37. Do you want a hug?

It was the first time Luo Yue had heard of such a unique “apology,” but she agreed nonetheless. Luo Yue then asked: [Is it a fleeting moment or a difficult separation?]

Since this slightly embarrassing topic wasn’t something Qin Zhaoyi could express in a voice message and she wasn’t bold enough to say it directly, she used Luo Yue’s usual tactic and replied: [What do you want?]

Luo Yue: [The apology you’re giving should be decided by you.]

Qin Zhaoyi responded: [It depends.]

Luo Yue: [Details?]

After considering for a moment and taking into account their previous kisses, Qin Zhaoyi honestly said: [Given my level of infatuation with you, it’s challenging to end this apology with just one touch.]

Luo Yue: [Is that too straightforward?]

Qin Zhaoyi: [Don’t you like it?]

Luo Yue: [So, you’re not angry anymore?]

Qin Zhaoyi: [It’s not your fault.]

In just a few words, they resolved the conflict. Luo Yue didn’t use the typical excuses like “I didn’t know he was like that” or “He usually seems like a decent person.” Instead, she sincerely apologized to Qin Zhaoyi, promising that such incidents would never happen again. As fellow women, they could better understand the challenges of their gender in society, realizing the frustration and dissatisfaction the other felt upon hearing those kinds of remarks.

Qin Zhaoyi also acknowledged Luo Yue’s challenges and, after the successful manipulation, comforted her, saying, “No need to overthink it; he’s scum, and it’s not our fault.”

Luo Yue: [Oh, still enlightening me?]

Even with the most casual tone, Qin Zhaoyi didn’t let her guard down. Instead, she responded with an unusually gentle voice message: “The moon has its light, attracting those with ulterior motives. It has never been the moon’s fault.”

Upon hearing her voice, Luo Yue was initially shocked and then felt a subtle sense of agreement.

It was similar to the words she had spoken to Cheng Shijing.

Cheng Shijing only said she was protective of her.

Cheng Shijing was one of the few males she encountered in her growth who could somewhat understand the plight of women. After all, he had a sister, and his family upbringing was good. Since school, he followed good social etiquette, protected girls, never spoke vulgar words to them, and would be the first to rebuke male students who made inappropriate comments about girls.

Nevertheless, Cheng Shijing still couldn’t fully understand the situation of girls. He could only understand how to protect them.

Because they naturally had advantages.

In this era where gender bias still existed, they enjoyed hidden privileges. Thus, they could never truly empathize.

Only she, being a woman, could better understand what the other was saying.

Luo Yue poked at the screen and replied very seriously: [Yes.]

Qin Zhaoyi chuckled and said, “Let’s encourage each other. Hopefully, we won’t encounter scumbags in the future. Cheers to both of us.”

Luo Yue finally let go of her worries, smiling as she sent a voice message: “Sure thing, Princess Qin.”

The teasing tone made Qin Zhaoyi roll on her bed but still unsatisfied. In this great atmosphere, she tried to move forward: “Can you call me a few more times?”

Luo Yue asked, “Call you what?”

Qin Zhaoyi: “Anything, just say whatever you want.”

She just wanted to hear Luo Yue patiently and gently calling her, as when Luo Yue did, it came with an intimate feeling, as if they were the most affectionate pair in the world.

Luo Yue thought for a few seconds and then sent several short voice messages, each with a different endearment and all filled with care.

“Qin Zhaoyi, what are you doing?”

“Princess Qin, have you eaten?”

“Little friend, have you had a tough day?”

“Bao bei~ Any plans for tonight?”

Each sentence used a different address, and all were expressions of care.

Qin Zhaoyi never expected that Luo Yue would use this method to satisfy her personal preferences.

With each sentence, Qin Zhaoyi’s heart would flutter.

At this moment, her heart was like a container, and with each sentence, warm water flowed in gently.

By the end, the container of her heart couldn’t hold all the warm water that had flowed in; it overflowed, tenderly enveloping her entire being.

After a while, Qin Zhaoyi reluctantly adjusted her state and poked the screen to ask: [If I don’t have plans, what would you like to do?]

Qin Zhaoyi became more audacious, asking with a probing mindset: [Will you come back?]

She knew that this inquiry was out of line, and she didn’t expect Luo Yue to agree.

As expected, Luo Yue replied with a “No” expression.

Afterward, she carefully explained the reason: “The competition starts at eight tomorrow morning. I won’t have time to come back tonight. This competition is crucial for whether the school can have another library, so I can’t skip it.”

“I asked if you had plans for the evening because I wanted to watch a movie with you.”

The pace of Luo Yue’s voice message was very slow, showcasing her gentleness to the fullest.

No one could resist such a Luo Yue.

However…

“You’re not here again.” Qin Zhaoyi felt a bit disappointed. After all, today was another day without seeing Luo Yue, yet they were still in this tugging back and forth. “How do we watch?”

“The app allows sharing.” Luo Yue said, “I’ve been recommended a movie recently. It just became free for VIP members. I subscribed to the membership, and we can watch it together in a room.”

It was somewhat like a private cinema, but limited to the online environment.

Qin Zhaoyi hadn’t discovered this feature yet; she always played by herself, even when going to the movies, she usually went alone.

Despite knowing that Luo Yue had some remorseful intentions, Qin Zhaoyi gladly accepted the invitation.

“Okay.” Qin Zhaoyi asked, “What movie is it?”

Luo Yue: [“Fox Under the Moonlight.”]

Luo Yue: [Just nominated for the Golden Bear Awards. The male lead is a movie actor I really like.]

Qin Zhaoyi: …

Qin Zhaoyi took a screenshot and sent it to Zhong Ling.

Zhong Ling responded with a string of hearty laughter emojis, causing Qin Zhaoyi to roll her eyes.

Zhong Ling: [Your girlfriend has good taste ah.]

Helpless, Qin Zhaoyi asked, [Who is the male lead?]

Zhong Ling: […]

Zhong Ling’s silence filled the screen. After a while, she sent a voice message to criticize her, “Jie! My jie! The currently popular actor Hu Ran is a potential nominee for the Golden Bear Award. Everyone is saying he’s going to win it with his new movie, and you actually forgot about him?!”

Qin Zhaoyi justified herself, “I don’t have much interaction with him, so forgetting is normal, right?”

Zhong Ling: “…”

“Did you lose your memory? Back when you were filming, on the set, Hu Ran said he liked your book. He was your loyal reader, always following you around and calling you ‘Scriptwriter Teacher.’ Everyone thought he was pursuing you. You even gave him a set of exquisitely signed books. Did you forget?”

Zhong Ling shouted into the microphone, and Qin Zhaoyi felt like her ears were under heavy attack.

But she slowly recalled a little bit.

During the filming of “Fox Under the Moonlight,” she had some interactions with the crew.

During that period of high pressure, she was working on creating a new book while also busy with script revisions. She only remembered that the male lead looked decent, but his face was quite innocent, giving a strong sense of purity that didn’t quite match her image of the male lead. It was because Zhong Ling said he had excellent acting skills and portrayed a stark contrast in his roles. Later, she did see his dark side on the monitor.

Due to this, she treated him with a bit of goodwill, but her impression was quite superficial.

When Zhong Ling mentioned it, Qin Zhaoyi remembered the male student who used to call her “Scriptwriter Teacher” and “Jie.”

Then she suddenly realized, oh, that was Hu Ran.

However…

“I didn’t give him that set of books.” Qin Zhaoyi said, “It was prepared by Zhou Xi.”

She was only responsible for signing and giving them away; everything else was handled by Zhou Xi.

When Zhou Xi was brought up, Zhong Ling tentatively asked, “You haven’t been in touch since then?”

Qin Zhaoyi was silent. “No.”

Zhong Ling tried to mediate, “After working together for so many years, she has always been dedicated. Is there something you can’t get past? With your stubborn temper, if you don’t give people a way out from the start, Zhou Xi is at least your senior. She must be upset this time too.”

Qin Zhaoyi didn’t refute Zhong Ling’s words; she just replied, “I’ll think about it myself.”

Zhong Ling didn’t pursue the matter further.

What Qin Zhaoyi didn’t tell Zhong Ling was that the major point of contention in her argument with Zhou Xi that day was the feeling that Zhou Xi treated her like a commodity. It wasn’t just about treating her books as commodities.

Writers all have their own sentiments; it’s a universally accepted fact throughout history. Qin Zhaoyi naturally had her sentiments, but she couldn’t refuse the fame and fortune that her works brought. When she sold her sentiments, Zhou Xi was rationalizing and operating things beyond the content for her.

So she gave Zhou Xi enough space.

However, she never expected that one day she would be treated as a product on a shelf.

This made her very uncomfortable.

Combined with her recent decision to take a break, she didn’t deliberately talk to Zhou Xi about this matter.

Regarding work, Qin Zhaoyi’s romantic thoughts sparked by Luo Yue had also dissipated quite a bit. When she switched back to the conversation with Luo Yue, she replied calmly, “Okay.”

But unexpectedly, even a simple word was noticed by Luo Yue as off: “What’s wrong? Are you unhappy?”

Qin Zhaoyi hesitated for a moment, then lifted the corners of her mouth with a faint smile, “No.”

Although there was a smile in her words, it was also forced.

Luo Yue patiently asked, “Did something happen that made you unhappy, or do you not want to watch the movie with me?”

Qin Zhaoyi, not wanting Luo Yue to know about her trivial matters, answered with a smile, “No.”

Changing the topic, she asked, “Do you like Hu Ran?”

Luo Yue: [I like his acting skills.]

Qin Zhaoyi suddenly wondered, “You… shouldn’t you prefer female celebrities? Why do you like a male actor?”

Luo Yue chuckled, “Liking girls doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate male actors, right? Celebrities are all unattainable; I’m just an ordinary audience, simply appreciating their performances in TV shows.”

After hearing this, Qin Zhaoyi searched her WeChat and indeed found such an account.

At that time, she didn’t even bother to change the nickname in her contacts, and it remains as “[Hu Hu]” until now.

It’s because in the crew’s group chat, Hu Ran’s nickname was indeed “Hu Hu”.

Qin Zhaoyi sneakily asked Luo Yue, “If you had Hu Ran’s WeChat, is there anything you’d like to say to him? Or would you like his autographed photo?”

Luo Yue: [Can you get it?]

Qin Zhaoyi: [I have a director friend.]

She wasn’t technically lying. Zhong Ling was indeed her director friend.

Luo Yue thought for a moment, “I used to really want the signed merchandise for ‘Fox Under the Moonlight.’ Didn’t the crew release an OST album back then? It had the signatures of all the main creators. I really liked Director Zhong Ling at that time.”

Qin Zhaoyi: “…”

Unable to resist, Qin Zhaoyi asked, “The original work of this movie is by Sicily. Don’t you like her?”

It was an impulsive question, and she felt a bit anxious after asking.

It was like testing Luo Yue, hiding behind a half-truth, waiting only for Luo Yue’s confirmation.

After a moment, Luo Yue smiled and asked, “What? Are you Sicily?”

Qin Zhaoyi: “!”

She didn’t mind admitting it before, but not now.

She knew exactly how bad Sicily’s reputation was at the moment.

If this were in the past, she would have readily admitted it.

But now, she didn’t want to.

Luo Yue continued to smile, “If you’re Sicily, then I like Sicily.”