Chapter 62
There were a few light snowfalls before the Lunar New Year. Starting in January, the snow began to melt, leaving dirty slush everywhere from tires and shoes.
About twenty minutes later, the scenery outside the car window became increasingly unfamiliar, and the buildings became fewer and fewer.
Soon, Rolly turned the steering wheel and steered the car onto the right side of the highway.
"Would you mind having a cigarette?"
Rolly turned her head and asked with a smile.
Before Chi Jun could answer, she had already placed the lady's cigarette between her fingers.
Chi Jun stared absentmindedly at the scenery rushing past in the rearview mirror.
Two seconds later, he came to his senses and hummed in response.
Rolly skillfully lit a cigarette, rolled down the car window, and let the cold wind rush into the car, ruthlessly scattering the smoke.
After a while, a cigarette butt was thrown out, and the closed car window once again shut out the sound of the wind and the clatter of the wheels on the ground.
While glancing in the rearview mirror, Rolly glanced at Chi Jun.
"Now that it's Chinese New Year, we should wait until the sixth day of the new year to process the contract. But during this time, you can get familiar with the company. There are some banquets and gatherings after the New Year, and we can take you to meet people there."
Chi Jun simply replied with a "Okay".
It was hard-won that Chi Jun finally agreed. Rolly was bored in the car and wanted to talk, and she also wanted to seize the opportunity to tell Chi Jun all the benefits of signing the contract, so as to firmly bind his heart to her.
From giving him a role as the idealized, beloved character in a well-made film to boost his public image, to becoming the male lead in a popular TV series adapted from a well-received novel, in addition to fashion resources from a high-end luxury brand and a national brand, there's also a well-defined and solid development path for his future...
Rolly was in great spirits and talked a lot.
Chi Jun responded perfunctorily, politely, but it wasn't hard to tell that he was somewhat uninterested.
There was a moment of silence in the car. As they passed a service area, Rolly seemed to remember something, and suddenly exclaimed, "Hey!"
"I just took a look, and your sister is really good-looking too. What did you two eat to grow up like that?"
This is clearly a joke used to lighten the mood.
Chi Jun didn't speak, but chuckled as a polite response.
Rolly seized the opportunity to launch into a lengthy eulogy praising Xu Qingzhou's appearance, repeatedly stating that if it weren't for her inconvenience in debuting, her looks would have made it a wonderful story to sign both siblings together. She added that once they officially debuted, they could easily generate buzz and traffic, ensuring their fame would be firmly established.
But at the end, the tone suddenly changed:
"But speaking of which, you two siblings are both beautiful, yet you look nothing alike, and your personalities seem quite different as well."
Chi Jun is adept at capturing the emotions in people's eyes.
The woman glanced at him as she spoke, her shrewd eyes revealing a hint of scrutiny and probing, clearly indicating that she already suspected he and Xu Qingzhou were not biological siblings.
When I hung out with Li Rui's friends before, it wasn't like no one mentioned this.
At the time, Chi Jun would always use the excuse that "one looks like the father and the other looks like the mother" to brush it off, but now he finds himself increasingly unwilling to make up such lame excuses anymore.
He simply didn't want to be bound by the word "siblings" with Xu Qingzhou anymore.
The siblings of the fart.
After waiting for a while without a response, Rolly turned her head and glanced at Chi Jun again.
The young man sat lazily in the passenger seat, one hand propped against the window, his knuckles touching his forehead, his eyes closed, looking as if he were asleep.
Her clothes were plain, but because of her face, they looked like haute couture.
However, it's hard to say whether she was actually asleep.
Rolly turned back and continued looking ahead.
Dark clouds rolled across the sky, and it looked like the bad weather would continue.
In truth, as a renowned agent, why would she need to beg for signing artists like this? It's just that her arch-rival has an award-winning actress backing her up, and her others are not only steadily progressing but have also signed two promising newcomers. Meanwhile, her own artists have become stagnant, relying solely on press releases to maintain their exposure, and one scandal after another has surfaced. If she doesn't inject some fresh blood, she fears her company might truly lose its foothold.
Moreover—
She glanced at Chi Jun again out of the corner of her eye.
This influx of fresh blood is truly impactful.
She was confident that as long as she could sign Chi Jun, she could make a remarkable comeback in the company just by relying on his face.
*
After Rolly's red sports car drove away, Xu Qingzhou remained standing on the roadside.
She didn't know how long she had been standing there, but she was startled awake by a series of bicycle bells behind her.
The sky was dark, shrouded in a gloomy haze of continuous dark clouds.
Xu Qingzhou tightened the collar of his cotton-padded coat and glanced casually to the south, where he saw a ray of sunlight leaking through the edge of a dark cloud. Although the light was dim, it stubbornly formed a faint Tyndall effect.
Xu Qingzhou stared at it for a while.
A hint of melancholy flashed in his eyes, but the corners of his mouth unconsciously twitched upwards.
Chi Jun, from now on, your life will be like the sun—gradually emerging from behind the clouds and shining brightly.
A howling wind, carrying with it the sound of firecrackers being set off from someone nearby, swept in.
Xu Qingzhou's eyes were dry and a little sore from the wind.
She took two steps forward, but couldn't help stopping and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.
*
After Chi Jun left, Xu Qingzhou's life suddenly changed, as if it had transformed from a sprawling branch full of busyness and surprises into a bare, branchless, and tasteless single branch.
When Xu Qingzhou returned to the small rented room, he stood at the door, looking at the small rented room that was still the same but inexplicably much emptier. He was confused and at a loss for a moment.
After a while, she realized that she needed to fill the large void left by something being suddenly taken away with "studying".
However, the blank space is too large and too obvious.
It should not be filled with studying.
Xu Qingzhou was writing on the test paper, but he couldn't help but drift off into thought frequently.
She glanced back at the bed behind her and felt that Chi Jun seemed to be sitting there, casually reading a book. Occasionally, when their eyes met, he would smile and say:
"Zhouzhou, the way you're looking at me, it's hard not to overthink things."
After writing for a while, I heard the thud of a basketball hitting the ground outside.
Xu Qingzhou looked towards the entrance of the small taxi, waiting for Chi Jun to appear carrying the ball. He entered and asked her, "Zhouzhou, what are we having for lunch today?"
But after a while, the sound of the basketball faded into the distance.
It wasn't until she heard other boys talking upstairs that Xu Qingzhou suddenly remembered that Chi Jun had left that morning, and now, and from now on, she would be all alone in the small rented room.
At noon, Xu Qingzhou ate lunch alone.
When serving rice, she habitually filled two bowls, but when it was time to eat, she stared blankly at the empty table opposite her for a moment.
A few seconds later, he got up again and put the extra bowl of rice back into the pot.
However, perhaps due to the heat from the rice, Xu Qingzhou felt his vision blurry and his throat felt sore.
That evening, Xu Qingzhou, who had felt empty all day, finally received a WeChat message from Chi Jun.
Chi Jun: [Have you had dinner?]
Although he didn't want to admit it, Xu Qingzhou knew that looking at that message, his mood, which had been so bad all day, seemed to ease a little.
She secretly thought to herself that she was useless.
Taking a deep breath, Xu Qingzhou replied with two words:
【have eaten】
She deliberately prevented the conversation from continuing.
I hope that my proactive disassociation will allow Chi Jun to move forward without looking back.
However, the moment the message was sent, I couldn't help but pick up my phone again and again.
But the phone didn't ring again until just before I went to bed.
Xu Qingzhou stared at the black screen of his phone, thinking:
That's actually a good thing.
A night passed, and the message remained a mere two words: "Eaten."
Chi Jun did not reply to the message, and Xu Qingzhou did not send any more messages.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Qingzhou was still holed up in his small rented room, doing practice problems non-stop. During this time, he kept getting distracted, and in his daze, he felt that Chi Jun would suddenly pop up from somewhere and start talking, just like before.
However, it was all just an illusion.
She ate her meals alone, wrote her exam papers alone, and washed up alone.
At 8 p.m., Chi Jun suddenly made a video call.
Xu Qingzhou hesitated for a moment, put down his pen, and accepted the pen.
The screen flickered, and Chi Jun's face appeared on the screen.
He looked like he was in a hotel; the sofa and the wall behind him were very much like a hotel room. Upon seeing Xu Qingzhou, he gave a natural smile.
"Are you doing practice problems?"
Xu Qingzhou nodded.
What did you eat for dinner?
Xu Qingzhou: [Vegetable and Vermicelli Soup with Baked Flatbread]
"Still the same old package."
Xu Qingzhou pursed her lips and smiled slightly.
Chi Jun: "Tonight I ate at a restaurant with Sister Rolly and met with several investors and producers in the industry."
Xu Qingzhou nodded.
She had difficulty communicating by writing, so Chi Jun did most of the talking. He told her where he lived, what places he went yesterday and today, who he met, what attractions he visited, and also talked about some contract matters.
Xu Qingzhou listened patiently and attentively, occasionally nodding slightly.
The conversation went on and on, but he managed to ramble on for almost half an hour.
Just as he was about to hang up, Chi Jun said:
"You can hang up now."
Xu Qingzhou obediently nodded and reached out to tap the screen.
However, just as his fingertip was about to touch the screen, Chi Jun on the other end of the phone suddenly called out, "Zhouzhou."
His tone was slightly harsh, with a hint of urgency.
It's as if there's something important I need to say.
Xu Qingzhou's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
In the end, Chi Jun only moved his lips and said:
"Don't stay up too late doing your test papers, go to bed early."
Xu Qingzhou remained silent for two seconds, then wrote "Okay".
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Qingzhou continued his busy schedule.
At 8 p.m., Chi Jun called again on time via video call.
He was wearing new clothes that Xu Qingzhou had never seen before, and his hair seemed to have been specially styled. He looked radiant and full of youthful vigor.
They had only exchanged a couple of sentences when Xu Qingzhou heard what sounded like a girl's laughing voice on the other end of the phone:
"Xu Jun! Hurry up—"
The girl said something else, but her voice was muffled and intermittent through the phone, and Xu Qingzhou couldn't hear it clearly.
Chi Jun looked up and responded, then quickly looked back at the screen and said to her:
"I'll talk to you later, I have something to do. I'll talk to you later."
Xu Qingzhou nodded.
But after that phone call, on the fifth and sixth days of the Lunar New Year...
For several nights in a row, Chi Jun did not call again.
Xu Qingzhou was surprised.
Upon closer reflection, it seems to have been expected.
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