ATLAS TRANSLATES

Unlike in the previous life, Fu Junyan is already very famous now, so he is not considered a dark horse in “Shadow”. But it seems that after watching the movie, everyone only remembers him. This time, like in the previous life, he is slowly standing at the top of this circle at an unattainable speed, and no one can match him in this vanity fair. The four characters of Junyan Gongzi, you don’t need to pay attention, they are already in your eyes and ears.

You should know that if a character is truly likable, it will make people linger and unable to forget, even sigh and grasp their heart, unable to let go. When I impulsively posted on Weibo, I said, “Fu Junyan, may the world treat you with gentleness…” Afterwards, such blatant ambiguous remarks did not stir up any waves and immediately sank like a stone. I then discovered that before me, hundreds of thousands of people had already reposted this sentence through various channels!

At that time, I was conflicted. I turned my head and looked at Fu Junyan with a pout, unreasonably punched him, pointed to the Weibo post I made, and said, “Did you see people confessing their love for you?” Then I looked at the swath of posts identical to mine and sighed, “Completely drowned out by people who love you…”

Hearing this, he was at ease, only smiling without smiling as he glanced at me. He took my laptop that I was hugging on my legs, pulled me to lie on his lap, pinched my nose, and teased, “I really want to know how the brain of a silly puffer fish is constructed!” At this time, he was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, his entire being clean and bright, without a trace of gloom.

I pouted and stuck to him as he used ice to soothe my puffy eyes from crying. The cool sensation made me wail, constantly twisting in his arms. He pressed me with one hand, softly chiding me not to move, while his other hand gently touched my cheek. I heard him say, “You silly child, why do you care about this? No one matches me as well as you do. Don’t you know?”

I was stunned and instantly quieted down. I dare say, compared to how he calls me, I love his tone the most when he calls me a silly child. He makes me feel like I am his baby, his true treasure. No matter how silly I am, he won’t dislike me.

My mind was a sweet mess, somewhat unable to think. I began to mutter nonsense, “You don’t know, how much I wanted to tell you that phrase, it practically became a driving force in my life! But your fans are really fierce, they all rushed ahead of me in groups! Such a failure…” I tugged at his shirt hem with both hands as I lay in his arms. He gently pressed down on my hands and told me not to move.

Fu Junyan’s palms were cool, large and powerful. But even though I can’t see right now, I know his fingers are beautiful, slender, fair and clean. Then I heard him say, “Silly puffer fish, only you would hold my hand, cry like a child in my palm, and say word by word that you hope the world will treat me with gentleness.” Then he tapped my nose and said, “Xiao’ai, I don’t need more, I am very satisfied.”

The recent ratings of “Black Cinderella” and “White Feather of Heaven” were neck and neck, not distinguishing the winner. But with the release of “Shadow”, our crew lost in the ratings for two consecutive times.

The director looked at this data and muttered “Fu Junyan…” several times while tapping his pen. That deep tone made my little heart tremble… My mind was instantly filled with many disharmonious images. When I turned back and told Fu Junyan, he resolutely ignored me, only saying, “Nonsense…”

Almost everyone in our crew went to see “Shadow”. Occasionally when I stopped to rest while filming, I would hear people discussing, “Junyan Gongzi… Fu Junyan…”

“A man like this is really…”

“To die for…”

Then, almost inevitably, everyone would gaze at the opposite crew in unison for a long time. Furthermore, some people, remembering that I had collaborated with Fang Dingyue and Fu Junyan, started coming up to me one by one to exchange information and such. They just wanted to hear some shocking news or gossip about Fu Junyan. Fang Dingyue repelled everyone with his icy aura. I was more miserable, surrounded by six or seven makeup artists even while touching up my blush. I was terrified by this, so I ran to the side of the only relatively calm people in the crew, Fang Dingyue and Shu Shuang, seeking peace. It wasn’t until later when the director issued a gag order, prohibiting discussion of Fu Junyan during work hours, that I was freed. At that time, I deeply felt Fu Junyan’s powerful charm. He was affecting work…

One day, Shu Shuang was sitting cross-legged in a chair in the break room playing PSP. Seeing me coming, she suddenly asked, “Gu Baobei, you understand idioms and such, right?”

I nodded, puzzled by her question.

But seeing me nod, she swept a disdainful glance at me, full of doubt, and said, “Even if you have black hair and black eyes like a Chinese doll now, I won’t forget the fact that you’re a blondie with blue eyes!”

I instantly exploded. “Blondie with blue eyes, you think I’m a Persian cat! Shu Shuang!”

Shu Shuang is good in every way, bold and generous. The only bad thing is that she and her friends take delight in bickering. Although every time she calms down, she beautifully calls it, “You’re different, we deepened our friendship again.”…

Hearing this, Shu Shuang shook her head as if in lament, “Gu Baobei! How can you be a Persian cat? No way! Of course you’re not, you’re a puffer fish! Puffer fish!”

I… “Meow! Have you seen a blond puffer fish? Which eye of yours saw me looking like a puffer fish? Puffer fish! Which eye of yours saw a blond puffer fish?”

“Aren’t you one? Not bad, this puffer fish of yours can even meow!” Then she laughed in an extremely despicable manner, “Gu Baobei, can’t you have some backbone? You keep repeating ‘which eye of yours saw’? Both my eyes saw it! Ahahaha!” Damn it! I glared at her, and she glared back at me with a shrug, so the two of us began staring at each other.

And just as we were at a stalemate, stifled laughter came from the side. Xu Mei emerged with her hands on her hips, laughing and bending over, “Oh my, you two live treasures! Fighting again? Shu Shuang, don’t bully Xiao’ai, she gets so steamed up like an old-fashioned train every time, hissing out steam!” Seeing them exchange glances and laugh, I knew they were in cahoots. With a powerful enemy in front, it’s best to admit defeat. So, I covered my face and started acting cute, “You guys are ganging up and bullying me…”

Xu Mei made a gesture of holding her heart and walked over, “Shu Shuang! I can’t bully Xiao’ai! My life depends on it! If Xiao’ai says I bullied her, I’ll be in tragedy as soon as I get home…” I snickered inwardly, turned my face, and acted like a good girl, solemnly saying, “I really can use idioms, okay!”

Shu Shuang raised her eyebrows in disbelief, suddenly exchanged glances with Xu Mei, and the two of them began smiling at me even more bizarrely.

Xu Mei smiled more and more ominously. She batted her eyelashes at me and said, “Xiao’ai, have you watched ‘Shadow’? You know Junyan Gongzi is incredibly popular now, right?”

Hearing this, I raised my guard, looking at the two people with ambiguous smiles, feeling a strong sense of conspiracy.

“The director said not to mention Fu Junyan during work hours.”

“Are you stupid? Gu Baobei, it’s not considered work hours now, we’re not on set!” I secretly punched Shu Shuang twice in my mind, choking up.

I heard Xu Mei seizing the opportunity to say, “Xiao’ai! My mom has recently become obsessed with Fu Junyan too! Xiao’ai, don’t make that expression. My mom’s favorite male artist now is Fu Junyan, and her favorite female artist is you! That… Fu Junyan is quite hard to find. I asked people from his crew for his autograph, but they all said it’s not easy to get. Do you have his phone number? Get me an autograph!”

“I think you should ask Fang Dingyue, they should be closer, right? Xu Mei!” I was being a hypocrite…

“At a time like this, it’s not easy for a guy to talk about it. You have to ask a beautiful woman like you who has a connection with Junyan Gongzi.” Saying that, Xu Mei also muttered in a low voice, “He’s even harder to deal with than Fu Junyan…”

I laughed, but saw Shu Shuang follow up by giving Xu Mei a look, echoing from the side, “What’s the big deal about a mermaid asking a prince for a couple of words? He even kissed you on Sighing Bridge! Gu Baobei, add one for me. Don’t look at me like that! I’m not interested in men who are prettier than women! What’s with that look? Gu Baobei! My mom! It’s my mom asking me for it! My mom is also crazy about him, wishing she was ten years younger!” What kiss… That was just a peck! A simple peck, okay? On the forehead, okay?

“Ten years isn’t enough, right? Shu Shuang!” Xu Mei raised her eyebrows from the side.

“That old lady is just daydreaming. Forget ten years, she wouldn’t even survive a day!” Shu Shuang very decisively mocked her own mother as well.

“Exactly! Xiao’ai, what do you say?”

I said, “This is the first time you guys have complimented me! Hehe, just for a man! A man from the opposing crew!”

“But he’s a different kind of man!” Hearing this, I finally felt the collective defection of morale…

As luck would have it, just as we got off the van at the hotel after work, we ran into Fu Junyan in the parking lot. He was opening the car door at the time, leaning sideways to put a leather bag on the passenger seat, his movements suave and swift. The few makeup artists behind us, upon seeing him, almost reflexively took out their cameras and phones, pushed us aside, and rushed forward to snap photos of him frantically. In an instant, they each displayed an astonishing paparazzi potential. I felt a chill in my heart, thinking that even if the three of us walked out, we wouldn’t be overlooked like this, right? Even being pushed aside, as if we were in the way!

Shuang seemed to sense what I was thinking and patted me, saying, “It’s because we’re women. Sigh…” Why must you, a woman, hurt yourself, a woman?

At this point, Sister Ruofan was looking at me with longing eyes. She gently took my hand and said with shining eyes, “Xiao’ai, please! For my mom! My mom is obsessed. Sis! It’s all up to you!”

Shuang also pushed me forward a few steps from behind, saying, “For my mom too!” Then she added, “You have to get him, even if it means selling your looks, you know?”

I was dumbfounded and nearly slipped…

But suddenly, when I raised my head again to look at Fu Junyan from afar… Having gotten used to looking at him so closely, with him being like breathing in my life, I hadn’t looked at him from a distance for a long time. This feeling of being out of reach was really strange…

I suddenly thought, if my mother were here, would she like him too? They say that the more a mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, the more she likes him. A son-in-law like Fu Junyan must be incredible, right? As I thought about it, I felt a little sad and wistful, and a little awkward. There are too many people who love him!

When those makeup artists were frantically photographing him, Fu Junyan already knew. I unintentionally saw his eyes sweep over with a hint of indifference, noble and silent in that instant. That look made my heart tremble violently. But when he noticed me approaching him, the warmth gradually appeared in Fu Junyan’s eyes, his lips slightly curled, but not quite a smile. He casually closed the car door and stood up straight, just looking in my direction from a distance, taking off his sunglasses and fiddling with them, one hand in his pocket, standing leisurely by the car. I looked at him with my head down, standing at a distance of about one step from him. He blinked as he looked at me and leaned slightly to ask, “What’s wrong?”

I looked up at him for a while and said out of the blue, “Fu Junyan! Do you have paper? The kind for writing!”

He looked at me with confusion, but still turned around, opened the car door, took out a stack of white paper, and handed it to me while gently asking, “Is this enough?”

I didn’t take it, but I couldn’t help the twitch at the corner of my mouth. I shook my head and blurted out two words to him, “Autograph!”

Upon hearing this, Fu Junyan glanced behind me, then smiled knowingly. He reached out to ruffle my hair. Turning around, he took out a fountain pen from the car and elegantly began signing with one hand supporting the paper.

Looking at that thick stack of white paper, I suddenly thought that Fu Junyan was a fool. I bet that if I didn’t speak up, he would really stand here and sign the entire stack of paper. Thinking this, I reached out to tug at him. Seeing him stop and look at me, I turned my head to look at the four makeup artists following behind, and decisively said, “Six sheets are enough.”

He nodded, signing while using a voice only the two of us could hear, “What are you upset about? Remember the birthday gift I gave you?”

I thought of the gold key he gave me on my birthday. Pouting, I said softly, “Speaking of which, you’re really tacky. An’an gave me the baby bottle he treats as his lifeline, and Xiao Qi gave me the dog food he’d give half his life for. And you! How tacky, giving gold.”

Fu Junyan didn’t say anything when he heard this, just gazing at me gently. I suddenly felt like I had gone too far and felt a bit embarrassed. I rubbed my nose and said, “I’m not saying I don’t like it! I carry it with me all the time, it’s just that I never expected you to give gold… Although it’s very exquisite!”

Then he looked at me with a half-smile, not seeming angry anymore. I just heard him say softly, “Xiao’ai, I’m going to the city. I squeezed some fresh fruit juice for you in the afternoon and put it in the mini-fridge. Take it out and drink it yourself, and remember not to be lazy. You have to eat dinner.” With that, he capped the pen and handed me the autographs. Then he nodded at me again and drove away wearing his sunglasses.

As soon as his car left the garage, several infatuated women came running up behind me. They fought for these few sheets of paper that had become treasures just because he signed his name on them, as if fighting for something.

Shuang very generously took the autograph without even looking at it and stuffed it into her bag, but looked at me with scrutiny and said, “Gu Baobei! It’s a pity you have this face! Look at Ji Jie’er, she hasn’t even met Fang Dingyue a few times! But what is she like every time she runs into Fang Dingyue? You, huh? You’ve acted in dramas and shot ads with Fu Junyan, yet you’re still stagnating at the stage of calling him by his full name, and it’s still Fu Junyan! Not even a ‘brother’! What a waste of your good looks…”

Sister Ruofan also carefully put away the autograph and poked her head out from the side, nodding in agreement.

I was speechless. I turned to Shuang and called out with my eyes closed, “Shuang bro!”

Later, I entered Fu Junyan’s room by myself using the code and drank the kiwi juice he had squeezed for me, even throwing a few ice cubes into it. But I had only been in for a little while when I heard a knock on the door. Thinking he was back already, I hurriedly ran a few steps to open the door, saying, “Why are you back already?”

But before I could see clearly, I heard Ji Jie’er’s degenerate shriek in a tender yellow dress, “Gu Baobei! Why are you here!”

I slammed the door shut, conflicted! Especially with her tone sounding like a wife catching a mistress, how resentful and tactful… Under the knocking that shook the door I was leaning against, the door panel trembled.

Finally, I adjusted myself mentally, feeling that being an ostrich would likely make things more troublesome. So I hardened my scalp, sorted out my emotions, and opened the door again. As soon as I opened the door, I saw Ji Jie’er still standing at the door with a distorted face. That expression of a resentful wife made me extremely conflicted. I smiled at her very quietly and said, “Ah! So it’s Sister Jie’er! You startled me! I thought someone from our group came to urge me to get the autograph and go back quickly! You don’t know! Fu Junyan is so popular now that almost everyone in our group likes him. I really had no choice but to come and ask for autographs on their behalf. But Fu Junyan got a phone call and left halfway through signing, telling me to wait for him in the room. What? Sister Jie’er, you also have something to see Fu Junyan about? Then come in and wait together! I feel uncomfortable being alone inside.”

Ji Jie’er looked at me suspiciously after hearing my words, craning her neck to peek into the room a few times. I simply stepped aside and opened the door to let her see. This action seemed to suit Ji Jie’er’s intention. She retracted her neck and slowly repeated my tone, uttering a sentence, “Fu Junyan?” After a while, she raised her head and looked down at me, saying, “It’s nothing. You wait for the autograph. I can see Junyan-ge every day. I’m not in a hurry. There will be plenty of time in the future…”

I finally closed the door after sending away the jinx, secretly sighing. But who has plenty of time with you in the future? Plenty of time in the future? Oh no…

Afterwards, I began to reflect on myself. I felt that in this kind of situation where I was caught in the middle, as a mature and sensible female comrade, although I was in an ambiguous stage with Fu Junyan, I shouldn’t eat vinegar indiscriminately and bully him just because he dotes on me. Because what if he gets scared off by my bullying and runs away? It’s easy for Fu Junyan to find Gu Baobei, but it’s harder than climbing to the sky for Gu Baobei to find Fu Junyan.

So I gave up. So I shamefully sent a long apology text message, the gist of which was, Fu Junyan, I was wrong…

His reply came very quickly too. He said, “My silly puffer fish, I just want to spoil you rotten, to the point where other men can’t stand your bad temper.” I was instantly speechless, because his words made my heart itch and feel warm.

Then I couldn’t help but pick up the phone and call him, but I couldn’t say anything for a long time. Just like that, we listened to each other’s breathing like idiots. After a while, I finally managed to ask him, “Why are you so good to me?”

Then I heard him sigh on the other end of the phone, so lightly, but his tone was vicissitudious yet persistent. He said, “Meeting you wasn’t easy…”

An encounter, it really isn’t easy…