She Said She Has Feelings For Someone - Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Photo & Player Potential

Ten years ago, on the eve of her forced departure, Xia Leshuang overheard a heated argument between Xia Ye and Xu Ruyue.

“I said it already—we leave tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow is her grandmother’s death anniversary; she wants to visit the old house.”

“Your mother again!”

Even through a closed door, Xia Ye’s exasperation was palpable.

“I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to the name change back then! To this day, your mother haunts this family like a fourth person!”

Xia Ye paused to catch his breath before continuing, “She’s about to join a production. If a scandal about her ‘abnormal’ sexual orientation leaks now, aren’t you worried as her mother?”

“I’m telling you, she must win that award! I won’t let anyone ruin my plans!”

Xu Ruyue gave a soft, dry laugh. “Xia Ye, I am not your puppet.”

“Either you play the villain yourself, or stop questioning my decisions.”

Xia Ye sneered. “Xu Ruyue, you’ve really grown some wings, haven’t you?”

“Don’t forget—without me, you wouldn’t have won that award so easily.”

“Easily?” Xu Ruyue laughed. “I know exactly how I won that award, and my conscience is clear.”

“How did you become like this?” Xia Ye sounded utterly disappointed. “The old you—”

“Xia Ye, stop trying to provoke me,” she interrupted.

“The old me was indeed easily hurt by you, turning into a screaming madwoman.”

“But now…”

Xu Ruyue paused for a moment before changing the subject. “Xia Ye, you should be grateful that you still have some value that I need.”

Xia Leshuang no longer remembered what Xia Ye said in his fury afterward.

She had hidden in a blind spot, watching Xu Ruyue walk to the adjacent room. Only after ensuring Xia Ye didn’t follow did she retreat to her own bedroom.

Back then, she was processing the reality of her parents’ discord while simultaneously feeling relieved that her mother was, surprisingly, so strong.

…

“I really didn’t expect Director Xia to show up today.”

Xia Leshuang stopped by the railing, keeping a distance of three or four meters from Xia Ye.

Hearing this, Xia Ye snorted. “You are my child, after all. Since you’ve returned to the industry, naturally, I had to come see you.”

“Unfortunately, your mother is so furious with you,” Xia Ye flashed a mocking smile, “that she refused to come no matter what.”

As expected, Xia Leshuang thought with a silent sneer.

Xu Ruyue was the blade in Xia Ye’s hand; whenever he wanted to deal with Leshuang, he swung it without mercy.

As long as Xia Leshuang was in pain, Xia Ye was happy.

Fortunately, she was no longer that girl who had nothing, walking alone in the dark.

Lu Shuyu had seen her pain and silently pulled her into the sunlight.

From now on, she would no longer be numb to the hurt.

“Director Xia really hasn’t changed a bit,” Xia Leshuang laughed lightly. “You can’t go three sentences without mentioning Mother. It’s true—Grandmother passed away too early.”

“Xia Pengyue,” Xia Ye warned in a low, heavy voice.

“So,” Xia Leshuang ignored him, “is this all you wanted to say to me, Director?”

Her composure was an eyesore to him. Rage flickered in Xia Ye’s eyes as he hissed through gritted teeth, “Good, very good. Away for a few years and you think you’re something.”

He chuckled mockingly. “True, you are my daughter; you have a bit of cleverness. You knew how to cut your losses and pivot to variety shows.”

“After a few years, you’ve gained a bit of fame.”

Xia Ye looked over, his eyes filled with contempt and the arrogance of someone who controlled everything. “But don’t forget, all of that is built on the foundation of ‘Xia Pengyue.'”

“I personally paved Xia Pengyue’s path to stardom, and I personally cut it off.”

“Without me, without Xia Pengyue, you are nothing.”

“It will be the same in the future. Without me, you won’t get far.”

A long silence followed before Xia Leshuang spoke calmly. “Are you done?”

The arrogance, like a castle in the air, suddenly collapsed. As Xia Ye’s face darkened, she nodded. “Now it’s my turn.”

Xia Leshuang straightened her back and looked Xia Ye directly in the eye.

“Director Xia, I agree with you.”

“Without you, I am nothing.”

“So, stop using my mother to bombard me, lie to me, and imprison me. As long as you do that, we can both disappear from each other’s lives.”

She had never mentioned that argument she overheard ten years ago because she couldn’t help her mother’s predicament, but that didn’t mean she had forgotten it.

And she certainly wouldn’t let Xia Ye use it to drive a wedge between her and Xu Ruyue.

“Lastly, Director Xia Ye,” Xia Leshuang’s gaze was unwavering, “I am not Xia Pengyue. I am Xia Leshuang.”

The man’s face distorted instantly. In a fit of rage, he raised his hand to strike her. She dodged easily, and the momentum sent Xia Ye stumbling a few steps, nearly falling.

Xia Leshuang was unfazed. Over the years, whenever the topic of her name came up, Xia Ye would lose control, turning violent with anger.

“Director Xia,” she tilted her lips upward, though the smile didn’t reach her eyes, “this is a public place. You should mind your image.”

With that, she stopped looking at him. As she turned to leave, she heard Xia Ye’s low warning: “You will regret today’s decision.”

Xia Leshuang didn’t stop; she walked straight away.

…

Lu Shuyu had been watching from a distance and immediately rushed over to meet her.

Although she couldn’t hear the conversation, she had seen the whole process.

After pulling Xia Leshuang further away, Lu Shuyu asked worriedly, “Does he get violent often?”

Xia Leshuang couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head. “Don’t worry. He only dares to try because he knows he can’t actually hit me.”

“He’s more cowardly than you think.”

Lu Shuyu was momentarily stunned. What kind of twisted personality is that?

“I don’t think so,” she muttered, frowning, remembering the scene at Xia Ye’s house the other day.

Xia Leshuang pondered for a moment. “Anyway, don’t worry. I’ve made it clear that I won’t have anything to do with him anymore.”

“So, there shouldn’t be any more contact.”

Lu Shuyu clearly didn’t believe it. “Are you sure?”

Xia Leshuang gave a dry laugh. “Maybe… he’ll hire some trolls to bash me online?”

If he can’t win fair, he’ll play dirty! Lu Shuyu was so angry her eyes widened. She took two steps back toward Xia Ye but stopped.

Xia Leshuang was holding her tightly.

“Shuyu,” Xia Leshuang said, caught between tears and laughter, “hitting people isn’t good.”

True, it wouldn’t solve anything and would only invite scandal.

Lu Shuyu took a deep breath. “Fine.”

“We have nothing to hide,” she said, grabbing Xia Leshuang’s hand back. “Don’t be afraid, I’m with you.”

Her brow was slightly furrowed, her expression deeply serious.

The unpleasantness caused by Xia Ye vanished instantly. Xia Leshuang’s expression softened, and she nodded tenderly. “With you here, I’m not afraid.”

The words were unexpectedly affectionate. Lu Shuyu’s heart skipped a beat; she subconsciously took half a step back and let go of her hand.

The warmth of the skin-to-skin contact dissipated into the air.

“Then,” she rubbed her burning ears, “let’s head back. We’ve been out for a while.”

“Wait, Shuyu,” Xia Leshuang pulled her back again.

The warmth returned, making Lu Shuyu’s heart stir. She looked up. “What is it?”

“I’m going to do some social media promotion later,” Xia Leshuang said. “Can I post our photo together?”

…

That’s it?

“Of course,” Lu Shuyu nodded. “Post it.”

…

@XiaLeshuangV: As the show ends, a team outing with the “Jin-Jin” partners. Having a blast! [Grid of 9 Photos.jpg]

— Wow, the Jin-Jin group has such a great bond! — Shuang-shuang is so cool and beautiful! — Wait, who is the beauty in the 9th photo? — Reporting! I have inside info, I think it’s Director Lu! — Why is Director Lu only in a photo with Shuang-shuang? They’re posing cheek-to-cheek, looks so intimate! — Oh my god, I just scrolled onto two high school classmates! So nostalgic! — Person above, please tell us more!

…

After the wrap party ended the previous night, the “Jin-Jin” sisters went to record another segment of their dinner, so Lu Shuyu went home first.

By the time she woke up the next morning, Xia Leshuang was still asleep.

The weather outside was clear, and the house felt full and lively, not empty at all. Lu Shuyu finished a glass of water and smiled contentedly.

Another beautiful day.

She went out for a run and bought breakfast. While sitting in the dining room, her phone buzzed incessantly. She saw the guest group chat exploding with tags.

Zhong Wen: @DirectorLu, Director Lu is biased! You only took a photo with Shuang-shuang!

Following that message was a string of copy-pasted complaints from the other guests. Lu Shuyu was speechless. She suddenly had the urge to shake the person sleeping soundly in the other room…

No wonder she specifically asked—she was waiting for this?

Lu Shuyu typed quickly: I forgot! Next time for sure! I’ll treat you all to an outing later to make up for it! [Pleading face]

Zhong Wen: Hehe, okay!

Jiang Fei: But the photo of Director Lu and Shuang-shuang is really pretty. High school classmates in the comments even recognized you [Mouth-covering laugh]. So sweet!

High school classmates?

Lu Shuyu’s hair stood on end. Sensing trouble, she immediately switched apps and clicked on Xia Leshuang’s profile.

Amidst the comments of fans “shipping” them and praising their looks, she immediately spotted the one from the high school classmate.

After scrolling through the thread, she covered her face. While she hadn’t done anything “bad” in high school, the fact that she used to ghostwrite fanfiction about Xia Leshuang and Bian Xingyao was a “dark history” she desperately wanted to delete ever since she fell for Xia Leshuang.

Now, it was being dragged into the light by a classmate, and clueless netizens were suddenly “shipping” Xia Leshuang and Bian Xingyao…

“I really ‘thank’ you for this…” she muttered into her hands.

“What’s wrong?”

A groggy, post-sleep voice sounded by her ear, startling Lu Shuyu.

She couldn’t help but glare slightly. “It’s all because of what you did!”

Xia Leshuang looked dazed. “Huh?”

“Look, because of that photo you posted, my dark history has been dug up.”

“And,” Lu Shuyu handed her the phone, “why didn’t you remind me to take photos with the other guests? Now it looks like I’m favoring you.”

As she spoke, she suddenly froze.

Had she… accidentally stumbled upon the truth?

The two of them stared at each other. As they stared, their ears turned red. Simultaneously, they looked away, their hands and feet suddenly becoming busy with awkward movements.

Xia Leshuang lowered her head to flip through the comments on the phone, while Lu Shuyu could only pick up a fried dough stick and chew in silence.

After a long while, the person who was scrolling so fast she almost broke the screen spoke up.

“Is the ‘dark history’ you mentioned… the fanfiction?”

Lu Shuyu felt like the world was spinning. She had forgotten that Xia Leshuang was one of the subjects of that dark history.

Back then, because she didn’t want both subjects coming after her, she had promised Xia Leshuang she wouldn’t write it anymore and acted as if it never happened.

She had really dug a hole for herself. Lu Shuyu didn’t look up, whispering through gritted teeth, “Yeah, it is.”

“Stop looking,” she handed over the other portion of breakfast. “Eat.”

As she moved, she met Xia Leshuang’s eyes. They were clear and very serious.

“It’s not ‘dark history,'” Xia Leshuang said.

“It was the catalyst for us getting to know each other.”

“I’ve always been grateful that you wrote that fanfiction.”

“It gave me the chance to get close to you.”

She spoke with such sincerity, but Lu Shuyu was utterly confused.

Wasn’t Xia Leshuang secretly dating Bian Xingyao back then?

Why would she use words like “grateful” and “chance to get close”?

It sounded… suspiciously flirtatious.

But, if she just meant wanting to be friends, it seemed to make sense?

“Teacher Xia,” she chuckled, “I didn’t realize you had such potential to be a player (Zha Nu).”

“Huh?”

Xia Leshuang pointed at herself in confusion.

“A player? Me?”