Lu Yufei sat on the edge of the bed, listening to the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, her fingers unconsciously twisting the corner of the quilt.
The blue slip dress she was wearing reached down to her calves, but she still felt like something was amiss, so she pulled the quilt over to cover her legs.
The water stopped. Fu Qing opened the door and walked out, wearing a white tank top with his hair still dripping wet. He gave his head a couple of casual wipes with a towel and hung it behind his neck.
Lu Yufei glanced at him and quickly shifted her gaze back to the three stacks of acrylic storage boxes in the corner.
Her brain began to race uncontrollably: there was only one bed in this room. Once the lights were turned off, Fu Qing would definitely be sleeping on this bed.
The two of them would be lying on the same bed!
The more she thought about it, the more nervous she became, her toes curling up beneath the quilt.
Fu Qing walked over to the bed.
Lu Yufei held her breath.
Then he bent down, pulling a translucent storage box out from under the bed.
First, he took out a thin quilt and pillow, placing them on the bed, and then pulled two pieces of hard cardboard out from the bottom of the box, laying them side by side on the floor tiles.
Next, he laid down the mattress pad, finished by spreading the bedsheet and arranging the pillow, and finally pulled a neatly folded blanket out of the storage box to place beside it.
The corner of the quilt in Lu Yufei’s grip slowly loosened.
Squatting on the floor and seemingly sensing that Lu Yufei was watching him, Fu Qing spoke without even raising his head, “Get to sleep early. Stop playing on your phone all the time.”
Lu Yufei was stunned; her worry just now had been completely for nothing.
Fu Qing glanced at her, walked over to the door, and placed his hand on the light switch. “Go to sleep. I’m turning off the lights.”
Click. The lights went out.
The room plunged into darkness. Lu Yufei curled up under the quilt and rolled over to face the wall.
Rustling movements came from behind her as Fu Qing lay down as well.
After a while, she turned onto her side, pressing her face against the pillow.
The pillow still retained the scent of the original Lu Yufei’s perfume. Fu Qing had probably been sleeping on the floor ever since they moved into this rental room.
Lying in the dark with her eyes open for a moment, Lu Yufei suddenly remembered she needed to ship out those shoes tomorrow. She felt under the pillow for her phone and used a mini-program to schedule a door-to-door pickup.
Just as she was about to switch over to a tomato-growing app to brew some sleepiness, a cool voice came from beneath the bed.
“Stop looking at your phone once the lights are out.”
Silently, Lu Yufei put her phone away and closed her eyes.
Listening to the steady breathing not far away, her consciousness gradually drifted downward into sleep.
Just before dozing off, that spot in her belly stirred gently once more.
Still half-asleep, she sleepily raised a hand to touch it, thinking: You too, go to sleep.
The next morning, when Lu Yufei was awakened by her alarm, Fu Qing had already packed up his bedding and left.
On the dining table sat a cup of soy milk, two sticks of youtiao (fried dough twists), and two boiled eggs. The soy milk and youtiao must have been bought downstairs, as they were still warm. Clutching the cup of soy milk, she sat by the bed for a while.
When the delivery courier arrived at the door, she took out the Jimmy Choo shoes, wiped the soles clean with a wet wipe, tucked them back into the shoe box, and wrapped them up using some old newspaper, praying that this pair of shoes would have a smooth journey and arrive safely.
Watching the courier’s figure walk downstairs, Lu Yufei brought her hands together in front of her chest and prayed silently: Heaven, you’ve just been a little bit nice to me, so don’t make things hard for me from now on, I’m begging you. (ᯣ_ᯣ)
After shipping the shoes, she opened Xianyu to take a look. That picky buyer from last night had messaged her again, the latest text reading: “Photos really don’t show whether they’re real or fake. Can you take a clearer picture of the authenticity card number? If it’s genuine, I’ll buy it sincerely.”
Flipping the authenticity card out of the file folder, Lu Yufei turned on her phone’s flashlight and took a photo clear enough to show every single scratch, then sent it over.
She added: “Purchased at the counter, both the receipt and authenticity card are complete, and any authentication is welcome.”
The buyer replied with two words: “Paid.”
Immediately afterward, a Xianyu notification popped up: Buyer has paid, 32,000 yuan.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Lu Yufei stared at that number, raised both hands, and silently cheered toward the ceiling.
Thirty-two thousand, plus the two thousand three hundred from the Jimmy Choo shoes, and several other items still hanging unsold on Xianyu.
Roughly speaking, she was no longer a zero-income individual.
However, this wasn’t a long-term solution.
Lowering her smile, Lu Yufei flipped her phone over and rested it on her knees.
The money from selling bags could tide her over for a bit, but every item sold meant one less left, and it still wouldn’t be enough to pay off her credit card bills.
She had to figure out a way to make money.
The problem was, how?
After pondering for a long time, Lu Yufei had to face a rather reluctant conclusion: the most practical choice right now was to return to the entertainment industry.
Her face—or rather, the original owner’s face—was truly gorgeous, the kind of rare type in showbiz.
It had recognition and traffic. Though most of it was negative traffic, “infamy is still fame.”
Besides, the entertainment industry really made money fast, which was far more realistic than going out to work as an ordinary corporate slave while heavily pregnant.
Therefore, she had to return to the entertainment industry, capitalizing on whatever residual heat the original owner had left before it faded away, so she could exchange it for some cash to support herself.
Opening WeChat, she scrolled down her chat list to her manager, Sister Zhang, whose last message had stopped three months ago.
Sister Zhang: “The female lead role for the short web drama ‘Spring Deep Unknown,’ the pay is quite good. Do you want to take a look at the script?” Lu Yufei: “I don’t do short dramas, it’s beneath me. And don’t arrange any work for me either; I’ve already ‘landed ashore’ [retired from the grind].”
Back then, the original owner had just moved into Fu Qing’s villa and thought she wouldn’t ever need to work again in her life.
Taking a deep breath, Lu Yufei began typing: “Sister Zhang, it was just me being ignorant before. Now I want to come back and work hard. Send me any opportunities you have, anything at all is fine.”
Roughly a minute later, Sister Zhang called her directly.
Pressing answer, Lu Yufei hadn’t even had time to say “Hello” when Sister Zhang’s voice exploded through the phone:
“Lu Yufei, are you out of your mind? You say you’re retiring whenever you want, and you say you’re coming back whenever you want? Do you think the entertainment industry is your family’s backyard? Do you have any idea how many messes I’ve cleaned up for you over these past three months? You want to come back now—what crew would dare touch you?”
Pulling the phone two inches away from her ear, Lu Yufei waited until she finished roaring before bringing the receiver back to her mouth.
“Sister, I really need money right now.” “Who doesn’t need money? Why didn’t you think about saving money before? You spent it all on bags! Now you realize—” “I’m pregnant.”
The other end of the line fell silent for a full five seconds.
“…What did you say?” “I’m pregnant, five months along. I have to raise a child.”
Sister Zhang’s voice instantly dropped lower. “Whose?” “Fu Qing’s.” “Fu Qing?!”
Sister Zhang’s voice spiked up and then quickly flattened again. “Didn’t he go bankrupt? Where is he going to get money to raise a kid? You—are you out of your mind, Lu Yufei? Don’t you know his current situation? You’re counting on him to support the two of you?” “I didn’t expect him to go bankrupt when I first got pregnant…”
Sister Zhang fell silent for a long time before letting out a sigh.
“How are you going to work while pregnant? Do you have any idea what you’re going to look like on camera? Your reputation was already bad to begin with, and now appearing in public with a pregnant belly… Lu Yufei, have you prepared yourself mentally? Not everyone can accept an unwed pregnant female celebrity. You already attract hate; by then, there will only be even more people cursing at you.” “I know,” Lu Yufei said. “I’m ready.” “Fine, I won’t try to talk you out of it. But I honestly don’t have any ready-made resources on hand for you right now. You haven’t shown your face in three months; the industry has long since forgotten about you. Wait for my word—I’ll let you know if anything suitable comes up.” “Okay. Thanks, sister.”
Hanging up, she casually tapped open Weibo.
She wasn’t trending, but typing “Lu Yufei” into the search bar brought up real-time posts popping up one after another:
[Lu Yufei get out of the entertainment industry] [Third-rate fading star making trouble every single day] [Why hasn’t someone like this quit the industry yet?]
Scrolling through several posts, every single one was full of curses.
Each curse was phrased differently, but every single post ended with the exact same sentence: Fading star, hurry up and quit the industry already!