**20**

That painting was still in Shen Yizhi’s hand. Ning Zhi sat beside her, their arms touching, intimate and natural.

The camera was off, and everyone had dispersed. The props team stayed behind to pack up, while the two leads sat in the corner where the scene had just ended, unnoticed by anyone.

Water droplets fell from her hair onto Shen Yizhi’s arm. Shen Yizhi turned her head to look at Ning Zhi. Ning Zhi held the remaining paintings, pressing her fingertips hard, causing wrinkles in the paper.

Her chest rose and fell continuously, her head hanging low.

Shen Yizhi reached out his hand, touched her damp hair, his palm sliding down to her wet, slippery nape, gently caressing it.

“Ningning…” Her voice was soft, soothing.

Ning Zhi looked up at her, gazed for a few seconds, then lowered her head to look at the painting of the daffodil. She whispered, “So beautiful, this is you, nothing is unworthy of you.”

After she spoke, she realized she had completely reversed things.

The words she couldn’t say to Ruan Yinmeng in the play, she said to Shen Yizhi.

The love she couldn’t confide in Shen Yizhi outside the play, she expressed to Ruan Yinmeng.

Shen Yizhi’s palm slid down the back of her neck and gently patted her back twice: “Go back and get a good night’s sleep.”

Ning Zhi took a deep breath, looked at her, and asked in confusion, “You won’t be affected, will you?”

Shen Yizhi shook her head.

Ning Zhi curved the corners of her lips; that bittersweet feeling of immersing herself alone in the role surfaced again. But between them, it had always been a one-woman show, and she was used to it, so that bit of bitterness didn’t really matter.

“True, you’ve acted in so many films already. It would be too exhausting if every single one affected you like this,” Ning Zhi said with a smile. “But this is my first movie. The first movie can…”

She paused, then changed it to: “Having such a good script, I’m very lucky.”

Ning Zhi, sitting obediently by her side like this, not baring claws or being stiff and cold, soft and gentle, was exactly like the child from many years ago who followed her around with eyes full of her.

How many years had it been since she last saw such a Ning Zhi?

Shen Yizhi had many concerned words, but in the end, she only said softly, “Take a break after wrapping up, and have a good rest.”

She meant well, but Ning Zhi felt embarrassed. The crew probably all noticed that something was wrong with her state, as if her will was so fragile that any fake role could make her lose her mind.

Ning Zhi wanted to say that if the person playing Ruan Yinmeng wasn’t you, she could also handle things with the same grace, and though her performance might not be as good as it is now, it would definitely be carefree and wouldn’t make people laugh.

But when it came to actually speaking, these words couldn’t be said.

“Maybe it’s because I know what happens later in the story…” Her eyelids drooped.

It’s like reading a book for the second time; knowing the ending, no matter how sweet the earlier details are, they become painfully bitter in the heart. Tragedies always have a way of drawing people in more deeply.

“They will be fine,” Shen Yizhi said.

Ning Zhi was momentarily stunned and looked at her.

Shen Yizhi looked into her eyes: “Trust me, it will be fine.”

She spoke with such certainty, a reflection of her usual ease, as if no matter what she faced, she could handle it effortlessly, as if it were nothing.

Ning Zhi was stunned; she recalled that Shen Yizhi had always dealt with her in the same straightforward and decisive manner.

Ning Zhi belatedly came to her senses. She stood up, not even glancing at Shen Yizhi, and resumed her usual impatient demeanor.

Lying, could it be that the script you received is different from mine?

After speaking, she left quickly, not daring to stop or look back. She felt Shen Yizhi watching her from where he stood.

She went to that oil painting teacher’s tutorial class.

She was a beginner and couldn’t grasp anything too advanced. Last night’s class was filled with theoretical knowledge, and then she barely moved her brush on the paper. What she painted was terrible, not even reaching one-thousandth of Chi Sheng’s level.

But Ning Zhi still wanted to go.

She sat in the car with her eyes closed. The car was well soundproofed, and the outside noise couldn’t get in.

The driver and Yangyang were also quiet, not disturbing her rest.

Ning Zhi wanted to take a short nap, but as soon as she closed her eyes, the scene of her recent conversation with Shen Yizhi appeared before her.

It turned out that they could communicate so calmly and peacefully.

However, in just a few brief sentences, she had to suppress her feelings every moment, carefully keeping every bit of her fondness for Shen Yizhi locked deep in her heart.

It’s strange, even after six years, she still likes her so much.

She doesn’t know if in another six years, it might fade a little.

Performing a one-woman show too often is really exhausting and lonely.

However, maybe this is just to repay Shen Yizhi for the warmth she gave her in her youth.

If it weren’t for Shen Yizhi accompanying and caring for her during those years, she might have grown up to be a very reclusive person.

Ning Zhi suddenly laughed because she remembered that in the first year of middle school, the school was going to hold a parent-teacher meeting, and her grandmother was ill, so Ning Zhi didn’t tell her.

At that time, she didn’t know which annoying classmate living nearby found out about her situation and told the other students.

At that age, the world was just that big—half occupied by parents, half by school. Being disliked by parents and sent to live with her grandmother was, to them, like half the sky had fallen.

Those days, the whole class was talking about this matter, looking at her with either pity or ridicule.

If no one helped her go to the parent-teacher meeting, it would make her seem even more unwanted.

Ning Zhi told Shen Yizhi about this, just complaining casually, wanting to hear some comfort from Shen Yizhi.

But unexpectedly, Shen Yizhi asked for the date of her parent-teacher meeting, took leave from the crew, and came back to help her go.

Ning Zhi was of course very happy, but also felt guilty for taking up her time. Still, she said awkwardly, “You didn’t have to come, it’s just a parent-teacher meeting, and besides, you’re not even my parent.”

Shen Yizhi had come straight from the station. As they walked through the school, hearing this, Shen Yizhi stopped and looked at her.

Ning Zhi thought she was angry and was about to apologize. Shen Yizhi grabbed her ear and asked sternly, “Did calling me sister upset you?”

Ning Zhi smiled and smiled until her eyes welled up. She covered her eyes with both hands, afraid that the driver and Yangyang in front would see.

That day, Shen Yizhi was very proactive, asking the teacher about Ning Zhi’s grades, inquiring about Ning Zhi’s usual behavior, whether she got along well with her classmates, which high school was the best, and whether Ning Zhi could get admitted.

She asked about every concern a parent might have, and even said in front of everyone that a child as outstanding as Ning Ning, if her parents don’t cherish her, it’s their fault, and naturally, someone else would come to cherish her.

The teachers and parents were all confused, but Ning Zhi’s classmates all showed guilty expressions.

Shen Yizhi was standing up for her.

After that day, no classmate intentionally or unintentionally brought up the matter again.

It was from that day on that she saw her own feelings clearly.

And because of her wrong, selfish feelings, they ended up like this.

It was all her own doing, so no matter how harshly Shen Yizhi spoke to her, Ning Zhi would not blame her and would keep her promise not to bother her anymore.

After finishing the oil painting class and returning to the hotel, Ning Zhi went to bed early. She didn’t complain about Shen Yizhi to her online friends today, but she saw her in a dream.

She slept restlessly, remaining in a half-dream, half-awake state throughout the night.

In her dream, Shen Yizhi stood at the front of the classroom, saying the sentence, “Naturally, someone else will come to cherish her.”

When she said this, Shen Yizhi’s expression was that unique calmness she always had; her eyes were bright and sincere as she looked at her, who was eavesdropping with a group of classmates at the back door of the classroom.

Ning Zhi knew that Shen Yizhi hoped she could be a little more confident, not to be disturbed by her parents’ issues. She had done nothing wrong and did not need to pay for others’ mistakes. She should live her life confidently and independently.

But the moment she locked eyes with Shen Yizhi, Ning Zhi’s heart raced. She stared at her blankly, as if everyone else in the classroom had disappeared; she could only see Shen Yizhi and hear her voice.

When Ning Zhi opened her eyes, her heart was pounding fiercely.

She was stunned for a moment; only a bedside floor lamp remained lit in the room.

She sat up, didn’t check the time, nor did she do anything else—she just kept thinking about Shen Yizhi’s appearance.

She later thought many times about whether the person Shen Yizhi mentioned, the one who would cherish her, was actually Shen Yizhi himself.

This question lingered in her heart, but unfortunately, at first, when she figured out her own feelings, she was too guilty to ask. Later on, when there was nothing left between them, there was no need to ask anymore.

—–

Author’s note:

The pace of this story is relatively slow because it is composed of two intertwined stories.

Chi Sheng Yin Meng is something I wanted to write early on, but the subject matter always made it difficult to start. It wasn’t until Ning Zhi and Shen Yizhi appeared, requiring a play-within-a-play to advance the main characters’ emotional development, that Chi Sheng Yin Meng fit perfectly and was incorporated.

I’ve never written in this style before, so I need to take it steady. I hope everyone can be a bit more patient with me.

Also, if I can, within about 300,000 words, use the length of one novel to tell two stories seamlessly, completely, and engagingly, then I’ll have succeeded. Rounded up, it’s like writing two novels.