Mad Dog-Chapter 60: Return – Someone like Jiang Qi, after acting in so many roles, would naturally start to

Chapter 60: Return – Someone like Jiang Qi, after acting in so many roles, would naturally start to

The next day, after Zhi Qi finished her classes and returned to the dormitory, she was ‘blocked’ by Meng Chunyu.

“Come clean.” With the girl pinning her against the door, Zhi Qi blinked in surprise. Meng Chunyu, looking serious, asked, “Is that girlfriend Jiang Qi announced yesterday you?”

This question was shocking.

After being dragged by Jiang Qi for a while after returning home last night, Zhi Qi was so exhausted that she fell asleep without even checking her phone. She had no idea about Jiang Qi’s ‘official announcement’ of his relationship.

The bewildered expression on the girl’s face was unmistakable. Seeing this, Meng Chunyu frowned and muttered, “You don’t know?”

As she spoke, she pulled out her phone to show Zhi Qi. The trending topic #Jiang Qi has a girlfriend and dares to announce it# was at the top, and clicking into it revealed Jiang Qi’s outrageous Weibo post, which had created a peak number of shares and comments, aside from likes.

In the comments, blessings and insults were about evenly split.

“Zhi Qi, tell me the truth. The girlfriend Jiang Qi was photographed with yesterday was wearing a dress I’ve seen you wear before, and her back looked similar to yours.” Meng Chunyu raised an eyebrow, her bright eyes shining with gossip: “I’ve suspected you had something going on with your so-called ‘old classmate’ Jiang Qi for a while. He mentioned Zhi Qi during an award ceremony… that must be you, right? You didn’t admit it when I asked before!”

Meng Chunyu analyzed the ‘clues’ like a detective, making Zhi Qi’s face turn redder. She was just relieved she didn’t have a habit of wearing the same outfit two days in a row; she hadn’t worn that dress to school today.

Otherwise, with so many people seeing Jiang Qi’s Weibo, wouldn’t she really become ‘famous’?

Zhi Qi didn’t want to be famous and didn’t want to draw attention to herself and Jiang Qi through such means. That’s why she had kept it a secret from Meng Chunyu.

She felt Meng Chunyu was her best friend, and yet the previous experiences of ‘friends and Jiang Qi’ left a bad taste in her mouth, like with Cui Shuangshuang in elementary school and Tang Jiao in high school.

Both of them looked down on Jiang Qi and drifted away from Zhi Qi… but she believed Meng Chunyu was different.

So Zhi Qi looked up at her and admitted, “Yes.”

“Oh my god!” Just like the gossip crowd online, Meng Chunyu was shocked. Even though she was prepared, hearing the confirmation from the main party still made her freeze for a moment. Then she excitedly grabbed Zhi Qi’s arm and screamed, “Ahhhh, our little princess is actually dating a top star? Tell me all about this beautiful love story! No lying this time!”

Zhi Qi sighed in relief, unable to stop herself from smiling.

She knew that people were different, and she was glad that Meng Chunyu wasn’t like Cui Shuangshuang or Tang Jiao.

During lunch at the cafeteria, Zhi Qi briefly shared her past with Jiang Qi.

But even in this condensed version, she ended up rambling for nearly half an hour, and as Meng Chunyu listened, her eyes widened in disbelief, gasping continuously.

“Oh my, so it turns out that Actor Jiang—no, Jiang Qi—ended up in prison because of this!” Meng Chunyu was dumbfounded when she learned the truth, murmuring, “He really has mental issues, not like what those haters online say about ‘the hospital giving him a prescription to cooperate with acting.’ But why hasn’t he ever explained it?”

Zhi Qi was silent for a moment and shook her head.

Explanations are for those who care; if someone doesn’t care, there’s no need to explain.

Moreover, when many people want to criticize someone, they won’t bother looking for clarifications. That’s just the current atmosphere and reality.

However, in the end, Zhi Qi smiled and came up with the most ‘reliable’ reason for outsiders: “He doesn’t have a company.”

Jiang Qi had no backing, so what was there to explain?

As a seasoned fan girl, Meng Chunyu understood the reasoning behind this. She paused for a moment, then nodded in confusion.

But the next second, she pulled herself out of this contemplative mood, clenched her small fists, and excitedly said to Zhi Qi, “I declare, from today on, I’m a fan of you two as a couple!”

……

Meng Chunyu stated that after years of shipping a fake couple…

She could finally ship a real one!

After “Pride and Prejudice” resumed filming, Qu Heng considered that aside from the incident that triggered Jiang Qi’s emotions back at Cheng Kong Hutong, there was also the issue of his excessive pursuit of speed that had caused the crew to work tirelessly, leading to exhaustion and irritability.

In today’s fast-paced filming era, it was common to finish a drama in three months and a movie in a month. The actors were accustomed to this scale to earn money… but ultimately, it was wrong.

Thus, upon resuming work, Qu Heng doubled the original filming schedule. Aside from the nighttime scenes, the actors no longer had to work around the clock without sleep.

It must be said that this filming method was indeed better; the actors looked revitalized, and their energy showed on camera, devoid of the ‘fatigue’ that Qu Heng couldn’t help but praise as his wise decision.

Moreover, during the daytime filming, they could have more break time.

This morning, they were filming a scene where Chen Si accidentally fell underwater and struggled. Although Jiang Qi could swim, to portray the male lead’s complete panic and despair, he could bind his legs before entering the water to avoid a reflexive reaction, which produced an effect Qu Heng was very satisfied with.

After calling ‘cut,’ Jiang Qi was dragged out by professional rescuers by the poolside.

The water in the pool was cold, and the boy’s face was pale and icy, his dark hair clinging to his face. As he lay on the ground, his thin chest rose and fell slightly.

This scene also featured the female lead, Xue Ling, who in the script played Meng Su, discovering Jiang Qi in the water and jumping in to save him. Xue Ling was equally freezing from the scene and was wrapped in a large towel, shivering while drinking ginger tea handed to her by her assistant.

“I felt cold to death in less than three minutes; Jiang Qi was down there for more than ten minutes,” Xue Ling remarked, looking at the pale Jiang Qi not far away, her beautiful eyes thoughtful. After a moment, she motioned to her assistant Xiao Chen, saying, “This tea warms you up; go take him a cup too.”

Jiang Qi’s assistant was a young guy who looked clumsy and incapable of taking care of others. Since they had been working together for over a month, Xue Ling couldn’t help but feel a bit sympathetic.

Xiao Chen blinked in surprise at her request but obediently went.

However, after a while, he returned with the cup of tea unchanged.

“Ling Ling,” Xiao Chen said with a downcast expression, pointing with his chin, “He didn’t take it.”

Xue Ling was taken aback and instinctively chuckled awkwardly—after all, she was completely different from Jiang Qi. Xue Ling was a popular rising star in the industry, known for her looks and acting skills. She was full of charm, which was why Qu Heng chose her for the leading role.

Therefore, a girl like her, used to being pampered, found it a bit challenging to deal with Jiang Qi’s straightforward and cold demeanor.

“Ling Ling, just don’t worry about him.” Xiao Chen subtly glanced at Jiang Qi and whispered in Xue Ling’s ear, “Didn’t you see how everyone in the crew avoids him? You two have a lot of scenes together, and I know you’re kind, but it’s better to steer clear of someone like him.”

Everyone in the “Pride and Prejudice” crew knew that Director Qu Heng favored Jiang Qi and often used him, yet that didn’t stop them from avoiding Jiang Qi. After all, they relied on fans for their livelihoods and didn’t want to be associated with the current ‘everyone hates him’ narrative.

However, as the female lead, Xue Ling inevitably had many scenes opposite Jiang Qi, including interviews and interactions outside of filming. So she thought about getting to know him better… but he didn’t seem to appreciate it.

Xue Ling’s eyes turned as she considered Jiang Qi.

The boy had already changed out of his wet clothes and was wearing a loose white T-shirt and black pants, looking slender and thin. He was leaning against the wall, elbows resting on his knees, staring at his phone.

He had a white towel draped over his head, and some strands of black hair were still damp, with droplets collecting at the tips and flowing down his strikingly sharp features.

After watching for a while, Jiang Qi seemed to sense her gaze and looked up.

Xue Ling immediately felt her heart skip a beat and quickly looked down, biting the edge of her ginger tea cup, pretending to be nonchalant.

In fact, after acting opposite someone like Jiang Qi for a long time, even if it wasn’t a romantic scene, one couldn’t help but feel drawn to him.

Unfortunately, while in character it was okay, once the scene was over, Jiang Qi’s expression was always icy, his pale, cold eyes showing no warmth… she wondered if he was the same in front of his girlfriend.

Thinking of Jiang Qi publicly admitting to having a girlfriend, Xue Ling felt an inexplicable mix

of emotions.

“Ling Ling,” just then her assistant called her, “Go change your clothes.”

The costume for her next scene had just been ironed, and the damp outfit she was wrapped in now felt sticky and uncomfortable.

Xue Ling stood up to leave.

The sound of her high heels clicking against the tiled floor was crisp and clear, making Jiang Qi furrow his brow slightly as he heard it while looking at his phone.

He had noticed the girl’s ambiguous gaze earlier but didn’t want to think about what it meant. Now, he frowned purely out of annoyance at the noise. Perhaps it was… the message Zhi Qi sent that was bothering him.

[Zhi Qi: Why aren’t you talking? I won’t be in Yingzhou until next week!]

At Lan University, Zhi Qi’s major often required her to go out, but now that he had grown accustomed to living with the girl, he felt particularly lonely whenever she was gone.

With a hint of grievance, Jiang Qi lowered his gaze. Seeing no one around, he gloomily sent her a voice message: “Got it.”

His voice, freshly dampened by cold water, sounded slightly hoarse, and when transmitted over the line, it became especially deep and captivating, as if imbued with a magnetic quality.

On the other end, Zhi Qi could certainly tell from his reluctance in those three words. Unable to help herself, she smiled, her big eyes crinkling behind her mask as she glanced up at the numbers on the elevator that were slowly rising.

Earlier, Jiang Qi had told her that the crew was filming indoors today, on the 28th floor of this specially constructed entertainment building.

Zhi Qi had secretly arranged with Qiu Mi but hadn’t told Jiang Qi—she wanted to surprise him.

Qiu Mi had previously given her an internal work ID. When she arrived at the 28th floor and showed it to the staff at the entrance, they would naturally let her in.

At just past one in the afternoon, there weren’t many people around, and the elevator was mostly empty, but it stopped on the 19th floor.

While fiddling with her phone, Zhi Qi glanced up and saw a tall, slender girl in a classic Dior outfit walking in. She wore oversized sunglasses, and the outline of her lower face was delicate. The VALENTINO shoes she wore were striking, and her fair, straight calves were exposed beneath her short skirt.

The beauty exuded an aura of ‘stay away.’

Zhi Qi scanned her quickly, recalling that Qiu Mi had mentioned that there were many indoor filming studios in this building. Those without work IDs couldn’t get in since celebrities often roamed the place. Therefore, this beautiful girl must be a star, too.

Unfortunately, Zhi Qi was somewhat out of the loop and had only been following news about Jiang Qi, so she didn’t recognize the girl in the elevator.

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However, one thing caught her attention: the beauty didn’t press any buttons in the elevator, which meant… she was also going to the 28th floor?

Zhi Qi furrowed her brows in confusion.

Sure enough, when the elevator stopped on the 28th floor, the woman stepped out first, and Zhi Qi was momentarily stunned before following her out.

There were quite a few people coming and going on the 28th floor. Zhi Qi heard many people brighten up upon seeing the woman and respectfully call out “Sister Yuan.”

The girl nodded, her voice soft and melodic, “I’m looking for Director Qu; is he around?”

The staff member she spoke with was evidently excited, quickly nodding, “He’s here; Sister Yuan, you’ll see him in the set.”

Now Zhi Qi was sure; the woman was indeed a star.

After Sister Yuan left, the staff shifted their attention to Zhi Qi and calmly asked, “And you are?”

“I’m also staff.” Zhi Qi, wearing a mask, lied with a ‘pale’ face, smoothly handing over the work ID she had prepared: “Here you go.”

The staff member didn’t doubt her, glancing at it and letting Zhi Qi in.

In truth, he probably realized that this girl wasn’t some ‘staff member.’ He had seen her face around the building for a while, and especially with her wearing a mask, it was obvious. The staff member figured she was probably a reporter trying to sneak in.

But as long as someone could show a work ID, they typically turned a blind eye.

After all, some media and reporters on set were quietly contacted by the crew, and the work ID was essentially a ‘passcode.’

The internal studio space wasn’t particularly large, but with the staff and filming crew combined, there were dozens of people. As Zhi Qi entered, she instinctively looked around for Jiang Qi. In no time, she spotted him sitting on a couch in the left corner, looking at his phone—he was always easy to find, being exceptionally striking.

Just as she was about to approach him, she noticed Sister Yuan, the beauty who had entered the elevator with her, also heading toward where Jiang Qi was sitting.

……

When did Jiang Qi get to know this beautiful girl?

Zhi Qi hesitated for a moment but still walked over quietly, unconsciously tightening her grip on her phone.

As she got closer, she heard the sound of the woman’s high heels stopping in front of Jiang Qi, and then she saw the boy look up.

“Jiang Qi, hello.” The woman seemed to momentarily lose her composure. Under Jiang Qi’s cold, piercing gaze, she forced a smile, maintaining her usual gentle tone: “Do you remember me? I’m Yue Yuan; we met last time on Director Wang’s set.”

Yue Yuan could never forget their brief encounter during the casting. It felt like a scene replaying in her mind, a memory that lingered.

Since then, she had been unable to resist keeping an eye on Jiang Qi’s news online.

This included his ‘scandals,’ withdrawal from the industry, and now his return, etc. When she saw him publicly admit to having a girlfriend a few days ago, she couldn’t help but come to ‘visit the set.’

Unfortunately, Jiang Qi’s expression was purely bewildered. He looked at the impeccably made-up Yue Yuan for two seconds and honestly replied, “I don’t remember.”

Then, he lowered his head again, checking his phone to see if Zhi Qi had messaged him back.