She Said: A Passionate Kiss [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 12
Qun Qun hesitated for a while. “Yu Lele asked me to give you a love letter back in high school. I scolded him really badly.”
“I don’t know if that’s why he held a grudge against you for so many years.”
When Qiang Huai heard this, she didn’t blame Qun Qun. “It’s okay. Even if you hadn’t said anything, he still would’ve acted this way.”
“You and An Linlin?” Qun Qun paused. “What’s going on with you two?”
Qiang Huai explained, and Qun Qun was stunned.
“So Yu Lele used An Linlin as a stand-in for you to vent his anger?” Qun Qun grasped the key point.
In a sense, that was true.
“And your Gu Pingwan, did she comfort you?” Qun Qun asked.
Qiang Huai laughed. “Why are you calling her mine? But yes, Gu classmate did help a lot.”
…
The day after the incident, An Linlin posted a message on Weibo. She revealed that she had been illegally detained, raped, and beaten by Yu Lele. She also explained that, under his threats, she had hired online trolls and posted numerous defamatory comments.
Netizens quickly linked her situation to Qiang Huai’s incident. After digging deeper, they discovered that An Linlin was also a high school classmate of Qiang Huai.
Some netizens condemned Yu Lele. Others lashed out at An Linlin.
And some, amidst the drama, started speculating in gossip forums: “Who was Qiang Huai’s first love in high school?” Theories abounded.
When Qiang Huai saw the trending topic, she remembered being photographed as she left the police station. She immediately asked Qin Jie to contact PR to handle those photos and videos, because Gu Pingwan had left with her.
Gu Pingwan, after a busy morning, was getting herself a cup of coffee when she ran into Pei Yang, who had just entered the building.
Pei Yang was on the phone. Seeing Gu Pingwan, he waved her into his office.
She put down her cup and went in.
After finishing the call, Pei Yang said, “You’ve heard about Qiang Huai’s situation, right?”
“Yes.” Gu Pingwan nodded.
“I was going to change the spokesperson, but luckily their company handled it quickly.” Pei Yang rubbed his temples. “How’s the internal testing going?”
Gu Pingwan reported truthfully. “The current traffic is too low. We can’t determine fault tolerance at the current peak load. We need to double the volume at least.”
“Okay. How long will that take?” Pei Yang asked.
“Two weeks.”
Pei Yang nodded. “Engineer Gu, once you finish this project, are you still planning to stay with our company?”
Gu Pingwan thought for a few seconds. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“Hahaha.” Pei Yang pulled a box of coffee from his drawer. “Take this coffee. Consider it an early farewell gift.”
Not wanting to be rude, she accepted it. “Thank you, Director Pei. Don’t worry. I’ll see this project through.”
“Mm.” Pei Yang liked working with straightforward people. He’d noticed Gu Pingwan from the moment she submitted her resume. He hoped to keep talent like her, but he knew—she didn’t belong to this world. She would eventually return to where she came from.
Gu Pingwan left his office, made a cup of coffee in the break room, and downed it in one go, the rich aroma lingering in the air.
Her team received news of increased ad testing. Everyone was energized and full of drive. Watching the younger teammates working hard, Gu Pingwan felt a bit dazed.
After work, on her way to the hospital, she received a call from her professor, Ji Zeping. He was her mentor in aerospace modeling and simulation, a highly respected figure in academia. China’s satellite-based systems had been gradually refined by Ji’s generation.
“Pingwan, when are you coming back?” Ji’s voice was hoarse, like he had a cold.
Gu Pingwan sat in the back of the taxi, half the window open, cold wind stinging her face. “Professor Ji, I’m still thinking about it.”
Ji Zeping clearly became emotional. He raised his voice. “What’s there to think about? This time we’ll treat it like a vacation. Just hurry back.”
“I…” Gu Pingwan didn’t know what to say. She felt guilty. “Professor, please give me some time.”
“Pingwan, I’m not trying to pressure you,” Ji softened his tone. “I’m just afraid you won’t come back.”
Professor Ji really liked Gu Pingwan. She reminded him of his younger self.
At first, Ji Zeping hadn’t wanted to accept a female student. Few women endured the long, tedious journey of scientific research. It devoured youth and passion—and often gave no reward.
“I’m sorry, Professor Ji.” Gu Pingwan watched the treetops flash past the car window. Memories of sleepless nights debugging programs returned. The truth was—she couldn’t let go.
Professor Ji said nothing and hung up.
He lived alone, unmarried, childless. At thirty-something, he’d fallen in love, was about to marry, but the man cheated on him—claiming he rarely saw her.
Ji Zeping didn’t feel regret. In fact, he felt relieved. Since then, his life revolved only around research.
Gu Pingwan knew Ji was angry. When she left the institute, he hadn’t even seen her off. He had simply thrown her books out the second-floor window of the research lab.
She knew she had disappointed him. But with her mother’s increasing medical costs, her research salary couldn’t cover everything.
At the hospital, her mother was still asleep.
Gu Pingwan pulled out her phone and sent Ji a WeChat message, asking him to take care of himself. She also ordered some local specialties from Jincheng and had them shipped to him.
Ji Zeping typed for a long time in the chat window—but ultimately didn’t send a single word.
Looking at her mother’s sleeping form, Gu Pingwan felt a sense of comfort. Her mother was her only family left in this world.
Late that night, Gu Pingwan returned home from the hospital.
She tossed and turned in bed. Maybe it was the coffee Pei Yang gave her—she couldn’t sleep at all.
She sat up and pulled a book from her bedside drawer.
It was wrapped in a protective cover, clearly well-loved. Qiang Huai had given it to her in high school—NASA and ESA’s The Universe: All You Need to Know. It was the first gift she’d ever received from someone. She’d been so happy she left snacks on Qiang Huai’s desk after class.
She opened the book. The corners were worn, probably from flipping through it whenever she felt anxious. The charm of the universe always brought her peace.
She took a picture of a page and, for the first time ever, posted to her social media with the caption: “The essence of the universe is emptiness.”
When Qiang Huai saw Gu Pingwan’s post, she was soaking in the bathtub. She commented: “Gu classmate, still not sleeping?”
Gu Pingwan, still reading her book, saw several red dots on her app notifications.
All comments from colleagues at the institute:
“Unbelievable! First time seeing Engineer Gu post on Moments.”
“Since you left, Old Ji doesn’t even comb her hair anymore.”
“Gu Engineer, come back! I’ve finished the hand-drawn UI—need you to connect it with the vision perception model.”
Then came Qiang Huai’s comment.
She replied to each one and then privately messaged Qiang Huai: “Good night.”
When Qiang Huai got the message, she leapt out of the tub like a rocket.
It was the first time Gu Pingwan had said goodnight to her. Ecstatic, she jumped out of the bath and ran around her villa multiple times.
Then she replied: “Good night.”
Qiang Huai slept soundly that night. She even dreamed of making a little movie with Gu Pingwan. Yes, that kind of indescribable movie.
She woke up drenched in sweat. After doing several sit-ups to douse the flames of desire in her chest, she muttered, “This won’t do.”
She went to water the flowers in her garden before getting ready for work.
Though it was supposed to be her vacation, everything that happened ruined the mood. She had Qin Jie arrange a commercial shoot ahead of schedule. The line of brands waiting to have Qiang Huai endorse their products was nearly reaching space.
When Qin Jie brought over a contract, she was beaming—it meant money.
“No break for the holiday?” Qin Jie asked as Qiang Huai signed.
After signing, Qiang Huai handed her the file. “Every extra penny means a better life for my wife.”
Qin Jie rolled her eyes. She was about to leave the office but turned back.
“Qiang Huai! What did you post on Weibo?!” she whispered angrily.
Qiang Huai looked innocent. “Don’t you think it sounds cultured?”
Her Weibo said: “The essence of the universe is emptiness. Until you appeared, it had no shape.”
Fan comments:
“Huai Huai, can I be your universe?”
Hater comments:
“Ugh, here she goes again with the artsy persona.”
Qin Jie’s face went dark. “Do you really think you could write something like that?”
“Of course not. Our Wan Wan posted that last night,” Qiang Huai said, striking a girl-group pose and winking.
Qin Jie: “…Well, that makes more sense.”
The commercial was for a botanical skincare product, shot in a small town in City C. The production team had already rented a guesthouse, and when Qiang Huai’s team arrived, it was drizzling.
The only way to reach the town was by boat, across a shallow lake. On the other side lay a Peach Blossom Spring-like village.
The town had no commercialized buildings. Everyone wore simple clothes and smiled with the joy of labor.
Qiang Huai pulled her suitcase behind her. Xiaoyu and a few assistants followed.
Stone steps led up to the guesthouse. Rain splashed wet leaves across the ground. Her shoes got soaked, so she kicked them off and walked barefoot into the house.
The filming crew stayed in another guesthouse across two streets.
Qiang Huai picked a lakeside room. When she opened the wooden window, the shimmering lake breeze poured in, carrying the scent of rain and earth.
She took a deep breath and stretched lazily.
That morning, Gu Pingwan was tired at work. After debugging the app, she dealt with a question sent by a colleague from the institute. It was about performance evaluation in their “Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation System”—a particularly tricky part. The colleague didn’t want to trouble their professor and instead asked Gu Pingwan for help.
That colleague messaged: “Engineer Gu, your quote in Moments is being shared like crazy.”
Gu Pingwan, still debugging, replied: “?”