My Ex-Wife Seems to Have Ulterior Motives Toward Me - Chapter 5

Forgetting for a moment that Qi Nianwei was allergic to cat hair, Qi Jianyi held the kitten for a while before letting Xiaoyuan take it away when she returned to her spot.

“If you like it that much, why not just keep it?” After Qi Nianwei spoke, Qi Jianyi finally remembered she needed to clean off the cat hair.

“If I keep it, I’ll have cat hair on me every day during filming. Won’t you have an allergic reaction?”

Qi Nianwei’s gaze went blank: “I’m not allergic to cat hair.”

She wasn’t allergic…

Qi Jianyi gave a stiff smile: “I noticed you never petted it.”

“Cat hair is hard to clean off clothes.”

Five years ago, a friend of Qi Jianyi’s had a cat that gave birth to kittens. She wanted to adopt one, but when she consulted Qi Nianwei, she was told about an allergy. It turned out she just disliked hair sticking to her clothes.

Qi Nianwei had lied to her about another thing. How many lies had she told just to refuse her!

When filming resumed, Qi Jianyi’s accumulated emotions reached their peak.

Powerlessness and loss caused tears to well up slightly, making her eyes look moist.

The shepherdess knew nothing about the white-collar worker during their first parting.

And Qi Jianyi knew nothing about Qi Nianwei during their divorce.

“Passed!”

Qi Jianyi stepped off the set with a forced smile, wiped her eyes, and called for Xiaoyuan.

“That cat—I’m keeping it.”

It was just a matter of paying an extra cleaning fee to the hotel.

The crew began distributing dinner. Qi Jianyi couldn’t eat, so she went back to the motorhome to pick out cat supplies.

The confined kitten wasn’t used to it at first and wailed at the door. Just as Qi Jianyi was about to let it go, the kitten stopped crying, rubbed against her pants, and lay down.

It seemed it only wailed when ignored.

“Knock, knock—”

Qi Jianyi thought it was Xiaoyuan or Zou Yuran and pressed the switch without any guard.

“Haven’t stepped out of character yet?”

Hearing Qi Nianwei’s voice, Qi Jianyi quickly pressed the switch again in an attempt to close the door, but the electric door gave her no chance to regret.

“I’m fine.” In a flat tone, Qi Jianyi looked from the person to the cat. “Don’t let the cat hair get on you.”

Qi Nianwei picked up the kitten, puzzled: “Did my comment about hair sticking to clothes offend you? Qi Jianyi, I just don’t want to trouble others with things that can be avoided.”

Perhaps the floral scent on Qi Nianwei was too strong, or perhaps the kitten was dissatisfied with the way it was being held. It stretched its front paws and struggled. Qi Jianyi grabbed it by the scruff of the neck to pull it away from Qi Nianwei.

“It has nothing to do with that sentence. It’s something you forgot long ago.”

The motorhome was too small. Qi Jianyi’s heavy thoughts couldn’t quite fit.

This sense of heaviness made Qi Nianwei’s heart soften. She had come with the intention of taking care of her, and even though she didn’t know what she had done wrong, she immediately apologized: “Sorry, I hurt you unintentionally.”

“Qi Nianwei, how many times have you lied to me?” Qi Jianyi felt that if she didn’t say it, she would always hold a grudge. “Like that ‘cat hair allergy’ lie.”

Qi Nianwei’s eyes flickered, her words lingering on her lips: “I… it’s not, it’s not that…”

“What, can’t find a new lie to use as an excuse?”

“Lying is very useful. For example, mentioning an allergy leaves the other person with no room to maneuver.” Qi Nianwei really couldn’t think of anything, so she simply gave up on herself. “The number of times I’ve lied to you is countless. If I didn’t want to go to your house, I’d say I was filming a night scene. If I didn’t want to eat with you, I’d say I had food poisoning and was resting my stomach. If I didn’t want your gift, I’d say my endorsement had an exclusivity clause…”

“Qi Nianwei! Get out.” Qi Jianyi was practically exploding with anger. Although she had long known that Qi Nianwei didn’t want much contact with her during the marriage, hearing the truth directly from her mouth was agonizing.

Qi Nianwei leaned against the side of the refrigerator: “But at that time, in my eyes, you weren’t a good person either. You were an uneducated playboy, and your drawer was filled with medications like Minocycline Hydrochloride and Abacavir. Although I later learned those weren’t yours, it was true that you wanted to ‘claim’ me during our short marriage. Qi Jianyi, I was very afraid of you.”

If she could, she had wanted to hide until Qi Jianyi received the inheritance, then reappear to handle the divorce. Unfortunately, the lawyer in charge of the estate was strict.

Qi Jianyi’s breathing was rapid: “I’m so sorry for making you live in fear. I’m going to find Zou Yuran right now and leave the crew.”

“Leave? Calm down, it’s already been five years.” Qi Nianwei blocked the switch. “Stop obsessing over these small matters.”

The person most obsessed was standing right in front of Qi Jianyi.

Qi Jianyi sneered: “Are you still trying to provoke me?”

“I came here to apologize to you.”

Qi Jianyi turned her back, not looking at Qi Nianwei’s face, and not wanting her to see the tears building up in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Qi Jianyi. If it happened again, I would still agree to our cooperation.”

Qi Jianyi heard the sound of the door opening: “That’s only because you couldn’t fight back against your parents.”

Hitting Qi Nianwei’s sore spot, the sound of her stepping down the stairs was very heavy.

Only after confirming she was gone did Qi Jianyi sit back in her chair.

Was she really the one being petty?

After dazing out for a while, Qi Jianyi remembered the tear stains on her face, washed up, and went to find the makeup artist.

She didn’t forget to use a wet wipe on her eyes along the way.

Zou Yuran was standing by a tree talking to the assistant director.

“Jianyi!” Zou Yuran told the assistant director to leave first and waved for Qi Jianyi to come over.

Qi Jianyi gave her eyes one last wipe and threw away the wet wipe: “What is it?”

“Are you okay?”

“I won’t delay the filming.”

Zou Yuran nodded worriedly. She noticed Qi Jianyi’s voice was raspier than before the break.

Once filming officially started, Zou Yuran saw that Qi Jianyi had no major issues and felt slightly relieved.

While staring at the monitor, an uninvited guest sat down next to Zou Yuran.

Zou Yuran glanced at her: “Your solo scenes are all finished. Why aren’t you back at the hotel? What are you doing here?”

Qi Nianwei looked at Qi Jianyi along with her.

“I don’t know how to coax people. You comfort her.”

“No wait.” Zou Yuran frowned deeply. “How did you offend her again?”

Qi Nianwei didn’t respond, she just sat there quietly.

Qi Jianyi, who was filming a scene with other extras, saw the person sitting next to Zou Yuran.

Qi Jianyi wasn’t that angry anymore.

While putting on makeup just now, she was thinking that her sadness came from two places: one was Qi Nianwei’s rejection, and the other was because she had made Qi Nianwei feel afraid.

There weren’t many profligate sons in D-City, and Qi Jianyi was at the top of the list.

Qi Nianwei’s clean life had been forced to include the stain of being married to Qi Jianyi.

The shepherdess’s filming at the scenic area had also come to an end.

Tomorrow morning, there were only scenes for the supporting characters. Qi Jianyi felt relieved that she could finally get a good night’s sleep.

Zou Yuran, carrying the responsibility of comforting someone, drove Qi Jianyi back to the hotel.

They chatted briefly about this week’s filming on the way. Zou Yuran gave a lot of praise.

Qi Jianyi told her not to force the compliments if they weren’t earned.

Arriving at the hotel, Zou Yuran asked: “Has your mood settled a bit?”

“I’ve always been fine.”

“What about between you and Qi Nianwei? You had a fight this afternoon, didn’t you?”

“No.”

Qi Jianyi’s anger came quickly and faded just as fast.

Zou Yuran knew she was easy-going, but: “Don’t pay attention to anything Qi Nianwei says.”

Qi Jianyi let out a long breath: “I don’t. It’s normal for her to hate me. I was the one who did her wrong first.”

Unable to stand her friend’s self-deprecation, Zou Yuran shouted: “Ah! You didn’t do anything wrong to her! Her parents’ company is running normally, that’s why she has so many resources. You should be her benefactor.”

Unexpectedly getting such a large reaction from Zou Yuran, Qi Jianyi was a bit dazed: “Oh. I’m going up now.”

“Stay put, I have a few more things to say.” Zou Yuran didn’t need to comfort her anymore. She needed to correct Qi Jianyi’s thoughts. “Qi Nianwei missing out on you is her being short-sighted. You have a good family background, you’re friendly, and you’re hardworking and motivated.”

“Zou Yuran, did you drink some hard liquor?”

Zou Yuran was nearly gnashing her teeth: “I am perfectly sober.”

Qi Jianyi slowly shook her head: “Unfortunately, my family background is terrible. I nominally have a father who had a chaotic private life until he died of illness. Everyone knows that I and this father are of the same kind. Motivated? My only company was one I ‘robbed’ from the original owner while they were out of the country.”

“Alright, stop talking.” Zou Yuran was afraid she would feel so much heartache that she’d go punch Qi Nianwei. “Go back to the hotel and sleep.”

Qi Jianyi got out of the car first, and Zou Yuran followed. She noticed a D-City plated off-road vehicle parked in the neighboring spot, and her eye twitched.

“Qi Jianyi, is that your car?”

After getting a confirmation, Zou Yuran turned around and put her hands on her hips. Why was she feeling heartache for Qi Jianyi? She might as well feel heartache for herself.

The next day, with no scenes to film, Qi Jianyi slept until ten o’clock. Opening one eye halfway, she saw the kitten with its back turned to her.

Sensing movement behind it, the kitten purred and came over to tread on Qi Jianyi.

“You don’t have a name yet. Is it okay to just call you Little Grey? No, my name is already ‘Simplified’ enough.” Qi Jianyi reached out to hold it. “Your name will be Fuling. It calms the heart and nerves. I hope both our moods don’t have so many ups and downs.”

The doorbell rang. This time Qi Jianyi knew to be cautious and looked through the peephole first.

Seeing it was Qi Nianwei, she chose to ignore her.

Cooling off didn’t mean she wanted to talk to her.

The doorbell stopped. Qi Jianyi continued to play with Fuling.

At 11:30, the doorbell rang again. This time it was the hotel’s food delivery person.

Qi Jianyi opened the door hungrily.

Seeing the door open, the delivery person pushed the meal cart away.

“Where’s the lunch I just ordered?” Qi Jianyi looked at the departing delivery person.

“I canceled it.” Qi Nianwei appeared like a ghost.

Qi Jianyi suppressed her urge to curse: “Are you trying to starve me to death?”

“I’m taking you to eat in the city.”

Qi Jianyi said crossly: “Where? My requirements are very high.”

“To a very famous local teahouse. They have barley noodles, sweet tea, and the like.”

“Aren’t you afraid of getting fat?”

Qi Nianwei spread her hands: “I’ll eat less. I have to give you some compensation.”

Qi Jianyi agreed.

The last time she had eaten alone with Qi Nianwei was in the ninth month after their marriage.

Qi Nianwei had finally finished filming and returned to D-City. Qi Jianyi had booked a table at a three-star Michelin restaurant to invite her to dinner to celebrate.

If Qi Jianyi hadn’t said that since they were apart too much, the lawyer would find out they were in a fake marriage, Qi Nianwei wouldn’t have agreed to the invitation.

She had said very little, as if it were a routine matter. Their relationship could also be called a routine matter.

But Qi Jianyi was very satisfied. The upperclassman she fell in love with at first sight in high school had become her wife.

In high school, Qi Nianwei was already a somewhat famous actor and rarely appeared in public areas. The number of times Qi Jianyi saw her was very few.

So after the marriage, she especially cherished every moment they spent together. However, the two of them were from different worlds after all. When the cooperation expired, they went their separate ways.

Under Qi Jianyi’s stubbornness, the two of them couldn’t even manage to be friends.