{"id":3406,"date":"2026-05-15T05:42:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T05:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/hidden-affection-16\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T05:42:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T05:42:37","slug":"hidden-affection-16","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/chapter\/hidden-affection-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Affection 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

**16**

Although she had little contact with 0929, having only chatted three or four times with just a few words each time, Ning Zhi felt that 0929 was a good person.

In the past few days, the system had matched her with some people, several of whom immediately said inappropriate things. Ning Zhi set her account to disallow matches, and only then did she find some peace.

But 0929 never said anything explicit; when chatting with Ning Zhi, he only joined in her complaints about Shen Yizhi or praised her when she mentioned progress at work.

The filming of the movie was proceeding in an orderly manner.

Ning Zhi was always very careful, trying to stay as far away from Shen Yizhi as possible.

Chi Sheng stood in front of the table selecting art supplies, the camera following the perspective of Chi Sheng\u2019s eyes, slowly capturing everything she saw one by one.

From a whole box of paints, she picked out a few, then simply put them all into her backpack, along with various types of brushes, stuffing them all inside.

Her movements were light and quick; even without showing her face, it was clear she was relaxed and wore a joyful smile.

As she moved around the room, the bedroom\u2019s furnishings came into view. There wasn\u2019t much furniture, and it all looked old, showing that the family wasn\u2019t wealthy, but everything was clean and tidy. The school uniform on Chi Sheng was faded from washing but neat and orderly.

Grandma took care of her very attentively.

After tidying up the art supplies, Chi Sheng leaned against the window.

She waited for a while, and the woman appeared, carrying a bag of something that looked like fruit from a distance.

A bright smile appeared on Chisheng’s face. She stepped back, ran to the table, picked up the backpack filled with painting supplies, and was about to leave. The backpack knocked over the alarm clock on the table. Chisheng casually set the alarm clock upright and was about to go, but suddenly stopped.

The alarm clock showed it was almost four o’clock.

Chisheng suddenly remembered that woman’s job.

She came back every early morning, obviously working at night. Since she did that kind of work, she would be going out again soon. There was no time to paint her portrait today.

She did that kind of work.

The neighbors always mentioned it with a mocking smile, as if just saying it out loud dirtied their mouths.

Chi Sheng was stunned for a moment, unsure if it was because of her job or because he hadn\u2019t had time to put makeup on her today.

Faint footsteps came from outside; the old house had terrible soundproofing, and even the slightest noise in the hallway could be heard.

A trace of hesitation flickered across Chi Sheng\u2019s face, but she didn\u2019t hesitate for long. She quickly placed her backpack on the table, grabbed the easel, and headed out.

She deliberately kept her movements light, stealing a quick glance at her grandmother\u2019s bedroom. The camera shifted over to show her grandmother sitting in a chair inside, knitting a sweater. Beside her was a radio, softly playing Yue opera, drowning out the noises from outside.

Chi Sheng breathed a sigh of relief and opened the front door. The woman was just walking up to the second floor and naturally stopped when she saw her.

Seeing her, Chi Sheng\u2019s expression relaxed slightly. She turned around to close the door and then walked up to her.

\u201cThis is the easel,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite big, so take it over first.\u201d

She could have brought the easel along when she came to paint, but they hadn\u2019t confirmed the portrait session yet. After today, the promise made just now in the hallway might turn into mere politeness. Chi Sheng wanted to borrow the easel to confirm a specific time.

Her little scheme was really too simple, no match for someone used to the ways of the pleasure quarters.

The woman\u2019s gaze shifted, holding a slight smile, and only then did Chi Sheng realize her thoughts had been seen through. She suddenly felt a bit flustered, her hand gripping the easel tightening slightly, but she did not back down, looking at the person opposite her.

Fortunately, that person did not expose her, nor did he refuse her; he took the easel and passed it over.

Tomorrow morning,” she said, pausing for a moment, then specifying the time more precisely, “at nine o’clock, is that convenient?

Chi Sheng couldn’t help but smile and nodded: “Mm.”

The woman held the easel and turned to leave, but Chi Sheng suddenly reached out and grabbed the easel’s support. The woman turned back, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

Chi Sheng himself didn\u2019t realize why he did that. Seeing her turn back, he blurted out without thinking, “My name is Chi Sheng.” Then he asked, “What\u2019s your name?”

After she asked, she became a bit nervous and looked straight at him.

This person clearly behaved politely, but every glance and every tone seemed to carry some kind of implication, subtly stirring Chi Sheng\u2019s heartstrings.

This time was the same, she answered, “Ruan Yinmeng.”

Her words were concise, yet her tone seemed to carry endless echoes, lingering in Chisheng’s heart.

Chi Sheng returned to the room and lay down on the bed. She pulled the blanket over her face, exhaling deeply. Then, she sat up and tilted her ear; the faint sound of footsteps came again.

The camera cut to outside the window, where Ruan Yinmeng walked out of the hallway.

These scenes were shot over four days. Every subtle emotional change of Chi Sheng was reflected in her expression, which was a great test for Ning Zhi.

Ning Zhi followed Chi Sheng\u2019s perspective and emotions, experiencing the feelings alongside her.

Before Chi Sheng even realized it herself, she had already been completely captivated by Ruan Yinmeng.

She vaguely felt that being involved with Ruan Yinmeng was dangerous, but she only thought this danger came from Ruan Yinmeng\u2019s shameful job, completely unaware that an even more dangerous trap was set in her own heart.

After filming the part with the easel, it was connected directly to the first scene of the shoot.

Ruan Yinmeng covered Chi Sheng\u2019s eyes with her soft palm, kissed her irresistibly, and when she surrendered and indulged in it, she pressed her forehead against hers and told her, \u201cThe night I saw your eyes, I wanted to do this to you.\u201d

She remembered her; she knew Chi Sheng was the one who had locked eyes with her that night in the deep night.

Ning Zhi tried her best to avoid contact with Shen Yizhi, but she couldn\u2019t help but pay attention to Shen Yizhi\u2019s reactions\u2014was she affected by the emotions in the movie?

Ning Zhi couldn’t tell, but she felt there probably wasn’t any; Shen Yizhi had acted in so many films, she must have been used to it by now.

Moreover, Shen Yizhi’s expression was very natural, unlike hers, who often fell into long silences by herself.

As Mei Lan announced the end of today’s shoot, Ning Zhi left as quickly as possible.

Out of the corner of her eye, she seemed to catch Shen Yizhi glancing at her.

But when she turned her head to look, Shen Yizhi had already turned and headed towards the makeup room.

Ning Zhi thought it might be an illusion; she hadn\u2019t looked at her.

She didn\u2019t know anyone in this city, and after leaving the set, she had nowhere to go, so she could only return to the hotel to rest.

But once back at the hotel, alone in the quiet room, she felt a bit anxious.

She no longer felt scared as she did a few days ago when she got into character, but she still felt an uneasy sensation, like floating in water.

She wanted to relax, so she chatted with a few friends, some from the industry and some former classmates.

But one of the classmates brought up something sensitive, asking her to help get Shen Yizhi\u2019s autograph.

Ning Zhi didn\u2019t want to agree, so she pretended to be busy, said goodbye, and then opened Weibo again.

She kept watching the content on the screen without pause, trying to distract herself.

Perhaps emotions all have something in common.

Chi Sheng would lie down and listen to the sound of Ruan Yinmeng\u2019s footsteps passing by the house. She had done the same thing, listening to the coming and going footsteps, guessing which one was Shen Yizhi\u2019s, then happily running out. Every time she guessed right.

Ning Zhi felt as if she was experiencing Chi Sheng\u2019s heartbeat all over again, going through the process of falling for Shen Yizhi\u2014afraid, struggling, and in pain\u2014but it was all to no avail.

She tried to divert her attention and stop thinking about the movie.

After scrolling through a few Weibo posts, she saw a video posted by a familiar marketing account. Shen Yizhi was stopped by an entertainment reporter outside the set, who rapidly fired questions at her.

Judging by Shen Yizhi\u2019s outfit, it must have been in the afternoon, after Ning Zhi had left the set earlier.

The crew on set rushed over and blocked the entertainment reporter.

But that entertainment reporter was very persistent and not afraid of offending Shen Yizhi. He loudly asked, “May I ask what you think of Ning Zhi? As a singer, this is her first crossover and she\u2019s working with you. Did you find the filming process difficult?”

Ning Zhi immediately saw that the question was directed at her. Right now, countless people were waiting for her to mess up, waiting to kick her when she was down.

Even if Shen Yizhi said nothing, the gossip accounts would still have something to write about. They would write about Shen Yizhi and Ning Zhi supposedly being at odds, avoiding discussing Ning Zhi\u2019s acting skills\u2014an apparently objective description that actually implied Ning Zhi\u2019s acting was terrible.

She took her phone, intending to have Jiang Peng handle it, when she heard Shen Yizhi in the video, speaking seriously to the camera: “Ning Zhi is improving quickly. She has a talent for this, and working with her has been very pleasant.”

The video ends here.

Ning Zhi was stunned; Shen Yizhi affirmed her acting skills.

She had never explicitly affirmed Ning Zhi\u2019s acting skills to her face like this before.

At first, Ning Zhi felt a pleasantly unexpected surprise, but she also understood that most of her progress wasn\u2019t due to talent, but because of the similarities between her and Chi Sheng.

If she hadn\u2019t been acting opposite Shen Yizhi, she wouldn\u2019t have left the set feeling unable to completely detach herself from the character\u2019s emotions like she did now.

And likewise, if it weren’t for Shen Yizhi, she wouldn’t have taken the photos so smoothly.

—–

Author’s note:

As long as the sky hasn’t brightened, it’s still today.

(Trying to play tricks)<\/p>","protected":false},"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"novel":[],"class_list":["post-3406","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3407,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter\/3406\/revisions\/3407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"novel","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/velvetink.xyz\/id\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/novel?post=3406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}