Chapter 7 Part3 (1/2)
Jia He has been shoved into a spotlight, and if you've been following the story, you probably know that's her worst nightmare. Think Jia He going to have to fend for herself?
Chapter 7.3 — A Sudden Rumoured Romance (3)
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The number of reposts had already soared to more than thirty thousand.
Following beneath that photo was a simple line of words: The night before last, I couldn't sleep and was taking in some air on the balcony, and then, totally surprisingly, I saw Wu Zhilun's girlfriend who's been keeping invisible! Oh, and also, the owner of that house is no ordinary Joe either. But he's my idol, so I won't give the gossip on that.
A line of small words that was so frightful to behold.
Jia He was frozen in shock for a long time before finally speedily sending Xiao Yu a question: How did you manage to see this?
Xiao Yu sent over an animated sticker of a rabbit that was continually wagging its bottom, then her reply: Just look at the number of reposts. That's just the number of times the original post was reposted. There are also countless second-hand and third-hand reposts. My co-worker's Weibo had this on there too. I got such a scare I nearly went into cardiac arrest.
Jia He's chest felt tight as she sent her message: I'm going to go into cardiac arrest soon, too…
And then nothing more came from Xiao Yu. She did truly seem to be in a meeting. All that remained now was that chubby, white bunny happily wagging and wagging this way and that.
Jia He chucked aside her mobile phone. Less than half a second later, though, she was hastily picking it back up again and staring at that photograph, examining it carefully. Despite having been taken from a very far distance, the side view of her face could be seen in it. This absolutely was not something a mobile phone camera could do.
It very much appeared to be the work of an SLR camera. Jia He's smile was wry. Nowadays, even the gossip scoop sourced from common folk was so professional.
Before she had the chance to come up with words to comfort herself, her phone was already ringing with all its might.
”Go online.” Qiao Qiao's words fired tersely and rapidly. ”Go look at the entertainment news.”
Jia He was dumbstruck.
”Are you online yet?” Qiao Qiao continued hurrying her.
”It has nothing to do with me, right?” Jia He prayed desperately.
Qiao Qiao gave an ”Ah?” and asked, ”You know already? Weibo is honestly so scary. I'm looking at a post that is exposing dug-up info on you. Basically, it's pretty darn close to the mark. It's a good thing the people who actually know you are showing bit of mercy when it comes to their tongues. There are only some 'persons in the know' who are trying to colour the situation and add some spice.”
Jia He cried a tearless cry. ”Have they dug up my real name yet?”
”Don't panic. Wu Zhilun just clarified things on his Weibo, saying that you're just friends. Everyone's already starting to try to get the scoop on whom that villa belongs to.”
”Thank goodness.” Jia He exhaled with relief. Yet, when she heard the last half of Qiao Qiao's words, she unexplainably grew uptight again.
Qiao Qiao snorted. ”Don't be happy too soon. There's already someone saying that she saw Wu Zhilun on Huaihai Road with a girl. She even took a picture with her mobile. Even though we can't see your face, the car and clothes are the same. Just think, Wu Zhilun came here to Shanghai all low-key, and then from Huaihai Road all the way to Pudong, he's with a woman. And what's more, they're driving a toy-looking MINI Cooper. You're going to have enough trouble with just the things filled in by people's imaginations. He's got a movie that's. .h.i.tting theatres soon, so it may be that in just a bit, he's going to start zipping his lips and not replying to media. If that's the case, it'll get even more interesting.”
Jia He was in no mood to joke. After shooting back a retort, she hung up.
Fortunately, it was only a side shot of her face. It was not like she was a celebrity. People wouldn't readily remember her face.
There are differences between a photo and the real, live person, and what's more, the differences are really big. Jia He continuously brainwashed herself. Back when Qiao Qiao was photographed having dinner with one of the artistes under her management, she had only been teased a couple sentences here and there by a few good friends; there had been no impact to her. Jia He could only pray now that there would not be any busybody people acquainted with her, coming out to join in on the excitement.
As a journalist, she had never read the articles she wrote, afraid she would find them shallow only after they were printed.
As a a screenwriter, she never watched the dramas she wrote, afraid that she would not discover how corny they were until they had aired.
Therefore, when she was the subject of gossip, naturally… she also did not dare go to any forums to read those posts exposing her personal details.
One moment she was thinking this was no big deal, the next moment she was terrified that this really would turn into a deal of some sort.
Thus feeling conflicted and torn, she walked from the bathroom to the bedroom, then looked in the closet, checking item by item to see whether she had packed everything. A long while later, she once more pulled out her mobile phone, took a look at the text mesage Ctrip had sent her, and verified her flight time. There were still more than five hours. But since there was nothing to do at home anyway, it was perfect; she had enough time to have a decent dinner. Thinking this, she straightaway, towing her luggage with her, strode out of her home and locked the door behind her.
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While she was waiting for the elevator, Auntie Zhao, her next-door neighbour, happened to come out to throw out the garbage, and seeing Jia He, she at once came over and greeted her. ”Jia He, you're home?”
Jia He nodded. ”I just got back, but I'm leaving again to go to Beijing on business.”
Ding. The elevator doors opened. Jia He was about to say goodbye, but Auntie Zhao was already following her into the elevator. ”Such nice suns.h.i.+ne. I'll go downstairs to walk around.”
Jia He was puzzled with this. It was not until she had pressed the b.u.t.ton for the first floor that Auntie Zhao whisperingly asked, ”You're going to Beijing to register your marriage?”
”Huh?” Jia He jumped with shock.
”Just now my daughter was playing on the computer, and she showed me a picture.” Auntie Zhao's smile was enigmatic. ”With such a boyfriend, does that mean that from now on you don't have to pay whenever you go watch a movie?”
Jia He did not even know how she should react to this. So, to these aunties, the benefits of being an actor were actually that simple…
”Auntie, people are just joking around about that. You absolutely cannot believe what's said on the Internet. It's all fake.”
Auntie Zhao's response was an ”Uh-huh, uh-huh,” as well as a nod. ”I get it. My daughter already told me. We have to seal our lips. Even when reporters come asking, we can't say anything.”
Jia He fell into utter silence. Finally managing to bear through until they reached the first floor, she carried her suitcase down a set of stairs and yanked out its handle. ”Auntie, I'm going now.”
”Oh my, Jia He, is that Yi Wenze?” That absolutely was a tremor in her voice. This was a wonderful surprise beyond all her expectations! And hence she basically did not hear what Jia He had said.
Jia He's heart gave a little skip, and for a long moment she was unmoving, until she finally turned to look in that direction.
In her heart, she secretly prayed that Auntie Zhao was mistaken.
Alas, this place was awash with Yi Wenze's strong presence and had long turned into an outdoor shooting location.
A black car was parked beside the reflecting pool, its door half open. And he, beside the door, was leaning against the car. He wore merely a simple, understated black jacket and held a casual posture, his hands in his pockets. But these were enough already to give her the feeling that at any moment, someone would shout, ”Action!” and then a heartrending, melodramatic, feeling-infused, urban-setting love drama would begin playing out. Right now these were still regular working hours for people, and this was also a standalone apartment building, so there were only two or three people coming and going downstairs here. However, they all stopped to look, their giddiness br.i.m.m.i.n.g over in their speech and expressions…
Her heart was racing one moment, slowing the next, and she stood rooted to the spot.
Auntie Zhao beside her seemed to be mutteringly lamenting that she had forgotten to bring her mobile phone out with her. Otherwise, she could have taken a photo and given it to her daughter to upload onto Weibo, and surely then she would become an instant Internet celebrity, or something like that…
All of a sudden, as if Yi Wenze could sense something, he turned his head to look towards where Jia He was, beckoning very obviously to her.
It was a very natural gesture of greeting, but it left her in slight fl.u.s.ter.
”Auntie, I'm going now.” Resigning herself to this situation, she dragged her suitcase and once more bade a farewell.
Having observed everything to this point, the truth suddenly dawned on Auntie Zhao. ”Don't tell me Yi Wenze is actually the one who is your boyfriend, and Wu Zhilun is just a random person who has nothing to do with this at all?”
Jia He wanted to cry. Gosh, just what in the world was all this? Did knowing a celebrity automatically equate to a secret romance?!
In her chest, she felt as if there were tens of thousands of horses stampeding about, but on her face, she still tugged up a smile. ”No, no. I'm his screenwriter. It's purely a work relations.h.i.+p. We're heading to the office right now to have a meeting.” With that, she did not wait for Auntie Zhao to throw out any more questions, immediately wheeling her suitcase and escaping with brisk strides from this place.
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