The Strategy For The Yandere Movie Queen Failed And Was Marked. Chapter 17

Ye Qinglan watched Su Jin hunched over her meal, her fingertips tightening slightly beneath the table.

She knew her questioning just now had been too obvious; that nearly obsessive possessiveness was almost breaking through the cage of her rationality. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm.

“Tomorrow’s scene…” Ye Qinglan casually changed the subject, “is a dialogue scene between the two of us at the hot springs. Should we look over the script beforehand?”

Su Jin looked up as if granted a great pardon, her eyes sparkling. “Sounds great!”

The two moved to the living room, and Ye Qinglan took out the script and handed it to her.

Su Jin flipped open the page marked for the next day’s scene, and her expression instantly became priceless. The scene involved Zhou Yu seducing Lin Xia under the guise of soaking in the hot spring, and the sheer explicitness made her ears burn instantly.

“What’s wrong?” Ye Qinglan asked knowingly, leaning close to her ear. “Why is your face so red?”

Warm breath fanned her ear, and Su Jin recoiled as if shocked. “N-nothing! It’s just… this scene is a little…”

“A little what?” A hint of a smile flashed in Ye Qinglan’s eyes. Her slender finger lightly tapped the explicit lines. “Do you want to run through the scene beforehand?”

“No need!” Su Jin slammed the script shut, nearly jumping up. “I think… I think improvising on the spot will feel more natural!”

Ye Qinglan looked thoughtfully at her bright red ear tips, then suddenly sighed. “I’m actually a little worried about my condition tomorrow.”

“Huh?” Su Jin looked up, surprised.

In her memory, Ye Qinglan was always the effortless Film Empress. How could she have performance issues?

“There’s been too much going on lately, and it’s hard to get into character.” Ye Qinglan rubbed her temple, her brow slightly furrowed. “How about… we go practice on location? I’ve booked a private hot spring.”

“P-private hot spring?” Su Jin’s voice suddenly rose. In her mind, the System suddenly screamed excitedly:

“Host! A heaven-sent opportunity! The Hot Spring Play mission can be completed early!”

Su Jin rolled her eyes internally. “Shut up!”

Ye Qinglan pretended not to notice her unusual reaction and continued, “It’s at the Hot Spring Resort just outside the city. The environment is very quiet, and no one will disturb us.” She paused, adding meaningfully, “Think of it as familiarizing ourselves with tomorrow’s shoot in advance.”

The reason was too legitimate, so legitimate that Su Jin couldn’t find an excuse to refuse. She bit her lower lip and whispered, “Then… should we practice first?”

“Good.” Ye Qinglan forced herself to remain composed, immediately taking out her phone to make arrangements. “I’ll have the driver prepare the car now.”

An hour later, Su Jin stood by the hot spring pool wrapped in a bath towel. The rising steam made it almost impossible to see Ye Qinglan clearly on the other side. She clutched the edge of the towel tightly, her knuckles white, unable to muster the courage to take it off.

“Host! Take it off!” the System urged impatiently. “What a perfect chance!”

“You shut up!” Su Jin roared internally.

“Susu?” Ye Qinglan’s voice drifted through the mist, echoing with the ripple of water. “Aren’t you coming down?”

Only then did Su Jin realize Ye Qinglan was already in the water. Through the hazy steam, her porcelain-white shoulder and neck lines were vaguely visible, the water just covering the area below her collarbone. Su Jin’s throat suddenly felt dry and painful from watching.

“I, I’ll be right there…” Su Jin gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and released the towel. Because her movement was too sudden, the towel’s descent brought a rush of cool air, making her entire body shiver slightly.

The warm spring water instantly enveloped her. Su Jin let out a nearly inaudible sigh. She huddled into a ball, only her head visible above the water, like a startled quail.

“Is the water temperature alright?” Ye Qinglan’s voice was suddenly right next to her.

Su Jin snapped her eyes open, realizing the other woman had swum right up to her without her noticing.

“A-alright…” Su Jin’s voice was barely a whisper. She unconsciously shifted backward, only to find her back pressed against the pool wall.

Ye Qinglan didn’t press closer, merely leaning against the edge of the pool, asking with a slight smile, “Shall we start from Scene Three? The part where Zhou Yu pretends to slip and falls into Lin Xia’s arms.”

Su Jin nodded, forcing herself into character. She took a deep breath, then suddenly let out a startled “Ah!” and tumbled toward Ye Qinglan.

According to the script, Ye Qinglan should have caught her steadily, followed by the two meeting eyes in an ambiguous atmosphere. In reality, Su Jin was too nervous and her movement was too large; she completely crashed into Ye Qinglan. Their bodies pressed together in the water without any gap.

“Ugh!” In her panic, Su Jin choked on some water, flailing her limbs wildly.

Ye Qinglan’s arms tightened abruptly. As she lifted Su Jin out of the water, their noses were almost touching. Su Jin could clearly see the droplets of water clinging to the other woman’s eyelashes, and the suppressed darkness in her eyes.

“Cough, cough…” Su Jin coughed violently while leaning on Ye Qinglan’s shoulder, belatedly realizing she was rubbing against the other woman’s leg. Even through the fabric, she could feel Ye Qinglan’s tension.

“Are you alright?” Ye Qinglan gently patted her back, her voice several degrees lower than usual.

Su Jin was so embarrassed her ear tips felt like they were bleeding. “I-I’m sorry! I’ll start over…”

“No need.” Ye Qinglan’s hand steadily supported her waist, her thumb unconsciously rubbing the small of her back. “Continue just like this.”

According to the script, the next part was Zhou Yu deliberately blowing air into Lin Xia’s ear.

Su Jin steeled herself and leaned closer, but due to extreme nervousness, her breath came out in broken gasps: “Your… your eyes are really beautiful…” She was supposed to use a seductive tone, but it came out as a breathy whisper.

“In the script, this line should be spoken close to the ear.” Ye Qinglan tilted her head slightly, exposing her sensitive earlobe near Su Jin’s lips, her voice husky. “Like this.”

This movement brought Su Jin’s lips almost against her earlobe. She could clearly smell the faint cedar scent in Ye Qinglan’s hair. Her mind instantly went blank, and she forgot her lines completely.

“Host! Kiss her!” the System suddenly yelled. “The mission will be complete!”

That voice was like a bucket of cold water waking Su Jin up. She abruptly leaned back, lost her balance, and nearly slipped underwater again, only to be quickly pulled back by Ye Qinglan.

“Be careful.” Ye Qinglan’s voice was slightly hoarse, her arm muscles tightly strained. “Shall we… try again?”

The subsequent “rehearsal” was pure torture. Su Jin kept messing up her lines, her movements as stiff as a robot’s. Ye Qinglan, however, was exceptionally patient, correcting her mistakes repeatedly, yet always maintaining a perfect distance.

It wasn’t until the fifth attempt that Su Jin finally completed the entire scene. When she delivered the last line, she was utterly exhausted, leaning against the edge of the pool and panting slightly.

“Very good.” Ye Qinglan nodded approvingly and handed her a glass of iced lemonade. “Take a break.”

Su Jin took small sips of the cold drink, suddenly hearing the System notification: “Congratulations, Host! Hot Spring Play mission complete! A reward of twenty million has been credited to your account!”

Su Jin didn’t know whether to be happy or annoyed. She secretly glanced at Ye Qinglan, who was resting with her eyes closed. The other woman’s beautiful profile was faintly visible in the mist, like an ink wash painting.

On the drive back, Su Jin huddled in the passenger seat, wishing she could melt into the car door. The neon lights outside flickered, reflecting on her flushed cheeks as if a palette had been overturned.

“Is the air conditioning temperature comfortable?” Ye Qinglan’s voice broke the silence.

“C-comfortable…” Su Jin’s voice was barely audible. She didn’t dare turn her head.

Her mind kept replaying the intimate touches in the hot spring: how Ye Qinglan’s arm wrapped around her waist, how the warm spring water made the fabric transparent, and the sudden deepening of the other woman’s eyes…

“Host, your heart rate is too fast,” the System coolly reminded her. “Do you need me to call an ambulance?”

“Shut up!” Su Jin roared internally. “This is all your fault!”

The System sounded wronged: “It’s clearly the Host herself who is feeling amorous…”

Su Jin bit her lower lip in frustration, but then heard Ye Qinglan chuckle softly. “What are you thinking about? Your face is so red.”

“N-nothing!” She denied it reflexively, but her movement was too sudden, and the seatbelt dug painfully into her chest. “Hiss—”

Ye Qinglan immediately reached over, her fingertips gently brushing the spot where the belt had dug in. “Be careful.”

The touch was like a spark, instantly igniting every nerve in Su Jin’s body. She abruptly held her breath, freezing into a statue.

Ye Qinglan seemed to sense her tension. As she withdrew her hand, her fingertips subtly grazed Su Jin’s collarbone, causing a faint shiver.

The rest of the journey passed in silence.

Su Jin stared out the window the entire time, even breathing carefully, afraid of revealing her inner turmoil. Only when the car pulled into the villa garage did she finally let out a sigh of relief.

“I’m going to shower first!” As soon as the car stopped, Su Jin unbuckled her seatbelt and fled as if escaping.

Ye Qinglan watched her retreating figure, a meaningful curve appearing at the corner of her lips.

Su Jin rushed into the guest room, slammed the door shut, and threw herself onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow to scream silently. She was burning up as if she had a high fever; every detail from the hot spring was magnified infinitely in her mind.

“Host, you currently resemble a cooked prawn,” the System commented coolly.

Su Jin rolled over, staring blankly at the ceiling. “What exactly does she mean… one moment she treats me like a substitute, the next she’s…”

“Who cares what she means? Striking while the iron is hot and completing the mission is what matters!” the System excitedly urged.

Su Jin grabbed a pillow and threw it against the wall. “Can you have some integrity!”

She rolled off the bed and paced back and forth in the room. Moonlight streamed through the gap in the curtains. Su Jin, as if possessed, walked to the window, gently pulled the curtain aside, and saw Ye Qinglan’s back as she stood in the garden making a phone call.

The moonlight plated Ye Qinglan with a silver edge, making her profile look exceptionally clear in the night. Su Jin involuntarily held her breath, staring intently at the person outside. Ye Qinglan seemed to sense something, suddenly turning and looking up, precisely locking onto the window where Su Jin stood.

Su Jin was startled and immediately pulled the curtain shut, her heart pounding uncontrollably.

At the same time, Ye Qinglan in the garden ended her call. Her expression was obscured by the moonlight. She whispered to the air, “System, can you detect Su Jin’s System fluctuation?”

A faint electrical current sound came from the air, and a mechanical voice responded: “Yes, but it requires a large consumption of energy. Current energy reserves are only 12%, which is insufficient to support a full scan.”

Ye Qinglan said in a low voice, “Is there any way to temporarily shield her System? Even if only for a few minutes…”

“Yes,” the System replied. “If the energy source on Fang Qi can be consumed, a temporary shielding field can be created. However, the risk is very high. Forcibly interfering with the operation of another System is against the rules. If discovered…”

Ye Qinglan sneered. “Rules?” Her voice carried suppressed anger. “Why didn’t they mention rules when they turned my sister into a mission puppet?”

The System remained silent, seemingly acquiescing to her choice.

Ye Qinglan looked up at Su Jin’s window again, a nearly obsessive tenderness surfacing in her eyes.

“Sister…” she whispered silently. “This time, it’s my turn to protect you.”

In the dead of night, Ye Qinglan gently pushed open Su Jin’s door.

Moonlight flowed like water, quietly spilling onto the bed, outlining Su Jin’s curled form. She was sleeping restlessly, her brows slightly furrowed, her eyelashes occasionally trembling, as if she were having a bad dream.

Ye Qinglan softened her steps and walked to the bedside, cautiously crouching down.

She reached out, her fingertips gently stroking Su Jin’s hair, her movements as soft as if she were handling a fragile treasure.

After a long moment, she leaned down and, with restraint, placed a feather-light kiss on Su Jin’s forehead.

“Goodnight, Sister,” she said silently. “Have sweet dreams.”

As she stood up, Ye Qinglan didn’t notice Su Jin’s eyelashes trembling slightly.

Only after the door had been closed for a long time did Su Jin dare to open her eyes. The warmth of the kiss still lingered on her forehead, and her heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst from her chest.

“System…” she whispered in her mind. “Ye Qinglan just… secretly kissed me.”

The System immediately perked up. “Host! Isn’t this the perfect opportunity? Tomorrow you can just—”

“She called me ‘Sister’,” Su Jin interrupted, her voice muffled. “How much does she love that person…”

The System seized the chance to instigate: “Host, since she’s so devoted, why not turn her own plan against her? Pretend you are that person, then ruthlessly dump her. I guarantee the Blackening value will skyrocket! Mission complete instantly!”

“Do you have any humanity left!” Su Jin angrily punched the pillow. “Using someone else’s feelings is too immoral!”

The System was unimpressed. “She doesn’t love the real you anyway; you’re just a substitute. Besides, once the mission is complete, you can go home. Why worry about morality?”

Su Jin fell silent. She recalled the look in Ye Qinglan’s eyes—that passionate yet restrained affection—and the kiss that felt like a butterfly’s wing. Unfortunately, all of it was meant for someone else.

“I can’t do it,” she finally whispered. “Even if I have to complete the mission, I won’t use that method.”

The System scoffed. “Host, you haven’t actually fallen for Ye Qinglan, have you?”

Su Jin didn’t answer, merely burying her face in the pillow.