Su Chengyang told herself in her heart that it must be because of this.
Xiao Lu, didn’t know when she joined their group, left a message under the photo:
【There’s no activity tonight. Do you all want to go out and play together?】
During the day, they were still recording the show with staff following them, so everyone didn’t have too much fun.
Su Chengyang’s mind was a bit confused, afraid that she wouldn’t be able to think clearly, and afraid that she would think too clearly. In the end, she saved the photo and replied in the group chat:【Okay.】
As soon as Su Chengyang replied, Han Songxue jumped out and said, 【I want to go too! I want to ride a roller coaster!】
Song Mingan: 【+1】
Jiang Shanqi: 【+1】
. . . . .
A few more guests replied later, and finally, everyone decided to finish dinner and rest for a while before going out to play together.
Not long after, Tian Rong and He Xu arrived late, and the hotel staff started serving dishes.
Before dinner, the assistant director played a game with them again. This time it was the game of <Idiom Solitaire>, and Su Chengyang could barely hold on for a few rounds.
Xiao Lu and Lin Yu stood by the door watching everyone.
Lin Yu looked at Su Chengyang thoughtfully, unclear what he was thinking.
In the group chat, Xiao Lu saved a photo and showed it to Lin Yu.
“Brother, look at this, it’s a photo of you and Chengyang.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu looked away and glanced at her phone screen.
After a while, he said, “Send it to me.”
“All of them?” Xiao Lu asked.
Lin Yu glanced at her and asked, “What do you think?”
Xiao Lu pouted and muttered, “I wanted to help you, what’s with the attitude?”
Lin Yu narrowed his eyes and said, “Don’t meddle in my business with Chengyang.”
“Then you don’t want this photo?” Xiao Lu asked.
Lin Yu looked up and said, “Send it to me.”
“One photo costs 100,000 yuan”
“Okay.”
Xiao Lu felt a little regretful while also feeling pleased with herself. If she had known earlier, she would have said one million yuan instead. Her cousin brother had agreed so readily, he must have been able to give it to her.
After sending the photo, she received 100,000 yuan through Alipay. Xiao Lu was very happy holding her phone. This was much higher than her monthly salary. She didn’t need to be an assistant anymore, she could just be a paparazzi, specializing in taking photos of Su Chengyang.
After the game ended, the staff ended the day’s shooting and packed up the equipment to rest.
During the dinner, Tian Rong stood up to go to the bathroom while the others continued chatting at the table. Han Songxue was telling them some gossip from foreign entertainment circles, but Su Chengyang focused on eating, not really listening.
Tian Rong came out of her seat and couldn’t help but glance at Lin Yu by the door.
Lin Yu was helping the staff tidy up the equipment. When Tian Rong walked by, she slowed down her steps and accidentally bumped into the machine in his hand.
“Ah…”
Tian Rong cried out in pain and took a small step back.
Lin Yu was surprised to find someone behind him, “I’m sorry, are you okay?”
The machine was quite heavy, and Tian Rong wasn’t prepared for it, so she bumped into it. The back of her hand was instantly cut, and a red mark appeared. It was still bleeding a little.
She lifted her red eyes and looked at Lin Yu, shaking her head, “I’m fine.”
Then she blew gently on the cut on her hand and said, “I’ll just wash it when I get back.”
Lin Yu glanced at her and handed the machine in his hand to someone nearby, saying, “The wound needs disinfection.”
“It’s okay, I…”
“Please wait for a moment first, I’ll have the hotel bring a medical kit over. And where is your assistant?” Lin Yu interrupted.
“She’s feeling a little unwell and resting in the room. Mr. Lin, I’m fine, you don’t have to worry. It’s my own carelessness,” Tian Rong replied.
After speaking, she didn’t give Lin Yu a chance to say anything else. She smiled friendly at him and left the room.
Lin Yu frowned at her back.
After leaving the room, Tian Rong went to the bathroom and called her assistant to bring over a medical kit.
Her purpose in doing this was not to let Lin Yu care about her, but to leave an impression on him with this incident. She wanted him to always feel guilty about her and that they would have a chance to interact in the future.
If she had just accepted Lin Yu’s kindness earlier, he might have forgotten about this incident.
After learning about this, Sister Sen gave her a thumbs up and said, “No wonder you were able to win over Yang Xiuyi in such a short time.”
Tian Rong didn’t care and replied, “Men are all the same.”
Su Chengyang was focused on eating, and suddenly Han Songxue bumped her arm and said, “Just now, your Mr. Lin bumped into Tian Rong.”
Su Chengyang looked up in confusion, “What?”
Han Songxue lifted her chin towards the door, where Lin Yu was still helping the staff to organize the equipment.
“Just now, when she went to the bathroom, Lin Yu accidentally bumped into her and it seems she bled a bit. But then she just smiled and walked away, I don’t know if she has some ulterior motive.”
Su Chengyang followed her gaze and saw Tian Rong walking in from the door, with a band-aid on her hand. Lin Yu asked her something and Tian Rong shook her head with a smile, as if saying it was no big deal.
Su Chengyang shook her head to clear her mind as she watched them standing together. But her thoughts at that moment were unexpectedly about who would be the next person standing beside Lin Yu. Surely it would be a beautiful and outstanding woman?
After chatting with Lin Yu for a bit, Tian Rong returned to her seat.
She poured herself a glass of wine and slowly walked towards Su Chengyang.
“Chengyang, I’ll toast you a glass.” Tian Rong held the wine glass with the hand with the band-aid and raised it towards Su Chengyang.
Su Chengyang snapped back to reality and stared blankly at her.
Tian Rong continued, “Whether you believe it or not, I didn’t know what happened to you before. But I still want to apologize to you. I’m sorry, I caused you trouble before. If possible, I hope we can be friends in the future.”
Tian Rong’s expression and tone were both sincere.
During the filming of the program earlier that day, Su Chengyang had intentionally excluded her. Now that the shooting was over, Su Chengyang was even less likely to accept her apology and become friends with her.
She approached her proactively as a show, if Su Chengyang rejected her, her purpose would be achieved. Pretending to be pitiful and innocent is a better way to retaliate than threatening and cursing.
Su Chengyang’s mind was a bit confused, and she was too lazy to distinguish which of her words were true and which were false, let alone care.
Su Chengyang picked up the glass of wine from the table and, while holding onto it, whispered, “I won’t accept your apology, but I will drink this glass of wine.”
This was what Lin Yu taught her, just to avoid letting the other party lose face, nothing more.
Su Chengyang’s voice was not loud, and no one around them heard it except the two of them.
Tian Rong obviously didn’t expect Su Chengyang to react this way and was stunned in place.
Su Chengyang didn’t care about her reaction and drank all the wine in the glass before turning her head to continue eating her own food.
Tian Rong stood there without speaking for a long time before coming back to her senses.
No, if Su Chengyang easily let this matter pass, wouldn’t she be bowing her head to the other party for nothing?
Of course, Tian Rong couldn’t let this matter pass easily. She raised her head and forcefully gulped down a mouthful of wine.
“Miss Su, I know what happened before, and I apologize for what I did to you, but wasn’t I also a victim? If Xiuyi had talked to me about it beforehand, I would never have allowed him to do so. You don’t have to accept my apology, but there’s no need to humiliate me, right?”
Tian Rong’s voice echoed throughout the room, instantly attracting everyone’s attention.
Lin Yu stopped at the door and looked over at them.
Su Chengyang looked confused, with a few grains of rice still stuck to the corner of her mouth, and asked, “What?”
She just wouldn’t accept her apology. Shouldn’t this behavior be considered as not humiliating?
“Good! Since that’s the case, I’ll drink until you’re satisfied!”
After finishing speaking, she grabbed the bottle of wine on the table and poured it into her mouth without hesitation. She also slammed the wine bottle heavily on the table and the shattered glass cut through Su Chengyang’s dinner plate.
The splashing of wine and food residue almost hit Su Chengyang’s face directly.
Su Chengyang lowered her eyes, looked at the broken plate and the ruined food on the table in front of her, took a deep breath, took out a piece of paper, wiped the residue from the corner of her mouth carefully, and then looked up at Tian Rong, whose eyes were red.
“Do you know that wasting food is a shameful thing?”
When Su Chengyang had no expression on her face, it was already difficult for people to approach her. At this moment, when she became cold, it was taken to the extreme.
Su Chengyang was not a fool. She could see that Tian Rong was exaggerating things and taking advantage of the situation.
But others were still eating and hadn’t had enough. She shouldn’t have ruined their mealtime like this.
The people in the room knew Su Chengyang somewhat. Faced with the overwhelming criticism online, she could always laugh it off and had never shown an expression like this before.
Han Songxue was a bit confused, but seeing that Su Chengyang’s expression was not good, she offered her plate as if presenting a treasure, “Don’t be angry, here, have the crabs and crayfish that I peeled for you.”
Everyone: “…”
You really have no sense at all.
Tian Rong also froze, holding the bottle without moving for a moment. She didn’t expect Su Chengyang’s reaction to be so unexpected, and the others in the room were also acting strangely.
Under normal circumstances, shouldn’t they have stopped her and comforted her first? Why was all their attention on Su Chengyang?
Su Chengyang looked straight at her with no warmth in her eyes, “I won’t accept your apology, but I also don’t want to waste my time on you. Please don’t do such boring things in the future.”
Su Chengyang rarely spoke with such aggression, and everyone just looked at her in surprise without any other reaction.
Su Chengyang didn’t want to waste time talking to her, so she turned around and took the crabs and crayfish that Han Songxue had peeled all night but hadn’t had a chance to eat, and started eating on her own.
At this point, Tian Rong’s situation became very awkward.
But surprisingly, all the people present, including Qi Fu, who often acted as a mediator, did not speak to break the silence.
Jiang Shanqi looked at Tian Rong with a complicated expression, but in the end, she didn’t say anything and lowered her head.
“Chengyang, your hand!” Han Songxue suddenly exclaimed in shock beside her.
Su Chengyang suddenly felt a slight stinging sensation in her fingertips that held the chopsticks.
She lowered her head to find a small cut on her finger caused by a piece of glass, and blood stained the chopsticks and dripped into the bowl, staining the delicious food inside.
At that moment, Su Chengyang felt a wave of conflicting emotions and confusion. The pain in her finger combined with the frustration of repeatedly losing her appetite made her feel like a floodgate had been opened, and she couldn’t stop the surge of tears.
Her eyes quickly turned red, and she lowered her head, tears falling onto the back of her hand uncontrollably.
Tears kept flowing uncontrollably one after another.
Su Chengyang trembled and reached for a tissue to wipe the blood from her finger roughly.
Lin Yu appeared next to her at some point, grabbing her hand with the tissue and saying with a hint of concern in his eyes, “Let’s disinfect it first.”
Su Chengyang curled her lips and looked at him with her reddened eyes, “But I haven’t finished eating yet.”
She didn’t know what had come over her, but she felt like a little dog who had come home after being mistreated outside, hoping her owner would pat her head and comfort her with a few words.
But it seemed she had chosen the wrong way to be coddled. When Lin Yu heard her words, his expression darkened a little and he asked, “Does it hurt?”
Su Chengyang looked at him with watery eyes, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded slowly. “A little bit.”
After finishing her words, she added: “But it’s bearable.”
The meaning is that pain is bearable, but hunger is not.
Lin Yu laughed at her and roughly pulled her up from her seat, “Let me take you to treat your wound first.”
Feeling that he seemed a bit unhappy, Su Chengyang didn’t dare to speak and followed his movements to stand up from the chair.
Lin Yu’s palm was warm, and his five fingers easily clasped her wrist, pulling her outside.
Throughout the entire process, everyone remained silent and their eyes were fixed on them.
Tian Rong stood not far away, nervously watching the two of them.
As they passed by her, she unconsciously clenched the bottle in her hand and felt a slight pain in her palm. She lowered her head and discovered a cut on the side of her right hand, blood gushing out, but no one noticed.
Tian Rong looked up and continued to watch the two people passing by, but unexpectedly met the man’s cold gaze.
The man’s deep eyebrows and eyes should have been affectionate, and he usually had a smiling face. But at this moment, the only thing in his eyes was endless coldness.
Tian Rong couldn’t help but shiver, feeling like she had fallen into an ice cave. She involuntarily took a step back and quickly looked away.
“Miss Tian, your behavior is suspected of intentional injury. In addition…”
As he passed by, Lin Yu casually said another sentence.
“…Touching porcelain1is also illegal, please be respectful.”
Upon hearing his words, Tian Rong’s face instantly lost its color, and the pain in her palm became more intense, causing her fingers to curl up. The wine bottle slipped out of her hand and shattered into pieces on the ground.
Su Chengyang was led out of the room by Lin Yu, like an ostrich being pulled by its leash.
He asked the hotel staff for a first-aid kit and then took Su Chengyang to the outdoor terrace.
The night breeze was cool, and it felt like a drizzle, seeping into their clothes.
The pain in her wound was already covered by the warmth of his wrist. Su Chengyang hung her head, looking at the hand that Lin Yu was holding. Her heartbeat sounded like a drum, echoing in her ears.
What should she do?
She was really on the verge of losing control.
But this was not possible.
She and Lin Yu were people from two different worlds.
Her dream in this lifetime was to stop at a certain stage, but Lin Yu was different. He was destined to keep moving up. It was a very difficult thing for Su Chengyang to catch up with him, and she knew that she could never do it.
But what should I do…
Her mind was filled with Lin Yu at the moment.
If she couldn’t stop it in time, if he found out, Su Chengyang would be immediately abandoned.
What should she do?
The thought that one day Lin Yu might look at her with disgust made Su Chengyang shiver involuntarily.
On the way, Lin Yu didn’t speak or look back.
He brought Su Chengyang to an empty terrace, pressed her into a chair, and felt her tremble.
In the moment when Su Chengyang was stunned, a suit jacket was lightly draped over her shoulders, and a strange yet pleasant smell enveloped her.
Su Chengyang raised her head in a daze and saw Lin Yu half-kneeling in front of her, wearing a black shirt. His long fingers opened a first aid kit and took out iodine and cotton swabs. Then he looked up at Su Chengyang.
In the moment when their eyes met, Su Chengyang was at a loss, lowering her head and avoiding his gaze like a child who had done something wrong.
Lin Yu couldn’t help but laugh, placing the items on the bench beside her. “What are you afraid of? Shouldn’t you be angry?”
Su Chengyang wasn’t afraid, she was guilty.
She murmured, “I’m mad at her, not you.”
Lin Yu remained silent, placing her injured finger on his knee and using a cotton swab to apply some iodine, “It might hurt a bit, but bear with it,” he said.
After a pause, he added, “It shouldn’t be a big deal, right? You can handle it.”
Su Chengyang: “…”
She realized that Lin Yu was quite good at choking people up.
By now, the sky had grown completely dark, and a dim yellow light hung above them.
Lin Yu lowered his head and carefully cleaned her wound, while Su Chengyang watched him closely, taking in his serious expression.
Lin Yu was really handsome in every sense of the word, the most handsome person she had ever seen in this life or the previous two.
His deep eyes were always accompanied by a gentle smile, but now they were contorted with the expression of someone faced with a difficult problem, his brow furrowed in a look of caution.
After cleaning the scab from her wound, fresh blood began to flow once more. He leaned in slightly and blew gently on the wound, then looked up and asked, “Does it hurt?”
The yellow light cast his face in a soft glow, accentuating the strong lines of his features, and a faint golden gleam glinted in his eyes, captivating and bewitching.
Su Chengyang’s heart tightened, and she unconsciously twitched her finger.
He thought he had hurt Su Chengyang, so he softened his movements even more.
Su Chengyang stared at him intently, and an unprecedented idea popped into her head.
She wondered, if Lin Yu was willing, did she have the courage to try to keep up with him and stand by his side?
This sudden idea startled Su Chengyang.
It existed only for a moment before she erased it from her mind.
She felt that her idea was too bold.