Lady By The Pillow - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Mommy (Part 1)

“How can I not love you?”

“Will you call me ‘little cat’ just one more time?”

This unreasonable request would have been denied by Shi Qing yesterday, but even a person as calm as her can lose her composure in an emotional moment. Just as the person who always kept her distance from others had taken Wei Jiuqi home all those years ago.

“Little cat,” she called out.

At the door, Fei Ying, who was visiting the set, closed the door. She placed the bouquet in her hand on the ground, took out the card with the message, and quietly left.

Inside the makeup room, the two of them gradually calmed down. Just like before, Shi Qing was the first to regain her composure.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She was completely different from her usual calm and collected self. Her brows were slightly furrowed, the corners of her eyes drooped, and a layer of mist filled her eyes, filled with an emotion that would only appear on a lover’s face in a TV drama.

Instantly, a surge of black terror spread from the depths of her heart to her limbs, and her body jerked.

Sensing the change in the person in her arms, Wei Jiuqi let go and looked up at her, only to see a fleeting look of panic, quickly replaced by a serene expression crafted by her skilled acting.

Shi Qing didn’t look at her. She just kept staring at herself in the mirror, as if trying desperately to confirm something. After a long, long time, she said, “It’s time to work.”

It’s time to work, time to go back to work, time to wake up from the sudden, illusory dream and be a part of this glamorous, high-stakes world.

In an instant, she seemed to have become the Shi Qing who kept everyone at a distance, a Shi Qing completely different from the one Wei Jiuqi saw as someone who would give her anything she wanted.

Wei Jiuqi slowly pulled her arms back, a sense of loss in her movements. She parted her lips to speak.

“Oh, right.”

She got up from the floor and sat back in her own makeup chair. She looked at the reflection of the closed door in the mirror, then at her own reflection, and finally glanced at Shi Qing through the mirror.

Just a quick glance, and then she looked away.

Shi Qing was looking down, lost in thought. The expression in her eyes was hidden by her lashes, and a shadow fell on her lower eyelids. But the way her thumb was tightly pressing against her index finger showed that she was deep in thought again.

Unable to bear Shi Qing’s sadness, Wei Jiuqi took the initiative to speak.

“Don’t worry,” she said.

“Huh?” Shi Qing turned to look at her.

“I mean,” Wei Jiuqi chose her words carefully, “I understand what you mean. You don’t dislike me; you’re just worried about me. So, I won’t do anything reckless in the future… and I won’t overthink things.”

Hearing this, Shi Qing’s heart finally relaxed a little. The heaviness receded, and she smiled faintly. “Good. Just focus on finishing this drama. Things will get better from now on.”

If you asked what Wei Jiuqi was thinking a month ago, it would probably be hate. Hating Shi Qing for sending her away, hating Shi Qing’s mercilessness.

But those emotions were a product of being apart for a year.

When you truly love someone, the moment you see them, you know that hate is the most ridiculous feeling.

Today, she only wanted Shi Qing to be happy.

“I’ll continue to be your Shi Qing, and you’ll continue to be my Wei Jiuqi. If you don’t want me to get involved in your business, I won’t. But if you need help, I’ll always be here. And don’t worry about me falling for you or anything. Even if it’s just for the sake of our past year together, I wouldn’t stand by and watch you get stuck in the mud, just as you wouldn’t refuse to help me if I needed it, right?”

Shi Qing had nothing to say to this.

Wei Jiuqi’s words were too perfect, too impeccable. They were even better than the evasive things Shi Qing had said to Wen Yi.

If taking down Wen Yi and Tang Bin single-handedly was Wei Jiuqi’s sign of maturity, then this polished way of speaking was the armor that came with it. It couldn’t be broken or pierced. She was on the offense and defense at the same time.

The little cat seemed to have grown into a leopard.

A leopard that was skilled at hiding its claws.

…

“Hey! Who left flowers at the door?”

When Dong Ya and Zhang Yu Lan arrived, they saw a beautifully wrapped bouquet of blue roses by the wall. Each flower was exceptionally beautiful, standing tall and graceful even on the ground.

Zhang Yu Lan picked it up and carefully felt the outer edges of the petals. “They’re not wilted yet. The petals feel full of moisture. They must have been wrapped this morning.”

Dong Ya lovingly patted the dust off the base. “Oh, what a shame. Who left these here? Such beautiful flowers on the ground.”

Zhang Yu Lan suggested, “Why don’t we bring them inside? I’ll go ask around later.”

Dong Ya agreed. “Good.”

They pushed the door open. Shi Qing and Wei Jiuqi were sitting in front of their makeup mirrors, having already applied their primer.

Unaware of what had just happened, Dong Ya excitedly held up the large bouquet of blue roses, showing them off loudly.

“Qing-jie, look what I found at the door!”

Shi Qing turned her head, her eyes lighting up. “So beautiful. Whose are they?”

Dong Ya placed the bouquet in front of Shi Qing’s mirror. “Hehe, I don’t know. They were on the ground by the door. I brought them in first.”

Zhang Yu Lan also said, “Exactly. The ground is so dirty. It’s such a waste.”

Next to them, Wei Jiuqi was pretending to scroll through Weibo on her phone. “It really is a waste. Didn’t you see anyone?”

Zhang Yu Lan looked innocent. “No, I didn’t. I don’t know who left them. Maybe they were in a hurry to go to the bathroom or something. Let’s just leave the door open. If someone finds them missing, they’ll come ask. When you guys are getting your makeup done, I’ll go ask the other rooms.”

Dong Ya wasn’t as righteous. “Hehe, I just thought, sis, you like blue flowers, right? So I brought them in and put them next to you. We can enjoy them for a bit. The more you look, the more you get.”

Shi Qing did like blue roses, especially the ones that weren’t fully blue, but had a creamy white base with a gradient of blue on the outer edges of the petals. She loved those the most.

But these were someone else’s flowers.

“That’s not right. Let’s put them outside on a stool instead.”

Dong Ya disagreed. “What’s wrong with it? The room next door is being renovated. There’s so much dust; they’ll get dirty in a few minutes.”

She then poked one of the flower centers. “I’ve already checked. There’s no card or anything. We don’t even know who they’re from.”

Zhang Yu Lan spoke up for her. “Exactly, Shi-laoshi. We’re not trying to take them for ourselves. We just feel bad that they were left on the ground. When the makeup artists come, I’ll go around and ask everyone on the floor.”

But as it turned out, Zhang Yu Lan asked every single room, and no one claimed the bouquet. Shi Qing stared at the color of the flowers, and a vivid image flashed through her mind—she had given a similar bouquet to Fei Ying after graduation.

She opened Fei Ying’s WeChat, but her fingers couldn’t type a single word. The phone call from that day seemed to be still ringing in her ears. Fei Ying was busy preparing for her book signing. How could she possibly have time to visit the set?

So she closed WeChat, put her phone back in her bag, and took the crew’s shuttle to the set.

After some time working together, the atmosphere on set had become much more harmonious. In the past, everyone was focused on filming and kept to themselves during breaks. Now, they would chat a little while they waited. And today’s topic naturally fell on Wei Jiuqi, who had returned from her commercial shoot, and Shi Qing, who had successfully weathered her PR storm.

“Wei-laoshi, we were just talking about you, and here you are!” Fang Fei greeted Wei Jiuqi enthusiastically as she got out of her trailer, pulling over a small folding stool and motioning for her to sit down.

Wei Jiuqi quickly scanned the area and saw a few actors playing courtiers and maids, but not Shi Qing.

Shi Qing’s look for the day was said to be an elaborate hairstyle with many hairpins, which was quite complicated. When she left, the hairstylist was still working on her hair, so it would probably be a while before she arrived.

So she sat on the small stool and happily joined the conversation.

“What are you guys talking about?”

Fang Fei pointed to the head writer, Guo Xi, who had come over to join in.

“Guo Xi, of course. She said she’s out of inspiration for her novels and needs to talk to us. So we were just talking about you and Shi-laoshi.”

Guo Xi raised her eyebrows, admitting her intentions, and made a “please” gesture toward Wei Jiuqi. “You two have too many stories lately. I wanted to hear some.”

Wei Jiuqi shrugged. “What stories do I have? I’m just an honest worker.”

Fang Fei waved her hand like an elder of the Beggar’s Gang. “Oh, come on. Shi-laoshi isn’t here now, so you don’t have to be shy.”

Wei Jiuqi was a little confused. “Shy about what?”

The group of people were all sitting on small folding stools, looking like a meeting of mushrooms from a distance.

Guo Xi, the darkest mushroom of the bunch, spoke, picking up from Fang Fei’s words. “You weren’t here just now. They’ve already written a fanfiction for you two.”

“Fanfiction?” Wei Jiuqi was intrigued.

“Yeah,” Guo Xi explained. “A couple of days ago, Shi-laoshi had a PR crisis, right? Besides the people from her company, you were the first one to publicly support her. So they started shipping you two.”

Fang Fei raised her hand. “Right, right. I even hired a writer from the yuri community to write a fanfiction. It should be done by tomorrow.”

Guo Xi was stunned for a moment and asked her, “Who did you hire?”

Fang Fei continued cracking her melon seeds. “You don’t know her. Her name is ‘Sun and Moon Shine Together.’ She’s a small writer.”

Guo Xi nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know her.”

Fang Fei didn’t care. “Never mind that. Wei-laoshi, I really admire you. I wanted to repost Shi-laoshi’s clarification, but my company wouldn’t let me, so I didn’t dare. You were so brave. You just reposted it without a second thought.”

Wei Jiuqi put on her official persona. “Oh, it’s nothing. After spending so much time with Shi-laoshi, I know she’s not that kind of person. It was just a natural thing to do to help her clarify.”

Guo Xi smirked. “But Wei-laoshi, I heard First Emperor Entertainment is pretty strict. Didn’t they come talk to you? The current public opinion environment is so harsh. If an artist says one wrong thing, it can be blown out of proportion. You have so many endorsements. Aren’t you afraid your sponsors will get mad at you?”

Another actor nodded in agreement. “Public opinion is a real mess. The top actor at my company was exposed last week for making inappropriate comments to a female actress, right? His endorsements dropped like flies. I heard he has to pay a lot of money.”

“I heard about that too. So you’re from the same company as him? That’s terrible for you. Your company is definitely going to be super strict now.”

“Exactly. That’s why I think it took a lot of courage for Wei-laoshi to stand up during such a volatile time.”

“Right. I only dared to ask my manager for permission to repost after seeing Wei-laoshi’s post.”

Everyone praised Wei Jiuqi’s righteous act. The more they praised her, the more uncomfortable Wei Jiuqi felt. No wonder Shi Qing wanted to find her that night. She probably knew her agency would talk to her and was worried she would do something even more reckless in a moment of impulse.

In the digital age, every word and action of an artist is scrutinized under a microscope. If she made one wrong move, it could be a mistake that would haunt her forever.

It wasn’t that hard for her to get to where she was today. She was at her peak right after her debut, winning Best Actress in a year. But it took Shi Qing a full nine years to get the role of “Jiang Ke” in Empress.

She had been so meticulous, so careful, step by step, to get to this point, yet she was still more worried about her, Wei Jiuqi, than she was about herself.

A-Qing, you shouldn’t be so good to me.

How can I not love you?

Lost in thought, Wei Jiuqi didn’t join in the conversation. The excited and laughing voices became a white noise, automatically bounced off her mental shield.

It wasn’t until a person stood in front of her, their shadow falling over her, that she realized the surrounding voices had long since stopped.

Her eyes fell on a familiar pair of red patent leather boots. She looked up, and an incredibly familiar face came into view. She jumped up in surprise, a huge smile on her face.

“Mommy?”