Xiao Feng sat down stiffly, his limbs moving awkwardly, his peripheral vision still fixed on Wen Shiqing, as if trying to find something in her expression.
But clearly, there was nothing.
Wen Shiqing was perfectly calm. She had only raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing Xiao Feng’s news, and then her expression remained gentle throughout.
That was a little frightening.
Xiao Feng mused to himself, but he could only steel himself and get through this meal.
Wen Shiqing noticed his unease and said helplessly, “What are you nervous about? It’s not like he could control being called over by the director. During work hours, work naturally comes first. I wasn’t planning on having lunch with him today anyway.”
It was just that, for certain reasons, since he wasn’t there, they could talk another time.
Xiao Feng’s expression relaxed considerably. He said, “Brother Zhou really wanted to come too, but there’s no helping it. Those of us in this line of work all know—once you’re on set, there’s a mountain of things waiting to be dealt with.”
Wen Shiqing smiled as well. “That’s true.”
She looked at the table full of dishes. “Don’t just sit there, let’s eat first.”
Only then did Xiao Feng pick up his chopsticks. Xiao Zhao, sitting to the side, glanced at Wen Shiqing, then at Xiao Feng, and quietly began eating as well.
From her years of knowing Wen Shiqing, she could tell that her mood was probably pretty bad right now.
But this matter—she really didn’t know how to bring it up to comfort her. It was work-related after all…
Xiao Zhao let out a sigh. The entertainment industry—that’s just how it was.
She took out her phone, planning to scroll around and see if there was anything suitable to talk about.
Unexpectedly, the moment she opened Weibo, she saw that trending topic sitting high on the hot search list.
Rising young actress pregnant.
Xiao Zhao said, “Whoa, the entertainment circle’s got another new baby.”
The moment she finished speaking, Xiao Feng choked on his water. His face turned to the side as he coughed violently, startling both Wen Shiqing and Xiao Zhao.
Xiao Zhao handed him a glass of water and pulled out some tissues for him, saying, “Why are you so worked up?”
Xiao Feng covered his mouth with the tissue, coughing several more muffled times before taking a small sip of water. Only then did the feeling of coughing his lungs out finally subside.
Wen Shiqing looked up. Xiao Feng’s entire face was flushed red from coughing. He said, “No, it’s nothing—just got choked, that’s all.”
Xiao Zhao didn’t press further. Instead, she continued scrolling through the hot search, muttering, “Some people are even saying you’re pregnant, sis. Are they blind or what?”
Wen Shiqing shrugged. “Who knows.”
Niu Dachui hadn’t revealed any specific person, so netizens naturally had to use the clues he provided to guess. Since it was all speculation anyway, they’d naturally drag a whole bunch of people into it.
“…Lin Yueshu.” Xiao Zhao read out another name. “She should be filming on set right now, shouldn’t she?”
As she spoke, Xiao Zhao turned her gaze back to Xiao Feng. Xiao Feng took another sip of water. “Yeah, she came by to guest star in a role—filling in for a vacancy.”
Xiao Zhao let out an “oh” and scrolled through a huge pile of posts, but couldn’t figure anything out. Whoever it was, they were hiding it pretty deep.
Xiao Feng spoke up at that moment. “There’s nothing worth looking at in these kinds of leaks. Sometimes they hype it up like it’s the biggest news in the world, and then when the reveal comes, nobody’s career actually collapses. It’s all just for traffic.”
Wen Shiqing rarely agreed with him. “That’s true.”
Xiao Zhao set her phone aside. “Yeah, some things really can’t be judged by appearances, especially in our circle. You can know a person’s face but not their heart. Some people might seem perfectly fine on the surface, but they’re actually rotten to the core.”
Xiao Feng ate his meal in silence, not daring to say another word. No matter what he said, it felt like he was hinting at someone, something.
After the meal, Xiao Feng dutifully escorted them to the high-speed rail station. Only after watching them enter did he let out a sigh of relief and turn toward the parking garage.
As he walked, he called Zhou Langxing.
The call connected quickly. Xiao Feng said, “Bro, they’ve already entered the station.”
But there was no immediate response on the other end.
Xiao Feng moved the phone away from his ear and glanced at the call screen. Everything looked fine.
He put it back to his ear. “Bro?”
Then the voice on the other end finally spoke. “Got it.”
It was a woman’s voice.
Xiao Feng’s palms began to sweat. Instinctively, he turned to look back at the station entrance. There was no one behind him. That settled his heart back into place, and he said hurriedly, “I’m heading back now.”
The other party hummed in acknowledgment and hung up.
The line went dead with a beep. Xiao Feng put his phone back in his pocket. The station was bustling with people, and the air conditioning was blasting, but Xiao Feng shivered, feeling like he’d broken out in more cold sweat than he should have.
High-speed rail waiting area.
No matter which station you’re at, seats are always the hardest to find. Their train wasn’t departing for another hour and a half, and after searching for a while, Xiao Zhao finally found two seats and sat down.
She handed a bottle of water to Wen Shiqing, who was still wearing her mask. Wen Shiqing shook her head. “No thanks.”
With so many people around, she didn’t dare take it off.
Xiao Zhao twisted open the cap and took a sip herself. “Sis, Sister Jin told me there’s a brand collaboration shoot the day after tomorrow. She wants you to stay in good shape these next couple of days.”
Wen Shiqing hummed in acknowledgment. “Okay.”
Xiao Zhao took out her phone again, replied to Sister Jin’s message, and casually opened her Moments feed.
The first post was from her friend, sharing a group photo along with some snippets of daily life. Since she had nothing better to do, she tapped to browse through it—and spotted someone she never expected to see.
…She might have just stumbled onto something huge.
Xiao Zhao held her phone up in front of Wen Shiqing. Wen Shiqing looked at her, puzzled. “What’s wrong?”
“Look! Look!” Xiao Zhao pointed excitedly at the girl in the photo with her friend.
Wen Shiqing looked over, confused. The girl seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place where she’d seen her before. Xiao Zhao took several deep breaths, then leaned in and reminded her, “We saw her at the restaurant yesterday when we were having dinner.”
At that, Wen Shiqing remembered too. But what was there to get so worked up about?
Before she could react, Xiao Zhao lowered her voice and said, “Remember how I told you yesterday that she looked familiar, like I’d seen her somewhere before?”
Wen Shiqing nodded. “I thought she looked familiar too.”
Xiao Zhao snapped her fingers. “She’s Lin Yueshu’s personal assistant.”
Lin Yueshu?!
With that name, it all clicked for Wen Shiqing. Yesterday, while she was waiting at the set for Xiao Feng to drive over, the person holding an umbrella beside Lin Yueshu—that was her!
“So…” Wen Shiqing began to piece together other details as well.
She exchanged a glance with Xiao Zhao, who nodded vigorously—they were thinking the exact same thing!
They had both heard clearly what came through that server’s walkie-talkie earlier:
【Are there any more sour fruits? There’s a pregnant woman who wants some.】
And at that time, only this one person had been ordering.
Xiao Zhao drew in a sharp breath: “She’s also…”
She couldn’t find the right words to describe it. Lin Yueshu had indeed risen to fame through a xianxia drama, and she was indeed at the peak of her popularity—the top of the Four Great Flowers of the 00s generation. If this got out, the fans would probably go insane.
Wen Shiqing picked up where she left off: “Whoever it is, we respect their choice.”
She added after a moment: “This is just our speculation. Don’t spread it around.”
Even the tiniest thing about a celebrity could stir up a storm of blood and thunder; something this big absolutely could not be spoken of.
Xiao Zhao silently made a lip-sealing gesture: “Don’t worry, sis. I won’t even tell Sister Jin. It’ll just stay between us.”
Still, she secretly gave her friend a like on her post.
Good friend—truly worthy of being her good friend!
The two returned to City A, where the company’s chauffeured van was already waiting.
The driver first took them back to Wen Shiqing’s place as usual. Xiao Zhao helped Wen Shiqing tidy up a bit, then, seeing it was still early, took her leave.
After soaking in a bath, Wen Shiqing found herself alone in the house.
She blow-dried her hair and found herself with nothing to do for the moment.
How lonely.
She curled up on the sofa. She had work the day after tomorrow, so starting tonight she wouldn’t eat dinner—she didn’t want her face to look puffy when filming.
“Ding—”
“Ding—”
A video call popped up on her WeChat. Wen Shiqing glanced at it, and when she saw who was calling, her eyes curved into a smile as she answered.
“Hey there, my darling!”
On the video, a woman in a bikini waved at the camera in greeting, then flipped the view—the screen showed a stretch of ocean.
And meeting the sea was a pinkish-purple sunset.
So beautiful.
Even more beautiful than what she’d seen in City S.
The woman in the video asked: “Sweetie, is it pretty?”
Wen Shiqing curved her lips: “Gorgeous!”
The video switched back to selfie mode, and the woman’s smiling face filled the screen. Wen Shiqing said: “My dear Miss Gu, when are you coming back to City A?”
Gu Ningshui said cheerfully: “Maybe another half month or so? My trip’s only just begun!”
“That’s so nice.” Wen Shiqing’s gaze was gentle. “I want to travel too.”
Gu Ningshui said: “Come on then! You’re not in a production yet anyway—let’s travel the world together!”
Wen Shiqing pouted: “Not in a production, sure, but I’ve got a bunch of scattered little jobs here and there.”
“You should be like my cousin. Look at him—as long as he’s not filming, he’s running around all over the place… Oh, right, my cousin’s back in City A. Have you two met up?”
Wen Shiqing thought of those photos she’d seen and, for once, teased: “We met.”
Gu Ningshui let out a “Whoa,” but before she could say anything else, she heard Wen Shiqing add: “Met on Weibo.”
“…” Gu Ningshui was momentarily choked.
Fine, fine. “Met on Weibo,” huh.