ATLAS TRANSLATES

John the director hesitated for a moment when he heard that Fang Dingyue wanted to take leave to return home, but he agreed and even readily asked if he needed help booking a flight ticket. I also instantly became enthusiastic, thinking that since I would be staying in Italy for a few more months, it would be nice to get some benefits from Fang Dingyue. So I found a seat and sat down, silently staring at John and Fang Dingyue who were chatting.

“What’s up with you?” In the end, it was Fang Dingyue who felt uncomfortable first. He interrupted his conversation with director John, turned his face to look at me.

I thought for a moment and started blinking at him, saying in an especially fawning manner, “Fang Dingyue, you’re going back to the capital, right? Right…”

“So?”

“Well, bring back some donkey rolls, candied hawthorns, little purple yams and stuff! And those mung bean cakes! Can’t buy them in Italy!” After I finished speaking, I didn’t forget to wink at John, “They’re really delicious, really delicious!” I thought for a moment and then returned to a serious expression, adding, “Mm, An’an said he wants to eat them.”

“Wasn’t Gu An born in Italy? How does he know about those things?” Before I could finish speaking, the door opened. Xu Mei walked in, pulled out a chair and sat down, looking at me with a face full of suspicion as she said this sentence, but her face still looked very kind and amiable. But I really wanted to borrow Xiao Qi’s paws to scratch her face off…

I stiffened and simply said, “I just want to eat them! Fang Dingyue dotes on An’an. If I mention An’an, I can get more, right!” Then I smiled coquettishly, nodding casually.

She paused and looked at me with a solemn face, then glanced at John and Fang Dingyue to the side before saying, “Xiao’ai, are you having difficulties in life?” Before I could speak, she came over and took my hand, holding it and saying, “Xiao’ai, you don’t have a management company, so you also don’t have a manager or assistant by your side. It’s indeed not easy for a young girl like you to bring a child by yourself. How about this, Xiao’ai, trust me, Xu Mei, for once. Just follow me and I’ll personally guide you to become a big star. I’ll also assign two assistants to you so there will always be someone to take care of Gu An. Consider it.”

“Xu Mei, she’s just a young girl with food cravings. You’re thinking too much.” Before I could react, Fang Dingyue looked over coldly, got up and pulled me away, “Come on, Xiao’ai. Write down what you want to eat and Fang Dingyue will bring it all back for you.”

After we left the room, he let go of me, looked at me and said very seriously, “Xiao’ai, listen well. Don’t listen to her. This Xu Mei isn’t as good as she appears on the surface.”

I nodded, truly grateful to him in my heart.

The next day, as soon as I arrived at the set, I saw Fang Dingyue sitting in a chair with a cold face. John was wiping sweat and saying something, while Xu Mei also had a very unpleasant expression.

Before I even got close, I heard Xu Mei say, “Sister Mei isn’t trying to make things difficult for you. Our Jay has other dramas in his hands and two commercials waiting to be filmed. According to the contract, Kimura Jin can leave the crew once all his scenes are done. You can take leave, but you have to finish filming the scenes with our Jay before leaving. Otherwise, by the time you come back, if the schedule gets pushed back, it won’t be easy to adjust the dates.”

Hearing that, I instantly got angry. Isn’t this clearly making things difficult for others? So without thinking, I walked over and called out weakly, “Sister Mei! Why are you losing your temper so early in the morning?”

She turned her face to look at me, unable to figure out what I was trying to do. She just said coldly, “Xiao’ai ah, isn’t it just about the scheduling issue?”

“Is it worth getting into a deadlock like this over that?” I swept my eyes over the set. Jay hadn’t arrived yet, so I smiled knowingly and said, “Sister Mei, you have seniority in the industry. Everyone knows you’re a veteran manager. With your age and experience, you can’t lose your temper. If you do, you’ll age a few more years, right?”

At first, Xu Mei probably found it pleasant to hear and her expression improved quite a bit. But when she heard me say she was old, her face immediately stiffened. Xu Mei’s biggest weakness was her age, because she had fallen in love with a man seven years younger than her. In my previous life, whoever said she was old, she would instantly throw a fit.

Sure enough, when she heard my words, she put away her usually well-feigned good temper. With a stiff face and anger in her eyes, she looked at me askance and said, “How are you talking to me?”

I spread my hands and blinked at her, “The truth!”

Saying that, I pulled over a chair and sat down to the side. Not caring about other people’s gazes, I raised my brows and spoke, “Sister Mei, everyone here except Jay is a newcomer. You know well how difficult it is for newcomers. Fang Dingyue has always been dedicated to his work. He has something to take care of at home and needs to go back for a bit. Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone accommodated each other? Let’s not even mention whether this film will be a hit or not. Just considering that we’ll all be in this industry in the future, running into each other from time to time, isn’t it good to have more friends to talk to? Besides, who in the crew doesn’t know about Jay’s temper? In order to make my Gu Xiao’an happy, he gritted his teeth and drank an entire bottle of milk. If it were someone else drinking it, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But Jay considers milk to be poison. He was able to do this. He didn’t see that An’an is just a two-year-old baby and pretend to take it back to the dressing room to pour it out. Instead, he drank it right in front of everyone. There’s nothing more to say. He’s a decent person. Sister Mei, you’re a manager, so of course you’ll consider profits. But have you asked Jay? With his good character, would he be so unreasonable? To put it more bluntly, would he let you suppress colleagues like this and bully newcomers?”

These words were already extremely heavy. Xu Mei’s face alternated between green and white. In the end, she was so angry that she stomped her foot and directly turned around and left.

After Xu Mei left, Fang Dingyue, who had been sitting to the side with a cold face, looked at me and called out, “Xiao’ai!” Then he sighed and said, “Was it worth making an enemy of her for me?”

“Who did it for you?” I glared at him and shook my head, secretly feeling smug. I spread my hands and said, “Didn’t you all see? I already found her unpleasant to the eye long ago.” After saying that, I patted my legs and stood up, turning my head to smile at Fang Dingyue mysteriously, and then said in a flattering tone, “The capital! You know what I mean!”

He nodded, helplessly shrugged his shoulders, and made a pinky swear gesture.

Fang Dingyue left that very day. I watched his sports car drive out of the crew, feeling very settled in my heart. This time, he finally wouldn’t miss seeing his mother for the last time. But then I suddenly thought of myself, thought of my own mother. I could only look up at the starry sky, stretch out my arms to hug myself and imagine my mother’s embrace.

When Fu Junyan heard about my argument with Xu Mei afterwards, he didn’t say much. I asked him, “Why aren’t you saying I was rash like the others?”

He looked at me and smiled. Several consecutive days of high-intensity filming made him look a bit tired, but his smile was still very warm. He said, “As long as you’re happy.”

Then, something in my heart started to crumble, crackling and making noise.

When Jay came to invite me to dinner, I agreed. Xu Mei acquiesced to it too, because during the meal, he said many good things on Xu Mei’s behalf and even asked if I wanted to consider signing with the same company as him.

This time, I shook my head and firmly refused. Xu Mei was actually very smart. First, she would grab me, then she could pinch me as she pleased. I wasn’t stupid either. In my previous life, I was able to endure like that simply because that man said he loved me, and I thought I should do something for love…

But I knew Jay wasn’t aware of the twists and turns in Xu Mei’s heart. He truly thought Xu Mei would be a responsible manager, because Xu Mei was really wholehearted and good to him.

Jay took me to a small restaurant in Chinatown. He said, “This place makes very authentic Chinese food. Let’s try it today?”

I nodded, letting him order dishes with familiarity. In my previous life, he had brought me here before, and in my memory, it was indeed really, really delicious.

“You live outside by yourself with An’an. How do you eat lunch? Do you also order takeout like us and eat Italian food? Xiao’ai, you don’t know, but I’m starting to feel a bit afraid when I see penne now.”

“What did you say?”

“Mei-jie’s cooking is very good. You live outside with An’an by yourself. Although the director has Fu Junyan pick you up and drop you off every day, it’s still inconvenient for meals, right? Do you really not want to consider venturing into this career with me?”

No wonder I went in and out with Fu Junyan every day. Two single men and women living together, yet there were no rumors in the crew. Could it be that they all thought I was living alone with An’an? I was instantly dazed. How did Fu Junyan manage to conceal it from so many people’s eyes and ears…

“Xiao’ai, what are you thinking about?”

“Oh.” I snapped out of it, looked at him, paused for a moment before saying, “I think the matter of signing a contract needs to be considered carefully. I need to think about it.”

“That’s good too. It’s right for you to think this way.” Jay nodded, looking very happy.

The dishes were served one after another. Jay carefully introduced them to me. I tried them one by one, but surprisingly, I couldn’t recall the taste from my previous life. Then Jay said, “The stomach knows homesickness. You can quickly adapt no matter where you go, but it’s food that lets you know with one taste whether you’re far from home or not.” When he said this, he was very sentimental, looking at the dishes on the table as if he was looking at his hometown. He smiled and pushed a plate of appetizing and spicy mapo tofu in front of me and said, “Come, try it. The stomach knows homesickness. I’ve brought you to find your hometown.”

Then he tilted his head and observed me for a while. The look in his eyes made my heart jolt, because it was an undisguised look of fondness. I heard him say, “Xiao’ai, I’ve always wanted to ask you, what mix are you? Your eyes are really beautiful.”

I shook my head and just said, “I don’t know either. Dad doesn’t tell me about Mom.”

In my previous life, I ate the Italian food provided by the crew every day. Indeed, just as Jay said, I felt dread at the sight of penne. But this time, Fu Junyan almost single-handedly took care of my and An’an’s three meals a day. His cooking skills were superb, and every day we ate incredibly delicious Chinese food. My stomach had instead been relieved of homesickness and even seemed to have long returned home.

So after eating this meal with Jay, no matter how I recalled it in my heart, I clearly knew that being with him, sitting down and eating together, truly no longer gave me the same excitement and joy as in my previous life.

At night, after coaxing An’an to sleep, I sat on the sofa wrapped in a blanket, waiting for Fu Junyan to finish work. I was really curious about how he managed to deceive everyone and make the entire crew unaware that we were living together, and even have director John join him in lying.

Fu Junyan didn’t return until two in the morning that day. His footsteps were very light and he didn’t turn on the living room lights. When he passed by the sofa and saw me curled up there dozing off, he obviously froze too. Blinking, he softly called out to me tentatively, “Xiao’ai, Xiao’ai?”

“You’re back?” I was really sleepy. I looked at him drowsily and covered my mouth to yawn. Then I patted the spot beside me, indicating for him to sit down.

“You waited specially for me to come back?” He put down the clothes in his hands, his face filled with joy as he sat down as instructed.

“Mm!” I sat hugging my knees, looking at him, and asked, “Fu Junyan, it turns out no one in the crew knows we live together?”

He smiled gently and blinked, saying, “What do you want to ask?”

“How did you manage it? We clearly live together! How come no one knows!”

“We live together…” He just looked at me like that, as if he could suck me in, repeating my words. His tone was extremely soft, making my heart melt into a puddle. A menace… This man is a demon. I got anxious too, reaching out a hand to pull his sleeve, recklessly saying, “Tell me quickly, I’m sleepy!”

He let me tug at him, lowered his eyes and laughed very handsomely, but said, “Silly pufferfish.”

“I didn’t puff out my cheeks. How am I like a pufferfish?” I struggled…

“Silly!”

“You’re the one who’s silly! Fu Junyan! I don’t want to pay attention to you anymore! You’re the one who’s like a pufferfish, your whole family is like pufferfish!”

“Okay.”

Deflated, exasperated…

“Really silly!” Saying that, he actually reached out and pulled me into his arms. His head rested on my shoulder, his warm breath brushing against my ear, ticklish.

I completely froze, but heard him sigh, “Xiao’ai, I’m tired.”

It was just because of this one sigh that I actually forgot to struggle and pull away. I just subconsciously lowered my voice and made an “Mm” sound. I thought for a moment, then held the hand he had wrapped around me, feeling that this seemed to be able to give him strength.

He also trembled all over. After a long time, he sighed, “We don’t live together, silly pufferfish.”

“Ah!”

“Every night, I wait for you and An’an to fall asleep before leaving. The next day, I come from the apartment to cook for you again, pick you and An’an up and take you to the set. You didn’t know any of this? You didn’t have the slightest feeling?” He sighed, tightening his arm around me. It was very warm in his embrace, very comfortable to lean against. My heart also suddenly felt very warm, all because of this man, this man…

“I didn’t know… Don’t you always sleep on the first floor?” Only then did I realize I had never gone into his room to look…

“Silly Xiao’ai, you’re a girl. Rumors aren’t good.” He held my hand in return. All the strength in my body seemed to be drained. His lips were against my ear, breathing shallowly so close to me. He said, “How can there be such a silly baby…” Saying that, he seemed to laugh very happily again. Then I heard him say, “So you’re not afraid of me at all…”

“Huh?” I froze for a moment, trying hard to open my sleepy eyes and started thinking frantically. Fu Junyan, what’s there to be afraid of?

“It’s nothing. Be good, Xiao’ai. Don’t think. Sleep, aren’t you sleepy?” He patted the back of my hand, gently and slowly. His voice was like the most beautiful melody I had ever heard. Dad only played it once, sweet but not cloying like Mom’s embrace.

In the end, I nodded. Because I was sleepy, I started getting confused and actually fell asleep in his arms.

In the following days, I started pretending to be asleep. And every time I fell asleep, he would stand by my bedside for a while. I could feel his pleasant scent. Then he would pull the blanket over me and gently close the door. Afterwards, he would go to An’an’s room to take care of An’an and Xiao Qi. Finally, he would check the doors and windows, lock the door of the villa, and leave without looking back.

And I would hide under the window ledge time after time, watching his back disappear into the night, walking away bit by bit. Then I would watch as he walked towards me again with determined steps when the sun rose.

In that moment, my eyes would involuntarily sting. Some voice kept telling me over and over again, Gu Baobei, you’re doomed…