Most of the promotional video filming took place in various Suzhou gardens, which was a perk of being an “actor”. When others visit gardens, they’re usually crowded and noisy, making it hard to enjoy the serene beauty. But with the advantage of our profession, after the area was cleared, it became quiet all around. Fu Junyan and I truly experienced the tranquil and peaceful atmosphere of the gardens.
During breaks in filming, Fu Junyan would hold my hand and take me on adventures through the gardens. He would often quietly hold me as we sat in a shaded corridor, resting with his eyes closed on my shoulder. I would play with his slender fingers while watching the slightly yellowing leaves fall from the branches, spinning in the air before landing on the pebble-paved path. Or I would turn my face slightly, looking through the intricate window lattice, watching the sunlight stream in freely while the scenery slipped out quietly and casually. Together, we felt the stability of time and the warmth of the atmosphere.
I asked Fu Junyan if the young ladies of that time would use these lattice windows to secretly look at young men from other families. Fu Junyan tapped my forehead with his long finger, laughing at my silliness. He said, “My silly pufferfish, how could there be young men from other families in one’s own courtyard?”
I nodded and wrinkled my nose, realizing he was right. I snuggled in his arms and asked, “Then what should we do?”
He met my eyes, pointed at himself and said, “Then you can look at your own Young Master Junyan…” As he spoke, he tightened his arms around me. I lightly punched him a few times in mock annoyance. This man was getting more and more opportunistic…
The most common social gatherings in the entertainment industry are dinner parties, which Fu Junyan and I never attend. Who knows what ulterior motives lie behind those dinner tables? Once, I was browsing the internet on my laptop and saw the supposed prices for Fu Junyan and me to accompany wealthy businessmen for drinks. After seeing it, I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. The next morning when I woke up, I still remembered this. I don’t know what possessed me, but I gently moved Fu Junyan’s arm from around my waist, sneaked out of bed, found a piece of white paper, and casually wrote “One Million Yuan” with a ballpoint pen. Then, I quietly slipped the note next to the sleeping Fu Junyan’s pillow before crawling back under the covers to continue sleeping.
Later, when Fu Junyan woke up, he saw the note and adorably rubbed his eyes. After looking closer and seeing it clearly, he held the note and chuckled. Then he half-laid on top of me, continuously poking my face gently with his finger and tugging at my ear. I was wincing inside, but I persisted in pretending to be asleep. Even when he made me want to laugh, I resolutely kept my eyes closed.
“Still pretending?” He finally let out a soft snort, his voice carrying a lazy and sexy tone from not being fully awake. This time, he didn’t tease me anymore. Instead, he reached out his long arm and directly scooped me out from under the covers, holding my waist and playfully spanking me a few times. I pouted and looked up at him. He raised his eyebrows, waved the piece of paper, and with an innocent look in his beautiful eyes, said in a sweet voice, “Miss Gu, in business, we value honesty. You’ve given too much money. How about I give you a few more times to make it worth it? Satisfaction guaranteed?” As he spoke, he slightly lowered his head and suggestively licked his lips, exuding an incredibly alluring aura…
I was completely mesmerized. Only when Fu Junyan started to get handsy did I realize the situation was getting out of hand. I grabbed his hand that had slipped under my skirt and shouted, “I was wrong, I was wrong! Have mercy, Young Master…” He didn’t stop, just shook his head and said seriously, “A promise once made cannot be taken back, Baobei. If we’re going to act, we should do it thoroughly…”
I was dumbfounded and whimpered, “I’m not a gentleman, I’m a lady, a lady! Have mercy! Have mercy, Young Master!”
Hearing this, he chuckled lightly, his eyes full of warmth. He bit my nose tip and said softly, “Then we definitely can’t stop. Women and petty men are hard to deal with, so I must serve you well… Baobei…”
As a result, that day he worked me so hard that my waist and back ached, and I was in a daze all day… For this, I deeply regret giving him an excuse to enslave me… So I didn’t dare talk back and say, “So your Young Master Junyan is only worth a piece of white paper, huh?”…
That day on set, a secretary of some leader came, saying he wanted to invite Fu Junyan and me to have dinner with the leader. Since we didn’t have our manager with us, the secretary approached Fu Junyan directly. He spoke very sincerely, with an eager attitude. But Fu Junyan didn’t even look up when he heard this, continuing to sort through documents in his hands. In the end, he just responded lightly, “I’m sorry, you should talk to the director about these things.”
His refusal was polite yet clear, his smile faint to the point of being distant. However, the secretary, upon hearing this, still repeated his purpose and then stood there, not leaving.
He stood there so conspicuously that after a while, Fu Junyan finally looked up at him calmly and seriously. He slightly lowered his gaze, bent down to take a bottle of mineral water from the side, and handed it over, asking with concern, “Are you thirsty?” But as a result, the secretary was probably stunned, and in the end actually took the mineral water and left in a daze. I was sitting cross-legged on a nearby chair, watching in bewilderment and unable to hold back my laughter…
I asked Fu Junyan, “What just happened? Why did he leave like that? Fu Junyan, what if he hadn’t left? What would you have done?” Fu Junyan, still holding his documents, answered lightly, “These people are all very shrewd. They won’t waste time on useless things.” Then he looked up at me munching on cookies and glanced at the cookie box beside me, smiling faintly as he said, “If he still hadn’t left, then we could have given him some of your cookies. I think if he still didn’t leave after that, he must have been both thirsty and hungry.”
…
Afterwards, the ghost director never mentioned the dinner party to us, even though I clearly saw that secretary come to the set to find him several times. Later I learned that Fu Junyan always has an additional clause in his contracts stating that he only films and doesn’t participate in any social events or promotions. Three words popped into my mind: he’s a big shot! The key is that he’s a big shot, yet everyone feels it’s only natural for Young Master Junyan to be this way…
But I was curious why I didn’t have such an additional contract, and why the ghost director never came to find me even once? So I blinked my eyes, looked up at Fu Junyan, and shook his arm to ask several times.
Fu Junyan was helpless against my pestering and had to answer me.
He smiled and asked me, “When you’re on set, who’s always by your side?”
I pointed my finger at him.
He smiled again and asked, “After filming, how does the crew contact you?”
I curled my finger and pointed at him again. After my phone fell into the Pingjiang River, I never bought a new one, so most people contact me through Fu Junyan’s phone. So, I felt embarrassed… It turns out the silly pufferfish doesn’t need to flip over Young Master Mountain, because Young Master Mountain is the iron wall protecting the silly pufferfish…
Fu Junyan saw that I understood and comfortingly patted my head. Then he said something shocking, “A Gui is talented, but his hands aren’t clean.”
Hearing this, I was stunned. My head started spinning again, and I looked down at my wallet, my mind racing through various possible interpretations of “unclean hands” – thief? creepy uncle? pervert?…
Fu Junyan, knowing my tendency to overthink, gently tapped the back of my head and said with a smile, “Don’t let your imagination run wild.” Then he gave me a meaningful look and leaned in to whisper in my ear, “A Gui likes to gamble, although he’s quit in recent years. But three years ago, he got into trouble at a casino, and I saved him. So, for small matters like dinner parties, he doesn’t need to make a big fuss.”
“Ah! How did you save him?” I asked excitedly, wrapping my arms around Fu Junyan’s neck like a curious baby, imagining my Young Master Junyan as a martial arts expert, unbeatable in the world. But I saw him smile lightly, the corner of his eyes curling up, as he rubbed his fingers together, making a “money” gesture.
Speechless… I let go of his neck, my face drooping as I rubbed my nose. Can money bring ghosts back to life? Then what about my Young Master Junyan’s extraordinary martial arts skills?…
In the story, on the day Lu Shaoyou returned to his hometown after high school, the entire Suzhou city was in an uproar. Even the banks of the city moat were crowded with people, young and old, all coming to see the Lu family’s new top scholar. The whole city of Suzhou was decorated with lanterns and festive decorations. Red lanterns were floating everywhere, and wherever Lu Shaoyou’s tall horse passed, firecrackers and gongs would sound.
But in the welcoming procession in front of the Lu family’s house, Mu Qingqing was different from the day she sent him off to the capital for the exam. On this glorious day, she didn’t use her status as his fiancée to stand at the front of the procession. Instead, without flattery or fawning, she calmly stood at the very back of the crowd. But Lu Shaoyou still spotted her at a glance. Mu Qingqing was wearing a pink dress, her beautiful face half-hidden as she lowered her head slightly, but just her faintly visible red lips were boundlessly alluring. She always stood rationally at the back of the women, calm and composed, without a single mistake. After paying respects to Lu’s mother and giving gifts, it wasn’t long before Mu Qingqing left with her mother in a sedan chair back to the Mu mansion.
Lu Shaoyou had been secretly watching Mu Qingqing the whole time. Seeing her so elegant and putting on such an act, he didn’t want to spoil her fun. But having been away for so long, he really missed her lively demeanor that was so different from other young ladies of the time.
So, on the second day after Lu Shaoyou’s return home, after holding a banquet to thank his teachers, he began to refuse all visitors. That day, despite the clear sunny weather, he sent someone to fetch an oil-paper umbrella from his room, and then went to the Mu mansion carrying the umbrella. The Mu family was naturally delighted and quickly called Mu Qingqing out. When Mu Qingqing saw Lu Shaoyou, she was also surprised. She had thought he would be very busy after just returning home as the top scholar, but she didn’t expect to see him again so soon.
In front of the Mu family elders, they exchanged formal greetings and pleasantries, behaving one way in public and another in private. Finally, when even the servants had been dismissed, the two faced each other. After a brief silence, Mu Qingqing suddenly giggled coquettishly, her small face lighting up, even more radiant in her yellow-green gauze dress. Only then did she say with a spoiled tone, “I didn’t expect the honorable top scholar to grace us with his presence. I didn’t know that this year’s scholars were even more foolish than you.” Though her words seemed critical, they were clearly in jest. Mu Qingqing’s delicate fingers brushed the pink buttons, flirtatiously landing on Lu Shaoyou’s brow. Before she finished speaking, they both laughed.
Lu Shaoyou slowly took out a slightly faded sachet from his bosom, holding it in his palm as he said, “Ninth Miss, this sachet has become a bit old from Shaoyou’s daily caressing. Would you make a new one for me?” Hearing this, Mu Qingqing glanced up slightly, reaching out with two fingers to take the sachet from his hand. Only when she held it did she see clearly that the worn sachet was the one she had stayed up for several nights to embroider with a wealthy lotus, rushing to give it to him before he left for the capital. Mu Qingqing lowered her eyes, and for once, even in private, she gently nodded to Lu Shaoyou in a ladylike manner.
Then she heard Lu Shaoyou say, “This time, would Ninth Miss embroider a pair of mandarin ducks for Shaoyou…”
Mu Qingqing was truly stunned this time. She never expected Lu Shaoyou to say such a thing. After a while, she suddenly raised her face, her big eyes full of spirit, her hand holding the sachet trembling slightly. Finally, she lowered her voice and asked softly, “You fool, do you know what mandarin ducks symbolize? I have a good temperament with people, but if I can’t bear it one day, I might turn into a shrew or a jealous wife. Don’t let me misunderstand and end up in bitter pain in the future.”
Hearing these words, Lu Shaoyou seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He smiled gently and elegantly, his eyes as clear as flowing clouds, and replied good-naturedly, “Ninth Miss, don’t be angry. Mandarin ducks symbolize a lifelong couple, one pair for life.”
“Really?”
“If it’s a lie, may heaven strike me with five thunderbolts.”
After hearing this, Mu Qingqing paused briefly, then smiled charmingly, as beautiful as a hibiscus. Unlike the usual reserved manner of young ladies, she just raised her delicate finger, pointing at the sky, and said, “The gods are watching above. Fool, don’t forget what you said today.” As she spoke, she tucked the sachet into her bosom, raising an eyebrow, full of spirit.
Lu Shaoyou smiled faintly and nodded, his eyes full of affection as he looked at her.
That day, Mu Qingqing personally saw Lu Shaoyou out of the mansion. But she saw him suddenly stop, his eyes innocent as he pressed his lips together and looked at her, saying, “Ninth Miss, I almost forgot, Shaoyou’s umbrella is still in the hall!”
Mu Qingqing had just thought he had become a bit smarter, but hearing these words, she once again confirmed that this handsome young man was indeed a fool. She waved her hand helplessly, but her expression was good. She just said, “Don’t go, just wait here, I’ll fetch it for you.”
Lu Shaoyou lowered his eyes and nodded slightly.
After handing the umbrella back to Lu Shaoyou, Mu Qingqing asked, “Such good weather, why did you bring an umbrella? Don’t tell me carrying an umbrella in broad daylight makes you wise enough to prepare for rain before it falls?”
Hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Lu Shaoyou’s face, his eyes burning and warm. After a long silence, under Mu Qingqing’s impatient gaze, he slowly said, “It’s because Ninth Miss once said, if Shaoyou ever became successful, she would hand him an umbrella like a book boy.” As he spoke, he raised the paper umbrella in his hand and continued, “Ninth Miss always keeps her word and follows through with her actions. Shaoyou is grateful.”
Hearing this, Mu Qingqing looked at the paper umbrella in Lu Shaoyou’s hand, her cheeks gradually turning peach red. Her bright big eyes stared at Lu Shaoyou, her heart pounding, but constrained by being outside, she couldn’t act out. She could only maintain an elegant smile, but her ears were burning red.
Almost every day after finishing work and returning to the hotel, calculating the time when An’an would be home from kindergarten, Fu Junyan would call home. At first, Daddy would answer first and then pass the phone to An’an, but now An’an would wait every day at the exact time, lying on Xiao Qi, swinging his short legs next to the home phone waiting for it to ring. As soon as he answered the phone, the little guy wouldn’t wait for us to speak, he would ask in his baby voice, “Looking for An’an?” Followed by Xiao Qi’s ‘woof’ as if on cue.
Fu Junyan would always patiently answer him, “Yes, brother-in-law and sister are looking for An’an.” Then Gu Xiao’an would hug the receiver and say, “An’an is so happy, An’an wants to roll on Qi Qi!”
However, on this day, Gu Xiao’an’s voice was particularly pitiful. He answered the phone without speaking, only the sound of his little nose sniffling could be heard. Fu Junyan looked at me with confusion and concern, and asked softly to the other end of the phone, “What’s wrong with our An’an?”
Fu Junyan’s voice was so gentle that Gu Xiao’an seemed to be encouraged, and he started crying loudly with a “Wah!”. Hearing the little guy’s sobbing, my heart ached, and Xiao Qi was barking angrily in the background.
I was so worried that I grabbed the hotel phone by the bed and called Daddy. When the call connected, before I could speak, Daddy started yelling at me, “Why are you calling? Are you blaming me for not comforting your brother? Isn’t it you who spoiled him? When An’an fell, he didn’t even cry out in pain, he just looked at me once and got up by himself. But as soon as you call, this child starts whimpering over the tiniest pain. When he cries, Xiao Qi gets angry. Does this dog generate static electricity when it’s angry? Why won’t its fur stay down?”
I was embarrassed, imagining Xiao Qi with its fur standing on end… I rubbed my nose and said sycophantically, “Daddy, you’ve worked hard. Daddy, you keep trying to smooth Xiao Qi’s fur…” Then I promptly hung up the phone…
On the other end, Fu Junyan had been quietly holding the phone listening to An’an cry. As An’an’s crying gradually subsided, Fu Junyan asked, “Is An’an tired from crying?”
The little guy made a sound of agreement and said softly, “Tired…” Understanding the reason and hearing this child foolishly trying to be cute, my mood changed from heartache to wanting to laugh for some reason… An’an is really a delicate little thing!
“If you’re tired, then stop crying.” Fu Junyan smiled lightly after hearing An’an’s words and spoke soothingly. I went over and made a falling gesture to him. Fu Junyan nodded, reached out to rub my face, and then asked the little bean on the other end of the phone, “Now tell brother-in-law, why was An’an crying?”
“An’an climbed high, milk bottle fell on the ground, An’an picked up bottle, when jumping down, chair hit An’an’s knee, An’an fell too, very painful… um…” Listening to the little guy’s tone, he sounded both innocent and pitiful, and a bit angry. I could completely imagine his cute milk-bubble face scrunched up, really wanting to pinch it…
“Is Daddy next to An’an?” Fu Junyan asked softly after hearing this.
“Yes.” The little guy answered quickly, sniffled, and then said, “Qi Qi’s fur is standing up, Daddy presses it down, then Qi Qi’s fur stands up again. They’re playing…” Still standing? The corner of my mouth twitched…
“Does An’an still hurt?” Fu Junyan asked the little guy gently, his eyes filled with amusement.
Gu Xiao’an whimpered a few times, then shouted in his little voice, “Hurt, An’an hurts…”
“Then An’an, go to Daddy now, let Daddy hug you and kiss your knee. That way it won’t hurt anymore.” Fu Junyan spoke very seriously, word by word.
“Why?” Gu Xiao’an asked foolishly, his nasal voice making his already cute childish voice even more endearing.
“Because of warmth…” Fu Junyan said with a smile, gently urging, “An’an, go try it, then tell brother-in-law if it works.”
“Okay!” The little guy shouted bravely, and we could hear the sound of his little legs running in the phone.
After a while, the little guy came back and happily shouted into the phone, “Brother-in-law, An’an really doesn’t hurt anymore!” I had been quietly listening on the side, and hearing this, I walked behind Fu Junyan, wrapped my arms around his waist, leaned my whole body against his back, rested my head on his shoulder, and kissed his cheek. He turned his head and stroked my hair, then asked Gu Xiao’an on the other end of the phone in a puzzled tone, “An’an, if the chair hit An’an, wouldn’t the chair be hurt too?”
The little guy seemed to be stunned for a moment, then answered blankly, “Chair-chair didn’t cry, but chair-chair also fell on the ground…”
“Then can An’an go hug it, rub its pain away, and tell it ‘it won’t hurt soon’? Okay?” Fu Junyan gently guided An’an. Then, Gu Xiao’an happily went to do it without a trace of melancholy, and he quickly told us that he had kissed the chair twice. At such a young age, he didn’t know that Fu Junyan was teaching him to learn warmth, to warm others and himself. And to learn empathy, to understand that all collisions are mutual. And these profound principles, I believe, will subtly influence him as he grows, deeply rooted in his life, making his life vibrant.
Fu Junyan says that educating one’s own children well is a social responsibility. And communicating and playing with children, listening to them speak, is a form of moral education. For example, when An’an asks, “When will brother-in-law and sister come back?” he would answer, “Brother-in-law doesn’t know either.” He says parents don’t need to sanctify themselves, everyone will have things they don’t understand, everyone will make mistakes. So, be patient, be sincere.
And I just looked at him, unable to help but ask emotionally, “Fu Junyan, I really can’t imagine what kind of wonderful education you received as a child, to have turned out so good…”
He didn’t speak, just lowered his dense eyelashes with a calm expression, leaned on my shoulder and said softly to me, “Hug me, hug me tight.” For some reason, I felt that at this moment, he seemed a little bit fragile.
Also on this day, Daddy called again half an hour later. I heard Daddy ask, “Fu Junyan, I really can’t stand it anymore! Your dog! Why is its fur still standing up even now!”
Fu Junyan laughed when he heard this and answered gently, “Uncle, you can stroke Xiao Qi. When it feels safe, it won’t be nervous anymore.” Then he turned to look at me, reached out to stroke my hair. I belatedly shrank my neck and glared at him.
After a while, Daddy called again. He grumbled on the other end, “Stroking it doesn’t work either, its fur is still standing up!”
Fu Junyan sighed, thought for a moment, then answered smoothly, “Uncle, then you can only give it a bath.”
When I heard this, I burst out laughing… That’s true… Which wet dog’s fur can stand up?…
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