Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Jiang Zhi’s footsteps stopped. Turning back, his ink-dark eyes were shielded by a wall that made one unable to perceive neither his emotions nor his thoughts.
“Zhou Xufang. Where is she?”
Ah Wan, feeling a chilly breeze blow into his face, shrunk his neck into his coat like a tortoise. “She’s in the changing room.”
Right now, the changing room was empty.
“Xufang! Xufang!”
Fang Lixiang hastily ran into the changing room. Seeing an occupied booth, she pulled open its curtain without any second thoughts. “Xu-”
Her voice became stuck in her throat. Staring at Zhou Xufang’s exposed shoulder, her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.
So pale…
That was her first response.
The second response came after a moment of staring blankly at her body. There was a scar underneath her shoulder, around the size of a thumbnail. Apart from that, there was also a thin black cord hanging around her neck, on which a shiny metallic disc was tied to.
Xufang instinctively pulled her clothes up to block the peculiar item.
“I’m in the middle of changing.”
Immediately after saying that, she pulled the curtains closed with one hand.
Fang Lixiang was still rooted in a trance-like state. Standing there, staring blankly into empty air, it took her a while before she returned to her senses. Suddenly, an astonished look appeared on her face. “Xufang, that necklace you’re wearing…”
The curtains were pulled open.
Out walked Zhou Xufang in her usual outfit, wrapped tightly under layers upon layers of heavy clothing.
Fang Lixiang put on a thick layer of makeup before changing into her costume. With a confused look on her face, she shot Zhou Xufang a question. “That necklace looks pretty unique. Where’d you buy it?”
Zhou Xufang pulled her cap down over her eyes and zipped her army greatcoat up to the very top, covering even her neck. “I didn’t buy it.”
“Then, did somebody give it to you?”
Raising her head, she stared at Fang Lixiang with a stone-cold face. “Why do you keep asking me about the necklace?”
As she spoke, her deep, dark eyes gave off a coldness Fang Lixiang had never experienced throughout her time spent with Zhou Xufang.
Fang Lixiang averted her gaze for now. “Cuz’ it looks really nice.”
“My family left it for me.” Zhou Xufang lowered her head and withdrew her defensiveness. “You’re sweating.”
Fang Lixiang hurriedly wiped the sweat off her face.
“It’s kinda hot in here,” she said as she fanned her face with her hand. “Right, I totally forgot about the reason I came here! Xufang! You’re going to participate in a nude scene!?”
“No, I refused.”
Zhou Xufang had also just been told about her new role. After telling Anna that she was willing to pay compensation, she had changed out of her costume immediately.
“Thank goodness,” Fang Lixiang sighed in relief. She then started lecturing Xufang as if she was her mother. “Don’t you ever, EVER, accept such a job. It’s gonna ruin your reputation for the rest of your life! Just you wait, I’ll bring you into the spotlight once I make it big!”
Zhou Xufang wanted to explain that she wasn’t planning on becoming famous when someone called her name from outside.
“Zhou Xufang.”
The voice sounded low, almost like a growl. There was also the sound of coughing.
It was Jiang Zhi.
Zhou Xufang tilted her head in confusion.
“Huh?”
Jiang Zhi did not enter the changing room that was specially designated for actresses only. With an assertive tone, he ordered, “I need you out here for a moment.”
“Okay.”
Zhou Xufang pulled her cap down and the collar of her greatcoat over her face before exiting the room.
“May I help you?”
Jiang Zhi was leaning against the wall. He had, for an unknown reason, walked a bit too fast as compared to his usual pace, resulting in his face turning beet red. Even the areas around his eyes were a deep reddish tone. “Are you short on cash?”
He panted lightly as he spoke.
Zhou Xufang was clueless as to what he was trying to say, so she replied to his question truthfully. “No, not really.” It’s just that after forking over tens of millions, she wouldn’t have enough left to purchase Moonlight Bay, her dream island.
He stared at her face long and hard.
“Turn around.” It was a command.
‘Why is he asking me to turn around?’ thought Xu Fang. Turning one’s back against somebody else was a risky move that may potentially result in death.
Jiang Zhi endured the urge to cough after feeling an itch in his throat. “I’d like to have a look,” he said, his tone slightly softer now.
Zhou Xufang noted how weak Jiang Zhi currently looked. It looked as though he could faint without a moment’s notice, just like that sickly little girl she had seen on television. After a moment of deliberation, she turned around without resistance. She trusted that Jiang Zhi was a good person, that he wouldn’t hurt her.
She couldn’t see his face but she could certainly hear his breathing, and it was getting heavier by the moment.
Jiang Zhi stretched his arms out. As seconds ticked by, his reddened fingertips inched closer to her back.
Without warning, Zhou Xufang turned around.
“You-”
He wasn’t even given the chance to start his sentence before she clamped down on his wrist. At that moment, her eyes appeared as hostile as they could be.
“Why are you touching my back?”
Just what kind of hell did this twenty-something-year-old young lady go through for her to act so defensive against others?
This was the first time Jiang Zhi had witnessed such a look in her eyes. Peering into her eyes, he saw nothing. It was an empty abyss, an ice-cold block of magnet, sucking one into a bottomless pit.
His face became devoid of any color. “Let go of me.”
Instead of letting him go, she burned a hole through him with her stare.
Feeling something crawl up his throat, Jiang Zhi started coughing.
“Cough, cough! Cough, cough, cough! Cough, cough…”
His red eyes were tearing up as he squeezed one word after another out of his mouth. “Zhou… Xufang.. it.. hurts.”
The last word sounded hollow, lacking even an ounce of power within.
Seeing how delicate he was, it felt like she had landed a punch straight into a pile of cotton. The force she exerted had bounced back into her like the fleshy paw of a cat, smacking into her with little to no force.
Zhou Xufang was dumbfounded by what had happened. She was still grabbing onto his hand but forgot what she had to do next.
Jiang Zhi was already feeling under the weather today. Facing her monstrous strength, he tried to swing his arm back twice, but it was all futile. At this point, he started crumbling apart from the humiliation suffered at the hand of this woman.
“Godd*mn it, can’t you see that you’re hurting me!?”
You’re hurting me!
Hurting me!
Me!
Zhou Xufang let go of his hands abruptly. Seconds later, she could see a red bruise appearing on Jiang Zhi’s pale-white wrist. His pure complexion only served to make this look all the more jarring.
“I’m so sorry for hurting you,” she apologized as soon as she could.
One could’ve heard hints of self-blame and guilt in her tone. Ah Wan, who had finally caught up with the young master, arrived at the scene thinking that Jiang Zhi had bumped into some ferocious female bully that he had arrived too late to fend off.
Ah Wan squinted as he scrutinized the young master’s face. Jiang Zhi’s face and ears were glowing bright red and his breathing was shallow. Crap, even his eyes were watery… He was still rubbing his bruised wrists as he opened his mouth.
“You’re a woman, aren’t you? Why on earth would you be so strong!?”
It was her fault for being so strong.
His accusation only added to her overbearing guilt.
“I’ll go softer next time.”
‘Next time? Softer?!’
The more she spoke, the more she sounded like a gangster.
Jiang Zhi coughed as his anger swelled.
Zhou Xufang reached out in an attempt to pat Jiang Zhi’s back to soothe his coughing. However, she had never done such a thing before, and so, her arm hung mid-air for what seemed like forever before she awkwardly retracted her hand.
“You still haven’t explained why you were gonna touch my back.”
It took a while for Jiang Zhi to stop his coughing. The coughs were so intense that it made the tiny veins on his neck visible, and his appearance now looked like that of a poor child who had suffered rounds of abuse under a school bully.
He was getting increasingly annoyed. In a tormented voice, he replied, “I was just trying something out.”
Zhou Xufang did not understand what he meant.
“Did you not want to play as the stand-in for the female lead in my film?” He scanned Zhou Xufang from head to toe with his dreamy eyes. “Don’t even think about it. You aren’t qualified enough.”
A vicious tone and a fiery temper.
Beautiful people like him probably had bad tempers. Just like that young lady who was spoiled rotten by her family in their mansion. Right, Jiang Zhi was probably also a little prince spoiled rotten by the Jiang family.
‘He must’ve been spoiled rotten.’
“Oh,” Zhou Xufang responded.
‘Oh? That’s all?’
Jiang Zhi felt a tight feeling in his chest. “From now on yo-”
He paused halfway.
Zhou Xufang waited for Jiang Zhi to finish his sentence but was only met with silence. A child-like face peeked up from underneath the hood of her army greatcoat. “What?”
‘What the hell was she wearing?’
Jiang Zhi was raging, but it was for a reason that he didn’t understand. Forcefully, he pulled apart the buttons of his overcoat. Taking in a deep breath, he finally continued. “Don’t you ever take up such a job again. If you’re short on cash, come to me for an audition session.”
It was such a simple sentence and yet, he struggled with his life to say it to her face.
However, Zhou Xufang understood that while Jiang Zhi may have a short fuse, he was a good person. With a sincere yet aloof expression, she replied to Jiang Zhi, “You’re a good person.”
“…”
Jiang Zhi couldn’t breathe and his throat felt like it was on fire.
A good person?
‘The f*ck does she mean with “a good person”!? She truly has something wrong with her brain!’
Seeing Jiang Zhi coughing his lungs out, Zhou Xufang reluctantly reached out and patted him on the back. Fearing that she would break his spine, she put in extra care on controlling her strength.
Jiang Zhi froze for a moment. Slowly, he turned around.
Her fingertips glided across his face as he turned to look at his back. Ice-cold and steaming hot. There was an extreme divergence in their temperatures. Where her fingers brushed, it felt as though thousands of needles were poking into his face, making him feel a slight numbing sensation as well as a prickling pain.
Jiang Zhi stumbled backward, his face and ears as red as a tomato. The voice that came out of his mouth sounded hoarse.
“Yo-you…why are your hands s-so cold?”
Oh, right… her body temperature was much lower than an average human’s.
Zhou Xufang retracted her hands instantly. The color of her face remained unchanged, which was a stark contrast from Jiang Zhi. “I’m cold.”
Jiang Zhi’s adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and he was at a loss for words. Suddenly, he was hit with a wave of thirst and breathlessness.
“I’ve something to tell you.”
He opened his eyes and mumbled a response.
“From now on, I want you to be extra careful of your surroundings. Never go out alone and if possible, do NOT go out at night.” After all, someone was willing to pay 20 million for his virginity.
He looked straight at her. “What do you mean?”
Xufang eyed her surroundings before stepping forward. Standing on tip-toe, she whispered into his ear. “You must hide yourself. Someone out there is looking to take advantage of you.”
That year, the young man from the Luo family who struggled with speech had whispered something similar into his ear. “You must hide yourself. They have fed you poison, they are bad people.”
‘Oh, so he wasn’t mute.’
In that same year, the young man had died in a sea of flames. From then on, nobody had said the same thing to him, that somebody was going to harm him.
Jiang Zhi, dismayed, stared at Zhou Xufang’s face.
The look she had in her eyes was the same as that young man. No wonder. No wonder she was able to teach him what “doing something against one’s free will” was. No wonder she was able to teach him what “losing one’s soul” meant.