"Qu Xizhi, is it cold? Put this on first. "

In front of the coffee shop, Scarlett Li shouted "Cut" and at that moment, everyone in the drama crew relaxed. Ling Xian was still on the opposite side of the road. Gu Xizhi dropped the prop umbrella in her hand and quickly put her coat on Qu Xizhi.

However, Qu Xizhi quickly stopped her.

Gu Xizhi placed the clothing on her, and at that moment, she slightly raised her arm, a clear sign of refusal. She took a few steps back, with a distant and polite expression, "Thank you, no need."

At this moment, Ling Xian, holding a coat and an umbrella, ran over from the rain. Qu Xizhi took the coat and put it on, while Gu Xizhi's actions with the coat suddenly became very stiff.

After putting on the clothing, Qu Xizhi and Ling Xian walked back to the RV in the light rain. Gu Xizhi stood alone at the coffee shop's entrance, holding the coat, watching the two of them leave, with a highly complex expression on her face.

In the following scenes, Qu Xizhi did not have any communication with Gu Xizhi apart from their acting.

After finishing the previous scene, they had another one to shoot in a narrow alley due to the slippery road caused by the rain. Gu Xizhi was concerned that Qu Xizhi might slip while walking in high heels. Several times during the shoot, she intentionally reminded her to be careful or offered to help. However, no matter how enthusiastic Gu Xizhi appeared, Qu Xizhi didn't seem to acknowledge it. She often turned away just as Gu Xizhi was about to speak or ignored her well-intentioned assistance.

This situation continued into the evening. In the late afternoon, the film crew stopped shooting, and as night fell, Gu Xizhi returned to the hotel.

Perhaps, with the filming nearing its end, some supporting actors leaving one by one made the atmosphere on the set grow cold. Early in the morning today, Liang Ying seemed bored and surprisingly called to go home by herself. In the afternoon, she was picked up by Liang Huan's friend, and the room became empty again, leaving only Gu Xizhi for the entire evening.

Perhaps spending too long in solitude can create a sense of longing. Around 10 p.m., when she heard Qu Xizhi's door opening, Gu Xizhi immediately picked up the ointment she had prepared and opened the door.

At the moment the door opened, Qu Xizhi had just hung up her umbrella and was about to open her bedroom door. Their eyes met, and Qu Xizhi's gaze was calm and composed, while Gu Xizhi smiled awkwardly, looking a bit unsure.

"Qu, Qu Xizhi," she forced a smile and asked, "You got caught in the rain during the shoot today. Are you alright?" Qu Xizhi remained silent, seemingly not inclined to answer the question.

Gu Xizhi suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

"Yes, it's like that," she explained with a forced smile. "It rained today. Are your feet hurting? I have this ointment," she raised the ointment in her hand, "I can lend it to you."

Qu Xizhi's gaze briefly passed over the ointment, and she replied calmly, "No need, Ling Xian has already prepared one."

Gu Xizhi felt a bit disappointed, "Oh."

But she quickly added, "Can you apply it yourself? Or how about I help you with it?"

Qu Xizhi's eyes focused.

Raindrops tapped on the windows, and outside, neon lights cast a blurry scene on the water-droplet-covered glass, like a surreal dream under a photographer's lens.

Qu Xizhi stared at her, "What are you doing?"

"What?" Gu Xizhi was confused.

Qu Xizhi suddenly took a step toward Gu Xizhi.

"You're pitying me," Qu Xizhi looked at her, "Gu Xizhi, why are you pitying me?"

"Pity?" Gu Xizhi shook her head and quickly replied, "I, I'm not pitying you."

Qu Xizhi stared at her innocent expression for a while, her gaze becoming increasingly distant. "Gu Xizhi, don't come near me," she said, "I don't like this feeling. I hope you can respect yourself and respect me."

Her tone was incredibly cold, and Gu Xizhi felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over her from head to toe.

She stood there in shock, holding the ointment, her breathing stiff, without any movement for a long time.

Qu Xizhi's gaze swept over her stiff expression, and she slowly stepped back, opened the door, and went inside, completely cutting herself off from Gu Xizhi.

Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=1849307

This translation is originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.

***

T/N: This appeared in Ch. 72 of the original version, but this time the roles were switched. 

In the era of information explosion, massive amounts of information are bombarding our brains pervasively, and the flood of news makes us numb and impetuous. How to attract people's attention in such an environment has become the key to a movie's commercial profitability.

Art has always needed a commercial foundation to thrive, and a movie should encapsulate many artistic elements. However, the lackluster reception in the purely artistic market has led more and more movies to lean toward commercialization. For investors, what they desire isn't how emotionally compelling or outstanding a film is but how they can earn more money from it. Compared to other big commercial films, "Black and White Feathers" has tried to downplay its commercial aspect, but to garner significant attention in a diverse field of works, steamy bed scenes are definitely a good gimmick.

Scarlett Li’s fame today no longer needs to rely on so-called bed scenes to gain people’s attention, but for a movie, bed scenes are only a part of emotional expression. It is a branch of an overall art and has nothing to do with commercial hype.

The movie is nearing its conclusion, and at this point, the actors' tacit understanding has reached its peak. So when shooting this scene, Director Scarlett Li is very confident.

Shooting scene.

Evening.

Due to the nature of shooting the bed scene, the set is empty of anyone other than the crew and the two main leads.

The props were almost ready, and the director had cleared the scene. Apart from the cameraman and lighting engineer, only the director and actors were left on the scene. After Gu Xizhi walked to the bedroom, she exchanged a few lines with Qu Xizhi, who was also ready. She felt good about it and then settled down to prepare for the shoot.

The scene's content involved Qin Shiyu being very happy upon learning that Yun Xiaoxiao was going to study in France. However, despite her happiness, she was also very sad because she had never been apart from Yun Xiaoxiao for more than two months since childhood. On the day before Yun Xiaoxiao's departure, Qin Shiyu invited her to the apartment she rented; she didn't live in the dormitory due to her cleanliness habits. The two of them talked on the bed, but Qin Shiyu, overwhelmed by her reluctance to separate, couldn't help but kiss Yun Xiaoxiao, leading to things getting out of hand.

Slippers made a rustling sound on the wooden floor. Gu Xizhi walked in from the bedroom door carrying white porridge. Several cameras moved along with her. In the camera, her waist-length long hair. Her elegant makeup and attire make her look a bit calm in addition to the purity of a girl.

Carrying the porridge to the bedside, Gu Xizhi put the porridge on the wooden cabinet by the bed, poked her head out to look at Qu Xizhi who had buried herself under the quilt, and then carefully lifted the corners of her quilt to say her lines.

"Xiao Yu, why are you being so stubborn? Get up and have some congee. I made it myself."

The quilt was pulled up forcefully and Gu Xizhi looked at Qu Xizhi and then at the porridge. She picked up the porridge and put it in front of her, then she deliberately touched the porcelain with a spoon and said, "If you don't eat it now, you won't get to taste something I made for a whole year."

After saying this, Qu Xizhi quickly lifted off the quilt, immediately snatched the porridge from Gu Xizhi's hand, ate the porridge in threes and twos at a very fast speed, then tossed the bowl to the side and looked at Gu Xizhi with an expression of sadness and grievance.

In the close shot, her eyes were slightly moist when she looked at Gu Xizhi as if she was about to cry. Gu Xizhi reached out and patted her head, put her hands on her neck, and coaxed, "What's wrong? Aren't you very happy I'm going to France?"

"But I won't see you for a year."

"Who said that? I will be the first to contact you when I get there. We can chat on the phone every day."

"It's different. I'll worry when you're not around. You're too dumb, I'm afraid you'll be easily deceived."

Gu Xizhi couldn't help but laugh, "My grades are better, who's the dumb one?"

Qu Xizhi didn't argue with her and took a while before saying, "Yun Xiaoxiao, you're not allowed to have close friends over there, and you're not allowed to have ambiguous relationships with boys, understand?"

Gu Xizhi did not answer, but looked at her and asked, "Why?"

Qu Xizhi stared at her, her expression in the camera was very affectionate.

She did not speak her lines but continued to show a complex and conflicted expression.

After struggling for a long time, she lifted Gu Xizhi's neck and kissed her lips deeply.

As the evening darkened, rain drizzled outside the window. The two women on screen were engaged in a passionate kiss, and several camera angles changed along the actresses' movements. Scarlett Li stood in front of the monitor, looking very satisfied with the progress.

The lingering kiss lasted for several seconds without any sense of violation, which was particularly rare in the many takes often required for bed scenes. Scarlett Li watched the actors perform this scene on the monitor and then finally called for a stop.

"Actors take off your clothes and prepare for the next scene."

There were few people indoors, and after the filming stopped, everyone took a rest. It's raining outside the window, and the sound of rain becomes a special background. 

Although the quilt covers most of the body in the next scene, the actors' bodies exposed in the camera must be naked, because the camera will reach above the chest, and there will be a completely naked back, so all the clothes on the upper body of the two actors will be removed and only the lower body was left with clothing.

The assistant director had already neatly placed the clothes that the two had taken off on the floor. Scarlett Li glanced at the monitor, found it satisfactory, and then gestured for the two actresses to adjust their positions.

The shot starts from the window with light rain. After everything is ready, they will officially start the scene.