SEBLS Chapter 21

Xena note: Hi everyone, I’m back. So sorry it took so long. Most chapters would be unedited due to time constraints on my part. But here’s a mass update for now!

 

---

 

Qin Qiyue didn’t understand. “What?”

“Don’t act like you’re hard of hearing.” Lin Mengyu continued to ask, “Why did you have a conflict with Xiao Zhuang?”

“I didn’t have any conflict with him.” Qin Qiyue was a little confused by the question.

He didn’t reject Zhuang Wu and didn’t scold him, so how did he end up having a conflict with Zhuang Wu?

Lin Mengyu stared at him. “You still dare to say that you didn’t have a conflict with him? Then why were Xiao Zhuang’s eyes red when he returned holding the notebook you’ve been keeping on your desk?”

After Lin Mengyu said this, Qin Qiyue finally understood why Lin Mengyu felt they had a conflict.

“We didn’t really have a conflict, he just got my stuff wet and wanted to fix it for me.” Qin Qiyue explained helplessly, “Don’t get me wrong, I never scolded him, and it wasn’t me who asked him to do it.”

Lin Mengyu interrupted him, “Well, even if you didn’t scold him or ask him to fix it for you, did you say anything to make him sad? If you didn’t, why did he come out with red eyes and looking unhappy?”

Qin Qiyue was stunned. The words that made Zhuang Wu sad… He suddenly remembered what he said, can’t you just hold it properly? Why do you have to wait until you’ve done something wrong before you apologize?

Was it because of what he said that caused Zhuang Wu to be sad?

“But, Mom, he was the one who made a mistake first. Why are you asking me if I said anything to make him sad?” Qin Qiyue was extremely puzzled.

Lin Mengyu patted Qin Qiyue on the shoulder and said earnestly, “I’ve watched you both grow up. Although Xiao Zhuang is not my biological son, I’ve participated in his growth process after all. I know both of you.”

“Qiyue, you have always been excellent and have worked hard at everything you do, but you have some flaws when it comes to getting along with others. You always consider things from your own perspective and don’t care about what others think. Of course, I’m not saying that you can’t consider things from your own perspective, but Xiao Zhuang is not someone else.” Lin Mengyu then continued, “Xiao Zhuang is sometimes careless, but he is sincere and well-behaved. I know that Xiao Zhuang was at fault in this matter, but you grew up with Xiao Zhuang. Think about it, when you offended Xiao Zhuang before, didn’t he tolerate you?”

Lin Mengyu left the room after she finished speaking.

After thinking it over, Qin Qiyue decided to let the matter go regardless of whether Zhuang Wu could repair the notebook or not. What Lin Mengyu said was not entirely wrong.

Just as she was about to leave, Qin Qiyue suddenly caught sight of Zhuang Wu’s schoolbag hanging on another chair.

When you went back, were you only concerned about the notebook and forgot to take your schoolbag?

Qin Qiyue put Zhuang Wu’s schoolbag away and decided to return it to Zhuang Wu tomorrow. It was raining so heavily now and it was not easy to go out.

After bringing Qin Qiyue’s notebook home, Zhuang Wu stared at it for a long time. Finally, he hesitantly took out the hair dryer, adjusted the hot air to the highest setting, and blew it at the notebook.

After a while, he finally blew the notebook dry, but when he tried to open it, the inner pages were still stuck together and could not be opened.

In fact, Zhuang Wu saw the notebook before it got wet. It was not for any other reason but that the notebook did not look like it had been used recently, although it seemed like it had been several years ago as the outer cover had turned a little yellowish.

Zhuang Wu tried very carefully to separate the inner pages, fearing that the paper would be messed up due to his tearing. Finally, he managed to open the inner pages, but compared to its original state, the words written with a fountain pen inside had become blurred due to being soaked in water. Unless one stood very close to it, it was impossible to make out what was written on it.

Bringing the notebook closer, Zhuang Wu looked at the contents carefully. After finally seeing them clearly, he was stunned.

This notebook was filled with Qin Qiyue’s notes about companies that actors have signed with and the schools that actors can apply to, including plans for future acting careers, actor recruitment crews, etc., as well as records and comments on popular film and television content over the years…

Zhuang Wu and Qin Qiyue have known each other since they were very young. Their dream was to become actors which led to them becaming sworn enemies. Qin Qiyue looked down on him, thinking that his enthusiasm was short-lived, that he couldn’t do anything well and he was not qualified to be an actor. Zhuang Wu also looked down on Qin Qiyue, thinking that Qin Qiyue was too arrogant and would only be pushed aside as an actor.

Later, Qin Qiyue became a top-tier actor while Zhuang Wu became an eighteenth-tier actor.

Driven by jealousy, Zhuang Wu opened a small account on Weibo and became Qin Qiyue’s number one anti-fan. Although he would not spread rumors, he often made up some embarrassing stories about Qin Qiyue’s childhood and posted these things online without any substantial evidence. Few of Qin Qiyue’s fans believed him and just regarded him as an awkward anti-fan.

Seeing these things now, Zhuang Wu suddenly regretted it. Qin Qiyue had already started preparing for his future career in the entertainment industry early on, but he actually thought that Qin Qiyue was so successful purely because of luck and had never worked hard. Why did he think like that…

He knew nothing.

The inside of a page may not be readable if it’s just slightly wet, let alone if they were completely wet. Even if dried, it still would be useless and difficult to see what was written inside. One have to put their face against the paper to understand it.

He has been an actor for so many years after all. Although he wasn’t very popular, Zhuang Wu knew enough about the circle. In addition, when Qin Qiyue rose to popularity, he conducted a series of in-depth investigations on the agency that Qin Qiyue was in.

So… Zhuang Wu found a notebook of similar thickness at home and wrote down everything Qin Qiyue needed on it. Most of them were about the economic company Qin Qiyue would work for and the school he would apply to in the future. Although Qin Qiyue had researched a lot, he probably still didn’t have a thorough understanding of the agency.

If he had known earlier, he would’ve gotten a printer at home so he could just print out the notes on his phone instead of writing them down with a pen.

Qin Qiyue must’ve understood and recorded these things slowly over time, so the notebook became yellowish and old. But  Zhuang Wu was putting all the content in one go, which was laborious and time-consuming. He didn’t finish until late at night. Even if he omitted unnecessary things, there were still too many and too complicated words to write.

By the early morning hours, Zhuang Wu’s hands were already sore and his eyes were too sleepy to open, so he had no choice but to put down the pen and notebook and go to bed.

The next morning, Zhuang Wu climbed out of bed with difficulty. After he adjusted, he quickly went to the bathroom to wash up and took the time to continue writing in the notebook.

He was going to Qin Qiyue’s house in the afternoon, so he had to finish all these before the afternoon, as a result he didn’t eat much for breakfast and lunch.

At about one in the afternoon, Wen Jia suddenly told him, “Zhuang Wu, there’s something urgent going on at my company. I have to go.”

“The water on the road is so high. If our community wasn’t located on higher ground, it would have been flooded like other places. Why are you going to the company when it’s so dangerous? What urgent matter can’t you deal with after the flood recedes?” Zhuang Wu was a little worried.

“We can’t help it. The boss insisted that our department rush over,” Wen Jia said. “I’ll just be careful. If I have too many things to do tonight, I might not come back. I’ve left the spare key on the coffee table. If you go out for anything, remember to take the key with you. In short, try not to go out.”

Zhuang Wu nodded. “Okay, got it.”

After Wen Jia left, Zhuang Wu spent a long time writing on the notebook at home until he finally wrote down everything he needed to write before two o’clock.

In order to prevent the notebook from getting wet by rain, Zhuang Wu covered it with a plastic bag. Zhuang Wu closed the door tightly when he left and then knocked on Qin Qiyue’s door.

The door opened, and this time it was Lin Mengyu who opened the door. Zhuang Wu spoke subconsciously, “Auntie, where is Qiyue-Gege?”

“He is doing homework in his room, come in.” Lin Mengyu explained, “If you want to find him, just go find him.”

Zhuang Wu nodded, but when he really arrived at the door of Qin Qiyue’s room, he suddenly didn’t dare to go in. Does Qin Qiyue really want to see him now? Does he not want him to disturb him again?

What if Qin Qiyue doesn’t accept his reorganized information and only wants his original one? If that were true, would Qin Qiyue hate him?

After much hesitation, Zhuang Wu finally chose to knock on Qin Qiyue’s door.

“Come in.” Qin Qiyue, who was in the house, didn’t ask who was outside and let them in directly.

After entering, Zhuang Wu cautiously came over to Qin Qiyue. Seeing that Qin Qiyue was saying nothing, Zhuang Wu took the initiative to speak, “Gege, are you still angry? I’m sorry, I still can’t fix that notebook. I was too self-righteous and thought I could fix it myself…”

“No,” Qin Qiyue spoke, the coldness in his voice having lessened a lot.

Zhuang Wu looked at Qin Qiyue in surprise and confusion, not quite understanding what he was talking about.

Seeing that Zhuang Wu didn’t understand, Qin Qiyue explained again, “I’m not angry anymore. I told you, if it can’t be repaired, just return it to me.”

Several hours before Zhuang Wu came to his house, the other did not send him a message and didn’t come over. Qin Qiyue even suspected that Zhuang Wu was afraid to see him because the repair did not go well. He was in the middle of thinking about whether he should take the initiative to go to Zhuang Wu’s house to talk to him.

Now that Zhuang Wu had finally come, Qin Qiyue felt relieved. Seeing how careful Zhuang Wu was being in everything he did and said, he wanted to laugh for a moment, but at the same time he also regretted being so blunt in his attitude towards Zhuang Wu.

This was different from his previous exchanges with Zhuang Wu. The previous times, he was rendered speechless by Zhuang Wu and couldn’t help but call him out, but yesterday, he was really angry and said hurtful words, so Zhuang Wu didn’t try to provoke him like before.

After handing the original notebook to Qin Qiyue, Zhuang Wu was still not appeased with Qin Qiyue saying he wasn’t angry anymore. “I thought I could just dry it out and then slowly open it, but it didn’t work. It’s hard to see what’s written inside. I’m sorry…”

He wanted to wait for Qin Qiyue to criticize him first before giving Qin Qiyue what he had written. However, unlike what he expected, Qin Qiyue didn’t seem to have any intention of blaming him?