“How dare you talk about deals with me here!” The woman, dressed in extravagant attire, looked down at the person standing across from her with an air of arrogance.
The woman standing opposite her was also wearing a pale white dress. At this moment, she was standing in the rain, her clothes soaked through. Her body was trembling, and as the cold wind blew past, she looked even more fragile.
Her thin lips moved slightly, and her voice trembled beyond measure: “Miss Xia, I’m not—Ah!”
Before she could finish, Miss Xia slapped her hard across the face.
The woman couldn’t withstand the force and fell sideways. Recovering her senses, she placed a hand on the side of her face that had been struck. She lifted her head slightly, and the rain fell on her face, washing away her tears.
…
“Cut! That’s a take!”
The director poked his head out from behind the monitor: “Great work, both of you!”
The moment he finished speaking, Xiao Zhao rushed over with a clean towel and wrapped it tightly around Wen Shiqing, who had just stood up.
The “rain” from earlier had also stopped, leaving only this area with a wet floor.
The woman who had been so arrogant moments ago now wore a gentle expression. She lifted her skirt and hurried over, asking, “Sister Wen, are you alright?”
Wen Shiqing smiled at her. “I’m fine. It didn’t hurt much. I’ll go change my clothes first. See you in a bit.”
They still had scenes to shoot later, so Ye Shasha smiled as well. “I have some ginger tea in my car. I’ll have my assistant bring some over for you. Have a drink—don’t catch a cold.”
Wen Shiqing thanked her warmly, then turned and walked toward the nearby RV. When she got on, clean clothes were already prepared inside.
When Wen Shiqing came out after changing, there were a few packets of instant ginger tea on the table—likely sent over by Ye Shasha’s people.
Xiao Zhao had already brewed a cup for her and asked, “Sister, would you like ginger tea or regular tea?”
Wen Shiqing thought for a moment. “I’ll have the ginger tea first.”
Even though it was already summer, she had stood under the rain in front of the camera for nearly half an hour, and her body was still feeling a bit cold.
Now that she had changed into clean clothes, she sat at the table and looked over the script for the upcoming scenes.
Xiao Zhao thoughtfully turned on a hairdryer and dried her wet hair completely, asking as she did so, “Sister, after we wrap up tomorrow, are you planning to head back to City A first or City C?”
Wen Shiqing was an actress who spent most of her time hopping between various film sets playing important supporting roles. This time, she had come to City B to help out a director she knew—the actress originally cast had backed out at the last minute.
She took a sip of the ginger tea, feeling her body warm up a little, and asked, “Has Langxing returned to City A?”
Xiao Zhao said, “Brother Zhou’s assistant hasn’t sent me any messages, so he probably hasn’t come back yet. Last time they went into the mountains, didn’t they say it would take at least a month before they came out?”
Hearing this, Wen Shiqing unlocked her phone and opened WeChat, tapping on the pinned chat. There was still no message.
Scrolling up, it was all just her sharing things.
Wen Shiqing let out a helpless sigh. This was just how it was in the acting profession—sometimes, when you went somewhere, you couldn’t even reply to a message.
She turned off her phone and set it aside.
Wen Shiqing’s inner conflict was plain for Xiao Zhao to see. She didn’t pause in blow-drying Wen Shiqing’s hair, but after a moment of hesitation, she spoke up: “By the way, sis, the actress Zhou Ge is collaborating with this time will probably be used to stir up a CP with him. I saw a few gossip accounts posting about it today.”
Wen Shiqing didn’t seem bothered: “Let them post. In this line of work, are you still bothered by fake news like that?”
Xiao Zhao hummed in acknowledgment and quickly finished drying Wen Shiqing’s hair. “Sis, I’ll go ask the director how much longer until it’s our turn. You rest for a bit—we’ve still got a long night ahead.”
With that, Xiao Zhao left the van, leaving Wen Shiqing alone inside. Her gaze fell on the script, and she flipped a couple more pages, but her mind kept drifting back to what Xiao Zhao had just said.
She unlocked her phone and opened Weibo.
After Zhou Langxing’s xianxia drama became a smash hit a few years back, he’d successfully risen to become one of the four most popular young actors of the moment.
Even the faintest rumor about him would hit the hot search in no time.
She scrolled through the trending topics and found the tag had already dropped to the bottom—looked like his agency had stepped in.
#Male actor surnamed Z and female actress surnamed L enter the same hotel#
She tapped on it, and the first post on the feed was a photo from a gossip account. The image was blurry, but anyone familiar with Zhou Langxing could recognize him at a glance.
The actress beside him was only wearing a mask, but it was still obvious who she was—Lin Yueshu, who’d been gaining some traction recently.
In the photo, Zhou Langxing was pushing open the hotel’s glass door while Lin Yueshu followed right behind him. It really did look like something was going on.
But Wen Shiqing only glanced at it before exiting Weibo and resting her head on the table for a quick nap.
She’d had scenes all day and was already exhausted.
Yet somehow, the moment she closed her eyes, all she could see was that photo.
Wen Shiqing shifted her head, burying her face in the crook of her arm, forcing the image out of her mind. The next second, her phone buzzed, the screen lighting up.
She sat up, unlocked her phone, and checked.
Her pinned contact had replied.
【Z: Babe, are you off set yet?】
Wen Shiqing replied that she was, and a video call came through immediately.
She answered, and the screen was filled with Zhou Langxing’s face. He was also in his van, wearing a black costume with makeup scars on his face—the typical battle-worn look for period dramas.
When he saw Wen Shiqing, he smiled: “Babe, I miss you so much.”
Wen Shiqing couldn’t help the corners of her mouth turning up: “I’m wrapping up tomorrow. Want me to come visit you on set?”
But Zhou Langxing shook his head: “It’s out in the middle of nowhere here—cars can’t get up, you’d have to ride in on a villager’s three-wheeler. You just finished filming, don’t bother with the hassle. Besides, I’ve only got another week of shooting, then I’m heading back.”
Wen Shiqing’s eyes lit up: “Really?”
Zhou Langxing saw her expression and chuckled softly: “Really. Isn’t next Saturday your birthday? I already asked the director for time off. I’m pushing through these next couple of days to finish up, then I’ll come back to be with you on Saturday.”
Wen Shiqing immediately felt a pang of worry: “Don’t push yourself too hard.”
Zhou Langxing said, “For the chance to see you, what’s a little extra effort?”
A warm current flowed through Wen Shiqing’s heart. She was about to say something when she heard Zhou Langxing’s assistant on the other end: “Zhou Ge, the director’s calling for you.”
Zhou Langxing acknowledged with a sound, then looked back at his phone screen, reluctant to hang up. “Baby, get some rest early. I need to get back to work.”
Wen Shiqing nodded. “Go ahead.”
The call ended. Wen Shiqing glanced at their call duration—just a brief minute and a half. Yet in that short span, she felt an overwhelming sense of reassurance.
Wen Shiqing rested her head on the desk again, and this time, for some reason, she felt noticeably more at ease.
She still held her phone in her hand. She and Zhou Langxing had been together for nearly five years now. Although their relationship wasn’t public, it wasn’t exactly a secret within their circle.
Wen Shiqing thought back to the photo from earlier and couldn’t help but curl her lips into a faint smile.
She really must be exhausted, letting her mind wander like that.
Such an absurd piece of entertainment gossip had managed to occupy her thoughts—she was practically regressing with each passing day.