For no apparent reason, I was crazy happy on the road, for no apparent reason, I was kissed, and for no apparent reason, my mood improved. Life is filled with so many inexplicable things.
They went back to the tune of "Booty Music". The door was closed by one hand after entering the room, and the two of them practiced the lyrics on the sofa.
It has been a long time since I felt so relaxed and comfortable as I do now. The floor heating in my home allowed the tenderness between us to last for a long time. The butterfly bones on my back seemed to be occupied by a real butterfly, eager to break out of its cocoon and fly away.
Sweat condensed on the butterfly wings. Xia Yitong lay on Lu Yinbing, with her ear close to her mouth, waiting for that moment to come...
The sound of running water came from the bathroom. Lu Yinbing sat on the sofa, admiring Xia Yitong's beautiful and slender limbs. She always thought that Xia Yitong's legs were particularly beautiful, long and straight, and the visual impact was even more direct when they were naked.
Xia Yitong came back after washing his hands, bent down to pick up the pants thrown on the ground, raised his feet, and immediately tucked his snow-white legs into his narrow-legged pants. Lu Yinbing curled his lips.
Xia Yitong held up his pants and asked, "Teacher Lu, do you want to take a shower?"
Lu Yinbing asked: "Will you take a shower with me?"
Xia Yitong: “Ah.”
Lu Yinbing raised his eyebrows: "Then why are you wearing pants?"
Xia Yitong: "Ah, then I take it off?"
Lu Yinbing said, "Take it off."
Xia Yitong agreed, sat on the sofa, unbuttoned the jeans he had just buttoned, and took them off. Lu Yinbing touched them two, three, four, five, six times, then stood up as if nothing had happened and walked towards the bathroom.
Xia Yitong watched from behind. Lu Yinbing had a deep waist and her legs were too long. She looked at her legs and shook her head.
Lu Yinbing stood at the bathroom door and turned back to urge her: "Come here."
Xia Yitong ran over in a few steps.
After a simple rinse, Lu Yinbing closed her eyes as before. Xia Yitong wiped her eyes, squeezed shampoo into the palm of her hand, applied it to Lu Yinbing's hair, and gently massaged her scalp with her fingers.
The force is neither light nor heavy, very comfortable.
Massaging the scalp and cleaning the ears are very similar in one way, that is, they both make people drowsy. Lu Yinbing soon felt sleepy, his mind was in a daze: "Teacher Xia."
"Um?"
"Call you."
"Go ahead and scream. Put your fingers in your ears and lower your head." Xia Yitong turned on the shower again, and Lu Yinbing cooperated by lowering his head, letting the water wash away the foam on his head.
After washing, she applied some shower gel and washed her arms and legs. After she was done, Xia Yitong asked, "Do you want to go out first or wait for me here?"
"wait."
Xia Yitong looked at her a little worriedly: "Don't fall asleep."
Lu Yinbing rolled her eyes at her.
I thought to myself, do you take me for a fool
Xia Yitong smiled when she rolled her eyes at him, then stood under the shower with her head tilted back, gathered her hair with her fingers and worked up some foam, washing it in no time. She turned around and used a towel to dry Lu Yinbing, who was covered in water, and then took care of herself.
Lu Yinbing was drowsy at first, but she woke up as soon as she came out of the bathroom, more awake than at any other time of the day. Xia Yitong was planning to let her go upstairs to sleep, but now: "..."
On a rare night when both of them were awake, Xia Yitong was finally able to spare some energy to deal with Lu Yinbing's affairs. But there was actually very little she could do, and there was almost nothing else she could do except accompany him.
With Lu Yinbing's personality, he would not accept encouragement like "You can do it" or "You can do it", nor would he rely too much on others, even if that person is Xia Yitong. He just has more right to know than others.
Therefore, Xia Yitong was at a loss as to what to do with Lu Yinbing. She had mentioned to Xue Yao on the phone whether she could find a role for Lu Yinbing that did not require her to memorize lines, or directly tailor a new script for her, with a mute heroine as the protagonist, to help her return to the big screen. Once this method was proposed, not only Xue Yao, but even Xia Yitong herself felt that it was a bad idea that could not be worse.
Lu Yinbing's self-esteem is much stronger than that of ordinary people. When she fails at the hurdle of lines, she will not think of taking shortcuts to avoid it, but will stand up and cross it openly. Asking her to play a mute girl is equivalent to letting her face the biggest failure of her life, and she will never forget it.
She can play a mute girl, but she is not forced to do so, but chooses to do so herself.
In fact, this method has its merits, and can help Lu Yinbing regain her confidence and start over. But the premise is that Lu Yinbing can let go of her glorious past, all her self-esteem, and calmly face the fact that her acting range is narrow and she may no longer be the Lu Yinbing who is comfortable with acting.
Can Lu Yinbing do it
Xia Yitong didn’t know.
Xue Yao asked her a question: "If you were Lu Yinbing, would you accept the role of a mute girl?"
Xia Yitong didn't answer for a long time.
Xue Yao said: "If I were her, I wouldn't do that. I would rather quit the industry and never act again, rather than take the role of a mute girl. This word may not be right, but I can't think of a suitable one at the moment."
"Retreat?"
“Isn’t it better to let the ideal remain in its best form than to linger on?”
Lingering on...
Xia Yitong has been in the industry for nine years this year. Not to mention that she regards acting as her ideal, she has now reached the point of loving it. If she and Lu Yinbing switched positions, she probably would not choose that path and continue to be active on the screen.
If she could play a mute girl in one film, could she also play a mute girl in two or three? The doubts and rumors that followed were so strong that the more she was criticized, the more she was ruined.
Xia Yitong couldn't help but shudder at the possible development of the situation.
"Are you cold?"
Xia Yitong quickly shook her head: "No, I just came out of the bathroom and I'm not used to it yet."
"Oh," Lu Yinbing said, "it's time to make dinner."
Xia Yitong glanced at the clock on the wall. It was five o'clock in the afternoon. "Maybe later, half past five."
What should I do now? Her eyes drifted to the script on the coffee table. Maybe she could recite some lines? Lu Yinbing took out her kindle from her bag, sat sideways on the sofa, and rested her legs on Xia Yitong's legs. Xia Yitong covered her feet with a towel blanket.
"What are you looking at?"
“Siddhartha.”
"What are you talking about?" Xia Yitong leaned towards her Kindle interface.
“The story of a young man named Siddhartha’s search for faith.”
"Did you find it?"
"I haven't finished reading it yet, so I probably haven't found anything." Lu Yinbing clicked on the cover of the book and continued reading from where he left off.
"oh."
What a boring, conversational conversation, Xia Yitong thought.
"you… "
Lu Yinbing didn't look up, but moved his feet on her legs and changed to a comfortable position: "Hmm?"
Xia Yitong hardened her heart, took the script from the coffee table, and said, "Shall we rehearse the lines?"
"Dinner is in half an hour. It's not enough for me to carry a section. Let's talk about it in the evening." Lu Yinbing glanced at her, smiled naturally, and lowered his head again.
Xia Yitong thought for a moment and said, "That's true. So what do you want to eat tonight?"
"I want to eat seafood."
"I'll go buy it." Xia Yitong said as he was about to stand up.
Lu Yinbing hooked her leg around hers and said, "I'm just kidding. It's so late now and the seafood market probably isn't fresh anymore. Just get something casually. Didn't you buy Chinese cabbage? You stir-fry it, make some three-cup chicken, and some soup. That's enough."
Xia Yitong gently twisted her calf. Lu Yinbing did not show any weakness. He poked her calf with the nail of his big toe and ordered, "It's leaking. Cover it up quickly."
Xia Yitong covered her up again and patted her face to tuck her in.
While Lu Yinbing was reading a book, she used her mobile phone to surf the Internet and check Weibo. A popular variety show had two topics in the top ten, one about children and the other about fathers. Then there were things like celebrities showing off their babies, female celebrities' boyfriends, new TV series, etc. Xia Yitong had been isolated from the entertainment industry for most of the year, and now she always had a subtle sense of alienation when she saw these things.
The entertainment industry is a place where people come and go very quickly, without anyone noticing. Some people become famous overnight and then quickly fade away like fireworks, while others are like pines and cypresses in the industry, and they are evergreen. The last ones who stay will be remembered after ten, twenty, or thirty years. There are still people who admire their past elegance.
Xia Yitong glanced at Lu Yinbing beside her, and a bitter taste rose to the back of her tongue. She absentmindedly turned off the trending searches and checked the updates of a few acquaintances in her follow list to pass the time.
Most of the time, the eyes are fixed on the screen, but the person is in a daze.
Gradually, he got in touch with old friends on WeChat. They were chatting and laughing in the small group, talking about the secrets of the circle. The crew group he had joined when filming a movie before was as quiet as a chicken. A WeChat message popped up in the notification bar. Xia Yitong clicked on it and found it was from a friend in the group.
Friends - let's have a party, everyone is here, except you, are you coming? Xia Yitong
Xia Yitong—No, I’m very busy.
Friend—Are you in a relationship? I haven’t seen you talk much this year.
Xia Yitong - Aren't you busy filming? How can you have time for love? Go ahead and have fun, and have my share too.
Friends - we know you are busy. Now that you are very popular and preparing to transform, we understand that you cannot spare the time.
Xia Yitong - Thank you for your consideration [cute]
Friends - Don't forget each other when you become rich and powerful, big brother.
Xia Yitong—Don’t worry, I won’t forget you. I’m busy now.
Friends—go ahead, there’s not even time to say a few words.
"Chatting with someone?" The sudden voice made Xia Yitong turn her head and saw Lu Yinbing who spoke. She nodded, "Yes, a friend in a small group. We have a pretty good relationship."
Lu Yinbing asked: "What are you talking about?"
Xia Yitong said truthfully: "There is a party and asked me if I want to go?"
Lu Yinbing said, "Are you going?"
Xia Yitong said: "I refused."
Lu Yinbing continued to ask: "How good is a good relationship?"
Xia Yitong said: "A good friend second only to a best friend."
Lu Yinbing said: "Then why not go?"
"I..." Xia Yiting looked at her, hesitant and stammering.
Lu Yinbing raised his eyelids and said calmly, "I am not the only one in your life. You should go to the friends' gathering. I don't need you to look after me all the time. I have hands and feet. I am not a useless person."
"That's not what I meant." Xia Yitong said hurriedly, "Isn't it New Year's Day? I really can't spare the time to go to the party."
Lu Yinbing: "When did they meet?"
Xia Yitong: "... No, I'll go ask now."
After asking, it was said that it was the evening of the fifth day of the first lunar month. Lu Yinbing said, "Do you have any announcements on the evening of the fifth day of the first lunar month?"
Xia Yitong shook her head. The one Xue Yao gave her was not on the fifth day.
Lu Yinbing: "Then let's go party with friends."
Xia Yitong: "But..."
Lu Yinbing lowered his eyes to read a book with a cold expression, not giving her any chance to refuse or explain.
"Okay," Xia Yitong said after a while, "I told them I'll go."
Only then did Lu Yinbing look up at her and smiled lightly.