Lady By The Pillow - Chapter 68
Chapter 68: Two-Two-Three-Four (Part 1)
◎ “Why are you back?” ◎
At 9 PM, the suite on the 18th floor of the hotel opened.
A gloomily dressed Wei Jiuyi entered, bumping into Zhang Yulan and Dong Ya, who were gaming in the living room.
The two of them looked up from their phones in surprise, their expressions as if they had just seen an elephant running upright.
“Sister Qi?”
“Ms. Wei? Why are you back?”
Wei Jiuyi had spent a full half hour adjusting her emotions in the car, but she still hadn’t fully recovered. Her face was dark; even a blind person could tell she was unhappy.
“Yeah. How are you two doing?”
She changed her shoes, took off her wet socks, and threw them into the laundry hamper in the bathroom.
The two in the living room were having a frantic telepathic conversation—
Dong Ya: What’s going on? Zhang Yulan: How would I know? Didn’t you say she wasn’t coming back tonight? Dong Ya: Who knows what’s wrong with her? Could it be that Sister Qing rejected her? Zhang Yulan: Didn’t you say that when Ms. Shi asked you to make ginger tea, it was a hint for you to stay here and not go back? Dong Ya: Yeah! That’s exactly what Sister Qing meant! Zhang Yulan: Could it be that they already… you know? And it was quick? Dong Ya: How is that possible? They haven’t been intimate in so long. A sudden thunder and earth-shaking passion? It should have gone on all night! Zhang Yulan: But she’s already changed her clothes. Dong Ya: That outfit is still Sister Qing’s. Zhang Yulan: Isn’t that proof they did it? Dong Ya: Are you stupid? If they did, would she look like she just ate dog poop? If they did, would she abandon Sister Qing and come back alone? Zhang Yulan: So what the hell happened? Dong Ya: I don’t know!
After their brain-wave exchange, Dong Ya finally remembered to answer Wei Jiuyi’s question just as she came out of the bathroom after washing her feet.
“Oh! We just showered and were about to drink ginger tea.”
Zhang Yulan nodded vigorously, “Yeah, yeah, it’s still brewing in the pot. Sister Qi, do you want a bowl too?”
Wei Jiuyi’s mind was still replaying Shi Qing’s “no,” and she had no interest in anything else.
“You two drink it. I’ll take a hot bath; I’ll be fine.”
Dong Ya observed her while responding.
“Oh… uh, Ms. Wei, did you have a smooth trip back with Sister Qing? The crew group chat just said that a crew member’s car skidded and flipped, and they even had to call for a rescue.”
Wei Jiuyi went to the water dispenser, poured a cup of water, and chugged it down.
“We’re fine. Xiao Ya, after you drink the ginger tea, I’ll drive you back. It’s a good chance to take a bowl to Ms. Shi, too. She’s delicate; getting caught in the rain isn’t good for her.”
Dong Ya understood the underlying message and nodded.
“Okay.”
Her single word was long and drawn out as she gave a meaningful look to Zhang Yulan.
Zhang Yulan immediately got the hint and quickly said, “Sister Qi, I’ll take Ya Jie. You got wet in the rain today; you should get some sleep and rest well.”
Wei Jiuyi thought that was a good idea. If she stopped at Shi Qing’s door again, she wasn’t sure she could resist going in to see her, and she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t end up crying in the car again like she had earlier.
“Okay. You two be careful.”
With that, Zhang Yulan and Dong Ya went to the kitchen to serve the ginger tea. Seeing that Wei Jiuyi had returned to her bedroom, they quickly pulled out their phones, upholding the excellent spirit of e-sports by continuing to battle.
Wei Jiuyi returned to her room. The bedroom lights had three settings: deep blue starry sky, low-key golden yellow, and regular lighting.
She switched between them with the remote. The regular light was too harsh, the low-key one was too dim, and the starry sky was too gaudy. All of them had a thorny, “I’m going to be difficult” vibe. Annoyed, Wei Jiuyi turned off all the lights and tossed the remote back onto the nightstand.
The dark, quiet environment deprived her of sight and sound. As the amount of sensory information decreased, her thoughts flooded in like a tide, stirring up the murky, foul, and dirty sediment at the bottom of the river.
Helpless, she turned the lights back on, setting them to the low-key golden yellow mode, which could temporarily dispel the anxiety of being shrouded in darkness.
The small flowers on the wallpaper were illuminated by the light, turning an unnatural champagne color, while the leaves and stems were a consistently moldy green. From a distance, it seemed she could smell their foul odor. The previous tenant must have spilled a bottle of alcohol in the room. A drop of liquid had left a burnt mark on a flower stem, making the moldy smell even stronger.
Ding dong!
Ding dong!
WeChat chimed twice. She didn’t know if it was her manager looking for her, or if Wei Shu was going to show off another sight from her world tour.
Unlocking her phone, she saw it was a temporary group chat started by Fang Fei. The only members besides them were her and Shi Qing.
The first message was a photo—the Polaroid they had taken in the car.
The second message was text—【Two teachers, can I post this photo on Weibo? My caption will be something like this: “Today’s filming was hit with a torrential downpour, but thankfully Ms. Wei drove, and I was lucky enough to hitch a ride in a luxury car, so happy~~~” Let me know if there are any issues; otherwise, I’ll post it!】
Wei Jiuyi hesitated.
She didn’t want to make a decision before Shi Qing did. Just like in the car, when Fang Fei asked, “Can we take a picture?”, she had asked for Shi Qing’s consent first. Because if Shi Qing didn’t want to and she had agreed beforehand, it would put Shi Qing in an awkward position where it would be difficult to refuse.
Shi Qing loved to blame herself and overthink things, unlike Wei Jiuyi, who would just refuse if she wanted to and agree if she wanted to, without worrying about making things difficult for others.
Staring at the chat interface with only two messages, Wei Jiuyi didn’t know what she was waiting for. She just stared, doing nothing.
After a minute, Fang Fei had already changed the group name to 【97Time and Steven】, but Shi Qing still hadn’t replied. Wei Jiuyi probably understood the reason—
A group photo was one thing; posting it on Weibo was another. Both management companies were currently pushing the 97Time pairing, but that was all from official behind-the-scenes clips, which belonged to “Jiang Ke” and “Ji Lan” and could be used to promote the show’s plot. That way, when their contracts expired, they could bid farewell with a “screen couple” finale.
However, they weren’t in costume or on set at the time of this photo; it was purely their private time.
Putting this moment out there would be a tacit way of telling fans that their personal relationship was much better.
Better to the point that Shi Qing had kicked her out of her room twice.
Since Shi Qing found it difficult to refuse, she would do it for her.
She clicked on the input box and typed word by word.
【The photo is great. But maybe not for Weibo? We’re both not wearing makeup, looking a bit messy】
After typing the word “messy,” her eyes involuntarily fell on Shi Qing in the photo—her features were clear and pure, her eyes as bright as a clear mountain stream. There was no artist prettier than her without makeup!
Still not fully satisfied, she added three [heh ha] emojis after “messy” and another line:
【Let’s do a new one tomorrow when we’re in costume】
Just as she typed “new,” the third message popped up:
【A Qing: I’m fine with it. It’s up to Ms. Wei; she has to consider her company’s factors.】
Wei Jiuyi stared at that message, feeling Shi Qing’s gentleness for the ten-thousandth time.
With Shi Qing’s response, she could either agree or refuse gracefully.
If she agreed, there was no need to say more. She would be doing a kindness and promoting 97Time.
If she wanted to refuse, Shi Qing had already prepared an excuse for her—the company’s factors.
It wasn’t “I don’t want to,” but “the company won’t allow it,” a reason that would be particularly effective for Fang Fei, who was often led by her management company.
Even though she had offended Shi Qing again, even though she almost assaulted her, and even though she had fled without giving a proper, serious apology. Shi Qing still continued to help her with an excuse, just as she had protected her in front of Dong Ya last time.
A Qing, you shouldn’t be like this.
You should scold me, hit me, complain about me to my manager, or even sue me. Not constantly tolerate and indulge me, treating me like the little cat you protected and couldn’t bear to blame.
How can I not love you? How can I ever leave you?
【I’m fine with it; go ahead and post.】
The plain text was a mechanical reply, but the person who typed it was crying inside.
A few minutes later, @ActorFangFei posted a new update on Weibo. The caption was identical to the one in the WeChat group, but the attached photo immediately caught the attention of 97Time fans.
【@TalkingNonsenseLevel1PerformingArtist: AHHH! 97 is driving, and 17 is in the passenger seat! AHHH, do I even need to say how meaningful this is?!】
【@OnlyCPFanForLife: Thank you, Ms. Fang! You’ve worked hard, teacher! The kids have food to eat today!】
【@97TimeEldestDaughter: OMG, someone save me! Why do my CP look so good even without makeup?】
【@LittleMomOpenTheDoorItsMyDad: Sister Qing’s bare face is just, a killer! Sister, can you do a live stream without makeup someday? I’ll shower you with gifts!】
【@AbstractLiteraryArtist: 97Time is doing well, too; they can even take a photo with Fang Fei now.】
【@ObsessedWithMarriedWomen: Not really. You three in the back look so bright, hahahahaha】
【@OnlyLoveQiQi: I politely ask you to delete this. Why didn’t you blur the dirty thing in the passenger seat?】
【@QiInQiOut: Being unknown makes people crazy. If you need popularity, teacher, you can buy some bots. There’s no need to leech off traffic you shouldn’t.】
【@CPFansPleaseBeRespectful: Some people should stop being so high on themselves. Our QiQi just gave a colleague a ride since it was on the way. They’re not close privately.】
【@QiQiAloneIsBeautiful: If you don’t delete this, we’ll report it in a chain. You have 5 minutes.】
【@97TimeGatekeeper: The solo fans upstairs are crazy? This is Fang Fei’s Weibo. She can post whatever she wants.】
【@FeiFei’sLittleTail: I’m not sure, but I don’t think my unknown artist did anything wrong? Five girls helping each other in a rainstorm and going back to the hotel together. Isn’t that a beautiful bond? Why drag the fan circles into this? Female artists already have it tough. Can’t they just be considerate of each other?】
【@PublicEnemyPPT: I just looked at the two in the front and thought they were a perfect match. Are they already a CP? Where is their super topic? I’m definitely going to check it out.】
【@97TimePromotionsCommittee: The super topic name is 97Time. Welcome to our big family! Let’s cheer for the leopard and the cat together!】
As more and more people commented, the requests to delete and the criticisms were pushed down. The solo fans’ top accounts couldn’t stand it and called for their followers to like their comment in Wei Jiuyi’s super topic, pushing the “if you don’t delete this, we’ll report it in a chain” comment to the top again. The CP fans, seeing this, quickly liked the “passenger seat is meaningful” comment to keep up.
If 1,000 wasn’t enough, they would go for 5,000; if 5,000 wasn’t enough, they would go for 8,000. The “delete this” and “passenger seat is meaningful” comments saw a surge in likes in just 10 minutes, vying for the top spot. Ultimately, the solo fans began buying bots to like their comment, which reached 18,000 likes and secured the number one spot in the comment section.
Then it was deleted by Fang Fei.
Guo Xi loved watching drama and just happened to witness this farce. She was astonished that Fang Fei had the nerve to delete a comment from a top fan account of an A-list actress.
【Guo Writer: She just deleted it so easily. Isn’t she afraid of causing trouble?】
Fang Fei stared at the message, looking at it from all angles, and didn’t understand. So she simply replied:
【HumanApril: Didn’t she tell me to delete it?】
She even gave me a 5-minute time limit. I was so scared I wouldn’t make it in time.