Quite awkward

Chapter 143 A chance encounter in a restaurant

Although one of them is an actor and the other is an internet celebrity, they don't care that much.

But after taking off their masks, passers-by could quickly recognize them with just a casual glance.

Qi Yu and Xiang Wei were both very friendly girls, greeting, signing autographs and taking photos. A group of people then gathered around their table. Later, the restaurant manager rushed over to deal with the emergency and invited the two to dinner in the private room upstairs.

Compared to the bustling lobby on the first floor, the row of private rooms on the second floor seemed to be a dining place specially provided for VIP guests. Only waitresses in red cheongsams were walking back and forth in the corridor, and the environment was relatively quiet.

The decoration in the private room exudes an ancient flavor. Traditional Chinese paintings of plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum are hung on the walls. Under the cover of an old screen, the privacy of the guests is guaranteed to the greatest extent possible.

The two sat down again.

Xiang Wei curled her lips slightly and said with a smile, "Today is Christmas, but we still chose to eat at a Chinese restaurant. It seems that we are not at all Westernized."

Qi Yu opened the menu and found it funny when she said this.

"Then we're not celebrating a holiday, just having a simple dinner. If you hadn't come to see me today, I would have just fried a steak for dinner."

Xiang Wei clapped his hands expectantly. "Then let's order some food quickly. I really miss Linjiang's specialties back in Beicheng. When we were studying at the Film Academy, we couldn't afford to eat at such a nice restaurant. It's great to be able to make my own money."

Qi Yu nodded in agreement.

The two of them did not spend lavishly, but followed the principle of saving. They ordered three dishes, a soup, two desserts, and a pitcher of hot drinks. These were just enough for them to eat without any extra waste.

The ordered dishes were served one after another, and Xiang Wei asked Qi Yu about her previous filming life in Yunnan and Guizhou.

"Actually, I don't quite understand why you would take on such a movie when you were just starting out?"

Qi Yu lowered his eyes and thought for a while.

If Muchenan had not deliberately stopped her work at that time, she might not have chosen to shoot the movie "Zou Maedan".

The pay was low, the filming process was extremely stressful, the filming took a long time, and there was also the challenge of the cold weather...

However, she has experienced all of this and has no regrets. Instead, she regards this filming experience as an important part of her acting career.

Director Ji Xian's guidance allowed her to learn a lot and improve her acting skills to a certain extent.

When you think about it, she actually gained a lot.

"Maybe everything is the best arrangement." Qi Yu sighed.

She turned the topic to Xiang Wei and asked her how she and her male partner were getting along recently.

Xiang Wei held up one cheek and smiled bitterly, saying, "There are no permanent partners. He wants to go it alone, so we plan to break up after this year's Spring Festival and announce our breakup to our fans and friends."

“Will that affect your career and income?”

"I should also consider transitioning. I'll see how things progress. Life isn't that hard anyway, so I can make changes little by little."

……

Xiang Wei drank most of the hot drink and felt a little bloated in the stomach, so he put down his chopsticks and got up to go to the bathroom.

After coming out of the bathroom, she stood in the corridor and forgot which box she was in. She could only look for it one by one.

Suddenly, a waiter came up to lead a group of guests, a man and a woman. Xiang Wei looked up and saw a familiar man. She felt pleasantly surprised and surprised, and waved happily.

"Mr. Mu, long time no see."

Mu Chenan paused, then walked up to Xiang Wei, a smile appearing on his cold face.

"Long time no see, Xiang Wei."

Xiang Wei glanced at the woman behind him. She had beautiful eyes and eyebrows and an elegant temperament.

Retracting her gaze, she nodded slightly at him and said with a smile: "I came to Beicheng to spend the holiday with Qi Yu. We will also have dinner here."

Hearing this, Mu Chenan's eyelids drooped for a moment inadvertently, and then he responded with a very indifferent "hmm".

"Then you guys continue eating. I'm going to get busy now."

-

Several people walked past Xiang Wei, and she carefully pondered Mu Chenan's last words.

Since you said you were busy, were you busy with business activities?

She couldn't figure it out, so she finally returned to her box, sat down hurriedly, and kept it a secret with Qi Yu.

“Guess who I just met?”

"Who? Could it be our former college classmate?"

In Linjiang, the chance of meeting acquaintances when going out is very high, so Qi Yu is not surprised.

Xiang Wei raised his fists, shook them in the air, and finally revealed the answer.

"I met your second brother!"

Qi Yu lowered his eyes, picked up a piece of dish, and hummed softly. He was not surprised and wanted to deliberately avoid the topic.

Xiang Wei had no idea what she was thinking and kept talking about Muchenan.

"Your second brother is still as handsome as ever. Does he have a girlfriend? I just saw him having dinner with a woman. I don't know if she's his girlfriend, but from my analysis, it seems unlikely. They were walking one after the other, and they didn't look very familiar. Your second brother just said he had something to do. I suspect it was just a work social."

After listening to Xiang Wei's well-reasoned analysis, Qi Yu looked across and hesitated for a moment before asking calmly, "Is that woman very beautiful?"

Xiang Wei raised an eyebrow: "Of course, she is obviously a rich girl."

Qi Yu pursed her lips, secretly guessing that he might be on a blind date. She was surprised at how quickly he changed his target.

She had long known that Mu Chenan was not the kind of affectionate man, and his love for her was only short-lived, so she was even more convinced of the wisdom of her original decision.

"He doesn't have a girlfriend, but he might be in a relationship with someone else."

Xiang Wei nodded and raised an eyebrow, then said leisurely, "They seem quite a good match."

"Oh? Really?" Qi Yu tilted his head and yawned lightly, looking a little absent-minded.

Seeing this, Xiang Wei asked with concern: "Are you sleepy? Let me smoke a cigarette first, and then we can go back."

Qi Yu pressed the call bell, but the waiter didn't come in time to pay the bill for them. Xiang Wei opposite happened to light a cigarette, so she got up and moved away, going out to find the waiter.

There was a front desk on the second floor with only one waiter busy at it. There were three or four guests chattering around, and Qi Yu was waiting patiently.

At this moment, she glanced sideways and saw a woman in a skirt and high heels walking towards the front desk.

As luck would have it, Qi Yu knew this woman, and this woman also knew her.

"Boss Ling."

"Qi Yu."

The identity of the beautiful woman was revealed at this moment. Seeing Ling Qiao, she chose to believe Xiang Wei's speculation and was more inclined to believe that Muchenan was entertaining guests tonight.

Ling Qiao said openly, "I ran into your friend when I came up just now, and he mentioned that you were here. I didn't expect that we would run into each other so soon. I'm in Linjiang on a business trip, and Mr. Mu invited me to dinner."

Qi Yu didn't respond, but just smiled with a curved lip.

The waiter had not yet dealt with the needs of the previous customer. The two stood aside waiting, and Ling Qiao took the initiative to speak.

"The window of our private room won't close. Mr. Mu already has a slight cold, and the night wind is particularly cold, so I came here to ask for a different room. Business is so good now, and I wonder if there are any rooms left to change to."

Qi Yu did not turn a blind eye to this, and said in a gentle voice: "I am here to pay the bill. Our "Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum" box has sufficient heating. You can move to that room, but you still need to ask the waiter to clean up first."

Ling Qiao smiled and accepted her kindness. She only needed to pull a waiter to clean up the box later. But she had no intention of leaving for the time being. She looked at Qi Yu's face and asked, "Are you and President Mu still together?"

Qi Yu's whole body stiffened.

She never expected that Ling Qiao actually knew about her past relationship with Mu Chenan.

She appeared calm on the surface, but in fact she was trying hard to recall when she and Ling Qiao last met.

It seemed that during the Spring Festival this year, Muchenan learned that she was going back to North City, so he gave her two choices before attending a friend's party.

It was also on that day that he did not return home for a long time. Qi Yu was waiting anxiously in the villa. Finally, late at night, she saw the car lights at the door. She hurried to open the door and happened to run into Ling Qiao driving him back.

I don’t remember what Ling Qiao and Mu Chenan said at that time. He suddenly came over and put his arm around Qi Yu’s waist. His actions were ambiguous and intimate, which made it easier for people to misunderstand.

But at that time, nothing had happened between them and their relationship was perfectly normal.

Qi Yu finally figured things out.

Mu Chenan used her as a shield to reject Ling Qiao's hint, so Ling Qiao misunderstood that they were a couple at the time, and now she has found the right opportunity to inquire about their relationship status.

Qi Yu paused, his voice light and faint.

"He and I have never been together. I only know that he should be single now. Mr. Ling, let's not talk about it for now. I have to pay the bill."

No matter what Ling Qiao thought, it was a fact that she and Mu Chenan had never been together, and she was unwilling to talk more about this issue, for fear of arousing the other party's curiosity.

After Ling Qiao got the answer she wanted, she raised her red lips and turned away gracefully.

……

After paying the bill, Qi Yu went downstairs directly to send a message to Xiang Wei. She didn't want to stay on the second floor for too long.

If she accidentally ran into Mu Chenan, she would definitely want to ignore him.

But with Xiang Wei, the love-crazy girl, around, she would definitely pull her over to have a face-to-face conversation with Muchenan. Then she wouldn't know what expression to make. It would be better for her to just have dinner with the beautiful girl in peace.

-

After moving to the new private room, Mu Chenan walked to a table on the side and sat down. After a few seconds, he faintly smelled an elegant feminine fragrance, which was very light but extremely familiar.

He confirmed that this was not from Ling Qiao across the street, and seeing wet marks on the table from a rag, he guessed that the previous group of guests in this private room had just left.

He tilted his head to look at the wooden stool beside him and soon found a black rubber band used by girls to tie their hair left on it, with obvious signs of use.

Mu Chenan took the rubber band and placed it on his fingertips. Just as Ling Qiao was ordering food from the waiter, he raised his hand and sniffed the smell on it. He was very sure that this was something left behind by Qi Yu.

It turned out that what he just smelled was the fragrance of her hair.

No wonder it felt so familiar to him.

This also proves that the place where he is sitting now is where Qi Yu just sat.

What a coincidence.

Then he put the rubber band into his pocket and continued Ling Qiao's words very naturally.

During the subsequent dinner, the two of them focused on discussing the cooperation between the two companies in the coming year. He cleverly avoided private topics and was unwilling to mention them.

Ling Qiao did not pursue him relentlessly, maintaining her ladylike demeanor and knowing the principle of moderation.

-

Xiang Wei is a freelance worker. She stayed at Qi Yu's house for more than ten days until she received a new business after the New Year's Day, so she had to consider leaving Linjiang.

"I originally planned to spend your birthday with you tomorrow before leaving, but now there's really no way." Xiang Wei said regretfully.

Qi Yu smiled, took her hand and said, "It doesn't matter. Making money is the most important thing. I am very satisfied that you can come to Linjiang to accompany me for so many days."

The best friends live in different places and have very few opportunities to meet each other in a year. The time they spend together always passes quickly. When it is time to say goodbye again, the two do not deliberately create a sad atmosphere, but hug each other lightly and make an appointment to meet again next time they have the chance.

This time, Qi Yu personally sent Xiang Wei to the airport to board the flight, and recalled the same scene when he graduated from university two years ago.

At that time, both of them felt confused and anxious about the future. Even though they lacked confidence in their hearts, they still forced themselves to smile and encourage each other.

Today, they each have relatively successful careers, and this result can be considered a happy ending for everyone.

After seeing Zou Wei off, Ayu took a car to GOLDEN Entertainment.

On the occasion of her 24th birthday, fans sent her many handwritten letters to wish her a happy birthday. Qi Yu planned to take them home and read them carefully.

It just so happened that Zhang Pei was also in the company, so he called her into the office to talk about future work.

He had read several scripts in advance and wanted Qi Yu to choose the one she liked for the audition, including the latest work of the director she had met at the dinner that day.

"Although you will feel more confident if you fight for the role yourself, if you really want to challenge a certain role, I also have a way to let you play it." Zhang Pei added faintly.

Qi Yu was suddenly confused: "What method?"

Zhang Pei said with a smile: "Of course I'll ask your second brother. He said that it depends on your wishes and he is only responsible for paying the money."

After being stunned for a few seconds, Qi Yu quickly rejected the proposal.

She and Muchenan have no relationship anymore, so there is no reason for him to continue spending money to support her.

Feeling Zhang Pei's curious gaze, she subconsciously touched her earlobe to avoid appearing strange, and explained softly: "Brother Zhang Pei, I still want to rely on myself. Even if I can't get a role after the audition, it doesn't matter. This is normal in the circle."

Zhang Pei shook his head as if he didn't understand, and said very bluntly: "Ayu, you have to know that you have a backer behind you. You can go further in the entertainment industry. Besides, your second brother is rich and doesn't feel bad about spending it."

Qi Yuyu sighed slightly. She knew that Zhang Pei was thinking about her, but she was in trouble and didn't want to owe Mu Chenan anything anymore.

She directly revealed a fact, hoping that Zhang Pei would give up on this matter.