She Said: A Passionate Kiss [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 33
Gu Pingwan was browsing online and saw that many people were scrambling to get tickets for the weekend. She hadn’t held out much hope, but early the next morning, Huahua sent her a message:
“Got the tickets! ‘Link'”
“But it’s in the back row, all the front ones were gone.”
Gu Pingwan looked at the seating chart—it really was pretty far back.
Huahua sent another message:
“As soon as they opened ticket sales this morning, I went wild tapping the screen.”
Gu Pingwan replied with a sticker:
“‘ThumbsUp.jpg'”
Under the desk, Huahua was secretly eating her breakfast as she replied:
“Don’t forget to get me Qiang Huai’s autograph!”
Throughout the whole workday, Gu Pingwan just couldn’t stay focused. She had never looked forward to a weekend this much before. Was she… caring too much?
She looked at the unread message thread with Qiang Huai and wondered if Qiang Huai was tired from work lately.
At that moment, Qiang Huai was in a hotel having dinner while scrolling through Weibo on her alternate account.
The trending topics were all irrelevant; nothing worth paying attention to.
She closed Weibo and opened her chat with Gu Pingwan. It had been a long while since they last messaged, and she didn’t know how Gu Pingwan was doing lately.
After finishing dinner, Qiang Huai went to the gym.
Out of habit, she opened their chat again, and to her surprise, the app showed “The other person is typing…”—but after waiting a while, no message came through.
“What the hell,” Qiang Huai muttered to herself.
Gu Pingwan had typed several messages, wanting to ask how Qiang Huai was doing. But thinking that such concern wouldn’t mean much, she ended up deleting them.
Qiang Huai felt a wave of bitterness. She remembered what Gu Pingwan had said last time—clearly trying to draw a line between them. That was why she hadn’t taken the initiative to reach out again. They used to chat daily, sharing details of their lives.
But over these past few days, she’d thought things through. If there really was no future between them, being friends would be fine too.
She’d been so busy lately there wasn’t time for a relationship, let alone thoughts of Gu Pingwan. If they really got together, there would definitely be distance and tension over these issues.
When the weekend came, Weibo lit up with buzz about Qiang Huai’s movie tour.
Dressed in custom-made cast attire, Qiang Huai and the rest of the production team arrived at a Beijing theater. A huge crowd of fans greeted them with deafening cheers that nearly burst the staff’s eardrums.
After a brief introduction from the director and the main cast, the movie began.
This sci-fi mystery was filmed in Jin City. The storyline revolved around a woman trapped in a time loop. Across several parallel worlds, a serial killer murders the older version of the heroine (played by Qiang Huai), and her child travels through these timelines to save the younger version.
The film explored themes of family, friendship, and love warped by a torturous marriage.
Gu Pingwan sat in the second-to-last row of the theater. She was wearing glasses that day—having stayed up late coding, her vision was blurry. Normally, she didn’t wear glasses.
She watched the movie intently. This was her first time seeing Qiang Huai on the big screen—before, she’d only caught glimpses online. She had to admit, Qiang Huai looked amazing in the theater format—her features appeared even more striking and delicate.
As the movie neared its end, a few post-credit scenes played.
When the theater lights suddenly turned on, Gu Pingwan squinted.
She saw Qiang Huai seated at the very front. Though wearing the same clothes as everyone else, Qiang Huai still stood out—especially beautiful.
A swarm of media personnel flooded in, and the cast was invited up for interviews.
One female reporter asked, “Miss Qiang Huai, if there were a parallel universe, what would you most want to do?”
Qiang Huai gently brushed her hair aside. “What would I most want to do? I guess… fall in love. After all, I’m still single.”
“You once said you wanted to pursue your high school first love. Hasn’t anything come of that yet?” another reporter chimed in.
Qiang Huai thought back to that interview after seeing Gu Pingwan again. Why was I so confident back then? She really wanted to slap herself.
“The process of waiting for an outcome is long, but also… fun. Do I look like someone who’s had results?” she joked with a shrug.
The audience burst into laughter. All the rumors about her being involved in shady deals or dating a high school classmate were instantly put to rest.
Reporters asked a few more questions before circling back to her again.
“So for this premiere, did you invite your high school first love to come?”
They really knew how to circle around the gossip.
As the cameras panned randomly through the crowd, Qiang Huai instinctively glanced toward the back rows.
She spotted a familiar silhouette—but quickly dismissed the idea. No way. Gu Pingwan wouldn’t have time to come.
The director stepped in to redirect the conversation. “Let’s focus the questions on the movie, please.”
When the interview ended, Qiang Huai briefly greeted the crew and dashed backstage.
Xiaoyu hurried over holding a coat and mask. “Miss Qiang, I think I just saw Miss Gu Pingwan.”
Qiang Huai threw on the coat and put on her mask and hat. “Where?”
“Maybe at the entrance? I’m not sure,” Xiaoyu hadn’t even finished speaking before Qiang Huai bolted out.
Inside the crowded theater, fans were still searching for her, not knowing she was slipping through their midst.
She ran toward the plaza outside the cinema, which was swarming with spectators. Security had set up barricades, and police were helping direct traffic with special lane arrangements.
Qiang Huai searched frantically for Gu Pingwan in the crowd but didn’t see that familiar figure.
She pulled out her phone and mapped out the distance from Gu Pingwan’s institute, guessing she would’ve tried to hail a ride in a less crowded area.
Crossing the barricade, Qiang Huai ran to the ride-share pickup spot, holding on to a thread of hope.
But when she got there, the area was empty. Of course she wouldn’t come. What was I thinking?
She nudged a broken tree branch on the ground with her shoe, ready to head back.
Just then, a pair of white canvas shoes appeared in her line of sight. Qiang Huai looked up sharply.
The person she’d been searching for… was standing right in front of her.
She was speechless, mouth open, stunned.
Gu Pingwan smiled. “Classmate Qiang Huai, want some ice cream?”
She held up two cones.
“You…” Qiang Huai’s eyes lit up, her heart bursting with joy. “It’s really you.”
Gu Pingwan nodded.
Qiang Huai took the cone from her. “It’s not even summer yet. Why ice cream?”
“I just suddenly wanted some. Thought I might run into you, so I bought one for you too.” Gu Pingwan took a bite.
“How did you know I was looking for you?” Qiang Huai asked through her mask, not wanting to remove it.
Gu Pingwan replied with a mouthful of melting cream, “Ran into Xiaoyu earlier. She was looking for you.”
“But how did you know I’d be here?” Qiang Huai was baffled—it was almost unreal, like a romance novel.
Gu Pingwan didn’t answer right away. She had figured Qiang Huai would check the ride-share spot. She hadn’t expected it to actually work.
“Maybe just lucky,” Gu Pingwan said, though what she really wanted to say was: maybe heart-to-heart connection.
Xiaoyu called Qiang Huai—her driver had brought the car around the side.
“I’ll drop you off. It’s hard to get a ride here,” Qiang Huai said, still holding the cone. Thankfully, the weather wasn’t hot, or it would’ve melted all over her hand.
Gu Pingwan obediently followed her to the car.
Xiaoyu was already inside. “So it was you, Miss Gu!”
Gu Pingwan greeted her politely. “Mm.”
“You really scored tickets just to see our Miss Qiang’s premiere?” Xiaoyu’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Glancing at Qiang Huai, who was fastening her seatbelt, Gu Pingwan accepted the cone that Qiang Huai handed over so she could use both hands.
She replied, “I happened to be free. Just clicked around and got lucky.”
Xiaoyu made a face. “Yeah, right. My friend begged me to get her one and I couldn’t even do it.”
Seeing Gu Pingwan’s embarrassment, Qiang Huai stepped in, “Some people just have better luck.”
Xiaoyu pouted and let it go.
“Want to grab dinner?” Qiang Huai asked, finally taking the cone back and nibbling a bite that sent sweetness straight to her heart.
She snapped a photo and posted it to Weibo.
#To everyone who came today: I had to leave early. Please head home safely. ❤️#
Fans filled the comments with cries of disappointment—some even said they saw her but couldn’t get an autograph and were heartbroken.
One fan wrote: “Was that ice cream good? I waited forever in line and some girl bought the last two. If she weren’t pretty, I wouldn’t have let it slide!”
Qiang Huai stared at the comment, then glanced at Gu Pingwan.
Gu Pingwan tilted her head. “Sure. Where to?”
“Let’s stop by my hotel first so I can freshen up,” Qiang Huai said with relief, her heart finally easing. She’d feared rejection or emotional distance—but Gu Pingwan had made the first move by coming to her premiere. What was there to worry about anymore?
Who else would go out of their way to get tickets, leave the theater, buy two ice creams, and wait outside just to see her?
Everything pointed to one conclusion: Winning Gu Pingwan over was within reach!
Feeling suddenly enlightened, Qiang Huai’s spirits lifted.
Once they arrived at the hotel, Qunqun sent a message. She remembered Qiang Huai saying she hadn’t reconnected with Gu Pingwan after the movie wrapped—now, somehow, they were already in the hotel together?
“Make yourself at home. There’s fruit over there. I’m gonna shower and change,” Qiang Huai said casually as she took off her coat. Her suite was spacious enough for five or six people.
Gu Pingwan sat on the couch, watching Qiang Huai move about.
Soon, the sound of running water came from the bathroom.
When Qunqun didn’t get a reply, she called directly.
“Ah Huai, Qunqun’s calling you!” Gu Pingwan shouted.
“Pick it up for me!” came the voice from the bathroom.
After a brief hesitation, Gu Pingwan answered.
“What was that interview answer about?” Qunqun jumped straight into the interrogation.
Gu Pingwan sniffed lightly. “This is Gu Pingwan. Ah Huai’s in the shower.”
Before the other person could respond, the line went dead—Qunqun had hung up.
She sat stunned. What the hell?! Things were moving way faster than she thought. They’re already showering together?!
The water stopped, and Qiang Huai came out wrapped in a towel, her hair half-dry, face clean and porcelain-smooth.
“What did Qunqun say?” Qiang Huai asked, brushing her hair over one shoulder. Droplets of water trickled along her collarbone, disappearing beneath the towel’s edge.
Gu Pingwan froze mid-reach for the fruit, her breathing growing rapid. Her ears turned a deep red.