Princess Syndrome - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Birthday

The last time Su Lingyue accompanied someone to the bathroom was back in elementary school. Since then, others had always accompanied her, and she had grown accustomed to it. Now, completely unaware of her role as an escort, she moved with fluid grace—closing the parasol at the bathroom entrance and walking towards the door. Yang Zhizhi, standing in the sunlight, nearly lost her breath as she watched Su Lingyue's slender back, unsure whether Su Lingyue was accompanying her or if she was accompanying Su Lingyue.

Once inside, Su Lingyue suddenly remembered something and stepped back, making way for Yang Zhizhi: "Miss Yang, after you."

This was a private bathroom set up by the production crew at the filming location for convenience. Inside, it was kept spotlessly clean, with a single toilet and sink. As Yang Zhizhi entered, the thought of Su Lingyue waiting outside gave her an inexplicable sense of embarrassment—something she never felt even when her assistant accompanied her.

Sitting on the toilet, she felt constipated. Finally, she had to turn up the music on her phone before she could finish.

Outside, Su Lingyue stood waiting. Crew members occasionally passed by, and she greeted them with a smile, showing unusual warmth that seemed out of character. When Yang Zhizhi came out and saw Su Lingyue smiling at the crew members, she rolled her eyes and asked, "Do you need to use the bathroom?"

Su Lingyue replied, "Well, since I'm here already."

Yang Zhizhi: ...

Was that really an appropriate response?

Su Lingyue saw nothing inappropriate about it and brushed past her into the bathroom. The soundproofing was excellent—not a sound could be heard. Yang Zhizhi stood by the door with a tense expression, leaning back against the wall, still unable to hear anything from inside.

A few minutes later, Su Lingyue came out after washing her hands. She took the parasol from Yang Zhizhi's hands, and they walked back together. Along the way, Su Lingyue continued nodding and smiling at the crew members.

Yang Zhizhi: "Can you stop being so fake?"

Su Lingyue turned to look at her: "Fake?"

She seemed genuinely surprised by this assessment.

Yang Zhizhi's mouth twitched.

When she first entered the entertainment industry, she had known of Su Lingyue—not an industry insider, yet occasionally trending on social media with just a glimpse of her face. She remembered a dinner party where people discussed her.

"Oh my, what a waste of that pretty face—never smiling!"

"A smile worth a thousand gold pieces."

That's what everyone used to say about her.

She hadn't been interested then and never paid much attention, until she finally met Su Lingyue face to face.

All that pent-up frustration.

She had never really looked at that face carefully before.

Now, looking closely, she saw Su Lingyue's puzzled expression at her words, slightly furrowed brows, as if struggling to understand something—her confused look was almost cute.

Actually.

She wasn't that fake.

But Yang Zhizhi nodded: "Fake!"

Su Lingyue responded with an "Oh" and resumed her cold expression.

She looked like someone who had been abused, and just as Yang Zhizhi began to furrow her brows, Su Lingyue leaned forward: "Why don't you smile for me?"

Yang Zhizhi turned her head, as if not believing what she'd heard.

She asked: "What?"

Su Lingyue said: "Show me a genuine smile, so I can learn from it."

Yang Zhizhi: ...

What a weirdo!

Just as she was about to curse, Su Lingyue flashed her a smile, eyes twinkling with sincerity, seemingly earnest in her desire to learn.

This time it wasn't fake.

Just completely ridiculous.

Yang Zhizhi's heart skipped a beat, and she was momentarily lost for words. Su Lingyue continued looking at her, and she snapped irritably: "How absurd!"

She hurried back to the shade tent with a stern expression. Her assistant was drinking water and asked softly when they returned: "Zhizhi, would you like some water?"

Yang Zhizhi took the iced water from her and took a sip to cool down her agitation.

Su Lingyue followed them into the tent and asked: "When is Miss Yang's next scene?"

The assistant said: "Oh, the next scene is in five minutes."

Su Lingyue nodded, glancing at her wrist watch.

The assistant asked: "What's the matter?"

Su Lingyue said: "I'd like to treat everyone to morning tea. Do you have any recommendations?"

The assistant responded enthusiastically: "There are several good shops nearby." Near the school, milk tea shops were abundant. Originally, Su Lingyue had thought about ordering coffee, but considering taste preferences and delivery issues, she decided to work with what was available locally. She said: "I just don't know everyone's preferences."

"I have a list, but there are more crew members today. I'll help you ask about their preferences," the assistant said with a smile. Treating everyone to milk tea was the first thing to do when joining a production—hoping for everyone to take good care of Yang Zhizhi, so she had written all the preferences in her notes.

Su Lingyue said: "Thank you for your trouble."

"It's no trouble!" The assistant said: "It's a small matter."

Yang Zhizhi, listening to their conversation nearby, sneered and looked at her assistant: "Don't you have anything better to do?"

The assistant noticed her displeased tone and hesitated before quickly moving to her side: "Zhizhi, do you need anything?"

Yang Zhizhi said: "You seem to have too much free time on your hands."

The assistant glanced at Su Lingyue and said: "I'll let her do the survey herself."

She scurried over to Su Lingyue and said: "Miss Su, I just remembered I have something to do. Could you handle the survey?"

Su Lingyue responded graciously: "Of course, thank you."

The assistant waved her hands: "No need, here's the notepad."

Su Lingyue took the notepad and walked towards the crew members, moving from one tent to another. Her expression remained calm, her gaze gentle when making eye contact, while Yang Zhizhi nursed her irritation.

This irritation was different from her previous encounters with Su Lingyue.

Feeling uncomfortable all around, she simply called to her assistant: "Tell her to come here."

The assistant, though confused, went to call Su Lingyue.

Yang Zhizhi sat in the tent, and when Su Lingyue approached, she extended her hand.

Su Lingyue thought she wanted the notepad and handed over the paper and pen, but Yang Zhizhi snapped: "What are you giving me this for?"

Su Lingyue asked: "Then what do you want?"

Yang Zhizhi said: "The contract—once I give it to you, you can leave, right?"

Su Lingyue hesitated for a few seconds and said: "I don't really want to leave yet."

Her tone was slow, as she wracked her brain for a good reason, while Yang Zhizhi turned to look at her upon hearing this: "Why?"

Why?

Because she needed to stall for time until Zhou Yan couldn't sit still anymore.

Su Lingyue said: "I want to treat you to milk tea."

"You!" Yang Zhizhi stuttered: "I don't drink milk tea."

Su Lingyue said: "Then what would you like? I'll go buy it."

Yang Zhizhi said: "Why do you care what I drink?"

Who was caring about her?

Her temper was much worse than Ji Zhiyi's.

No, wait.

Ji Zhiyi's temper was quite good.

Very gentle.

Even though she appeared cold and bland, she was actually quite nice.

Su Lingyue pressed her forehead, wondering how she'd started making comparisons. She turned to Yang Zhizhi and forced a smile: "Miss Yang, if you don't like milk tea, how about coffee?"

Yang Zhizhi said: "Don't like that either."

Su Lingyue took a deep breath: "Other beverages?"

Yang Zhizhi was silent for two seconds.

The assistant quietly suggested: "Zhizhi likes this brand of juice."

Su Lingyue nodded, looked at Yang Zhizhi, and said: "I'll go buy it."

Yang Zhizhi frowned.

She had already said she could just give her the contract.

Why was she still acting so subservient?

Did she really want to treat her to a drink that badly?

Yang Zhizhi's lips curved slightly upward, and she said to her assistant: "Go help her."

The assistant immediately responded with an enthusiastic "Yes!" and rushed over. Yang Zhizhi's mouth twitched.

One might think she was Su Lingyue's assistant.

Such enthusiasm compared to her indifference towards herself.

Was she being too cold to Su Lingyue?

Yang Zhizhi shifted her sitting position when she heard the assistant director call: "Zhizhi!"

She said: "Coming!"

Then the makeup artist came to touch up her makeup before she entered the filming area.

Su Lingyue had prepared milk tea for everyone according to their preferences. The crew members understood this was thanks to Yang Zhizhi's influence. During a break, several of them asked Yang Zhizhi: "Zhizhi, are you going to work with Yilin?"

The director was sitting nearby, watching her.

Yang Zhizhi said: "Still in talks."

"I heard Su Qi approached you too," a crew member gossiped. "Is that true, Zhizhi?"

Yang Zhizhi gave her a sideways glance and smiled without saying anything.

The crew member understood the implication.

Others smiled too.

The situation with Su Qi and Yilin wasn't exactly news anymore. Originally, when Yilin acquired half of Su Qi, everyone had turned their attention to the two companies, imagining there would be bloodshed, but after the acquisition, Yilin hadn't made any dramatic moves. They even kept Su Qi's subsidiary employees in their positions without moving anyone, which was unusual and made people more curious.

But Yilin and Su Qi seemed to have agreed to maintain peaceful relations.

Until Yang Zhizhi's endorsement.

That's when things started to feel tense.

Everyone was curious about which company would win the endorsement, but seeing Su Lingyue treating everyone and bustling about, it seemed Yilin had sealed the deal.

After Yang Zhizhi finished a scene, she returned to the tent. Su Lingyue noticed the crew member who had been talking with her walk away and followed under the pretense of delivering milk tea.

From a distance, she heard "Mr. Zhou" mentioned in the phone call.

Su Lingyue lowered her head and passed by her, delivering milk tea to other crew members.

Back at the tent, Yang Zhizhi was lying in a chair while her assistant handed her water: "This is from Assistant Su."

Yang Zhizhi noticed her eager expression, took the water, and took a sip.

It was sweet.

She put down the can and saw Su Lingyue entering. She immediately turned away with a cold expression.

The water had been bought and drunk—it was time to discuss the contract, right?

Yang Zhizhi waited.

But Su Lingyue didn't initiate conversation with her, instead asking the assistant: "What's that?"

The assistant said: "Nail stickers, I custom-ordered them. They're super convenient."

Su Lingyue looked at them—indeed, she hadn't seen this type before, very convenient.

Seeing her interest, the assistant explained: "My birthday is in February, and this month's lucky color is red." She asked Su Lingyue: "Assistant Su, when's your birthday?"

Su Lingyue said: "January."

January ninth.

That's why she had said Ji Zhiyi's house number was easy to remember.

The assistant nodded.

She took out her phone to check, and a minute later said: "January's lucky color this month is pink. Would you like one too?"

Su Lingyue looked at her nails, which looked like they had been professionally done, making her fingers appear slender and fair. They were quite pretty. She had tried nail art for a while before but gave up because it was too troublesome.

Now she felt a stirring of interest.

Yang Zhizhi glanced over: "What's the use?"

The assistant quickly said: "It brings luck!" She continued convincingly: "Not only does it increase luck, but it also improves your mood, and when your mood is good, your complexion is better, everything tastes better—ever since I've been following this book's color recommendations, I haven't even had any nightmares!"

Su Lingyue didn't believe it.

But she honestly extended one finger, asking as if casually: "Can you just do one finger?"

The assistant smiled: "Of course!"

She quickly did one nail for Su Lingyue in pink, very light, almost the same as her natural nail color. After finishing, the assistant looked up and asked Yang Zhizhi: "Zhizhi, would you like one too?"

Yang Zhizhi glared at her.

The assistant gave a dry laugh.

She had forgotten.

Yang Zhizhi still had scenes to film.

She hurriedly started packing everything away, but Su Lingyue said: "May I take a look?"

The assistant said: "Sure, which style would you like?"

Su Lingyue didn't answer, just lowered her head to look carefully, then thought deeply.

Ji Zhiyi's birthday.

What month was it again?

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