Actresses

Chapter 79 Breakup

Shi Jiahe stared at her phone for a long time, and just before she was about to call Sister Shi back, she opened Zhaocai's WeChat page.

I finally voiced the question that had been building up for days.

"How have you been these past few days? Call me back if it's convenient."

In truth, Shi Jiahe wasn't sure if she was running away or genuinely concerned about Zhao Cai. Perhaps the back-and-forth tug-of-war with Sister Shi had pushed her exhaustion and patience to their limits. Like a condemned prisoner on the gallows, a quick and painless end was the only relief. Zhao Cai's seemingly vanished nature, on the other hand, had fueled her curiosity and concern to the extreme. She even felt an urgent need for an explanation.

The biggest fear is investing too much, whether it's money or emotions.

For example, Shi Jiahe's savings, while far from enough to buy a house, were still more than enough. She felt it was a waste to keep the money in a savings account, so she would occasionally buy some funds with friends. Of course, she absolutely avoided stocks, knowing full well how many of her friends had suffered heavy losses in the A-share market. Even if she couldn't achieve investment-level returns, she generally hoped for steady income. However, all her fund investments ended up losing money to varying degrees. This was true for money, but even more so for emotions. Especially as one enters the rational and calm middle age, one is less likely to empathize with someone's plight. At this time, she had provided considerable help to a young person she had just met—despite various motives—and was still running around trying to expedite the contract payment. Therefore, Shi Jiahe was extremely unwilling to accept that the other party had suddenly disappeared without a word.

Honestly, haven't I treated you better than Wei Ning? At least say thank you! I haven't even asked you for a penny of rent!

Shi Jiahe became angrier the more she thought about it.

However, the WeChat message I sent still disappeared without a trace.

In desperation, Shi Jiahe made several more calls, including WeChat voice calls and phone calls, totaling more than a dozen. Still, no one answered.

A bad feeling slowly rose in her heart. Could something have happened to Zhao Cai?

Shi Jiahe recalled collapsing at home yesterday. Zhao Cai's workload was clearly far greater than hers, and his usually withdrawn demeanor suggested he might be suffering from depression. According to Wei Ning, Zhao Cai had been revising the script from morning till night, at least ten hours a day lately—anyone would be stressed under that kind of pressure. Even if Zhao Cai was young, how many news reports in recent years had shown young people suddenly developing health problems…?

She no longer dares to think about it.

After hesitating for a long time, I had no choice but to call Wei Ning again.

There are several reasons for this. Although Shi Jiahe offered some suggestions on the script, she had no prior production experience, so her proposed revisions lacked professionalism. Wei Ning, on the other hand, possessed production experience and represented a powerful platform; the combined advantages of both made her the perfect candidate to oversee the script. Therefore, after the collaboration was finalized, it was natural for Wei Ning and Zhao Cai to become even closer. Wei Ning must have known where Zhao Cai was.

Wei Ning's first words upon answering were, "Are you feeling better now?"

Shi Jiahe was filled with mixed emotions, but now was not the time for a heart-to-heart talk, so she kept it brief. "I can't get in touch with Zhaocai. Do you know how she is doing?"

"She's writing a script. Why are you contacting her? Shouldn't you be taking better care of your health?"

"I'm a little worried about her. I have a bad feeling about her these past few days, since she hasn't shown up for several days."

"You... you really haven't worked in production, you don't know the hardships of screenwriters. Which screenwriter doesn't go into seclusion while writing a script? It's normal not to see them for a month." Wei Ning's tone turned cold.

"But Zhao Cai hasn't replied to WeChat messages or answered phone calls for many days, and even..." Shi Jiahe paused abruptly. She remembered that she hadn't yet told Wei Ning that Zhao Cai was still staying at her house, so she changed the subject. "Then, are you sure you've seen her in person these past few days? Has she shown any unusual behavior? Including her mental state?"

"I'm sure! We see each other almost every day. She's living at my house now!" Wei Ning shouted.

"What did you say? Living in your house? How is that possible? How come I don't know anything about it?"

"Why not? Zhao Cai hasn't found a place yet and needs a quiet place to finish his manuscript. Wouldn't it be a win-win situation for him to stay here? It's convenient for communication and saves on rent."

"So you're saying she hasn't shown up these past few days because she went to your place?"

"She's been staying with me for two weeks now. As for you, Jiahe, you fainted yesterday and are talking nonsense today. I suspect something might be wrong with you. Maybe you should go to the hospital to get checked out again." Wei Ning's tone became serious.

"Wait...wait! Two weeks? Impossible!" Shi Jiahe interrupted Wei Ning, her temper flaring. "Two weeks ago, Zhao Cai and I were seeing each other every day!"

At this moment, all Shi Jiahe could recall were scenes of Zhao Cai either catching up on sleep or typing away when she returned home at night or left home in the morning.

Suddenly, the headache from yesterday surged back intensely. She covered her head, closed her eyes in pain, and felt as if her brain was being torn apart.

"How could that be?" Wei Ning's impatience was almost at its breaking point. "I feel like you've been talking nonsense these past few days. You knew Zhao Cai was staying with me a long time ago, but now you're pretending not to know. I'm really at my wit's end. Considering our friendship and seeing that you haven't been in good spirits these past few days, I'll let it go. I think you should take a break from work for a while. Otherwise, I really don't dare to say anything to you. You can completely twist my words into something else entirely! Don't make me think you're the kind of person in our circle who just talks nonsense, okay? Jiahe. Let's talk about it later, I'm still in a meeting here."

Shi Jiahe felt a surge of anger and blurted out, "When the hell have I ever been such an unreliable person? Don't think you're the only one making sacrifices. When Zhao Cai was homeless, I was the one who took her in. It's just that I couldn't tell you at the time due to various reasons."

"I never said I didn't understand you, did I? Even if your motives weren't entirely pure, and it was for the script, you still helped Zhao Cai. So I didn't say anything!"

Shi Jiahe frowned, suddenly realizing something was amiss. Wait, when did Wei Ning find out?

"...Did I already tell you?"

Wei Ning suddenly yelled into the phone, "Jiahe! Shi Jiahe! Stop rambling on! I really don't have time to waste on you. I don't understand what's wrong with you these past two days? You've been acting like a lunatic, babbling on and on, repeating the same old things. Please, just text me if you need anything."

He hung up the phone after saying that.

Shi Jiahe wasn't angry, but staring at the call log on her phone, she was completely bewildered. She was still thinking: Did Zhao Cai talk to Wei Ning? Wait a minute, Zhao Cai promised me. Am I out of my mind?

Once that anxiety rose, it was impossible to suppress. She stood up, feeling completely lost, as if countless ants were crawling all over her body, burrowing into the cracks in her brain. The smell of blood excited the ants even more, making every nerve buried in her skin tremble and buzz.

Faced with 300 things to do, which one should she do first? Unable to sit still or stand steadily, she instinctively wanted to walk outside. Just then, she heard the sound of the door opening outside the studio.

Shi Jiahe subconsciously tilted her head and looked over. She saw two people walking in, with Xiao Zhao followed by the boss.

But when Shi Jiahe and He Yuran locked eyes, her heart sank. On that face was a giant, rapidly gathering dark cloud, and its gaze was fixed intently on her.

Shi Jiahe's heart skipped a beat, and she could only try her best to call out, "Boss?"

"Come with me to the conference room!" He Yuran said ominously, then strode inside.

Shi Jiahe knew this was a call for her and was about to follow when she saw Xiao Zhao standing nervously to the side. She asked softly, "What's wrong with the boss today?"

Before Xiao Zhao could answer, another thunderous roar erupted from the conference room. "I told you to come here!"

"Coming, coming!" Shi Jiahe could only respond loudly and turn around to run over.

She took a step towards the conference room, then stopped, hesitating whether to go back to her workstation to get her phone. What if Sister Stone called again? Or should she explain things to Wei Ning again? Her mind was a jumbled mess. She felt that the closer she got to the conference room, the heavier each step became, as if some terrible danger lurked there.

Dragging his heavy body inside, he closed the door behind him. Compared to He Yuran before him, even the words "fierce and menacing" seemed to pale in comparison.

Shi Jiahe sat down directly opposite the boss, trembling slightly. "...Sister Ran."

A deathly silence.

"Jiahe, how have I treated you? Tell the truth."

"Great."

"Be more specific."

Shi Jiahe thought to herself, "What's he up to? If he's going to get angry, he should just say so."

"She treats me like a sister treats her younger sister."

At this moment, He Yuran, who had been motionless, suddenly exhaled two breaths from his nostrils, as if the demon statue had suddenly come back to life, and that terrifying and eerie aura instantly reached its peak.

"And this is how you treated me."

"Sis, I'm not trying to defend myself. But... what did I do?"

He Yuran's breathing went from calm to rapid, his chest heaving more and more violently, and his expression became increasingly terrifying, as if he were about to grind his teeth to powder.

"Okay, I'll tell you. Do you know who I ran into outside today?"

"I don't know..." Shi Jiahe was still completely confused.

At the same time, she felt her headache getting worse. It felt as if a drill was relentlessly chiseling a hole above her temples, turning her brains into juice, while a swarm of dead ants was hissing loudly.

"Your dear Master Ye told me everything. My most trusted and closest agent, my sister, just casually fooled me, and I did so many things like an idiot! Only today did I find out it was all for a make-up excuse! Ha! Go to hell with your Nine Purple Fire!"

After He Yuran let out a strange laugh, the distorted expression on his face suddenly disappeared, leaving only calm.

"Jiahe, let's end our friendship today."