Chapter 10

She ran upstairs.

As she ran, her heart pounded. When she reached the second floor, she could already hear Wu Zhenzhen’s nervous and excited greeting downstairs, “Hello, Auntie!”

Her vision went dark, and she pulled open the large closet in the master bedroom and dived in, still holding a pair of slippers in her hand.

It was pitch black inside the closet.

The noise subsided.

It was safe.

There were faint sounds downstairs, but she couldn’t hear them clearly. Xitang perked up her ears nervously. After a while, she heard the sound of a car leaving, probably Wu Zhenzhen was gone.

Wu Zhenzhen had been quite famous in recent years, and her image had always been well-maintained. There had been no negative news about her. However, she didn’t know that people like Mrs. Zhou, no matter how well-mannered they were, couldn’t hide the coldness and disdain in their bones. She had been in the lower levels of society and had dealt with countless people, and even her smiles were trained, neither more nor less. Their interactions were between different social classes, and she looked down on people in their industry. She would be polite to you on the surface, but she would never have a real conversation with you.

Xitang’s heart was almost in her throat, fearing that footsteps would come upstairs, but the sounds were all downstairs, and she gradually relaxed.

Her breathing slowly calmed down. Only then did she realize that she was sitting at the bottom of the closet, with Zhao Pingjin’s entire row of shirts above her head. Fortunately, Zhao Pingjin was so extravagant that he didn’t come to Shanghai very often, so there were dozens of shirts and suits that hadn’t even been opened. The closet was so spacious that she could easily curl up. She gently rolled up one of his jeans and tucked it behind her waist so she could sit more comfortably.

Xitang sat there and dozed off.

Then she woke up again, feeling hungry. She guessed it was around two or three in the afternoon.

Usually, when she was busy on set, she would have a late lunch, but her limit was until two or three. But now, she still dared not go out.

She felt dizzy because of low blood sugar, and her vision began to blur.

Her back slowly became sweaty, and she felt uncomfortable, her mouth was dry and bitter. Just as she was silently enduring it, the door was suddenly pushed open with a creak.

Xitang’s back suddenly tensed.

Zhao Pingjin’s voice came, “Mrs. Zhou, why didn’t you say anything before coming in?”

Mrs. Zhou’s high heels clicked on the wooden floor, a dull sound, and stopped in the living room outside the bedroom, “I’m your mother, can’t I come into my son’s room?”

Xitang, who was still in the closet, pulled out a pair of slippers and kicked them onto the floor. “No, I didn’t!”

Zhao Pingjin scoffed, “It’s just my mom. Why are you so scared?”

Xitang suddenly smiled. Nowadays, she smiled a lot, sweetly at everyone, but the smile rarely reached her eyes. “I’m afraid Mrs. Zhou will be angry if she sees me.”

Zhao Pingjin mocked her lightly, “You weren’t afraid of her at all back then. You even argued with her at the table.”

She had been young and naive back then, thinking that truth and justice could conquer everything. But after experiencing it, she realized what life was really like.

Xitang didn’t argue, and she never mentioned those days again. She simply smiled ingratiatingly, “I realized my mistake later.”

Before she could finish her sentence, she fell straight down.

Zhao Pingjin reacted very quickly and reached out to catch her, his voice changing slightly, “What’s wrong?”

Xitang took a deep breath, trying to suppress her dizziness, and smiled awkwardly, “I’m hungry.”

Zhao Pingjin didn’t know whether to be angry at her or at himself at that moment. His face turned pale. “I told you to eat more!”

He carried Xitang to the bed and laid her down. She was very light, and he couldn’t help but frown.

Zhao Pingjin went downstairs and returned with a glass of honey water.

Seeing the person in the bed, her small face was wrinkled from hunger, he couldn’t help but scold her again, “I told you not to starve yourself just to be a star. Filming those crappy movies, and you don’t even have many scenes. Does anyone care if you’re fat or thin? Are you crazy about becoming famous?”

Xitang’s eyes dimmed slightly, but she quickly lowered her eyelids, and her long eyelashes covered the emotions in her eyes. She quietly climbed out of bed and resumed her smile, the kind of smile that showed she no longer cared about anything, “Everyone does that. Otherwise, they won’t get any roles.”

Zhao Pingjin seemed to be stung by that smile. He was silent for a few seconds, and finally lowered his voice, “Drink some honey water and come downstairs for dinner.”

That night, Xitang saw him off at the airport. Zhao Pingjin’s flight back to Beijing was at nine o’clock. She had to go back to the set to film.

He didn’t have any assistants or secretaries, so Xitang got his boarding pass for him.

Xitang was wearing a black bob and light makeup, looking very lively and cute. As she walked from the other end of the corridor, several foreign men couldn’t help but turn to look at her.

She seemed oblivious to it, and went straight to him, handed him the boarding pass, and smiled, saying, “Mr. Zhao, I guess my job of welcoming and seeing off guests is done.”

Zhao Pingjin frowned unhappily, “Don’t be sarcastic.”

Just then, his phone rang. The VIP lounge was quiet, so he walked away to answer the call. After finishing the call, someone patted him on the shoulder, “Zhouzhou, you’re in Shanghai.”

Zhao Pingjin turned around and saw Fang Langfei.

“That’s right, I remember Fang Langfei is having a photography exhibition in Shanghai.” Zhao Pingjin asked, “How’s the exhibition going?”

Fang Langfei raised an eyebrow, “You just sent a big flower basket as a perfunctory gesture?”

It was probably Shen Min who arranged for someone to send it. He had been so out of it lately. Even though he was in Shanghai, he hadn’t bothered to show his support for his second brother. As soon as he finished work, he wanted to go home, thinking only about Huang Xitang being alone in the house. He didn’t even know what he was doing.

Zhao Pingjin smiled, “You know I majored in engineering, I don’t understand your art.”

Fang Langfei pushed his shoulder unceremoniously, “Come on, don’t be modest. Don’t forget that calligraphy piece you got from that national-level calligrapher.”

Xitang sat in the waiting area, watching Zhao Pingjin chatting and laughing with a young man outside the glass door.

She recognized the man, of course. Fang Langfei had grown up with Zhao Pingjin in the same military compound. Later, when the old compound was demolished, their families moved into a new one together. The two of them had attended the same school from elementary to university. Fang Langfei was the same age as Zhao Pingjin, just a few months older. Back then, she had followed them around a lot, and Fang Langfei was actually closer to her than the other friends of Zhao Pingjin.

At that moment, Fang Langfei’s wife, Ouyang Qingqing, came over with a cup of coffee. When she saw Zhao Pingjin, she said, “Hey, Zhouzhou.”

Ouyang Qingqing linked arms with Fang Langfei and asked, “Are you alone?”

Zhao Pingjin looked back and hesitated for two seconds before replying, “There’s one other person.”

Fang Langfei saw a slender leg and the side profile of a face. The door blocked the rest of the person.

His wife Qingqing let out a soft gasp.

Fang Langfei smiled, “Did you break up with the one that Lao Gao introduced you to? Got a new one? This one seems pretty quiet.”

Qingqing smiled and glanced inside, “Why don’t you introduce us?”

Zhao Pingjin felt a bit annoyed and took out a cigarette, stuffing it into his mouth, and vaguely replied, “No need. I have something to do. Let’s get together in Beijing.”