Chapter 105

Chapter 105 [VIP] Extra 3 (Honeymoon 1)

An Ye's wish when she turned eighteen was to get an ear cartilage piercing. After a long eleven years, all her wishes were finally realized one by one.

She had a relationship that would never end and experienced a romantic and wild journey with her lover.

At first, they set the destination to the Lofoten Islands, simply because An Ye’s love film finished shooting in Helsinki, Finland. During that time, Shi Tuo had a business merger in Berlin, so it made sense that after more than a month apart, they would both have enough time for a trip. Looking at the remaining validity of their Schengen visas, they casually decided on Norway, a destination not far from either location.

"Are you not coming with us?" An Ye’s assistant had already been replaced by Xiao Yao, and Lan Yifang was interning with Qi Wei. Since the filming was in Finland, the three girls had all come, dressed in matching woolen hats and down jackets, bundled up tightly.

"No, no, no," Qi Wei waved her hands repeatedly, "You’ve been shooting here for twenty days, aren’t you cold? Don’t you get tired of it?"

An Ye wrinkled her nose and smiled at them.

The filming of "Ninety-Nine Days" had been full of twists and turns. The shooting cycle spanned five months, across four countries, with the characters’ ages ranging from twenty to fifty. The unpredictable factors were numerous, especially in Finland. The weather was bad this year, and out of twenty days, only four were sunny enough to shoot daytime scenes. The other snowy days were spent with the four girls staying in a small cabin, playing cards and chatting.

An Ye was in great spirits. After marrying Shi Tuo, it felt like she had completed a puzzle in her life. She became more vibrant, and the four girls spent their time playing cards in the cabin. They learned to cheat when they lost badly.

So, in these twenty days, the bond between the four girls visibly grew stronger.

"Let Shi Lv cook something for you later. You’re losing weight again," Qi Wei pinched An Ye’s waist before they left, clucking her tongue.

In fact, Wang Shanshan had never needed to control An Ye’s diet. She was a chosen actress, and once on set, she would slim down. In Finland, it was so cold that they had hot pots every night. The other three girls gained a few pounds, but An Ye lost weight.

Her face, which had been getting a little round, was now sharp again.

"An Jie, I’ve put your luggage in the white suitcase." Lan Yifang couldn’t break the habit of packing things for An Ye, holding a little notebook and muttering, "I’ve placed everything in the same order as before... The pink one in the medicine box is the vitamin. The doctor said you’re low on calcium, so don’t forget to take Vitamin D every day. The band-aids, cold medicine, and stomach medicine are in the blue box…"

"I also bought some snacks, instant noodles, crackers, ginger tea, and so on." Xiao Yao had perfectly inherited Lan Yifang’s habit of talking incessantly. "The leftover warm pads are also in the black suitcase, the one you can carry on, and the game console is in there..."

Although An Ye had heard these instructions many times before, she didn’t interrupt them.

She used to pack everything herself and was used to doing many things on her own, as it was a way to fend off Yan Wan and Wang Shanshan.

In these past few months, she had been slowly learning to expand her world.

After eleven years in the industry, for her, this was the first year.

Shi Tuo had originally planned to fly to Helsinki from Berlin to pick up An Ye and then fly together to the Lofoten Islands. But An Ye found the hassle unnecessary, and in the end, they agreed to meet at Bodø Airport, where they rented a car and took a ferry to Moskenes.

The trip started off a bit off.

At first, An Ye’s film wrap-up was delayed by two days. Shi Tuo waited for her in Bodø for two days, and just because of those two days, Norway was hit by a snowstorm. An Ye’s flight was canceled once and delayed twice, and finally, on the fourth day, she flew to Bodø.

After a dusty and tiring arrival at the airport, in the crowded arrival hall, An Ye couldn’t find Shi Tuo at first. His tall figure didn’t stand out in Northern Europe, and with him wearing all black, she couldn’t spot him even after several looks. In the end, it was Shi Tuo, with a blank face, who pulled her out of the crowd.

"Only forty days apart, and you couldn’t even recognize me?" His tone was normal, but his arms honestly hugged her, leaning down to sniff her hair to settle down. "Damn, I almost thought you couldn’t make it."

"Your height doesn’t stand out here..." An Ye still marveled.

She was used to looking for tall figures in crowds, but today, she failed to find him.

Shi Tuo couldn’t help but laugh, flicking her earlobe, and then wrapped a black scarf around her, which had already warmed up from being tucked in his coat. He then picked up her luggage and walked outside.

"I’ve wrapped the scarf..." An Ye wasn’t happy with him casually ruining her airport look, but as the automatic doors opened, she immediately closed her mouth.

The strong wind and snowflakes almost made her want to turn back to her country.Shi Tuo grabbed hold of An Ye, who was trying to return to the airport: "Honeymoon? Where do you think you're going!"

An Ye mumbled, "We've been married for almost a year, what honeymoon," while hiding behind Shi Tuo to avoid the ice particles. The two of them struggled their way to the car in the airport parking lot, and only when they were inside Shi Tuo's rented car did they both let out a breath.

Shi Tuo first started the car, turned on the heater, and warmed up the seat cushion before turning to glance at An Ye.

An Ye was rubbing a warm pad on her frozen face. When she saw him look over, she handed him one of the warm pads, pressing it against his cheek.

Shi Tuo let her do it. After she warmed his left cheek, she moved the pad to the right. The sudden warmth made both of their frozen faces sting slightly. He looked at her through the sting.

It had been forty days since they'd seen each other in person.

Originally, they would’ve seen each other after thirty-eight days. After arriving in Bodø, Shi Tuo didn’t leave the airport. He bought a bouquet of flowers and waited for an entire day, but the flight was directly canceled.

The following two days had been a bit difficult to bear.

The sudden snowstorm made it hard for him to move in this unfamiliar place. He suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness.

Since being with An Ye, he hadn’t felt that way in a long time.

So, he had trouble sleeping the past two nights.

That feeling lingered until this very moment. In the confined space of the car, with the faint sting on his face, it began to fade a little.

Shi Tuo pressed his tongue against his cheek, resisting the impulse to kiss her right there in the car, and pressed the gas pedal.

He had some habits that were hard to put into words but that An Ye understood very well—like when he wanted something, he would wait until the last moment to get it.

He enjoyed the process of waiting.

Just like now.

The car played a folk song typical of Northern Europe. It was light and soothing but also ethereal and cold. Outside the window, the strong wind blew in tiny snowflakes, hitting the car windows with a crisp melody. An Ye sat beside him, the scent of grapefruit and vanilla slowly spreading from her hair, filling the car as the heat from the heater warmed her.

The scenery outside was beautiful. Norway was perfect for white snow. The white made every bright color stand out even more. The car moved slowly, and occasionally, An Ye would open the window to take a picture of the view outside.

Then, the cold wind would rush in, blowing away that soft, humid, vanilla-woodsy fragrance.

It was a cycle.

Gradually, a dry, thirst-inducing atmosphere began to form.

Bodø was their layover for this trip. Shi Tuo had found a place to stay not far from the airport. The drive took only forty minutes due to the road conditions. It was a milky-white wooden house with thick snow piled up in the yard. The car crunched as it drove in.

It was past five in the afternoon, and the sky was completely dark. The warm yellow lights of the wooden house shone through the door. Shi Tuo slowly parked the car in the yard.

An Ye sat in the passenger seat, holding a warm pad and looking out the window.

Shi Tuo didn’t get out of the car either. He held the car key and didn’t turn off the engine immediately.

"The car is rented and a little dirty," his voice was already rough with a grainy tone.

An Ye paused, gave him a glance, her neck already slightly red, and directly opened the car door to get out.

Shi Tuo chuckled softly, turned off the car lights, opened the car door, and wrapped An Ye in his big coat. They embraced each other and entered the house amidst the wind and snow.

An Ye didn’t even have time to take in the decorations inside the house before she was pressed against the slightly dry, hot fireplace wall by Shi Tuo.

He didn’t kiss her immediately. Instead, he pressed close enough to almost touch her, his brows furrowed as he started to ignite a spark in her.The firewood next to the fireplace was of an unknown material, with a faint fruity fragrance, and occasionally, there would be the crackling sound of it exploding.

Every time it exploded, Shi Tuo kissed her, a very gentle kiss, like a soft breeze, making her itch.

An Ye couldn't stand it and pinched his waist hard with her fingers. Shi Tuo clearly paused, his breathing grew heavier.

To be honest, after she pinched him, she regretted it.

After a moment of dizziness, she regretted it even more.

"...Can we go back?" An Ye felt like the pace of their "honeymoon" was a bit too fast.

"You..." Shi Tuo stiffened, staring at her. "Show me how to go back."

An Ye whimpered as he pressed her, raising her neck and falling silent.

The crackling sparks from the fire made the fruity fragrance in the room even stronger, mixed with the two of their wet, sticky scent. Clothes were piled up on the carpet, black ones tangled with other colors, wrinkled and messed up together.

Shi Tuo seemed a little out of control, whether from holding it in for too long or from a few restless nights of sleep.

An Ye actually liked when he lost control. Usually so tight-lipped, when he lost control, he looked like a young boy again, with his sweaty hair sticking up childishly, his mouth stubbornly pursed, and his emotions in his eyes, intense and unmasked.

He would also wrap around her in his movements, with a strong possessive posture, both hands gripping her waist, burying himself deeply and tightly.

When aroused, his taut muscles trembled slightly.

Sweat slid from his forehead to his chin, shimmering enticingly in the firelight.

An Ye tilted her head, her lips pressing against his sweaty chin.

He let out a muffled whimper from his throat, like a soothed beast, burying himself even deeper.

Much later, An Ye lazily lay in his arms, staring at the ceiling, then lazily kicked him: "My luggage is still in the car."

"We'll get it later." Shi Tuo was even lazier than her, too content to move, half-closed eyes in satisfaction.

"I'm hungry," An Ye said, stepping on his calf with her bare feet.

"Speaking of which..." Shi Tuo opened his eyes. "There's no food here."

An Ye: "Huh?"

"I didn't want to leave the airport too far yesterday in case your flight left, so I didn't go to the supermarket. Today’s Saturday, and the supermarket here closes at five in the afternoon. There are no restaurants open nearby either."

"The fridge only has ham, cheese, and bread... oh, and a can of milk." He counted it out and then lay back on the bed, sighing. "I hate white people food."

"I have instant noodles." An Ye buried her face in his chest and laughed. "And a few bags of pickled vegetables left over from the crew."

Shi Tuo sat up.

An Ye gave him a side-eye. "Didn't you say we'd get the luggage later?"

"I'm hungry." Shi Tuo was very serious, lowered his head to kiss her, casually threw on some clothes and a coat, and rushed out. The wind outside seemed to have gotten stronger, and An Ye could even hear the sound of the streetlight poles swaying in the distance.

Sure enough, someone came back freezing and started getting dressed obediently.

An Ye just half-lay there, silently laughing.

"Why did we come to this icy, snowy place for our honeymoon..." Shi Tuo muttered while putting on his clothes."Because it's close." An Ye was very irresponsible.

"…Oh." They had already made it to the Arctic Circle, so, sure, close.

"You know..." An Ye turned over, "How about we come to a place like this to retire in the future?"

Shi Tuo paused as he was buckling his belt and looked up at her.

"Sure." He said, without much hesitation.

An Ye didn't say anything more.

His memories of Singapore were not pleasant; the hardest memories to revisit were those with the warmth of summer.

Although he later went to Canada and spent some lonely time in the snow, it was just loneliness, not panic.

He didn't know how An Ye had figured it out. After all, she was always so nonchalant. Even when they were briefly apart for filming, she didn’t seem to have any feelings of separation. It was like when they were young, making people misunderstand that she didn’t take their relationship seriously.

But now, Shi Tuo would never think that way.

She chose their honeymoon destination in the Arctic Circle, not because it was close.

For the movie Ninety-Nine Days, they filmed in several countries, one of which was in the tropics. During that time, he happened to finish a case and thought about flying over to see her. But she told him that the filming schedule was tight and asked him not to bother.

However, when they filmed in other places, even if he only had three or four days off, he would fly over to see her, and she would happily have Xiao Yao go to the airport to pick him up.

She tried her best to shield him from those bad memories, even choosing a honeymoon location in a place where he would never think of Singapore.

So, in this freezing, snowstorm, he could still sweat it out with instant noodles.

He even stole a bite of An Ye’s noodles and was pressed down on the sofa by her, who then left a perfect bite mark on his arm.

They never touched those wounds, but their wounds were covered over the years by the mundane things of life—rice, oil, salt.

Sometimes, he would bring An Ye’s signed photos for his colleagues, even asking his female colleagues in the group to get a signed photo of Luo Yin from her.

An Ye had also gotten closer to Qi Wei and the others.

While having each other, they also started to try stepping out a little.

Author's note:

The honeymoon should last two more chapters.

Then, there will be two or three chapters set five years later.

After that, I'll see what else is left. There shouldn't be any variety shows left. The investor for the previous variety show has been arrested, so it definitely won't be airing, hahaha.

Red packets for the first eight hundred comments!