Xiang Luo gave a light "heh," then withdrew her gaze expressionlessly.
When she and Jiang Qin worked together on their first drama, they got along well and often met up for tea. At that time, she played the lead role, and Jiang Qin played the supporting role.
After the TV series aired, Jiang Qin's character became popular, but various negative news also emerged. Rumors circulated that Jiang Qin had undermined her and cut her scenes as the female lead in order to climb the ladder of fame.
Afterwards, she revealed a lot of so-called "dirt" on Jiang Qin in her own words.
Later, Jiang Qin and her studio unfollowed her.
This further corroborates the allegations, proving that she framed Jiang Qin.
During that period, her public image collapsed, and with other dramas she starred in also flopping, her popularity plummeted.
Later, she sued several marketing accounts that were spreading rumors and smearing her. She won the case a year later, and netizens no longer cared about what happened back then.
She and Jiang Qin had long since broken off their friendship.
The filming of "The Rest of My Life" has started, and she is in the same group as Jiang Qin again. The old incident from years ago has been brought up again, and everyone only remembers that she "blackened" Jiang Qin, but no one looks at the judgment from back then.
Jiang Qin probably still doesn't believe it, doesn't believe that she didn't kick someone when they were down back then.
Xiang Luo submerged his feet in the lake water, feeling the refreshing coolness rising from his feet.
She took a selfie, intending to send it to her father's assistant so they could decide what to do. Before she could even send it, a message popped up on her phone; her father had replied.
Mo Yushen's phone rang; it was Xiang Luo calling. He gestured to Jiang Qin, "Don't just stare at the script; turn the pages of your notebook every few minutes."
He walked towards the deserted woods with his phone in hand and answered, "What's up?"
Xiang Luo: "My dad agreed to meet with you to talk. Go see him next Monday. I'll send you my dad's number in a bit. But I can't guarantee that we'll reach an agreement in the end."
No matter how harsh the conditions, he will agree.
Xiang Luo also wanted to say that even if a collaboration is reached, it's uncertain when the technology can be developed for clinical use. Maybe a year, maybe three.
There's also the possibility that in the end there will be no result.
Will Xi Jia's condition be able to wait until then?
The words were on the tip of Xiang Luo's tongue, but she couldn't say them.
Mo Yushen's voice came through, "Thank you."
Xiang Luo reminded Mo Yushen, "If it works out, don't forget what you promised me." She glanced at Jiang Qin out of the corner of her eye.
Mo Yushen hummed in agreement and hung up.
Getting Jiang Qin to take the initiative to show goodwill to Xiang Luo is as difficult as climbing to the sky.
Jiang Qin's WeChat is still on his blacklist. He doesn't dare to release it unless Xi Jia says so.
After thinking about it for a long time, I still have no clue.
Mo Yushen called Cheng Weimo and told him the whole story. Now, Jiang Qin would probably only give him some face because of Cheng Weimo.
Cheng Weimo sighed, remembering how Wu Yang used to describe Jiang Qin's temper as "fantastic."
Asking her to take the initiative to show goodwill is practically asking her to die.
Cheng Weimo decided: "I'll use some tricks on Jiang Qin then."
Mo Yushen: "...Is this a good idea?"
Cheng Weiming: "Aren't childhood friends just people you use to betray others in crucial moments?"
There is no other way.
That's what the two of them decided.
Anyway, in the past, he and Jiang Qin tricked Cheng Weimo, and Cheng Weimo and Jiang Qin tricked him in return. Now, let's just say that fortunes have turned around.
Cheng Weimo asked, "How is Jiang Qin doing on set?"
His question seemed to come out of nowhere.
Mo Yushen: "He's alright, his temper has improved a lot. He hasn't had any conflicts with Xi Jia."
After hesitating for a moment, Cheng Weiming finally asked, "What's the condition of Xi Jia?"
Mo Yushen's voice was low and deep. "You can only hear what others are saying if you get very close." As he spoke, he looked at the lake.
The sun shines warmly, and the clouds disperse.
The electric boat had already sailed far away, becoming just a black dot.
Halfway up the mountain, a wisp of smoke rose from a chimney.
Cheng Weimo: "Working with Professor Xiang might bring good news soon."
Mo Yushen often deceived himself in this way as well.
——
After dinner, we returned to the hotel.
Mo Yushen opened the door, but Xi Jia wasn't there. She hadn't gone to the dinner party tonight, saying she was going to her grandmother's house for dinner and that she would be back before nine o'clock.
He messaged Xi Jia: 【Where are you?】
Xi Jia quickly replied: 【I'll be there soon.】
Xi Jia was at the entrance of the Jingjiao Store; she had just wandered around and ended up here.
Back in the room, the sound of running water came from the bathroom; Mo Yushen was taking a shower.
Xi Jia packed her suitcase and put all her belongings inside.
Mo Yushen came out of the bathroom and saw that she was fully dressed. "Are you going out again?"
Xi Jia came over and hugged him, her eyes filled with guilt: "I want to go and keep Grandma company. I might go back to Beijing at the beginning of next month. The scripts for the plays in the mountains are mostly written by Teacher Shang. She has a better grasp of the elders' feelings than I do. As for the younger generation's parts, I have already polished the script to a near perfection."
Mo Yushen looked into her eyes. Their relationship was already public, yet she chose to stay at her grandmother's house. She probably couldn't hear very well anymore, and she didn't want to be with anyone.
Including him.
There was probably another reason for going to the old lady's house: she needed to work through the night on the script and analysis. Before she could hear completely, she wanted to finish revising all the scripts so as not to delay filming.
Mo Yushen nodded loudly, "Spend more time with Grandma. Who knows when we'll be able to come back after filming wraps up."
Xi Jia: "Thank you, husband." She suppressed all her vulnerability and turned to pull her suitcase.
Mo Yushen accompanied her to the old woman's house.
Xi Jia didn't know what she was going to talk about with Mo Yushen, and she couldn't hear what they were talking about very well, just like the lake and the wooden house were miles apart.
I don't know if it was because she went into the water today, but in the afternoon, her ears felt muffled, as if a passage had been shut off.
Tonight, while having dinner at the hotel, she made an excuse to visit the old woman and didn't participate in the event. Actually, she didn't visit the old woman; she went to the hospital in the scenic area instead.
The doctor said there was no water in her ear and told her to go to the county hospital for an X-ray to see what was going on.
She knew it was caused by a brain lesion.
When she came out of the lake, her tinnitus was a little better and less piercing, which she thought was a good thing. In fact, it was the prelude to something worse. It wasn't that her tinnitus had lessened, but that she couldn't hear clearly anymore.
"Honey, I'm going to call Ye Qiu."
Mo Yushen nodded, deliberately keeping his distance from her and walking behind her.
Xi Jia plugged in her earphones and played the audio recording Mo Yushen had made for her. She talked to herself, pretending to chat with Ye Qiu.
The chat content was mostly related to Huo Teng.
Tonight, the wind is gentle and the clouds are light. A crescent moon hangs in the sky.
Tourists frequently walked past us on the road.
Mo Yushen and Xi Jia's shadows separated on the straight road, overlapped for a moment when they turned the corner, and then quickly separated again.
The shadow separated and reunited several times before they arrived at the old woman's door.
Chapter 51
Mo Yushen carried the suitcase into the house for Xi Jia. The old lady was asleep, so Mo Yushen didn't disturb her or linger.
Xi Jia saw him to the door and gave him a hug. "Today was the happiest day of my life."
Mo Yushen knew what she was referring to, and he revealed her identity to the crew.
He held her hand, which was wrapped around his waist. "Once we finish filming here, let's go on vacation and find a place you like with a church."
Xi Jia smiled and nodded vigorously.
She didn't want him to go back to the hotel right now, so she tried to talk to him for a bit. She nestled against his chest, very close to his lips, and could hear what he was saying.
"I jumped into the lake to retrieve my bag today, weren't you worried about me?"
Mo Yushen whispered in her ear, "I know you're a good swimmer?"
Xi Jia looked up at him, "How did you know?"
Mo Yushen hesitated for a moment, then said, "You told me that when you got married."
So that's how it is. I thought he had secretly investigated her. Anyway, she hadn't written anything about similar topics in her notes over the past six months.
They rarely talked about her past.
She only knew a little about his past, all from snippets of conversation with others.
"Back in junior high, I almost joined the swimming team, but it conflicted with my equestrian training schedule, so I gave it up. But I think I swam quite often after that. I can't remember exactly."
She talked about the things from the past that she could remember.
But it turned out to be just a rough estimate; the details had become blurred.
Xi Jia stayed in Mo Yushen's arms for a while longer. It was getting late, so she let go of him and said, "Go home early."
Mo Yushen had a video conference at 11 o'clock, which was related to the board reshuffle of the Mo Group in March, so he didn't delay any longer.
Xi Jia watched Mo Yushen until he turned the corner and disappeared from sight. She then locked the door and went inside to work on her script.
The light in her room was turned off just before dawn.
This continued for several days in a row.