Always Chasing My White Moonlight Omega - Chapter 33.2

Xu Zhiyi was about to ask what Ruan Yang was looking for when, in the blink of an eye, she noticed the sunlight overhead had weakened, and her vision became clearer.

Ruan Yang had pulled an umbrella out of her bag and was holding it over Xu Zhiyi.

“Let’s talk here,” Ruan Yang said, her hand holding the umbrella close to Xu Zhiyi’s cheek.

Whether it was from the heat or something else, Xu Zhiyi’s face suddenly flushed. Her gaze shifted to Jing Ziqi, who had been watching them from beside Ruan Yang.

Noticing Xu Zhiyi looking at her, Jing Ziqi’s eyes darted, and she put on her headphones, moving to the back seat. “I’ll go to the back. You two talk.”

At the same time, the driver arrived. Seeing Xu Zhiyi there, he looked surprised. “Zhiyi? What are you doing here?”

Xu Zhiyi forced a laugh. “The director didn’t have time, so he asked me to see them off.”

“Well, hurry up, Zhiyi,” the driver said as he got into the car. “Any later and it’ll be the hottest part of the day.”

Xu Zhiyi nodded.

With the driver here, she knew she didn’t have much time left, and yet Ruan Yang insisted on talking here.

How could they talk here?

Xu Zhiyi sighed inwardly, then quietly extended her hand, placing it in front of Ruan Yang.

She said softly, “I won’t wear nail polish anymore.”

After a moment’s thought, she felt such a definitive statement wasn’t good, so she added, “Unless it’s necessary for filming.”

Hearing this, Ruan Yang narrowed her eyes slightly.

But she quickly masked her reaction, returning to her usual expression as she said calmly, “Mm.”

Just an “Mm”?

Xu Zhiyi suddenly felt at a loss.

This wasn’t how she had imagined it would go.

Truthfully, Xu Zhiyi herself wasn’t entirely sure what kind of reaction she had wanted from Ruan Yang, but it definitely wasn’t this simple, indifferent “Mm.”

She froze for a long moment, but just as she was about to continue speaking, Ruan Yang said calmly, “Sister Zhiyi, you’re free to apply it if you want. There’s no need to tell me.”

Xu Zhiyi was completely at a loss for words.

Why did she feel so stifled?

Ruan Yang’s words had cut off any follow-up Xu Zhiyi might have had. She stared at the hand Ruan Yang was using to hold the umbrella for her, and for a moment, all thoughts in her mind came to a halt.

In that brief second of distraction, Ruan Yang’s phone buzzed someone had sent her a message.

Xu Zhiyi watched as Ruan Yang hurriedly pulled her phone out of her pocket with her free hand to reply, her movements carrying a hint of urgency.

Who was it?

She couldn’t help but feel curious.

But soon, Xu Zhiyi’s attention was diverted.

Because the phone charm on Ruan Yang’s phone dangled mid-air as she moved, it was still the one Xu Zhiyi had given her before.

Ruan Yang hadn’t replaced the charm she had given her.

This realization made Xu Zhiyi frown.

It wasn’t until Ruan Yang finished replying to the message and looked back at Xu Zhiyi that she finally noticed the change in Xu Zhiyi’s expression.

“What’s wrong?” Ruan Yang slipped her phone back into her pocket, her tone carrying a faint, almost imperceptible note of concern.

“Nothing.” Xu Zhiyi snapped out of it, and when she spoke again, the warmth in her voice had noticeably faded.

She took a step back. “It’s nothing. I’ve said what I needed to say. I’ll go now.”

“Wait!”

This time, it was Ruan Yang who called out to Xu Zhiyi just as she was about to turn and leave.

Xu Zhiyi stopped in her tracks, her gaze no longer as bright as before. “What is it?”

She wasn’t far from Ruan Yang, who, with her long arms, reached out and pressed the open parasol into Xu Zhiyi’s hand.

“Take it with you,” Ruan Yang said, looking at Xu Zhiyi’s face. “It’s hot out. Fainting would be miserable.”

Xu Zhiyi stared at the umbrella in her hand with a complicated expression.

When Ruan Yang had handed it to her, her fingertips felt cool enough to jolt one awake.

She didn’t say anything, only nodded.

Then she walked away.

Ruan Yang watched Xu Zhiyi’s retreating figure, her fingers unconsciously rubbing her wrist.

What was going on?

The driver, seeing that Xu Zhiyi had left, quickly asked Ruan Yang, “Assistant Ruan, can we go now? The sun is just too intense.”

Ruan Yang took one last glance at Xu Zhiyi, who was about to disappear around the corner. She withdrew her gaze, closed the car door, and nodded to the driver. “Yes, let’s go.”

The car started quickly and sped out of the film studio at a rapid pace, heading straight for the city center.

Over the next month, Ruan Yang returned to her own crew and began filming her short drama.

It was a period short drama, and the broadcasting platform had already been secured. Short dramas had fewer regulations for release once Ruan Yang finished filming and submitted it for review, it could be aired.

As this was her first time directing, even though she had gained some experience under Director Wu Jun, she still felt somewhat lacking. The progress was much slower than expected.

Soon, it was time for the new semester to begin. With the drama still unfinished, Ruan Yang requested another month’s leave from the university.

Over the past month, Ruan Yang had almost no time to pay attention to Xu Zhiyi’s updates. She had added Jiangjiang’s work WeChat, and from the snippets of complaints in Jiangjiang’s social media posts, she could gather that Xu Zhiyi had taken a brief break after filming Wild Geese Startle the Swan and participated in a few variety show recordings before immediately diving into another production.

Truly a model worker in the entertainment industry.

During her own downtime, Ruan Yang instinctively opened Jiangjiang’s social media feed and was surprised to find a post mentioning that Xu Zhiyi would be attending a gala on Mid-Autumn Festival, meaning she wouldn’t even get a holiday this year.

Ruan Yang vaguely remembered hearing something about this event, possibly at school. She decided to look it up and was astonished to discover that this year’s gala was being jointly organized with several universities across the empire and the venue was actually at her own university!

As the empire’s top university, S University had ample resources, and its theater facilities were on par with many dedicated event venues. With a large student population providing built-in publicity, it was no surprise that many events were held there.

As she browsed, Ruan Yang opened her calendar to check if there were any filming arrangements scheduled for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Just as she unlocked her phone, Qu Shanshan, one of the main actors in their short drama, bounced over. Spotting Ruan Yang, she quickly composed herself and put on a pitiful expression, leaning in closer. “Director, Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up soon. There’s a gala at our university, and I’d really like to go back and see it.”

Their low-budget short drama didn’t involve any big-name actors, and no one put on airs, so the entire crew got along quite well. At first, Qu Shanshan had assumed Ruan Yang would be a nitpicky and unapproachable director. But after a month of working together, she realized Ruan Yang was actually quite reasonable whenever she made mistakes during filming, Ruan Yang would patiently explain and guide her.

More importantly, Ruan Yang knew about her relationship with Qu Lingxuan but never gave her any special treatment. That alone earned Ruan Yang a great deal of respect from Qu Shanshan.

Ruan Yang listened expressionlessly to Qu Shanshan’s pleading tone and quietly locked her phone. “What do you plan to do there?” she asked.

Qu Shanshan glanced around before leaning in and whispering, “I want to see my sister.”

“Your sister?” Ruan Yang frowned slightly. “Your sister is going too?”

Unaware of the shift in Ruan Yang’s tone, Qu Shanshan nodded blankly. “Yeah, my sister will be there too. I haven’t seen her in so long.”

The words of agreement Ruan Yang had been about to speak were swallowed back. She tapped her fingers lightly a couple of times before finally saying, “We’ll see.”

“How can we just ‘see’?” Qu Shanshan widened her eyes in disbelief. “Are we not getting any time off for Mid-Autumn Festival? Are we really going to keep filming? That’s just cruel exploitation!”

Ruan Yang listened impassively to Qu Shanshan’s complaints. Just as she was about to stand up and leave, her phone vibrated in her pocket. The moment she heard the ringtone, she immediately pulled out her phone, her eyes widening in clear surprise.

In the three years since she had come to the Xu family, this was the first time that ringtone had ever sounded.

“Who is it, Director?” Qu Shanshan asked curiously. After a month of filming, this was the first time she had seen such a strong emotional reaction from Ruan Yang. Even when she had to retake a scene over a dozen times, Ruan Yang’s eyes had never widened this much.

Ruan Yang ignored Qu Shanshan and answered the call. A familiar voice came from the other end: “Ruan Yang?”

In that instant, Ruan Yang’s fingers tightened, gripping the hem of her clothes.

When there was no response from Ruan Yang, the voice on the other end continued, “It’s Xu Zhiyi.”

I know, Ruan Yang thought. I know.

She had saved this number for three years.

A faint sound escaped her throat. “Mm, I know.”

There was a brief silence on the other end before the voice spoke again, “I’ll be visiting your school during the Mid-Autumn Festival.”

Ruan Yang’s knuckles turned white from gripping the phone too tightly, and her palm grew damp with sweat. She didn’t even know why she was so nervous.

She really wanted to ask Xu Zhiyi how she had been this past month, how she had gotten her phone number, and why she had specifically called to ask this question.

There were so many things she wanted to ask.

But in the end, she only softened her voice and said, “Mm, I just saw this too.”

The other end of the line fell silent again.

At this moment, even the silence felt thick and heavy.

But someone just couldn’t stand such an atmosphere.

Qu Shanshan had been waiting for Ruan Yang’s answer. Seeing her completely absorbed in the phone call, an idea suddenly popped into her head.

For the sake of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, she shouted recklessly, “Ruan Yang! I don’t care, you have to agree! Do you know I’ve lost seven pounds because of you? How can you not spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with me!”

Ruan Yang hurriedly covered the phone’s microphone.

She didn’t know if Xu Zhiyi had heard.

She looked at Qu Shanshan, her expression shifting unpredictably, as if she had never been so speechless in her entire life.

A long time passed probably a very, very long time.

On the other end, it seemed like the person was laughing in disbelief.

“Lost seven pounds? Ruan Yang, what have you done to her?”

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