Chapter 62

Lin Yuewei had been left to her own devices by the company for half a month. Just when she’d stopped expecting anything from them, her agent, Chen Xuan, called.

“I got you an endorsement. Are you free this morning? Come by the company and take a look. If it works, we’ll sign the contract.”

Chen Xuan either called her at dawn or in the middle of the night, as if she were squeezing time out of the cracks. Today was no different; it was barely morning. Lin Yuewei shot upright in bed and startled Jiang Congbi beside her.

“An endorsement?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, what time?” Lin Yuewei asked, trying to sound composed even though she wanted to fly there immediately.

“Around ten.”

“I’ll be there on time. Ten o’clock, right?”

“Mm. I’ll be waiting for you at the company.”

After Lin Yuewei hung up, Jiang Congbi blinked at her and curled her lip. “Your agent is finally alive?”

“Mm. Alive.” Lin Yuewei got out of bed and went to wash up and get dressed.

Jiang Congbi had originally wanted to get up with her, but the moment she saw the time, she flopped back down. “It’s only seven? Didn’t you two say ten?”

“It never hurts to arrive early.”

“I’m just saying, you’re trying to be an actress. It’s been half a month and they haven’t given you a single audition. What’s the point of making you do an ad?” Even Jiang Congbi, who didn’t even work in the industry, knew ads were just a matter of consumption; only filming built real capital.

“It’s already good enough that I got an endorsement. We’ll take it slowly.” Lin Yuewei had already complained in her head as much as she could. Griping wouldn’t solve anything, and complaining with Jiang Congbi would be even more pointless.

Lin Yuewei had been left hanging for so long that she spent every day wandering outside. After a while, even Jiang Congbi noticed something was off. She asked Lin Yuewei about it, and Lin Yuewei had been scrambling for a new excuse to brush her off when Jiang Congbi blocked her with a single line: “Aren’t we best friends?” In the end, Lin Yuewei had no choice but to tell the truth.

Jiang Congbi cursed that lousy company for an entire night and didn’t fall asleep until after midnight. Whether she had some kind of prophetic gift or not, the moment she finished cursing, the company suddenly remembered Lin Yuewei existed.

They couldn’t keep dangling bait and milking fans forever. Next month’s official announcement that the Z brand had chosen Lin Yuewei as its ambassador was naturally a complete fabrication. Fans had been led in circles and were getting a little annoyed, and the bigger fan accounts were urging everyone to keep a low profile and conserve their energy.

There was also another matter. Shao Yasi and Lin Yuewei had been shipped as a CP on a program, and the two fandoms had become mortal enemies. They were already competitors, so there had been quiet rivalry between them to begin with. Not long after the show ended, Shao Yasi, who had signed with a new company, landed the female second lead in Mirror within the Palm, a TV drama by the famous director Liu Yue. She didn’t miss a beat when it came to ads, promotional appearances, or fashion week shows. In contrast, Lin Yuewei had absolutely no news.

On all kinds of gossip forums, Lin Yuewei had already been stamped with the label of “debut peak,” and people were gleefully mocking her. As long as someone was still mocking her, that meant she still had heat; the day her name disappeared from the forums entirely was the day she’d truly gone cold.

The web drama she’d previously auditioned for was something Lin Yuewei had turned down at Chen Xuan’s urging. Even if Chen Xuan hadn’t said anything, she probably still wouldn’t have agreed. Her debut had a foundation. If she could avoid it, she didn’t want to take the path of gaining attention through bad projects. Every bad work she piled up now would probably take who knew how many good projects to undo later. Unless they had no other choice, what actor wouldn’t care about their reputation?

She and Jiang Congbi left separately. She didn’t drive; she took a taxi to Guoshi Entertainment.

By the time she arrived, it was only nine-thirty. Lin Yuewei went to knock on Chen Xuan’s office door, only to be told that Chen Xuan hadn’t arrived at the company yet. That made sense. Chen Xuan was busy; besides managing artists, she also had all kinds of miscellaneous matters on her plate. Lin Yuewei sat on the small sofa outside the office. The employees at the company were used to signed artists coming and going; even industry top stars were like this, let alone Lin Yuewei. Someone brought her a glass of water and set it on the coffee table before leaving.

At exactly ten o’clock, Chen Xuan arrived on time. Just as Lin Yuewei was standing up, she noticed someone else behind her; a girl about her age had her arm linked through Chen Xuan’s, saying something into her ear while Chen Xuan smiled with exasperation and indulgence.

Lin Yuewei knew this girl. Her surname was Xiao. She was a genius, a versatile singer-songwriter who had burst into public view like a dark horse in today’s sluggish music market, won herself a huge following, and sold out every stop on her tour.

What agent doesn’t like artists who can make them money?

“Chen-jie.” Lin Yuewei stepped forward from the sofa and greeted Chen Xuan.

A fleeting look of blankness crossed Chen Xuan’s face, and then she smiled warmly. “Xiao Lin, have you been waiting long?”

“No, I just got here.” Lin Yuewei smiled.

Chen Xuan noticed the glass of water on the coffee table; only a fifth of it remained. She was silent for two seconds, then patted the hand of the girl beside her and told her to go play somewhere else. The singer-songwriter Xiao wasn’t especially striking, but she didn’t need to make a living off her face. She winked at Lin Yuewei, bright and innocent. “Sister, you’re really pretty. I watched your show.”

They were the same age, and Xiao was a few months younger, so calling her sister was reasonable enough.

Lin Yuewei felt a little awkward. “Thank you.”

Xiao laughed and waved at her. “Bye-bye, see you next time.”

Lin Yuewei nodded. “See you next time.”

“Auntie Xuan, I’m treating you to lunch at noon. You have to honor me with your presence.”

Although Chen Xuan was old enough to be Xiao’s mother, being called “auntie” was probably unpleasant for any woman. Lin Yuewei watched Chen Xuan’s expression and saw that she wasn’t angry at all; in fact, her smile was clearly more genuine than the one she gave Lin Yuewei. “Call me after you’re done.”

Xiao bounced off happily, completely unlike the cool, queen-bee-devil image the outside world gave her. Lin Yuewei couldn’t help but marvel at the power of a company’s packaging.

Chen Xuan opened the office door and said to Lin Yuewei at the entrance, “Come in.”

This was Lin Yuewei’s second time in her office. The first time, she’d come with hopes for the future; today, she came with the determination to leave no room for retreat. Without the company behind her, Lin Yuewei finally understood what it meant to be a single tree unable to support a forest. During this time, she had attended many auditions. Some she’d passed smoothly, whether good or bad. The low-quality ones didn’t need mentioning. For the better-produced ones, it had often been obvious during the audition that the other side was very satisfied, yet the final result would often be the opposite. This industry was never short on celebrities or actors; what it lacked was background and connections. Most of the time, that meant the agency backing you. No matter how stunning you were, if capital didn’t push you, you’d still remain a buried pearl.

Lin Yuewei still had one other path, the one she’d mentioned before, the one she least wanted to take.

She sat down across from Chen Xuan, who took out a contract from her desk drawer and slid it over. “After the program ended, a lot of brands came looking for you to endorse them. Most of them were either shady no-name products or the pay was too low. After all this time, I finally found one that suits you.”

Lin Yuewei opened it. It was a new series of skincare products from a certain brand. She’d heard of the brand before; its affordable products had a decent reputation. Chen Xuan told her the fee, and after the cut, it still came to several hundred thousand. In short, it was better in every way than Lin Yuewei had expected.

While Lin Yuewei was reading the contract, Chen Xuan kept pressing at the bridge of her nose.

“Chen-jie, do you have a headache?”

“An old problem. I didn’t sleep well last night, and I’ve been running nonstop these past few days.”

Lin Yuewei knew that one of the artists under her had recently been hit with a scandal. Chen Xuan had probably spent the past few days handling crisis PR for them. Yesterday, public opinion had taken a huge turn and had basically been suppressed.

Lin Yuewei didn’t know the details, but she trusted Chen Xuan’s ability.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Yuewei took out a pen and paper from her bag, wrote down an address, a name, and a phone number, tore the slip off, and handed it over to Chen Xuan. Chen Xuan took it and looked at the handwriting, then asked, “What’s this?”

Lin Yuewei’s handwriting had been trained; it was elegant and distinctive, very pleasing to the eye.

“It’s the address of an old Chinese doctor who specializes in acupuncture. He’s especially good at treating headaches.”

Chen Xuan looked hesitant.

Lin Yuewei said, “My dad used to get headaches too. Medicine didn’t work on him, but this doctor cured him. He’s not far from here. If you remember and happen to pass by, go have a look. It’s not good to keep forcing yourself through headaches.”

“All right.” Chen Xuan tucked the note under her notebook at random.

Lin Yuewei didn’t say anything. Forced enthusiasm would only breed resentment. After checking the contract twice and finding no issues, she signed it on the spot. Before Chen Xuan could speak, Lin Yuewei got straight to the point. “Chen-jie, are there any suitable auditions lately? I want to act.”

Chen Xuan was a little surprised that she’d asked so directly.

In Chen Xuan’s eyes, Lin Yuewei had the potential to become popular. If she’d been the one to discover her, she would definitely have pushed her up to give it a try, but... at least for now, she didn’t dare act rashly, lest she set herself on fire.

Chen Xuan said, “I’m still looking for opportunities for you. If there’s a chance, I’ll call you.”

She made it sound nice, but Lin Yuewei didn’t believe a word of it. If she were asking for a role in a show and Chen Xuan refused, that would be one thing; but this was only an audition opportunity. All Chen Xuan had to do was make one call and say a few words. It wouldn’t take much effort, and people would give her face.

From Chen Xuan’s eyes, Lin Yuewei had already seen that there was something else going on, but what exactly that hidden reason was, she racked her brains and still couldn’t figure out. Was she just supposed to sit here and wait?

When she was leaving, Chen Xuan said, “Your assistant has already been assigned. This is her contact info. Scan it.”

Lin Yuewei scanned the code and added her assistant, then chatted for a bit. After meeting her at the company, she now had an assistant she would likely work with for years if nothing unexpected happened. The assistant was a woman two years older than her, with a round face and the surname Wang; true to her name, she was called Wang Yuanyuan.

Wang Yuanyuan wanted to call her Sister Wei, but Lin Yuewei refused. She was older than her. After a bit, they settled on calling her Weiwei.

Although the assistant had signed a confidentiality agreement, Lin Yuewei didn’t know whether she belonged to her or to Chen Xuan, so she didn’t dare say much to her. Wang Yuanyuan was quiet too, just following along beside her.

A woman in her mid-thirties in professional attire walked toward them, wearing an iron-gray suit. She moved with purpose, her hair pulled neatly back in a no-nonsense style. Seeing her, Lin Yuewei quickly stepped aside to let her pass. The woman had originally walked by without even glancing sideways, but then she suddenly turned back and gave Lin Yuewei a look, the corners of her mouth lifting into a meaningful smile.

A cold shiver ran down Lin Yuewei’s neck for no reason.

The woman had already walked off. Lin Yuewei asked the assistant beside her, “Who was that?”

Wang Yuanyuan said, “She’s Liu, the manager from Group Two.”

Lin Yuewei’s own agent, Chen Xuan, was from Group One. After some thought, Lin Yuewei asked, “Does this Liu have a bad relationship with Chen-jie?”

Wang Yuanyuan phrased it tactfully. “It’s not very good.”

From her expression, Lin Yuewei felt it was probably not just not very good; it was very bad.

Competition inside the company was normal, especially since this Liu looked to have the same style as Chen Xuan: sharp and capable. The two managers each led a batch of artists under them. Lin Yuewei and Liu had no old grudge or recent enmity; there was no reason for that expression unless Liu had a grudge with Chen Xuan.

Lin Yuewei and Wang Yuanyuan found a quiet spot. She started asking for the details, and Wang Yuanyuan explained. These things weren’t much of a secret within the company anyway. The head of the artist management department was about to be transferred, leaving the position vacant. Chen Xuan and this Manager Liu were the two candidates competing for the promotion. The company’s internal competition had already been fierce; now it was a complete bloodbath. Artists under both sides would often end up fighting over resources. But internal resources went to the capable, so if they fought, they fought. It just made the company’s atmosphere even more gunpowder-filled.

Lin Yuewei was one of Chen Xuan’s people, so it was only natural that Liu disliked her; especially since she was in this half-frozen state now, with no idea when she’d officially thaw out. It was only human nature for the other side to gloat.

After hearing Wang Yuanyuan out, Lin Yuewei’s thoughts shifted. “Yuanyuan, do you know how I was assigned to Chen-jie?” She had a hunch that something might have gone wrong in the process.

Wang Yuanyuan shook her head.

Lin Yuewei wasn’t disappointed. The assistant was only an assistant, after all; she generally wouldn’t have access to anything critical. Through talking with her, Lin Yuewei had basically confirmed that Wang Yuanyuan wasn’t someone with much scheming in her. People like that were easier to get along with.

After taking the new product endorsement, Lin Yuewei’s treatment at the company improved somewhat. She had an assistant now, and even a car and driver were assigned, though they weren’t used yet because it wasn’t time to shoot the ad.

At noon, Lin Yuewei had lunch with Wang Yuanyuan and asked her a lot about Liu and the artists under Chen Xuan. Wang Yuanyuan told her everything she knew. Lin Yuewei’s eyes flickered; no one knew what she was planning.

When everything was finished, Lin Yuewei lifted her wrist to check the time. It was three in the afternoon. She hailed a taxi by the roadside and gave the driver an address.

When Jiang Congbi came home from work, she saw Lin Yuewei sitting in the living room and blurted, “Why are you here again?”

The disgust was obvious.

Lin Yuewei nearly coughed up blood. “I only came once, and now I can’t come?” She grabbed a cushion from the sofa and threw it over, genuinely annoyed.

“That’s not what I meant,” Jiang Congbi said quickly, catching the cushion and scrambling to fix her words with an ingratiating smile. “I mean, why aren’t you living with Gu Yanqiu? You know, the closer you are to the water, the earlier you get the moon.”

“She’s on a business trip.” Lin Yuewei flopped onto the sofa.

“So you’ve given up on life?” Jiang Congbi teased.

Lin Yuewei pulled a blanket over her face and stopped talking.

Jiang Congbi’s radar immediately went off. Something was wrong. A while ago, Lin Yuewei had been pretending not to care, yet every three sentences she mentioned Gu Yanqiu. Why did it look like she really didn’t care now?

Jiang Congbi yanked the blanket off her face and leaned in close. “Did you two fight?”

“No.” Lin Yuewei thought to herself that with Gu Yanqiu being the kind of living bodhisattva she was, there was no way they could even get into a fight.

“Then why did you come running to me?”

“...”

It was embarrassing to say out loud, but Lin Yuewei had been avoiding Gu Yanqiu.

Time rewound to half a month ago.

That morning, Gu Yanqiu had ignored everything and wrapped her arms around Lin Yuewei’s waist, insisting on leaning against her to sleep. Lin Yuewei had been dazed for a while before calmly pushing her away.

Gu Yanqiu had smiled then, a little slyly. It was a strange smile, unfamiliar on Gu Yanqiu’s face, with an odd sense of incongruity.

What Lin Yuewei was sure of was that she didn’t like that slightly calculating smile.

That wasn’t the Gu Yanqiu she knew, the one whose presence made her feel at ease.

They ate breakfast together, Gu Yanqiu went to work, and Lin Yuewei went out to handle her own matters. At night, one of them would be in the dining room and the other in the study; they only slept in the same bed. They’d spent several days in peaceful coexistence like that.

Gu Yanqiu had tried to get closer to her, but Lin Yuewei had blocked every attempt with all kinds of excuses. Then, a few days ago, Gu Yanqiu left for a long business trip. Only then did Lin Yuewei feel the tension that had been stretched tight in her nerves these days finally ease. But after another two days, she began to think the house was too big and too empty, and then Jiang Congbi had exposed her, so she ran here instead.

“Who was the one who said your home is my home? I come stay for two days and you’re already disgusted with me. Fine, then I’ll leave.” Lin Yuewei shut Jiang Congbi up with just that one sentence. Jiang Congbi hurriedly pulled her back and apologized repeatedly.

“I was worried about you.”

“There’s nothing for you to worry about. Worry about yourself.”

“Me?” Jiang Congbi laughed. “I’m doing great every day. The company’s operating normally, and I have more pocket money than I can spend.”

Lin Yuewei was already restless and irritated; she had only meant to change the subject, but hearing Jiang Congbi say that made her feel even more stifled. She pulled the blanket over her face again.

Jiang Congbi poked her arm. Lin Yuewei didn’t move.

After tilting her head in thought for a moment, Jiang Congbi took her phone and went upstairs. She did have Gu Yanqiu’s contact information. She wasn’t sure how far the two of them had gotten, but probing a little was still possible.

[Three Waters: Miss Gu, are you there?]

[West Gu: [smile] Yes.]

Jiang Congbi: “..."

If she hadn’t clearly seen who sent the message, she’d have wanted to smash something right then.

[Three Waters: I heard from Lin Yuewei that you’ve been on a business trip lately?]

[West Gu: Yes, I just got back today.]

[Three Waters: Did you two fight?]

[West Gu: No.]

[Three Waters: I didn’t think so [laugh]]

[West Gu: Mm...]

Jiang Congbi felt that the ellipsis carried a wealth of information.

They hadn’t fought, but Gu Yanqiu was angry. She could tell from Lin Yuewei’s attitude. That morning, seeing Lin Yuewei’s cold response, she had taken the initiative to use a relatively aggressive method to test things out; it was a trick she’d once seen Cheng Guiyuan use when dating girls abroad. That woman seemed to have some kind of magic; with just a little leaning and coaxing, the young girls would be completely dazzled and nearly do something explicit right in front of her.

Of course, Gu Yanqiu hadn’t intended anything explicit. She didn’t know how to do that yet.

Although this kind of behavior was a world away from Gu Yanqiu’s usual way of handling things, she had still taken the risk of trying it. The result was the opposite of what she wanted.

Lin Yuewei declared a one-sided cold war on her; Gu Yanqiu was baffled. For the first few days, she had even tried to ease the relationship, but Lin Yuewei was completely impervious, as if determined to draw a clear line between them.

Gu Yanqiu naturally had a temper too; otherwise, she wouldn’t have deliberately said those words to needle Lin Yuewei right after they got married. So the one-sided cold war escalated into a mutual cold war.

Gu Yanqiu went on a business trip to find some peace and quiet; Lin Yuewei hid out at Jiang Congbi’s house. The two of them had not said a single word to each other for nearly a week, not even in messages.

Lin Yuewei stayed at the Jiang house day after day until she finally finished filming the skincare ad. She then treated Jiang Congbi to dinner as a reward to herself.

Jiang Congbi had recently started dating a little girlfriend, a fresh first-year college student who was barely eighteen and as tender as spring onions. Jiang Congbi was utterly infatuated with her. During dinner, she kept playing on her phone, typing nonstop, occasionally sending a voice message; her big-sister tone was full of a roguish, wicked charm.

Lin Yuewei watched and sighed at the decline of morals and the corruption of the human heart. Jiang Congbi laughed heartily and kept coaxing the little girl.

Bored, Lin Yuewei also opened Moments. She had never been interested in this kind of fragmented information, but as she casually scrolled, her finger suddenly paused and she dragged the screen back.

The WeChat account that had only just been registered after returning to the country, and the one that practically never posted to Moments, Gu Yanqiu, had actually posted an update:

[Woke up this morning and found a bruise. No idea when I banged into something last night [sigh][photo of a bruised calf.jpg]]

She probably hurt herself by accident while sleepwalking last night. If Lin Yuewei had been there, that wouldn’t have happened.

The thought made it hard for Lin Yuewei to swallow her food.

Gu Yanqiu looked steady and composed, but inside she was probably still the kind of person who liked relying on others. Maybe that morning when she leaned against her, she just hadn’t been fully awake yet. Sometimes when Lin Yuewei was too sleepy, she would lean on Jiang Congbi too; she couldn’t just assume other people’s thoughts were crooked because she herself had misread things.

And that smile of hers—maybe Lin Yuewei had misunderstood that too. Maybe there had been no intention of scheming against her at all.

She’d been too unreasonable.

After a round of self-reflection, Lin Yuewei decided to go home and apologize.

Jiang Congbi saw her suddenly stand up and let out an “oh.” Her little girlfriend, who couldn’t put her phone down for even a second, pushed a plate over and said without looking up, “Are you going to get more sauce? Get me some more meat sauce too.”

Lin Yuewei said seriously, “I’m going home.”

Jiang Congbi hurriedly stuffed the meat on her plate into her mouth. “I haven’t finished eating yet, wait for me.”

Lin Yuewei shook her head. “I mean I’m going back to my own home.”

Jiang Congbi: “???”

Lin Yuewei paid at the front desk and left without looking back.

Jiang Congbi stared after her for a long time, dumbfounded. Her little girlfriend, left hanging, exploded in a barrage of messages that buzzed nonstop. Jiang Congbi coaxed her patiently until she was happy again. Since Lin Yuewei wasn’t coming back tonight, she wouldn’t go home either. Jiang Congbi picked up the bag from the chair with a spring in her step and went off to enjoy her late-night snack.

***

Gu Yanqiu wasn’t sure whether Moments would even be visible to Lin Yuewei, or what kind of reaction she’d have if she saw it. She sat on the sofa, looking up at the wall clock as second after second ticked by. One leg of her pants was rolled up, revealing the bruise underneath.

It hadn’t been caused by sleepwalking; she’d accidentally hit the corner of the coffee table that morning.

The sound of the door opening came from the entryway. Gu Yanqiu tightened her grip on the prayer beads in her hand and fixed her eyes on the television, as if she hadn’t heard a thing.

Lin Yuewei’s footsteps grew closer and closer; she was already visible from the corner of Gu Yanqiu’s eye. Gu Yanqiu secretly curled her lip, stood up, and limped upstairs.

Lin Yuewei: “!!”

Was she really hurt that badly last night?

Author’s Note:

Gu Yanqiu: I only came back because I played dirty; teary-eyed.jpg

President Gu only needs to stay true to herself. Being cute is enough; don’t imitate other people. Forcing a flirt is the deadliest move of all ±_±