ATLAS TRANSLATES

Like other actresses, I first bowed politely to Director Huai’an before introducing myself: “Hello, Director. I’m Gu Baobei, nineteen years old. I hope we can work together.”

Director Huai’an nodded, glanced at Fu Junyan, then looked back at me. He casually pointed at the bamboo tube in front of him and said, “Pick a topic.”

I nodded and drew a slip without hesitation. After drawing, I handed the paper back to Huai’an, just like the previous candidates. Director Huai’an opened the slip, looked at it, then closed it. Instead of reading the topic aloud as before, he turned to Fu Junyan, adjusted his glasses, and asked, “Junyan, want to act together?”

Fu Junyan didn’t look at the topic on the slip. He just glanced at me with interest and nodded. I stared at him, my mind racing. A mischievous thought popped into my head: I hope it’s not a bedroom scene…

After walking a few steps and saying a few words, my mind cleared from its initial shock and disbelief. No one could imagine how happy and troubled I felt about the man sitting motionless at the judges’ table, captivating everyone effortlessly. I was really conflicted, wondering if the next time Fu Junyan returned from a trip, he’d suddenly appear from somewhere again…

While I was lost in thought, a soft female voice came from behind: “If Xiao’ai isn’t ready, Director, can I go first with Brother Junyan?” I turned to see Ji Jie’er had stepped forward. She stood next to me as if we were close friends and smiled sweetly. I looked up helplessly. When did I say I wasn’t ready? Are we that close? This woman is really good at seizing opportunities, isn’t she?

Huai’an raised an eyebrow at her, his expression growing more playful. Despite this break from protocol, he happily clapped and agreed: “That’s perfect. We have many newcomers today, and you two have both worked with Junyan before – one as an industry veteran, the other as a Golden Dragon Award winner. Why don’t you two improvise a scene with Junyan? It’ll be a learning experience for everyone.” What flattery! I thought to myself, as I saw Huai’an turn to Fu Junyan, shrug, and call his name questioningly: “Junyan?”

Fu Junyan’s face remained expressionless. He simply looked at Huai’an and asked calmly, “What’s the topic?”

“Expressing love,” Director Huai’an said, adjusting his glasses and squinting slightly.

!!!!!!! I turned to Director Huai’an with a frozen smile, thinking I could almost see the mischievous glint behind his glasses. How unlucky! I unconsciously looked down at my hands, wondering why my luck was so bad today. Then I realized dejectedly, why did I use my right hand – which had just been hit by the “water gun” – to draw the topic?

Looking up, I saw a flash of joy cross Ji Jie’er’s face when she heard the topic. She suddenly raised her head, her eyes fixed on Fu Junyan with a loving gaze that made me want to slap her. I couldn’t help but recall her earlier “there’s still time” comment at the hotel, and I really wanted to make her time run out… Flirting and making eyes right in front of me, did she think I was dead?!

I secretly glanced at Fu Junyan. He was lowering his head to take the topic slip from Huai’an, seemingly oblivious to Ji Jie’er’s enthusiasm.

Fu Junyan’s intentional or unintentional indifference made me feel quite pleased. Like all women, when I saw someone eyeing my man, a fighting spirit welled up inside me, giving me unlimited courage. As a result, the more I looked at Ji Jie’er’s smile, the more annoying it became. I was really upset, and the consequences could be serious…

I narrowed my eyes, remembering Ji Jie’er’s usual tactic in auditions from my previous life – crying! I made up my mind. Looking up, I smiled warmly and said cheerfully, “That’s great, thank you, Sister Jie’er. Since you’re kindly helping me out, please go ahead.”

Fu Junyan put down the slip and looked up, giving me a clear glance. His eyes seemed to show understanding. He remained seated and said calmly, “Let’s begin.”

Ji Jie’er hesitated for a moment but quickly got into character. She stepped forward, lowered her head silently, then slowly looked up. In an instant, her eyes were filled with tears, making her look incredibly pitiful.

Ji Jie’er had built her career on being a pure, innocent actress. Weakness and tears were her specialty, so this was no challenge for her. She carefully walked a few steps forward, raised her head timidly to look at Fu Junyan, her eyes full of love, looking even more pitiful and adorable with the tears. Then, with a choked voice, she said, “I… I love you…”

From a professional standpoint, the performance was good. But personally, I was furious!

Fu Junyan just sat with his head slightly lowered, listening quietly. When Ji Jie’er finished speaking, he slowly raised his eyes and looked at her silently. His eyes showed contemplation and inquiry. Slowly, just as Ji Jie’er was about to speak again, he suddenly spoke. His tone was light, like the clear, cold water of a deep spring. He only asked her, “Is that so?”

No sympathy, no response, just a cold, watery “Is that so?”

There was a moment of suffocating silence in the meeting room due to his tone. Everyone looked deeply at this man who had just been warm as the morning sun but suddenly turned cold as harsh winter.

Alright, Fu Junyan’s performance gets full marks. Time for me to bring out my inner mother hen.

I nodded to Director Huai’an, then casually flicked my fingers and blew on them. I walked forward slowly, seemingly nonchalantly looking at Fu Junyan, then turned to look at Ji Jie’er, who was crying with an extremely wronged expression. After circling around her a few times, I finally poked her shoulder with my little finger and said coldly with a sidelong glance, “Why haven’t you left yet?”

Ji Jie’er looked up at me in shock, then turned teary eyes to Fu Junyan and called softly, “Brother Junyan…”

Brother my foot! I lowered my eyes and glared at Fu Junyan. He cooperated by shuddering, putting on an extremely pitiful henpecked expression. I laughed inwardly; his reaction was really quick. But outwardly, I just curled my lip in a cold smile, turned back to block Ji Jie’er’s view, blew in her face, and asked coldly, “Who are you calling Brother Junyan?” Then I beckoned her with my finger. Ji Jie’er didn’t move, a flash of anger crossing her eyes before quickly returning to her weak woman expression.

Already breaking character? I chuckled lightly, folded my arms across my chest, and looked at her lazily. I leaned in close to her ear and said in a low, mocking tone, “I’ve disliked you for a long time! What do you think people would say if they knew that a pure actress from the entertainment industry knocked on Fu Junyan’s door several times in the middle of the night? Pure actress?”

After saying this, I stepped back, half-covering my mouth with my fingers, and laughed unkindly a few times, my expression as wicked as possible…

“You…” Ji Jie’er clearly didn’t expect me to say such things. She stared at me in disbelief, her hand trembling as she pointed at me, unable to speak. Seeming to remember we were improvising, she took a deep breath and started crying shakily again.

I tilted my head and looked at her innocently, lowering my hand and dropping my previous expression. I just raised my chin, curled my lip, and said, “Ji Jie’er, has anyone ever told you? Even if you want to steal someone’s man, you should choose the right target. Some people’s men can’t be messed with, and shouldn’t be messed with.” I pointed at Fu Junyan, who was sitting calmly and indulgently behind me, and continued, “Especially this one of mine, you can’t handle him!”

Then, I stepped back to the table, casually picked up a discarded topic slip, and crumpled it in my hand. Tilting my head, I blinked at Ji Jie’er innocently and said, “You see, I’m a petty person. I’d definitely tear you to shreds.” Quickly, I focused on her, my hands still moving, tearing up the slip like a playful child. Then, I tore the slip into tiny pieces. With a smile, I raised my hand slightly, and suddenly paper scraps were flying in the air, falling to the ground in bits and pieces.

An actor’s worst fear is being slow to react and unable to keep up with the scene. Seeing Ji Jie’er still in a daze, I pouted inwardly and bid her farewell.

Then I turned to look at Fu Junyan. He seemed to have been quietly watching me the whole time. Seeing me turn to look at him, I pouted and stared at him without moving or speaking. He got into character, scratching his head, standing up with his hands casually in his jeans pockets. After seeming to hesitate for a few seconds, he walked out from behind the table, lowered his head slightly, and smiled at me appeasingly.

“What are you smiling at?” I punched him lightly, saying with a stiff face, “Are you happy seeing me bully someone?”

He took my punch, let out a muffled groan, and frowned as if in pain. His dark, star-like eyebrows furrowed as he looked at me emotionally, scrunching his nose childishly and saying, “Ouch…”

I froze. He then stroked my nose with his finger, smiling appeasingly and asking, “You little mischief-maker, did you have fun?” That obedient, indulgent look that allowed me to be naughty made my heart itch.

I didn’t respond to him, just looking at his chest. Remembering his pained expression earlier, I said irritably, “You’re faking! How could it hurt?” As I said this, I poked him again, but this time very gently. My face pretended not to care, but I secretly glanced at his chest. His slightly furrowed brows from the pain earlier looked too real. I couldn’t help but hesitate, wondering if he was really hurt. Did I use too much force?

“What do you think?” He grabbed my arm, covering his chest with his other hand and pouting as he spoke. Then he blinked at me innocently, his expression so guileless and pitiful that it made me want to pinch him. I secretly pinched my palm to stop myself from thinking any further.

Quickly getting back into character, I snorted coldly, glancing at him and saying, “What do I think? What do I think? So what if you’re hurt? Why should I care about you? Care about which woman you’ve gotten involved with while I was away? Hmph!” I started to enter a purely unreasonable drama storyline, silently reminding myself: Baobei, your role today is a shrew! A shrew! You need to be consistent from start to finish, don’t mess it up…

Fu Junyan was silent for a moment. I thought I had amazed him to the point where he couldn’t keep up with the scene, but then I saw a hint of hurt gradually appear in his eyes. Finally, he said seriously, word by word, “I’m your man, you should care about me!” As he spoke, he suddenly lowered his head, his face instantly very close to mine. His eyelashes were so long, just slightly curled, making his face look like jade. Then I heard him soften his tone, sounding a bit dejected as he said, “Didn’t you see me rejecting her? I was rejecting her from start to finish. Honey…” His tone was now full of grievance…

But! This added plot, and even calling me honey… Well… it does sound quite nice…

His dejected tone made my heart suddenly unable to catch its breath, only wanting to reach out and smooth away his pain. Thinking this, I slowly raised my eyes to look at Fu Junyan. He had really gotten thinner, but his features looked even more three-dimensional and handsome. And those deep eyes of his, just a shallow glance could suck a person in, soul and all.

“Does it hurt a lot?” I couldn’t help but ask him softly, almost in a trance. But just as I was about to reach out and touch him, a cool breeze blew in from the window, suddenly waking me up. I almost messed up… I quickly withdrew my hand, puffed up my cheeks, and stared at him awkwardly. Shaking my head, I turned away from his eyes, just muttering and continuing the plot, complaining, “So what if I saw you rejecting her? How long have I been away from home? Would my man let me come back only to see another woman confessing to him and crying? Maybe you two are even resenting me in your hearts! As the old saying goes, ‘Seeing tears fall, who knows whose heart is resentful!’ You’re probably resenting me for ruining your good thing! I don’t like you! I don’t love you! Who loves you? Why would I love you, you heartless man?” As I spoke, my voice got smaller and smaller. He cupped my face, making me look into his eyes, which were full of sadness.

And I, sniffling, really couldn’t bear to look into his eyes anymore, so I pretended to cry and threw myself into his arms, sobbing, “You bad man! How could I fall in love with you! How could I fall in love with you!” By now, my tone had softened and become sweet.

Finally, I expressed my love… Love can be expressed very indirectly, a double negative equals a positive. The moment I fell into Fu Junyan’s arms, I let out a long breath, and took the opportunity to secretly pinch the soft flesh at his waist to vent my frustration. Fu Junyan obediently endured it, his face showing no change.

And I, seemingly victorious but actually charmed to the bone by him, could only lament inwardly that Master Junyan’s skills were improving, and he had almost completely enchanted me. What a tragedy…

After our performance, Huai’an’s concluding remarks were quite shocking. He asked and answered himself, saying, “So, Junyan, you’re a henpecked husband, Xiao’ai is a jealous wife, and Jie’er is a cannon fodder mistress.”

I tried my best to hold back my laughter, ignoring my own and Fu Junyan’s roles, only thinking about the four words “cannon fodder mistress,” and inwardly clapping my hands. Hahaha! I didn’t say that…

Finally, to maintain the normal order of the audition, we all left the meeting room to wait for the director’s notification. After all, if we had stayed any longer, things might have really gotten out of hand…

In the corridor, as Ji Jie’er brushed past me, I reached out and grabbed her. Ignoring her unpleasant expression, I pretended to be friendly and whispered in her ear, “Everything I said just now was true!” She glared at me fiercely, still standing there in a daze after I had walked away.

Fu Junyan was waiting for me by the elevator, pressing the button. Seeing me walk over, he shook his head with a helpless smile. I winked at him, looking smug.

Entering the parking garage, Fu Junyan politely nodded to Fang Qing, who was waiting in the company car, and said, “Hello, please take Xiao’ai and me home.”

Fang Qing, confused, nodded slowly in the driver’s seat.

Fu Junyan opened the back door of the car and helped me in first, then put the luggage in and sat down beside me. After sitting down, he turned to look at me, reached out with a smile to ruffle my hair, and tapped my nose, half amused and half exasperated, saying, “Happy now?”

I squinted my eyes and smiled, nodding at him.

“You silly girl, why get upset with someone irrelevant?” he said.

I puffed up my cheeks and said very pettily, “I just don’t like her! She’s so annoying, always clinging to you. It’s so irritating!”

“Mm.” He nodded, gently patted my head, and said softly, “Thank you.” He said this as if my bullying and mischief were perfectly justified.

I was secretly delighted, but still tilted my head to look at him, pouting and complaining quietly, “Fu Junyan, so you know how to come back, huh?”

Hearing this, his expression became calm, but he looked at me intently, with that longing look of a reunion after a long separation, warm like a lake in spring.

“Two months and seventeen days,” he suddenly said after a while.

“What?” I tilted my head, looking at him in confusion.

He also tilted his head, looking at me, and gently brushed his thumb over my eye. “Xiao’ai, this time I was away from you for two months and seventeen days, a bit quicker than last time.” He had counted the days so precisely again… For some reason, the depth of emotion in his words was beyond my grasp. I just felt that he loved me so much, so very much.

My anger dissipated, and I responded softly. Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked, “Fu Junyan, how did you know to come to the company right after landing? How did you know I was there?” After asking urgently, I wrinkled my nose, but still asked self-indulgently and carefully, “You came to find me, right?”

He nodded good-naturedly, tapped my nose, and praised me with a smile, “So clever.” Then he tilted his head and looked at me for a while before saying slowly, “Before I left, I had met Huai’an a few times in meetings and participated in the early preparations for his new film. At that time, I guessed Huai’an would send you an invitation, so I made a note of the audition date during the meeting. Luckily, you were really there.”

Foreknowledge, huh… I nodded and looked at him again.

“You’ve lost weight…” I complained, reaching out to tug at him. I pursed my lips and said softly, leaning closer to him, “Fu Junyan, give me a kiss.”

He was startled for a moment, then sighed and really did lean down to gently kiss the corner of my mouth.

I grinned foolishly, tilting my head and looking at Fu Junyan with sparkling eyes. I tugged at his clothes again, blinking and saying, “Fu Junyan, try calling me ‘honey’ again?”

“No,” Fu Junyan rarely refused, shaking his head at me.

Instead, I became curious and raised an eyebrow, puffing out my cheeks, “Why not?” You just called me that earlier…

Hearing this, he poked my puffy cheek with his finger. I deflated, and then heard him say pleasantly, “How can I let you propose to me?”

I froze, pursed my lips, and realized I had been teased…

Fang Qing wasn’t as calm as I had imagined. She remained like an invisible person, sitting in the driver’s seat without turning around or moving, so naturally, the car hadn’t moved either. But I, immersed in my little world, hadn’t noticed at all at the time… In the end, it was Fu Junyan who patted me to sit properly, got out of the car, and replaced Fang Qing in the driver’s seat. Only then did I realize I had shocked my own manager.

Fu Junyan very gentlemanly sent Fang Qing home first. On the way back home, Fang Qing just kept looking at me, then looking at me again, her silent expression making me very conflicted.

Fortunately, as she was about to reach home, she finally regained some composure. She said very seriously, “Xiao’ai, although those CP fans all say you and Fu Junyan are the most perfect match. But in this world, there are no more fairy tales! In this day and age, princesses all end up with Tang Seng! So I never thought you two would really be a couple in reality… Xiao’ai!” The last call of my name was almost an explosive sound…

In the evening, I received another text message from Fang Qing. The content was like this: “Xiao’ai, don’t worry! I will fulfill my responsibility as your manager to protect you, and also protect the secret of your relationship with Fu Junyan! Also, although it’s a bit presumptuous, could you help me get an autographed photo of Fu Junyan? I’ve always admired him!”

I read it and laughed, looking up at Fu Junyan who was washing dishes with his back to me in the kitchen. I thought for a moment and replied, “Sure. Autographed photo is fine, admiration is fine, but falling in love is not allowed.”

Afterwards, I stared at the five words ‘secret of your relationship’ for a long time, savoring them.