Chapter 6 – Angry and deadbeat
Wu Xue hurried to Su Yi’s place, her hand shaking so badly she entered the wrong password quite a couple of times.
As she entered the pin she was shouting out, “Su Yi! Su Yi!! Are you still alive in there?!”
No one replied.
The door finally let out a ‘Di’, indicating that it had been unlocked. Wu Xue entered the house, retrieving a knife she’d always kept just in case from her bag.
There was no one in the living room, the house was really quiet.
“…Su Yi?” Wu Xue called once.
“Uh.”
A small sound came from the bedroom, Wu Xue didn’t think twice about rushing in there.
The room was extremely tidy, not a single bit messy. The person she was looking for was lying on the bed, covered in her blanket, only half of her face peeking out.
Su Yi’s phone lay by the bed, on it a whole screen of unanswered calls.
The house stank of alcohol, it’s easy to tell that Su Yi had drank quite a lot. Wu Xue looked around, confirming that there wasn’t anyone else in the house.
Before she could ask, she heard a ‘bang’ as the door was shoved open and a series of footsteps sounded. From the sound of it there were quite a few people. Wu Xue turned around instinctively, and saw a guy wearing a policeman uniform at the door.
When he saw Wu Xue he paused too. “Little Xue, where’s she?”
The guy was Liu Minghao, Wu Xue’s boyfriend. He’d been getting off work when he got a call from Wu Xue saying that something happened to Su Yi, asking him to bring someone to XX Condominium.
“…No idea,” Wu Xue gently patted Su Yi’s face. “Su Yi, wake up.”
Su Yi followed Wu Xue’s hand and lay on her waist, dazedly opening her eyes and asking, “Why are you here?”
The policemen who came with Liu Minghao had come to the bedroom too. At one glance they were all shocked – the person on the bed was really familiar… she looked like a movie star.
When Wu Xue saw that she was clear-headed, she let out a sigh of relief. Then she told the people at the door, “She looks fine now, I’m sorry, I was too anxious just now, and troubled you all to make this trip. I’ll treat you all to dinner someday with Minghao.”
After sending Liu Minghao and company away, Wu Xue sat down by the bed and dragged Su Yi out of the bed.
Su Yi leant against her, asking, “Where’s Chu Ying?”
She was too anxious just now; it’s only now that she could make heads and tails of the situation. Wasn’t that the name Su Yi had mentioned before? She said in a bad mood, “No idea, can you stand up by yourself?”
Upon hearing that, Su Yi stood straight with the aid of the wall, even blankly adding, “It appears so.”
Wu Xue rolled her eyes and went to get the hot water running in the bath.
Twenty minutes later, Su Yi was lying in the bathtub, allowing Wu Xue to play with her hair.
After thinking about it, Wu Xue was still not too at ease and asked, “Nothing was done to you by that something Ying right?”
“No.” She sounded really regretful.
“That’s good,” Wu Xue finished tying her hair up and stuffed it all in the shower cap, “You should go on a diet, I almost couldn’t hold you up just now.”
Su Yi mumbled, “I’m standard, you’re the one who doesn’t have enough strength.”
Wu Xue was about to get up when Su Yi said, “Little Xue Xue, help me get my phone.”
“No,” Wu Xue rejected her request. “Finish and come out, drunkards cannot take baths. If it wasn’t that you had a promotion tomorrow, I’d let you sleep in that stink until tomorrow morning.”
Su Yi let out an ‘oh’. The heat cleared her head up enough for her to think to ask, “Why did you call Liu Minghao over?”
“Oh and you’re not embarrassed to ask.” Wu Xue told her what happened. “What were you thinking? How many times have I told you not to drink when I’m not around, you’re a public figure, do you know how dangerous it is to get drunk outside?”
Su Yi was a little dizzy as she obediently closed her mouth and let Wu Xue reprimand her.
Wu Xue had finished with her hair and was leaning against the wall, checking, “Chu Ying was the one at the Charity Gala?”
Su Yi smiled, her eyes sparkling with her good mood.
She’d been captivated, unsalvageably.
It was rare to see this expression on Su Yi; Wu Xue was starting to get curious too. “This whole love at first glance thing is rather strange, did he feed you some sort of love potion? How is it that I don’t think he’s as handsome as Liang Bo.”
Liang Bo was the currently trending rookie, every Weibo he posted would be on the hot searches at least a couple of times.
Wu Xue mentioned him because Liang Bo had hinted to Su Yi a couple of times before, both openly and discreetly.
“Don’t,” Su Yi tsked. “Liang Bo doesn’t compare to him.”
After making sure Su Yi finished bathing, Wu Xue left.
After all of this, Su Yi had lost her sleepiness. She picked up her phone, sending Chu Yi a WeChat request for a call.
It rang a few times before being picked up.
“Hnn?”
The guy sounded like he had been disturbed in his sleep, his voice low and a little husky.
“You’re asleep?” Su Yi asked, despite knowing the answer already.
Indeed, Chu Ying had just fallen asleep. He’d just changed to a new number that only a few of his more familiar people knew about. When he saw the WeChat request for a call he’d answered it thinking it was an actual call. It’s only when he heard Su Yi’s voice that he’d properly woken up, and after a few seconds of silence he wanted to hang up.
“Don’t hang up!” Su Yi called out, as if having guessed that, before she randomly picked a topic, “Did you take away my coat?”
“You didn’t have one.”
“Yes,” Su Yi said confidently. “I tied it around my waist.”
Chu Ying sounded very put out. “That was mine.”
Su Yi put her hand on her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles even as she continued pretending to be drunk, “Why would your coat be tied around my waist?”
Click. The other had hung up.
Su Yi started laughing then.
This guy was clearly angry and deadbeat, but she really did find it fun to poke fun at him.
….
The next day, Su Yi was woken up by An Xuan.
An Xuan laid the breakfast Wu Xue had asked her to bring on the table. “Yi-jie, hurry up with your morning routine and eat your breakfast, the make-up artist is about to arrive.”
Su Yi laid on the bed, asking with her eyes closed, “Today… what are we doing?”
“Opening ceremony of one of Pasion’s branches,” An Xuan said. “Half an hour’s ride away.”
Su Yi didn’t have the bad habit of sleeping in. In one fluid motion she had sat up straight. Pulling off her eye mask, she got off the bed nimbly.
After she finished her breakfast, the make-up artist had arrived. He was gay, with a very coquettish taste in clothing and a voice more coquettish than Su Yi’s. Looking at Su Yi’s dark eye bags, he said exaggeratedly, “Don’t you have no shows to act in recently? Why are the eye bags back again?”
“Speak properly, what do you mean by ‘no shows to act in’.” Su Yi leant back, allowing him to do whatever he needed to her face.
An opening ceremony didn’t require pomp. Su Yi put on a simple dress, matching it with a pair of heels from Pasion that came out recently before she went out.
The make-up artist and An Xuan followed closely behind, An Xuan read out the schedule for the next few days for Su Yi from her notebook when the lift doors opened.
In it stood Mr. Trendy Liang Bo and his assistant.
Su Yi’s neighbourhood was almost like one for celebrities; just the ones she’d run into would make up more than ten, including Liang Bo.
When he saw her, he brightened up, putting on a brilliant smile as he greeted, “Morning, Xiao Yi.”
Su Yi evenly hmm’ed in reply.
Liang Bo asked, “So where are you going?”
Su Yi answered succinctly, “Rushing for a promotion.”
“Me too,” Liang Bo said. “Right, I’m hosting a party tonight, do you want to come?”
Liang Bo lived in the penthouse. The entire floor was his and there’s a pool, a gym and even a room for the pool table – all in all, he had everything anyone could need.
As for how Su Yi knew – Liang Bo had invited her over more than three times, even sending her a few videos of his house once and telling her that if she came over she wouldn’t be disappointed.
Su Yi said, “Not going.”
Liang Bo shut up. Being rejected in front of a few people left him with a bad taste in his mouth.
At least before, Su Yi had a good attitude towards him. Even when rejecting him she’d add, “Sorry about this”, “I’ve something on”, or “I’m not free”. But today she didn’t even come up with an excuse rejecting him instantly.
Perhaps he considered it losing face; the moment the lift arrived at its destination, Liang Bo left quickly.
The make-up artist tsked, “Why are you so heartless? Liang Bo’s really handsome, did you see the cover page photos he’d taken for 《TAXS》? Those abs, damn…”
“If you like him you can go pursue him.” Su Yi got onto the car, crossing her legs. “Don’t blame your sister me for not reminding you that his abs are most likely photoshopped on.”
The make-up artist was shocked, “How did you know, you’ve seen it?”
“No,” Su Yi said. “But you can tell with his shirt on.”
He was even more shocked. “Can you pass this ability on to me?”
“No.”
Pasion was shoe brand under some Italian brand that focused on shoes and only shoes. Because it was really specialized, the shoes sold there appeared good and were really high quality too, earning it some fame these past few years in the mainland.
When this brand was looking for a spokesperson initially, it had gotten attention from quite a few people in the industry. Su Yi hadn’t the fame she had now and hadn’t even prepared to compete for it, so she definitely hadn’t expected them to come find her and sign a three-year contract with her.
Wu Xue was waiting at the mall when they reached it.
“Go take a few photos of you looking around, we’ll post it on Weibo.” Wu Xue came up and arranged her hair for her.
Su Yi looked around the mall, asking, “When did the mall open?”
“A few days ago, under the Chu Corporation.” At this point, Wu Xue couldn’t help sighing with feeling, “Do you reckon that this Chu Corporation is trying to take over the world? Real estate, the entertainment industry, carpentry… they’re getting into everything and they’re actually doing well everywhere. Are they going to go into the military food supplying industry next?”
“No idea.” Su Yi quirked her lips and said, “Those with the Chu surname are all really great.”
“…There’s something wrong with you.”
The opening ceremony went smoothly. After it ended there wasn’t anything else for her to do; she’d just finished a show a while ago and these two weeks were as good as her holiday, with only a few small commitments like the opening ceremony that didn’t expend too much of her energy. Su Yi wasn’t eager to go home, instead dragging Wu Xue on a shopping trip in this mall.
As they walked out of a costume shop, Su Yi thought and asked, “The photos taken at Pasion just now, have you posted them on Weibo?”
Wu Xue replied, “No, the photos are still being edited.”
Su Yi dug out her phone. “Send a few originals to me.”
“What for?” Wu Xue asked, sending the photos over.
Su Yi posted a moment on WeChat Moments.
She rarely posted on moments since her friends on WeChat were all people in the industry that were on Weibo as well. Having to look at the same photo twice was enough to annoy anyone, but it’s different now.
Now she had a relic on her WeChat who likely didn’t even have Weibo.
