Chapter 73: Let’s Make It Public

This translation is originally posted on

https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

At this moment, Gu Jinrong was sticking close, her voice sounded lower than usual, carrying a hint of charm. Suddenly and unexpectedly, she uttered "wife", causing Shen Qingzhi's heart to skip a beat.

“Huh?"

Shen Qingzhi stared wide-eyed as Gu Jinrong's face approached, her expression somewhat ambiguous, only then realizing it wasn't the time to be shy.

"What?"

She was caught by that direct gaze, asking knowingly.

Gu Jinrong was now close to Shen Qingzhi, her gaze shifting between Shen Qingzhi's face and the phone screen, feeling somewhat stifled when she spoke again.

"How many people have called you ‘wife’ like that?"

Shen Qingzhi rolled her eyes inwardly and replied speechlessly, "Too many, I haven't counted, but there shouldn't be as many as those who've called you 'wife’."

What kind of person is this? Getting jealous even of fans?

The person on the other side remained quiet for several seconds, staring at the phone screen without saying a word.

Shen Qingzhi simply handed her the phone, letting her see it all at once.

Gu Jinrong wasn't polite either. Not only did she examine it carefully, but she also elegantly tapped her fingers on the screen.

"What are you doing?" Shen Qingzhi was curious.”

"Blocking all those who call you 'wife'." Gu Jinrong said word by word.

"Hello?!"

Shen Qingzhi was startled and quickly snatched back her phone, hurriedly checking her blacklist.

Fortunately, there were no new additions.

Gu Jinrong actually teased her about such matters—so childish!

Seeing Gu Jinrong looking a bit sulky at the moment, Shen Qingzhi took the initiative to cuddle up, lightly rubbing against her arm, intentionally adding a bit of coyness in her voice as she called out, "Gu-jiejie~"

The deliberately soft and coquettish voice felt like a feather lightly scratching at Gu Jinrong's heart.

With one arm around her little girl's body snuggled up to her, Gu Jinrong took a breath and spoke.

"Qingqing, how about we make it public?"

"I want the whole world to know that you're my wife."

“Ha?!"

This topic change caught Shen Qingzhi off guard.

Just last night she talked about pursuing her, and now she was talking about going public. This progress, even a rocket couldn't move this fast, could it?

Shen Qingzhi finally managed to close her mouth which was ready to swallow a goose egg. Seeing Gu Jinrong's serious expression, she carefully suggested.

"Um... How about... we consider it a bit more?"

Gu Jinrong remained silent, holding onto her arm a bit tightly, causing Shen Qingzhi's waist to ache a little.

The air grew silent, with the other person not saying a word. Shen Qingzhi had to break the silence herself.

With one hand holding the hand that rested on her waist, she played with the other's slender fingers, speaking gently as she explained.

She held the hand on her waist with one hand, and while playing with the other's slender fingers, she explained in a good voice.

"Gu-jiejie, I like you as much as you like me.”

"I don't mean to keep our relationship a secret, it's just that because of our professional ties, making our relationship public isn't just about us.

"You've only recently returned to the country, and many people are waiting to see what's next for you.”

"Furthermore, our collaboration itself has caused quite a bit of controversy on the Internet. If we suddenly reveal our relationship at this time and let the public opinion about the relationship overshadow our work itself, it wouldn't be good for both of us and our teams.”

"So, it's not that I won't make it public, I just want to wait for a suitable time and be fully prepared before doing so.”

Despite Shen Qingzhi's usual prideful appearance, her mind was far from foolish.

Her words were earnest, making her seem more serious than usual.

In reality, Shen Qingzhi understood that Gu Jinrong wouldn't be oblivious to these matters. After spending years in the entertainment industry, Gu Jinrong probably understood better than herself.

But once someone falls in love, it's easy to become hot-headed and impulsive.

Gu Jinrong might be impulsive today, and Shen Qingzhi might be impulsive tomorrow. But they shouldn't be impulsive together and just try to balance each other out.

Shen Qingzhi said so many words in one breath and was afraid that Gu Jinrong would be unhappy, so she hooked her finger and shook it lightly, "Hey, pay attention to me.

"Mm~" Gu Jinrong rested her chin on Shen Qingzhi's shoulder and let out a soft hum. Shen Qingzhi's neck felt a bit ticklish, so she leaned her head to peck Gu Jinrong's cheek lightly, saying, "You’re not mad, right?"

"Not mad." Accompanied by a sigh.

"Then, you..."

"I just thought that my Qingqing looked very cute when she is serious."

As Gu Jinrong spoke, her hand rubbed the light golden hair intentionally with a bit more pressure, making the once tidy head all fluffy.

***

The vacation time flew by swiftly, especially for newly confessed couples in the honeymoon phase, who wished they could stick together every moment.

Shen Qingzhi and Gu Jinrong stayed in the villa for several days, admiring all the nearby scenery. Now it was finally time to go home.

This also means that the National Day holiday is over and the two of them need to get back to their busy work.

Gu Jinrong has reached the target for filming this year and, nearing the year-end, most of her focus was on managing affairs at her studio, leaving her personal schedule relatively flexible.

On the contrary, Shen Qingzhi, right after the National Day holiday, had been spinning like a top.

The movie "Divine Beings" had undergone several waves of hype on Weibo during the National Day period. Both within and outside the industry, it was common knowledge that this drama would be a must-watch during the next Spring Festival, thereby elevating Shen Qingzhi's market value.

Even though the movie hadn't been released yet and there were only a few promotional materials, many insiders had already started investing.

Shen Qingzhi had exceptional looks and a natural influence, but she had somehow offended someone in the past, resulting in subpar resources.

Now that her resources have skyrocketed and her shortcomings have been filled, this is undoubtedly sending a signal to many veterans in the industry: Shen Qingzhi, this year's most anticipated rising star.

Consequently, the collaboration offers to flood her manager's desk were as numerous as snowflakes. TV dramas, variety shows, events, and advertisements—combined, were enough to keep Shen Qingzhi busy until next year.

Song Ling preliminarily filtered through these invitations, politely declining some that were clearly not aligned with the artist's development path. Many were left for Shen Qingzhi to choose on her own.

Shen Qingzhi sat in the manager's office, flipping through the invitation letters, her eyes sparkling, murmuring to herself.

"The Happy Cola spokesperson, is this the one that previously invited Jiang Ke'er as the brand ambassador?"

“Mm, if you take this, it could overshadow her title." Compared to Shen Qingzhi's excitement, Song Ling, who had already gone through them, remained calm.

"It's not like I have to overshadow her."

Muttering to herself, Shen Qingzhi opened the next one, "The female lead in 'I Am Carefree'? I remember auditioning for the supporting role in this drama earlier this year, but they rejected me.”.

"The original female lead had some issues, causing the filming to be delayed, but the project has now dropped from an S+ to an S-level."

"Tsk~" Shen Qingzhi shook her head and then looked down.

"The variety show 'Panda Detective' invited me for a regular role. Finally, my sharp wit and rigorous logic are being recognized?"

This translation is originally posted on

https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

Seeing Shen Qingzhi flipping through invitation after invitation, increasingly proud of herself, Song Ling couldn't help but pick up a piece of paper, roll it into a tube, and lightly tap her head.

"Stop jumping up and down, you've been looking for so long, have you made your choices?"

"Ah~" Shen Qingzhi covered the non-existent bump on her head, and exaggeratedly exclaimed. Seeing Song Ling unfazed, she blinked her eyes.

"Everyone appreciates my talent so much, it's really hard to choose. Excellent people are destined to be busy, so, Ling-jie, can I accept them all?"

Song Ling stared at Shen Qingzhi, took a deep breath, and said, "I appreciate your desire to earn money for the company, but if you accept them all, we might need to split you into four or five parts to manage."

She pretended to use her hand as a blade, making a few slicing motions in front of Shen Qingzhi, as if she was really going to divide her.

Shen Qingzhi shrunk her head, becoming more obedient. After considering everything, she ended up accepting a variety show appearance, two fashion show events, two endorsement deals, and a music video shoot.

She received several scripts for TV dramas, each script offering more than her resources from half a year ago.

All of them had a mediocre crew, evenly balanced in various aspects. It seemed like choosing any one of them would be the same, which made her decision-making difficulty quite a challenge.

So she simply didn’t pick any of them at first. Anyway, there are a lot of activities at the end of the year, so she has to reserve some time.

Although she had to push a lot of work, what she took on was enough to keep Shen Qingzhi busy for a while.

After returning to H City, she initially stayed at Gu Jinrong's place. However, with the new projects spanning various cities, she spent half her time on airplanes and the other half working.

Consequently, this legally married and passionately in love couple began to experience the taste of long-distance love—unable to see each other, only exchanging numerous messages each day to ease their longing.

At this moment, Shen Qingzhi walked along the banks of the Seine River, dressed in a pure white dress, holding a blue balloon, and shooting a confession-themed music video for autumn.

The weather was pleasant that day, even the breeze by the river was quite accommodating, enhancing the romantic atmosphere. Her light golden hair swayed gracefully in harmony with the surroundings.

The camera followed her all the way until noon when they completed the last shots for the MV.

"Thank you for your hard work, Qingzhi. These shots are fantastic; when combined with the lyrics, it will definitely be amazing."

“Don't you think so, Teacher Wen Qi?”

The director praised Shen Qingzhi when she saw Wen Qi, a renowned lyricist and composer in Asia, walking over, so she passed the conversation to her.

It was quite fortunate this time. They managed to secure the services of the esteemed songwriter Wen Qi for the theme song of the MV.

Wen Qi had recently returned to the country, and the director had invited her intending to just give it a try. 

As a result, Wen Qi, who was originally indifferent to everyone, suddenly changed her attitude after learning that the lead of the MV was Shen Qingzhi.

She made a 180-degree turn and immediately accepted the job and expressed a desire to personally assess the results on-site.

The director was delighted. With years of experience, she understood that Wen Qi must be quite interested in Shen Qingzhi.

So at this moment, she didn't mind praising Shen Qingzhi in front of Wen Qi.

Wen Qi, once sporting fiery red waves, had straightened her hair after returning to the country but still couldn't conceal her flamboyance.

Since the start of the MV shoot, she had been observing Shen Qingzhi from a distance and was now getting a close look. Yet, she didn't seem all that impressive; just a young girl trying her luck.

Perhaps her prolonged scrutiny raised subtle alarms, even the director noticed the awkwardness. She cleared her throat, "You two chat, I'll go check on the cameras over there."

Shen Qingzhi didn't think she had much to talk about with Wen Qi. She used to admire the person's talent, but meeting her in person felt somewhat strange.

Wen Qi spent the morning on set; although she didn't speak much, her demeanor was still quite decent.

She couldn't pinpoint what felt off; perhaps it was women's intuition or her sensitivity.

As the shoot concluded, leaving everyone busy nearby, only Shen Qingzhi and Wen Qi remained by the riverside, staring at each other awkwardly.

"Teacher Wen Qi, is there something on my face?" Shen Qingzhi couldn't stand being scrutinized by a stranger and broke the silence.

“Mm, on the right side of your cheek." Wen Qi replied calmly, without even lifting a finger.

"Oh." Shen Qingzhi reached out and wiped her right face twice, not knowing what she was erasing.

The atmosphere truly became awkward. At that moment, Li Qian approached holding her phone. “Zhizhi-jie, there's a message for you."

The message was sent by Gu Jinrong, and it was just a simple message: [Are you finished?]

Ordinarily, this message wouldn't require an immediate response. However, as Li Qian was the leader and guardian of Rong Shen Zhi Di, Li Qian must protect her CP, it is obligatory!

Shen Qingzhi took out the phone and took a look at it. The corners of her mouth curled up in pleasure. At this time, she couldn't care less about the strange presence of Wen Qi on the side. She was on the verge of virtually cuddling with her wife right there on set.

Fortunately, she still had some sense left, "Teacher Wen Qi, I'm sorry, my friend sent me an important message, I have to reply.”

After saying that, she left with a hurried departure.

"Heh, must be a girlfriend. " Wen Qi sneered coldly.