Lady By The Pillow - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: One Million for What?

“Teacher Shi Qing, how much is your year worth?”

That day, filming went more smoothly than expected, especially Shi Qing’s scenes. Even Fang Fei said, “Why is Teacher Shi Qing so full of energy? She gets every shot in one take. Teacher Wei, do you two have some secret acting tips?”

Wei Jiuyi wrote a few messy lines in her notebook. “She has a dinner engagement tonight, so she’s in a hurry.”

Fang Fei tried to find some common ground with her. “Oh… must be a very good friend. Teacher Shi Qing has such a nice personality; she must have a lot of friends.”

Wei Jiuyi finished her sentence. “Yes, she has quite a few.” I can count them on one hand. And that “Fei-jie” is definitely one of them.

Shi Qing chose a well-rated Western restaurant. She had made the reservation late, so all the private rooms were taken. Luckily, they still had a booth. Fei Ying was about the same age as Shi Qing. She had a sharp bob, a high-neck sweater, and a dark green coat. Her aura was as solid as a piece of turquoise, understated but firm.

She and Shi Qing sat across from each other at the table, with the curtains drawn, blocking out the night view of the film studio. A plate of steak was served. The medium-rare meat was tender and a little bloody. Fei Ying looked at the steak and seemed satisfied. “You still remember what I like.”

Shi Qing nodded. For this meeting, she had changed into a teal knit sweater, and her long hair was draped over her back, making her look calmer than usual. “Of course. Wine and steak, a timeless classic. It always has its own unique charm.”

The waiter came with a decanter. “Ladies, your wine has been decanted. Would you like me to pour it now?”

Shi Qing nodded. “Yes, please.”

Fei Ying didn’t even look at the waiter. She stared at Shi Qing. “You’re allergic to alcohol, so don’t drink any.”

Shi Qing didn’t mind. She picked up the wine glass, swirled it twice, and brought it to her nose to smell the sweet aroma. “It’s for your birthday. Just a toast.”

Fei Ying held up her glass. “My birthday is tomorrow.”

“We’re celebrating early. Is that a problem?” Shi Qing asked.

Fei Ying’s smile grew wider. “Then I won’t refuse.” The glasses clinked, making a crisp sound. Shi Qing took a small sip. Fei Ying stared at the lipstick stain on the rim of Shi Qing’s glass and then drank almost half of her own glass in one go.

Shi Qing picked up her knife and fork to cut her steak. “I’m going to mail your birthday present to your house. I’m just treating you to dinner today.”

“That’s fine,” Fei Ying said. “That way, I’ll have a surprise when I get home.” She cut a piece of steak and put it in her mouth, chewing slowly, but her eyes kept returning to the lipstick stain on Shi Qing’s glass. Finally, as if she had made up her mind, she drank the rest of her wine in one gulp. With the spicy sensation in her throat, she spoke. “Xiao Qing, how long have we known each other?”

Shi Qing thought for a moment. “Ten years?”

Fei Ying shook her head. “Twelve years. You joined the literature club in your second year of college. You were only 19.”

Shi Qing’s hand cutting the steak slowed down. A memory flashed in her mind, but she quickly suppressed it. She looked up and gave a calm smile. “It’s been that long. Time really flies.”

Fei Ying’s lips curved. “Give me your hand.”

Shi Qing put down her fork and held out her left palm. Fei Ying took a bracelet out of her coat pocket and clasped it around Shi Qing’s wrist. The heavy, colorful agate stones were translucent and had a mysterious, exotic feel to them.

“I bought it in Rome. They say that wearing it will help you find the love of your life,” Fei Ying said.

Shi Qing pulled her hand back. The bracelet slid down her wrist to her forearm. It was cool against her skin, but it was truly beautiful. “Fei-jie, are you worried about my love life?”

Fei Ying’s lips were pursed, and she didn’t answer. She took a deep breath, her deep eyes full of unspoken stories. She said, “When I came back to the country, I found out that you had always liked me. But I was so stupid that I thought you just admired me like a junior would a senior, and I rejected you in a very hurtful way.”

A crack was opened in the past, and pretending to be ignorant was no longer an option. The best choice was to move on.

“That’s all in the past,” Shi Qing said in a flat tone, just as she viewed her past and ordinary unrequited love.

Fei Ying didn’t want to. “Xiao Qing, what if… I’m saying if… I told you that I want to turn back time, would you be willing to trust me?”

Shi Qing pursed her lips. “I just want to focus on my career. I don’t have the energy for a relationship. And at my age, I’ve already lost the ability to love.”

Fei Ying shook her head. “You told me that before, and I believed you. But yesterday, I saw a trending topic.”

“What trending topic?”

“You and that person named Wei Jiuyi are still in contact, aren’t you?”

“We’re just colleagues.”

“Colleagues who sleep together?”

Sigh!

Shi Qing felt her eardrums being ground with sandpaper. She looked at Fei Ying in shock. “Did you have someone investigate me?”

Fei Ying didn’t deny it. “I’m sorry, love is selfish. If I hadn’t seen her near your house before, if I hadn’t seen the video yesterday and seen what she looks like, I wouldn’t have known that her eyes are so much like mine.”

“You still love me. You won’t admit it because I hurt you when I rejected you. So, you’d rather sleep with someone who looks like me than accept the real me.”

“Xiao Qing, stop hiding. I’m brave enough to face my feelings now. Are you? You want to focus on your career. Fine, I can wait, but don’t make me wait too long.”

Fei Ying’s steak was almost untouched. She poured another glass of wine, drank it, and left with grace. At the table, only the wasted steak remained, and a thoughtful, mechanically chewing Shi Qing.

In the adjacent booth, a pair of bloodshot, wild eyes slowly lifted from the ashes of a fire. A single drop of bl00d fell through the scattered ashes, hitting the barren ground with a thunderous roar.

Shi Qing was unaware of the conflict behind her. She was lost in thought, staring at the leftover wine in her glass until a waiter interrupted her. “Hello, ma’am. We’re having a promotion today. If you spend over 1500 yuan, you get a free ice cream. Your table has met the requirement. Would you like some?”

Shi Qing snapped out of her trance. “No, thank you. I’ll pay the bill.”

The waiter said, “Your friend has already paid.”

“Friend? The woman I was just eating with?”

“No, the person in the booth next to yours.”

“The booth next to mine…”

She felt her thoughts stop for a moment. Before she could process it, footsteps came from behind her and entered her booth. Shi Qing had never seen Wei Jiuyi like this. Her eyebrows were furrowed, her eyelid muscles were tense, and her eyes were a bottomless abyss, filled with countless grudges and resentments.

“What a coincidence, Teacher Shi Qing.”

A black curtain fell from the sky, covering her head. Her mouth and nose were sealed, her hands and feet were bound, and she was swallowed whole into the abyss of those eyes, to be tormented forever.

Shi Qing was yanked up. She tried to pull her hand away. “Let me go.”

Wei Jiuyi didn’t let go. She bit down and warned in a voice only they could hear, “If you don’t want to be recognized, you’d better not move.”

The atmosphere was tense on the way from the restaurant to the parking lot. They were both mindful of their public images and didn’t speak. It wasn’t until they were in the hotel that Wei Jiuyi’s chest was still rising and falling rapidly. Her eyes were bloodshot as if she hadn’t slept for a day and a night.

The enclosed space was suffocating. It felt as if a hand had grabbed her heart, and she couldn’t move.

Shi Qing nervously licked her lips. From the look on Wei Jiuyi’s face, she had probably heard the conversation with Fei Ying. But whether she heard a few sentences or everything was a crucial detail.

“When did you get here?”

Wei Jiuyi gritted her teeth, holding back her anger. After a long moment, she finally spoke. “When she started her big declaration of love.”

Shi Qing closed her eyes, and that was almost everything. “It’s not what you think. Can I explain?”

“Not what?” Wei Jiuyi challenged. “Not that you pursued Fei Ying in college, not that you settled for a substitute, me, not that you’ve been in love with her for over a decade?”

Shi Qing took a few deep breaths. Her beautiful eyebrows were furrowed. “I admit, I did like her, but that was a long time ago. After graduation, some things happened, and I stopped looking for love. I only want to focus on my career. You were with me for a year; you know I’ve always been like this.”

Wei Jiuyi’s voice choked for a second. “Yes, you’ve always been like this. You told me you couldn’t love and that we were just casual flings. Shi Qing, I didn’t ask you to love me, and I don’t care who you loved before. I just want to ask you one thing: do she and I really look alike?”

Shi Qing didn’t answer. At this moment, whether she said “yes” or “no” would only push this relationship into a deeper abyss.

Wei Jiuyi took out her phone and searched for photos of Fei Ying. “I asked you why you took me home. You said it was because my eyes were beautiful.” She scrolled through the pictures one by one. She stopped at a photo of Fei Ying from a low angle, gave a bitter smile, and showed it to Shi Qing. “My ‘beauty’ is because I look like her, isn’t it?”

Shi Qing closed her eyes in despair. In that photo, Fei Ying’s eyes looked exactly like Wei Jiuyi’s.

“Little Cat,” she tried to use the most comforting term, still not wanting to say anything harsh. “Do you really think I would look for a replacement for someone I couldn’t get? You were with me for a whole year. Am I really the type of person to settle? No, I’m not. It’s true that your eyes look similar from certain angles. But I didn’t bring you home because you look like Fei Ying. I brought you home because I thought your eyes were special. Can you understand what I’m saying?”

Her slow, gentle voice was like a stream flowing into her ears, but it was also like the magma that had been suppressed inside her. The clash of hot and cold triggered a dormant volcano, and the ground trembled.

Love is an emotional product. The more Wei Jiuyi loved, the less she could adjust her thoughts and feelings like an AI with a code. Her abyssal gaze fell on her wrist. The colorful agate bracelet reflected a harsh light, stabbing her in the heart like a knife.

Wei Jiuyi closed her eyes. A million emotions clashed within her. After a very long time, she finally made a decision. She opened her eyes and looked at Shi Qing.

“Name a price.”

“What?” Shi Qing didn’t understand.

Wei Jiuyi looked into her eyes, letting the volcano erupt freely. The gushing lava swallowed her little by little. “My year is worth a million yuan. Teacher Shi Qing, how much is your year worth?”