hold it in and burst out laughing. “We’re not that young anymore. Why do we still have to eat ice cream behind our parents’ backs?”

Dong Yao was somewhat helpless. “Who knows. What flavor do you want?”

“Just an old popsicle. For cooling down in summer, nothing beats it,” Lin Yunyi said.

Dong Yao put down her sketchbook and got up to walk outside.

A corner of the sketchbook revealed half a sheet of paper. Curious, Lin Yunyi reached out and pulled the paper out.

Dong Yao wanted to stop her, but before she could speak, the paper had already been pulled out.

Lin Yunyi examined the wrinkled drawing paper in her hand, which had clearly been crumpled into a ball before. She was a little surprised. “You drew a portrait?”

Dong Yao touched her nose and hummed in acknowledgment.

Lin Yunyi said, “Didn’t you dislike drawing portraits?”

Dong Yao smiled. “It’s not that I dislike it. I just picked up the pen and casually drew a little.”

Lin Yunyi looked at her resentfully. “Back then, I begged you countless times to draw me a cartoon portrait, and no matter what I said, you refused. How come you can draw someone else? I want to see who this is…”

Lin Yunyi was about to take a closer look, but Dong Yao snatched the drawing back first. “No one.”

Lin Yunyi spread out her hand. “Give it to me. Why are you being so secretive? What’s going on? Did you secretly find someone behind my back?”

Dong Yao pretended to be confused. “There’s nothing worth seeing.”

Lin Yunyi narrowed her eyes. “Don’t force me to grab it!”

They remained in a stalemate for three seconds, ultimately ending with Dong Yao compromising. Anyway, it was only half-drawn. It had not even taken proper shape as a line sketch. If Lin Yunyi wanted to look, then she could look. Dong Yao figured she would not be able to tell what it was.

“It looks a little familiar.” Lin Yunyi tilted her head and carefully studied the sketch.

Dong Yao snatched the drawing back again. “What familiar? I drew it casually. Do you still want your popsicle or not? If you don’t, then just stay hot.”

Dong Yao tried to shift the topic away, but unexpectedly, Lin Yunyi suddenly jumped up. “It’s Gu Shiqiu, right? I knew she looked familiar. You actually drew my ultimate bias. Did my recommendation finally work? You’ve fallen in love with her too, haven’t you?!”

Dong Yao said, “Why are you making such a fuss? Who are you trying to scare to death?”

Lin Yunyi placed her hand on Dong Yao’s shoulder and spoke earnestly. “Don’t worry and love her freely. She absolutely won’t have a scandal and let you down. My Shiqiu is extremely career-minded. Not a single rumor about her. A beauty in her prime, flourishing in singing, acting, and variety shows. Super capable. She’s worth your love!”

Dong Yao pried her hand away. “All right, I know.”

Lin Yunyi placed her hand on Dong Yao’s shoulder again. “No, you don’t.”

Dong Yao rubbed her forehead. Fine, she understood. This fanatic fan was about to start again.

“My Shiqiu has developed in film, television, and music. She debuted as a child star and was voted number one for the perfect face three years in a row. In 2015, she won the Golden Melody Award for Best Composer with the song Hibiscus. That same year, The Legend of Xiyun won her the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress…”

Dong Yao’s head was about to ache from listening. Lin Yunyi had not gotten tired of repeating these same things over and over, but Dong Yao could almost recite them by heart.

At this moment, Dong Yao even began to suspect that the reason she had those dreams was very likely because Lin Yunyi kept chanting about Gu Shiqiu beside her ears every day. Otherwise, there was really no explanation.

Dong Yao nodded perfunctorily. “I know, I know. She’s amazing, that’s all.”

Lin Yunyi said, “You don’t know. Can her greatness be summed up with just the word ‘amazing’? Have you watched Career Encounter, which has recently been airing on satellite TV? I reminded you a thousand times. Don’t tell me you didn’t watch it. It’s a TV drama starring my Shiqiu. If you don’t watch it, you’re missing out big time!”

Dong Yao: “…”

“Are you even listening?”

“Shut up.”

“I won’t.”

“Scram.”

“I won’t.”

Dong Yao could not be bothered to deal with her. She went out to the small convenience store not far away to buy popsicles.

When she came back, Lin Yunyi had finally quieted down. Her head was resting on the table as she watched videos.

“Here.” Dong Yao handed her a popsicle.

Lin Yunyi took the popsicle, but her eyes did not leave her phone.

“What are you watching so intently? Eat the popsicle first. It’s almost melting.” Dong Yao curiously glanced at her screen.

Lin Yunyi bit open the packaging with her teeth. “What else would I be watching? Of course, my baby Shiqiu.”

Dong Yao: “…”

“Look at this.” Lin Yunyi placed her phone in front of Dong Yao. “Tobei stop. My Shiqiu’s national concert tour. The next stop is Tobei City.”

Dong Yao took a bite of the popsicle. The icy coolness instantly dispelled most of the summer heat. As for Lin Yunyi’s words, she merely gave a careless “oh.”

“I want to go watch it. Tobei isn’t far from here. When the time comes, want to go together?” Lin Yunyi asked.