After Taking Advantage Of An Opening [Entertainment Industry] - Chapter 15

After Gu Rongqing finished speaking and received no response from Wen Ling, she noticed Wen Ling’s reaction and realized she might have said the wrong thing again.

She clenched both hands tightly, turned her head away, and no longer dared to look at Wen Ling.

Seeing Gu Rongqing like this, Wen Ling burst into laughter.

Gu Rongqing continued ignoring her, but Wen Ling’s laughter only grew louder. Eventually, Gu Rongqing could no longer pretend not to hear it.

She turned and glared at Wen Ling.

Unexpectedly, Wen Ling laughed even harder, leaving Gu Rongqing completely bewildered.

“…”

“Are you finished laughing?”

Wen Ling wanted to say no. She shook her head, then nodded and stopped laughing.

She had realized that Rongqing was becoming angry.

Wen Ling scratched her head and said, “I only laughed because I thought you were adorable.”

Gu Rongqing glared at her and delivered what she believed was a very stern warning.

“You’re still not allowed to laugh!”

Hearing that, Wen Ling thought Gu Rongqing resembled a lion cub that hadn’t grown up yet. She was trying to sound fierce, but she was actually incredibly adorable.

There was nothing Wen Ling could do.

She had to coax her own goddess.

Wen Ling obediently admitted her mistake and gently comforted Gu Rongqing.

At first, Gu Rongqing found the attention rather pleasant. But after a while, she became embarrassed.

Why was Wen Ling speaking to her the same way she spoke to Wen Nuan?

Gu Rongqing wasn’t a child.

Besides, given their current relationship, it wasn’t appropriate.

“All right. Stop talking.”

Gu Rongqing pushed Wen Ling lightly, her face somewhat red.

Seeing this, Wen Ling stopped coaxing her. She had discovered that Gu Rongqing was exceptionally thin-skinned. If she continued, Rongqing would only become more embarrassed.

So Wen Ling changed the subject and brought up Xiao Nuan.

“Once filming ends, let’s take Xiao Nuan to the amusement park.”

“Mm…?”

Gu Rongqing had assumed Wen Ling hadn’t paid any attention to what Xiao Nuan said earlier.

When Wen Ling made the suggestion, Gu Rongqing froze.

She had thought Wen Ling was only staring at her, but apparently, Wen Ling had heard everything Xiao Nuan said.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Gu Rongqing nodded.

Seeing her agree made Wen Ling tremendously happy.

The three of them had never gone out to have fun together as a family.

Afraid Gu Rongqing might change her mind, Wen Ling quickly said, “Then it’s settled. We’ll take Xiao Nuan out once filming is over.”

Gu Rongqing hadn’t expected her to become so excited.

She nodded firmly in return.

“All right.”

After leaving the room, Liang Mei had nowhere in particular to go, so she wandered around near the hotel.

Unexpectedly, while passing through a street lined with food stalls, she spotted Lin Xu.

“Sister Liang Mei~”

Liang Mei had intended to walk away quickly, but Lin Xu still called out to her.

Ever since what happened that night, Liang Mei had behaved as though nothing had changed. Lin Xu, however, frequently sent her messages on WeChat.

Liang Mei regarded what happened between them as an accident.

Lin Xu had taken it seriously.

Watching Lin Xu run toward her, Liang Mei decided to make things clear.

“Huff… Huff… Sister Liang Mei.”

Lin Xu was slightly out of breath. She had run so quickly because she was afraid Liang Mei would pretend not to see her and walk away.

“Why were you in such a hurry?”

“Sister Liang Mei, I…”

Lin Xu wanted to say that she was afraid Liang Mei didn’t want to see her—afraid she would run away.

But she didn’t dare.

“Is there something you wanted to tell me?”

Liang Mei deeply regretted what happened.

How had she also lost control that night?

Had it simply been too long since she was last with someone…?

“Sister Liang Mei, I can take responsibility for what happened that night.”

“There’s no need.”

Without waiting for Lin Xu to respond, Liang Mei walked away.

Watching her leave, Lin Xu felt that none of the snacks around her looked appetizing anymore.

Why did liking someone for the first time have to hurt so much?

When Lin Xu returned to the hotel room, Wen Ling was already lying in bed and seemed to be in an excellent mood.

Lin Xu steadied her breathing and forced herself to smile.

In truth, she wanted to cry.

First love was unbearably bitter.

When Wen Ling saw Lin Xu return, she sensed that something was wrong. She put down her phone and asked, “What happened?”

Lin Xu might have held herself together if Wen Ling hadn’t asked.

But the moment she did, Lin Xu’s tears escaped.

Her crying threw Wen Ling into a panic.

Wen Ling still remembered her mother’s instructions to take good care of Lin Xu. She hurriedly climbed out of bed, brought her some tissues, and patted her shoulder.

“What exactly happened? Tell me.”

Wen Ling’s gentle voice only made Lin Xu cry harder.

She turned and threw her arms around Wen Ling.

“Sister, is falling in love always this painful…? Waaah…”

Wen Ling’s hand paused against her back.

Love truly could be painful. But if the relationship went well, most of it should be sweet.

Judging from Lin Xu’s current condition, however, her relationship clearly hadn’t gone well.

“What happened between you and Sister Liang Mei?”

In truth, Wen Ling didn’t particularly approve of the two of them dating.

Lin Xu was too young and had only recently graduated from university, while Liang Mei was seven or eight years older. It would be difficult for a relationship between them to have a future.

However, after what happened several days ago, Wen Ling had watched Lin Xu go from excited to increasingly quiet. She hadn’t dared to comment on it.

“Ever since that night, Sister Liang Mei has barely paid attention to me.”

Lin Xu sniffled and continued, “When I realized you had gone out just now, I decided to find something to eat. Then I ran into Sister Liang Mei.”

“I told her that I could take responsibility, but she said there was no need.”

“Sister Wen Ling, I don’t understand. Before, it seemed as though she had feelings for me. Why is she treating me like this after something happened between us?”

Lin Xu clung to Wen Ling and cried even harder.

Wen Ling didn’t know how to comfort her.

Her own love life was a complete mess. It had taken nearly ten years for Gu Rongqing to begin saying that she might like her.

Wen Ling had no useful experience to offer.

Receiving no comfort, Lin Xu probably realized that Wen Ling didn’t know how to console her. She released Wen Ling and tried to comfort herself instead.

“Forget it. Everyone encounters a few scumbag women when they’re young.”

“I’m fine, Sister Wen Ling.”

Lin Xu rose and went into the bathroom.

Wen Ling was left behind, feeling like a complete failure.

She was already this old, yet she couldn’t even properly comfort a younger sister suffering from heartbreak.

Lin Xu washed her face and soon emerged.

Wen Ling still couldn’t bear seeing her like this.

“Why don’t I ask Rongqing about it tomorrow?”

Lin Xu waved her hand.

“Better not. You might discover something I’ll find even harder to accept.”

Wen Ling didn’t say anything else.

Lin Xu climbed into bed and went to sleep.

Wen Ling tossed and turned in her own bed. In the end, she decided to ask Gu Rongqing anyway.

Are you asleep?

Almost. Why?

It’s nothing. There’s just something I wanted to ask you.

Wen Ling was about to type a question asking why Liang Mei was treating Lin Xu this way when she suddenly realized something.

That wasn’t right.

Rongqing might not know that these two had already…

Meanwhile, Gu Rongqing watched the words The other person is typing… remain on the screen for a long time.

She grew curious.

What exactly did Wen Ling want to ask?

Lin Xu likes Sister Liang Mei a little. I wanted to ask whether Sister Liang Mei has a girlfriend.

The moment the message arrived, Gu Rongqing felt somewhat disappointed.

She had thought Wen Ling wanted to ask her something personal…

No.

When Wen Ling received the answer, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Liang Mei didn’t have a girlfriend.

Then Gu Rongqing’s second message arrived.

She has a boyfriend. They’ve been together for many years.

When Wen Ling woke the following morning, she saw that Lin Xu’s eyes were terribly swollen.

Lin Xu had probably cried again during the night without Wen Ling noticing.

Wen Ling suggested that she remain at the hotel and rest instead of accompanying her.

Lin Xu insisted that she wanted to go, but Wen Ling pointed toward her swollen eyes.

The condition of Lin Xu’s eyes wasn’t actually the main problem.

Wen Ling wanted time to process the situation.

Even she had found it difficult to accept the revelation that Liang Mei had a longtime boyfriend. Seeing how distressed Lin Xu already was, Wen Ling couldn’t bear to tell her yet.

In the end, Lin Xu didn’t accompany her to the set.

The moment Wen Ling arrived, she saw Ji Chenxi speaking to Gu Rongqing.

She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Ji Chenxi looked agitated and had grabbed Gu Rongqing’s arm.

Gu Rongqing’s expression was colder than usual.

Curious about their conversation, Wen Ling glanced toward them several more times.

At that moment, Gu Rongqing slapped Ji Chenxi’s hand away, said something, and left.

Ji Chenxi turned around and happened to see Wen Ling.

Her eyes seemed capable of shooting flames. She had completely lost the dignified bearing normally associated with Best Actress Ji.

She walked directly toward Wen Ling.

Ever since the day Ji Chenxi claimed that Gu Rongqing was her girlfriend, the two of them hadn’t spoken whenever they encountered each other.

Wen Ling hadn’t expected to witness a scene like this today.

The moment Ji Chenxi saw Wen Ling, her anger surged.

She couldn’t understand what Gu Rongqing possibly saw in her.

The previous night, Ji Chenxi had watched Wen Ling emerge from Rongqing’s room and had been furious.

When she saw Gu Rongqing today, she told her that they were already divorced and asked why Wen Ling continued pestering her.

Unexpectedly, Gu Rongqing’s expression turned cold as she insisted that Wen Ling wasn’t pestering her.

Ji Chenxi’s temper also flared. She grabbed Gu Rongqing’s arm and demanded, “If she isn’t pestering you, then what do you call her coming to find you even after your divorce?”

The more Ji Chenxi thought about it, the angrier she became.

Wen Ling wasn’t as accomplished as her, nor was she as beautiful.

Yet even after the divorce, Rongqing continued defending her.

If Ji Chenxi hadn’t gone abroad back then, why would Rongqing ever have married Wen Ling?

Wen Ling was nothing but a despicable opportunist who had taken advantage of Rongqing’s vulnerability!

But as Ji Chenxi approached Wen Ling, she realized that she shouldn’t speak to her while looking so enraged and humiliated.

That would make it seem as though she considered herself inferior to Wen Ling.

And so, just before reaching Wen Ling, Ji Chenxi restored her usual composure.

With an air of superiority, she said, “Stay away from Rongqing from now on.”

Then she walked away.

Wen Ling now felt that there must have been something wrong with her mind before.

How could Gu Rongqing possibly be together with someone like Ji Chenxi?

Wen Ling had witnessed the way they spoke to each other just now.

It seemed Rongqing treated Ji Chenxi… even worse than she treated Wen Ling.

Besides, no matter how Wen Ling looked at it, the two were entirely incompatible.

Gu Rongqing was emotionally slow, while Ji Chenxi believed herself superior to everyone else.

Someone like Ji Chenxi could never possess the patience required to wait for Gu Rongqing.