Chapter 2: Qingqing, it sounds very ambiguous.
Chen Qingqing's parents left early the next morning and did not wait for Wang Shu to come back. Chen Hua looked indifferent, but Shen Qiwen could not hide his disappointment and repeatedly told Chen Qingqing to have a child quickly.
As soon as her parents left, the house was empty. Her house was big to begin with, and she was so bored lying in bed that she opened the mobile app and started watching Douyin.
Tik Tok is particularly funny. Someone posted a video of a baby boy on Tik Tok and posted a video of him receiving a baby boy, and he did it so piously.
She clicked on one profile after another and found that most of the housewives were sharing their experiences of having a baby boy. After logging out, she realized that Douyin had also included her in the mother-and-baby images. She scrolled through a few more profiles, and they were all about pregnancy.
There was a baby image with golden light in the center of the video, and the background music was even a Buddhist song. She frowned when she heard it. Shen Qingqing quickly turned off her phone, smoothed her frown, and asked Tmall Genie to call Sun Ziyi.
I don’t know if it was my illusion, but after the call was connected, Shen Qingqing seemed to hear a burst of electric sound, which was in the same frequency as the Buddhist music I had just brushed.
"What are you doing? Why do I feel an electric sound?" Shen Qingqing asked.
"I'm doing a thermolift. The medical beauty groups run by internet celebrities are really cheap now!" Sun Ziyi's mouth was obviously still closed.
After confirming that it was not her hallucination, Shen Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief and asked Jingzhe directly why there was no signature of yours?
Sun Ziyi was silent for three seconds and said: Let’s talk when we meet.
"Then let's go tonight. I'll come find you."
"Mr. Wang is not at home?" Sun Ziyi asked back.
"No, we had a fight last night. I'll go to Bad Mouth to see you tonight?" Shen Qingqing said as she walked to the full-length mirror. She looked at her body and face to see if there were any new wrinkles.
"Okay, Mrs. Wang." Sun Ziyi added.
The Bad Mouth Talk Show was in Sanlitun. At 6:50, Shen Qingqing saw Sun Ziyi as soon as she parked the car. Although it was already dark, she still wrapped herself in a sun hat and got out of the Didi car like a Middle Eastern woman.
"Chen Yanyan!" the Middle Eastern woman shouted.
Shen Qingqing was stunned for a moment. No one had called her by this name for a long time.
This is indeed not Shen Qingqing's original name. Her name in the household registration book is Shen Yanyan.
The year she was born, a fortune teller said she lacked fire in her destiny and needed a strong fire to stabilize her fate; the name Shen Yanyan indeed brought her good luck. She had always been on the sidelines, and when her high school grades didn't pass the undergraduate entrance exam, she switched to studying broadcasting and hosting, finally making it onto the line to get into Communication University of China to study directing.
During her college years, she worked on projects with her mentor. Right after graduation, she took on some small commercials on her own, earning a little over 18,000 yuan a month. For two years, Shen Qingqing was the top director recommended by the new film studios. Several investors wanted to sign her to an agency contract and push her into film roles, but she refused.
Chen Qingqing knew how hard it was to make a film. It took years to make it big, and the sunk costs could last for over a decade, which wouldn't even compare to making commercials. Would she still be able to live such a carefree life if she became a film director? So, after her youth, as her classmates gradually rose to prominence in the entertainment industry, Chen Qingqing left behind a room full of bags and jewelry.
But Shen Qingqing was indeed lucky. Although she later lost the title of small director, she became Mrs. Wang.
Wang Shu, a seemingly ordinary-looking engineer, developed a game in college with his classmate Jiang Yong. The game became a hit, and after saving a fortune, they had resources. But R&D proved grueling, so they switched to publishing, integrating resources and selecting content. He and Jiang Yong each had an office in Shanghai and Beijing, with Jiang Yong himself in Chengdu. The two of them collaborated constantly, and while their content wasn't particularly explosive, they still found a market.
The turning point in Wang Shu's career came after Shen Qingqing appeared. At that time, they made a game in a mini program.
People outside the industry don’t know that those crappy games that look so bad are actually very profitable.
Jiang Yong is a romantic man. He learned how to build a community when he was in college. He has resources from hundreds of university student groups. They developed a game called Confession, which is just a simple Candy Crush game. Jiang Yong tried his best to promote it, saying that if you pass level 520, you can use the three words "I love you" to trigger a random voice bar.
During those two years, the popular messaging platform was still Kuaishou. University students in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen were largely unimpressed; their primary audience was university and high school students in third-tier cities. Wang Shu spent tens of thousands of yuan hiring young writers to write sweet nothings, which became a huge hit. Some people even spontaneously posted voice messages confessing their love on Tieba. Later, when a certain liquor brand's copywriting became popular, Jiang Yong, lying on the sofa, remarked to Wang Shu, "Those are things we've played with before."
It was through this game that each of them earned more than two million yuan. Wang Shu bought himself a BMW and made a down payment on an apartment.
Jiang Yong is the biggest romantic in Beijing. The first thing he did with the money he earned was not to buy things, but to pick up girls. He had a girlfriend who was studying at Communication University of China. He borrowed Wang Shu's car to pick up his girlfriend. When the two of them stopped by the roadside to kiss, they were rear-ended by the car behind them. The driver of the rear car was a Beijing native, and regardless of who was responsible, he would first scold Jiang Yong. Jiang Yong was full of fighting spirit, but he still scared the girl. The girl called her roommate, and Jiang Yong called Wang Shu. That roommate was Chen Qingqing.
At that time, Wang Shu had just achieved some success and thought he was popular among female college students. He ran up to ask for Shen Qingqing's WeChat, but Shen Qingqing didn't even look at him and led her classmates away.
He did not feel frustrated, but instead thought that standing by the back of his wrecked BMW and discussing with Jiang Yong, he thought that it was Shen Qingqing's cold performance to take advantage of him. Jiang Yong laughed at Wang Shu, who was poor but suddenly became rich and felt confident about everything. In fact, the other party must not take her seriously.
This was a bet between him and Jiang Yong. Jiang Yong said that he couldn't catch up with the girl in the baseball cap—Chen Qingqing—in a year. Wang Shu modestly raised a finger—a month.
For many years afterwards, Chen Qingqing mocked Wang Shu's monotonous and boring pursuit of her: cake, chocolate, and milk tea every day, and the most expensive gift he ever gave her was an iPhone. She didn't even care at the time. For the first two weeks, she didn't even accept Wang Shu's dinner invitations. Even when he blocked her way downstairs in the dormitory, Chen Qingqing ignored him.
For twenty-nine days, Chen Qingqing and Wang Shu remained indifferent. The only two meals they shared were when Wang Shu picked up his food from the Communication University of China cafeteria. Then, when he brought her a plate and sat across from her, she frowned at the cilantro in her bowl. Wang Shu immediately went to get a new pair of chopsticks and picked out the cilantro before giving it to her.
The turning point for the two of them happened the next day at a gathering of Chen Qingqing's roommates. Her girlfriend told Jiang Yong, who immediately told Wang Shu, including the location. Wang Shu, having finished working overtime, happened to find Chen Qingqing arguing with someone and being chased out. Seeing this, Wang Shu pulled her close to him. After getting past the group, he noticed she was wearing the then-popular cat eyeliner, with seductive corners. As they stared at each other, they both gasped.
Shen Qingqing asked, “Why are you here?”
He said he was worried about you being here alone.
Shen Qingqing asked again, "Why are your eyes so red?"
Wang Shu said, "I just finished working overtime and came to watch over you. I'll take you back to the dormitory and then go home to sleep."
Chen Qingqing didn't know what else to say, so she lowered her head but didn't break free. However, Wang Shu twisted her chin and kissed her. Then Wang Shu straightened her and said, "Chen Qingqing! I love you!" The phone in her pocket spoke before Chen Qingqing, suddenly shouting, "I haven't even learned to swim yet, and I've already fallen in love with you."
She couldn't help laughing and asked what the hell that sound was. Wang Shu said it didn't matter.
Twelve o'clock passed, and the one-month date ended. The next day, Jiang Yong gave Shen Qingqing a Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet as compensation to congratulate them on their relationship.
On the eve of their wedding, Chen Qingqing was still analyzing with Sun Ziyi her initial attraction to Wang Shu. It must have been a drawbridge reaction. She'd just been surrounded, drunk, and there was an open door behind her, filled with upbeat music. In such an atmosphere, anyone would be tempted, as long as the other person wasn't ugly.
What’s more, Wang Shu is 183cm tall!
Sun Ziyi smiled and arranged the wedding clothes for Shen Qingqing, saying that none of that mattered anymore.
At the wedding banquet, the table with Shen Qingqing's college classmates all talked about how lucky she was and how she didn't have to work hard. At the table with Wang Shu's college classmates, they all talked about how lucky Wang Shu was and how successful his business was, and they ended by praising Shen Qingqing for being a lucky husband.
It is really hard to believe that such a non-materialistic conversation took place at the dinner table of two university students in Beijing.
Of course, not only they thought so, but Chen Qingqing herself also thought that meeting Wang Shu was her luck. She was used to being taken care of, and even if there was an opportunity to move up, she would stop where she was and not want to climb because of fatigue. This kind of character stems from her father's meticulous care for her since she was a child. It was not until the two of them discussed registering their marriage that Wang Shu found out that his wife's social security and five insurances and one fund were paid monthly by his father-in-law.
Chen Qingqing was a simple-minded darling who lived a carefree life. Her only setback was that when she was a child, everyone teased her because her name, "Yan," (inflammation), made her look sickly.
So the day after she got married, she ran to the household registration police station and submitted an application to change her name, and Shen Yanyan became Shen Qingqing.
"Qingqing" sounds very ambiguous; like peeling grapes for someone with bare hands, the purple juice flows into the palm of your hand, and the wet love can flow out from the strokes of the name and turn into honey.
On the day she went to the police station to pick up "Chen Qingqing's" ID card, she kissed Wang Shu, who was driving, and said, "My life is complete."
-
Sun Ziyi got into Chen Qingqing's car. There were too many people in the talk show, and many things were difficult to say.
“Tell me about it.” Shen Qingqing spoke first.
Sun Ziyi said, "I finished the script, but after the platform came in, they were not satisfied with it and asked me to add a new character, which basically meant a major change. I disagreed, so my name was removed."
Shen Qingqing asked: How many of the projects currently being broadcast include your content?
She thought about it and said: In the five episodes aired, it should be half and half.
Shen Qingqing was puzzled: “Then you should also be credited!
Sun Ziyi asked: You didn’t read the ending? I asked the producer, and the producer said that my name was signed at the end.
Chen Qingqing's face was filled with black lines. "But who would watch the ending? Can't you sue them?"
Sun Ziyi shook his head and said: The contract does not specify the signature part, which is itself an ambiguous part in the cooperation.
Shen Qingqing sighed. Seeing that Sun Ziyi didn't seem to be too upset, she asked tentatively: "Why are you so calm..."
Sun Ziyi said: "I've seen many examples of seniors who have lost their status. When the new writing team came in, I made preparations for myself. Besides, the money has been received. Except for the last payment, it has already added up to more than 500,000 yuan."
Chen Qingqing sighed and said, "You've earned over 500,000 yuan in three years, and you're really content. How old are you now? Your like-minded people, classmates, and experienced people who work hard in big companies are not as miserable as you."
Sun Ziyi smiled and said, "What else can I do? The management keeps changing, and I'll be forced to accept the change of mood and the new beatings. What else? I'll cry every day? Then I'll definitely be ruined."
Then Sun Ziyi opened the car door and said, "Let's go. I'm going to start my performance."
Sun Ziyi brought Shen Qingqing to the backstage of the talk show and shouted "Peng Yu! Peng Yu." A tall man walked out. The lights under the stage were flashing, and no one could see anyone's face clearly.
As light and shadow pass by, you can only catch a glimpse of each other's outline at a time.
"Sister Zi."
Before Sun Ziyi could speak, Shen Qingqing suddenly laughed, leaned close to Sun Ziyi's ear and whispered, "I always feel like I need to add two words, jump."
Sun Ziyi reached out and pulled Shen Qingqing, whispering in her ear, "Your joke is even colder than the worst actor we talked about." Then Sun Ziyi said to the boy, "Find her a stool and let her stay close to the edge for a while."
Sun Ziyi turned his head and told Shen Qingqing. "This is my promotion. I have to go on stage and don't have time to take care of you. Let him accompany you for a while."
As soon as she finished speaking, Sun Ziyi left, carrying her Middle Eastern gear. Peng Yu shouted, "Sister Ziyi, sun hat!"
Sun Ziyi then remembered, took off his hat, turned around and threw it to Peng Yu.
Peng Yu took a plastic stool and a low stool and walked to a corner of the stage with Shen Qingqing. Shen Qingqing glanced at the shadow cast by the backstage light behind her and found that Peng Yu had put on the sun hat on his head. The shadow looked like a golden retriever squatting at her feet.
"Stand-up comedians also need publicity, right?"
"Of course, stand-up comedians also need to be commercialized. When it comes to business, it inevitably involves promotion and packaging. When we do promotion, we have to stand by the 'product' 24 hours a day. Sister Ziyi is very funny and open-minded, and she's very popular on short video platforms."
Chen Qingqing has been out of touch with society for a long time. She particularly hates people mixing English into their conversations, so she plans to talk about something down-to-earth.
"How old are you?" Shen Qingqing asked.
"I'm twenty-two." said the golden retriever.
"So young."
"You look pretty much like me."
"I'm thirty."
Peng Yu turned his head and glanced at Shen Qingqing, taking a closer look.
"I really can't tell that you are two years older than Ziyi. You look more like my junior sister."
Shen Qingqing smiled, reached out her hand and gently pinched her face.
Sun Ziyi was indeed shining on the stage. She even mentioned the joke about medical beauty today, which was equivalent to an impromptu performance.
Sun Ziyi said that despite working so hard on cosmetic surgery, the ultimate secret to maintaining beauty lies in avoiding UV rays. She wears a hat, mask, and sunglasses when walking on the street, and only truly looks beautiful when she's in a shopping mall. She even feels like she's no different from the exquisite gemstones on display at the mall counters.
Finally, Sun Ziyi shouted, "There is still a difference. There are always people choosing diamonds! But no one is choosing me!"
-
After the performance, Sun Zi accidentally sold several pounds of crayfish, and the two of them sat backstage at the talk show to pick the crayfish.
Sun Ziyi asked first, "Are you worried about something? I saw you didn't smile much on stage."
Shen Qingqing actually laughed this time and jokingly asked her, "Why don't you reflect on whether your stand-up comedy is funny or not?"
Sun Ziyi snorted, "Before, even if you were flattering me, you would still smile."
Chen Qingqing hummed, knowing nothing could escape Sun Ziyi's scrutiny, so she told everyone about Wang Shu's gambling. She added, "Even if someone says he's supporting three families outside, I wouldn't be surprised."
Sun Ziyi felt a cold sweat running down her back when she heard her talk about this topic. She had heard Shen Qingqing complain about her husband so much that she had developed PTSD.
"It's time for you to think about why you married your husband." Even if Wang Shu had ten thousand faults, Sun Ziyi knew that she couldn't break up the marriage. Moreover, from an outsider's perspective, Wang Shu really didn't have any major problems. He lost more and earned even more. What's more, the excuse for gambling was to please the research and development and make more money.
Chen Qingqing sighed and sat there whispering, "Actually, I have a lot of bad habits. The most picky one is that I don't want to eat cold food. Even if I want to eat an apple, I have to scald it with hot water. We have been married for a few years, and he still cooks fruit for me when he is at home. I always feel like I am a wrinkled silk scarf, and Wang Shu is the only one who is willing to iron me carefully." Chen Qingqing sat upright and talked to Sun Ziyi.
Sun Ziyi said, "Look, there's no need for me to say anything. When it comes to matters of the heart, as long as you think it through, you can persuade yourself."
Chen Qingqing was a little embarrassed and said, "Then what should I do? After getting married, I have to think things through. It's not as simple and straightforward as when I was in love. If you have never been in love, you will not understand marriage."
Sun Ziyi was about to speak when Peng Yu came over with a bunch of skewers to join in. She stopped talking to Shen Qingqing. She knew that Qingqing didn't want outsiders to know about her family affairs, so she just started a conversation about gossip in the entertainment industry. The three of them started chatting about all sorts of things.
When he smiled, Shen Qingqing discovered that Peng Yu had peach blossom eyes, which were tilted upwards, with a narrow line extending from his eyes. If he didn't speak, the line would just stay there, which looked quite nice.
Chen Qingqing suddenly remembered the romance stories she'd read on her QQ space as a child. They said those with romantic debts in their past lives would have birthmarks in this one. She thought Peng Yu's eyes were etched with the romantic debts of some girl from a past life. She stared at him for a long time, a face stuck in her mind. After a few more seconds, she suddenly remembered. "Peng Yu, you look a lot like Li Zhuxian!"
After saying that, Shen Qingqing frantically pulled out a photo of Li Zhuxian from her phone, and Sun Ziyi also looked over. "They really do look alike."
Peng Yu felt a little embarrassed and reached out to scratch the back of his head.
This action is too youthful. If it was Chen Qingqing’s husband sitting here and being praised, he would probably just rub the cup with his fingertips at most, like an old man.
-
It was already eleven o'clock when they came out of the talk show stage. Shen Qingqing drove her Levante slowly with Sun Ziyi.
Shen Qingqing still looked dazed. She always laughed at Sun Ziyi for being sentimental, but this time, she was even more sentimental than Sun Ziyi and said, "I feel like there's something wrong with our relationship recently. That feeling is very strong."
Sun Ziyi stared at her and waited for her to continue.
"He's like a controller, always steering our marriage. You say he's a good man because he spends money on me, but that's the easiest way for him to maintain the marriage within his means. He has plenty of these little extras. I even think he has a very clear system in place, knowing how to avoid my weak spots and keep me from getting angry. But that's the mindset of a businessman, not a normal couple."
Sun Ziyi turned her head and glanced at Chen Qingqing. She couldn't describe the look in Chen Qingqing's eyes, but it was just awkward. "Have you been too tense lately? Why don't you find some time to go out and have some fun?"
Shen Qingqing nodded and asked, "Do you want to go to Phuket with me? I have always wanted to go diving. Wang Shu has been busy. If you have time, we can go together."
Sun Ziyi nodded and said, "Sure, we can go together after we're done with this."
Adhering to the principle of not breaking up a marriage, Sun Ziyi suddenly sat up straight and told Chen Qingqing. "Having said that, I think you can also pay attention to Mr. Wang. If a character suddenly experiences an event they have never experienced before, then there must be a change within this character."
Shen Qingqing didn't believe it: "How can a straight man who makes games like him have so many causes and consequences?"
Sun Ziyi got excited. "Don't disbelieve me, the script's process for constructing character relationships was copied by our predecessors from the people around them. I think you really need to ask your husband what happened."
As soon as Sun Ziyi finished speaking, the car stopped downstairs of her house.
"Be more straightforward. If you have a problem, communicate it. You're just wasting your time thinking like that. When your face falls, no amount of Thermage will help. I don't know what the mysteries of marriage are, but all I can see is that your emotions will be reflected on the person next to you. So don't hide your emotions; communicate them. You may think you're hiding it well, but it will only turn into a needle hidden in cotton wool that will end up hurting both of you."
Sun Ziyi jumped out of the car. "Remember to communicate! Let's go!"
Qingqing was alone in the underground garage, daydreaming, when she suddenly smelled a strange odor. Frowning, she followed the scent and found it was a cup of cold oden on the console, which she had bought at 7-Eleven when she was driving to pick up her parents that morning.
It's not spoiled yet, just cold, and the kelp inside is covered with a layer of transparent crystal jelly.
As if possessed by some mysterious force, Shen Qingqing put her nose close to the food and sniffed it. To outsiders, the cold kelp didn't have any strange smell, but to her nose at that moment, it smelled as bad as a floating corpse that had been submerged in the sea for half a month.
She couldn't help but let out a clear "vomit" sound from her throat.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
