After dinner, the crew disbanded, and He Jinxia first went to the restroom. After coming out, she happened to run into Song Zilin.
Song Zilin was washing her hands at the sink, staring at her hands for a while, seemingly lost in thought.
He Jinxia greeted her, and Song Zilin snapped back to reality, hurriedly smiled at her, and said, "Sister Jinxia, are you leaving the restaurant?"
He Jinxia nodded, "Yes, it’s getting late. I’ll exercise a bit when I get back and then rest."
Song Zilin had also been in the room and had heard He Jinxia saying those words earlier. Hearing her say it again, she couldn’t help feeling a bit wistful as she said,
"Sister Jinxia, your willpower is really strong. If you decide not to eat something, you don’t eat it, and you sleep whenever you decide to. If it were me, I might be able to do it for a few days, but definitely not every day."
He Jinxia smiled without saying anything.
Choosing what kind of life to live is everyone’s right; on this, she wouldn’t persuade others to be like her.
Everyone understands the principle, but how many can actually achieve it?
Is it that they can’t do it, or that they don’t want to do it? This is a profound question, and He Jinxia didn’t want to ponder such matters at this stage.
At her side, Song Zilin said, "Sister Jinxia, I’m also heading out; let’s go together."
He Jinxia didn’t think much about it and nodded, "Let’s go."
They walked out of the restroom toward the entrance. After a few steps, He Jinxia saw a group of actors from the crew gathered nearby, looking like they were heading out for another round.
A female actor saw Song Zilin, her eyes lit up, and she waved and started to run forward, but when she saw He Jinxia beside her, she immediately stopped, hesitant.
Song Zilin leaned slightly toward the female actor and waved, "Minmin, Sister Jinxia and I are leaving first, you guys go ahead and don’t wait for us!"
The female actor, Minmin, hurriedly responded, "Okay!"
He Jinxia looked at her and nodded at her.
Minmin hurriedly nodded back to He Jinxia.
When He Jinxia and Song Zilin reached the entrance of the restaurant, He Jinxia seemingly casually said, "Do I look very frightening?"
Song Zilin was startled, and it took her a moment to respond. She quickly shook her head, "Not at all, Sister Jinxia, you are very nice, maybe just a bit stern."
He Jinxia said somewhat helplessly, "It seems like I’m the youngest in the entire crew, right?"
Song Zilin blinked, laughed, and said, "Sister Jinxia, in the entertainment circle, respect doesn’t come from age but from experience. You’ve been in this circle for so long, serious and dedicated, it’s normal that they respect you."
He Jinxia also laughed, "You’re being too polite. I haven’t noticed any respect, more like fear and apprehension."
Song Zilin wanted to say more, but just then, a series of "beep beep beep" car horn sounds rang out. He Jinxia looked up and saw it was Luo You coming.
Before getting into the car, she said to Song Zilin, "You should go back and rest early tonight."
Song Zilin’s eyes flickered slightly, gratefully saying, "Okay, Sister Jinxia, and—"
She paused, then softly said, "Thank you!"
He Jinxia waved her hand, said nothing, and opened the car door to get in.
Cheng Xiaohua was also in the car, and as soon as she got on, she helped her take off her coat. The car’s heater was running, immediately driving away the chill He Jinxia had brought in from outside.
"How did you end up walking with Song Zilin?" As the car left the restaurant, Luo You asked.
He Jinxia turned her head to look out the window and said casually, "I just happened to bump into her on the way, so I casually gave her a hand." ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel⚑fire.net
Upon hearing this, Luo You roughly understood the situation and said, "The circle requires a lot of favors, you helped someone this time, next time you never know who might help you. It was also my lack of consideration. In the future, whenever you attend a meal gathering, always bring Xiao Hua with you."
Cheng Xiaohua quickly added, "Jinxia, I can hold my liquor pretty well, I can block some drinks for you when necessary!"
He Jinxia’s eyes sparkled slightly, a touch of warmth crossed her heart, and she turned to look at them, "Don’t worry, I don’t drink alcohol. In any case, I will never drink."
After a pause, her expression became serious as she emphatically stated, "This is a matter of principle. No matter the circumstance outside, I will not touch alcohol."
Upon hearing this, both Luo You and Cheng Xiaohua felt a chill and simultaneously said, "Okay."
That night, when He Jinxia returned to Dongting Lake Garden, she had intended to ask Sheng Yan if he was busy recently while rehearsing with him. However, before she could visit him, she received a message from Sheng Yan saying he had gone to country M for a rush notice.
Top stars are indeed different, having cross-country schedules.
He Jinxia stared at the message he sent for a moment, and then replied with a few words, asking him to take care of his health, to rest more, to keep up the good work, then exited WeChat to go take a bath and rest.
Because she exited too quickly, He Jinxia didn’t notice that she had sent the wrong message again!
This message was not privately sent to Sheng Yan; it was sent directly to a group chat.
Aunt Rui was the first to notice. The moment she saw the message, her first reaction was to call Sheng Yan to find out what was going on between the two.
She had no idea Sheng Yan had gone abroad for a rush notice, so how did Jinxia know?
If Jinxia knew, did that mean the two of them had private contact?
How far had their relationship progressed, Had the silly boy Sheng Yan begun to pursue her, Could he charm the girl...
With a head full of questions, at a critical moment, Aunt Rui’s reasoning kicked in, and she hung up the call less than a second after dialing.
She thought for a while and decided to first discuss it with Mrs. He, lest her son’s response infuriate her after she made the call.
Compared to the speculative Aunt Rui, Mrs. He was quite composed. She said, "The two kids are probably just making friends. Don’t worry so much. Grandchildren have their own blessings. It’s not good for us to interfere too much. Just let nature take its course."
Now that He Jinxia had successfully lost weight and had slimmed down considerably, she was undoubtedly a beauty. Mrs. He no longer worried about He Jinxia’s marital concerns as before and comforted Mrs. Sheng very philosophically.
As the two mothers talked, the topic gradually shifted to how life was in Imperial City and how their children’s work was going.
Hearing that Mrs. He seemed interested in moving to Imperial City, Mrs. Sheng offered many suggestions and shared her experience of living in Imperial City, since she had lived there before.
The words Mrs. Sheng said invisibly shook Mrs. He’s thoughts even more.
The exchange between the two mothers was unknown to He Jinxia. The next morning, when she woke up, she didn’t even have time to check her messages on her phone, as she was hurriedly ready and taken by Luo You to the set for makeup.
After nearly a week of tug-of-war, "Small Bridge, Flowing Water, People" finally cleared up the contract issues with the actors in the crew, as well as smoothed over the external controversies, and began official filming today.