4 – Childhооd Swееthеаrts
Suсh intense rеsistаnсе frоm the corе оf her being—Lu Jin сouldn’t pоssiblу fаil tо sеnsе it.
Aftеr а mоmеnt of sharеd silence betwееn them,
аll shе hеаrd wаs Lu Jin cliсk his tоnguе softly bеfоre аbruptly relеasing hеr.
He turned аround,
fаcing thе dоor,
and rеmarked with feignеd nоnсhаlancе:
“Ноw сome уou’vе lost weight аgain? You’rе praсtically аll bоnеs now.”
Сhеn Qingzhi couldn’t be bоtherеd tо argue with him. Shе turned awаy, tооk оff her gоwn, and quicklу changеd intо сasual clothes:
“I lost five pоunds bеfore joining the сrеw to look bеttеr on camera.”
When she turned back, she was met once again with Lu Jin’s intensely invasive gaze:
“If it’s really too much, just quit. Find a job where you can eat properly. Every time you’re stuck with diet meals, you look so miserable, like you’re mourning.”
Chen Qingzhi’s face flushed slightly.
Dealing with shameless people required being even more shameless.
She pretended nothing was wrong, adjusting her collar in front of the dressing mirror and reapplying a muted lipstick.
After a while, she replied indifferently:
“I like it.”
The subtext was clear: What’s it to you?
Lu Jin, of course, understood her meaning. Unfazed, he spoke slowly, each word light as air:
“Six years of messing around, no awards to show for it, just a bunch of haters and trolls. I really don’t get how you can like that.”
Chen Qingzhi tilted her head, observing Lu Jin’s serious expression, and felt a tightness in her chest—
Haters and trolls?
See, he’s just worried these rumors will affect the Lu family.
If it works, fine; if not, forget it.
Asking her to give up her career was impossible.
Chen Qingzhi immediately shot back with a harsh remark:
“If you flew all the way back from Australia just to lecture me because you’re worried about the negative impact on the group, we can get a divorce.”
Her gaze returned to the dressing mirror, calm and composed as she blended the excess lipstick at the corners of her mouth.
As if she hadn’t just mentioned divorce, but was asking, “What should we have for lunch today?”
Lu Jin chuckled softly:
“Chen Qingzhi, you’re really something. You dumped me once at twenty, and now at twenty-six, you want to do it again?”
He didn’t give Chen Qingzhi a chance to retort. Leaning against the door as if watching a show, his expression gradually darkened:
“Back then, I was young and fell for your tricks. If I let you play me again this time, I’d look down on myself!”
It had been five or six years since then, and Chen Qingzhi didn’t understand why Lu Jin was bringing it up now.
The two of them had dated for nearly two years, from high school to college.
After the breakup, they both found new partners.
Dwelling on the past was pointless; people should look forward.
Chen Qingzhi mimicked Lu Jin’s earlier light, airy tone:
“Perfect timing. A divorce would make it easier for you to arrange a marriage alliance.”
Hadn’t she heard that some wealthy socialite had even chased him all the way to Australia?
He really had a way with women. With a wife at home dutifully fulfilling her role, and admirers flocking to him outside, one after another.
Every few days, there was some minor scandal.
Fortunately for Lu Jin, he had married Chen Qingzhi.
As childhood friends who had known each other for nearly twenty years, she could be magnanimous and turn a blind eye to his flirtatious behavior.
If it were any other wealthy heiress, wouldn’t they have caused a huge scene over something like this?
Chen Qingzhi even felt a little wronged.
Lu Jin showed no reflection on his own issues.
What right did he have to come back and criticize her?
Faced with Chen Qingzhi’s mention of a marriage alliance, Lu Jin showed not a hint of guilt. Instead, he responded with an air of righteousness:
“Suit yourself.”
Hearing these two words, Chen Qingzhi felt her blood boil. She wanted to retort but paused, deciding it wasn’t worth it.
He was just treating her as entertainment for a verbal sparring match. Why should she waste her energy on a pointless argument?She simply quieted down to touch up her makeup.
Celebrities had this trouble—they had to mind their image wherever they went.
Once she fell silent, Lu Jin also quieted.
It had been half a year since the couple last saw each other. Apart from tense confrontations, there were these prolonged silences.
It was completely opposite to their childhood state, where they talked about everything and stuck together constantly.
Lu Jin had moved into the faculty residential area of Jing University to become Chen Qingzhi’s neighbor when he was seven.
Back then, Lu Jin’s father, Lu Mingze, and his grandfather had a strained relationship. One wanted to be a romantic painter, the other wanted his son to inherit the family business. Once the disagreement arose, neither would yield.
The stubborn Lu Mingze simply took Lu Jin and moved out of the Lu family, working part-time as an associate professor in the art department of A University.
The adults of the two families were colleagues and got along well.
When Lu Mingze flew around the world for his painting exhibitions, Lu Jin would eat at Chen Qingzhi’s home.
At the time, Chen Qingzhi didn’t know that this childhood friend came from such a prominent family.
Lu Jin lived in the Jing University faculty housing until he graduated from high school, and even after his father passed away, he didn’t move back to the Lu mansion.
Later, the two of them both got into Jing University and even dated for nearly two years.
It ended with Lu Jin going abroad to study, though of course there were other reasons too.
These were all old stories, and Chen Qingzhi had long stopped wanting to think about them, including that past relationship.
Lu Jin, however, loved to bring it up from time to time, mostly just to tease Chen Qingzhi.
Chen Qingzhi was actually quite sharp-tongued, but it depended on the person and the situation.
If she was quick-witted and retaliated over every slight, it meant things weren’t too serious.
If she stayed silent and kept things bottled up, that was when she was truly upset.
Like with this trending search incident—Lu Jin’s phone in Melbourne had nearly been blown up by calls from others.
But he hadn’t received a single one from Chen Qingzhi, not even a WeChat message.
It was a matter involving both of them, yet he had no idea what she was thinking, staying completely silent.
Lu Jin leaned against the door, casually scrolling through his phone.
The surroundings were quiet, and his hearing seemed to sharpen.
There were faint noises outside the door.
Lu Jin didn’t make a sound. Holding his breath, he unlocked the dressing room door, his tall frame swiftly leaning to the right.
He pulled in a young man with a buzz cut, average height, pale and thin.
He had quite the array of equipment, clearly a set paparazzi who made a living by selling photos.
“What did you manage to capture?”
Lu Jin’s expression turned cold as he pinned the paparazzo to the table with one hand.
The paparazzo looked young, his head pressed against the makeup table, his face twisted in pain:
“It’s… it’s all in the camera.”
He struggled to point at the equipment around his neck.
Chen Qingzhi, standing nearby, removed the camera from his neck and expertly scanned through its contents.
From her argument with Liu Jing to Lu Jin stepping in and closing the door—everything was there.
He had recorded the entire thing.
Chen Qingzhi removed the memory card, holding it in her hand, her gaze wary:
“Is there anything on your phone?”
She had caught paparazzi before—they’d smash the camera, but there’d still be backups on their phones.
Once bitten, twice shy.
Chen Qingzhi searched the paparazzo’s phone, used facial recognition to unlock it, and went straight to the photo album.
“There are only a few photos…”
The paparazzo was young, probably new to the job, lacking the composure of a seasoned professional.
Lu Jin still had the paparazzo pinned, but his eyes drifted to the phone screen.
The longer he looked, the lighter his grip became.
Chen Qingzhi flipped through a few photos and was about to permanently delete them.
Lu Jin completely released the paparazzo.He snatched the phone over, raising an eyebrow as he scrolled through the screen:
“What’s going on here?”
His Beijing accent stretched out with a trailing tone, indescribably casual.
The paparazzo trembled as he said:
“I didn’t plan to send these to the studio, I just thought they were pretty well taken, so I kept them for myself…”