QKYJ - 17

Shen Zhi and Shen He share the same surname, and many fans refer to them respectively as “Male Teacher Shen” and “Female Teacher Shen.” At first, during offline events like airport greetings, Shen He mistakenly thought they were shouting “Male God” and “Female Goddess.” Shen Zhi was thoroughly impressed by his thick skin. She first stretched out her leg and lightly nudged him, saying, “The male Teacher Shen,” then lowered her head and gestured to herself with her pointed chin, saying, “The female Teacher Shen.”

They were recognized as a loving couple.

However, at this moment, Shen Zhi was lost in thought, staring at a video taken at an unknown time.

Shen He came home even later than she did.

The moment the door opened, Shen He walked up the stairs, turned on the light, and was startled by Shen Zhi sitting on the sofa.

“Why aren’t you asleep yet?” he asked.

She had showered, her hair was wet, but uncharacteristically, she hadn’t dried it in time.

Shen He waved his hand, signaling her to move. Shen Zhi already understood what he was going to do and had no intention of resisting; she just moved down slightly, sitting on the footrest in front of the sofa.

He sat behind her, taking the hairdryer and setting up the hair care spray.

Shen He often put on an air of not caring what others thought. In contrast, he would occasionally want to take care of people, like a child who enjoys playing with dolls.

He smoothed her long hair and began to meticulously style it.

Shen Zhi allowed herself to be manipulated, her head tilting slightly with his movements.

Shen He rarely offered warm greetings or concern. He would just talk idly about himself. If those around him weren’t willing to confide, he would definitely not bother with them further, appearing to be nonchalantly unconcerned.

“Do you remember before the New Year when I impulsively invested in a restaurant? After all this time, it finally went bankrupt,” he said.

He had failed at speculative ventures too many times to count; dwelling on each one would only bring unnecessary trouble. Besides, the profitable projects could still fully cover the losses. Moreover, their accounts were separate, so even if it lost money, Shen Zhi wouldn’t lose a single cent. Thus, she merely said, “Anyway, it was just to save face for a friend back then.”

He didn’t speak, already indicating his agreement.

She always understood things clearly, seeing through to the essence at a glance, and analyzing situations effortlessly.

Shen Zhi was quiet for a while longer. When the sound of the hairdryer stopped, she still turned around to meet his carelessly lowered eyes and said with difficulty, “Shen He, about the sixth-anniversary video... can we not use it?”

In the silent home, Shen He appeared unmoved, still calmly tidying up. However, Shen Zhi knew this didn’t mean he wasn’t angry.

“What’s wrong?” Shen He said.

“……”

“Did I edit it badly?” He had squeezed time out of his busy schedule for several days and racked his brains learning.

“No,” Shen Zhi tried to smile, “It’s very good. It’s just, I always feel a little...”

Indescribable.

She couldn’t articulate the reason; she simply felt it wasn’t good to release it—Shen Zhi would rather die than say such a thing. She choked, and in the end, Shen He spoke: “Is it because too much was revealed?

“Actually, I was a bit hesitant too. I felt there was too much uncertain content in the released footage,” Shen He said, leaning back lazily against the chair, “Although Xixi and Sister Cai both nodded, who knows what netizens will dig out of it.”

Shen Zhi felt a wave of relief. A “yes” was on the tip of her tongue when she realized her impropriety.

He was clearly giving her an out, how could she be so rude?

So she smiled again, stood up, and softly said, “I’ll handle it this year.”

She returned to the bedroom, sat on the bed, and pulled out the video to watch it again.

After resting for a while, she watched it again.

She refused to let go of her own abnormality, and she was clearly not the only one who wanted to get to the bottom of it. It was almost the middle of the night when she was vaguely drifting off to sleep, and Shen He sent a message.

He asked with dark circles under his eyes, “Are you bothered by appearing on camera without makeup?”

She replied with panda eyes, “Get lost!”

________________________________________

After Shen He had been playing “Turkish March” as “Turkish Wrestler Can’t Afford to Go Home for New Year” for several days, his piano teacher couldn’t bear to scold him as before. Instead, she adopted a concerned attitude for her student’s mental state, anxiously asking, “Are you alright?”

Shen He said, “I’m fine.”

But the dark circles under his eyes clearly indicated otherwise.

Back in university, both Shen He and Shen Zhi were class monitors, so homeroom teachers and subject teachers would always assign tasks to them first. Shen He was efficient, but his attitude was perfunctory, and he didn’t care much about the methods, mostly just doing things to get them done. No matter how much Shen Zhi disapproved of him, they had no choice but to work together. Therefore, she complained about him many times.

“Your life must be so boring like that,” Shen He said.

“Boring but I still got through it,” Shen Zhi replied, looking straight ahead.

And now, she finally said something willful.

Yet he found it so difficult to fathom others.

After practicing until he was utterly disoriented, Shen He went to eat Senbei crackers outside the piano room, chewing while scrolling through Weibo direct messages.

There were messages of harsh insults, spam advertisements, and even personal diaries. He rarely looked at them, but occasionally, feeling like he was off track, he would click on them to see how other people lived.

He accidentally saw an account with the ID “Pretty Little Woowoo,” clicked in, and found many posts sharing books they had read.

Shen He also enjoyed reading, so he casually flipped through them. This blogger’s reading scope was much broader than his, including not only traditional literature but also a lot of online novels.

Most of what he read were male-oriented novels, and recently he was reading entertainment-themed ones. The newest one was “Rebirth of the Film Empress Wife is a Tsundere.”

Scrolling down, the second entry was a rare female-oriented novel, titled “Sweet Pet Starlight (Entertainment Circle).”

Shen He, wearing blue-light glasses, paused for a few seconds with an unreadable expression, then finally clicked into it.

And then he opened the door to a new world.

When his assistant arrived, he saw Shen He engrossed in his phone, occasionally muttering “Holy shit” and “What the hell” with knowing exclamations.

The first plot point that shocked him was this:

The third-tier female lead was blacklisted by the entire internet for seemingly latching onto the male lead. The more famous male lead stepped forward and publicly stated, “It’s not her latching onto me; it’s me latching onto her.”

Shen He was engrossed, unable to help but reflect on himself.

He and Shen Zhi were clearly impossible. After all, after so many years of marriage, the crowd weary of their pairing had already dwindled to a minority. Furthermore, even if such a situation did occur, given his selfish nature and meager financial standing, he would absolutely lack the confidence to provoke the viewing public at the height of controversy, and would simply have to bear the stigma of “disqualified male lead.”

The second exciting part for him was as follows:

For years, the male lead, being the favored one, was complacent, while the female lead silently endured for various reasons. Finally, the female lead left, and the usually arrogant male lead put down his pride, embracing the female lead affectionately, coaxing her with red eyes: “Baby, please come back, okay?”

Shen He almost punched himself on the spot.

Finally, he saw the male lead press the female lead against the wall and kiss her.

“This one can be considered,” Shen He thought, thoroughly enjoying himself. He then smoothly exited the reading interface and shared it with Shen Zhi.

________________________________________

Feeling rested, he got up. When he re-entered the piano room, there was an unfamiliar person inside.

Qin Lingtian was a little nervous.

After the awkwardness of that day, she initially went home, cried for a while, and threw a big tantrum. However, for some reason, the urge to make the other party experience her power wasn’t as strong as it used to be when she felt wronged.

Qin Lingtian had been the apple of her family’s eye since childhood. Whether it was studying abroad or spending her days shopping in China, no one had ever disrespected her like that.

She couldn’t stop recalling Shen He’s arrogant face as that terrible car sped away.

He was much older than her, yet his attitude was so dismissive it was childish, a type Qin Lingtian had never dealt with before. The “married” label wasn’t an obstacle but rather an advantage that added to his mystique.

She had leveraged many connections to find her way here, hoping it wouldn’t be all for naught.

Shen He went out and glanced at the door plaque, confirming it was correct. Without a word, he walked straight out and started making a phone call.

Qin Lingtian sat for a while, confused.

She got up, and when she pushed the door open, she heard Shen He erupting in anger.

She immediately realized that things were getting out of control. Seeing that she was about to offend the friend who had connected her, she rushed over to the man who was assigning blame.

Qin Lingtian said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I came here on my own; it has nothing to do with anyone else.”

Shen He’s movements froze. His gaze signaled her to let go.

In a moment of desperation, Qin Lingtian said, “You still remember me, right?”

He hung up the phone, took a step back, and then walked back into the private piano room.

The daughters of capitalists were one of the groups he disliked provoking. The reason he spoke up that day was because the other party had started spouting nonsense, and he was acting in self-defense. Generally, if the other party was in the wrong, they wouldn’t cause any more trouble.

However, such unexpected situations were not uncommon.

He had to take responsibility for his own actions.

Shen He stopped protesting and simply continued playing the piano, practicing while contemplating the role.

He was a late bloomer, with no dramatic halo, relying solely on diligent practice.

Qin Lingtian was lost in thought.

Shen He wore a face that was indifferent, superior, and haughty when confronted with others’ suffering. His piano playing was slightly unpolished, but his expression remained at ease.

She felt startled, like a flock of birds taking flight after being disturbed. Qin Lingtian stepped forward, her smile overflowing uncontrollably.

“As a layperson, you play very well,” she asked, “Are you preparing for a role?”

He put his hands down. This time, he suddenly became much friendlier.

“Hmm,” Shen He replied.

For no reason, Qin Lingtian showed a hint of shyness. She said, “You and Shen Zhi don’t actually interact much privately, do you—”

Where could there be true feelings in the entertainment industry?

However, Shen He suddenly stood up, seizing the initiative and saying, “You’ve studied piano too, right? Can you play something for me?”

Qin Lingtian had given concerts abroad. Hearing him say that, joy instantly filled her heart.

She walked over and sat down, looking back at him. He smiled back at her.

I need to show him how good I am.

Thinking this, Qin Lingtian began to play, pouring all her emotion and skill into the performance.

The piano was an instrument she had studied for many years.

At first, it was just to cultivate her temperament, and later for extra points in school.

She played very well.

Among the socialites she knew, she was the best.

No one was better than her.

When the piece concluded, Qin Lingtian smiled and withdrew her hands. She let out a small sigh, then turned around to see an unfamiliar person.

Shen He had already vanished. A cleaner, holding cleaning tools, clearly hadn’t expected anyone to be there, and cautiously asked, “Are you still using this?”

________________________________________

Shen He quickly walked out of the building and got into his car, his expression as foul as if he had just eaten an extremely unappetizing and exorbitantly expensive lunch.

Before pressing the accelerator, his phone vibrated.

He took it out and saw a question mark from Shen Zhi in the preview.

He clicked it open and realized he had made a mistake in his earlier operation; he had clearly intended to send Sweet Pet Starlight (Entertainment Circle), but accidentally shared Rebirth of the Film Empress Wife is a Tsundere.

Before he could explain, another message came in.

Shen Zhi said, “I’m not a film empress, I’ve only won a TV empress award.”

“Also,” she then added, “I’m not a tsundere.”