She Said: A Passionate Kiss [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 35
She took a photo of the newly planted Chinese snowball tree and added a caption: “Thank you, Ah Huai. Waiting for the blooming season.”
Qiang Huai was currently on set. She had recently accepted a role in a national security-themed movie, a genre she had never attempted before. They had just finished filming the first shot.
During a break, Qiang Huai received Gu Pingwan’s message.
She replied: “It should bloom around June. I hope Chief Engineer Gu will like it.”
Afterward, a planting staff member came over to explain the tree’s maintenance. They would return regularly to check on its growth, so there was no need for Gu Pingwan to worry about anything.
Gu Pingwan felt that Qiang Huai was very thoughtful—she always took care of the things Gu might worry about.
Qiang Huai was currently filming in Shanghai. The movie had several shooting locations, and she didn’t know when they would head to Beijing.
Every day, she would tear off a page of the calendar, counting down to the day they would film in Beijing so she could see Gu Pingwan.
“The director says you’re really in the zone. I also feel like your skills have improved a lot,” Qin-jie said during a set visit, standing in Qiang Huai’s private dressing room.
Qiang Huai dabbed on some powder with a puff—there were still three more scenes to shoot later.
“I thought after getting involved with Gu Pingwan, you’d fall head over heels into love,” Qin-jie teased while flipping through a report on current celebrity data.
“I’m an adult. Work is work. Personal life is personal life,” Qiang Huai retorted.
“True enough. If someone can’t even do their job properly, how can they manage a relationship?” Sister Qin joked.
Qiang Huai set down the powder puff. “Hold on. I’m not dating her.”
“Not dating?” Qin-jie raised an eyebrow. “Then what’s all this flower-giving and doting care about, huh?”
“We call it ‘socialist sisterhood’,” Qiang Huai replied as she accepted the report Qin-jie handed over. “How’s Zheng Yu doing lately?”
Qin-jie pointed to a spot on the data sheet. “Here. Overall, her performance is pretty solid.”
Qiang Huai looked over the stats. Zheng Yu indeed had a loyal fanbase and some strong works under her belt. Ever since the scandal about hidden rules, her trending tags had only surged higher.
“Alright. I’ll go over the rest later.” After speaking, Qiang Huai habitually pulled out her phone and opened QQ to check her messages. It was a daily ritual, like clocking in.
“If you ever confirm your relationship with Chief Gu, give me a heads-up. We already have emergency PR plans in place, but who knows when you’ll suddenly ambush us,” Sister Qin said half-seriously, half-complaining.
Qiang Huai squinted. “Why are you so sure Gu Pingwan and I will end up together?”
“Maybe she’s just straight, you never know,” Qiang Huai thought to herself but ended up voicing it too.
“You’re Qiang Huai. Who wouldn’t like you?” Qin-jie said protectively. She always thought the best of her artist.
“So what if I am Qiang Huai? Qin-jie, you don’t need to comfort me.” Qiang Huai knew Qin-jie just didn’t want her to feel burdened. And she herself knew all too well—after liking someone for so many years, of course she wanted something more.
After discussing a few work matters, Qin-jie flew straight back to Jincheng.
Qiang Huai asked Xiao Yu to book dinner. She was currently on a fat-loss plan—not that she was overweight—but to better fit the role’s cool and aloof character, she needed a more defined figure.
Skirt Skirt hadn’t messaged Qiang Huai in days. Ever since Gu Pingwan picked up the phone last time, she’d been terrified that her rants to her best friend would get heard by an outsider.
Now she finally called: “The garden at your villa in Jiangcheng is blooming. When are you coming to see it?”
Ever since Skirt Skirt’s parents moved into Qiang Huai’s villa, it had been well taken care of. The once desolate yard had been transformed into a charming garden.
“No time for now, I’m on set,” Qiang Huai replied.
“You still haven’t explained what happened last time. Did you and Gu Pingwan sleep together or not?” Skirt Skirt immediately dove into gossip mode. She hadn’t been writing lately and was off traveling.
Qiang Huai almost laughed. Why was everyone suddenly concerned about her and Gu Pingwan?
“Don’t be so crude,” she replied with a smile. “She and I are just… pure friends.”
Skirt Skirt didn’t believe it for a second and said mockingly, “Pure friends, huh? And yet we’ve got ‘Qiang Huai is showering~’ going on already?”
“If you’ve got nothing else to say, I’m hanging up.” Qiang Huai wanted to reach through the call and strangle her.
“Hey hey hey, don’t hang up. I actually have something to ask.” Skirt Skirt quickly dropped the sass. “Where are you filming right now? I want to come visit the set.”
“In Shanghai,” Qiang Huai answered.
Skirt Skirt immediately changed her tone. “Too far. Plane tickets are too expensive.”
Qiang Huai: “…”
“When you go to Beijing, let me know in advance. I’m only twenty minutes away by high-speed rail,” Skirt Skirt said before hanging up.
Qiang Huai was speechless.
By mid-March, the filming location moved from Shanghai to Beijing. Qiang Huai finally tore off the last page of the calendar and sent a message to Gu Pingwan first—then one to Skirt Skirt.
After finishing a night scene, Gu Pingwan had just gotten off work. She went to the restaurant Qiang Huai had given her the address to. The streets of Beijing were chilly and quiet past eleven—this was usually the peak hour for Jincheng’s night market. When she first moved to Beijing, Gu Pingwan struggled to adjust and always wanted to grab a late-night snack, only to find very few places still open.
She pushed open the private room door. Inside sat Qiang Huai and Skirt Skirt.
Skirt Skirt had received the message and immediately drove to Beijing. She even brought a Samoyed named Dot Dot. After a proper chat with the restaurant owner, she was allowed to bring the dog inside.
“Come sit,” Qiang Huai stood and pulled out the chair beside her for Gu Pingwan.
“Thanks,” Gu Pingwan said as she sat down. “Skirt Skirt’s in Beijing too?”
“Nope. I’m just road-tripping,” Skirt Skirt petted the dog’s head. “Happened to be nearby.”
Qiang Huai sat beside Gu Pingwan and handed her the menu. “Pick something to eat.”
Once all the food was served, Skirt Skirt brought up a topic: “Why does it feel like there’s something weird between you two?”
“Is there?” Qiang Huai took a sip of lemon water and tilted her head toward Gu Pingwan.
Gu Pingwan shook her head blankly.
“There totally is,” Skirt Skirt said as she stuffed a piece of fish in her mouth.
“Back in high school, didn’t you always drag me along for ‘coincidental’ run-ins with Gu Pingwan?” Skirt Skirt kept going. “We were all in the same class. Just had a few little spats—was it really that serious?”
Gu Pingwan was confused. She glanced at Qiang Huai, who was sipping water.
Qiang Huai knew what Skirt Skirt was implying. “It wasn’t that often.”
“Did we even fight?” Gu Pingwan asked.
Qiang Huai shook her head, uncertain what Gu Pingwan really thought. She tried cautiously, “I don’t think so?”
Ever since Qiang Huai kissed Gu Pingwan’s knee, their relationship had cooled drastically. It was like an invisible glass wall had gone up between them. Skirt Skirt felt that their current vibe wasn’t so different from back then—neither side willing to break the ice or make the first move.
If Skirt Skirt weren’t Qiang Huai’s lifelong friend, she wouldn’t bother trying to push them together. Meddling always risked being seen as nosy. But she was genuinely afraid Qiang Huai would run out of patience.
“Anyway, since you’re old classmates, it’s best to just be direct,” Skirt Skirt continued with an example. “Back in sophomore year, I liked a guy from the next class. At first, Qiang Huai kept giving him gifts, and I thought she was trying to steal him from me. I was so mad.”
“But then I lost my temper, and she told me she had been giving those gifts on my behalf. I was such a coward back then. If we hadn’t talked it out, I’d never have known.”
“Otherwise, I’d still be stuck with my first kiss.”
“So yeah—communication matters, even among friends. Bottling things up never helps,” she said without directly pointing fingers, keeping it subtle.
Qiang Huai nodded. Gu Pingwan also agreed. It was true—they’d never really had a heart-to-heart. Not that they avoided it on purpose, but they were both too busy with work.
After dinner, they all got into Skirt Skirt’s car with the dog.
The film crew had arranged a standalone villa for Qiang Huai. Worried about Skirt Skirt driving at night, she invited her to stay over.
As soon as Dot Dot got out of the car, he dashed happily around the villa.
Skirt Skirt pulled out two bottles from the trunk—inside was douzhi (fermented mung bean juice).
She handed one to Qiang Huai and the other to Gu Pingwan. “I specially bought this. Super authentic.”
“What is it?” Qiang Huai asked, puzzled. Gu Pingwan, of course, knew. She had already grown used to Beijing’s douzhi.
“Just take a sip and see,” Skirt Skirt’s eyes sparkled. “Go on, quick!”
Qiang Huai was on guard. “It’s not poisoned, is it?”
“Of course not!” As Skirt Skirt spoke, Gu Pingwan had already unscrewed the cap and taken a sip.
Seeing Gu Pingwan drink it and appear to enjoy it, Qiang Huai tried a tiny mouthful—only to immediately gag and bolt for the trash can to spit it out.
Skirt Skirt burst into uncontrollable laughter. “I originally bought it for you, but when I had to go through subway security, they made me take a sip. The taste! Like licking the armpit of a sweaty 60-year-old uncle on a hot summer day.”
Clutching the clean trash can, Qiang Huai muttered, “Please stop talking. I finally understand what ‘words that shake the soul’ really mean.”
Gu Pingwan rushed over, concerned. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Tears streamed down Qiang Huai’s face from the experience.
Skirt Skirt teased, “Tsk, someone’s a bit too caring. Anyone listening might think you’re pregnant with her child.”
Qiang Huai was speechless. She honestly wanted to climb into Skirt Skirt’s writer-brain to see what strange metaphors lived in there.
Skirt Skirt got Dot Dot settled into his bed and said she was too tired to stay up, so she went to sleep.
That left only Gu Pingwan and Qiang Huai in the living room. Gu Pingwan peeled a mandarin for her. “Eat something sour to settle your stomach.”
When Qiang Huai’s fingers brushed the back of Gu Pingwan’s hand, she quickly pulled them back.
“Back in high school… did you really arrange those ‘coincidences’ to bump into me?” Gu Pingwan suddenly asked.
“Not really,” Qiang Huai recalled. Back then after class, she’d drag Skirt Skirt to the school shop. On the way back, she’d let Skirt Skirt go up first. If she saw Gu Pingwan turning in homework, Skirt Skirt would signal her, and she’d rush up from below, ‘accidentally’ knocking Gu Pingwan’s notebook out of her hands—then use the chance to give her snacks.
Gu Pingwan remembered many moments from high school. There had been lots of ‘coincidences.’
She continued, “Then from now on, I’ll be the one to create those coincidences.”
Just as she said that, Dot Dot came running in from somewhere with something in his mouth.
Qiang Huai gasped—Dot Dot was holding the sanitary pad she had just tossed in the bathroom trash!
Dot Dot even started pawing at it with his feet, completely unaware of how awkward this moment was for everyone involved.
Qiang Huai bolted forward, quickly wrapped it in tissues, and flung it back into the trash in record time.
Gu Pingwan calmly noted the date in her phone. “Are you feeling unwell?”
Qiang Huai cleaned up the mess, utterly exasperated.
“No.” She silently cursed Dot Dot—just like his owner, always doing weird things!
“No need to be embarrassed. Dogs have sensitive noses. When they smell something unusual, they go straight for it,” Gu Pingwan offered her a way out.
Qiang Huai had been an actress for over a decade and had seen every kind of scene—but nothing had ever made her this embarrassed.
Covering her face, she said, “Yeah… it’s a normal biological function.”
Then both of them burst into laughter together.
The culprit, Dot Dot, remained completely clueless—and was even trying to charge back into the bathroom to dig for more.