QKYJ - 28

“Is she bothering you again? Do you want me to step in? Even if she’s the daughter of your mentor, it’s a bit unreasonable for her to keep doing this.” Xi Xi said, already taking out her phone and looking through her contacts. “We can’t let her take advantage.”

However, Shen He said without even looking up, “Wait a little longer.”

“Why?” Xi Xi looked at him.

The ballpoint pen in his hand was spinning quickly. Paired with a face that always looked several years younger than his actual age and his casual, relaxed clothes, he looked exactly like a seventeen-year-old high school student preparing for the college entrance exam.

“You don’t know what Zhang Qingyue was like before,” he said, and couldn’t help but smile. “She was so popular that she didn’t take anyone seriously. But now the situation has reversed. It’s interesting to see when she’ll finally realize it.”

If Xi Xi had been interested a moment ago, she was now speechless.

She watched him with cold eyes and advised him to give up his malicious fun, hinting at a hidden meaning: “It’s not like no one can see what she’s like, right? Maybe they’re just happy to be fooled by her.”

Shen He couldn’t have missed the hidden meaning in her words.

He said, “Is that so? Then I can only feel pity.”

Shen Zhi heard about this the next morning.

She got up at four in the morning to do her makeup. Around five, Sun Mengjia called and asked what she was doing.

Shen Zhi replied, “Just say what you have to say.”

Sun Mengjia and Shen Zhi weren’t friends.

They were roommates in college. Some people sided with Sun Mengjia, and some people thought she was too snobby. Shen Zhi wasn’t on either side. They were roommates but didn’t hang out together, yet they didn’t have any disagreements either.

When they had a drinking party after graduating, everyone was in high spirits, and Sun Mengjia was in the restroom, leaning over the toilet and throwing up. Out of a sense of humanity, Shen Zhi went over and handed her a handkerchief.

Sun Mengjia grabbed her hand.

Shen Zhi was stunned to have her hand firmly held by a hand covered in vomit, but she didn’t try to pull it away at all. She continued to speak softly, “Are you still feeling unwell?”

There seemed to be someone else’s voice from behind her: “Class president, aren’t you coming back?”

“Sun Mengjia is feeling a little sick,” was her response.

“She’ll be fine after a rest, right?”

“You go on ahead. Being drunk is really uncomfortable.”

“Okay then. Class president, come back soon. Feng Bin is about to do a belly dance.”

“Hahaha, really?”

Sun Mengjia seemed to be floating in a dream.

Shen Zhi helped her up and sat her on the toilet lid. After resting for a while, Sun Mengjia regained some consciousness. She almost bit her tongue several times: “They all think I’m too materialistic and too sober. They’re all wrong. I’m only like this because I love to dream.”

“Mhm,” Shen Zhi said patiently. “Do you want some warm water?”

Sun Mengjia said, “The one who is truly sober is you.”

The hand that was wiping her cheek stopped unconsciously. Shen Zhi’s expression didn’t change. She waited quietly for a moment and then said, “Do you want some hangover medicine?”

The person who was revealed might not have remembered this, but for no reason, Sun Mengjia would think about it from time to time.

So, when she made this phone call to Shen Zhi, to be honest, she had a little malice in her heart.

However, the moment Shen Zhi answered, it all vanished.

—She wouldn’t be shaken, would she?

Even if she found out that her husband was getting very close to the woman who was once the public’s “moonlight,” Shen Zhi wouldn’t be moved at all.

Wasn’t Shen Zhi that kind of person?

It was hard to imagine what she would think in a marriage.

Would marriage, the thing that had so deeply hurt Sun Mengjia, hurt Shen Zhi in the same way?

But then she heard Shen Zhi say, “Is that so? Then he’s still very thoughtful.”

The three words “is that so” were like drumsticks, tapping away one after another in an orderly fashion. Shen Zhi only said “is that so,” as if to her, it was only “is that so.”

Is that so, is that so. Sun Mengjia hung up the phone in a whirlwind of “is that so.”

By this time, Shen Zhi had already changed into her costume. Her wig was styled into a dignified bun, and her makeup was almost done.

She sat there silently.

For a moment, it was as if she was covered in dust.

But in the blink of an eye, when she got up again, she was able to smile and talk to the staff: “I’ll be there right away.”

The last time she and Shen He had a conversation, it was on their chat history.

After a slightly hostile exchange, they left it at that because they were both busy.

The last thing she had said was, “Do you even get it?”

Then he replied at least a quarter of an hour later with, “I get it.”

You don’t get anything at all.

Shen Zhi thought, doesn’t he get anything at all?

In that scene, after the director yelled “action,” her performance was nothing short of brilliant and beautiful, enough to earn her continuous praise from everyone there.

After that, her condition was very good.

Ding Yaocai came to visit the set, imperiously commanding everyone who was being lazy to get to work and sent them all to serve Shen Zhi.

She tried to make Shen Zhi feel like a pampered princess, but to Shen Zhi, she felt more like a poodle in a pet store.

“You don’t have to be so nervous,” she said.

“We’re almost done filming,” Ding Yaocai said. “We have to prepare for the next play, so how can I not be a little nervous?”

Artists were products.

Hearing such merciless words, Shen Zhi actually felt at ease.

The filming ended sooner than expected.

It wasn’t until someone mentioned it that Shen Zhi realized it was for a traditional festival.

The blessing videos for the Spring Festival were always recorded in advance, around October or November. Shen Zhi’s parents were Christians, so they didn’t celebrate the festival. Shen Zhi wasn’t close enough to her aunt and uncle to have to go back to them either.

Shen He’s situation was similar to hers.

So they didn’t pay much attention to this holiday.

Leaving the set was like leaving one world for another. Shen Zhi was playing with her phone when it rang. She was so startled that she tossed it in the air and caught it.

Ding Yaocai, who was in the passenger seat, glanced at her distractedly.

Shen Zhi’s expression instantly became very strange.

She hesitated for a few seconds before answering.

Shen Zhi listened to the call with a half-smile, occasionally giving a one-syllable response. After she hung up, she seemed to let out a sigh of relief, or as if she were drunk, she leaned against the seat back.

“What’s wrong?” Ding Yaocai asked.

“Meow,” she sounded like a cat.

“I’m going to San Francisco to visit my relatives. Are you staying behind for the new year too?” The part that Ding Yaocai didn’t say was, “And you and Shen He will be in your own rooms again during the new year?”

Shen Zhi was silent for a long time.

Finally, she said, “I’ll stay behind, but I probably won’t be at home.”

“Why?”

“My parents are back,” she said.

Although, they didn’t come back for the new year.

While eating his takeout Ochazuke, Shen He, who was unwrapping his disposable chopsticks, said, “I can go with you.”

Shen Zhi, who was sitting across from him, paused and asked him with suspicion, “Are you serious?”

“Mhm,” he stirred his rice. “You don’t want to go alone, do you?”

Shen Zhi wasn’t very good at dealing with her family. However, as an outsider, Shen He seemed completely unconcerned. His trait of not caring about other people’s feelings was a huge advantage in this situation. With Shen He, many problems could be solved easily.

To put it bluntly, she could push all the responsibility onto him.

Shen Zhi had already booked the hotel for her parents and the accommodations for her aunt, uncle, and Lan Qiao in advance. She did her hair and picked out a suitable outfit from her old clothes.

Shen Zhi had paid for half of the gifts, and Shen He had later bought the other half. She told him that she wanted to reimburse him, but he said “no need” without a care.

Her husband acted like a very generous longtime friend.

Entering the hotel and taking the elevator upstairs, Shen He and Shen Zhi didn’t say a word to each other.

When the elevator stopped at the designated floor, Shen He put away the phone he had been using, put his arm around her waist, and walked out with her.

For so many years, Shen Zhi had rarely known where her parents were or how they were doing. She only vaguely knew what they were doing.

Anyway, it was all related to God.

Just like what they had done after they left home during her childhood.

After all the unpleasantness in the past, her parents had made their朋友圈 (moments on WeChat) invisible to her. To be cautious, the company didn’t allow her to follow any Weibo accounts that had a religious inclination. So, Shen Zhi would only occasionally see news about them.

The person who opened the door was a guest who was just about to leave. So there was a brief pause, and then Shen Zhi went in and met her parents, whom she hadn’t seen for a long time.

Just as Shen Zhi had only met Shen He’s family a few times, Shen He had very little interaction with Shen Zhi’s family. They weren’t very close to Shen Zhi, let alone Shen He. Sometimes, because he was more friendly, their impression of him was even better.

“Dad, Mom,” Shen Zhi said.

Shen Zhi’s father nodded, and her mother held out her hand. She put her hand on top of her mother’s. The two of them held hands and then slowly sat down.

“You don’t look so good,” her mother said.

Shen He helped answer: “She just finished filming not long ago and was busy for a few months.”

“That explains it.” Shen Zhi’s mother was a genuine beauty, but her demeanor was much softer than Shen Zhi’s. She gently stroked her arm.

Shen Zhi’s father also sighed: “Child.”

Shen Zhi’s mother said again, “When we went to Mongolia before, they were showing your TV drama there.”

“Is that so?” Shen Zhi held her mother’s hand tightly.

“It must be that drama, right?” Shen He said, smiling at Shen Zhi in a very graceful way. “The one that was selected as an external exchange project.”

Shen Zhi’s father asked again, “Child, are you and your family still healthy?”

Before Shen He could answer, Shen Zhi said, “They’re all doing well. It’s just that his father passed away.”

Shen Zhi’s parents both prayed together and then cared for Shen He with a loving concern. Shen He smiled and said, “It’s okay,” “It’s fine,” and “It’s in the past,” and Shen Zhi also said, “We’ve gotten through it together.”

They chatted for a while.

Because of the special status of Shen Zhi’s parents, many people came to visit them. Shen He and Shen Zhi weren’t religious, so they thoughtfully suggested going out for a walk and coming back for dinner later. Their parents were happy to agree.

They walked into the elevator. Shen He leaned against the left side, and Shen Zhi stood on the right. At first, it was quiet. Then he suddenly said, “Are you okay?”

“Mhm,” Shen Zhi said, looking up and letting out a soft sigh.

“That’s good,” he said.

The elevator hadn’t gone down yet.

Shen Zhi said, “Sometimes I feel like I’m all alone.”

After the filming of A Door of Discontent was finished, she still had continuous dreams about the events in the drama. The coldness, the sadness, the feeling of being alone and helpless.

Acting, regardless of the school of thought, was a profession where you would experience different lives.

Maybe she had been lost in it without even realizing it.

Shen He looked at her, then looked away. A long time passed, and it seemed like he wasn’t going to answer.

Finally, they were in the car again, in a confined space. Since all they had to do was wait, and there was nowhere to go, they would have to come back anyway if they did.

No one spoke. Shen He reached out, concentrating on changing the radio channel. Sometimes it was a traffic broadcast with an announcer’s voice, sometimes it was a trashy commercial, and sometimes it was music that she didn’t know the name of.

Shen Zhi knew it was her responsibility.

They weren’t in a relationship where they could talk about their feelings.

They lived together and shared the profits and losses, but that didn’t mean they were obligated to understand each other’s hardships and sadness. It was just a marriage of convenience.

She wanted to take back what she had said earlier.

Shen He wasn’t looking at her. However, in the next second, she heard him say in a low voice, “I’m right here, aren’t I?”

“Huh?” She had a brief moment of hesitation. “What did you say?”

“What?”

“What did you just say?” she turned to face him, asking a rare and direct question.

“Nothing at all,” he said, unwilling to repeat it no matter what. He just smiled, gesturing to the convenience store on the side of the road, and asked her, “Do you want to eat something? My treat.”