Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 429: I’m Allergic to Those Two Names
Yu Heng was very disdainful of her habit of staring at people, and after finishing breakfast with a heavy heart, he sat aside to check Yu Yue’s homework, out of sight and out of mind.
Being a holiday, there was nothing else to do, so Yu Xia took Xie Qingci back to her room again — with the door left open as usual.
Xie Qingci sat down on the only chair, and Yu Xia perched on the table, facing him, and said:
"Did you hear what I was talking about with my brother just now?"
He nodded with his head propped up: "I heard. What’s up?"
"Although it’s all in the past, I plan to tell you a bit about me and Xi Heng."
Xie Qingci’s expression darkened, and he turned his head away: "I don’t want to hear it."
Yu Xia cupped his face and turned his head straight: "You have to listen even if you don’t want to."
She took off her fluffy slippers and, with socks on, placed her feet on his lap as support, narrating plainly despite his struggle:
"It’s not some sweet memory or anything, just explaining our current relationship so you won’t be jealous again and unhappy.
Xi Heng and I are just ordinary friends now. Lin Yu and my brother’s company have quite deep cooperation, and the two sides occasionally meet. He treats me like a brother to a sister, and because of this, plus cooperation for so many years, my brother trusts him more, so he let me hitch a ride back with him last time.
His venture into the entertainment industry is completely unrelated to me, and there’s no possibility of developing anything beyond friendship with him again, so don’t overthink."
Xie Qingci looked at her, and after a moment laughed softly, lifted his hand to cover the back of her hand, and rubbed his cheek in her palm: "So domineering, not even allowed to be jealous."
"There’s nothing to be jealous of, it’s all irrelevant now."
He then went to nibble her finger, his long eyelashes covering his eyes as he lowered them: "I’m just jealous."
No one is so straightforward about being jealous of an ex. Yu Xia’s hand paused for a moment, then she more gently held his face.
"Then what do you want me to do?"
"Hmm — don’t see them, can you? No cooperation unless necessary, don’t meet unless you have to, okay?"
Even though there’s nothing now, the past experiences still remain, and whenever he thinks of those two relationships he wasn’t part of, he can’t help but think about how sweet they must have been.
Before he came around, with nothing better to do, he would even masochistically search the internet for their pictures together, seeing media reports of how "well" they got along, and it drove him mad, like someone was choking him, breathing laced with bruised pain.
Yu Xia looked at him, not speaking immediately.
After a while, she asked: "Didn’t I share all the daily stuff with you during my last collaboration with Yu Zhi in filming? Still not reassured? I remember you didn’t say anything then."
Xie Qingci raised his other hand as well, grabbing her wrist, guiding her hand to caress his face, but his gaze was fixed intently on her, speaking softly: "I don’t want to upset you."
He occasionally analyzes her micro-expressions to get the information he wants, and Yu Xia didn’t want to brush it off but instead furrowed her brows and delved deeper with him.
"But what if I encounter a big project that I really want to do, as it would be beneficial for my career, but Yu Zhi might appear in it, or perhaps it’s something Xi Heng has invested in. In such a situation, would you want me to give it up?"
"I said, only if necessary. Normally, your opportunities to collaborate wouldn’t be many, and according to the practice in the entertainment circle, you would still try to avoid collaborating with them." He spoke quite logically, not like something suddenly sprung from emotion.
He had obviously thought about this earlier.
If it had been before, she might not have agreed. She broke up with Yu Zhi because the relationship was hindering her career development — he tried to meddle in her work.
Perhaps men always feel they have the authority to control a series of major issues regarding their partner’s work, living environment, education level, and so forth. Therefore, they always ignore their partner’s contributions in these matters and make demands and suggestions as a matter of course.
Yu Xia isn’t buying it.
But when love runs deep, and the person in front of her is Xie Qingci, she starts to consider how to resolve such conflicts.
"I will try to avoid cooperation; however, if it coincidentally happens, I won’t deliberately avoid it either."
Xie Qingci nodded: "Okay, but please don’t bring them up in the future, not even their names, alright? It makes me uneasy, I’m allergic to those two names."
"... You really know how to pull," she withdrew her hand and patted his cheek, "I agree, since it’s the holiday season."
He smiled, hands climbing onto her calf, tapping it lightly.
Yu Xia, her foot on his knee, pushed lightly.
For a moment, no one spoke further; the warm February sun, accompanied by a chilly breeze, radiated warmth across the window glass, applauded by birdsong and the clear sky.
In the warm and pleasant atmosphere, Yu Xia moved her gaze from the window to him, and asked a random question.
"Don’t you think it’s unfair?"
Xie Qingci still poked at the pattern on her pajamas, responding lazily to her words: "What’s unfair?"
"Many believe that when you love someone, you’re most hoping for reciprocal feelings. Uneven love can’t last long because in unfair interactions, that bit of affection will get worn out over time."
Xie Qingci pondered a moment, and like discussing a math problem, leaned back on the chair, casually and freely exchanging his insight.
"It’s like that, so the realization of unrequited love is often a theme for many teen movies. However, last time, my sister-in-law shared some words that I found quite sensible."
She was quite curious: "Sister-in-law? What did she say?"
"We make abstract feelings concrete, tangible. Suppose everyone holds a glass of wine, with some having more, some less. I hold a full glass and come to you wanting to exchange, but you only have half a glass. You give me all of your half glass, and I give you all of mine. Is that fair? If you give me your full half glass and I only give you half of my full glass, is that fair? If I give you a full glass and insist on a full return from you, could you conjure another half glass to give me? Or would you have to ask someone else for half a glass to give me? That would truly test my nerves."
Yu Xia lifted a foot, placing it on his stomach: "Sounds like you’re saying I’m naturally cold-hearted."
He grabbed her ankle with a playful smile in his eyes: "It really does sound like it."
The two made eye contact, Yu Xia biting her lip lightly as she nudged his hand with her foot.
"I’ll show you something nice, want to see it?"
"It would be my pleasure; how could I dare say no?"
Yu Xia led him to the wardrobe; the wardrobe taking up the entire wall was custom-made, and her brother even wanted to specifically set up a walk-in closet for her, though back then she wasn’t a star yet, nor did she have enough clothes and shoes to fill it.
The right-most section of the wardrobe was divided into upper and lower compartments, with her used bed sheets neatly folded and placed on top and a larger space below filled with many stuffed animals.
Pink pig pillows, a big grey dog, Ali, Changjiang No. 7, curly-haired sheep, and among various animal dolls, two palm-sized grey wolf cub plush toys were placed separately on the side.
