Lady By The Pillow - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Pathetic (Part 1)

“I just want to talk to her.”

It was already dark by the time they got back to the hotel. The door to Shi Qing’s room was closed, just like it always was. The herbal medicine Zhang Yulan’s family had sent was all warm, cold-expelling herbs like Astragalus and Codonopsis, perfect for women to take in winter. Wei Jiuyi made sure she understood the dosage and instructions multiple times before nervously knocking on Shi Qing’s door.

“Ji—Teacher Wei.” Dong Ya opened the door. “What’s up? Do you need something?”

“Oh.” Wei Jiuyi’s proud acting skills showed a bit of a crack, but luckily she wasn’t facing Shi Qing directly, so she was able to hide her troubled expression. “Yulan’s family sent her some Chinese medicine. It’s for dispelling cold and nourishing yin. Teacher Shi hasn’t been feeling well, so I brought some for her.”

Dong Ya held onto the door, not daring to take the medicine without Shi Qing’s permission. She said with a look of difficulty, “Sister Qing is taking a shower. Why don’t you come back later?”

Wei Jiuyi paused and explained, “It’s a gift from Yulan, not something I bought. I’m just worried about her health.”

Dong Ya lowered her voice. “I know. But you know that Sister Qing rarely accepts things from others. Every time she’s forced to accept something, she has to find a way to return the favor. And you two are a little… you know.”

“You know” referred to the argument that had erupted in the middle of the night, where neither of them understood the other’s intentions. One went out in negative ten-degree weather to cry to her family, and the other stood not far away, waiting until she was sure the other person was stable before sending her assistant her location.

Wei Jiuyi nodded, her eyes lowered, not daring to say anything more, afraid that the more she said, the more distant their relationship would become. “Then I’ll just leave it outside the door. When she’s done with her shower, you can ask her. If she wants it, you can take it in. If not, I’ll come get it tomorrow morning.”

This was a good solution. It gave Shi Qing space and gave her a way out. Dong Ya nodded repeatedly. “Okay, I’ll ask her when she comes out.”

At this point, Wei Jiuyi should have left, but her feet were glued to the ground and she couldn’t move. “Xiao Ya, be honest with me. What time did she get back last night?”

This question stumped Dong Ya. It wasn’t that she didn’t know the answer, but she didn’t know how to answer. It was clear that Wei Jiuyi still had some feelings for Shi Qing, but Shi Qing absolutely did not want to go back down that road. Not only that, but she might even try to start something with Fei Ying, who was not in the industry and would be less of a hassle to date. The reason she followed her out last night was probably out of concern. She was worried that Wei Jiuyi would be in danger alone outside and that she would catch a cold in the freezing weather. She came back so cold that her bones were ice, which made Dong Ya quickly brew a pot of ginger soup.

“Teacher Wei, you know that Sister Qing is really nice to everyone, right? It wasn’t you who ran out yesterday, it was someone else, she might have done the same thing. But when she came back, she…” Dong Ya’s voice suddenly choked up. She paused and then continued, “She was so cold, and when I asked her what happened, if she had gone out, she said ‘no’.”

The air was dyed a warm gold by the wall lamp, silently spreading out, but it didn’t reach the person standing at the door. Dong Ya was silent for a few seconds. Her hand on the doorknob turned white from the force. After a while, she calmed down and continued. “If there’s something Sister Qing doesn’t want to talk about, I’ll pretend it never happened. That’s my job as her assistant. I only have one job, and that’s to always be on Sister Qing’s side. I will support her in whatever she wants to do. I think she already told you how she wants to handle her relationship with you. Jiuyi, why don’t you ever want to move forward?”

Wei Jiuyi lowered her head. The door mat was covered in tiny little fuzzy balls from her shoes rubbing on it, wrapped in dust, as if anyone could step on it, but no one could step on the ground in front of Shi Qing’s door.

“I did move forward.” After a very long time, she muttered a sentence, her voice as low as a whetstone. She had moved forward, but Shi Qing wasn’t there, so she hit a wall and came back.

“But now, what can you and Sister Qing even say to each other? You want to see her, but can you promise that it won’t be like last night?” Dong Ya’s words were like a huge rice container, trapping Wei Jiuyi and her heart inside. The rice container was empty, but once the lid was on, it was pitch black inside.

“I’ll talk properly.” Wei Jiuyi lowered her head, looking like a child who had done something wrong. “I just want to talk to her.”

At 173 cm, she was clearly tall, but in that moment, she was pierced by the light from the hallway behind her. Shi Qing once said that Wei Jiuyi was very good at acting cute. Even if she wanted to be mad at her, once Wei Jiuyi acted cute, her heart would soften for no reason, and she wouldn’t be able to stay mad.

But now, Wei Jiuyi wasn’t acting cute. She wasn’t even looking at her, just staring at the dirty door mat. Why was Dong Ya’s heart softening?

“How about you come in, and when she’s done with her shower, I’ll tell her about the medicine. And if she wants to talk to you, you can talk. Is that okay?” Dong Ya finally gave in.

Just as she finished speaking, Shi Qing’s work phone rang. Dong Ya glanced at it—Dou Qinwen. Sister Wen?

Dong Ya quickly ran to the bathroom door and said loudly, “Sister Qing, Sister Wen is calling you.”

Shi Qing’s voice was muffled by the water. “Can you answer it for me? My hands are full of soap.”

“Oh, okay.” She pressed the answer button and turned on the speakerphone.

“Hello, Sister Wen, this is Dong Ya.”

“Put Shi Qing on the phone,” Dou Qinwen’s voice was urgent.

“Sister Qing is taking a shower. You can talk first. I have the speakerphone on, and she can hear you.”

And so, Dong Ya with the phone, Shi Qing in the bathroom, and Wei Jiuyi standing at the door all heard the bad news at the same time. “Xiao Qing, someone just leaked some information online, saying you had a sugar baby in college and they even got a few pictures. What’s going on?”

Sugar baby?

This was a disaster. Dong Ya panicked and looked at the bathroom, but her view was blocked by the door. She looked at the door, but her view was blocked by the wall. With both parties out of sight, a thought flashed through Dong Ya’s mind—the number one rule of public relations: deny everything. “How is that possible? It must be a rumor!”

Dou Qinwen had seen too many leaks like this, so Dong Ya’s words weren’t even a factor in her consideration. “Let Xiao Qing talk.”

The bathroom door opened from the inside. Shi Qing came out with a towel wrapped around her. Her hair was wet and draped across her back. Dong Ya quickly grabbed a hair-drying towel and turned on the heater in the bedroom.

“Hello, Sister Wen. Let me take a look at the leak first. Can I call you back after I’ve seen it?”

Dou Qinwen was an old hand. As soon as she heard this, she knew things were serious. She immediately dismissed the idea of a public denial. “Okay, but be quick. The trending search hasn’t climbed yet. You have one golden hour for public relations.”

“Okay, I’ll be quick.”

After hanging up, Shi Qing immediately opened Weibo. As expected, a hashtag #ShiQingSugarBabyMan was trending at number 17, with a momentum to climb higher. She clicked on the hashtag, and the top post was the source of the information. “A netizen leaked that Shi Qing, who is known for her ‘pure and detached’ image, had a sugar baby two years ago. The other person was a student at the film academy. The photos were taken from a street vendor’s video. Shi Qing’s car was seen at the film academy multiple times, and it was always at the time the performance department’s classes ended. Therefore, netizens speculate that Shi Qing probably had a sugar baby who was still a student.”

The car in the photo was indeed hers, and one of them even showed her full face. She remembered that time she went to pick Wei Jiuyi up after class. Wei Jiuyi had acted cute on WeChat, saying she hadn’t eaten much for lunch and was hungry. So Shi Qing went to a pancake stall to buy her a pancake. Given her current fame, she probably wouldn’t even be recognized on the street, let alone two years ago.

There was only one explanation—someone had gone to great lengths to dig up this video. “Last year, Shi Qing had a bad allergic reaction, and her arms were covered in hives. It was very scary. But some netizens say it wasn’t hives, but more like AIDS. Considering she had a sugar baby before, she might have had relations with more than one person. AIDS isn’t out of the question.”

For thousands of years, people’s interest in others’ private lives has remained high. If that person is a celebrity, even if they’re not a top-tier one, it can still cause a big stir. Especially for female celebrities, there’s a lot of curiosity about any news of “immorality.”

With two misleading posts, and with hired commenters joining in, public opinion was in an uproar.

[@NumberOneAsianHunk: Just by looking at her, you can tell her private life is a mess. She definitely slept with more than one person. How else would she get a disease?]

[@User12345: Shi Qing is so ugly. Those college guys really aren’t picky.]

[@User121: I heard Shi Qing has a sugar daddy, which is why she’s been able to get roles even though she’s never been famous. Otherwise, given her status, how could she star in Empress?]

[@Client1001: Blacklisted artists should be banned as soon as possible. They’re an eyesore.]

[@GossipFirstLine: She fainted a while ago. Could it have been a miscarriage? A lot of people said she was dedicated to her work, but I think she just forgot to use protection.]

The online insults were so vulgar and dirty she could barely read them. Dong Ya’s head was buzzing after just a quick glance. “What? AIDS? Miscarriage? Are these people crazy?! Sister, don’t look. It’s disgusting!”

She turned to walk to the door, wanting to ask Wei Jiuyi if she had any ideas. But the doorway was empty. Wei Jiuyi had already left. What? She runs away when there’s a problem. What a coward!

Dong Ya stormed back to help Shi Qing put on her coat. Shi Qing’s mind was completely on Weibo. She skipped the comments and read all the posts about the leak. All the photos only showed her. At most, one showed a blurry black figure of Wei Jiuyi getting into the car. It was already dark, so you couldn’t see her face clearly. And since Wei Jiuyi was tall and wearing a baseball jacket with her hair tucked into a hat that day, she did look a little like a man from behind.

This was all they could find from the street vendor’s video. It wasn’t a paparazzi stakeout, so there were no videos of them going home together. Wei Jiuyi wasn’t in any of the leaked photos. That was good. The problem was easier to solve than she thought.

“Sister Wen, this leak is a rumor. I was just picking up a friend at the film academy.” Shi Qing’s response was decisive.

Dou Qinwen, however, was not optimistic. “Shi Qing, be honest with me. Who was that person?”

Shi Qing pursed her lips. “No one.”

Dou Qinwen said, “This leak was probably planned. What they’ve released now is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Once we issue a public statement denying it, they’ll release another round of leaks and might even reveal that person’s information. At that point, there’s nothing you can do to protect them.”

Dou Qinwen had, after all, founded Sheng Qiao Entertainment and had been a manager for many years. She had seen all the ups and downs of the entertainment industry. But Shi Qing had also been in the industry for a long time. Sometimes, you could guess the truth without it being spelled out.

“Then let’s not respond for now,” Shi Qing said. “Sister Wen, as you said, the other party planned this. Instead of rushing to respond, why don’t we see who planned it first?”

Dong Ya slapped her thigh next to her and mouthed words fiercely—Yes! Find them! Ruin them!

Dou Qinwen was silent on the other end of the phone. She tapped her long index finger on a sand timer until all the sand ran out, then closed her mental file. “Xiao Qing,” she said, her voice heavy with a warning. “You should know that I don’t like my artists fighting with each other.”

The words “fighting with each other” made Shi Qing’s guess even more certain. A light flashed in her eyes. “So it really was Sister Yi.”

Dou Qinwen didn’t hide it. “I just called her, and she didn’t admit it. I warned her, but she doesn’t seem to be backing down. Xiao Qing, you should know that she’s been preparing to go solo, so I can’t interfere with her power.”

Shi Qing said calmly, “But I can honestly say I’ve never hurt her.”

“Two days ago, her relationship with Tang Bin was exposed. I used a lot of my connections to find out that the person who leaked the information was surnamed ‘Wei.’ Was that person Wei Jiuyi?”

Shi Qing had no intention of telling Dou Qinwen, even though she was on her side now. “How would I know? Teacher Wei and I are just nodding acquaintances on set. We don’t talk after work.”

Dou Qinwen didn’t believe a word of it. A manager’s intuition can sometimes be terrifyingly accurate. “Was the person you were waiting for at the film academy her?”