Chen Die had no idea about the phone call Wen Liang had made, as he hadn’t mentioned it to her.

They hadn’t seen each other for the past two days since Wen Liang had gone on a business trip.

Regarding Chen Shuyuan’s incident, many reporters had called the company wanting to interview Chen Die, but Fang Ruan rejected them all.

However, Ye Chuqing very boldly convened a meeting, sternly criticizing the incident while wielding her authority as the chairperson of the film industry association.

Everyone below listened attentively, truly believing that this chairperson who had just returned from studying abroad had gone to great lengths to convene a new meeting for this competition solely because she despised such plagiarism.

However, the meeting’s intention was obvious. Those below were all industry insiders, and after directly criticizing Chen Shuyuan, it essentially meant that if she truly wanted to pursue a career as a director in the future, Ye Chuqing had already blocked half her path.

When the meeting ended, Ye Chuqing exited from one side of the stage.

Chen Shao was waiting for her at the door.

The two of them had gone from being mortal enemies to friends because of this incident.

“How have you been these past couple of days?” Ye Chuqing looked at him with a smile. “Since Chen Shuyuan couldn’t get her way with me, I bet she went to cause trouble for you, right?”

Chen Shao waved his hand dismissively. “No, she was probably scolded by the old man. She’s been quite behaved these days.”

That day, Chen Die received a call from Fang Ruan in the evening, saying that Huang Sheng had notified her that the role of “Ah Xiao” had been decided and confirmed for Chen Die.

“You can start preparing for the role in the coming days. According to the character description, Ah Xiao is described as ‘voluptuous,’ but you’ve gotten too thin lately, so you should gain a bit of weight,” Fang Ruan instructed. “Then do some strength training at the gym. It’ll look good in a qipao.”

Gain weight…

Chen Die didn’t like being too fat, but since Fang Ruan said so, she could only respond with a slow “I understand.”

Fang Ruan continued, “Also, keep that temper of yours in check recently. If there’s too much news like this, public opinion might not be as favorable towards you as it is now.”

Chen Die thought to herself that she wasn’t that violent.

She lay on her bed and a moment later sent a message to Ye Chuqing about getting the role, as well as the terrible news about having to gain weight.

[Ye Chuqing: I’m having dinner with Chen Shao right now. Why don’t you join us? You can start gaining weight too.]

[Chen Die: Chen Shao?]

Chen Die chuckled, rolled over on the bed, and typed: Your relationship with Chen Shao is advancing by leaps and bounds.

Before she could send it, Ye Chuqing sent another message.

[Ye Chuqing: Stop right there, shut up, I know what you’re going to say.]

[Ye Chuqing: But don’t say it out loud. I’m eating right now and don’t want to throw up.]

“…”

Chen Die promptly closed her mouth and then opened Wen Liang’s chat window. The messages had stopped two hours ago when Wen Liang had told her he was boarding a plane.

He was on a business trip abroad, flying between several neighboring countries for days, with little time each day to chat with Chen Die.

He should be landing soon, right?

Thinking this, she sent him a message.

Wen Liang didn’t reply.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Having mismatched work schedules was annoying. Chen Die felt like some idle housewife at the moment.

Usually, when she had nothing to do at home, she often skipped dinner out of laziness. But today, having just received the weight-gain task from Fang Ruan, she got up and went to the kitchen to make herself a bowl of noodles.

After eating, she was too lazy again to go to the gym for strength training, thinking she’d go in a couple of days. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep early.

When she woke up again, it was completely dark outside.

Chen Die opened her eyes groggily, and looked at the time—it was past ten at night.

There was also a voice call from Wen Liang on her phone.

Chen Die rubbed her eyes, suddenly feeling weak all over, and lying on her side on the pillow, she called him back.

After two rings, Wen Liang answered, “Just woke up?”

“Mmm.”

Chen Die tried to sit up, but as soon as she did, she felt a headache and her waist gave way, so she lay back down, her black hair like seaweed spread on the bed. Squinting, she asked, “What are you doing?”

Wen Liang didn’t answer but instead said, “Let’s do a video call.”

“Hmm?” Chen Die was taken aback. “I’m not wearing makeup.”

“I’ve seen what you look like,” Wen Liang said, and without waiting for her consent, he directly made a video call.

Chen Die hesitated for a moment before accepting.

Wen Liang’s face appeared on the screen. He had already returned to his hotel, wearing a white bathrobe loosely tied, revealing a part of his chest.

He seemed to be handling work, with a pair of glasses perched on his nose.

Chen Die rarely saw him wearing glasses, and now seeing it, she smiled.

“Are you feeling unwell?” Wen Liang noticed.

Chen Die raised her hand to touch her forehead. “Just a bit of a headache, probably because I just woke up. It’s only ten at night, and I’ll probably have trouble sleeping later.”

“Do you have a fever?”

“Probably not.”

“Go check.”

“…” Chen Die rolled over on the bed, combing through her hair with her fingers, her voice mumbling, “I don’t want to move.”

Wen Liang frowned. “Chen Die.”

When his expression darkened, he looked fierce, and even his voice cooled down, calling her name as if threatening her.

Chen Die wasn’t feeling well, so her temper grew willful. She slightly frowned her willow brows. “Why are you being so fierce? I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Hanging up.”

On the screen, the young woman’s face was a bit flushed, looking spiritless as she lay sideways on the pillow, showing only half her face.

Wen Liang’s anger dissipated completely. He took off his glasses and tossed them on the table. “Does your throat hurt?”

“A little bit.”

“Runny nose?”

Chen Die sniffled. “No.”

“Anything else that doesn’t feel right?”

Wen Liang was being unusually nagging, and Chen Die grew annoyed, raising her voice. “No!”

Wen Liang, being shouted at by her for the first time, actually smiled, leaning back against the sofa, lowering his eyes, looking a bit roguish. “You’re only this defiant towards me because I can’t discipline you right now.”

Chen Die snorted without saying anything.

“Baby.”

“Hmm?” Only then did she open her eyes slightly.

“Go check your temperature. If you have a fever, take some medicine before sleeping tonight. Aren’t you going to record a show soon?” Wen Liang said gently.

Chen Die was a person who responded to gentleness but not to force. Hearing Wen Liang speak this way, she felt embarrassed to continue being willful and could only respond with a “Fine,” slowly getting up from the bed.

“Put on your shoes,” Wen Liang reminded.

Chen Die glanced at him, muttering, “I know.”

She went to the living room, found a thermometer in the medicine box, and put it in her mouth.

Unable to speak and with nothing to do, she stared at Wen Liang on the screen.

As she looked, she uncontrollably reached out a finger and poked at his eyebrows through the screen, then poked his nose, and then his mouth.

Wen Liang knew what she was doing and didn’t move, allowing her finger to trace all over his face. Only after she withdrew her hand did he smile and say softly, “Missing me?”

Chen Die, with the thermometer in her mouth, mumbled an “Mmm.”

Wen Liang’s heart felt as if it had been squeezed hard, completely melting.

“Then I’ll come back tomorrow,” Wen Liang said.

After waiting a while, Chen Die removed the thermometer and replied, “I have to catch a flight tomorrow afternoon to record the finale of ‘Three Meals a Day.’ The location is quite far this time.”

“What’s the temperature?”

Chen Die looked at the thermometer. “No fever, probably just a slight cold from getting chilled.”

In the end, she didn’t take any medicine. Chen Die didn’t like taking medicine, finding it bitter, which Wen Liang had always known. Since it wasn’t a fever, he went along with her wishes and urged her to go to sleep quickly.

Chen Die lay back under the covers. “But I just woke up.”

“You’ve only slept for a few hours. Close your eyes for a bit and you’ll fall asleep again.”

As Wen Liang spoke, he leaned forward slightly. The screen went black for a moment, then quickly showed his face again, but now with a cigarette in his mouth, lit.

Chen Die frowned. “You promised me last time that you’d smoke less.”

“I’ve been smoking much less lately.”

Chen Die had half her head hidden under the covers. “Who believes you? You’re even smoking in front of me.”

“Do you know why I smoke in front of you?”

Due to her illness, Chen Die’s pupils were a bit watery. “Why?”

Wen Liang exhaled a cloud of smoke through his thin lips, his wrist hanging lazily, his gaze falling on her, the corner of his mouth curling into a wicked arc. “To cool off.”

“Hmm?” Chen Die didn’t understand.

Wen Liang didn’t explain in detail, only saying lightly, “It’s been too long since I’ve seen you.”

“…”

Chen Die understood then.

This person was getting more and more outrageous, often making suggestive remarks. He didn’t used to be so talkative, did he??

The conversation couldn’t continue.

This man had absolutely no bottom line.

Chen Die pretended not to understand and closed her eyes to sleep.

She had thought that having just woken up, she definitely wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, but unexpectedly, she drifted off again after closing her eyes for just a moment, without even ending the video call.

Wen Liang was in no hurry to hang up either. He watched the young woman’s sleeping face on the screen while leisurely finishing his cigarette, yet still finding no relief.

The documents he had been processing were still beside him. According to the original schedule, it would take another three days to complete, and even these three days were squeezed out of a tight schedule.

However, thinking of Chen Die’s reaction earlier, even these three days began to feel unbearable.

Wen Liang propped his phone up beside him, picked up his laptop, entered a website, and bought a plane ticket. Then he put his glasses back on and stayed up to handle work.

Three hours later, he finally organized the documents.

Wen Liang took a sip of water and looked at the phone screen again.

At the same time, Chen Die rolled over with her eyes closed, and the phone that had been standing against the pillow “plop” fell face down, with the camera pointing at the ceiling.

Wen Liang hooked his glasses off, pressed his brow bone wearily, lazily curled the corner of his mouth, and looking at the screen, said softly, “Goodnight, Lingling.”

That night, Chen Die had a dream.

In the dream, she went back to her high school senior year, lying on her dormitory bed, secretly sending messages to Wen Liang under the covers, with his contact still formally saved as “Wen Liang Ge.”

She carefully hid her feelings, not even daring to label him as “Wen Liang Gege,” fearing that the extra “ge” would somehow reveal her secret.

In the dream, she was huddled under the covers texting Wen Liang.

After waking up, Chen Die couldn’t remember what she had sent earlier, only remembering that in the end, Wen Liang had sent her a voice message.

In the dream, she took out the earphones from under her pillow, plugged them into the headphone jack, then put the earphones in her ears, adjusting the volume in advance.

The dormitory was quiet, who knew how late it was, and her roommates were all asleep.

Wen Liang’s voice came through her earphones, with a slight electric current, mixing with her heartbeat in the deep of night.

“Goodnight, Lingling,” he said.