Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
“That’s right,” said Huang Guoqiang, his face carefully blank.
Xu Xiyan turned to the woman in the hospital bed and said with genuine concern, “What about you, Ms. Qi? Are you feeling better? These flowers are for you.”
“Much better. Thanks.”
Qi Liya accepted the flowers. She inhaled the floral fragrance, and smiled.
She had not broken any of her bones, but a nail on the set had punctured her lung. She would have to stay in the hospital for a while.
Xu Xiyan was relieved to see Qi Liya looking alert and otherwise healthy.
She turned around and saw that there was already a bouquet of roses in the vase on the bedside table. She knew at once who had brought them.
She said teasingly, “Oh my, looks like someone already brought you roses! Let me see, there must be at least 99 roses in there. Who are they from?”
Huang Guoqiang rubbed his neck awkwardly. He turned to look out the window; it was now completely obvious that the roses were from him, and also that he was feeling embarrassed about it.
Qi Liya laughed, but did not answer the question. Xu Xiyan smiled and said, “Let me guess: they must be from your admirer. Am I right, Ms. Qi? Wow, whoever it is must really care about you.”
“Jing Xi, come on, don’t tease me.” Qi Liya gently chided Jing Xi as her eyes flickered towards the man by the window.
Xu Xiyan had long since caught on to the romantic tension between Qi Liya and Huang Guoqiang. “Ms. Qi, what kind of man do you like? Do you like young, handsome studs like Lin Huaijin? Or do you prefer someone more mature and manly, like Director Huang?”
Huang Guoqiang had not expected to hear his name. He whipped around and shot Xu Xiyan a pointed look. Inside, he was secretly dying of anxiety—he wanted badly to know the answer to the question.
“Enough with that. Don’t ask silly questions.” Qi Liya awkwardly changed the subject. It was not an attempt at deflection; she had not, in fact, given much thought to her private love life.
She had been wounded in love several years ago, and was afraid to love again.
The entertainment industry was a chaotic place; there were good people, bad people, and people who were only after fame and fortune. She would need a miracle to be able to find true love in show business.
Huang Guoqiang was a little hurt by her answer. Was she completely oblivious to his feelings for her?
Was she still in love with Peng Sicheng, the director of “Root of Evil”?
Huang Guoqiang knew a little of Qi Liya’s personal history. He knew that she had dated Peng Sicheng for a while, and that the relationship had ended when Peng Sicheng suddenly asked to break up with her one day.
The breakup had dealt a major blow to Qi Liya. It had wounded her deeply, and she had never recovered from it.
Peng Sicheng had set up camp in Qi Liya’s heart while he, Huang Guoqiang, was likely nothing more than an insignificant passerby. That thought alone was enough to stoke the flames of an indescribable anger within Huang Guoqiang.
He grabbed his coat from the sofa and said, visibly unhappy, “Please excuse me, Little Qi. I have to return to the set, there are a few things I need to attend to.”
“All right. Take care, Director Huang,” said Qi Liya politely.
Huang Guoqiang almost coughed up a mouthful of blood. Come on, he thought, I said I’m leaving! Can’t you at least pretend to be sorry to see me go?
Huang Guoqiang was already at the door and about to step out of the room when he suddenly remembered something. He turned around to say, “Oh, I almost forgot. Jing Xi, if you’re free today or tomorrow, please report to the set. We have to shoot a few in-program ads with you.”
“Oh, okay. I’m free this afternoon, I’ll look for you once I’m done here.”
After Huang Guoqiang had left, Xu Xiyan turned to ask Qi Liya: “They’re shooting the in-program ads already? Does that mean they’re almost done filming?”
“It’s pretty much done.”
“When’s it showing on TV?”
“Soon, actually! Director Huang will continue shooting new episodes as the show airs. It’ll be showing on CCTV during prime time, and he wants to see how well the show does in ratings before deciding how long he wants the show to run for.”