Rong Shu tried to get away, her legs thrashing in the water, splashing droplets up onto the tips of Shen Baizhu’s hair.
Shen Baizhu’s gaze dropped sharply, and his expression darkened.
Wet strands of hair fell over his cold, severe features, and the air around him turned icy and still, like a body that had been pulled out of a river after three months underwater.
He turned away and pumped two rounds of body wash into his hand.
Rong Shu had already gotten scared enough to stand up and start climbing out of the tub, but Shen Baizhu grabbed her by the waist and pressed her back down, one hand firm against her lower abdomen, pinning her into the water.
“Trying to run? And where exactly would you go?”
Rong Shu thought he looked terrifying like this, something ghostly and unreal about him. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, and she shook her head in a lost, mechanical way, like a wind-up doll that had run out of instructions.
Then those large hands, lathered up with foam, came down onto her skin. The moment that burning warmth pressed against her, a faint shudder ran through her.
“You’re so hot, your hands are so hot~”
She arched her back ever so slightly, and her voice had a soft, coaxing tone to it, carrying a little hook that pulled without any effort at all.
That line was not in the script. Shen Baizhu came back to himself, an aching pressure wrapped tight around his whole body. He found his breath.
“Sorry.” He apologized without thinking. It was his fault. His hands were too warm.
“It’s just that I get cold easily. I run too cold. Maybe if you keep your hands on me a little longer, I’ll get used to it.”
That large hand hesitated, then settled back down. Fingers working through lather, it moved over the soft, smooth skin of her back, as silky as fresh milk on the tongue.
Rong Shu bit down on her lower lip and held herself still for two breaths, but she could not stop herself. Another shiver ran through her.
“Too hot, too hot… I can’t take it.”
“It’s all your fault~your hands are so hot.”
She gave him a light, reproachful glance, something gentle and stirring moving through her eyes. Just that one look, and it was as if something seized hold of every nerve in his body and refused to let go.
Shen Baizhu’s eyes churned like water about to break the surface. He reached into the tub and scooped Rong Shu up in one swift motion, turning and carrying her straight toward the bed.
Rong Shu’s small hands had been nervously hooked around his tie the whole time. She breathed in tiny, shallow little sips, and each warm puff of air landed against his chest. She had no idea at all what was about to happen next.
She even still thought they were running lines.
He really wanted to just let himself sink. Into this. Into whatever it was. No lines between the scene and what was real.
The heat spreading through his chest had nowhere left to go. Rong Shu landed against the soft surface of the waterbed with a thud, and Shen Baizhu came down over her right after, blocking out a wide sweep of warm amber light. He spoke close to her ear:
“Get some rest. I’ll go sleep in the trailer downstairs.”
He pulled back.
At last.
Shen Baizhu retreated to the doorway. His voice had gone rough and uneven, though his expression still wore that familiar, detached look.
“You need to keep your body from reacting to the cold during the scene. Think about it this way: if you show that reaction on camera, the audience is going to read it as fear of the male lead. The female lead is a young woman who studied abroad. She is not the type to bow to authority. Going up against a warlord is not something she is afraid of deep down.”
“If you react that way, it will be a misread of the character, and the audience will misread her too. Try using the guilt that comes from that thought to take the edge off the physical response. That’s what I used to do.”
The door clicked shut softly behind him.
Though, it really did look a lot like he was running away.
Rong Shu awarded him a second certificate in her head. “Grand Master of Holding It Together.”
The next day.
Rong Shu was woken up by knocking at the door. She assumed it was Shen Baizhu coming to wake her, but it turned out to be…
“Surprise! Your favorite pan-fried buns!”
The moment Su Wanying got a good look at Rong Shu’s face, her delight flipped straight into alarm.
T/N: “Like a body pulled from a river after three months” SIR that is the most unhinged compliment a Chinese author has ever paid to a brooding expression and I am obsessed with it 💀🌊 Also Shen Baizhu really carried her to the bed, whispered in her ear, and then said “okay goodnight” and LEFT. The self control on this man deserves its own national holiday 🏅😭 And then Rong Shu gave him the “Grand Master of Holding It Together” certificate in her head which is sending me 🏆🐢 Su Wanying showing up with pan-fried buns and then immediately panicking when she sees Rong Shu’s face… what happened to that face girl, we need answers 👀🥟