After Reuniting with My Aloof Movie Queen Childhood Friend - Chapter 30.1

It wasn’t as if Ji Youyi had never shared a hotel room with someone before.

Actually, that wasn’t accurate. It would be better to say she had barely ever slept alone in her entire life.

Aside from a brief period when she had just reached adulthood and owned her own room, for the vast majority of her time, Ji Youyi lived on production sets.

Standard crews put two people to a room. In her earlier, poorer days, she had slept in rooms of four, rooms of eight, and even inside cardboard boxes in the corners of communal floor mat setups.

Even though she later rose to fame and became the highly anticipated “Director Ji,” she never allowed the crew to open a back door for her. Only when she needed to work through the night alone, so as not to disturb her roommate’s rest, would she go out to open a temporary separate room.

With such a rich wealth of “cohabitation” experience, what was there to panic about!

Ji Youyi strode forward open mindedly and went upstairs with Meng Xingshu.

The 16-hour drive and a full day of work left them completely exhausted, but Ji Youyi couldn’t rest just yet.

Stepping into the room, she was about to habitually offer the polite courtesy of letting Meng Xingshu shower first. But the moment she opened her mouth, a sudden problem struck her.

Wouldn’t that mean she would have to use the bathroom right after Meng Xingshu had used it??

The room’s power grid had just turned on, making the air a bit stuffy. Ji Youyi felt herself growing hot from head to toe.

She hurriedly ran over to turn on the air conditioner, keeping her back to Meng Xingshu. “Haha, Teacher Meng, can I shower first? I still have to work after I’m done.”

“Go ahead.”

Meng Xingshu’s words felt like a pardon. Ji Youyi breathed a sigh of relief and dove straight into the bathroom.

By the time she finished showering and stepped back out, her mind had cleared up. She grabbed her laptop, walked straight over to the desk, and started a video conference with her Director of Photography.

Unlike directors with fiercely stubborn personal styles, although Ji Youyi was strict with her staging and blocking, she was a director who welcomed creative input from the rest of her main creators.

Rather than working behind closed doors, she preferred dragging her team into brainstorming sessions to let their ideas clash.

The Director of Photography for this drama was someone Ji Youyi had personally interviewed and selected from a shortlist pre-screened by Meng Xingshu.

The DP’s name was Ruan Congfei. She possessed a deep love for cinema. After graduating from film school, she had worked as a camera assistant across various film crews for over a decade to chase her dreams, but she had never found the golden opportunity to take the next step up.

Consequently, when she heard that Meng Xingshu was assembling a television drama project, she hesitated for days. Considering the long row of Best Actress honors her potential employer held, she ultimately made the decision to pivot industries and submitted her resume.

Ji Youyi was highly satisfied with her.

She had technical skill, ideas, ambition, and a willingness to endure hardships. Although her capability naturally had a gap compared to top-tier cinematographers due to her limited experience, it was more than enough for shooting a television drama.

Faced with an abundance of materials, the two immersed themselves in the discussion, and time flew by.

After an unknown amount of time, a soft rustle echoed from somewhere in the room. Ji Youyi instinctively followed the sound with her eyes and saw Meng Xingshu stepping out of the bathroom.

Having just showered, Meng Xingshu had changed into a black nightgown, which made her already fair skin look as pristine as congealed milk.

The gown was soft and smooth, with the sash loosely tied, forming a V-neckline above that cleanly outlined a beautiful silhouette.

Her clear face carried a very faint flush of pink from the bathroom steam. Her long hair was half-dry, its dampness making it appear stark black, with a few strands draping loosely over her forehead and the side of her face.

The bathroom light had been turned off. Meng Xingshu stood in the shadow, her dark, tranquil eyes lifting to lock eyes directly with Ji Youyi.

Ji Youyi instinctively held her breath, and time seemed to freeze at that exact moment.

Of course, time couldn’t actually stand still.

Because she heard Ruan Congfei’s voice coming through the laptop speaker, entirely innocent, with every single word perfectly clear. “Oh, Director Ji, why is your face flushing red?”

The computer audio was on speaker. In the very next second, Ji Youyi swiftly slammed the mute button.

With the audio cut and her microphone muted, Ji Youyi calmly picked up a stack of papers to fan herself. “Hahaha, this ghost weather is so hot. Teacher Meng, do you feel like the AC temperature is a bit high?”

“A little.” Meng Xingshu walked over to the AC control panel, her gorgeous waistline reflecting in Ji Youyi’s eyes. “I’ll turn it down by one degree first. Let me know if you feel cold.”

“Mm, mm.” Ji Youyi gave a casual response and hurriedly lowered her head.

She frantically flipped through the documents in her hand as if searching for something. After a few seconds of cooling down, she unmuted her audio and microphone, picking up the previous topic. “Feifei, let’s take another look at…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the call was abruptly disconnected by Ruan Congfei.

Several messages popped up in the chat interface:

[Ah! Director Ji, my body suddenly feels so unwell! I need to rest first, so sorry, so sorry.]

[I plan to sleep in late all day tomorrow. As for the script, can we talk about it face-to-face after you come back?]

[I wish you happiness.] Two seconds later, this message turned into [“Keen eyed Little Feifei” recalled a message].

Director Ji was silent for a moment, choosing not to overthink it, and typed a reply. [Thanks for your hard work, get some good rest.]

It was just one less person to brainstorm with; this shouldn’t stop Ji Youyi from continuing her work alone… right?

Five minutes later, Ji Youyi was on the verge of a breakdown facing a document with zero progress.

Being alone in a room with Meng Xingshu was significantly harder than she had anticipated.

Without Ruan Congfei constantly throwing out questions that forced her to answer, she found it incredibly difficult to control her own attention span.

She could rigidly restrain her eyes from looking around blindly, but she couldn’t stop her curiosity from bubbling up continuously.

The intense curiosity that used to be strictly reserved for her work had somehow transferred onto a single person.

What is she doing? Why is she so quiet?

Now that she’s settled into the hotel, doesn’t she need to call someone?

Or is she texting right now? Is she… smiling…?

Ji Youyi was already exhausted, and having her head packed with these completely unproductive thoughts made her feel terribly uncomfortable.

She closed her eyes, exhaled a long breath, and covered her head with both hands, rubbing her temples with the heels of her palms to force herself to calm down. Yet, she heard light, slow footsteps approaching from a distance.

Her slightly curled fingers secretly tightened as she pretended not to hear, keeping her head down.

“Headache?” A water glass was placed softly on the desk, followed by a clear, cool voice. A fair, cold hand held out a blanket. “Is it cold? Covering up might make you feel better.”

This is a professional, dedicated producer providing standard, routine logistical support.

After Ji Youyi finished chanting this mantra internally, she lifted her head and flashed a smile at Meng Xingshu. “Thank you, Teacher Meng.”

She took the blanket, shook it open, and draped it over her shoulders. Crossing her arms, she wrapped herself tightly inside, then picked up the water glass, taking two big sips to show appreciation.

The hot water was at the perfect temperature. The AC blanket was likely brought by Meng Xingshu for her personal use, just like the heavy coat she had gifted her before, it carried that same pleasant fragrance from Meng Xingshu’s body.

Ji Youyi breathed carefully, placing the glass back on the desk as she shifted into her social mode. “Teacher Meng, aren’t you going to sleep yet? I usually have a habit of working until the middle of the night, which might disrupt your rest. How about I go ahead and book a separate room for you after all?”

“No need,” Meng Xingshu said flatly. “I won’t be sleeping anytime soon either.”

Ji Youyi asked politely, “Is there work to be done?”

Meng Xingshu stood a single step away, her gaze locked onto Ji Youyi.

She could see Ji Youyi’s unnatural stiffness when they were alone.

She knew she was awkward, that she was avoiding her. Meng Xingshu knew all of it, but she still couldn’t control herself from drawing closer to her.

Booking the hotel tonight was an accident.

She was certain that after tonight, Ji Youyi would only become more cautious to prevent this type of accident from happening again.

This would very likely be the one and only time she would have the chance to remain inside her private domain.

She simply could not resist such a temptation.

Therefore, even when she saw her freezing in complete awkwardness in front of the check-in screen, she still chose to step forward, despicably disregarding her discomfort.

She wanted to look at her, wanted to hear her speak, didn’t want to leave, and didn’t want to step back.

…She wouldn’t do anything.

She simply wanted to be by her side. Even if it was just to listen to her breathing, to look at her figure, even if it was just for one more second, it would be enough.

Meng Xingshu’s eyelashes fluttered gently. Letting out a soft chuckle, she replied casually like they were just chatting, “I suppose so. My younger sister’s birthday is coming up soon, and I’m thinking about what to get her.”

“Oh, I see.” Ji Youyi’s eyes lit up. Encountering a straightforward topic, her stalled brain finally restarted its gears, and her posture gradually relaxed.

Because of the movie Eye of the Storm, Ji Youyi possessed a natural fondness for Meng Xingshu’s younger sister.

Her interest piqued, she helped brainstorm ideas. “You two don’t lack anything, so gifts are indeed hard to choose. What did you usually give her in the past?”

“In the past…” Meng Xingshu’s gaze drifted into the air, appearing somewhat distant. “In the past, she loved two kinds of things. Aside from delicious food, it was beautiful things. So later on, whenever I picked gifts, I would always choose beautiful things to buy.”

Ji Youyi mused, “Then that sounds fairly easy to choose. There are way too many beautiful things out there.” Meng Xingshu was so beautiful, so it made perfect sense that her sister liked beautiful things too.

The corners of Meng Xingshu’s lips curled up. “But that was in the past; I’m not sure if she still likes them now. I only found out this year that she is heavily invested in the film and television industry, but I’m not certain whether it’s out of genuine interest.”

Ji Youyi carefully recalled the live broadcast interview she had watched back in June.

At least from the lens, she couldn’t see much passion for acting from Meng Xiao. Instead, the young girl looked entirely pink and delicate, having meticulously dolled herself up to look incredibly cute.

She deduced, “I don’t think so. She should still be the same as before.”

“Really?” Meng Xingshu’s eyes brightened slightly, landing on Ji Youyi.

Ji Youyi felt helpless. She wasn’t Meng Xiao, so how could she possibly know for certain?

However, this is how people act toward things they value deeply, they heavily crave validation from those around them, even if most of that validation is entirely blind.

Ji Youyi could understand Meng Xingshu’s dilemma. After a brief thought, she suggested, “I’ve got it. Let’s try to reverse engineer it. Think back on what kind of gifts she has given you, summarize their common traits, and see if we can deduce her current preferences from that. What does she usually give you?”

“She gave me… a lot.”

“A lot?” What a bizarre description. Ji Youyi asked, “Specifically?”

Meng Xingshu smiled gently. “Just a lot.”

Ji Youyi understood. Meng Xingshu meant that the variety was too vast to summarize easily.

She helped organize her train of thought. “How about this, try to remember, among the gifts you received recently, which one did you like the most?”

Meng Xingshu said, “The flowers you gave me this year were very good.”

Ji Youyi blanked out.

Why had they suddenly entered the commercial flattery segment?

And was the grand movie queen’s comprehension and expression capability truly up to par? She had merely left out a tiny bit of context, yet she had completely misread her words.

Clearly, when they were reviewing the script earlier, she looked far more professional than her, and was even better at torturing… no, spurred on, the screenwriters… It was probably because she drank too much tonight?

She had no choice but to explain patiently, “My meaning was, among the gifts your sister gave you, which one do you like the most?”

“The one I like the most… speaking of it, it’s a bit complicated…” Meng Xingshu seemed to be contemplating, her speaking speed slowing down. Her feet lifted slowly, taking the final step to close the gap between her and Ji Youyi.

She sat down beside Ji Youyi, keeping a slight distance. “It was roughly an event.”

“An event? That counts as a gift?” Ji Youyi’s curiosity was piqued by Meng Xingshu’s slow cadence. Her body naturally turned toward Meng Xingshu, leaning forward unconsciously. “Tell me about it?”

Meng Xingshu lowered her eyes slightly. “When we were little, one day before bedtime, I escorted her back to her room. On the way, she suddenly told me that she had heard a ghost story from a classmate during the day, and she was terrified and didn’t dare to sleep alone.”

“The management over there was rather strict. We lived in different rooms, and they would even conduct room checks at a set time. So, I waited until the room check ended, and then, taking advantage of the dead of night, I secretly climbed through the window into her room.”

Ji Youyi’s jaw dropped, but the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but tug upward.

A wealthy household was actually this strict? Two sisters couldn’t even sleep together, or were they attending some sort of boarding school back then?

Most importantly, for someone who looked as cold, ethereal, and detached as Meng Xingshu, she actually, climbed windows?! And it was climbing windows to break the rules!

“And then?” Ji Youyi listened to the story with great enthusiasm, her bright eyes locked onto Meng Xingshu without blinking.

Meng Xingshu lifted her gaze to look back at her, a gentle smile blooming across her face. “And then I accompanied her to sleep. We slept all the way until the next morning, and then I climbed back out the window.”

“At that time, the sky was just starting to brighten, and there were only birds chirping and insects buzzing outside. She lived on the second floor. I jumped from the window into the flower bed, and when I looked up, I saw her standing by the window waving at me, her eyes shining brightly.”

“That day was my birthday.”

The scene Meng Xingshu described unfolded slowly in Ji Youyi’s mind like a movie clip.

Ji Youyi could faintly see a small figure standing by the window, gripping the windowsill tightly, anxiously trying to peer outside.

She wasn’t tall enough, so she had to stand on her tiptoes to see the person in the flower bed. But she couldn’t hold the pose for long, so that head of messy, sleep-tousled hair kept bobbing up and down in the gray morning light.

Ji Youyi let out a knowing smile at the mental image. Tilting her head, she asked, “That sounds like a really long time ago. How old were you back then?”

“Nine.”

“Then that was nineteen years ago.” Ji Youyi calculated the time, feeling a bit sentimental. “So many years have passed, yet you still remember it to this day.”

Meng Xingshu looked deeply at her. “Yes. So many years have passed, yet I still remember it to this day.”

Meng Xingshu had actually omitted a few details.

The reason she insisted on her accompanying her to sleep that night was because she had picked up some “concepts” from somewhere.

Back then, she was only four and a half years old, an age where she couldn’t even read a clock. Lying on the bed, she refused to settle down and sleep, poking her every few moments to mouth the question, “What time is it?”

In order to coax her to sleep, even though it wasn’t even eleven o’clock yet, she lied to her and claimed it was already midnight.

To her surprise, the scare didn’t work. Instead, the person in her arms instantly became incredibly animated.

The other children in the dormitory had long since fallen into a peaceful slumber. She was very young, but she was incredibly well-behaved, knowing she couldn’t disturb the others. So, she wrapped her arms tightly around her neck and strained to tilt her head up.

Seeing how hard she was straining, she smiled and lowered her head, bringing her ear close to her. She listened to her joyfully press her lips tight against her ear and whisper, “Xiao Jiu, happy birthday!”

“I was tricking you tonight, I’m not afraid of ghosts at all.” She proudly puffed out her little chest, immensely pleased with her own cleverness. “This way, I’m the very first person to wish you a happy birthday! Tell me quickly if I’m right, am I the first?!”

The orphanage back then was very poor, and the curtains were only a thin layer. The moonlight leaked in from outside, allowing her to clearly see her soaring spirits and shining eyes.

It made her feel an urge to cry every single time she looked back on it over all these years.

That appeared to be a memory belonging solely to her now.

But it didn’t matter. She didn’t care whether she remembered it or not.

With the passage of time, both people and emotions undergo quiet transformations. Nineteen years had gone by, and too much had already become different.

Just like in the past, when she looked into those bright eyes, her heart would feel warm, believing she was the happiest person in the entire world.

But now.

She would want to kiss her.