I’ll Carry You

After everyone else had left, Qin Qingyan still could hardly believe it. She couldn’t believe Yan Yue was here; she couldn’t believe Yan Yue had been so willing to take the initiative, so forward.

For a moment, Qin Qingyan actually looked flustered.

Yan Yue walked to the window. “This room has the best view. I picked it on purpose. What do you think?”

She looked back at Qin Qingyan. Qin Qingyan smiled and nodded.

A breeze stirred; the white gauze curtains swayed lightly, and the wind chimes overhead rang with a clear, crisp note, making the whole scene feel even more heart-stirring.

“You… didn’t come here for something else?” Qin Qingyan asked uncertainly.

Yan Yue smiled, bracing a hand on the windowsill as she looked out at the dense peach grove. A few loose strands of hair lifted at her forehead.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Qin Qingyan, you can be bolder. For example, you could guess this is about you.”

With that answer in hand, Qin Qingyan walked over and leaned back against the window, tilting her head with a smile as she looked straight at Yan Yue.

Yan Yue glanced at her and lifted a brow. “Nanjing City doesn’t have scenery this nice. If you don’t look, it’d be a waste.”

“I can see it.” In your eyes.

In the distance, the production crew was busy among the peach trees preparing for tomorrow’s shoot; people were hurrying to and fro, and even the local officials were helping carry cameras while looking curiously at the unfamiliar equipment.

Qin Qingyan stared off at one spot, a thought flashing through her mind.

“Want to watch the sunset?” she asked.

“The sunset?” Yan Yue’s eyes lit up.

Seeing her reaction, Qin Qingyan knew she wanted to.

At dusk, the sun sank in the west, the clouds blazing red.

Qin Qingyan led Yan Yue toward a dirt slope. The mountain breeze swept by from time to time, carrying the faint fragrance of many different flowers.

The field ridge was uneven, only a narrow strip winding forward. Qin Qingyan walked easily; she had grown up in a place like this and was used to it. Yan Yue, however, was extremely careful, not daring to let her attention wander for even a second. She held tightly to the hand that was leading her and watched the ground, placing each step with full concentration.

Qin Qingyan stopped and looked at her with amusement. “If it’s really that hard, I can carry you.”

“No need. My shoes are already muddy. Your clothes will get dirty.” Yan Yue said.

“It’s fine. We can wash them when we get back.”

Yan Yue still refused and urged Qin Qingyan to keep going. Qin Qingyan had no choice but to slow down and lead Yan Yue toward the highest part of the slope.

Along the way, looking at scenery so similar to Qingyi Village, Qin Qingyan couldn’t help feeling a little nostalgic. When she had been in Qingyi Village, all she had wanted was to get out and see the world; now, she had actually started missing the past.

But there was still a difference. She glanced back at Yan Yue, warmth rising in her chest. Now she was no longer alone.

At last, they reached the top and found a clean patch of ground to sit down. Yan Yue let out a long breath. A thin sheen of sweat had gathered on her skin, and when the wind blew over, it felt especially pleasant.

The sun was already brushing the opposite mountain, clearly on its way down.

The crimson light fell across their faces, making even every fine hair visible.

“Pretty?” Qin Qingyan asked, looking at Yan Yue.

Yan Yue nodded, gazing happily at the sunset in the distance. “Very. It’s rare to see a view like this anywhere.”

Qin Qingyan smiled and rested her hands on her knees, tilting her head as she silently watched Yan Yue. To her, scenery was scenery; it was no different from the high-definition pictures she could find on her phone. What she cared about had always been the person beside her; it was the unique feeling of the present moment.

Yan Yue rested her chin on her hand and watched the sun go down, until the intense gaze beside her finally made her turn. She looked at Qin Qingyan. “You were the one who wanted to watch the sunset, and now you’re the one not looking.”

“I am looking.” Qin Qingyan’s voice was gentle. “I’m looking at the sunset too. It’s beautiful.”

The red glow was blazing and tender, quiet yet weighty.

Their eyes met. After a long moment, Yan Yue leaned in slightly and looked at Qin Qingyan’s lips. Qin Qingyan tipped forward and kissed her softly.

The kiss was like the evening wind in the mountains; distant, almost dreamlike, yet especially real.

As the sun neared the horizon, the path ahead grew half-seen and half-unseen, blurred and hazy.

Qin Qingyan held Yan Yue’s hand all the way back to the hotel, just as they had come. Yan Yue was a little nearsighted, and this place was unlike the city; naturally, there were no streetlights along the field ridge. Every step had to be taken with care.

They hadn’t gone far when Qin Qingyan suddenly stopped, crouched down, and waved her over. “I’ll carry you.”

“It’s fine. We can just walk slowly.”

Qin Qingyan said again, “It’s harder going downhill. One slip and we’ll end up in the field. I’ll carry you.”

Yan Yue looked up at the winding path disappearing into the dark ahead, hesitation flickering across her face. Qin Qingyan knew she was worried about dirtying her clothes, so she looked around and found a stone that was a little cleaner.

“If you’re worried about getting dirty, I’ll carry your shoes.”

In the end, Yan Yue agreed. She took off her shoes and stood on the stone while Qin Qingyan crouched in front of her.

Feeling arms loop around her neck and a weight settle on her back, Qin Qingyan stood up, picked up the shoes in one hand, and headed downhill.

Along the way, Yan Yue only grew more tense, afraid Qin Qingyan might make a misstep and drag them both down with her. So she didn’t dare move at all; she only clung tightly to her.

Feeling the stiff body against her back, Qin Qingyan couldn’t help laughing and slowed her pace.

“What’s so funny?” Yan Yue asked, puzzled.

“Nothing. Don’t you think this kind of moment is rare? In a strange place, on unfamiliar fields, at dusk, I’m carrying you home. There probably won’t be another one.”

That was true; Yan Yue agreed.

Qin Qingyan kept talking, her words about trivial, ordinary things, yet at that moment they felt especially precious.

Yan Yue turned her head and looked at Qin Qingyan’s eyes. Even as the sky darkened, she could still see the light in them. Many people said Qin Qingyan had been born for the camera, that she was a natural actress, that she belonged under the spotlight. Yan Yue had once believed that too.

But at this moment, she suddenly felt that Qin Qingyan was even more suited to dusk; suited to the sunset, the red clouds, the mountain wind.

After hearing nothing from behind her for a while, Qin Qingyan glanced back and saw Yan Yue studying her.

“What is it?” she asked.

Yan Yue smiled and leaned against her shoulder. “I was thinking that compared with how you look in front of the camera, you’re more vivid like this.”

“What’s the difference?”

Yan Yue shook her head. “It’s hard to explain. The first time I saw you, it was your eyes that attracted me. Later, it was your personality. What made me willing to choose you was also your temperament; it made people feel you were reliable. But just now, for a moment, when I saw your eyes the way I used to see them in Qingyi Village, I felt my heart skip.”

The words by her ear were light and soft, yet Qin Qingyan felt them as if they were blazing hot. Joy rolled and throbbed in her chest. She wanted to turn around and hold Yan Yue tight; her thoughts raced wildly until her foot slipped, and she immediately snapped back to attention.

When they got back to the hotel, Qin Qingyan shamelessly squeezed into the bathroom anyway, under the lofty pretense of saving water. The hotel’s soundproofing was poor, so Yan Yue had to bite back every embarrassing sound, while Qin Qingyan had no such restraint; she was even unusually excited, her fingertips wandering on their own, her kisses following the water from Yan Yue’s lips down to her neck.

By the end, Yan Yue couldn’t tell whether the shower water or Qin Qingyan’s palm was hotter.

After they finished washing up, Qin Qingyan carried the half-exhausted Yan Yue to bed, kissed her forehead, and watched her drift off quickly.

Qin Qingyan, however, couldn’t quite sleep. After intimacy, she was usually more awake; her mind stayed excited for a long while before it could settle down completely. During that time, she lay close beside Yan Yue, listening to her steady, reassuring breathing.

On the day of filming, Qin Qingyan woke a little after six. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the lover beside her. She kissed Yan Yue’s forehead, then got out of bed quietly and dressed. Taking out her phone, she replied to a few messages in the work group.

When she stepped out onto the balcony, the crisp air swept away the last of her sleepiness. The sky was still dim, and a thick mist floated over the mountain peaks in the distance.

The staff outside were busy under the lights.

Back in the room, Qin Qingyan sat by the bed and quietly looked at Yan Yue. After a long while, she gave a soft laugh. Her phone vibrated several times,催她去化妆准备了.

She bent down and kissed Yan Yue’s earlobe, then slipped out quietly.

Yan Yue was woken by the noise outside. The crew’s calls rose and fell, and the onlookers were talking excitedly as well.

She reached for her phone and checked the time. It was almost ten.

When she washed up and looked in the mirror, she saw red marks on her collarbone. When she touched them lightly, they still hurt a little. After every time they were intimate, her body was left with all kinds of kiss marks and tooth marks; the places that could be seen were a little restrained, but the places no one could see were even more outrageous.

Next time, she’d have to warn Qin Qingyan in advance.

When she walked out onto the balcony, she could see the crew from there. In the peach grove below, she looked for Qin Qingyan’s figure, but with the layered blossoms and branches in the way, she couldn’t make it out clearly.

A sudden dull pain hit her lower abdomen; Yan Yue frowned slightly, went back into the room, and then made another trip to the bathroom.

By the calendar, it should be around these few days.

The weather was nice, so Yan Yue chose a white thin knit top as her base layer and casually threw on a gray jacket. For pants, after thinking about it, she changed into black wide-leg trousers.

When she left the hotel, Yan Yue found that there were several times more onlookers than yesterday; the crowd was noticeably younger. But she clearly remembered that Qin Qingyan’s filming had not been leaked, right?

A man helping control the crowd spotted Yan Yue and hurried over.

“Yan Dong, there was a small accident. We originally planned to delay things, but the director insisted on finishing the shoot. I was worried someone might rush in and cause trouble, so I brought a few people to keep the scene under control. We definitely won’t let them get a single photo.”

Yan Yue looked at him and vaguely recognized him; he should have been part of the crew as well.

“If we hurry, everything can be finished in one day. The longer we drag it out, the harder it’ll be to finish smoothly. The director did the right thing.”

The man nodded with a smile. “Yes, yes, that’s exactly what I think too.”

Yan Yue smiled. “You’ve worked hard. Go on with your business.”

The man respectfully said goodbye, then turned around and put on a stern expression again, frowning as he kept a tight watch on the people craning their necks to look. After he shouted once, the crowd indeed quieted down quite a bit.

Someone noticed Yan Yue. Even though it was only from behind, her bearing was distinctive; combined with the fact that the man had just spoken to her specifically, they guessed she might also be an actress. Even if she wasn’t, her identity would certainly make people curious. And just like that, there was once again another topic for discussing Qin Qingyan.