My Ex-Wife Seems to Have Ulterior Motives Toward Me - Chapter 3

At 11:30 PM, Qi Jianyi wandered around the city for an hour before finally finding an open pharmacy.

A few minutes past midnight, she returned to the hotel after buying the eye drops.

Xiaotian saw the car pull in through the lobby glass. she stole a tentative glance at Qi Nianwei in the back. Receiving an instruction, she immediately headed out with a bag.

Just as Qi Jianyi got out of the car, she saw a familiar bag for clothes, and alarm bells rang in her mind.

Xiaotian’s smile was forced and uneasy: “Teacher Qi, I’m so sorry. The rental period for these clothes has expired. Could you please deliver them now? You can just… just leave them with the security guard.”

“I’ll wake up early tomorrow morning to deliver them,” Qi Jianyi sighed and took the bag.

“That’s fine, but the company is in the neighboring city. You’d probably have to get up at five to make it.”

Between sleeping late and waking up early, Qi Jianyi chose the former. This morning’s 7:00 AM opening ceremony had already made her feel like death from drowsiness.

“I’ll go now. Send me the address.”

Xiaotian nodded and nervously pulled two bottles from her pocket: “We brought some liver protection tablets and vitamins with us. These two bottles are for you.”

Qi Jianyi felt her temper rising to her throat. She pulled open the car door and tossed the two bottles of goodwill onto the passenger seat like trash.

“Pass a message to your Sister Qi. She’d better prepare some anti-depression meds for me next.”

The car door slammed shut. Xiaotian let out a long breath once the high-pressure crisis was over. The extra subsidy Sister Qi gave her really wasn’t for nothing.

Qi Jianyi glanced at the bag next to her, feeling incredibly stifled. She wondered how many more tricks Qi Nianwei had waiting for her.

When would this ‘tit for tat’ ever end?

Actually, no—could Qi Jianyi’s bit of teasing even count as getting revenge? Today, it was Qi Nianwei who had been torturing her the whole time.

Under a murky sky with few visible stars, a memory of Qi Nianwei crying briefly surfaced.

This experience from five years ago had attacked Qi Jianyi numerous times. Her original intention had been to make her stay, but facing alienation and disgust, her soft words had turned into hurtful swords.

Qi Nianwei had only been provoked to tears once. From the incredulous shedding of pearl-like tears to the loud wailing after Qi Jianyi turned her back.

Qi Jianyi had recalled and dreamed of this scene countless times. For the first two years, she didn’t even dare to watch Nianwei’s new dramas.

After the divorce, Qi Nianwei’s figure was completely stripped from her life. In her loss, Qi Jianyi regretted her lack of tolerance and that she hadn’t treated Qi Nianwei well.

Nianwei was just a victim sold to Qi Jianyi by her parents as a trade.

Qi Nianwei’s parents did it for money, to fill the losses of a company defrauded in an investment. Qi Jianyi also did it for money. Her grandfather’s will required her to be married for nine months to be eligible for her portion of the inheritance—and, in passing, she wanted to fulfill her teenage unrequited crush.

Only Qi Nianwei was truly trapped; unable to escape her parents’ control as the company’s cash cow, she was forced to sign a marriage certificate with a stranger.

Qi Jianyi gripped the steering wheel tightly. In the armrest box were the two bottles Qi Nianwei gave her.

It seemed Qi Nianwei was being merciful.

On the highway, off the highway. She handed the bag to the security guard who had been woken up and was draped in a heavy coat. After taking a photo to confirm, she left.

At 2:00 AM, Qi Jianyi was too exhausted to drive back. She simply found a decent hotel at the border of the two cities.

At 6:30 AM, Qi Jianyi checked her messages and then bit the bullet to head back to the hotel.

She should have gone straight to the filming location, but Qi Nianwei had personally sent a message asking her to help pick up some props from the hotel. If it had been Xiaotian again, Qi Jianyi would have definitely refused.

“Wow, your complexion is terrible.” Zou Yuran teased, shaking her head. “You’ll need a few extra layers of foundation.”

Qi Jianyi, holding the bouquet used as a prop, squinted from the strong floral fragrance: “You’d better not mess with me.”

Zou Yuran directed someone to take the flowers: “If things go smoothly today, we can finish the follow-up to last night’s scene. Adjust your mindset, don’t fail to express love.”

“Got it.”

Clear the set. Quiet.

There was a scene where the shepherdess picks up the white-collar worker and spins her around.

Any other time, Qi Jianyi would have had no problem picking up Qi Nianwei. But today, due to lack of sleep, her body was exceptionally tired. While spinning, she felt a bit dizzy and didn’t notice they were at the edge of the wooden platform. Qi Nianwei’s foot missed its mark, and she fell into the grass.

It was a drop of over half a meter. Qi Nianwei, falling into the dense grass, was more shocked than in pain.

Qi Jianyi hurriedly jumped off the platform, her mind filled with the thought that she was finished.

She knelt on one knee to help her up, and at the same time, her collar was grabbed.

“Qi Jianyi, did you do that on purpose?”

Qi Jianyi looked at the redness at the corners of her eyes. Qi Nianwei had questioned if she was deliberate before.

But just like before, Qi Jianyi had absolutely no such intention.

Staying up late makes reactions slow. Qi Jianyi said in a low, resentful voice: “If I could have slept earlier last night, you wouldn’t have fallen.”

Hearing this, Qi Nianwei pressed heavily on Qi Jianyi’s arm to stand up: “So you’re blaming me? You could have just refused, I would have found a courier to deliver it!”

“Did I even have that option?”

Countless eyes were staring at them. Qi Jianyi helped her pick off the leaves stuck to her clothes to fake a harmonious relationship.

Xiaotian ran over and asked nervously: “Sister Qi! Should we call a doctor?”

Qi Nianwei stepped onto the platform, the movement of her legs pulling at her aching back. She swallowed a groan and waved away the others crowding around to return to their posts: “It wasn’t high, and I’m not injured.”

Zou Yuran, as the director, didn’t feel at ease and called for a twenty-minute break.

Qi Jianyi took the chance to touch up her makeup. Xiaoyuan approached slowly: “Sister Qi.”

“Speak.”

Xiaoyuan licked her lips nervously: “Director Zou asked me to ask… uh… was it on purpose?”

The makeup artist’s hand paused, then continued to nonchalantly apply foundation two shades darker.

“Am I crazy? Why would I intentionally throw her down?” What kind of person did they think she was? “Tell Zou Yuran, if she wants to die, just say it.”

When filming resumed, they set a new line. This time they would spin on the sand instead of the narrow platform.

When Qi Jianyi picked up Qi Nianwei again, she clearly felt her back go stiff.

Everyone behind the monitor could see it too.

“Teacher Qi, relax a bit.”

“Let’s get a safety take. You two, look a bit happier.”

“Adjust your clothes, one more time.”

During the gap while the assistant adjusted the clothes, Qi Jianyi wanted to explain again that it wasn’t intentional, but the other woman took a cold step back, clearly unwilling to have much contact with her.

This caused Qi Jianyi’s dissatisfaction to surge again. Who was the one doing the torturing here? Why did it seem like Qi Nianwei was the victim now?

“Quiet on set, action!”

Qi Jianyi returned to a rustic smile. Unlike the from the heart requirement in the script, she was laughing out of anger.

Qi Nianwei’s inner thoughts and expressed emotions were also completely different. Qi Jianyi felt this deeply during the embrace.

Two clashing hearts were beating unusually fast.

Zou Yuran tilted her head. Why had their emotions suddenly merged into such a strong, unified intensity?

An hour later, the ‘Rising Emotions’ part was over.

Next was the ‘First Meeting’ that they didn’t manage to film yesterday.

In the drama, the prop flowers were bought by the white-collar worker for herself when she first arrived in the city. Transitioning from a high-stress, fast-paced life to an unburdened slow life left her at a loss, so she bought a bouquet as a reward and comfort.

Walking through the wetland nature reserve with the flowers, watching the gulls forage nearby, her out-of-place tourist image attracted the attention of a few locals. This included the shepherdess, who was working part-time during the tourist off-season.

The two actresses went through the motions, but Zou Yuran was frowning.

It didn’t look like a first meeting. It looked like they had known each other many years ago and were now reuniting.

However, Zou Yuran didn’t call for a retake. She chose to continue the process, wanting to see what new ideas they could come up with.

The first dialogue, the white-collar worker pulling a single flower from the bouquet to give to the shepherdess, the shepherdess talking about the wetlands, the shepherdess inviting the white-collar worker to her family’s guesthouse, the parting.

All of it was strange.

Zou Yuran analyzed it with the assistant director and finally decided that this was an encounter filled with the smell of gunpowder.

“Are they really that at odds?”

Zou Yuran, who knew their true relationship: “…”

“Maybe the filming schedule is tight, and they’re a bit anxious.” Zou Yuran lied to the assistant director, and to herself.

The hottest three hours of the day arrived.

Zou Yuran waited for Qi Jianyi to finish lunch and take a shower, then accompanied her to go over lines.

Not bad.

“We’ll reshoot in a bit. Just follow this feeling.”

“Another reshoot? From where?”

“Eldest Miss Qi, how about I send it to you so you can see what kind of garbage you’re acting?” Zou Yuran looked helplessly at the ceiling of the motorhome. “Get some sleep, or go chat with the other actors to relax.”

When the time came in the afternoon, the shepherdess’s interactions with the villagers were very normal. She was lively and enthusiastic, as bright as the sun.

But that brightness changed the moment she saw the white-collar worker from the city.

It had nothing to do with the script.

She was curious, she was envious, and she looked down on the other.

The white-collar worker’s melancholy, upon seeing the shepherdess, gained a touch of amazement and disdain.

“Cut! Cut! Cut!” Zou Yuran couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up and instructed the assistant director: “Change the location, finish the villagers’ segments. I need to talk to the two of them alone.”

She found Qi Jianyi first.

Qi Jianyi in her shepherdess makeup looked much more innocent and kind than her usual self, giving Zou Yuran—who had known her for over ten years—the fleeting illusion of an easy target.

But Zou Yuran knew Qi Jianyi was a difficult person to talk to. She spoke in a soft tone, smoothing her feathers.

“Jianyi—just how big is the grudge between you two? Can we please wait until we’re finished before you let it out?”

Qi Jianyi turned her head away: “I can’t help but feel annoyed when I see Qi Nianwei.”

“Is it because she made you pick up the wrong costumes yesterday?”

“I’ve already returned those clothes.” Qi Jianyi’s hands were pressed firmly against her knees. “Do you know what time I returned them? In the early morning! I drove to the neighboring city in the middle of the night!”

Zou Yuran opened her mouth slightly. Xiaotian hadn’t told her about such a big incident.

“Don’t… don’t be angry.” Zou Yuran settled on one of her many plans. “I’ll add a kiss scene for you two. Hey, don’t scold me yet. I know during the time you were married, you were just ‘respecting each other like guests.’ You spent so much money and effort and got absolutely nothing out of it. Now I’m giving you this chance, and besides, it can also gross her out.”

Qi Jianyi didn’t understand. She turned it around and advised Zou Yuran: “Even if Qi Nianwei is burdened with scandals and her reputation isn’t what it used to be, she’s been in the industry for over a decade. She has tons of fans and connections. If you offend her like this, don’t expect to work in the film industry ever again.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Once I finish revising the script, I’ll find a chance to tell her.”

“Sister Zou, did Qi Nianwei really come here because of the scandal? Or did you grab some kind of dirt on her?”

Zou Yuran rolled her eyes, hesitating to speak: “You’re not a professional. Any scene is normal for an actor.”

She couldn’t stay any longer and left Qi Jianyi to rush toward the other rest area where Qi Nianwei was.

She sent away Xiaotian and the irrelevant staff.

Zou Yuran took a deep breath. She looked at Qi Nianwei, who was dressed as an exquisite white-collar worker and looked like nothing was wrong.

“Know when to stop. Qi Jianyi is the most suitable person. If you scare her off, I won’t be the one to catch her back for you.”