What Should I do After Binding the Wrong System and the Female Lead comes Knocking at my Door? - Chapter 21:

The scene in the meeting room was tense, with the pressure falling squarely on Bai Zhou. The elder, Zhang Quan, had already noticed something was off and excused himself, leaving Bai Zhou to deal with the situation.

Bai Zhou, under the pretext of sending the guest off, stepped outside to brew some tea for the three of them. When she returned, she found the three sitting at the long rectangular conference table, exchanging intense stares. Gu Qing, with his deep, unreadable gaze, sat on one side, while Wen Liang, wearing a gentle smile, sat on the other. The atmosphere between them was so thick it felt as though there were swords clashing above their heads. Bai Zhou placed the tea in front of the two and, feeling the pressure, found herself shrinking under their intense gaze.

She then gave the tea to Pei Yuanxi, casting her a look of admiration. Pei Yuanxi sat at the head of the table, sandwiched between Gu Qing and Wen Liang, still maintaining her composure. She even thanked Bai Zhou for the tea.

Bai Zhou sighed inwardly. It was clear Pei Yuanxi was trying to ease the tension with small talk, even though Bai Zhou could tell she wasn’t as composed as she seemed. Bai Zhou had been planning to leave after serving the tea, as this was a battlefield where she felt out of place. But since Pei Yuanxi had already signaled her, she knew she couldn’t just disappear. If she ignored the signal, Pei Yuanxi would definitely arrange for her to spend a few months back in the secretarial department, torturing her with the mundane office life. Bai Zhou shuddered at the thought.

So, with no other choice, Bai Zhou cleared her throat loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“Well, um… is anyone feeling like they need to go to the bathroom?” Bai Zhou asked, her eyes darting between Gu Qing and Wen Liang, finally deciding to direct the question to Wen Liang.

Pei Yuanxi: …
Wen Liang: ???

Bai Zhou immediately regretted her words. What had she just said? She felt like slapping herself, but at the same time, it wasn’t her fault. Being under the combined scrutiny of the three people was incredibly stressful.

“I mean… can you accompany me to the bathroom? My stomach’s been bothering me today, and it’s been a while since we’ve had a proper chat.”

Pei Yuanxi shot Bai Zhou a look of exasperation. Really? This is how you choose to diffuse the situation?

“Sure!” Wen Liang smiled brightly and stood up, linking arms with Bai Zhou. “Let’s go?”

Bai Zhou froze for a moment but quickly recovered and pulled Wen Liang towards the bathroom.

Even Pei Yuanxi stared in disbelief at the unfolding scene. Well, it seems no one can turn down a bathroom invitation from a good friend, huh?

As Bai Zhou successfully managed to alleviate the tension, Pei Yuanxi, now feeling relieved, forgot that just moments ago she was considering sending Bai Zhou back to the secretarial department for some “training.”

“Are you hungry?” Pei Yuanxi turned to Gu Qing and casually asked, as if the earlier tension had never happened.

Hearing the question, Gu Qing accepted the invitation to team up.

“Should we go grab something to eat?”

“Aren’t we waiting for them?”

Pei Yuanxi waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t mind them. Wen Liang’s got Bai Zhou with her. Let’s eat. What do you feel like?”

Gu Qing nodded, quietly responding, “Anything works for me.”

“How about hotpot?” Pei Yuanxi suggested, thinking aloud. “We’re about to start filming soon, so I’ll be eating all those bland dishes to maintain my figure. Let’s enjoy ourselves while we can!”

“Sounds good.”

With that, Pei Yuanxi didn’t hesitate, immediately taking Gu Qing’s hand and leading her out of the studio. Gu Qing followed closely behind, her gaze fixed on their intertwined hands.

Little did they know, Wen Liang, who had just come out of the bathroom, had witnessed everything from afar.

Bai Zhou chuckled awkwardly behind her, deliberately voicing her “anger” for dramatic effect. “Where are those two going? How could they just leave without saying anything?”

Wen Liang, leaning against the wall and lighting a cigarette, glanced at Bai Zhou, amused.

“Bai Xiaozhou, you should get your boss into the entertainment industry. Who knows, you might be the next Best Actress.”

Bai Zhou shrugged. “I thought you already knew. My acting skills are nothing compared to my other talents.”

Wen Liang gave her a light smack on the head. “Look at you, getting all confident now! So, what’s the deal with Gu Qing? What makes her so special that you and Yuanxi are both protecting her like this?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t quite get it!”

Seeing Bai Zhou pretending to be clueless, Wen Liang let out a snort of laughter. “Alright then. Should we head out too?”

“Go… where?”

“Well, you’re taking me out to eat, right?”

Bai Zhou breathed a sigh of relief. Eating was fine; she’d do anything to avoid this “battlefield” and just have some food.

“Actually, I know a fantastic hotpot place. Want to give it a try?” Bai Zhou said with a bright smile.

“Let’s go.”

Wen Liang nodded and followed Bai Zhou to the restaurant.

The hotpot place was nice, and the two of them casually picked a private room and began ordering.

Meanwhile, Pei Yuanxi and Gu Qing, after ordering their food, waited for the service staff to leave. After they did, Pei Yuanxi removed her mask and spoke to Gu Qing.

“Once you’re famous, you’ll understand how annoying it is to go out and have a meal in peace.”

“Right.” Gu Qing nodded.

“But honestly, I think you’re already doing really well. No lie, you’re already better than I was when I first started.”

Hearing Pei Yuanxi’s praise, Gu Qing hesitated. She wanted to tell her that she wasn’t as good as Pei Yuanxi thought, that her acting skills were better because she had been an actress in her past life before her “transmigration.”

This “transmigration” thing was something Gu Qing couldn’t bring herself to explain, especially not in this moment. She had planned to tell Pei Yuanxi about it after paying off the five million debt. But since Pei Yuanxi had already asked her not to mention it again, Gu Qing decided to honor that request for now.

Gu Qing thought she would tell Pei Yuanxi the truth once she caught up to her in this world. She never wanted to hide anything from her. To Gu Qing, nothing mattered more than Pei Yuanxi.

Feeling a sense of gratitude, Gu Qing thought, I’m so lucky to be in this world.

“Yuanxi, you’ll help me, right?”

Pei Yuanxi looked at her in confusion and nodded. “Of course. Who else would I help?”

Pei Yuanxi gave a slightly regretful smile. “If it weren’t for this film, I’d be more confident about making money. I’d have given you a thousand million to take a 10% share and you’d be financially free by now. But sadly, I can’t.”

“It’s fine,” Gu Qing smiled, shaking her head. “You’ve already done enough.”

Pei Yuanxi thought for a moment. “Well, there’ll be more opportunities. Next time, I’ll pick a good script and we can both act in it. I’ll make sure it’s profitable, and then I’ll invest in your share.”

Gu Qing bit her lip, considering the offer.

“Yuanxi…”

“Hm? What’s up?”

“Yuanxi…” Gu Qing hesitated, taking a deep breath before speaking. “What if one day you find out that I might not be as simple as you think? What would you think of me then?”

Pei Yuanxi thought Gu Qing was facing some problem and was about to say something reassuring when she chuckled and answered, “What’s wrong with that? Everyone has their complexity. No one’s simple.”

“It’s not that,” Gu Qing shook her head. “It’s a secret. A big secret.”

Pei Yuanxi understood, and she smiled reassuringly, “Don’t worry. You won’t harm me, will you?”

“Of course not!”

“Then that’s good.” Pei Yuanxi laughed lightly, “Don’t overthink it. I’ll tell you something, though. I have a big secret too, probably bigger than yours. What will you think if you find out?”

Gu Qing thought Pei Yuanxi was just trying to comfort her, so she played along and asked, “You won’t harm me, will you?”

“Of course not,” Pei Yuanxi smiled, though her heart was heavy with the knowledge of Gu Qing’s past life and the system she didn’t know about. This secret weighed on her as she tried to ease Gu Qing’s worries.

The hotpot dinner ended with both of them feeling uneasy, each lost in their own thoughts.

After Gu Qing paid the bill, she told Pei Yuanxi, “Wait here. I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Go ahead. I’ll wait outside,” Pei Yuanxi said nonchalantly.

After Gu Qing left the room, she ran into Wen Liang, who had also just come out of the bathroom. The two of them froze, staring at each other for a moment.

Wen Liang chuckled. “Well, what a coincidence.”

Gu Qing gave a polite nod in return.

They walked to the bathroom one after the other.

Outside, Pei Yuanxi, fully dressed, met Bai Zhou in the hallway. They stared at each other for a moment.

Bai Zhou nervously pointed at Pei Yuanxi and stammered, “You… you… are you here eating too?”

Pei Yuanxi hurriedly asked, “Where’s Wen Liang?”

“She’s in the bathroom touching up her makeup. Where did Gu Qing go?”

“…She’s in the bathroom.”

After Gu Qing finished in the restroom, she found Wen Liang at the sink, reapplying her lipstick. The two met eyes in the mirror.

Gu Qing was the first to speak.

“Wen Liang, do you like Yuanxi?”