Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Pei Chuzhi felt that everything she had experienced in the past half day was not as impactful as Xing Ye’s casually spoken sentence.

“You’re not lying to me, right?”

After being stunned for a long while, this was the only thing she could instinctively ask.

It wasn’t strange that she would doubt.

After all, the little boy back then had his mentality completely collapse because his acting was too bad and he got scolded by the director.

Looking at Xing Ye now…

No matter how you looked at it, he had nothing to do with the words “bad acting.”

“Am I that idle?”

Xing Ye laughed, tugged his sleeve slightly higher, and pointed at the watch dial on his wrist, asking her, “Busy all day and not tired, drove over in the middle of the night, just to trick you?”

Pei Chuzhi thought that made sense: “When did you recognize me?”

Xing Ye said: “That time we arranged for paparazzi to secretly photograph a date.”

Pei Chuzhi was shocked again; that was last year.

But thinking carefully, it did seem like after that time, Xing Ye’s attitude toward her became friendlier than before.

This kind of chance encounter—if magnified—could be considered a reunion with someone from the past. If it were someone else, they would definitely think this was something worth celebrating.

But after the initial surprise, Pei Chuzhi vaguely sensed the truth—no wonder Xing Ye treated her so well.

That sentence, “Without you, there wouldn’t be the me of today,” wasn’t a heart-fluttering confession.

He was just stating facts.

There’s an old saying: “For a drop of kindness, repay with a spring.” After thinking for a while, Pei Chuzhi realized she was actually quite greedy.

Xing Ye had practically brought out an entire sea to repay her, yet she still faintly felt unsatisfied.

As if seeking confirmation, she softly asked: “Then why did you come all the way here?”

Being stared at directly by her, Xing Ye paused, his gaze slightly evasive: “I just thought that at a time like this, if I could come take a look, maybe you’d be happier.”

His tone hesitated slightly, his voice lowered, “Are you happier?”

Pei Chuzhi froze; the string in her heart seemed to be plucked, trembling back and forth inside her.

She felt her ears heating up, and the corners of her lips unconsciously curved.

“I am happy.”

Xing Ye finally let out a breath. Once the tension he’d held all night loosened, sleepiness layered over him. He stood up: “Then I’ll go. Rest well.”

Pei Chuzhi blurted: “It’s so late—where are you going?”

A trace of reluctance mixed into her voice, though she didn’t notice it herself.

“Go open a room to sleep. I’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

Xing Ye walked to the door; his shadow stretched long under the light, crossing the room and falling into her eyes. “Or do you want me to sleep here?”

Pei Chuzhi: “???”

Not possible, and not necessary.

Although she didn’t speak, her expression vividly revealed her true thoughts.

Xing Ye laughed teasingly: “Then why ask? Good night.”

The door closed softly.

·

Pei Chuzhi didn’t sleep well all night; she woke up as soon as dawn barely broke.

She groggily climbed out of bed, tied her thick long hair into a loose bun, then shuffled into the bathroom in slippers, brushing her teeth while turning on her phone.

WeChat was filled with concern from relatives and friends from a few hours earlier. She replied to them one by one before seeing the message Xing Ye had just sent more than ten minutes ago.

The send time was six-thirty, just one sentence: 【I left.】

Pei Chuzhi paused with her toothbrush between her teeth, not expecting him to truly come and go so hurriedly.

But when she thought that he wasted so much time going back and forth, all just to make her a little happier, the cool mint taste of toothpaste between her lips seemed mixed with honeyed sweetness.

Pei Chuzhi replied with an emoji. When she put down her phone, she glanced at the mirror and suddenly realized she was smiling like a girl in love.

“……”

She controlled her expression, bent down to turn on the faucet, splashed cold water on her face twice, then stared at the white sink and fell into self-reflection.

This isn’t right, Pei Chuzhi!

Didn’t you agree not to turn fake acting into real feelings? Are you really falling so easily?

Knowing full well he’s only doing this to repay kindness…

Pei Chuzhi sighed, patted her cheeks to remind herself to stay clear-headed: you’re now an actress entangled in scandals—think carefully about what the top priority is.

Her top priority was naturally also Tang Dong’s top priority.

The manager far away in Yan City hadn’t been idle these past hours, but had discussed overnight and produced a feasible clarification plan.

Around ten in the weekend morning, when many people who slept in had just woken up, screenshots from a forum called “Xi City Local Portal” quietly spread.

The post title was simple and clear: 【Does anyone know Pei Chuzhi? Asking for gossip】

The first few floors were all netizens also asking for gossip. Only near the page turn did an insider appear to explain:

【My husband and I were in the same class as her in middle school. When the trending topic came out, we discussed it. She must’ve offended someone. Anyway, we both had a pretty good impression of her. It’s true her family had money back then, but we never heard of her bullying anyone, nor saw her dating boyfriends. Every day after school she went to dance class to practice. Quite a generous and easygoing girl.】

Gradually, more people came out to confirm this statement.

But these local comments of uncertain authenticity were still not enough to reverse the direction of public opinion.

A marketing account posted a screenshot of the company’s debt list when it applied for bankruptcy liquidation: 【If you ask me, isn’t this simple? The creditors are all here. If it’s unpaid, just go ask them.】

Sure enough, gossip-eaters found an investor’s Weibo and spammed him asking whether he had received repayment.

Finally the other party had to reply: 【They repay every month. As far as I know, others are also being repaid proportionally. What’s it to you? This is my private Weibo—do you need to come sightseeing?】

Although the tone was rough, the meaning was very clear.

At this point, the marketing company cooperating with Huaxing Entertainment got to work.

They split into two routes. One route spread screenshots favorable to Pei Chuzhi across major forums; the other pretended to be gossiping netizens and started analyzing clothes Pei Chuzhi wore at various occasions.

It had to be said, the latter move was quite effective.

After careful sorting by attentive people, netizens suddenly realized a problem—Pei Chuzhi’s clothes had always been affordable items everyone could buy.

The reason they hadn’t noticed before was entirely because her face was too beautiful and her figure too good. Even dresses costing a few hundred yuan looked like well-tailored luxury brands on her.

In the afternoon, the eager Qiao Na finally reached her daily livestream time.

She showed today’s eyeshadow palette to the camera, glanced down, and saw someone in the bullet comments asking: 【Nana, are you close with Pei Chuzhi? I saw information saying you were classmates before?】

Qiao Na understood immediately, doing her eye makeup while saying: “Why ask so tactfully? Just say you want gossip. Fine, since you want to know, I’ll briefly talk about it.”

Although Qiao Na was now a beauty blogger, four years of university still polished her delivery skills.

Under her vivid description, Pei Chuzhi was shaped into a resilient and brave fallen princess, radiating the light of humanity.

As time passed, public opinion gradually turned toward Pei Chuzhi.

After all, compared with testimonies from multiple named sources, that anonymous exposé earlier had extremely low credibility.

And when Huaxing Entertainment righteously issued a lawyer’s letter, the marketing account that posted the exposé yesterday deleting the post directly made many people suspicious of their motives.

When Pei Chuzhi finished filming program behind-the-scenes footage in the mountains, Tang Dong’s side had also followed the trail and locked onto the mastermind behind the scenes.

“Do you still remember Chu Man?” Tang Dong asked on the phone.

Pei Chuzhi recalled for a moment: “Of course I remember. I have no grievances with her—why would she harm me?”

Mentioning Chu Man’s name made Pei Chuzhi feel stifled.

Back then, in that web drama she filmed—which flopped because the male and female leads’ acting was too poor—the female lead was played by Chu Man.

Since that time, Chu Man seemed to vanish from the world, with no news for a long time.

Tang Dong: “She recently found a backer with quite a big background. Supposedly she wants to be promoted as the female lead of Bai Ruxu’s new film.”

Pei Chuzhi suddenly understood: “But Director Bai’s requirements are so strict…”

“So yeah, one less competitor is one less,” Tang Dong said, then couldn’t help sounding smug, “You’ve grown up, Zhizhi. You now have a rival too.”

Pei Chuzhi choked, feeling Tang Dong’s perspective was particularly unusual.

After hanging up, she logged into Weibo again. Ignoring the thousands of private message notifications, she directly opened the input box.

【Thank you all for your concern, but please don’t involve my parents in the future. Also congratulations to @XingYe on the award. To me, you are just as important.】

If Xing Ye’s acceptance speech last night was a bomb falling from the sky, then her response today was no less than a decisive full stop.

The Wildfire fans who were shouting yesterday that they would never accept Pei Chuzhi had to submit to reality.

They rushed to Pei Chuzhi’s Weibo, posting long strings of crying emojis in the comments. Their wording varied, but all could be summed up in one sentence—sister-in-law, please take good care of our brother.

Pei Chuzhi opened the comments and shut the screen abruptly in less than half a minute.

Those repeated “sister-in-law” calls made her blush.

·

Yan City, airport.

Xing Ye came from the VIP passage to the underground parking lot. As soon as he got into the car, he couldn’t help taking out his phone and finding Pei Chuzhi’s Weibo from this afternoon to read it again.

A moment later, he smiled silently and liked the post.

The car door was opened from outside. Song Shiqing got in, his face iron-green: “When you were at the highway entrance this morning, someone photographed you. The recording location of ‘Who Is the Murderer’ isn’t a secret. When the show airs, everyone will know where you were last night.”

Xing Ye raised his eyes: “Then?”

Song Shiqing rubbed his brow, barely restraining his emotions: “Then I bought the photos. This won’t be spread.”

“Thanks.” Xing Ye nodded sincerely. “Yesterday was a special situation. It won’t happen again.”

Song Shiqing took a deep breath, helpless with him but still had to ask: “When you went to see her last night, weren’t you photographed?”

Xing Ye thought for a moment: “Does hotel surveillance count? I only stayed in her room for more than ten minutes. In such a short time, it shouldn’t lead to messy rumors.”

Song Shiqing was stunned.

He originally thought, judging from Xing Ye’s arrogant personality, rushing there overnight meant he might have done everything that should or shouldn’t happen. But from this…

“So last night, you just purely chatted with her?”

“Not allowed?” Xing Ye frowned.

A huge stone in Song Shiqing’s heart dropped.

As long as nothing improper happened, it saved him future PR trouble. But the frustration from Xing Ye disrupting plans still lingered, so after a moment’s thought, he suddenly smiled maliciously.

“Didn’t expect it, Teacher Xing—so pure.”

Xing Ye: “……”

Author’s Note: A few words of nonsense:

Some cuties asked for extra updates—I saw the comments. But it’s close to year-end and I’m busy. If I have time I’ll write more; if not, I really don’t have enough energy. Please understand, mwah~

Thanks to the little angels who cast overlord tickets or irrigated nutrient solution during 2019-12-16 21:08:27~2019-12-17 21:34:49~

Thanks to the little angels who threw landmines: Man Sha Hua Other Shore Flower, Sleepy Pei Who Can’t Wake Up 1 each;

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: Mi Du 2 bottles;

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