After reading the postcard, Zong did not return to his room immediately, nor did he knock on her door again.
He felt that his expression might be a little embarrassed.
Zongye put on the hood of his cotton coat and zipped it up to cover half of his face. He took the elevator downstairs and went to the 24-hour convenience store opposite the hotel to buy a pack of cigarettes. Then, he walked aimlessly along the side of the road.
There might be paparazzi around, who might take photos of him. In the next two days, there might be some negative news about Zong Ye smoking on the street late at night.
But Zong didn't care at all.
All he needed now was the biting cold wind and nicotine to calm himself down slowly.
Then, he suppressed some of the overly aggressive thoughts in his mind. When his emotions had cooled down, he would not disturb her too much.
There was a beeping sound of a card being swiped at the door, and Wang Tan looked up.
He first glanced at the bag in Zongye's hand, then looked at his pale face, and asked, "Brother, do you know what time it is?"
"have no idea."
Wang Tan raised his phone and told him, "You left at ten past one, and it's already past three. You just picked up a gift, but it took you two hours?"
Zongye hummed perfunctorily.
When the others came over, Wang Tan smelled a faint smell of tobacco and couldn't help but sigh, "You've been addicted to smoking quite a lot lately."
"Is there?" Zong Ye asked calmly.
"I remember you didn't smoke much. What's wrong? Are you under too much pressure at work?"
"fine."
"Forget it, I can't talk to you anymore."
Zongye smiled and took off his black coat, "Don't you want to sleep for a while?"
In two hours they will leave for Macau to attend a brand launch conference.
Wang Tan changed his posture and lay down on the sofa. "No need to sleep anymore. I'll sleep on the way."
After playing a few games, Wang Tan felt sleepy and slept for a while with his sore eyes closed. After an unknown amount of time, he felt a little thirsty and just when he wanted to get some water, he found that Zong Ye was still sitting there.
Still in the same posture as before.
"What are you looking at?"
Noticing that he was leaning over, Souya took the postcard in his hand.
Wang Tan brushed his sleep-disheveled hair, full of confusion, "Why are you looking at this crappy card over and over again? Was it given to you by a fan? Or is it a love letter written by Teacher Jiang to you? Is it worth looking at for so long?"
"no."
"Then, was it given to you by Teacher Jiang?" he asked.
"Um."
Wang Tan wanted to say something, but finally shut up and sat back.
He unscrewed a bottle of water and took a few gulps before speaking again, "I heard from Sister Yin a few days ago that you asked her last month to reject all the endorsement contracts that were due to expire next year. What does that mean? Are you planning to terminate your contract with IM?"
"What?"
Wang Tan was impatient: "Don't play dumb with me."
"Not necessarily." Zong Ye thought about it and said in a low voice, "We'll see when the time comes."
"Last month..." Wang Tan chuckled, "Isn't it just when I met Teacher Jiang? Do you have to be so anxious?"
"I'm not in a hurry." Zongye put away the postcard, "Make some plans in advance."
"No." Wang Tan couldn't help it. "Is this called a 'point' plan? You are really determined to chase Jiang Chuyi with IM, dating is no big deal, keep a low profile and don't get caught. If things don't work out, you still have the company to back you up. Wait until you are stable in a few years before making it public. Besides, maybe you will find the relationship boring and break up. Do you really need to put so much pressure on yourself?"
"I thought it was boring, so we broke up..." Souya repeated this sentence and told him, "I'm not worried about that."
After a long silence, Wang Tan said, "Then what are you worried about?"
Zong didn't answer.
Wang Tan guessed along the lines of what he said: "I'm worried that I won't be able to catch up with him."
"Or, if you succeed in catching up with someone, you're worried that they'll find you boring and dump you."
Zongye was silent.
Wang Tan: “…”
He choked up, "Okay, that's not impossible, although the possibility is relatively small. But Teacher Jiang looks quite kind, if you really can't do it, then you can use moral kidnapping or something, maybe she will soften her heart."
After listening to his long and sarcastic speech, Zongye seemed to be in a good mood and smiled faintly, "That's a good idea."
Wangtan was completely quiet.
Although Jiang Chuyi has always been in the circle, her presence has not been high in recent years.
The first time Wang Tan knew her was at a Scream Night held on a certain platform, and they went to the award ceremony together.
At that time, Xibao had just debuted and was already quite famous in China. As soon as he got off the car, he was favored by almost all the media present.
The host kept them on the red carpet for a few minutes before the etiquette ushered them in.
After entering the hall, when he walked to a certain place, Zong didn't know what he saw and suddenly stopped.
Seeing that he didn't move, the etiquette guide kindly reminded him: "Your seats are still in the front. This is the seating area without names."
After a few seconds, Zongye came back to his senses and continued walking forward.
Their place was a semi-arc sofa.
Zong Ye walked in and chose a seat near the inside to sit down.
He was lost in thought throughout the entire award ceremony, his eyes fixed almost entirely on an area at the back of the venue, near the fan zone.
Even when he was about to go on stage to receive an award, he had to be reminded by others before he remembered to stand up.
Dinner after the award ceremony.
Xibao had just made his debut and was considered one of the few newcomers. Most people were too embarrassed to approach them, so the dinner was a quiet one.
However, Zong Ye always stayed away from the crowd. When some female stars came to chat with him, he lost his usual demeanor and was obviously absent-minded. This made those female stars very embarrassed and they left quickly.
Wang Tan followed his line of sight and finally couldn't help but asked, "Who is that person? Your ex-girlfriend?"
"no."
When he said this, Souya's gaze was still on two people who were chatting and laughing three steps away.
There was a man and a woman, neither of whom Wang Tan knew.
The man had a dark complexion and a loud voice. The woman mostly listened, smiling slightly, and looked pretty and gentle. There was nothing special about either of them.
"She's not your ex-girlfriend, why are you staring at her?" Wang Tan felt embarrassed, "like a peeping Tom."
"I know her." Zongye picked up the glass and took a sip of wine.
"Why don't you go up and say hello?"
"She doesn't know me." Zong Ye said.
"Are they a couple?"
“I don’t know.”
Just then, a female voice came: "—Chu Yi!"
The pretty girl paused and looked towards them.
Almost immediately, Souya froze in his swallowing motion.
The girl said something to the person next to her and quickly walked towards them.
Zongye didn't move, just stared at her.
She didn't notice the two people standing by the table until she was only a few meters away from them. When they passed by, Wang Tan heard her smile and called out in a very soft voice, "Xiao Yi."
The sound of the two of them chatting could be heard intermittently.
"Have you finished the paper due tomorrow?"
"I have written it, but Zhao Guangyu hasn't written it yet."
"Fuck, you're the only one working hard, who are you going to kill?"
"Don't worry, let's go to Zhao Guangyu's house for dinner later, and I'll help you two write."
Zongye put the wine glass on the table.
Wang Tan thought, even though Zong Ye didn't admit it, he must have had a relationship with this woman.
Although he did not appear too anxious, he probably did not know that during the few minutes when the woman came over to talk to him, the smile on his face had been maintained for too long and had become a little deliberate and stiff.
Wang Tan muttered to himself, "Chuyi? What's the name?"
Zong Ye was silent for a while before he whispered, "Jiang Chuyi."
*
Jiang Chuyi was woken up by Xiao Zhong the next day.
She said that when she went out to buy breakfast in the morning, she found a bag hanging on the door.
"It seems to be a gift for you. I didn't open it." Xiao Zhong handed it to her.
Jiang Chuyi sat on the edge of the bed in a daze and took the things she handed over.
Inside were a few Polaroid photos, a red box, and a jar of biscuits.
Seeing that the photo was the final photo taken by Zong Ye and her, Xiao Zhong asked cautiously, "Is this a gift from Zong Ye?"
"should be."
Jiang Chuyi unpacked the box and took out the red-eyed, lop-eared ceramic rabbit.
Touching the cold rabbit ears, Jiang Chuyi checked his phone and saw that it was already half past ten.
Just as she was about to send a WeChat message to Zong Ye, she found that he had left her a message at five in the morning.
"Thank you for your music box and postcard. I like them very much. When I went to Suzhou for a photo shoot yesterday, I saw a rabbit and asked my assistant to buy it for me. I was in such a hurry yesterday that I forgot to give it to you. I hung it on the handle of your room. See you next time."
Jiang Chuyi thought for a moment and replied, "I got it. The rabbit is very cute. I wish you good luck in your work."
When I returned to Shanghai, it rained one after another.
As the Spring Festival approaches, Jiang Chuyi is not as busy as others. She accompanied Chen Yi to see a solo exhibition, and the rest of her work plan is to wait for the crew to film.
She called Gao Ning and asked if she had any plans for January 13th.
Gao Ning: "What's wrong?"
"I might have something on that day."
"What's up? Are you going to see West Storm's concert?"
Jiang Chuyi felt a little nervous: "How do you know?"
"Do you think I'm blind? It's been trending on the search list for the past two days." Gao Ning was speechless, "If you want to go, go ahead."
She didn't dwell on the topic and talked to Jiang Chuyi about business: "By the way, I've asked about the reality show I mentioned to you before. It will start recording after the West Storm tour is over. It will be in June or July, just in time for you to finish filming your new drama."
"ah?"
"There are two sponsors who are interested in you."
"You're interested in me?" Jiang Chuyi was puzzled. "Why?"
"Why did you tell me? Of course it's because of Souya."
Jiang Chuyi: "Because of him?"
"Don't you know? You and Souya are very popular now."
Jiang Chuyi: “…”
After ending the call, Jiang Chuyi went to Weibo and searched for the CP super topic named Yijian Zongqing.
Not knowing what happened, she was surprised to find that the activity ranking of this super topic was actually in the top ten.
She clicked on it and took a look, and saw that everyone was probably discussing the recent completion of a movie.
Yesterday at noon, the studios and personal Weibo accounts of several leading actors of "Catching the Stars" released wrap-up photos and short essays to bid farewell to the movie.
Zong didn't post anything extra. He just posted three sets of long pictures on Weibo, with a snowflake pattern as the caption.
In these long pictures, Zong also posted photos with many people, including extras, Xin He, the director, crew members... and Jiang Chuyi.
What made this CP topic hot was the photo of him with his arm around Jiang Chuyi's shoulders.
[Is this on the set? Why are there so many photos with only the two of them and no one else in the background? Was it cropped out on purpose?]
[I wonder if my family members have noticed that among the four people in Xibao, only Zong Ye took photos with so many people. Is there a possibility that the reason he took photos with so many people in the crew was just to be able to walk to her openly? ]
[This Weibo post is still on time for 11. He was previously criticized for his habit of being on time in a press release. Zong Ye doesn’t even try to avoid suspicion? He is forcing CP fans to eat sugar, right? 11, Yi Yi, Yi Yi, Mr. Zong, I really beg you not to love too much! ]
In addition to these, many new metaphysical posts about horoscopes, constellations, tarot cards, etc. have emerged in the super topic.
Jiang Chuyi didn't believe in ghosts and gods, so she just took a quick look and quickly left the super topic.
Because of this, she missed the long article that received thousands of replies.
The comments under this long article kept increasing:
"The Relationship between Stars: Near Anhuai" -
"Do you know why Zong Ye has so many scandals? I only think the one with Jiang Chuyi is the most real. Because of that live broadcast, I have a strong intuition that Jiang Chuyi is very, very sexually attractive to Zong Ye, so I set up a table and calculated that the two of them are really close to An and bad!!! Or the man is bad and the woman is An!!!"
Many sisters don't know what it means for a man to be bad and a woman to be safe. Let me explain to you that the relationship between a man who is close to a woman and a woman who is safe is the most tense and soulful relationship in the constellation. Basically, in the European and American circles or the domestic entertainment and Hong Kong circles that you know, those relationships that have been entangled for more than ten years and are still inseparable, the protagonists are basically close to a woman and a woman who is bad.
Jiang Chuyi and Zong Ye are still the best among the two, the man is bad and the woman is safe.
You know, the attraction of "An" to "Bad" is almost destructive, to the extent that it can destroy a person's personality. It's fine if they don't meet, but once they come into contact, "Bad" must get "An", otherwise they will die with a burning desire. Especially in terms of sex, they can't leave each other after sleeping together.
The love of "bad" is too intense, unforgettable, and extremely insecure, which may even make "safe" unable to bear it and escape. At this time, "bad" will be distorted, with possessiveness and destructive desire coexisting.
Jiang Chuyi is "An", so she is relatively rational and gentle in this relationship. And the "bad" is the one who is completely attracted in the early stage. Just think about it, how contrasting and delicious it would be for Zong Ye, who is an abstinent "bad", to go crazy for love.
After I figured out that they were close to An Huai, I felt that it didn't matter whether we talked about it or not. I'll leave it at that. Zong Ye will definitely pursue Jiang Chuyi. Huai can give up everything for An. She is the only one in the world. A top-notch love-brained person.
Understand the applause. ”
*
At the same time, in the nanny car.
Wang Tan was browsing the comments section of Zongye's Weibo. Apart from the daily comments of fans, he found an interesting one and couldn't help but read it out loud, "Your secret is hidden in this heavy snow, untold, and silent and grand."
Ji Kai looked at him strangely and said, "Why are you suddenly inspired to write poetry? It's scary."
"This is Zongye's comment section." Wang Tan turned around and asked Zongye with interest, "Did you see it?"
Zongye lay in the seat with his eyes closed and hummed lazily.
"No feelings?"
"What the netizens said is right." Zong Ye said calmly, "My secret is indeed something that cannot be told to anyone."
Ji Kai wanted to join in the fun, but was confused by their confusing words, "What are you talking about? What can't be told to others?"
No one answered him.
When getting off the car, Wang Tan put his arm around Zongye's shoulder and whispered to him, "Do you remember what you said to me when we were drunk a few years ago?"
"when."
Wang Tan reminded him: "That time, when we received the Newcomer Award, you met Teacher Jiang, didn't you?"
When he met Jiang Chuyi at the award ceremony, Zong did not go up to say hello until the three people left.
Wang Tan has known Zong Ye for several years and has rarely seen him lose control.
When we were trainees, we were all in our teens and hadn’t debuted yet. The company was not very strict with us and we all had girlfriends.
Only Zongye remained single and never indulged himself. Not to mention a girlfriend, he even rarely had any entertainment activities.
Among the people Wang Tan knew, Zong was also a person with very strong concentration.
However, after the dinner, Zong Ye, for the first time, went to have a drink with Wang Tan.
In the noisy bar, Souya drank one glass after another. He was not a good drinker, and after a few drinks, his speech system became disordered.
He told Wang Tan about the past in a disjointed manner.
He said that the reason he entered the entertainment industry was for one person.
Zong Ye's family background was not good, and entering the entertainment industry was a very difficult process for him, as it was like crossing a different class.
Wang Tan didn't quite understand Zong Ye at that time. He had been smooth sailing since he was a child. He had always had things he didn't want, but never things he couldn't get. So he didn't have a strong desire for something. He didn't understand Zong Ye's motivation to desperately enter another circle.
Zong Ye held the beer can in his hand and said to Wang Tan: "I want to work harder and become an excellent person."
"You've worked really hard." Wang Tan said nonchalantly, "In a few years, we'll be the most popular. It won't take a few years either. Right now, there aren't many people more popular than us."
"not enough."
"So what are you going to do?"
Zong Ye raised his head and swallowed half a bottle of wine in one gulp.
He wiped the wine stains from the corners of his lips, a shadow passed across his face, and his expression suddenly became very calm, "I want to get to know her again."
Both of them were drunk. Wang Tan's eyes were out of focus and he responded casually, "Know her, and then what."
"Nothing happened."
"Want something else?"
"I want her to remember me forever." When he said this, Zongye smiled. He seemed to feel that he was being greedy, and added, "Remember me, even if it's vague."
(End of this chapter)