trust
"Song Yufeng came to your wedding too, didn't you notice?" Lu Jianni sat back on the sofa, picking up a book and flipping through it. "These days, the names of celebrities are getting more and more classical, making the entertainment industry seem like a martial arts world."
Zhou Ji'an glanced at the stack of crooked books next to Lu Jianni and asked, "Did you buy all of these?"
"Qin Xi brought it." Lu Jianni closed the book, propped her elbows on the back of the sofa, and rested her chin in her palm, carefully studying the person in front of her. "How much do you remember about the wedding?"
"I said that because I wanted to tell you I wasn't pregnant," Zhou Ji'an said, awkwardly touching his neck.
Lu Jianni felt both annoyed and amused. "Stop touching it. I've never seen you wear this turtleneck sweater since I bought it."
As Zhou Ji'an was changing clothes and looking in the mirror before leaving the house, he discovered several hickeys of varying depths on his neck.
In the dead of winter, she couldn't say she was bitten by mosquitoes, so she had no choice but to take out the turtleneck sweater she had only worn once and put it on.
Like all her other accessories, the turtleneck sweater made Zhou Ji'an feel uncomfortable, so this was the only turtleneck sweater she owned.
Zhou Ji'an rubbed the colorful pendant on the upper right corner of the pillow, pursing his lips and remaining silent.
"Are you happy?" Lu Jianni asked.
"I don't know," Zhou Ji'an said honestly, turning to look at Lu Jiani. "I just feel that if the ending is still bad, there will be fewer regrets."
“He’s already acted like that, he probably won’t call a halt anytime soon.” Lu Jianni said, her eyes fixed on Zhou Ji’an sitting on the carpet.
This person in front of me can never keep a secret; it was like this before, and it's still like this now.
"You also think he's acting?" Zhou Ji'an asked Lu Jiani, kneeling and supporting himself on the sofa with one hand.
Zhou Ji'an regretted it a little; she shouldn't have added the word "also".
Before Lu Jiani could answer, she quickly added, "Many people say he's a good actor, but I can't tell when he's acting and when he's not."
Lu Jianni glanced down at her phone, then focused her gaze on Zhou Ji'an's obviously guilty face. "What was he like when he was dating you?"
Zhou Ji'an said seriously, "It's even more exaggerated than it is now."
Lu Jianni chuckled: "Then what are you worried about? Since you were the one who broke up with me in the first place, which led to the end of your relationship, you can just not bring it up this time."
Zhou Ji'an wanted to say that this time the situation was very different, but she couldn't say it. Lu Jianni already suspected that her marriage with Deng Yi was fake, and if she said that, it would be tantamount to admitting it.
Zhou Ji'an bit his lip and said, "I just feel that he doesn't need to be nice to me."
Lu Jianni said bluntly, "You think he has many choices and there's no need for him to choose you. If he chooses you, he must have other purposes."
Zhou Ji'an did not respond, which was taken as tacit agreement.
“I told you about Deng Yi’s first film. The female lead looks a lot like you, so the script was most likely based on you.” This time, Lu Jianni simply turned on the projector and played the movie she had seen several times.
Those who know that Zhou Ji'an and Deng Yi were in a relationship say that the female lead in Deng Yi's first film was based on Zhou Ji'an.
Zhou Ji'an watched that movie many times and disagreed with those people's opinions.
“I already told you it was impossible.” Zhou Ji’an sat up straight. The movie was showing the scene of the female lead chasing a bus. “He has never chased a bus with me, so he doesn’t know that I have. Besides, I don’t look that good when I run.”
Lu Jianni rolled her eyes at her and said, "It's based on you, but it's not exactly the same as you. This is a movie, not a documentary."
Zhou Ji'an snorted and said, "Anyway, it's just different."
Zhou Ji'an simply couldn't believe that Deng Yi had been with her from the very beginning with the intention of gathering material.
There are no scenes of the female lead taking the subway in the movie.
According to Zhou Ji'an's shallow thinking, the scene where she and Deng Yi meet on the subway is very cinematic, but this scene is not in the movie.
"When I first came to Jishi, I was harassed on the subway. Deng Yi helped me. He bought me ice cream that day and even got me a ride to school. If this movie is really based on me, why didn't he incorporate this scene into it?"
Lu Jianni was a little surprised, "You two actually met on the subway? I thought you were acting."
Zhou Ji'an bent his knees, gazing at the constantly changing movie screen, and replied calmly, "I thought I would never see him again back then, but I never expected that he and Wei Jinglin were childhood friends."
Perhaps because he had broken up with Deng Yi again, Zhou Ji'an couldn't control his emotions and reason after mentioning the past.
With the image of snow falling on the heroine's curled eyelashes in her eyes, she said excitedly, "That day, I was actually reluctant to go with Wei Jinglin to purchase supplies for the cycling club. We didn't buy anything on the list, but Wei Jinglin insisted that I go with him to meet a friend who didn't get into university."
At this point, Zhou Ji'an turned to Lu Jianni and complained, "Isn't Wei Jinglin really strange? He actually said that Deng Yi didn't get into university, but Deng Yi clearly got into the drama academy through proper admission."
Lu Jianni was slightly unfamiliar with Zhou Ji'an's excitement and didn't have time to react before Zhou Ji'an's lips started opening and closing again.
“Wei Jinglin is really a terrible person.” Zhou Ji’an echoed himself. “As soon as he arrived at Deng Yi’s studio, he started saying that his friend had limited funds, but his photography studio was much more tasteful than Deng Yi’s. He said that Deng Yi had spent so much of his family’s money but had not cultivated good taste.”
“Deng Yi has a really good temper; he didn’t even show any signs of getting angry at the time.” Zhou Ji’an took the opportunity to let Lu Jiani understand Deng Yi. “But I, as an observer, was furious when I heard this, so I asked Wei Jinglin if he was using the gaslighting effect.”
Lu Jianni was speechless, and sighed, "That's not how you use this word."
“I know that’s not how it’s used, but I was too angry at the time and I wanted to show off so much that I just blurted it out.” Zhou Ji’an still didn’t stop. “Wei Jinglin is really bad. After we left Deng Yi’s studio, he said that Deng Yi was his friend and told me not to mess with Deng Yi. He also said that Deng Yi looked down on me.”
People who are usually unable to keep secrets have kept these things hidden until now.
Lu Jianni was somewhat moved, "Wei Jinglin originally..."
Zhou Ji'an turned his head and looked at Lu Jianni with sadness in his eyes, saying, "Do you also think that Deng Yi doesn't like me? Do you also think that Deng Yi and I are not a good match?"
Lu Jianni paused for a moment, then said seriously, "I don't think he's right for you."
Doesn't this mean she and Deng Yi are not a good match?
Zhou Ji'an straightened up, but the hope he had thrown out would never return.
Lu Jianni: "Deng Yi's world is too big; your world can't contain it."
Zhou Ji'an frowned and said, "I don't understand."
She clearly understood, but stubbornly insisted that she didn't.
Lu Jianni turned down the volume of the movie, and the background music echoed faintly in the living room.
"You will see many sides of Deng Yi in the future, and there may be many sides that you cannot accept."
"For example?" Zhou Ji'an pressed.
"For example, he may associate with all sorts of women, and his attitude towards other people may be quite rude, which will eventually be revealed to you."
"For example, he might have really needed something to marry you, since he didn't do anything during the many years you were apart. If he really cared about you during those years, he wouldn't have been completely inactive."
“Because I really was the one who broke up with him. I said he was too artsy and I liked athletic types,” Zhou Ji’an argued. “Besides, what you’re saying is all hypothetical.”
Lu Jianni said solemnly, "Zhou Ji'an, there are many women who like Deng Yi just like you. Listen carefully, they like him just like you."
Lu Jianni didn't finish her sentence, probably because she was afraid that if she spoke too bluntly, the other woman wouldn't be able to handle it.
What Lu Jianni wanted to say was that she was not competitive among the many women who liked Deng Yi.
Even the fact that she has liked Deng Yi for so many years and thinks about him all the time doesn't count as an advantage.
What about her past relationship with Deng Yi? Doesn't that count as an advantage?
"Have you told Deng Yi about your experience working in the electronics factory?" Lu Jianni asked, watching the scene in the movie where the female lead was making a phone call.
Zhou Ji'an diverted some of his attention to the movie that was still playing.
The female protagonist is making a phone call on the rooftop of her university dormitory.
Unsure of the specific question asked on the other end of the phone, the female protagonist, shrouded in the hazy night, replied, "Not really, but it seems more free, yet it doesn't feel as free as I imagined."
There was a white beverage bottle at the female protagonist's feet. She bent down, kicked it, and said, "Maybe freedom is just an imagination."
The call continued, but the female protagonist seemed to be merely listening to the person on the other end.
Finally, the female protagonist took out a tissue, wrapped it around the beverage bottle that she had kicked a few times, picked it up, and said as she walked away, "Too much free imagination seems to become a constraint."
Then, when the movie ended, Zhou Ji'an realized he wasn't breathing.
Once upon a time, Zhou Ji'an watched this movie directed by Deng Yi and couldn't believe that the female lead was based on her because she was so beautiful.
Now, she realizes that the reason she didn't realize the female lead might be based on her is because she previously only wanted to experience and see Deng Yi through this film, just like she did when watching Deng Yi's movies, variety shows, and other films directed by him.
The phone screen on the white coffee table lit up, vibrating in sync with the end credits music, gradually generating snowflakes that covered Zhou Ji'an.
Zhou Ji'an answered the call and said, "I haven't gone home yet."
Can she say that? Is that her home? It feels more like a photography studio to her.
"It's already past eight o'clock at night. Aren't you supposed to be asleep by ten?"
"I'll be staying here tonight."
Deng Yi waved his hand at Song Yufeng, who asked him if he wanted a late-night snack, and compromised, saying, "I can stay, but don't listen to Lu Jianni and Xu Zhiyan's nonsense. We are husband and wife, and we need to trust each other."
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