After We Broke Up, She Started Pursuing Me [Entertainment Industry] 43

Chapter 43

The soft, fine voice from behind her was like a kitten extending its little paw to scratch her palm.

The key was that this cat was usually not like this. She was noble and aloof, so pleasing her was useless. But today, she had changed her nature and taken the initiative to get close.

How could one not find this precious?

Shi Qin’s heart was already overflowing with sweetness, but she maintained her composure on the surface, saying softly, “What is it? Didn’t we just see each other this morning?”

Zhou Jinsi didn’t answer, just held Shi Qin tighter, as if wanting to knead her into her embrace. This sudden passion of hers made Shi Qin a little unaccustomed, a little hard to handle.

The corner where they stood was unlit. The two of them just stood there, embracing in the dark.

In the faint light from the living room, Shi Qin suddenly wanted to turn her head and see what kind of expression Zhou Jinsi was wearing right now.

“What were you doing today?” After a long time, Shi Qin also felt that something was not right.

“Nothing,” Zhou Jinsi replied in a deep voice.

Shi Qin paused in her embrace, then finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. She gently broke free from her embrace, turned to look at her, her face full of doubt.

“You…” Shi Qin hesitated.

“Are you really okay?” Seeing Zhou Jinsi still standing there blankly, not replying, Shi Qin raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t been possessed by a spirit, have you?”

Hearing this, Zhou Jinsi was taken aback, then looked at the person before her, a little speechless. “You’ve been reading too many novels.”

After a moment of silence, she added, “I saw Jiang Mo tonight.”

Zhou Jinsi looked into Shi Qin’s eyes. Aside from a fleeting surprise, there was no other emotion. She followed up on Zhou Jinsi’s words, “And then? How did you run into her?”

“I…”

Just as Zhou Jinsi was about to answer, she saw Shi Qin’s gaze shift to one side. Then, she turned and walked over. “Wait, wait, wait!”

She sat down on the sofa, opened the paper lid of the instant noodle cup, and steam rose out. She used a fork to pick up a clump, slurped it down, and said with some regret, “I forgot I still had noodles. They’ve been soaking for too long and have gone soft.”

Zhou Jinsi stood to the side. Smelling the aroma filled with “technology” and various mixtures, her brow furrowed. She couldn’t help but say, “You didn’t eat dinner?”

With that, she subconsciously glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost midnight.

Shi Qin was eating with gusto, her words muffled. “Of course not.”

Zhou Jinsi sighed softly and sat down beside her, staring at the instant noodles in her hand. “So you’re eating this?”

Shi Qin: “Mhm.”

Zhou Jinsi: “Do you often have this for dinner?”

Shi Qin: “Mhm.”

After swallowing the mouthful of noodles, she added, “Not that often. Because I don’t really eat dinner much.”

With that, she turned to look at Zhou Jinsi again and explained further, “I’m an artist, and a young one at that. I have to maintain my figure.”

Zhou Jinsi didn’t argue with her. After all, she didn’t understand Shi Qin’s industry. Out of respect, she didn’t want to lecture someone about their work.

It was only after she had almost finished eating that Zhou Jinsi said, “If you’re hungry in the future, you can call me. I can cook something at home and bring it to you.”

Shi Qin took a sip of the broth and let out a satisfied sigh. Then, looking at her, she raised an eyebrow. “Is this Teacher Zhou’s ‘love bento’?”

“Then I could just buy some groceries and keep them here. That way, Teacher Zhou can come over to my place more often.”

Her words held a deeper meaning. A teasing smile curved on Shi Qin’s lips as she waited to see Zhou Jinsi’s shy and embarrassed expression.

As expected, Zhou Jinsi’s eyes began to dart around, but only for a moment. Then, she looked at her steadily and answered very seriously, “Okay.”

“You can buy some dried noodles or something. They’re easy to cook.”

Shi Qin was stunned for a long while. She leaned back against the sofa cushion and looked at her silently. “You really are a little different today.”

“By the way, you ran into Jiang Mo?”

Zhou Jinsi nodded. “Mhm, I ran into her at the quiet bar tonight. She… was drunk. We talked about some things.”

“Oh?” Shi Qin was a little curious. “What did you talk about?”

Zhou Jinsi pressed her lips together. Seeing Shi Qin staring at her, she felt a little nervous. “We talked about… some things from the past.”

Shi Qin didn’t make a sound, waiting for her to finish.

Zhou Jinsi sighed and said slowly, “She said, on the night of graduation…”

Halfway through, Zhou Jinsi lowered her head and sighed softly again. Her mind was a mess at this moment. Her ability to express herself was already poor, and now there were so many things she wanted to say, but she didn’t know where to start.

“It’s just… that night, I was looking for you, but I couldn’t find you. And then I saw you and her… hugging. I thought…”

It was difficult for Zhou Jinsi to say, but Shi Qin suddenly interrupted her.

“Zhou Jinsi.”

Zhou Jinsi looked up and saw Shi Qin’s gaze flowing like water, yet so pure and simple. Used to her usual teasing or gentle demeanor, this version of Shi Qin made her already unsettled heart stir with a few more waves.

“Do you know why I was with Jiang Mo back then?”

Shi Qin looked at her quietly. Zhou Jinsi took a sharp breath, not making a sound.

She felt as if the air had frozen at this moment. She couldn’t hear the noisy traffic from outside the window, nor the ticking of the clock on the wall.

She looked into Shi Qin’s eyes, as if she could only hear her own heartbeat, thumping, thumping, like a drum, like thunder.

This was the first time she had heard Shi Qin bring up her past with Jiang Mo in front of her.

Zhou Jinsi swallowed. After a moment of hesitation, she finally asked, “Why?”

Shi Qin sank back against the sofa, took a breath, and looked at a corner of the table in front of her. She said slowly, “Actually, it’s not fair to her to talk about this. And it’s a place where I’ve always felt I owe her and have a sense of guilt.”

Zhou Jinsi turned to look at her, leaning back against the sofa with her, listening as she slowly recounted the past.

Someone with looks as outstanding as Shi Qin’s, and who was so gentle to others, was very popular wherever she went, never lacking for friends.

Come to think of it, any normal person who had interacted with Shi Qin would say she was the easy-to-get-along-with type.

However, in reality, there were very few close friends who could truly get close to Shi Qin, or rather, there were none at all. No one could touch her true inner thoughts.

Faced with advances from the same sex, Shi Qin had always been polite, but she never took the initiative. Over time, even those who had wanted to be good friends with her had left in disappointment.

And Jiang Mo was an exception.

Her family was wealthy, her grades were excellent, and her appearance was superior. Since she was a child, she had been the center of attention. When she heard that there was someone as dazzling as her around, a sense of competitiveness arose in her heart.

This was her initial reason for getting to know Shi Qin. She told Shi Qin that she wanted to understand what kind of person she was, that she was curious about her.

Shi Qin had never met someone so direct before. Many people approached her with their own motives, but it was rare for someone to state it from the very beginning.

Her personality seemed gentle, but inside, she was just as cold as Jiang Mo. Sometimes, the beautiful side she showed in social situations might all be a facade.

And so, two people with rather similar personalities, although they didn’t spend much time together, got along surprisingly well. Their views on many aspects of the world were similar.

It was a feeling of having met too late, like the collision of another self’s soul in the world.

It was a feeling of having met too late.

One day, they happened to be talking about the topic of feelings.

Jiang Mo was also a little curious about this. She asked, “A person like you, what type of person would you fall for?”

Shi Qin smiled and then replied, “A person like me might never fall for anyone in their life.”

“Is that so?” Jiang Mo asked.

Shi Qin: “What? Can you imagine what kind of person you would like?”

Jiang Mo was rarely stunned. She then looked away. “I really can’t imagine… but…”

“But what?”

“But we get along very well. Maybe in a sense, we would also be very suitable lovers.”

Shi Qin was a little surprised, and thought Jiang Mo was joking. She then chuckled twice. “Lovers? Don’t joke.”

“Jiang Mo, if you want to fall in love, you can go and announce it at school right now. You’ll definitely have no shortage of choices. You don’t need to use me for your amusement.”

“Besides, we’re both women.”

Jiang Mo seemed not to understand the deep meaning of her words and asked with a blank expression, “What’s wrong with being women?”

“Is homosexuality so rare now?”

It was a somewhat taboo word, but from Jiang Mo’s mouth, it came out as simply and directly as drinking water, making Shi Qin’s heart beat a little faster.

But it wasn’t because of her. It was because a tall, thin figure had suddenly appeared in her mind.

That person was always watching her silently from behind. Maybe she herself didn’t know, but actually, Shi Qin could feel it.

It was just that some thoughts had not yet taken shape, and the initial stirrings had not yet fermented. These chaotic thoughts were just a fleeting flash. Shi Qin didn’t think too deeply about them.

She saw Jiang Mo move a fraction closer to her and said seriously, “I’m not joking with you. I’m serious.”

“I don’t know what ‘like’ is, but I think we’re very compatible. So.”

“Do you want to try it with me, to be lovers and see how it goes?”

Perhaps it was Jiang Mo’s words that day that suddenly opened up a new world in Shi Qin’s heart. Or perhaps she was too serious, her logic too strong, and Shi Qin couldn’t find a reason to refute her. And then…

“And then, you just agreed to her like that?”

Hearing this, Zhou Jinsi couldn’t help but interrupt her, her expression looking very complicated.

Shi Qin nodded. “Mhm. At that time, I had never had feelings for anyone. I couldn’t understand what ‘like’ felt like. And what she said did make some sense…”

“So, although it was a bit muddled, we confirmed our relationship that day. That’s also why I feel… a sense of guilt toward her.”

“Maybe she had different feelings for me, but from beginning to end, I only ever saw her as a friend I could talk to on a deeper level. I didn’t understand it back then. When I did, I proposed the breakup. That’s how it was.”

Shi Qin said it so lightly, but Zhou Jinsi was very moved. She hadn’t expected there to be such a story behind it. After a moment of silence, she asked again, “Then what about me, back then…”

Hearing this, Shi Qin pinched her cheek. Seeing Zhou Jinsi’s usually wooden and cold face being pulled, it had a certain contrasting cuteness. She couldn’t help but chuckle lightly, then immediately composed herself.

“Actually, I had always noticed you. You’re so tall, and you were always following me. It was hard not to notice you.”

“When I saw your message at that time, I was happy. I just followed my heart and agreed. But later, I couldn’t tell if it was because of gratitude. By the time I had completely figured it out, you suddenly broke up with me so abruptly.”

“Whose fault is that?” Shi Qin chided her with a hint of annoyance.

Zhou Jinsi lowered her head shyly and asked the final question in her heart. “Then why… when you were with her, you often… held hands, and were also very happy, but…”

Zhou Jinsi was too embarrassed to say the rest.

Shi Qin couldn’t help but laugh to herself, but fearing this person would start overthinking again, she said patiently, “Being open and generous is friendship. Being cautious is…”

She leaned close to Zhou Jinsi’s ear. The voice in Zhou Jinsi’s heart overlapped with hers as she murmured softly, “Love.”

With that, Shi Qin used her fingertips to tease Zhou Jinsi’s chin. “If you think we’re not close enough, we can also be closer.”

Hearing her words, Zhou Jinsi’s brain momentarily shut down, and she froze on the spot.

Her reaction made Shi Qin want to laugh, but her face still held that teasing expression. She leaned into Zhou Jinsi’s embrace, and under her gaze, raised an eyebrow and curved her lips.

“Teacher Zhou, we’ve not only held hands, but we’ve also hugged, and kissed…”

“There are only so many intimate things a couple can do. You, what else do you want to do with me?”

Her voice was very light, yet it held a fatal temptation.

“Tell me, what do you want? I can give you anything.”