Chapter 30: Taking The Blame

Chapter 30: Taking The Blame

When Zhi Qi returned from Yunnan, it happened to be the day of the opening ceremony of Jiang Qi’s movie “Jiao Si”.

The girl directly contacted Qiu Mi and went to the press conference venue. Qiu Heng’s opening ceremony was very particular. He had to go to the temple on the mountain to hang banners and offer incense. So, as soon as Zhi Qi got off the mountain and rushed back by plane, she immediately climbed a mountain in Lin Lan.

Fortunately, during the past half month, she had been jumping up and down, climbing mountains every day. Sometimes, she had to endure a whole day to observe the hatching process of bird eggs in the wild, so her physical strength had greatly increased and become very strong.

For her, this kind of activity was nothing at all.

After the plane landed, Zhi Qi entrusted her luggage to a classmate to take back to school and ran over herself with a backpack on her back and sneakers on her feet.

Qiu Mi had specifically sent staff to wait for Zhi Qi. As soon as she arrived, she was spotted by the staff who had seen her photos. The latter’s eyes lit up, and he immediately waved his hand, “Miss Zhi!”

Zhi Qi smiled and greeted them, and then the two of them started... climbing the mountain.

Jiang Qi might have really become famous. From the foot of the mountain to the mountaintop, there were fans holding banners with his name densely packed along the way. Obviously, the opening ceremony was not open to the public, and it was unknown why this enthusiastic group of girls had come.

Zhi Qi glanced around with some emotion. She found that the higher they climbed, the fewer people there were, until she followed the staff to the perimeter of the shooting site guarded by security.

In order to achieve complete confidentiality and formality, the crew even exaggeratedly used electric fences to surround the outer perimeter, and every staff member wore laser pens to prevent aggressive fans and media who made a living by taking unauthorized photos from breaking in.

Before entering, the staff also gave Zhi Qi one.

“Miss Zhi,” he said seriously, “if someone wants to take a photo of you, just open this.”

...

Zhi Qi inexplicably felt like she had entered some mysterious “special forces organization,” and she couldn’t help but smile.

When her eyes curved like crescent moons, they were soft and obedient. The old faces of the staff couldn’t help but blush slightly, coughing lightly to shift their gaze, and led Zhi Qi to where the main cast was taking a group photo.

However, he somewhat understood why Qiu Mi was so concerned about this girl and even went out of his way to ask someone to help pick her up—this stunning girl who was no less than a star naturally had to be cherished, and some of the staff even thought that Zhi Qi was Qiu Mi’s girlfriend.

Unfortunately, he didn’t see Qiu Mi nodding and bowing hastily after seeing Zhi Qi.

“Miss Zhi,” Qiu Mi hurriedly led the girl to the left side of the inner circle, where the view was best. He slightly raised his chin and pointed to the figures bowing in front of the incense altar.

Although there were many people bustling around, Zhi Qi saw Jiang Qi at a glance.

The young man had indeed lost ten kilograms as requested by the director, making his originally slender figure even more angular, as if only a large frame supported his clothes. Jiang Qi was wearing the clothes of the character Chen Si in the movie, a pure white hoodie and white pants, all white, which seemed softer compared to the usual black clothes he wore.

They hadn’t seen each other for nearly twenty days. When she was busy, Zhi Qi didn’t think about it, but now that she saw him, she realized that she really missed him. The longing to rush over and hug him, unfortunately, there were too many people around, so she felt a little embarrassed and pursed her lips slightly.

Then she saw a girl next to Jiang Qi, wearing a black suit jacket, tiptoeing to say something to him.

The young man had no expression on his face, just moved a little further away, and then the girl’s expression seemed a bit lost.

...

Having an extremely handsome face was troublesome; it could attract girls wherever you went.

Zhi Qi couldn’t help but pout unconsciously, feeling a little annoyed.

As a “fangirl,” of course, she had long searched the internet to learn about the lineup of Jiang Qi’s new movie and knew that the girl in the black suit jacket was Xue Ling, who played the female lead, Meng Li, in the movie.

...

Zhi Qi couldn’t explain why she felt so sleepy during this ‘mysterious’ time, so she could only silently stand up and endure the teacher’s criticism.

Then she obediently apologized, “I’m sorry, teacher.”

“Sorry? Will you do it again next time?” The history teacher’s nose was almost crooked with anger. “Is this what you mean?”

The surrounding students were immediately amused by the teacher’s ‘humor’.

Zhi Qi remembered she wanted to laugh at that moment too, but it was a bitter smile — because she really didn’t know why she felt so sleepy whenever she saw the history teacher, feeling unfairly treated.

But in the whole class, only Jiang Qi didn’t laugh.

The boy couldn’t bear to see the girl criticized in front of the whole class and not able to come down from the platform, so he stood up and helped her “take the blame”.

“Teacher, it’s my fault,” Jiang Qi’s voice was cold, and he lied with his eyes open, “I gave her cold medicine before class, and she got drowsy after taking it.”

Zhi Qi was stunned and turned to look at him blankly.

“Cold medicine?” The history teacher hadn’t expected this twist, looking at Zhi Qi with suspicion, “Are you feeling unwell?”

Zhi Qi couldn’t bring herself to say “yes” to let Jiang Qi take the blame, so she just remained silent.

In the end, both of them remained tight-lipped like a closed jar, and the history teacher didn’t manage to find out the reason why Zhi Qi fell asleep in class, so he angrily sent them out to stand outside the classroom together.

Outside the classroom, Zhi Qi whispered to Jiang Qi, “When did you give me cold medicine? Why did you take the blame?”

“It’s nothing.” The boy seemed indifferent, just smiling, “This way, you can sleep openly.”

...

Jiang Qi really cared about her, resorting to all means to ‘help the wicked’.

During their first and second years of high school, those were probably the happiest times they spent together.

It’s just a pity that happy moments are fleeting, and dreams can become bizarre.

Jiang Qi... Jiang Qi...

Zhi Qi suddenly opened her eyes, startled from her slumber. She sat up abruptly, as if in countless nightmares before—fortunately, the ceiling of the large vehicle was high, so the girl didn’t hit her head.

In these four years, she couldn’t sleep as soundly as she used to.

“Qiqi.” Zhi Qi was sitting in a daze, her chest rising and falling slightly, when she heard a clear voice of a boy next to her, “Awake?”

It was Jiang Qi’s voice.

The car was very quiet, with only the two of them.

The girl turned her head and saw Jiang Qi sitting in the front seat looking at her. Only then did Zhi Qi realize that she didn’t know how long she had been sleeping. The sky outside the car window was already dark, and the boy’s amber-colored eyes still sparkled in the dim light.