Chapter 148: Red Lips
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Ruan Yesheng guessed Xi Mo would think that way, so she had the helper buy big cherries on purpose.
She had already been calculating in her mind. How could she let Xi Mo take the cherries and eat them directly? She had to let Xi Mo spend more time and take a few bites, so that her good intentions in buying these cherries would not be in vain.
Ruan Yesheng dangled the cherry in front of Xi Mo. “In the script, you’re tied up and can't use your hands. This cherry is so big, I have to hold it steady for you. How else are you going to eat it easily?”
Xi Mo looked awkward. “I can just take it in my mouth, eat it slowly.”
Ruan Yesheng eyed her, smiling with a bit of mischief. “You think it’s that simple?”
“Is it hard?” Xi Mo never tried swallowing such a big cherry in one bite, but she used logic space to imagine and thought it could work.
Ruan Yesheng was not sure whether it was difficult for others. Everyone's situation was different. For some people, it was easy, while for others, they could not do it no matter what.
But for someone like Xi Mo who is particularly particular about dining etiquette, it must be extremely difficult.
"I don't know either. Why don't you give it a try and see if it's hard?" Ruan Yesheng handed the cherries in her hand to Xi Mo, her smile full of persuasion: "Practice is the only standard for testing truth."
With Xi Mo’s serious nature, she thought Xi Mo would try.
Only if Xi Mo tried and hit a wall would she willingly bite the cherry Ruan Yesheng held in her mouth.
Xi Mo took the cherry, stared at it like she was thinking.
After a while, she said, “I’ll try.”
Ruan Yesheng sat relaxed on the chair, eyes half-closed, hands folded on her knees, looking cozy and ready for a show.
Xi Mo glanced at her. “Turn your face away. Don’t look at me.”
Ruan Yesheng couldn’t watch the fun now. With no choice, she let go of her hands, turned her body, and twisted her head. “Alright, alright, I know you want to save face. I won’t look.”
She couldn’t watch, but she could still hear something.
Xi Mo saw her behave so obediently, looked at her for a bit, then turned back to the big cherry in her hand. She hesitated, brought the cherry to her lips, and slightly opened her mouth.
At first, her mouth opened all prim and proper. She usually ate with small bites, chewing daintily. Suddenly swallowing something big? She couldn’t get used to it right away.
Xi Mo: “...”
Why did Ruan Yesheng have to buy such big cherries? If she bought smaller ones, Xi Mo wouldn’t be so embarrassed.
When she filmed movies, because the plot needed it, she once acted in a scene of eating greedily from hunger. Though she messed up a few times, later her face and swallowing moves were spot on, showing that messy state perfectly, making people forget how proud she was off camera.
A good actor must have the skill to act all kinds of people. They can’t always play a domineering CEO, a silly innocent girl, or a vase who’s afraid to show big expressions.
The world’s roles are so bright and varied. A true actor, every character she plays, looks like her but definitely not be her at heart.
But that’s only in the play.
Xi Mo kept her acting and her life far apart. She was a dedicated actor. In plays, no matter how awkward or messy she looked, she handled it with ease. If she lacked experience, she would go live that life, observe, and learn.
She put her soul into the role, forgetting who she was, forgetting shame. But in real life, she couldn’t do that.
In life, she was just herself, not any other role.
“Why aren’t you trying?” Ruan Yesheng asked her.
“Don’t peek at me,” Xi Mo said, frowning.
“Who’s peeking at you?” Ruan Yesheng lazily leaned on the chair back, smiling. “I heard no sound from you for a long time. So, are you having trouble? I told you I have to hold it for you, but you don’t believe me.”
“…It’s not hard.”
Provoke by Ruan Yesheng, Xi Mo steeled herself, opened her mouth, and put the whole cherry in her mouth.
Her cheeks were stuffed full by the big cherry at once, like a little squirrel that just ate a huge pinecone. But while the squirrel was always satisfied after eating, she froze there in embarrassment.
She felt her look was really hard to show in front of people, with no dining manners at all. For a moment she felt prickly all over, and feared that Ruan Yesheng might peek at her. She quickly cast a wary glance at Ruan Yesheng.
Ruan Yesheng was sitting with her back to her, long wavy hair falling over her shoulders.
Xi Mo was even more afraid Ruan Yesheng might turn her face around, so she hurried to turn her own back, thinking hard about how to eat the cherry in her mouth.
As long as she bit a little to make some space first, then used her mouth muscles and tongue to adjust the cherry’s position, she could keep biting slowly. When only the pit was left, she would spit it out, and that should count as a success.
Xi Mo tensed her face and prepared to follow the steps in her head.
But plans are rich and reality is skinny. She tried to bite the flesh on top, but the cherry was big and slippery. Her teeth had no good point to catch on, so when she bit, the cherry moved around inside her mouth, not listening at all. That time, she failed to bite in.
She had no choice but to change her strategy, moving the cherry a bit so she could find a better spot to start. But she was too stiff, her mouth dared not move too much, so the cherry only rolled slightly. She still could not find a way to bite.
“Are you done?” Ruan Yesheng asked again.
Xi Mo was scared that Ruan Yesheng might lean over to look, so she answered without thinking: “...Not done.”
But with the cherry stuffed in her mouth, her words were muffled. When she spoke, it came out as: “...Mm mm mm.”
“What did you say?” Ruan Yesheng was about to laugh to death. She guessed right, the cherry was still stuck in Xi Mo’s mouth.
Xi Mo: “...”
She quickly bit hard against the cherry. At last she managed to bite off a piece of flesh. But the chewed bit mixed together with the rest of the big cherry, so it was not easy to chew. She had to bite a second time.
Maybe she was too anxious. The second bite missed and bit into her lower lip.
Xi Mo covered her mouth at once, spitting the cherry and flesh into her hand. The pain made her suck in a cold breath.
Hearing the noise, Ruan Yesheng was startled. She turned at once and saw Xi Mo’s pained look. Her heart grew worried, she hurried to stand and walk to Xi Mo’s side, carefully looking at her lips. “Are you okay? Let me see, is there any bleeding?”
Xi Mo sat on the chair, lifted her face to look at Ruan Yesheng. The worry and panic in Ruan Yesheng’s eyes were so clear, as if her gaze was a camera lens that captured and enlarged them right in front of her.
“...I’m fine.” Xi Mo said in a low voice.
Ruan Yesheng saw there was no blood mark on her lip and felt a bit relieved. She blamed herself: “If I had known, I wouldn't have let you try.”
Xi Mo lowered her head, admitting defeat: “You’re right. I can’t just eat this cherry straight in my mouth. It’s really...hard.”
Ruan Yesheng felt both heartache and amusement: “It’s only because you’re not used to it.”
“I’ll go wash my hands.” Xi Mo stood up.
Ruan Yesheng nodded and waited where she was.
Xi Mo threw the cherry from her hand into the trash, went to the sink, washed her hands carefully, and wiped her lip clean. Only then did she come back and sit down on the chair in front of Ruan Yesheng.
“So now, does that mean you have to let me hold it?” Ruan Yesheng asked with a bright smile.
“...Mm.” Xi Mo nodded.
After a pause, she added: “Gu Ru didn’t say in the script how big the cherries were.”
Ruan Yesheng said: “She didn’t say exactly how to bite it. She wrote the other parts in great detail, but during this cherry-feeding part, she didn’t write how the two female leads actually bite the cherry, clearly. She probably plans to explain on set. Just now we practiced it, and I think she’ll choose big cherries in the end.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Director Gu is famous for being delicate.” Ruan Yesheng blinked: “Her shots have layered progression, and she loves ultra-close shots right on the face to capture expressions. She specially arranged a cherry-eating scene. The mood and set were all carefully designed. That shows how much she values it. She will likely use close-ups when eating the cherry. If the cherries are small, you would only need to bite and pass it, and the layers in the shot wouldn’t be clear. But if she uses big cherries, you have to lean in close, bite several times, plus the details of biting, which are perfect for close-ups.”
“You bought big cherries because you guessed she’d use them?” Xi Mo frowned slightly, her look subtle.
“Of course.” Ruan Yesheng lied with a straight face.
Xi Mo fell silent. She didn’t ask further and instead said: “Let’s continue the scene. This time you hold the cherry steady in your mouth, don’t move. I’ll... bite.”
Ruan Yesheng’s heart thumped a few times. She picked another big cherry from the clear bowl on the table and held it between her teeth.
The two followed the script by Gu Ru. They kept both hands behind their backs, pretending to be tied up, and sat facing each other.
Xi Mo’s breath strangely grew faster. She tried hard to steady herself and whispered: “Ready?”
Ruan Yesheng nodded.
“Start.” Xi Mo said.
Ruan Yesheng bit the cherry. Half of it was in her mouth, half of it sticking out.
She leaned forward on the chair with effort, looking strained, as if chains were binding her from behind and she had to struggle hard to bring her body closer to Xi Mo. From her mouth came the sound of breath from struggling.
Xi Mo could see that Ruan Yesheng had entered the role at that moment.
But Xi Mo herself couldn't enter it no matter what.
She felt that right now she was still herself, and Ruan Yesheng was still Ruan Yesheng. For the time being she couldn’t see Ruan Yesheng as the female lead in the movie.
Because she doesn't know what feelings her own role in the movie was supposed to have for the other female lead.
Gu Ru only gave part of the script. Even though this cherry-eating scene looked ambiguous no matter how you see it, Gu Ru didn’t point out clearly the relationship or feelings between the characters. Xi Mo found it hard to grasp, so she couldn't connect deeply with the role for now.
If it was to pass review, the two leads feelings should be set as deep friendship through hardship.
But in Gu Ru’s script, when she wrote about their gestures and lines, there was always a faint hint of something else between the words.
What exactly was the feeling that Gu Ru wanted to show between the two roles?
“...Mm.” A low whimper came from Ruan Yesheng’s throat.
Seeing Ruan Yesheng struggle so hard to bring the cherry over, Xi Mo quickly put away her messy thoughts and leaned forward too, moving close to Ruan Yesheng.
Their noses were almost touching, their breaths tangled together, warm air brushing against each other’s cheeks.
The cherry’s surface shone under the light, covered with droplets. The moist red blended with the gleam of water, flowing slowly across its skin.
And Ruan Yesheng’s red lips were parted, biting that dark red cherry. Her fine brows knitted slightly from the strain of feeding it over, and her eyes held a faint mist.
Cherry red.
Or lip red.
For a moment it was hard to tell which red the most tempting one.
Xi Mo still couldn’t get into the role. In her eyes it was only Ruan Yesheng’s figure, she completely forgot everything about Ruan Yesheng’s character. She stared blankly into Ruan Yesheng’s eyes, at the shadow cast by her long trembling lashes, at the fine bridge of her nose, then at her moist lips.
Because her breathing grew faster, Ruan Yesheng’s lips that held the cherry moved slightly.
Xi Mo leaned to Ruan Yesheng’s lips, parted her own lips, and bit onto the cherry fixed in Ruan Yesheng’s mouth.
A faint crackling sound came.
It was the sound of cherry flesh being bitten, with juice.
Ruan Yesheng had been trying to stay in character, but hearing that sound was like an explosion in her heart, bursting out a spinning whirlpool. Her eyes opened a little wider, staring at Xi Mo, her breath tightening.
Xi Mo chewed and swallowed after the first bite, then leaned in again for another.
Ruan Yesheng could only hear the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears.
This time, maybe from nerves, Xi Mo forgot they were acting by the script and shouldn’t move their hands. Her hand reached out, resting on Ruan Yesheng’s arms. Tilting her face to the side, she moved in to bite again at the cherry in Ruan Yesheng’s mouth.
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Ruan Yesheng didn’t expect Xi Mo’s hand to rest on her arms, and even less did she expect Xi Mo to lean in with that side-cheek posture.
Like she was about to kiss her.
Ruan Yesheng’s heart pounded wildly, her eyes rippling like waves, lowering slightly as if wanting to speak but holding back.
She even started imagining this was Xi Mo giving her a kiss through the cherry. The corners of her lips curved with a bewitching smile, lost in it, and unable to pull free.
The cherry’s flesh was bitten again by Xi Mo, making that soft tearing sound as her teeth pulled it, juice sticky as it ran, most of it going into Xi Mo’s mouth.
Because Ruan Yesheng had already bitten some earlier, the cherry had a gap. This time Xi Mo’s second bite pressed closer to Ruan Yesheng’s lips. The juice spilled down, dripping right onto Ruan Yesheng’s lips.
Her lips were wetted by the cherry juice, chilled, but her lips themselves burned hot.
After the second bite, Xi Mo leaned in again for a third.
Ruan Yesheng shut her eyes at that instant.
Xi Mo saw her eyes close, those long lashes trembling right in front of her, like a look waiting for her to kiss her.
The half of the cherry outside was almost gone now, the pit faintly showing through the flesh.
Xi Mo wanted to bite the pit and pull the rest into her mouth, but the last bit of cherry in Ruan Yesheng’s mouth seemed about to fall.
Her heart skipped a beat, afraid it’d really drop. Without thinking, she bit into part of the cherry and gave a tug. With a slip, the remaining half slid straight into Xi Mo’s mouth.
What Ruan Yesheng had been holding instantly emptied, and from sheer momentum she didn’t stop in time. Her lips landed right on Xi Mo’s lips.
Ruan Yesheng: "..."
Xi Mo: "..."
Ruan Yesheng: "!!!"
Xi Mo: "..."
The air froze in that moment.
Ruan Yesheng’s lips pressed against Xi Mo’s, her eyes opening. On their joined lips, cherry juice still lingers.
Author's Note:
They finally kissed, although it wasn’t a real kiss, it doesn't matter, I think they kissed! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
