After We Broke Up, She Started Pursuing Me [Entertainment Industry] 58

Chapter 58

In the dead of night, a sudden rain began to fall after midnight.

At first, the rain was just a light drizzle, but after a muffled clap of thunder, it began to pour down in sheets.

Inside the hotel room, two voices intertwined as one.

After a long while, a long-overdue rain curtain finally fell. The air was filled with the fresh scent of grass and earth, refreshing and invigorating.

“Enough… Xiao Si… really, enough…”

Shi Qin lay weakly on the bed, her eyes closed, panting.

She felt as if all the strength had been drained from her body. The slightest movement was met with an unbearable soreness.

The person lying on top of her heard her exhaustion and finally agreed to get up and leave.

Shi Qin’s head was spinning with fatigue. She thought, Finally, she’s willing to let me go.

Who was it that said, there are no oxen that can’t be tired out, only fields that can’t be fully plowed?

How come it felt completely reversed for her? She had called for a stop several times, but it seemed to have only provoked that “ox.” The “ox” charged at her—

And almost… rammed her to death…

Seeing that the person was no longer moving, Shi Qin opened her eyes, wanting to see what she was doing.

But then, she saw the scene of Zhou Jinsi pulling out several tissues to wipe her hands.

Shi Qin felt her vision go black, overcome with shame and indignation.

But unfortunately, this “blockhead” still couldn’t read her emotions and very thoughtfully and seriously asked:

“Do you want me to, help you wipe up too?”

Shi Qin was so embarrassed and angry that she lightly kicked the other’s shoulder, then quickly wrapped herself in a bath towel and went to the bathroom again.

Because she was so tired, even the process of showering was a blur. By the time she lay back down on the bed, she could see the sky beginning to turn a fish-belly white.

She didn’t know what time it was. The two of them finally fell into a dream, embracing each other.

.

The next day, Shi Qin was woken up by a continuous stream of phone calls.

She had thought that since she didn’t have work in the morning, she had dared to be so unrestrained last night. Now, who was calling so desperately?

Zhou Jinsi watched the person who was burrowing into her embrace as if in a huff and couldn’t help but smile dotingly. She raised her long arm and glanced at her phone.
“It’s Auntie Jiang’s call. Do you want to answer it?”

“Huh?” Hearing it was Jiang Nuo, Shi Qin didn’t even open her eyes and subconsciously took the phone.

“Hello?” After a long night, her voice was hoarse.

The moment Jiang Nuo heard it, she knew something was wrong. She thought Shi Qin was sick and asked with concern, “Did you just wake up?”

Shi Qin was extremely tired and replied with a lazy “mhm.”

Jiang Nuo: “Where are you?”

Shi Qin: “A hotel…”

The moment she said it, Shi Qin’s mind immediately jolted. She opened her eyes and saw Zhou Jinsi also looking at her with some surprise.

Jiang Nuo knew her schedule. If she wasn’t resting at home, what could she be doing at a hotel?

With Jiang Nuo’s sensitive mind, this was undoubtedly equivalent to exposing herself.

Shi Qin still wanted to struggle, but found that there was no reason for her to explain.

Jiang Nuo was an experienced person. Her original suspicion was only seventy percent. Hearing her stammer for a long time, the suspicion immediately rose to ninety percent.

She sighed softly, didn’t say anything else, and just told Shi Qin to get up and get ready, and come to her house in the afternoon.

After hanging up the phone, Shi Qin finally saw the time on her phone.

It was almost three in the afternoon. No wonder Jiang Nuo kept calling.

Just woken up, her mind was still foggy when she suddenly felt an arm tighten around her waist.

Zhou Jinsi’s small chin rested on her forehead. She kissed it, then asked in a low voice, “What did Auntie Jiang say?”

Shi Qin lay in her arms, playing with her hair. “Nothing. I just spoke too quickly…”

Hearing this, Zhou Jinsi also frowned, worried. “You could have said it was something else. Auntie Jiang… she might not have thought in that direction.”

Shi Qin thought to herself, She already knew we were in a relationship. But now that she had been caught red-handed, Shi Qin was still a little shy.

“Actually…” Shi Qin buried her face in Zhou Jinsi’s warm embrace, contemplating how to begin.

“Sister Jiang… has a very good relationship with me. We’ve known each other for a long time. Even if she knew, she wouldn’t say anything.”

But Zhou Jinsi pressed on, “How long?”

Shi Qin was silent for a moment. The night of intimacy had indeed brought the two of them closer. She even had the urge to tell the person before her everything.

But she wasn’t ready yet, and now was not a good time.

All she could say was, “I can only say that she’s like family to me. And I am to her.”

“Those are all things from a long time ago. I… I don’t really want to talk about them now. I’ll tell you slowly in the future, okay?”

Seeing Shi Qin’s soft and delicate appearance, Zhou Jinsi’s heart had long since melted.

She stroked the hair of the person in her arms and asked softly, “Is it something not so good?”

“Mhm,” Shi Qin replied, nuzzling comfortably in her embrace.

“Then don’t think about it anymore. You can tell me whenever you want. I’ll always be here to listen.”

Zhou Jinsi’s lips kissed her eyes, then down the bridge of her elegant nose, all the way down, finally finding the soft lips she had been longing for, and gently nibbled on them.

When Shi Qin had mentioned it just now, she had thought of that welfare institute.

Now, it seemed that that welfare institute, that photo, might be a key to unlocking that matter.

Originally, Zhou Jinsi had wanted to ask about the photo, but now, hearing that Shi Qin was unwilling to bring it up again, she also understood that it might be a knot buried deep in her heart.

Besides curiosity, Zhou Jinsi felt more heartache.

She remembered what Shi Qin had repeatedly confirmed with her that day when she was in the throes of passion.

Zhou Jinsi silently repeated the answer in her heart, held her tighter, and kissed her even more deeply.

There are thousands upon thousands of people in the world. Even if they have similar appearances, or similar personalities, they are not you.

Everyone is born unique. There is no second Shi Qin in the world.

At this moment, she was very certain that the person she wanted, wanted to have, wanted to spend the rest of her life with, was only that one person.

The person who had made her heart stir from the moment they first met on campus.

For so many years, it had never changed.

.

“Why are you here all of a sudden?”

Jiang Nuo sat on the sofa, pouring tea, looking at the person she hadn’t seen in a long time. Images from many years ago, long sealed away, surfaced in her mind, and her heart grew complicated.

The woman sitting opposite her was about her age, nearly fifty, yet she was very well-maintained, her charm still intact.

The woman looked at the poured tea on the coffee table, then looked up at the indifferent and distant person, a hint of resentment in her heart.

“I’ve been back from abroad for so long, and you didn’t come to see me. You won’t even allow me to come and see you?”

Jiang Nuo’s hand, holding the teacup, paused. Her expression was stunned for a moment, but she quickly returned to normal.

She stared at the clear green tea in the small cup and said faintly, “I didn’t mean that. And I’m usually very busy with work.”

The woman heard the avoidance in her words and suddenly felt very tired.

Back then, in order to find peace, to escape reality, to escape the person before her, she had chosen to go abroad to live.

She had been back in the country for two years, and Jiang Nuo knew it. But she hadn’t even received a basic greeting.

And to think she was so foolish, to have been thinking of this person for so long, for what?

The woman was silent for a long moment, her fingertips creasing the leather sofa. She finally couldn’t help but look up and ask:

“It’s been so many years. You still can’t let it go?”

“Why do you have to hang yourself on one tree? Can’t you look at the person who has been by your side all this time?”

The woman’s questioning made Jiang Nuo angry. Her brow furrowed slightly, her cold lips pressing into a thin line.

She finally looked up and met the eyes of the person before her, that face that was thirty percent similar to Ye Qingnan’s.

Seeing her silent, the sourness rose in the woman’s heart again. She lowered her eyes and smiled bitterly in her heart, sighing that this person had become so heartless now.

“My sister… my sister definitely wouldn’t want to see you like this. Her biggest wish before she left was that you could find true happiness.”

Hearing her bring it up again, Jiang Nuo couldn’t hold it in any longer. “I know what I want better than you. And I’m very happy now.”

After Ye Qingnan left, her greatest happiness was watching Shi Qin grow up. This was the last keepsake Ye Qingnan had left her.

“Jiang Nuo…” The woman seemed to be hurt. She lowered her head and fell silent, not wanting the tears in her eyes to flow out.

Jiang Nuo looked at her and also sighed heavily.

Come to think of it, they were both almost half a century old, still wistful over the love affairs of their youth.

After so many years and so many things, looking back now, it was like a fleeting dream, gone in the blink of an eye.

Seeing an old acquaintance today, some emotions had surged up. Jiang Nuo felt she had lost her composure and softened her tone. “Ye Lan, those things happened a long time ago. My wish now is just to be by Xiao Qin’s side.”

Ye Lan laughed self-deprecatingly, her voice trembling as she said, “That’s right. It’s been so long. The person in my heart still won’t leave.”

She suppressed the urge to let her tears fall, but the sour, numb pain twisted her heart even more. Her eyes could no longer hold the overflowing tears, which slowly slid down from the corners.

Seeing her like this, Jiang Nuo’s heart didn’t feel much better either.

The world of love is full of turmoil. There is no right or wrong, only a matter of fate.

The two of them sat opposite each other, in silence.

She didn’t know how long had passed when a knock on the door broke the silence.

Jiang Nuo reined in her emotions and opened the door to see the visitor.

“Qinqin.”

Shi Qin didn’t notice anything, walking in as naturally as usual, only to find another woman in the living room.

Shi Qin was stunned for a moment. Because in that strange woman’s eyes, she caught a flicker of surprise, followed by a scrutinizing gaze.

She turned to look at Jiang Nuo and asked in a small voice, “This is?”

Jiang Nuo glanced at Ye Lan and replied, “This is… my friend. You can just call her Auntie.”

“Hello, Auntie.”

Ye Lan looked at the approaching person and forced a smile, nodding.

This face, so similar to her sister’s, made her feel a little dazed. For a moment, she suddenly understood Jiang Nuo a little.

She and her mother were indeed very similar.

Shi Qin was not a very thick-skinned person. Being stared at by a strange woman for so long, she felt a little uncomfortable and could only avoid her gaze and drink her tea.

Jiang Nuo also saw Ye Lan’s distraction. Fearing she would say something she shouldn’t, she quickly cleared her throat twice.

Receiving the reminder, Ye Lan silently retracted her gaze, then shot a resentful look at Jiang Nuo before saying her goodbyes in a low voice and leaving.

Shi Qin’s gaze also followed her. She inexplicably felt that the way that woman looked at her was very strange, but she couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong.

Although it was their first time meeting, she always felt that that woman seemed to have known her for a long time, but the surprise in her eyes made Shi Qin confused.

Unable to resist her curiosity, she asked, “Is that another manager from the company?”

She knew that Jiang Nuo also had a few good friends at the company.

Jiang Nuo lowered her eyes and put away Ye Lan’s teacup, saying faintly, “No, she’s a friend from a long time ago.”

“Oh…”

Shi Qin observed Jiang Nuo. She could read the emotions beneath her expression and didn’t ask any more questions.

Jiang Nuo sat down next to Shi Qin, smoothed the stray hair from her ear with her hand, and asked, “If I hadn’t called you today, you weren’t planning on getting up?”

Hearing this, a flash of last night’s chaotic fragments appeared in Shi Qin’s mind. She said unnaturally, “No… I just slept too soundly…”

“Did you stay up all night?”

“How could that be so outrageous?” Shi Qin quickly took another sip of tea to hide her embarrassment.

Seeing her shy, Jiang Nuo didn’t tease her anymore. She brought up the real reason she had called her today.

“I’ve looked at the casting for Lu Xing’s new movie. There’s a role that’s quite suitable for you. Although it’s a supporting role, the character’s personality is distinct, with a lot of contrast. If you play it well, it will be very brilliant.”

Hearing Lu Xing’s name, a faint ripple stirred in Shi Qin’s heart, but it was gone in an instant.

She replied, “Okay, I’ll go to the audition and do my best.”

Jiang Nuo was still worried. “If you get this role, you’ll have to interact with him a lot on set. You…”

“Auntie,” Shi Qin looked at her.

“I really can’t be unaffected, but I will separate my public and private life. And…”

“This is also a very good opportunity to get close to him.”

She wanted to approach him in her most beautiful state, to get close to him. Perhaps he would look at her face with suspicion, would be curious, but none of that mattered.

She just needed to successfully attract his attention and tell him that she was the one from back then…

Jiang Nuo looked at the distant Shi Qin, her heart guessing some of what she was thinking, and couldn’t help but sigh to herself again.

She didn’t know what kind of storm would be stirred up when Lu Xing found out about Shi Qin’s identity.

.

That night had brought Zhou Jinsi and Shi Qin’s intimacy to a new level.

Zhou Jinsi, changing from her usual sullenness, would even share some of the sweet nothings she saw online with Shi Qin, enjoying it endlessly.

Even Lin Qi and Shen Nan, whom she occasionally met up with, noticed the change, saying that she had become much more active and interesting lately.

But Zhou Jinsi was unaware. It was just that every time she thought of that crazy night, and Shi Qin’s extremely blooming expression and posture, the emotions in her heart would surge like a tide, unstoppable.

It was just a pity that recently, Shi Qin’s schedule was full again, often flying all over the country. The two of them couldn’t squeeze out any time to meet.

During the times they couldn’t see each other, Zhou Jinsi would rely on photos to ease her longing.

At this moment, it was late at night. She had just finished her shower and was lying in bed, flipping through the photos in her album.

Some were photos of Shi Qin that she had taken, some were photos of the two of them together that Shi Qin had sent her.

Zhou Jinsi looked at them one by one, the corners of her mouth unconsciously turning up. But when she flipped to the next one, her smile stopped.

It was the photo from the welfare institute.

Zhou Jinsi’s lips pressed together again as she zoomed in on the photo.

She remembered what Shi Qin had said that day. She had been speculating all this time, but could never get a definite answer.

But she didn’t want to ask either. After all, Shi Qin had said she didn’t really want to recall it.

But what on earth had happened back then? Zhou Jinsi felt she could guess about seventy or eighty percent, but she lacked a confirmation.

She stared at the photo for a long time, contemplating, and silently made a decision in her heart.

.

The next day.

Zhou Jinsi took some time to go to the welfare institute. She wanted to personally find out about what had happened back then.

Entering the director’s office, Wang Yan recognized her at a glance.

After all, this was the child Jiang Nuo had brought, tall and handsome. She still had some impression of her.

Wang Yan smiled warmly and asked her, “Hey, why are you here? Does your Auntie Jiang need something from me?”

“No.”

Zhou Jinsi walked closer to the door, her gaze on a photo frame on the desk.

Wang Yan brought a chair for her to sit. “Then what is it?”

“I want to ask about something.”

“What is it?”

Zhou Jinsi said slowly, “I want to ask about… a friend of mine.”

Wang Yan looked puzzled. “What friend?”

“Shi Qin.”

Hearing this name, Wang Yan’s brow furrowed slightly, and she sized up Zhou Jinsi for a moment.

Zhou Jinsi immediately followed up, “She’s a very good friend of mine, and also an artist managed by Auntie Jiang.”

“I want to ask, Director, do you… know her?”

Wang Yan lowered her eyes in thought. After a moment, she looked up and smiled. “I know her. She’s come here a few times with your Auntie Jiang.”

Zhou Jinsi observed her expression and pressed on, “What about before? Did she ever… stay here for a period of time?”

“Because that day, I saw a photo on your desk, and there was a little girl who looked a lot like her when she was little.”

Wang Yan’s heart began to race. The matter of Shi Qin could be big or small. She didn’t know what Zhou Jinsi’s intentions were.

Sensing her emotion, Zhou Jinsi explained, “Please don’t worry. I just want to understand. I’ve known her for a long time.”

Wang Yan remembered that Zhou Jinsi was Zhou Lin’s child, that Jiang Nuo had watched her grow up, and that she was kind-faced and gentle, not someone with ill intentions.

But Wang Yan still smiled and said, “Since you are friends, then some things involve privacy, so it’s even less convenient for me to say.”

“That child also often donates to our institute and gets along well with the children here. I like her very much.”

Zhou Jinsi understood Wang Yan’s refusal and was not disappointed. Because she could also vaguely sense from her expression that perhaps the matter concerning Shi Qin was not that simple.

After thanking her, she was about to say goodbye and leave. But when she opened the door, she saw an unexpected person.