Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The hotel room door was slammed shut with a “bang,” startling Xiao Zhou outside so much he trembled three times.

He stood outside exchanging looks with the rest of the team. No one dared to step forward, knock, and go in to mediate.

Everyone tacitly displayed the true nature of contemporary youth—each took out their phones and started scrolling through Weibo, which had just returned to normal.

The hotel rooms provided by the film festival organizing committee had excellent soundproofing. Most of the arguing was absorbed by the walls and carpets; only vague voices faintly leaked through the door crack, but they couldn’t be heard clearly at all.

After watching the battlefield-like Weibo for a while, Xiao Zhou recalled Song Shiqing’s iron-green face during the awards ceremony, and silently prayed again—when two big bosses quarrel, don’t let it affect this poor little salted fish.

“Brother Ye must be furious,” a girl who had accompanied them to Shen City whispered, “earlier I saw a lot of people spamming ‘Pei Chuzhi get out of the entertainment industry,’ and they even went to the official Weibo of ‘Secretly Fall in Love With You’ and ‘Who Is the Murderer’ asking them to replace her. He can’t swallow that.”

The stylist lifted her newly done nails: “Isn’t it pretty handsome? Charging into rage for a beauty—if any man defended me like that in front of millions, I’d marry him without hesitation.”

Xiao Zhou inserted dryly: “But now President Song is furious too.”

“……”

The two girls both fell silent.

Song Shiqing had worked at Ya Film for many years. He had quite a few popular stars under him, and his position had already risen to general manager of the management department, while also holding the title of vice president.

In other words, he wasn’t some nobody like Tang Dong who begged everywhere for resources. Outside, he was also a figure who could call the wind and summon rain.

Song Shiqing basically no longer directly managed artists in the past two years. It was only because Xing Ye had a special status and was difficult to control that President Song himself had to come out to manage this hot potato.

Yet today not only did he fail to manage him, but a huge piece of news that crashed Weibo had also erupted.

Thinking of this, the three salted fish in the suite living room silently looked at the tightly closed door, all feeling that the two inside might have already started fighting.

Fortunately, not long after, Xing Ye came out.

His expression was full of “I’m very unhappy” hostility, but he didn’t look like he had gotten into a fight.

Xiao Zhou quietly glanced behind him and found Song Shiqing sitting on the sofa holding his forehead, seemingly not having been beaten either.

Just as his raised heart was about to settle, he saw Xing Ye stretch out his palm toward him.

His voice was hoarse: “Car keys.”

“Brother Ye, you’re going out?” Xiao Zhou stuffed his phone back into his pocket, trembling, “I’m free right now, I’ll drive you.”

Xing Ye’s eyes were dark; he repeated: “Car keys.”

Xiao Zhou twisted his neck and looked awkwardly toward Song Shiqing sitting in the room.

Song Shiqing let out a cold, indifferent laugh and said, “Give them to him. Don’t hinder Teacher Xing’s thousand-mile pursuit of love.”

Xiao Zhou: “……”

President Song, your tone is really a bit sarcastic.

After getting the keys, Xing Ye turned around, left a “I won’t be back tonight,” then opened the suite door and walked out.

Reporters were waiting downstairs at the hotel.

Xing Ye drove that pitch-black sports car, and in front of them and the constantly flashing white camera lights, swaggered out of the garage.

The film festival venue was in the suburbs; traffic on the road was smooth.

After shaking off several trailing cars, he turned the steering wheel and merged onto the highway.

The night outside the window was quiet, the sky like a piece of velvet covering the city.

When he reached a service area, Xing Ye fished out cigarettes and a lighter left there by someone unknown.

He opened the window, turned his face sideways, and lit the cigarette.

A few strands of white smoke twisted into the night.

Xing Ye held the cigarette in his mouth and tapped open his phone with one hand.

The first line in the chat interface was a message Ding Yang sent half an hour ago: 【I sent you the hotel location, but are you sure you’re coming? Nice, friend—really moved your heart?】

He raised his eyebrow, recalling the scene of Song Shiqing yelling at him earlier.

“You just like her, don’t you?! Last time you were still hiding it and trying to fool me—this time something happened and you panicked, right!”

“I’ve never opposed you dating, but can you control yourself a little?”

“Will she accept this relationship? If she turns around and throws ‘sorry, I don’t have feelings for you,’ where will you put that face of yours!”

The smoke was a bit irritating; Xing Ye slightly narrowed his eyes.

Then he smiled silently.

Actually, he could quite understand Song Shiqing’s anger and also thought what Song Shiqing said made a lot of sense.

But he didn’t care.

Just like when the young Pei Chuzhi encouraged him, she never thought about asking for anything in return.

As for this feeling, Xing Ye recognized it tonight, but he didn’t care whether she would accept it.

He just felt that when many people were waiting to watch Pei Chuzhi make a fool of herself, if he could stand up and say a word for her, if her mood tonight could become a little better because of it.

Then even if he went crazy this once, it was worth it.

·

In the early hours.

Pei Chuzhi sat by the bed, using the room’s landline to talk to Tang Dong: “He… really said that?”

“Of course. The internet has exploded.”

Tang Dong’s tone still carried disbelief, “Did you put a curse on him or something?”

Pei Chuzhi was completely dazed, instinctively wanting to use her phone to check online, only to remember that after calling home earlier, the phone battery had completely drained.

The phone screen was still dark after connecting the charging cable. She lowered her head, twisting the landline cord, her gaze drifting to a piece of peeling wallpaper in the corner.

This recording was in the mountains; the hotel the program team booked nearby had rather average conditions.

But the advantage was the remote location; so far no curious reporters had come looking.

Pei Chuzhi asked: “Then what should we do now?”

Should she clarify the rumors first, or acknowledge the relationship first?

Tang Dong: “Your clarification plan is already set. Next we’ll arrange people to speak for you. Tomorrow you just post a Weibo explaining, and at the same time acknowledge the relationship in the wording.”

Pei Chuzhi gave an “mm,” just about to ask about the specific clarification strategy, when she heard knocking outside.

She instinctively lowered her voice: “Someone’s knocking.”

Tang Dong was alarmed: “Don’t open it! Call the front desk. Be careful it’s reporters or someone else.”

Pei Chuzhi suddenly became nervous too. After hanging up, she thought for a moment, then tiptoed to the door, wanting to look through the peephole first.

Before her eye even reached it, she heard Ding Yang’s voice outside: “Zhizhi, it’s me.”

Pei Chuzhi breathed a sigh of relief. She twisted the handle, just about to speak, when her gaze was drawn to the tall man wearing a mask standing behind Ding Yang.

Ding Yang stepped aside: “Alright, I’ve brought the person. You two talk yourselves.”

Then he shook his head, looking like “there’s no helping you little couples,” and leisurely walked away.

“How did you come?”

Pei Chuzhi was extremely bewildered, yet mixed in that bewilderment was a bit of unspoken joy.

Xing Ye raised his finger and pulled his mask down: “I drove for two hours. You’re just going to let me stand and talk?”

His tone sounded somewhat depressed, and his voice was a bit hoarse, filled with fatigue.

Pei Chuzhi’s eyelashes trembled. By the time she came back to her senses, she had already invited Xing Ye into the room.

The hotel room wasn’t large. It was fine with only Pei Chuzhi, but once Xing Ye also stood inside, the man’s tall figure became especially imposing.

He probably was really tired and walked straight to the single sofa and sat down.

A small wall lamp illuminated the lines of his side profile; the dim yellow light made the weariness in his expression even more obvious.

Pei Chuzhi stood there blankly for a while before realizing she should pour him a glass of water.

When she placed the white porcelain teacup filled with hot water on the coffee table, Xing Ye stretched out his arm to block her path, leaned back against the chair, and looked up at her seriously: “Did you cry?”

Pei Chuzhi bit her lip: “I wasn’t going to cry…”

But seeing him come, the grievance she had suppressed for a long time surged up.

Xing Ye watched the corners of her eyes quietly turn red, and his heart seemed to be clenched by someone, dragging downward heavily.

His tongue pressed against his cheek; the blood in his body seemed to boil from an unnamed fire, and a layer of anger gradually covered his eyes.

Yet his movements were gentle.

He comfortingly held Pei Chuzhi’s wrist, then released it, coaxing her patiently: “If you want to cry, then cry. Don’t hold it in.”

A tremor spread from her wrist, as if all the forced pretense had been stripped away.

Pei Chuzhi slowly crouched down, her voice choked: “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why are they treating me like this? Why are they dragging my parents into it too?”

Why?

Because you are a public figure, so in their eyes, you cannot possess **.

Even a past you want to hide from others will one day be dug out for everyone to watch.

In those people’s eyes, the truth isn’t important. What they want is sensational news. If they can use it as a pretext to judge from a moral high ground, even better.

Xing Ye frowned, wanting to tell her that this circle had always been like this.

He had grown up this way; the storm she experienced today was daily life he was all too familiar with.

However, the moment a tear slid from her cheek to her chin, he swallowed all his words.

Pei Chuzhi wasn’t an ignorant child, so she definitely understood these principles.

She had been hurt and was sad; what she wanted to hear now was definitely not a lecture on survival rules in the entertainment industry.

Xing Ye cleared his throat and said softly: “This isn’t your fault. You’ve already done very well.”

“Really?” Pei Chuzhi’s eyelashes were wet with tears, looking even thicker as she looked over. “I’m actually really panicked. I keep feeling that if this accident hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have had to publicly…”

Halfway through, she sniffed.

The somewhat cute action made Xing Ye smile. He bent down and looked straight into her eyes: “You already know?”

Pei Chuzhi nodded and took several deep breaths.

She wasn’t the kind of weak, tearful girl. After venting her emotions, the urge to cry was no longer strong.

So she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, stood up, smiled awkwardly, and said: “I feel much better after crying. Let’s talk about serious matters.”

Xing Ye: “Serious matters? Now?”

He was somewhat surprised, realizing he might have underestimated Pei Chuzhi’s emotional regulation ability.

“I mean today, you described me as so important,”

Pei Chuzhi moved a dressing stool and sat opposite him, asking in confusion, “In your setting, what story did we actually go through?”

Xing Ye picked up the cup and took a slow sip of water, suddenly feeling a bit amused and also slightly annoyed at being ignored.

The two emotions mixed together, finally making him unable to remain silent.

He put down the cup: “Let me ask you something.”

“Mm?”

“That beautiful garden your family used to have—if you walk right from the fountain and pass the greenhouse, can you see a rockery?”

Certain trivial fragments of memory slowly emerged from the depths of her mind.

Pei Chuzhi widened her eyes in surprise, disbelief gradually appearing on her bright face.

“Zhizhi, the person you coaxed out from the rockery with a piece of candy,” Xing Ye curled his lips and pointed at himself, “was me.”

Pei Chuzhi’s mind went “clang,” and she was completely stunned.

Author’s Note: Thanks to the little angels who cast overlord tickets or irrigated nutrient solution for me during 2019-12-15 20:58:12~2019-12-16 21:08:27~

Thanks to the little angels who threw landmines: samsara, little fairy?, pig who likes sweet sweet sweet, summer night evening wind, Mansha Hua Bian’an Flower 1 each;

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: Jin Bao Most Cool 50 bottles; Meng Qingqing 5 bottles; Grew Up Eating Cute Duo 2 bottles;

Thank you very much for everyone’s support, I will continue to work hard!