On the spacious terrace, several strings of warmly glowing star lights hung, faintly illuminating Xiang Qichen’s clear outline, while the bright lights in the corridor behind him elongated his shadow.
In this night, Zhou Huaiyi only saw him leisurely leaning against the door, his fluffy short hair falling across his eyebrows, and those eyes seemed to hide a galaxy, bright yet unfathomable.
Xiang Qichen gave an almost imperceptible upwards tilt of his mouth, scratched his ear with a half-smile, and said, "Your crying..." He paused, feigning contemplation for a second, "is quite attention-grabbing."
Zhou Huaiyi awkwardly didn’t know where to place her hands, scratching her head with a dry laugh, and said, "...It’s okay."
The air suddenly fell silent, although it was July, Zhou Huaiyi felt as if she was on an icy river, feeling extremely awkward.
"Zhou Huaiyi," he suddenly called out, his warm and deep voice instantly breaking the tension, "Don’t worry too much, just do what you should do."
Zhou Huaiyi felt a little lost at once; she stood on tiptoe but didn’t dare to move forward, only smiling at him appreciatively and gratefully, "Mm, I understand, thank you."
Xiang Qichen raised his eyebrows imperceptibly, nodded slightly, and turned to walk into the room.
Seeing his handsome back, Zhou Huaiyi couldn’t hold back and ran a few steps forward, holding the door frame, yelling, "Xiang Qichen, actually, I like you too."
The words slipped out, and Zhou Huaiyi regretted it bitterly, biting her lower lip, cursing herself for her quick tongue.
Xiang Qichen stopped, turned around to look at her, with slight ripples in his heart, yet his face remained as calm as ever.
Noticing this, Zhou Huaiyi hurriedly tried to cover up, saying, "What I mean is... I’m actually your fan too."
To not appear guilty, Zhou Huaiyi flashed a smile, revealing two rows of neat white teeth, and her round almond eyes curved into crescents. This lively, clear look made Xiang Qichen’s ears slightly warm, feeling quite embarrassed.
He covered his lips with a light cough, his face unchanged, collected his expression, and turned back to unlock and enter the room without saying a word.
Σ（?д?lll）
Zhou Huaiyi suddenly felt like she was smiling like a fool.
She slowly pursed her lips, belatedly turning her head to look at the door of Xiang Qichen’s room, stomping her foot heavily, internally asking: Did my idol just... call my name!???
After coming out of the shower back in the room, Liang Lufei was still not back. Zhou Huaiyi glanced at Liang Lufei’s crumpled blanket, wiping her hair while heading to her bed, grabbing her phone and lying down.
With the air conditioning on, it was cool and comfortable, making Zhou Huaiyi feel especially snug. She slid open her lock screen and went straight to Xiang Qichen’s Weibo page almost out of habit.
As always, it was full of unchanged endorsement ads, with no personal touch in the official content. Even his recent selfies were pathetically few.
Since the TV drama "Strings of Your Heart" gained him countless fans, Xiang Qichen’s endorsement deals had multiplied several times over. After that, it was either filming or attending promotional events. Such a busy work schedule probably left him with barely enough time to rest, let alone browse Weibo.
Over time, his only public social media account was likely managed by his agent.
Zhou Huaiyi scrolled down with her thumb, seeing that the latest Weibo was still an ad from a week ago. She sighed lightly, exited the page, and opened WeChat to post a private update.
After finishing a line and saving it, a card-swipe sound was heard outside. Liang Lufei dragged her tired body all the way to the bed and flopped down, complaining, "I’m going to... die from exhaustion..."
Zhou Huaiyi smiled, rolling into the blanket and said, "Weren’t you out for dinner?"
Liang Lufei turned her face to look at her, gritting her teeth, "It was dinner that tired me out. That Zhang Yuan is really hard to please!"
Hearing this name, Zhou Huaiyi paused, staying silent.
"Initially, we all agreed to grab some skewers at the roadside stand, but Miss Zhang Yuan found roadside stands too dirty, low-class, too low, and downright refused to sit." Liang Lufei hugged a throw pillow to her chest, "The director saw her attitude, and since she brought her backing into the crew, couldn’t say much. Jiang Wei, fearing the atmosphere would get awkward, tried to persuade her. Do you know what she said?"
Zhou Huaiyi: "What did she say?"
"She said..." Liang Lufei sat up, crossing her arms and imitating Zhang Yuan’s arrogant demeanor and tone at the time, "Forget it, Teacher Jiang, dining in such a low-end place only devalues people... Damn it! Does Zhang Yuan think she’s all that? Can she match Jiang Wei, a top actress with annual income from films and endorsements? Does she really think having some backing means she’s the Queen Mother?" Liang Lufei’s face turned all sorts of colors — red one moment, green the next, "You don’t know how embarrassed Jiang Wei looked at the time! I regret not recording her expression; if that went online, let’s see if anyone still calls her pure, hmph!"
"..." Zhou Huaiyi couldn’t help but laugh, handing the bottle of mineral water from the bedside to Liang Lufei, "Have some water, cool off, cool off."
Liang Lufei, mimicking an angry snort, twisted off the cap and took a big gulp, then looked at Zhou Huaiyi’s face, and softened her tone, "I heard Zhang Yuan caused you trouble today?"
Zhou Huaiyi lowered her gaze, nodding.
Seeing her looking downcast, Liang Lufei quickly comforted her, "Don’t mind her; that Queen Mother attitude is for whom? She even complained that I was clumsy while doing her makeup today. Anyway, in the whole world, she’s the only one with a mouth."
Zhou Huaiyi shook her head with a serious look, "Don’t argue with fools, I understand that!"
Liang Lufei almost spat out the water in her mouth, patting Zhou Huaiyi’s shoulder, unable to stop laughing.