Lady By The Pillow - Chapter 49

Chapter 49:  Business Couple (1)

…

“It’s not a discussion; it’s a notice.”

Shi Qing’s sudden injury forced a major change in the production schedule. All of Jiang Ke’s scenes were moved back. No solo or group scenes could be filmed, and this domino effect meant the entire plan for the script, costumes, sets, and extras would have to be reshuffled.

Fan Erhua, the director, and several assistants worked through the night to create a new schedule. They then called a meeting with the heads of the costume, styling, logistics, and on-set management teams to create a plan based on the new timeline.

“Shi Qing’s recovery period is two weeks. After she returns, she can’t do any strenuous exercise for six months. It’s a good thing the horse riding scenes are done; most of her scenes from now on are non-action. Costume team, take a look and help her replace those two very heavy outfits.”

The crew of Empress had a significant number of women in leadership roles besides the director, Fan Erhua. When planning the next steps, they weren’t like other crews who ignored their actors’ well-being. They handled the situation with great care, considering every detail.

To prevent any issues, Shi Qing’s agent, Dou Qinwen, rushed to the hospital the next day. She coordinated with the crew and the hospital to stay on top of Shi Qing’s situation, wanting to avoid a repeat of an incident with a previous crew who had replaced Shi Qing after only two days of hospitalization.

“Director Fan is a decent person. Although she’s a bit stressed about the delay, she doesn’t plan on replacing you.”

In the hospital room, Dou Qinwen calmly peeled an apple for Shi Qing. The red peel came off in one long, continuous spiral, hanging in the air.

Shi Qing lay in bed, the mattress flattened. She was wearing a brace to help her spine heal. Her hand, which was hooked up to an IV drip, lay outside the blanket. Her face was pale, making her eyes appear even darker.

“Director Fan has always been good to us. This accident really caused her a lot of trouble.”

Dou Qinwen wasn’t as empathetic as her. “Getting injured during filming is the crew’s responsibility. If she doesn’t treat you well, wouldn’t she be afraid we’d sue her?”

As she spoke, her sharp gaze swept over the bed. As expected, Shi Qing had that same worried, reserved expression. So she changed her approach.

“Fine. As long as she properly reschedules your upcoming scenes and doesn’t give you a hard time when you get back, I’ll only have the company process the insurance claim. I won’t have any friction with her.”

Shi Qing breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Sister Wen.”

Dou Qinwen used a small knife to slice the apple piece by piece and put the slices into a bowl that Dong Ya had just sterilized with boiling water.

“You, you’re always thinking about others. I have no choice but to think more for you. If you were like Wen Yi, always fighting for what you want, I wouldn’t have to worry so much.”

Shi Qing smiled faintly. “I’m not as quick-witted as Sister Yi, so I’ll just have to rely on you more.”

Dou Qinwen feigned anger. “You’re always so sweet-talking.”

Looking at Shi Qing up close, she slowed down her apple peeling. Her eyes turned serious.

“Sometimes, I wonder if introducing you to this crew was the right thing to do after all.”

Shi Qing was puzzled. “Why would you say that? Sister Wen, this is the best opportunity I’ve had since my debut. Of course, it was the right choice.”

Dou Qinwen disagreed. “But you’ve been having one problem after another since you joined. I had someone do a reading for you, and they said joining this crew would be like crossing a river on a knife’s edge—a bumpy journey. I didn’t believe it at first. But two days later, Wen Yi fell out with you, and there was a huge public scandal. And just when we finally dealt with her, you fell off a horse. I don’t even want to think about what other accidents could happen.”

Shi Qing’s eyelids drooped halfway. Her pale lips moved slightly. She lifted her eyes, which were crystal clear.

“Sister Wen, I don’t believe in fate. The year I graduated, I fell from a great height, and the doctors said I’d be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. But I pulled through. When I was kicked out of the dance troupe, I became an actress. And when I got into Shengqiao, you were the one who signed me. Have you forgotten?”

The memories flooded back, and Dou Qinwen felt a surge of admiration for Shi Qing.

“I wasn’t doing charity. You have a good image, you’re hardworking, and you know how to be a good person. It would have been a shame for such great potential to be stuck playing minor roles. I signed you to make money for me. Now that Wen Yi wants to start her own studio, I’m counting on you as my main female actress.”

Shi Qing nodded. “I won’t let you down.”

Just as they were talking, Dong Ya came in carrying a large thermos filled with soup.

“Sister Qing, Sister Wen, I brought you some soup. This is a medicinal broth that Yulan specifically had her family send over. It’s for people who are recovering from surgery and have lost a lot of energy.”

“Yulan? Who’s that?” Dou Qinwen finished slicing the apple and threw the core into the trash.

“Oh, she’s Wei Jiuyi, Teacher Wei’s assistant. Our hotel rooms are right across from each other, so we’ve been seeing a lot of each other.”

Dong Ya used all her effort to create a natural-looking smile. Dou Qinwen was known for her sharp instincts, and Dong Ya didn’t want her slip-up to cause trouble for Shi Qing and Wei Jiuyi.

The name Zhang Yulan was unfamiliar, but Wei Jiuyi was a name she knew well. The phrase “I’m her sugar daddy” from a recent recording still echoed in her ears.

Her eyes, behind her glasses, darkened by three shades. She looked at Dong Ya and forced a professional smile.

“Xiao Ya, could you step out for a moment? I need to talk to Xiao Qing.”

Dong Ya’s body stiffened. Oh no, did I give something away?

She looked at Shi Qing in a panic. Fortunately, Shi Qing was calmer than she was.

“Xiao Ya, please go out for a bit. Sister Wen and I need to talk. Could you close the door for us? Thanks.”

The door locked again, and the atmosphere grew heavy, silently giving birth to a sense of unease.

Dou Qinwen’s eyebrows drew together slightly. Her tone was serious.

“Xiao Qing, you’re a smart person. So I hope you can be completely honest with me about some things.”

Shi Qing smiled faintly. “Sister Wen, go ahead.”

Dou Qinwen’s question was blunt. “What’s your relationship with Wei Jiuyi?”

Shi Qing’s answer was flawless. “Colleagues.”

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.”

Dou Qinwen sighed silently, forced to reveal her hand.

“You should know that when Tang Bin and Wen Yi were causing you trouble, it was Wei Jiuyi who was helping you deal with them from behind the scenes.”

Shi Qing put on a skilled surprised expression.

“Really? Sister Wen, I really didn’t know.”

Dou Qinwen ignored her acting and continued.

“When Wei Jiuyi went to confront Wen Yi and warned her to stop, do you know what she said? Wen Yi asked who your sugar daddy was, and Wei Jiuyi said she was your sugar daddy.”

“Wen Yi recorded it and Tang Bin leaked it to the newspaper. It was later intercepted by Wei Shu. Wei Shu herself got involved, Xiao Qing. Are you still going to tell me you have no relationship with Wei Jiuyi?”

Shi Qing pursed her lips. She had indeed guessed that the person helping her was Wei Jiuyi. But she hadn’t known that Wei Shu was also involved.

But she was just Shi Qing. Even if Wei Shu knew about her relationship with Wei Jiuyi, would she be willing to help her solve such a huge problem?

No. People in this industry are all busy looking out for themselves. Who has the time to meddle in other people’s business?

After a few seconds of thought, Shi Qing had her answer.

“Sister Wen, you said it yourself—in the end, Director Wei was the one who solved it, not Wei Jiuyi. I really didn’t know that Wei Jiuyi had gone to see Sister Yi, or what they talked about. But if I were Director Wei, and a malicious person recorded my daughter saying ‘I’m her sugar daddy,’ regardless of who the ‘she’ is, as a mother, I would have every reason to help her solve this problem.”

Explaining Wei Shu’s motive wasn’t enough.

“But I’m still curious, Director Wei has been retired for so long. How is she so in the loop with the entertainment industry? Even during her peak, her connections were mostly in Hong Kong. There are so many media outlets in mainland China that want to create big news. ‘Wei Jiuyi is a sugar daddy to someone’—that alone would be enough for them to meet their KPIs for at least three months. So why would they suddenly suppress the news, and how did Director Wei even find out?”

As Dou Qinwen said, Shi Qing was very smart. Her intelligence was never ostentatious; it only revealed itself during the most intense verbal sparring, when she would slowly but surely turn the tables.

Like now.

No one had been curious about how Wei Shu found out about the recording. They just assumed she had immense power and that nothing stays secret.

But Tang Bin had sought out a media outlet that specialized in exposing celebrity scandals. Last year, they even dared to expose the relationship of a top celebrity. Why would they give up a chance for massive traffic just because Wei Shu had a prominent status in Hong Kong more than a decade ago?

Shi Qing’s eyes on the hospital bed slowly lifted. They cut through the fog like a beam of light, shining on Dou Qinwen. There was no aggression, but her gaze was as sharp as a needle hidden in cotton.

After three seconds of staring, Dou Qinwen unhappily clicked her back teeth.

“You’re right. I was the one who had someone tell her.”

Even President Zhu had kept quiet, thinking Tang Bin was just unlucky and was caught red-handed by Wei Shu. Wei Shu, despite her suspicions, still believed the media outlet was afraid of a mother’s revenge and gave her the recording.

Little did they know, behind the scenes, Dou Qinwen was the one who set everything up.

“Tang Bin had lost all reason at the time. To make Wen Yi see what kind of person he was and, even more importantly, to get you out of their hands without a fight, Wei Shu was the only person I could think of.”

Shi Qing looked at the woman in front of her. Her face, which had seen twenty years of the entertainment industry’s storms, showed no signs of age. But her eyes were a testament to the battles fought, the bloodshed and chaos she had witnessed.

“Sister Wen, thank you.”

Dou Qinwen wasn’t happy with her reaction. “I didn’t tell you all this so you could thank me.”

She unlocked her phone, opened a PPT, and showed Shi Qing the first slide. There were only a few bold words on it.

Wei Jiuyi & Shi Qing CP Operation Plan.

Shi Qing’s eyes widened. “This is…?”

Dou Qinwen took her phone back.

“Wei Jiuyi’s agent sent this to me. They want us to operate a CP for you two, a collaboration between our two companies, starting now until three months after Empress airs.”

Shi Qing couldn’t believe these words were coming from Dou Qinwen’s mouth. Even more, she was shocked that this plan came from Yihuang Entertainment. If Wei Jiuyi had suggested it to her privately, she might have believed it, as Wei Jiuyi was young and naive and didn’t know the costs and consequences of operating a CP.

But this was Yihuang Entertainment, the biggest talent agency in the country. Every one of their moves had to be heavily discussed by top executives and judged for its suitability across multiple departments and dimensions. How could they be so absurd as to suggest a CP for Wei Jiuyi, who was at the peak of her career, and a thirty-something second-tier actress like her?

“This is ridiculous,” Shi Qing said, shaking her head. She couldn’t find the words to express her disbelief.

“This is nothing.”

Dou Qinwen had already processed the news on her way over.

“You need to understand the scale of Yihuang Entertainment and the scale of Shengqiao. When they came to me, it wasn’t a discussion; it was a notice.”