How could Chapter 46 not be a surprise?

She was wearing a vintage mint green halter dress, with ultra-thin straps wrapping around her fair nape.

The sunlight spilled onto her without obstruction, gilding her already lustrous skin with a layer of nearly transparent soft light.

Her long, curly hair was casually pinned back with a pearl claw clip, and a few unruly stray strands fell down, just barely brushing against her delicate collarbones.

The girl was looking down, flipping through a magazine in her hands. Her long eyelashes cast two quiet shadows beneath her eyelids.

This scene, without any superfluous embellishment, was breathtakingly pure.

Director Jiang Ning stood in the center of the lobby, her breath hitching slightly. Watching the girl sitting in the light, she felt something taking root, sprouting, and spreading wildly in her chest, unable to be contained.

Seemingly sensing an overly intense gaze, Song Shishi stopped the motion of turning the page.

She looked up.

The second her gaze met Director Jiang Ning's, those large eyes, originally as calm as water, instantly bloomed with an extremely vibrant radiance.

The magazine was casually tossed onto the sofa. Song Shishi stood up directly, stepping in those thin-strapped sandals, ignoring the guests coming and going in the lobby, and ran towards Director Jiang Ning while lifting her skirt hem.

"Ningning! Surprise!"

Her crisp, sweet, and soft voice rippled through the lobby.

Before Director Jiang Ning could even open her mouth, a warm, soft figure smelling of jasmine collided into her arms.

Song Shishi wrapped her arms tightly around Director Jiang Ning's neck; due to the momentum, she was almost hanging off of her.

Director Jiang Ning instinctively reached out to support her slender waist, steadying her footing. That sweet, fresh scent instantly drifted into her nostrils, dispelling the exhaustion covering Director Jiang Ning's body.

"Are you crazy? In public, no less." Director Jiang Ning scolded her, but the hand supporting the girl's waist couldn't bear to let go at all.

"I'm here to check up on you." Song Shishi tilted her head up. The distance between the two was mere inches; she could even count the contours of Director Jiang Ning's deep, expressive eyes.

The girl's eyes were sparkling, revealing a cunning sense of accomplishment, "Didn't someone say they didn't want me to cut in line? Well, I had no choice but to fly over and force my way in. Surprised? Unexpected, right?"

Looking at her pretty face so close by, the helplessness in Director Jiang Ning's heart completely dissolved into an indulgent smile.

"Surprised." She curled her finger and lightly scraped the tip of Song Shishi's pert nose, "It's just a bit startling. When did you arrive? Why didn't you send a message? I would have gone to the airport to pick you up."

"Didn't arrive long ago." Song Shishi released her hands quite naturally, switching to linking her arm with Director Jiang Ning's, pressing her whole body snugly against her, "Sister Tang picked me up. She said you were busy, so I just waited for you in the lobby."

Two young girls with heaven-defying looks snuggled together. One was cold, glamorous, and tall, with a lazy, roguish air about her; the other was dainty and sweet, her eyes full of unconcealable attachment.

This scene was not only not awkward, but it also exuded an extremely beautiful tension. A few young girls passing by couldn't help but cover their mouths, revealing faces full of doting smiles.

Director Jiang Ning noticed the surrounding gazes, and a faint, imperceptible heat rose at the roots of her ears. The straight-man soul in her bones was screaming wildly; reason told her she should push her away, but her body was being extremely honest in enjoying this favoritism.

"Let's go, I'll take you upstairs to change clothes." Director Jiang Ning let her hold on, stepping toward the elevator, "I'll take you out for something delicious tonight, consider it a welcome meal for you."

"I want to eat crawfish! Nanjing garlic crawfish!"

"Fine, as long as you aren't afraid of breaking out."

"Stop jinxing me!"

Over the next few days, Director Jiang Ning's time was split into two halves.

During the day, she went to the set as usual. She monitored camera positions for Group B, followed Cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding to adjust lighting schemes, and helped Executive Director Lao Sun use a tape measure to check the safe distance for explosions. The weather in Nanjing was hot enough to make people want to curse; the dust kicked up in the ruins mixed with sweat and stuck to her skin. Director Jiang Ning's pretty face was covered in dust every day, and she was busy for the entire day.

After finishing work in the evening, Director Jiang Ning washed off the dust and dived into the rented recording studio.

The recording studio was not far from Jinling Hotel, about a ten-minute walk.

The studio belonging to the Provincial Performing Arts Group was old; its outer walls were covered in white tiles from the nineties, and the two French plane trees at the entrance rustled in the July night breeze.

Pushing the door open revealed another world. Once the soundproof door closed, all the sounds of traffic, people, and cicadas outside became inaudible. Only the low-frequency humming of the air conditioner remained. In this environment, every detail of sound could be perceived perfectly.

Every day, the studio table was covered with drafts of scores and track annotations. In the corners were two pairs of Yamaha studio monitors, and on the coffee table sat a professional-grade audio interface that Professor Zhan Xin had brought from Shanghai.

Professor Zhan Xin was here every night, wearing a pair of reading glasses, with Director Jiang Ning's continuity reports spread out in front of him, and an ashtray nearby that had already collected several cigarette butts.

Professor Zhan Xin was a night owl; the later it got, the more energetic he became. During the day, he supervised the string orchestra to complete the strings, recording in the theater according to his ideas, and returned at night to optimize the design, with a stamina that was astonishing.

He chewed on an unlit cigarette, sitting at the monitoring station, repeatedly adjusting the thickness of the string bed. For several days, the two of them argued over whether to leave blank space in a certain passage. Director Jiang Ning's director mindset collided with Professor Zhan Xin's technical experience, and they often ended up staying until one or two in the morning.

Song Shishi accompanied her on the side.

She didn't make a fuss or cause trouble. Sometimes she curled up on the sofa watching movies, sometimes she lay on the coffee table writing character biographies, and sometimes she just hugged a pillow and watched Director Jiang Ning and Professor Zhan Xin argue.

This day, nearing the final stage, Director Jiang Ning and Professor Zhan Xin argued for half an hour over the decrescendo treatment of the ending string section; the discussion lasted until the early morning.

When Director Jiang Ning got up to leave, Professor Zhan Xin had already smoked half a pack of cigarettes in front of the mixing console. He waved his hand as a farewell, his eyes still fixed on the dense waveforms on the screen.

Director Jiang Ning walked to the back sofa, only to find that Song Shishi had fallen asleep, leaning on the armrest. Her newly bought short story collection had fallen beside her knees, the pages spread open, stopped at a certain page. Her breathing was very shallow and even, her eyelashes drooping quietly, casting a thin shadow illuminated by the blue light of the mixing console.

Director Jiang Ning bent down to pick up the book, closed it, and placed it by her side. Then she lightly touched her shoulder.

"Shishi."

Song Shishi slowly opened her eyes, her gaze somewhat blurry. After seeing it was Director Jiang Ning, she instinctively reached out and mumbled, "Are you done?"

"Done. Let's go back to sleep."

Song Shishi rubbed her eyes and stood up. Her feet were a bit numb, and she stumbled, but Director Jiang Ning reached out to steady her.

Her hand happened to grasp her forearm, and through the thin fabric of the cardigan, she could feel a slight warmth.

Song Shishi stood steady, and Director Jiang Ning let go.

The two walked out of the recording studio, and the July night breeze blew over, carrying the scent of plane tree leaves and a distant barbecue stand. There were few people on the street, and the streetlights stretched the two people's shadows, one long and one short, swaying forward on the concrete road.

(Special thanks to Chu Wanwan for the "Great God" certification! The verification period has ended, adding an extra chapter to thank you for the support!)