Jealousy

“You’ve got a lot of nerve, putting your hands on me like that.” Li Lan rubbed her wrist.

Zhu Qing was clearly displeased. “Can’t you not change the subject?”

Li Lan really had no way with her. She finally managed to put on a serious expression and said calmly, “State your demand.”

“You’re too dishonest.” Zhu Qing looked her over from head to toe, then from toe back to head; in the end, her gaze settled on that face of hers, too striking to ignore. “Do you know you got into the entertainment industry on your looks?”

Li Lan froze for a moment. “You’re the one changing the subject…”

Before she could finish, Zhu Qing said quickly, “So if you go out every day with that face on, of course you’re going to attract bees and butterflies. You know that, right?”

Li Lan: …

That turn was so abrupt Li Lan was left speechless.

“These past few days you’ve been all over the hot searches every day. The domestic entertainment circle is missing your type, and I was happily watching you gain followers, looking forward to you moving up a tier someday,” Zhu Qing said indignantly. “I never thought people shouldn’t be too happy; joy leads to sorrow. My own home’s about to be stolen, and I’m still standing around like a fool being happy for you.”

That was Zhu Qing’s honest thought. Don’t look at how little she and Li Lan had actually done these past few days; this slow-travel variety show came with its own built-in buzz and was hugely popular. Even someone like her, who didn’t pay much attention to the entertainment industry, knew how high the heat was, let alone Li Lan, who was in the middle of it.

The entertainment world was never short on beautiful people. Plenty of handsome men and women lacked resources; as long as they got exposure, Li Lan could absolutely move up a tier. Zhu Qing of course wanted her to get what she wished for, so she came along, doing whatever the production team asked and cooperating to the best of her ability.

But she’d been working hard in the background, and when she looked up again, her home was about to be stolen.

Yu Ling might be pretty and have backing, but was that really a reason to corner Li Lan and pour out her feelings?

And Li Lan too; why was she avoiding the point and refusing to answer properly?

That really did test Zhu Qing’s nerves.

Li Lan crouched in front of her. Only after Zhu Qing got through that uncomfortable wave did she take hold of her hand and say softly, “Yu Ling is someone Director Yang wants to promote.”

Zhu Qing didn’t move.

“Yang Huayi. I told you about her before; you may not really understand, but in simple terms, among the two biggest giants in domestic entertainment, besides MeiYu Media, which stands behind Qi Yao, there’s also the company Director Yang belongs to, He Guang Tong Chen.”

“Yu Ling is from He Guang Tong Chen; no, to be precise, she’s someone Yang Huayi wants to promote,” Li Lan said word by word, articulating clearly. “The worst anyone she’s cultivated has done is still solidly first-tier. Everyone who’s passed through her hands has become top-tier.”

“Top-tier?” Zhu Qing was a little uncertain about the term.

Li Lan thought for a moment, then said in a low voice, “A star who dominates the field for a period of time and monopolizes the industry’s best resources in the short term. Some people’s peak lasts long, some short; but once they’ve stood in that position, they can bring huge returns to the company.”

“Getting a bit far afield; anyway, Yu Ling is Yang Huayi’s next preselected top star,” Li Lan said evenly. “She has the qualifications; her performance, stage presence, appearance, and recognition are all very good. You’ve been following the hot searches every day, so you know she’s gained a lot of traffic through this variety show. Especially with Qi Yao as her teammate, by the time the show ends, her popularity definitely won’t be low. There’ll be even better resources waiting for her after that.”

Zhu Qing gradually understood and asked in confusion, “But what does that have to do with her looking for you?”

“A lot.” Li Lan’s tone was light and unhurried, as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with her. “She knows she’s going to be pushed. Probably worried I’d steal her resources, so she’s been probing me all this time. Yang Huayi took her to meet the production team and the platform’s executives; when she asked people to look after Yu Ling, maybe I got included too. Over the past year or two, Yang Huayi gave me quite a lot of resources, and some time ago she even introduced me to a very promising film… Yu Ling may be worried that the resources she’s been given will be diverted to me.”

Now Zhu Qing understood. Yu Ling had come to gather intelligence on the enemy. But she was still a little uncertain. “I didn’t notice any of that.”

Li Lan really wanted to say it was because your brain doesn’t turn corners…

But she also knew that if she said it out loud, Zhu Qing would probably explode, so she could only say helplessly, “Otherwise what? Do you think she likes me?”

Zhu Qing shot back, “Doesn’t she like you? She keeps looking at you for no reason, and when she looks at you she lowers her head all shy. On our first meeting she even said she was your fan; I could tell, so don’t say you didn’t know!”

Li Lan smiled. “That’s just social niceties. Just because you wouldn’t say it doesn’t mean others won’t.”

Zhu Qing felt she was being indirectly criticized. She mulled it over for a while, but really couldn’t find anything wrong with Li Lan’s words.

Seeing that she had calmed down, Li Lan raised a hand cautiously, wanting to smooth her hair.

Her palm reached Zhu Qing’s forehead; seeing no sign of being chased away, Li Lan quickly ruffled it once. “So this is settled?”

Zhu Qing frowned. “I still have one question.”

Li Lan had no temper left. “Go on.”

“Why would Yang Huayi introduce resources to you?”

Li Lan’s gaze stilled slightly.

Zhu Qing rubbed her palms together. She didn’t understand the twists and turns of the entertainment industry, but she wasn’t that naive either. No one would hand you resources for no reason. “According to what you said, Yang Huayi is very high up and controls a lot of resources. Whoever she promotes becomes a top star. So why would she cooperate with you? You and her… clearly you’re the one with more to ask of her.”

Li Lan lowered her head and laughed for a long time. “That’s really blunt. I can’t refute it at all.”

Zhu Qing’s brows knit together. This seemed to be the source of all the inconsistency.

“To be honest,” Li Lan sat down beside Zhu Qing and let out a long breath. Zhu Qing looked at her expectantly, about to hear an explanation for all her doubts; but Li Lan only frowned hard instead. “I don’t know either.”

Zhu Qing: …?

“Really, I don’t know,” Li Lan murmured. “She did once want to promote me, but I turned her down.”

Zhu Qing asked, pursuing the matter to the end, “Why refuse? Were you unhappy with the terms she offered?”

A trace of confusion appeared in Li Lan’s eyes. “It’s hard to say. It was just a feeling that I couldn’t go that way. When I was young, I was full of pride; I didn’t want to take shortcuts, and I was always suspicious that all gifts had a price tag hidden behind them… But most importantly, Yang Huayi gave me a dangerous feeling. She’s ten years older than me. Now that she’s older, she’s a lot gentler in how she speaks and acts, but ten years ago she wasn’t like this at all; every gesture of hers made people uneasy.”

Zhu Qing rubbed Li Lan’s back. “Did she do something you couldn’t accept?”

Li Lan’s face again showed that same lost expression. “I can’t remember clearly. Mostly I was scared. Back then a female celebrity in the company jumped off a building; it seemed to be because Yang Huayi had given up on her. MeiYu Media also had a celebrity who died by suicide, but that one was because she’d been blacklisted and shelved, and couldn’t handle the huge breach-of-contract penalty, so she killed herself. I only found out later that Yang Huayi had a hand in that too; she even took a large chunk of the dead celebrity’s resources for herself, planning to use them to promote us.”

Zhu Qing nodded. That made sense.

Li Lan had been young then, and after seeing two tragic precedents in a row, coupled with Yang Huayi’s frightening personal style, she chose to leave. And afraid of being retaliated against if she stayed in the country, she could only go abroad.

“Actually, looking back on it later,” Li Lan said softly, “I was just too timid back then. I got scared out of my wits. Yang Huayi never actually did anything to hurt me from beginning to end.”

So it circled back to where it started.

Li Lan didn’t know what Yang Huayi really wanted to do.

And she didn’t particularly want to investigate either, because the shadow left by those events more than ten years ago was still there now, and Yang Huayi’s status had only grown higher. Li Lan was not as afraid as before, but she still remained wary.

After listening, Zhu Qing felt full. Bit by bit, she had picked through Li Lan’s past; all the things Li Lan didn’t really want to remember, all the things she had let sink into the past because too much time had passed, had been gnawed out by Zhu Qing.

Seeing her face full of sudden realization, looking satisfied as though she’d just listened to a story, Li Lan said unhappily, “Satisfied now?”

Zhu Qing patted her stomach. “You should’ve said so earlier. People ought to be more honest with each other and less guarded. If you’d explained all these twists and turns between people to me sooner, I definitely wouldn’t have been jealous.”

Li Lan looked at her in silence. Zhu Qing sprawled back onto the bed with a carefree air, already about to roll over and play on her phone, when Li Lan suddenly grabbed her arm and flipped her back over again.

“I’m not satisfied yet.”

Zhu Qing lay on the bed looking at Li Lan; there were tiny sparks jumping in the other woman’s gaze from above.

“What, you’ve got a demand too?” Zhu Qing asked.

Li Lan reached out and tapped the center of Zhu Qing’s brow. “Be honest. Who was the person you once had feelings for?”

Zhu Qing looked at the fingertip and stayed silent.

Li Lan pinched her cheek directly. “Spit it out.”

Zhu Qing’s mouth moved; she felt like she’d turned into a goldfish and couldn’t help wanting to laugh.

“Say it.” Li Lan pinched her again.

Zhu Qing tilted her head, wriggling her face free from Li Lan’s hand.

“If I tell you, don’t get mad,” Zhu Qing said, lying there very comfortably. “If you get mad, I won’t tell you.”

Li Lan still looked down at her with that same big-boss expression, clearly meaning, Fine, whether you confess or not, I’m keeping this attitude; but if you don’t confess, my attitude will definitely get worse.

“No, why?” Zhu Qing said, indignant on her behalf. “Where is your jealousy coming from?”

She had only just seen Li Lan and Yu Ling tangling with each other; the pretty girl had even confessed in front of Li Lan, and only then had she gotten a little jealous herself. How had Li Lan’s jealousy turned into this state the moment it came up?

Li Lan stared at her, her voice low. “You answered this question before. You said you only ever had feelings for me.”

Zhu Qing: Huh?

So that was why Li Lan had answered so directly. She had thought Zhu Qing would give the same answer as her; she hadn’t expected Zhu Qing to say she’d had feelings for someone else.

Zhu Qing found herself in a tight spot. She couldn’t even lie there flat anymore, and hurriedly propped herself up on her elbows.

How had she been lying before her memory loss too?

“Uh, it was someone I met in college; just one encounter, and I only had a little bit of good feelings toward her,” Zhu Qing said quickly. “We didn’t even meet again after that. There was really no story.”

“I think I previously misunderstood what ‘good feelings’ meant. You’re the first person I ever had good feelings for and wanted to get close to. The person I met in college, I didn’t even see what she looked like clearly. I just thought she seemed decent. Nothing happened after that; you really don’t need to misunderstand.”

Li Lan fixed her with a deep, unblinking gaze. Zhu Qing’s skin was starting to prickle all over, and she was nearly ready to swear to the heavens that she had never been two-faced or hypocritical or lied, when Li Lan suddenly turned her head away.

Zhu Qing leaned over suspiciously, and saw Li Lan’s shoulders trembling.

Oh my god, was she crying?

Zhu Qing hurried over, grabbed Li Lan by the shoulders, and turned her around. “I really didn’t… Li Lan!”

Li Lan was clearly laughing; the kind of laughter she couldn’t hold back.

“You,” Zhu Qing shoved her once and rolled back onto the bed. “Stay away from me!”

Li Lan laughed for a long time before finally stopping.

Zhu Qing was just too easy to tease; a little bait and she’d take it.

That little episode kept Li Lan in a very good mood, all the way until the afternoon when the production team called everyone over to continue today’s recording.

The afternoon activity was sensory compatibility: one person in each couple would be blindfolded, then identify their partner through touching hands, listening to a voice, smelling perfume, or picking the right features—eyes, brows, nose, lips—from a pile and assembling the correct face. The pair with the lowest score would be punished by drinking cilantro water, swallowing traditional medicine containing rhubarb, or eating raw houttuynia.

Hu Xu and Liu Yini assembled each other’s faces; Sun Qi and Xu Yuzhi picked out the perfume the other had chosen; Li Lan and Zhu Qing identified each other by touch; Yu Ling and Qi Yao searched through a pile of voices for the one whose pitch had been altered.

Because the faces given to the face-assembly group were their partners’ younger faces, they had a hard time finding the features. Hu Xu got the nose wrong; Liu Yini got the eyebrows wrong, but most of it still matched.

The perfume group made mistakes one after another. Sun Qi knew nothing about perfume; when choosing the scent he liked, he originally wanted to pick the one Xu Yuzhi wore every day. His idea was good, and it matched Xu Yuzhi’s wavelength too, but his nose wasn’t sharp enough, so he got half of it wrong.

The hand-touch group won every round, whether it was bare hands, hands wearing disposable gloves, or hands wearing cotton gloves. Li Lan was particularly smooth, because Zhu Qing’s fingers were distinctive; her pinky’s second joint was slightly displaced from the first because of an incorrect pen-holding posture, and you could feel it the moment you pinched it.

As for Zhu Qing touching Li Lan, that was practically cheating. The most slender, softest fingers; the ones that could be bent one hundred and eighty degrees; those were Li Lan’s.

As for the voice-listening group, both Yu Ling and Qi Yao picked wrong. The lower-pitched one couldn’t be found, the higher-pitched one couldn’t be found, and in the end they even got the normal pitch wrong, fully cementing them as the “least familiar couple.”

After this episode aired, the heat really did shift onto Yu Ling and Qi Yao, just as Li Lan had expected.

The production team could help Qi Yao cover things up, but they couldn’t hide him for an entire episode. And Yu Ling had her own company behind her; they couldn’t possibly cut all of her footage just to help Qi Yao.

So some of Qi Yao’s inappropriate remarks, his poorly managed expressions, and his impatient attitude while doing tasks were picked out by sharp-eyed viewers and dragged up to the hot searches.

[Who let this oversized baby out without a leash]

[Yu Ling didn’t guess right either, so why are you scolding Qi Yao? They were just not familiar with each other]

[Right, right, if you’re not familiar then don’t drag others down. You’re like fertilizer becoming poison gas; if you’re stupid, don’t drag other people down with you]

[Doing farm work is inherently harder on men. Qi Yao didn’t even complain about Yu Ling when he took the task. Yu Ling not getting the advantage is what she deserves; please be aware]

[This is hilarious. Was the first day of being chased by a dog also Yu Ling’s fault? An oversized baby is an oversized baby. Can’t tell homegrown vegetables from wild ones? Acting dumb and clueless like the audience is blind? Either Qi Yao is stupid or he’s malicious]

[And didn’t you notice Qi Yao’s attitude toward the seniors was bad too? What was with that eye-roll when Li Lan was talking?]

[He choked on his food, thanks. Qi Yao just debuted and doesn’t know how to manage expressions. Who can keep every frame perfect?]

[Then go screenshot Zhu Qing; she’s even newer than Qi Yao, a total civilian, and her expression management never broke once. She’s been smiling the whole time. So why is it only Qi Yao’s eye-roll and impatience that get noticed?]

[Since when is Li Lan a senior? She’s just a model who walked in overseas and doesn’t have any works at all. Qi Yao still has one breakout work. What has Li Lan got? Being older doesn’t make you a senior, thanks]

[?? Are you insane or am I? Going viral overseas as a Chinese model isn’t a work? A model’s work is the runway. Eat something good for once, I’m really done with you]

The arguing never stopped. This was the most explosive episode since the variety show began airing; as a result, on the final day of filming in the wooden house, everyone’s expressions were a little strange.

Zhu Qing had put on one sock wrong and had gone upstairs to change it. On her way back down, she ran into Qi Yao, who was leaving last. She paused and nodded at him as a greeting.

Just as Zhu Qing was about to leave, Qi Yao suddenly called her back.

“Were you doing that on purpose?”

Zhu Qing was stunned. “Doing what?”

Qi Yao’s eyes were bloodshot. He took a few steps closer and stopped in front of Zhu Qing, his tone strange. “Why do they say your expression never broke? When I had a bad attitude toward Li Lan, she spoke and I rolled my eyes; when I spoke, you rolled your eyes too. Why is it none of your business?”

Once she understood, Zhu Qing wasn’t stunned anymore. But it would have been better if she had stayed stunned; at least then she wouldn’t have to control her eye-roll.

“How would I know? Go ask them.” With that, Zhu Qing tried to leave.

Who would have thought Qi Yao would suddenly reach out and shove her.

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Zhu Qing: I *# / ~ ￥ beep——!