Chapter 72

The little incident in the hallway earlier hadn’t affected Jiang Lai’s mood at all. She still wore her usual smile when she ran into Master Li, who had come out looking for her.

“Teacher? Why did you suddenly come out?”

“I thought I heard your voice outside just now. Did something happen?”

“Mm, I ran into Huaicheng and Lin Wanqiu.”

Jiang Lai handed him a bottle of water. “I accidentally bumped into someone at the entrance earlier and got my dress dirty, so I went to clean it up.”

“And your manuscript?”

“I gave it to Huaicheng to keep an eye on for me.”

At the mention of Qin Huaicheng’s name, Master Li let out a sigh of relief. “Your draft is very important, but if Huaicheng is holding onto it for you, then I’m relieved. But who is this Lin Wanqiu?”

“Qin Huaicheng’s girlfriend.”

Jiang Lai kept her head down, her tone flat.

“Girlfriend?”

“That little brat. He’d barely broken up with you before he’d already found someone else.”

Jiang Lai laughed when she heard that. “That sounds pretty one-sided, doesn’t it? I’m dating too, aren’t I? Why don’t you say anything about me?”

“Then I am biased.”

Master Li said it with complete confidence. “Can you two be the same? You’re my student; of course I know who’s closer to me and who’s farther away. Besides, your taste has to be better than his. That’s enough.”

A woman’s figure suddenly flashed through Jiang Lai’s mind. She smiled faintly. “You’re right. My taste is much better than Qin Huaicheng’s.”

“All right, I’m not going to keep teasing you.”

Master Li stood up and walked to the door, but then couldn’t help turning back to remind her, “Remember, it’s always better to be careful around other people. The only person you can truly rely on is yourself, understand?”

“Oh, I know. Don’t worry.”

Smiling, she escorted the old man to the door and closed it behind him. “Teacher, let me walk you to the entrance.”

In just those few seconds, a figure slipped soundlessly into the room.

——————

“Aunt Cheng, is Sister Alai’s livestream competition tonight?”

The woman flipped through the script in her hands. “It should be.”

“Then what do we do? You have a night scene tonight; you probably won’t have time to watch the livestream.”

Xiaoman sighed, then tried to reassure her. “It’s okay, though. We can always watch the replay when we get back.”

The woman’s fingertips absentmindedly brushed over the words on the page. She murmured softly, “But a recording always feels a little off.”

Xiaoman slumped beside her too, but for a moment she couldn’t think of a good solution.

“Xiaoman, go talk to the director and see if tonight’s night scene can be moved up.”

“Moved up? But you already have so many scenes today. If you add another one, can your body handle it?”

The woman’s voice was calm, but her seriousness was unyielding. “It’s fine. Move tonight’s scene to now; I’m still in good shape.”

“No, Aunt Cheng, you got up so early this morning, and at noon you only dozed for a bit. If you keep this up, how is your body supposed to hold out?”

“It’s fine. It’s only for today.”

“But...”

Xiaoman was still trying to talk her out of it when the woman cut her off with one sentence.

“This is the first memorable day Alai and I have spent together. I want to be with her.”

“Be good.”

The woman patted her hand. “Go ask the director. I’ll go touch up my makeup.”

Knowing she couldn’t convince her, Xiaoman had no choice but to let it go.

In the makeup room, the makeup artist glanced at the darkness under the woman’s eyes and couldn’t help saying, “Teacher Cheng, why insist on moving this scene up to now? Why not go back to the hotel and rest for a while, then shoot the night scene later?”

The woman closed her eyes. “There are some things I need to handle tonight. I’m worried I won’t make it in time, so I might as well shoot it all together.”

“All right, then I’ll use a little more concealer so you’ll look better.”

“Thanks.”

Outside the window, night deepened little by little. The woman kept checking the time, counting down the remaining minutes.

Yu Tian came over carrying dinner, her expression bright, only to find that the woman wasn’t in the room.

“Hello, may I ask if you’ve seen Teacher Cheng?”

She quickly stopped someone who looked like crew.

“Teacher Cheng? She’s still in the studio filming the night scene.”

“She’s still filming?!”

Yu Tian’s voice shot up, startling the other person.

Realizing she’d lost her composure, she took a few deep breaths and apologized.

The other person ignored her completely and muttered under their breath, “Looks so proper, but acts like a lunatic.”

If it had been any other time, Yu Tian would have stopped them and argued until the matter was settled once and for all. But right now, her mind was full of the woman’s figure, and she truly had no energy to care about anything else.

Could something have happened to Aunt Cheng?!

At the thought, she turned and bolted outside, running toward the set like a madwoman. Cold wind slipped in through her collar, bringing a chill with it.

Fortunately, the crew and the hotel weren’t far apart. She hadn’t run long before she reached the entrance to the set, where from a distance she could see the woman suspended in a wire rig.

Surrounded by a crowd, she spotted Xiaoman. With no time to think, she hurried over to her. “Xiaoman!”

Hearing someone call her name, Xiaoman looked up and saw the face of the person she disliked. After all, she had slapped Alai for no reason last time; she was furious, and the consequences had been serious.

“What’s wrong?”

Yu Tian automatically ignored the chill in her tone and pointed at the woman. “It’s already very late. Why is Aunt Cheng still filming?”

“What, so Aunt Cheng can’t work? Are you going to do it for her?”

She froze, a little unsure how to respond. “But wasn’t Aunt Cheng’s work already done?”

Before Xiaoman could answer, Qin Li came over.

“I could hear you two from way over there. What are you arguing about?”

“Sister Li!”

Yu Tian looked as if she’d grabbed a lifeline. “Can you go tell the director to let Aunt Cheng rest a bit? She’s already exhausted today.”

Qin Li looked puzzled as she pried open the hand Yu Tian had grabbed. “You don’t know? This scene was something Teacher Cheng asked to add herself.”

“Pro...proactively? Aunt Cheng asked for this herself?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know?”

Qin Li looked her over twice. “Alai seems to have her livestream competition tonight. Teacher Cheng specially moved her night scene so she could watch it.”

Jiang Lai, Jiang Lai, it was Jiang Lai again!

Yu Tian’s hand, hidden in her sleeve, clenched into a fist; her fingernails dug into her palm, sending a stabbing pain through it.

She was really sick of hearing Jiang Lai’s name. That name was like a thorn, pricking her until she felt uncomfortable all over.

But she had been the one who met Cheng Shuyang first, so why was it that the moment Jiang Lai appeared, she could so easily take such an important place in the woman’s heart? She couldn’t accept it.

The hand under her sleeve tightened even more.

“What’s wrong?”

The woman, who had finished filming for the day, came over to them, her exhaustion impossible to hide.

Yu Tian quickly adjusted her expression. “Nothing. I just bought dinner, Aunt Cheng. Would you like to come eat with us?”

“No need.”

The woman glanced at her watch, not even bothering to remove her makeup before getting into the car. Still, she thoughtfully reminded her, “Thanks anyway. Remember to eat your dinner, and it’s already very late tonight, so go back and rest early.”

“Mm, good night, Aunt Cheng.”

“Good night.”

Watching the car kick up a cloud of dust, the unwillingness in her eyes only grew stronger.

By the time they got back to the hotel, the timing was perfect.

The woman sat on the sofa, watching intently.

“Aunt Cheng, look, is that Sister Alai?”

“Mm.”

The woman nodded lightly, her admiration undisguised. As expected, no matter where her treasure went, she was always the most dazzling presence.

“Aunt Cheng, what place do you hope Alai will get?”

Xiaoman was munching on sunflower seeds, her words a little muffled. “First place?”

The woman’s hand paused around her water glass. After a moment, a faint smile curved her lips. “Any place is fine. It doesn’t have to be first.”

Xiaoman looked at her curiously. “Then what place do you hope for?”

“As long as Alai did her best, that’s enough.”

The woman casually handed her the snacks on the table. “There are plenty of people better than her. The fact that she can stand on that stage already makes me proud.”

She thought of the bright, animated look the girl always had whenever she worked on a design draft; compared with those cold rankings and prizes, what she cared about more was Jiang Lai herself, whether she was happy.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I can smell the sweetness of love all the way over here.”

Xiaoman deliberately scooted away from her in mock disgust.

“You’ll understand later. When you truly love someone, whether the ranking is good or bad is just the icing on the cake.”

The livestream went on for a long time, nearly until midnight.

Xiaoman had long since given up and dozed off on the sofa. The woman held a coffee cup and stared at the screen without blinking, afraid of missing even a second.

The final result was exactly as she had imagined. She had known it all along; Jiang Lai had always been outstanding, an exceptionally talented designer.

“Thank you all so much for supporting me.”

In the livestream, Jiang Lai bowed to everyone, tears of joy streaming down her face as she said hoarsely, “Really... really, thank you all so much.”

The comments on the screen flew by so fast that the display was packed wall to wall with messages like “Congratulations, Jiang Lai,” “You’ll be an even more amazing designer from here on,” and “Beautiful and talented.”

Jiang Lai sniffled and wiped the tears from her face. “Here, I want to thank my teacher, Teacher Li Yan. It was he who kept telling me, whenever I wanted to give up, that people shouldn’t be afraid of failure, that they should have the courage to face it directly, and also...”

At this point, she paused. Her gaze seemed to pierce through the screen, as if meeting the woman’s eyes. For some reason, the woman’s heart trembled.

“I also want to thank one person. It was she who told me that I’m no longer alone, that I have many fans who like me, and also... her most sincere love, so...”

She lifted the trophy and spoke to the woman through the screen. “Thank you for giving my designs warmth. And thank you for always being willing to stay by my side.”

Thunderous applause erupted from the stage below, startling Xiaoman awake. “Mm? Is it over? What place did Sister Alai get?”

The woman kindly handed her a tissue. “Wipe the drool off your face.”

Xiaoman laughed twice. “So what place did Sister Alai get, in the end?”

“First place.”

“Wow, I knew it. Sister Alai is definitely the best.”

“Mm.”

In her heart, she added, She really is amazing.

After the livestream ended, she stood up and began tidying up, planning to rest for a while. Xiaoman, sitting in the living room, suddenly cried out.

“What is it?”

Xiaoman looked shocked. “Did I miss something during the livestream just now?”

The woman couldn’t help frowning. “What exactly happened?”

Xiaoman handed her the phone. “Sister Alai is on the hot search again.”

“#JiangLai suspected of exposing a relationship.”

“#On the night of her victory, Jiang Lai confessed to her lover.”

“#Who exactly is Jiang Lai’s mysterious lover?”

The comments section below was practically exploding, everyone chattering at once. One comment in particular caught the woman’s attention.

“When Jiang Lai called out to that person, she used ‘you,’ which is a respectful form, so I’m guessing her lover is older than her?”

A crowd of people replied in agreement.

The woman couldn’t help raising her brows. This generation of internet users really was sharp.

“Or is it possible that the person Jiang Lai likes is actually... Cheng Shuyang?”

Someone quietly posted another comment, and it instantly shot to the top of the hot search.