Chapter 17

After hastily hanging up on Li Yuwei’s video call, the room fell into an eerie silence.

Sheng Qingli felt a bit speechless. Why did her IQ drop so dramatically every time she encountered Pei Qingci?!

Pei Qingci lowered his gaze, taking in the dejected and frustrated expression on Sheng Qingli’s face. His eyes flickered slightly. “Sheng Qingli.”

As his calm and subdued voice reached her ears, Sheng Qingli instinctively replied, “Don’t speak.”

She needed a moment of quiet.

Pei Qingci: “…”

In the enclosed space, even though it was a spacious and bright hotel suite, at that moment, the air felt intertwined between the two of them.

When she pulled Pei Qingci inside, Sheng Qingli hadn’t thought about this.

Only when he stood tall and silent in front of her, and she caught a whiff of something unfamiliar that he brought from outside, did she realize something felt off.

Sheng Qingli and Pei Qingci were familiar with each other.

So familiar that once they entered the same closed space, their bodies instinctively recalled things that had happened in secret places before.

This feeling was dangerous and could easily become uncontrollable.

Realizing this, Sheng Qingli promptly lifted her head. “Sorry.”

Pei Qingci raised his eyes slightly, his voice low. “What?”

He pretended not to understand.

Sheng Qingli explained, “I just brought you in because I was worried someone who might recognize us would see us at the door. To avoid unnecessary trending topics, I thought it would be better to stay away.”

Upon hearing this, Pei Qingci smirked slightly. “Does Teacher Sheng think pulling me into the room can avoid rumors?”

“?”

Sheng Qingli paused, meeting his meaningful gaze.

A few seconds later, she understood his point.

They were already training in the same production team, so even if they were seen talking at the door, it could be explained.

In contrast, entering a hotel room where no one could see them and then coming out would truly put them in a difficult position.

The words “hotel” and “room” placed together were enough to spark wild imaginations among netizens.

Who knew what they would be doing inside? Just because they said they were innocent, did that mean they were?

For a moment, Sheng Qingli regretted wanting to fall asleep peacefully.

If she had known earning this money was so difficult, she wouldn’t have bothered.

“I didn’t mean—” Before she could finish that thought, Sheng Qingli abruptly stopped. Why should she explain herself to Pei Qingci? She didn’t believe he couldn’t see that her reaction earlier was out of desperation.

Others might not understand her, but her ex-boyfriend couldn’t be completely clueless.

Thinking of this, Sheng Qingli suddenly became assertive. “Are you implying, Teacher Pei, that I did it on purpose?”

She scoffed, “Do you think I would do something that would ruin my future?”

After all, when a man and a woman were in a room together, the one whose reputation would be damaged if it got out would definitely be the woman, not the man.

This world seemed to be more forgiving and tolerant of men than of women.

Sheng Qingli couldn’t understand why.

So many things hurt women the most.

Looking at her angry expression, Pei Qingci remained calm as ever. “Teacher Sheng still interprets my words so incorrectly.”

Sheng Qingli frowned, vaguely sensing that there was something deeper in Pei Qingci’s words. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” Pei Qingci replied. The noise outside had died down, and he didn’t want to continue discussing the matter. He knew that if they kept talking, they might end up attacking each other. “I have something to do, so I’ll leave first.”

Before Sheng Qingli could react, Pei Qingci opened the door and stepped out.

At the moment the door opened and closed, Sheng Qingli saw Xu Xingyue passing by.

“…”

—

A few seconds later, Sheng Qingli opened the door and met Xu Xingyue’s gaze. “Xu Ge, are you looking for me?”

Xu Xingyue rubbed his hair awkwardly. “Yeah, I just saw Brother Pie…”

“He came to check my wrist.” Not waiting for him to finish, Sheng Qingli calmly stated the facts.

Of course, she wasn’t sure Xu Xingyue would believe her.

But he was part of the production team, an insider. Even if he didn’t believe her, he wouldn’t spread it around like a gossip.

What she didn’t expect was that Xu Xingyue didn’t ask any unnecessary questions and simply nodded in understanding. “That’s quite a coincidence.”

Sheng Qingli was stunned.

Xu Xingyue smiled at her and asked, lowering his gaze, “How’s your wrist? What did the doctor say?”

He knew that Sheng Qingli had gone to the hospital in the afternoon because her wrist was swollen. He had initially wanted to accompany her, but she had declined.

Later, he stayed at the training base to practice.

During dinner, he had heard the martial arts director mention that Sheng Qingli’s wrist was fine.

Xu Xingyue had intended to message her to check in, but after some thought, he decided it wasn’t necessary. Their rooms were next door, so asking in person would show more sincerity than doing it over the phone.

However, he hadn’t expected to return and find Pei Qingci leaving her room looking upset.

“It’s nothing,” Sheng Qingli replied, still maintaining her calm. “Just a minor sprain. I need to be careful for a few days, but it hasn’t affected the bones.”

Xu Xingyue nodded. “That’s good. Maybe you should skip training for a few days?”

“I can’t train with the sword, but I still need to practice other things,” Sheng Qingli said. “I’ll be fine; I know my limits.”

Xu Xingyue nodded and didn’t say more. “Alright, I’ll head back to my room then.”

Sheng Qingli hesitated and replied with an “mm.”

Seeing her hesitation, Xu Xingyue smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Brother Pei is here to check on your wrist, just like I am. So don’t overthink it.”

The implication was clear: there was nothing to worry about.

He wouldn’t spread the word, and even if he did, it would only be about two people checking on her sprained wrist.

Sheng Qingli sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

Xu Xingyue waved his hand. “Get some rest.”

After closing the door again, Sheng Qingli felt a bit tired as she lay on her bed. Her phone in her pocket kept vibrating—it was Li Yuwei, who she had hung up on earlier.

In just a few minutes, Li Yuwei had sent over ten messages.

Sheng Qingli found it absurd and replied with a question mark.

Li Yuwei: “Tsk. Pei Qingci isn’t good enough.”

She thought Sheng Qingli wouldn’t have the chance or time to reply to her tonight.

Sheng Qingli: “Be normal before I block you.”

Li Yuwei: “Did he leave?”

Sheng Qingli: “Yeah.”

As expected, the next second, Li Yuwei called her again.

Sheng Qingli answered, exasperated. “What now?”

Hearing her weary voice, Li Yuwei frowned. “What happened? Did you two argue?”

Sheng Qingli replied, “No.”

She buried her head in her pillow, her voice muffled yet stubborn. “What would we argue about? We hardly know each other.”

“Stop pretending,” Li Yuwei shot back, showing no mercy. “You wouldn’t be this down if you weren’t arguing.”

In reality, Sheng Qingli was usually carefree, but she inexplicably felt sensitive and vulnerable every time she encountered Pei Qingci.

She asked, “Did you say anything to him after I hung up? Or did he say something?”

Sheng Qingli bit her lip. “Actually, we didn’t say much.”

She wasn’t sure how to explain.

Li Yuwei said, “So now you’re…”

Halfway through, she fell silent. “If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. But remember, if someone makes you unhappy, make them unhappy in return, you got that?”

Hearing this, Sheng Qingli laughed. “So you’re not trying to get us back together anymore?”

“If he can make you happy again, then I’d support it. If not, what’s the point?” Li Yuwei scoffed. “If he just makes you sad, I’ll make sure he pays next time I see him.”

She had previously played matchmaker because she thought Pei Qingci wanted to get back together with Sheng Qingli. Over the years, Sheng Qingli had only dated him.

Though Sheng Qingli didn’t admit it, Li Yuwei could see that she hadn’t forgotten Pei Qingci or moved on.

If she had moved on, she wouldn’t be afraid of running into him.

In fact, netizens could see the situation quite clearly—they avoided meeting because they were afraid of rekindling old feelings.

Of course, they also feared that only one of them had such feelings while the other did not.

After Li Yuwei’s words, Sheng Qingli felt her mood improve.

She placed her phone aside, a smile creeping onto her lips. “Alright, I’ll wait for that day when you make him pay.”

Li Yuwei replied, “Is your wrist really okay?”

“It’s fine,” Sheng Qingli closed her eyes. “A few days of rest and it’ll be good.”

Li Yuwei said, “Okay, I’ll visit you after I finish filming.”

Sheng Qingli: “I’ll wait for you.”

After chatting for a while and hanging up, Sheng Qingli lay on her bed for a bit before getting up to wash up.

Before going to sleep, she received a caring call from Lin Lin.

Lin Lin told her that the shoot for the sports brand endorsement would be arranged in Ancheng.

She had already communicated with the team on Ying Zheng’s side, and there were no issues at all.

“Is the male spokesperson definitely Pei Qingci?” Sheng Qingli was only concerned about this.

Lin Lin confirmed. Noticing something was off, she asked, “What’s wrong? You don’t want to collaborate with him anymore?”

“Not at all.” Sheng Qingli tried to keep her tone normal. “I just wanted to confirm.”

Lin Lin frowned. “Is everything okay with the production team?”

Sheng Qingli replied, “There’s something.”

Lin Lin sounded nervous. “What is it?”

Sheng Qingli said, “I sprained my wrist today.”

“…” Lin Lin was speechless. “Besides that.”

Sheng Qingli replied, “That should be all. I’m not sure if there’s anything else; I wasn’t at the training base this afternoon.”

Knowing she was dodging the question, Lin Lin didn’t call her out. “As long as you’re fine, I don’t care about the others.”

She continued, “Take care of yourself in the next few days. I’ll come to visit you when I’m done with the sports brand.”

Sheng Qingli responded, “Okay.”

She put down her phone, and the room became quiet.

Logically, after a busy day, Sheng Qingli should be tired and sleepy. But when she closed her eyes, she felt no drowsiness at all.

She tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

After struggling for a long time, she sighed, resigned, opened her eyes, and stared at the ceiling illuminated by a night light.

–

The next morning, a severely sleep-deprived Sheng Qingli appeared at the training base.

When she arrived, Xu Xingyue was already there.

Recently, Xu Xingyue had been making rapid progress.

Seeing her, Xu Xingyue greeted her enthusiastically, “Qingli, why didn’t you take another day to rest?”

Sheng Qingli smiled and said, “It’s nothing major.”

Xu Xingyue hesitated, “Alright, but take care.”

Sheng Qingli responded.

After some small talk, Sheng Qingli went off to do other training.

An hour later, she went to the side to drink water and rest. Looking around, she pursed her lips slightly and casually asked, “Is it just the two of us here today?”

Xu Xingyue answered instinctively, “Yeah, it’s been just the two of us training lately, hasn’t it?”

The others were busy, and most actors wouldn’t be willing to spend two months in closed training.

Sheng Qingli murmured an acknowledgment and said nothing more.

Suddenly, Xu Xingyue seemed to realize something, “But now that you mention it, why hasn’t Brother Pei come back yet?”

“Come back?” Sheng Qingli found his words a bit odd, “He was here this morning?”

Xu Xingyue: “No.”

He explained, “I mean, why hasn’t he come back from the city yet?”

“…”

Sheng Qingli was stunned. If she hadn’t been sure she saw Pei Qingci last night, she would have doubted her memory.

“Didn’t he come back last night?” Sheng Qingli asked, confused.

Xu Xingyue, surprised, said, “You didn’t know?”

Sheng Qingli: “Know what?”

What was she supposed to know?

Xu Xingyue lowered his voice, “Brother Pei left your room last night and went back to the city.”

Sheng Qingli froze, equally surprised, “He wasn’t in Taolin County last night?”

“Yeah.” Xu Xingyue told her, “I heard it this morning on set from an assistant. They saw Brother Pei leaving the hotel and casually asked about it.”

Sheng Qingli was dumbfounded. She suddenly didn’t quite understand Pei Qingci anymore.

Did he return to Taolin County before finishing the magazine shoot? Why did he rush back—was it because he heard about her injury?

For a moment, an absurd guess flashed through Sheng Qingli’s mind.

But just as quickly, she dismissed it… That couldn’t be it. She was just his ex-girlfriend, not his current one. He wouldn’t be that concerned.

Thinking it over, Sheng Qingli concluded that he probably had other matters to attend to in Taolin, and since his business in the city wasn’t finished, he had to return again.

Even so, for the rest of the morning’s training, Sheng Qingli was clearly distracted.

It wasn’t until their lunch break, when Pei Qingci appeared on set, that she managed to refocus. However, Pei Qingci wasn’t alone; his agent Xiang Rong was with him.

“Brother Pei.” As soon as Xu Xingyue saw him, he greeted him enthusiastically.

Hearing the sound, Pei Qingci turned his head in their direction.

After a few seconds, he and Xiang Rong walked over.

“This must be Brother Rong,” Xu Xingyue said, recognizing Pei Qingci’s agent, “I’m Xu Xingyue.”

Seeing Xu Xingyue’s eagerness, Xiang Rong raised his eyebrows and said, “You’ve got a bright future, young man.”

Xu Xingyue: “Huh?”

Xiang Rong sat down beside him and slightly lifted his chin toward the silent person next to him, “You’re more polite than him and younger, so your path to stardom will be smoother.”

Xu Xingyue: “…”

Pei Qingci: “…”

Hearing Xiang Rong’s comments, Sheng Qingli paused, then glanced sideways at the person standing next to her. She pursed her lips slightly, “Have you eaten yet, Mr. Pei?”

At her words, Pei Qingci looked down at her, seemingly unsure of her meaning.

Sheng Qingli met his gaze and said casually, “There’s plenty of lunch here. If you and Brother Rong don’t mind, you can join us.”

Pei Qingci remained silent for a while.

Xiang Rong coughed lightly, “We don’t mind, not at all.”

He glanced at the food on the table, “Your crew has pretty good catering.”

Xu Xingyue added cheerfully, “The local people here are great at cooking. If it weren’t for the intensity of training, I would’ve gained several pounds by now.”

The crew had hired local chefs, whose cooking skills were exceptional.

The food was also well-suited to the tastes of the workers building the set. Xu Xingyue didn’t need to stick to a strict low-fat diet, as his training was intense, and he only needed to have one meal in the evening. So every afternoon, the logistics staff would bring them plenty of packed meals.

Listening to the somewhat awkward conversation between the two, Pei Qingci glanced at Xiang Rong before replying to Sheng Qingli, “Not yet.”

After saying that, he pulled out a chair next to Sheng Qingli and sat down.

Smelling the familiar scent again, Sheng Qingli’s long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she lowered her eyes to start eating.

Suddenly, the chopsticks she had yet to pick up were taken by the person beside her and replaced with a spoon.

“… Thank you,” Sheng Qingli whispered.

Pei Qingci didn’t respond.

The meal wasn’t exactly tense.

Thanks to Xiang Rong and Xu Xingyue, the atmosphere was lively. From their conversation, Sheng Qingli learned that Pei Qingci had been shooting a magazine until four in the morning the previous day.

After they finished eating, Xiang Rong asked Xu Xingyue if he had some free time and if he wanted to take a walk to digest the food.

Xu Xingyue: “No problem.”

After the two left, only Pei Qingci and Sheng Qingli remained.

Sheng Qingli actually wanted to leave as well, but something was weighing on her mind, and she couldn’t just walk away like that.

After a brief silence, Sheng Qingli turned her head and asked, “Who’s the photographer for your magazine this time?”

Pei Qingci: “…Why?”

Sheng Qingli: “Just asking.”

Pei Qingci gave her a name.

Sheng Qingli acknowledged with a sound, but couldn’t help saying, “It seems like his photography skills aren’t that great.”

Pei Qingci glanced at her, “What are you trying to say?”

He saw through her evasive remarks.

Sheng Qingli was silent for three seconds before saying, “My hand is fine.”

“I already know,” Pei Qingci replied.

Sheng Qingli opened her mouth, but suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Abruptly, Pei Qingci asked her, “What time do you plan to wrap up today?”

Sheng Qingli was confused, “…Is something going on?”

“Someone wants to meet you,” Pei Qingci said.

Sheng Qingli was surprised, “Who?”

Pei Qingci kept her in suspense, “I’ll tell you after you’re done.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Pei Qingci’s phone rang.

He took a glance at it and looked at Sheng Qingli, “I’ll take this call.”

“…”

Watching Pei Qingci’s retreating back, Sheng Qingli furrowed her brows, wondering—who wants to see her?

She and Pei Qingci had broken up for years now, so it couldn’t be his father wanting to meet her, right? That would be completely unreasonable. Pei Qingci had a terrible relationship with his father. His mother had passed away when he was very young.

Could it be his grandmother?!

That didn’t seem likely either.

Sheng Qingli didn’t know why, but all the people coming to her mind were Pei Qingci’s relatives.

After ruling them all out, she suddenly thought of Ying Zheng.

The name flashed through her mind, and Sheng Qingli pulled out her phone to message Lin Lin: “You guys are coming next week, right?”

Lin Lin: “Yeah, why?”

Sheng Qingli: “Then is Mr. Ying still in Beicheng?”

Lin Lin: “I’m not sure. Why are you asking this?”

Sheng Qingli: “Pei Qingci just told me that someone wants to see me after I finish work. Who do you think it could be?”

Lin Lin: “I don’t care who wants to see you right now. I just want to ask… what’s going on between you two?”

Sheng Qingli: “…We’re just colleagues.”

Lin Lin: “Don’t tell me by the time I come next week, your relationship will have changed.”

She was really exhausted.

Sheng Qingli: “…It won’t.”

Lin Lin: “As long as you know what you’re doing. As for who’s going to meet you, I have no idea. It’s probably not Mr. Ying. If he had gone to Ancheng, the shoot would have been moved up to this week.”

Sheng Qingli thought about it. That made sense.

Sheng Qingli: “Forget it, I’ll find out tonight.”

Lin Lin: “Let me know who it is after you meet them!”

Her curiosity had been piqued.

Sheng Qingli: “…Okay.”

Just as they finished chatting, Pei Qingci came back after his call.

He glanced at Sheng Qingli, who was still sitting in the same spot, and his brow furrowed slightly, “Aren’t you going to rest in the car today?”

Sheng Qingli stood up, “I’m going now.”

Pei Qingci responded with a sound, then called out to her as she turned to leave, “I won’t be here this afternoon. Let me know when you’re back at the hotel.”

Sheng Qingli: “How?”

They didn’t have each other’s WeChat anymore.

Pei Qingci didn’t take the opportunity to suggest adding her on WeChat either. He looked at her, “If I remember correctly, you have a great memory.”

Sheng Qingli: “…”

Yes.

She had a great memory, especially for numbers.

Back when they were on the set of Love Vow, someone had asked Pei Qingci for his phone number, and when he gave it, Sheng Qingli had memorized it.

So when they officially exchanged numbers later, Sheng Qingli blurted out, “I’ll call you, I remember yours.”

At that time, Pei Qingci had looked at her with an expression full of amusement for a while.

Because of Pei Qingci’s comment, Sheng Qingli dreamt during her nap about some things that had happened between them on set.

When the afternoon training ended, Sheng Qingli headed straight back to the hotel.

As she got out of the car in the parking lot, she remembered what someone had said, and using her memory, she typed in his phone number and sent a message: “I’m back at the hotel.”

Pei Qingci: “I’m in the room.”

Sheng Qingli: “?”

Suddenly, she couldn’t quite figure out what Pei Qingci meant.

He was in the room? The person who wanted to see her was in his room? And she was supposed to go to his room to meet that person?!

At this point, Sheng Qingli belatedly realized… When Pei Qingci had said someone wanted to meet her, why hadn’t she refused?

Surely, she had the right to refuse, didn’t she?

Thinking this, Sheng Qingli regretted it.

She took a deep breath, mustering up her courage, and replied to Pei Qingci: “You should tell me who wants to see me first. I need to think about whether I want to meet them.”

After sending the message, Pei Qingci didn’t respond.

Sheng Qingli stared at her phone as she and Tong Tong took the elevator upstairs.

When they reached Tong Tong’s floor, she stepped out first, “Sister Lili, let me know if anything comes up.”

Sheng Qingli nodded, “Okay.”

The elevator quickly ascended.

Reaching her floor, Sheng Qingli stepped out and glanced at her phone again.

Pei Qingci still hadn’t replied.

Sheng Qingli was a little speechless. She silently cursed him in her mind as she walked to her room.

At the same time, the door to the room behind her opened.

Sheng Qingli didn’t have time to turn around when something inside brushed against her pant leg.

“……”

She looked down and met a pair of deep blue eyes.

“Meow…” the cat called out.

Sheng Qingli was stunned. She looked up at the man who was a few steps behind, holding the cat’s leash, and incredulously said, “The one I’m supposed to meet… is a trophy?”