Chu Feiliang leaned against the wall of the elevator furthest from the door.
Three sides of the hotel elevator were mirrors, and the lighting system overhead was very bright. The reflections made the entire elevator as bright as day, and under this light, nothing could be hidden.
Rong Guang subconsciously glanced at her own face and Chu Feiliang’s in the mirror.
Chu Feiliang’s expression didn’t look happy. There was even a hint of something Rong Guang couldn’t quite describe… anxiety?
The elevator was quiet for a moment.
Chu Feiliang didn’t respond to Rong Guang’s question.
Rong Guang hesitated, pursing her lips, and asked again, “Sister, are you unhappy… or is there something you want to tell me?”
Wang Lujie had clearly taken Chacha away on purpose.
And just now, Chu Feiliang had canceled the button for the top floor, obviously intending to go to her own room.
As she spoke, she moved a little closer to Chu Feiliang.
The elevator was tiny, and if Rong Guang moved any closer, she would be pressed right up against Chu Feiliang.
Chu Feiliang’s gaze was fixed on the mirror in the elevator, not looking directly at Rong Guang, but the focus of her gaze landed on Rong Guang’s expression.
She said, “I’m not that unhappy. You, on the other hand.”
She frowned, glanced at Rong Guang’s expression, and said, “I think you’re the one who’s not happy.”
“Me?” Rong Guang asked in surprise, pointing to the tip of her own nose.
Chu Feiliang nodded, pursed her lips, and said, “I stepped in to help you with this matter, letting the company get directly involved… Did that make you unhappy? Did you feel offended?”
“No…” Rong Guang was a little bewildered. Her usually sharp mind seemed to have stopped working for some reason.
Why would Chu Feiliang think that?
“Then what were you upset about tonight? Was it just because of Jiang Ruyi? You’re not that kind of person.” Chu Feiliang reached out and tapped Rong Guang’s chin. After a thought, she said, “Or do you think I’m teasing you, treating you as entertainment?”
Rong Guang’s brain finally found its way home.
She finally remembered what had happened that evening.
It was indeed after she had told Chu Feiliang not to joke with her that Chu Feiliang had gone quiet for a while.
After that, Chu Feiliang and she hadn’t exchanged any more words, and she herself had only said those five words: ‘Thank you, Teacher Chu.’
Could it be… because of this, Chu Feiliang thought she had made her unhappy?!
Rong Guang was momentarily dazed, feeling both touched and inexplicably nervous.
To have the person she had always liked pay such close attention to her mood, even coming back to take the same elevator just to ask for the reason, was a rare thing.
For Chu Feiliang to notice such a small shift in her emotions, Rong Guang felt incredibly flattered in that instant.
Her eyes sparkled as she said, “It’s not your fault, you didn’t know the reason—the situation wasn’t right this evening, so I didn’t have a chance to say. Actually, among the many seniors who spoke up for me, there were a few I’ve never worked with. Duan Nong must have contacted them to get them to speak up for me.”
Chu Feiliang paused for a moment, then she understood. “So you were unhappy because of that?”
“I wouldn’t say unhappy,” Rong Guang said very seriously. “I just think Duan Nong’s actions were rather inappropriate. Although she meant well, she was inadvertently damaging our friendships, which isn’t good for either of us. Never mind the seniors I’ve never worked with, even our mutual friends couldn’t withstand this kind of test many times. If it happens every time, people will become unwilling after a while. What Duan Nong did puts too much pressure on people. It’s very immature.”
“I see.” Chu Feiliang’s lips curved into a smile. “Then I understand.”
Rong Guang blinked, not knowing what to say. She could only nod nervously and reply in a small voice, “Okay.”
The elevator arrived at her floor.
Rong Guang glanced toward the elevator door but didn’t dare to get out.
Chu Feiliang smiled. “Have you eaten?”
Rong Guang shook her head, a little embarrassed. “No, I haven’t.”
Tonight’s events had been sudden. She and Chacha had been on their way to get food when a call from a staff member summoned them to a meeting. It was only after she arrived that she realized she could have brought her food and eaten during the meeting.
Unfortunately, she found out too late. She could only watch others eat heartily while she swallowed her saliva for nearly an hour, smelling the fragrant food.
The only two Panpan mini-breads she had were given to Chacha. Rong Guang could only fill her stomach with water to stave off hunger.
“Perfect timing.” Chu Feiliang took out her phone and tossed it to Rong Guang. “Tell Lulu and the other one to bring some food up when they come—get more vegetables and fruit. The phone password is 2580.”
Rong Guang hurriedly caught the phone. Seeing Chu Feiliang removing the pearl hairpins and ornaments from her hair as she walked, she quickly ran over and said, “Okay… I’ll, I’ll get the door for you first.”
Rong Guang jogged over with two phones in her hand, but her hands were too small. Juggling two phones while trying to open the door, pull out the key, and then insert the key card after entering seemed a bit difficult.
After fumbling for a while, she still couldn’t get the key into the lock.
Chu Feiliang held out a hand. “Give me the phone first, I’ll order. Do you have any dietary restrictions?”
Rong Guang nodded. She was about to say no, but then she remembered a chef in the cafeteria who liked to stir-fry scallions, ginger, and garlic and leave them in the dishes. She immediately made a pained face and said, “Yes, Chacha knows. I don’t like cooked scallions, ginger, or garlic. I can’t eat them.”
“Cooked scallions, ginger, and garlic?” Chu Feiliang raised an eyebrow, her fingers pausing on the keyboard. After a moment, she said with a half-smile, “This quirk of yours, who did you learn it from?”
“No one?” Rong Guang finally managed to open the door with some effort. She looked up with a brilliant smile and said, “I’ve just never liked those things.”
“What a coincidence.” Chu Feiliang handed the phone back to Rong Guang and entered the room first. The pile of things on her head weighed several pounds, and if she didn’t take them off soon, her neck would break. “Tell them what else you want to eat.”
Rong Guang acknowledged and quickly inserted the key card into the slot, then picked up the phone to look.
But when she looked, she was stunned.
【Chu: The usual four dishes, no cooked scallions, ginger, or garlic in the stir-fries. A little bit of raw minced garnish is fine. Don’t have the chef make it fresh, and add a corn chowder.】
【Chu: I’ll ask Rong Guang if she has any dietary restrictions.】
A moment later.
【Chu: What a coincidence.】
【Lulu: What’s a coincidence?】
And that was when Rong Guang had gotten the phone.
Rong Guang froze, looked at the timestamp of the message, and suddenly slapped her forehead.
So much time had passed that she had almost forgotten.
Chu Feiliang also disliked the taste of these three things when they were cooked!
Later, for some unknown reason, Chu Feiliang had a hiatus from acting that lasted about a year. Even Rong Guang could only learn from very limited online information that Chu Feiliang had probably gone abroad.
There were always rumors that Chu Feiliang’s grandmother was seriously ill and needed treatment abroad. Chu Siyue was too tied up with domestic affairs and couldn’t get away due to numerous factional struggles at the time, so Chu Feiliang temporarily took a break from acting to go abroad and accompany her.
But as for the specifics, even Rong Guang herself didn’t know.
After that, when Chu Feiliang won the Best Actress award for a film she had shot earlier but hadn’t passed censorship for various reasons, she had an accident on her way back to the country.
In the end, Rong Guang was never able to ask about what had happened.
Rong Guang thought about that period when she knew absolutely nothing about Chu Feiliang, and her nose began to sting.
She didn’t even know if Chu Feiliang had gone abroad because of her grandmother’s illness. She didn’t dare to bother her much and could only guess from snippets of information and her occasional social media posts that she was probably doing well.
In her past life, their WeChat conversations had eventually dwindled to just one exchange every few months.
The thought of it made Rong Guang feel a little sad.
Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, Rong Guang cautiously knocked on the bathroom door and said, “Sister, do you need help?”
Chu Feiliang seemed to have completely given up.
She had found a stool, knelt on it, and rested her entire head on the sink, motionless. The stool was too short and the sink was too high, so she had to kneel to reach it.
Seeing Rong Guang come in, Chu Feiliang slowly held up the hairpiece on her head and said, “Yes—tell Lulu to bring the makeup artist in quickly. I really have no strength left. Don’t try to help, we filmed a fight scene today, and they used glue to keep these hairpins from falling out. It’s hard to wash off.”
Rong Guang immediately withdrew her hand, her face full of worry. “The glue won’t get on your own hair, will it…?”
“It’s hard to say. It’s so hot, and the glue was applied deep, so it’s hard to dry.” Chu Feiliang squinted. Hearing the sound of the door opening outside, she finally let out a sigh of relief. “But don’t worry too much. I have a lot of hair, a little glue won’t make me go bald.”
Rong Guang couldn’t help but smile, her eyes curving.
Chacha and Wang Lujie entered the living room carrying things. Rong Guang made way for the makeup artist who had arrived, glanced hesitantly at Chu Feiliang, and said in a low voice, “Why don’t we move the table in here and eat together?”
“Eat together? In here?” Chu Feiliang raised an eyebrow. “I had no idea you had such… interesting tastes.”
Rong Guang glanced awkwardly at the toilet inside and realized she had just said something quite unfeasible.
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