Chapter 38: Ice Pack (Part 1)

“Shi-laoshi, can you help me with an ice pack?”

After three hours of filming, the crew was in a state of joyous excitement. Director Fan Erhua repeatedly replayed the footage on the monitor. Shi Qing’s suppressed anger, Wei Jiuqi’s confused grievance, the raised hand, the swinging sleeve—every angle perfectly fit the story.

In the acting area, Shi Qing knelt in front of Wei Jiuqi, her gaze full of concern for her slapped left cheek. It was unclear if this was out of basic human compassion or genuine heartache.

“It hurts. It hurts a lot.”

Wei Jiuqi saw her opportunity and squeezed out a wronged expression, successfully eliciting a look of pity in Shi Qing’s eyes.

Shi Qing’s brows furrowed, and she apologized. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hold back.”

Wei Jiuqi, however, was delighted by this hard-won concern. Her face looked as if it were coated in honey as she began to comfort Shi Qing. “It’s okay. The shot came out great. It had to be a real slap; otherwise, it would look fake.”

As she spoke, her gaze fell upon Shi Qing’s hand, hidden in her wide sleeve. “Is your hand okay? Let me see.”

The movement was subconscious. As she spoke, her hand had already reached out. The moment her hand touched the fabric of the sleeve, a silent alarm went off in her mind. Her long, slender fingers paused. Their eyes met, and both of them pulled back slightly.

In this river of love, everyone is fumbling their way forward, one stone at a time. Only by constantly probing can you find a foothold and cross the vast distance along the riverbank.

The air became subtly charged. The moment their eyes met, a volcano of private memories belonging only to the two of them erupted, and countless images flashed by.

There was Wei Jiuqi, groaning in pain from menstrual cramps, her head buried in Shi Qing’s neck. There was Shi Qing, tears welling up in her eyes from ecstasy, biting her own fingers. There were the two of them squeezing their faces together during an acting class.

They had barely ever argued.

Most of the time, as soon as Shi Qing’s tone changed, Wei Jiuqi would immediately start pouting and apologize. Sometimes when Wei Jiuqi was angry, Shi Qing would only need to comfort her for a little while, and she would be back to her cheerful self.

One year was too short to argue.

And yet they had accumulated so many memories.

They both looked away, cutting off the uncontrollable images in their minds.

Director Fan Erhua’s voice saved them.

“Jiuqi, are you okay? Do you need a break or should we keep going?”

Wei Jiuqi immediately shot a bright smile in the direction of the camera. “I’m fine. Let’s do it.”

Director Fan Erhua pointed to the camera on the close-up shot. “Zoom in. Let me see her face.”

Wei Jiuqi cooperated and raised her head. The cameraman zoomed in. Director Fan Erhua felt something was missing. “It’s not enough. The slap mark is a bit too faint. Makeup artist, come and touch it up.”

The two makeup artists quickly came over with their blush and eyeshadow palettes, following the outline of Shi Qing’s slender fingerprints to deepen the mark. Through the camera’s lens, a faint palm print was visible, but it wasn’t overly dramatic.

Director Fan Erhua was finally satisfied and picked up his walkie-talkie. “Alright, everyone, get ready. We’re shooting the close-up of Ji Lan’s face after the slap.”

“Scene 108, shot 14, take 1, Action!”

Clap!

The clapboard was snapped shut, and the crew, who had been resting, began to work again.

Soon, it was lunchtime. Dong Ya and Zhang Yu Lan had each prepared food and brought it to them.

Zhang Yu Lan had recently become obsessed with League of Legends. She had asked Dong Ya to teach her how to play Vayne. After more than a week of hard practice, she finally realized she wasn’t suited to be a Vayne player and asked Dong Ya to teach her Sivir instead.

Shi Qing and Wei Jiuqi’s next scene was scheduled for 2 p.m., so they had a two-hour break. The two of them put down their food and went to their RVs. After all, it wasn’t good for their image to be seen playing video games outside.

Only Shi Qing and Wei Jiuqi were left in the lounge. The publicity team came in and set up a camera, saying they “wanted to shoot some behind-the-scenes footage.” Anyone with a brain knew that they were trying to get more content to post later and make people ship the two of them.

They could either act or just pretend the camera wasn’t there and interact normally.

But with the “someone might see this” glass barrier between them, the closeness they felt began to feel distant again.

Wei Jiuqi saw it clearly. The moment the camera turned on, the concern in Shi Qing’s eyes was forcefully hidden deep within, replaced by a skillful performance of normal collegial care. It was like a fragrant apple wrapped in layers of plastic wrap and then coated with a layer of bright red paint.

The paint was brighter than the apple’s own color, but the sweet scent was gone forever.

Wei Jiuqi stood up and stretched lazily. Her palace robe sleeves fell to her shoulders and then hung down her arms. She did a few chest expansions as she walked around the camera and pressed the power button with a crisp click.

“Huh? This camera seems to be broken. There’s no picture.”

“Hmm?”

Shi Qing hadn’t paid attention to her actions. She turned to look and saw that the light indicating it was on was off. The tension in her body finally dissipated.

“Maybe it’s out of battery?”

Wei Jiuqi nodded along. “Could be. Those people from the publicity team are so irresponsible. They didn’t even charge it properly. Oh well, no more filming. Let’s eat.”

Shi Qing didn’t open her lunch box. She waited for Wei Jiuqi to sit down in the chair next to her before her gaze finally fell on the faint slap mark on her cheek.

“Is your face okay?” she asked.

Wei Jiuqi knew her chance had come, and she seized it.

“That depends, Shi-laoshi. Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?”

“The truth, of course.”

Wei Jiuqi turned to face her. Her rebellious eyes were half-lidded, the corners drooping, and the long, classic-style eyebrows she had on sank as well. She looked completely defeated.

“Of course it hurts.”

Even as she said this, there was no accusation in her tone. There was just the right amount of grievance to elicit Shi Qing’s compassion, not too much and not too little.

“Just like Ji Lan, I didn’t even realize what was happening before I got hit.”

Shi Qing’s expression grew a little more serious. “I’m sorry.”

Wei Jiuqi didn’t want her apology. “It’s nothing. It’s inevitable when you’re filming.”

Shi Qing frowned. “It looks a little swollen.”

Wei Jiuqi looked in the mirror. “Is it? It seems a little swollen here, by my lip.”

Shi Qing was silent for a few seconds. Neither of them spoke, they just sat there quietly until Shi Qing pursed her lips and broke the silence again.

“Xiao Ya brought me an ice pack when she made my food. Do you want to use it?”

“An ice pack?”

This was a pleasant surprise. Wei Jiuqi had only planned to talk to Shi Qing a little more, to chip away at the frozen surface between them. She didn’t expect Shi Qing to be so thoughtful as to prepare an ice pack for her.

“Shi-laoshi, you’re so thoughtful.”

Step one: praise.

“But if I use an ice pack, won’t my makeup get ruined?”

Step two: play hard to get.

Given Shi Qing’s personality, she had surely already thought about the makeup issue if she had offered the ice pack.

And sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, Shi Qing took a face mask from her bag.

“The ice pack is waterproof. I’ll wrap it in this mask and spray it with some setting spray, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

She unfolded the mask with her long, pale fingers, wrapped the fist-sized ice pack inside, and showed it to Wei Jiuqi.

Wei Jiuqi didn’t reach for it. Instead, she leaned her face forward. Her meaning was simple—she wanted Shi Qing to help her apply it.

Shi Qing had not planned for that. But she wasn’t good at refusing people, and when Wei Jiuqi leaned in, her eyes were fixed on hers, showing a subtle and unintentional hint of expectation that was just enough for her to notice.

It was just the two of them in the lounge, and the camera was off. It could be a little secret between them.

But her phone suddenly rang, pulling Shi Qing out of their private moment. When she looked back at Wei Jiuqi, there was a little more of a barrier in her eyes.

The phone kept ringing. Shi Qing could only put the ice pack aside and pick up her phone from the table.

It was Fei Ying.

For some reason, Shi Qing felt a pang of guilt, like she was doing something wrong. She instinctively wanted to go outside to answer it, but then she thought, there was nothing between her and Fei Ying now, and she and Wei Jiuqi were just colleagues. Was there any need to hide?

No.

She glanced at Wei Jiuqi, who was also looking at her. Wei Jiuqi was so smart; she would probably guess who was calling right away. Going outside would only make it more obvious.

Since she had chosen to look forward, she had to face everyone with honesty.

“Hello, Fei-jie,” Shi Qing answered.

“Xiao Qing, I hope I’m not interrupting your work?” Fei Ying’s voice came from the other end, calm and composed.

“No, I just finished a scene and am about to have lunch,” Shi Qing said.

“Oh, are you busy lately?”

“A little busier than before. We have a lot of scenes these days.”

“I see. I was going to come and visit the set.”

Shi Qing’s phone had been dropped a few days ago, and there was an issue with the speaker. It was a minor issue, but Wei Jiuqi, sitting next to her, could hear some of the key words.

Like “visit the set.”

She hadn’t forgotten the face at the door a few hours ago. At that moment, she had been consumed by a wicked thought, holding onto Shi Qing’s hand and staring back at the person at the door, even asking Shi Qing to call her “little cat.”

Shi Qing had. Of course, she would never refuse her a reasonable request.

After she did, the door closed.

And then, Dong Ya and Zhang Yu Lan inexplicably found that blue bouquet.

She had thought Fei Ying would be upset for a few days, but to her surprise, she was calling again after only a few hours.

Wei Jiuqi didn’t do anything but listen intently.

Shi Qing was also surprised to hear “visit the set.” “Aren’t you supposed to be busy with your new book release?” she asked.

Fei Ying said, “I am. I have a nationwide book tour, and one of the signings is at the film studio.”

“When?”

“Today.”

“Oh, I see…” Shi Qing thought for a moment. “Well, when will you be finished today? Do you want to come and have a meal together?”

Fei Ying didn’t answer. She just laughed. After a few seconds, Shi Qing asked, “Fei-jie, what’s wrong?” and she answered with a question instead.

“Is Wei Jiuqi with you?”

Shi Qing didn’t know why she suddenly asked that, but the person she was asking about knew perfectly well.

“Fei-jie, why would you suddenly ask that?”

Fei Ying’s tone was full of hidden meaning. “Nothing. I was just wondering if she would be upset if you came out to eat with me alone while she’s with you.”

The meaning of her words was obvious—I’ll be jealous of Wei Jiuqi, and Wei Jiuqi will be jealous of me.

Shi Qing wasn’t an idiot. She could naturally hear the hidden meaning.

“Wei-laoshi and I have a lot of scenes together these days, so we might be spending more time together than before. But we don’t contact each other after work.”

Only after getting Shi Qing’s assurance was Fei Ying finally satisfied. But the scene she saw at the door that morning was still stuck in her mind, so she said, “That’s good. But I don’t think I can make it for a meal. I have to go to a dinner with the publisher tonight. I’ll come visit the set after I’m done with the book tour, okay?”

Shi Qing found it strange, but she couldn’t pinpoint what was off. It felt like a weight had been dropped into her heart, heavy and impossible to remove.

“Okay.”

A week ago, if she had invited Fei Ying to a meal, Fei Ying would have agreed without a second thought. The reason was simple—she was pursuing her.

But why would Fei Ying refuse her invitation today?

Before she could land on a thought, Fei Ying’s voice message came through.

Xiao Qing, I actually came to the set to explain. The other day when you were in trouble, I didn’t support you online because my new book was in the promotional phase, and the editor wouldn’t let me post. If it affected the book’s sales, I could be blacklisted by the publisher. I hope you can understand my situation. I didn’t refuse you just now because I don’t love you. On the contrary, I love you very much. I just need to get my thoughts together. I’m wondering if I’m too stubborn sometimes. If I’ve made you feel bad, I apologize. I’ll come visit after I’ve sorted out my thoughts.

Looking at the text converted from the voice message that filled the entire screen, the weight in Shi Qing’s heart grew heavier.

At that moment, she vaguely felt that she had done something wrong that angered Fei Ying, but she didn’t know what it was. In an instant, she felt like one of those clueless men on the internet who infuriate others without a clue as to why.

Shi Qing, are you really that much of a failure?

Self-loathing was beginning to grow in a dark corner of her mind. Just as she was about to fall into it, a familiar voice pulled her out.

“Shi-laoshi, can you help me with an ice pack?”