Shen Kai was not angry at all after being rebutted by her in such a way. It was all in the past, and after going through so many ups and downs, people change. Just looking at the changes in this past year since his comeback, the changes have been significant enough.
"Do you still remember what I said when we first met?" Shen Kai asked her.
"I bought an apartment in the city, but I still live in the villa arranged by the company. In fact, I've bought quite a few properties without having them renovated..."
Qin Wei felt her heart was about to break at the sound of that. Great, first he questioned her looks, and now he was showing off his wealth to her. With his connections, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to know that she had bought property. And now saying these things, was he trying to mock her economic status?
So she gave a cold laugh:
"Oh, is that so? How interesting."
Realizing her displeasure, Shen Kai quickly explained, "What I meant is, I'm still waiting, waiting to renovate with you, into whatever style you want..."
"Save that sweet talk for eighteen or nineteen year old girls. I'm sure they'll be so touched to hear it. But it won't work on me. I like moving in without lifting a finger, without effort, enjoying the ready-made."
As Qin Wei spoke, she suddenly realized a problem. She and Shen Kai had been together for about two to three years, so at that time, wasn't she around eighteen or nineteen herself?
Hmm...she kind of understood why Shen Kai had abruptly proposed to her earlier. With his connections, good looks, wealth, loyalty and sense of responsibility, taking out an expensive ring and making all sorts of promises to her, the popular movie star only loving her alone, this move would totally appeal to young girls!
"I really...why am I even talking to you about this..."
Qin Wei rubbed her eyebrows and got up to leave.
"Here's my number. I don't have your WeChat. I'll send you later the variety show invitations I received. If you want to go on any of them, call me!"
"Tsk!"
Qin Wei waved her hand at him,
"I don't want to go. I'll just let things take their own course these days. Consider me as having left the entertainment industry."
...
"Don't you have a long weekend next week? If you're bored, come along with me... Hey, what are you doing?"
Qiao Sixiao walked smiling onto the balcony, only to see Qin Wei holding a small watering can for the plants, staring blankly outside the window.
Water dripped from the spout of the watering can, gathering into a puddle on the floor.
But she didn't seem to have noticed yet. Even when Qiao Sixiao spoke to her, she didn't hear it.
"Wake up."
Qiao Sixiao gritted her teeth and reached out to take the watering can from her hand and put it aside. Only then did Qin Wei come to her senses and pointed outside,
"The flowers have bloomed."
"What flowers can you see from the 21st floor? It's those."
Qiao Sixiao pointed to the blooming jasmine flowers.
Sure enough, her mind was elsewhere.
"Oh..."
Qin Wei nodded.
"They smell nice."
"Who asked if you they smelled nice or not..."
Qiao Sixiao felt both exasperated and amused.
It had been four weeks since school started. Other than going to school and occasional commercial activities, she had been staying at home all other times, wanting to enjoy early retirement life ahead of time.
In the past month of her absence from the entertainment scene, only her antis and cyberbullies were still working hard to defame her, but the heat behind negative news about her was much lower than before.
It seemed for some matters, confronting netizens head-on at the height of controversy would only make more people detest you, while lying low for some time did have some usefulness after all.
The heat behind negative commentary had lowered, but she felt her career was also nearing its end.
Aside from that, time passed peacefully, but she didn't seem to be very happy.
"I'll be starting filming soon. Anyway, you're free during the long weekend. Come along to the filming location and stay for two days. As a favor, I can reluctantly give you some clout."
Qiao Sixiao placed her usable left hand on Qin Wei's shoulder and earnestly told her,
"There is something. Post production for Star Blaze is basically complete. The footage will soon be submitted for censorship approval. The process is very fast. Can the female lead really disappear at a time like this?
"If it's time to hype things up, then let's hype things up. If it's time to be active, then let's be active. As long as no laws are broken.
"In the past, I wouldn't have bothered with these things either, but I invested money this time, so making some news now is fine.
"Forget about hyping things up. Even an official announcement of a relationship wouldn't be going overboard. Don't forget that competition is fierce! The drama still has rivals..."
In order to make money, they had to make a scene. This was what publicity phase was about...
In the early morning hours that night, Qin Wei, who had disappeared for some time, made her way up the hot search rankings again. But it wasn't some controversial old video. It was freshly baked content —
#QinWei's Resurgence#
Clicking into it revealed paparazzi sneak shots that a self media account had released. At midnight that night, Su Yang entered the filming location. Getting off the vehicle to go into the hotel along with him was none other than Qin Wei.
Those paparazzi were quite capable too. Despite both of them wearing hats and masks, they could still recognize who they were.
Comments:
[Don't panic everyone, publicity phase is here! dddd]
[Fans feel perfectly calm. What underground affair would have the guy bring his girlfriend to stay at the filming site's designated hotel? I heard the boss of Happy Link is staying there these few days too. Could he be hoping CEO He can give him an early quote for his breach of contract penalty?]
[But weren't those two together on that romance reality show some time ago... This...]
[Like I said already didn't I? Publicity phase! Xiao Qiao and Egg Mommy came too. Isn't this making clear that the Star Blaze crew has arrived?]
[Also, the Su Wei couple really suits being platonic. Visually pleasing whenever those two appear on screen together, but their interactions, mm...actually quite sweet too but, just...very odd...]
[Looks like I'm the only one shipping Su Wei...I'm really looking forward to them being together!]
...
Indeed, following production needs, the main creative team behind the scenes would start engaging in hype building recently. Coincidentally, Su Yang and Qiao Sixiao entered the filming location one after the other for the collaboration between Happy Link and the video platform, so Qin Wei, needing to interact with them, had no choice but to come over and show her support.
At the moment, He Hong also held high regard for Star Blaze, so suitable hype building was something she was willing to cooperate with.
But compared to the Qin Xiao couple, He Hong leaned more towards pushing the Su Wei couple into the spotlight. After all, they were the male and female leads. If their hype building succeeded, it would also attract more attention to the new drama...
...
Once at the hotel, He Hong was already awaiting them in the hotel lobby. Seeing Qin Wei, she displayed even more enthusiasm than usual. She took the initiative to come over and shake hands with her,
"Ms Qin went out of her way to come help with publicity efforts. Let me accompany you upstairs."
As she spoke, He Hong naturally draped an arm over Qin Wei's shoulders as they headed towards the elevators.
Even her accompanying assistant who wanted to help press the elevator buttons was stopped by He Hong,
"I'll do it."
The elevator doors opened. He Hong very courteously said,
"Ms Qin, please go ahead."
"Ms He, please go first."
...
The two of them got onto the elevator. He Hong's staff very tactfully waited for the next ride. Currently, there were only the two of them inside the elevator. He Hong didn't speak, so Qin Wei didn't dare speak either. The invisible oppressive atmosphere made Qin Wei unconsciously slow her breathing.
Ding—
The elevator doors opened. He Hong led Qin Wei to open the room door, after which she placed the card key in Qin Wei's hand.
"Ms Qin, rest early. These next few days, you don't need to worry about food and lodging matters. Just treat it as a vacation and enjoy life. Good night."
After speaking, He Hong placed the room card in Qin Wei's hand and left.
She had originally thought He Hong had dismissed the others in order to speak to her alone about something, but that didn't happen.
The room lights were switched on. Faint sounds of flowing water could be heard. As the sounds stopped, someone walked out from the bathroom wearing a bathrobe. That person's right hand still had an external brace fitted over it to stabilize the injury.
The two of them stood in the living room looking at each other, both silent for thirty seconds.
Qin Wei held up the room card to show the other person. "F*ck..."
"Watch your language!"
