The Paranoid Film Queen Hooked Me, and I Fell in Love - Chapter 50

Shang Qi held the starter funds provided by the production team yesterday, did a quick count, then looked around at everyone. “Take a look—if there’s nothing else we urgently need, we’ll use this money to buy groceries.”

They had nearly finished all the food prepared by the production team during breakfast, and now the fridge was almost completely empty—it was clear they needed to restock urgently.

Everyone shook their heads, so it was eventually agreed that all the money would go toward food.

However, Xu Zhiyan couldn’t help recalling the thin wad of bills she’d seen the night before. Judging by that amount, the groceries they could afford probably wouldn’t last more than two days. That could only mean the production team had already planned what would happen next.

She had no idea what those plans were, but a thought suddenly came to her—she remembered seeing small streams outside the village on the way there yesterday.

“Director,” she asked, “those rivers outside the village… do they have fish?”

The director, as if she’d been waiting for the bait to be taken, gave her a knowing smile. Her elegant features softened slightly as she replied, “They do. But we don’t have any fishing gear. If you want to catch fish from the river to use as ingredients, you’ll have to figure out the tools yourselves.”

Xu Zhiyan glanced at the director, a little speechless.

Clearly, the production team had been waiting for them to bring this up.

Still, having an alternative source of food wasn’t a bad thing. As for fishing tools—they could probably borrow some from the neighbors nearby.

Turning to Shang Qi, Xu Zhiyan said, “Shang Qi-jie, I used to catch fish when I was a kid, so I have some experience. I’d like to try and see if I can catch anything.”

She then glanced over at Shen Buhui and added, “How about letting Teacher Shen come with me? Two people will work better as a team.”

Shen Buhui nodded in agreement.

Compared to shopping at the market, fishing wasn’t exactly the easy option—so Xu Zhiyan’s suggestion couldn’t be seen as slacking off.

Shang Qi gave the two of them a glance, then nodded. “Alright. You two go check out the streams nearby, and the rest of us will go to the market.”

Qi Helin had just opened his mouth to speak, only for Shang Qi’s arrangement to cut him off.

Noticing his hesitation, she turned to him and asked pleasantly, “Xiao Qi, did you have something in mind?”

Qi Helin glanced at Xu Zhiyan—who wasn’t even paying attention to him—then shook his head. “No, I think this plan works.”

He couldn’t openly object to Shang Qi’s arrangement, so he figured he’d just have to find another opportunity to spend time with Xu Zhiyan later.

Since Shang Qi was the most senior among the six, she had naturally taken on the role of their unspoken leader.

Luckily, over their time together, she hadn’t come off as difficult or bossy—so no one had any objections, and the group split into two teams and headed out.

Once they parted ways with Shang Qi and the others, it was just Xu Zhiyan and Shen Buhui, with only a distant cameraman following from afar. With the others gone, Xu Zhiyan immediately felt more relaxed.

She casually plucked a wild grass stem and twirled it between her fingers before turning to Shen Buhui. “Teacher Shen, have you ever caught fish before?”

She fully expected her to say she’d only ever done rod fishing.

“I have,” Shen Buhui replied, glancing at her. “My fishing skills are officially certified.”

…Huh?

Xu Zhiyan blinked in curiosity. “Certified by who?”

Shen Buhui looked at her with a teasing glint. “Why don’t you guess?”

Xu Zhiyan: “…”
There’s no way I can guess that.

Since she couldn’t exactly whine or pout in front of the camera, she gave up on getting an answer and instead quickened her pace, leading Shen Buhui to a few nearby households to borrow fishing nets.

No one answered at the first house, so they moved on. At the third, a kindly old woman answered the door. When she heard what they needed, she was more than happy to lend them two fishing nets from her home.

“Thank you, Grandma! We’ll return them once we’re done!” Xu Zhiyan called cheerfully.

She slipped a couple of small tangerines—snuck from the bedroom earlier—into the old woman’s hand as a thank-you gift.

The grandmother tried to refuse, speaking in slightly accented Mandarin, but her warm and welcoming tone made it clear she truly didn’t mind.

“Go ahead and use them, no rush returning. Whenever’s fine!”

In the end, Xu Zhiyan managed to press the tangerines into the woman’s hands and, nets in tow, grabbed Shen Buhui’s hand and took off running.

“Grandma, we’ll come back and return them!” she shouted as they dashed away.

It was a bright, sunny day. The soft, damp earth by the stream had mostly dried after a night of cool breezes—at least enough that stepping on it no longer felt like sinking into mud.

Xu Zhiyan, who had run all the way there against the wind, bent over to catch her breath, hands on her knees. She let the fishing net drop beside her feet as she exhaled.

Perhaps it was the wide, open surroundings that made Shen Buhui feel more at ease—her expression was relaxed, a faint smile on her lips as she looked at Xu Zhiyan. She couldn’t help but bring up an old complaint. “You really need to work on your stamina.”

They had both jogged over from the village, but compared to Xu Zhiyan who was clearly winded, Shen Buhui seemed perfectly composed and full of energy.

Xu Zhiyan casually brushed her bangs aside and said, unfazed, “It’s fine. As long as I don’t run out of steam when it really counts.”

Shen Buhui raised an eyebrow, giving no comment—but her eyes held amusement.

Once she caught her breath, Xu Zhiyan scooped up the fishing nets and got down to business.

The two nets she held were clearly for personal household use—probably ones the grandma used herself—so they were on the smaller side. But if they actually managed to catch something, it should be enough to feed six people.

Peering into the crystal-clear river and spotting fish darting back and forth, Xu Zhiyan rubbed her chin and declared, “Fishing squad—let’s get to work!”

Shen Buhui looked over at her, full of spirit and energy, and her gaze softened like moonlight falling on water.

Thanks to Xu Zhiyan’s prior experience, the two of them quickly got the hang of it. They found a suitable spot along the riverbank, each holding one corner of the net, and cast it into the water. Once the net was spread out, they weighed down the lead edges at the bank with nearby bricks and stones.

They repeated the process with the second net. Once both were set, Xu Zhiyan and Shen Buhui found a clean, dry spot nearby to sit and wait for something to swim into the traps.

Xu Zhiyan glanced over at the nets. “Technically, we could pull them in right away, but it’s better to wait a bit—we might catch more this way.”

Sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, Shen Buhui chuckled. “Aren’t you afraid the fish will all swim away?”

Xu Zhiyan blinked, then replied seriously, “If that happens, I’ll just jump in and catch them myself.”

With that, she began glancing around as if searching for something.

Shen Buhui leaned over. “What are you looking for?”

“A tree branch,” Xu Zhiyan said without looking back. “I want to see if I can sharpen it and try spearfishing.”

Shen Buhui: “…”

She gave Xu Zhiyan a gentle nudge, wordlessly telling her to stop acting.

The two fell into a quiet rhythm, enjoying the breeze as it blew gently along the riverbank, the sunlight shimmering on the water. After a while, a trace of curiosity crept into Xu Zhiyan’s voice.

“Teacher Shen, where did you learn to fish like that?”

“What’s with the sudden interest?”

Xu Zhiyan nudged a pebble with her toe, propping her chin on her hand. “Just making conversation.”

In truth, she simply wanted to know more about her girlfriend.

It wasn’t every day that she got to see this side of Shen Buhui—more laid-back, a little playful—and of course she wanted to take advantage of the moment to understand her better.

Shen Buhui gazed out at the distant blue sky, as if lost in thought.

“I learned when I was a kid,” she said slowly. “Back then, there was a river near where I lived. Big, fat fish swam there all the time, and lots of kids would go fishing with the grown-ups.”

“So you joined them?” Xu Zhiyan asked, intrigued.

Shen Buhui smiled and shook her head. “I didn’t. My teacher said we should stay away from rivers and cherish life, so I never went.”

Xu Zhiyan: “…”
That’s true. She remembered all those school posters with safety slogans from childhood.

Which only made her more curious. Xu Zhiyan tilted her head and stared at her intently.

Being looked at like that—those wide eyes filled with pure interest—was far too adorable. Unable to resist, Shen Buhui reached over and gave her head a fond ruffle before continuing her story.

“But back then, there was a little girl,” Shen Buhui began, her voice gentle. “She used to watch the other kids go fishing with the adults, and she really wanted to try it too. But she didn’t know how, and no adults were around to help her. So I decided to teach myself. Once I figured it out, I took her to a very shallow part of the stream and taught her how to fish.”

As she spoke, her expression softened in a way that tugged at Xu Zhiyan’s heart. A strange pang of emotion welled up inside her.

But that was all from many years ago—just a piece of the distant past. Xu Zhiyan told herself to be more generous about it.

“But in such shallow water, there wouldn’t be many fish, right? Were you able to catch any?” she asked, trying to shift her focus with a question.

Shen Buhui smiled. “That’s why we came back empty-handed the first time.”

“And after that?”

“Well…” Shen Buhui’s thoughts drifted back to that moment. She had secretly used her own pocket money to pay someone to release some small fish into that very spot. Then, pretending nothing had happened, she took the little girl back out to ‘catch fish’—and they ended up pulling in quite a haul.

“Jiejie, look! You’re amazing! You caught so many fish!”

The tiny girl had cupped her hands to her chest, eyes wide with wonder and admiration, her childish voice full of joy and awe.

She had been completely unaware of the truth. She was simply ecstatic—and in the glittering excitement of her gaze, Shen Buhui had felt a rare sense of pride. The little girl never knew that all that happiness and confidence had come from someone quietly watching over her from behind.

It had all started as a way to cheer up a child, but somehow, in the process, it was she who had been gently healed—those childhood shadows of insecurity and gloom quietly soothed by the love of someone so small.

As she thought of this, Shen Buhui tilted her head up toward the sky. Her eyes were just a little damp.

“After that, we caught lots of fish,” she said softly. “And that’s how I learned.”

Xu Zhiyan stared in surprise at the fleeting shimmer in her eyes beneath the sunlight, a little unsure.

After a beat, she patted Shen Buhui on the shoulder and deliberately used a cheerful tone. “Then Teacher Shen really is amazing—teaching yourself just so you could help another kid fish. Meanwhile, I never managed to learn no matter how hard I tried.”

Catching Shen Buhui’s gaze, Xu Zhiyan scratched her head, trying hard to recall something. “I remember I was terrible at it back then. No one taught me, and I didn’t dare go near the water alone. Luckily, there was this older girl I was close with who helped me out. She taught me how to fish.”

As the memory came back, warm and vivid, it felt like the joy and softness from long ago came rushing in all at once—cutting through the haze of time. Xu Zhiyan’s hand, which had just dropped back to her lap, suddenly froze in midair.

What ever happened to that girl?

That kind, beautiful “jiejie”… Was she doing well now?

Then, as if struck by something, Xu Zhiyan suddenly recalled that old, yellowed photo she’d found during summer break—one that had fallen out of a box while she was rummaging around at home. At the time, she hadn’t been able to remember where it came from.

But now, she had a feeling.

Was that photo… a picture of her and that older girl?

Support The Paranoid Film Queen Hooked Me, and I Fell in Love