After We Broke Up, She Started Pursuing Me [Entertainment Industry] 9

Chapter 9

A fierce glint flashed in Shi Qin’s eyes, gone in an instant.

Mo Li was right. Even if she didn’t enter this industry, she could still establish a firm footing in society with her academic credentials. Besides, only insiders knew that the chaos within this circle was far more severe than in regular society.

Acting was not a profession where hard work guaranteed results. Not to mention, if one wanted to rely on popularity to get by, competition and exclusion among peers were commonplace.

To get good resources, if you weren’t lucky, you had to give up some of your principles and let your manager make arrangements, or even accept the “unspoken rules.” It was all too common.

But in this age of information, this seemed to be the fastest way to get oneself in front of everyone.

Fortunately, since her debut, Shi Qin’s path had been relatively smooth. From the very first day she chose this path, she had harbored this ambition. She was determined to make certain people see her, to make them feel surprised, amazed, regretful…

She was willing to gamble on it.

“What are you thinking about?” Mo Li’s timely question pulled Shi Qin back from her memories to reality.

Shi Qin looked at her and parted her lips. “I was thinking about how to walk the path ahead.”

Mo Li was a little confused. She then heard her mutter to herself, “Maybe, I should make some changes…”

“Why can’t I understand a single word you’re saying today?” Mo Li said, feeling a bit unaccustomed to the suddenly profound Shi Qin.

Shi Qin smiled and said to her with a hint of deeper meaning, “It’s nothing. Just cherish the present. You never know when a change might come.”

Mo Li was completely baffled. She asked with an innocent face, “What change?”

Seeing her naive, worldly-unaware appearance, Shi Qin couldn’t help but chuckle. She stood up, tossing the lunch box into the trash can as she said, “It’s nothing. I was just talking nonsense.”

“Let’s go. It’s about time. Let’s go take a look outside.”

With that, Shi Qin picked up her script and left the dressing room first. Mo Li snapped back to her senses and quickly followed.

.

For the past few days, Zhou Jinsi had been busy preparing her lessons, often not going to sleep until late at night.

Only a week into the school year, Zhou Jinsi was already feeling how difficult it was to be a teacher, especially one leading a third-year class about to sprint toward their gaokao (the national college entrance exam), facing the first major crossroads of their lives. Even Lin Qing said with heartache that she had lost a lot of weight in just one short week.

Fortunately, her colleagues were very enthusiastic. As a newcomer, there were some things she didn’t understand, and they were always happy to help. Jingcheng High School also lived up to its reputation as an elite school; there were no particularly naughty or unmanageable students in her class. Aside from one or two boys who liked to joke around with her, Zhou Jinsi just laughed it off.

She had several biology classes scheduled throughout the week. By the time she had a moment of free time, she found it was already Friday evening. Lin Qi mentioned seeing a newly opened tea restaurant near a certain mall and invited her to try it out.

In reality, evening tea was less about eating and more about chatting. For someone like Zhou Jinsi, who didn’t have many friends, she really needed someone like Lin Qi to vent to.

“So, have you run into her at school?”

Somehow, the topic had drifted back to Shi Qin. Seeing the gossipy look in Lin Qi’s eyes, Zhou Jinsi felt a bit speechless but still answered truthfully, “Mhm, I have.”

“Did anything happen?” Lin Qi looked up and pressed on.

“…We added each other’s contact information again.”

Lin Qi’s eyes instantly lit up. “And then? How did you add each other? Are you guys planning to be friends again?”

At the last sentence, Zhou Jinsi immediately denied it in her heart.

We can’t be friends again… How can you be friends with someone you’ve truly loved…

“She added me first… We just exchanged contacts. Don’t overthink it.”

Lin Qi wasn’t ready to give up. She didn’t believe that nothing had happened between them. She asked teasingly, “She added you, and that’s it?”

Since Shi Qin had re-established contact with her that day, nothing more had really happened. Plus, Zhou Jinsi had been busy with her own work, and when she was busy, she had no time to think about romantic matters, nor did she have much time to watch them film.

Counting the days, it had been almost two weeks since they had seen each other.

Although this should have been a very normal thing—after all, no one regularly sees their ex after a breakup—a sense of loneliness still crept into Zhou Jinsi’s heart. She couldn’t even understand herself.

She told herself to stay away, but when they really didn’t see each other, she couldn’t help but think about her. Perhaps she couldn’t be like Shi Qin, who could control her feelings so freely—becoming intimate when she wanted to, and growing cold when she wanted to.

“That’s it,” Zhou Jinsi replied faintly.

When she saw the disappointed look on Lin Qi’s face, she couldn’t help but say, “Why do I get the feeling you really want something to happen between us?”

Lin Qi: “Maybe something did happen, but you just didn’t tell me.”

After saying that, and seeing the slight change in Zhou Jinsi’s expression, she cleared her throat twice. “Ahem… let’s not talk about this. Change of subject.”

“How do you feel about your job? Are you adjusting well?”

Zhou Jinsi took a sip from her teacup, the faint fragrance of the tea melting under her tongue. She nodded. “It’s fine.”

And just from this one week of classes, a female student in one of her classes had left a particularly strong impression on her.

She couldn’t quite remember her name, but her defining characteristic was her excellent grades in biology.

If Zhou Jinsi remembered correctly, she was ranked first in the entire grade, but she was a quiet child who didn’t talk much. Sometimes, when Zhou Jinsi looked at her from the podium, the child would be silently writing or reading a book with her head down. She had never seen her talk to anyone else.

The student had left an impression on Zhou Jinsi not just because of her grades, but also because she saw a reflection of her former self in her.

People have a natural affinity for those who are like them, and Zhou Jinsi was no exception.

But what Zhou Jinsi didn’t expect was that just a day after she had praised this child to Lin Qi, on Monday at noon, she ran into her talking on her phone in the restroom. When the student came out and saw Zhou Jinsi, she was clearly at a loss.

“Teacher…”

Zhou Jinsi: “What were you just doing in there?”

The school had a clear rule prohibiting phones on campus. This was the first time Zhou Jinsi had to handle a student’s disciplinary issue, and she felt she had to be stern.

The girl pressed her lips together nervously but still answered honestly, “I was… making a phone call…”

“Where’s the phone?”

The girl hesitated for a moment before slowly taking it out of her pocket.

She had thought that at this time, everyone should have left after school, which was why she was making a call in the restroom. She never expected to run into a teacher.

Zhou Jinsi took the phone. Seeing her lowered head and helpless expression, she couldn’t help but sigh softly. “Follow me to the office.”

…

“What’s your name?”

Zhou Jinsi sat at her desk, looking at the girl standing before her with a serious expression.

The girl kept her head down and replied weakly, “Shi Hua.”

“Why did you bring a phone to school? Do you know that this is against school rules?”

Shi Hua nodded and then said sincerely with an apologetic tone, “I know. It won’t happen again…”

“I wanted to… call my family…”

Zhou Jinsi paused, then asked, “Was it an emergency?”

Shi Hua shook her head. “No… my family is just too busy… I don’t usually have time to see them, so I thought I’d make a call. This is the only time she’s free…”

Shi Hua’s tone was very sincere. Listening to her, and remembering her impression of the girl, Zhou Jinsi felt she probably wasn’t lying. She returned the phone to her and softened her tone, telling her that she wouldn’t pursue the matter this first time, but there would be no next time.

“Alright, hurry home now.” Zhou Jinsi glanced at her watch. It was almost one in the afternoon. If she didn’t go back soon, she would be late for her afternoon classes.

“Um… Teacher…” Shi Hua seemed to have something more to say.

“Go ahead.”

Shi Hua said, a little embarrassed, “Teacher, can you be my tutor on the weekends? My parents have already applied to the school.”

Only then did Zhou Jinsi remember that Jingcheng High School had a benefit for its students: the top-ranked student in the grade could apply for free one-on-one tutoring from a teacher in a corresponding subject. The tutoring fees were covered by the school and included in the teacher’s salary. However, the final choice was up to the teacher, as forcing them was not the school’s intention.

Zhou Jinsi thought about it. She was certainly willing to help a student improve their grades. Besides, she usually didn’t have anything important to do on the weekends, so she agreed.

Shi Hua was about to thank her when her phone screen suddenly lit up.

She subconsciously glanced at Zhou Jinsi. After getting a nod, she looked at the message on her phone. Instantly, an unconcealable joy appeared on her shy face.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing such a change in her, Zhou Jinsi couldn’t help but ask curiously.

Shi Hua’s smile was pure and genuine. She shared happily, “Teacher, I’m going to find my sister now.”

“Okay,” as a teacher, Zhou Jinsi added a word of concern, “Aren’t you going home for lunch?”

“No, I’ll just stay at school.”

Zhou Jinsi tilted her head and looked up at her. “Your sister is at the school? Is she also a teacher?”

Shi Hua: “No, my sister… just finished filming…”

Zhou Jinsi suddenly had a premonition…

She asked, “Your sister is?”

When her sister was mentioned, the volume of Shi Hua’s voice unconsciously grew louder.

“My sister is Shi Qin.”