After the Divorce, the Whole World is Waiting for Us to Get Back Together - Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The woods, rarely visited by people, were naturally silent. Cheng Xi could hear the sound of Meng Zhijin’s footsteps crushing dry branches.

Actually, there was no need to bring up things that had already passed. Discussing them felt not only pointless but also made one seem resentful and petty.

But she was petty. She did still feel resentful. It was like a scab that looked healed being crudely pried open by a fingernail. It was bloody and raw; the new skin hadn’t grown back at all. They were only civil on the surface.

With no cameras between them, the bridge connecting them seemed to vanish, and the silence took on a different flavor. Meng Zhijin remained silent, offering no answer for a long time.

The “candy ball” that had been rolling in Cheng Xi’s heart these past few days finally melted through its outer sugar coating. The lemon flavor leaked out, and the spreading sensation was nothing but sour bitterness.

Cheng Xi’s past waist injury was an accident Meng Zhijin hadn’t participated in, but its aggravation was an accident caused specifically because of her.

Weather can turn from sunny to a rainstorm in an instant, but human relationships never work that way. The dark clouds in the sky always stack up layer by layer until the cord can no longer hold the storm, and it pours.

No one wants to dwell on unpleasant memories. Cheng Xi gripped the somewhat heavy basket and changed the subject: “The marketing accounts all said you lost a ton of weight for your role. Looking at you now, it seems you’ve just gotten leaner.”

Meng Zhijin nodded. “After filming The Silent, I exercised a bit.”

Cheng Xi looked at the T-shirt that barely stayed up on Meng Zhijin’s shoulders and exposed her: “You probably picked up quite a few health issues along the way, too.”

“I’m alright,” Meng Zhijin replied indifferently. She adjusted Cheng Xi on her back, hitching her higher. Her cool arms pressed against Cheng Xi’s thighs with steady strength. “I’ll slowly recover.”

Those words sounded familiar. Cheng Xi remembered Meng Zhijin saying something similar in the dressing room at the photo studio. The same tone and calm overlapped. The profile reflected in the mirror back then really did seem to be speaking directly to her.

Just as the sentence ended, Cheng Xi noticed Meng Zhijin starting to turn her head back. For reasons she couldn’t explain, she felt a sudden surge of nervousness. She placed one hand on Meng Zhijin’s face, stopping the movement. “Watch the road. Don’t get distracted.”

These words were meant for Meng Zhijin, but also for herself. The cameras are gone, why am I still overthinking? Just get down the mountain quietly.

The path down the mountain wasn’t easy, but Meng Zhijin carefully carried Cheng Xi all the way down.

Yu Tong was currently squatting in the potato field resting. She was likely truly exhausted; her usual polished appearance was gone. Cheng Xi could already foresee that when this footage aired, the “Meme Army” would have a powerful new addition.

Noticing that Cheng Xi was being carried down by Meng Zhijin, everyone—including the crew—panicked. Yu Tong ran straight over, her eyes full of worry: “Sister Cheng Xi! What happened?!”

“I took a fall,” Cheng Xi answered calmly. With the help of the crew, she slid down from Meng Zhijin’s back. After resting during the trek, her waist didn’t feel as painful as it did right after the fall. She figured it wasn’t a big deal.

“A fall? Where did you hit? Your head? Ankle? Butt? Let me see…” Yu Tong’s “worried mother” persona emerged out of nowhere as she fussed over Cheng Xi. Before she could actually start a physical inspection, Xu Changyan pulled her back with a dark expression.

Compared to Yu Tong’s noisy panic, Xu Changyan was much calmer. She asked, “Teacher Cheng, do you need to go to the hospital?”

“No need.” “Yes.”

Two people answered at once, but they weren’t in unison.

“No need,” Cheng Xi repeated to Meng Zhijin. “I’ll go back and see if Xiao Wu packed any medicated patches. I’ll be fine once I apply one. If it’s still bad tomorrow morning, it won’t be too late to go to the hospital. Let’s not delay the filming.”

Meng Zhijin frowned. She didn’t know where Cheng Xi’s sudden burst of professionalism had come from. It was as if threads from the past were tugging at Meng Zhijin’s nerves. She paused, then countered: “Can you guarantee that by waiting until tomorrow, this fall won’t result in any lasting issues?”

Meng Zhijin’s cold gaze had somehow become deeper, and there was no room for negotiation in her question. Cheng Xi sensed a level of hardness she had never felt from Meng Zhijin before. Without trying to joke her way out of it, she simply nodded and agreed.

The filming location was remote and lacked sufficient medical equipment. For Cheng Xi to go to a hospital, she had to return to the city. Fortunately, the crew didn’t dare be negligent and quickly arranged a car. Not wanting to miss any usable footage, Cheng Xi’s cameraman also followed.

Cheng Xi looked at the message from her manager, Qi Ming, saying she had already arrived at the hospital. She said to the driver, “We can go now.”

But the driver seemed to have something to say. Before he could speak, the car door was pulled open again.

Meng Zhijin got in.

Cheng Xi was surprised. “I can go by myself. Sister Ming is waiting for me at the hospital.”

Meng Zhijin disagreed. “Your PD can go, but I can’t?” With that, she closed the door and sat down in the back seat next to Cheng Xi.

Perhaps because the rare hardness Meng Zhijin had shown earlier was still lingering in her mind, Cheng Xi didn’t tease or argue this time. The car started slowly. As the mountains receded, Cheng Xi looked out at the landscape—no longer shrouded in morning mist—and asked suddenly: “We haven’t officially announced anything. Aren’t you afraid of being snapped by the paparazzi following me? They’ll make a huge fuss.”

“They wouldn’t dare,” Meng Zhijin replied.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t afraid. It was that they dared not. Yesterday, Meng Zhijin’s studio had issued a lawyer’s letter to Blackberry Entertainment, stamped with the name of Meng Zhijin’s father’s prestigious law firm. Not just in the entertainment industry, but across the country, no one’s scalp didn’t tingle at the sight of that firm’s name. With a massive win rate and a history of reversing major cases, they were synonymous with certain defeat for whoever was on the opposing side.

When Meng Zhijin first debuted, there were many sasaeng fans and black PR rumors, but they were all dealt with ruthlessly to “kill the chicken to warn the monkeys.” Now that she was back in the country after two years, this was another warning to others that she was not to be messed with.

Since they were once so close, Cheng Xi naturally understood the subtext. She watched the mountains fade into the distance, her thoughts drifting. She asked another question: “Why didn’t you leave that day?”

She was asking about the day she was harassed by the sasaeng and ran out of her apartment building right into Meng Zhijin’s arms. Based on the time it took to go up and down the stairs, no matter how bad Meng Zhijin’s driver was, they should have long since turned around and left.

Meng Zhijin looked at Cheng Xi. Her eyes paused. Clouds pushed by the wind covered the sun, casting a mist over the clear mountain stream.

Meng Zhijin gave a faint “Oh” and explained, “I found a lipstick you dropped in the car and wanted to return it. Later I found I was mistaken; it was a spare lipstick Xiao Qi left in the vehicle.”

She spoke calmly, looking composed as if narrating an insignificant blunder.

“Oh,” Cheng Xi replied, mirroring her tone. It was a flat, watery sound that held either no emotion or something much deeper. Red nails were reflected in the window as Cheng Xi propped up her chin, mocking herself: “I thought it was some romantic story about a hero sensing danger and choosing to stay and save the damsel in distress.”

Meng Zhijin’s eyes darkened, but she said nothing.

The car soon reached the Chinese Medicine Hospital. The noon sun had shifted slightly and was no longer as piercing. Because of Cheng Xi’s history of waist injuries, Qi Ming had found the old practitioner who had treated her before.

“Miss Cheng’s waist injury isn’t severe this time, but you must rest well. Do not do any heavy physical labor.” The old gentleman inserted the final needle into the corresponding acupoint, his technique precise and steady.

Then, he slowly looked toward Meng Zhijin and advised the two of them in a low volume: “As for that area of activity, keep it in moderation.”

Perhaps because the old man’s clear eyes were linked to his suggestion, making it incredibly embarrassing, Cheng Xi’s face instantly flushed. She waved her hands in frantic explanation: “No, we aren’t… that’s not…”

“Eh?” The old man blinked, then saw the cameras pointed at them. Realizing something, he added, “My apologies.”

“It’s fine,” Cheng Xi waved it off.

“I’ll come back in thirty minutes to remove the needles,” the old man said.

“Alright,” Qi Ming nodded, following the old man out as he gestured. Because the artist truly needed rest, the crew’s cameraman tactfully stepped out as well.

Only Cheng Xi and Meng Zhijin remained in the room. Perhaps because the embarrassment of being misunderstood hadn’t faded, the area was quite silent. Cheng Xi lay prone on the clean hospital bed. With her vision limited, her thoughts took the chance to run wild. She didn’t know how the old man had accurately picked out Meng Zhijin as her partner from the whole room of people. She couldn’t quite remember if Meng Zhijin had been there during her previous visits.

As she thought, her eyelids grew heavy. Having exhausted her physical strength climbing the mountain, she soon fell asleep.

But she didn’t sleep deeply. A fox is a highly guarded animal; in such a strange place, she only closed her eyes for a nap without dreaming. But it was enough rest.

Cheng Xi lazily opened her eyes, wanting to see if half of the thirty minutes had passed, only to see Meng Zhijin sleeping on an iron chair by the window. Compared to others Cheng Xi had seen, Meng Zhijin slept beautifully. Her hair fell from her slightly tilted head, covering most of her face and hiding her sleeping expression. Her arms were crossed, and her back was still incredibly straight; only her shoulders were relaxed, and even then, only slightly.

The slightly bitter scent of herbs lingered in the room, matching the person before her. As if sensing she was being watched, Meng Zhijin’s eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes.

She looked at Cheng Xi’s gaze directed at her. For a split second, there was a look of post-sleep confusion in her eyes before she regained her calm. She asked, “When did you wake up?”

Looking at Meng Zhijin, a bit of mischief rose in Cheng Xi’s heart. She rested her chin on her crossed arms, her head tilted to the side: “About five minutes after I started watching you perform the art of sleeping while sitting.”

Her fox-like eyes were filled with blatant amusement, her words entirely teasing. Meng Zhijin wasn’t flustered. She simply said, “I was going to ask if you felt better, but now I know you are.”

She might really be tired. Her voice wasn’t quite clear. As she spoke, she leaned back against the chair and closed her eyes again.

But before she could drift off, Cheng Xi’s voice drifted over. The afternoon sun was still bright and dazzling. Meng Zhijin sat with the light behind her; Cheng Xi was bathed in light at the center of her vision.

Cheng Xi’s loose clothing was pulled up, revealing a waist that could be held in one hand and the smooth lines of her spine. Her skin was as white as a jade mountain, undulating and exceptionally beautiful, though the few silver needles standing out were an eyesore that made one feel pain just looking at them.

But Cheng Xi didn’t seem to care, or perhaps she was used to it. The small face resting on her arms moved slightly as she offered a proactive invitation:

“Teacher Meng, if you don’t mind, why don’t you come up on the bed and squeeze in with me?”

Support