Lady By The Pillow - Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Returning the Jacket
Done It.
Fan Erhua had high standards for casting. No prima donnas, no one who double-booked, no idols. Even the minor supporting roles had to be filled by professional actors. This was the foundation of the crew.
A good atmosphere is conducive to creativity. There’s less backstabbing and more honesty and sincerity.
This isn’t the era where you get famous by having catfights anymore; it’s about the work. Even if you hold grudges or dislike someone, you’ll only grumble to yourself. You won’t actually say it out loud and risk harming the project, which is your livelihood.
The work environment needs results.
“This is our crew’s first script reading session, and our first official meeting. I’m very pleased.”
As it ended, Fan Erhua sighed with emotion. “Everyone’s work ethic and professional ability are excellent. You’ve all had a long day of travel, so you must be tired. Go back and rest, get familiar with your rooms. We’ll be back here tomorrow at 9 AM, sharp.”
“Okay!”
Everyone was happy to wrap up half an hour early. Some took the opportunity to exchange WeChat contacts, others talked about taking a hot bath, and some looked up nearby snack streets.
Shi Qing stood up, a gentle smile on her face as she said goodbye to those nearby. She picked up the jacket she had been using as a cushion behind her back and turned to hand it back to Wei Jiuqi.
But unexpectedly, the other woman said something completely out of character:
“See you tomorrow, Teacher Shi.”
She smiled brightly, the dimple on her left cheek shallowly indenting. Her expression was natural and poised, as if she were greeting a senior she’d just met for the first time. It was a pretense so polished it was absurd.
Then she was gone, walking briskly as if afraid of missing the shuttle bus.
Shi Qing’s smile froze for a moment. She was slow to reply, “See you tomorrow.”
See my ass.
Shi Qing stared at the fleeting silhouette, cursing under her breath in a way that was entirely unpolished.
She turned to glance at the weather outside. It was only five-thirty, but it was already pitch black. The streetlights cast the trees in jagged, witchy shapes, like a ghost’s hair.
Hope you freeze to death.
She steeled herself and followed, thinking that if they got on the same bus, she could just hand the jacket to her. Just as she took two steps, a genuine Beijing accent called out from behind her:
“Sister, wait up!”
Guo Xi had rounded half the conference room to catch up. She was smiling brightly. “Let me buy you a milk tea to thank you for switching seats with me.”
Shi Qing maintained a polite social distance. “That’s not necessary, it was nothing.”
Guo Xi opened her food delivery app. “Oh, come on, you have to order one. I already feel bad for making a beauty like you sit in the drafty spot. Or if you don’t like milk tea, I’ll buy you coffee tomorrow.”
Shi Qing hesitated. She didn’t like coffee either. Better to pick milk tea and give it to Dong Ya.
“Then milk tea it is, thank you.”
She took the phone with both hands and ordered the mango sago with pomelo that Dong Ya liked best.
Guo Xi broke into a smile.
She had dimples too, on both sides, and they were bigger and deeper than Wei Jiuqi’s, as if a piece of her cheek had been naturally carved away.
“Sister, want to add me on WeChat? I’ll scan you.”
“Sure.”
Shi Qing took out her work phone from her handbag and opened the QR code.
Guo Xi sent a friend request. “I’ll bring it to you when the milk tea arrives.”
Shi Qing said, “Don’t bother. Just have the delivery person leave it on the first floor. I’ll go get it.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble. Our dorm rooms are on top of each other.”
“Well, I might have to go out later, so I might not be in.”
Guo Xi paused, looking up from the screen. Shi Qing still had her gentle, composed expression, her eyebrows relaxed and the corners of her lips turned up. At first glance, she seemed extremely approachable, but you felt an invisible wall between you.
“Might have to go out” was just a polite excuse. It gently rejected Guo Xi while giving her a way out.
Social interactions between smart people have a certain measure. Guo Xi heard the subtext and didn’t mind. In fact, she felt Shi Qing’s way of refusal was just right. So she smiled generously.
“Alright, then. I’ll tell him to leave it on the first floor. I’ll message you when it gets there so you can go down and grab it.”
Shi Qing nodded. “Okay, thank you.”
Guo Xi gestured outside. “Then let’s go. Get back and rest early.”
Her gaze fell on the jacket in Shi Qing’s hands. “Whose jacket is that?”
Shi Qing said, “Teacher Wei’s. She forgot it. I’m taking it back to her.”
“Oh… Teacher Wei is so careless, haha. Walking off without her jacket on such a cold day.”
“Right. Young people are tough against the cold. You’re not wearing one either.”
“I really forgot mine. And I’m not young anymore. I’ll be thirty after the New Year.”
“Really? I would’ve never guessed.”
The two of them chatted casually on the way to the door. Just then, a shuttle bus was pulling away.
Wei Jiuqi was sitting in the very last row.
The back of the shuttle bus had no windows, just a railing.
Guo Xi cupped her hands and yelled, “Teacher Wei, your jacket!”
As Wei Jiuqi turned her head, she felt that something was off. She saw Shi Qing holding the jacket and the enthusiastic Guo Xi waving beside her.
It was blinding.
Shi Qing was 173 cm tall, 175 with shoes. Guo Xi, standing next to her, was a good half-head taller than Shi Qing.
One was graceful and serene, the other fiery and passionate.
It was dazzling.
Wei Jiuqi’s gaze was sharp and sour as she looked at Guo Xi’s feet.
Black leather with a chunky heel, at least 10 centimeters tall.
Hmph.
Cheater.
The shuttle bus didn’t wait. It sped away.
Wei Jiuqi put on an enthusiastic expression and waved vigorously, shouting something loudly at Shi Qing and Guo Xi.
Her voice was very loud, but no one could hear what she said.
“Teacher Wei, what did you just say?”
The actress sitting next to Wei Jiuqi was confused. Was her “hard of hearing” issue really this bad now?
Wei Jiuqi sat back down. “Oh, I told Teacher Shi to leave it there and I’d get it back tomorrow.”
The actress laughed, “Oh, haha, I couldn’t hear you. I almost thought you were going to jump off the bus.”
Wei Jiuqi made a precise expression of frustration. “You couldn’t hear me either? Oh no, I wonder if I’ve been overdoing my lines and now I can’t speak properly. It’s okay. Teacher Shi must have heard me. She’ll just put it back for me. The conference room should be locked tonight, right? It won’t get stolen?”
The other actress didn’t know. “I guess not? Is that jacket a school uniform from your college? It looks like it.”
Wei Jiuqi said with a serious face, “It is. It’s really warm. I always bring it when I’m on a winter shoot.”
“Then it’s pretty important. Don’t worry, even if I have bad hearing, Teacher Shi definitely heard you. I worked on a project with her before, and she’s a really nice person. If she puts it back for you, she’ll make sure it won’t be stolen.”
“Really? She’s that nice?”
“Yeah. And she’s great to her assistant too. She’s never lost her temper.”
“Mmm, her temper is pretty good.”
“How do you know, Teacher Wei? Did you two work together?”
Wei Jiuqi shook her head. “No.”
Didn’t work together.
Done it.
The other actress was unaware of their history. She continued to reassure her. “Don’t worry, you’ll work together in the future. You’ll see then. Teacher Shi is a really good person. And her acting is great. Especially her crying scenes—the tears just fall right on cue.”
Wei Jiuqi said, “Mmm.”
Shi Qing did cry a lot. In medical terms, she had active tear glands.
It was the same in bed.
Sometimes, after she’d had her fill, she’d look up and see the beautiful woman with her eyes wet and her nose pink, lying softly on the pillow, and she just couldn’t help but bully her one more time.
The actress looked at the green trees on both sides of the road, completely oblivious to the “colorful” thoughts in Wei Jiuqi’s mind.
“So don’t worry, she definitely heard you. She won’t ignore your jacket.”
Wei Jiuqi replied, “Then I can rest easy.”
The truth… of course was that no one heard!
Wei Jiuqi was flailing about like a red gorilla on the shuttle bus. But her voice was so loud it only made people doubt their own ears.
“Am I hallucinating?”
Guo Xi stood rooted to the spot, looking at Shi Qing blankly. “Sister, did you hear what she said?”
Shi Qing saw the situation as clearly as a burning flame. It was like her cat had ransacked the house and pulled yarn balls all over the floor. She just calmly picked up the cat, not scolding or hitting it, and tidied up the mess without a word of complaint.
She curled her lips, smoothed out the jacket, and hung it over her arm. “Mmm, she asked me to take it back for her.”
Guo Xi thought this sounded reasonable. “That works. Your dorm rooms are right across from each other, so it’s close.”
Shi Qing was surprised. “Right across from each other?”
Guo Xi nodded. “Yeah. I was the one who suggested it. Director Fan was arranging the rooms and asked me whether it would be better to cultivate a rivalry or a close relationship between the two of you. I figured in the show, you two have to play people who are openly at odds but have a lot going on beneath the surface. For that, you need to cultivate a close relationship so you can get that feeling.”
After hearing this, Shi Qing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Screenwriter Guo, that was very thoughtful of you.”
“Oh, come on, it’s just what I should do. Everyone wants to make this show great. Once I’m famous, I can sell the rights to my other books and retire early. How cool would that be?”
“You’ll definitely do it.”
“Then I’ll take that as a blessing! By the way, stop calling me ‘Screenwriter Guo.’ ‘Xi Zi’ is fine.”
“Mmm… I’ll try.”
They got back to the guesthouse about 20 minutes later.
The milk tea had already arrived. Guo Xi was astonished, wondering if e-commerce was this advanced now. She looked up and saw the milk tea shop was right at the entrance.
Shi Qing thanked her and took the milk tea upstairs.
Her dorm was on the 18th floor, a two-room suite. The entire floor had the same setup, used to house artists with assistants. A few other film crews were also staying at this guesthouse for Empress, and it was said that their privacy management was excellent, making it the top choice for people filming in the nearby studio city.
The 17th floor also had two-room suites, but the space was smaller. Each suite housed two artists, and the hotel staff cleaned the rooms once every two days. Guo Xi’s room was directly below Shi Qing’s.
The elevator stopped on the 17th floor. Several artists greeted her, saying “see you tomorrow,” and Shi Qing went up to the 18th floor alone.
She was holding the jacket in one hand and the milk tea in the other.
“Sister, you’re back?”
Dong Ya had arrived at the guesthouse to get the keys and check in while Shi Qing was at the script reading. She had already tidied up the room.
“You’ve been traveling all day, you must be exhausted. I saw in the group chat that you finished, so I boiled a hot water bottle for you. Here, lie down and I’ll put it on your back.”
“Thank you, this hot water bottle is perfect.”
“That’s nothing. Come on, lie down.”
Shi Qing lay on the sofa, pressing the hot water bottle in its flannel cover to her lower back. Her muscles and bones immediately relaxed, and she felt incredibly comfortable.
“How is it? Feel better?”
The young girl was not tall, a little under 1.6 meters, but she was very diligent. In the time it took for Shi Qing to lie down, she had already changed the sheets she had brought and hung up all of Shi Qing’s clothes.
“Our suite has a small kitchen, too. If the crew’s box meals aren’t good, I can cook for you.”
Shi Qing was lying on the sofa, the warmth on her back making her sleepy. “Don’t go to all that trouble. The crew food is fine. Oh, right, a colleague bought us milk tea today. I’m controlling my sugar, so I ordered you a mango sago. It’s over there.”
“Wow, Sister, you’re so good!”
Dong Ya was ecstatic. She tore open a straw and stuck it in.
“It’s so good! Your colleague is great, truly like three earth shrines!”
“Three earth shrines?” Shi Qing was confused. “What does that mean?”
Dong Ya took a big sip, chewed the fruit bits, and swallowed. “Temples, temples, temples… wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!”
“Hahaha…”
Shi Qing gasped with laughter. “Where do you get all these idioms?”
Dong Ya puffed out her chest proudly. “What, I can’t be a nerd?”
She looked up and caught a glimpse of the black down jacket on the sofa. “Hey? Whose jacket is this?”
“Oh…” Shi Qing’s eyes flickered slightly. “A colleague’s. She forgot it in the conference room. I’m going to take it back to her later.”
“Oh—no wonder she bought you milk tea! This is a colleague worth befriending. What’s her name?”
Shi Qing said, “Wei Jiuqi.”
Dong Ya: “…Huh?”
Suddenly, the milk tea in her mouth didn’t taste sweet anymore. She didn’t know whether to swallow it or not.
What was going on now?
Why had 97 suddenly appeared?
Was she going to try to get Sister Qing back?
So she bought milk tea as a bribe?
If she drank the milk tea, would she be indirectly signing an unfair contract and selling out Shi Qing?
Help me, little Dong Ya, why are you so spineless? Can you really be bought with just a cup of milk tea?
The air immediately went out of her. She reluctantly put the milk tea back on the table. She had eaten the enemy’s rations. She was tainted.
Shi Qing saw her acting like she was facing a great enemy and comforted her. “Drink it. The milk tea wasn’t from her.”
It wasn’t from 97?
Then who was it from?
What decent person buys a stranger a milk tea the first time they meet?
What was 97 even thinking?
Does she want to get Sister Qing back?
If not, why would she deliberately forget her jacket in the office so Sister Qing would have to bring it back? If so, why wouldn’t she even bribe her, the only assistant she has ever had?
“Then, then… what’s the person who bought you the milk tea like?”
Shi Qing thought about it and gave an honest assessment. “She’s very nice. Very enthusiastic and very generous.”
Ooh…tsk, tsk, tsk…
In her mind, Dong Ya made a long sound like someone cracking melon seeds and watching a show.
97, 97, this is what you get for not bribing me. Now you have a rival, don’t you?
Dong Ya considered this “milk tea high-roller” a rival to 97, not just because of a single milk tea, but because when Shi Qing had decided to take care of Wei Jiuqi, Dong Ya had also asked her, “What’s that person like?”
At the time, Shi Qing had also described her as “enthusiastic and generous.”
But Dong Ya hadn’t remembered the whole thing. Back then, Shi Qing had described Wei Jiuqi as—
Enthusiastic, generous, and a little bit cute.
After a few minutes of hot compress, the soreness in her back was completely gone. Shi Qing took the jacket and told Dong Ya, “I’m going to return the jacket now.”
Dong Ya’s expression didn’t change. “Alright.”
After Shi Qing left, Dong Ya turned into Spider-Man and stuck to the wall, listening to the movements outside.
She just didn’t believe it. Could 97, that little bird, truly escape the charm of her Sister Qing?
Take this, Sasuke!