Chapter 19 "I thought General Jiang would treat everyone equally..."
Liang Kongxiang wasn't sure if Jiang Jiaoming was lying on top of her or deliberately playing a prank by covering her eyes with his hand, but she felt that the smell seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.
She slowly opened her eyes.
I bumped right into a face that seemed to be smiling but wasn't.
"It's slower than I expected," Jiang Jiaoming's breath brushed against Liang Kongxiang's face, his voice soft. "Are you opening your eyes so late because you're anticipating a fait accompli?"
Liang Kongxiang raised her hand, pinched Jiang Jiaoming's chin, and slowly pushed him away.
Jiang Jiaoming hadn't exerted any force to begin with, and as if enjoying it, he tilted his head to the side following Liang Kongxiang's force, then simply straightened up and sat obediently on the side.
Liang Kongxiang sat up and leaned against the headboard, rubbing her temples. "What is it?"
Calm enough. Boring.
Jiang Jiaoming stood up. "The New Year's Eve dinner is ready."
The door wasn't closed tightly, and the faint aroma of pork rib soup and other dishes wafted in through the crack. Liang Kongxiang belatedly realized she was hungry.
She got out of bed, and Jiang Jiaoming followed closely behind her out.
A table full of delicious and visually appealing dishes, the braised fish glistening with color, its belly piled with minced meat and chopped scallions.
"When did you buy the fish?" She only had ready-made food in her refrigerator, and suddenly remembered that Jiang Jiaoming seemed to have sent a message to the chef.
"This is Qian Duo's hotel," he said, and went to the kitchen to get bowls and chopsticks to serve rice.
Liang Kongxiang was momentarily lost in thought because of his words.
The hotel owned by Qian Duo... In the past, Jiang Jiaoming insisted on cooking for her in Song Jin's rented room. At first, his cooking was not very good. The saltiness was a matter of luck, and the presentation was also very poor. Liang Kongxiang told him not to mess up the kitchen. However, after a winter vacation, his cooking skills improved by leaps and bounds. He said that he had apprenticed with the chef of the five-star hotel owned by Qian Duo and studied for a whole month. He learned Chinese, Western, French and Spanish dishes and even created a special menu.
When Jiang Jiaoming doesn't have classes, he will drive over to cook a meal. Occasionally, he will get up at six o'clock in the morning to make breakfast and then drive to catch the 8 am rush.
"What are you standing there for?" Jiang Jiaoming came out of the kitchen, sat down, and handed Liang Kongxiang a full bowl of rice. "Do you like it cold?"
Jiang Jiaoming pressed that bowl of rice so hard that after eating it, I wouldn't be able to sleep all night.
She held her chopsticks, but ultimately didn't want to spoil Jiang Jiaoming's mood, so she started eating.
The two ate quietly. The Spring Festival Gala was still being broadcast live, but the actors had become their colleagues, which changed the feel of the broadcast. So neither of them planned to watch the Gala.
After a while, Liang Kongxiang lowered her head and said, "It's delicious, thank you."
"I don't like that word, thank you." Jiang Jiaoming put down his bowl and requested, "Change it."
"What do you want to hear?" Liang Kongxiang rarely went along with his words and requests.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Jiaoming became even more arrogant, "So what if I say you're a big idiot?"
Liang Kongxiang was truly unable to handle such a request. She looked at Jiang Jiaoming as if he were a fool, then suddenly smiled and whispered her blessing: "Happy New Year."
It would be better to say no blessing at all. Jiang Jiaoming felt it was like the moon's reflection in water—beautiful to hear and see, but ultimately a lie to be touched. Exposing it only muddied the moon's surface, rendering it worthless. Why bother? So he didn't respond, but simply smiled.
"What are your plans after filming wraps up?" Jiang Jiaoming ate faster than her; his bowl was already empty. He was scooping up two spoonfuls of pork rib soup when he looked at her. "When does your schedule finish?"
"Are you going to give me some good project?" Liang Kongxiang asked half-jokingly.
"That depends on whether you can handle it." Jiang Jiaoming blew on the soup, took a sip, and said, "A suspense film by Director Bei."
There's only one suspense film that's been circulating in Beihuang lately, and Liang Kongxiang knows a bit about it, but: "Hasn't the female lead already been cast for this film?"
Jiang Jiaoming gazed at her meaningfully, seemingly lost in thought. He then uttered an "Oh," and said, "So, Teacher Liang doesn't choose roles based on the size of the screen time, but rather on the number of scenes?"
"You're overthinking it," Liang Kongxiang said, picking up some food. "I'm not used to being carried in a sedan chair for others."
Jiang Jiaoming also started to beat around the bush: "You're implying something. Who do you think I asked you to carry a sedan chair for?"
"With so much information online, haven't you been paying attention to your own project?" Liang Kongxiang deliberately didn't make it clear.
Jiang Jiaoming: "No, I'm completely focused on this film crew, how could I have time to care about others?"
"I thought General Jiang would treat everyone equally, but it turns out he also shows favoritism."
So, which side do you consider yourself to be on?
"It depends on your behavioral pattern."
They're going in circles again. Jiang Jiaoming chuckled, "You know best that information online is unreliable, don't you?"
“Occasionally there are genuine stories,” Liang Kongxiang said.
"Real information?" Jiang Jiaoming remained noncommittal: "Then which of your revelations are true?"
"Whether it's true or false is in people's hearts, it depends on whether you believe it or not." Liang Kongxiang really couldn't eat anymore, so she went to the kitchen to get a bowl and chopsticks to serve soup. Her voice came from afar through the glass door as she walked, "Don't you feel the same way? There's a lot of news about you online."
She sat down at the table and realized that the half bowl of rice she had left was in Jiang Jiaoming's hands. He was picking up food with his chopsticks and took a bite as if it were his right.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Liang Kongxiang ultimately decided not to expose him.
"Then tell me, what messages have you seen about me?" Jiang Jiaoming asked.
Liang Kongxiang casually remarked, "Sex scandals are nothing to discuss."
“Sex scandal,” he deliberately emphasized the word “sex scandal,” finding Liang Kongxiang quite amusing. “Does it mean I have a chaotic private life and have slept with many celebrities?”
"No, that's not it. There's more of a saying that our friendship is stronger than gold." Liang Kongxiang paused for a moment, then added, "Marketing accounts are like weather vanes, they post anything and everything, so you don't need to pay them any mind."
"A love stronger than gold..." Jiang Jiaoming repeated the phrase slowly, as if savoring the story behind it. "You mean me and Zhuang Yexue?"
"I didn't look closely," Liang Kongxiang said, having finished her meal. "Aren't you going back to work?"
After going around in circles for so long, Jiang Jiaoming felt that they were finally getting back on track and was reluctant to leave. "Bei Dao's new film didn't cast Zhuang Yexue; it's her team that's promoting it themselves."
"How did you know?" Liang Kongxiang asked.
“You heard it that day, right?” Jiang Jiaoming said. “She spoke up the day Zhang San called me. She came to my company to ask me for information and happened to run into Zhang San calling me. She is the cousin of Zhang San’s roommate. They met in college, but I didn’t know that at first. I met her later at a dinner party.”
"A good start," Liang Kongxiang commented.
Jiang Jiaoming laughed in exasperation, making a loud clattering sound as he cleared away the bowls and chopsticks. "It's quite good, how could the prelude to a relationship stronger than gold be lacking?"
Neither of them spoke for a while, until Jiang Jiaoming finally spoke up, unable to bear it any longer.
"Liang Kongxiang, you can't live a normal life anymore if you don't act?"
He was spouting harsh words while holding a pile of dirty bowls and chopsticks, which looked somewhat comical and softened the hatred in his tone, making him seem rather pitiful.
But Jiang Jiaoming didn't realize that it wasn't that Liang Kongxiang insisted on acting, but rather that if one side didn't play the heartless one, the already poorly executed drama would never end properly. She didn't want things to escalate to the point of catastrophe.
When one side acts recklessly, the other side is bound to have to be cautious and deliberate, otherwise things could really get out of hand. Must things end badly again, like they did back then? Must we repeat the same mistakes? Until there's a real solution, it seems there's no better way to deal with it than to play dumb or run away.
After Jiang Jiaoming finished speaking, he fell silent, took the greasy plate to the sink to wash the dishes, and Liang Kongxiang was wiping the table.
“I wasn’t acting,” Liang Kongxiang said softly as she stood in front of the table, dumping the leftovers into the trash can. “It’s you who didn’t leave any room for yourself with your words, and didn’t consider the consequences.”
The sound of water in the kitchen stopped. Jiang Jiaoming, with foam in his hands, propped himself up on either side of the sink and coldly turned his head to look at Liang Kongxiang outside the glass. "You always let your own ideas control this relationship."
Once again.
Once again, fragments flew everywhere.
Liang Kongxiang was about to say something when the phone rang, buzzing and vibrating in her pocket.
Knowing he wouldn't get an answer from her, Jiang Jiaoming turned the water back on, the faucet gushing open. He didn't know if it was to vent or what, but he washed the dishes until they shone brightly, almost like mirrors, as if trying to infuriate Liang Kongxiang.
What's wrong with admitting she saw the rumors about him and Zhuang Yexue? He won't laugh at her. Besides, what kind of person does she think he is? It's already a sign of reason that he hasn't mobilized all his connections to support her; how could he let her play a supporting role to someone else?
He only managed to gain a mere 0.5 millimeters of distance through his relentless approach. If it were truly just a matter of being ordinary friends, as he had previously stated, they would have become complete strangers long ago. To what extent did she have to distance herself before she would accept his advances again? Did she want to completely re-evaluate him? He desperately wanted to know if Liang Kongxiang wanted a brand new, flawless Jiang Jiaoming. But he had been changing, albeit for a long time. Why didn't she ask him if he was becoming a better person? Why didn't she care whether he had become the person she wanted, and instead unilaterally severed all possibilities? This was utterly unfair to him.
These pent-up words swelled up like a balloon, and he couldn't accept being blown away by them all by himself. Unable to bear it any longer, he dried his hands and turned to find Liang Kongxiang.
But as soon as he turned around, he saw Liang Kongxiang hurriedly come out of the room. She only glanced at him as he came out of the kitchen before opening the door.
Something's wrong. Jiang Jiaoming frowned, quickly judging her expression, and called out to her, "What's wrong?"
Liang Kongxiang didn't have time to beat around the bush with Jiang Jiaoming anymore. "I went back to the company, and Sister Chen called to say that she had received an anonymous email."
"What did the sender say?"
Liang Kongxiang called Chang Xin while answering Jiang Jiaoming's questions, "Threats. Rumors are circulating that I interfered in a director's marriage and destroyed his family."
The phone rang for a long time, but Chang Xin either fell asleep or was eating, so she didn't answer.
Jiang Jiaoming reached out and took Liang Kongxiang's phone. "Stop calling, I'll take you there."
There was no need to rush into this fabricated charge. Jiang Jiaoming didn't take it too seriously. He took his suit jacket and car keys from the chair, remembering that his car was on set. "I'll get the keys from Zhang San first and drive his car. You wait for me here."
After he finished speaking, he pressed the elevator button and went upstairs. Liang Kongxiang stood there for a while, then went back to her room to get a long, black coat that the brand had given her, with wide enough shoulders.
When Jiang Jiaoming came down, he saw that Liang Kongxiang was already wearing a turtleneck sweater and a coat, and was even holding a long coat in her hands. He muttered, "Is it that cold..." He stepped back a little to make it easier for Liang Kongxiang to stand in.
Liang Kongxiang heard this and handed him the clothes, saying, "Here you go."
Jiang Jiaoming reached out and took it, saying, "It is indeed quite cold today."
He put on his clothes and commented.
"It's quite warm."
It smells good too.
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