Wen Shiqing finished filming in the afternoon. After taking photos and saying goodbye to everyone in the crew one by one, she set off back to City A.
At eleven o’clock deep in the night, the plane landed on time at City A’s airport.
The climate in City A was somewhat hotter than in City B. It was only mid-April, yet when the heat waves hit her face with the wind, she couldn’t help but wonder.
Is this spring or summer?
But for Wen Shiqing, it didn’t dampen her good mood.
Zhou Langxing was coming back next week to celebrate her birthday with her. Just thinking about it made Wen Shiqing unable to contain her happiness. Zhou Langxing’s work schedule had been packed this year—several crews were waiting on him, along with variety show interviews and other promotional commitments following his dramas’ releases. He’d been busy nonstop since before the New Year.
The two of them spent more time apart than together, and even when they were together, it was just a quick meal before hurriedly parting ways again.
What couple in this world was like them?
Wen Shiqing had actually visited him on set a few times, but every time she went, he was busy. They’d meet, exchange a few words, and that would be the end of it. Later, she started joining her own crews and gave up on that idea.
This birthday, he’d probably only stay for two days before leaving again. But that was still good—at least they could sit down properly, catch up on each other’s recent work, and share a meal.
Wen Shiqing was easily satisfied. She turned her head and asked, “Do I have any work next week?”
Xiao Zhao was sitting on the other side, texting their manager to confirm they’d landed safely. Hearing Wen Shiqing’s question, she pulled out the schedule again and looked it over before saying, “Not for now. Sister Jin said to let you rest for a couple of days first. But some scripts have been sent over.”
Xiao Zhao paused here, then asked, “Sis, are you still going to turn down the female lead scripts?”
She also turned her head to look at Wen Shiqing. To be fair, she thought Wen Shiqing was the most beautiful female artist she had ever seen.
Her face was small, to say nothing of her extremely delicate features—especially those eyes. They were a perfect pair of peach blossom eyes, and when she looked at people, there was always a hint of tenderness in them.
Her figure went without saying—curves in all the right places, with a slender waist. Back before she even debuted, she’d gone viral across social apps with a single qipao photo, accumulating a large fanbase of people who appreciated her looks.
Xiao Zhao hadn’t joined the company back then. By the time she did, Wen Shiqing was already filming, so she followed her around to sets. But as time went on, she always felt something was off.
Wen Shiqing was beautiful and a talented actress, yet she kept circling around supporting roles. Sometimes she’d go film something, and the final cut would only have her in it for a dozen or so seconds.
To Xiao Zhao, it was a complete waste of her potential.
Xiao Zhao had even asked Sister Jin about it later—why didn’t the company promote Wen Shiqing? Sister Jin told her it was a condition Wen Shiqing had attached when she signed her contract.
She didn’t take intimate scenes.
That one point alone was enough to shut the door on her chances at lead roles, even strangling idol dramas in the cradle. She also had absolute say in which roles she took—if she didn’t want to do something, the company couldn’t do a thing about it.
Xiao Zhao had asked why, but what else could it be for?
For love. For Zhou Langxing!
She and Zhou Langxing had been high school classmates. Back then, Zhou Langxing had pursued Wen Shiqing with everything he had. After finally winning her over and the two of them started dating, Zhou Langxing—thanks to his good looks—was signed by an agency as an actor before he even graduated high school.
The two of them had agreed to make a name for themselves in this industry together—except now, Zhou Langxing had made it, and Wen Shiqing hadn’t.
Xiao Zhao couldn’t help but think back to the paparazzi photo she’d seen. She’d even looked up the cast of Zhou Langxing’s drama afterward and found that Lin Yueshu’s name wasn’t among them.
Which meant she wasn’t in it. She was still debating whether to bring it up with Wen Shiqing when the car came to a smooth stop in the community’s underground garage.
They’d arrived at Wen Shiqing’s place.
Wen Shiqing looked at Xiao Zhao. “It’s late tonight. Why don’t you just stay over at my place?”
Xiao Zhao looked back at Wen Shiqing and nodded. “Sure.”
The driver helped carry the luggage upstairs and left. This wasn’t Xiao Zhao’s first time staying here—she knew the place like the back of her hand, grabbing her clothes and taking a nice, comfortable shower.
When she came out, she heard Wen Shiqing on the phone with Zhou Langxing.
Zhou Langxing had gotten off work early today and was already washed up by now.
He looked at Wen Shiqing, smiling tenderly. “Baby, you’ve lost weight. When you get back in a few days, I’ll have Auntie make you some nourishing soup for a few days to help you recover.”
Wen Shiqing touched her own chin. She’d gone this time as a last-minute fill-in, so the filming pressure was heavier than usual. Sometimes she’d get so caught up in shooting that she forgot to eat—burning more while consuming less, so naturally she’d shed quite a few pounds.
She pouted playfully. “Being a little thinner looks better on camera.”
“Looking good is one thing, but you can’t sacrifice your health for it. You have no work these next few days, so get some proper rest and don’t push yourself too hard.” Zhou Langxing chuckled. “I can afford to take care of you, you know.”
Wen Shiqing just lowered her head and smiled, then looked up again. “If you want to support me, you’ll need to work even harder—I’m a big spender, after all.”
“What’s that got to do with anything? Isn’t all this hard work I put into filming for our future together?” Zhou Langxing said seriously. “It’s just that sometimes I get so busy with work that I can’t be there for you.”
He let out a sigh. “Baby, I feel guilty toward you.”
Wen Shiqing shook her head. “Guilty about what? As long as we live our lives well together, that’s all that matters.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a doorbell ring on the other end. Puzzled, she asked, “It’s this late—who’s coming to see you?”
Zhou Langxing said, “The male lead’s second-in-our cast. Tomorrow I have an explosive scene with him, and he told me this afternoon he’d come over after wrapping to run lines with me and get a feel for tomorrow.”
Wen Shiqing gave a flat “Oh.” “Alright then, go get to it. Sleep early. I’m going to shower and turn in too.”
Zhou Langxing nodded, then added, “I’ll transfer you some money in a bit. Tomorrow, go shopping with Xiao Zhao and pick up some new pieces. Let Xiao Zhao pick something out too—she’s worked hard taking care of you this whole time. I’ll cover everything.”
Wen Shiqing gave an OK sign. “Will do!”
The two hung up laughing. Wen Shiqing rubbed her face, set her phone aside, and got up from the couch.
She turned her head and saw Xiao Zhao standing hesitantly at the corner.
She smiled. “What are you doing, standing there like you’re being punished?”
Xiao Zhao wiped at her hair, and in the end, swallowed back the words she’d wanted to say. She said, “I was going to call you for your shower, but I saw you were on a video call, so I didn’t want to interrupt.”
Xiao Zhao knew Wen Shiqing’s relationship status better than anyone.
She thought, I must be overthinking it.
Zhou Langxing probably wasn’t the type to betray someone.
Wen Shiqing stood up and stretched. “Alright, you get some sleep early. I’m going to take a shower and turn in too.”
The day had been packed—wrapping up filming, then catching a flight back to City A. Wen Shiqing felt her body stretched to its limit.
Yawn after yawn.
She grabbed her phone and headed into the bathroom, opening Weibo along the way to check if there was any entertainment news today.
But she never expected that the first thing she’d see at the top of the trending list was a familiar name.
#Fu Huaiye is back!#