Shadow of Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 334 Deliberate
The morning sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow on the floor. Golden lines trembled gently with the swaying of the curtains, as if time were quietly flowing through the wood grain.

(PS: The scenery descriptions are always just sunlight shining through XX onto XX, casting light and reflections, etc. I don't know if you guys get tired of it, but I'm about to throw up from writing them. Please forgive my poor writing skills and thoughtless descriptions of the scenery.)

Hu Xiaobei sat cross-legged on the living room carpet, with thick files and documents spread out beside him.

Five meters away, Yingzhi was rapidly tapping on a tablet computer—the screen displayed a storyboard draft for the animated version of his novel "Cultivation".

"Click." The sound of a glass lightly tapping on the table came from not far away.

Hu Xiaobei looked up and saw An Xiaoqian dangling barefoot about twenty centimeters above the floor.

The hem of the pink silk nightgown swayed gently with each step she took, the curve of the skirt rising like the fluttering wings of a butterfly.

From his angle, it looks exceptionally alluring.

An Xiaoqian's every step seemed to tread on an invisible dotted line, her round, tender white toes curling slightly in the morning light, as lovely as a pink lotus with dew on its petals.

The soft glow surrounding her made the silk skirt flow like moonlight, like a fairy descending to earth from an oriental painting. The light touch of her toes seemed to create fleeting shadows of lotus petals.

"When did you secretly learn this move?" Hu Xiaobei's voice carried a hint of barely perceptible longing.

He watched the subtle ripples created as An Xiaoqian's toes swept across the air—the energy trails born from the combination of shadow and spatial abilities, outlining faint cloud patterns above the floor.

Although the "stepping into the air" effect is quite impressive, it doesn't serve any practical purpose other than looking good, and it's also very tiring!
An Xiaoqian was quite pleased with this move. She smiled to the side, holding two steaming cups of milk, and walked over in mid-air. The water droplets dripping from the bottom of the cups condensed into glistening water balls at her dangling ankles.

"You previously researched the Shrinking Earth to an Inch technique from 'Cultivation of Immortality,' so I'd like to try the Void Step technique as well."

She suddenly tiptoed and twirled, her short skirt unfurling like an umbrella. The hem of her skirt brushed against Hu Xiaobei's open "Cultivation" setting book, and the resulting breeze caused the pages to rustle as they turned to the chapter on the art of flying.

Seeing her excessively deliberate spinning, Hu Xiaobei swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. He already had a guess in his mind—she clearly wanted to...it was obviously "not a friendly visitor"!
"Why are you still thinking about the animated adaptation of 'Cultivation of Immortals'?" She deliberately placed the milk cup next to Hu Xiaobei's hand, and as she bent over, her neckline was slightly open, revealing her smooth skin in the morning light.

Hu Xiaobei's Adam's apple bobbed almost imperceptibly again as he quickly shifted his gaze from her collarbone to the tablet computer in the distance.

"I was just reviewing some classic scenes from the novel. Look at this description of 'drawing qi into the body,' I was thinking that it would be more intuitive to turn it into an animation storyboard."

He pointed to the text marked on the screen in the distance—a passage excerpted from his three-million-word novel, "Cultivation of Immortality."

“Oh—” An Xiaoqian drawled out her words, then suddenly knelt down beside him, her knees almost touching his thighs.

She looked at the character's outfit on the screen, let out a soft "hmm," and asked, "This character's Taoist robe looks so familiar. Is it based on the scarf I left in your study last time?"

"It's just a modified version of your old traditional Chinese clothing, have you forgotten?" He pulled up a photo in his album—An Xiaoqian was wearing Hanfu and holding a sword, with similar cloud-patterned embroidery on the cuffs.

"Really?" An Xiaoqian suddenly leaned closer, her warm breath carrying the sweet scent of milk brushing against his ear.

"But why do I feel like this character's pose is a bit like when I'm sitting on you with my hands on my hips?"

She subtly pointed to a storyboard in the draft depicting a character meditating cross-legged and practicing martial arts, a sly smile playing on her lips.

The ends of her hair deliberately brushed against Hu Xiaobei's chin, and the silky touch made his shoulders tense up instantly.

Hu Xiaobei subtly moved two centimeters to the side, trying to create some distance.

But then An Xiaoqian chuckled softly, "Little student, why are your ears red?"

Before Hu Xiaobei could answer, she tilted her head, bit her lower lip lightly, and suddenly reached her fingertips towards Hu Xiaobei's earlobe: "Are you shy?"

Hu Xiaobei quietly turned his head to avoid it, but then caught a glimpse of An Xiaoqian's legs, which were almost transparent white in the sunlight, and the newly tied red rope at her ankles was swaying gently with her slight movements.

"I'm going to pee." He stood up almost immediately, walked quickly to the bathroom, and stood up straight.

An Xiaoqian watched his slightly hurried back, a sly glint of triumph flashing in her eyes, and she felt smug—as expected of me, it really worked!

She slowly picked up the "Cultivation" setting book, her fingertips tracing the printed illustrations of the original work pasted on the pages, and suddenly raised her voice: "Xiao Bei, if you get too emotional while writing the novel, won't it affect the adaptation process?"

Hu Xiaobei took a deep breath, suppressing the heat in his throat, before turning around and replying, "Creation is about expressing emotions through words. When I was writing 'Cultivation of Immortality' back then..." He suddenly paused, looking at An Xiaoqian's bright eyes, and changed his words, "Back then, I consulted many Taoist classics. The tribulations of love are the core theme of traditional Xianxia."

"Oh?" An Xiaoqian waved the concept art book, slowly walked up to him, her eyelashes fluttering: "Then tell me, are we currently... going through a period of creative inspiration?"

Her toes unconsciously brushed against Hu Xiaobei's slippers, and the neckline of her silk nightgown deliberately slipped down half an inch.

Hu Xiaobei's gaze quickly swept over the throbbing pulse in her neck, then subtly shifted to the window, his voice slightly hoarse: "Don't be silly, Auntie might be back at any time."

"Then tell me, where did I cause trouble?"

An Xiaoqian reached out and gently hooked the hem of his clothes, shaking her round and cute little head meaningfully: "Look at you, you even wrote a three-million-word cultivation novel, yet you can't even subdue your own 'inner demons'."

Hu Xiaobei lowered his eyes and met her bright, almond-shaped eyes.

His eyes held a mischievous smugness, and a hint of knowingly provoking a wrong turn.

He suddenly remembered that when he was organizing his materials last night, he found a short fan fiction review that An Xiaoqian had written for him during his college years: "If the male lead ever hugs the wrong female lead, I will come to your door every day to accuse you, the author." The review was signed with a crooked cartoon smiley face.

"You still say you didn't? When did you change back into that alluring short nightgown? It's so early in the morning, it's too deliberate. Go back and change your clothes."

He reached out and ruffled An Xiaoqian's round and cute little head, but his fingertips touched her slightly damp hair: "Hey! You washed your hair this morning? It's not even dry yet, aren't you afraid of catching a cold!"

An Xiaoqian seized the opportunity to grab his wrist, pressed her cheek against his warm palm, and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Oh~ then you can help me blow-dry my hair~"

Her eyelashes brushed lightly against his palm, bringing a slight tickle.

Hu Xiaobei looked at her upturned face, the morning light gilding her lips with a golden edge, giving her a somewhat holy appearance.

He suddenly realized that if he backed down again, he might really have to forget about the "revision strategy".

"You have shadow abilities now, just brag about it."

He withdrew his hand with feigned seriousness, turned and walked towards the living room: "I need to revise the storyboard for 'Golden Core Stage Divine Sense Expansion' again."

He pulled up the passages in the original work that described divine consciousness, trying to calm himself down with words.

An Xiaoqian waved the setting book in her hand. The page happened to be turned to the chapter "Dual Cultivation Secret Method" marked by Hu Xiaobei in red pen, with a question mark next to the title.

That was a research note on the traditional Xianxia (fantasy martial arts) setting while researching materials.

Seeing this, Hu Xiaobei sighed helplessly, turned and walked towards the kitchen, while manipulating his shadow to fetch the hair dryer.

The sound of running water came from the kitchen. Hu Xiaobei splashed his face with the water from the tap, and the cold water cleared his muddled mind.

He looked at his slightly reddened ears in the mirror and gave a helpless twitch of his lips.

This little dumpling is clearly taking advantage of the approaching wedding date to openly start "practicing demonic arts".

wrong!

It's obvious that they're taking advantage of knowing all the plot details of "Cultivation of Immortals" to openly "woo the author."

Well, they seem to mean the same thing, there's not much difference. Anyway, An Xiaoqian is fearless and has him cornered!

Unfortunately, he lost his mind and set limits for himself. Thinking about it... he really brought this trouble upon himself...

An Xiaoqian, oh An Xiaoqian!

Just wait and see!

In the days leading up to the wedding, it will be time for me, Hu Xiaobei, to launch a full-scale counterattack!
(End of this chapter)