QKYJ - 31

Divorce.

Would this really happen between Shen He and Shen Zhi?

In the TV series When You’re Old, which was a turning point in both of their careers, Shen Zhi’s character once said to Shen He’s character: “Do you hate me? You hate me so much, don’t you? That’s great, then. I’ve loved you, so at least you won’t forget me.”

Shen He’s character, who had been expressionless at first, finally raised his hand to cover his face, as if in anguish, but a sinister, cold laugh came from between his fingers.

And in the end, they died together.

They were both in complete despair, but at the last minute, they both erupted with the instinct to live and escaped the valley together.

Hua Zichen said, “No.”

“This... news has just come out,” Hua Zichen had obviously just seen the report and his words were full of hesitation. “Doing this will only confirm the public’s imagination and make people think they’re really like that.”

Shen Zhi asked calmly in return, “Make people think they’re like what?”

Hua Zichen fell silent.

Six years ago, she officially became popular, and her schedule was packed. He heard that there was a young woman in the company who had decided on her own to marry the male actor she was working with. When he saw her on the set, Shen Zhi was leaning against a wall, completely defenseless and dozing off. She looked green and naive, not at all like a cunning person.

This industry would devour people. That statement was absolutely true.

That’s what he thought at the time.

A quiet girl like this could make such a bold move.

However, today, Hua Zichen felt that he was wrong.

He had misjudged Shen Zhi.

At this moment, she didn’t make things difficult for him anymore and slowly said, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to divorce him right away. It’s just to complete your task, satisfy my request, and give a heads-up. What if we really do get divorced—”

“What’s your request?”

Before she could answer, the sound of high heels stomping on the ground came from behind her.

Ding Yaocai had taken the next flight and rushed back overnight. The makeup on her face was past its expiration date, and her face was full of unhappiness. She yelled fiercely, “Hua Zichen!”

Hua Zichen quickly raised both hands, signaling that he hadn’t done anything.

“Sister Cai.”

Shen Zhi smiled, and in the next second, her cheek was pinched.

Ding Yaocai said, “You come over here!”

And from behind, Hua Zichen summarized the matter: “In short, the situation has changed. We have to discuss how to handle it again. Wait for me to contact you. Don’t act rashly. I won’t go along with your suggestion. I’m sorry, Shen Zhi.” He didn’t know if they were even listening carefully.

It was six in the morning. The air conditioner made a faint humming sound, and the sunlight was completely blocked by the curtains. She had forgotten to lock the bedroom door before going to sleep. Shen Zhi was halfway through her dream, playing with a cute dog. In the next second, Shen He barged in fiercely.

She was like a person drowning, suddenly surfacing from the water.

What came to her senses was the vague dampness of her limbs, a heavy burden on her body, and Shen He’s cold look that seemed to want to kill her.

Shen Zhi was surprisingly calm: “What are you doing?”

And Shen He was also incredibly calm: “You want to divorce me?”

She was silent for a moment, then felt him back away, but he didn’t leave. He stepped back and, maintaining that distance, restated the question.

Shen Zhi frowned slightly. After confirming that Shen He wouldn’t leave until she answered, she suddenly got up, pushed him down, and sat down on her own.

Their bodies fit together well.

Shen Zhi liked being with Shen He, just as Shen He liked being with her.

Shen Zhi was often approached by different men. There were plenty who had the ability to bring her fame and fortune, and there were also many young, attractive boys. However, she politely declined them all, and her assistant constantly praised her for her professionalism.

In reality, Shen Zhi didn’t even want to think about it.

She was reluctant to even show any expression other than a smile in front of those people, let alone have any other intimate contact.

In a way, even if it was just out of necessity, Shen He was indeed in her safe zone.

And as far as she knew, Shen He had a similar opinion.

Once, when they were casually talking about this, he said something that left a deep impression on Shen Zhi: “What if after you take off your clothes, the other person pulls out a knife from under the bed?”

She paused for a moment and burst out laughing on the spot. While wiping away her tears, she replied, “I don’t think anyone is that neurotic, are they?”

At least there were no knives hidden under Shen He and Shen Zhi’s beds.

When the living assistant came over, the room had already been cleaned. The casually dressed Shen He and Shen Zhi were eating at the dining table, and both of them were smoking, making the room smoky.

“Didn’t you quit smoking?” they were asked.

But no one said anything.

After the assistant left, grumbling, it was just the homebody and the nun again.

Shen He spoke, asking the question that had been avoided before: “You want to divorce me?”

Shen Zhi took a sip of warm water and replied, “Divorce isn’t bad.”

“‘Isn’t bad’ means what?” he pressed.

“For you, and for me,” she patiently explained, “it might be a good thing.”

Regardless of whether the suggestion that was opposed by both her manager and the executives was just a moment of anger, at least, what she was saying now was the truth.

If they divorced, Shen He wouldn’t have to be tied down by her or by the marriage.

Shen Zhi said, “You can go be with Zhang Qingyue.”

Shen He looked up in confusion, wanting to ask, “Why would I be with her?” but was still prompted by his rationality to deny it: “Everything we said during the marriage is still valid. The sneaky photos weren’t my idea.”

Shen Zhi stated the facts unhurriedly: “She often called you to pick her up, and you did it, didn’t you?”

Seeing him pause, she added in time to avoid any misunderstanding: “Don’t worry, I know what kind of relationship you and I have, and I don’t have any unnecessary thoughts. You can think of it as me caring about my business partner. We’ve known each other for so many years. Even if there’s no love, there’s a friendship. I’m not trying to stop you from marrying the woman you love.”

In an instant, Shen He’s face showed a look of disgust: “Are you deliberately trying to gross me out—”

But she was unconcerned: “You should think about it seriously.”

With that, she picked up her utensils, took them to the kitchen to put in the dishwasher, and then went back to read her script, as if what was happening outside had nothing to do with her.

She didn’t know when Shen He had left. In any case, when Ding Yaocai came to pick her up, no one else was home.

Shen Zhi got into the car, and Ding Yaocai couldn’t help but chatter about the storm she had just experienced: “My goodness, they’re really going too far. That counterattack you made was excellent. We can’t stay at this company. We’re quitting... Can’t we find someone who’s reasonable?”

Later, before her parents left after the new year, they met once more.

In the end, they never mentioned coming to Shen Zhi’s house, only calling her to go over.

When they went to the airport that day, Shen Zhi remained silent the whole time. Just as they were about to go through security, her mother held Shen Zhi’s hand and said to her, “We are going to make disciples of all nations, so you... Alas, there’s no point in saying anything more.”

Shen Zhi just stared at her mother with empty eyes.

She thought, Why don’t I believe in God?

It wasn’t until her mother finally couldn’t help but pull her hand away that Shen Zhi realized how hard she had been holding on.

She had tried her best to hold her mother’s hand tightly, but her mother had pulled her hand away in pain.

Shen Zhi’s heart sank into a deep well full of thorns.

She watched as a sad smile appeared on her mother’s face.

“Shen Zhi,” her mother said, “goodbye.”

Goodbye.

She said goodbye to her parents.

Shen Zhi knew that she must have behaved appropriately, sensibly, and perfectly. After all, acting was the only thing she was good at.

Jiangnan said, “I’m sorry for all the trouble you’ve been through.”

Shen Zhi said, “It’s fine.”

She didn’t know how much the teacher knew. With his connections and prestige, even with something that was only an internal matter at Liangyi, it was possible that nothing could be hidden from him.

In the past few days, there had been a continuous stream of people wanting to visit. However, most of them had been turned away.

Shen Zhi had made an appointment in advance, but she didn’t expect Jiangnan to call her directly and ask her to come over for lunch.

The food was light and to her liking.

She sat by the hospital bed. Jiangnan said, “Just be yourself, like before. Don’t worry about me. Do whatever you want to do.”

Shen Zhi held her chopsticks and picked up the corn kernels one by one and put them in her mouth.

After repeating the mechanical action a few times, she suddenly stopped and let out a long, slow sigh.

“Teacher,” she said, “am I sometimes too greedy?”

Jiangnan looked at her.

Shen Zhi lowered her head, as if she were humbly asking for advice like she had years ago: “I misjudged myself. I used to think that as long as I could act well, it would be enough. I used to lie to myself like that—that everything was for acting, just to be a better actor. But now, I’ve realized that I’m still...”

“Shen Zhi,” Jiangnan interrupted her. “You’re not too greedy, you’re too cautious.”

“...”

Jiangnan gave her some advice: “You can be a little greedy. You always could, and you always will be. You and Shen He...”

“I don’t know what Shen He is thinking,” Shen Zhi said. “To be honest, Mr. Zhang, I hate Senior Zhang.”

Even she was surprised that in an instant, both the teacher and the student seemed to have gone back to the past.

At that time, they were just as honest with each other as they were at this moment.

Jiangnan, however, smiled: “Then I’ll be honest too. I don’t like her either. But she’s my child. However, you two are the same. You and Shen He, it’s obvious that you don’t communicate much, but you’re completely unaware of it. You’re both drama queens.”

Hearing this, Shen Zhi finally curled up the corners of her mouth.

She had never had any elders she could rely on. Perhaps, Jiangnan was one of the people she trusted the most.

The other one was Ding Yaocai.

“Sister Cai,” Shen Zhi said, “Do you think it’s a good idea for Shen He and me to get a divorce?”

It was a lie to say that Ding Yaocai wasn’t mentally prepared.

As her manager, she knew Shen Zhi’s personality. The fact that she would blurt out the word “divorce” wouldn’t just be to retaliate or protect herself. Shen Zhi had really thought it through.

After thinking about it, Ding Yaocai said seriously, “It’s both good and bad, just like everything else. But why do you have to get a divorce? Is it because of Zhang Qingyue?”

Unlike what she had said when she was negotiating with Shen He, Shen Zhi didn’t actually think that Zhang Qingyue was the person Shen He wanted to marry at the moment. However, she also didn’t think she was more important than Zhang Qingyue.

Shen Zhi wouldn’t say such a weak thing to anyone.

So she only replied, “How many seven years are there in a lifetime? If we keep going, are we really going to spend the rest of our lives together? I’m just worried about that.”

She said it so logically that Ding Yaocai nodded.

“You’re right.” She was driving and found time to hand her phone to Shen Zhi. Ding Yaocai said, “That guy has too many sudden problems...”

Shen Zhi didn’t understand what she meant, but she took the phone and then saw the content on the screen.

Unsurprisingly, what they had gone through had dominated the trending topics for most of the day.

First was “Zhang Qingyue Shen He.”

Shen Zhi had already seen this before she went to bed.

Second was “Jiangnan Posts” and “Zhang Qingyue Apologizes.”

For many years, Jiangnan had been an image of an old artist and rarely used social media. But with his student and daughter getting caught up in this storm, he had no choice but to come forward, posting a long article to summarize the specific events, and also mentioning his illness and how he didn’t want to be overly disturbed, which shut up all the media outlets.

And Liangyi was not to be trifled with. They seized the opportunity and acted quickly, having Zhang Qingyue post a tearful article, playing the emotional card beautifully. She re-described her experience with her boyfriend abroad and also attached a few retaliatory reports, which evoked sympathy from male netizens and empathy from female netizens.

It was difficult to distinguish right from wrong in emotional issues. After controlling the reposts and comments for a while, public opinion immediately leaned toward her side.

As for Shen He’s matter, there was none, and if they said there was, there would be a lawyer’s letter. It was a useful and common old trick for artists and their teams to have two different personas.

It seemed that the matter had been resolved perfectly.

Shen Zhi thought to herself. Just as she was about to exit the page, she heard Ding Yaocai say coldly, “You have to see what that little rascal did.”

Chongyu was taking steps to reduce the trending topics, so Shen Zhi had to scroll to the end to find that topic.

And there were no related keywords.

Just a name, which was almost drowned out by the news related to Jiangnan and Zhang Qingyue.

The timeline was roughly before Zhang Qingyue’s clarification. A reporter chased after Shen He for an interview, asking him about his situation with Zhang Qingyue. Shen He had just gotten out of the car and told the reporter directly, “Get lost.”

Seeing that there was something to write about, the reporter became even more excited and rushed forward, persistently continuing: “Did you do something to betray Shen Zhi?”

Shen He, who had been in a hurry, suddenly stopped.

He looked over and replied with a calm expression, “Do you want to try being betrayed by me?”

Luckily, his assistant took a big step forward and pulled him away.

Ding Yaocai was still being a stickler about it: “No matter what, the people around him should have at least helped him apologize. Why did he just leave?” And Shen Zhi joked calmly, “He was probably afraid that Shen He would go to jail.”

Suddenly, she remembered what Jiangnan had said when she went to visit him.

Shen Zhi didn’t think that she and Shen He lacked communication.

They had built a persona as a couple. They had attended many events together and lived together in private. The two of them had no communication barriers. They talked, and they also had deep physical intimacy.

Did they lack communication?

They just. Didn’t communicate more than what was necessary.

Shen Zhi found the sample script she had read, flipped through it again, and handed it back to Ding Yaocai, saying, “I’ve read it. It’s good. It’s just been a while since I’ve acted in a modern drama.”

When it came to acting, which was Shen Zhi’s specialty, Ding Yaocai immediately gave a proud smile: “You’ll definitely be fine.”

Not Kind at All was an urban drama about women. The screenwriter and the production company were both guaranteed to be high-quality, and with a cast of actors like Shen Zhi, it was a powerful collaboration and was expected to be another annual hit.

However, even if Ding Yaocai didn’t want to say it, Shen Zhi could still sense that this time, things weren’t going completely smoothly.

She didn’t usually check the information on the internet unless her manager told her to. But she had still felt that the trend of increasing insults in the comments had been a little abnormal recently.

And they were all from the same person’s fans.

Ji Luoluo was one of the actresses who had been fighting to be a young starlet in recent years. Her good looks and a small-time company had earned her a group of die-hard fans.

Even so, she wasn’t as stable as Shen Zhi in terms of foundation.

But from another perspective, in terms of commercial value, she wasn’t without merit.

This role was the female lead for a major TV station, which was a just-right resource for Shen Zhi. For Ji Luoluo, it was an opportunity to further prove her abilities. Their positions were different, and their motivations for fighting for it were also different.

Recently, Ji Luoluo’s side had been digging up a lot of Shen Zhi’s old news. They wanted to get involved in Shen He’s matter this time, but unfortunately, Chongyu was too strong, so they couldn’t do anything.

In addition, many press releases had been sent out saying that Ji Luoluo was going to star in Not Kind at All.

The fan leaders, having received the signal, also knew who was on the opposite side of their boss now, and naturally couldn’t help but come and trash talk on Shen Zhi’s page.

After laying their cards on the table, Ding Yaocai couldn’t stop rolling her eyes: “It’s one thing to mess with Ouyang Sheng, but how dare she try to scheme against you? Does she have any self-awareness? Her team is so despicable.”

She took out her phone again, scrolled through it casually, and the new comment notification was from a Ji Luoluo fan again. Shen Zhi stared at it silently for a while and then suddenly smiled.

“This kind of tactic is quite uncomfortable. Ji Luoluo actually expects to be my ‘rival’,” the actress, who was always at ease, smiled gently. Her gaze swept over the words insulting her and she said softly, “Does she deserve it?”

The person next to her also sneered, her knife already sharpened: “Exactly.”

Provoking others so casually would come at a price.

The car continued to drive. The topic went around in circles, and the manager was uncharacteristically hesitant: “Let me just confirm this. I don’t mean anything by it. Do you really not want to be with Shen He anymore?”

No one answered.

Shen Zhi held her own hand. The part that had been hit by the shower head was still throbbing.

“Alright then,” Ding Yaocai said. “We have to wait until after that.”

Shen Zhi looked over: “Mhm?”

“At least after we finish filming the variety show Married Men and Women.”