"Happy birthday."
"Lin Zhenzhen".
Lin Zhenzhen stared warily at the man who stepped out of the driver's seat of the sports car.
He held a huge bouquet of flowers in his hands, the red of the roses particularly eye-catching.
Why are you looking at me like that? What, are you still angry about what happened last time?
The young man took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of smiling eyes.
"I've already said it, it was because I was drunk at the time, and I apologized to you afterwards, didn't I?"
"This time, to express my apology, I even specially sent a gift."
"You already know, right? You've been cast as the third female lead in that new drama."
"This is an opportunity that many people would fight tooth and nail for. How about that? Isn't it enough to wipe away all the unpleasantness from before?"
Lin Zhenzhen looked at the other person expressionlessly, her gaze calm and still.
"What's with staring at me like that without saying a word? Are you pretending to be aloof? Or are you pretending to be innocent? Tsk, you look a bit fierce."
"Get out of the way."
"Huh?" The man straightened up, his expression suddenly changing. "What did you say?"
Lin Zhenzhen lowered her eyes and repeated what she wanted to say.
"roll."
“…c!” the man muttered a curse under his breath. Just as he charged forward, a strong hand appeared from behind and gripped his shoulder tightly.
"Damn it, who is it?" the man cursed as he struggled to turn his head, but his neck was firmly held in place, preventing him from moving.
Gong Yao whispered to Lin Zhenzhen, "Are you alright?"
Upon hearing his voice, the man who had been struggling froze for several seconds, then began to laugh wildly, shaking his body as he laughed, like a mad beast.
"Are you Gong Yao?"
"After all these years, you actually dare to lay a hand on me. Have you already forgotten the days when you were my dog?"
Bang!
The world around me seemed to have been suddenly hit hard and began to shake violently.
Lin Zhenzhen lost her balance and staggered to the ground.
She raised her head and tried to look ahead, but found that the scene in front of her was becoming more and more blurry and farther and farther away, and gradually, it turned into a phantom.
-------------------------------------
On a rainy night, the alley was pitch black. Lin Zhenzhen could only hear her own hesitant footsteps and the drumbeat of her heart.
The houses in the distance were square and without windows. A faint groan mixed with sobs came from somewhere, but it was broken up by the increasingly heavy rain.
"Don't cry."
Lin Zhenzhen tried to speak, but found herself unable to utter a sound.
"Stop crying, come on, come with me." Lin Zhenzhen wanted to shout, but found her throat was blocked, so she started running in the rain instead.
The road beneath her feet resembled a winding earthworm, and Lin Zhenzhen ran faster and faster, while the houses in the distance became increasingly blurry.
Gradually, it seemed to transform into a strange shadow, completely merging into the darkness.
Lin Zhenzhen tapped on her phone screen, the dim light making her face appear pale.
It was 2:20 a.m., and Mingming had only been lying down for less than an hour.
Lin Zhenzhen lay back down in despair, imagining herself drifting on the vast ocean, and wandering in the Pacific Ocean for who knows how long.
She saw herself dragging her tired body out of bed, rummaging through the drawers in her bedside table looking for estazo, and finally finding the almost empty bottle in a corner.
Lin Zhenzhen poured the remaining pills into her mouth.
Just before sleepiness washed over her, Lin Zhenzhen was in a daze: "I hope my next dream will be more normal."
Unfortunately, idealism failed in the face of the drug's effects. This time, she dreamed that she was caught in a whirlpool, with pitch blackness beneath the dark ocean, and she couldn't see anything at all.
She vaguely sensed that something was watching her, stirring restlessly.
The alarm clock rang in the early morning.
Lin Zhenzhen dragged her tired body out of bed. She had no work scheduled for today, but she needed to attend a private banquet.
The organizer was a young and famous director, who could be considered her mentor.
He was the one who introduced me to this industry, giving me, a complete newcomer, the opportunity to perform.
The banquet went very smoothly.
It was already late when Lin Zhenzhen came downstairs. Only a few waiters remained in the magnificent villa hall, tidying up the tables after the banquet. Hong Lian was nowhere to be seen.
Taking the red wool coat handed to her by the waiter, Lin Zhenzhen stepped into the garden and truly felt the biting winter wind.
Not far away, there was a tall street lamp, its pale yellow light casting a weak glow down and illuminating a small corner of the garden.
Lin Zhenzhen stood in the darkness, unwilling to step into the circle formed by the light and shadow. She simply touched the halo with the tip of her shoe and circled around it.
"What are you doing here?" Hong Lian shouted at her from the second-floor terrace.
"Phew!" Lin Zhenzhen stopped in her tracks, the hem of her trench coat fluttering slightly with her movement. "Waiting for you, it's so cold today."
Inside the car, Hong Lian turned on the heater, and the temperature gradually rose.
Why didn't you call me?
"I was afraid of bothering you," Lin Zhenzhen said, sticking out her tongue.
"I never realized you were so well-behaved," Hong Lian said with a smile.
"I've grown up, I'm more sensible now." Lin Zhenzhen said without batting an eye. "Actually, I can just take a taxi home, there's no need for you to take me."
Hong Lian smiled gently and said, "If you really care about me, then don't stand on ceremony with me."
He tapped on the driver's seat in front of him and said the name of the neighborhood where she lived.
Lin Zhenzhen glanced casually ahead following his movement and suddenly saw a pair of somewhat familiar eyes.
A sudden, inexplicable, overwhelming sadness washed over me.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
