Chapter 39

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Qing Ze's paparazzi were very efficient; they were likely from the team that worked long-term with Huànzhòu Entertainment. Just as An Ye arrived home, the trending search exploded.

The location was indeed perfect for photos. The nine-frame animated image that went viral had the first three pictures taken while Qing Ze was waiting for her in the alley. The lighting and angles were just right, and Qing Ze standing with his head down against the light caused a lot of excitement.

The next five pictures were of An Ye and Qing Ze together—chatting, An Ye leaning in, and her smiling beside Qing Ze’s ear.

The focus of the photos was quite clear; they were meant to highlight Qing Ze.

However, as a seasoned actress who had been in the industry for ten years, An Ye had already figured out the angle of the paparazzi shots just by glancing at them when she got out of the car. She revealed her perfectly shaped half-brow and eye, allowing the sunlight to form a soft golden halo around her.

Any photo with her in it turned Qing Ze into a mere background figure.

Moreover, the background Qing Ze looked extremely... dazed.

In the final photo, Shi Tuo appeared in the frame. His face wasn’t captured, just his back standing beside An Ye. This photo was probably selected because they couldn’t find another one for the grid. With his all-black outfit, he really looked like An Ye’s bodyguard.

The paid trending post subtly described the “Best Actress secretly meeting a popular idol in an alley of a busy downtown street,” and then continued with details about the idol’s schedule and upcoming projects. The post hovered around the seventh position on the trending list. The comments were mostly controlled by fans of both sides and CP fans, making it look just like any other marketing trending search—no real highlights, not enough to go viral.

An Ye threw her phone aside. It seemed like Qing Ze was probably going to get scolded by Yan Wan for this. Even after spending the money, all they got was some noise in their own backyard.

The white cat came over, meowing and rubbing against An Ye’s pants, then looked up at her for a moment. After feeling it had completed its mission of comforting its "pooper scooper," it perked up its tail and jumped onto the cat tree, curled up, and went back to sleep.

An Ye stared at the blue-eyed creature for a while and said, “How about you be called Lao Bai?”

Lao Bai didn’t hear.

An Ye, without waiting for a response, decided: "You’ll be called Lao Bai then."

Once it had a name, there was a bond. This white cat, which was supposed to be raised properly and then given up for adoption, finally had a name in An Ye’s household because of Shi Tuo.

She leaned in and took a picture of Lao Bai, who was only showing her rear. When she posted it on her social media, she hid it from the family group, with the caption: "Lao Bai."

Soon, there were lots of likes and comments underneath.

Shi Tuo directly sent her a message asking: [Why Lao Bai?]

Xiao E: [Because its fur is so white.]

Shi Tuo: [......]

Shi Tuo: [I’m going to manage your trending search now.]

An Ye’s phone clattered onto the cat tree.

Lao Bai, who couldn’t hear, felt the vibration and immediately arched its back, its bright blue eyes widening in surprise.

An Ye rubbed Lao Bai's head, thinking for a long time while holding the phone.

Xiao E: [You’re in the trending pictures.]

Shi Tuo: [It’s fine, no one else will know.]

Xiao E: [...I know.]

Shi Tuo: [Just don’t tell anyone.]

An Ye: ...She threw her phone onto the sofa, then flopped onto it herself, burying her face in the sofa pillow.

Three times.

In the three times they had met since their reunion, it seemed she had deeply felt that Shi Tuo was really back.

That feeling—don’t be afraid, I’m here.

That feeling—having someone by your side.

She couldn’t tell if she was happy or not. After being alone, more emotions flooded in, and they were actually fear.

That day, when she woke up, the feeling in the old house in Wangcheng, the one that was finally granted to An Huaimin, was silent.

At that time, she didn’t know what she was about to lose or face; the unknown was just a dark void.

Now, she had already walked into that void, given up the ignorant youth she had with Shi Tuo, but as she slowly grew accustomed to feeling her way forward, she once again touched the familiar emotions of youth.

She had always smiled while talking to him.

This awareness also made her afraid.

Afraid that if she fell asleep again, what she woke up to would still be a void.

When the phone rang, she realized that she had fallen asleep like that, buried in the pillow.

The caller was Shi Tuo.

She somehow breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned again. She always felt like she was becoming less and less able to distinguish between reality and dreams lately.

“Hello.” She answered, her voice hoarse, so she cleared her throat.

“Did you fall asleep?” Shi Tuo asked.

An Ye glanced outside; it was already dark. She hummed and stood up to get herself some water.

“Qi Wei just called me,” Shi Tuo said. “She said you didn’t pick up the phone. She wanted you to check out the trending search; she thinks the direction it’s taking is a bit strange.”

An Ye drank a glass of ice water, finally feeling more awake. She switched to speakerphone and opened Weibo. “What’s going on?”

“Well…” Shi Tuo paused for a moment, then changed the subject, “Did you eat dinner?”

“No.” An Ye answered while looking at Weibo.

The fifth trending search was "An Ye Qing Ze." An Ye raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised. The company shouldn’t be spending money to keep such an obvious marketing stunt trending for this long, and it had even climbed two places. It was already after six in the evening; had Qing Ze paid for this himself? The price for trending on New Year’s Day was pretty outrageous.

She didn’t click on it because she noticed the last trending search at the bottom, which was clearly rising faster than the one above it.

Trending search #16: Mysterious Figure in Black.

An Ye:?

“Can I come over now?” Shi Tuo suddenly spoke up.

Having just clicked on the strange trending topic, An Ye was startled, letting out a sound before she snapped back to her senses. “What?”

She almost thought he had hung up.“I mean, is it convenient for me to come over now? I went to the law firm this afternoon and brought some of our collaboration contracts and agreements. I’ll let you have a look at them first.” Shi Tuo expanded on what he had just said.

“…Oh.” An Ye scratched her face, indifferent, “You can come. Don’t you have the password?”

Shi Tuo: “...So, what do you want to eat? I’ll stop by the supermarket and pick up some ingredients.”

An Ye clicked on the trending search term and found a picture of herself and Shi Tuo together. It was taken in that alley as well, but the angle was slightly different from the one that Qing Ze’s paparazzi had shot, as it seemed to have been taken from the second floor window of the bookstore.

An Ye: “?”

“What’s going on with this search term?” she muttered, clicking on the comments.

“…Forget it, I’ll just pick up something random.” Shi Tuo gave up on chatting with An Ye. “I’ll contact you when I get there.”

“Mm… Ah? Oh.” An Ye didn’t respond much, only after Shi Tuo hung up did she mutter some meaningless words.

She didn’t really hear what Shi Tuo was saying. She clicked into the comment section of the trending search term, still filled with confusion.

The photo was indeed a candid shot. Earlier in the morning, a passerby with a camera had been hanging around the bookstore. Since the alley’s graffiti was so artistic, the passerby had taken many photos, some of which had captured them in the alley.

Among them, there was one where the man in black looked to the side at the woman. The photo only captured half his face, but it was clear that the expression wasn’t very good, his brow furrowed in displeasure.

Then the person saw the trending search, flipped through the photos that had almost been deleted because someone had gotten too close, and realized that the outfits of the three people in the photos matched exactly what was in the trending search.

It was rare for an ordinary person to have their photos connected to the trending search, so the very excited person uploaded the photo and commented: "Ahhhh, I got it! Right outside the dinosaur amusement park, at that bookstore! At first, I thought these two were a couple. They went into the alley together, and they didn’t separate by much the whole time."

An Ye’s fans were probably getting bored in the comment section, so someone opened the photo and studied it for a long time, commenting: "Am I seeing things? I think they’re wearing couple outfits…"

Fan A of An Ye: “...Don’t ship everything. He’s just her bodyguard.”

Bystander A: “Why would a bodyguard look at his employer like that? Honestly, this guy’s brows and eyes are pretty good-looking.”

Fan A of Qing Ze: "Don’t act like you’re not shipping them. You’re clearly trying to drag down the bodyguard just because his face isn’t visible."

Chaos I: “Couple outfits make perfect sense! The leading actress is wearing a black-and-green patched coat with a black scarf, while the bodyguard is in a black down jacket with a gray-green scarf!”

Chaos II: “And their height is perfect together.”

Bystander A: “I don’t think a bodyguard would make a face like that to their employer, and why were the leading actress and the bodyguard standing so close? Only one blurred back shot in the whole search... this search has an obvious intention.”

Fan A of Qing Ze: “Hey! Stop pretending you’re not a fan! You’re putting on a ‘master’ disguise to talk to me now!”

The original poster of the photo: “Actually, I have a few more... though they’re really blurry... Ah, don’t argue anymore. I’ll post them separately.”

And so, the very happy original poster uploaded two more posts on Weibo, putting up all the photos they had taken of the three people.

They were really blurry.

But a few of them did capture either An Ye or Shi Tuo’s half-face, and some even showed the awkward smile Qing Ze put on at first, as well as his later dazed expression. There were also a few photos where An Ye was smiling at the bodyguard with squinted eyes.

An Ye opened those photos and stared at them for a long time, lost in thought.

Why did she smile like that at Shi Tuo?

She originally asked Shi Tuo to come with her today because she was worried that Qing Ze, with his stagnant popularity, might become extreme. Finding paparazzi and shooting at different angles could serve a purpose in her position. She was in a very delicate period and didn’t want to be involved in any troublesome situations.

Of course, she could have asked Lan Yifang to come with her instead.

So why did she specifically ask Shi Tuo to come?Because, subconsciously, An Ye felt that Shi Tuo was more reliable than Lan Yifang, and subconsciously thought that even if she was caught on camera, there was nothing to be afraid of.

An Ye tilted her head, staring at the blurred photo of herself on the phone screen. In the photo, she was wearing a mask, but her eyes and smile made her seem very unfamiliar.

Even in the mirror, she had never seen herself smile like that, and this morning, Shi Tuo hadn’t said a word to her except for a simple “hello” in the alley.

She had been blocking the camera very happily, and the paparazzi couldn't even manage to get a full nine-square grid.

The phone rang—it was her manager, Yan Wan.

The door lock beeped twice and opened. Shi Tuo walked in holding a supermarket shopping bag.

On the phone, Yan Wan sternly asked An Ye: “Who is that guy in the trending search? An Ye, are you in a relationship? You can’t just go around without communicating these things with the team. Are you going backwards or did you fall asleep again?”

On the other side of the phone, Shi Tuo had changed his shoes and walked over, mouthing: “Recording.” After that, he took the shopping bag to the kitchen.

“...My friend.” An Ye saw her reflection in the wall’s metallic decor, and she smiled again, her tone calm. “My childhood friend, just came back from abroad.”

“What does he do?” Yan Wan continued to ask. “Have you counted how many times you’ve been out in public with a man without hiding it?”

Shi Tuo seemed to have bought some scallops... and chili... If she ate this at 8 PM, her face would be swollen like a pig's tomorrow.

But she was hungry.

“Yan Ge.” An Ye heard her own voice but kept her eyes on Shi Tuo’s back. “I’m not an idol, and I’ve never sold a single life image. As long as the other person is single, what’s the problem if we get photographed?”

When Shi Tuo heard her speak, he turned around. An Ye shrugged at him.

Yan Wan paused for a moment.

Everyone knew why he was angry. If An Ye had been caught alone with Shi Tuo out on the streets, Yan Wan wouldn’t have been that upset. His main concern was Qing Ze.

An Ye clicked her tongue.

It was a bit frustrating. Back then, Yan Wan had protected her just like he was doing with Qing Ze.

People’s hearts were hard to read.

Shi Tuo lifted the scallops in his hand.

An Ye hesitated and held up two fingers, then thought about it and added one more. Three should be fine; she had a large calorie gap today.

Yan Wan was still yelling on the other end of the phone, probably urging her to be professional, maintain her artist qualities, and stop thinking that just because she had gained some independence, she could stop caring about her reputation. The usual script. He wasn’t going to say anything related to Qing Ze on the phone.

“How should I cook the scallops?” In the end, An Ye hung up the phone, tiptoed, and looked over the cooking counter where Shi Tuo was standing.

Scallops, chili, garlic, and green onions.

“Steamed.” Shi Tuo didn’t even lift his head as he cleaned the scallops. “Yan Wan scolded you?”

An Ye ignored him and took out the photo she had just seen. She stared at it for a long time, enlarged it to its maximum size, and then held it up in front of Shi Tuo.

Shi Tuo: “?”

An Ye looked at him with the exact same smile from the photo, holding the same curve in her lips as she said, “Take a picture of me, it has to be with the same expression as in this photo.”

Shi Tuo was confused but obediently took the picture.

An Ye took the photo and left the kitchen, sending it to Yang Zhengyi.Xiao E: [Director Yang, doesn't this expression really suit that "love-brain" gay personality?]

Director Yang: [Very good, the gaze is almost there, the rest is perfect. How did you manage to pull this off?]

Xiao E: [I don't know, that's why I took a photo.]

Director Yang: [Think about it more, we'll meet next week. There's a small change to the script.]

Xiao E: [Got it.jpg]

After locking the screen, An Ye looked at Shi Tuo again.

Shi Tuo was making the sauce, chopping the chili very finely.

"The soy sauce in the cabinet is low-sodium," An Ye reminded.

Sitting on the sofa, she was still pondering that expression.

How did it end up like that...