Milk Orange Omega Becomes Popular Through Dating Variety Show [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 21
“You, like this, are really making a fool of yourself, making me feel very…”
Pei Yi’s words abruptly stopped.
Helping Zhong Lin out of humanitarianism, and also out of humanitarianism… she couldn’t provoke Zhong Lin further. She had already suffered many blows tonight.
Despite being only in her early twenties, Pei Yi’s tone and expression were unusually mature, suppressed and low, as if a multitude of emotions were hidden deep within her.
A thousand doubts arose in her mind. It was such a coincidence that Zhong Lin entered the same variety show as her, such a coincidence that her pheromones were in disarray, and such a coincidence that they were compatible.
Were all of these truly coincidences, or was someone deliberately orchestrating them?
“I…” Zhong Lin lowered her head, her eyes darting nervously across the floor, unsure what to do. Hadn’t Pei Yi just said on Weibo that she was Pei Yi’s friend?
Was she really that annoying? QAQ~
The young girl tremblingly raised a tightly clenched small hand, her slender fingers slowly opening. In her palm lay a small kumquat, which she offered to Pei Yi.
It was a small kumquat that the nurse doing rounds had placed on the bedside table.
The evening wind was strong, blowing up the hem of her blue and white striped shirt. The shirt slid to one side, revealing a narrow waist. Zhong Lin was slender, and the hospital gown was a bit too large for her.
“I just came over to ask you to eat this,” the girl’s voice sounded timid, a little wronged, “Thank you for yesterday,”
“I’ve caused you trouble again, I’m really sorry…” Zhong Lin held the small kumquat, her movements a little shaky, like a little hamster offering its prized pine nut.
The small kumquat in her palm was taken by a hand. Perhaps it was from the evening breeze, but the other person’s fingertips slid coolly across her palm, making it slightly itchy.
Pei Yi removed her hand from the wall and moved a step aside.
The Alpha’s oppressive presence disappeared, and Zhong Lin instantly let out a sigh of relief.
Pei Yi squeezed the small kumquat in her hand, tossed it into the air, and caught it steadily, then coldly glanced at Zhong Lin: “Tell me, how much did the other party offer you?”
“I’ll give you double.”
The little Best Actress Pei’s tone had a domineering CEO vibe.
The road to her comeback was long. Pei Yi was now highly suspicious—was this “magical creature” Zhong Lin an undercover agent sent by a rival, trying to infiltrate?
After all, in the capital-driven entertainment industry, the total traffic is fixed and conserved—when someone who has been silent for three years makes a comeback, whose slice of the pie will they take? It’s normal for someone to want to secretly cause trouble.
“What money?” Zhong Lin was a bit confused for a moment, unsure what the other person was talking about… How could anyone give her money when her announcement fee hadn’t even been settled?
“2333 yuan?” She raised her hand and scratched her forehead, recalling the number she found after searching all her accounts, and answered tentatively.
Pei Yi’s lips twitched, barely maintaining her composure. “Which company are you… from, exactly?”
“Company?” Zhong Lin was slightly startled. She hadn’t paid attention to this when reading the original novel, but Pei Yi wanted to ask her this?
“Please wait a moment, I’ll make a call to ask.” Zhong Lin remembered there was an option for “agent” in her phone’s contacts. She turned sideways and pressed her finger on the “agent” option.
Zhong Lin stood sideways, her two stray hairs on top of her head pressed down and curled, trembling in the wind.
Pei Yi: “…”
Pei Yi looked up at the clump of stray hairs fluttering in the wind on the girl’s head, and couldn’t help but chuckle softly—if it really was a rival company sending someone to cause trouble, then their boss was either too clever or too stupid.
To find such a spacey person… who doesn’t even know her own company’s name?
The phone beeped a few times but didn’t connect.
Zhong Lin persevered, making several calls in a row—
The other side: “…”
“Hello,” Zhong Lin asked directly, “Excuse me, our company…”
“Is this Zhong Lin?” The female voice on the other end sounded a bit troubled.
Zhong Lin: “Yes, it’s me.”
The other side began to politely beat around the bush: “Well, the previous contract has expired, you know, our company is having trouble operating lately, and we’re laying off staff, so we didn’t let you renew before you joined the program…”
Zhong Lin: “Uh, I can renew after I finish filming the show.” (:з)∠)
The other side: “…”
“No, your contract does not have renewal privileges. In other words, you were automatically terminated.” The other party directly stated the cruel fact.
Zhong Lin held the phone in her hand, seemingly wanting to argue: “I want to ask…”
She was still trying to salvage the situation. If she didn’t have a company, she wouldn’t have any food to eat TAT~
“Beep-beep—” The call was hung up by the other party.
Rubbing her index finger and thumb together, having the call forcibly ended, Zhong Lin felt a little embarrassed. “I think I’ve… been terminated.”
Unintentionally overhearing the content of Zhong Lin’s call, Pei Yi lowered her head, swiping through a news interface on her phone, her gaze stopping on a certain news item—
“Tianxi Entertainment is suspected to be bankrupt; its official website has been inaccessible recently. Its legal representative, Zhang Heng, misappropriated funds, and Tianxing Entertainment’s unpaid dues to the logistics company led to music albums being unable to ship, resulting in multiple fan complaints…”
“Tianxi Entertainment?” Pei Yi looked up at her, a teasing smile spreading at the corners of her eyes.
Tianxi Entertainment? That name sounds so familiar; she seemed to have seen it in the original novel.
“It seems so,” Zhong Lin nodded gently.
“Good,” Pei Yi chuckled softly. All previous suspicions were now completely dispelled. Her taut nerves instantly relaxed. The dormant lion-tiger now shed its defenses, transforming into a docile big cat.
She raised her hand, holding up her phone and shaking the screen towards Zhong Lin.
Zhong Lin stared at the screen for a moment. The news likely meant that her boss had absconded with the money, leaving a trail of debt.
The pitiful Bai Ze cub was about to face the dilemma of having no money and no human food QAQ~
Zhong Lin slightly pursed her lips, her eyes a little hesitant: “What you said just now… if the other party offered me money, you could give double?”
“Does that still count? Is it paid monthly? Do you cover the five social insurances and one housing fund?”
Pei Yi never expected that the little drama queen seemed to have turned into a money-grubbing slave??
“Your medical fees, I paid for them,” Pei Yi reminded her, probing, “Are you… really short on money right now?”
Zhong Lin was stunned on the spot—Oh no, she completely forgot… not only did she have no money, but she also had a debt.
She could already imagine the scene after the final announcement: the ash-faced Bai Ze cub, propped up with a small stick, holding a broken bowl, begging for food.
“Just kidding,” Zhong Lin smiled bitterly, really wanting to hug a golden thigh QAQ
“We’re friends… aren’t we?” Zhong Lin asked softly.
“No,” Pei Yi answered blandly, watching her with interest.
Zhong Lin: …But we just agreed to be friends?? TAT
“I’ll pay you back for the medical fees after this announcement ends,” Zhong Lin said weakly. “I won’t be like before, I won’t deliberately try to ride your coattails, really,”
“It was the company forcing me before… I didn’t want to ride your coattails,” Zhong Lin’s voice grew softer and softer, seemingly filled with endless apologies,
“Teacher Pei,” Zhong Lin deliberately called Pei Yi “Teacher Pei” for the first time, her voice sticky and soft, “I was wrong…”
Looking small, pitiful, and helpless, Zhong Lin truly resembled a poor little thing, once ruthlessly exploited by her former company.
So pitiful.
She’s just faking it again.
Well, well, she directly shifted the blame for the original owner’s actions onto the now-bankrupt company. How brilliant~
Pei Yi stuffed the kumquat from her palm into her pocket, then reached up towards the other person’s head. While Zhong Lin wasn’t paying attention, she gently ruffled the stray hairs sticking up on her head, then turned and walked towards the door.
The kumquat was sour and astringent.
But the person, she was fun.
This little girl was truly interesting.
“Click—” The rooftop door was pushed open.
Zhong Lin, whose hair had been ruffled, came back to her senses and turned to see Pei Yi’s back: “Where are you going?”
Having just stepped down one stair, Pei Yi paused: “Going back to sleep.”
“Aren’t we going back to film the day after tomorrow?” Zhong Lin glanced at her phone, realizing it was almost 1 AM. “It’s already so late…”
Zhong Lin’s unspoken thought: It’s already so late, you should be careful on the way.
Pei Yi suddenly interrupted: “You… want me to stay and sleep?”
Her dark brown eyes dimmed slightly, and the taut skin on her neck rippled. Pei Yi realized that her previous statement seemed to have a deeper meaning.
Zhong Lin: Huh?
Zhong Lin swallowed the latter half of her sentence that was about to slip out—Pei Yi had already said that, so saying “It’s already so late, you should be careful on the way” would sound like she was rushing Pei Yi away.
That might be a bit impolite?
Did Pei Yi perhaps want to…
Hospitals often have people staying with patients, and extra beds can be added at any time.
Moreover, Zhong Lin’s heat period, triggered by secondary differentiation, was nearing its end. If someone truly wanted to stay overnight, the hospital would not object.
“Do you want to sleep here?” Zhong Lin walked forward. The wind on the rooftop whistled, and the stray hairs sticking up on her head trembled slightly. “With me?”
Her light brown eyes gazed quietly at Pei Yi through the rooftop door, her gaze clear and unstained by any impure thoughts—
The two sentences combined took on a more ambiguous meaning—Do you want to stay and sleep with me?
“Sleep.” Pei Yi walked back up the step, pushed the door open for her with one hand, her fingers subtly curling by her side.
It must be due to the high pheromone compatibility; despite being blocked by the patch, she could still faintly smell the sweet scent.
So alluring,
Alluring enough for Pei Yi to want to stay.
Every breath was intoxicating. The evening wind carried her scent.
She smelled so good.
••••
Kicking off her high heels and putting on disposable slippers, Pei Yi had now finished washing up and was sitting on a single folding bed, separated from Zhong Lin’s isolation room by just a completely transparent glass door.
Pei Yi also wanted to know what was wrong with her tonight…
She felt so strange today.
At home, she had a soft, wide bed more than two meters across, yet she stayed to sleep on this less-than-a-meter-wide iron bed.
She must have been confused earlier.
Pei Yi kicked off her slippers, curled her legs, and sat on the folding bed. She slightly turned her face, looking through the glass door at the scene in the hospital room—
The lights in the room were already off. Streetlights shone through the window, casting a faint glow on the silhouette of the girl inside.
Zhong Lin, wearing blue and white striped hospital scrubs, had her head slightly lowered, her neck and shoulders smoothly contoured. Her hair draped along her neck, falling over the girl’s delicate curves of her chest, rising and falling with her breaths.
Beside the bed was a plastic basin filled with hot water.
A small foot extended into it, her heel lightly touching the water surface. A soft gasp came from the girl, and her foot quickly retreated.
Pei Yi thought, the water might be too hot.
Just then, Zhong Lin seemed to sense someone watching her. She raised her eyes, looking towards the direction of the door.
Separated by a glass door, their gazes met.
Zhong Lin felt a hint of confusion. Didn’t Pei Yi wash up first… why was she looking at her?
Zhong Lin smiled at her, her light pink lips slightly parting, revealing a few small white teeth, innocent and sweet, with the clumsy charm of a young girl.
“Good night,” Zhong Lin’s voice was soft. Through the glass door, only her lip movements were visible.
Pei Yi hurriedly averted her gaze, her heart feeling a slight tingling, a spreading itchiness.
The hospital corridor was very quiet, quiet enough to hear her own heartbeat.
Pei Yi reached down, pulled open the white bedding, lay down, and turned over in the covers, completely facing away from Zhong Lin.
She must be crazy.
It was as if she was possessed.
Pei Yi pursed her lips, her nose catching the faint scent of disinfectant on the bedding. She shouldn’t have agreed to Zhong Lin’s request to stay and accompany her earlier!
—Maybe it was just out of sympathy, feeling a little sorry for this silly girl?
First, her Weibo was overrun by malicious rumors; now even her boss and agent had run away.
Zhong Lin, was she not the cunning, overly clever “hype chaser” she seemed, but just a sweet, innocent little girl?
Even… a little cute?
A cute little pitiful thing.
Pei Yi’s mood was very complex. She slept very poorly. The mattress pad was too thin, and the bed board was hard. She had never slept on such a narrow bed; even turning over was troublesome.
Yet, she could hear the creaking of the iron bed in the hospital room. Pei Yi could almost count how many times Zhong Lin turned over tonight.
It felt… so close.
Through the glass door, the girl in the room lay sprawled out, sleeping like a “big” character. Zhong Lin’s eyes were closed, her light pink lips gently pressed together. She slept soundly, like a carefree little animal.
Pei Yi slowly turned over. The iron bed slightly swayed, still making a faint “creaking” sound, a bit grating…
Tonight was destined for little sleep.