Lady By The Pillow - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: A New Relationship (Two)

“My Body Is Already Used to You.”

“Ah Qing, you’re moved.”

The enchanting tone was like wine laced with a love potion. Its deep red color, along with its fragrance, slowly invaded her senses, making her willing to succumb.

But Shi Qing was like the heaviest frost of late autumn—not as soft and transparent as water, and three degrees colder than ice.

A second before their lips touched, Shi Qing finally regained her composure and turned away from Wei Jiuzhen. The small movement took both of them by surprise.

“Are you going to be like that day again?” Shi Qing’s voice was frigid.

After their previous two clashes, Wei Jiuzhen knew what Shi Qing disliked most about her. She vividly remembered the resentful and hateful look in Shi Qing’s eyes that night.

Afraid of repeating the same mistake, she pulled her upper body back, swallowing the ache in her throat. “I won’t be like that again. I know you don’t like it, so I won’t ever do that again.”

Shi Qing regretted her harshness just now and softened her voice slightly. “Then you can let go of me now.”

Wei Jiuzhen released her but didn’t give her much extra space. If Shi Qing had truly disliked her, she could have pushed her away and left, but she didn’t. She remained pressed against the refrigerator, gathering her thoughts for a while before finally looking up at her again. “Can you move please?”

Wei Jiuzhen said, “I can. But can I ask you a question first?”

Shi Qing didn’t move. “Mm.”

Wei Jiuzhen said, “Ah Qing, I understand you don’t like me. After all, I’m younger than you and don’t know as much. There’s no benefit for you in liking me.”

Shi Qing corrected her. “You don’t think about benefits when you like someone.”

Wei Jiuzhen almost blurted out, “Then why don’t you like me?” but swallowed the words.

Forcing Shi Qing to explain why she didn’t like her would be like wrapping herself in a trash bag and throwing herself into the garbage can.

She could be more tactful, play the long game, and handle it better.

“But I’ve realized my body seems to be used to you.” She changed her approach, bringing the topic back to Shi Qing being “moved.”

“For a while after I left your place, I couldn’t sleep at all. It felt like something was missing from my arms. At first, I thought I just wasn’t used to it, but it’s been over a year, and I still feel empty.”

Shi Qing frowned in discomfort. Wasn’t she the same way? At first, she relied on melatonin to sleep, but she would still wake up in the middle of the night. Sometimes, in her dreams, she would instinctively turn over, wanting to snuggle into a warm embrace, only to roll onto the cold sheets. The chill was so sudden it would wake her up instantly.

Shi Qing would never admit it.

Because if something wasn’t supposed to happen, she would just hypnotize herself into believing it never did.

“I don’t have that problem.” A lie.

Wei Jiuzhen stared at her still-flushed earlobes, unconvinced.

“But you react to my closeness.” She was kind enough not to point out the giveaway on her ears, both to save Shi Qing’s face and because, given their tacit understanding and Shi Qing’s intelligence, hinting was the best way to communicate. Both sides understood, but there was still room for plausible deniability.

“What are you trying to say?” Shi Qing couldn’t figure out why Wei Jiuzhen had waited for her tonight or what she was trying to get at with this conversation. She didn’t want to guess. Ever since their conversation in the makeup room where Wei Jiuzhen confirmed, “I’ve never disliked you,” Wei Jiuzhen had a new layer of pretense on her face. It was hard to read and impossible to guess.

So, she decided to ask directly.

Wei Jiuzhen didn’t beat around the bush. “I just want to ask you a question. If you only like a person’s body physiologically, is that love or just emptiness?”

Shi Qing’s eyelids felt hot, and her voice became sharp. “Emptiness.” She added an unnecessary explanation: “It’s normal for adults to have physical needs.”

She prided herself on being a good talker, someone who could talk her way out of anything. But she couldn’t answer Wei Jiuzhen’s next question.

“Then, what if you only have a reaction to one specific person’s body?”

Shi Qing took a deep breath, held it in her lungs, and then exhaled all the dirty, restless air. Her chest rose and fell as she sidestepped Wei Jiuzhen’s trap.

“You should ask a therapist or a relationship advice host on the radio about that.”

Wei Jiuzhen observed her every reaction: her accelerated breathing from impatience, her lips pressed together to hide her emotions, and her downward gaze, which consistently avoided eye contact.

The answer in her heart grew clearer, and her eyes sparkled. “I did. The host said I’m just used to your body. Strictly speaking, it’s not even ‘liking’.”

Shi Qing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up at Wei Jiuzhen. “That’s good. In any case, we’re on a film set, and the most important thing is to do our job well. Emotional entanglements will affect our performance.”

Wei Jiuzhen’s eyes were bottomless. “Right. So I’ve been thinking about what happened the other day. It might just be hormones at play. Even though we should control our emotions, hormones are hard to manage. A lack of s3x life can affect your mood and state of mind, don’t you think?”

Shi Qing smelled the rust in the depths of the trap. “A little, maybe, but you can solve it yourself.”

Wei Jiuzhen replayed her words, her pace slowing. “So your recent improvement is because… you’ve been taking care of it yourself?”

Shi Qing finally realized the ambiguity of her words and clarified. “I mean, you can exercise more, or study English before bed to tire yourself out, and you’ll be able to fall asleep.”

Wei Jiuzhen let out a long “Oh.” “So that’s what you meant.”

“What else did you think I meant?”

“Me?…” Wei Jiuzhen took a step back to prevent Shi Qing from noticing she was adjusting her breathing. After about 10 seconds of silence, she finally said what she had practiced dozens of times in a steady voice.

“I have an idea that might solve the current disharmony. Since you have no feelings for me, and I have no feelings for you, but we both have a good physical connection, I was thinking… maybe we could help each other out from time to time.”

Shi Qing thought she had misheard. Her beautiful eyes widened. “What did you say?”

“I said, we could help each other out,” Wei Jiuzhen repeated her outrageous statement with a thick skin.

“You’re crazy.” Shi Qing couldn’t believe her ears.

“I’m not crazy, Ah Qing.” Wei Jiuzhen stared intently, her eyes filled only with Shi Qing. In the calmest tone, she spoke the words she had struggled with all night. “It’s just a suggestion, a small one. Didn’t you once say that the greatest virtues of an adult are to listen and to express? I’m telling you my thoughts now. You don’t have to answer me right away. After all, I just thought of it, and it’s not a very well-thought-out plan. If you think it’s not bad, you can think about it when you get back. I’ll be waiting for your reply. But if you think it’s ridiculous and you want to curse me out, you can call me too. What do you think?”

Both options were laid out perfectly. Even if she was to be cursed at, it would happen later, not now. This made Shi Qing speechless for a while. After a long pause, she finally managed a polite response that wouldn’t cause a fight.

“I’ll think about it when I get back.”

It wasn’t a rejection; it was “I’ll think about it.”

Shi Qing felt like she must be going crazy.

Half an hour later, the RV arrived safely at the hotel where the crew was staying.

As soon as they got out of the car, the hotel manager came up, bowing and smiling. “Wei-laoshi, a lot of your fans are here today. Would you like to meet them?”

Wei Jiuzhen was surprised. “Fans? Now?” She took out her phone and checked the time. It was already midnight.

The manager gave a bitter laugh. “Yes, hehe. They said they saw today’s interview and wanted to say hi to you… They also said they would wait at the door until they saw you.”

What was that all about? Wei Jiuzhen was confused. Her peak popularity was right after she won the Best Actress award. Back then, people often recognized her on flights, and fans would greet her at the entrance of event venues. But no one had ever camped out at her hotel late at night, demanding to see her.

Who leaked the hotel information? Who leaked her whereabouts? Who told the fans she hadn’t returned to the hotel yet? Could the people who got this information really just be fans?

Shi Qing got out of the car right after her and heard every word the manager said. She weighed in, “Wei-laoshi worked overtime just for today, and they got the news and showed up. This is a bit too much of a coincidence.”

The manager understood her meaning. “Well, haha… Shi-laoshi, Wei-laoshi, you know how it is. It’s not so easy to keep a celebrity’s whereabouts a secret anymore. So many channels can leak information, not to mention all the scalpers. To protect your privacy, we only let guests enter and leave the hotel. But a few stalkers booked rooms here, so it’s a difficult situation for us.”

Shi Qing gently reminded him, “Manager Li, I understand the hotel’s difficulties. But from what you’re saying, they sound a bit irrational. If Wei-laoshi goes out to greet them, and they get a taste of success, won’t they become more aggressive in the future? And what if something happens? If Emperor Entertainment investigates, it’ll be even harder for you to explain.”

From a distance, Zhang Yulan was giving her a huge thumbs-up. Sister Qing, oh my dear sister, you’re the best!

When stalkers show up, it’s a huge no-no for the celebrity to make an appearance. If they were given a friendly face today, they would be camping outside her hotel room tomorrow.

However, since the hotel manager came to test the waters, Wei Jiuzhen, as a celebrity, couldn’t directly refuse. Usually, someone had to play the bad cop to reject such an unreasonable request.

Now, with her manager absent, the normally gentle Shi Qing stepped up to fill the role, sparing Wei Jiuzhen this trouble.

Zhang Yulan was weeping in her heart, vowing to ask her family for some medicinal herbs to make a good tonic for Shi Qing as a thank-you!

“Well, well…” The manager knew he was in the wrong, and he made one last desperate attempt, looking at Wei Jiuzhen. “What do you think, Wei-laoshi?”

With Shi Qing’s groundwork, Wei Jiuzhen’s words were much easier to say. “I think it would be inconvenient too. If it were outside the set, I would definitely take pictures and sign autographs for them. But a hotel is a private place. Also, my dealing with them here would affect other guests. Manager Li, I’ll have to trouble you to help us. A friend of mine is coming here to film next month, and when they do, I’ll recommend your hotel to their crew.”

With that promise, Manager Li’s eyes lit up instantly. He had to handle this perfectly for Wei Jiuzhen!

“Wei-laoshi, you can rest assured and leave this to me. It’s our duty to ensure the rest and safety of our guests. You two go on up, and I’ll deal with them!”

Wei Jiuzhen smiled and shook his hand. “Thank you for your hard work.”

Manager Li nodded repeatedly. “It’s my pleasure, my pleasure!”

The five of them got into the elevator. When they reached the first floor, Manager Li got out. As the elevator doors opened, a loud, unified chant came from the main entrance.

“No CP! QiQi is enough on her own!”

“No CP! QiQi is enough on her own!”

“No CP! QiQi is enough on her own!”

The elevator doors closed again, the metal cutting off the jarring chant, but the words felt like thorns, digging into their hearts.

Shi Qing didn’t say a word the whole way up. Her mind was occupied with a single thought: If a more popular, more acclaimed, award-winning veteran were sitting next to Wei Jiuzhen today, would the fans be this crazy?

Probably not.

Her heart felt like it had been crumpled into a ball and thrown into a dry well. A giant rock covered the opening, leaving it in darkness.

There was no water in the well, so she wouldn’t drown.

But if she stayed there too long, she would eventually die of thirst.

After she got back to her room, showered, and dried her hair, it was already past 1 a.m.

Shi Qing, who never paid attention to fan culture, was uncharacteristically curious about what Wei Jiuzhen’s fans thought of her.

But before she could open the fandom page, a phone call stole her attention.

[Wei Jiuzhen]

“Have you thought about what I said earlier?”

After a brief greeting, Wei Jiuzhen impatiently asked the question that was on her mind.

“What did you say?” Shi Qing didn’t immediately react.

Wei Jiuzhen was silent for a few seconds. She didn’t answer directly, but asked a question in return.

“Can I come over now?”