Each With Their Own Thoughts

Chen Si Yang had guessed half of the movie's ending.

The male lead had indeed remained in the Realm of Painting, but someone from inside had taken his place and returned to reality.

In fact, from the moment that watch appeared, the male lead had been trapped in the Realm of Painting. In the real world, he had already become someone else.

Looking back on it again, it was the kind of detail that became terrifying the more one thought about it.

The gasps throughout the theater showed that it was a successful film.

It was just that Heavenly Harmony had kept a relatively low profile this time, and the promotion had not been all that extravagant.

When the movie ended, Chen Si Yang did not get up right away, nor did Tang Zhi Chu.

Tang Zhi Chu was memorizing the names of the film's creative team, including those behind the visual effects.

Comparing the two worlds, Hua Country's film industry in this world seemed far more mature. The visual effects alone had remained consistent from beginning to end, with solid aesthetics and no sense of awkwardness.

"Do you still have the ticket?" Chen Si Yang suddenly asked.

Tang Zhi Chu nodded.

"Do you think I should congratulate her?"

"Who?"

"He Jin."

Tang Zhi Chu glanced at the big screen and happened to spot He Jin's name. She had played a female police officer with a decent amount of screen time.

She was Chen Si Yang's former teammate, also someone who had come out of the Planet Girl Group. While looking into Chen Si Yang's background, Tang Zhi Chu had come across a report he still remembered.

After Heavenly Harmony signed Chen Si Yang, they had gathered three members of the Planet Girl Group. Fans had called out, urging them to just sign the whole group.

In other words, Heavenly Harmony now had three artists from the Planet Girl Group under its banner, Chen Si Yang included.

Tang Zhi Chu pulled out the ticket and handed it to Chen Si Yang. "If you think you should congratulate her, then do it."

Chen Si Yang nodded, took the ticket, and snapped a photo of it with her phone.

She did not know what state of mind she was in right now. She simply wanted to get in touch with an old friend, and she had happened to see this movie.

After Chen Si Yang took the picture and edited a WeChat message to send, the two of them finally left the theater.

Where the two rivers met, dusk settled over the city.

The undulating skyline, dotted with neon lights, reflected in the vast river below. The two mirrored each other, both breathtaking and magical. This was the scenery of the mountain city.

With the winds from the meeting of the two rivers blowing in from all directions, Chen Si Yang leaned back in her chair with a contented air.

This was an open-air restaurant by the river, with a perfect view of the city's magical 3D nightscape.

Tang Zhi Chu raised his glass. "Since we're here, we should at least go through the motions. Let's use tea in place of wine."

Chen Si Yang burst out laughing, raised her glass, and clinked it against his.

When ordering, Tang Zhi Chu had said he hated drinking, but this setting was suited to alcohol.

While the waiter stood there in a daze, Tang Zhi Chu asked for wine glasses and a pot of tea.

Chen Si Yang felt that Tang Zhi Chu had a slight social butterfly streak in him.

Chen Si Yang sat a little straighter, placing both hands below the table and leaning forward slightly. She pushed up the brim of her bucket hat.

"I didn't expect you not to drink."

"Is that so surprising? Plenty of guys these days neither smoke nor drink."

"Not really. I just thought chefs would drink. Especially if you ran your own restaurant, with customers constantly coming and going. Wouldn't you have to drink a few glasses?"

Chen Si Yang felt that Tang Zhi Chu's attentiveness might have come from running a restaurant. When dealing with a constant stream of customers, one had to be attentive.

Tang Zhi Chu, however, thought of his father lying in the hospital. Perhaps that had been why he drank, though it had eventually turned into alcoholism.

"That's an ordinary chef."

Chen Si Yang laughed. "So you mean you're not ordinary?"

"Mm-hm."

"Then when will I get to eat something you made?"

"Tomorrow. Tomorrow night."

"Then when will I get to hear you sing?"

Tang Zhi Chu shook his head. "Sing? I'm not very good at it."

"I don't believe you."

"I only know a tiny little bit."

Seeing Tang Zhi Chu's utterly serious expression, Chen Si Yang actually started to believe him.

If Tang Zhi Chu was good at singing, he should have sung last night, right?

"You're being modest. You just don't want to sing."

Tang Zhi Chu countered, "Well, I haven't heard you sing either."

A smile appeared on Chen Si Yang's face as she stared straight at him. "Do you want to hear it?"

"Now?"

"Now!"

Tang Zhi Chu rolled up his sleeves. "Go ahead. I'm all ears."

Chen Si Yang cleared her throat twice, then tilted her head as she searched for the key.

She sang a short a cappella passage from a song she had also performed during the girl group audition show. It had been the individual talent piece she had chosen herself.

Tang Zhi Chu listened intently. Chen Si Yang's tone was pleasant too, though it was not as clear and bright as Zhou Yun's.

What surprised Tang Zhi Chu was that Chen Si Yang had solid technique. Her Weak Mix and vocal runs were effortless.

After she finished the passage, Chen Si Yang asked Tang Zhi Chu, "What do you think?"

Tang Zhi Chu applauded. "If I'd known, why would I have helped tune your vocals yesterday?"

Chen Si Yang giggled happily.

The two chatted as they ate. Chen Si Yang seemed to have shed her social anxiety, smiling without pause.

It was only when Tang Zhi Chu got up to use the restroom that Chen Si Yang turned toward the distant river and stared blankly at it.

For a girl, was a career important?

That was what Chen Si Yang had asked Tang Zhi Chu in the movie theater.

Just as Tang Zhi Chu had guessed from Chen Si Yang's personality, she thought about many things.

Whenever Chen Si Yang asked something after careful consideration, it was never that simple.

She had been testing Tang Zhi Chu.

If she felt that Tang Zhi Chu genuinely believed a girl's career was important—

Chen Si Yang felt that she would give it her all and try, try to like him, even if it might delay her career.

But Tang Zhi Chu's answer had been that a career was not important, while dreams were.

In Chen Si Yang's eyes, Tang Zhi Chu had a streak of male chauvinism deep down.

If a career was not important, then family was important.

If dreams were important, then singing and acting were fine, as long as she did not treat them as a career.

Chen Si Yang had cried in the theater. In that instant, she had thought about many things. Why had she not met Tang Zhi Chu sooner? Even if it had been just a year earlier, Chen Si Yang felt she would have thrown herself in without hesitation. His warmth and his attention to detail had both stirred something in her heart.

But now, it seemed she no longer had that much courage.

She had cried at the wrong time, and she had cried because she seemed to have changed.

Deep down, she should have had hopes and expectations. Yet now that she had encountered them, why was she hesitating?

Or had her career long since become more important than a man in the depths of her heart?

At the corner of the open-air restaurant, Tang Zhi Chu, having returned from the restroom, leaned against the railing and watched Chen Si Yang's back without approaching.

Tang Zhi Chu was an old soul in his thirties, at the peak of his career. How could he possibly have failed to notice that Chen Si Yang had cried in the theater?

He had deliberately chosen to ignore it.

A person's low point was precisely the best time to shape themselves.

Of course Tang Zhi Chu could have stopped her, told her that she was wonderful, that she needed to take a long-term view of her career.

She was beautiful, had a great figure, possessed professional ability, and had just been signed by a major company. What was there to worry about?

Yeah, what was there to worry about?

Unless a bad man appeared.

So Tang Zhi Chu held himself back. He did not think he would be a good man, and stopping at the very last step might not be a bad thing for Chen Si Yang.

Walking through it herself was far more reliable than relying on a man. It would become the weapon that helped her carve through every obstacle in the future.

It was also because Tang Zhi Chu did not want a girl to rely on him; he found it troublesome.

Dating a girl like Chen Si Yang would be exhausting.