Chapter 92: Not Others
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
After more than 20 minutes, Changqing was still in the bathroom drawing her brows and Song Chuyi walked in.
He was drenched in perspiration and every strand of his hair was glistening with sweat. His face was flushed and lips were an amorous colour.
Changqing looked at herself in the mirror and looked at Song Chuyi before putting her brow pencil down gloomily.
“Why did you stop?” Song Chuyi asked curiously.
“I don’t feel like it anymore.” Changqing was dejected. “No matter how much I draw, I won’t be as pretty as you.”
Her words made Song Chuyi’s dark pupils contract.
At 8:30 am, both went downstairs together.
Song Chulang left for work, leaving only Song Huaisheng, Grandma Song and Dai Ai at home.
Changqing had just sat down at the breakfast table when Dai Ai looked at the watch on her wrist, saying with a smile, “The more I look at Changqing wearing this watch, the better it looks.”
“Auntie, the one on your wrist is also very beautiful.” The word “Auntie” said by Changqing made her heart twist and turn innumerably. Dai Ai was obviously only six years older than her.
Song Huaisheng laughed and said to Song Chuyi, “Your Auntie has to go to the hospital in the morning for her prenatal visit. Go inform the hospital when you head over for work.”
“Mm, I will.” Song Chuyi drank his porridge coldly.
When it was time to leave, Grandma Song even brought a lot of foreign snacks for Changqing. When Changqing carried them to the car, she purposely waved the hand with the watch in front of Song Chuyi. “Look, your father is way more generous to me than you.”
“My father’s money is also mine. A gift from him is a gift from me.” Song Chuyi smiled a little.
“Petty. You’ve never given me anything.” Changqing snorted delicately.
Song Chuyi glanced at her. “I gave you a lollipop yesterday but you didn’t want it.”
Changqing: “…”
Alright, can I change my husband? Can I make up for the loss of my first time?
She didn’t want such a stingy husband.
Changqing ignored him and concentrated on driving.
Changqing took him to the entrance and threw him a line in an eccentric tone: “I have to shoot a night scene, so I won’t be sleeping at home tonight.”
Song Chuyi acknowledged her casually and took off his seatbelt.
Changqing felt even more frustrated. She even gave him her first time. Wasn’t his attitude a little too indifferent?
A certain area seemed to still be in pain and the more she thought about it, the worse she felt. She wouldn’t even look at him straight in the eye.
After Song Chuyi got out, he swung the door closed gently and before the door even shut, she stepped on the accelerator and drove off.
On the way, Changqing was driving aggressively and everything she saw on the road got on her nerves. Whoever drove in front of her or blocked her path would result in her banging angrily on the steering wheel.
After a five to six-minute drive, she received a message through her phone.
She saw Song Chuyi’s name on it and stopped the car by the side of the road to read it. She saw his text message: “Don’t drive too fast and be careful. It will be cold at night, so wear more clothes on set.”
Her heart suddenly sweetened.
The cars on the road didn’t seem to frustrate her anymore. The cars blocking her seemed like they were only slow because of road traffic safety. Even the simple, sparse flowers by the side of the road were beautiful.
Changqing read the message repeatedly before replying “Okay.”
In the morning, the station had to shoot a gourmet show and Changqing and Zuo Qian appeared as the judges of the show. Just as she entered the recording studio, the set was in chaos.
The overall director was losing his temper. “Did that Huo Shihan take me for a fool? Fever? What a coincidence at this moment. I pushed back the recording of this show repeatedly just for him and he thinks that’s all okay with one word from him?”
“What’s going on?” Changqing asked the host beside her, Xin Fu, secretly. “Is Huo Shihan not coming?”
“His manager called to say that Huo Shihan was sick and couldn’t make it. They’re willing to pay for breach of contract,” Xin Fu said, equally furious. “However, the overall director got the news that someone from another satellite TV station actually offered twice the amount of money to poach Huo Shihan over to record their new program over there.”
Changqing was also speechless. “Huo Shihan used our station to make him famous. Now that he’s popular, is he going to bite the hand that feeds him?”
“There are many people like that.” Xin Fu laughed coldly, “Only right now, the program has to be recorded and since his manager said this so suddenly, it’s not simply just biting the hand that feeds you.”
Changqing understood the principle behind it. After recording the program, video editing, background music and subtitling in the later stages of production would need at least four to five days and this program was supposed to be recorded three days ago, but Huo Shihan’s manager kept saying he wasn’t free the past few days…
“Our station has been extremely kind to him. He’s too much,” Changqing said, “What do we do now?”
“The recording for this program must be done by today. There’s nothing we can do about Huo Shihan; we have to find someone to substitute. It’s easy to find a celebrity but the problem is finding a big shot of Huo Shihan’s status. The big shots all require advance appointments, and I’m afraid it’ll be difficult to find one.” While Xin Fu was speaking, she looked at Zuo Qian with the best connections in the entire station.
Zuo Qian was making a call.
Xiao Shan was also looking at him in anticipation. Five minutes later, Zuo Qian hung up and said, “Only Huang Yixuan has an event in Northern City today…”
“Huang Yixuan isn’t popular enough. We have to get someone of the top tier or someone with a strong topic.” Xiao Shan waved his hand. “Today’s recording is the second episode of this program and the outside world is paying close attention to us. If the guests aren’t popular enough, we’ll lose our audience. Right now, we have to stabilize our viewership.”
“Then what should we do?”
Just when the gang was looking at each other, Zuo Qian suddenly looked towards Changqing. “I received news from the paparazzi that Ruan Yang seems to have snuck back to Northern City this morning. Changqing, from what I know, you’re good friends with Ruan Yang. Could you ask her to come?”
Xiao Shan’s eyes lit up and he stared at Changqing. “If it was Ruan Yang, that would be sufficient. She recently came back after attending the Cannes film festival and besides, her recent scandal with the newbie, Rong Jin, is a hot topic. She would be a better choice compared to Huo Shihan. Changqing, are you really good friends with Ruan Yang? Can you give her a call? Take it as a plea from me. This program is especially important this time.”
Changqing was overwhelmed. “Director Xiao, don’t be like this, I’ll give her a call.”
“Sure, sure.”
Changqing turned around and dialled Ruan Yang’s personal number. It rang for a long time and just as Changqing thought no one was going to pick up, suddenly, a male, bewitching voice came from the other side of the line. “She’s in the shower…”
Changqing looked at the number. She didn’t dial the wrong number. She felt as though there were ten thousand horses galloping inside.
Why shower early in the morning? Could it be that Ruan Yang was like her in the morning?
This Ruan Yang… when did she find a man? How did I not even know anything?
Could it be the newbie Rong Jin in the previous scandal or the heavenly king Yin Qingxuan who was having an ambiguous relationship with her for a very long time or…
There were four to five male faces who flashed passed Changqing’s mind which made her dizzy. In conclusion, Ruan Yang had too many scandals.
“Who are you and why do you have Ruan Yang’s phone?” Changqing walked away in small, quick steps. “Can you get Ruan Yang to come to the phone quickly? I have something urgent to talk to her about right now.”
The man said languidly, “No matter what urgent matter you have, her time right now belongs to me. Don’t call again.”
Changqing heard the beeping sound and she shook with anger. “Just you wait. I will never let Ruan Yang be with you. I will definitely call Ruan Yang every day to badmouth you.”
After scolding him, Changqing was flustered.
Finished. What was going to happen to the program now that Ruan Yang didn’t pick up the phone? Must she really have to brace herself to tell Director Xiao that Ruan Yang had no time?
Director Xiao would definitely despise her, that snob.
Just as she was at a loss, she suddenly received a Wechat message from Jiang Duoyao: “Babe, do you have the time to hang out tonight?”
Changqing was agitated and quickly dialled Jiang Duoyao’s number. “Darling, darling…”
Jiang Duoyao got goosebumps from hearing her addressing her like that. “What’s up with you? You disgust me.”
“Are you back in Northern City?” Changqing asked with fear and trepidation.
“Yeah.”
Changqing pandered, “You’re my benefactor, my angel, my light, my superstar. Can you come to our station to record a program?”
“Can you let me off? I finally came back for a break. Do you think that was easy for me? I should never have called you,” Jiang Duoyao said with regret.
“If you don’t come, our sisterhood will be broken.” Changqing snorted.
“You’re so ruthless. Fine, I’ll come.”
“I knew it, you’re much more reliable than Ruan Yang.” Changqing was gleeful.
Back at the recording studio, Changqing told Xiao Shan, “Ruan Yang has no time but I got in touch with Jiang Duoyao and she happened to be free. She’ll be coming over later.”
Xiao Shan heaved a sigh of relief and looked at her in a different light. “Jiang Duoyao might not be as popular as Ruan Yang but her popularity lately is still very high. Besides, she rarely participates in variety shows and the outside world is very curious about her. This time around, it’ll be a slap to Huo Shihan’s face. Changqing, you’re so capable.”
Changqing smiled with embarrassment.
She was really just plain lucky.
An hour and a half later, Jiang Duoyao sashayed into the broadcasting station with a pair of sunglasses like a glistening star.
Xiao Shan welcomed her like she was his ancestor and brought her backstage. “Duoyao, I’m really very happy you were able to come. If it wasn’t for you, I’m afraid I would have to look for second or third-tier celebrities. I’ll remember this favor today.”
“Director Xiao, don’t say that.” Jiang Duoyao lifted her hand with a large diamond ring gently. “I should be sunbathing at home at this time actually. I came all for Changqing’s sake.”
Xiao Shan was embarrassed.
Were the newbies now all so cocky?
Changqing was also embarrassed and quickly rounded out the conversation. “Director Xiao, actually, Duoyao has always wanted to work with you for a long time. It was just that there was no opportunity. I’ll familiarize Duoyao with today’s program flow.”
“Go ahead, go ahead.” Director Xiao laughed with embarrassment.
Changqing pulled Duoyao backstage and said, “Miss Jiang, can you not be so straightforward whenever you talk? Go around the corner and offend as few people as you can.”
“I’m here to help him out and you call that offending?” Jiang Duoyao shrugged. “Blame him for being fat and ugly. Don’t you always say he’s a snob? I don’t find him pleasant. As a major celebrity, do you think I have to be polite to someone like Xiao Shan? He isn’t even a particularly good director.”
“No matter what, just be as indirect as possible. Think about it—how many popular artists get slandered for no reason by other people?” Changqing was sincerely worried for her.