Chapter 37 Misunderstanding.

The atmosphere at the table was lively.

As the screenwriter, Zhang Meng also had some ideas for the theme song, and she was currently telling Wei Zhuang about her initial concept. The director, meanwhile, shifted the focus and started chatting with Wen Shili.

He wanted to get closer to Wen Shili, but the other party's response was always lukewarm. However, he knew that the fact that the other party was even willing to come was already a favor, so he had no choice but to cheer up and rack his brains again.

He remained unmoved by either side's kindness, letting their words go in one ear and out the other, but his mouth never stopped talking.

Wei Zhuang ordered almost all of Jixianju's signature dishes, but unfortunately, these people who were used to eating delicacies were not in the mood at all, which allowed her to have a good time.

She ate about half her fill and then paid some attention to their conversation. Deng Feng was still quite skilled; he seemed to tone it down slightly when talking to Wen Shili, avoiding any excessive spittle flying from his mouth. Just as the conversation was about to end, Wen Shili would chime in with a few more words, and the director, in a moment of excitement, could continue the performance on stage.

Tsk tsk tsk, I'm ashamed of myself.

As she was thinking this, she suddenly looked up and saw the director frantically winking at her, seemingly with a hint of pleading for help.

Sheng Yi recalled her image in Deng Feng's mind and smiled wryly. "Director, you really overestimate me." She paused for a moment, then reached for the tissue box on the table, preparing to wipe her mouth and join in his little performance.

While she was mentally preparing herself, her mind wandered, and she didn't expect that Wen Shili would also reach out his hand at that moment.

The air conditioning in the room was blasting. His hands felt like fine jade, cool to the touch, but as his fingertips brushed against the back of his hand, a warmth spread through their skin. Sheng Yi, like a thief afraid of being caught red-handed, retreated hastily.

Fortunately, Deng Feng turned around and said something to Wei Zhuang, and no one looked in their direction.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She saw Wen Shili pull out a few tissues and hand her two. Before she could say thank you, he turned back and pretended not to know her.

In the latter half of the meal, Wei Zhuang was basically dominated by Zhang Meng and Deng Feng, with Wen Shili occasionally chiming in, but not very enthusiastically. Sheng Yi, on the other hand, took her freeloading spirit to the extreme, but fortunately, the dishes on the table offered her some comfort.

After the show ended, everyone went their separate ways. The director, still unwilling to give up, made an excuse to pull Zhang Meng away first, asking Sheng Yi to help escort her to the door.

Sheng Yi stood in the evening breeze, feeling rather helpless.

Are you going directly to the airport?

"Um."

Seeing that he didn't want to talk any more, Sheng Yi felt inexplicably relieved, and waved her hand with a smile, "Bye then."

Wen Shili nodded lazily.

Wei Zhuang couldn't stand it any longer and smacked him on the hat. "What are you doing here? Go away."

Sheng Yi's mouth formed an "O" shape, indicating that the two indeed had a good relationship. Wei Zhuang met her shocked expression, then quickly switched to a gentle tone, "See you next time."

As the car drove away, Sheng Yi hummed a tune and walked back.

Deng Feng leaned against the wall, exasperated, "Why is this person so stubborn?"

He vented his frustrations to Zhang Meng for a while, then calmed himself down, saying, "Never mind, I wasn't after her for the traffic anyway, so I'll just go with the flow."

Zhang Meng smiled, patted his shoulder, and said, "Let's go back."

Sheng Yi woke up in the middle of the night, suddenly feeling cold.

She pulled the blanket over herself, reached for the remote control on the bedside table, turned up the air conditioner temperature a few degrees, and drifted off to sleep again.

The raindrops pounded wildly against the glass and windowsill, and the rumble of thunder woke her up completely from her sleep.

The phone screen showed 3 a.m.

Sheng Yi got up and walked to the window. The trees along the road were being blown about by the wind, leaving behind a mournful wail. Lightning flashed across the sky like fireworks. She took a step back, drew the curtains, and prepared to go back to sleep.

The rain, which had been waiting for so long, showed no signs of stopping. Sheng Yi was disturbed and couldn't sleep well. She turned off her phone, logged onto Weibo, and saw a news report that due to the heavy rain, flights were experiencing widespread delays tonight.

Out of humanitarian concern, Sheng Yi still asked Wen Shili a question.

No reply.

She tried calling his phone again to see if it was off, but Wen Shili answered quickly, "Aren't you going to pretend we're not close?"

His clear, gentle voice, tinged with a hint of teasing, was like a familiar greeting from a long-time friend on a stormy night.

Sheng Yi glanced to the side; Li Zitong was fast asleep. She put on her clothes and tiptoed out of bed.

He said he was pretending not to know her, but he was pretty much the same. Sheng Yi quietly closed the door and lowered her voice, "I didn't."

Then, a lazy voice came from the other end, "Oh—I misunderstood."

Sheng Yi choked, "We weren't that close to begin with."

"What?"

Is this person born in the Year of the Dog? Sheng Yi shook her head, "It's nothing."

Wen Shili: "I heard you."

Sheng Yi: "..."

This conversation was really going to go nowhere, and in the middle of the night, with lightning and thunder outside, what were they talking about? Just boredom.

A breeze blew in, carrying fresh moisture in the air, easily dispelling the sweltering heat of the past few days. In the vast darkness of the night, the pent-up frustration in my heart was also swept away.

In a daze, I heard Wen Shili ask again, "Have you really seen my movie?"

The breath she had just exhaled almost caught in her chest. Sheng Yi said, "Of course."

Even through the receiver, he could imagine her forced composure on her face.

The sound of rain pattered down, drowning out a soft laugh that seemed to come from nowhere. Silence fell on both sides.

After a while, Sheng Yi heard Wen Shili say to her, "Make it better next time."

Sheng Yi: "..."

Was that confident tone a bluff, or had she given herself away? Before she could figure out the answer, she heard the voice on the other end say, "Go to sleep."

"Oh," Sheng Yi replied, still wondering how he knew. Then, the sound of a horn blared intermittently a few times. Sheng Yi guessed and asked, "Are you on your way now?"

The weather outside is so bad, his flight must be delayed too, but she still remembers him saying at the dinner table that he had work to do tomorrow.

Wen Shili glanced at Wei Zhuang, who was sleeping beside him, and gave a soft "hmm". "Get some rest. You still have to film tomorrow."

Perhaps because his voice sounded particularly gentle at that moment, Sheng Yi, who was about to hang up, pursed her lips and couldn't help but say, "I'm sorry, it seems the director has misunderstood."

"What misunderstanding?" he asked in a low voice.

Sheng Yi was fiddling with her phone, the words on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't know what to say.

Actually, the director didn't explicitly define the relationship between the two; he only asked her to help make a connection.

And now, they really should be considered friends, right?

She seemed to be thinking a lot when Wen Shili urged her again, "Go to sleep." After a pause, he asked with a smile, "Are you afraid of rainy days?"

The next second, the gentle voice disappeared from her ears. On the speeding road, someone's lips curved slightly into a smile.

Sheng Yi quietly opened the door, then quietly closed it again. Just as she put down her phone and lay down, she heard Li Zitong across from her turn over and ask indistinctly, "What time is it?"

Sheng Yi was startled, checked the time, and told her, "It's still early, go to sleep." The woman turned over again and fell silent. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep as well.

When she woke up again and saw the late-night phone call on her phone, Sheng Yi even wondered if she had been dreaming. But phone calls and chat logs don't lie.

Around 3 a.m., she called him and bothered him, and they talked for a full ten minutes. On WeChat, Wen Shili replied to the message he sent last night early this morning, and also sent her his location from that time.

She replied warmly, "Have a safe journey and take care to rest."

In addition, some friends asked her about the weather there and expressed their concern, and Sheng Yi replied to each of them.

Feng Shu's message was the first one to arrive, buried at the very bottom of the new messages. The two didn't contact each other much, but she didn't expect him to remember that she was filming here and send her a message immediately. They chatted for a bit about their recent situations and finally said they would meet up again when they got back.

Due to the weather, and because today's filming was indoors, Sheng Yi noticed the director's strange expression as soon as she entered the classroom. She spent the whole morning trying to figure it out but couldn't.

When she returned after filming a scene, she saw Wen Shili's reply, saying that Wei Zhuang was also with him.

It was good that someone was taking turns, but Sheng Yi asked him when he would arrive and whether it would delay the rest of the trip. He said he would arrive soon and make it in time.

Wei Zhuang watched him tap away on the keyboard, utterly speechless. "You pretended to be mute again yesterday when I asked you to talk."

Wen Shili moved his phone closer to himself. "Can't I even reply to Cao Jun's messages anymore?"

Wei Zhuang sneered, "You'd better be."

Cao Jun, who was playing games in the hotel, suddenly felt an itch in his nose. He calculated the time; Brother Li should arrive in a few hours.

The event that evening had not been officially announced to the public. The initial communication stated that the schedule might not be able to accommodate everyone. Given this kind of unforeseen event, there was no need to rush back overnight. He really didn't understand why Brother Li was making such a fuss all night.

As his health bar dwindled, he quickly shook his head to refocus on the battle at hand.

-

"Let's make an appointment again next time I come back."

Feng Shu: "Yes, keep in touch."

The contact on the other end of the line had no name, but Huang Bei could remember what the profile picture looked like, its owner, and who it corresponded to, even with her eyes closed.

Her boyfriend sent her a message before dawn, and after waiting anxiously for several hours, she only received a few bland replies.

However, he was in a noticeably good mood today.

She desperately wanted to pretend she didn't notice, but she wasn't made of wood, devoid of her own feelings. She could ignore the questions and accusations from fans, but Feng Shu was different.

Feng Shu took out the keys and came out, only to see her standing there, holding his phone, looking dazed.

"Give it to me." He held out his hand. "I have a meeting this afternoon."

He appeared perfectly normal, but she insisted on following the slightest clues, trying to decipher the slightest abnormality.

If she were smart, she shouldn't have ventured into places he didn't want her to go, but it felt like there was a thorn stuck in her throat, and if she didn't pull it out, it would stay there forever, preventing her from ever finding peace.

She clearly meant to say, "Don't go back this afternoon, stay with me a little longer," but what came out was, "Feeling guilty, huh? Don't think I don't know what kind of person you are."

Feng Shu finally raised his eyes and looked directly at her, his eyes filled with barely concealed annoyance and warning. Huang Bei sensed it all.

She watched him fickle, watched his mind wander, and kept telling herself she didn't care. But wasn't he clearly hers? After enduring it for a long time, she finally couldn't hold back anymore.

She knew he didn't like hearing that harsh, cold laugh, but she could only watch helplessly as she uttered each word.

"Sheng Yi, right? I never expected that someone who could be crushed with a flick of a finger could have such great fortune."

"That's true. Now that she's climbed up the social ladder, she's bound to show off, right? What, can't I say anything about her?"

Feng Shu approached her. "You peeked at my phone again?"

"Spying? It's perfectly normal for me to look at my partner's phone. You haven't done anything shameful, so what are you afraid of!"

"Someone who's been flirting since high school, and now she's trying to seduce people again. Do you think she's good enough for me?"

"It's just that some people are blind and get completely fooled by a slut like her!"