After all these years, Chen Chunyao could still remember the look in Shen Yan's eyes when he looked at her.
It was full of disdain and impatience.
She felt extremely aggrieved. It wasn't her who asked Xu Tingyu to stand up for her, nor was it her who told those people to beat her up.
Why was she being blamed for all this?
So she asked Shen Yan, "Why did you come to find me? Did she ask you to?"
Shen Yan looked at her as if she were crazy.
"She regarded you as her best friend, and this is how you see her? If she had asked me to come to you, she wouldn't have stepped in to help you out back then."
"I came here on my own. I know she's been helping you out, and I also know you're not being entirely sincere to her."
"I'm here to warn you. No matter what your purpose is for staying by her side, please don't do anything to hurt her."
"Otherwise, I will never let you off."
Shen Yan was impatient with everyone back then and spoke very bluntly.
After saying these words, he threw a card at her and told her to bother Xu Tingyu less in the future.
At first, Chen Chunyao wanted to return the card defiantly.
But when she got home that night, she found that the rented house she'd finally managed to get was smashed to pieces again.
Her parents were sitting beside the broken glass, crying their hearts out.
She couldn't return the card just for the sake of her pride.
She had to give it to her parents so they could pay off the interest first and then clean up the house.
Her parents didn't even dare to ask where the money came from before rushing off to find the creditors.
Years later, when she finally paid off all her debts and returned the money in the card, plus the interest, to Shen Yan.
He had completely forgotten about it.
After she reminded him, Shen Yan even felt a bit apologetic. "I was young back then. I acted impulsively without thinking."
"If I hurt you in any way, I'm sorry."
Given Shen Yan's background, it was actually quite rare for him to realize his own mistakes.
Chen Chunyao knew she should be grateful to him.
At least he gave her the money after saying those humiliating words.
But she just couldn't let it go.
She minded that even his condescending charity was because of Xu Tingyu.
She also minded that although they grew up together, he only ever saw Xu Tingyu.
He was always distant towards the rest of them.
Even later, when Xu Tingyu got married to Qi Shifeng, he simply disappeared from their circle of childhood friends.
He showed them with his actions that apart from Xu Tingyu, none of them were worthy of being his friends.
Even now, her relationship with Shen Yan was still very distant. They would just say hello when they met and never contact each other otherwise.
Xu Tingyu didn't know about all this between them. Hearing Chen Chunyao joking about Shen Yan's temper, she laughed.
"Who says it isn't? He's just lucky. He's been the apple of his family's eye since he was a kid. He was a little tyrant back then. Who in the neighborhood hasn't been bullied by him?"
When they were kids, she and Shen Yan would always fight when they met. So she deeply agreed with Chen Chunyao's words.
Shen Yan really had a bad temper when he was in school. Later, when he started working, he became a playboy and his temper changed.
"Thankfully, he's not a playboy anymore, and his temper hasn't reverted. It's an improvement."
Xu Tingyu made another joke.
Chen Chunyao on the other side also smiled. "Let's not talk about him. How long are you back this time? Let's find a time to get together again."
"Sure. This trip was quite sudden, so I can't finish dealing with things for a while. Let me know when you're free, and I'll see if I'm available."
To prevent the other person from noticing anything amiss, Xu Tingyu had to lie again.
Chen Chunyao replied, and the two chatted about some other things before hanging up the phone.
Almost the moment the phone call ended, Chen Chunyao slammed her phone onto the carpet.
Sister Chen, who was reading the script beside her, was startled. Looking up, she saw Chen Chunyao with an ugly expression and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"
Weren't they chatting happily just now and even making a dinner appointment at the end?
Why did she suddenly get angry?
Was it because the pressure was too much recently? Sister Chen wondered if she really had some psychological problems. Sometimes she seemed depressed, and sometimes she was manic.
Chen Chunyao didn't say a word. She just clenched her fists tightly.
Xu Tingyu, really a great best friend of hers.
She didn't even tell her the truth. What, was she guarding against her now?
Why guard against her? Didn't she always claim that she was her best friend?
It was fine that she didn't tell her voluntarily when she returned to the country. Now that she called to ask, she even lied.
Looking at land?
The person was already dead, and she said she was looking at land?
Did she think she was a fool?
But she couldn't say these words out loud. She could only suppress her anger and went straight to her room to rest without even looking at Sister Chen.
Sister Chen watched her enter the room before saying to the little assistant beside her, "Be careful during this period. Don't make her unhappy."
The little assistant nodded cautiously and whispered, "I know. Her emotions have been very unstable recently. She often cries and laughs for no reason."
The little assistant and Chen Chunyao were basically together all the time except when they were sleeping.
So she knew her state better than anyone else.
Sister Chen sighed worriedly. "It's probably because the work pressure is too great. The character she's playing in this script is very complex."
"She's not simply a bad person, nor is she a pure good person. There are contradictions intertwined in this character."
"To fully portray the complex personality of this character requires very delicate acting. She's under a lot of pressure."
Chen Chunyao managed to reach her current position also because she chose good scripts.
Many people fought for this movie role at the beginning, and there were even actors with much higher status than Chen Chunyao vying for it.
So at first, Sister Chen didn't hold out any hope.
After all, movies were made to make money. The director would definitely choose actors with status and box - office appeal first.
And those actors' acting skills were not bad either.
So after Chen Chunyao went for the audition, Sister Chen didn't keep asking about the result. She had already defaulted to giving up.
It wasn't until the final result was announced that it was actually Chen Chunyao who got the role.
Everyone in their company was very happy, but only Chen Chunyao herself reacted indifferently.
As if she had known the result from the beginning.
Now, Sister Chen somewhat regretted letting her take on this role.
Because Chen Chunyao's strangeness seemed to start from the moment she took on this play.
She was afraid that in the end, in order to get into the character, Chen Chunyao would ruin herself.
"Keep this a strict secret. Don't let anyone know, especially those in the industry and the media."
Although Sister Chen couldn't figure out the reason, she still reminded the assistant to keep her mouth shut immediately.
The little assistant of course didn't dare to leak it. After all, Chen Chunyao was like her bread - winner, and she still had to rely on her to make a living.
She just hoped that Chen Chunyao could return to normal soon. Otherwise, they, the people around her, would always be on tenterhooks.