Divorce Is An Absolute Must! - Chapter 22.2
Chapter 22.2: Bathroom
Li Lan lowered her eyes. “Director Yang, what brings you here?”
Yang Huayi’s expression was very calm, showing no emotion. Her tone was neutral. “You canceled the exhibition.”
Li Lan was silent for two seconds. “I’ve had a heavy workload these past few days and haven’t been feeling well.”
Yang Huayi said, “I’m not happy about it.”
Li Lan closed her mouth.
The air instantly fell silent. Yang Huayi’s aura was very strong. Even though she was casually leaning back in the chair, she had a condescending air about her.
Li Lan still couldn’t completely ignore the pressure from Yang Huayi, but she didn’t want to back down.
Yang Huayi didn’t wait for Li Lan to speak and said coldly, “There was a director at the exhibition who wanted to meet with you, but you didn’t go, and you didn’t tell me.”
Li Lan said in a low voice, “I thought Director Yang wouldn’t interfere with my work schedule.”
“Oh? Your work?”
Li Lan’s eyelashes trembled. She was a little angry and wanted to ask why it wasn’t her work. She had built her career little by little. Even in the hardest times, she never stooped to anything, so why couldn’t she make her own decisions?
“Of course,” Li Lan looked up, a hint of indignation showing on her face. Her tone was a bit firm, and her brow furrowed with a barely perceptible anger.
Seeing her attitude, Yang Huayi didn’t get angry. Instead, she laughed, and her tone relaxed. She didn’t press the matter further. “If you say it’s yours, it’s yours.”
Yang Huayi calmly threw a script on the side and said indifferently, “The script is here. It’s a Republican-era film, a small-budget production, and an artistic double-female lead theme. I suggest you read it carefully before you decide whether to take it. Give me your answer before you go on the variety show.”
Li Lan looked at the script she had thrown to the side and slowly realized what Yang Huayi had been trying to do recently.
All Li Lan had right now was her appearance and her professional skills as a model. She wanted to transition into an actress and return to China, but she lacked exposure and good projects.
Going on a national variety show would increase her exposure and recognition. Acting in a film that could win awards and prove her acting skills would give her a solid foundation. These were all key to her transition into an actress.
Yang Huayi was helping her.
But Li Lan didn’t want to get too involved with Yang Huayi.
“Director Yang, I really don’t understand,” Li Lan said, thinking for a moment, and then got straight to the point without being subservient or overbearing. “What’s the point of you doing all this?”
Ten years ago, Li Lan knew that Yang Huayi was doing it to satisfy her own whims. She loved to discover raw talent, to personally create stars, and to watch beautiful girls shed their innocence and grow into a variety of celebrities according to her preferences. She had cultivated many of the biggest stars, and many popular female celebrities had her fingerprints all over them.
Li Lan didn’t want to offend Yang Huayi, but she wasn’t eighteen anymore. She was thirty, and she had long passed the point of being a blank canvas. So why was Yang Huayi still doing all this?
“Director Yang, I’m thirty this year.”
When Yang Huayi heard Li Lan’s words, her gaze suddenly drifted into the distance. Her beautiful face softened for a moment, as if she had remembered someone. She didn’t speak for a long time.
While Li Lan was waiting for her reply, her phone suddenly lit up.
She saw that it was a message from Zhu Qing and opened it to read.
“I’m going to cook tomorrow. What do you want to eat? You can make a request.”
Zhu Qing was going to cook?
The corners of Li Lan’s mouth unconsciously curved upward. The comfortable joy was almost overwhelming, and it mercilessly scattered her gloomy mood.
She would be able to go home soon. When she got home, she would see Zhu Qing and even eat a meal that she had cooked herself. This fact quickly made Li Lan feel wonderful, making her impatient to teleport home.
“Anything is fine.”
“The pineapple from last time was delicious.”
Yang Huayi noticed her change. After she finished replying to the message, she said calmly, “Do you like it very much?”
It took Li Lan a moment to realize what she was talking about. She was in a good mood and just said what she was thinking. “Of course, I like it. Why else would I have gotten married?”
This made Yang Huayi silent again.
After a long pause, she spoke again, her tone unreadable. “Does liking someone mean you have to get married?”
“It depends on the person. But for me, yes,” Li Lan said. “What else would you do? Get married and wait for a breakup?”
Yang Huayi didn’t speak again. After a while, Qian Chu’s voice came from outside, urging cautiously, “Director Yang, Ms. Lan, the plane is going to be delayed.”
Yang Huayi stood up. “Think carefully about the script. By the way, your daughter Yanqiu is five this year, right?”
Li Lan was on guard. “Why is Director Yang asking about her?”
Yang Huayi’s back was to Li Lan. “Get ready. She can start studying at Q School.”
Q School was one of the best international schools in the country. The admission slots were notoriously difficult to get. They not only had to examine the parents’ professions and family assets but also had to give the children a written test and an interview.
Q School had excellent teachers. Its students came from wealthy and powerful families, and they had access to excellent resources. You could say that once you got in, you would receive the best education in every aspect, which would be extremely beneficial for the child’s lifelong development.
Li Lan could never get into a school like that on her own.
What did Yang Huayi mean? Was she going to help Xiao Bao get into Q School? Why would she do that?
Li Lan was very surprised, but before she could say anything, Yang Huayi had already started walking out. Her retreating figure was a little rushed and showed a kind of indescribable dejection.
Li Lan shook her head, planning to ask her about it another time.
…
After receiving Li Lan’s message, Zhu Qing immediately started preparing.
Based on Zhu Qing’s observations, Li Lan seemed to like sweet food. The first dish was crispy and translucent sweet and sour lotus root slices, followed by golden and crispy sweet and sour pork with a bright red sauce, and finally, a plate of shiny, juicy jade and white cabbage rolls. The main course was creamy caramel pasta, and there was also a tom yum goong seafood soup.
Zhu Qing rarely made such a strange mix of Chinese and Western dishes, but these types of food would help her figure out Li Lan’s preferences.
If she liked tom yum goong soup, then she could probably accept a lot of Thai food.
If she accepted pasta, then she could also accept other Western foods, which would allow Zhu Qing to feed Li Lan a variety of dishes.
Zhu Qing gave herself a thumbs-up.
Li Lan sent her a message saying she had just gotten off the plane.
Zhu Qing set the food on the table. Just as she was about to celebrate her perfect preparations, she looked up and saw her disheveled self reflected in the glass of the kitchen cabinet.
Zhu Qing: !!
Oh my God!! She had forgotten to change her clothes!
…
As Li Lan pushed her suitcase and waited for the elevator, a subtle sense of confusion arose in her heart.
Zhu Qing had replied with a simple “Okay” after she got off the plane, but hadn’t replied to any of her messages since.
Li Lan asked if she needed her to bring anything back, but Zhu Qing didn’t reply.
Li Lan asked her if she could come down to help her with her luggage, but Zhu Qing didn’t reply to that either.
However, these subtle things didn’t ruin Li Lan’s good mood. After working non-stop for five days last week, she had already exceeded her workload for the month, and she wouldn’t have to be apart from Zhu Qing for a long time.
Her good mood reached its peak when the fingerprint lock clicked open, and then it immediately fell.
Li Lan pushed the door open, stood in the entryway, and changed into her slippers. There was no sound in the house.
She walked into the living room and smelled the aroma of food.
The dining table was filled with fragrant and tempting dishes. The steam rising from them showed that they had just been cooked.
But… where was the person?
Li Lan raised her voice. “Zhu Qing?”
After she called out, nothing happened.
Li Lan hesitated for a moment and went back to her room to change. When she returned to the living room, there was still no one there.
Li Lan walked to the master bedroom. The door was closed. She knocked on the door. “Zhu Qing?”
Still no response.
Li Lan frowned, a feeling of worry rising in her heart.
She called Zhu Qing’s number, and three seconds later, a cheerful ringtone sounded from inside the master bedroom.
Li Lan no longer hesitated and pushed the door open.
The master bedroom was large, and she could see the whole room. There was no one in it, only the ringing phone on the bed. Li Lan’s gaze fell on the master bathroom.
Just then, there was a muffled thud from inside, like something had fallen.
Li Lan rushed over. In her mind, she had already assumed that Zhu Qing had fallen while taking a shower or had accidentally fallen asleep in the bathtub and drowned. She was burning with anxiety.
Li Lan pulled the door open with a lot of force. “Xiao Qing—”
The sight in front of her made her gasp.
A blast of hot steam hit her in the face. In the hazy mist, she immediately saw Zhu Qing sitting on the floor.
Zhu Qing was sitting on the floor in an extremely disheveled position. She was only wearing a shirt that was clearly one size too big for her. The pure white cotton sleeves were slightly wrinkled from the steam, and the hem was spread out, barely covering her thighs. But because of her sitting position, it had lifted slightly, revealing her startlingly white inner thighs.
Her two long legs seemed to be bruised and were bent pitifully. When she heard the door open, she was so startled that she curled up even more.
Zhu Qing had two fluffy buns on her head, and a few strands of wet hair were stuck to her flushed cheeks. Her entire face was beet red, even the tips of her ears were crimson. Her eyelashes fluttered in a panicked manner, and her wet eyes peeked up from below, just like a startled small animal.
The bathroom was a mess. Combs and hairspray were scattered on the sink. A soaking wet dress was on the floor, which was obviously the outfit she had planned to change into.
And at this moment, Zhu Qing was frantically pulling at the overly long shirt hem, trying to cover herself. But the more she panicked, the more the fabric slipped.
Li Lan’s gaze swept over her reddened knees and then she noticed a red mark on her elbow. She frowned immediately. “Did you hurt yourself?”
Zhu Qing immediately shook her head, but her movement was too big, and one of her buns came undone with a “pop.” She let out a small gasp and frantically tried to grab the fallen hair tie. But as she did, the collar of the shirt slipped open, revealing half of her fair shoulder.
Li Lan’s breathing visibly hitched for a moment.
“Be careful,” Li Lan clenched her hands, forcing herself to look away, and quickly stepped forward to help her up.
Zhu Qing stood up with the help of Li Lan’s strength, but she was horrified to find that when she stood up straight, the hem of the shirt was even shorter. When she raised her arm, it revealed a certain beautiful curve…
Zhu Qing frantically tried to cover herself. But her left hand got stuck in the long sleeve, and her right hand accidentally stepped on the hem of the shirt. She flapped around like a clumsy penguin. Her buns completely came undone from the violent movement, and her messy hair combined with her red cheeks made her look like a hamster soaked in rain.
The hem of her shirt was completely rolled up to her waist because of her comical movements. Her two fair legs were flailing around. Zhu Qing, in a moment of desperation, grabbed a towel and put it over her legs, but she accidentally knocked over the shelf. Shampoo and body wash bottles clattered to the floor.
Li Lan quickly put her arm out to block the falling items, shielding Zhu Qing in her arms, and was hit by all the items herself.
“I didn’t mean to!” Zhu Qing was on the verge of a breakdown. “Are you okay?”
Zhu Qing had realized that she hadn’t tidied herself up when Li Lan had already gotten off the plane. She rushed to the bedroom to do her hair, but she never expected that the hairstyle she had gotten the day before used a lot of hairspray, and her ponytail was firmly set. She couldn’t get it right for a long time. When Li Lan walked in, her hair looked like a messy beehive, and she was too embarrassed to go out and see her.
Zhu Qing quickly tied her ponytail into two buns. After she finished, she accidentally got the clothes she had brought in wet. At this point, Zhu Qing was only wearing her underwear. The only thing in the bathroom was a shirt that Li Lan had left behind. Zhu Qing quickly put on the shirt, only to realize in despair that she didn’t have any pants.
When Li Lan pushed open the master bedroom door, Zhu Qing was so startled that she fell.
And that’s how this scene happened.
It’s over. Zhu Qing was completely devastated. She had messed everything up. She had let Li Lan see her in such a pathetic state!
Zhu Qing was still in Li Lan’s arms. She tried to awkwardly stand up. She was so nervous that she was sweating, and the damp shirt was sticking to her body, outlining several suggestive curves.
“Don’t move.” Li Lan’s voice was frighteningly hoarse.
Zhu Qing was only wearing her shirt. She was flailing around in her arms, rubbing against her. The soft skin rubbing against the thin fabric made Li Lan’s eyes bloodshot, and her breathing almost became ragged.
Zhu Qing looked up. Because she was so embarrassed and frustrated, her eyes were misty.
From this angle, Li Lan could clearly see Zhu Qing’s collarbones rising and falling with her hurried breathing, and… the view even further down.
“Turn around,” Li Lan commanded, almost gritting her teeth.
Zhu Qing obediently turned around, looking extremely disappointed.
Li Lan grabbed a towel nearby. Her movements were a little rough, but when she wrapped it around Zhu Qing, she subconsciously softened her touch.
Wrapped in the towel, Zhu Qing felt a sense of security. She covered her face in despair, peeking at Li Lan’s expression through her fingers. The tips of her ears were so red they looked like they could drip bl00d.
At that moment, she desperately wanted to disappear into the bathroom tiles.