CH 64

Xiang Wan seemed to be adjusting well without sending any messages to Yu Zhou. She yawned while watching TV in bed until after eleven, she glanced at her still-silent phone before instantly falling asleep.

She slept soundly that night and snoozed her alarm three times before finally waking up.

After a quick wash-up, she grabbed her bag and headed to Room 203 to meet Xiang Wan. When she rang the doorbell, Xiang Wan answered and Yu Zhou was satisfied to see that she had indeed locked the door with the security chain. She complimented Xiang Wan with appreciation in her eyes.

Xiang Wan, wearing pajamas, possessed a fair complexion with rosy cheeks. Her hair draped smoothly, framing her face as she greeted Yu Zhou before returning to the bathroom to wash up.

Yu Zhou opened the curtains for her and sat on the sun-drenched bed. She saw a few used tissues on the bedside table and picked them up to throw them in the trash.

But when she held them, she realized something was off.

Inside one of the crumpled tissues, there was a small, pink, translucent, gel-like object that was discreet but slippery enough for Yu Zhou to identify what it was based on experience.

Her heart was pounding as she quickly crumpled the tissue and threw it away. Then, she went back and opened the bedside table drawer, seeing nothing but a remote control as well as some promotional flyers.

But when she looked up, she noticed a blue and blue-white shiny paper box near the pillow, with the plastic film half open.

Yu Zhou secretly moved the pillow to cover it.

Why did Xiang Wan open a condom?

Her face turned red.

The hotel was next to Jing Shan Park; the two went to have a bowl of wontons when Yu Zhou noticed that Xiang Wan was more down to earth in the way she ate a wonton. In fact, wontons were their first meal together when Xiang Wan first came. At that time, she blew on it ten times before only taking one bite and ate one wonton with four or five bites.

Now, she knew to eat one in two bites.

It was still early, Yu Zhou stirred her wonton soup, unsure how to bring up the topic of the condom.

Well, the tissue, the condom on the bedside table and the figure that Xiang Wan was wearing her pajamas made it so easy for others to imagine. If it were someone else, Yu Zhou would understand that, ah … it’s a physiological need, quite normal.

But when it came to Xiang Wan, she had never been involved in this kind of thing in Yu Zhou’s mind.

Because of this, Yu Zhou was afraid to ask and find out that Xiang Wan was indeed exploring herself, then Yu Zhou wouldn’t know how to face her.

She always felt a responsibility to teach and control Xiang Wan, but when she saw something so private, Yu Zhou suddenly realized that the one who should acknowledge and face Xang Wan’s independence as an individual was not others but Yu Zhou herself.

She had the right to explore anything without having to explain herself to anyone.

Anyway, there is no harm in educating her about safety, right?

Yu Zhou stirred the wonton soup for another round with her eyes fixed on the spoon, casually asking, “Um, I helped tidy up your bedside.”

“Thank you.”

“And, I put the thing you opened under your pillow.”

“Thank you.”

Thank you? Yu Zhou put down the spoon, blushing a little, “What did you use it for?”

“I saw it in the cabinet so I opened it. It looks like a finger cot, but it’s bigger and loose enough to fit two fingers.”

… “Why are you so interested in exploring that thing?”

Thankfully, this exploration is not the same as that exploration, but why does this girl always like to explore condoms? Does she have a problem?

“Last time, you said I was allergic. So this time, I checked the expiration date and want to try it again to see if I’m still allergic.”

Oh, that seems reasonable.

“So, are you allergic?” Yu Zhou leaned forward, gossiping quietly.

Xiang Wan smiled, tilting her head while asking her back, “Why do you want to know? “

She looked innocent, with a hint of cunning in her tone, like a small naughty cat. Well, Yu Zhou couldn’t say anything.

She then withdrew, muttering, “Don’t mess with anything in the hotel in the future. That one will cost you money, you know?”

“I see,” Xiang Wan smiled.

The activity area was located near the north gate of Jing Shan Park, about 500 meters inside. A platform was set up, not very gorgeous but not bad-looking either. There was a row of compact white plastic chairs below without any audience yet. The staff was arranging the cordon of the separating area.

Xiang Wan was the second to arrive. There was no order for the rehearsal process set by the event party, whoever arrived first would go on stage first.

In front of her was a male voice actor. The process looked pretty normal, he just answered a few questions, then dubbed a short audio clip and interacted with the fans below.

Yu Zhou didn’t recognize the male voice actor much, so she couldn’t say what tier he was at. However, she was thinking, what if no one raised their hand in this interactive section, wouldn’t it be awkward? Fortunately, Xiang Wan is now popular, but the popularity came a bit too late. She didn’t know if the fans would receive the news to rush over.

The male voice actor quickly finished his rehearsal. The host squatted at the side of the stage, reviewed the process with the staff before going to prepare the interactive content for Xiang Wan. Then, the host took a sip of water.

The staff ran over and said to Xiang Wan, “Miss, you can go up now.”

Yu Zhou took Xiang Wan’s bag, “Go ahead.”

It was really like being an agent.

Xiang Wan nodded and went up to the stage from the side.

She was still wearing jeans today, with a thin milk tea sweater and her hair tied in a ponytail. Tomorrow, Yu Zhou had prepared a small skirt with a Hanfu design for her, but for some reason, seeing her standing gracefully on stage, Yu Zhou could already imagine how stunning she would be tomorrow.

It was difficult to recall how she looked when she first sat on the couch in an ancient costume, feeling uneasy and suffused with a faintly antiquated scent.

Now, she stood on the stage, confidently introducing her work to the empty audience area in front of her.

Tomorrow, there would be fans waving their hands while shouting the name that common people in the Li dynasty had no chance to call out.

Yu Zhou stood with her arms crossed, taking a deep breath.

As memories faded, the sound from the stage reached her ears; as Yu Zhou listened quietly, the more she listened, the more something seemed off.

The host said, “I didn’t expect Miss Xiang to have such a beautiful voice and she’s even more beautiful in person.”

This sentence sounded alone like a compliment, but the next one was, “Your figure is also very beautiful haha.”

Xiang Wan turned her head slightly towards him as she smiled.

The host then asked, “Will you be wearing a skirt tomorrow, Miss?” The microphone was moved away when he said this sentence as if it was asked privately.

Xiang Wan replied, “Does it have any relation to the performance?”

“If you wear a skirt, remember to walk a little inside. For the live streaming effect, there will be a fan outside during the performance, which may cause wardrobe malfunctions.” The host laughed as he looked at Xiang Wan’s belly.

Yu Zhou visibly saw Xiang Wan freeze, unable to see her expression but knew she must have frowned.

Yu Zhou stared fixedly at the stage, tightening his arms.

After answering two more questions normally, the host asked the staff to play a dubbing clip on the big screen before asking Xiang Wan to demonstrate the dubbing.

When the dialogue appeared on the screen, Xiang Wan froze.

A meaningless and coquettish line, a little girl’s voice sweetly calls “brother” and connects some interjections like “ah…”, “ha…” and “uh…” with ellipses.

Xiang Wan quickly glanced at Yu Zhou.

She then turned back to the screen, her hand gripping the microphone tighter and tighter.

The scene hit Yu Zhou with a force that she had never felt before. Xiang Wan stood in front of the large screen, helpless and vulnerable as she looked up towards the words that represented what she had loved, cherished and was willing to invest eight years of time into, only to see them displayed as “ah… ” “ha… ” “uh…” in written form as if they were trying to crush her.

She stared at the words on the screen, not saying a word.

The host’s voice sounded like a death knell: “Miss, are you ready?”

Seeing her discolored face, the staff below looked over and the host awkwardly smiled before making an excuse: “We don’t really have to dub this in the rehearsal. We’ll do it during the live streaming tomorrow, you can protect your voice, Miss.”

Then he cleared his throat before looking down at his cue card. “Let’s talk about the issue of creating an active atmosphere. Have you ever acted in a passionate scene before, Miss? Many listeners are interested. How is this usually done?”

Yu Zhou couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed a staff member over: “Stop it, immediately!”

Then she shouted at the stage: “Wanwan, come down.”

It was hard to restrain the impulse to curse.

Xiang Wan turned her head to look at Yu Zhou and pursed her lips, then squatted down to place the microphone on the edge of the stage before she quickly walked toward Yu Zhou. When she was about to step down from the stage, she speeded up her pace and almost ran to Yu Zhou’s side.

Yu Zhou hugged her as she buried her face in Yu Zhou’s arms, not saying a word but trembling.

The host turned off the microphone and gestured with the staff, while the staff and several onlookers whispered below the stage.

Yu Zhou hugged Xiang Wan’s waist and reached out to comfort her by stroking her hair. “Don’t be afraid.”

A staff member came over to meditate: “Miss…”

“Get out.” Yu Zhou recognized him as the one responsible for the process and presentation of the ppt; she only lightly said this sentence.

When Xiang Wan calmed down, Yu Zhou patted the back of her head. “Let’s go.”

Xiang Wan buried her head in Yu Zhou’s neck and confirmed in a soft voice, “I’m not participating?”

“Yes, you’re not.”