Grain of Rice

A myriad of possibilities occurred to Su Qiao at once, each one more preposterous than the last, but after a couple of seconds it took for her to regain her composure, she set them firmly out of her mind.

Whatever. Lin Zizhou was free to come and go as he liked if the production team had no issues with it. As long as he didn't try to make it about Su Qiao, she couldn't be bothered to care.

Her schedule for today was packed but time seemed to fly by whenever she immersed herself in her work and before Su Qiao knew it, they were filming the last scene of the day. This was a mini-climax in the story and she would be acting alongside the experienced actress playing the role of the male lead's mother, Wu Yeyun. Onscreen, Wu Yeyun could be anything from a stunning empress to a demure housewife. But offscreen, she had a placid personality and didn't put on any airs or graces. Working with her was a fantastic learning opportunity that Su Qiao hadn't taken advantage of last time. Or perhaps it hadn't been one that was available to her; Wu Yeyun in the past had been polite but distant towards her, possibly because of all the trouble Su Qiao had caused the production and the cast with her moping over her father's sudden remarriage. She'd been younger back then and had been reluctant to share who she'd mistakenly deemed as her only close family left with a new woman and her daughter.

But if Bai Lixian and Bai Meixin wanted Su Yongshen that badly, she would be more than happy for them to have him now. No lying, cheating scumbag was worth her calling him 'Father' or being sad about. Far better to expend the energy trying to improve her acting skills with the assistance of her seniors in the industry.

"Cut!"

Su Qiao relaxed out of the determined stance she had taken at the front of the boardroom. Yuan Siqi, who was facing steep competition from her ambitious colleagues, had finally managed to make a breakthrough when her unorthodox proposal was accepted by her boss. The scene was a turning point in her career and her boss' son's opinion of her. She didn't know that Wei Yunian was watching her silhouette through the frosted glass doors, listening intently to her deliver her presentation so passionately that anyone who so much as heard her would know how strong her love for her job and fashion was.

Moving forward, Wei Yunian would find himself unable to help but compare Su Qiao to the girlfriend he'd chosen to pull strings to defend from her before, starting the bad blood between them that he would later learn to regret and make up for.

"Well done, Su Qiao." Right after Director Ma ended the take, Wu Yeyun broke out into an approving smile. "I've always felt that you have a good grasp on your character but it's particularly evident today." Although she was still in the power suit that her character, Shen Xue, favoured, she donned and doffed Shen Xue's intimidating aura like it was part of her wardrobe set. Su Qiao admired her for this, the same way she admired the ease with which Mo Chen slipped in and out of various roles in mere moments. She'd seen him prove this once in an interview, cycling through all the previous characters he'd acted as before on cue.

She wanted to be like them one day.

Encouraged by Wu Yeyun's praise, Su Qiao returned her smile with a shyer one of her own, feeling for the first time in a long while like the young mistress who used to dimple whenever a member of the older generation commended her for doing something well.

"Thank you, Wu Laoshi." She didn't hesitate before asking for tips on improving. Having done this a couple of times, she knew that Wu Yeyun was more than happy to offer them. They didn't have the time to speak for long though. Su Qiao was done for the day but Wu Yeyun still had a couple of scenes with Mo Chen. Normally, Su Qiao would seize the opportunity to stay back and observe them but today, she had a photoshoot for a local fashion designer, who had taken a huge fancy to Su Qiao's newer, bolder styling. Manager Yu had discussed it with Director Ma and they'd concluded that it would be good publicity for the series if they capitalised on it right; Yuan Siqi the designer, Su Qiao the model.

Su Qiao left them to make these executive decisions. One day, she might reach the point where they would ask for her input on such matters but she had to acknowledge that she hadn't climbed all the way up there yet.

Her mind had already drifted towards the upcoming photoshoot and what might be expected of her, so it wasn't until a pair of dark leather brogues came into sight that she noticed Lin Zizhou blocking her way, his expression darker than the shade of the understated suits he preferred. He was as handsome as ever, a low simmering of anger in the depths of his gaze, and in the past, this would have worried Su Qiao, made her reach out to take his hand tentatively in her own and ask him what was wrong.

She definitely didn't feel the urge to molly-coddle this cold, unfeeling statue anymore. What they said was true, she supposed. When in love, that most precious person was like white moonlight or red cinnabar. When out of love, they suddenly morphed into a grain of white rice, the blood of a mosquito. Lin Zizhou once meant the world to her and now her heart couldn't even bring itself to skip in his presence anymore.

The only good thing about running into him was having the confirmation again and again that she was free from her emotional attachment to this horrible man.

Raising an eyebrow, Su Qiao nodded politely to Lin Zizhou and attempted to side-step around him. She wasn't going to be successful, of course. Whether Lin Zizhou had been lying in wait for her or not, she could tell that he was being confrontational now.

Sure enough, he shifted to block her way, angling his body slightly such that she would have no choice but to shift back towards the wall if she wanted to avoid coming into contact with him. But Su Qiao didn't budge. She crossed her arms, shoulders straight and tall as she stared him down levelly.

"Little Lin Zong, please have some respect for physical boundaries." The 'tyrannical CEO' trope, which seemed to be his shtick since that was his character design in Bai Meixin's novel, only worked on her when she'd been his. Now that she couldn't stand the sight of him, it was all she could do not to slap him in the face.

Annoyance flashed over his features. Not for the first time, Su Qiao marvelled at how little he resembled his brother. The only obvious similarity Lin Zizhou shared with Lin Zixun was the shape of their eyes. But where Lin Zixun's eyes were bright with a zest for life, Lin Zizhou's were perpetually broody.

With obvious effort, Lin Zizhou reined in his temper. "Su Qiao, this tantrum of yours has gone on long enough. Are you ready to sit down and talk now?"

"…" So all this while, Lin Zizhou had been doing what? Gritting his teeth with great forbearance and believing he was the bigger man for tolerating his silly girlfriend's unpredictable mood? And now that he'd felt that he'd given her adequate time for a sulk, it was time for her to settle back into obedience and return to his side?

She sighed. "Lin Zizhou, I've always known that you're an arrogant man. I used to find it an attractive quality in you for some reason. That's on me, I've paid a dear price for it." She alone had memories of how dear.

Su Qiao looked up and met his eyes squarely. There was no need to shy away from confrontation, she wanted to relish every second of her fight against him.

"But before today, I never realised just how delusional you also are. Read my lips, I told you back then and I'm telling you again. We're over. There's nothing to talk about."

Ever since she came back from her bleak future, every single conversation she'd had with this man who'd tossed her aside like she was nothing more than trash had stung. Not in a rueful way, in a vengeful way. On countless sleepless nights, she'd wanted nothing more than to hurt him the same way he'd hurt her.

But now, she found, she didn't even care that much about that anymore. Sure, she was still going to take revenge on him, it was a matter of principle by this point. But those ugly, wretched emotions no longer held much sway over her.

Lin Zizhou was trembling. With rage, she presumed, since she couldn't imagine that such a heartless bastard would be capable of sadness or remorse.

"You're behaving like this because he told you to?" he gritted out.

Su Qiao frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Her confusion only aggravated him further. Throwing away all pretence, Lin Zizhou seized her by the shoulders and shoved her backwards, too wrapped up in his self-righteous indignation to pay any heed to the sharp hiss she let out when her spine slammed painfully against the wall.

"Why did you meet him?" he seethed. "How long ago did you start betraying me?"

[Oh, so that's what this is all about.]