Jiang Zhen paused, her expression clouding with a hint of gloom.
“Besides, there are no more segments that require me to be on camera,” Jiang Yin said, turning her head and waving her phone. “The supervisor said I can collect my stipend and leave now.”
“You are leaving so soon?” Jiang Zhen asked in surprise, a flash of disappointment crossing her eyes.
Jiang Yin suddenly stopped walking. Her pace was slightly faster than Jiang Zhen’s, placing her one step lower on the staircase. Standing at different heights, they faced each other.
Jiang Yin looked up at Jiang Zhen and spoke with a very serious expression. “If Sister Zhenzhen wants me to stay and keep you company, I will not leave.”
For some reason, despite it being a common and ordinary sentence, Jiang Yin’s heart rate suddenly accelerated as she spoke. She was anticipating an affirmative answer.
As for Jiang Zhen, she felt an equal sense of tension. This was a normal exchange that often occurred between sisters, yet in her ears, it seemed to carry a trace of hidden intimacy.
She felt herself part her lips to answer Jiang Yin’s question with a voice full of cheerful laughter.
“If you can stay with me, that would of course be for the best.”
After collecting her stipend for the day from the supervisor, Little Sister Li, Jiang Yin followed Song Xi and the others to a new filming location inside the hospital.
Before the filming began, Liu Yin patted Jiang Yin on the shoulder and handed her a boxed lunch.
“Eat something. Even though you are no longer on camera, if you wait for Jiang Zhen to finish filming, it will take at least the rest of the afternoon.”
Jiang Yin did not decline. After accepting the meal, she silently tucked herself into a corner to fill her stomach. Halfway through her meal, she remembered that Jiang Zhen had not eaten lunch either.
However, based on what Jiang Zhen had said before, she would likely wait until today’s filming ended before eating a small portion of boiled green vegetables and fruit.
Jiang Yin packed away her things and looked up at Jiang Zhen, who was currently getting her makeup touched up. To look good on camera and to prevent fans from worrying or giving anti-fans any opportunities, Jiang Zhen had removed the gauze wrapped around her knees. She had even used a light-colored concealer to cover several of the deeper wounds.
This practice was undoubtedly incorrect. Fortunately, she was young and her body healed quickly, so the wounds had mostly scabbed over. Otherwise, Song Xi would never have allowed her to do this.
Under the fill lights, the girl arranging her hair seemed to sense a gaze upon her. Once the makeup artist finished the touch-up, Jiang Zhen turned her head toward Jiang Yin sitting in the corner. As if by some kind of telepathy, she located the person hiding behind the equipment and the crowd almost instantly. She met Jiang Yin’s eyes and let out a wide smile.
It was a thousand times more moving than a smile on a screen because, at this moment, Jiang Zhen was standing vividly right before her.
By the time Jiang Yin returned to the dormitory, it was just past nine o’clock. Work had actually finished at eight, but as Jiang Yin was preparing to return, she was called away by Song Xi and the others to have dinner together, making her a bit late.
On typical Friday nights, the other three people in the dormitory were often out at the library or meeting friends. Tonight, however, they were all crouched in the dorm, staring at Jiang Yin and her backpack with eyes like hungry wolves.
“Are there signed photos in the bag? Quick, let me see!” Before Jiang Yin could even speak, Lin Shu had already rushed forward impatiently to help Jiang Yin set down her backpack.
“They are in the second compartment,” Jiang Yin said, looking at the three of them helplessly. “Two for each person, and they have your names on them.”
“Ah!” Lin Shu quickly pulled out her two signed photos and shouted excitedly. “Jiang Jiang! I declare that from today on, you are our queen! These are even personalized. How did you do it?”
The other two also nodded happily. The three of them rushed forward to surround Jiang Yin, waiting expectantly for her to recount the experiences of the day.
“Could you…” Jiang Yin asked with some difficulty, “let me wash up first?”
“Of course!” The three of them simultaneously made a gesture of invitation. “Her Majesty the Queen, please command us as you wish.”
Jiang Yin could not help but chuckle as she walked through the wide path the three had cleared for her and disappeared into the bathroom.
While waiting for her to come out, Ji Xiaoning began scrolling through Weibo.
“Someone posted leaked photos from the shoot today.” As soon as she said this, two heads immediately leaned in toward her.
“Look, are these Jiang Zhen and Shen Ningzhao?” Ji Xiaoning asked the other two as she zoomed in on the picture on her phone.
“It is them,” Xu Yao nodded. “Hey, why does this person next to them look so familiar?”
“It is Jiang Yin,” Lin Shu zoomed in a bit more. “It is her!” After looking at the photo, she suddenly realized something. “Wait, is she not wearing the clothes we picked out for her?”
When Jiang Yin finally came out, she was no longer greeted with anticipation. Instead, the three of them stood with their arms crossed, staring at her with judgmental gazes.
“Confess. Why did you put that big white short-sleeved shirt on again?” Lin Shu gritted her teeth in frustration. “You were caught in these leaked photos. You look like a complete passerby, do you know that?”
Jiang Yin grabbed a face towel to wipe her face and said, “I am a passerby to begin with.” To divert their attention, she mentioned something else. “Also, you will not just see me in the leaked photos. I will also appear in the next episode of the show.”
This tactic worked perfectly. Upon hearing this, Ji Xiaoning asked curiously, “What did you all film?”
Jiang Yin gave a brief account of the events of the day, including being bitten by the cat and Jiang Zhen’s injuries.
“No wonder you were able to get personalized signatures; you actually worked with Jiang Zhen,” Lin Shu said with a sad expression. “This is simply the ultimate stroke of luck.”
“I am just happy to have the signed photos,” Xu Yao said as she tucked her photo into the display rack on the wall in front of her desk. “Anyway, I will probably be chasing after another celebrity in a while.”
“Fickle,” Ji Xiaoning teased before picking up her phone to take pictures of the two photos.
“What is Jiang Zhen like in person? Is she even better looking than she is on television?” Seeing that the other two were ignoring her, Lin Shu leaned toward Jiang Yin again.
“She is very beautiful,” Jiang Yin said as she opened her phone. “We even took a photo together. Do you want to see it?”
After looking at the photo of the two of them, a jealous and envious Lin Shu dejectedly placed the phone back on Jiang Yin’s desk. She glanced over and noticed that this girl was actually opening a book to study again, even though it was nearly ten o’clock at night.
“Why is your head down so low? Can you not see clearly?” Lin Shu asked with concern after noticing that Jiang Yin’s posture was off.
“I think I might not be able to see clearly,” Jiang Yin looked up. “I plan to go get my vision tested another day to see if I need a pair of glasses.”
“If you need us to go with you, just say the word,” Xu Yao chimed in while memorizing vocabulary words.
“It is late, so do not study anymore,” Lin Shu said as she nudged Jiang Yin’s shoulder. “Otherwise, your nearsightedness will get worse.”
“I will stop after finishing this assignment,” Jiang Yin replied without looking up. “I spent the whole day outside today, and several assignments are not done.”
“Oh, right,” Ji Xiaoning suddenly remembered something. “I ran into Teacher Tang at the cafeteria today. She remembered that we share a dormitory and asked me to tell you to visit her office tomorrow if you have time.”
“Why did she not just message Jiang Yin for something so important?” Lin Shu asked suspiciously.
Speaking of the reason, Ji Xiaoning wanted to laugh. “The reason is that she could not find Jiang Yin among her one thousand contacts. Later, I took a look for her and discovered that she had accidentally deleted Jiang Yin.”
“I sent your contact information to Teacher Tang again. She has added you, so do not forget to accept the request.”
Jiang Yin hastily opened her phone and indeed found a friend request from Tang Yu. After accepting it, Teacher Tang did not reply. It was likely too late, and she was already resting.
After finishing her homework, Jiang Yin was the last person to go to bed. She turned off the lights in the dormitory and climbed into her blankets.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, she noticed two new messages on her phone.
Cheese Cat: A-Yin, these two photos turned out very well. I edited them again. Cheese Cat: [Image] [Image]
Jiang Yin clicked on the full images. She could not see any difference from the original pictures, but she still replied with a “Good” emoji.
She thought Jiang Zhen was already asleep, but she unexpectedly received a reply very quickly.
Cheese Cat: You are not asleep yet? I have not rested either. Sister Song just dragged me to take a few more night scenery photos using today’s makeup and styling. I am so tired.
Below the message, Jiang Zhen attached an emoji of a kitten collapsed on the ground.
You Ran: I was just about to sleep. You should rest ear… Before she could finish typing the sentence, Jiang Yin felt that such a phrasing was too cold. Therefore, she deleted the words in the dialogue box and edited a new message.
You Ran: I am not asleep yet either. Today’s makeup and styling look very good.
On the other side of the phone, Jiang Zhen sat up in bed after receiving this message.
She held the phone and thought seriously for three seconds before cautiously sending the next message.
Cheese Cat: Then, do you want to see the photos I took tonight?
It felt a bit narcissistic to say that, but Jiang Zhen felt that every photo taken tonight was full of atmosphere, and she could not wait to share them with Jiang Yin.
After receiving an affirmative answer, she excitedly selected five of her favorite photos from the dozen or so available and sent them over.
After looking through all the photos, Jiang Yin racked her brain to find a few sincere words of praise from everything she had ever learned and sent them to Jiang Zhen.
Upon receiving several consecutive “Happy” emojis, a smile unconsciously spread across Jiang Yin’s lips as well.
Cheese Cat: It is very late, A-Yin. Go to sleep. I will pick a few photos to post on Weibo and then go to sleep too.
You Ran: Okay, goodnight.
Cheese Cat: Goodnight!
After ending the chat, Jiang Yin opened the five photos one by one and looked through them carefully again. Finally, she chose her favorite one and set it as the chat background for her conversation with Jiang Zhen. Previously, all her chat backgrounds were the default ones. Seeing the colorful background images used by Lin Shu usually gave her a headache.
But when she received the photos from Jiang Zhen just now, the idea to use them as a chat background suddenly popped into her mind. This was rare and very unusual.
After changing the background, Jiang Yin returned to the chat interface. The photo she had selected was of Jiang Zhen looking back at the camera by the lakeside. The gaze of the person in the picture was as gentle and intoxicating as the lake water under the moonlight. One look was enough to make the heart race.
Jiang Yin snapped her phone shut, took a deep breath, and decided to sleep.
After tossing and turning a few times, a sleepless Jiang Yin fished her phone out from under her pillow and opened Jiang Zhen’s Weibo.
She was surprised to find that among the nine images Jiang Zhen had posted, the one in the center was the exact same one she had chosen as her chat background.
She unconsciously swiped to the comment section and saw a comment from a fan at the very top.
“Which one does the baby like best? I like the third one most!”
That fan received a reply from Jiang Zhen sent three minutes ago.
“I like the one in the middle the most.”