“Sister Qin, why is this gender discrimination?”
“Don’t start with me!”
Lu Qin couldn’t bear to really hurt Han Xiao, so she stopped after a few slaps and looked at Han Xiao, saying, “Other things are fine; even being ‘black-and-red’ is still red. But if you date early, you’ll be completely hopeless… So many young actresses are half-dead after going public with their relationships. With your current looks, you’re aiming to be the ‘Nation’s Girlfriend,’ so stay far away from men. They’ll only slow down your path to fame.”
“…So I can’t conquer them with my talent?”
“Get out!”
“Hey~~ Your junior sister would definitely be happy about this. Didn’t she even find people to create a CP with Qin Yimo? Now it’s good, you don’t have to worry about this. Isn’t it easy for our own girl to flirt with a boy? It saves us owing people favors.”
“Nonsense! Can Qin Yimo’s CP be the same as your CP? Who doesn’t know Qin Yimo is the eldest daughter of the Qin family now? In the industry, any male artist with a name, no matter if they’re a ‘Film Emperor’ or ‘TV King,’ is looking up to her when standing next to her. If she sets up a ‘younger sister’ persona, not only will no one suspect her of dating, but her fans will cause a stir first, arguing over whose ‘sister-in-law’ Qin Yimo will be in the future… And you?”
“If you find someone with a name, his fans will curse you. If you find someone without a name, I’d feel wronged! Our girl has such great conditions, why does she need to rely on CP hype to make a living?”
“That’s the theory, but the details are a bit off… Aside from a very few exceptions, men in the industry are all worse than each other. But the one I’m interested in not only has talent and a good heart, but most importantly, he’s very handsome. I can’t help it, I’m a lookist. I really can’t bring myself to go for someone not good-looking.”
“Han Xiao!!”
“Alright, alright, I know you’re angry.”
Han Xiao looked at Lu Qin with an extremely serious expression and explained, “It’s that boy who mistakenly saved me before. You saw the clarification video on Weibo, didn’t you? I just happened to hear him when I was looking for him.”
“You rotten girl… You deliberately made me misunderstand, didn’t you?”
Lu Qin reached out to pinch Han Xiao’s lips, saying, “Let me sew your mouth shut.”
Han Xiao dodged repeatedly, shouting, “Sister Qin, spare me! I know I was wrong… I know I was wrong, please let me go…”
After their playful scuffle ended, Lu Qin actually took out her phone and watched the clarification video again.
“He really is quite handsome…”
Han Xiao is 165cm tall, and Xu Huo is more than half a head taller than her, with a well-proportioned physique, clean and fresh skin, a high nose bridge, thin lips, strong forearms, slender and perfect fingers, a clearly visible Adam’s apple, and deep eyes under a few wisps of hair…
“Could I lie to you? Doesn’t he look like he has a promising future?”
Han Xiao stood up, twisted her waist at a large angle, making a popping sound, then placed her small hand behind her neck, gently rotated her neck, and her soft, beautiful hair swayed back and forth.
If she hadn’t been worried about overdoing it, she would have even talked about Xu Huo composing songs on the spot.
Unfortunately, Sister Qin was an old hand and knew the difficulty of such things; she wouldn’t believe it without seeing it with her own eyes.
“Did he tell you he wants to enter the industry?”
“No, but I’m leaving a fallback for you, aren’t I? If things go south for me, you can still open a side account.”
“Can’t you be more confident?”
“Yes! Madam!” Han Xiao instantly snapped her legs together, her index and middle fingers touching her temples, then elegantly swiped forward.
“Alright, alright, no more nonsense. I’m all sweaty today.”
Han Xiao brought her arm close to Lu Qin and said, “Sister Qin, smell it… smell it… Is there any smell?”
“It stinks, go take a shower quickly.”
Lu Qin said disapprovingly, “You’re a girl, why don’t you pay attention to your image? What if you’re recognized looking so messy? Celebrities need boundaries, they need to maintain mystery.”
“Sister Qin, if you say that, you’ll hurt my heart. Touch it, isn’t my heart cold?”
“Go away, you heartless thing… You won’t be hurt.”
“I’m not talking to you anymore, I’m going to take a shower. I feel terrible.”
Han Xiao got up and walked towards her room on the second floor.
Lu Qin looked at Han Xiao’s slender figure and sighed softly.
Having a good hand but not being able to play it is the most frustrating thing for an agent.
But a boy Han Xiao would recommend… that’s interesting.
Just now, those words were more about preparing for the worst; she didn’t believe for a second that Han Xiao would just hook up with another guy.
There are many kinds of love in the world, and the most common is love at first sight.
If even the other person’s looks can’t move you, how can there be so much heartfelt connection? It’s all to fool children.
But Han Xiao is a “sensory + rational” person, with “rationality > sensibility.”
To win her love, besides looks, there needs to be a gradual accumulation, a natural progression to heartfelt connection.
This is too difficult.
***
After going upstairs, Han Xiao’s previous flippancy vanished, her expression becoming quite solemn.
Dreams, this thing, can be simple or difficult; the key depends on one’s own pursuit.
The more effort people put in, the more they often pursue, and naturally, the more frustrated they become.
This might sound counter-intuitive at first, but upon closer thought, you’ll find it’s the truth.
There’s an old Chinese saying, “A person leaves their name, a goose leaves its call.”
Everyone only lives once. If one is older, giving up dreams and bowing to the demands of daily life can be forgiven.
Even if they meet their younger selves in a dream, at most they’d just smile helplessly, saying they’ve tried their best, but reality is too cruel…
But she’s still young.
Even if everyone implicitly or explicitly tells her that in this world, one is not their own master, she’s unwilling to bow her head, unwilling to become mediocre, unwilling to be that small figure discussed after meals…
She is Han Xiao. If she can’t fight the pervasive rules, then she’ll leave cleanly.
Unwillingness is better than insincerity.
***
But if it were someone with Xu Huo’s personality, what choice would he make?
This thought popped into Han Xiao’s mind out of nowhere…
Brute force (Lit. “Big strength, bricks fly”)?
If you use rules to suppress me, then I’ll break the rules and release a new song every day.
Thinking of this, Han Xiao couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
If Xu Huo could really release a new song every day, all of that quality, then he truly wouldn’t need to care what others thought.
Instead, others would be begging him, pleading with him to be lenient and not always clash with their schedules.
…But how could that be possible?
Han Xiao sighed softly, tied her hair up, and wrapped it in a dry towel to prevent it from getting wet in the shower.
Then she took off her clothes one by one and slipped naked into the bathroom to shower.
As the shower water ran, she softly hummed a tune, her bare feet on the floor.
The bathroom quickly filled with steam, and the mirror above the sink became blurry.
Flowers bloom on their own, unappreciated by others.
Swallows arrive on their own, uninvited.