Chapter 22

Leng Xiang went upstairs and returned to Shen Cheng’s apartment.

She had only intended to go downstairs to buy some fruit, but she hadn’t gotten the fruit and had been stirred up by Qin Wen instead. Her mood was truly not great.

Leng Xiang entered the door. Shen Cheng hadn’t finished making breakfast yet; the half-done breakfast was still in the kitchen, while Shen Cheng lay on the sofa, scrolling through Weibo as if watching a video.

She had been entangled with Qin Wen downstairs for over half an hour, and Shen Cheng was still on Weibo. What was she looking at for so long?

Shen Cheng held her phone in one hand, staring intently, occasionally letting out a strange burst of laughter.

A noisy clamor came from the phone.

Leng Xiang asked, “What are you looking at?”

Shen Cheng handed her the phone and said, “Yu Shan showed up.”

Yu Shan had come?

Not only had Yu Shan come, but at that moment, she was downstairs arguing with Qin Wen.

A live stream on Weibo was broadcasting everything in real time.

While Leng Xiang watched the phone, Yu Shan was grabbing Qin Wen’s collar. Qin Wen didn’t want to tangle with her and tried to shake her off.

Yu Shan exploded and actually dragged Qin Wen to the ground.

The two of them looked disheveled and ridiculously funny.

Bullet comments scrolled across the Weibo live stream.

“So disgusting, these two people.”

“Hahaha, this is the first time I’ve seen real celebrities tearing into each other live! This is way more interesting than those scripted reality shows!”

“Why is Yu Shan even bothering? She’s already so blackened, and now she has to stir up more trouble, as if she isn’t black enough?”

“Friend, are you seriously asking that?”

“Poor friend’s IQ.”

“Yu Shan is obviously trying to drag Qin Wen down with her. Think about it—Yu Shan has no way to turn things around herself. Qin Wen goes to Leng Xiang to whitewash himself, and once Yu Shan finds out, how could she let him succeed?”

“She’d rather get blackened again than let the scumbag get away with it!!”

“Yesterday they were still the perfect loving couple, today they’re not just abandoning each other in crisis but pecking at each other like wild chickens. So entertaining.”

“Neither is a good bird, but damn, this bitch Yu Shan may be short, but she’s got some strength.”

Leng Xiang glanced at the screen. Both of them had fallen to the ground. She looked again at Qin Wen sprawled on the floor.

She wasn’t interested in Yu Shan, but Qin Wen really had been her boyfriend of three years.

Just as she herself had said, if she hadn’t liked Qin Wen back then, she wouldn’t have been with him at all.

After all, three whole years had passed.

Leng Xiang had no more interest in watching this farce. She handed the phone back to Shen Cheng, and right then, she heard Yu Shan’s heart-wrenching cries and shouts from the phone.

“Why did I look for others? Wasn’t it all for our future?!”

“I fought desperately to get you the best resources. Speak with your conscience—where have I let you down these past few months? Tell me! Say something!!”

How ironic.

Leng Xiang thought she should finish the breakfast Shen Cheng had started. It was almost nine o’clock; it was time for breakfast. She went to the kitchen and could no longer hear the live stream from the phone.

·

That evening, Shen Cheng suddenly received a work assignment and rushed back to the company to pull an all-nighter.

Leng Xiang had nothing to do, so she pulled down the massive projection screen in the living room, lay on the sofa, and planned to watch all of Jiang Sisi’s movies from a few years ago.

She hadn’t liked her before, so naturally, she had never watched anything Jiang Sisi had made.

The huge projection screen cast light and shadows across Leng Xiang’s face.

The first movie ended, and she clicked on another one.

At first, she lay down to watch, but gradually, she sat up straighter on the sofa on her own. Later, she simply stood up.

She grabbed a handful of her own hair, a bit unsteady.

Although it sounded ridiculous for a famous host to switch to directing, Jiang Sisi’s movies were indeed hugely popular with audiences.

Not because of Jiang Sisi herself, but because of the films themselves.

No matter how much Leng Xiang disliked Jiang Sisi, she was still an actress. She could tell that Jiang Sisi’s level and style stood out uniquely in the entire directing circle.

She had an extremely clear and precise grasp of the shots and content needed in her movies. Most impressively, she could perfectly blend the plots audiences loved most with the themes she wanted to express, and then bring it all to life through the actors.

Her movies might not be the most perfect, but they were the most real.

The movie that made her explode in popularity beyond the industry was her third one, shot the year before last and released early the previous year.

That film swept up a bunch of miscellaneous awards domestically last year. If she hadn’t been too young and inexperienced, she might have even snatched the Golden Deer Award for Best Director.

But not every actor could meet her standards.

She was extremely demanding of actors, and her crews burned through a massive amount of film. Legend had it that the record for the most NG takes in a single scene under her direction was fifty-eight.

And every male or female lead who had starred in Jiang Sisi’s movies had blown up in fame.

That was why Yu Shan fought so hard to squeeze into Jiang Sisi’s crew, even for a vase-like female role.

Jiang Sisi’s movies were publicly recognized in the industry as the ultimate career boosters.

If Leng Xiang could really join Jiang Sisi’s crew as the female lead, forget those long-forgotten old black marks from before—even if she was blackened beyond recognition, her value would still multiply several times over.

And tomorrow was Monday, the day Leng Xiang had agreed to meet Jiang Sisi.

Leng Xiang was watching her second movie, not staying calm, when she suddenly remembered this. The agitation in her heart was like a fire doused with a bucket of water, extinguished entirely.

She was watching the movie with the lights off. She grabbed the remote and pressed it, shutting off the film. The projection went dark, and the living room plunged into pitch blackness.

Leng Xiang sat alone in the darkness for a while, as if exhausted. She closed her eyes and recalled the scene from that night.

She had been drugged, lying under the covers, tormented by waves of heat until she wished she could just die—until a hand began to soothe her body.

She also recalled the words Yu Shan had said that morning, which she had overheard by chance.

…Future?

She loved acting. Of course, she wanted to keep going in this industry.

The more Leng Xiang thought, the more chaotic her mind became. She simply rolled over and buried herself into the sofa.

Suddenly, something poked her back. She hissed in pain, reached behind, and after fumbling for a while, dug an object out from between the sofa cushions.

It seemed to be a card.

She looked at it under the moonlight for a bit before recognizing it: it was the VIP gold card from Black Pool.

That day, when she left the hotel on the upper floors of Black Pool Building, she had searched herself thoroughly before finding Shen Cheng’s VIP gold card and returning it properly.

As for the other VIP gold card that the mysterious bar owner wearing the silver mask had given her, she could no longer find it.

Back then, she had thought, if she couldn’t find it, so be it. After all, Black Pool Bar hadn’t brought her any good memories.

Leng Xiang clutched the card in her hand, its sharp edges digging into her palm.

She needed a place where she could temporarily set aside all this mess.

She wanted to let loose.