Chapter 7 Apology Not Accepted
The music show opened under the eyes of everyone who had come for the drama.
I didn't disappoint. I gave Shen Xinrui a warning shot.
Initial ranking, live to the whole net. I gave her an F straight.
"Entertainment really is a place to make fast money. But please show the audience a little respect."
My tone was as cold as my face. "Your dancing isn't even together. You can't stay on pitch. I'm curious. How did you get famous?"
In front of the camera Shen Xinrui's face went pale. She bowed to me, eyes wet, and said she would practice hard.
Behind the camera, Shen Xinrui came to my dressing room with afternoon tea for all the staff.
She handed me the coffee and dessert herself, smiling, open and easy. "Sorry, Xu Zhiyi. I made extra work for you."
Shen Xinrui's looks were the sweet, pure kind. After debut, Haohai built her persona the same way.
Which was why she had a title everyone knew—the nation's first love.
It wasn't empty.
I looked at that innocent face.
I had seen this face at fifteen, in a frame on Xiao Yuan's desk.
Ten years. She still looked the same. Better than before.
"When Brother Yuan comes to see me, he always brings pastries from this shop. I think they're good."
She tilted her head. "I didn't know your taste. I asked Brother Yuan and he wasn't sure, so I picked the signature. Hope you don't mind."
The pulling pain in my heart rose again. Familiar enough to make me sick.
I said thanks, then asked, "Did you need something?"
Shen Xinrui paused. "I actually came to apologize in person. Last time my hand really slipped."
I didn't move. My face didn't even change.
"Brother Yuan called and yelled at me. I was terrified."
Shen Xinrui showed the dimple on her cheek, sweet. "I was wrong. I hope after this apology, senior will go easy. Give me a little face on the show. We're all Haohai artists. One rises, we all rise."
She was three years older than me, but I debuted at twenty. Calling me senior wasn't wrong.
I just turned to the makeup mirror at that moment.
Two favored beautiful faces.
One looking triumphant. One cold and still.
She looked triumphant, and I could see why. Xiao Yuan had spoiled and shielded her to that degree.
At eighteen and at twenty-eight, in that lazy life of his, the only two times I had ever seen him take anything seriously had both been for her.
I smiled. In the mirror my face looked like cold snow melting, ice-clear.
I said, "But I don't accept your apology."