Divorce Is An Absolute Must! - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Not Jealous

◎Jealous, not jealous, not jealous, not jealous.◎

“You’ve got a lot of guts, touching me like that,” Li Lan said, rubbing the back of her hand.

Zhu Qing was very dissatisfied. “Can you stop changing the subject?”

Li Lan had no patience for her. She managed to put on a serious expression and said calmly, “State your request.”

“You’re too dishonest,” Zhu Qing said, looking her up and down, and then down and up, finally settling on her strikingly beautiful face. “Do you know you made it in the entertainment industry with that face of yours?”

Li Lan was clearly stunned. “You’re talking about me, but you just changed the subject…”

Before she could finish, Zhu Qing quickly said, “So you go out every day with that face, and you’re bound to attract attention, you know that?”

Li Lan: …

The way she twisted the conversation left Li Lan speechless.

“You’ve been on several trending searches every day, and the entertainment industry is missing your type. I was so happy to see you gaining fans and hoping you’d get a bigger career,” Zhu Qing said indignantly. “But it turns out you can’t be too happy. Joy turns to sorrow. My home is about to be stolen, and I’m still just standing here, stupidly happy.”

This was what Zhu Qing was really thinking. Even though she and Li Lan hadn’t done much these past few days, this kind of slow-paced travel show was naturally popular. Even someone like her, who didn’t pay much attention to the entertainment industry, knew how popular it was, let alone Li Lan, who was in the thick of it.

The entertainment industry never lacked beautiful people, and many handsome men and beautiful women lacked resources. As long as she had exposure, Li Lan would definitely get a bigger career. Of course, Zhu Qing wanted Li Lan to get what she wanted, so she came along and did whatever the production crew told her to, trying her best to cooperate. But she never expected to be working so hard only to look back and find her home was being stolen.

Yu Ling was good-looking and had connections, but was that a reason for her to be pouring her heart out to Li Lan? And Li Lan, why was she avoiding the main point and refusing to give her a straight answer?! This was starting to challenge Zhu Qing’s sensitive nerves.

Li Lan squatted in front of her. After Zhu Qing had calmed down from her frustration, Li Lan took her hand and said softly, “Yu Ling is the person Miss Yang wants to promote.”

Zhu Qing didn’t react.

“Yang Huayi, I’ve told you about her. You might not know her, but to put it simply, she’s one of the two giants in the entertainment industry, besides Meiyu Media, which is behind Qi Yao.”

“Yu Ling is the person He Guangtong, no, to be precise, Yang Huayi, wants to promote,” Li Lan said, enunciating each word clearly. “The people she’s nurtured, even the least successful ones, are at the very least A-listers. The people who have passed through her hands have all been top celebrities.”

“Top celebrities?” Zhu Qing was a little confused about this concept.

Li Lan thought for a moment and said in a low voice, “A celebrity who is at the top for a period of time and will monopolize the best resources in the industry for a short period. Some have a longer peak, and some have a shorter one, but as long as they’ve been in that position, they can bring in huge profits for the company.”

“I’m getting off track. In short, Yu Ling is Yang Huayi’s next top celebrity,” Li Lan said calmly. “She has the potential. Her voice, acting, and look are all very good and recognizable. You follow the trending searches, so you know she’s gained a lot of popularity from this show, especially with a teammate like Qi Yao. By the time the show ends, her popularity will definitely be high, and there will be more good resources waiting for her.”

Zhu Qing gradually understood the concept. She was confused. “But what does that have to do with her looking for you?”

“It has a lot to do with it. She knows she’s going to be promoted, so she’s probably afraid that I’ll steal her resources, so she’s been testing the waters,” Li Lan said indifferently, as if talking about something unrelated to her. “Yang Huayi has introduced her to the leaders of the production crew and the network. When she asked people to take care of her, she probably brought me up, too. Yang Huayi has given me a lot of resources in the past year or two, and she recently introduced me to a very promising movie… Yu Ling might be worried that the resources meant for her will be diverted to me.”

Zhu Qing now understood. Yu Ling was here to gather information on her rival, but she was still a little uncertain. “How come I didn’t see any of that?”

Li Lan really wanted to say it was because her mind didn’t work in a roundabout way… But she knew Zhu Qing would get angry, so she could only say helplessly, “What else? Did you think she liked me?”

Zhu Qing retorted, “Doesn’t she like you? She kept looking at you, and when she did, she would lower her head and get shy. She even said she was your fan the first time she met you. I could see it all, so don’t tell me you didn’t!”

Li Lan smiled. “Those are just things people say. Just because you don’t say them doesn’t mean others won’t.”

Zhu Qing felt that she was being subtly criticized. She thought about it for a while but couldn’t find any other faults in what Li Lan said.

Seeing that she was no longer angry, Li Lan reached out to test the waters and tried to smooth down her hair. Her hand reached Zhu Qing’s forehead, and when there were no signs of her pushing it away, Li Lan quickly rubbed her head. “Is that all settled?”

Zhu Qing frowned. “I have one more question.”

Li Lan had no more patience left. “Go ahead.”

“Why would Yang Huayi introduce you to resources?”

Li Lan’s gaze froze slightly.

Zhu Qing rubbed her palm. She didn’t understand the ins and outs of the entertainment industry, but she wasn’t that naive. No one would give you resources for no reason. “According to you, Yang Huayi has a high position and a lot of resources. She can make anyone a top celebrity, so why would she work with you? Between you and her, you’re the one who needs her more.”

Li Lan lowered her head and laughed for a long time. “You’re so straightforward. I can’t even argue with you.”

Zhu Qing’s brow was furrowed. This seemed to be the source of all the confusion.

“To be honest,” Li Lan sat down next to Zhu Qing and let out a long sigh. Zhu Qing looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to explain everything, but Li Lan frowned deeply. “I don’t know either.”

Zhu Qing: …?

“Really, I don’t know,” Li Lan whispered. “She once wanted to promote me, but I refused.”

Zhu Qing pressed on. “Why did you refuse? Were you not satisfied with her terms?”

A hint of confusion appeared in Li Lan’s eyes. She said in a low voice, “I can’t really explain it. I just felt like I couldn’t go down that path. I was ambitious when I was younger and didn’t want to take shortcuts. I always suspected that all gifts had a price attached… But the most important thing was that Yang Huayi made me feel very dangerous. She’s ten years older than me. Now that she’s older, she’s much more gentle in her words and actions, but ten years ago, she wasn’t like this. Everything she did was terrifying.”

Zhu Qing touched Li Lan’s back. “Did she do something you couldn’t accept?”

Li Lan’s eyes showed that same confusion. “I don’t remember clearly. I was mainly scared. At that time, a female celebrity from the company jumped off a building, and it seemed to be because Yang Huayi had given up on her. A celebrity from Meiyu Media also committed suicide, but that was because he was blacklisted and ostracized and couldn’t bear the high penalty fees. I later found out that Yang Huayi had a hand in it, and she even took a large chunk of the resources from the suicidal celebrity and planned to use them to promote us.”

Zhu Qing nodded. She understood now. At that time, Li Lan was young and had witnessed two painful examples. Combined with Yang Huayi’s terrifying personal style, she chose to leave and was afraid of being retaliated against by Yang Huayi if she stayed in the country, so she had to go abroad.

“Actually, when I think about it now,” Li Lan said in a low voice, “I was too timid back then. I was scared to death. Yang Huayi never did anything to harm me from beginning to end.”

So they were back where they started. Li Lan didn’t know what Yang Huayi wanted. She didn’t want to find out either because the shadow from over a decade ago still remained, and Yang Huayi’s status was even higher now. Although Li Lan wasn’t as scared as she used to be, she was still cautious.

After hearing the story, Zhu Qing felt full. She had dug up every little detail of Li Lan’s past, things that Li Lan didn’t want to remember and had forgotten because of how long ago they happened. Li Lan saw the realization on her face, like she was satisfied after listening to a story. She was displeased. “Are you satisfied now?”

Zhu Qing rubbed her belly. “You should have told me earlier. People should be more honest with each other and have fewer taboos. If you had told me about all this stuff earlier, I definitely wouldn’t have been jealous.”

Li Lan looked at her in silence. Zhu Qing leaned back on the bed, looking all-knowing, and was about to turn over to play on her phone when Li Lan suddenly grabbed her arm and turned her back over.

“I’m not satisfied yet.”

Zhu Qing lay on the bed, looking at Li Lan. There were little sparks in her eyes as she looked down at her.

“What, you have a request, too?” Zhu Qing asked.

Li Lan reached out and poked Zhu Qing’s forehead. “Tell me honestly, who was the person you once had a crush on?”

Zhu Qing looked at Li Lan’s finger but didn’t say anything.

Li Lan directly pinched her cheek. “Tell me.”

Zhu Qing’s mouth moved, and she felt like a goldfish. She couldn’t help but want to laugh.

“Tell me,” Li Lan pinched her again.

Zhu Qing tilted her head and pulled her face out of Li Lan’s hand.

“Don’t get mad when I tell you,” Zhu Qing said, lying comfortably. “If you get mad, I won’t tell you.”

Li Lan was still looking at her with that intense look, as if to say, “Whether you tell me or not, this is my attitude, but if you don’t tell me, my attitude will definitely get worse.”

“No, why?” Zhu Qing protested. “Where is all this jealousy coming from?”

She was only a little jealous because she saw Li Lan and Yu Ling’s exchange with her own eyes and saw the pretty girl confess to Li Lan’s face. Why did Li Lan get so jealous and turn into this?

Li Lan stared at her. Her voice was very low. “You answered this question before. You said you only had a crush on me.”

Zhu Qing: Huh? So that’s why Li Lan had said her answer right away. She thought Zhu Qing would give the same answer, but she didn’t expect Zhu Qing to say she had a crush on someone else.

Zhu Qing found this tricky. She couldn’t lie down anymore and quickly propped herself up on her elbow to sit up. Why did I lie before I lost my memory?!

“Well, it was someone I met in college. It was just a brief encounter, just a little bit of a crush,” Zhu Qing said quickly. “I never saw her again. There’s really no story. I think I misunderstood the concept of ‘crush’ before. You’re the first person I’ve had a crush on and wanted to get close to. I didn’t even see what that person in college looked like. I just thought she was nice, but nothing happened after that. You really shouldn’t misunderstand.”

Li Lan stared at her with a deep gaze. Zhu Qing’s hair was about to stand on end. Just when she was about to swear on her life that she wasn’t two-faced and didn’t lie, Li Lan suddenly turned her head.

Zhu Qing suspiciously leaned in closer. She saw Li Lan’s shoulders shrug. Oh my god, is she crying?

Zhu Qing rushed over and grabbed Li Lan’s shoulders, turning her back around. “I really didn’t… Li Lan!”

Li Lan was clearly smiling, the kind of smile she couldn’t hold back.

“You,” Zhu Qing pushed Li Lan away and rolled back onto the bed. “Go be by yourself!”

Li Lan laughed for a long time before she stopped. Zhu Qing was so easy to tease. She would fall for it with just a little bit of teasing.

This little interlude kept Li Lan in a good mood until the afternoon when the production crew called them for the next segment of the day. The afternoon’s activity was a sensory test. One person from each couple would be blindfolded and had to identify their partner by touching their hand, listening to their voice, smelling their perfume, or picking out their facial features from a bunch of eyes, eyebrows, noses, and lips to create the right face. The group with the lowest score would have to face punishments like drinking cilantro juice, traditional Chinese medicine with rhubarb, or eating raw fish mint.

Hu Xu and Liu Yini had to assemble their partner’s face. Sun Qi and Xu Yuzhi had to choose the perfume their partner had chosen. Li Lan and Zhu Qing had to find their partner by touching their hands. Yu Ling and Qi Yao had to find their partner’s voice from a bunch of voices that had been pitch-shifted.

The face assembly group had to find their partner’s face from when they were younger, so they took a long time. Hu Xu got a nose wrong, and Liu Yini got an eyebrow wrong, but they mostly got it right.

The perfume group made a lot of mistakes. Sun Qi didn’t know much about perfume. When he chose his favorite perfume, he wanted to pick the one Xu Yuzhi usually wore. The idea was good, and he was on the same wavelength as Xu Yuzhi, but his nose wasn’t sensitive enough, and he picked half of them wrong.

The hand-touching group won all three rounds: bare hands, with disposable gloves, and with cotton gloves. Li Lan was very smooth because Zhu Qing’s fingers were very unique. The second and first joints of her pinky finger were a little out of place due to an incorrect way of holding a pen, and you could feel it when you pinched it. Zhu Qing was on fire when she touched Li Lan. The most slender, softest, and most flexible fingers belonged to Li Lan.

As for the voice group, Yu Ling and Qi Yao both chose incorrectly. They couldn’t pick out the voices that had been pitched down or pitched up. In the end, they even chose the normal pitch incorrectly, cementing their title as the “least familiar couple.”

After this episode aired, the popularity, as Li Lan expected, gradually shifted to Yu Ling and Qi Yao. The production crew could help cover for Qi Yao, but they couldn’t hide him for the entire episode. Plus, Yu Ling also had a company behind her. They couldn’t just cut out all of Yu Ling’s scenes to help Qi Yao. So some of Qi Yao’s inappropriate remarks, his poorly managed facial expressions, and his impatient attitude during the tasks were picked up by sharp-eyed viewers and trended online.

“Who let their overgrown toddler out without a leash?]

“Yu Ling didn’t guess correctly either. Why are you only criticizing Qi Yao? They’re not close anyway.]

“Yeah, yeah, if you’re not close, don’t drag others down with you. Fertilizing a field is like releasing toxic gas. If you’re stupid, don’t drag others down.]

“Farming is naturally harder for men. Qi Yao didn’t even complain about Yu Ling when he took on the task. It’s Yu Ling’s own fault for not getting an advantage. Just so you know.”

“audience is blind by playing dumb? Qi Yao is either stupid or malicious.”

“And didn’t you see that Qi Yao’s attitude towards the seniors was also very bad? Why was he rolling his eyes when Li Lan was talking?”

“That’s because he was choking on food, thank you very much. Qi Yao is a new celebrity who doesn’t know how to manage his expressions. No one can have a good expression in every single frame.”

“Then go look at Zhu Qing! She’s even more of a newcomer than Qi Yao. A regular person who has never had a single bad facial expression and has always been smiling. How come Qi Yao gets caught rolling his eyes and being impatient?”

“Since when is Li Lan a senior? She’s a model who walked on international runways and has no other work. Qi Yao has a popular drama. What does Li Lan have? Just because you’re older doesn’t mean you’re a senior, thank you.”

“?? Are you crazy or am I? Being a popular model on an international runway as a Chinese person, is that not work? A model’s work is the runway. You should get a brain. I’m speechless.”

The argument continued. This was the most intense episode since the show started, so by the last day of filming in the wooden house, everyone’s expressions were a little strange.

Zhu Qing was wearing mismatched socks. She went upstairs to change them, and when she came back down, she ran into Qi Yao, who was the last person to leave. She stopped for a moment and nodded at him as a greeting. Just as Zhu Qing was about to leave, Qi Yao suddenly called out to her.

“You guys did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

Zhu Qing was stunned. “What?”

There were bloodshot eyes in Qi Yao’s eyes. He took a few steps closer and stood in front of Zhu Qing. His tone was strange. “Why do they say your facial expressions didn’t break? I had a bad attitude towards Li Lan, and when she talked, I turned the table. But when I talked, you turned the table, too. How come you’re not getting any heat?”

Zhu Qing wasn’t stunned anymore after she understood, but it would have been better if she was. She wouldn’t have to control herself from rolling her eyes.

“How would I know? Go ask them,” Zhu Qing said, and she wanted to leave.

Unexpectedly, Qi Yao suddenly reached out and pushed Zhu Qing.