In her eagerness to catch up on the latest gossip, Ji Fei was walking quickly when, at a corner, she encountered someone who suddenly lost their balance. The box in their hands toppled directly towards Ji Fei.
Unable to stop in time, Ji Fei was about to be hit by the scattered items spilling from the box when she felt a strong force around her waist pulling her backward.
In an instant, Ji Fei found herself pressed against a solid chest, and remarkably, none of the scattered items had touched her.
Now, with Qin Xian's arm wrapped around her waist and his other arm shielding her face, it was clear why nothing had reached her - any flying objects had been blocked by Qin Xian's protective stance.
"Are you alright?" A deep voice resonated above her head, its inherent coolness unable to mask the underlying concern.
Ji Fei was momentarily stunned.
"I'm fine, I'm fine."
Qin Xian released Ji Fei, and they both looked up to see a young woman with a high ponytail and black face mask sitting awkwardly on the ground, surrounded by scattered makeup items from her fallen box.
The woman quickly got up, pulled down her mask, and bowed apologetically, "I'm so sorry, I hope you weren't hurt... Teacher Ji?!"
Ji Fei recognized her too - she was the makeup assistant assigned to Ji Fei's group on the show "My Acting, Cut!" She only remembered her being called Little Tang.
"Little Tang? Is that you?"
Tang Jiang seemed surprised that Ji Fei remembered her and immediately apologized again, "I'm sorry, Teacher Ji. It's all my fault for not holding it properly."
"Don't worry about it, but you... don't look so well," Ji Fei frowned as she observed her.
Tang Jiang's face was pale with dark circles under her eyes, clearly showing signs of exhaustion. She had obviously not been resting well and looked terribly worn out, which explained her stumbling earlier.
Tang Jiang, however, maintained an indomitable spirit and quickly put on a smile, "I'm fine, just too busy to eat properly. I got a bit dizzy from low blood sugar."
Just then, someone called for Little Tang from a distance.
Tang Jiang hurriedly said to Ji Fei, "Please don't let me keep you, Teacher Ji."
As she spoke, she cast a controlled glance at Qin Xian standing beside Ji Fei.
As their group's makeup artist, she had naturally seen Qin Xian several times and never failed to be amazed by his looks and presence that rivaled top celebrity Qin Zhao. As a makeup artist, she couldn't help but marvel at his superior genes.
She had occasionally heard that these two were married, but they kept a low profile. Being discreet and not one to gossip about insider information, Tang Jiang showed no particular curiosity about their presence together tonight.
She just thought they looked striking together - being a makeup artist with high aesthetic standards, she couldn't help but appreciate such an attractive couple.
After speaking, Tang Jiang quickly began picking up the makeup items from the floor. Seeing her hurry, Ji Fei naturally bent down to help, and Qin Xian silently joined in despite Tang Jiang's frantic protests.
They finished gathering everything quickly. Tang Jiang's face was flushed with embarrassment, but she also felt that these two must truly be from high society - well-mannered and refined, showing no superiority despite the obvious social gap she felt.
The last item Qin Xian picked up was a delicate bracelet, which made him pause briefly.
"Oh, thank you, thank you! Oh no, it's broken... thank goodness it wasn't lost." Tang Jiang didn't notice his reaction as she took the bracelet, looking relieved. She examined it carefully before tucking it safely in her pocket.
The calls for her grew more urgent, so Tang Jiang thanked them again and left.
After she was gone, Ji Fei clicked her tongue, "One look at that bracelet and you can tell it's from her boyfriend. I must say, that freeloader knows how to sweet-talk girls. The bracelet looks quite tasteful, though I wonder what brand it is."
Qin Xian replied, "It's custom-made."
Ji Fei exclaimed, "Oh? Is it expensive?"
Qin Xian wasn't sure how to respond, "Her particular one isn't."
Ji Fei shrugged, "I thought as much. Hey, you know what..."
As they continued walking, Ji Fei couldn't resist sharing the gossip with Qin Xian. Since this was common knowledge from their time filming the show, not secret information from the system, Ji Fei felt no hesitation in sharing.
Hearing Ji Fei's tone, Qin Xian tilted his head closer, listening attentively.
"She's a makeup assistant for 'My Acting, Cut!' with decent pay, but she also takes freelance makeup jobs everywhere. You can see how exhausted she is, and it's all because she's supporting a freeloader."
"A freeloader?"
"She has a boyfriend she's been supporting for two years. He lives off her completely, claiming he's starting an online business, so he never goes out to work. All living expenses come from Little Tang. She won't even let him experience any hardship, always giving him the best of everything. She even takes care of all his daily needs, firmly believing he truly has talent and will succeed, that he's not just freeloading. She gets upset when others point this out, so even her mentor has given up trying to reason with her."
"Her boyfriend sees her exhausted like this and doesn't care?" Qin Xian raised an eyebrow.
Ji Fei nodded, "Maybe there really are men who need to focus entirely on their business ventures and temporarily rely on their women's support, but I don't think her boyfriend is one of those..."
"Indeed. If he were truly in a desperate situation, he should refuse when she tries to provide such a comfortable lifestyle. It's not right for him to enjoy while his girlfriend suffers."
Ji Fei immediately patted Qin Xian's shoulder, "Exactly! And I've seen her asking her mentor for advance payment because her boyfriend crashed into someone's luxury car and got into an argument with them. They couldn't negotiate, so she had to empty her savings to pay for the damages. Her boyfriend is just an angry good-for-nothing. I don't know what she sees in him. Did he save her life or something?"
Ji Fei felt quite sympathetic towards Little Tang, hence her harsh words, but she never considered intervening.
Unlike other victims of exploitation, Little Tang didn't seem to find her situation difficult and might even be content with it. Ji Fei absolutely wouldn't interfere with others' fate. She didn't even consider using the system to gossip about her thoughts.
At most, she would just vent to others.
Qin Xian, having heard all this, found it even more peculiar how that bracelet had come into her possession.
Since Ji Fei loved gossip, Qin Xian thought she might be interested in hearing about this discovery.
In their relationship, he couldn't let Ji Fei do all the talking; he needed to try to change too.
Just as he was about to speak, they saw someone approaching from the end of the corridor.
When Luo Fei came out, he saw the two of them walking down the corridor, heads close together, whispering to each other.
Qin Xian's eyebrows were raised, seemingly reacting to something he heard, while Ji Fei's face was animated with gossip.
Luo Fei: ...rubbing his eyes, although he had seen them together before, this moment felt somehow surreal.
