The big star Fang was not satisfied with just the inti.mate contact with Gang Kai and curiously looked toward the inner room. "Should I change shoes?"

The question was tactful, but the meaning was clear. Zhou Zhi couldn't help but laugh—she really wanted to go in and take a look.

The big star's curiosity was truly strong. Considering the canned food, she said, "No need to change shoes, it's too much trouble. I'll mop the floor when I get back." As soon as she moved, Gang Kai darted inside, quickly taking the position on the sofa and lying down.

The old-style public housing that Zhou Zhi rented was very simply furnished: a large bed, a sofa, a desk, no television, but a desktop computer, laptop, and iPad were all present, and three bookshelves were packed full.

"So this is what your bookshelves look like. Bamboo ones, are they practical?" Meaning she had previously speculated about her bookshelves.

"It's a rented place, everything is kept simple. You knew I had bookshelves?"

"You mentioned it before."

"How is that possible?"

"You really did mention it."

Zhou Zhi suddenly realized—she had mentioned adding bookshelves in her social media feed. "Don't tell me you went through my entire social media feed from start to finish."

Fang Jiang quickly denied it. "When would I have the time? I haven't gotten around to it yet."

Haven't gotten around to it yet... As if it were some serialized novel.

"Are you a stalker?" Who would go through another person's entire social media feed from start to finish? "You didn't go through my Weibo too, did you?"

Fang Jiang didn't deny it, she just smiled. "I was curious about what life is like for someone the same age as me."

A big star's life is probably different from ordinary people's. As for digging through history, Zhou Zhi didn't really mind. After all, what's posted is meant to be seen, and there's nothing she can't share with others. If someone wants to look, they can look; it's not up to her to control. "I'm not a typical case. You should look at my classmates—it's all about buying cars, buying houses, getting married, having children, making a fortune, traveling the world, and living harmoniously. That's mostly what ordinary life is like."

"What's interesting about that? Do you think I haven't seen enough of it? My former classmates are mostly like that, and so are my colleagues. It's boring. They're not like me."

"I'm not like you either."

"At least in one way, we are the same."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Being alone, without unnecessary burdens."

Zhou Zhi couldn't believe her ears. "Big star, how can you say that? You have hundreds of bags, hundreds of pairs of shoes, hundreds of pieces of clothing. Alone? Without unnecessary burdens? Oh, you don't consider those external things as burdens."

After looking through the books on the shelves one by one, Fang Jiang finally said, "I was referring to marriage and children. Besides, I don't have hundreds of bags, shoes, or clothes. For important events, brands sponsor them, I don't need to buy them myself. Have you ever seen me flaunt those things in my social media feed?"

She knew she would look at her social media feed!

Alright, the big star had hit the nail on the head. Zhou Zhi blushed—she was a stalker too.

Fang Jiang didn't mind. She didn't block anyone or set her feed to show only the last three days; she openly let everyone see it.

If Zhou Zhi hadn't gone through her social media feed, she wouldn't have interacted with her. Without knowing what the other person was like, how could they have ended up eating together?

"Hey, you have no sense of security. How can you just openly share your social media feed with strangers? What if someone sells your information?"

Pulling out a copy of The Dog's Lineage, Fang Jiang didn't even look up. "Are you a stranger?"

"What I mean is..." Going back to the day they first argued, they were indeed strangers. Adding each other on WeChat was just a spur-of-the-moment decision.

"Do you know my phone number and ID info?" Fang Jiang asked her.

"How would I know that."

"Exactly. Do you know how much this information sells for?"

"How much?"

"A few hundred bucks, less than one shelf of your books."

Caught off guard, Zhou Zhi was speechless.

Fang Jiang closed the book, wearing a half-smile. "My schedule is even cheaper. For just a little money, anyone can know when and where I'll appear. You've seen those airport pickups, street photos, and ambushes in the news, right? No matter how I feel one second, the next I have to put on a friendly face. Thank goodness for sunglasses and masks—otherwise, relying solely on acting skills would be impossible. Even acting runs out eventually."

"Some celebrities aren't exactly polite."

"That's them, not me. You have to be professional in this line of work, right? Being generous for others to see is part of the job. Fans and us are like fish and water—without fans, there's no us. After all, I'm not exactly an acting powerhouse. These past two years have been better, I don't need to maintain exposure like when I first debuted, always ready to be photographed at any moment."

"At any moment?"

"If you're not glamorous all the time, how can you be a good celebrity? Celebrities are responsible for being beautiful, and fans are responsible for consuming that beauty. We each have our roles. Don't pity me—I get paid." Fang Jiang waved the small book in her hand. "Lend it to me."

As if.

"No lending." Zhou Zhi tried to pull the book from her grasp, but she held it tightly, and it didn't come loose immediately.

"Then I'll come here every day to read it? I can pet the dog and..." She deliberately glanced at the bald head. "That wouldn't be bad either."

". . ."

"Or you can come to my place every day and read it to me."

Zhou Zhi shot her a glare, yanked the book back with force, and returned it to its place. "It's not even fully dark outside—too early for dreaming."

Who knew Fang Jiang would be so stubborn. "Lend it to me!"

Zhou Zhi glared at her, and she glared back. Gang Kai, sprawled on the sofa, yawned and closed his eyes.

In a staring contest, who could rival Fang Jiang, whose eyes "held worlds within them"? A blessing from her parents, even her unreasonable demands shone brilliantly. Before long, Zhou Zhi gave in. "I'll buy you a copy, how about that!" If they kept glaring, she'd lose herself in those eyes.

A quick online search showed it was out of stock everywhere, except on a secondhand site where it cost 190 yuan. Insane—a little book originally priced at twelve yuan selling for 190.

Zhou Zhi's eye twitched, and she considered negotiating.

But the big star had already taken the book back, hugging it to her chest this time, ready to borrow it by force.

"How about I make you a photocopy?"

Fang Jiang hugged the book tighter and took a step back.

Zhou Zhi surrendered. "Fine, I'll lend it to you. But you have to return it."

"I will! I'll return it after reading. Don't you know? 'Books must be borrowed to be truly read.'"

"Then go borrow it from the library."

"Stingy. How can you be so stingy? Stingy with meals, stingy with books."

"Give it back!"

Fang Jiang mimicked her. "It's not even fully dark outside—too early for dreaming."

They both laughed at the same time, finding themselves and each other ridiculously childish.

Linking arms with Zhou Zhi, Fang Jiang said, "Let's go eat Salted Pork and Bamboo Shoot Soup. Any later and Xiao Liu will be off work, and no one will drive you back."

"Your driver has working hours?"

"People have families and their own lives, you know. Being a driver is just a job—you can't expect someone to sacrifice their life for it. Appearing at events and shows is unavoidable, but you can't keep that up every day. No amount of money can buy out someone's 24 hours."

"Oh my, I never took you for a benevolent capitalist."

Before heading out, Zhou Zhi refilled Gang Kai's water and gave him snacks, explaining where she was going and that she'd be back soon, telling him to guard the house well.

Fang Jiang smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. "Does he understand?"

"He does. If you don't properly explain things to him, he'll tear the house apart."

Fang Jiang bent down, mimicking Zhou Zhi by stroking Gang Kai's chin. "Gang Kai, I'm leaving for today. I'll come play with you next time."

Tch. Zhou Zhi looked up at the sky—planning the next visit before even leaving.

By the time they reached Fang Jiang's villa, it was already dark. Before getting out of the car, Fang Jiang reminded Xiao Liu to clock off and head home.

Xiao Liu asked, "What about Miss Zhou?"

"I can get back on my own. It's not far from my place—there are buses and the subway. If it gets late, it's easy to call a ride."

"If it gets too late, you can stay at my place. There are rooms, though they're not cleaned. You can sleep on the floor by my bed." After saying this, Fang Jiang expected Zhou Zhi to scoff at her, but instead, the other woman seemed relieved.

"I thought you were after my body. Now I can relax."

After her body? Fang Jiang scoffed inwardly. Dream on. She stomped hard on Zhou Zhi's foot and strode inside without looking back.

Sun Chunlian had already opened the door for her. After greeting Zhou Zhi, she said, "Jiang Jiang, you seem in high spirits today. Did something good happen?"

"What high spirits?" She was clearly in a foul mood.

But the hallway mirror reflected her upturned lips, and a round head stealthily appeared behind her—silly, like an ostrich egg. The reflection in the mirror smiled again.

Fang Jiang pinched her own cheek. Da.mn, she was actually grinning like an idiot.

When was the last time she'd grinned like that? When she was three.

Fang Jiang froze, accidentally dropping her book on the floor.

Just like that, it landed on the soft carpet, and Zhou Zhi let out a mournful cry. "The book..."

She might as well have said, "Oh book, you died so tragically."

Snatching the book from her hand, Fang Jiang said, "You lent it to me, so now it's mine."

"You gave it a concussion."

"Nonsense. It's just... it's just that it hasn't been out in a long time and got too excited to breathe some fresh air. It couldn't wait."

"Big star, are you switching careers to become a screenwriter?"

Sun Chunlian listened to their bickering, thoroughly amused. It had been a long time since the house felt this lively.

Since she started working for Fang Jiang, the house had always been quiet and deserted. Aside from Meng Shizhen, Xiao Liu, and Song Yuan, Fang Jiang rarely brought anyone home. People say celebrities love throwing parties, but this one of hers neither liked attending them nor organizing any. Other celebrities often had scandals or relationships, but solid evidence was rare for this one. Recently, Fang Jiang had been feeling down, and Sun Chunlian suggested she reconnect with old classmates and friends—though it was unclear if Fang Jiang had taken the advice.

But it seemed this Miss Zhou could bring Fang Jiang some joy.

For that reason, Sun Chunlian treated Zhou Zhi with extra warmth, serving her a large piece of pork knuckle in her soup bowl.

Dinner was simple: aside from the Salted Pork and Bamboo Shoot Soup, the table held broad beans, Stir-fried Vegetable Stems, and Toona sinensis with Dried Tofu.

Fang Jiang usually didn't eat staples and never felt it was an issue, but watching Zhou Zhi eat made everything seem delicious. The aroma of rice wafted into her nose, making her mouth water.

Seeing Fang Jiang stand up after only a few bites, Sun Chunlian thought she had no appetite and quickly asked, "Jiang Jiang, does the soup not suit your taste?"

"The soup is delicious, I'll get some rice."

Zhou Zhi paused her chopsticks and gave her a strange look. Didn't she say she was watching her figure and wouldn't eat rice?

Fang Jiang held her bowl, sat down with frustration, and brought a small mouthful of rice to her lips.

Zhou Zhi peeked over and saw only a tiny portion of rice in the bowl.

Just that glance earned her another glare from Fang Jiang.

"It's all your fault."

"My fault again?"

"Who told you to eat so appetizingly?"

Sun Chunlian said with a laugh, "With many children in the family, meals are always enjoyed heartily." She was old-fashioned* and loved seeing children eat well—to her, eating more was a blessing.

The children, Fang Jiang and Zhou Zhi, exchanged a look and wrinkled their noses at each other: Hmph.

Author's note: A silly big star and a silly little author.

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