TGSS - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Psychological Barrier

Tan Qing's steady breathing hitched for an instant. For a moment he felt that the expensive lenses and equipment piled on the desk were mocking him. The most vulnerable part of his heart had been pierced with surgical precision by Liang Zhouyi. He seemed to age several years in an instant and said with a bitter smile, "As expected of Liang Zhouyi, still the same as before, not changed at all."

"You flatter me." Liang Zhouyi's long hair was pulled up with a claw clip, which made her look a bit softer. The composure on her face was a trace left by years settling. She was no longer as sharp and uncompromising as in Tan Qing's memory, nor as dazzling as the sun, but the gentle light of the moon shone on her, like a piece of uncut jade that had been polished and was faintly beginning to give off a warm luster.

"Wasn't it you who said it was better to keep a colleague's distance, and who was it that said dreams couldn't put food on her table?" A teasing look crossed Tan Qing's handsome face. He propped his cheek on his elbow and let his gaze wander between Chu He and Liang Zhouyi. So his persuasion had not worked on Liang Zhouyi, but Chu He's did, huh? Valuing a lover over a friend! And now they wanted to fleece him. It would not be that easy!

Chu He crossed her arms, put her hands behind her head, leaned back in her chair and looked lazily at Tan Qing. "I think you're asking for trouble. If you don't want to help Liang Zhouyi, I won't force you. Wen Xiaoying was asking about you a few days ago. Tell me... should I tell her a little more?"

This is a threat, right? It has to be a threat. Tan Qing slammed a hand on the desk in a panic. "Is that how you sell out a friend? Don't you know what kind of person Wen Xiaoying is? Are you really going to push me into the fire? Don't force me to go find Brother Chu Ze!"

At the mention of Chu Ze, Liang Zhouyi and Chu He both sat up straight at the same time. Chu Ze was a well-known entertainment-industry tycoon. Although there was a barrier between his circle and theirs, everyone had heard of him.

Liang Zhouyi's back stiffened. They shared the Chu surname. Was he a relative of Chu He, perhaps her brother? Doubts swarmed in her heart. If Chu He's background was powerful to this extent, then what could the experience she spoke of, of having once fallen into the mire, have been?

The vague memories in Chu He's mind gradually became clear. This was her bonus older brother. Chu He was amused. Her background in this world was more than a little stronger than in her own world. No wonder Wen Xiaoying had that kind of attitude toward her. This woman really demonstrated judging people by their status perfectly.

"Are you that afraid of Wen Xiaoying?" Chu He retorted with disdain. "What did she do to you? Spread rumors? That shouldn't be enough to scare you like this."

"Her? Ah, how should I put it? Her ex-boyfriend is a childhood friend of mine. That guy still can't forget Wen Xiaoying. If I go too hard on her, I feel like I'd be letting my buddy down. Besides, it's not like she's done anything that unforgivable. If I can't afford to offend her, can't I at least avoid her?" Tan Qing looked extremely annoyed, so annoyed that he seemed to be radiating black gloom.

Hearing this, Chu He paused slightly and looked worriedly toward Liang Zhouyi, but Liang Zhouyi's expression was calm and gave nothing away. What kind of tangled love and hate had passed between her and Wen Xiaoying back then? How earth-shattering must it have been to make Liang Zhouyi keep silent? And what had driven her to drop out of school? Intuitively, Chu He felt Wen Xiaoying must be a presence that ran through the whole story, but if Liang Zhouyi had already let go of the past, she would only accompany her in looking forward.

"Your circle is really a mess." Chu He commented carelessly. At this moment she still did not know that the matter was actually even more chaotic than she imagined.

"Don't worry, even if you hadn't said anything I would still help Liang Zhouyi. No matter what, I have still considered her a friend all these years." Tan Qing turned his face toward Chu He, but these words were meant for Liang Zhouyi.

"Tan Qing." Liang Zhouyi sighed. "After I failed the college entrance exam, I didn't want to explain it to anyone. I know you must have wanted to contact me and persuade me to repeat the year, but the reality was that it was impossible. The gap between us would only grow wider and wider. At that time I felt it was just right for our friendship to stay there. Perhaps many years later we could run into each other at some competition or some scenic spot and that would be nice, but..." But she really had not expected that one day she would not even be able to hold onto the thing she loved most. Having broken her promise like that, she naturally could not face her old friend again.

Liang Zhouyi's rare self disclosure completely broke Tan Qing. His eyes reddened slightly as he looked at Liang Zhouyi, as if he had fallen into a very distant memory.

When Chu He and Liang Zhouyi walked out of Tan Qing's office side by side, the atmosphere instantly became awkward. Chu He lowered her head slightly and frantically searched for a topic. Today she did not even dare to let her gaze linger on Liang Zhouyi's face. Once she caught sight of the wound on those lips, her sense of shame would explode. Fortunately she no longer had to grind Daily Missions. At least the System had finally done something humane. But while she breathed a sigh of relief, a faint, inexplicable regret also arose, so slight it vanished in a flash, and naturally Chu He ignored it.

"Are you really willing to try photography again?" Chu He's tone was a little unnatural, and she did not look at Liang Zhouyi at all.

"Isn't this what you wanted? I am really trying for your sake and now you're doubting me?" Liang Zhouyi stared intently at Chu He's profile and her tone turned cool again. "But I told you, I can't pick up a camera anymore, so even if I promise to try, I may not be able to do it."

Liang Zhouyi's attitude was calm and pessimistic. In the past five years it was not that she had never tried at all, but the courage she occasionally mustered was met with an even deeper blow. This kind of fated pain made that little bit of effort of Liang Zhouyi's like a drop of water disappearing into the ocean, and she gradually learned to resign herself to fate.

"What do you mean, for my sake? It's for yourself. Liang Zhouyi, don't just give up like that, we haven't even started yet." Chu He turned her head and glared at her, somewhat dissatisfied.

Liang Zhouyi pressed her lips into a straight line, as if she did not quite agree with what Chu He said, and strode forward. Chu He followed helplessly. Out of habit she reached out to grab Liang Zhouyi's arm and then, as if realizing what she was doing, quickly let go. Liang Zhouyi looked at her speechlessly.

Chu He laughed dryly and changed the subject. "What you told Tan Qing, is it true? Did you cut contact with him because you had some hardship?"

"It's fine if I fool him, but how could even you believe it?" A smile flickered in Liang Zhouyi's eyes. What hardship could there be? It was just that she felt there was no need to keep in touch if they would not be at the same school anymore, and Tan Qing's family background was too complicated. Continuing to associate with him would bring her endless trouble. She felt it was not worth the trouble, so she took that opportunity to delete all her high school classmates together. But since Tan Qing seemed to have brooded over it for so many years, she did not mind weaving a beautiful dream for him.

Indeed, Chu He was not surprised at all. Liang Zhouyi was just like her, essentially an unusually cold-hearted person. Chu He had not had many friends in her previous life either. She seemed naturally unable to experience very deep feelings. It was not that she had no emotions, just that her threshold was abnormally high, so after meeting Liang Zhouyi she actually cherished every emotional fluctuation she had. That feeling fascinated her so much she almost sank into it.

"Chu He, morning!" The one who interrupted them was Wen Xiaoying. She wore a creamy white sweater, her long hair tied in a ponytail, and a fluffy hat on her head, which made her look very youthful and sweet. When she saw the matching wounds on their lips, the corners of her mouth pressed down slightly, but quickly lifted again as if nothing had happened.

"Morning." Chu He first glanced at Liang Zhouyi before stingily spitting out a single word.

Wen Xiaoying seemed completely oblivious to her coldness and still looked at Chu He with a smile. As if she had just noticed Liang Zhouyi, her attitude became polite and distant. "Zhou Yi is here too. You really worked hard the past few days. My assistant took leave and I still had to trouble you to liaise with those intangible cultural heritage masters. I'm so sorry."

Liang Zhouyi reverted to her usual gloomy and quiet appearance, just lowering her eyes and shaking her head. "It's what I should do."

The disdain at the corner of Wen Xiaoying's eyes was not quite hidden. Chu He looked thoughtfully at Wen Xiaoying. This did not look like a reunion of old friends at all, but rather like enemies meeting. However, Liang Zhouyi seemed to completely not take Wen Xiaoying seriously anymore, which Chu He found fairly satisfactory.

"Oh right, Chu He, I made some little cakes and just gave them to my colleagues. I saved the prettiest one for you. Remember to come get it from me." Wen Xiaoying blinked playfully, her voice sweet and cloying enough to make Chu He's hair stand on end.

"Go get it then, President Chu." Liang Zhouyi pressed the tip of her tongue against her teeth, her voice tinged with chill. Seeing that Chu He was still gazing after Wen Xiaoying as she walked away, she laughed in exasperation. "She's gone and you're still looking. Fine, then take your time looking."

"I wasn't looking, I was just thinking, you said you were once good friends, so how did you fall out?" Chu He was lost in thought. She had discovered that every time Liang Zhouyi was displeased she called her President Chu. Although she shouldn't, she somehow heard a coquettish reproach in that form of address, and was actually rather enjoying it.

Liang Zhouyi gave a soft scoff. "You're so curious, you should have asked me earlier. Back at the hospital you didn't ask, just let your imagination run wild and kept being sarcastic to me every day."

"Hiss." Chu He turned to look at Liang Zhouyi as if she were some rare animal. "I find you... seem a bit off." She seemed to have become overly direct, completely different from the awkward version of Liang Zhouyi before, which left Chu He a little at a loss.

"Chu He, since I promised you I would try, I will definitely do it. No matter what the result is, just take it as..." For your inexplicable trust, I want to try again too, because I don't want to stand beside you in such a useless and dejected way, so I am willing to overturn my original choice and try to start over, Liang Zhouyi did not avoid Chu He's puzzled gaze and looked at her firmly like that, her eyes rarely as scattered as they once were.

Chu He subconsciously avoided her gaze and answered vaguely. In any case Liang Zhouyi would forget her after she succeeded. For her sake then, so be it. Since Liang Zhouyi said it like that, her mission should be almost complete, right? Since the progress bar was already halfway, her inner knot should be more or less untied, right? It couldn't be that she had found some love without Chu He knowing.

Her guess was completely shattered by a phone call from Tan Qing. When she answered, Chu He was working overtime. She replied to messages with one hand while tapping to answer, and Tan Qing's exasperated voice came through the phone.

"Chu He, come get Liang Zhouyi quickly! What is she even learning for? Her hands shake like she has Parkinson's. Not to mention holding the camera directly to shoot, I set up a tripod for her and she can still make the shot blurry from shaking."

Hearing no reply from Chu He for a long time, Tan Qing sighed deeply. "Looking at her like this, it seems like some kind of psychological barrier. I asked, but she won't talk about it. I suggest you deal with this first."

"I understand." Chu He hung up the phone, her finger still resting on the screen, her expression turning grave. So, is she really willing to work hard for my sake?

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