She Got Revenge on Her Ex-Girlfriend Through a Kiss Scene - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The reception following the premiere was held in the hotel’s top-floor ballroom. Crystal chandeliers refracted brilliant light, and the champagne towers shimmered with a golden hue. Guests mingled in small groups, but every eye drifted consciously or unconsciously toward the entrance—waiting for the two true protagonists of the night.

Xi Jisheng and Lou Ningyu were not yet there. They were in a small lounge downstairs, facing Su Qing, a senior journalist from People magazine. They had specifically chosen Su Qing for her gentle, in-depth interviewing style, known for avoiding sensationalism or voyeurism.

The room was small, containing only a sofa and two chairs. Su Qing sat opposite them, while Xi Jisheng and Lou Ningyu sat side by side on the sofa. There was a small gap between them, but their pinky fingers were lightly touching.

A photographer adjusted equipment in the corner; the occasional click of a shutter recorded their pre-interview preparations.

“Relax,” Su Qing said, pushing up her glasses with a warm smile. “Think of this as a chat. If there’s a question you don’t want to answer, just tell me.”

Xi Jisheng nodded, her fingers unconsciously picking at the edge of the sofa. Noticing this, Lou Ningyu reached out and lightly pressed the back of her hand before withdrawing. This small gesture was immediately captured by Su Qing.

The interview began.

Su Qing’s first question was gentle: “In the movie, Shen Su and Zhou Yin wait twenty years to reunite. As actors, how do you understand that kind of waiting? Twenty years—how many of those do we get in a lifetime?”

Lou Ningyu spoke first, her voice clear. “I don’t think waiting is passive. It’s not sitting in one place doing nothing, just waiting for a person to return. It’s… believing that person is worth it, so you’re willing to let time stand still there. In the process, you live, you grow, you do what needs to be done, but you keep a place in your heart reserved solely for that person.”

She looked at Su Qing as she spoke, but Xi Jisheng knew these words were meant for her.

Su Qing turned to Xi Jisheng. “And you, Jisheng? How do you understand it?”

Xi Jisheng was silent for a few seconds before whispering, “It’s… even knowing you might get hurt, you still leave a door open. That door might be tiny, hidden deep in your heart, but it never fully closes. Because if it closes, it’s truly over.”

Her voice was soft, but every word resonated.

Su Qing made a note and continued, “After the screening, many viewers commented that the chemistry between you two was too real. Some critics even said, ‘This doesn’t feel like acting; it feels like a documentary.’ How do you respond to that?”

Lou Ningyu smiled, a look of relief in her eyes. “Because we have… indeed known each other for a long time. The understanding and chemistry between us aren’t things that can be cultivated in just two or three months of filming.”

“How long?” Su Qing asked.

Xi Jisheng spoke up, her voice still soft: “Seven years. From the moment we met until now.”

“And in between…” Su Qing paused, choosing a gentler phrasing, “There was a long period where you didn’t work together. What did this reunion feel like?”

The air in the room seemed to solidify for a moment. Xi Jisheng’s fingers curled. Lou Ningyu saw this, glanced at her sideways, and then turned to Su Qing.

“Reporter Su, may I answer this question first?”

Su Qing nodded. “Of course.”

Lou Ningyu took a deep breath and turned toward Xi Jisheng. Her eyes were on Jisheng, but her words were for the camera.

“Jisheng, may I answer this?”

Xi Jisheng looked at her, her eyes already beginning to redden. She nodded, her hands clenching beneath her.

Lou Ningyu turned back to the lens, but her focus remained on Xi Jisheng.

“Seven years ago, we fell in love at the film academy.” Her voice was steady, but a slight tremor was audible if one listened closely. “We were young then, full of fantasies and fears about the future. For reasons that… seemed important then but feel trivial now, we separated.”

Lou Ningyu continued, each word carefully polished in her heart over the years. “For these seven years, we weren’t together. I was filming, winning awards, opening my studio. She was filming, acting in theater, and taking care of her sick mother. We lived lives that seemed to have no intersection.”

“But—” She paused, a tear sliding down her cheek. “But not a single day went by where I stopped loving her.”

“Taking the role in Echoes was the most selfish and the bravest decision I’ve ever made,” Lou Ningyu’s voice choked up. “I wanted to see her again, even if only as a colleague. Even if she didn’t want to talk to me, even if we could only look at each other across a set. I wanted… to see her one more time.”

Su Qing’s eyes were red. In the corner, the camera shutter clicked softly.

“But fortunately…” Lou Ningyu turned to Xi Jisheng, tears streaming down her face even as she smiled, “She gave me a second chance.”

The room fell into a deep silence, broken only by suppressed sobs. Su Qing wiped her eyes and turned to Xi Jisheng. “Jisheng, how did you feel during those seven years?”

Xi Jisheng kept her head down, large tears splashing onto her lap. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came. Lou Ningyu reached out and grasped her hand—not under the table this time, but on top of it, for everyone to see.

This gesture gave Xi Jisheng strength. She looked up, her face tear-stained, at the camera and at Lou Ningyu.

“I have been living in regret.” Her voice was raspy. “Regretting that I used ‘for your own good’ to push her away. Regretting that I didn’t believe she was strong enough to bear it with me. Regretting the hurtful things I said, and letting her cry alone for so long.”

She turned fully to Lou Ningyu. “For seven years, I lived in self-punishment. I felt I didn’t deserve to have her, and didn’t deserve such wonderful love. So I dodged, I hid, I locked myself away. I thought I was doing it for her, but it was… the most cruel kind of selfishness.”

Lou Ningyu shook her head, tears flying. “It wasn’t…”

“It was,” Xi Jisheng interrupted, her voice growing firmer. “Until… until she walked toward me again. Using the courage she gathered over seven years to walk toward a coward like me.”

She looked at Lou Ningyu, saying each word deliberately: “Lou Ningyu, I’m sorry… and, thank you for coming back.”

Lou Ningyu’s tears broke through completely. She gripped Xi Jisheng’s hand tight, holding it between them. “Don’t thank me. Because loving you is the one thing I’ve done that I’ll never regret.”

The shutter clicks became rapid-fire. In the lens, two hands were clasped tightly; Xi Jisheng was smiling through her tears, and Lou Ningyu was looking at her with a gaze so tender it was as if she were looking at the most precious treasure in the world.

Su Qing wiped her eyes, waiting a few moments before continuing. “So… and now? What is your relationship?”

Lou Ningyu laughed, a sense of finality and peace in her voice. “She is the person I love. She was seven years ago, she is now, and she will be seventy years from now.”

Xi Jisheng added, “We… are together. And this time, we won’t separate again.”

…

The interview ended with tears and tightly held hands. At 10:00 PM that night, People magazine published the full interview and video. The title was: “Lou Ningyu & Xi Jisheng: For Seven Years, I Never Stopped Loving You.”

Within ten minutes, views exceeded one million. Within thirty minutes, the servers crashed.

The trending list was in total chaos:

#LouNingyuXiJishengPublic# (EXPLODING)

#NeverStoppedLovingYou# (EXPLODING)

#EchoesBecomesReality# (BOILING)

#FirstTopTierFemaleCouple# (HOT)

The reaction from the industry was a landslide of blessings. Director Peng Ke shared the interview: “Shen Su and Zhou Yin waited twenty years in the movie; you waited seven in reality. I’m glad you both made it. Congratulations to my two leading ladies.”

Ai Ye’s post was the simplest: “My two children have finally come home.”

…

Back at the ballroom, the doors opened. Every gaze snapped toward them. Xi Jisheng’s footsteps faltered, her hand beginning to shake.

Lou Ningyu noticed immediately. She stepped half a pace forward, almost shielding Xi Jisheng, her hand resting lightly on her waist. “I’m here,” she whispered. “Deep breaths.”

They walked in together, hand in hand.

Ai Ye was the first to approach. The seventy-year-old woman held her wine glass, her eyes red. She pulled both of them into a hug. “Children… it’s been hard on you.”

Xi Jisheng cried in her teacher’s arms. “I’m sorry for making you worry all these years.”

“It’s okay now,” Ai Ye patted her back. “Everything is okay now.”

Peng Ke then raised her glass, tapping it to quiet the room. “As the director of Echoes, I want to thank everyone. But tonight, I want to say something special about my two leads. As a director, I thank them for giving this film a soul. Without them, Shen Su and Zhou Yin would just be names on a page. They gave them a heartbeat.”

She paused, her voice thick with emotion. “But as a friend, I want to say—thank you for making me believe that love can span time, misunderstanding, and every obstacle we set for ourselves.”

She raised her glass high. “To love. To have courage. To a life without regrets!”

The entire room rose in unison: “To love! To have courage! No regrets!”

Xi Jisheng and Lou Ningyu raised their glasses as well. They looked at each other, seeing their own reflections in each other’s eyes—the tears, the smiles, and a love that finally, truly, had nowhere left to hide.