Chapter 70: Absolutely Not, Absolutely Not – I Miss You So Much Part 3
Dong Ling went to the bathroom, the warm water seemingly warming her hands and feet, she lay in the bathtub and unconsciously picked up her phone.
She habitually typed words in their chat window, fragmented sentences, writing whatever came to mind.
[Mingzhi, I rarely think about why people live, there are too many answers, perhaps only a few enlightened people truly understand, those who keep searching for answers will only be lost in confusion, I’m not an enlightened person, so I choose not to think about it.
Xuan Du used to always ask me why she was born, I couldn’t answer her then, and now that she’s dead, I still can’t give her an answer.
I closed my eyes, and blood splattered in front of me, like frames in a movie, I didn’t like it. If you were by my side, I would probably hold your hand tightly.
How’s the weather there? Has it been raining or getting colder?
I miss you a little today.]
The cursor blinked, Dong Ling pressed the delete button, watching the characters disappear quickly.
In another city, someone watched the notification disappear and whispered good night.
Before going to bed, Dong Ling saw a white envelope on her dressing table, with “To Dong Ling” written on the front.
Dong Ling opened it, inside was a piece of paper and a silver card.
Five words were written on the front of the paper in bold strokes: Principal plus interest.
Dong Ling looked at the card and sighed softly.
There seemed to be more words on the back of the paper, Dong Ling flipped it over and saw a short sentence.
[If you see this, go to a temple and pray for me when you’re free, no need if you’re not.]
Dong Ling thought, this person was still playing mind games even in death, Xuan Du knew she wouldn’t ignore it after seeing this.
The next day, Dong Ling watched Xuan Du’s burial. He Diesheng didn’t hold a funeral for her, or publish an obituary.
As if she was still alive, just disappeared.
He Diesheng held a small urn containing Xuan Du’s ashes.
She wheeled herself away without saying a word.
Her figure was thin and frail, like a butterfly wrapped in sin.
Dong Ling went to a nearby famous temple with a flourishing incense and prayed for Xuan Du, hoping that after paying for her karmic debts, she could have a normal life in her next life, according to religious theories.
Red ribbons fluttered from the large trees in the temple, Dong Ling stood there, looking up for a while, when she suddenly heard a voice not far away.
“CEO Dong?”
Dong Ling turned around and saw Zhong Zhong wearing glasses.
“Why are you here?”
“My mother was a Buddhist when she was alive, and I don’t have any training scheduled today, so I came to pray.”
Dong Ling nodded, didn’t ask further, and walked down the stairs.
Zhong Zhong followed beside her, also silent.
Nearing the foot of the mountain, Zhong Zhong, after holding it in all this time, finally spoke: “CEO Dong, Sister Bai Lu said I need a stage name, but I can’t decide, she said I could ask you.”
Her agent told her to ask, she didn’t know why, and just happened to run into her, so she asked.
Dong Ling said casually: “Predestined encounters, symbiotic relationships, if you don’t think it sounds bad, then call yourself Zhong Sui Zhuo. (Sui Zhuo refers to a symbiotic relationship between two birds.)
Zhong Zhong said honestly: “It sounds a bit obscure and unpleasant at first, but the more I think about it, the more I like it, thank you, CEO Dong.”
So the name was decided.
Dong Ling parted ways with Zhong Zhong at the foot of the mountain, not bothering to see her off.
Dong Ling’s injuries had just healed, and after walking around today, she felt a little weak, feeling sleepy even though it was still early.
The next morning, she was woken up by Yuki’s incessant calls, she was a little annoyed at first, but after hearing what Yuki said, she was wide awake.
It wasn’t exactly explosive news, just that someone took a picture of her and Zhong Zhong leaving the foot of the mountain together yesterday, but the title was “Song Mingzhi’s boss visits a temple with another woman, is this temple known for its accurate love fortune telling?”
Dong Ling almost cursed, wanting to find the person who took the picture and wrote the title and beat them up.
Many marketing accounts even reposted it, trying to capitalize on the CP hype.
“Did you suppress the trending topic?”
“Yes, I had those smaller accounts delete their posts, deleting those with more followers might backfire, so I left them for now.”
“Just leave it.”
Dong Ling rubbed her temples tiredly, what was this?
She had Yuki book her a flight and went to wash up.
Online, the Song Zhong sisters were overjoyed seeing the title, but quickly, someone noticed something was wrong.
@SweetSongZhong: Um… this isn’t Song Jie, right? Although she does look a bit similar, she’s clearly much younger, and her style is completely different.
@LanZhiDuoFangCao: Our Jiejie is filming thousands of miles away, she even interacted with visiting fans yesterday, this…
@PleaseSendMeOffToMyGrave: Think positively, maybe it’s CEO Dong visiting a temple with her sister-in-law.
When Song Mingzhi arrived at the set this morning, she noticed that some people were looking at her strangely, but when she looked back, it was as if nothing was happening.
She felt a little strange, but after thinking about it, she didn’t think she had done anything unusual, so she went to do her makeup and review the script as usual.
Seeing Song Mingzhi’s demeanor, Zuo Zhen knew she probably hadn’t seen Weibo and didn’t know anything yet, which was good, the later she knew, the better.
Just then, Zuo Zhen saw Pu Xingchun running over and thought, uh oh.
As expected, Pu Xingchun looked at Song Mingzhi teasingly and asked: “Song Jie, how did you do that cloning trick? Teach me!”
Song Mingzhi looked puzzled: “What cloning trick?”
“Still pretending, I promise I won’t tell anyone, the paparazzi took pictures of you and CEO Dong at a temple yesterday, I heard that temple is very effective for praying for love, I want to go with my baby too.”
Pu Xingchun lowered his voice for the last sentence, but Song Mingzhi wasn’t in the mood to listen.
“They took pictures of me and CEO Dong?”
Song Mingzhi emphasized “me,” Pu Xingchun felt something was wrong, but still nodded.
Song Mingzhi asked Xiao Tan for her phone and searched for the topic.
Blurry pictures, Dong Ling was wearing sunglasses, and the person beside her was wearing glasses, at first glance, they did look quite similar.
But Song Mingzhi knew, this wasn’t her.
Song Mingzhi sneered angrily, what was this, was she being played?
Making up that elaborate story just to deceive her?
Then thank you very much, Song Mingzhi found it ridiculous, she was twenty-nine years old, and was played by a girl five or six years younger than her.
Song Mingzhi was so angry her heart ached, she saw Pu Xingchun’s slightly frightened expression and composed herself.
“Want to know? You can ask CEO Dong.”
Song Mingzhi’s tone was sarcastic, she was no longer in the mood to film and went to find Yu Shuangwei to ask for leave.
Yu Shuangwei said with displeasure: “If you can’t get into character, I can wait, but if you take a day off, everyone has to wait for you.”
Song Mingzhi didn’t waste her breath, she dialed a number in front of Yu Shuangwei and said: “Tell Yu Shuangwei that the lead actress needs a day off.”
Yu Shuangwei was a little puzzled, then she realized her phone was ringing, it was from the investor of Yunming Pictures in Jingzhou, the main investor.
Yu Shuangwei answered the call, and after hanging up, she only saw Song Mingzhi’s back, she moved her lips, then finally picked up the loudspeaker and yelled: “Props team! We’re filming other scenes today!”
Song Mingzhi changed her clothes, removed her makeup, and decided to discuss the contract termination today.
She didn’t want to lose her last shred of dignity, during their separation, constantly thinking about Dong Ling, she felt like a fool, she was just a momentary interest, a plaything for Dong Ling’s amusement, it would have been better if she had been upfront with her from the beginning, then she wouldn’t have misunderstood, wouldn’t have had any wishful thinking or self-deception.
A knock on the door came, Song Mingzhi opened the door with a cold expression, and seeing the slightly uneasy person standing in front of her, her face darkened even more.
“You still dare to come see me? What lies are you going to tell me this time?”
“Mingzhi, I didn’t lie to you… I…”
Dong Ling was pulled into the room and pressed against the wall.
“You didn’t lie to me, then who is that person?”
“Found a replacement so quickly? Or do you just like this kind of face, this kind of appearance?”
“I hate being played, Dong Ling, what do you think I am?”
Song Mingzhi’s every word was a question, filled with humiliation.
The back of Dong Ling’s head hit the hard wall, tears welling up in her eyes from the pain, she held them back, looking at Song Mingzhi, and explained: “I wasn’t playing with you.”
“She’s not a replacement, I don’t like her, I have nothing to do with her, and it’s not that I only like this kind of face or appearance.”
“When you weren’t around, I kept thinking, why did I have to meet someone impossible, why did I have to endure the pain of unrequited love?”
“I tried to distract myself, but strangely, I would think of you every time my emotions fluctuated. I rewatched the movie we didn’t get to finish several times, it’s good that the hamster you gave me has been keeping me company.”
“Xuan Du is dead, her blood splattered in front of me, I wasn’t very sad, because it was her choice, but if you were by my side at that time, it would have been nice, I would have held your hand tightly and told you I was a little scared.”
Dong Ling’s tears fell, completely defeated by Song Mingzhi’s disappointed accusations.
“If I were a violin, you would be the only bow that could play me.”
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