QKYJ - 26

If anyone else had hit him, he would have been furious.

But the person who hit him was Shen Zhi.

Shen He entered the door, first throwing his remote key onto the shelf, then going to the refrigerator to find something to eat.

He went upstairs with a mint hard candy in his mouth, walked into the bedroom, and collapsed onto the bed. As soon as he closed his eyes, he could recall the sight of Shen Zhi being so angry and aggressive.

It was so strange, he thought.

But Shen He didn’t feel angry.

At social events, married people or men who were used to being around women would often make small talk, saying things like, “A woman’s heart is a deep-sea needle,” or, “Marriage is a tomb.”

However, Shen He had never felt that way.

Whether it was sadness or anger, all of Shen Zhi’s emotions were justified.

If he didn’t understand something, all he had to do was ask. The three words “what’s wrong?” were very easy to say, especially when he knew he would get a clear answer.

This time was no different.

All he had to do was that.

Shen He remained still, unable to move for no reason.

He wasn’t aware of it himself. However, there was no denying that Shen He’s intuition had always been uncannily accurate. He felt that he couldn’t just go and ask about this without a plan.

The next thing on his schedule was the talk show recording.

He had wanted this show for a long time.

It wasn’t that Shen He was so eager to get involved in television. The film market was doing well. He wasn’t a demanding, high-end artist who was too picky about scripts, and a return to the small screen was out of the question.

His main motivation was his cultural image.

The guests invited to this talk show would not be limited to the entertainment industry, but would also include representatives from the art world and other social circles.

When he was younger, in order to pay off his father’s debts, he had taken on some shoddy, low-quality acting jobs. Later, his acting was also often too driven by purpose, going for box-office success. Now, it was time to adjust his work structure and think more deeply about his future.

Once the recording began, everything progressed very quickly.

The guest and Shen He had a deep friendship, and they had a lot to talk about and a great rapport.

First, they talked about some old stories between them.

Then, some interesting anecdotes from the industry.

Finally, they delved deeper into the guest’s life.

They talked about his creative ideas in the arts, his plans for the future, and some personal questions.

After the recording, Shen He saw the guest all the way downstairs. The two of them couldn’t stop laughing and talking. The guest finally said goodbye: “Say hi to your wife for me.”

There were still many promotional parts of the show to be filmed.

Shen He returned upstairs.

The staff had all gone to the cafeteria to eat. Xi Xi also came to call Shen He but saw him wave his hand. “Let me sleep for a bit,” he said. He put on his noise-canceling headphones, covered his face with the script, and gradually reclined his seat, saying, “You guys go ahead.”

Whenever he brought up needing to rest, it was basically an unconditional pass for Xi Xi, who would sometimes even force him to rest.

Even though the TV station had strict access and safety management protocols, Xi Xi naturally wouldn’t leave Shen He alone, so she had one of the assistants stay behind.

While Shen He slept, the assistant played a game on his phone with the sound off.

Qin Lingtian had greeted the staff when she came in. Although some of them didn’t know her, the badge on her chest didn’t lie, so they just nodded and said hello.

Qin Lingtian asked for directions and went to the waiting room. The person who came to greet her was Shen He’s assistant, Long Ri.

The assistant knew who she was.

But in every sense of the word, there had been a previous incident that served as a warning. First, Shen He didn’t like to socialize with irrelevant people who were out of the loop. Second, there had been a major incident when Shen He was resting.

At the time, on a film set, Shen He was taking a rare nap. A young, popular star who was a little too full of himself found his RV. He said he wanted an autograph, but in reality, he wanted to be recognized and, if possible, get a few photos and a follow on social media.

The inexperienced assistant happened to be a fan of the young star and was about to help him, but he accidentally woke Shen He up and was met with his bad temper.

That day, Shen He threw a glass cup.

The young star was so frightened that he turned pale and fled.

Xi Xi had to go to great lengths to prevent the incident from spreading. She fired the unqualified employee and gave Shen He a stern lecture. At the same time, this incident became a profound lesson for other assistants in private.

Now, no one wanted to be fired for such a basic mistake.

Faced with this impenetrable wall, Qin Lingtian didn’t push. She was fully prepared, so she didn’t need to show off her power at this moment.

So, when Shen He woke up and adjusted his state to meet with the show’s director, Qin Lingtian was also there.

He didn’t show any surprise, dissatisfaction, or delight. He just walked in and sat down in a businesslike manner.

Qin Lingtian had come under the pretense of being a band consultant.

In reality, however, she had no experience with bands and was nothing more than a front.

“That’s pretty much all I have to say,” the director said. “So, Ms. Qin, do you have any questions?”

Throughout the meeting, Qin Lingtian had been staring intently at Shen He. When she was called on, she just smiled leisurely.

“I’d like to ask,” she said, “is Mr. Shen He free tonight?”

Qin Lingtian belonged to the capitalist class. To her, Shen He was nothing more than an actor. In her opinion, there was no need to hide the fact that she wanted to have a one-night stand.

You wouldn’t know if the melon was sweet until you tasted it.

In the conference room, every staff member, including the TV station personnel, wished they could disappear immediately.

Shen He held a paper cup and quietly lifted his eyelids.

“Are you done yet?” he said.

This time, everyone around them again thought they had misheard.

The only sound in the room was the crinkling, crushing, and folding of the paper cup until it no longer resembled a cup. Shen He lowered his head and made noise unhurriedly. Then he repeated himself: “Didn’t you hear me? Are you done yet? If you have any shame, get out.”

If he could have been arrogant enough to be hopeful in the piano classroom last time, this time, every word he said was crystal clear.

Qin Lingtian was trembling all over, either out of anger or disbelief.

In the end, it was Shen He’s assistant who acted first. It was not appropriate for him to ask Qin Lingtian to leave, but it was more feasible for him to drag Shen He away.

And the assistant had his reasons for doing so—he was really worried that Shen He would curse and break things on the spot or that other unforeseen circumstances would arise.

In this matter, Shen He was the one who was being rude, but it was the show’s team who had let Qin Lingtian in. Both sides were at fault, and in the end, it would probably be swept under the rug.

The assistant helped contact Xi Xi, then worriedly said, “What do we do now? Is Ms. Qin very powerful? She might affect you, bro.”

The person in question, however, was unfazed and even started eating chocolate.

“Not really,” Shen He said. “Her family is very concerned with their reputation. If her elders found out that she was hitting on a married man, it would be over for her. She’ll probably keep it a secret.”

The assistant was still in shock: “How did you know?”

“I made sure to find out,” Shen He replied casually.

“You...” Did you even think about this before you did whatever you wanted?

Before the assistant could complain further, Shen He had already found the person he had saved in his phone as “Shen Zhi” with her full name.

He didn’t hesitate. The hesitation that had been building up had vanished at some point. He finished typing his message and sent it.

When she received Shen He’s message, Shen Zhi was massaging herself.

Many people on the set had already finished their filming, so the remaining cast members’ shooting time naturally increased. In one scene, she had to kneel in the ancestral hall several times, each time for an average of half an hour.

In front of others, Shen Zhi didn’t utter a single word of complaint. As soon as she got back into the car, she completely fell apart.

She was being helped by her assistant when a mountain of messages piled up on her phone. She picked it up to look at it. When she came across Shen He’s message, Shen Zhi paused.

He asked her: “What do you mean ‘it has nothing to do with you’?”

She didn’t want to answer him.

So she just ignored the message.

However, that night, Shen He sent two more messages.

The same exact sentence.

Not a single word was changed.

Shen He said: “What do you mean ‘it has nothing to do with you’?”

Shen Zhi ignored him as usual, thinking to herself with a secret resentment, let’s see how long you can keep this up.

For the next week, she didn’t reply to him once, but he kept sending the same message, as if he wouldn’t stop until he got an answer.

Without her realizing it, it had turned into a contest between the two of them.

Shen Zhi didn’t reply but she still browsed on Weibo.

During this time, Shen He updated his Weibo with a video of himself playing the violin. It was his regular post, showing that his lessons hadn’t been in vain. In the video, he didn’t say a word. He just turned on the camera, played the violin, and stopped the recording.

Whenever he decided to do something, he wouldn’t stop until he was the best at it.

Shen Zhi watched it several times. Even with her lack of musical knowledge, she could tell that Shen He had put in a lot of effort.

However, in the end, she didn’t leave any comments.

The scene being filmed that day was the madam beating her concubine’s son. Cheng Ruiyi had to expose his body, so half of the female staff, who had nothing better to do, found excuses to gather around and watch.

Cheng Ruiyi’s manager’s face was as dark as the bottom of a wok, while Cheng Ruiyi himself continued to smile and wave at them.

Shen Zhi held a ruler, muttering to herself and practicing her swings in the air.

When the official filming started, Cheng Ruiyi took off his shirt, revealing his young and toned body.

Behind the camera, many women had to pinch their noses to stop the blood from gushing out, and they desperately tried to suppress the urge to cheer.

Shen Zhi’s gaze also swept across him.

Suddenly, she remembered another body she was more familiar with. Shen He would sometimes remind her of a wild animal like a lion. In contrast, Cheng Ruiyi was more like a graceful and delicate deer.

She was looking at him expressionlessly when he suddenly spoke, “Don’t worry. It’s okay if you hit me harder. I can take it.”

Cheng Ruiyi said this so earnestly that it made Shen Zhi smile knowingly.

She said, “I wouldn’t dare. It would be bad if I left a wound.”

Of course, she couldn’t actually hit him.

With one swing of the ruler, most of the force was lost in the air.

Shen Zhi was playing a heartbroken, deeply pained, and lonely woman. Her words and actions had to be dignified, but her tears couldn’t be stopped. Most people had come for the sensational scene of a handsome guy being half-naked and getting beaten, but now they were drawn in by Shen Zhi’s superb acting.

Such a complex scene was done in one take.

The director was so engrossed in the scene that he forgot to yell “cut.” As a result, Shen Zhi threw the ruler aside, knelt on the ground, and cried with her face in her hands for a long time.

After it was over, she moved her sleeve away. There were no tears on her face, only a faint smile: “...Thank you for your hard work.”

This was the last scene Cheng Ruiyi and Shen Zhi filmed together.

He got up, quickly opened his arms, and hugged her. He then repeatedly said that he hoped they could “work together again someday.”

She took a selfie with him.

After editing it a little and getting his permission, she prepared to post it on Weibo.

Cheng Ruiyi was a popular figure among young people nowadays, and interacting with him made her seem more trendy. This was a secondary concern. Her main goal was to prevent his fans, who had been brainwashed by Cheng Ruiyi’s company’s marketing, from making any more enemies.

Shen Zhi posted it.

She had originally wanted to write the caption “My adopted son”—his character in A Door of Discontent was the son of her character. However, she was afraid it would cause a controversy, so to be safe, she wrote “So happy, successfully became a fan.”

It was a guaranteed trending topic.

Shen Zhi had no doubt about this, even though she didn’t care how high on the trending list she would be.

She just hoped the ratings would be worthy of everyone’s efforts.

As she was about to go eat, Cheng Ruiyi suddenly called out to Shen Zhi again. The young man was running over while getting dressed, radiating youth and charm to the extreme, which even made Shen Zhi soften her expression.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“If I don’t understand something about acting in the future, can I still come and ask for your advice?” Cheng Ruiyi asked very sincerely. “If it’s a bother, then never mind.”

Shen Zhi said, “Of course not.”

There were no flaws in her lily-like face.

“I have one more favor to ask,” Cheng Ruiyi said, raising his hand awkwardly and rubbing the tip of his nose slightly. “You’re not that much older than me. Can I stop calling you ‘sister’?”

The lily trembled slightly. Shen Zhi’s expression remained the same as she said, “Then what should you call me?”

There weren’t many other people around. Cheng Ruiyi acted like an overly pure teenager: “What do the people around you usually call you?”

Who was around Shen Zhi? Her assistant called her “sister,” and her manager called her “sweetheart.” That left only Shen He.

“Then just call me by my name,” Shen Zhi said.

“My name?” Cheng Ruiyi seemed a little surprised. “My full name?”

Shen Zhi smiled: “Mhm.”

She was in a hurry to remove her makeup to avoid putting a strain on her skin. She didn’t say anything more and just turned around and left.

The boxed lunch had already arrived. Shen Zhi took out her utensils and was about to start eating when she heard the assistant exclaim while looking at her phone.

“Sister, it’s trending,” she said. “You’re trending.”

Xiaoqiu was being so careless lately. Why was she making a big deal out of nothing? Shen Zhi didn’t care: “Is it strange for me to be trending?”

“It’s Brother Shen. His comment on your post is trending.”

Hearing this addition, Shen Zhi’s throat suddenly constricted for a moment. She took her phone and squinted slightly, seeing Shen He’s comment on the screen. He had posted an image of a frog playing the violin in the rain. The text on the image was: “I’m living so sadly, I’m playing Chopin in the rain.”

A green frog, a sad expression, and his wife happily taking a selfie with a young actor. A mix of comedic elements. Shen He’s comment got a lot of “hahahahahahaha” from the comedic netizens.

The second trending topic was “Shen Zhi Cheng Ruiyi.”

And the first trending topic was “Shen He playing Chopin in the rain.”

In that moment, a million curse words raced through her mind, but Shen Zhi held them back. She opened the chat interface that she had deliberately ignored for the past few days and sent a message with a controlled tone: “Are you satisfied with the popularity you’re getting?”

“Don’t slander me,” he replied, not answering her question. “I’ve only ever messed with you.”