Chapter 20 Part2 (1/2)
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Jiang Yi stood inside the elevator, the metal doors sleek and s.h.i.+ny, reflecting his silhouette. He looked past them and saw the tennis court.
After she had finished speaking, he had stared at her. She recovered and whispered, ”I'm sorry,” before walking pa.s.sed him with quick steps.
The sunset had dyed the entire sky making it look dazzlingly beautiful. As she rushed away, her silhouette looked lonely, becoming smaller and smaller until at last he couldn't see her at all.
Lin Hao didn't understand what had happened to him, and in fact, he didn't quite understand his actions either. He had always treated his fans gently. He had not asked her to do anything for him, but when they supported him he also wanted to praise and encourage them. But he treated Jian Wei like that.
Even if he was worried about her, he could have been gentler. But when he saw her acting rashly like that, disregarding her own safety, he was unable to control himself.
Perhaps the way he spoke was a little heavy-handed.
But she was also childish. What was the question she asked at the end…
What did that have to do with it, ah!
He walked through the hotel's garden. The summer breeze was blisteringly hot and quickly his whole body was covered in a sheen of sweat. His mood became increasingly agitated. He almost wanted to find a swimming pool, but in the end just returned to the hotel.
The corridor on the first floor of the hotel had steps leading to the garden on both sides and an elevator at the end. The corridor was empty, with only two or three people standing in front of the elevator.
Jiang Yi turned to the corner at the other end, and his footsteps became sluggish because he saw a familiar figure.
Jian Wei was still wearing the same clothes as before, the only addition was a mask covering her face. Lin Zequn stood facing her and at his side stood his a.s.sistants. It looked as if they had encountered each other while waiting for the elevator.
Sure enough, after a second Jian Wei said, ”Lin-laos.h.i.+, I've suddenly remembered that there is something I need to buy, you go up first.”
She turned around wanting to leave, but was stopped by the a.s.sistant who blocked her path. Jian Wei paused for a few seconds before turning. Lin Zequn smiled and said, ”I've never asked, why do you always wear a mask? Is there something no one can underneath?”
Jian Wei replied, ”My face is very sensitive, I don't want to show it.”
Lin Zequn exhaled.
He lifted his hand as if he wanted to pull her mask off, and Jian Wei subconsciously moved backwards. His hand stopped in midair, and under everyone's eyes a trace of malice flashed across his face. His hand moved forward and he slapped her straight across the face.
The sharp sound stunned everyone.
The elevator doors opened and he walked in. Facing the girl who hadn't responded, he smiled and said, ”Thank you for teaching me how to behave. That slap just now, is my teaching to you.”
As if all the blood had rushed to his head, Jiang Yi felt a rus.h.i.+ng in his ears, as if there were thousands upon thousands of birds. .h.i.tting his eardrums. He clenched his fist tightly, unexpectedly he wanted to charge forward, but he was grabbed from behind.
”Yi-ge, Yi-ge you need to calm down! Don't go, ah!” Lin Hao didn't expect that he would run into a situation like this. He was so anxious he had to low his voice, ”What are you going to do? If you hit Lin Zequn this matter will blow up! Do you know what will be written in the news? Don't you value your career! Moreover, moreover, Jian-xiaojie is a girl. She must be embarra.s.sed and if you go out now she'll only lose more face! Yi-ge, don't be impulsive, ah!”
”Let me go!” Jiang Yi said through clenched teeth.
Lin Hao felt sweat beading his forehead, and only G.o.d knew how much courage it took, but he continued to hold Jiang Yi back. Lin Zequn's elevator went up and another figure rushed in from the garden on the left, running towards Jian Wei in a few paces.
”Are you okay? Heavens, la, I saw what was happening from over there but there wasn't enough time to come over. Lin-laos.h.i.+, he unexpectedly… Does it hurt, ah? How can he hit you?”
It was the co-ordinator Li Meng.
Jian Wei covered her face and slowly said, ”I'm alright.”
Then she thought of something and said, ”Fortunately, he didn't see.”
Jiang Yi stopped moving.
The co-ordinator also looked at her and said, ”You're talking about Jiang Yi? This thing… is because of him? I saw the post you made on Weibo this afternoon. You actually didn't mention any names, ah. Moreover you deleted it. Lin-loas.h.i.+ still acted like…”
After the co-ordinator spoke, she felt like her whole opinion of Lin Zequn had changed. After all, in her heart he was the one with the best temper among the whole cast and crew. Who would have imagined that in private he actually had this kind of face. Even if she sent out a post criticising him, would you slap the girl? Zhou Peipei doesn't slap people!
She wanted to examine Jian Wei's face, but Jian Wei tilted her head away. She didn't dare to do anything and could only say, ”It'll be okay. Go back and put some ice on it and it'll get better soon. It probably won't leave any marks.”
Lin Zequn hadn't used all of his strength and because of the mask it didn't hurt too much. But the insult from the action was one that she had never experienced.
She looked at the floor and suddenly thought of that evening at the tennis court. After calming down, she understood why Jiang Yi had acted like that. It was probably to protect her. He always protected his fans. Before, he hadn't let Zhou Peipei bully her, and this time he didn't want her to offend Lin Zequn.
And the facts prove that he was correct.
She said, ”I was the one who was stupid. I shouldn't have sent out that Weibo post.”
”This matter can't be blamed on you, ah! Regardless of what you said, he is the one who hit you so he's wrong, in short, ai…”
The co-ordinator looked at Jian Wei's expression and thought of something. With how smart she was, how could she not think that the Weibo post would offend Lin Zequn? The cause could only be that she was distracted. Because she cared too much about that person, she threw her ability to judge the situation to the back of her head.
The co-ordinator muttered, ”So you really must like Jiang-laos.h.i.+?”
There was a long silence. Jian Wei suddenly let out a long sigh. She smiled and said, ”Correct, ah. I really like him.”
She seemed to have suddenly confided *, and sat down on the stairs beside her, the co-ordinator sitting next to her. In the night breeze, her voice was very soft, ”I still haven't told you yet, right. My grandmother is a professor at A University, but I'm actually not a Beijing-er. I grew up in Chengdu.”
”You and Jiang-laos.h.i.+…”
”Right, the same as Jiang Yi. We're from the same place. My mother was originally a professor at one of the universities in Beijing. Later she was sent to Sichuan by the government and she met my father who was working at the same university. They fell in love at first sight, and after they got married my mother stayed in Chengdu. Because my mum married so far away, although my grandmother didn't say anything, she hoped that I would be able to live close by her. So when I was young it was basically decided that I would enter A University.”
Even though the co-ordinator didn't understand why she was talking about this, she listened unconsciously, forgetting about everything else. Antic.i.p.ating the same ordinary plot line, she asked, ”You didn't like A university?”
”At that time I had no idea. I didn't not like it, and I didn't like it. I was only a little unhappy that everything was completely decided by my elders. When I was in elementary school they made me skip two grades. When it became time to graduate, I couldn't find a single friend to take a graduation photo with…”
Really.
She couldn't help but ask, ”What happened later?”
”Afterwards I ignored their nagging, ah. I said that I didn't want to study mathematics, I wanted to study philosophy. I said I wouldn't go to A University, I wanted to go to Shanghai, or Hong Kong. In any case, I wouldn't go to Beijing. At that time I made my family very angry.
The co-ordinator imagined a 12 or 13 year old little girl. She was obviously yielding and silly, but with a temper, just like every young girl in their rebellious period.
”But in the end you still went to A University in the end.” She said.
”Yes. Do you know why?”