She Said: A Passionate Kiss [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 1

Autumn in Jincheng was like it had been enchanted—plunging straight from 40°C down to 13°C. The trees beside the road rustled wildly, as if applauding.

Qiang Huai was currently filming a suspense movie in Jincheng, and they had just wrapped shooting today.

She stepped down from the nanny van wearing only a short skirt, showing off the long legs that fans couldn’t stop raving about, and rushed into the hotel lobby, leaving her assistant and manager far behind.

“If you’re cold, wear more clothes!” her manager called after her as she chased.

Standing in front of the elevator, Qiang Huai tugged on her mask and replied, “I’d rather die freezing than live ugly.”

Her manager was speechless, wanting to carve a monument to Qiang Huai’s professionalism right into the hotel’s marble floor. “Alright, alright, our dear Teacher Qiang could turn a burlap sack into the next fashion trend~”

The elevator arrived. Her assistant brought over a bouquet of white roses from the front desk.

“Teacher Qiang, these are from your friend.”

Qiang Huai stepped into the elevator, accepted the roses, and just then received a message on her phone.

“Huai Huai!! Did you get the white roses I sent =3= Congrats on wrapping up shooting?? Big success, big sales~”

It was from Qunjun, her best friend from high school.

“Next time just send me money,” Qiang Huai typed back, snapping a photo of the roses to send.

Qunjun replied with a meme: [Stop pushing your luck, sis.jpg]

A moment later, another message came:

“Have you checked the high school group chat? Gu Pingwan is also in Jincheng. I heard someone in her family’s sick. Wonder how the class genius is doing now.”

When Qiang Huai didn’t respond, Qunjun followed up:

“??? What are you doing? Why do you always ghost me whenever Gu Pingwan comes up?”

By the time Qiang Huai reached the 51st floor, her phone buzzed nonstop—the hallway was quiet, and all the messages from Qunjun popped up in a swarm, startling her.

She raised an eyebrow, staring at the name “Gu Pingwan” on the screen.

It felt like that person had vanished from her life a long time ago.

Qunjun, seeing no reply, kept typing:

“If Gu Pingwan was in front of you right now, I bet she’d accept your confession.”

“She always struck me as that kind of shallow person.”

“I mean… maybe.”

“Do you think, on some random night, Gu Pingwan remembers you and regrets everything? LOL.”

Qunjun wasn’t afraid of pissing her off—after all, Gu Pingwan rejecting Qiang Huai had been a huge scandal back in the day. She was even humiliated in public. The story might have disappeared from the internet, but it still lived on in whispers among their classmates.

But Qunjun never really knew what had happened. She’d asked before, and all Qiang Huai ever said was vague and evasive.

“It was my fault. It had nothing to do with her.” Qiang Huai opened the hotel room door and placed the white roses on the coffee table.

She looked out at the sky from the fifty-somethingth floor. It was a dull gray, a light mist clinging to the windows.

Gu Pingwan… would she really regret it?

She unlocked her phone and hovered over the pinned contact—tapping in and out of the chat window. That conversation had never once shown a red dot.

Qiang Huai turned off her phone and sat on the chair by the window. Down below, the streets were bustling. She let out a quiet laugh at herself—Was she really imagining what Gu Pingwan’s regret might look like?

Back in senior year, Gu Pingwan had been scared off by Qiang Huai—because of something that happened during the school sports day.

The homeroom teacher had said it was their last sports meet of high school. Fired up to give her youth a perfect send-off, Qiang Huai enthusiastically signed up for the 1.5 km run.

She somehow muddled through and even finished third. A bunch of people came over to congratulate her. As she sipped glucose water, her eyes searched the crowd for Gu Pingwan—only to find her hurt and not far away.

Pushing through the crowd, Qiang Huai had rushed over, lifted Gu Pingwan onto her back, and sprinted toward the infirmary with a strength she didn’t know she had.

And then… that incident happened.

Back then, Qiang Huai wrote a lot of posts in her QQ space—random questions and flashy travel guides. All were set to “Visible only to Gu Pingwan.”

She figured maybe Gu Pingwan would answer one, or at least she could tag her in a travel plan—after graduation, she’d use it as an excuse to go traveling together.

But from then until now, Gu Pingwan never once visited her page. They never did a single one of those things.

She wondered what Gu Pingwan was doing now—what these past years had been like. And what about the illness in her family that Qunjun mentioned…

Qiang Huai looked out at a massive luxury brand billboard in the distance. Her own image was displayed on it, surrounded by the stunning landscape of Jincheng, dazzling and radiant.

Forget it. No matter what, she was doing better than Gu Pingwan now. The thought made her feel smugly satisfied.

A message from her manager, Sister Qin, snapped her out of her thoughts:
“Celebration banquet at 8 p.m. Tomorrow morning there’s an interview.”

Qiang Huai used the remote to shut the curtains and lights.
“Okay. I’ll nap for half an hour.”

She didn’t take off her makeup, just leaned on the sofa and dozed off.

It wasn’t a good sleep. In a haze, Qiang Huai dreamed she was back in high school during a mock exam. Gu Pingwan was sitting in front of her. Qiang Huai tossed a note asking to copy her answers—only for Gu Pingwan to stand up and shout, “Teacher, Qiang Huai said she wants to sleep with me!!”

Qiang Huai saw stars—utterly shocked and horrified.

She jolted awake, her breath shallow in the dim room.

“Ding-dong—”

The doorbell rang. Outside, her assistant Xiaoyu was holding her dress, accompanied by the makeup artist and stylist.

“Teacher Qiang, the dress is steamed and ready—may I…?”

Before she could finish, the door swung open. Qiang Huai stood there with a calm, innocent expression, staring at the dress.

“Teacher Qiang? Did someone suck all the yang energy out of you?” Xiaoyu waved her hand in front of Qiang Huai’s face, only relaxing when she confirmed she wasn’t some undead ghoul.

Qiang Huai turned on the lights. She didn’t have time to joke around.

The team filed in. Qiang Huai lay on the sofa and let them do their work, like a rabbit being roasted on a spit.

“Teacher Qiang, a lot of reporters will be at tonight’s celebration, and it’ll be livestreamed. Our earlier promotions didn’t do well, so we need to ramp up the buzz,” Xiaoyu said, organizing the jewelry for her look.

Qiang Huai still had her eyes closed. Her makeup was retouched, her dress already on.

Xiaoyu picked up a necklace and fastened it around her neck.

When everything was ready, Qiang Huai looked at Xiaoyu in the mirror.
“Tell me, am I the most beautiful woman?”

Without hesitation, Xiaoyu rolled up her sleeves to reveal some red scratches:
“Of course! These are the wounds left by your beauty—I’ve been shredded alive!”

Qiang Huai: “Don’t think I don’t know that was your cat.”

“Then why—why would anyone reject such a beautiful woman?” Qiang Huai turned to ask.

Xiaoyu immediately shooed everyone else out of the room and closed the door:
“Teacher Qiang, what’s going on with you?”

“Wait, who rejected you? A guy? A girl? Should I tell Sister Qin to prep a PR plan?”

Qiang Huai tilted her head slightly, looking at her flawless reflection.
“No need.”

“Money comes first! Let’s go! Aim for the Oscars tomorrow!”

Xiaoyu was completely baffled by Qiang Huai’s weird remarks. She called the driver.

The celebration banquet was at the High Society Club, about 5 or 6 kilometers away.

Qiang Huai stepped out of the car in a flowing red gown, draped in a black couture cape. Cameras flashed like thunder as she was swarmed.

The walkway to the banquet hall was lined with osmanthus trees in bloom. Fans on-site waved signs and shouted her name—it looked more like a red carpet than a wrap party.

Qiang Huai brushed aside a strand of hair, unfastened her black cape, and revealed her graceful figure. Under the spotlight, she raised her hand in greeting, throwing a flirtatious wink at the crowd.

“Ahhh! She winked at me! Qiang Huai likes me!!”

“Wife!! No!! Husband!!! I’ll be the bottom tonight!!!”

“If I can’t sleep with Qiang Huai in this life, what’s the point?!”

A crowd of fangirls screamed like a zombie horde from Train to Busan, only held back by security.

Qiang Huai’s beauty outshone the night sky. With the mood just right, she smiled and lifted her borrowed cape.

Xiaoyu was horrified, watching as Qiang Huai flung the 350,000 RMB cape into the crowd in a graceful arc.

“Teacher Qiang—that’s borrowed!!” Xiaoyu’s cries were drowned out by the crowd.

Fans each touched the cape scented with Qiang Huai’s perfume, and eventually, someone at the front handed it back.

Xiaoyu rushed forward, tears in her eyes, cradling the cape like a national treasure.

Meanwhile—

In a hospital corridor, a woman in a black hoodie was folding up an umbrella. Her slender arm pressed down hard, and with a click, it snapped shut. One sleeve was soaked, but the things in her hand stayed dry.

“Mom.” Gu Pingwan gently pushed open the door.

Her mother lay in bed with her eyes closed. The room was dim, lit only by the glow of the television.

She opened her eyes slightly at the sound.
“Xiaowan, you’re here.”

Gu Pingwan turned on a light and brought over the small desk from the bed.
“Yeah, I brought you some wontons. Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s fine, cough cough, work comes first.” Her mother coughed dryly. “Why are your clothes wet?”

She saw her daughter’s soaked sleeve and immediately pulled out a dry towel from under her pillow to wipe her off.

“I told you to get a new umbrella.” Her mother’s eyes were full of concern. “You’ve used that one since high school. It doesn’t even block the rain anymore.”

Gu Pingwan uncovered the bowl, smiled softly.
“Mom, I’m sentimental.”

Her mother took the spoon and sipped some soup.
“You’re never sentimental about anything else.”

Gu Pingwan didn’t respond, instead adjusting the TV volume. The sound had been off, leaving the room feeling lifeless.

As she lifted the remote, she froze.

The screen showed Qiang Huai.

A silent livestream played like a colorful silent film. Even without audio, the fan frenzy was almost audible. Amid the dazzling lights, Qiang Huai still stood out.

The television was like a portal to another world—inside, Qiang Huai thrived with energy and light. Outside, she, Gu Pingwan, was faded and colorless.

She glanced at the rainbow-colored umbrella on the side table. The printed letters along the edge were already faded.

A bitter smile curled on her lips.

“Xiaowan, isn’t that celebrity your high school classmate?” her mother asked, chewing a wonton and nodding toward the screen.

“Huh?” Gu Pingwan snapped back. “Oh, her? We were just… regular friends.”

Her mother gave her a skeptical look.
“Hmm?”