The Movie Queen's Virtual Little Girlfriend - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Anomaly

It was late when they returned to the hotel. The elevator ride up was silent, and the corridor on her floor was empty, with not a soul in sight. Jiang Yitong thanked Fang Qing, and after returning to her room, she immediately took a shower to wash away the lingering discomfort from the KTV, blew her hair dry, and collapsed into bed.

Her exhaustion was evident; her limbs were weary and her head felt heavy. As she lay in bed and closed her eyes, it felt as if a force was pulling her downward, as if she were sinking straight into the bottom of the sea. Within seconds, she was fast asleep, though her breathing was uneven—sometimes light, sometimes heavy.

Usually, she would put her phone in airplane mode before sleeping and place it on the nightstand, but she had neglected that habit tonight. Her phone had been tossed aside inadvertently, and it had already automatically connected to the hotel’s Wi-Fi.

A few minutes later, her phone screen lit up, displaying several notification alerts: Weibo notifications, WeChat messages from Feng Man, and a game notification that she seemed to see a few times every day.

Jiang Er: Yitong, you must be asleep by this time. I’m going to sleep too. Goodnight, I hope we both have sweet dreams.

Jiang Yitong slept deeply that night, without waking once. When she woke up, it was already broad daylight. There was a small clock on the nightstand; Jiang Yitong glanced at it, then silently got up and out of bed.

Sitting in the car, Shen Si handed her a piece of bread. She took it, unwrapped it, and ate in silence.

She clicked on her phone, checking WeChat first. There were only a few unread messages in the crew group. She finished reading them in two minutes, found nothing important, and backed out to see Feng Man’s message. Based on the timestamp, it had been sent the previous night. She didn’t remember when she had fallen asleep, but since she hadn’t replied, it was proof she had already drifted off.

Feng Man: Did you go to the birthday party?

Feng Man: Which colleague from the crew was it?

Jiang Yitong: Xia Yang. Yesterday was her eighteenth birthday.

After sending the simple reply, the “typing…” indicator appeared at the top of the screen immediately. Feng Man always kept her phone with her from morning till night, handling all sorts of business; Jiang Yitong’s schedule was usually managed by her.

Feng Man: Oh, I see. No wonder. I thought you had changed your personality again. If it was that little girl, well…I suppose that’s reasonable enough.

Jiang Yitong: Again?

Jiang Yitong noted Feng Man’s use of the word “again.” She was actually curious about when and under what circumstances she had “changed her personality” in front of her before.

Feng Man: Yes, “again.”

Feng Man: You’ve come at the right time. I actually have something to ask you, and I didn’t expect you to walk right into it.

Feng Man: Spit it out, why did you ask me about that singer’s concert? What is your ulterior motive? Out with it!

Jiang Yitong: Just asking randomly.

Feng Man: Here we go again with the “just asking randomly.” Can you please stop brushing me off? We’ve been friends for so many years, haven’t we? You should tell me why you’re doing this.

Jiang Yitong: I said I was just asking randomly. Don’t you pride yourself on knowing me best? Then you should also know that I have no interest in those kinds of performances.

Feng Man: Fine, I get it. I understand what it means to be stubborn.

Feng Man: It seems I can’t get anything out of you through a screen. Wait until I come over this afternoon, we’ll talk face-to-face. I’m determined to get the truth out of you today.

Continuing the conversation was pointless. Jiang Yitong glanced at Shen Si beside her and noticed she was wearing headphones, watching a film on the phone she was holding up. It was just a very short clip, but it instantly stirred up distant memories for Jiang Yitong.

She had been very green back then, her acting skills much worse than they were now, but online, everyone said that was her youngest and most soulful period. In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed; now, there were faint fine lines on her face.

“Why are you watching that?” Jiang Yitong asked softly.

Shen Si seemed completely immersed in the plot. When she heard Jiang Yitong’s voice through the headphones, she let out an instinctive “Ah,” quickly took off the earphone closest to her, and finally registered the question.

“This movie is very good. It’s worth re-watching.”

Jiang Yitong gave a very light “Mhm.” Shen Si didn’t hear it; she only saw the other person turn her head away, so she put the earphone back on and continued watching.

Jiang Yitong looked out the window. The glass was covered with a dark film, making it hard to see the sunny weather or the wind and snow outside. She had been riding in this car for years, and the windows had always been like this; she was used to the dark tint, but today, she suddenly had an inexplicable urge to peel that film off.

Pedestrians hurried by outside, most with faces full of exhaustion, while a few were full of energy. She observed them silently for a moment before slowly withdrawing her gaze.

There were still other notifications on her phone screen she hadn’t cleared. Two were from Jiang Er—one game notification and one Weibo reply. Jiang Yitong clicked on the Weibo reply first. It was always like this: she would reply with just a few words, but Jiang Er always seemed to have so much to say.

Jiang Er er replies to Jiang Yitong: Yes, I think it’s beautiful too. Yitong, this street is called Chang’an Alley. It’s perfect for taking photos. Let’s come here and take a photo together next time. The architecture here is truly beautiful; I really want you to see it with your own eyes.

Jiang Yitong replies to Jiang Er er: We’ll see when there’s an opportunity.

Jiang Yitong couldn’t actually take a photo with Jiang Er just like she couldn’t do any of the items on Jiang Er’s bucket list, but if Chang’an Alley really existed, and she happened to be nearby for filming or an event, she could certainly go take a look. She wanted to see just how “beautiful” it really was, as Jiang Er had described.

However, there was one more thing Jiang Yitong needed to do: confirm whether she was hallucinating again. How could she keep seeing Jiang Er’s Weibo, and why did everything feel so real that she couldn’t distinguish truth from fantasy?

“Xiao Shen, you…”

She subconsciously wanted to call out to Shen Si, but stopped when she realized Shen Si was engrossed in the movie. Shen Si wasn’t affected by her, her eyes fixed on her phone screen.

The second person capable of helping her verify this was Feng Man. Jiang Yitong went back to WeChat and sent a message to Feng Man, continuing the conversation from earlier but changing the topic entirely.

Jiang Yitong: Sister Feng, please check if there is anything unusual about my Weibo.

Jiang Yitong: Like my follow list, has anyone appeared who shouldn’t be there?

She waited silently for over ten seconds. Feng Man’s reply was as quick as ever.

Feng Man: What could be unusual about your Weibo? Everything is fine…

Feng Man: Wait! I think I found one! Hold on a second!

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