Two nurses walked down from upstairs. One of them secretly peeked at them a few more times. They were probably thinking of Yi Wenze checked in here and whispered to each other as they brushed past Jia He.
“Actually, there’s no need to specially explain any of this,” Jia He said with a smile once they were alone. “Teacher Yi didn’t tell me, probably because he felt there was no need to pay attention to this kind of thing. It was just a simple breakfast.”
Screenwriting really was a good profession. She could easily come up with such words without any effort. No longer the silly girl who only knew how to eagerly listen to boastful tales that left her internally injured half to death…
Tian Chu smiled perfectly, patting Jia He on the shoulder. “No need to take it too seriously. Things like this happen a lot so you get used to it. I used to be the same, not even realizing I was photographed until problems occurred and I panicked in a flustered mess.” Her words hid barbs that precisely struck without leaving a mark.
Jia He smiled. “Still, thanks.”
Tian Chu said some more advice as if they were old friends. Just before leaving, she specially told Jia He that if there was an opportunity, she would definitely prioritize her friend for that endorsement. Jia He could only awkwardly keep thanking her while cursing Xiao Yu in Beijing inwardly…
Tian Chu left quickly, likely to avoid ambush by reporters.
Without a watch and her phone wrecked, Jia He could only estimate the time based on her hunger to judge whether to eat first or see her idol first. And so she felt her way back to the third floor, wanting to see where Xiao Ou was. By now, the nurses had chased away all the reporters. Only A Qing was outside the ward, vaguely sounding like he was coordinating work schedules over his phone.
“Screenwriter,” A Qing happened to see her and called out while covering his phone. “No one’s here, hurry on in.”
He beckoned, opened the door, swiftly taking care of it.
Jia He couldn’t decline and hurried inside the sickroom.
The room was very clean with only two patient beds. The unoccupied one had many flower arrangements, beautiful vibrant colors.
Yi Wenze sat on the bed by the window, entire body bathed under the warm spring sun. He quietly looked up at Jia He. He wore a simple white shirt with sleeves neatly folded up to his elbows. A thin white blanket covered his legs to guard against the long recorder guns outside.
A monitor device was by his side and even an open laptop in front of him.
Seeing his Bluetooth earpiece, Jia He silently mouthed, “Teacher Yi.”
He smiled faintly. “Work on some things first. I’ll finish this call.”
Jia He obediently sat down, placing her backpack on her legs as she quietly waited for him to end his call, not daring to make a peep.
It seemed to be a conference call, all discussing some reports. Looks like it was his company’s matters.
The entertainment industry was arduous work. Naturally when one became wealthy, the money would be put back to making more money, ideally earning profits hand over fist without needing to endure wind, sun and rain any longer. As a decade-plus hardcore fan, she still paid close attention to her idol’s career. While not on the level of older generation celebrities who held shares in multiple listed companies, he still made quite a fortune…
Inwardly admiring her idol’s professionalism, Jia He unintentionally watched him for a stretch until Yi Wenze picked up his glass of water and glanced at her. Only then did she hastily divert her gaze elsewhere. After drinking some water to wet his throat, Yi Wenze set the glass back down to continue his conference call, mostly just listening seriously and occasionally saying a couple words.
“What were you thinking about?” At some unknown point, he had already hung up the call and was typing on his screen.
“Nothing much.” Jia He quickly said.
“Have you eaten?”
Jia He hesitated before honestly admitting no.
He glanced at the bottom right corner of his screen. “It’s half past one and you still haven’t eaten?”
Jia He wanted to say she didn’t even have a chance to eat, but swallowed the words back down and randomly prevaricated, “Forgot to eat.”
“Forgot?” Yi Wenze’s hand paused as he flatly repeated.
“I got up too late,” Jia He awkwardly supplemented. “And I heard from Qiao Qiao you were injured. I rushed over without having time to eat.” Then I saw the crowd of reporters, then I got provoked by Tian Chu, then… Why did things get so complicated as soon as she encountered her idol?!
Yi Wenze didn’t probe further. He called A Qing back in and told her to go buy a meal before adding seemingly casually when A Qing was about to leave, “See if there’s any cafes nearby that serve freshly ground coffee. Bring back a cup of cappuccino. If there’s no cappuccino then buy a mocha.”
A Qing froze. “Teacher, didn’t you already quit drinking coffee?”
Yi Wenze casually said, “It’s for Jia He.”
A Qing made a sound of acknowledgment before hurrying off, closing the door.
Another bout of unsettling silence.
Jia He miserably tried to think – she didn’t seem at all like someone coming to visit an injured person. She hadn’t said a single polite, comforting word and instead inexplicably gotten taken care of with a meal… She stared at the monitor’s jumping numbers, suddenly recalling that matter with the photo.
She had righteously told off Tian Chu earlier due to some hostility toward her cheating. But Tian Chu wasn’t unreasonable. If the photo had been spread with this timing and location, even Jia He couldn’t imagine the consequences.
She decided to clear it up. “There’s something I wanted confirmation wouldn’t affect you.”
“The photo?” Yi Wenze clicked his mouse. Email sent successfully.
Jia He mumbled yes, hesitating on whether tell him Tian Chu’s words. Yi Wenze had already closed his laptop and casually placed it on the table to his right. “Did Tian Chu tell you?”
Jia He nodded. She had the urge to worship her idol as omniscient.
“Don’t take Tian Chu’s words too seriously. It’s not a big deal.”
“So Teacher Tian knew me from that photo when she said I looked familiar the other night?”
Since they were already talking about it, might as well ask clearly.
“Probably so.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me about it?” The words slipped from Jia He’s mouth before she hastily realized it may be inappropriate and supplemented, “What I mean is, just in case the photo causes trouble, if I had known the circumstances, I could at least prepare suitable excuses in advance…”
Her wording was increasingly rude. What did she mean “suitable excuses”? As if something was actually going on between them! She should just directly apologize. It was all because she accidentally let them take such a clear shot of her face.
“I’m sorry.” Yi Wenze’s voice remained gentle. “It was a trivial matter so I didn’t specially tell you.”
Jia He looked at him in astonishment. Even her apology got snatched…
Just then, the door suddenly opened.
The same young nurse from earlier entered to glance at the monitor readings before quietly asking a couple questions. Her voice was so gentle it could squeeze water out. Jia He unkindly guessed the nurses assigned to this room were definitely chosen by drawing lots… After the nurse finished up, Jia He finally found an opening to continue their conversation when someone knocked on the door again.
Truly lively.
“Screenwriter,” Xiao Ou poked his head in. “Qiao Qiao said not to wait and to resolve your own meal.”
Jia He resentfully said, “Got it.”
“Should I buy something up for you?” Xiao Ou offered.
“No need.”
“It’s almost two, you still should eat a little something,” Xiao Ou dutifully advised.
“Xiao Ou,” Yi Wenze interrupted their back and forth. “A Qing already went down to buy food. Go see if you can find her since she’s not familiar with the roads here.”
“Oh, alright.” Xiao Ou shrank back, tactfully leaving.
Yi Wenze picked up his water glass only to find it nearly empty. Jia He naturally took it from him. “Let me refill your water. Hot or warm?”
Silence for a moment behind her. “Hot.”
Jia He pressed the button but the water dispenser didn’t work well, the flow very weak. Yet in the quiet room, even this sound of filling water seemed eerily loud. Jia He stiffened her arm, silently urging for it to hurry up, but the dispenser was evidently getting more and more useless, maddeningly slow.
“What happened to your phone?” he suddenly asked.
Since Qiao Qiao had someone pass along a message instead of contacting her directly, clearly her phone had an issue.
“I accidentally dropped it in water yesterday and it’s broken,” she said, shutting off the water and turning around to pass the cup to Yi Wenze. “Luckily I’m returning to Shanghai soon. Otherwise delays in work contact would be terrible. What a pity for my Angry Birds record—”
“Returning to Shanghai?” Yi Wenze took the glass and held it, drinking a sip.
“Mm,” Jia He smiled at him, happening to meet his eyes. She inexplicably grew nervous for a second. “My next project is in Beijing so I need to start preparing. There will be several early meetings I have to attend so it’s more convenient to stay in Shanghai. As you know, Director Jiang looks after his screenwriters really well. Usually communications and stuff can just go through him. No other company treats us this nicely.”
Just thinking about being with other crews, her hair stood on end. She wished she never had to leave her house so she wouldn’t have to deal with those actors.
Yi Wenze smiled. “Still not used to it?”
Jia He smiled awkwardly. “It’s become part of my character. If we got familiar enough for them to tell me to add a few extra lines or something, I wouldn’t know how to refuse.” There was a kind of person called pushovers – that definitely described her. Just thinking about slinking around crews like a debtor avoiding loan sharks made her want to die inside.
Why couldn’t she nonchalantly eat, drink and have fun like others? Why couldn’t she calmly play Tai Chi like others?
Yi Wenze looked at her contemplatively. “In that case, if we have another chance to collaborate in the future, I should take you out for more meals and curry favor from the screenwriter?” Although he spoke seriously, the smile had already spread from the corners of his lips to his eyes, carrying a touch of jest.
“Um, actually I was just joking around. If I truly had that much influence, what would be the point of the script supervisor and director?” Jia He pretended to relax, clearing her throat.
Yi Wenze still watched her smilingly without saying anything more.
As expected, A Qing wasn’t familiar with the roads here so buying one meal took a very long time. By the time she carried the coffee back, it had cooled somewhat.
Ever since A Qing entered, Yi Wenze stopped speaking. He casually opened his laptop and slowly typed something, seemingly a bit distracted as he unhurriedly browsed some pages.
Seeing his slightly furrowed brows, Jia He finally realized she must have interrupted her idol’s work. She hurriedly wolfed down a few bites without even drinking the coffee, mumbling excuses as she swiftly departed.
The nervousness from earlier had long vanished but Yi Wenze’s preoccupied expression still lingered in her mind.
Not until the elevator lightly dinged did she abruptly remember she had no way to contact Xiao Ou. She could only return upstairs to the third floor, wanting to borrow A Qing’s phone. Right as she walked to the ward entrance, she saw one doctor leading the young nurse from earlier emerge while saying softly, “You see, being a big star really isn’t something normal people can endure. Anyone else would have been long paralyzed by the pain lying in bed.”
Jia He felt uneasy listening to this. After A Qing came out, she asked, “What happened?”
A Qing exclaimed, “Screenwriter, how come you came back?”
Jia He gestured for her to lower her voice. “I came to borrow your phone. What was going on just now? Any issues?”
A Qing immediately quieted down. “Did a lot of pre-op checks in the morning that were scheduled for surgery at noon, but Teacher Yi insisted to delay until night,” she said dejectedly to Jia He. “Just earlier he said there’s still half a call conference to continue and asked the doctor for pain meds. That was when I noticed his entire shirt was soaked through.”
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