Lady By The Pillow - Chapter 34
Chapter 34: Honesty (Part 2)
“Will you call me ‘little cat’ just one more time?”
“When you went to Jiangcheng for the commercial shoot, did you happen to run into Wen Yi?”
The gentle words descended from the air, but when they landed, they felt like a thousand-pound weight on her shoulders.
Wei Jiuqi’s heart trembled. Her spine was pressed against the back of the chair, and the drumming in her chest could beat out an entire song.
Fortunately, her natural good looks—deep-set eyes and an imposing presence—combined with her impeccable acting skills, were a fortress for her heart.
“I went to Jiangcheng to shoot a commercial. How could I possibly run into her?”
The performance was flawless, the lines impeccable, a true award-winning act.
“What, is she causing you trouble again?”
Shi Qing scrutinized her reflection in the mirror. After a moment, she looked away, her gaze shifting to the cluttered makeup table.
“No,” she said. “She had Wen-jie tell me that she was wrong before and asked me to let it go. I was just wondering, I didn’t do anything, so why would I need to ‘let it go’?”
Wei Jiuqi cursed Wen Yi under her breath for being so clueless. Wasn’t it she, Wei Jiuqi, who was causing Wen Yi’s problems? If anyone should be asked to “let it go,” it should be her, not Shi Qing.
She thought for a moment and said reassuringly, “Don’t worry about what happened in the past. Anyway, no matter who helped you, Wen Yi won’t dare to do anything to you again, and that’s enough.”
Shi Qing nodded in agreement. A strand of hair on her forehead swayed. Her beautiful eyes lifted again, looking at the person in the mirror.
“So, I was thinking why she would come to me? Or… maybe she wanted me to pass on a message to someone, asking them to let it go?”
Wei Jiuqi’s eyelid twitched—an unconscious reaction of guilt that her acting couldn’t hide. She turned to look at Shi Qing, her smile brighter than any of the polite smiles she had offered since she walked in.
“Maybe? Why don’t you post on your Moments, and that person will see it.”
Shi Qing turned away from the mirror to face her in reality, and asked again, “So, was it you?”
Wei Jiuqi answered word for word, “No, it was.”
Her eyelids narrowed, and her brows furrowed, completely sealing off her inner thoughts.
Shi Qing gazed at her for a few seconds. A smile spread across her gentle face, the corners of her lips turning up high, but the amusement didn’t reach her eyes. She turned to take a bottle of lotion from her bag, poured a small dollop into her palm, and as she warmed it with her hand, she said casually, “Looks like I was overthinking it. You said that day you wouldn’t get involved in my business again, and here I am, asking you this. I was a bit presumptuous. My apologies.”
These words instantly shattered Wei Jiuqi’s feigned defiance. Her mind flashed back to that night. Even after all this time, she still wanted to go back and slap herself for the hurtful things she had said. Her bravado wilted, and her voice was low.
“I… I said those things in the heat of the moment.”
Shi Qing lowered her gaze, covering up the turmoil in her heart before speaking again. “I know. But the truth hurts. You were impulsive when you said it, but the message was clear.”
Wei Jiuqi bit the soft tissue inside her cheek, and the taste of bl00d filled her mouth.
She could tell that Shi Qing wasn’t angry with her, but Shi Qing’s expression wasn’t happy either. She wasn’t a mind reader and couldn’t decipher it, but she just felt that Shi Qing seemed very sad.
Her fingers trembled. Wei Jiuqi’s heart ached. She didn’t know the source of Shi Qing’s sadness, but she was good at comforting people. In the past, whenever Shi Qing was in a bad mood, she could always make her smile quickly.
“How could it be so clear? People, no matter how much they say, can’t always make themselves understood. All I know is that you’ve weathered a PR storm, and you’ve survived a disaster. From now on, it’s all smooth sailing.”
Shi Qing sighed deeply. Wei Jiuqi had a point. Life is long, so why cling to a single past event? Who warned Wen Yi, and who caused Wen Yi and Tang Bin to turn against each other—none of that would change her current outcome of a new beginning.
But, little cat, if you’re advising me like this, why did you go after Wen Yi over and over again?
The heaviness in her eyes eased a bit, and a new, unreadable emotion emerged.
“You’re right.”
Hearing this, Wei Jiuqi let out a sigh of relief. She pulled out her snack bag and took out a box of Shi Qing’s favorite melon, placing it on her table.
“Yu Lan said that people who have a cold constitution shouldn’t eat too much fruit, but a small box a day is fine. She specifically prepared this for you when she was cutting mine.”
In reality, Wei Jiuqi had woken up early that morning to buy it at the market. When Zhang Yu Lan woke up at her usual time, she saw her artist carrying a large bag of food, asking her to cut the melon into small pieces and provide a small fork so Shi Qing could eat it even after she got her hair and makeup done.
This was Wei Jiuqi’s usual routine.
She was afraid Shi Qing wouldn’t accept her gifts, so she would either buy a little something for everyone or say it was from Zhang Yu Lan. After doing this a few times, the crew praised Wei Jiuqi for being generous and thoughtful toward her colleagues, unaware that she only wanted to be thoughtful to one person out of a thousand.
Shi Qing never exposed another person’s underlying kindness.
It was a game of hide-and-seek. The hider was putting in so much effort, so why would she be so insensitive as to expose the truth?
But gradually, after not exposing her once, and then twice, Wei Jiuqi became bolder.
Perhaps it was because Shi Qing always accepted Wei Jiuqi’s disguised kindness without a fuss that she was so impulsive this time, going after Wen Yi and Tang Bin.
Shi Qing took out her phone, opened Wei Jiuqi’s chat, and asked, “How much was the melon? I’ll transfer it to you.”
Wei Jiuqi, who was in the middle of unwrapping the fork for her, froze. “What?”
Shi Qing slowed down her speech, making her meaning clearer. “You bring me food almost every day, and it’s not good to keep taking advantage of you. From now on, let’s just pretend I’m buying it from you. This box is already cut, so I can’t tell the variety. Is 50 yuan enough for a box like this?”
Dust motes in the air drifted down, piling up like a small mound on her shoe. The conversation between smart people didn’t need to be too direct. They just had to hit a point, and they’d both understand.
A piece of Wei Jiuqi’s heart was gouged out, hung out in the winds of a canyon to be dried into jerky. Even as the flesh shriveled and the moisture evaporated, the gap remained, sealed in place like a sheet of iron.
She could play dumb. She could explain all her secret acts of kindness toward Shi Qing as “just doing it on the fly” or “everyone got one.” She could also deny threatening Wen Yi and Tang Bin.
Shi Qing was so smart; she must have already guessed.
Shi Qing was also so proper; she wouldn’t really expose her.
The consequence was that all of Wei Jiuqi’s future attempts at kindness would be given a clear price and carefully calculated.
In this emotional tug-of-war, Wei Jiuqi was the loser from the very start.
She sank down, her voice terrifyingly low. “Do you have to talk like this?”
Shi Qing rotated her makeup chair to face her directly and said earnestly, “Little cat, I told you before, the relationship between people isn’t about favor; it’s a transaction. The ‘good’ you think you’re giving has already been priced by society.”
Out of that long speech, Wei Jiuqi only heard one thing:
“It’s not a transaction.”
She’s good to her because she wants to be good to her. How could it be a transaction?
Shi Qing was a bit confused by her. She asked, “Didn’t we agree to leave the past in the past and look forward?”
Wei Jiuqi was stubborn. “I never said I wasn’t looking forward.”
Shi Qing had no choice but to ask, “Then why did you help me deal with A-jie? Even after saying such harsh things that day, that you wouldn’t get involved in my business again, why did you still go to see her? If you really treated me as a normal colleague, would you do that?”
After this series of questions, Wei Jiuqi fell silent, her head bowed.
She had a lot of hair, the top of her head was fuzzy. Shi Qing couldn’t help but remember the past when Wei Jiuqi would rub her thick hair against her neck while pouting.
Her heart immediately softened, and she wondered if her words were too harsh. Her slender hand reached out to pat her shoulder, but Wei Jiuqi’s rebellious eyes suddenly lifted, staring straight at her, and she demanded, “A normal colleague? Then let me ask you, why didn’t you pay Fang Fei for the box of strawberries she gave you that day? You say I treat you like a colleague, but do you treat me like one?”
“I—”
“—Do you have any idea that every time you avoid me, I end up hating myself?”
As she said this, Wei Jiuqi’s voice broke. She turned away sharply, not wanting Shi Qing to see her disgraceful state.
Memories pierced through to that night of their bitter argument. Shi Qing’s hand trembled, and her heart ached terribly.
“Little cat,” she said, using the name Wei Jiuqi used to love most, trying to soothe her and prevent a repeat of that night. “I was only avoiding you to prevent rumors, not because I hate you. That day’s events, it might have left a knot in your heart that made you so sad. I’m so sorry.”
Her voice was slow and clean, like warm water in a glass on a sunlit table in a cottage.
After two tentative lines, seeing that Wei Jiuqi’s emotions hadn’t gotten worse, she tried to continue. “After you left that day, I went back and reflected on why I made you so sad. I think I sometimes get too lost in my own world, a bit self-centered, not considering other people’s feelings. You know I barely have any friends in this industry. I just maintain a surface-level peace with everyone. I feel like maybe they’re only friendly to me on the surface but secretly dislike me. Maybe… I’m just a person who makes others feel sad and dislike me.”
Hearing her say this, Wei Jiuqi’s heart felt like it was breaking.
She turned to look at her. Sure enough, the bitter smile on Shi Qing’s face had been eroded by sadness. She choked out, “No, I don’t dislike you.”
Shi Qing gave a self-deprecating laugh. “But I was the one who made you so sad and made you doubt yourself. How could you not?”
Tears welled up in Wei Jiuqi’s eyes and fell. She uncontrollably grabbed Shi Qing’s hand. “No, A-Qing, I didn’t…”
Shi Qing lowered her gaze. “You were so sad. How could you not? I sometimes dislike myself, too.”
Wei Jiuqi completely broke down. “A-Qing, don’t think that way. Don’t dislike yourself… I’d rather you dislike me, hate me, but please don’t hate yourself…”
She threw herself into Shi Qing’s lap, and as she looked up, tears streamed down her face. “This is so strange. What is wrong with us? Why did I think you disliked me, and you thought I disliked you… when I never thought that way, never…”
Shi Qing’s heart spasmed. Wei Jiuqi had never shown her such vulnerability before. Even during their argument that night, when Wei Jiuqi cried, she was still saying harsh, hurtful things.
Even when they broke up, Wei Jiuqi waited until she had completely left the room before she started crying.
In front of Shi Qing, Wei Jiuqi was always a little cat—lazy, mischievous, and affectionate—never vulnerable.
But now, she chose to expose her vulnerability, clinging to Shi Qing’s legs like a small animal, her voice choked and broken. Shi Qing felt a pain in her heart unlike anything she had ever experienced.
Her body reacted before her mind. She cupped that beautiful face and carefully wiped away her tears with her sleeve.
“I don’t dislike you either. Never have.”
Wei Jiuqi’s crying was a little shaky. She was always easy to console. No matter how much she cried, a few soft words from Shi Qing would make her feel better. As the tears were wiped away, she regained a clear view, and from the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a figure standing in the doorway of the makeup room.
The gap in the door was just wide enough for her to see the person’s face.
It was Fei Ying.
In that instant, feelings of cunning, deviousness, and manipulation overcame her reason. She threw herself into Shi Qing’s arms, sobbing and using the same pouting tone she had used in the past.
“Then will you call me ‘little cat’ just one more time?