The Paranoid Film Queen Hooked Me, and I Fell in Love - Chapter 66

At dawn, when Xu Zhiyan woke up, she realized Shen Buhui was no longer beside her. She reached out instinctively, only to feel the cold sheets next to her.

She got out of bed, slipped on her shoes, and walked out — only to find Shen Buhui sitting in the study.

Seeing that Xu Zhiyan was awake, Shen Buhui stood up and pulled out the chair next to her, gesturing for her to sit.

“Xie Ye said the results of the investigation are in.”

Xu Zhiyan had barely sat down when she sprang back to her feet and moved behind her, peering at the surveillance footage on the screen.
“Was it Zeng Yue?”

Shen Buhui nodded.

Her eyes darkened slightly as she watched the surveillance footage of Zeng Yue moving hurriedly down a hallway.
“There’s a ninety percent chance it was her. But since we can’t interrogate her ourselves, we can’t confirm it completely.”

Xu Zhiyan suddenly asked,
“All the stuff from the private room that night — is it still there?”

Shen Buhui immediately understood what she meant. She nodded.
“Yes, everything’s been preserved properly.”

It had only been a few days since that night — not too late to act.

Xu Zhiyan let out a breath of relief.
“Then let’s call the police.”

“Buying and selling that kind of drug might not be illegal, but using it to hurt someone is a crime,” she said, her eyes fixed on the footage of Zeng Yue leaving in a hurry.
“Just because I wasn’t harmed doesn’t mean she should get away with it.”

To be honest, at one point, Xu Zhiyan had considered retaliating if it turned out Zeng Yue was behind it.

But eventually, she realized it wasn’t worth it. She wasn’t like Zeng Yue.

“Now that the evidence is here and your investigation has clear direction, let’s hand everything over to the police.”

Naturally, Shen Buhui had no objections. Right in front of Xu Zhiyan, she called Xie Ye. That very afternoon, Xu Zhiyan filed a police report.

Shen Buhui accompanied her to the station to make an official statement. They submitted the medical diagnosis and the results of their investigation. After that, they returned to the apartment.

Everything from the private room had been left untouched. The only plausible way to administer the drug had been through food or drink. Surveillance footage showed Zeng Yue leaving the room empty-handed. From that, the police could begin their own analysis.

On the way back, Xu Zhiyan suddenly recalled the first time she met Zeng Yue.

“I remember… back then, Zeng Yue actually seemed like a good person,” she said softly.

Shen Buhui looked out the window.
“People change.”

She remembered the first time she met Zeng Yue.

At that time, Zeng Yue had been a nobody — a struggling actress with no say in anything. Her agency was a predatory one, and the contract she’d signed had been nearly exploitative.

At one drunken industry party, Zeng Yue had been drugged. She was on the verge of losing everything when she ran into Shen Buhui, who had just debuted but was already making headlines. Shen Buhui had helped her — sent her to the hospital and protected her.

The next time they met was backstage at an event. Zeng Yue confessed her feelings. Shen Buhui turned her down.

Not long after that, word spread that Zeng Yue had signed with a new agency. From then on, her career soared.

No one could have guessed she would one day do something like this.

After hearing the full story, Xu Zhiyan sat in silence for a long time, trying to process it.

Unrequited love turning into obsession — perhaps. But it was still no excuse to harm others.

Xu Zhiyan pushed away the complex thoughts and said no more.

Whatever came next had nothing to do with them anymore.

But Xu Zhiyan didn’t notice the shadow in Shen Buhui’s eyes.

She might be willing to let it go — but Shen Buhui wouldn’t.

She wouldn’t just let Zeng Yue face legal consequences. She wanted her to be ruined.

Shen Buhui rubbed her fingers along the edge of her phone, her eyes turning cold at the thought of the documents Xie Ye had sent her — damning evidence tucked away neatly in her inbox.

—

As New Year’s Eve approached, things grew busier for Xu Zhiyan and Shen Buhui.

Everything for this Spring Festival had been prepared by the two of them personally. Looking at their freshly cleaned and decorated apartment, they both felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

After a full house cleaning, they put up the Spring Festival couplets.

Once everything was set, they began preparing the dumplings for the evening’s celebration.

“Do you know how to make them?” Xu Zhiyan asked, placing freshly washed green onions next to Shen Buhui.

Shen Buhui shook her head. Neither of them had bought pre-made wrappers — they’d decided to make every part of the dumplings from scratch.

Scooping a spoonful of flour into a ceramic bowl, Xu Zhiyan gave Shen Buhui a little pep talk.
“I believe in you. You’ve got this.”

While Shen Buhui focused on kneading the dough, Xu Zhiyan turned her attention to mincing the dumpling filling.

The sound of her chopping echoed through the kitchen — loud, rhythmic, and relentless. Thankfully, their apartment had good soundproofing. Otherwise, Xu Zhiyan had a feeling someone might file a noise complaint, even during the festive season.

The dumplings, round and plump, were soon dropped into the boiling pot. When Xu Zhiyan scooped them out, she ended up with a plate full of dumplings in wildly different shapes.

The neatly folded, pretty ones were clearly made by Shen Buhui.
The quirky, lumpy ones — those were undoubtedly hers.

Just as she hung up a call to Lin Ya, she noticed the screen of Shen Buhui’s phone light up.

Smiling faintly, she took the dishes to the sink and began washing up.

Over the past few days, Xu Zhiyan had gradually noticed a change in Shen Buhui’s attitude toward Xie Ye. Although she still wouldn’t fully acknowledge their family ties, the way she spoke about him was no longer as cold and distant.

Xu Zhiyan didn’t press her. No matter what Shen Buhui chose to do, she would support her.

When the fireworks began outside, Xu Zhiyan carried two lounge chairs out to the balcony.

She fluffed up the cushions and lay side by side with Shen Buhui, watching the brilliant explosions of color in the sky.

“Do you think our New Year’s Eve is a bit too… quiet?” Xu Zhiyan asked, adjusting the brim of her hat as she turned toward Shen Buhui.

“How exciting were you hoping for?” Shen Buhui glanced at her. “Want me to go buy fireworks? We can make it real noisy if that’s what you’re after.”

“Of course not.” Xu Zhiyan laughed, resting her head on her arm.
“I just didn’t want you to feel bored.”

Shen Buhui mirrored her pose, looking up at the dazzling bursts of fireworks in the distance.
“I’m not bored. This is the kind of life I’ve always longed for.”

Before, she’d never imagined she would get everything she wanted so quickly.

It all felt like a vivid, beautiful dream — one so enchanting she never wanted to wake up.

And yet, Xu Zhiyan was here, lying quietly at her side. She could feel the warmth of her gaze lingering on her cheek — real, present, undeniable.

After a while, just as the fireworks began to fade into the night, Xu Zhiyan leaned in, curiosity lighting her voice.
“Jie… what if, when we met, I’d already been seeing someone else? What would you have done?”

She looked at her — quiet, elegant, perfectly composed — and waited for her reply.

There was hardly a pause. Almost before the words had finished leaving her lips, Shen Buhui already had an answer.

“Nothing,” she said softly, lowering her eyes.
“If you had already been in a relationship when we met, I would’ve just liked you from afar. I wouldn’t have interfered.”

With Xu Zhiyan, Shen Buhui had always felt two completely opposite instincts, both equally strong, coexisting strangely in harmony.

One was restraint.
The other — desire to possess.

If Xu Zhiyan had never stepped into her life, she would’ve kept those feelings buried, never disturbing her.

But once she did — once she truly stood beside her, alive, real — Shen Buhui could no longer suppress that desire to make her hers.

And the longer Xu Zhiyan stayed, the more fiercely that desire burned.

Without knowing exactly when, Xu Zhiyan had already gotten up. Now she stood before her, silhouetted against the bursts of fireworks behind her. Her voice was clear and soft, like a confession carried on the wind.

“There’s no ‘what if.’ I don’t think that scenario would ever exist.”

“I believe… no matter the stage, no matter the moment — whenever I met you, I would’ve fallen for you, Shen Buhui.”

She said it with such certainty, as if it were a truth written in her bones.

There was no way to prove it — but the way Shen Buhui smiled, it was as though she’d run this hypothesis a thousand times and finally heard the answer she’d always believed.

“That kind of thing you just said,” Shen Buhui murmured after a while, eyes fixed on the girl now pressed so close beside her,
“…sounds an awful lot like a proposal.”

Xu Zhiyan: “…”

She let out a soft hum. Ever since that time she’d joked about not yet being of legal age to marry, Shen Buhui had never stopped teasing her about it.

“You just wait,” Xu Zhiyan declared confidently, puffing up her chest. “When I propose, I’ll be way more prepared than now — I’ll make sure you’re so moved you’ll be crying as you say yes.”

Shen Buhui raised a brow.
“And why is it you proposing to me? Why not the other way around?”

Xu Zhiyan paused, suddenly recalling… the bedroom arrangements.

After a moment, she muttered,
“Well… if you want to propose to me, that’s fine too.”

“Either way — whether I marry you or you marry me — you’re my wife, right, baby?”

By now, Shen Buhui had grown nearly immune to being called “baby.” Xu Zhiyan used it far too often — especially during embarrassing moments — and always with zero shame.

“Yes,” Shen Buhui said softly, taking her hand and helping her up.
“Come on, let’s head back inside. It’s getting windy.”

The fireworks show had ended at some point while they were talking, and Xu Zhiyan only just realized how late it had gotten.

00:00.

As the clock struck midnight, signaling the arrival of a new year, fireworks once again burst into the sky.

Holding hands as they watched the new year roll in, Xu Zhiyan smiled at the sound of fireworks echoing from outside.

This was her first New Year’s with Shen Buhui — the first of many to come.

—

On the morning of Lunar New Year’s Day, the two of them boiled the dumplings they’d made the night before. After breakfast, bundled up tightly, they headed to the cinema.

They hadn’t chosen to watch Symbiosis. Instead, they picked a romance movie.

Xu Zhiyan had spent a good while browsing online the night before, carefully selecting a film that promised sweetness, warmth, and just the right amount of heart-pounding fluff.

And the movie didn’t disappoint. When they came out of the theater, Xu Zhiyan still had a giddy, auntie-like grin on her face, utterly lost in the lingering emotions of the story.

Young love really was sweet.

Seeing her like that, Shen Buhui gave her a sideways glance.
“You’re only eighteen, you know.”

Freshly legal — which meant their love was technically also young love.

Xu Zhiyan waved her hand dismissively.
“Yeah, yeah. But after all this sweet romantic training, I’ve clearly matured beyond my years.”

“Sixteen or seventeen-year-old school romances really are adorable,” she added dreamily.

Shen Buhui rolled her eyes and was about to ignore her — but seeing that dazed, sentimental look, she couldn’t resist digging up old dirt.
“Are you reminiscing about which ex right now?”

Xu Zhiyan: “…”

Crap. She forgot she’d already spilled all her “deep dark history” to Shen Buhui.

Even though there wasn’t much of anything to spill in the first place!

Tossing the movie plot aside, she grabbed Shen Buhui’s sleeve and quickly explained,
“I was just thinking — if we’d met in school, or never been apart, like childhood sweethearts… that would’ve been amazing, too.”

And she meant it. All the praise she gave that movie — deep down, it was really because it reminded her of them.

Shen Buhui’s expression softened a little. She pinched Xu Zhiyan’s cheek and said,
“That’s not so hard. If you really want to experience it, we can pick a script like that next time.”

“Acting is basically real-life roleplay, right?”

If reality didn’t offer that story, then she’d just create it.

A hint of a smile played on Shen Buhui’s lips.
“Or better yet, write your own fanfic. Then you can experience whatever you want.”

Brilliant idea!

Xu Zhiyan’s eyes lit up. She immediately grabbed Shen Buhui’s hand, already forming plotlines in her mind.

Then — her attention snapped to another topic entirely.
“Let’s have pickled fish for lunch today!”

She bounced topics with no warning, grinning as she made her suggestion.
“But! No vinegar in the dish — we’re eating it just like that.”

“Why?” Shen Buhui asked instinctively. “It won’t taste good without the tang.”

“Because…” Xu Zhiyan dragged out her words dramatically,
“someone already used up all the vinegar this morning — drank the whole bottle, in fact!”

Only then did Shen Buhui realize — she was being teased for earlier, when she brought up her past relationships.

“Oh, you little— Xu Zhiyan! You’re mocking me?! Tonight, you’re sleeping in the study!”

“Nooo, nooo!” Xu Zhiyan giggled, dodging behind the kitchen counter.
“Having vinegar on the first day of the year is healthy!”

Two utterly un-rhymed, completely illogical lines — yet somehow Xu Zhiyan made them sound convincing.

As Shen Buhui reached out to flick her on the forehead, Xu Zhiyan laughed and dodged again, her laughter echoing through the warm, festive apartment.

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