When the Stars Tremble

The Tenth Star

Xin He and Fu Cheng?

Did she accidentally stumble upon some shocking news again…

Except for Jiang Chuyi, the others seemed to be used to it. Wang Tan yawned, “It’s been so long, and they’re still not done arguing.”

They pushed the door open and went in.

Xin He’s eyes were very red, her slender waist slightly bent, and there was a tear streak on her beautiful little face. She sat on the chair in silence.

Fu Cheng still had an indifferent expression, not much different from usual.

Jiang Chuyi felt like she was sitting on pins and needles during this meal.

Suppressing the shock in her heart, she tried hard to appear as calm as the others.

Even though Ji Kai was talkative, the atmosphere was still obviously awkward. After chatting about some random things, a silent oppression spread.

Xin He would only eat a couple bites before stopping.

She sat there without saying anything. Jiang Chuyi took the initiative and carefully asked Xin He, “This broccoli is not bad, do you want to try some?”

Xin He glanced at her silently, looking like she was about to cry again.

Jiang Chuyi shut up, forget it, she should just eat her meal quietly.

“Do you like eating broccoli?” Zong Ye asked.

“It’s alright.” Jiang Chuyi tried to liven up the atmosphere, “Did you cook all of this?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just feel a bit ashamed.” She praised without hesitation, “You’re amazing.”

Up until now, she still only knew how to cook instant noodles.

Few men know how to cook, let alone celebrities. At least she hasn’t seen many.

Zong Ye smiled, “When I was young, my family was poor, so I started learning to cook on my own in middle school.”

His tone was very frank, but Jiang Chuyi was stunned for a moment, involuntarily looking at him, not knowing what to say.

Wang Tan calmly added a sentence, “Poor children grow up early.”

She recalled Er Er mentioning to her before that Zong Ye used to sing on the streets in his early years, and his original family might have had some difficulties.

Qin Tong had advised her early on that to fit in this industry, you need to have high emotional intelligence. When socializing outside, you must always be careful not to touch people’s taboos. After all, those who look glamorous often have some inglorious pasts they don’t want others to bring up.

So in certain situations, Jiang Chuyi was also very tactful and used to saying polite words.

For the celebrity profession, the word vanity is not necessarily derogatory. After accumulating a certain amount of wealth, what everyone pursues is just that bit of respect and face.

But Zong Ye himself didn’t seem to care much about this, nor did he feel that his poor background was something embarrassing.

Actually, up to now, most members of BloodxGentle gave her a very good impression.

After interacting, she discovered that in private, they didn’t actually put on many airs. They were sincere and didn’t have the arrogance and sense of distance that big stars had. Not pretentious at all.

Of course, Fu Cheng was an exception.

This person seemed to be a refrigerator by nature.

*

After the meal, Jiang Chuyi didn’t have any desire to stay longer.

She and Xin He could take advantage of the rainy day to slack off for half a day. But BloodxGentle was different from them. Even when filming abroad, their schedule was full.

The two of them said goodbye and went out one after the other.

They walked side by side in silence for a while. Suddenly, Xin He spoke up, “Don’t tell anyone about today’s matter.”

“Huh?” Jiang Chuyi immediately said, “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.”

After another moment of silence, Xin He said, “Thank you.”

Jiang Chuyi politely replied, “No need to thank me.”

Actually, she was still a bit suspicious about the reality of the situation. How could Fu Cheng be with Xin He? Wasn’t it supposed to be Zong Ye…?

Gossip really wasn’t reliable, and hot searches were even less reliable.

While thinking this, she unknowingly arrived at the door. Jiang Chuyi stopped and politely said goodbye to Xin He, “I’m at my room, see you.”

Unexpectedly, Xin He also stopped and looked back at her, “Do you have anything planned this afternoon?”

“Me?” Jiang Chuyi wasn’t sure what she meant and hesitantly said, “I shouldn’t have anything, I think?”

“Can I come in and sit for a bit?”

Xin He also seemed to feel awkward saying it. She turned her head to look elsewhere, her beautiful face rarely revealing a hint of stubbornness and fragility that didn’t quite match her temperament, “If not, forget it. I just don’t want to be alone.”

Her original appearance was very gorgeous, always dazzling no matter when. But now, she was like a little dog drenched in rain.

Jiang Chuyi suddenly felt a tug at her heartstrings.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Little Zhong opened the door. Seeing the person standing next to Jiang Chuyi, she froze for a moment.

Jiang Chuyi signaled to her with her eyes.

Little Zhong immediately came back to her senses, took two steps back, bowed slightly, and greeted, “Hello, Teacher Xin.”

Xin He forced a smile, “Hello.”

Jiang Chuyi led her inside and asked, “Is there anything you want to drink? Should I make you a cup of coffee?”

“Mm.” Xin He was unenthusiastic and vaguely responded, “Anything is fine, sorry to trouble you.”

Little Zhong took the opportunity to pull Jiang Chuyi into the inner room and whispered, “What’s going on? Why is Xin He here? Is she looking to cause trouble for us again?”

“No.” Jiang Chuyi couldn’t tell her the details involving their privacy, “She encountered some issues. You stay in the inner room. I’ll chat with her for a bit.”

“Huh? What do we have to chat about with her?” Little Zhong frowned, looking very worried.

Jiang Chuyi chuckled, “Is Xin He some sort of monster? You’re that afraid of her?”

“Did you forget, she previously…”

“Alright, let’s not talk about that for now.” Jiang Chuyi pushed Little Zhong a couple times, “You go to the bedroom first.”

*

Jiang Chuyi brought out the brewed coffee and added a stack of milk on the tray.

Xin He quietly looked out the window, seeming to not want to talk about anything and simply came here to space out.

Jiang Chuyi gently set things down and carefully sat on the other end of the sofa.

They were silent for a while. Suddenly, Jiang Chuyi spoke up, “By the way, thank you for today.”

“What?” After a moment, Xin He slowly turned her head, “What are you thanking me for?”

“A staff member told me, the corn he boiled for me in the morning was given by you.”

“Oh, that.” Xin He glanced at her, looking a bit unnatural, “I was just worried you would delay the filming progress.”

“Oh, I see.”

Xin He asked, “How much did you hear just now?”

“Hm?” Jiang Chuyi pretended to think seriously for two seconds and said solemnly, “I heard you say, you like–”

Xin He immediately glared at her and said fiercely, “Even if you tell others, they won’t believe you.”

Jiang Chuyi laughed, scooted a bit closer, and patted her, “Don’t worry, I promised you I won’t say anything.”

Xin He stared at her.

After a long time, she reluctantly spoke, “About that…”

Her voice was too soft. Jiang Chuyi moved even closer, “What did you say?”

“I said.” Xin He clicked her tongue in annoyance, very unwillingly saying, “That like last time, I really did accidentally click it.”

Isn’t this what’s known as being tsundere?

Jiang Chuyi felt that her current appearance was a bit strangely cute. She deliberately put on a serious face, “Really an accident? I thought you were targeting me.”

“Who’s targeting you, who do you think you are?” Xin He got riled up, but her tone lacked confidence. She even stuttered a bit, “It- it might be a little, but who told you to get so close to Fu Cheng?!”

“Did I?”

Jiang Chuyi thought back and felt that she was quite wronged.

If Xin He said she was close to Zong Ye, she would admit it. But she hadn’t even spoken two sentences with Fu Cheng, so how were they close?

“Of course you did!” Xin He immediately accused, “When we were on the boat, Fu Cheng purposely sat next to you. At dinner, you kept stealing glances at Fu Cheng, don’t think I didn’t notice! And during the photo shoot, you were together with Fu Cheng, and your face was all red!”

She had the kind of delicate appearance of a Thai-style sweetheart. Even when angry to the point of her face turning red, her eyes were still shimmering, only giving people the feeling of charming anger.

That kid Fu Cheng was really quite lucky…

Jiang Chuyi gently explained to her, “Fu Cheng did sit next to me, but we didn’t exchange a single word. And at dinner, I was glancing at you, Fu Cheng just happened to be sitting beside you, I didn’t even notice him. As for filming, I wasn’t filming alone with Fu Cheng, wasn’t Zong Ye also there?”

And her face being red was eighty percent because of Zong Ye.

Jiang Chuyi didn’t dare say this out loud.

Xin He caught the main point, “Why were you glancing at me during the meal?”

She said softly, “I saw the news before. I just thought you and Zong Ye… I was being a bit gossipy at the time.”

“You believe the stuff about me and Zong Ye?” Xin He snorted coldly, “So stupid, can’t you tell it’s hype?”

Sigh, she speaks so harshly, quite a match for Fu Cheng.

Jiang Chuyi good-naturedly agreed, “Okay, okay, it was my mistake.”

*

After Xin He left, Jiang Chuyi picked up the script, preparing to find Little Zhong again to go over the night scenes.

Gao Ning made an overseas call, her voice sounding very cheerful, “Not bad, Jiang Chuyi, you’re finally catching on.”

“Catching on to what?” She didn’t understand.

“The CP hype thing, it’s already trending.” Gao Ning suddenly lowered her voice, “We’re preparing an official response on our side.”

“Hold on, hold on.” Jiang Chuyi immediately stopped her, “I said we’re not doing those things. Teacher will scold me again later. What trending topic?”

“So what if he scolds, that old man is just stubborn but soft-hearted, he’ll get over it after hearing a few words. Forget it, forget it, I won’t talk to you anymore, I’m going to work.”

After hanging up with Gao Ning, Jiang Chuyi immediately opened Weibo.

It was already late at night in China, but the hot search was still boiling: #BloodxGentle members Surprise Live Stream Appearance to Support “Blades of Reflection”#

This tag was clearly bought by the film crew. The speed was extremely fast.

She clicked in and saw a flood of marketing accounts posting. The nine-square grid of gifs all showed Jiang Chuyi sitting in the middle, surrounded by the other three.

Many clueless netizens expressed confusion.

[Did Zong Ye owe Jiang Chuyi his life in his previous life? Helping her promote like this?]

[Got my dream material for tonight, I also want to be sandwiched between the three of them orz]

[Wasn’t this girl super unknown, how did she suddenly grab onto BloodxGentle’s thigh?]

[Already starting to suspect Jiang Chuyi purposely leaked the info, what Zong Ye fan persona, she’s getting good at riding the hype wave = =!]

[Who wouldn’t want to rub shoulders with BloodxGentle, the movie isn’t even out yet, and these two girls Xin He and Jiang Chuyi are trending with them every day (let me be jealous for my faves for two minutes)]

[Getting the illusion of a group pet, how about letting me take a bite?]

[Most annoyed by CP brains like the comment above, can ship anything, get lost!]

The above were considered relatively friendly comments.

As for Jiang Chuyi’s private messages…

She hurriedly clicked in and scanned them.

Those messages lighting candles, sending wreaths, telling her to go die and stop clinging, to drop dead in Italy soon were not few.

Actually, for a few years now, she had gotten used to not looking at private messages, but now she couldn’t help it.

Jiang Chuyi exited Weibo. She thought, the netizens’ words were crude but not unreasonable. In the future, she must be restrained and cautious in her actions and can’t use Zong Ye to hype up popularity anymore.

*

For the night shoot, perhaps due to some misunderstanding being cleared, Xin He’s attitude towards her was a bit friendlier for once.

The crew was in the process of setting up lighting for the film location.

Xin He’s assistant moved her rest chair next to Jiang Chuyi’s.

Little Zhong couldn’t understand what was going on but didn’t dare say anything. Although she didn’t like Xin He much, her backer was the renowned Hua Rui, which couldn’t be offended.

The temperature dropped sharply at night.

Xin He had just finished filming a scene, wearing a thin school uniform skirt, shivering under a coat.

Jiang Chuyi poured out some of the hot water from her thermos and handed it to her.

Looking up, she saw Fu Cheng walking over.

Xin He pretended not to see.

Fu Cheng grunted, “Hey” at Xin He.

Xin He was extremely impatient and gave him a look, “First, my name isn’t ‘hey’.”

“Second–”

Fu Cheng casually tossed down a hand warmer and before leaving, mockingly dragged out the end of his sentence, “Second, your name is Chu Yuxun.”

(TL: referring to the female lead from “Let’s Watch the Meteor Shower.” She has a famous line: “First, I am very angry right now; Second, my name is not “Hey,” my name is Chu Yuxun; Third, if you all come looking for me to play such boring games again, I will definitely turn you into real pig heads; Fourth, I am not brain-damaged!”)

Xin He froze.

Jiang Chuyi: “…” She held back for a few seconds and couldn’t help but chuckle.

Xin He was originally a bit angry, but with Jiang Chuyi’s reaction, she couldn’t throw a fit anymore and just sulked by herself.

Jiang Chuyi had wanted to restrain herself, but felt it was too funny, for no specific reason. It was clearly an overused, cheesy old joke.

Hearing it said by Fu Cheng with that expressionless face created too strong of a contrast.

Five minutes later, with the rustling noises beside her still not stopping, Xin He turned her head back in embarrassment and snapped, “Are you done?!”

“Sorry, sorry.” Jiang Chuyi gestured apologetically, “I won’t laugh anymore, I really won’t laugh anymore. I just have a bit of a weird sense of humor.”

Xin He turned her head, too lazy to pay attention to her anymore.

To divert her attention, Jiang Chuyi looked down at her phone, the corners of her mouth still curving up uncontrollably.

Suddenly, a WeChat message popped up.

Zong Ye: “Fu Cheng told me to ask you if you’ve laughed enough.”

That startled her and she quickly looked up, glancing in horror in the other direction.

In the hazy night, Fu Cheng had his arms crossed in front of his chest, leaning against the frame next to Zong Ye, his face dark as he stared at her.

Jiang Chuyi’s smile froze on her face, not daring to laugh anymore.

At the same time.

Feng Cheng slanted a glance at the softly chuckling Zong Ye and scoffed coldly, “I sure as hell didn’t tell you to ask her.”