Chapter 14

“You…”

Zhou Zirong’s voice came from beside her.

Xu Yinghuai couldn’t help but secretly rejoice in her heart.

She knew it.

Zhou Zirong, despite all his flaws, had one redeeming quality—

—He was incredibly soft-hearted.

“Does it still hurt a lot?”

Zhou Zirong asked.

Xu Yinghuai nodded vigorously.

“You just took the medicine not long ago.”

Xu Yinghuai clutched her stomach with both hands, looking genuinely miserable. “But I also got emotionally neglected by my boss.”

“You know, during my period, I really can’t handle the cold.”

Zhou Zirong: “…”

Xu Yinghuai: “So, Boss, can you stop giving me the cold shoulder?”

Zhou Zirong: “Shut up.”

“Say one more word, and I’ll throw you off.”

Xu Yinghuai scrunched her nose. Looks like playing the pity card doesn’t work on someone he isn’t familiar with.

She silently took back the compliments she’d given him in her mind, adjusted her sitting posture, and stopped looking so sluggish.

A bottle of water, already opened, was handed to her.

Xu Yinghuai looked up, following the elegant fingers to see Zhou Zirong standing against the light, his whole body outlined by a soft, golden glow. Behind him, the street scenes flickered past in a blur.

“Painkillers shouldn’t be taken too frequently. If it really hurts… just drink some water.”

…

For the first time, Xu Yinghuai felt like there might be something wrong with her heart.

It skipped a long beat, then pounded heavily.

Like a grand piano sitting in an empty hall, suddenly struck by a violent punch, sending echoes crashing through the entire space.

She dazedly accepted the bottle and took a sip.

Then, trying to steady herself, she asked, “So, the cold war is over?”

A familiar look of helplessness appeared on Zhou Zirong’s face. After a brief pause, he let out a soft “Mm.”

A thought flashed in Xu Yinghuai’s mind—

Could Zhou Zirong have already recognized her?

This time, the thought was so strong that she couldn’t ignore it. Her racing heart almost pushed her to blurt out the truth right then and there.

Yes, she had been reborn.

Reborn into the body of a stranger.

But her body, or rather, Chi Yi’s body, was very rational.

Just as she was about to impulsively confess, her emotions settled down.

Forget it.

If he thought she was crazy, how would she make money?

She had just sent out half her paycheck to pay off debts.

—

After joining the crew, Xiao Chu Qing was extremely busy.

Even though he had memorized the script in advance, to ensure smooth filming, he still locked himself in his hotel room every night after work to go over his lines.

In comparison, Xu Yinghuai had a much easier time.

Zhou Zirong wasn’t actually a particularly demanding person in his daily life.

Aside from handing him water, wiping his sweat, reminding him to eat, and checking on his health, Xu Yinghuai had almost no other tasks.

In fact, Linda had hired her primarily to make sure Zhou Zirong ate three proper meals a day, so his stomach condition wouldn’t worsen and affect his work.

So, one morning when Zhou Zirong was filming, Xu Yinghuai took the opportunity to go home, pack some clothes, and bring Xiao Bai over.

She had noticed that many actors in the crew brought their dogs along, some were even high-paid canine actors, while others were stray dogs wandering nearby.

Thinking that Xiao Bai would probably adapt well here, and that she could take good care of him, Xu Yinghuai decided to bring him over—with his approval, of course.

She gave Xiao Bai a bath, dried his fur until it was fluffy and soft, then followed an online tutorial to give him his first vaccine shot and deworming treatment before stuffing him into a backpack and hopping on the bus.

Xiao Bai was really well-behaved.

He barely made a sound the entire way.

Everything was going smoothly, and Xu Yinghuai was even thinking about how to introduce Xiao Bai to Zhou Zirong later.

Then, after getting off the bus, she reached into her bag to pull out her phone and message Zhou Zirong, asking what he wanted for dinner so she could bring it back for him.

The moment she took her phone out, she realized it had shut down. But when she scanned the QR code to get on the bus earlier, it still had 50% battery.

Seeing this happen didn’t even surprise her anymore.

Chi Yi’s phone was seven years old, and at this point, it had developed a habit of randomly shutting down and playing dead.

Since she had dealt with this issue before, she was calm.

She held the power button for a while until the screen lit up—then suddenly, it started vibrating like crazy, bombarding her with message notifications.

Xu Yinghuai was startled.

The last time her phone went this wild was when she was an internet celebrity getting cyberbullied.

Before she could even read the messages, Linda’s call came through.

As soon as she picked up, Linda’s anxious voice blasted through,

“Chi Yi, where are you?”

“The crew said Zirong just fainted on set! What happened?”

Inside her canvas bag, Xiao Bai wriggled, slipping one of the straps loose and causing the entire bag to slide down.

Xu Yinghuai snapped out of her daze and quickly adjusted the strap, holding the bag firmly.

At that moment, she had so many questions.

She wanted to ask how Zhou Zirong could have fainted when he was perfectly fine when she left.

But this wasn’t a question she should be asking Linda—it was one Linda was asking her.

Xu Yinghuai also really wanted to lie.

Because this job paid really well, and what she had just done was technically neglecting her duties.

Linda’s job listing had clearly stated that she had to keep her phone on 24/7.

It sounded excessive, but Linda had explained that Zhou Zirong wasn’t the type to be unreasonable and demand tea at midnight. The rule was just in case of emergencies—like today, when he suddenly collapsed.

But in the end, Xu Yinghuai told the truth.

“Linda, I’m sorry. I went home to get some things today. I didn’t ignore my phone on purpose—it just has issues and shuts down randomly… I didn’t notice.”

Linda didn’t yell at her. She just calmly told her to contact the crew immediately, find out what was going on, and head to Huai’an First People’s Hospital to take care of Zhou Zirong.

Once he woke up, they would have a serious talk about this issue.

As Xu Yinghuai ran down the street, surrounded by actors in period costumes from different eras, she responded to Linda before hanging up and checking her messages.

A friend from the crew had texted her on WeChat.

But as she read through the messages, she suddenly stopped walking.

[Chi Yi, your boss fainted!]

[Where are you? We called you, but your phone was off.]

[Come quick—Huai’an First People’s Hospital.]

…

[Your boss is on an IV now. Don’t worry, it’s just a fever and exhaustion.]

[Hey, why aren’t you replying?]

[Can I gossip for a second?]

[The name your boss kept murmuring in his fever… was Xu Yinghuai.]

[That really famous, stunning internet celebrity, right?]

[Even in a fever, he kept calling out— “Xu Yinghuai, where are you? Where did you go? Who did you become?”

[Damn… were they together?]

[Or was it just one-sided love from your boss?]