It was already evening. Shen Jing didn’t rush back to Jinwu after work; instead, she went to the mall with Liang Yingning.
President Zhou wasn’t there.
Liang Yingning had almost beco a regular at seeking out Shen Jing. "President Zhou has returned to Shanghai, yet he hasn’t co to see you?" she asked.
Shen Jing shrugged.
"It’s probably the Zhou Family’s matriarch’s birthday banquet," Liang Yingning said.
Shen Jing hadn’t heard about it. She opened her phone. His profile picture was still, blank ever since she first added him on WeChat.
She didn’t know if he ever posted on Monts; whenever she checked it, it was always a blank space.
Nothing at all. Just like him—so reserved and mysterious, impossible to understand.
Liang Yingning hatched a mischievous plan. "Then let’s not go back," she said. "I’ll take you to watch a newly released movie; it’s really good! A heartthrob stars in it and is said to show off his eight-pack abs. Plus, a very talented actress from Hong Kong, Lin Yan, plays the second female lead. You know her, right? Have you ever been a fan of anyone? I absolutely adore her! Ah, the most beautiful goddess in the entertainnt industry!"
Liang Yingning even gestured to illustrate her point.
"I must contribute to the box office for every movie she’s in."
Shen Jing squinted and smiled. "Sure."
"When I have ti, I also want to go to Hong Kong to chase stars."
The stars Liang Yingning followed were all surnad Lin and based in Hong Kong.
They had their tickets checked and entered the cinema.
Shen Jing was like that. She’d agreed to watch a movie, but she wasn’t really watching. Exhausted from work, she lay down and fell asleep as soon as she settled into the plush leather seat.
She didn’t really know what movie was playing; she only heard soone crying in the back row.
Shen Jing and Liang Yingning both looked back at the sa ti.
They felt a twinge of jealousy.
The girl had a boyfriend cuddling and comforting her.
What movie was this that it was so touching?
Oh, it turned out the second female lead was sacrificing herself for the greater good.
Liang Yingning leaned close to her ear, whispering, "To think a blockbuster like this even has Lu Siyuan. Wow, what a role for her."
Unexpectedly, Lu Siyuan, seated in the couple’s seat next to them, spoke up quietly, "It was shot the year before last."
It was Zhou Luchen who had invested to get her the role, but in the end, he abandoned her halfway. When it ca to ruthlessness, no one was as rciless as Zhou Luchen.
Shen Jing quickly looked around. How could she be imagining Lu Siyuan talking to her with that strong Hong Kong accent?
Within seconds, she locked eyes with Lu Siyuan.
Lu Siyuan no longer possessed the radiant, glamorous aura of the top-tier actress Shen Jing had first t. Her clothes were no longer high-end luxury brands. And despite her youthful face, her eyes couldn’t conceal her weariness.
"Is it good?" Lu Siyuan asked.
Liang Yingning, ever the provocateur, retorted, "If it were good, she wouldn’t be sleeping. Get it?"
Lu Siyuan showed no annoyance or anger. "Thanks for the two tickets," she said.
Shen Jing averted her gaze. Even in a VIP cinema room that could seat a hundred people, it wasn’t appropriate to talk.
She heard Lu Siyuan quietly remark, "Didn’t Zhou Luchen return to Shanghai? Why are you spending the night here?"
Liang Yingning held Shen Jing back, retorting on her behalf, "Do you own this place? We ca to watch a movie. Why are you being so nosy?"
Lu Siyuan wasn’t in the mood to argue. She rely glanced at Shen Jing, her expression unreadable.
Did she bla Shen Jing? It was hard to say. It was simply difficult to like soone who had destroyed her dreams. Later, no matter how much she improved her acting, how much she lowered her fees, or how many glasses of baijiu she drank, directors in the industry still wouldn’t cast her as the female lead. They’d just toss her terrible scripts, assignnts that were thankless and exhausting.
In the entertainnt industry, reality was always cruel without capital or backing.
She felt like a tattered rag, discarded in a corner.
This movie was her last chance for a coback.
Thanks to the second female lead’s ability to draw audiences, the box office numbers on premiere day had been excellent. Who would have thought she’d run into Shen Jing here, spoiling her mood?
Shen Jing grabbed her bag and turned. "Well," she said, "the second female lead acted better than you. Although she wasn’t the main lead, her character was very relatable. Several couples in the audience were moved to tears by her performance, weren’t they? My ticket was for the second female lead, not for you."
"You seized what wasn’t yours. Aren’t you afraid it will be reclaid sooner or later?" Lu Siyuan calmly sipped her water, not even looking at Shen Jing.
Shen Jing understood what Lu Siyuan was referring to.
She never felt that what she had taken belonged to soone else; after all, she hadn’t truly obtained it anyway.
Liang Yingning couldn’t bring herself to finish the movie. Anyway, the second female lead’s character had already t her end, so there was no point in staying. She moved to Shen Jing’s right side. "You’re not angry, are you?" she asked.
Shen Jing burst out laughing. "What’s there to be angry about?"
Liang Yingning couldn’t fathom what strange and peculiar thoughts filled Shen Jing’s mind.
If she were the type to get upset over sothing so trivial, she might as well not have bothered with Zhou Luchen in the first place.
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