CHAPTER 11: CHAPTER 10: FEELING WRONGED

During that day’s filming, Zhou Huaiyi was in a melancholy mood. Even facing Xiang Qichen, she barely said a few words the entire day.

The day’s shooting went smoothly, and they wrapped up early by dusk. As Zhou Huaiyi tidied up her belongings, planning to join her colleagues for dinner, her phone started buzzing.

She pulled it out, saw the caller ID, and paused at the door of the lounge. Shouting to Liu Yang, who was a few meters out, she said, "Senior, you guys go ahead, I’ll catch up later!"

Liu Yang glanced back at her, raised his hand in an "OK" gesture, and went out directly.

Zhou Huaiyi stared at the word "Dad" on the screen, took a deep breath, patted her face that had been tense all day, forced a smile, and answered, "Hello, Dad."

"Took you a while to pick up, busy?" Mr. Zhou’s voice was cheerful, likely eating as he talked with his mouth a bit full.

The gloomy mood that had plagued Zhou Huaiyi all day suddenly lifted a bit. She fiddled with the strap on her phone, smilingly said, "Not really, we just wrapped up, about to grab dinner."

Mr. Zhou: "Is work too tiring? I saw the weather forecast, it’s reaching forty degrees there these days. It’s so hot, and your health isn’t great to begin with. I’m worried you can’t handle it."

The sudden expression of concern brought back the little frustration Zhou Huaiyi felt from the morning’s setback, making her inexplicably aggrieved, her eyes hot and teary.

She pressed her lips together, holding back her emotions, forcing a smile: "I can handle it, don’t worry, Dad."

Mr. Zhou pondered and said, "Xiao Zhou, aren’t you coming back for summer break?"

Zhou Huaiyi sniffed slightly: "No, I’ve agreed with the seniors in the crew to intern for two months."

Mr. Zhou: "Can’t you negotiate with your senior to end it early, come back for a few days?"

Zhou Huaiyi absentmindedly played with the strap, shyly smiled and said, "No need, your son-in-law is here, I want to look at him a bit more..." Unable to resist thin skinned laughter erupted in her as she said the last few words.

Mr. Zhou was taken aback, his tone raised: "What? Son-in-law?"

Zhou Huaiyi curled her lips: "It’s... Xiang Qichen hahaha."

"..." Mr. Zhou came to a realization, then sighed repeatedly, "Such a grown person still idolizing like this, what to do..."

Zhou Huaiyi righteously said, "Dad, I am not idolizing!"

Mr. Zhou: "Alright then, I have to go for rounds."

Then, not giving Zhou Huaiyi time to reply, he abruptly hung up with a "click."

Zhou Huaiyi: ...Are both husband and wife the same? Always hanging up before one can finish speaking...

By the time she stepped out of the lounge again, most of the staff had already left. It was nearly seven o’clock, with the sky still slightly bright, only a touch of twilight at the edges appearing particularly fiery.

Suddenly, Zhou Huaiyi lost her appetite, paused her steps, and walked directly toward the hotel.

——

Xiang Qichen was exceptionally tired today, possibly due to the injury on his neck, his movements during filming were notably stiff. After a day of shooting, his originally mild injury seemed to worsen.

Seeing him persist silently, Yang Li left early, taking a taxi to the city pharmacy to buy some medicine for him, leaving his car behind.

Xiang Qichen drove out from the parking lot towards the hotel, turned a few corners, and saw a particularly familiar figure by the roadside.

Wearing the same top as his, with a short ponytail, head hung low, and seemingly a bit downcast.

Xiang Qichen instinctively remembered the argument that morning on set, and inexplicably slowed his car, keeping a distance and following her.

She listlessly walked down most of the street, her head lowered the whole time.

In front of an ATM store by the street, sat an old man begging. He sat cross-legged on a newspaper, wore a shabby white vest, had dark skin, with a not-too-big or small stainless steel bowl in front of him, with some sparse one-yuan coins inside.

Zhou Huaiyi slightly raised her head, glanced sideways, walked past him without stopping but slipped one shoulder strap of her backpack off, took out two coins from her wallet, held them in her hand, turned back, and bent down to drop them into the bowl.

The clattering sound was particularly crisp.

The old man holding a bowl of dark and hard rice nodded at her in gratitude.

Zhou Huaiyi straightened up without changing expression, glanced at what he held, and changed direction to enter a congee shop.

As she gradually closed the distance, Xiang Qichen suddenly felt inexplicably absurd, wondering why he was randomly following her.

He chuckled helplessly, loosened his foot off the brake, and was ready to accelerate away, when he saw Zhou Huaiyi coming out of the congee shop with a bag of food in one hand and a bottle of mineral water in the other, walking straight to the old man and bending down to put them down.

Zhou Huaiyi placed the items beside the old man, softly reminded him, "Grandpa, stop eating that rice, have some congee."

The old man continuously nodded his thanks as he accepted the bag of food, his words unclear.

Zhou Huaiyi smiled slightly and turned to continue toward the hotel.