While waiting for her scene, Yu Shuxin received a WeChat message from Ding Yuxi.
Director Ding: “Are the potato chips working well?”
Fish Head Star: “Where did you see that? I threw them away as soon as I entered the filming area.”
Director Ding: “I was bluffing.”
Fish Head Star: “??”
Yu Shuxin wanted to cry at her own stupidity. It was all because she hadn’t slept well last night—her reactions were sluggish today.
Director Ding: “Focus on your acting. Build your career first. Once you’re a top-tier star, there’ll be plenty of good men.”
Fish Head Star: “Got it. You may take your leave now.”
Yu Shuxin didn’t argue. Her performance had indeed been off earlier—she’d messed up a simple scene several times, and Zhouchuan had to redo his takes multiple times because of her.
Yu Shuxin patted her own face and drank some American coffee to perk herself up.
“The trending topic has died down.” Xiao Yang came over to tell Yu Shuxin.
She was referring to the drone show that a passerby had filmed and posted online last night. That evening, #YuShuxinBirthdayDrones# had shot straight to number one on the trending list.
The company had bought some marketing accounts to claim it was a wealthy female fan’s doing, which managed to sweep the whole thing under the rug.
Yu Shuxin genuinely appreciated Shen Du’s measured way of handling things. She was already prone to drama and controversy; she didn’t need another label like “rejecting a wealthy heir’s marriage proposal” stuck on her.
She hadn’t yet mentioned the verbal engagement with Shen Du to her parents. Given that Old Master Shen was gravely ill, the Shen family would likely rush to find a suitable marriage alliance to maximize their interests, rather than waste time wrangling with a rebellious kid like her.
Anyway, once Shen Du got married, the engagement would automatically become void.
She pulled herself together and finished the afternoon’s scenes without a single retake.
As she was wrapping up and leaving the set, Ding Yuxi said to her, “Get some rest early tonight. I don’t want to hear Director Zhang yelling at someone on set tomorrow for constantly messing up takes.”
Pfft. Director Zhang clearly had a great temper—he’d never yell at anyone on set.
Yu Shuxin somewhat regretted opening up to Ding Yuxi yesterday. She was actually very strict about making friends, carefully dividing what topics she discussed with which friends. Most of the time, casual small talk was enough to maintain a relationship.
She’d become this cautious after entering the entertainment industry, having had the painful experience of being stabbed in the back after sharing her true feelings with someone.
She must have drunk too much yesterday to spill her heart out like that.
But Yu Shuxin wasn’t too worried about Ding Yuxi betraying her. For some reason, she always felt at ease and safe around him.
Ding Yuxi was like a big tree—when you’re tired from the journey, you can rest in its shade, pick a fruit to eat, let its canopy shield you from the sun and rain, and then continue on your way when the weather clears.
A big tree would never harm anyone.
After wrapping up, Yu Shuxin went home, switched to her own car, put on a hat and sunglasses, and went to pick up Qin Tianjiao to take her to the airport.
While waiting at a red light, Yu Shuxin chatted with her: “By the way, when are you graduating and coming back to China?”
After finishing her undergraduate degree, Qin Tianjiao had directly applied for a PhD at Stanford. Yu Shuxin had never quite understood how the direct-entry doctoral program worked.
Qin Tianjiao said calmly, “I probably won’t come back.”
“Huh?” Yu Shuxin turned her head in surprise.
Qin Tianjiao raised her left hand to show her the sparkling diamond ring on her ring finger.
“Wow, that big? How many carats?” Yu Shuxin grabbed her hand to admire it closely. Even if many people liked to criticize diamonds as a tax on stupidity, there was no denying that a stone this big on your hand looked absolutely gorgeous.
Qin Tianjiao covered her mouth with a light laugh. “8.17 carats.”
Nice—it was even her birthday. How thoughtful.
Yu Shuxin was probably a bit slow on the uptake today, because she finally remembered the most important thing. “Wait, that’s not right! Who did you get engaged to?”
Suddenly something occurred to her, and her face twisted in pain. “Don’t tell me it’s William.”
Qin Tianjiao gave a slight nod.
Yu Shuxin was almost tempted to drive the car off the overpass. Forget taking her to the airport—why bother? A disloyal best friend wasn’t worth keeping around; she could just toss her at the recycling center and get a couple of stainless steel pots in exchange.
During those years when Qin Tianjiao and William kept breaking up and getting back together, every breakup meant an international phone call to Yu Shuxin, and those calls had been enough to give Yu Shuxin full-blown PTSD from dealing with her friend’s relationship drama. She absolutely loathed getting involved in her friends’ love lives.
Qin Tianjiao, being sensible, had also long stopped mentioning William to Yu Shuxin, and Yu Shuxin had assumed the two had completely called it quits.
Yu Shuxin said irritably, “Then why did you still ask me to set up a meeting with Ding Yuxi?”
Qin Tianjiao gave a charming smile. “That’s right. If Ding Yuxi showed even the slightest bit of interest in me, I could unhesitatingly flee the wedding and come back to China. Unfortunately…”
She shook her head. “I hate that he’s as dense as a block of wood.”
Yu Shuxin clicked her tongue twice. She wasn’t entirely disgusted by Qin Tianjiao’s questionable moves. If it were anyone else, Yu Shuxin would think that person had serious character issues—getting engaged and still wanting to pursue someone else—and she’d question their integrity and keep her distance.
But when it came to Qin Tianjiao, Yu Shuxin set aside her morals and embraced a shameless life. She only warned her, “Just don’t let William find out. And let me be clear—I’m not helping you cover for this.”
Qin Tianjiao looked perfectly innocent and unbothered. “Find out what? What’s wrong with me coming back to China to celebrate a famous actress’s birthday?”
Yu Shuxin kept her left hand on the steering wheel and reached out her right hand to give Qin Tianjiao a thumbs-up right in front of her face. “Bold.”
Qin Tianjiao swatted away her unruly hand and changed the subject. “Ugh, but I do feel like Ding Yuxi might have a thing for you. Can you promise me one thing—that you won’t ever get together with him?”
Yu Shuxin rolled her eyes. “You’ve watched A Little Thing Called First Love way too many times.”
Qin Tianjiao had really loved watching A Little Thing Called First Love in her teenage years. Every time she and Yu Shuxin watched movies together and nothing good was playing, they’d rewatch A Little Thing Called First Love. Yu Shuxin could recite the plot backward and forward by now.
In A Little Thing Called First Love, after the male lead’s friend A-Tuo gets rejected by the female lead, he says to the male lead, “Can I ask you one thing? No matter what, don’t pursue Xiao Shui, okay?”
The male lead agreed to that promise, and that promise kept the two leads apart for years before they finally reunited.
Qin Tianjiao acted spoiled. “Just tell me—will you promise or not?”
Yu Shuxin said, “No. Promising something based on your baseless hunch would be way too stupid.”
Qin Tianjiao raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Yu Shuxin had no idea why she felt so guilty, but she decisively changed the subject. “You should just stay with William. Ding Yuxi probably can’t afford a diamond that big.”
Eight carats, seriously. If little Ding went out taking freelance photography gigs to earn that eight-carat ring, he’d have his shutter button smoking from all the clicking.
“Yeah, true. Too bad I just like demanding love from rich men and money from poor men.”
Qin Tianjiao extended her left hand, and the red brake lights ahead cast a flowing crimson glow over the diamond ring.
Yu Shuxin said softly, “Jiaojiao, actually, giving whatever you have is also a kind of sincerity.”
Qin Tianjiao: “Isn’t the sincerity Shen Du gives enough?”
Yu Shuxin was silent for a long time—so long that Qin Tianjiao thought she wouldn’t answer. “His sincerity came at the wrong time. Right now, I just want to focus on acting and be a good actress.”
…