Chapter 70: Absolutely Not, Absolutely Not – I Miss You So Much Part 1
After seeing her brother off, Dong Ling sat restlessly on the bed, either fiddling with her phone or pressing her temples.
She desperately wished she could hear 021’s familiar, greasy, annoying voice at this moment, it would make her feel a little more at ease.
But just like the past week, her mind was still quiet, as if she had never been bound by any system.
This thought was a little terrifying, Dong Ling stopped herself from further spiraling, she didn’t want to drive herself insane.
Dong Ling felt uneasy, and with the help of a nurse, she sat in a wheelchair. Her legs weren’t actually seriously injured, it was just that her internal organs were damaged and her legs were still weak, requiring assistance.
She went to the twenty-sixth floor, unlocked the fingerprint lock at the door of the ward, and wheeled herself to Wen Han’s bedside.
Wen Han’s mother had already asked about his condition when she came to visit Dong Ling the day after the accident. Wen Han hadn’t experienced any physical changes due to the system’s dormancy, which was something Dong Ling was very grateful for.
Wen Han was still the same as before, still breathing, his heart still beating, but still not awake.
He had been lying like this for a year, how much longer would it be?
“Wake up soon, so everything, whether good or bad, can have a resolution.”
Dong Ling’s gaze was unfocused, a bitter look on her face.
The unsettling factor wasn’t the sword of Damocles hanging over her head, but the dull ache in her heart.
Strangely, she hadn’t complained much when she was first bound by the system, but these days, she often regretted going to visit Wen Han that day.
If only they had never met, it would have been better than this heartache.
However, things weren’t that dramatic, Wen Han didn’t open his eyes and say hello to Dong Ling, Dong Ling stayed for a while and then returned to her own ward.
Yuki called, and she originally thought it was to report that the matter had been handled, but unexpectedly, there were some changes.
“You’re saying she has some problems with her facial nerves?”
“Yes, CEO Dong, they didn’t mention this, I noticed something unusual during my observation, and just now, I asked her to demonstrate, her facial expressions are limited, although her appearance and skills are excellent, this greatly reduces her commercial value. When I asked, they said it wasn’t a medical issue, they had already gone to the hospital for a checkup, and they couldn’t change it no matter how hard they tried, what are your thoughts?”
Yuki knew this person looked a bit like the boss’s former lover, but she didn’t ask anything she shouldn’t, just considered the matter from a commercial perspective.
After hearing Yuki’s report, Dong Ling recalled her first encounter with Zhong Zhong, when Zhong Zhong was being criticized by her teacher for her expression management. If an idol couldn’t express a wide range of emotions, then her career would be limited, and acting was even more out of the question, unless she specialized in playing emotionless characters.
But she signed Zhong Zhong not for her commercial value, but because of her uncertain role in the plot.
“Talk to them, lower the price, but we must sign her.”
“Okay.”
Dong Ling hung up the phone, staring at it blankly.
She thought of Song Mingzhi again, wondering how she was doing, she could ask Zuo Zhen, she could ask Yu Shuangwei, but she didn’t dare, afraid that Song Mingzhi would find out and be annoyed.
In the afternoon, Yuki brought the person to Dong Ling. The girl was wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts, her face free of makeup, looking youthful and beautiful, but her expression was blank, like a quiet doll.
“Hello, CEO Dong.”
Zhong Zhong knew this was her new boss, and greeted her somewhat nervously.
Dong Ling quietly observed her from the hospital bed, she used to think she looked a bit like Song Mingzhi, but now that she was standing in front of her, she realized they weren’t alike at all.
Their expressions and auras were different, only their facial features were somewhat similar, making her suspect a blood relation between her and Song Mingzhi. Dong Ling’s thoughts wandered, could she be an illegitimate child of Song Mingzhi’s parents?
Zhong Zhong felt Dong Ling’s gaze, and remained motionless, letting her new boss observe her. After glancing at her, she looked away, to avoid making her boss feel offended.
She had seen pictures of CEO Dong before coming, and she was even more beautiful in person.
“Why did you choose this career path?”
Zhong Zhong, hearing Dong Ling’s sudden question, answered honestly: “To make money.”
“You know your lack of expression will limit your career options, right?”
Zhong Zhong nodded and said apologetically: “I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember, I can’t control it.”
Dong Ling believed that she couldn’t control her expressions, because even when saying this, Zhong Zhong’s expression remained indifferent, if it weren’t for the change in her tone, just looking at her face, it would be hard to sense her apology.
“Are you still in school?”
“I graduated from high school and didn’t continue.”
Zhong Zhong’s expression remained the same, her eyes dark, like opaque jade, making it impossible to see her inner thoughts.
Dong Ling wasn’t surprised and said: “Then take the singer route, Yuki, have Bai Lu manage her, focus on vocal training and expression management, everything else will follow the company’s regulations, start her training.”
Yuki nodded, indicating she understood.
“By the way, if you hear any gossip, don’t mind it, I have no ulterior motives towards you.” Dong Ling said this to Zhong Zhong, then looked at Yuki, “Yuki, pay attention, don’t let people gossip, especially about Mingzhi.”
Dong Ling made her stance clear, very straightforward.
She knew that Zhong Zhong’s face, which was 70% similar to Song Mingzhi’s, would inevitably cause some controversy, even malicious speculation, but she hoped to control it somewhat.
She had considered secretly training Zhong Zhong, but if people found out, it would be even more ambiguous.
Dong Ling was very troubled, if only she knew Zhong Zhong’s role in the original novel, then she wouldn’t be so clueless about what to do.
Yuki was a little puzzled, if she didn’t want Song Mingzhi to misunderstand, then why sign this girl and keep an eye on her? But the boss’s business wasn’t something a secretary could interfere with, she would just do as her boss instructed.
Zhong Zhong followed Yuki and was taken to meet her new agent.
Zuo Zhen happened to be looking at the members’ profiles in the company, if Song Mingzhi terminated her contract, then she would have a vacancy, so she was looking for promising newcomers to manage.
She ran into Yuki and, looking at the girl with rimless glasses beside Yuki, her expression turned subtly strange.
Even though the girl was wearing glasses, as an experienced agent who had spent a considerable amount of time with Song Mingzhi, she could tell at a glance who this girl resembled.
“Secretary Lin, is this… a new artist?”
Yuki’s real surname was Lin, she nodded in response, she had specifically bought glasses for Zhong Zhong to avoid attracting attention, but she knew she couldn’t hide it from Zuo Zhen, and since this was the boss’s lover’s agent, she let Zhong Zhong wait in the office and explained to Zuo Zhen.
“The boss has no ulterior motives, she just signed her to prevent other companies from using her to compete with us because of her appearance.”
Yuki wasn’t lying, with Song Mingzhi’s rising popularity, Dream Machine had increased Zhong Zhong’s asking price several times, her face alone could be used to gain popularity by associating her with Song Mingzhi, she had a unique quality.
Zuo Zhen nodded, she had her own thoughts.
If it weren’t for Song Mingzhi’s intention to terminate her contract, she might have believed it, but now… she didn’t know if this was the boss’s new lover, or a replacement she found.
When Zuo Zhen returned to the film set, she looked at Song Mingzhi with hidden sympathy.
Song Mingzhi sensitively caught her gaze, sensed something was off, raised an eyebrow slightly, and looked at her questioningly.
Zuo Zhen looked away and didn’t say anything.
The September sun was still scorching, Dong Ling was in her ward, holding a book in her hand.
As dusk approached, she received Yuki’s progress report.
Zhong Zhong was now being managed by Bai Lu, she had already found a vocal coach, and they were planning to train her as a singer.
Training took time, Dong Ling put this matter aside, lowered her head, and filled her mind with knowledge.
She didn’t want to let her mind wander, if she was idle, she would inevitably think of Song Mingzhi.
The situation that day was too sudden, Song Mingzhi’s departure too decisive, she didn’t even have time to apologize, and there was no way to apologize now, it would seem like a signal of completely cutting ties.
But even reading couldn’t dispel her thoughts, truly frustrating.
Habits were terrifying things, she was used to saying good morning and good night to Song Mingzhi, used to sharing interesting things and stories with her, so whenever she saw a good article or sentence, she instinctively wanted to tell her.
Dong Ling deleted the words in the chat window bit by bit, staring blankly at their last conversation, which ended eight days ago.
Song Mingzhi, sitting in her hotel room, watched the “typing…” appear and disappear in their chat window, her expression changing constantly.
In the end, nothing appeared in the chat window, and the constantly appearing and disappearing words were gone.
Song Mingzhi couldn’t help but sneer, feeling a little irritated, she switched to a different page.
She seemed to be caught in a loop, her rational mind telling her to let go, but failed relationships couldn’t be deleted like files, they were like viruses constantly sending pop-up notifications, disrupting the system.
It would be best if Dong Ling never came looking for her, never tried to salvage the situation, then she could completely cut ties and move on.
But every time Song Mingzhi thought this way, her heart would waver.
Song Mingzhi closed her eyes, turned down the air conditioning, and opened her chat window with Wang Buli, their last conversation was four days ago.
Wang Buli told her about Dong Ling’s recovery, and her heart ached seeing Dong Ling like that.
—Don’t tell me how she’s doing, it has nothing to do with me.
Wang Buli probably understood her meaning and didn’t ask why, just replied “Okay.”
Song Mingzhi, thinking of Dong Ling’s pale face, still didn’t ask.
She was probably lively and energetic again by now, the heartless girl.
…………
As the old saying went, it takes a hundred days to recover from bone and muscle injuries, but Dong Ling wanted to be discharged after half a month, her parents refused to let her, wanting her to stay in the hospital for two more months.
“Mom, it’s really not that serious, the doctor said I can be discharged, it’s the same if I recuperate at home, and you don’t have to travel back and forth between the hospital and home.”
Liu Zhuoyun said worriedly: “Okay, but if you feel unwell at home, you must see a doctor immediately.”
“Okay, I know.”
“Then your father and I will go home first, I made you some chicken soup, you can have it when you get back.”
Dong Ling touched her soft belly and nodded.
There wasn’t much to prepare for being discharged, but there was one thing she had to do.
When she went to the ward next door, Xuan Du seemed to be writing something. Seeing Dong Ling, she quickly put it away.
“The police should be coming to question you later, congratulations in advance on your self-improvement journey, I don’t know how long you’ll be sentenced for, but I hope you’ll have turned over a new leaf when you come out.”
Dong Ling wasn’t interested in what Xuan Du was writing, she came just to tell her the ending.
She had already made arrangements, Xuan Du wouldn’t be able to escape punishment.
“Thank you for your parting words, but could you let me recuperate for two more days? Just two days, to mentally prepare myself… hey, don’t look at me like that, I’m not planning to run away, and besides, where could I run to? My dad isn’t the mayor anymore.”
Xuan Du shrugged, even in the mood to joke.
This felt strange, Dong Ling was used to seeing her hysterical side, she wasn’t used to seeing her like this.
“If you’re not reassured, you can ask the police to stand guard at the door, this is the twenty-fifth floor, I don’t have wings.”
“Okay.”
Dong Ling nodded, planning to tell the police officers later and ask them to keep a close eye on her.
Xuan Du waved her hand: “You’re truly merciless, hurry up and leave, I won’t disturb your lovey-dovey time.”
Dong Ling was puzzled: “What lovey-dovey time?”
“Isn’t that person coming to pick you up when you’re discharged?”
Xuan Du said with surprise, after all, that person’s attentiveness towards Dong Ling gave her goosebumps.
Dong Ling’s face darkened, Xuan Du truly knew how to poke her sore spots.
“You two broke up?”
Xuan Du caught Dong Ling’s reaction and was very surprised.
“What does it have to do with you?”
She and Song Mingzhi weren’t even officially dating, how could they break up?
“That’s a pity, I thought you two would be very happy together.”
“Are you Xuan Du? Are you possessed?”
Dong Ling truly felt like she was seeing a ghost, such words coming from Xuan Du, how strange.
Xuan Du crossed her arms and said coldly: “What? You don’t like my blessings? Then I hope you break up soon, if it weren’t for my current situation, I would set off fireworks to celebrate.”
Before Dong Ling could reply, she muttered to herself: “But you should still think about it, after all, she seems to like you quite a bit.”
Dong Ling was about to leave, but hearing this, she couldn’t help but ask: “Does she seem to like me a lot?”
“Yes, especially that time in front of your house, the way she looked at me was full of threats,” Xuan Du recalled and curled her lip in displeasure, “I really hate those who are even more pretentious than me, what gives a small-time actress such confidence?”
“You’re the one who’s being unreasonable.”
Dong Ling didn’t expect that the person she could calmly discuss her relationship with Song Mingzhi with was actually Xuan Du.
She sincerely hoped Xuan Du could reform herself in prison and start anew.
Before Dong Ling left, Xuan Du suddenly called her name.
“Nothing, just wanted to call your name.”
Xuan Du waved at Dong Ling, and Dong Ling mumbled “Weirdo,” suppressing the strange feeling in her heart.
After Dong Ling was discharged, Chen Shang Shang insisted on throwing a recovery party, a discharge party, for her. Her friends were too enthusiastic, Dong Ling couldn’t refuse, so she agreed.
But while they drank alcohol, she had milk and juice.
The party was at the usual place, one of Dong Nuo’s dedicated party venues.
Everyone came to express their concern for Dong Ling, and soon, she was surrounded by gifts.
Someone brought homemade cookies and cupcakes, asking Dong Ling to open them and share.
It was a small gathering, everyone eating, chatting, and inevitably, gossiping.
Gossip inevitably involved the most shocking news, and currently, the most shocking news was, of course, about Chen Fei.
Chen Shang Shang, afraid that Dong Ling would be uncomfortable, wanted to take her away.
“I’m going to the restroom.”
Dong Ling knew how much Chen Shang Shang loved gossip, she held Chen Shang Shang’s hand, and went herself.
She didn’t go to the restroom, but to the second floor, sat on a hanging chair, and stared blankly at the trees outside the window.
A fleeting movement caught her attention, Dong Ling jumped off the hanging chair, went to the window, and after thinking for a moment, took out her phone, zooming in through the camera to see clearly that it was a cat.
It should be a black cat from the neighbor’s house, its fur sleek and shiny, it had climbed a tree in the yard and was now sitting on a branch, wagging its tail, looking quite pleased with itself.
Someone from the neighbor’s house soon came out, seemingly looking for the cat, the cat remained motionless in the tree, ignoring the calls, just quietly watching its owner search for it.
So mischievous, Dong Ling thought, the corners of her lips curving upwards.
But the smile quickly froze, she couldn’t help but zoom in further, the image on the screen was already blurry, but even so, she could still tell who the person in light-colored clothes was.
Shouldn’t Song Mingzhi be on set filming? Why was she suddenly here?
The people in the small yard didn’t notice that someone was watching them from afar, Wang Buli shouted her cat’s name, looking at Song Mingzhi with exasperation.
“Lao Song, you go upstairs and wait for me, it’s probably hiding somewhere again, it always does this, I’ll go get some food and find it.”
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