Chapter 17 He whispered, "Happy New Year."...
Jiang Jiaoming didn't come in, nor did he look at Liang Kongxiang. Instead, he walked towards another elevator.
Gao Ling was about to call out "Hello, General Manager Jiang" when the door closed again.
She suddenly remembered the rumors circulating online.
But are Liang Kongxiang and Jiang Jiaoming truly complete strangers? Would someone like Jiang Jiaoming really be able to read an actress's expression...?
She glanced at Liang Kongxiang, wondering with some doubt whether this was the proper attitude a leading actress should have towards the production company. It seemed rather unreasonable.
The elevator went up to the eighth floor and the doors opened.
The corridor was deserted, and the dim yellow light shone on the gray carpet. Gao Ling followed closely behind Liang Kongxiang as they walked out.
She sniffed the food box, "Sister Kong Xiang, can I eat in your room? I'm afraid it'll smell if I eat in my room, and if my manager finds out, I'll definitely get a scolding..."
She was already young, with a pure and innocent appearance, big, bright eyes, and a soft, gentle voice, making her instantly endearing.
Liang Kongxiang wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon. She opened the door and said, "Okay, I'll go take a shower first. You can eat in the living room."
"Okay!" Gao Ling followed her in, sat on the leather sofa, and tore open the takeout bag. Sure enough, a strong salty and spicy smell filled the room. Gao Ling consciously opened the windows, which dispersed the smell a little.
Seeing Gao Ling drooling, Liang Kongxiang smiled and went back to her room to take a shower.
She applied shampoo and massaged her scalp, which relieved a lot of the day's fatigue. She gently massaged... Steam rose from the glass-enclosed bathroom.
After a while, she stood under the shower head, and hot water poured down her head, covering her entire face. Her long, straight black hair clung to her face, and she closed her eyes tightly, not breathing through her nose.
As his body neared its limit, the image of Songjin's little house and Jiang Jiaoming's face disappeared from his mind.
Jiang Jiaoming said she hugged him and apologized, then bit his abs. In any other place, Liang Kongxiang could have coldly and decisively denied it, but in that environment, in that utopia where only fragments of love existed, how could she calmly face Jiang Jiaoming's half-true, half-false prank?
She denied it, and Jiang Jiaoming was indeed very angry. Was this a good thing? Liang Kongxiang herself didn't know.
When they broke up, she told him to find his freedom, but now she's trapped in the same place. But wasn't that the right decision? He won't torment himself anymore by worrying and doubting about her contact with anyone else.
She turned off the shower, grabbed a towel from the side, wiped her face, and put her hair up in a bun.
The sound of the TV at the door seemed to have quieted down a lot. Liang Kongxiang changed into her pajamas and went out with her wet hair wrapped up.
Gao Ling had already finished eating, and the trash wasn't on the table. "Sis, I put the trash by the door, otherwise it'll smell the next day." Seeing that Liang Kongxiang had finished washing up, she said, "Then go to sleep quickly after you've dried your hair! I won't disturb your rest!"
"Okay, you should drink more water and go to bed early too."
"Okay," Gao Ling said with a grin as she left.
Liang Kongxiang took a hairdryer from the cabinet, put it down to dry her hair, and then, remembering that Gao Ling had just opened the window, planned to close it later.
Jiang Jiaoming's clothes were still drying on the clothes rack by the window.
Gao Ling also closed the window on her own.
Liang Kongxiang put the clothes into a bag, planning to return them to Jiang Jiaoming the next day.
The next day, she bumped into Zhang Bingjie on set. He looked at her with some surprise: "Jiaoming went back to the company? Didn't he tell you?"
"Why is President Jiang telling me all this?" Liang Kongxiang smiled.
With no one around, Zhang San spoke less cautiously, covering his mouth with the notice and whispering, "It's just the two of us, so let's not beat around the bush. She's my ex-sister-in-law, after all."
Liang Kongxiang: "To be frank, President Jiang really doesn't need to report anything to me."
Zhang San scratched his nose. "To be honest, I never thought that you two had... no, you were together before."
“I didn’t mean I didn’t think we were a good match,” Zhang San smiled at Liang Kongxiang, quite sincerely: “I was talking about Jiao Ming. He has a very negative view on relationships. You don’t know, I cried my eyes out after my breakup, and he said something like, ‘Who told you to like someone? Liking someone is like handing over the right to torture yourself to someone else…’ Isn’t that crazy?”
Liang Kongxiang remained silent.
Zhang San stopped there, as it wasn't a good time to reminisce or talk about old times on set. Besides, Liang Kongxiang was busy working. Apart from exchanging a few words with Cao Lengyu, she rarely interacted with anyone on set. She would either be holding her script, sitting quietly alone in a folding chair, either watching the filming with Director Cao on the monitor, or resting in the trailer. She rarely chatted.
Seeing that Liang Kongxiang didn't say anything, Zhang San didn't know if the two had each other's contact information. After all, Jiang Jiaoming didn't talk to him about Liang Kongxiang, and Liang Kongxiang wasn't familiar with him.
Seeing that Jiang Jiaoming had had a pitiful time over the years, Zhang San, who had grown up with him, remarked, "The Spring Festival season is busy enough, Jiaoming won't be coming to the set for a while."
There's really no need to say this to your ex-girlfriend.
Liang Kongxiang hummed in agreement, then half-raised her hand and handed the bag to Zhang San, saying, "Could you please return the items to him for me?"
"No."
"Well... how about this... either I give you his WeChat, or I take the elevator now and ask him for you?"
"Let's make the call," Liang Kongxiang said without hesitation.
“Okay,” Zhang San didn’t hesitate. He took out his phone and quickly pulled out Jiang Jiaoming’s profile picture from the list and made a call. The call was answered after one ring. Zhang San was a little surprised. He then turned on speakerphone but kept the volume so that only he and Liang Kongxiang could hear it.
"What's wrong?" On the other end of the phone, Jiang Jiaoming seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when the call was connected.
"Oh, is that so? Kong Xiang is over there." Zhang San said this, though he was puzzled.
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, then someone seemed to stand up and take a few steps before asking, "What do you want with me?"
"Clothes," Liang Kongxiang said succinctly, "I'll have General Manager Zhang bring them to you."
Jiang Jiaoming didn't speak at first, but after careful consideration, he said, "No."
At the same moment, a female voice suddenly came from Jiang Jiaoming's end: "Is this Mr. Zhang's call?"
A very young, yet seemingly familiar voice.
Zhang San's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously glanced at Liang Kongxiang. Their eyes met, one feeling guilty and the other calm.
He was about to say something when Jiang Jiaoming hung up, leaving only the message: "I'll come to you personally to get it."
Liang Kongxiang didn't say anything more. Just then, Chang Xin jogged over, greeted Producer Zhang, and whispered a reminder, "Sister, it's almost your turn to act."
"Okay, I'll go now." She smiled at Zhang Bingjie. "Thanks, Mr. Zhang." Then she followed her assistant toward the crowd, where Xiang Hang was waiting for her to rehearse.
Zhang Bingjie sighed. He leaned against the hood of Liang Kongxiang's RV and made another call, which was answered instantly this time.
"What is it now?" Jiang Jiaoming had just returned to his office and sat down. Dealing with Zhuang Yexue in the reception room was exhausting.
He took a sip of the tea his assistant had brewed and felt much better. There was no sound on the other end of the phone. Jiang Jiaoming tentatively called out, "Zhang Bingjie?"
“I’m telling you, Liang Kongxiang heard Zhuang Yexue’s voice just now,” Zhang San paused, then said, “What were you two doing together in broad daylight?”
"So what if she heard it?" Jiang Jiaoming took another sip of tea, which became increasingly bitter as he drank it down. He simply poured it all out and casually said, "She won't care anyway."
"You really are..." Zhang San asked again the question that Jiang Jiaoming had ignored, "What are you doing with Zhuang?"
"What else can we do but talk about work?" Jiang Jiaoming said casually, asking his assistant to make coffee while receiving the distribution forms. "She heard that the 'In the Name of Justice' project is about to start and came to me to inquire about it."
The project is in Zaiying's hands, but the actors haven't been cast yet. Zhang San asked, "Isn't her backer Director Tian? Everyone in the industry knows about the feud between Tian Lei and Director Cao. Plus, Tian Lei is also tied to Hechuan Pictures... If Zhuang Yexue makes another film invested by Zaiying, isn't she afraid of falling out with them?"
“Even if it’s torn apart, it won’t affect us,” Jiang Jiaoming said ruthlessly. “Besides, I never intended to give this project to her.” But he didn’t completely rule things out with Zhuang Yexue today. He was waiting for Zhuang’s team to buy publicity and hype up the project.
"Falling in love with you is the worst thing that ever happened to me," Zhang San commented.
Jiang Jiaoming didn't speak, but tapped the table with his index finger, as if casually asking, "What was her reaction when she heard Zhuang Yexue's voice?"
"Who?" Zhang San said "Oh," and glanced towards the film set. Liang Kongxiang was already filming. "What kind of reaction could she possibly have?"
"Don't call me unless it's absolutely necessary," Jiang Jiaoming said before hanging up.
"Hey, I really..." Zhang San stared at the screen where the call had ended, his eyes almost forming triple eyelids. He should just say he was unhappy with Liang Kongxiang's attitude; why take it out on him?
Winter nights fall quickly, and the studio lights were already on, casting a bright white glow on Liang Kongxiang. She was wearing a thin gauze dress, barefoot, with her messy black hair flowing freely; she had just finished filming.
This scene required a lot of emotion, and Liang Kongxiang didn't come out for a while. She sat alone in the chair for a while, stunned, before she noticed the bag that she hadn't returned.
It was cold outside, so she carried her bag into the RV. Chang Xin poured hot water from her thermos and handed it to her. Seeing that she seemed to still be immersed in her emotions and not in high spirits, she deliberately said, "Sister, warm yourself up."
"Thank you." She took it, her cold hand touching the scalding hot glass, and then let go after two seconds.
After filming the rest of the scenes, she returned to the hotel at around 4 a.m. She placed the clothes on the bedside table in her room, reminding herself to return them when she had the chance, then turned off the lights and closed her eyes.
A few seconds later, she turned on the bedside lamp again, lay on her side on the pillow, looked at the conspicuous paper bag, sighed, and got out of bed to put it in the closet with all her clothes.
She also put her phone under her pillow, and half an hour later, she fell asleep.
Everyone has been very busy these past few days. Online marketing for Spring Festival movies is everywhere, and the battle for public opinion has already begun.
Jiang Jiaoming seems to be really busy; he hasn't come to the set these past few days. After filming, Liang Kongxiang continues as usual, sometimes staying on set to learn from Cao Lengyu, and sometimes going back to the hotel to sleep when she's too tired before going back to the set to sit next to Cao Lengyu and supervise the filming together.
Liang Kongxiang couldn't remember how long it had been since she last picked up a camera.
The eve of the Lunar New Year is getting closer and closer.
A light drizzle began to fall on the set that day, and hundreds of crew members trudged haphazardly through the wet rain.
As the crew packed up equipment and set up tents, the production assistants used megaphones to direct the props team to sort and pack items into boxes to prevent them from getting wet, and the set became lively.
A cold rainstorm unexpectedly turned the serious atmosphere into a cheerful one. Some of the really tired young actors secretly smiled and reached out to catch the raindrops, but Director Cao's expression was obviously unpleasant, feeling annoyed by the sudden rain.
The rain showed no signs of stopping; lightning flashed frequently, and thunder roared. A downpour was coming.
Everyone huddled under the eaves and in the sheds, chattering away. The sky grew completely dark, and a cold wind howled. Everyone prayed in their hearts that the rain would not stop.
She was worried about the filming schedule and cursed the weather.
Liang Kongxiang, standing beside her, chuckled upon hearing this. She and Cao Lengyu weren't so formal; the terrible weather actually made them feel relaxed. She put her arm around Cao's shoulder, and amidst the noisy rain, leaned closer with a smile and whispered, "Happy New Year."
Cao Lengyu's tense nerves relaxed for some reason because of those words, and her nose felt a little sore. She smiled and scolded her, "You're crazy." Then, like a little girl, she reached out to catch the rain, rubbed it between her fingertips, and looked up at the sky.
The lightning flashed past for a fleeting moment, a thin, white-purple bolt disappearing overhead in an instant, the sky a blinding white that caused a tacit commotion among the crowd before they all looked at each other and burst into laughter. How old they are, yet they still marvel at lightning.
Under the overwhelming rain, Liang Kongxiang and Cao Lengyu exchanged a smile and glance. Just then, a thunderclap boomed, the huge thunderclap seeming to cleave the sky. The two of them tacitly raised their phones to take a picture of the moment.
A long-awaited, simple photo without any ulterior motives.
The crowd suddenly stirred, but Liang Kongxiang was still engrossed in capturing the lightning.
High in the distance, all the buildings were shrouded in darkness, and lightning appeared less and less frequently, eventually disappearing altogether.
The phone camera panned down, and the buildings became completely dark.
Next...
Liang Kongxiang looked away from the screen and gazed ahead.
A broad-shouldered, long-legged man held an umbrella. He wore a vest, one hand gripping his suit jacket, the other holding the umbrella handle with his shirt pulled up to his forearm. His inverted triangle physique was particularly striking in the darkness. He was watching Liang Kongxiang as he slowly walked towards her, stepping through the puddles.
This is the last stormy night of the year.
Jiang Jiaoming once again, without warning, barged into Liang Kongxiang's shot.
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Author's note: Tomorrow is 11 PM, and I'm going to work on the clips tomorrow. I'm so nervous.
Our Xiang is an exceptionally, exceptionally, exceptionally good person...
Hart Soft
Guess if Jiang Jiaoming came to find Liang Kongxiang on purpose? Type 1 to support President Jiang's persistent pursuit of his wife for the New Year.
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