Distance Formula - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

“Are you angry?”

At eight in the evening, the streets were still teeming with people, but the atmosphere inside the cramped car was terrifyingly somber.

Bai Biqing maintained a cold expression and remained silent. This was the second time today Su Yanshi had asked her this question, but the Beta truly had no desire to answer.

Those extra slaps weren’t in the script; Su Yanshi had added them herself simply to cover up her already swollen face. Although Director Liu had been full of praise for this improvisational addition, Bai Biqing remained unhappy.

She had gone up immediately to apply ice, and someone from the crew had bought medicine, but the swelling was still frighteningly red. Director Liu told Su Yanshi to take a day off and wait for the injury to improve before filming again, opting to shoot Hu Liyang’s solo scenes first. It should have been something to be happy about.

Su Yanshi sat in the passenger seat, crestfallen. She gripped her seatbelt tightly, casting occasional sidelong glances at Bai Biqing in an attempt to get her attention, but the Beta was determined not to budge.

“Teacher Bai.”

The Alpha’s voice dropped even lower, carrying a pleading tone as she spoke timidly: “I’m sorry.”

Bai Biqing’s breathing suddenly trembled. She slammed her foot on the accelerator and drove toward the hotel without a word. Beside her, Su Yanshi flinched, burying her head even deeper.

She didn’t know how to explain. Her face was still burning with pain—a pain that couldn’t be ignored even with an ice pack. For a time, both were silent, and the atmosphere plummeted below freezing.

The short distance felt exceptionally long. Out of the corner of her eye, Bai Biqing saw Su Yanshi’s fingertips twisting the seatbelt over and over, her head hanging as if she had been deeply wronged.

And she indeed had been wronged.

Bai Biqing was just angry—an inexplicable rage. She had suppressed enough fire over the three slaps Cui Xiaojiu delivered; thinking it was for the sake of the scene, she didn’t want to interfere with Su Yanshi’s work and had endured it in silence. Who would have thought this person would take an inch and demand a mile, relying on her backers to act with such impunity?

Fortunately, Liu Sheng wasn’t so senile that he would try to blacklist Su Yanshi. He couldn’t interfere to that extent; at most, he could use his connections to provide some resources. But Bai Biqing was different. The Bai family was different.

She was never soft-hearted, nor did she have any old sentiments to preserve. She had more than enough power to help Su Yanshi.

Yet the Alpha had still managed to get herself hurt, giving Bai Biqing the illusion that her plans had been disrupted.

When Su Yanshi uttered those three words—”I’m sorry”—Bai Biqing felt a nameless fire that she could neither vent nor hide. She couldn’t bring herself to interrogate her, nor was she willing to lose her temper.

Because the Alpha would only ever say “I’m sorry.”

But those three words were irrelevant to her.

Consequently, she simply sat in the cold underground garage, looking at her phone without raising her head, replying to Su Yanshi’s words in a flat tone: “You don’t need to say sorry to me; you haven’t done anything wrong to me. Your thoughts are yours to decide, and I have no right to interfere. I’ve done what I can; if I can’t do it, there’s nothing I can do. Su Yanshi, you are an actress. I am just a painter. I don’t understand acting, and I’m too lazy to learn. My anger might be nothing more than a source of confusion to you.”

“It’s true; whether my thoughts are important or not doesn’t really matter. You should just stick to your own ideas. Director Liu praised your performance, and I can truly offer a word of praise as well: you acted very well.”

“But besides that, Su Yanshi, I don’t want to say a single word.”

Bai Biqing’s tone wasn’t heavy; it was more of a flat narrative. After she finished, she clearly felt Su Yanshi’s stunned reaction. The Alpha turned her head blankly, looking at her in a daze, the rims of her eyes slightly red.

The Beta showed no lingering attachment. She left the car keys, closed the door, and turned to walk away. Su Yanshi was left staring blankly at her retreating back, murmuring: “Aren’t you going to wait for me?”

Only after Bai Biqing had been gone for nearly ten minutes did Su Yanshi slowly drag herself out of the car. She wore a baseball cap, her expression dejected as she walked forward. Her mind was filled with thoughts of how to make Bai Biqing stop being angry. She knew why the Beta was mad—it was because she cared, but facing Bai Biqing, Su Yanshi couldn’t say a word.

Today, Bai Biqing had called her by her full name.

The Alpha sighed sadly and pressed the elevator button. She didn’t want to look at her phone and hadn’t noticed what had been posted. She stared vacantly at a spot until the elevator doors opened and her eyes finally regained focus.

Unfortunately, today was destined to be extraordinary. Just as Su Yanshi stepped out of the elevator, she ran into Cui Xiaojiu. The other woman saw her too, making no effort to hide the triumph on her face.

“Well, look at this. If it isn’t the big star Su Yanshi. Oh my, what happened to this little face? Did someone hit you?”

Cui Xiaojiu burst into laughter after speaking. She strode toward Su Yanshi; although she sensed something strange about the other woman at this moment, her competitive nature drove her to provoke her.

Su Yanshi looked down at her, her eyes unreadable: “Cui Xiaojiu, you’re getting stupider as you get older.”

As soon as she spoke, she slammed Cui Xiaojiu against the wall with a ruthless gaze, cutting off the other woman’s unspoken words. She looked coldly at Cui Xiaojiu’s assistant while pinning the other Alpha down completely.

A massive amount of strong liquor pheromones surrounded Cui Xiaojiu like a giant web. As an Alpha, pheromone suppression was the most effective solution.

Su Yanshi was of a high rank, but she rarely used her pheromones to suppress others. This was the first time Cui Xiaojiu had smelled such an intense scent; her legs began to go weak, her breathing became difficult, her heart raced, and she looked at the person before her in terror.

“Cui Xiaojiu, don’t you think those little tricks of yours are incredibly clumsy?”

Su Yanshi forcefully pinched both of Cui Xiaojiu’s cheeks and slapped her back without mercy. She pushed herself away, watching the other woman tremble as she knelt on the floor: “This slap isn’t for today. Cui Xiaojiu, is it because I usually have such a good temper that I gave you the impression I’m easy to bully? I suppose so—back then, I didn’t have strength, connections, or traffic.”

She leaned down: “You’re more than welcome to post the recording of this on the internet. Guess whether I’m willing to go down with you.”

Su Yanshi bypassed her coldly, gave a snort, and turned to leave. As she passed the stunned little assistant, she reminded her casually: “Hurry up and help your good master over there. Be careful her brain doesn’t get so stupidly broken that she starts obsessively clinging to me.”

She strode away, completely ignoring Cui Xiaojiu’s curses. With a blank expression, she opened her room door and went straight to take a shower. Her phone was on silent; when she finally checked it, Li Zhuonan had already called her several times.

He had also sent many messages.

Su Yanshi felt irritable and didn’t return the call, instead clicking directly into the app. Li Zhuonan said he knew about today’s events and told her to relax; he would keep an eye on Cui Xiaojiu and told her to get some rest. He also mentioned that the interview was going to be released in the early hours of the morning.

Su Yanshi’s eyes brightened for a moment before dimming again. After replying to Li Zhuonan’s message, she turned off her phone, feeling dejected.

She imagined Bai Biqing had already received the news.

The Alpha agonized privately for a moment before gathering the courage to go and knock on Bai Biqing’s door. The Beta opened the door quickly. Su Yanshi didn’t give her time to speak, saying directly: “The interview is coming out tomorrow. I might need you to cooperate a bit.”

Bai Biqing’s hair was still dripping with water. She gave a soft “Mm” and asked, “Anything else?”

Hearing this, Su Yanshi felt like she was being chased away. Her head hung even lower. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling, but she was very reluctant to leave Bai Biqing, fearing the other woman would become distant. She gritted her teeth, looked up, and asked: “Teacher Bai, can you please not be so cold to me?”

She squeezed forward a bit, holding back tears: “Please?”

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