Chapter 30
"It's still burning, why did you throw it on the ground?" Xiao Wen came over and picked up the sparkler, seeing Li Nan's back and the woman he was holding.
The next second, the two separated and talked face to face. The distance was too far, and Xiaowen could not see Shen Li's expression. She could only feel the air pressure drop sharply beside her. Unfortunately, some people also saw the scene and began to talk.
"Hey, hey, hey, look, why are Teacher Shen and Teacher Li so far apart? Are they out of touch? Let's call them over to play together."
"What do you know? I just saw Teacher Li deliberately pull Teacher Shen away. If people want some alone time, it's best not to disturb them."
Hearing these conversations, Xiao Wen felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced at Luo Ming and saw him getting up with a gloomy face, so he immediately grabbed his sleeve: "Brother Luo, don't be impulsive."
"Let's go back." Luo Mingxiu turned around and took one last look at Shen Li. She had finished talking to that person and lit the fireworks in her hand. Li Nan was taking pictures of her. She was smiling, and the fireworks adorned her smile.
That smile wasn't for him; he wanted to possess her, to possess her smile, everything about her. He wanted to kick away the people around Shen Li, to embrace her, to have her always looking at him, to make Shen Li his.
"Sister Shen Li, I want to take pictures too!" Yuan Haoxuan whistled a few times in that direction to attract attention.
When Luo Mingxiu saw Shen Li running over, the desires in his mind intensified. No matter how he tried to hide or restrain himself from thinking about her, she was still the source of all his desires in his dreams at night. His heart was constantly pounding for her, and this feeling was driving him crazy.
"Brother Luo, let's go." Xiao Wen tugged at his sleeve.
Shen Li ran to Yuan Haoxuan's side and took a picture. When she looked up, her gaze met Luo Mingxiu's from behind the crowd. He was looking at her too, his eyes burning with an undisguised intensity.
As if burned, Shen Li quickly lowered her eyes to avoid his gaze. She walked to Xiao Yu's side and joined her and Sun Qi in their playful banter. After a while, she turned around and saw that Luo Mingxiu had already left.
The two stopped their playful banter and came closer to Shen Li. Sun Qi chuckled twice and couldn't help but gossip, "Sister Li, did you agree to Teacher Li's request?"
"No." Shen Li was somewhat bewildered by her surprising statement. "How did you figure that out?"
Sun Qi: "I don't believe it."
Seeing that Xiaoyu also seemed unconvinced, Shen Li emphasized again, "Really, no, don't overthink it."
Xiaoyu: "Huh? I just saw you two hugging, and Li Nan even took a picture of you so naturally. I thought you two were a couple."
“I tripped by accident and he helped me up,” Shen Li explained. “Anyway, I’ve made it very clear to him that we can only be friends.”
Just now, after Li Nan said he wanted to be her boyfriend, he got so close to her that if she hadn't taken that step back, it was obvious he was going to kiss her.
Shen Li didn't like this. Ever since that night in the parking garage when he confessed his feelings, she could feel Li Nan's efforts. He tried every day to please her in different ways, wanting to make her happy and get her response.
The more she did this, the more guilty Shen Li felt. Li Nan's appearance and character were impeccable, and his conditions matched hers perfectly. In the eyes of outsiders, he seemed like a perfect match for her.
The crew members all thought they were a good match, and even her mother, who had seen too many online comments about them being a couple, called to ask her if it was true.
Shen Li admitted that she had once thought about being with Li Nan because she felt comfortable with him, but now she knows that comfort only applies to their friendship.
Once this relationship breaks down, she will feel lost and even reject Li Nan's advances.
So when he seriously wanted a response again, Shen Li felt that things couldn't continue like this, so she expressed her feelings about him during this period.
"If this continues, we won't even be able to be friends."
When she said those words, she couldn't bear to look into Li Nan's hurt eyes, but her tone was firm.
"These days I've even been thinking about whether I should take on that movie you wanted to make later."
She always speaks directly, like a knife. She wants to make it clear, even if it means losing a friend, that she doesn't want anyone waiting for her. If someone is someone she likes, it's because there's no future in it.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t expect you to be so upset. I was just being wishful,” Li Nan smiled, seemingly not caring. “The movie still has to be made. I’ve said before that there are two things I want to do most: one is to make a movie about you, and the other is to become your man.”
"Now that one path is no longer possible, do you want to block out the other one as well?"
Li Nan spoke with a teasing tone, as if they had returned to a natural friendship. Shen Li wondered if he had truly come to terms with it, and her gaze was somewhat blank.
"Alright, stop looking so sad." Li Nan flicked the fireworks in her hand with his finger and handed her the lighter. "Cheer up, set off the fireworks. I was wrong. I never thought I would push you to this point."
"Don't worry, you've given me a chance. Whether I succeed or not is my business. You don't need to take it to heart, and I don't want to cause you any trouble."
"Mmm." Shen Li lit the fireworks; she didn't want to lose this friendship either.
The recollection ends.
As the fireworks faded, the lingering smell was dispersed by a gust of wind. The people who had been having fun on the bridge cleaned up the litter that had fallen on the ground before leaving.
After everyone left, Shen Li was about to walk back with Xiao Yu when she saw Li Nan answering a phone call and waiting for her ahead.
Shen Li quickened her pace and walked over.
"Is there something you need?" she asked.
Li Nan: "I'm going back to get some sleep. I'm leaving early in the morning, so I'll say goodbye to you then."
Shen Li: "Be careful on the road. See you back in City B."
“That’s great,” Li Nanshu breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought you didn’t want to associate with me anymore.”
"Putting aside your feelings for me, we'll always be friends." Shen Li looked at him. "We're in the same industry, and I even have to act in your movie. How could I possibly break off our friendship?"
Li Nan smiled and said, "Alright, I feel like I'm asking you to do something unreasonable."
"No way!" Shen Li said, "I don't want to. How can I just agree to that so easily? Acting in movies is tiring, you know."
Li Nan's smile remained unchanged. Looking at her serious expression, he wanted to ruffle her hair, but he paused and withdrew his hand.
His eyes dimmed, he put his hands in his pockets, and said, "Thank you."
In room 702, the person who was fast asleep was awakened by the noise outside the corridor. Thinking it was dawn, Luo Mingxiu reflexively sat up in bed, feeling exhausted. Just as he was about to lie down and fall asleep again, he heard people outside talking about Shen Li.
He opened his eyes, turned to the side, picked up his phone, and checked the time. It was 1:30. He had just returned from the film studio and had only slept for half an hour.
People outside were still talking. Luo Mingxiu's face darkened, and he got out of bed and walked to the door.
"...Hey, do you think they're together?"
"Most likely, when I saw them walking over, Teacher Li was smiling, so I felt like I had caught up with them."
"And after the fireworks were over, when we left, Teacher Li was also waiting for Teacher Shen."
"Wow, it probably won't be long before it goes viral on trending topics..."
The door slammed open, and the person who was speaking saw Luo Mingxiu. The man was wearing pajamas, his hair was messy, and his eyes shot over with a sinister gaze.
The man choked on his words and swallowed them back down.
"Sorry to wake you up." The man said, turning around and giving the other two a wink before quickly dispersing and opening their own doors.
After the three closed the door, Luo Mingxiu leaned against the door with his head down, thinking about their conversation and Chen Li's laughter on the bridge. His heart suddenly clenched.
He turned on his phone, quickly tapped on the pinned chat box, then deleted it. The white light from the screen reflected on his face, and then he saw a tear fall in the center of the screen.
He turned off his phone, turned around and went into the bathroom, turned on the cold water, and splashed water on his face with his hands, letting his sobs mix with the water.
Early in the morning, Shen Li got out of bed and saw a message from Director Liu: Luo Mingxiu has taken leave, and his scenes for today will be rescheduled.
After Shen Li replied that she had received the message, she opened Luo Mingxiu's chat window. To her surprise, she found three message recall records. Luo Mingxiu had sent her a message at 3 a.m.
Shen Li typed three words, "What's wrong?", then deleted them. She exited the chat, opened Xiao Wen's chat window, and made a voice call.
After the call connected, there was a lot of noise around: "Hello, Teacher Shen? I'm buying breakfast for Brother Luo. Wait a moment, I'll call you back when I'm done."
She said she would call her after buying breakfast, but Shen Li didn't receive Xiao Wen's call back until she had already finished eating breakfast herself.
"Hey, Sister Li, it's quiet around me now. Did you have something to say? Was it about Brother Luo?"
"Yes, why did he take leave?"
"He didn't sleep well all night and was feeling really dizzy, so I helped him ask for leave."
"Oh, then let him get some rest." After saying this, Shen Li didn't want to hang up the phone. Apart from acting, she hadn't had a normal conversation with Luo Mingxiu for a long time.
After that fight, Li Nan's injuries had almost healed, and she really wanted to know how Luo Mingxiu's injuries were healing.
"Sister Li, is there anything else?" Xiao Wen asked from the other end.
Shen Li hesitated for a moment before asking, "Xiao Wen, where are you right now? Is there anyone else around?"
"I'm in the room, Sister Li. Next to me..." Xiao Wen saw Luo Mingxiu's gaze and said, "There's no one next to me. I just delivered food to Brother Luo and I'm in my own room."
Shen Li: "Don't be nervous, I was just asking casually."
"Has his injury from last time fully healed?"
Xiaowen: "Well, he's always had a fast metabolism, and the flesh on his knee has healed again. Skin injuries are nothing."
Shen Li felt pain just listening to his description: "Have you gone to the hospital for a checkup?"
“It’s been checked, don’t worry, he’s fine,” Xiaowen paused and then said, “Sister Li, if you really care about him, you can call him directly.”
Shen Li: "I was just asking. It's good that everything's alright. I'm hanging up now."
After the call ended, Xiaowen looked at Luo Mingxiu, her expression much more relaxed than when she had just woken up.
"See, I told you, Sister Shen Li still cares about you. Don't believe all those rumors circulating outside, and don't do anything impulsive that would offend her."
Luo Mingxiu nodded without saying anything. He put down his bowl, feeling even more lost.
He was avoiding her, and so was she. It turned out Liang Jin was right; Shen Li really did avoid him like the plague after she found out what he was thinking.
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