Substitute Lover [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 82

The night was intensely dark.

Only scattered lights were visible in the tall buildings; the city had fallen asleep.

The faint light of the street lamp gently spilled down. Two figures leaned against each other under the light, their long hair slightly messy from the night wind.

“Are you tired?”

Jiang Cha leaned in, wrapping her arms around Ji Fan’s waist, gently rubbing her chin against the warm, soft hollow of her shoulder, delicately kissing her neck, and soothing her softly, “It’s late, let’s go home.”

Ji Fan calmed her breathing and explained, “It’s not tiredness.”

“Then what is it?”

Jiang Cha looked up. In the darkness, her eyes were gentle and moving, holding a faint, watery sheen.

Ji Fan stroked her waist.

When they were kissing, she was extremely proper, polite, and restrained, yet this left Jiang Cha feeling very unsatisfied in her heart, with an unspoken yearning. Jiang Cha could feel that Ji Fan clearly wanted to rub something else, but she always patiently held her gently, continuously stroking her waist.

“It’s a lack of oxygen.”

Ji Fan leaned against the trunk of the banyan tree behind her, recovering her breath, gradually becoming sober.

A lack of oxygen?

The first time Jiang Cha and Ji Fan practiced kissing before, it was also due to lack of oxygen. She was kissed so hard she didn’t know how to breathe, panting while kissing. Both of them were blushing, like flames that ignite on contact, passionate and clumsy, without any technique.

Jiang Cha couldn’t help but laugh, “Take it slow.”

She tilted her head and pecked Ji Fan’s earlobe: “Things you’ve forgotten, you can learn slowly. I’ll teach you how to breathe while kissing.”

Ji Fan seemed a little defiant. She wiped the moisture from her red lips with her index finger, pulled Jiang Cha closer, and kissed her forehead: “Again.”

Jiang Cha quickly retreated: “No, no, no.”

Ji Fan looked at her, her expression very hurt.

“Be obedient,” Jiang Cha kissed her snow-white, jade-like nose tip and smiled:

“I can teach you other things later.”

Other things?

Ji Fan recalled the image of them tangled together naked on a certain night, and her cheeks flushed slightly, her fair fingertips curling up.

The two held hands and went upstairs.

She looked at Jiang Cha, noticing her slightly translucent jawline above her neat, spotless, snow-white collar, her red lips slightly pursed. Due to the intense kissing just now, they were somewhat engorged, their color vivid and shape full.

She really wanted to continue.

The feeling just now was less about being tired and more about being floaty, like walking on clouds. The slight dizziness made her feel disoriented.

A few more days passed, and Ji Fan asked her if she wanted to move back.

Jiang Cha had previously told Ji Fan that she also had a villa in the city and mostly stayed there. The reason they were currently staying where they were was that Jiang Cha was filming recently, and the location was close to the film studio.

Ji Fan believed her.

Now that Ji Fan suggested moving back, Jiang Cha couldn’t find a single reason to refuse.

So she agreed.

Perhaps going to the place where she used to live would help Ji Fan remember something?

They moved early in the morning.

After driving down a long, white road circling the mountain, they arrived at the lakeside mountain villa. Below the sky, new greenery surged like a tide with the wind. Through the window glass, buildings of different appearances dotted the mountainside, looking somewhat deserted.

The black Phantom stopped in front of the gate.

A beautiful, fair hand opened the driver’s door, followed by the tap of a slender high heel on the ground.

The woman stooped out and straightened up.

Ji Fan took off her sunglasses, clipped them onto the neckline of her shirt, and squinted at her former residence. Strangely, it felt quite unfamiliar, not leaving as deep an impression as the house where Jiang Cha had stayed before.

“We’re here?” she turned back.

Jiang Cha got out of the car. The driver turned the car around and drove away. A gray-haired man walked out of the mansion, jogging over.

“Ms. Ji.”

The person who came was Uncle Liu, the butler. Jiang Cha reacted first, calling out “Uncle Liu,” and then whispered into Ji Fan’s ear to remind her, “Your butler.”

Ji Fan nodded slightly.

“Little Ms. Ji is finally back.”

The butler had followed her father and had practically watched her grow up. He always treated her like the eldest daughter, calling her “Little Ms. Ji” when she was a teenager. Over time, he habitually continued to use that address.

Ji Fan felt a sense of familiarity now, as if in a dream.

The layout and belongings in the old house felt familiar. Ji Fan walked through the porch and entered her bedroom, suddenly noticing a photo frame on the bedside table.

The black and white photo, illuminated by faint red candlelight, instantly overlapped with the fragmented memories of her dream.

Who was she?

Why was the photo black and white?

Ji Fan suddenly started to have a headache. She slowly crouched down. Jiang Cha saw this from the doorway and immediately flipped the photo over, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Ji Fan just shook her head.

Jiang Cha looked at her, worried.

She picked up the photo from the bedside table and looked at it. The photo was black and white; the person in it was likely her mother. Her features resembled Ji Fan’s, and her eyes were clean, but her temperament was gentle and soft, unlike Ji Fan’s sharpness.

Was this… a portrait of the deceased?

Had she remembered something? Ji Fan didn’t speak, a blurry emotion flashing across her face. Her fair profile was obscured by her long hair, only revealing a slight furrow in her brow.

Since Ji Fan didn’t mention it, Jiang Cha didn’t bring it up again. However, since returning here, Ji Fan seemed especially clingy. Having tasted intimacy, her gaze would drift over from time to time, settling on Jiang Cha’s lips.

Her lips were very beautiful, vermilion, smooth, and soft. Her tongue would briefly lick them, leaving a moist sheen.

Spending time together often involved hugging and embracing. After hugging for a long time, kissing inevitably started again.

Ji Fan’s kissing skills improved rapidly. As they kissed, she slowly discarded her “bottom” identity and began to dominate. This feeling gradually overlapped with the person Jiang Cha missed from the past. Overwhelmed by longing, Jiang Cha only wrapped her arms around Ji Fan’s fair, jade-like neck, kissing her back, even more fervently.

She missed her so much.

When would she finally remember?

In early May, the peonies were white, the pomegranates red, and the water lilies green.

Everything was reviving, and the rain was abundant.

Song Baiwei told her that she planned to change the strategy.

Abandon Berlin and try the Cannes Film Festival.

The Cannes Film Festival was in mid-May, which was just in time, meaning they wouldn’t have to wait until the beginning of the following year. However, Song Baiwei was actually more familiar with the Berlin Film Festival, which takes place every February. She had submitted several previous films to Berlin.

This time, it was a bit of a risk.

The three major international film festivals all have clear requirements: the film must premiere at the festival. This meant that if they premiered at Cannes and didn’t win, they wouldn’t have a chance at Berlin the following February.

Jiang Cha felt uneasy.

She deliberately researched the winning works of each previous festival, analyzing the tastes of the judges. She found that most of the time, if the quality of the participating films wasn’t very high, the winners were usually very predictable, relying on strength. But if the participating films were all high quality and the difference was not obvious, it was hard to say.

On the one hand, it depended on the jury’s taste; on the other, it depended on the theme.

Niche themes and arthouse films are generally more likely to win than commercial films.

This applied to the film itself, and the same went for the Best Actress award.

This film had dual female leads.

If there was a vast difference in acting between her and Luo Yan, then who would win would be certain. But what if the difference wasn’t that significant?

Would it depend on the judges’ preferences?

Jiang Cha felt inexplicably uneasy. She scrolled down and suddenly flipped to a page.

It was a news push notification.

[The Cannes International Film Festival Organizing Committee announced that the famous director and screenwriter known as the “Eye of God,” Pedro Almodóvar, will serve as the jury president for this year’s festival.]

The position of the jury president is very high. In many cases, the taste of the entire jury essentially follows the president’s lead.

Jiang Cha started researching this director and found that Luo Yan had played a supporting role in one of his films.

Although it was a very small role.

But having this connection put Luo Yan in a more advantageous position than her.

Jiang Cha was an unknown entity.

The hope was slim.

She would certainly have to walk the film festival red carpet with Luo Yan. The media would inevitably start whispering again, saying she couldn’t compare to the award-winning actress. If she didn’t win the award, clapping along and watching someone else ascend to godhood would be somewhat embarrassing and awkward.

They were not in the same league.

It was obvious who was the background and who was the long shot.

Jiang Cha sighed softly.

She was grateful to Song Baiwei for giving her this opportunity and shouldn’t be greedy.

She had already had such a wonderful filming experience.

That was enough.

Jiang Cha fell into a state of confusion.

Besides her career, there was also her relationship.

She wasn’t deeply involved in the industry, and most of the people she knew were outside the circle. When problems arose, she had no one to talk to and sought help from enthusiastic netizens. Since the tieba she used to document her life had been overrun by netizens, Jiang Cha had to open another forum and post an inquiry on a certain platform (sky).

[Requesting advice on how to successfully execute a counter-attack?]

Jiang Cha concisely described her situation:

[OP is planning a long-anticipated counter-attack, but whenever her partner starts getting handsy, OP gives in and becomes the bottom again qaq. Why is this?]

Based on past experience, if she only posted one sentence, the thread would disappear quickly. She thought for a moment and then posted a picture.

A photo of Ji Fan’s hand.

She had forgotten when she took it. The background was a glass window wet with rain. The pale, almost transparent hand gently touched the cool glass. The faint blue veins were distinct, like they were buried in snow.

It was slender and powerful.

Jiang Cha looked at it and actually felt reluctant to post it.

1L: Being a perpetual bottom is cute~

2L: Does it happen that as soon as someone tops you, you affectionately cling to them?

3L: OP, give up. Don’t waste your wife’s hand qaq.

4L: The OP is just like my partner! Saying you want to counter-attack is just flirting. You only talk about it; you’re just putting on a brave face. Actually, you still prefer to be topped, right?

5L: Isn’t being a pillow princess nice? Isn’t lying down and enjoying it comfortable? Why would you want to counter-attack?

6L: Off-topic, I’m craving that hand XD

7L: Me too

8L: +10086

9L: Hahahaha.

Jiang Cha: “…”

Having failed to receive any useful advice, Jiang Cha closed her phone and left the house.

She ran into Ji Fan head-on.

She had just walked out of the walk-in closet, wearing an elegant mermaid half-skirt—black mesh that subtly revealed her snow-white, long legs. The top half was a well-fitted white shirt, tucked into the high-waisted skirt, making her look slender and beautiful.

Ji Fan changed into light mauve high heels, casually glanced at Jiang Cha, then took her bag from the coat rack, slung it on, and stopped at the door.

She looked at Jiang Cha.

“Did you forget something?”

Jiang Cha smiled lightly, walked to the door, and kissed her lips: “Good morning.”

Ji Fan wrapped her arms around her and gently deepened the kiss.

After the kiss ended, Ji Fan breathed into her ear and softly reminded her: “You promised yesterday that you’d teach me something else today.”