Transmigration; A Mother's Redemption and a perfect Wife.-Chapter 363; Reading scripts 5

One thing he absolutely didn’t want was for her to get sad again. The tears from the last script had worried him more than he wanted to admit. He was already concerned about her mental state, grateful that she seemed to have no memory of the morning’s trauma, yet simultaneously troubled by what that amnesia might mean. Was it her mind protecting itself, or was the situation becoming more complicated and worse?

He needed to keep her grounded. Keep her from spiraling into dark emotions.

"Geez!" Tang Fei struggled against his hold, trying to squirm out of his arms, but they were like iron bands, strong and unyielding, keeping her firmly in place. "You don’t have to accompany me! You can go back to your seat and do your own work!"

She was truly marveled by this man. Too much. Too possessive. Too determined to be close to her every possible moment.

Instead of releasing her, Huo Ting Cheng’s fingers found her waist and tickled gently.

"Ah.... stop!" Tang Fei couldn’t help the giggles that escaped, her body jerking reflexively as she tried to escape his playful assault. "Ting Cheng!"

A few more laughs bubbled out despite her attempts to maintain composure, and she could feel rather than see his satisfied smile.

He stopped tickling but didn’t release her, instead shifting to nibble gently at her neck while his other hand played with the fringes of her hair, twirling the soft strands between his fingers.

"You’re impossible," she muttered, but there was no real heat in her words.

"And you’re beautiful when you laugh," he murmured against her skin, his breath warm and sending pleasant shivers down her spine.

The atmosphere between them was warm, intimate, romantic in a way that made the busy audition room fade into insignificance. For this moment, there were only the two of them, wrapped up in each other despite the chaos surrounding them.

"If you’re going to insist on staying," Tang Fei finally relented, relaxing slightly in his hold, "then at least be useful. Help me evaluate these scripts instead of distracting me."

"Who says I’m distracting you?" His lips curved against her neck in a smile she could feel. "I’m providing emotional support."

"That’s not what this is called."

"Then what would you call it?"

"Harassment," she replied dryly, but she was smiling too, tilting her head slightly to give him better access without consciously realizing she was doing it.

Huo Ting Cheng chuckled, the sound low and intimate. "If this is harassment, why aren’t you trying harder to escape?"

Tang Fei opened her mouth to respond with something sharp, then closed it again, realizing he had a point. She had stopped struggling. Had, in fact, settled quite comfortably into his embrace.

"Because I’m tired," she said instead, which wasn’t entirely a lie. "And arguing with you takes more energy than just accepting that you’re going to be clingy."

"I prefer ’attentive,’" he corrected, finally lifting his head from her neck but keeping his arms firmly around her waist. "Now, show me what you’re reading. Let’s see if this next script is worth your tears."

Tang Fei rolled her eyes but turned her attention back to the laptop screen, very aware of his chin now resting on her shoulder as he read along with her.

"This one’s called Echoes of Tomorrow," she said, scanning the logline. "It’s a science fiction piece about...."

"Time loops," Huo Ting Cheng finished, reading faster than her. "Interesting premise. What’s the emotional core?"

Tang Fei blinked, slightly impressed that he was actually engaging with the material rather than just using this as an excuse to hold her.

"Let me read and find out," she murmured, settling more comfortably against his chest as she began going through the script.

Around them, the audition room continued its organized chaos, actors performing, directors making notes, assistants rushing around with messages and schedules.

But in their small corner on the carpet, surrounded by cushions and laptops and the warmth of each other’s presence, Tang Fei and Huo Ting Cheng existed in their own world.

A world where borrowed time felt a little less borrowed.

Where second chances at life and love seemed less like accidents and more like gifts.

And where sometimes, the most important work wasn’t the scripts being read or the auditions being conducted, but the quiet moments of connection that made everything else worthwhile.

Tang Fei smiled softly as she read, feeling the steady rise and fall of Huo Ting Cheng’s breathing against her back, and thought that maybe, just maybe, she was beginning to understand what it meant to truly live in this second life she’d been given.

Not just to survive it.

But to bloom in it.

Even if, like the woman in The Locked Garden, her time here was borrowed and uncertain.

She would make it count.

Every single moment.

Script 3: Ashes of Spring

FADE IN:

Rain fell like mist, fine, endless, soundless.

Huo Ting Cheng’s chin rested on her shoulder as he read along, his breath warm against her ear. Tang Fei could feel his attention shifting from playful to genuinely focused as they moved through the opening scene.

A woman stood at the edge of the old stone bridge, her umbrella long discarded, her hair soaked and sticking to her face. The world around her was muted, no cars, no footsteps, only the gray hush of water beneath.

"Suicide attempt," Huo Ting Cheng said quietly. "Starting dark."

"Shh," Tang Fei murmured. "Keep reading."

Her name was Su Wei.

In her pocket, she carried a small notebook, her last sketchbook, its pages wrinkled by rain. Her fingers trembled as she opened it. Inside, the drawings were soft and alive, parks, children, flowers, everything she used to love painting before the fire.

Tang Fei felt her chest tighten. Another fire. Another loss.

But now the colors look like lies. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Below, the river was dark and deep. She took one small step forward, and a hand caught her wrist.

"Don’t."