Chapter 85
Verification message: I’m Lin Yuewei’s mother.
If it weren’t for the fact that you couldn’t send emojis in the verification-message field, Gu Yanqiu would definitely have added her signature smile.
Lin Yuewei: “……”
Mother, then. She had so many mothers who loved her; she wasn’t exactly lacking one more.
Lin Yuewei gave a vague “mm” as if to acknowledge Gu Yanqiu’s words.
Wang Yuanyuan accepted Gu Yanqiu’s friend request.
[System message: You and Yuan Youyuan are now friends; say hello!]
[Lin Mama: [smile]]
To be safe, Gu Yanqiu had even used a second account to add Wang Yuanyuan.
Wang Yuanyuan: “……”
That expression really did look very motherly.
Lin Yuewei peeked over. Wang Yuanyuan simply held her phone out in front of her. Lin Yuewei pretended she didn’t want to look at all and said coolly, “Chat with her for now; then brief me later.”
“Okay.”
Wang Yuanyuan clutched her phone and went to chat with the fake Lin Mama, who was in fact Miss Lin’s wife, Gu Yanqiu.
Not long after, Wang Yuanyuan handed the phone back and said, “We didn’t say much. Take a look. If there’s anything I should pay attention to when talking to Auntie, tell me in advance.”
[Lin Mama: Hello, I’m Lin Yuewei’s mother]
[Yuan Youyuan: Hello, Auntie. My surname is Wang; you can call me Xiao Wang in the future]
[Lin Mama: Okay, Xiao Wang [smile]]
[Yuan Youyuan: Hello, Auntie]
[Lin Mama: Actually, it’s nothing. It’s just that Weiwei is sometimes too busy, and I worry. I called her several times last night, but she was drunk. I thought something might have happened to her]
[Yuan Youyuan: Don’t worry, Auntie. It’s very safe here]
[Lin Mama: I know, I know. I’m just saying, just in case she can’t find anyone]
[Yuan Youyuan: Okay, Auntie]
[Lin Mama: Thanks, Xiao Wang]
[Yuan Youyuan: [smile]]
Done.
Lin Yuewei tried her best to ignore the awkwardness pouring out of the chat history. Wang Yuanyuan didn’t know that was Gu Yanqiu, but she did; especially since Gu Yanqiu was mimicking her mother’s tone and talking to Wang Yuanyuan, Lin Yuewei spent a lot of effort just keeping a straight face.
Wang Yuanyuan asked, “When Auntie asks about your schedule in the future, do I answer truthfully?”
“Truthfully.”
Wang Yuanyuan’s eyes revealed that same shock; she clearly hadn’t expected Lin Yuewei to be such a mama’s girl even now.
Lin Yuewei: “……”
Listen to me explain; I’m not like that.
She hurriedly tried to patch things over. “Under normal circumstances she probably won’t look for you; usually she goes directly through me.”
Wang Yuanyuan said nothing. Her slightly knitted brows seemed to spell out two words: exactly.
Lin Yuewei returned her phone and gave up defending herself. “Like yesterday’s situation, me being so drunk that I was out cold is very rare; so usually just treat her as if she doesn’t exist.”
Wang Yuanyuan nodded.
She turned away with her tray to get more breakfast and let out a sigh.
Lin Yuewei immediately took out her phone and typed in the input box: [Two Trees: !!!]
Gu Yanqiu had two phones; the one linked to her main account replied instantly:
[Xi Gu: [blown kiss]]
[Two Trees: What kind of blown kiss is that? You’re ruining my image]
[Xi Gu: Then come up with a better solution]
[Two Trees: I don’t care; that was way too annoying. My assistant now thinks I’m a total mama’s boy!!!]
[Xi Gu: Does her opinion matter to you or me?]
Lin Yuewei thought about it. True, it didn’t.
[Two Trees: No. Apologize]
[Xi Gu: I was wrong]
[Two Trees: You have no staying power at all]
[Xi Gu: Staying power for what? I really did use your mother’s name without telling you in advance; I should apologize]
[Two Trees: Just you wait]
[Xi Gu: Okay, I’ll wait X2]
[Two Trees: Where did the x2 come from?]
[Xi Gu: You said it yourself this morning; forgot?]
Lin Yuewei really had forgotten. She was just about to keep threatening her when Wang Yuanyuan returned with her tray. Lin Yuewei locked the screen; Wang Yuanyuan sat down across from her and said, “Weiwei, I’m going to get some soy milk. What do you want to drink?”
“Milk, thanks.”
Lin Yuewei unlocked her phone again and chatted nonsense with Gu Yanqiu from one end of the compass to the other. Aside from breakfast, lunch, and dinner, there really wasn’t much else for the two of them to talk about, but they could still go round and round over just a few sentences and have a wonderful time.
She brought up again the matter of going home to settle accounts with Gu Yanqiu. When she looked up, she saw that half the breakfast on Wang Yuanyuan’s plate was already gone.
Wang Yuanyuan finally caught her gaze and looked at her with a complicated expression.
“Eat breakfast. It’ll get cold in a minute.”
Lin Yuewei picked up the milk that had cooled beside her and took a silent sip. She stopped looking at her phone and obediently ate breakfast.
She had the day off today as well; it was the last day off before filming started. If nothing unexpected happened, this would be her only break from now until three or four months later.
She planned to go to the set in the morning and wander around in the afternoon; she’d been in N City for so many days and still hadn’t gone out to look around.
Qin Li also had to go to the set. They had agreed to leave at nine o’clock. Lin Yuewei still had some time after breakfast, so she read through the script in her room for a while.
At 8:50, she went downstairs and waited for Qin Li on the sofa in the first-floor lobby. Before she even sat down, Qin Li appeared at the elevator entrance. Lin Yuewei immediately stood and walked over. “Brother Qin.”
“Old Lin.” Qin Li grinned, flashing a mouthful of bright white teeth.
Lin Yuewei: “……”
Qin Li kept changing how he addressed her whenever he felt like it. Old Lin it was; that was more comfortable to hear than Lin-laoshi.
She narrowed her eyes. Qin Li was already different from when he first arrived; the Qin Li from back then wouldn’t have smiled so flirtatiously. He looked more like the Qin Shi from the drama. Had he still not gotten out of character?
Qin Li lightly tapped her shoulder with the rolled-up newspaper in his hand. “What are you spacing out for? Let’s go. Did you book the car?”
“I did.” Lin Yuewei asked in return, “What about you?”
To avoid suspicion, they had taken two separate cars to the set.
“Of course I did too.” Qin Li strode ahead. “Come on.”
Lin Yuewei followed after him.
The Mist City production team had ample funding, and Yang Xiao was a perfectionist; just the set dressing alone had taken a lot of time. The decorations in the office, the details on everyone’s desks, all of it had been supervised by the director personally. Sometimes the props and art teams even went out specifically to roadside stalls to hunt for items. The moment Lin Yuewei and Qin Li stepped into the office, they were hit by a rush of everyday life.
At ten o’clock in the morning, the star everyone had been waiting for—Qu Xuesong, the wildly popular post-85 actress—finally arrived in a leisurely fashion. A large entourage followed behind her; if you didn’t know better, you’d think some big shot was out on a street patrol.
Qu Xuesong first came up to shake hands with the director. They must have known each other beforehand, because the director was all smiles, and the two of them spoke very cordially.
From not far away, Lin Yuewei watched Qu Xuesong and thought of what Chen Xuan had told her about a “collection enthusiast,” and a little wariness rose in her heart. Qin Li glanced at her, then lightly pressed one finger against her shoulder, giving her a small push forward.
Lin Yuewei and Qin Li went up together.
Qin Li knew Qu Xuesong, though they hadn’t worked together before. He wasn’t sure whether Qu Xuesong knew him, so he took the initiative to hold out his hand. “Qin Li.”
“I’m Qu Xuesong. I’m very happy to work with you.” Qu Xuesong’s gaze lingered on his handsome face for a moment, then shifted to Lin Yuewei beside him. Smiling, she said, “And this is…”
The official Weibo account for Mist City had already announced Lin Yuewei as the second female lead; if Qu Xuesong had paid any attention to her own drama, there was no way she wouldn’t recognize Lin Yuewei. Of course, it was also possible that the photo and the real person didn’t quite match, or that busy Qu Xuesong simply hadn’t remembered.
Lin Yuewei inclined her head. “Hello, Teacher Qu. I’m Lin Yuewei; I play Bai Shu in the drama.”
“Oh, it’s you.” Qu Xuesong smiled sweetly and shook Lin Yuewei’s hand in a very warm, very familiar way.
Her palm was warm; just like she looked, she seemed full of enthusiasm.
Lin Yuewei quietly pulled her hand back and pretended to be extremely nervous, standing behind Qin Li and shifting half a step to the side.
Qu Xuesong didn’t seem to pay her much attention. After Lin Yuewei withdrew her hand, she turned back to talking with the director, her face bright with a charming smile.
To hold one’s ground in the entertainment industry, among so many new faces constantly coming and going, while possessing both traffic and real skill, one couldn’t do it without a few tricks. Qu Xuesong herself was even more beautiful in person than on TV. She had just turned thirty this year, and carried a uniquely feminine allure; it was very captivating. Lin Yuewei noticed that when Qu Xuesong had just arrived, even the honest and upright Qin Li had stared for a couple of seconds.
Qu Xuesong spoke beautifully too, with a clear, rising cadence. Lin Yuewei had looked her up before and knew she was from Shandong, but the way she talked sounded like she’d grown up by the water in Jiangnan. If you listened long enough, you could even find yourself sinking into it without realizing.
No matter how Lin Yuewei looked at her, she didn’t seem like a “collector.” Still, she didn’t doubt what Chen Xuan had said. You couldn’t judge a book by its cover; Chen Xuan wouldn’t have said that for no reason.
Lin Yuewei didn’t stay at the set for long before leaving. Qin Li was still there when she went; she didn’t leave with him.
She went shopping in the afternoon and continued reading the script at night. Time passed very quickly.
The next day, filming officially began as scheduled. A lot of media had come. This was Lin Yuewei’s first time experiencing this kind of scene. Chen Xuan stayed by her side, and the entire main cast and crew burned incense and paid respects to the gods together, placing roast pig on the offering table and earnestly praying that everything would go smoothly.
After taking one final group photo, they announced that Mist City had officially started filming.
Lin Yuewei logged into her long-unused Weibo. Her last post had been nearly a month ago, when she reposted Mist City’s official announcement. She had once wondered whether she should pop up more often to stay active, keeping her fans in a state where there was always something to eat. But later she changed her mind. First, she wasn’t trying to take the idol route; what mattered most was work, and just like Qu Xuesong, if you had work, everything else was easy to talk about. Second, her mind was full of the script. Most of the time she couldn’t remember anything else; she could even forget Gu Yanqiu, let alone a social media platform. If she were left in intensive training a little longer, she’d probably even forget her login password. She didn’t want to force herself to keep up appearances; if there was anything she wanted to share with her fans in the future, she’d post it then.
Lin Yuewei V:
[Filming has started! [confetti][group photo][photo with the male lead][photo with the female lead][photo with the other supporting cast]]
The weeds, who hadn’t heard a single thing from their idol for more than half a month, erupted.
[You Are Starlight, I Am a Tiny Glow: Ahhhhhhh baby, Mommy loves you aaaaah] (1,187 likes)
[Weeds That Won’t Burn Out o: Baby, take good care of yourself. Your old father and old mother are both doing well; don’t worry about us] (1,083 likes)
[Work hard on the drama; you’re the best, chargeee on!] (824 likes)
[Mrs. Lin: Remember to wear enough clothes when it gets cold; don’t freeze yourself. Don’t be afraid of looking bad; wear your long johns too. You’ll always be the prettiest kid in your mom and dad’s hearts [heart][heart][heart]] (799 likes)
Buried among them was one utterly ordinary comment: [Lin Yuewei’s fan.: Mommy loves you, charge on!] (1 like)
At a little after five in the evening, she received a notification.
Shao Yasi V:
[Lin Yuewei’s new drama has started filming; everyone must support it [Mickey heart] //@Lin Yuewei: Filming has started啦 [confetti][group photo][photo with the male lead][photo with the female lead][photo with the other supporting cast]]
Lin Yuewei replied under her Weibo with a penguin blowing a kiss.
The #LinShao# supertopic boiled over once again. A whole crowd of excited fans gathered to squeal; overnight, it shot from around twenty-fifth place straight back into the top three, and repost giveaways became all the rage. That aside, there was no need to dwell on it here.
Lin Yuewei looked at the repost and narrowed her eyes. She remembered that at the beginning, Shao Yasi had told her that Qin Li and Qu Xuesong were both very good people, and that she should follow them and learn from them with complete peace of mind. Why did her words differ from what Chen Xuan had told her? Who was lying? Lin Yuewei felt that neither of them was lying. They had no reason to deceive her. Maybe Shao Yasi just didn’t know the full picture?
Her fingers brushed over the Weibo interface; she clicked onto Shao Yasi’s homepage. Shao Yasi’s Weibo looked much livelier: ads, promotions, and from time to time a few little tidbits from her daily life; it was pretty interesting.
But Shao Yasi clearly wasn’t the sort of person who liked sharing those things on a public platform. She had told Lin Yuewei that all of it was prepared by her team and then sent for her to post; she just treated it like completing a task. Sometimes when she was busy, her agent would log into her account, let her look it over, and then post it.
The effort Shao Yasi’s agent put into her was not even half of what Chen Xuan now gave Lin Yuewei. It was like they handled everything down to the last detail. Shao Yasi only had to take jobs, seriously shoot ads and magazine spreads, and seriously act; everything else was none of her concern.
Lin Yuewei didn’t know whether that was good for her or not. Shao Yasi already liked depending on other people; now, after finally breaking away from relying on herself, she had gone right into her agent’s warm embrace. When would she ever be able to stand on her own?
Lin Yuewei sighed and put her phone away, then opened the lunch box in front of her.
The first day’s schedule was packed. After dinner, they moved locations to shoot the night scene.
It was a crisp, clear autumn night. The crew had turned on the lights, and everyone was huddled in little groups eating. Listening to the murmurs near and far, Lin Yuewei’s novelty from her first day on set still hadn’t worn off; her eyes wandered everywhere, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously lifted.
“What are you thinking about?”
The sudden voice startled Lin Yuewei. A faint scent of perfume drew near. She turned her head and immediately sounded the alarm in her mind: it was Qu Xuesong.
Qu Xuesong squatted down beside her and glanced into her lunch box. “You’re still eating dinner?”
Lin Yuewei said, “I wasn’t planning to, but the crew set it up for me. It’d be a waste not to eat it. Tomorrow I’ll tell them in advance not to order dinner for me.”
Qu Xuesong burst out laughing and, like petting a kitten, rubbed her head. “So cute.”
Lin Yuewei’s skin prickled all over from the smile. She silently recited Gu Yanqiu’s protection mantra three times; at once her mind became clear as a bell. Let her be strong, the breeze still blows across the hill; let her be arrogant, the bright moon still shines over the river.
Lin Yuewei immediately held her breath and met her eyes head-on.
Qu Xuesong was delighted, and reached out again to touch her. Lin Yuewei dodged, saying neither humble nor overbearing, “Teacher Qu, I need to eat.”
Qu Xuesong looked at her for a while, then suddenly let out a soft, mournful sigh. “Do you also think I’m... that kind of person?”
That kind of person?
Lin Yuewei thought to herself, are you talking about the ‘collector’ thing? Isn’t that exactly what people are saying?
As if seeing through her thoughts, Qu Xuesong’s beautiful eyes darkened with faint sorrow. “I’m not. Those are all rumors from outside; black material spread by Tang Xinyuan’s people. Black material gets passed around enough, long enough, and it becomes the truth.”
A hint of surprise flickered across Lin Yuewei’s face.
Could it really be false dirt, something deliberately twisted to blacken her name?
To be fair, Lin Yuewei had grown up watching Qu Xuesong’s dramas since school, and she had always liked her. Even if Chen Xuan said she was a collector, Lin Yuewei was more worried about Qu Xuesong setting her sights on her than about disliking her because her image had collapsed.
Chen Xuan was from Guoshi Entertainment. Guoshi Entertainment’s big boss, Bai Hua, was good friends with Tang Xinyuan; Tang Xinyuan and Qu Xuesong were competitors, and Tang Xinyuan’s team had once spread black material about Qu Xuesong. The logic checked out.
Qu Xuesong plucked a few strands of wild grass from the ground and toyed with them between her fingers.
Lin Yuewei didn’t know what to say, so she simply ate in silence.
Qu Xuesong spread out her palm; a yellow-green thing slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. Qu Xuesong dusted off her hands, stood up, and left.
Watching her lonely retreating figure, Lin Yuewei slowly frowned.
She lowered her head, pushed aside the grass, and picked up the thing that had fallen in the middle of it. Her eyes lit up. It was actually a grass-woven butterfly; perhaps because the grass had been wild grass, it wasn’t very delicate, but you could tell at a glance that it was a butterfly.
Lin Yuewei had grown up in the city and rarely saw handicrafts with this kind of earthy, rustic charm when she was little. She looked around, especially making sure Qu Xuesong hadn’t noticed, then picked up the grass butterfly and tucked it into the side pocket of her bag.
After filming the night scene and returning to the hotel, Lin Yuewei took a photo of the butterfly and sent it to Gu Yanqiu.
[Xi Gu: You made it?]
Lin Yuewei was about to reply no; she typed the first character, deleted it, and re-entered it:
[Two Trees: Guess]
[Xi Gu: I guess yes]
[Two Trees: Thanks for your trust, but no, I found it on the road]
[Xi Gu: Found by the crew?]
[Two Trees: Yep]
Lin Yuewei didn’t tell her that Qu Xuesong had woven it and thrown it on the ground. She hadn’t told Gu Yanqiu anything about Qu Xuesong at all, not because she felt guilty, but simply because she thought it wasn’t necessary.
Gu Yanqiu was silent for a moment, then replied: [You like this?]
Lin Yuewei propped her chin up, fiddling with the butterfly on the table with one hand while typing with the other: [It’s okay. I don’t see them often, so it’s novel]
[Xi Gu: [smile]]
[Two Trees: [smile]]
Lin Yuewei had long since gotten used to Gu Yanqiu’s way of chatting. As long as Gu Yanqiu sent her a smiley face, she would always send one back; sometimes she even sent two in return, which was oddly amusing.
Gu Yanqiu took out her tablet from the drawer and typed in the search bar: how to make a grass butterfly.
After pressing enter, written tutorials and videos all appeared at once.
She turned off the sound and dragged the progress bar to take a look, estimating the difficulty before deciding to try it tomorrow.
The phone buzzed.
[Two Trees: I need to get back to work. You go to sleep first]
Gu Yanqiu replied with one hand: [I’ll sleep in a bit. I’ll tell you before I do]
Her gaze remained fixed on the tablet screen.
[Two Trees: Okay]
Lin Yuewei tucked her phone under the pillow and continued studying tomorrow’s script.
Trying lines at home and actually filming on set were not the same. On set, there were several camera positions; number one camera, number two camera. The very first thing to learn was how to find the lens. Television dramas were performed for the audience in front of the screen; experienced actors could immediately locate the camera, then fully display their performance before it.
The show Lin Yuewei had been on before was more of a live stage format. There wasn’t as much need, or rather as much emphasis, on the ability to find the camera; the cameras were filming from all angles with no blind spots, and the editing could sort it out later.
Lin Yuewei wasn’t very smooth on her first day. She often found the camera a split-second slower than the veteran actors. Fortunately, Yang Xiao was extremely lenient and let them NG and start over again and again. But Lin Yuewei felt embarrassed; by day’s end she had no idea how many times she’d bowed and said, “Sorry.”
She was the youngest actor there, and her attitude was so sincere it was almost absurd.
In the end, it was Lao Wang, who had been acting opposite her and repeating the scene over and over with her, who laughed and said, “If you keep being this embarrassed, I’m going to get embarrassed too.”
After seven NGs, Lin Yuewei finally got through what was actually a very simple scene.
Lin Yuewei moved the two stools beside the small table far apart to simulate Camera One and Camera Two, then practiced by herself, acting as her own director as well.
“Give me a close-up,” Director Lin said, and then she angled herself toward Camera One, letting it capture her clearly.
“Cut, that’s a wrap.”
At one in the morning, Lin Yuewei set down her script, rubbed her sore shoulder, rolled her neck, and went to the bathroom to shower.
Gu Yanqiu had sent her a good-night message an hour earlier. Lin Yuewei tapped out the same two words with one finger and sent them back, then touched the pillow and fell asleep.
Five hours later, Lin Yuewei was woken on schedule by her alarm. After a quick wash-up, she went downstairs, got into the car bound for the set, and memorized her lines while eating breakfast. She glanced back and saw a black nanny van following her.
“Whose is that?” Lin Yuewei asked. She didn’t remember seeing it when she came out.
“Teacher Qu’s,” Wang Yuanyuan replied.
Lin Yuewei thought of Qu Xuesong’s pitiful expression from yesterday and gave a quiet “oh,” saying nothing more.
Wang Yuanyuan reminded her, “President Chen told you to keep your distance from her. After all, she...”
Lin Yuewei nodded. “I will.”
Qu Xuesong’s words had been moving, but Lin Yuewei wasn’t so lacking in common sense as to ignore warnings. Since Chen Xuan had said so, she’d better listen to Chen Xuan.
Lin Yuewei and Qu Xuesong arrived at the set one after the other. Aside from one distant exchange of eye contact, the two had no interaction at all. Qu Xuesong was the biggest name and biggest traffic draw here by far; she was the guarantee of ratings. Word was that Yang Xiao had spent a long time inviting this great Buddha over; her fee had one more zero than Lin Yuewei’s. Even Qin Li, a young male lead of comparable status, could only stand behind her and hold her shoes.
With her chin raised and queenly aura in full force, Qu Xuesong entered her luxurious private dressing room with a long line of assistants behind her; if there had been a red carpet out front, it would have been just right. Lin Yuewei, meanwhile, turned left after entering and went to the shared dressing room with the many supporting actors.
Lin Yuewei sighed inwardly. Life really was one thing compared against another until you wanted to die; goods compared against goods until they had to be thrown away. Once she entered the dressing room, she comforted herself by thinking that at least it was lively with more people.
What a coincidence; Lin Yuewei had a scene opposite Qu Xuesong that morning. The female lead, played by Qu Xuesong, appeared at the scene of the crime, and Bai Shu, played by Lin Yuewei, was responsible for questioning her and taking her statement.
Before the official shoot, Qu Xuesong had been very cold the whole time. After coming out of the dressing room, she held several pages of script and gave off an icy aura that kept everyone at arm’s length; one couldn’t help suspecting she’d had gunpowder for breakfast that morning.
All at once, a strange intuition rose in Lin Yuewei.
Qu Xuesong’s coldness wasn’t directed at the director or anyone else; it was aimed precisely at her.
Soon after, Qu Xuesong’s actions confirmed her suspicion.
Author’s Note:
According to the principles of the Pomegranate World: people with names are usually...
That like on President Gu’s post was liked by herself, hahahaha
[Note: “He strong, let him be strong; the breeze brushes the mountain ridge. He wild, let him be wild; the bright moon shines over the river.” This line is from Jin Yong’s The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.]
TL Note:
保姆车 (Nanny van) is a luxury van used by celebrities for transportation, makeup, and resting between shoots.