My Feelings Can Wait - c16

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On the way back, Ji Youyan kept mulling over Jing Xiu’s rhetorical question over and over again. 

“What do you think?” 

Each time she recalled it, the more Jing Xiu’s original tone and intonation blurred a little. Every time the accent fell differently, it was as if a new meaning could be extracted.

In the end, Ji Youyan couldn’t recall the original tone of Jing Xiu’s voice at all. She didn’t dare to think greedily that Jing Xiu’s failure to deny it completely might mean that she also had some lingering feelings. If her self-righteous concern was just an annoyance to Jing Xiu, then even she herself would feel disgusted and spiteful.

Ji Youyan admonished herself to stop being impulsive and rash in a depressed mood.

After the group returned to the film center, they began to record the selection of students non-stop. There were no special rules for this segment, it was purely at the mentor’s discretion, taking turns to select the participants they wanted to guide or felt were more in line with their own style of play.

The order of selection consisted of Liang Zhen and Su Lihang being a gentleman and saying that ladies should go first. However, the director arranged for them to do rock-paper-scissors for the sake of richness of the footage later on. The first one out was Ji Youyan, followed by Liang Zhen, Su Lihang, and then Jing Xiu winning the right of first pick. The only one she wanted to pick was Ruan Ningwei anyway, so it didn’t matter if she picked earlier or late. Ruan Ningwei had not been singled out to the extent that she would be snatched away first.

But she never expected that Jing Xiu, who was cold-hearted and blunt with Ruan Ningwei in the competition, would actually put Ruan Ningwei’s name tag under her own name on the whiteboard without a second thought after being the first to pick someone.

Liang Zhen and Su Lihang were surprised and Ji Youyan was even more surprised.

“It seems that Teacher Jing is quite optimistic about Xiao Ruan.” Su Lihang joked.

Jing Xiu said with a faint smile, “I just think she can be better.”

“It seems that love is the deepest responsibility.” Su Lihang stroked his nonexistent goatee and pretended to be deep.

Ji Youyan reluctantly matched his smile, but inwardly the heavens were at war.

Although she had just made up her mind not to bother Jing Xiu, due to Tao Xingruo’s instructions and her good feelings towards Ruan Ningwei, Ji Youyan still complained half-jokingly and half-temptingly, “Teacher Jing picked out Ningwei in the first go. Even I wanted to pick her.” After saying that, she looked at Jing Xiu expectantly.

The recording had only just begun and there was still time for editing later on, so it would be perfectly fine if Jing Xiu showed a little bit of willingness to pick another person.

However, it was as if Jing Xiu didn’t pick up her signal at all and asked indifferently in return, “Is Teacher Ji trying to steal someone at the beginning? Do I need to ask the director what the rules are if you want to steal someone?”

Liang Zhen still held a bit of a grudge and didn’t want to interrupt, but in variety shows, if you don’t speak, you have no sense of existence. He had to deliberately tease: “Hahaha, this is the beginning of a robbery? I didn’t expect Xiao Ruan to be very popular. What should I do? I’m getting a little tempted too.”

“Then I’ll come too, I’ll come too.” Su Lihang followed along to join in the fun.

Ji Youyan found herself in an awkward position, laughed at the two men, and said, “What happened to chivalry! To humility!” She waved her hand as if she had given up and said with a smile, “I was just trying it out, you guys are too unrestrained. Ah, I can see right through you guys.” The matter of robbing Ruan Ningwei was considered to be over.

When there was a choice to make, everyone naturally started picking from the best ones. Liang Zhen and Su Lihang picked two A-ranked contestants and Ji Youyan also had to pick the A-ranked Gu Zinan.

In the second round, Jing Xiu picked someone who once again took everyone by surprise.

She picked Zhang Weiye.

Liang Zhen and Su Lihang really had a brain full of question marks and Ji Youyan also wanted to say something. Her connections made it not easy to instruct and was easy to offend those who stood behind her. Since Jing Xiu was asking for trouble, Liang Zhen and Su Lihang were happy to keep their hands to themselves, therefore, they did not say any more than they had to.

Then, in the third round, Jing Xiu picked out a boy, Chen Shu, who was sitting next to an investor during the dinner. Liang Zhen and Su Lihang couldn’t hold it back any longer and told the cameraman on the side not to cut this section.

Liang Zhen asked straightforwardly, “Did you get any special greeting, Teacher Jing?”

Jing Xiu shook her head and answered back frankly, “No.” She paused for a moment and asked them rhetorically, “Is there a problem? Or, do you want these two too?”

Su Lihang judged the situation and responded, “No no, just a little worried about Teacher Jing.” He thought it was better not to take this hot potato.

Ji Youyan hesitated for a moment, but still voiced her concern, “If you take both of them, won’t it be difficult for Teacher Jing?”

Jing Xiu gave her a look and said flatly, “There’s nothing difficult about it.” After saying that, she obviously did not want to continue the topic, “Continue.”

Ji Youyan bit her lip, a gloomy look flashed in her eyes, and she quickly acted as if nothing was wrong as she continued the recording.

After the recording was over, Ji Youyan didn’t dare to chase after Jing Xiu with self-righteous concern like she did before. She and Lin Yue rode in their chauffeur’s car and made their way back to the hotel from the film center in unusual silence.

Lin Yue followed Ji Youyan back to her room and discussed with her about the commercial she needed to fly to shoot in a few days and the fashion event she needed to attend. During the conversation, Ji Youyan was not in high spirits and her expression carried faint tiredness and melancholy, completely different from the state she was in a few days ago.

After Lin Yue finished the discussion, she obviously noticed that Ji Youyan was not in a good mood, so she said with concern, “Sister Ji, what’s wrong with you? Is it because you are too tired today? Or did something unpleasant happen during the recording?”

Ji Youyan shook her head and pulled out a smile to comfort Lin Yue, “It’s okay, I’m just a little tired, I’ll be fine after a nap.”

“Then Sister Ji you should rest early, I will go down first.” Lin Yue said thoughtfully.

Ji Youyan nodded, stood up and took off her jacket, threw herself under the covers, and habitually said, “En, it’s been a hard day for you too.”

Lin Yue took a few steps outside when something suddenly flashed in her mind and she stopped in her tracks. She had learned to be smart and turned back to tell Ji Youyan tentatively, “Sister Ji, just now when you were performing on stage, Teacher Jing specifically stood on the platform and watched.”

Ji Youyan gave a distracted “hmm”. In the next moment, her brain slowly digested the information and she suddenly sat up with a swift motion, asking Lin Yue in surprise, “What did you just say?”

Lin Yue was startled for a moment, then showed a little smile of understanding, and added, “Teacher Jing only watched your performance. And Sister Ji, when watching, her look was particularly gentle. I was surprised.”

Ji Youyan’s entire state of mind changed, looking as though she was a bit torn and wanting to be happy, but not daring to be happy. However, the corners of her lips could not help but raise a little curve.

Lin Yue snickered in her heart. Okay! She knows where Sister Ji’s switch is! It’s really not her thinking too much!

“Moreover, Sister Ji, do you remember what happened two days ago when Teacher Jing gave you a cake? I wanted to remind you to fill your stomach before drinking, but it was only after I remembered with hindsight that Teacher Jing gave you something to eat deliberately. Didn’t she also want to fill your stomach?”

“Sister Ji, I now believe what you said about Teacher Jing and you have a good relationship. It’s just that Teacher Jing might be a little… prideful?” Lin Yue helped Ji Youyan find a reason.

Ji Youyan’s eyes finally lit up and she bit her lips and let out a quiet laugh, “Is that so? En, I understand.”

After Lin Yue left, Ji Youyan hugged the plush panda next to her pillow, buried her face in the warm fleece, and giggled uncontrollably.

She thought that it probably wasn’t really her that was overly self-conscious, right? The tenderness that she perceived was not a figment of her imagination, it was all really there.

It was just that Jing Xiu probably did have lingering affection, but she also had some reservations as well. She understood that she had let Jing Xiu down a lot in the past. If Jing Xiu could have a little bit of expectation for her and give her a little bit of energy to pester her, she would already be very lucky and content.

Ji Yuyin cheered up, got out of bed, and went to the bathroom to take a shower, humming a little song as she rubbed the shower gel on her body. She gave herself a psychological reconstruction and put on a mask afterward. She still wants her face, but it needs to be… thicker!

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The next day at noon, Ji Youyan asked Lin Yue to keep an eye on the cafeteria. When Yao Xiao went to order food for Jing Xiu, she asked Lin Yue to follow suit and have it brought back to their dining room in the suite.

When Lin Yue entered the dining room along with the service cart, Yao Xiao and Jing Xiu had just sat down and looked at Lin Yue and the food at the side with surprise.

This was the first time that they were eating together with Jing Xiu in the dining room in the past few days. Jing Xiu raised her eyes thoughtfully and glanced at Lin Yue, who felt a chill running down her body.

Jing Xiu was truly surprised, she could feel that after she answered Ji Youyan yesterday, Ji Youyan was not as active as she was two days ago. She thought Ji Youyan was going to give up.

“Sister Ji…. Sister Ji’s side just finished, so I brought the meal up here.” Lin Yue explained awkwardly. In fact, it was normal for Jing Xiu and Sister Ji to share the same dining room and eat together, but after her mind was enlightened, she always felt that something was strange.

Jing Xiu gave a soft “hmm”, her voice softer than her face, “Sit down, do you mind if we don’t wait for Teacher Ji to start eating?”

Lin Yue sat down and said, “It’s okay, it’s okay, the food is not shared between us anyway.”

Only then did Jing Xiu take a glance at Ji Youyan’s lunch, which was just light soup and water that could not fill the stomach.

“Is Teacher Ji on a diet?” Jing Xiu asked.

Lin Yue confessed, “Sister Ji said that she was eating too well for dinner these days and that breakfast and lunch would have to be controlled.”

Jing Xiu frowned and didn’t say anything. Lin Yue swallowed, her intuition telling her that Jing Xiu was not too happy.

Just as Lin Yue was pondering whether to find a topic to ease the awkwardness, Jing Xiu suddenly blurted out again coldly, “She has a bad stomach.”

Before Lin Yue could react to Jing Xiu’s meaning, the door opened from outside and it was Ji Youyan who had returned. Lin Yue stood up and quickly went out to greet Ji Youyan as if she had been given a new chance at life.

The four of them ate together at the long table, Ji Youyan wore a gentle smile on her face and looked radiant. Yao Xiao politely took the initiative to ask her, “Sister Ji is in a good mood, it seems that the morning session went well.”

Ji Youyan was peeling an egg when she looked up and said, “It was okay, everyone was very attentive.” Her eyes fell on Jing Xiu and thought of the psychological reinforcement she had done yesterday, so she took the initiative and asked, “How was your morning, Teacher Jing?”

Jing Xiu answered calmly, “Pretty good.”

Yao Xiao sighed in disapproval at the side, except for those two with connections, the other students were quite good. But to complain about such things, if Jing Xiu did not want to say it then naturally she would not talk too much.

Ji Youyan hesitated, but still showed concern for her, “Did Zhang Weiye and Chen Shu give you any trouble?”

Jing Xiu had finished her meal and wiped her hands with a wet wipe, but she didn’t try to hide it, “Yes.” Coming in late and leaving early and not cooperating with the instructions. A trace of annoyance flashed under Jing Xiu’s eyes.

Ji Youyan was suddenly nervous and frowned, “I knew they aren’t easy to teach. Jing Xiu, why did you pick Ningwei and both of them? Are you worried that leaving them in someone else’s hands will affect the fairness of the competition?”

Jing Xiu’s hand-wiping motion stopped for a moment. A few seconds later, she gave an inaudible laugh and raised her eyes to ask her, “This someone else, does that include you?”

Ji Youyan’s smile faintly fell, embarrassingly said, “I am not, I….” she wanted to say “I am not such a person”, but the words would not come out of her mouth. She was not such a person to begin with and she was not such a person now, but she wasn’t sure if she was such a person in Jing Xiu’s eyes at this time. Would this statement sound like sophistry? 

Jing Xiu withdrew her look and said with undetectable emotion, “Let’s just say I’m not going to give you the opportunity to show your favors. Take your time.” After saying that, she stood up and left.

Ji Youyan was disappointed at the hint of sarcasm in her tone. Her eyes stayed downcast in silence for a few seconds. Her dead eyes looked at Lin Yue, who did not dare to speak, and showed her usual smile again, teasing Lin Yue, “I want you to learn more from your sister Yao Xiao, Say, today you will be tested on your proficiency.”

“Huh?” Lin Yue was confused.

“Was Teacher Jing prideful today?” She took a small bite of egg white with a distinguished gentle look.

Lin Yue gulped a mouthful of saliva and slowly shook her head.

She doesn’t know if there was any arrogance. Sister Ji was still not upset after being scorned, she knew that!

The author has something to say.

Teacher Jing’s knife-like eyes looking at Lin Yue: You know too much.

Lin Yue crying: I shouldn’t go through this, I’m just a kitten.

Sister Ji will definitely catch up to Teacher Jing!

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