Chapter 155
Gu Yanqiu looked at her and said, “If you want to laugh, just laugh. You don’t have to hold it in.”
Lin Yuewei froze for a second, then burst out laughing for real.
It wasn’t her fault. She’d been buried in work until she couldn’t tell day from night, and it had been a while since she’d video-called Gu Yanqiu. The changes had been so gradual before that she hadn’t noticed them; maybe it was just that enough small changes had finally added up to a big one. Today, the moment the call connected, the fullness in Gu Yanqiu’s face was obvious at a glance.
After she finished laughing, Lin Yuewei leaned forward, trying to see farther down through the screen. She made a shamelessly suggestive gesture with one hand and asked, “Did your chest get bigger?”
That meant she was blessed, didn’t it?
Gu Yanqiu shot her a cold look.
Lin Yuewei held up both hands in surrender, signaling that she would never dare again.
Teasing aside, she asked, “What happened? Have you been slacking off on exercise lately?” Gu Yanqiu didn’t seem like that kind of person; when Lin Yuewei wasn’t around, she had always been very disciplined.
Gu Yanqiu gave her a rough account of Ran Qingqing’s recent pig-fattening campaign, and Lin Yuewei laughed so hard she collapsed onto the bed and couldn’t get back up.
Gu Yanqiu said in distress, “You’re still laughing. If I keep eating like this, no amount of exercise will help.”
Lin Yuewei rested her face on the bed and said with a grin, “Then tell my mom.” She added, “My mom is just that kind of enthusiastic person. Before, she was always calling you ‘Auntie,’ so she was too embarrassed to really go all out. Now that she’s calling you Mom, of course she’s going to treat you like her own daughter.”
Gu Yanqiu said, “Then why aren’t you getting fat?” The first time she met her, Lin Yuewei was quite slim.
Lin Yuewei laughed wildly. “I’m one of those people who don’t get fat.”
That said, not getting fat was one thing; staying at camera-friendly weight was another. Before filming, Lin Yuewei always deliberately watched her diet.
Gu Yanqiu huffed in dissatisfaction. “If you were fed like this, you’d have gained weight no matter what.” She had once thought she was one of those people too; now she knew it was just that she hadn’t been eating enough.
Lin Yuewei asked, “Haven’t you ever told my mom? Told her not to give you so much food?”
Gu Yanqiu faltered. “It’s your mom’s kindness. I couldn’t refuse.”
“Not my mom; our mom.” Lin Yuewei corrected her first, then said, “That won’t do. If you don’t refuse, of course she won’t know you don’t want it. There’s a kind of cold called ‘Mom thinks you’re cold,’ and a kind of thin called ‘Mom thinks you’re thin,’ and then there’s...”
Gu Yanqiu cut her off, looking utterly defeated. “Okay, I get it.”
Lin Yuewei looked at her with understanding and laughed. “You know to refuse next time?”
Gu Yanqiu: “Mm.”
Lin Yuewei’s smile deepened. “I’ll talk to her for you.”
Gu Yanqiu’s eyes lit up immediately.
Lin Yuewei made a grab for credit. “Hurry and kiss me.”
Gu Yanqiu puckered her lips. “Mwah.”
Lin Yuewei felt completely satisfied. She knew why Gu Yanqiu never refused: the taste of late-arriving maternal affection was just too good. She couldn’t bear to give it up; she was afraid that refusing might bring about some bad outcome. It was all unnecessary worry, of course. Ran Qingqing had such a big heart that she would never overthink things like that. Still, Lin Yuewei could understand Gu Yanqiu, and she knew what it meant to her.
People always said that whether a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law could get along depended on the person stuck in the middle. Lin Yuewei, the one in the middle, felt pretty happy at that moment.
Ran Qingqing went to bed early, so Lin Yuewei temporarily cut off the video with Gu Yanqiu and called her mother.
Her contact frequency with Ran Qingqing still wasn’t high. First, she’d always been independent, and Ran Qingqing trusted her; she didn’t have the habit of clinging to her constantly. In the past, there had also been the goal of urging her to marry, but now it was practically enough for everyone to mind their own business and live in peace. Second, Madam Ran Qingqing was busy raising pigs; no, raising Gu Yanqiu and the cat. She didn’t have time to deal with Lin Yuewei. When Lin Yuewei called, she was even a little annoyed, grumbling that she was delaying real business.
That night, Madam Ran Qingqing received a call from her daughter and started with a sigh. “What now? Didn’t you just call home the day before yesterday?”
“Mom, I called last week.”
“Oh, last week.” Ran Qingqing wasn’t at all ashamed of misremembering it. “Then what do you want now? Hurry up and say it; don’t delay my study of recipes.”
“Studying recipes again?” Lin Yuewei automatically pictured Gu Yanqiu’s face getting rounder once more.
“What else? Qiuqiu is too thin; I have to help her put on some weight.”
“Thin?” Lin Yuewei said. “I just video-called her, and she was already round like that. And you still call her thin? Mom, she’s the company’s face; can’t you care a little about her figure?”
“I am caring about it. How am I not caring?” Ran Qingqing argued confidently. “I checked the standard weight. Qiuqiu’s over 170 even barefoot, and she’s still within the range. She’s nowhere near fat.”
“Mom!” Lin Yuewei really felt this couldn’t go on. She stopped her sternly. “Do you know girls need to look good? Who goes by the so-called normal weight on the internet? Her frame is on the lean side. If you feed her all the way up to the standard weight, she really won’t look good.”
Ran Qingqing wouldn’t listen and even turned it back on her. “What’s wrong with you? Are you starting to resent your wife for getting fat?”
Lin Yuewei protested, “I’m not.”
Ran Qingqing said, “Then what do you mean? Calling me in the middle of the night just to tell me not to make good food for your wife? Did you just finish a video call, see she’d gained weight, and rush over to find me?”
Lin Yuewei opened her mouth. “I..."
Ran Qingqing cut her off. “Don’t ‘I’ me. All men are jerks, and I think you’re a jerk too. When you were dating, it was ‘baby, you’re too thin, eat more’; after you got married, once she really did gain some weight, oh, suddenly you don’t like it?”
Lin Yuewei asked, “When did I ever say that?”
Ran Qingqing said, “That’s exactly what you meant.”
“I didn’t say it, and I won’t admit it!”
“Whether you admit it or not matters? You’re still a jerk. Or is it that you can’t eat well on set and you’re jealous of Qiuqiu?”
Lin Yuewei thought, Jealous of being fed like a pig? What kind of joke is that?
She said, “No.”
Ran Qingqing said, “You’re not jealous, and you don’t think she’s fat; then why are you butting in where it’s none of your business?”
Lin Yuewei couldn’t help laughing. She stopped dancing around it with her mother and said, “It’s because Gu Yanqiu is too embarrassed to tell you herself, so she asked her husband—me—to come to you and gently persuade you. She really can’t eat any more. She’s practically on her way to one-ten; her second chin’s about to show up. Can’t you see it?”
Ran Qingqing stared in surprise and opened her mouth slightly. “Really?”
Lin Yuewei laughed. “How could it not be true?”
Ran Qingqing didn’t mind and laughed too. “Why didn’t she tell me herself?”
Lin Yuewei ran a hand through her hair and shifted into a more comfortable position against the headboard. “You know her personality. She’s quiet, likes to keep things bottled up. Even this was something I figured out by reading between the lines, and then I came to tell you.”
Ran Qingqing said, “All right. Then I won’t let her eat so much tomorrow.”
***
Lin Yuewei reported the happy outcome of her talk with Ran Qingqing to Gu Yanqiu. Gu Yanqiu was still nervous and asked her, “Was Mom unhappy? Did she say anything about me?”
Lin Yuewei didn’t know whether to laugh or feel sorry for her. “No, she wouldn’t. Stop overthinking. My mom isn’t like that person; she’s genuinely nice, and she has a huge heart. She’s even more affectionate toward you than toward me now. She won’t care about something this small. But if you keep having to use me as the messenger, she’ll think you and she are becoming distant, and then she really will be unhappy.”
Lin Yuewei hadn’t forgotten to give her a little warning. She was very willing to be the go-between, but she didn’t want to be the go-between forever. She wanted them to be a real family.
“Then..."
Lin Yuewei looked at her encouragingly.
“Next time I’ll try telling her myself,” Gu Yanqiu said softly.
Her tone was gentle, and the way she lowered her eyes made people want to bully her recklessly.
Lin Yuewei’s heart itched as she asked, “When are you coming to visit my set?” It had already been a month, and Gu Yanqiu still hadn’t settled on a time for her next-next-next weekend.
Gu Yanqiu looked guilty. “I originally planned to go last week. I even bought the ticket, but something went wrong with a Lin Corporation project. It was urgent and needed to be handled immediately..."
“Is it resolved now?”
“It’s resolved. Nothing serious.”
“Then this weekend?”
“I have to attend an industry summit.”
“Important?”
“Pretty important.”
“Fine.” Lin Yuewei was visibly unhappy. “Then the weekend after next?”
Gu Yanqiu didn’t dare make promises. “I’ll do my best.”
Lin Yuewei curved her lips a little. “I’m going to sleep now.”
“Good night,” Gu Yanqiu said.
Lin Yuewei ended the video call and lay there with both hands folded behind her head, but she wasn’t sleepy at all.
She reached for the phone on her bedside table and opened the calendar, counting the days. If they stretched it a little more, it would already be close to a month and a half. Weren’t they supposed to meet twice within two months? At this rate, she might as well wait until Gu Yanqiu came home after she finished filming.
Lin Yuewei fell asleep in a sulk.
She stayed in that mood until the next morning. Wang Yuanyuan came to call her for breakfast and caught sight of her dark, brooding face; there was an aura all around her that said, Don’t provoke me.
She hadn’t gone downstairs, so Wang Yuanyuan had the hotel deliver breakfast. Soy milk, steamed buns, fried dough sticks; simple and classic. Lin Yuewei ate while reading the script, and only then did the gloom between her brows gradually fade.
She had a fairly important role in this film. The original novel was a harem-style male-centered story that had since been taken down; her romance line with the male lead had been cut, which suited Lin Yuewei just fine. She only felt relaxed for a short while before realizing that her scenes with the female lead were a little too gay.
The female lead was a traffic idol, the standard setup for most IP dramas. She wasn’t hugely popular, nowhere near a real top star like Qu Xuesong, and she’d only blown up last year. In fact, she’d debuted after Lin Yuewei; she just had a powerful backer and had entered the production with funding attached.
The female lead’s personality was acceptable. She hadn’t gone wild just because she’d come in with money, making changes left and right. Maybe it was also because the male lead, a traffic actor himself, was much more famous than she was, so she didn’t dare mess around. In short, Lin Yuewei and the female lead got along okay; they weren’t close, but they weren’t awkward either.
The scene they were filming today was the first meeting between the female lead and the second female lead. That’s right; the first meeting between the two of them, not with the male lead.
Lin Yuewei was playing a young lady from a prestigious family. Her features were very adaptable. Although her looks were a little too sharp by default, with a slight change in makeup and a lowered gaze, she could give off a completely different kind of gentle refinement.
Though the drama was fantasy, its setting was ancient. Lin Yuewei first put on a white cotton-linen inner layer, then a light purple ruqun, and finally an outer gauze robe in the same color family. Her half-up hair was pinned with a white jade gourd hairpin.
The production had money, so the costumes, hair, and makeup were all elaborate and solidly made. It was almost summer already; she had only worn them for a short while before sweating through them.
Wang Yuanyuan pointed a small fan at her face. Lin Yuewei rolled up one sleeve and, while the set was still being arranged and the director was assigning people, she held the script with one hand and crammed in as much review as she could.
“Weiwei.” A sweet, charming voice sounded.
Lin Yuewei knew who it was the moment she heard it. She lowered the script and turned with a smile. “Sister Ningning.”
This was the female lead, Wen Ning. She was the same age as Lin Yuewei, only a few months younger, but circumstances were stronger than people; she was the female lead now, and Lin Yuewei was just a supporting role, so calling her “sister” came naturally and without the slightest blush.
Wen Ning’s character was a fiery one, but her own voice was soft and delicate. Voices could be fixed in post-production, but body language couldn’t. The way she walked didn’t resemble the character at all. The director frowned repeatedly during filming. At first he patiently guided her; later, whether it was because he saw that she really wasn’t improving or because Wen Ning’s backing was too strong, he didn’t mention it at all anymore. As long as she could finish her lines, not freeze up, and not become too jarringly out of place, it was a pass.
Lin Yuewei clicked her tongue in amazement, thinking, This production is doomed.
But how anyone else acted had nothing to do with her. She just needed to play her own part. Acting wasn’t only about lines and facial expressions; body language was also very important. Performance majors even had specialized movement teachers.
Lin Yuewei’s own body language was actually very well suited to female lead roles, including the role she was playing in Mist City; it only needed a little adjustment. But an actor couldn’t possibly play the same type of character forever. Chivalrous heroines, refined young ladies, career elites, housewives... all of them required the actor to adjust their physicality according to the role. Lin Yuewei had done a great deal of preparation before joining the cast. The curve of her back, her pace when walking, the angle of her nods, the lowering and lifting of her eyes—everything was a detail. On and off screen, she was two completely different people.
Wen Ning walked over gracefully and said in a soft, gentle voice, “Weiwei, are you free tonight?”
Lin Yuewei didn’t rush to agree. “Why?”
Wen Ning said, “I want to discuss the script with you, and maybe get your guidance while we’re at it.”
How dare Lin Yuewei guide her? Even if someone was to guide her, it wouldn’t be her turn. The director and the veteran actors were both there; why ask anyone else and insist on asking her? Whatever Wen Ning’s purpose was, Lin Yuewei didn’t want to befriend someone like that. She said awkwardly, “Tonight... I have to video-call my mother.”
Wen Ning thought she’d misheard. “What did you say?”
Wang Yuanyuan gave Lin Yuewei a subtle look.
Lin Yuewei gritted her teeth and said, “My mother video-calls me for two hours every night.”
Wen Ning: “..."
After Wen Ning left in a state of confusion, Wang Yuanyuan secretly gave Lin Yuewei a thumbs-up, then leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I heard a rumor recently.”
“What rumor?” Lin Yuewei’s imagination ran wild. “Is she a collector?”
“No, what kind of collection would someone at her level have? Other people are the ones collecting her more like it.” Wang Yuanyuan lowered her voice even more. “She’s a pimp.”
Lin Yuewei nearly choked on her own saliva.
From Wang Yuanyuan, she had just opened another door to a new world.
“She’s been kept by a sugar daddy, but this sugar daddy is, well, a little... One or two aren’t enough for him; he’s always looking for new prey. But he’s the sugar daddy, right? Sugar daddies are busy, aren’t they? It takes time to pick people out, so he makes the people he’s already keeping do the scouting.”
“..."
Wang Yuanyuan said, “So keep your distance from her.”
Lin Yuewei looked at her and asked sincerely, “How do you know all these rumors?”
Wang Yuanyuan smiled proudly. “That’s a basic skill for assistants. You have to keep your eyes and ears open, catch every little stir on set; that’s the only way to serve the artist better.”
Lin Yuewei clicked her tongue. “That’s a bit exaggerated.”
Wang Yuanyuan smiled and kept blowing cool air at her.
Still, Lin Yuewei had to admit Wang Yuanyuan was very good at this. She got along with the staff everywhere she went, and all the gossip on set could flow straight into her ears. As for whether other assistants were like that, Lin Yuewei wasn’t sure. Qu Xuesong’s assistant, for instance, loved to wag her tongue.
Her own assistant was the most capable assistant of all.
Because of the prior example of Qu Xuesong supposedly “collecting” people, Lin Yuewei didn’t rashly believe the rumor that Wen Ning was pimping others out, but she did become a bit more vigilant. Besides her, there were several other supporting actresses in the cast. People in the industry usually weren’t ugly. Wen Ning started spending time with the others, and Lin Yuewei silently kept an eye on it.
She watched for two or three days like that; then, on the weekend, she suddenly received word that someone was coming to visit her on set.
Her whole mood soared. She at least restrained herself from practically skipping over there, and when she saw the gentle, elegant young woman wearing a baseball cap, her smile didn’t change, but her pace slowed.
She hugged the other girl and said with a smile, “How did you come so suddenly? Why didn’t you tell me in advance?”
The other girl smiled too. “I just happened to have a free day lately, so I came over.”
It was Shao Yasi.
Since Lin Yuewei had last brought Gu Yanqiu to meet her, the two of them hadn’t seen each other again. After that, Lin Yuewei was swamped with trivial matters, and Shao Yasi was busy filming and dating; they hardly talked.
They weren’t awkward when they met again. The two little sisters had a whole pile of things to say, except that...
Lin Yuewei looked at Ji Han, the manager standing behind Shao Yasi with a stern face and following her like a shadow, and immediately felt uncomfortable all over. She was good friends with Qu Xuesong, and Ji Han was Qu Xuesong’s ex-girlfriend, rumored to be a scumbag woman; now she was even together with her best friend.
Shao Yasi had taken Lin Yuewei’s earlier warning to heart and knew she didn’t like Ji Han. Though she felt a little down about it, she didn’t think it was anything serious. Lin Yuewei didn’t need to be friends with Ji Han.
Shao Yasi said to Lin Yuewei, “Wait for me a moment.”
Then she bounced over to Ji Han, looped both arms around her, and said something. She was ten centimeters shorter than Ji Han, and her face looked even younger, so when she stood in front of her, she looked like a child.
A little lamb and a big bad wolf; the difference in their levels was too obvious. Lin Yuewei’s worry was almost written on her face.
Ji Han’s expression was very serious, but the way she looked down at Shao Yasi through her glasses was gentle. Only after she shook her head twice in a row did Shao Yasi’s persuasion look completely useless. Shao Yasi gritted her teeth, stamped her foot, and stood on tiptoe to kiss Ji Han on the face.
Ji Han patted her head, said something in warning, then turned her head to glance at Lin Yuewei before leaving.
Shao Yasi bounced back over, looking very happy. “All right, now the two of us can talk by ourselves.”
After saying that, she grabbed Lin Yuewei and was about to leave.
“Hold it right there.” Lin Yuewei pulled her back, not knowing what expression to make at Shao Yasi. She asked in a cold voice, “What were you doing just now?”
“Nothing.”
If Lin Yuewei hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she still wouldn’t have believed it. She lowered her voice. “You kissed her in broad daylight?!”
Shao Yasi was either clueless or just too wild.
“She’s my girlfriend. Why can’t I kiss her?” Shao Yasi blinked.
“Have the two of you gone public?” Lin Yuewei said, heartsick over her lack of common sense.
“Not yet.”
“Then you just—” Lin Yuewei calmed herself slightly, then changed her wording from “Aren’t you afraid of being fooled?” to a more neutral tone. “Do you know how many rumors she’s had?”
Shao Yasi frowned ever so slightly. “I know. You told me last time.”
Lin Yuewei saw the unhappiness on her face and softened her tone. “I’m not blaming you. I’m just telling you to be careful. Dating an old hand at the game; someone like you really can’t handle it.”
Shao Yasi’s face instantly turned red.
Lin Yuewei had wanted to be angry, but when she saw her like that, she couldn’t help laughing out loud. “What are you imagining that can’t be described?”
Shao Yasi tugged her sleeve twice and shook it. “Hanhan isn’t like what you said.”
That said, Lin Yuewei didn’t want to get involved in other people’s love lives. Last time, even Qu Xuesong had advised her too. Lin Yuewei cut off the topic. “I don’t care what kind of person she is; anyway, you need to keep your guard up.”
Shao Yasi nodded furiously.
The girl’s eyes were still clear, and she’d been protected very well by Ji Han. Lin Yuewei didn’t know whether to feel relieved or worried. She took Shao Yasi’s hand and said, “Forget it. I’ll take you to look around the set.”
Shao Yasi had started filming a new drama right after debuting, and it was airing now. Her role was good, her acting was good, and she’d managed to make a name for herself in the public eye. After walking around the set, two staff members asked her for autographs. Shao Yasi not only signed them, she also agreed to take photos with them.
After roughly looking around the set, Shao Yasi pulled Lin Yuewei into a corner to whisper. She said bluntly, “Your crew is so casual. What even is that female lead’s acting? And the male lead is way too greasy.”
Lin Yuewei loved hearing her speak these honest truths and replied, “No choice. The female lead came in with funding, and the male lead has popularity.”
“You’re acting in this drama; that’s too unfair to you,” Shao Yasi said regretfully. Shao Yasi had a built-in filter. In her eyes, Lin Yuewei could play anything and master anything; she should be the female lead at minimum.
“Then I also can’t get other roles,” Lin Yuewei joked.
“Actually, I have a new drama here, a really impressive new production. They’re about to start auditions; this is insider information.” Shao Yasi glanced around and hesitated. “But Hanhan won’t let me tell anyone.”
Lin Yuewei smiled. “And you’re telling me?”
Shao Yasi shook her head and said earnestly, “You’re not an outsider.”
Lin Yuewei’s smile faded a little, and she answered just as seriously, “Since your manager won’t let you tell anyone, you’d better not tell me either.”
Shao Yasi asked blankly, “Why not?”
Lin Yuewei had already told her the reason a long time ago, but Shao Yasi was too single-minded to get it. Lin Yuewei hummed. “If you tell me, the two of you will argue.”
Shao Yasi said, “We won’t argue. Hanhan is very good to me.”
Lin Yuewei got goosebumps all over and raised a hand. “Stop saying Hanhan this and Hanhan that. I’m in a long-distance relationship with my own person, and if you keep doing that, I’m going to get triggered.”
Shao Yasi covered her mouth and laughed, then seemed to make up her mind. “I think I should still tell you. It’s just an opportunity, not something that’s guaranteed.”
Lin Yuewei said, “I don’t want to hear it.”
Shao Yasi took it as a joke, pulled her hand away from her ears, and said in a low, clear voice, “The drama is called Fatal Jade. It’s an original ensemble serious drama, and the director is Qiu Zhongkai.”
Lin Yuewei suddenly looked up, a trace of familiarity flashing through her mind.
Shao Yasi continued, “Qiu Zhongkai has a son named Qiu Yu’an; he’s about to debut. I heard this drama was personally tailored by Director Qiu for his son. He’s been planning it for years, and he’ll direct it himself. Everything’s ready now; they’re just waiting for the final push.”
Lin Yuewei came back to herself and said, “I know about that.”
Shao Yasi looked shocked. “How do you know? Hanhan said not many people know about this, and even having connections may not be enough. Did your manager tell you too? Your manager is amazing.”
Lin Yuewei didn’t hide anything from her and said, “The last time I went out to eat, I met Qiu Yu’an, and I heard it from one of his friends.” The last time was when Qu Xuesong had taken Lin Yuewei out to a private banquet. Afterward, they’d even played at the racetrack together, and they’d still stayed in touch. Qiu Yu’an liked collecting sneakers, so Lin Yuewei asked a friend to get a limited edition pair and gave it to him as a New Year’s gift. Qiu Yu’an thanked her over WeChat.
Shao Yasi was happy for her. “Then doesn’t that mean your chances of getting in are pretty high?”
Lin Yuewei smiled. “How could it be that easy?” She rubbed the soft top of Shao Yasi’s hair. “What about you? Are there any roles for you? Isn’t that Hanhan of yours all-powerful?”
Shao Yasi looked at her, her brows a little conflicted, as if she wanted to say something but held back.
Lin Yuewei rubbed her hair again. “All right, I get it.”
That Ji Han really was all-powerful; in that circle, she’d managed to slip Shao Yasi in so fast and so quietly.
There are many roads leading to Rome; while others were still struggling, she had already forcibly changed Shao Yasi’s point of origin to Rome.
Looking at the oblivious Shao Yasi, Lin Yuewei let out another long sigh, not knowing whether this was a blessing or a curse.