CSGM - Chapter 111
Chapter 111: Soft Whispers
The crowd of onlookers rushing into the production's restricted area was, in itself, just a minor incident.
After the incident concluded, the crew resumed their state of racing against the clock for reshoots.
It was only then that Chu Xi witnessed just how amateurish Yan Kun was.
As if his mind had been affected by what had just happened, Yan Kun struggled to get into character several times after filming resumed.
On one occasion, his expression changed right as he was delivering his lines, and his gaze drifted past her to some unknown point in the distance.
The director angrily yelled, "Cut!" and Chu Xi turned her head to see where Yan Kun had been looking.
It turned out two extras were fooling around out of boredom, mimicking the basketball-playing posture from Yan Kun's VCR.
Chu Xi: ...
She was speechless. He got distracted just because of that?
Those two were at least thirty meters away, which was already beyond a person's normal range of clear vision. Yan Kun either had eyesight like a hawk or was incredibly sensitive.
Chu Xi figured it was ninety-nine percent the latter.
Fine, be sensitive, but could you not affect the crew's work efficiency?
Chu Xi had to give him a stern reminder before Yan Kun seemed to snap out of his daze and refocus on acting.
That kind of mental fortitude was just so amateurish.
He was a grown man, yet his heart was so fragile? He really was so effeminate.
When Chu Xi finished work for the day and returned to her duplex, she was already an hour later than planned.
Thinking it was all thanks to Yan Kun, she felt annoyed at that little rookie for a second.
Since he'd decided to become a public figure, couldn't he learn to have a strong heart like Ren Zhi?
Don't bring personal emotions into work.
-And more importantly, don't affect her getting-off-work time.
Outside, the blackness of the sky enveloped the city.
The cool moonlight flowed like water, and the stars were shimmering fragments.
Chu Xi stared out the window expressionlessly. Her right hand was on strike, while her left was stirring her bedtime yogurt and fruit bowl.
She took a bite. It was sweet.
She opened the group chat with the Four Little Flowers and Jin Yuan to check. Three of them had already submitted their assigned homework documents.
Chu Xi: [@Xiao Ju @Xiao He, two hours left.]
Still haven't turned in your homework? Watch Teacher Chu crack the whip!
Xiao He: [shivering.jpg]
[Almost, I'm almost done!!]
It's so hard... Why are there even math problems QAQ...
Xiao Ju: [Me too. /[pitiful]]
In reality, right after sending that message, Xiao Ju secretly sent a private message to Chu Xi.
Xiao Ju: [Sister Xi, I forgot to do it...]
[Can you be lenient for just one day? I still have to help the boss organize data tonight...]
Chu Xi frowned.
Chu Xi: [She's still working?]
Xiao Ju: [Yep!]
Chu Xi didn't send any more messages after that. She carried a new bowl of yogurt and fruit upstairs.
As for whether she would be lenient tonight, she'd let Xiao Ju guess for herself!
She rang the doorbell for the fourth floor. Ren Zhi, dressed in a pink silk slip nightgown with a small shawl draped over her smooth, bare shoulders, opened the door for her.
"What is it?" Ren Zhi looked at her, seemingly having no intention of letting her stay long at this late hour.
But Chu Xi hadn't even stepped inside yet...
Chu Xi helplessly held up the yogurt bowl in her hand for Ren Zhi to see, proving her innocence, then slipped past her through the door.
"Bringing you a healthy little specialty drink, and checking on what you're doing while I'm at it."
Ren Zhi said, "Busy."
Alright, she got the message.
Every time Ren Zhi was working, she spoke to her in a particularly simple, heartless, and perfunctory manner.
You could hear it in her tone-a perfunctory wish for her to end the conversation quickly and not disturb her work.
Ren Zhi took the bowl. "Thanks. Is there anything else? If not, hurry downstairs and go to sleep. I still have things to do."
Unconsciously, she had started speaking more and more bluntly with Chu Xi.
Chu Xi: "..."
Chu Xi scratched the back of her ear with her fingernail. "Alright, I'll go down then. Remember to bring the bowl down for me tomorrow morning."
So heartless, she grumbled internally.
Xiao Ju was much easier to talk to. Chu Xi went back to her own place and asked Xiao Ju.
[What's your boss busy with?]
Xiao Ju: [Choosing members for the variety show. Sister is still debating whether she should be on it herself.]
Chu Xi: [If she goes on it, remember to recommend me too.]
[But it's better if she doesn't. Doesn't she want to work behind the scenes?]
Xiao Ju: [Yep QAQ.]
Chu Xi: [How long has it been since she took a vacation?]
Xiao Ju glanced at past schedules and did some mental math.
Xiao Ju: [Aside from three days off for the Spring Festival each year, she's worked without a break for 3 years and 6 months straight...]
After calculating it, Xiao Ju herself was shocked.
She hadn't realized it had been that long!
She, Xiao Mei, Xiao He, and Xiao Tao all got to take vacations in rotation!
Finding typing too slow, Chu Xi decided to call Xiao Ju directly.
Among the Four Little Flowers, Xiao Ju was currently the one who favored her the most and was the most honest with her.
But Xiao Ju's line was busy.
Xiao Ju: [Still working with Sister Zhi, sob sob.]
Chu Xi: [Then you work first. Call me back when you're done. I'll give you a two-day extension on your homework.]
Two days?!
Xiao Ju was thoroughly bought! Teacher Chu was so generous!
It was around eleven o'clock when Xiao Ju finally called back.
Chu Xi's first question was, "Is she resting?"
Xiao Ju wasn't sure. "I think so... but Sister seems to be in high spirits."
The corners of Chu Xi's mouth twitched. She said into the WeChat call, "Tell me, is she addicted to work?"
Xiao Ju: "Uh..."
"Or does she have to prove her self-worth through work?" Chu Xi pressed her temples, completely exasperated.
She figured Xiao Ju knew Ren Zhi better than she did, so she might as well ask her.
After she said this, half-joking and half-inquiring, she noticed Xiao Ju had suddenly gone silent.
For once, Chu Xi sensitively picked up on this trace of strangeness.
She pressed, "Don't tell me I was right?"
Xiao Ju: "No..."
Chu Xi: ?
"Then why were you silent?"
Xiao Ju: "Sorry, Sister Xi, my connection was lagging just now."
Chu Xi let out a cold "Heh."
"So, is she going on the new variety show or not?"
"Sister Zhi hasn't decided yet... Am I going to be charged with selling secrets?"
Xiao Ju thought about it carefully; she hadn't really said anything she wasn't supposed to.
"You won't, unless you tell me some of her private hobbies," Chu Xi laughed.
"Ah...? But I don't know any..." Xiao Ju said weakly.
So dense.
Chu Xi: "Then tell me next time you find out. Hanging up."
The call ended the next second.
Xiao Ju stared at the "The other party has hung up" notification, her head still full of question marks, not having recovered yet???
Chu Xi silently ranked things in her head-
Based on Ren Zhi's current inner affections, the ranking should be:
Work is greater than the Four Little Flowers, and the Four Little Flowers are greater than her.
For some reason, she felt her ranking was very logical and correct, but after making it, she felt a trace of unhappiness.
3 years and 6 months without a vacation...
Tsk, nowadays it was rare for Ren Zhi to even spend 3 days and 6 hours with her continuously.
Forget it. Just now when she went upstairs, she didn't even stay for 3 minutes and 6 seconds.
The more she calculated, the more it hurt.
When Chu Xi called Ren Zhi this time, it seemed Ren Zhi had finally finished her work, and she even exchanged a few more words with her.
On the other end of the line, the sound of water gushed from a faucet and splashed.
Chu Xi asked, "Washing your face?"
Ren Zhi: "Mhm, then I'm going to sleep."
Chu Xi: "Did you drink the yogurt?"
Ren Zhi: "Finished it. Thanks, it was very sweet. I'll bring some fruit down for you tomorrow morning."
Chu Xi asked, feigning ignorance, "Oh, so what were you busy with just now? You kicked me out before I could even say a few words."
At the same time, she was tightening the screws on a drone. Although her right hand was a bit clumsy, she was still quite fast.
After assembling the body, she switched to another webpage on her phone and played an animation to test it...
Ren Zhi: "The variety show I'm producing. I was finalizing the cast list and considering whether I should make an appearance myself."
Perhaps because of Ren Zhi's honest confession, Chu Xi's mood brightened a little.
She smiled and said, "If you want to make money, just work behind the scenes. Don't make an appearance."
Save some energy.
But Ren Zhi's voice sounded heavy with worry. "Mmm..."
Chu Xi installed a new battery in the remote control, waiting for the two machines to connect wirelessly, and said.
"It seems you're not very satisfied with my suggestion. Go to sleep, don't think about it."
She heard a soft sigh from the other end of the call, followed by the sound of someone tossing and turning in bed.
She didn't know what Ren Zhi was thinking, but her thoughts were so heavy that Chu Xi could sense them through the floorboards.
Ren Zhi told herself she would think about this difficult problem tomorrow. "Okay, I'm going to sleep. I'll hang up then."
Chu Xi suddenly called out, "Don't hang up yet!!"
Her voice was so urgent that Ren Zhi's hand, which was about to press the screen, truly paused in mid-air.
"What else is there?" she asked.
"Hehe..." Chu Xi chuckled.
Ren Zhi hesitated for a few seconds, confused, then suddenly heard her say:
"Are you sleeping in your pajamas? Open the curtains."
"Yes." Ren Zhi was baffled, but she did as she was told.
She got out of bed, walked to the window, and pulled back one-third of the fully drawn curtains.
When she saw a drone hovering outside her window, she was startled and instinctively moved to close the curtains again.
Chu Xi called out from her phone in bed, "Don't panic, it's mine."
Ren Zhi paused, then slowly pulled the curtains open again, this time leaving only a quarter of the window exposed.
Chu Xi shouted, "Open them a little more, Sister. There's no one else. It's mine, what are you afraid of?"
Only then did Ren Zhi open the curtains back to how they were before.
Chu Xi called out, "Get in bed."
Ren Zhi glanced at the drone, got back into bed, pulled the covers over herself, and then peeked out the window again.
"What are you playing at?" she asked Chu Xi.
"Just lie down," Chu Xi said.
Then the drone flew slowly for a while, like a large bird searching for something outside the window, before finally finding an angle and hovering in place.
Chu Xi murmured, "This is the new tech I've been researching lately... See if this is any better."
The moment she finished speaking, the drone's front light turned on, suddenly projecting an image into the room.
The angle was just right. The beam of light spread out like confetti from a party popper, and a projection of a blue, starry sky reflected across the entire ceiling.
A river of scattered clouds at night suddenly flowed into her dim line of sight.
A dozen or so stars twinkled dynamically, bright but not glaring.
The bedroom was instantly transformed, as if she had entered another world.
It had the splendor of an oil painting, with a touch of dreaminess.
"Is this good?" Chu Xi asked softly. She thought the effect looked pretty good. "Does it make you feel a little more peaceful?"
The human brain and vision have synesthetic capabilities, a result of the brain's function of automatically processing biological information.
Ren Zhi was momentarily stunned. "...It does."
Chu Xi asked, "There's also a projection of the Northern Lights. Want to see it?"
Resting on her pillow and gazing at the ceiling, Ren Zhi couldn't help but purse her lips. "I do..."
Chu Xi switched the image on her phone, changing it to the vast and magnificent night sky of the aurora borealis for her to see. She'd heard this footage was real scenery from Alaska, but unfortunately, the projection diminished the charm of the original view.
"Do you want to watch this one or the previous one?"
"This one is fine."
"Then go to sleep. I'll leave this on to help you."
Help... help her sleep?
But why did Ren Zhi feel even more awake?
The night sky was steeped in tranquility, yet she felt a ball of fire enveloping her heart, burning.
Ren Zhi fell silent, her eyes reflecting the romantic and mysterious scene.
Chu Xi immersed herself in her superb drone-piloting skills for a moment. When she heard no sound from the other end of the call for a long time, she figured Ren Zhi must be drifting off to sleep.
She spoke softly, "A little science for you. The aurora is essentially an optical phenomenon caused by charged particles from solar storms interacting with atoms and molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere. When the sun's charged particles enter the upper atmosphere at high speeds near the north and south magnetic poles..."
Ren Zhi suddenly cut in, "I don't want to hear about that."
Chu Xi said, "Oh," and immediately shut up.
Was she disturbing her? She thought listening to a calm explanation would help her fall asleep faster...
Chu Xi said in a soft whisper, "Then hurry up and sleep. I won't talk anymore."
She needed to find a few more beautiful videos to project for Ren Zhi the next time she couldn't sleep well.
Just as she was scouring Baidu, Ren Zhi spoke again:
"Tell me about something else."
"Oh, okay."
Chu Xi thought for a moment, then slowly began a more romantic explanation.
"The original name for the aurora borealis was Aurora. In Roman mythology, she is the goddess of the dawn... The Nordic people always gave it poetic names because they believed the Northern Lights were a gift of infinite beauty from the heavens..."
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