BDB Chapter 52

The person beside her remained silent for a moment. “What did you dream about last night?”

His tone didn’t change, and his voice remained steady.

His dark eyes were still as unfathomable as ever.

After thinking for a bit, she replied, “I dreamed that I committed suicide, and overnight, your hair turned white. I died, and you…”

She didn’t know what his ultimate fate was, so her words trailed off.

But her purpose in saying this wasn’t just to ‘come clean,’ but rather—“Li Jueyan, didn’t you say that after hundreds of days and nights, you knew my every smile and frown, my every look, and even the strands of my hair so well? Did that mean in the dream we were very close? Or even that I was your girlfriend, your wife? So what about the dream I had last night?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she remained perfectly still under his scrutinizing gaze.

Li Jueyan cursed quietly in his heart but maintained a calm and indifferent expression. “I don’t know.”

Seeing the furrow between her brows tighten, he elaborated a bit more, “I didn’t dream about any of those things you mentioned. How would I know what your dream last night was about?”

Since he didn’t admit anything, Jiang Rao could only steer the conversation back to its original point. “Then why did you give me these protective charms? And why suddenly mention that I have bad luck and poor health? Where did you get that information?”

Li Jueyan laughed, “Do I really need to spell it out that I’ve investigated you before? Jiang Rao, this kind of information isn’t hard to find. As for why I gave you those charms… we’re out in the middle of nowhere, and I’m afraid some wild animal might snatch you away. I’m afraid that someone with bad intentions might take you because you’re so beautiful. I’m afraid your frail body might succumb to illness or mosquito bites. What’s wrong with giving you these protective charms?”

He had finally returned to his usual casual, nonchalant demeanor.

But he was always unpredictable. Aside from maintaining a proper and serious appearance in front of outsiders, he often let loose in front of her; switching between the arrogant “I¹” and the regular “I”, and sometimes showing a fierce expression and other times affectionately calling her ‘little sweetheart baby’.

Jiang Rao couldn’t tell if he was being truthful or lying this time, but she didn’t care to keep pursuing it.

Because at this moment, she was almost certain that what had happened to her wasn’t just as simple as transmigrating into a book. After all, the nightmares the male lead had told her about were real, and coincidentally, she had dreamed about most of them too.

Jiang Rao firmly believed that everything had a cause and effect.

Those nightmares, like fragmented episodes of a TV drama, were tightly intertwined between them. There was undoubtedly some inexplicable connection.

She ignored him, but he wasn’t one to remain silent just because she did.

While Jiang Rao was deep in thought, he suddenly grabbed her wrist and swiftly slipped a gold bracelet, intricately carved with a circle of koi fish, onto her wrist.

By the time Jiang Rao realized what had happened, the bracelet, with its exquisite craftsmanship and each koi uniquely detailed, was firmly on her wrist and wouldn’t come off no matter what she tried.

She fidgeted with her wrist for a while, rubbing the skin until it turned red, but the bracelet still wouldn’t budge. Seeing this, she looked up at the male lead. “I still have scenes to film.”

“Go ahead and shoot, who’s stopping you? I may be a straight man, but I’ve got nothing to do with toxic masculinity.”

“The gold bracelet doesn’t match the character.”

“And what about the one Grandma gave you? Aren’t you still wearing it? There’s no reason you’d be so attached to that ugly, tacky thing that looks like a fake, but treat the koi bracelet I carefully picked for you like garbage. Jiang Rao, I’d be heartbroken.”

Jiang Rao was not one to get angry easily. Using the internet’s explanation of a “Buddha-style” attitude, it was something like, “Others may get angry, but I won’t. If I get sick from anger, no one will take care of me.”

She wasn’t angry now either, but looking at the male lead’s helpless expression, she really wanted to smack this scoundrel.

However, even fate seemed to be on his side. Before she could act on her thoughts, the director’s voice rang out from a distance, “Little Jiang, it’s your turn. You’ve got five more minutes to prepare. Go over the script and try to nail it in one take.”

After responding, Jiang Rao turned her attention back to the male lead. “Help me take off the bracelet. I’m wearing a women’s suit, and it won’t cover this chunky bracelet. The one Grandma Ma put on my wrist is wrapped in a loop of plastic string to make it less noticeable, but this one won’t work like that.”

Upon hearing this, he didn’t comply as she expected. Instead, he leaned back against the chair, and once he settled in, he lazily said, “Sure, but give me a kiss.”

Jiang Rao had anticipated this outcome, but she had held onto the hope that perhaps the male lead would behave a bit more humanely. Now, hearing his response, she didn’t give him a second glance, standing up and walking straight to the props department.

The props team had already tried, at the start of filming, to help her remove the diamond-encrusted gold bracelet from her wrist. After multiple failed attempts, they had resorted to wrapping it in black plastic string to tone down its ostentatiousness.

But to their surprise, not long after, she had another bracelet locked on her wrist; this time, pure gold!

After exhausting all methods again, the team could only say, “Sorry, Little Jiang, how about we wrap it in black plastic again?”

Jiang Rao pursed her lips and shook her head. “The set is ready, and we’re about to start shooting. There’s no time.”

“Then you’ll have to go back to the person who put the bracelet on you. There’s probably a small mechanism that makes it hard to remove. Without finding that, no one else can help.”

So, Jiang Rao had no choice but to… approach the director.

After explaining the situation to him, she saw the director’s troubled expression. “That bracelet is really too eye-catching. Why don’t you just apologize to President Li and have him take it off for you?”

Apologizing would mean getting kissed, and Jiang Rao was not okay with that.

Seeing her reluctance, Feng Ke advised, “Before you came along, there were rumors that President Li wasn’t straight. Even after he got married, people said it was just a front because he never showed interest in any women. I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but he’s willing to spend money and time on you. Even if he doesn’t love you, he clearly likes you a lot.”

“If someone likes you, what’s there to be afraid of? Act cute, and he’ll agree to anything you ask—except for leaving him. Just give it a try.”

Reluctantly returning to the male lead, Jiang Rao felt utterly helpless.

She had already signed the contract, received half of the payment, and had no choice but to continue filming. If she didn’t, her reputation would be ruined, and she’d owe several times the contract’s penalty fee.

If she continued filming, she had to fulfill her responsibility to herself and her character.

Seeing the girl’s hesitant expression as she reappeared in his line of sight, Li Jueyan’s heart was itching. He coughed lightly before asking, “Are we taking it off or not? If not, I’m leaving! You sure know how to hide from me, but I’ve got a ton of things to deal with, and I need to drive somewhere with a signal to handle them. Every minute of delay costs me millions, Jiang Rao.”

Of course, she had to take it off. The bracelet not only hindered the shoot, but it also added strain to her wrist. Besides, she wasn’t fond of wearing jewelry, especially expensive ones that were more trouble than they were worth. She’d seen thieves on motorcycles yank gold earrings off people’s ears before. With her bad luck, who knew what kind of terrible thing could happen?

But kissing him over something so trivial? No way.

So, she followed Feng Ke’s advice and tried acting cute.

The problem was, before she transmigrated into this book, she was a cold and independent woman who did everything herself. She wasn’t skilled in such tactics, so she just softened her voice. “Li Jueyan, there are too many people here. I can’t kiss you.”

“So you’re not taking it off? Fine, I’m leaving then.”

He stood up from his chair as he spoke.

But she quickly grabbed his sleeve, stopping him from leaving.

She said, “Can’t I owe you one?” After all, she could owe him now, and who knew when she’d pay it back? By the time he came to collect, she might already be enjoying her freedom overseas!

He chuckled softly and glanced at the part of his sleeve she was holding. Her fair hand was timidly clutching it.

“Alright.”

Before she could even get excited, he added, “But I’ll need to collect a little interest first.”

Jiang Rao’s excitement instantly deflated. “What interest?”

“Jiang Rao.” He smiled, lips curving, “Say something sweet to make me happy.”

She hesitated, then awkwardly said, “You’re really handsome?”

Her voice was soft and pleasant, just the kind Li Jueyan liked, but her tone carried a hint of uncertainty.

Seeing him remain silent, just staring at her, Jiang Rao realized she hadn’t quite hit the mark with her comment. “You’re both handsome and rich, truly outstanding.”

Even the most showy person would pale in comparison to you! Even the famed flower’s elegance would be overshadowed by your presence!

He had no idea she was secretly grumbling to herself with those last two sentences. Hearing her flattery, he ruffled her hair for the second time. “Are you just bad at compliments, or do you really not get it?”

“Didn’t you say I’m pure and innocent? I don’t understand anything.”

Her mischievous expression made it hard to tell if she had picked up some acting skills from her time on set, but when she met his gaze, she did look convincingly innocent.

Since she claimed not to understand, he didn’t push her any further.

After helping her take off the bracelet, he stuffed it into her bag along with the rest of the jewelry. “Take good care of these. They’ve all been blessed and will bring you good luck, keeping you healthy and safe.”

Jiang Rao didn’t want them. “I don’t believe in that superstitious stuff.”

“It’s not superstition,” Li Jueyan stressed. “It’s not. Just keep them, or I’ll come to collect my principal right now.”

She had just paid the interest, so Jiang Rao immediately guessed what the principal might be.

Not wanting to argue anymore, she finally accepted, allowing him to safely tuck everything into her bag.

As she dashed toward the camera crew, he let out a sigh and made a phone call. “Are you sure those people are real and not just scam artists pretending to be monks or fortune-tellers? Are they all there? Okay, I’ll be right over.”

——

1. TL/N: Please refer Chapter 4’s TL/N on the use of [ Lǎozi : father / daddy / “I, your father” (in anger, or out of contempt) / I (used arrogantly or jocularly). ] ↩︎