Goddess Strategy GL - Chapter 10

Two thousand yuan in paper bills became the focus of everyone’s attention.

Susan was puzzled, Xiaoyuan was embarrassed, and the rest of the people stared at the person involved with curiosity, trying to dig up some inside news. They really couldn’t understand why a girl living in such a place would get involved with Zhao Xin.

Seeing Zhao Xin not moving, Ye Ruoqing took another step forward and handed the money to her: “Here.”

“Why are you returning it to me?”

“The first time we met, I told you I don’t want others to dictate my life.” Ye Ruoqing dropped her cheerful expression, and a rare hint of stubbornness appeared in her eyes.

Xiaoyuan knew she was serious.

“Then I’ll take it.” Zhao Xin nodded. Xiaoyuan stepped forward and accepted the stack of money. The money was stained, clearly not the same stack Zhao Xin had given Ye Ruoqing initially.

Although Zhao Xin’s actions in this matter were indeed somewhat overstepping, Xiaoyuan didn’t understand why such a carefree girl would be so persistent about this. Xiaoyuan had met many girls from affluent families, and she was sure that Ye Ruoqing’s family background must be quite good. She came here alone, living a frugal life in a dilapidated house, just to be a singer?

But judging from her performance on the set earlier, Ye Ruoqing clearly wasn’t “just trying to get famous.”

Since she wasn’t seeking fame, nor was she short of money, and was working from dawn till dusk for the sake of the word “dream” alone, enduring lying in the muddy ground for an entire day over the past six months, Xiaoyuan sincerely admired her.

“Why?”

As they left, Xiaoyuan couldn’t resist asking.

Ye Ruoqing seemed not to hear. At this moment, she was rushing to set up her stall, tidying up her guitar and song list, and softly humming an English song—

“you say i’m a dreamer, but i’m not the only one……”

A song from that eternal dreamer, Imagine.

Xiaoyuan once asked Zhao Xin why she suddenly wanted to become an actress. Zhao Xin said it was because a good friend of hers entered the circle, and she was afraid her friend would be too lonely, so she decided to stay.

Xiaoyuan asked, “And then?”

Zhao Xin said, “Then, their relationship gradually faded.”

Xiaoyuan asked again, “If it were now, would you still want to be an actress?”

Zhao Xin thought for a moment and finally shook her head. She said that some dreams require emotional support, and when the emotion is gone, the dream is broken.

People who harbor this kind of dream are the most persistent and steadfast, but if the dream shatters, the blow is devastating.

And the entertainment industry is undoubtedly a grinding mill; what enters is sisterhood and kindness, and what comes out is broken ties, lifelong estrangement, and dust.

Spring arrived.

Along with the gradually rising temperature came the increased rent for the small rented room. Bai Xiaoli called and said she might be staying at home for half a year or even longer, asking Ye Ruoqing to live alone for now or find a new roommate. The landlord became an annoying fly, sticking small notes on Ye Ruoqing’s door every day, wanting to discuss the rent issue with her. Ye Ruoqing was so annoyed that she dug out the contract she had signed, ready to seek legal assistance from the community. After searching on Baidu line by line, she eventually gave up the idea.

Creditors, landlords, and urban management officials—comparable to the three great mountains of the old society—Ye Ruoqing could not avoid them.

Because of the rent issue, Ye Ruoqing hadn’t been in good spirits for several days. She lazily basked in the sun at her stall location, daydreaming when she had nothing to do, such as suddenly being discovered by a music producer, or winning the lottery and suddenly being able to buy an apartment within the Fourth Ring Road, or someone casually strolling by, suddenly stopping, and flashing a brilliant smile at her.

Zeng Jie.

Thinking of this name, Ye Ruoqing felt that all the suffering she was enduring now was worth it. They hadn’t seen each other for almost two years. The last time they met, Ye Ruoqing was sending Zeng Jie to the station. At that time, she had very short hair, not long enough to tie up. Zeng Jie always complained that her hair wasn’t growing fast enough, worried that she would be at a disadvantage among all the long-haired beauties in the examination room.

“You won’t,” Ye Ruoqing thought. She looked so beautiful with short hair, so beautiful that Ye Ruoqing was afraid someone else would snatch her away.

Ye Ruoqing’s thoughts drifted with the afternoon sun, so much so that she didn’t even notice someone approaching. Someone gently tapped the guitar next to her and asked, “Are you singing?”

“Singing…” Ye Ruoqing opened her eyes listlessly. When she saw the person in front of her, she jumped up like a rabbit, “Why is it you?”

Zhao Xin wore a mask and sunglasses, dressed in a black coat. Her tall figure and unique aura were very eye-catching.

“Why can’t it be me?”

“Closing the stall, closing the stall.” Zhao Xin’s arrival was like a shot of adrenaline. Ye Ruoqing admitted she hadn’t been this excited in days. She packed up her small stall in three seconds and took off running.

“Why are you running?” Zhao Xin yelled behind her. Ye Ruoqing rushed forward, covering her ears, regardless of anything else. When she passed the intersection and saw the green light change, she slammed on the brakes and crashed right into someone who had just crossed the crosswalk.

“Ouch!” A coffee box hit the ground with a bang, accompanied by a girl’s cry of pain.

“Why is it you again?”

The creditor had arrived, and the creditor’s little attendant had also arrived.

“Can you not be so clumsy?” Xiaoyuan rubbed her forehead and picked up the coffee cup that had spilled all over the ground. “Did the urban management come?”

“I wouldn’t run this fast even if the urban management came!”

“Then who is chasing you?”

“Your boss!”

Xiaoyuan leaned over, waved, and greeted Zhao Xin: “Boss, the coffee was spilled in the collision, but the cake is still here.”

Ye Ruoqing smelled the scent of cheesecake and became unhappy: “Does seeing me unhappy make you happy? You even specifically brought afternoon tea over, bullying me for eating flatbread every day?”

Xiaoyuan said, “We bought a portion for you.”

“…Alright, I forgive you.”

For the sake of the food, Ye Ruoqing decided to ignore them and treat the creditor as a mere passerby. Anyway, Zhao Xin’s repeated topics were nothing more than going home or not. She figured she could just focus on eating the cake and actively ignore her.

Ye Ruoqing had a plan in mind, intending to slip away after eating.

The creditor was well-versed in the psychology of food lovers, making one takeout call after another, making it impossible for Ye Ruoqing to leave. Finally, she ate until her stomach was round and leaned back lazily in the chair to bask in the sun.

“Speak. In honor of this afternoon tea, I’ll reluctantly listen to a few words.”

“Hmm?”

“Like, ‘go home, this place is not suitable for you,’ or ‘here’s a thousand yuan, take it to buy a train ticket,’ or ‘I have money, no need to return it,’ or ‘what are you daydreaming about, is being a celebrity that easy?'”

“Did I say those things?”

“Well… it’s more or less like that.” Ye Ruoqing thought about it. Zhao Xin really hadn’t said many words to her. She had a unique charm that made people understand what she was trying to express.

That’s why her roles were mostly cold-as-ice queens or celestial beings; a single look, a single action, was her command. This sense of distance, not too much and not too little, made people wildly obsessed, yet they could only look up from afar, daring not to blaspheme.

Zhao Xin asked, “Is that the kind of person I am in your mind? Constantly lecturing you?”

Ye Ruoqing sighed: “You are a goddess. Even when you cry late at night, you cry so divinely. How can a mortal like me be friends with you? When I cry, I’m a mess of snot and tears, smeared all over my face, with no aesthetic sense at all.”

“I cried that night?”

“Huh?”

Ye Ruoqing instantly realized she had said the wrong thing. She chuckled awkwardly, trying to gloss over it: “Drunk people are all like that… saying some outlandish things, throwing a drunken fit or something… Let’s not talk about that. What song do you want to hear?”

Zhao Xin looked at her and asked again, “I cried that night? And said outlandish things?”

Oh no, Ye Ruoqing thought. She was truly going to be hunted down by two major Movie Queens.