What Gu Yu said reminded Jia He of Yi Wenze’s reminder.
So the “day after tomorrow at three in the afternoon” he had mentioned referred to this matter. While everyone was still guessing about the secret behind the dissolution of the marriage, the two people had already taken advantage of the time gap during filming to complete the procedures. Then they publicly released an announcement, which could be considered as giving the public and their fans an account, but who truly knew if they had accounted to themselves, and who cared?
Gu Yu said some other worthless things before finally hanging up the call.
Because of Jia He’s casual question, huge news had been unearthed, leaving her tossing and turning the entire night until daybreak before she finally fell asleep. But then she still got up right on time at ten o’clock to ask Xiao Ou for the day’s schedule and see what scenes Yi Wenze had that day. Xiao Ou thought she wanted to go to the filming location and enthusiastically said that after seeing how heavily it had snowed yesterday, the director had made last minute changes. The scenes of him galloping on horseback through the snow to rescue someone had been shifted to film today.
That group had gone out early in the morning already. If Jia He wanted to watch, she would need to call for a car.
Jia He quickly interrupted her to say she was just asking.
In fact, she was only worried that if Yi Wenze was too free today, he would inevitably be thinking of tomorrow’s matter. Although she did not have the experience of getting divorced herself, she had written quite a few scripts about relationships. She had also once been in despair from heartbreak. Simply imagining her idol feeling dejected made her heart inexplicably ache a little. She wanted to do something.
“Screenwriter, do you want me to call a car over?” Xiao Ou had already taken out her phone.
“No need,” Jia He smiled. “Where’s the camper van?”
Xiao Ou uttered an “Mm,” inexplicably looking at Jia He without understanding what she meant.
Jia He thought for a moment. “It must be very cold with it snowing and on an outdoor set. It’d be best if they could eat hot pot.” Afraid that Xiao Ou would misunderstand, she hurriedly added, “Qiao Qiao and Director Jiang quite like eating it too.”
Xiao Ou suddenly understood and smilingly said, “What a great idea. Anyway, there’s the camper van already there to use for making things.”
Only after she readily agreed did Jia He finally breathe out in relief. Xiao Ou called over two assistants who had stayed behind, and they started discussing what to buy, also asking Qiao Qiao for advice. Qiao Qiao was currently being tormented by the ghostly cold weather and was extremely excited when she got this call. She said she wanted to personally vet the menu herself. Right before hanging up, she told Xiao Ou to pass the phone to Jia He.
“The wind’s fiercely blowing over here,” Qiao Qiao said nasally with the phone amidst the wind. “Nearly freezing me to death. The horse wasn’t listening either resulting in countless NG’s. Even I’m about ready to take a bite out of it in anger. Yet your idol can still smile. Now I know for sure this role was custom-made for him by you. Gentle and refined, unruffled by storms… and all that. You took it all.”
Jia He reached out and pinched her. Signalling there were still people following behind them.
Qiao Qiao had merely wanted to joke around. Seeing Jia He so anxious, she hurriedly kept asking what ingredients and which hot pot base they had bought, wanting to change the topic. Jia He was too lazy to bother with her. She cursorily glanced around and very soon amidst the vast white, saw Yi Wenze.
He was currently sitting atop the horse, bending down to stroke the horse’s neck, seemingly trying to pacify it for being irritable from the cold. That horse truly did seem to understand him. Not at all like Qiao Qiao had described it as disobedient. Rather, it continuously nuzzled his hand extremely affectionately.
Seeing from a distance how obedient the horse was, Jia He smiled. “Look, isn’t the horse very well-behaved?” Qiao Qiao leaned against the car door, rummaging through the ingredients they had bought without even turning her head. “Horses aren’t grass or wood. Naturally they like handsome guys.”
Praise for her idol, naturally put her in a good mood.
Jia He smiled as she slapped her. “Time for you to do the hard labor of moving things.”
Just as she was about to turn around after speaking, the person atop the horse seemed to sense the activity over here and straightened up, throwing a glance in their direction.
Within the flurried light snow, even though she could only see an indistinct face, that gaze seemed substantial, causing Jia He to absentmindedly lose awareness for a moment.
Before she knew it, it was time to wrap up for the day. The leads and director all got on board after which they were evidently startled to see the hot pot. They continuously cried out at how thoughtful someone was, everyone stepping forward to take the bowls and chopsticks Xiao Ou had prepared. Without even taking off their coats, they all crammed in around the steaming hot pot.
A day of bone-piercing cold and suddenly a windfall of hot pot. Men or women, famous or unknown? Everyone was delighted and could not be happier. A table that sat six people was forcibly squeezed in by ten people on both sides, and there were still many who stood to eat. Because she was skinny, Jia He squeezed into the corner spot by the window. The person who happened to be sitting opposite her was Yi Wenze.
“You really enjoy eating spicy food?” While everyone else was sticking their tongues out from the spiciness, he actually seemed to relish it as he slowly ate.
Jia He nodded, bowing her head to eat fungus [wood ear mushroom].
She had personally prepared Yi Wenze’s condiments herself, and also was uncertain whether it suited his tastes… Further thought was useless. As a last resort, at least the hot pot base would make up for it. This flavor should not be wrong. She was thinking this when someone suddenly called out the shrimp was cooked. Innumerable pairs of chopsticks instantly stretched towards the pot. Jia He was shoved to the point she could not even see the pot. She could only sit there enviously eyeing it when a shrimp was suddenly placed into her bowl by someone.
The boiled river shrimp was originally a pinkish-red. Since it was coated in the spicy oil, it appeared even redder and more appetizing looking.
She looked up in astonishment to see Yi Wenze withdrawing his chopsticks while his own bowl did not have a single shrimp in it.
Was this… a fan’s welfare?
Jia He lowered her head and took a bite, carefully peeling off the thin shrimp skin with her teeth. She felt the sour and spicy flavor spread from her mouth all the way to her stomach… and her face instantly turned red. Everyone was staring at the hot pot, busily competing to grab food. No one paid any attention to what had just happened in the corner by the window.
“Screenwriter, so you actually can’t handle spicy food?” Xiao Ou held her bowl with her chopsticks pointed at Jia He, utterly convinced as she said, “This afternoon, we went all over the place buying hot pot base. I actually thought you really could eat spicy food!”
Deputy Director Cheng Hao’s eyes were already watering from the spiciness. He finally understood who the true culprit was. “Jia He, you weren’t trying to get back at me for making you play a supporting role, right? Just say so next time. I guarantee I’ll give you a female lead.”
The two sang a duet incriminating her. Only then did everyone notice Jia He’s face was redder than the boiled shrimp. They all broke into laughter, chiming in to say Jia He hadn’t come to treat everyone but to secretly get revenge. However, despite their grumbling, one after another, they urgently finished off the double portion until it was wiped clean.
After eating their fill and warming up all over, people who had been looking forward to finishing work and going back to sleep in the daytime now instead livened up. Cheng Hao who was recently obsessed with the game San Guo Sha [Kill San Guo historical figures game] fished cards out of his pocket and giggled as people instantly surrounded him. Jia He did not know how to play and could initially only watch from the side. When she grew tired, she got off the vehicle wanting to get some fresh air outside.
The noisy din from the van grew further and further away and the light also increasingly weaker.
Unknowingly, she had walked very far. Recalling she should head back to work, she finally turned around, wanting to appreciate her own footprints first. Unexpectedly in the night shadows, Yi Wenze was standing not far away. One hand was tucked into his pocket while in his right hand between two fingers was a cigarette. Faintly and indistinctly, sparks flashed as he merely stood there quietly watching her without making a sound.
Because everything was covered in white, indistinguishable between ground or path, their surroundings appeared especially empty.
It seemed amidst heaven and earth, there were only the two of them standing there gazing at one another.
What instantly flashed through her mind were images of herself earlier idiotically stepping on the snow. Jia He felt extremely awkward and embarrassingly said, “Teacher Yi, how come you came out here too?”
“I saw you kept walking towards the darkness so I followed to take a look,” Yi Wenze smiled. “It’s about time to head back. Work will start very early tomorrow.”
His simple sentence quickly reminded Jia He of the reason for starting work early tomorrow.
What sort of reason was it that betrayed such a person?
Jia He suddenly felt her heart go sour. Back then when she had discovered Gu Yu’s betrayal, she could only console herself that she was inadequate. After three or four years, she was still a journalist running all over the place while he stepped smoothly up the ranks. But now looking at Yi Wenze, no matter how she tried, she could not imagine why such a person would still be betrayed.
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