Chapter 5: 005
As soon as Qi SiJia left, Meng Jiang followed.
Shu Ran failed to network and didn’t even have a chance to flaunt her borrowed “luxury car.”
Her mood soured. She couldn’t understand why she’d let her ex leave so easily.
Frowning, she grabbed her bag and was about to follow, but the waiter in Tang suit stopped her.
“Miss, the tea fee…”
Shu Ran scoffed. Just as her agent had said, Qi SiJia had only one purpose in inviting her: to make her pay.
Despicable.
Taking a deep breath, she interrupted the waiter.
“What kind of service is this? Why did you let her in if she couldn’t pay?” Shu Ran lashed out, her newfound fame clouding her judgment. She forgot her public image, throwing a tantrum in public, devoid of professionalism.
Huaqing Garden was a high-end establishment, located away from the bustling city center. Its clientele was discerning and influential.
This was because the owner was one of Ning Cheng’s top real estate tycoons.
Every social circle had its unspoken rules. Out of respect for the owner, if not the establishment itself, no one raised their voice here. The waiter was stunned by the outburst.
He stammered, trying to explain, “That’s not the case, Miss, you…”
Shu Ran didn’t give him a chance to speak: “I don’t know that woman. Ask her for the tea fee.”
Anger amplified her voice.
In the quiet tea house, her words, laced with resentment, carried.
Meng Jiang, who had reached the staircase, turned back. A smile still played on her lips, but her eyes were cold as she glanced at Shu Ran. There was no apparent mockery, but the frosty look made Shu Ran feel utterly inferior.
By the time she recovered, Meng Jiang had already looked away, calmly calling over the waiter.
“I know that lady,” Meng Jiang said with a gentle smile. “Put it on my tab.”
Chen Cheng stepped forward, gesturing for the waiter to lead her to the cashier.
The waiter apologized profusely, his gaze darting nervously between Meng Jiang and Shu Ran.
He explained to Shu Ran, “Miss, you misunderstood. The lady you were with prepaid for the tea. The amount was quite large, and we stopped you to discuss a refund.”
Shu Ran’s face paled.
“If you’re not her friend, then…” The waiter hesitated, turning to Meng Jiang. Asking the movie queen to handle this seemed inappropriate. He wasn’t sure she would agree.
Unexpectedly, Meng Jiang was unassuming. Leaning against the railing, seemingly sensing his predicament, she said, “I can pass it on to her.”
Ahhh, she’s so kind.
The waiter was ecstatic, staring at the flawless beauty, his voice stammering, “Thank you… thank you so much.”
Shu Ran: …
Qi SiJia didn’t know how she made it back to the parking garage. As soon as she got in the car,
“So soon?” Ye QianQian’s gaze swept past Qi SiJia’s shoulder. “Where’s your girlfriend?”
Instead of answering, Qi SiJia pulled her bag forward, took out a white pill bottle, poured a few pills into her hand, and swallowed them slowly.
These were her heart pills, taken only when she experienced palpitations.
Ye QianQian’s expression turned serious: “Were there a lot of people?”
Huaqing Garden shouldn’t be crowded, and each tea room had partitions. Such an environment wouldn’t normally cause enough stress for Qi SiJia to need medication.
Unless her girlfriend had caused a scene.
Ye QianQian’s first thought was that Shu Ran was inconsiderate, knowing Qi SiJia’s severe social anxiety and still bringing friends along. If that were the case, this girlfriend wasn’t worth it.
Qi SiJia lowered her eyes, quickly dismissing Ye QianQian’s suspicion.
After a moment, she looked up, meeting Ye QianQian’s gaze, carefully choosing her words, “I left early. She’s still there.”
A beat of silence.
Confirming that Qi SiJia wasn’t joking.
“No way,” Ye QianQian was stunned, then burst out laughing, “You left your girlfriend at the tea house and left first?”
Qi SiJia hummed, “There were too many people. You know I can’t handle that.”
Omitting the fact that Meng Jiang was the same person who dumped her five years ago, Qi SiJia briefly described the situation.
“Jiang Jie is in Ning Cheng?” Ye QianQian looked shocked, glancing out the window. Seeing no one, she turned back, “I’ll introduce you sometime. She’s one of the most influential figures in the Bei Cheng circle.”
“Equivalent to your status in Ning Cheng, the difference being you’re outside the entertainment industry, and she’s in it.”
Qi SiJia’s face was hidden in the shadows, her thoughts unreadable as she stared out at the night, saying softly, “I don’t want to meet her.”
Ye QianQian wasn’t surprised, understanding Qi SiJia’s social anxiety.
She assumed Qi SiJia was still resistant to social interaction.
“Fine, fine, whatever you want,” Ye QianQian said. “But can you even maintain a relationship like this?”
Ye QianQian looked at Qi SiJia probingly: “No matter how understanding someone is, they can’t accept a partner who hides at home all day, never goes out, never dates, never watches movies…”
“JiaJia, harsh but true, have you never considered that she might mind, or considered stepping out of your comfort zone for her?”
Ye QianQian had ulterior motives. Qi SiJia clearly wasn’t sure if she loved her current girlfriend.
Though her words hit a nerve, Ye QianQian hoped Qi SiJia would reconsider and look at the world around her: “If you haven’t thought about these things, are you sure you love her?”
Qi SiJia paused, thought about it, and had no answer.
She was becoming increasingly withdrawn, waking up to darkness every day.
Realizing she couldn’t live a normal life, she was trying to have a healthy relationship, but the light wouldn’t reach her.
She thought Shu Ran might be the one, but it seemed not.
A house couldn’t solve her partner’s insecurity. As Ye QianQian said, she had to address her social anxiety to get to the root of the problem.
Qi SiJia was silent for a moment, then turned to Ye QianQian: “I’ll try.”
“Is Shu Ran breaking up with me because I left early today?”
Meeting Qi SiJia’s slightly apologetic gaze, Ye QianQian felt a pang of frustration.
She thumped the steering wheel, saying numbly, “I don’t know.”
Qi SiJia smiled, “I don’t understand either.”
The rain was heavy outside. Qi SiJia watched the wipers clear the water from the windshield, lost in thought.
She seemed to have been dumped again. After that incident five years ago, the light never seemed to favor her.
Her mind was in turmoil, perhaps because seeing Meng Jiang had unlocked some memories.
It was a rainy day like this.
Her dress splattered with mud, Meng Jiang, usually so impeccably put together, had never looked so disheveled. Uncaring of the mud clinging to her shoes, she ran towards Qi SiJia, grabbed her hand, and pulled her close, asking face to face, “Why didn’t you come, Qi SiJia? What am I to you?”
Qi SiJia, so thin her jaw was all bone, couldn’t even manage a smile. She said, “You’re my dream.”
They stared at each other for a long time, neither willing to yield.
That day, car headlights flashed behind Meng Jiang. Her grip tightened, then loosened, all within a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity.
Under the streetlight, Meng Jiang gave a bitter smile, stumbling back, the dim light distorting her usually straight posture.
Qi SiJia saw her chapped lips move: “Alright, dreams are always out of reach.”
“Let’s break up, kid.”
Qi SiJia had always felt a peculiar joy when Meng Jiang called her “kid.”
But after that day, the word “kid” held no positive connotation in her world.
The rest of the drive was silent.
Back home, Qi SiJia immediately video called Shu Ran to apologize.
“Too late. Remember Little Chili Pepper from the game? I slept with her two weeks ago,” Shu Ran said.
Qi SiJia thought she’d misheard.
Her typing fingers paused. She touched her ear, the tips turning pink.
A small window was minimized on her computer screen.
Half of Shu Ran’s face appeared, too close to the camera, almost close enough to see her pores.
This ensured Qi SiJia wouldn’t miss a single expression.
Qi SiJia asked, “What do you mean?”
“Still pretending?” Shu Ran sneered, “We just broke up.”
“Did you not hear me? Qi SiJia, why are you still clinging on?”
Shu Ran, feeling humiliated, her expression twisted with anger, lashed out, “Whose girlfriend doesn’t even hold hands during a relationship?”
“We’ve only met twice in a month.”
“I texted you saying I wanted to top you, not because I actually wanted to, but because I wanted you to dominate me. And what did you do?”
Shu Ran’s mood hit rock bottom, her last question almost growled, her voice hysterical: “Were we even in a relationship?”
Qi SiJia got up, grabbed a popsicle from the freezer, and took a bite, the coldness soothing. “That’s not an excuse to cheat.”
“Huh?” Shu Ran was incredulous. “Compared to your indifference, what does this even count?”
“I don’t even know what you do or if you can afford anything. Back at Huaqing Garden…”
Shu Ran asked, “Do you even know how humiliated I was?”
Having been dumped countless times, hearing the same excuses over and over, Qi SiJia was used to it. Usually, she would apologize, blaming her social anxiety for her partner’s insecurity.
But cheating? There was nothing left to salvage. Qi SiJia felt numb. Shu Ran wouldn’t get an apology.
Clinging on wasn’t a concern either. She often struggled to say no, resorting to silence instead.
But infidelity was a dealbreaker.
Shu Ran suddenly sensed a shift in the atmosphere.
Qi SiJia, usually quiet and withdrawn, looked up. Her narrow eyes, usually downcast, met Shu Ran’s furious gaze through the screen, radiating coldness.
Perhaps seeing Qi SiJia’s indifference for the first time, Shu Ran instinctively stopped talking.
Qi SiJia waited for her silence, then asked flatly, “Anything else?”
The question was infuriating.
The dumped person on the screen showed no emotion, not even anger, calmly prompting Shu Ran to end the call.
Shu Ran was furious, her eyes reddening, she yelled, “Finally confirmed, you’re not asexual, you’re just not attracted to women.”
“You lesbian-faking bitch, I hope you get cemented shut!”
“Don’t contact me again. I never want to see you again!”
Qi SiJia: …
Before she could reply, Shu Ran hung up.
Qi SiJia finished her popsicle, savoring the last bit of sweetness. She spread her well-maintained fingers and examined them under the lamp.
Then, she pulled open her drawer, and without hesitation, dumped the entire box of hand masks into the trash.
She had tried. Her previous girlfriend liked her hands, and so did Shu Ran.
“11cm long hands, Qi SiJia, you’re a lesbian goddess. You have to take good care of them.”
So Qi SiJia diligently applied hand masks every day. Yet, she was still cheated on and even had her sexuality questioned.
Qi SiJia sat back in her chair, her lips pursed, silent for a long time.
The room was quiet. An old orange cat lay motionless beneath the drooping leaves of a houseplant.
As the cat aged, the house grew quieter. In the empty rooms, she couldn’t remember when she last spoke aloud, except to herself.
Everyone feared loneliness. Qi SiJia feared that after Big Orange died, she would truly descend into endless solitude.
She had to change.
As Ye QianQian said: “No matter how understanding someone is, they can’t accept a partner who hides at home all day, never goes out, never dates, never watches movies…”
Qi SiJia walked over to the plant, picked up the orange cat, and looked into its beautiful, glassy eyes. After a long while, she whispered, “If this continues, Mommy will be just like you, unable to have normal social relationships.”
“Can I find someone if I go out?”
The answer was a long meow. The orange cat patted Qi SiJia’s hand with its soft paw, as if encouraging her.
Under the light, the woman and her cat. The cat was old, its fur thinning.
Its body was heavy, rarely moving, its bones deteriorating. Qi SiJia watched it, stroking its head until it finally stirred.
Qi SiJia almost smiled, twitching her lips. Her lips were naturally a pale grapefruit color.
Her smile wasn’t particularly bright, but gentle and subtly beautiful.
“Alright, it’s time to go out.”
Leave a Reply