Don’t Want a Divorce (15)
Temporary markers… can make one crave more.
“Fans visiting the set said that Xu Sajiao’s acting skills have improved! Director Zhen praised her several times! What should I do, I’m already excited about this plot QAQ.”
“Isn’t the trailer coming out tonight? I’ve already got my seat ready! I heard this drama is invested by Yantian and is premiering on Xingguang TV! I’m really looking forward to it!”
“Just with Qiu Yongli and Lu Xun, the two main stars, I can foresee the viewership ratings on the premiere day. Haven’t you noticed that in the past six months, they’ve been all over the hot searches online? The picture of Lu Xun on the Cannes red carpet is still hanging in his super topic ad.”
“Speaking of which, in these kinds of historical palace drama series, the main female character usually turns evil later, right? I’m really looking forward to seeing my dear Yongli turn evil! She always played the sweet fairy roles before; I’ve never seen her go wild and cool!”
“Did you forget the still photos? Ahhhhh, am I the only one still thinking about that still of Qi Yunshang and Rong Qing? I’m so hyped for this supporting CP! I heard the ‘Seven Emotions’ super topic has already been created! The crazy thing is, the drama hasn’t even aired yet, and there are already fans creating content based on that still!”
“Sisters upstairs, can I take a look at the content from your warehouse?”
……
The trailer for 《The Palace Wall Willows》 is about to be released. Thanks to the popularity of the two main actors, a significant amount of discussion about the drama has already sparked online. Even Shi Weiya, who spends her days at home trimming flowers with the help of a nanny, called Xu Jiao the night she saw the news.
“The crew is doing well, the food is good, the place where we stay is also nice. Yes, Auntie, you don’t have to worry about me…” Xu Jiao sat in front of her laptop, watching Ni Hong discuss endorsement deals with ‘Anxin.’ Although her eyes were focused on the screen, her voice answering Shi Weiya was sweet and gentle.
“A video call?” Xu Jiao heard the request from the other side, her eyes scanned the room and, seeing nothing too messy, she switched the call from voice to video.
Camera on—
Shi Weiya’s figure appeared on the other end, wearing a deep green long dress. The color was too deep and elegant for a young girl to pull off, but it suited her perfectly. Her eyes held the depth of years gone by, yet her well-maintained face exuded a mature charm.
Through the camera, Xu Jiao carefully observed her complexion and state. Seeing that she looked much better than before Xu Jiao left home and joined the crew, she felt relieved. She moved her phone slightly and sat by the table to continue their conversation.
“…Where is Qingyu? It’s so late, does she still have scenes to film?” After exchanging some concerns, Shi Weiya naturally shifted the topic to Feng Qingyu.
Xu Jiao’s smile slightly faded, “I am not staying with her. The crew has arranged rooms for each actor… Didn’t she tell you?”
Shi Weiya immediately realized something, her expression paused for a moment, then she said, “The crew is quite generous. I thought you two were staying together. I haven’t contacted her recently; she is quite particular, and gets impatient dealing with us while filming, which is why I called you… I see it’s quite late, am I keeping you from resting?”
Xu Jiao smiled and replied, “It’s fine, I just finished my bath and it’s not that early for me to sleep. Auntie, you don’t have many people to talk to at home, and I didn’t have any particularly tiring scenes today, so I can chat with you for a while longer.”
Shi Weiya smiled so much that even the corners of her eyes were filled with joy: “You are still so considerate.”
Since Xu Jiao was not living with Feng Qingyu, Shi Weiya did not bring up her daughter too much. She asked Xu Jiao to show her the layout of the hotel room. Seeing the large bed, she suspected that the quality might not be good and could affect sleep. She wanted to send a silk quilt from home, which she had bought earlier, but Xu Jiao politely declined with a smile.
The camera panned around the room, and after seeing the environment, Shi Weiya wanted to see if Xu Jiao had lost weight. Xu Jiao noticed that Ni Hong was busy and that she herself did not know where the scale was, so she could only turn around in front of the camera and helplessly tell Shi Weiya:
“Auntie, I really haven’t lost weight. I have a manager taking care of me here. Besides eating the same meals as everyone else in the crew, I also have late-night snacks… Other Omega celebrities only eat fruits and vegetables for their three meals a day, but my food intake has already far exceeded that.”
At this point, it is necessary to praise the good physique of Omegas.
Xu Jiao found that in this ABO world, there were hardly any overweight people when looking around. Alphas were generally taller and more distinguished, standing out in a crowd as if they were glowing. Betas, although the majority of the population, did not have the trouble of pheromones and glands, and their facial features and body shapes were pretty good, with none particularly ugly, all above average in looks and physique.
And Omegas, needless to say, were all fragrant and delicate, looking soft and slender—
The whole world seemed to have gone through a round of natural selection based on appearance, which was especially evident in the entertainment industry. Xu Jiao had watched a trainee selection program a few days ago and almost experienced aesthetic fatigue.
Shi Weiya immediately refuted Xu Jiao’s words: “You should not learn from those people! Their habits are very unhealthy. You are still young, and you don’t know how physically demanding the Omega’s heat period is. If you don’t eat enough normally, when that time comes, how will you endure through ten days or half a month? And if you have a child in the future…”
Xu Jiao listened awkwardly to her assumptions, her gaze starting to wander.
Those words like “lactation period,” “pregnancy period,” and the like were like golden stars swirling in her dizzy mind, constantly circling in Xu Jiao’s head, making her want to shake her head. She wanted to tell Shi Weiya not to hold any illusions about her being able to bear a child for Feng Qingyu in the future.
But the words stayed in her mouth, and she held them back.
For the original owner, Shi Weiya was the only guardian who had ever given her familial love and care. This deep affection for Shi Weiya was etched in her memory. Although it did not have much impact on Xu Jiao, as long as she faced Shi Weiya and heard her voice, her body instinctively responded with gentleness toward this person.
Xu Jiao could understand this feeling and would respect it. From the original owner’s memories, she knew that the original owner’s parents were not very concerned about her and valued her younger brother more. Even though the family was affluent when she was young, her parents did not treat both children equally. They never thought about whether their daughter needed expensive Lego sets, always thinking only of buying them for their son.
Later, the family fell into decline, and the parents divorced, fighting only for the son’s custody. The daughter was casually thrown to the grandparents. In the end, the original owner’s brother went with their mother, while the father quickly started a new family. Unable to bear the decline in living standards, he became a live-in son-in-law to a wealthy woman.
The mother took the brother abroad, and they eventually lost contact. The original owner lived with her grandparents until high school. When the two elderly people became seriously ill, she helped send them off with her father, who was already someone else’s husband. Afterward, she struggled in society.
Without any financial support, she couldn’t even save enough for high school tuition and living expenses, let alone work and study in college. This ‘Xu Jiao’ was accustomed to a life of poverty and knew how hard it was to make money. Therefore, she desperately wanted to make a name for herself in the entertainment industry, to rise above others, and to know what it felt like to count money until her hands cramped.
At this moment—
The author arranged an unexpected marriage for her.
She married the popular star Feng Qingyu, entered that warm family, received the care of her mother-in-law, and unexpectedly gained the kind of elder care she thought she would never have again from Shi Weiya.
Actually, the original owner wanted to get along well with Feng Qingyu.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
As long as she could continue living in the Feng family, she wouldn’t even mind Feng Qingyu’s indifference… but Feng Qingyu’s intention to divorce deeply triggered her fear of the poor days she once endured. This fear overcame all other emotions, leading her to later conspire with Ni Hong to plan a publicity stunt.
All of this was the automatic extension of the plot from the original owner’s memory, reasonable and logical.
However, now that Xu Jiao had arrived, she was determined to change Feng Qingyu’s fate and wouldn’t follow the original owner’s plans for the future. She would ensure that the original owner possessed endless wealth and that Feng Qingyu wouldn’t be harmed.
And Shi Weiya.
She was happy to accept Shi Weiya’s love, just as in the previous world, she gladly maintained a good friendship with Su Xi.
……
Xu Jiao did not interrupt Shi Weiya’s thoughts about pregnancy and childbirth; instead, Shi Weiya stopped herself—
“Jiaojiao, what was that large plaster on the back of your neck just now? Did you get hurt while filming? Is it serious? Did Qingyu take you to the hospital?”
Shi Weiya’s eyes were filled with concern, wishing she could immediately cross over from the other side of the camera to check on Xu Jiao’s injury.
Logically, Shi Weiya should have been able to guess the reason for Xu Jiao’s injury right away, but considering Feng Qingyu’s attitude toward Xu Jiao and the fact that they didn’t stay together in the crew, Shi Weiya instinctively ruled out that option.
Moreover, she didn’t even ask, fearing she might see some sad expression from Xu Jiao, which would hurt her feelings.
As a result, Xu Jiao’s expression went blank for a moment in the camera, her gaze shifted to the side, quickly thinking of a countermeasure.
Claiming it was a stiff neck wouldn’t work, as she had just praised the hotel’s bed and pillows, and even refused the strange offer to send pillows and blankets from home. Saying it was a mosquito bite seemed overly suspicious.
So…
“Uh, it was just an accident during filming.” In the end, Xu Jiao decided to blame Director Zhen.
Shi Weiya felt heartbroken: “What kind of filming could hurt your neck? I heard this is some sort of ancient drama, right? Did your character hang themselves? Got beheaded? Is the shoot almost finished? I’ll have the kitchen make more soup to nourish you.”
Xu Jiao: “…” She kind of wanted to know what kind of costume dramas Aunt Shi usually watched.
But because the reason was hard to explain, in the end, Xu Jiao could only vaguely acknowledge these statements amidst such concern and guiltily found an excuse to hang up the phone.
Ni Hong, who was multitasking next to the computer, glanced at her: “Not bad, Jiaojiao, you really have a knack for handling the mother-in-law.”
Xu Jiao suppressed her emotions, didn’t respond to her comment, and walked over to ask:
“Did they reply?”
“Of course, the result is good. They think your image aligns well with the product’s concept and believe you are very suitable for the new advertisement! Let’s find a day when you’re free to sign the contract and then shoot the commercial.”
……
On the other end.
After hanging up Xu Jiao’s call, Shi Weiya dialed Feng Qingyu’s number.
Feng Qingyu had just discussed Xu Jiao’s endorsement with her team and was mocked by her manager: “You, before you were indifferent and unwilling, now that you’ve figured it out, you go through such twists and turns, and refuse to let people know. Aren’t you tired?”
She didn’t explain much to her manager, just smiled and said, “Just consider that I misjudged before and now want to make up for it.”
Who would have thought that as soon as she hung up, her still-warm phone rang again.
Feng Qingyu put down the script she was halfway through, glanced at the caller ID, and showed some surprise, but still quickly picked up: “Mom, why are you still up so late? Is there something at home?”
Her family knew her habits well; once she joined a crew for filming, she would immerse herself in the script. To catch early or night scenes, her schedule would often be reversed, and sometimes she needed to change locations frequently, flying from the south one day to the north the next, keeping her extremely busy. So they usually wouldn’t call her while she was filming.
Unless there was something urgent.
Shi Weiya’s voice slowly came through: “I just called Jiaojiao. She said you finished work early today, so I chatted with her for a bit—”
Feng Qingyu glanced at the time and, uncharacteristically, interrupted her mother: “We finished early today because there’s a scene to shoot at four in the morning, and I have to get up around three. Mom, next time you want to call her, could you message me first? You know she’s close to you and wouldn’t hang up on you.”
Shi Weiya was stunned for two seconds.
Originally wanting to ask Feng Qingyu about Xu Jiao’s injury, she suddenly felt something was off after hearing her daughter’s words.
So she paused and tentatively continued: “Oh, then I won’t disturb your rest. This drama you’re filming, it airs for a while and then takes a break, right? It should be ending soon, right? I just wanted to ask, I saw Jiaojiao with a plaster on her neck, do you know about her injury?”
Feng Qingyu chuckled lightly upon hearing this, her tone much more relaxed than before: “Is that what she told you? Injured? What injury?”
Shi Weiya faintly sensed something but hadn’t yet reacted: “She said it was an injury from filming, but she wouldn’t clarify the specifics.”
Feng Qingyu’s laughter became even more joyful.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
Hearing her laugh, Shi Weiya wanted to say something. Even if she didn’t like Xu Jiao, she shouldn’t have this attitude towards her injury. However, just as she was about to speak, she suddenly realized—
Feng Qingyu’s voice came through at that moment:
“Mom, what kind of third-rate crew would injure someone at the gland area on the back of the neck during filming?”
Shi Weiya belatedly let out an “ah.”
In her slight surprise, Feng Qingyu unhurriedly and with a smile revealed the answer: “She recently went into heat and asked me to temporarily mark her. She didn’t want anyone to see, so she’s been wearing a plaster.”
Of course, the bite marks from Feng Qingyu had already healed.
Because the skin and flesh around the gland area heal very quickly, even if it was bitten through initially, unless it was severe, within three to five days only faint marks would be visible.
The reason she still wore the plaster was because…
Xu Jiao’s heat period was very long this time, nearly half a month.
Apart from the initial period when Feng Qingyu’s pheromones suppressed it, near the end, one early morning, Xu Jiao knocked on Feng Qingyu’s room door.
The person standing outside was neatly dressed, with an exceptionally cold expression, yet as she walked into the room, she began to unbutton the top button of her embroidered shirt, saying in an unusually calm tone:
“Sorry, it seems the pheromones you gave earlier weren’t enough—”
“Could I trouble you to help me once more?”
Though her voice carried no trace of seduction, her actions were particularly bold. The collar of her neatly buttoned shirt was already undone, three buttons loosened, revealing her beautiful and delicate collarbones, and her milk-white shoulders.
The slender neck slightly raised, like an instinctive yet unconscious invitation.
Feng Qingyu, of course, had no reason to hold back. She even used the excuse that to make her pheromones’ soothing and suppressing effect last longer, she bit deeper than the last time.
That time, Xu Jiao was marked by her while being held on the bed.
The white sheets were turned into layers of wrinkles, and the two of them, wrapped in those white waves, held each other tightly. One was unknowingly clutching the person in front of her out of pain, and the other out of possessiveness.
At that moment, Feng Qingyu maliciously kept licking the wound she had bitten, causing the person in her arms to tremble continuously, hot tears rolling down, and finally unable to hold back, a faint, weak moan escaped her throat.
Temporary marking… can make one crave for more.
Moreover, this effect only becomes shorter each time.
If at first, simply breaking the gland and injecting a small amount of Alpha pheromones could help an Omega get through the heat period, then later on, even if the Alpha pheromones are sufficient, the Omega would, due to the pleasure gained in this temporary marking process, trigger even stronger physiological needs.
By then, even if temporary marking can get through that difficult period, while the body’s needs are soothed, the mind will also crave more.
Looking at Xu Jiao now, who doesn’t have much emotion towards Feng Qingyu and is inherently very restrained, she could endure the pain the first time, but couldn’t help but make a sound during this second marking.
Next time, what will it be like?
Late at night, Feng Qingyu recalled all this, only to feel her throat tighten. Her gaze couldn’t help but fall on the bed beside her, and for a moment she felt the bed was too big, too empty, and too cold.
Shi Weiya’s surprised voice pulled her attention back to the communication: “Ah! You two… you two… has this block of hard stone finally enlightened?”
“Jiaojiao is really something, such a good thing, how could she hide it from me? I thought the scenes you shot were so dangerous, worrying for you at home.”
Hearing her mother’s complaint, which sounded like concern, the dark color in Feng Qingyu’s eyes faded a bit, and she calmly said, “Since she didn’t want you to know, just pretend you don’t know about this.”
“Why? She’s liked you for so long, even Mom can see it. Now that her wish has come true, and you like her too, why should I pretend not to know? I was even going to tell your father. Don’t think he’s too busy with work; he’s very worried that your marriage won’t have a good outcome. He’s secretly talked to me about you two many times.”
A hint of helplessness appeared in Feng Qingyu’s eyes.
Before Shi Weiya could chatter more, she timely stopped her:
“Because now the situation has changed—”
“Mom, now it is I who likes her, but she no longer likes me.”
Shi Weiya: “…?”
She was stunned into silence.
After a moment, Shi Weiya asked somewhat dazedly and puzzledly, “Do you young people nowadays… all like to play like this?”
Feng Qingyu laughed: “A few words can’t explain it clearly. Mom, you should rest first. We’ll finish filming next week, and then I’ll come back and talk to you in detail.”
Shi Weiya could only say: “Alright, I won’t talk to you anymore. It seems like the trailer is about to be released! I want to see the masterpiece starring our Qingyu and Jiaojiao!”
……
At this moment, the trailer for “The Palace Wall Willows” had already reached the top three trending searches.
(If you're not reading on littlepandatranslations.com, it means this has been stolen)
The internet was flooded with enthusiastic reactions.
The trailer opened with a stunning scene of palace walls and white plum blossoms, followed by the dramatic changes within the palace and the court. One moment showed Liu Ruyi and the Emperor enjoying a romantic evening under the moonlight, and the next moment showed Qi Yunshang and Rong Qing embracing in the hot springs of an outdoor palace—
Then the pace suddenly quickened. In the court, news of the Qi family’s rebellion in the northwest arrived, and ministers petitioned the Emperor to depose the Empress; in the harem, Rong Qing set a grand scheme to make the Empress conceive the Emperor’s heir, but this was discovered by the maidservant beside Liu Ruyi…
The camera continuously shifted between the treacherous plots in the Guangming Palace, the fierce competitions in the Imperial Garden, the smoke-filled battlefields, and the desolate and lonely Cold Palace. The colors alternated between bright and dark, and the lighting fluctuated between weak and strong, as if condensing thousands of years of stories into a single drop of ink, gently, gently dripping onto a piece of Xuan paper, spreading and unfolding—
At the end of the trailer, the pace slowed down, settling from the extreme changes.
The Noble Consort Rong, dressed in luxurious robes, sat under the willows by the lake. Intricately patterned metal fingernail guards adorned her pale fingers, gracefully resting on the armrest of her chair. Behind her were the high, red palace walls, and the fresh green buds of the willow trees swayed gently in the breeze coming from the lake.
She closed her eyes, with an exceptionally serene expression. Suddenly, she heard a eunuch’s high-pitched voice shouting from a distance:
“The Empress has arrived!”
The camera zoomed in on Rong Qing’s face.
In the resplendent makeup, Rong Qing’s eyelashes trembled softly as she slowly opened her eyes. Sunlight fell into her eyes, causing her expression to be momentarily dazed, as if she didn’t know where she was for a moment.
The light in the trailer gradually dimmed, and the voiceover began at this moment:
“Yellow sands bury the withered bones, beauty fades into dust.”
“Even the years from a thousand years ago wish to confide under this endless galaxy—”
“A new sprig of willow, a stretch of palace wall, they have witnessed love and hatred, they have recorded those conspiracies and intrigues. Now let them tell you, listen to the grand dream within that time.”
