CSGM - Chapter 114
Chapter 114: Oblivious Puppy
After thinking this, Jin Yuan put on a show of politeness. "Xixi, sorry for asking you so many questions."
Chu Xi wasn't bothered. "It's okay."
Chu Xi was someone who wasn't afraid to be candid.
She didn't seem to feel the least bit embarrassed about giving Jin Yuan those answers.
Xixi was simply an incredibly easy idol to get along with.
Jin Yuan didn't know if other celebrities' approachable personas were just an act, but she could testify that Chu Xi was the real deal!
People subconsciously tend to push their luck.
So Jin Yuan was no exception. Emboldened by Chu Xi's patience, as they were about to part ways, she made a daring jab:
"Xixi, I think you've started to like Teacher Ren Zhi! You just don't realize it yourself. You might not be straight, you know~!"
After saying this, Jin Yuan quickly jumped into the driver's seat and sped away.
Gotta dash.
Standing by the roadside in the complex, Chu Xi stared at the car's exhaust fumes. ".........?"
In truth, although Jin Yuan had already fled, she was still a little panicked.
She had dared to speak to her boss like that. Would she be fired tomorrow for something as trivial as stepping onto the set with her left foot first?
For the first time, Chu Xi found her own thoughts to be surprisingly sluggish.
Her thoughts wavered for a long time between "Why would Jin Yuan say that?", "So what if I like Ren Zhi?", and "Does Jin Yuan really think I'm in love with Ren Zhi? How strange."
Then, the thoughts fizzled out, and she went home.
Because Chu Xi suddenly remembered that she hadn't had a chance to say more than a few words to Ren Zhi all day, she quickly took the elevator to the fourth floor.
She rang the doorbell as usual, waiting by the door with a light smile, still feeling relaxed now that she was finally home.
But after waiting for a while, Ren Zhi still hadn't opened the door.
She did, however, receive a WeChat message from Ren Zhi.
【Was that you ringing the doorbell?】
Waiting outside, Chu Xi replied:
【Yes, open the door.】
Ren Zhi: 【I'm very tired tonight. I've already gone to bed. If it's nothing important, let's see each other tomorrow.】
Chu Xi scratched her head: 【Oh, okay.】
She turned off her phone screen. Although she was a little disappointed, she figured that if Ren Zhi was going to bed early, it was good for her to get some rest.
She went back to her apartment, set up the drone, and flew it up to the bedroom on the floor above.
When she saw the curtains were drawn so tightly that no light could pass through, she called Ren Zhi.
"Hello? Are you asleep already? Open the curtains, I'll start the projection for you."
Ren Zhi's voice was a degree colder and lower than usual, which Chu Xi interpreted as sleepiness.
"Not tonight."
"Why not?" Chu Xi asked. "I found new visuals and even made some improvements. Just give it a try."
Don't say no before you've even tried it.
Chu Xi felt her enhanced sleep-aid drone should be even better now.
What kind of customer refuses without even giving it a chance?
Ren Zhi pressed her lips together. The sincerity in Chu Xi's voice was almost impossible to resist.
At the same time, Ren Zhi was terrified. She sensed her own resolve wavering and realized she was already addicted.
How terrifying.
Straight girls were terrifying.
She couldn't let things spiral out of control.
She had her status and her plans to consider. She needed to seriously re-examine and re-evaluate the distance between herself and Chu Xi.
A little stick figure in Ren Zhi's mind kicked Chu Xi out from within the blurry line of ambiguity.
Good, well done.
Ren Zhi said into the phone, "You don't have to do all this. I can sleep just fine. You don't need to do these things for me."
Confused, Chu Xi said, "Ah...?"
"I'm going to sleep now. I'm hanging up. You should sleep too." Ren Zhi hung up.
It was so abrupt, there wasn't even time for another word.
Chu Xi frowned, biting her lip.
She felt a little dejected, though she didn't know why.
It was just that... not seeing Ren Zhi after coming home, and then having the projection she'd prepared for bedtime rejected—this string of rebuffs was more than she had anticipated.
But the projection had worked so well last night. Why didn't she want it tonight?
Chu Xi had no choice but to admire the pink ocean she had prepared for tonight all by herself.
There were starfish, coral, and schools of colorful fish, but there was no one to watch it...
Sigh.
Chu Xi rubbed her head. Suddenly, the animation didn't seem as beautiful as it had before.
Her brow remained slightly furrowed, and after some time, her sleepiness had completely vanished.
As her mood was colored by dejection, she couldn't help but recall just how many times Ren Zhi had rejected her today.
One, two, three, four, five...
Could Jin Yuan have actually been right?
Had she accidentally offended Ren Zhi again somehow?
Chu Xi mulled it over. The thought of being rejected all day, leaving them no time to spend together privately, made her incredibly frustrated.
What on earth was going on?
What was that little ancestor Ren Zhi angry at her about now?
Completely lost, Chu Xi pressed her right temple, then scratched the left side of her forehead.
Ren Zhi couldn't sleep either.
She hadn't even changed into her pajamas after getting home.
After hanging up on Chu Xi, she immediately made a work call to someone else.
"Didn't you want to pitch yourself? I'm free tonight. We can meet."
There was no shortage of celebrities who wanted to be on the show she was producing. As long as she offered an opportunity, people would naturally flock to her.
Twenty minutes later, Ren Zhi walked out the door. The celebrity, who was desperate for a chance to talk with her, had already driven eagerly from Film City to pick her up.
From her window, Chu Xi saw Ren Zhi's figure emerge from the building and froze.
...?
She stood up involuntarily, staring down below.
Didn't she say she was asleep?
She watched as Ren Zhi walked to the side of the road and got into a beautiful blue Mercedes.
Even though Ren Zhi was well-disguised, Chu Xi would have recognized her figure and gait even if they were pixelated.
Suddenly, Chu Xi saw a dark cloud drifting across the sky.
She looked at the sky, then opened her phone to check the weather forecast.
She immediately called Ren Zhi.
Ren Zhi answered, and Chu Xi spoke first:
"What are you doing out so late? It looks like it's going to rain. Did you check the forecast? Do you have a patch on your leg?"
Ren Zhi paused, glancing out the car window.
"It's fine, I already put one on. I have some work to attend to..."
So dismissive. They had barely exchanged a few words before Ren Zhi hung up again.
Besides, Ren Zhi hadn't specified what she was going to do.
But that wasn't what Chu Xi was concerned about.
It was the lie—Ren Zhi saying she was asleep and refusing to open the door.
She had said she was asleep and not to be disturbed, but in the blink of an eye, she was going out with someone else.
Who does that?
Why was Ren Zhi suddenly acting so strangely toward her?
Chu Xi felt a pang in her heart, as if she'd been stabbed. She was hurt.
She mulled it over for a while but still couldn't figure out how she had provoked Ren Zhi. Her mind wouldn't quiet down, so she sent Ren Zhi another message:
【Where are you going for work? Will you be drinking? When will you be finished? Let me come pick you up.】
Ren Zhi replied over ten minutes later:
【No need. You get some rest.】
Chu Xi went into the group chat with the Four Little Flowers—
【@Xiao Ju @Xiao Mei @Xiao He @Xiao Tao, who is accompanying Ren Zhi for work tonight?】
After this summoning spell, Xiao Mei, who was staying up late to binge-watch a drama, popped up:
【@Chu Xi Sister Xi, I'm on the night shift, but there's no work scheduled for tonight OvO.】
Xiao Mei was still thinking to herself: Sister Zhi doesn't have work tonight, so Sister Xi can spend more time with her!
Chu Xi: 【Okay, got it.】
Satisfied, Xiao Mei went back to her drama, while Chu Xi stared at her phone in silence.
...
...
The flapping and cawing of a crow in a nearby tree only made the night seem more deathly still.
Chu Xi silently washed up and got into bed.
After tossing and turning for half an hour, she abruptly kicked off the covers and sat up.
Why was Ren Zhi suddenly giving her the cold shoulder?
Even someone as oblivious as Chu Xi could sense it now.
Ren Zhi was deliberately rejecting her, deliberately lying to her, as if she no longer considered her a friend.
She was vexed and confused, and for the first time, time seemed to drag on endlessly.
—as if the next day, when she could go to the set and see Ren Zhi, would never arrive.
Chu Xi pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing several times in the quiet of her bedroom.
She felt this problem had to be solved.
She was growing impatient.
She called Jin Yuan, and regardless of what she was doing, the moment the call connected, Chu Xi demanded—
"Xiao Yuan, come out. Teach me."
Jin Yuan was cozied up in bed, scrolling through DouDou.
But the moment she heard it was a relationship problem concerning her CP, she didn't hesitate. She rolled out of bed, resolutely changed her clothes, and rushed out the door!
Chu Xi found the nearest private movie theater just outside her complex and waited for Jin Yuan.
When Jin Yuan arrived at the meeting spot, the lights in the private theater room were on at full brightness, but the movie screen was dark, and the room was silent.
Chu Xi was sitting alone at the end of a long sofa, the light in her eyes as dim as the air on a smoggy day.
She looks like a wounded puppy... Jin Yuan really wanted to pat Xixi's head.
But obviously, that was impossible.
The moment Chu Xi saw her, that powerful idol aura returned.
"Xiao Yuan, why did you say Ren Zhi was ignoring me today?"
Without any preamble, Chu Xi got straight to the point.
Jin Yuan hurried over and sat down beside her. "Um, well... I had a feeling earlier that maybe Teacher Ren Zhi was angry with you."
"Angry about what?" Chu Xi asked, looking at her with an expression that could only be described as desperately seeking wisdom.
Oh, my.
Jin Yuan felt as if she could see the distress right through Chu Xi's eyes.
"I haven't figured it out yet," Jin Yuan admitted honestly, then quickly asked, "Xixi, you can't sleep?"
"That's right. Ren Zhi went out, but she lied to me, saying she was asleep and wouldn't see me." Chu Xi frowned.
"Ah... Xixi, you must be heartbroken..."
She seems so pitiful.
But Jin Yuan was also so excited.
What's wrong with me? Am I a pervert?
"Heartbroken? Yes. Help me figure out why she's angry."
Chu Xi had trouble understanding the thought processes of ordinary people.
She couldn't figure it out, but Jin Yuan was an ordinary person. Just as Jin Yuan had noticed things that morning, she should be able to figure this out now.
But in truth, Jin Yuan was stumped too.
After hearing Xixi's description of the previous night, Jin Yuan thought Zhizhi should have been happy. Why was she acting so uncharacteristically strange the next day?
Half a minute passed.
Chu Xi said unhappily, "Still haven't figured it out?"
Jin Yuan: "..."
"It's not that easy, Xixi. Teacher Ren Zhi's mind is surely very complex. Maybe you didn't actually do anything wrong..."
"Really?" Chu Xi asked.
To be honest, she also felt she hadn't done anything to make Ren Zhi angry. She hadn't even said anything out of line yesterday.
Chu Xi pressed on, "Then why is she deliberately avoiding me? What is she angry about?"
Deep in thought, Jin Yuan recalled numerous cautionary tales of couples fighting.
She stroked her chin and murmured, "Sometimes, even when you think you've done nothing wrong, a girlfriend will still get angry over something inexplicable... because girls' feelings are very sensitive. Maybe you didn't notice it, or maybe you thought it was just a small thing... It's also possible she's just being unreasonable..."
But Teacher Ren Zhi is such a mature woman. The chances of her being unreasonable can't be that high, right?
Just as Jin Yuan was racking her brain, trying to reason it out, she heard a voice beside her say:
"It doesn't matter. Just figure out what it is. I'm willing to apologize even if she's being unreasonable."
Jin Yuan froze and turned to look at her. "Huh?"
What did Xixi just say?
"Xixi, what if it's not your fault?"
She sounded so willing to compromise that Jin Yuan thought for a moment she had misheard.
Could Xixi really have said that?
But Chu Xi continued, "Her way of thinking is different from mine. As long as she's happy, I'm willing to admit I'm wrong and apologize."
The serious expression on her face made Jin Yuan realize she was telling the truth.
Xixi was serious.
An hour ago, "Dr. Jin" had diagnosed Chu Xi with a ninety percent probability of having "closeted-without-knowing-it" syndrome. Now, the diagnosis was one hundred percent confirmed!
"Sigh..." Jin Yuan let out a breath.
"Did you think of something? Tell me."
"Sorry, Xixi, I haven't. I probably can't figure it out. If only I were a mind reader for Teacher Ren Zhi." Then she would report every single one of Ren Zhi's thoughts to Xixi!
The look in Chu Xi's eyes turned cold.
"However..." Jin Yuan quickly stepped into her role as an assistant meant to solve her boss's problems. "I do have a suggestion for you!"
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