Famous Actresses, Please Keep Your Distance From Me - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Since Duan Rujin enjoyed these homophonic puns, Cen Zhi could cooperate in a moment like this where she needed to lower her head—even if the name was a bit hard to say.

But the effect seemed good. She heard Duan Rujin chuckle before asking, “Who is Thousand Cen Cake?”

“…It’s me.”

“And what lie wasn’t told?” Duan Rujin sighed softly. “I can’t quite remember.”

Cen Zhi felt that Duan Rujin was an expert at handling people. When she acted pitiful, it made Cen Zhi soften her heart and accompany her for the injection. When she was assertive, as she was now, she not only forced Cen Zhi to accept such a nickname but also made her recount the full details.

But what choice did she have?

Cen Zhi pursed her lips. “Meeting you again was a bit of a surprise for me.” She added stubbornly, “But not a huge one. I think we both understand that.”

The other side fell silent for a few seconds before a leisurely female voice rang out: “So you did think of me.”

In an instant, Cen Zhi thought of a meme: “Have some snacks!”

“Snacks? What snacks?”

The current situation was no different from that meme. Was that what she was trying to express?

“Why aren’t you speaking?” Duan Rujin laughed again on the other end. “Weren’t you going to give me something?”

The nonsensical topic was dropped, and Cen Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. “Mhm. How should I get it to you?”

“You’re coming to the hotel?”

Cen Zhi shook her head at her phone. “No,” she said. “I don’t want to know where you’re staying.”

“Not even if I’m leaving Yuncheng tomorrow?”

“No.” Cen Zhi used Duan Rujin’s own previous excuse to block the path. “That’s your private address.”

Duan Rujin accepted this reasoning. “You’re right.” She suggested, “Then let’s do dinner. The restaurant I mentioned at noon—I’ll book a table in advance.”

“You didn’t go?” Cen Zhi blurted out. She had assumed Duan Rujin went there right after getting out of the car.

“You weren’t there, so why would I go?”

Cen Zhi didn’t know how to respond. It was somewhat funny; after years of doing business, she thought her tongue was slick enough, yet with Duan Rujin, she repeatedly found herself at a loss for words. At this moment, she only licked her lips and replied, “Okay. Please send me the time and location again.”

“Okay.”

Cen Zhi didn’t bother with phrases like “I’m hanging up now.” She assumed the conversation was over and directly cut the two-minute WeChat call, returning to the chat window.

The chat history stopped at the call icon.

Cen Zhi looked at Duan Rujin’s cloud profile picture and finally clicked in to change her remark name to “By Any Means.” This way, even if someone accidentally glimpsed her screen, they wouldn’t know it was Duan Rujin, and she herself could ignore the association.

Just as she finished changing the name, she received a message.

By Any Means: “Can you say something before hanging up?”

By Any Means: “It was a bit sudden.”

Looking at these two lines, Cen Zhi helplessly typed: “Fine.”

It wasn’t like there would be a next time anyway.

With that thought, Cen Zhi returned home. She left the ornaments in the car.

She took a nap and woke up at 5:00 PM. Her meeting with Duan Rujin was set for 6:00 PM.

Cen Zhi looked out the window. If loneliness had levels, then for her, the top tier wasn’t eating or watching a movie alone; it was this exact moment—waking up in the late afternoon. It felt as if she were the only person left in the world.

But the chat history with Duan Rujin was sitting right there in WeChat. Cen Zhi put on some makeup before heading out.

It was rush hour, and the roads were heavily congested. When she was still a kilometer away from the destination, she received a call from Wen Lin.

“Where are you?” Wen Lin asked.

Cen Zhi: “On my way to meet someone. Is something wrong?”

“When will you be finished?”

“Not sure. Just tell me what it is.”

“Several cats at a cat café died. The owner asked us to pick them up tonight.”

Cen Zhi watched the traffic ahead, her brow furrowing. “Did they die suddenly?”

“Some freak abused them to death while they weren’t looking.”

“…”

“The person has already been sent to the police station.”

For a moment, Cen Zhi felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Okay, I understand. What time?”

“The appointment is for 8:00 PM. I’ll send the location to your WeChat.”

“Mhm.”

The call ended. Cen Zhi’s lips were pressed tightly together. She arrived at the restaurant with a cold face, and her expression didn’t soften when she met the waiter.

Having been in this profession for some time, she wasn’t a stranger to such situations. That was why she had asked Wen Lin if the deaths were sudden; there was always something suspicious. Sure enough, hearing the truth left her feeling nothing but rage and powerlessness. They received too many bodies of stray animals that had been abused to death.

The waiter led Cen Zhi to a private room with excellent privacy. Duan Rujin had arrived a few minutes earlier. Her eyes lit up when she saw Cen Zhi enter, but Cen Zhi was in no mood to notice. She struggled to keep her expression and emotions calm.

“I’ve already ordered. Two dishes, a soup, and a cold appetizer. They’re all signatures of the shop. Should be enough for the two of us.” Duan Rujin brushed her hair back.

This restaurant didn’t even have a main hall; it was entirely made of private rooms. She had chosen the one at the very corner. No one would come by except the waiters.

Cen Zhi nodded. “It’s enough.” Without much emotion, she handed over the bag containing the ornaments. “These are for you.”

The bag was paper, so the contents weren’t visible from the outside.

Duan Rujin took the bag and looked inside. There were several small transparent boxes with ornaments neatly arranged inside.

“Didn’t you say this batch was gone?” Duan Rujin looked at her.

Cen Zhi answered somewhat distractedly, “The ones painted by my friend are gone. These are the ones I painted myself.” She looked at Duan Rujin under the light, her tone slightly apologetic. “Sorry, they don’t look quite the same as the ones in my car.”

Duan Rujin didn’t take them out. She placed the bag to the side, rested her arms on the table, and asked, “Is something on your mind?”

“Hmm?”

“You seem down,” Duan Rujin said with certainty, her eyes shimmering.

Just then, the waiter brought the first cold dish. Cen Zhi unwrapped her chopsticks but found herself unable to start eating. After Duan Rujin spoke, she didn’t say anything else, just watched her quietly.

“I just have to go to work after dinner,” Cen Zhi made an excuse. “No one is happy about having to go to work.”

Duan Rujin nodded. “True.”

Cen Zhi tried to gloss it over and steer the conversation away. “Anyway, didn’t the doctor tell you not to eat spicy food? This cold dish has so many chilies…”

As she spoke, she realized she was talking a bit too much.

“Are you worried about me?” Duan Rujin said, beaming with a smile.

“The doctor said it.”

“Weren’t we International Trade majors? When did you secretly go to medical school, Dr. Cen?”

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