**58**
Her mouth was as dry as if she had been trekking through the desert for three days and nights. Ning Zhi made a few swallowing motions in a half-dream, half-awake state; her throat was also parched, reminding her of a sun-cracked riverbed.
She opened her eyes, her head spinning and aching a little, followed by an uncontrollable nausea in her stomach.
The aftereffects of a hangover.
I will never drink again. She painfully muttered in her heart, covering her forehead with her right hand, trying to prop herself up on the bed with her left hand, only to find that her left hand was holding something soft and warm.
Her heart skipped a beat in shock, and she stiffly turned her neck to see Shen Yizhi sound asleep.
Shen Yizhi?
Ning Zhi couldn’t tell if she was relieved or even more nervous; she just felt her heart suddenly tighten in an instant, holding her breath.
How could Shen Yizhi be here? Ning Zhi’s thoughts were in a mess, and after looking at her for a while, he couldn’t help but become lost in thought.
Shen Yizhi was sleeping soundly, her breathing even. A strand of hair had fallen down, covering her face; messy, yet much more approachable than her usually meticulous self.
Ning Zhi recalled that they had a scene before, also after waking up.
It was when Ruan Yinmeng and Chi Sheng had just met. After she got off work and went home, she ran into Chi Sheng, who had been waiting for her for a long time.
Chi Sheng, with his youthful temperament, liked her and naturally clung to her. As soon as he entered, he latched onto her, persistently kissing her.
With Ruan Yinmeng’s heavy, glamorous makeup, she tilted her head to receive his kiss with a proud yet seductive charm, like a demoness cultivated for a thousand years willing to submit to a mortal. But when Ruan Yinmeng was sound asleep, it was still the same face, only that of an extremely tired ordinary woman, her beautiful and gentle features full of exhaustion, defenselessly leaning against Chi Sheng.
For the first time, Chi Sheng felt a pang of tenderness, and for the first time, the thought of wanting to take care of her and protect her arose.
Ruan Yinmeng slept with sweat on her forehead, a strand of hair falling down, covering her face.
Chi Sheng carefully looked at her face, his heart filled with all kinds of gentle affection, and she reached out to brush away that strand of hair.
That scene unfolded in Ning Zhi’s mind; it had only been two months, but it felt as distant as if it had been more than a decade.
What a beautiful spring dream, deeply in love with you.
Ning Zhi didn’t know why this sentence came to mind. She unconsciously reached out and brushed aside the strand of hair on Shen Yizhi’s face, just like they were still in the play, naturally letting all the love be revealed.
The hair tip brushed Shen Yizhi’s face, and her brow twitched. Ning Zhi suddenly woke up. She quickly withdrew her hand, loosening the left hand that had been tightly holding Shen Yizhi’s all night.
What a beautiful spring dream, deeply in love with you.
Deeply in love with you.
Ning Zhi bit his lip hard to calm down, got out of bed, and went to the bathroom to wash up.
When he came out, Shen Yizhi was also awake.
She leaned against the headboard in a daze. When she saw Ning Zhi come out, she straightened up, a trace of unease appearing on her usually calm face.
Ning Zhi paused in her steps and walked over to the table. Seeing the bottled water on it, she realized she was almost dying of thirst. She twisted open a bottle and drank nearly half in one gulp.
The nausea in her stomach was greatly subdued by the cool water. Ning Zhi took a deep breath and, with great effort, forced herself to turn her head and look at Shen Yizhi.
She needed to resolve what happened last night.
She had blacked out from drinking, only remembering that at the wrap-up banquet, everyone was very happy except for her, who was sullen and joyless. She couldn’t get out of character; she was still immersed in the loneliness after losing Ruan Yinmeng.
Until she heard that Shen Yizhi had a new movie and would soon join the crew for filming.
She couldn’t tell if it was disappointment, frustration, or the thought of “if I can’t keep you, then I might as well say goodbye” that made her get up and toast Shen Yizhi. After saying a few words, she couldn’t hold back and said she would always remember them in this summer.
Then, she couldn’t stay in front of Shen Yizhi any longer, so she used the excuse of toasting and taking photos with others to go to another table and drank too much.
Her memory only goes as far as going to the terrace; she has no recollection of what happened afterward.
But even if she doesn’t remember, judging by how tightly she was holding Shen Yizhi’s hand when she just woke up, she must have been drunk and refusing to let him leave.
It’s just unknown whether she did anything else inappropriate.
Ning Zhi leaned against the edge of the table, a few meters away from the bed. She fiddled with a bottle of mineral water in her hand, trying her best to appear calm.
She looked toward Shen Yizhi, who was leaning against the head of the bed.
The curtains were drawn, leaving only a slit through which a sliver of light leaked in, slanting perfectly onto **, casting a faint and indistinct glow on Shen Yizhi’s face.
She was looking at her too.
Ning Zhi didn’t dare to meet her gaze, quickly looking away and lowering her head to look at the bottle in her hand. After a moment’s pause, she spoke casually, “Last night…”
As soon as she spoke, she realized her throat was hoarse.
Ning Zhi cleared his throat and then continued, “Thank you for your help last night.”
She stood a little far away, and Shen Yizhi couldn’t clearly see her expression, but from her tone and words, she sensed a hint of indifference.
Shen Yizhi was silent for a moment before asking, “Do you still remember what happened last night?”
Ning Zhixin tensed up and blurted out, “I don’t remember.”
The expected answer—getting that drunk would indeed easily cause memory loss.
It’s better not to remember; after all, nothing really happened.
But Shen Yizhi still inevitably felt regret, especially seeing Ning Zhi standing a few steps away so distantly and unwilling to come closer, completely different from last night when he was drunk and silently but stubbornly held her hand, not letting her go.
She found that facing the distant and polite Ning Zhi, many words were hard to start. She hesitated for a moment before saying, “Filming is done, now you…”
Just as she finished speaking, there was a knock at the door outside.
Ning Zhi guessed it was Yangyang and the others getting anxious; she had a flight this morning and needed to rush to a schedule.
But she didn’t move, looking at Shen Yizhi, waiting for her to continue speaking.
Shen Yizhi’s hand on the quilt tightened. She smiled slightly, her tone much softer than before, and said, “Go open the door.”
What she was about to say clearly wasn’t this. Ning Zhi felt a bit disappointed, but she didn’t ask further. She put the water bottle back on the table and got up to open the door.
Outside, there was not only Yang Yang but also Shen Yizhi’s little assistant; both had brought a change of clothes.
Ning Zhi left the room to Shen Yizhi and went to Yang Yang’s room to change.
Yang Yang kept checking the time, afraid of missing the flight.
Ning Zhi finished getting ready and walked out of the room.
“Should we tell Teacher Shen?” Yangyang asked from the side.
Ning Zhi glanced at the room they stayed in last night and answered evasively, “Did I do anything out of line last night?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Yangyang replied. Ning Zhi was quite self-disciplined; although she had gotten drunk at social events before, she still maintained strong self-control, not speaking recklessly or causing a scene.
“But last night, you kept holding onto Teacher Shen, not letting her leave, and proudly showed me the hands you were holding together,” Yangyang added.
Ning Zhi took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, just hoping Shen Yizhi wouldn’t overthink it.
She left directly, heading to the airport.
There was a strong sense of being at a loss all along the way.
Her heart felt empty. Even though her schedule was packed, she had a restless feeling of not knowing what she was supposed to do or what the meaning of life was.
Leaving without a word wasn’t very good either, so Ning Zhi planned to send her a WeChat message. After pondering for a while, he finally composed a casual and natural one: “Leaving first.”
After sending the message, Ning Zhi waited for Shen Yizhi’s reply.
There was no response from Shen Yizhi until boarding.
Ning Zhi’s heart felt even emptier. She looked at the blue sky outside; the weather was nice, with only a few thin wisps of clouds, delicate and sparse, unlike her mood, which was gloomy without a trace of light.
She thought it must be because she had spent three months on the film set, and now she had to return to her previous busy life, which she was not used to.
The crew was busy, but the intensity was actually quite manageable, especially since the location was fixed and there was no need to rush around. Compared to Ning Zhi’s previous life of flying back and forth, it was much more relaxed.
Once people get used to being relaxed, tightening up again does require a period of adjustment.
She tried not to think about Shen Yizhi’s influence, nor the impact this film had on her, attributing the reasons only to these trivial matters.
She forced herself to drive Shen Yizhi out of her mind and to start adapting to a life without seeing her from this moment on.
She had mentally prepared herself all along, but it was of no use; she still felt listless, as if everything had lost its meaning.
After getting off the plane, Jiang Peng came to pick her up, dutifully explaining the upcoming arrangements and asking for her opinion.
Ning Zhi listened absentmindedly. Suddenly, her phone screen lit up with a new WeChat message. Without thinking, she opened it—it was a reply from Shen Yizhi.
I’ll come to see you in a couple of days.
Ning Zhi was momentarily stunned, rereading the few words with slight surprise.
Shen Yizhi wants to find her? Why does he want to find her?
Ning Zhi couldn’t understand, she opened the input box to reply.
The corners of her lips lifted without her even realizing it.
How should I reply?
She thought for a long time before recalling her attitude towards Shen Yizhi before filming started.
It was always tense, as if it could explode at any moment, while Shen Yizhi seemed to treat it like teasing a child; no matter how bad her attitude was, he never took it to heart.
It seemed tolerant, but in fact, it was just a continuation of old habits, not treating her as an equal adult. It also made her see the distance between them more clearly.
Ning Zhi let out a long sigh, then decided to return to the original state.
Her fingers moved quickly a few times, replying: “I’m very busy.”
After sending the message, she worried that Shen Yizhi might just let it go because she said she was busy, so she quickly sent another message: “Let me know before you come.”
Shen Yizhi replied quickly this time: “Okay.”
Only then did Ning Zhi feel a weight lift from her heart.
But the next second, she frowned in thought, wondering whether this “two” was a real word or a function word, and whether “in two days” meant after forty-eight hours or after a while.
She was so absorbed in thought that when she turned around, she saw Jiang Peng looking at her with a puzzled expression.
Ning Zhi slightly moved to the side and asked, “Why are you staring at me like that?”
Jiang Peng sat up straight and said seriously, “I’m waiting to see when you’ll finish your inner drama.”
Ning Zhi pressed her lips together and ignored him.
Are you really listening to me? What I’m saying is very important. Do you know how much you’ve lost by filming for three months? You also know how short the peak period is for a trending star. If this movie can’t help you break into the film industry, it will be more trouble than it’s worth.
Ning Zhi let him mutter on; after all, Jiang Peng was just that kind of worrywart by nature, and the work was right there, not going anywhere.
She wondered to herself why Shen Yizhi had come to see her.
No matter how hard she racked her brain, she couldn’t figure out why Shen Yizhi came.
Could it be because of what happened last night?
She turned to look at the traffic outside the window, seemingly calm but actually anxious and restless.
From Yangyang’s description, it was truly embarrassing. She really couldn’t believe she was the one who did it.
She thought again of the flutter in her heart when she woke up this morning and saw Shen Yizhi, thought of every scene they had acted together, thought of the deep affection in those films.
How wonderful it would be to stay in this summer forever.
She lost count of how many times she had thought this way.
In the end, she returned to the original doubt.
Why did Shen Yizhi come to find her?
No matter the reason, being able to see her was a good thing.