The Whole World Is Waiting for Me and My Ex-Girlfriend to Remarry (Entertainment Industry) - Chapter 31

You cannot talk.

In a momentary surge of emotion, a cold wind crossed through time and space, brushing past the ear. Dong Huaci’s kiss had already landed on the corner of Zhong Qing’s lips; her eyes, which had been closed, suddenly snapped open the moment Zhong Qing’s arm encircled her waist.

“You’re distracted.”

Zhong Qing’s words seemed to carry an echo. Dong Huaci shifted slightly, feeling a sense of sudden realization as she returned to this Japanese restaurant. She realized this was no longer the banks of the Huangpu River at age eighteen. Although Zhong Qing’s hand remained upon her, Zhong Qing was no longer saying that ultimate line of pure love—she is my girlfriend. Now, Zhong Qing would sing of love a thousand times to her fans, only to later use a sum of money that seemed trivial to her to blackmail Dong Huaci into a kiss just to “find the feeling of love.”

“What were you thinking about? Just now?” Zhong Qing remained relentless.

In Dong Huaci’s eyes, the twenty-six-year-old Zhong Qing did not look much different from the nineteen-year-old Zhong Qing, except that her eye makeup was more refined and her practiced smiles were more evocative; otherwise, she was nearly identical. She possessed the same persistence, the same demand for Dong Huaci to voice every hidden thought to her.

Dong Huaci braced herself up from the tatami mat. “I was thinking about… back then.”

“Which year?”

Feeling a sudden exhaustion, Dong Huaci said, “Back then. The ‘back then’ before we made things turn out like this.”

After kissing the woman, Dong Huaci seemed to suddenly exit a scene; the panic and lingering affection in her eyes vanished without a trace. She returned to her seat with a graceful movement, like a butterfly fluttering away—not far, but suspended in mid-air.

“So, when you left the group to become an actress, is this how all your kiss scenes were filmed?” There was a trace of desolation in Zhong Qing’s voice. She lowered her head, looking unnatural no matter what she ate. “Acting with such tender affection, and the moment it’s over, everything is gone. Just for that paycheck, you can become a completely different person.”

Dong Huaci sat opposite her again, the “Chu-Han Border” between them clearly defined by several exquisite dishes. She cradled her face, her smile somewhat bitter, yet also appearing to act shamelessly: “Zhong Qing, that kiss earlier was your requirement. Being an actress is better for me than being an idol; at the very least, I don’t have to go to the dance studio in the early hours of the morning to suffer through stretching, nor do I have to smile every day and ‘operate’ day and night, or… date like a thief.”

The air conditioning grew colder. Zhong Qing’s gaze was dark; off-stage, she was incredibly stingy with her smiles. When Dong Huaci had been somewhat considerate earlier, she was willing to smile a couple of times; now, her entire face seemed frozen. The owner took the opportunity to serve them ice cream, and Zhong Qing offered no translation. It was Dong Huaci who tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and flashed a sweet smile, saying “Thank you” to the owner.

Once the man left, Zhong Qing spoke again: “Why can you smile so happily at others?”

Dong Huaci let out a long sigh. She said, “Zhong Qing, politeness and kindness don’t consume energy. You can’t possibly forbid me from smiling at others.”

Zhong Qing: “You can smile, but at the very least, do not smile at others when I am present.”

Dong Huaci was both annoyed and amused: “Zhong Qing, are we in a relationship?”

Zhong Qing didn’t say a single word.

Dong Huaci took a fierce bite of the ice cream. “Then that’s that. And even if we were dating, if you’re always going to mind me smiling at others, what can I do? I stopped being an idol to be an actress, and you mind my work; surely I can’t just stay home every day waiting for you to get off stage? You tell your fans you love every one of them—have I ever minded that? It’s because we were in the same girl group and knew each other’s hardships that we stayed together so long back then.”

Zhong Qing didn’t eat her ice cream; it seemed that watching the ice cream melt was more satisfying than eating it. “I don’t ‘pander’ to fans.”

Dong Huaci said, “Yes, you are noble. You rely on your natural beauty, your dancing strength, your social grace, and the sense of style and aesthetics your family spent money on since you were young. And me? I’m the one who pandered to fans every day, only to get tired of it in the end and go be a ‘vase’ actress to continue pandering even more. Right, Zhong Qing? That’s what you’ve always thought—just admit it. So why do you care about me? I’m asking you, why do you care?”

Looking at Dong Huaci’s exasperated appearance, Zhong Qing suddenly laughed. The moment that face laughed, the unpleasant atmosphere immediately dissipated, leaving the somewhat undignified Dong Huaci stunned where she sat.

“I was just thinking,” Zhong Qing drew out the words. Her lipstick was light today; the only shiny spot on that desert-red shade was the corner of her mouth, where Dong Huaci had accidentally kissed her while losing control of her emotions while aiming for her right ear. “When you’re angry, you still have so little ‘attack power.’ You might as well just hit someone.”

Dong Huaci suddenly felt dejected. She said, “Zhong Qing, you take your broad road, and I’ll take my single-log bridge. Stop trying to manage my affairs.”

The ice cream had melted into a viscous sweet liquid; there was also a touch of softness in Zhong Qing’s words: “I didn’t acknowledge you at the airport; I wasn’t the one who bumped into you at the awards ceremony; you were the one who knocked on the hotel door; you were the one who made that phone call; and now you tell me not to care about you—Dong Huaci, I’m afraid you won’t make it on your own.”

Dong Huaci was speechless. Her face flushed for a moment, then she said, “Then you’re quite the ‘good person,’ aren’t you, Zhong Qing?”

Zhong Qing straightened her plate. Facing her only ex-girlfriend, she found herself at a loss for words for a moment. She didn’t have much experience—or rather, she had no experience other than with Dong Huaci. She used to think that dating a girl only required spending money and time on her, yet she didn’t understand why, after all these years apart, Dong Huaci would resent her jealousy so much when she moved a step closer, while simultaneously remaining hot and cold, refusing to cut ties completely.

Zhong Qing said, “Then what do you want, Dong Huaci? You want me to leave you alone, is that it?”

Dong Huaci ate her ice cream and said nothing.

Zhong Qing: “If you don’t speak, I’ll assume that’s not it.” She coughed. “The second question is: do you want me to let go of you?”

Dong Huaci said, “Yes.”

Zhong Qing continued, “Fine. The third question is: if I were to date someone else, would you be completely happy?”

Dong Huaci finished the ice cream. She stared at Zhong Qing’s lips.

After a long pause, just as Zhong Qing was about to speak again, she said, “No. I would beat you to death.”

Zhong Qing laughed, a hearty and thorough laugh. She said, “Dong Huaci, why do you always play these kinds of tricks?”

“When we broke up, I already told you: you are not allowed to date,” Dong Huaci said word by word. “In exchange, I won’t date either. But let’s not contact each other. And let’s not interfere in each other’s business. Whatever happens in our careers, the other party doesn’t have to bear it—isn’t that good?”

“And then you blackmailed me… no, you blacklisted me, left me with such a broken rule, and never picked up my calls or replied to any messages. Even if a mutual friend so much as mentioned my name, you’d turn hostile.” Zhong Qing tapped the table. “That kind of rule only works on someone who still likes you. Can’t you figure that out? What if I really did date someone? What if I really liked someone else, Dong Huaci?”

Dong Huaci fell silent again.

She lacked confidence today. After all, Zhong Qing had arbitrarily filled such a huge hole for her; although she hadn’t asked for it, it made Dong Huaci feel even worse. She wanted to be angry but couldn’t bear to; she wanted to be moved but felt guarded. So, Dong Huaci did something pitiable—

She took Zhong Qing’s small portion of ice cream and continued to eat it, as if trying to freeze herself to death.

She said very tough words in a soft voice: “I said it already, I’ll beat you to death.”

Zhong Qing was speechless. After Dong Huaci finished eating, she wiped her mouth and added very sincerely: “Zhong Qing, I’ll find a way to settle our debt.”

Zhong Qing rose with an expression of suppressed emotion. She put on a thin overcoat suitable for the approaching autumn, folded her arms, and as she walked toward the exit, she maintained a silent, cold face. Dong Huaci followed behind her with an expression that could be called aggrieved, but in all the world, only Zhong Qing knew how much Dong Huaci had coerced her into doing using that face that everyone else found pitiable. Thus, she intentionally avoided looking at Dong Huaci’s expression.

At the very end, Dong Huaci caught hold of her coat belt. “Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry. We aren’t dating; why would I be angry with you?” Zhong Qing pursed her lips, her tone becoming businesslike as she tried to pull Dong Huaci’s hand off the belt. “Don’t pull on me. It’s hot. Let’s leave separately.”

“If I continue to film Liu Miao’s movie later on, will you mind?” Dong Huaci said suddenly.

“You know I will,” Zhong Qing said.

Liu Miao, Liu Miao, and Liu Miao again. In fact, Zhang Miao, Liu Miao, or Li Miao were all the same—anyone related to acting, anyone who helped Dong Huaci onto her path of success, or anyone she owed a great debt of gratitude to, regardless of gender, Zhong Qing would mind.

Dong Huaci suddenly wanted to say something but held back. She just looked up at the back of Zhong Qing’s head. After a while, she said again, “I can’t get back together with you.”

Zhong Qing turned around with a look of having done all she could: “I didn’t plan on getting back together with you.”

Dong Huaci’s tears fell suddenly and without warning. Zhong Qing’s hand, which had been reaching for the door, stopped instantly. A woman—she was a woman herself, yet she still did not understand the woman before her. Dong Huaci was more like she was addicted to being an actress; her tears fell the moment she decided, yet fearing that Zhong Qing would ask whether they were real or fake, she wiped them incessantly. Zhong Qing waited for her on the spot. Finally, Dong Huaci calmed her breathing and said, “Zhong Qing, without a career, I have no confidence. I don’t want to be tied to you forever, nor can I always be controlled by you like a pet. I am a person. I have some… rights, I feel… but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you anymore.”

Zhong Qing said nothing, just standing there at the doorway. Dong Huaci’s tears became more frequent as she wiped them. Finally, she crouched down and said, “You go first.”

Even after she spoke, Zhong Qing did not leave.

She simply knelt down halfway as well and slowly patted Dong Huaci’s back. This crying spell of Dong Huaci’s seemed both long-premeditated and entirely sudden. While crying, she suddenly hugged Zhong Qing. Amidst her sobbing, Dong Huaci said, “Zhong Qing, I also want to have a good father—why don’t I have one? Why is my best path always just to be a ‘pretty flower’? But in your eyes, am I a flower that is both vulgar and pathetic? Are you going to start liking someone else?”

By the end of her crying, Dong Huaci used some unknown burst of strength to push Zhong Qing away in a “use and discard” manner. She pushed open the door and, wearing her high heels, made a move to run out ahead.