Wen Shiqing was taken aback when she saw the name—Fu Huaiye had actually come back.
The last time she’d seen his name trending was earlier this year when he won Best Actor. Back then, Weibo had exploded for days, with everyone saying he was the first male actor so young to be on the verge of achieving the Grand Slam.
His fans had been in a frenzy, though he himself stayed quite low-key—after posting a single thank-you message to his fans, he’d gone silent. Word had it he’d gone abroad for further study.
Wen Shiqing tapped into the topic and saw that the first post on the feed was a fan-sighting photo posted by one of Fu Huaiye’s fans.
【AHHHHH!!! On my way home from work, I brushed past someone who looked familiar, and then I realized it was FU HUAIYE!!!! This guy!!! Sneakily came back from his studies!!! AHHHH! Everyone come look at this young campus hottie!!】
The sighting photo she’d attached was also just a back view. He was wearing a loose white T-shirt and washed denim jeans, with a dog walking close by his leg.
The streetlight stretched his shadow out long and thin, and he looked completely at ease.
That post already had tens of thousands of reposts and comments—a testament to Fu Huaiye’s pulling power.
Wen Shiqing glanced at the scenery in the photo. It was by the river—the same riverside she passed every time she went out and came back home, it seemed.
She paused for a moment, then couldn’t help raising an eyebrow.
Really, why was she concerning herself with this out of nowhere?
Wen Shiqing tossed her phone aside and went to take a shower.
The next day.
Wen Shiqing slept all the way until ten in the morning. When she woke up, she felt like a completely different person—on set, even getting six hours of sleep was considered a luxury when they were rushing to meet deadlines.
She got out of bed; Xiao Zhao had already left.
These two days were Wen Shiqing’s days off, hers to spend however she pleased.
She’d thought about ordering a salad, but it didn’t seem all that appealing, so she simply got herself ready and headed out.
Her birthday was coming up, which meant her five-year anniversary with Zhou Langxing was also approaching.
Time really flew—five years had passed in the blink of an eye.
Last time, for their fourth anniversary, she’d been on set and they’d celebrated over a video call. This time, for their fifth, she wanted to spend it with Zhou Langxing in person.
Wen Shiqing bundled herself up in full disguise and entered the mall. It was a weekday, so there weren’t many people around at this hour, which made things convenient for her.
The mall was close to her home, and she knew it well. She navigated her way to a steakhouse with ease, ordered a steak, and found a seat.
Once seated, she looked outside and happened to see a young couple walking past the glass window, hand in hand, sharing an ice cream between them. They looked sweet and happy.
On a whim, Wen Shiqing pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of their retreating figures, then lowered her head and sent it to Zhou Langxing.
【TVT I want ice cream too.】
Zhou Langxing was probably filming right now, so he didn’t reply.
A hint of disappointment crept into Wen Shiqing’s heart. Their jobs were like this—even though they lived in the same time zone, their schedules never seemed to align.
She let out a sigh, just as her steak arrived.
Wen Shiqing thanked the server, then picked up her phone and took another photo. This time, she didn’t send it to Zhou Langxing—instead, she logged into her main Weibo account.
【Ding~ It’s some delicious steak!】
Although Wen Shiqing had only been playing supporting roles in recent years, she had still accumulated quite a few fans. Eating while scrolling through the fan messages she hadn’t finished reading before, this meal turned out to be quite entertaining.
After eating and drinking her fill, Wen Shiqing wrapped herself up tightly again, planning to go home and laze around for a while longer. She was walking out with her head down when she bumped straight into someone coming in.
She quickly stepped back, her footing faltering for a moment, and her whole body began to tip backward.
Just as Wen Shiqing thought she was about to take another clumsy fall, someone steadied her by the arm.
“Careful.” The other person’s voice sounded a bit muffled. Wen Shiqing instinctively looked up and saw that the person who had caught her was a man—also wrapped up very securely, looking somewhat like a fellow industry insider.
Wen Shiqing steadied herself, then lowered her head and apologized, “Sorry, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” The man withdrew his hand and stepped to the side, making way for her.
Seeing this, Wen Shiqing thanked him and hurried out of the restaurant. Once she was a little farther away, she glanced back and saw that the man had sat down in the very seat she had just occupied.
Wen Shiqing felt that the man looked somewhat familiar, but she quickly dismissed the thought.
She wasn’t in a hurry to go home. Instead, she strolled leisurely, realizing she hadn’t had this much free time in a long while. She felt as though her whole being had been elevated.
She looked around left and right and spotted a newly opened bridal shop with her sharp eyes.
Wen Shiqing stood outside the display window, looking at the wedding dress hanging inside. It was very princess-like and very beautiful. Looking at the dress, she thought of Zhou Langxing again.
Zhou Langxing had once told her that once he won the Best Actor award, he would propose with the trophy. Over the past two years, he had been nominated several times but always fell just short.
She let out a soft sigh, took two more glances at the wedding dress in the window, and then turned and left.
Wen Shiqing enjoyed two nice days of rest and managed to get her sleep schedule back on track.
Early in the morning, she received a call from Xiao Zhao, asking her to come back to the company to take a look at upcoming scripts.
By the time Wen Shiqing drove to the company, Xiao Zhao had just stepped out of a meeting. She ushered Wen Shiqing into Sister Jin’s office and said, “Today Sister Jin is taking a few artists to an offline exhibition and won’t be back until the afternoon. She said to have you look through these scripts first and pick one you like, so she can go negotiate.”
Xiao Zhao patted a stack of scripts. “Short dramas have surged this year, and a few scripts have come in too. They’re all here.”
Short dramas didn’t take long to film, but the pay was fairly decent, so when a suitable short drama script came along, many artists were willing to give it a try.
Sister Jin had probably realized that Wen Shiqing wasn’t keen on taking intimate scenes and had started finding a way around it.
Wen Shiqing nodded. “Alright, I’ll take a look then.”
Xiao Zhao hummed in acknowledgment. “I’ll go get busy, sis. Call me if you need anything. Oh, by the way, how about we go try that newly opened hotpot place for lunch? I heard from other colleagues that it’s really good.”
Since Wen Shiqing was currently on break, she wasn’t as strict about her diet as she was during filming. She could still indulge in hotpot or spicy malatang occasionally.
“Sure,” Wen Shiqing said. “You handle the arrangements. I’ll treat.”
Xiao Zhao’s eyes curved into a smile. “Thanks, sis.”
After Xiao Zhao left, Sister Jin’s office fell quiet. Wen Shiqing sat down on the sofa and casually picked up a script.
A whole morning passed like that, and by the time Xiao Zhao returned to the office, Wen Shiqing had already gone through a large pile.
Xiao Zhao said, “Sister, reading that fast?”
Wen Shiqing replied, “There wasn’t much to begin with.”
Short drama scripts were naturally short to begin with, and for TV dramas, usually only the first five or ten episodes’ worth of content would be sent over, so it wasn’t surprising that she was reading quickly.
But Wen Shiqing had spent the whole morning reading and still hadn’t found a single script she liked.
Xiao Zhao could tell as much.
She hesitated for a moment before saying, “Sister, actually, there’s one more script.”
Wen Shiqing looked at her, and saw Xiao Zhao pull out a script from the very bottom of the large stack.
“This one is a film script. Sister Jin and I have both read it, and we think it’s absolutely perfect for you—you’d definitely love it once you read it. But you’ve been unwilling to take on female lead roles.” There were many times Xiao Zhao wanted to say that there were plenty of celebrity couples in the industry who kept work separate from personal life.
Even Zhou Langxing, who had been doing one drama after another these past few years, had filmed plenty of intimate scenes.
Why was it that he didn’t stay chaste for Wen Shiqing, yet she was the one who had to confine her own career choices?
Upon hearing this, Wen Shiqing took the script: “Project 001? Why doesn’t this script have a title?”
Xiao Zhao smiled. “It’s a high-confidentiality project. Sister Jin heard that the male lead for this film will be a very big-name actor.”
Wen Shiqing was puzzled. “If that’s the case, shouldn’t this script be in high demand?”
How did it end up in her hands?