Yi Wenze did not speak, so she could only stand by the door.
Unlike the warm yellow light in the banquet hall, it was brighter here, but the bright light made it look cold.
Jia He suddenly remembered that in college, Qiao Qiao had followed the TV station reporters to the airport in the middle of the night just to catch a glimpse of Wang Leehom. When she came back, she kept sighing that when she actually saw him, she didn’t even dare to tell him that she had liked him for many years. At that time, Jia He had laughed at her mockingly. But now, wasn’t she the same? It seemed that idols were more suitable to encounter on TV and online…
Her phone in her pocket suddenly vibrated. She quickly pressed her hand over it and after a while, Yi Wenze seemed to have heard the sound too. He glanced back at her, his eyes showing some polite inquiry.
She quickly took out her phone. It was Qiao Qiao’s voice on the phone, clearly a little impatient: “Did you find him?”
Jia He lowered her voice and said, “I found him, he’s right next to me.”
On Qiao Qiao’s side, she obviously could not hold it in anymore. “Forget it, just take the elevator and come down. The car is at the hotel entrance.”
Jia He mumbled in agreement and looked at him, “The car is already downstairs.”
He put out his cigarette and walked over to Jia He, “It’ll take about four hours to get there. Do you need to bring some snacks?” His tone was asking, but he had already pulled open the door for her. Jia He looked at him doubtfully, dazed for three or four seconds before she understood, “That’s good too. It looks like none of you have eaten much tonight. I’ll go pack some up. What would you like to eat?” There were already countless cameras waiting outside, so it was still better they left separately to avoid any trouble.
He smiled, “Anything is fine.”
She didn’t dare say any more and was the first to exit the stairwell.
Sometimes just one photo was enough to fabricate some ridiculous news. Especially with his ex-wife Tian Chu who, in the half month since the divorce, went on shows every few days, crying her heart out. But he had not accepted any direct interviews. If any photos of him with another woman were taken now, it would be like crashing straight into a gunpoint.
She asked someone to pack two boxes of snacks before taking the elevator down with three or four crew members.
When they went downstairs, the fans’ screams and the reporters’ questioning filled the brightly lit hotel lobby. Yi Wenze had once again been surrounded by reporters downstairs. Unlike the routine interviews for the new drama earlier, this time, those people were one more excited than the other, with voices growing louder and louder, repeatedly mentioning what Tian Chu had said in a talk show program just ten minutes ago on TV. They kept asking if it was Yi Wenze who had first proposed divorce and if he had already been living separately from Tian Chu for some time.
Qiao Qiao was standing right next to him, using her hand to block people who got too close. The smile on her face had obviously already frozen as even the hotel security guards protected them while casting a couple more inquisitive looks at Yi Wenze. Yet, he remained very graciously smiling, repeatedly reminding those around him to watch their steps. Aside from that, he maintained an appropriate silence in response to any questions.
It was not until getting into the vehicle that Qiao Qiao heavily shut the car door, blocking off the flashing lights outside and leaving only the quietness inside the car. Yi Wenze conveniently sat down beside Jia He.
Jia He gave a light sniff. Not daring to speak, Qiao Qiao sent her a text message on her phone: Miss hoity-toity, it was so difficult for you to find someone when I told you to and I even gave you a chance to get close to your idol. You’re only causing me more trouble.
Jia He knew she was in the wrong first so she replied: He wanted to smoke and have some quiet time. I didn’t dare forcefully drag him away either.
Qiao Qiao looked back and pretended to tidy up her bag while secretly giving Jia He a look of disdain.
The tall buildings on both sides squeezed the sky until only a line remained. The colorful LED displays of the city blocked the moon and stars. Qiao Qiao began making calls one by one, softly relaying work matters. Jia He could only awkwardly watch the scenery outside the window. The streets of Shanghai on Valentine’s night were like they ought to have couples walking hand in hand, ought to have birds coupling affectionately, ought to have roses everywhere.
Yet all these ought-to’s, piling up before her eyes, only made the atmosphere even more awkward. Yi Wenze sat beside her, not moving at all the entire time, maintaining that one position until the vehicle exited Shanghai and entered the highway.
“Sis Mai is calling.” Assistant A Qing suddenly picked up a call and immediately handed her own phone to him.
Sis Mai was Yi Wenze’s manager. There was no need to guess what it was about.
He took the phone. Because it was so quiet inside the vehicle, the fluctuations in the woman’s voice on the other end could be heard very clearly. She spoke extremely rapidly, reiterating what Tian Chu had said during her interview program, while Jia He listened clearly to everything because of her proximity. Yi Wenze gave only two murmurs of acquiescence from beginning to end, without much reaction at all. It was only after the woman had talked for ten minutes that he switched the phone from his left ear to his right and said in a low voice, “My phone’s out of battery. Let’s talk again when we get to Hangzhou.”
After saying that, he decisively hung up the call.
“But I just charged it.” A Qing took back her phone and muttered softly.
The vehicle journeyed from the city to the highway. Jia He kept hugging the two boxes of snacks the entire time, unable to sit still.
It was not until they saw the mountain range in the night scene that Qiao Qiao finally grumbled that she was hungry. Jia He immediately shoved the boxes at her as if freed from bondage, “Eat up. I got them specially for you.” Qiao Qiao looked at her in surprise. “Since when have you become so considerate?”
Jia He was speechless and continued watching the scenery outside the window.
In the entire four hour drive, she did not even dare to nap for half a minute, keeping tense the whole way until they arrived at the Hangzhou hotel.
Only after getting out of the vehicle did she squeeze up to Qiao Qiao’s side. “Can I stay in a room with you?”
Qiao Qiao mocked her, “In your dreams. You’re staying next to Director Jiang. The script supervisor isn’t here so get ready to be tortured by Director Jiang.”
Just as Jia He wanted to say something more, Qiao Qiao had already lowered her voice and said, “Let me tell you, that Taiwanese guy is coming. Don’t disturb me.”
Jia He looked at her in astonishment. As soon as Qiao Qiao mentioned that Taiwanese man of hers, her head would start to hurt. Qiao Qiao had somehow gotten to know a gentleman in his late thirties who claimed to be the bass prodigy of Taiwan. But Jia He had already been badly frightened the first time she met him.
She clearly remembered their initial encounter at Lippo Plaza. When the black car door opened, two legs wrapped in snakeskin pants extended out looking like bamboo poles. Then there was the face full of wrinkles and the head of long, unflowing hair… Throughout the entire dinner, the bass master continuously repeated that eating required nutrition. Then he very carefully ordered a plate of fried rice, a plate of hor fun rice noodles, and a bowl of congee for the three people to share.
The Taiwanese bass prodigy treats people to a meal but is only willing to order staple foods. Do you believe it? Qiao Qiao believed it…
Jia He had no intention of continuing to listen to how she was being duped yet still blissfully enjoying her sweet life. Dragging her suitcase, she entered the hotel.
After hurriedly washing up, she discovered there was a note stuck on the hairdryer: Broken, Do Not Use.
The temperature in Hangzhou was frighteningly low. A hairdryer was practically a necessity. She immediately used a towel to hastily dry her hair a couple times, went back into the room, and dialed the customer service line. But just as the front desk had only said “Hello,” her room door was knocked on. She could only hastily report her room number to the phone before running to open the door.
The person knocking turned out to be female lead Liao Jing, the one whom Qiao Qiao said liked being “valued.” A casually-dressed Yi Wenze stood two steps behind her. Seeing Jia He come out, he gave a slight nod of his head in greeting.
Liao Jing, however, leaned against the doorframe smiling at her. “A Zhe and I are going to discuss the scenes with Director Jiang. Do you want to come along?”
Actually, what she really wanted to say was to wait until she finished drying her hair before going over. But when she opened her mouth, it came out as, “Sure, just let me grab a coat.”
Because the door was opened, the below-freezing air rushed in, making her shiver. She gave a sniff, just about to turn around to get her clothes when a server was suddenly behind Yi Wenze, holding up a hairdryer. “Who wanted the hairdryer?”
Having seen many celebrities, his voice was still coarse and loud. “I’ll take it.” She awkwardly stretched out her hand.
“Oh, your hair is still wet,” Liao Jing seemed to just notice that Jia He had only finished showering. She immediately smiled at Yi Wenze. “Let’s go first and let the screenwriter dry her hair.”
Jia He felt even more embarrassed. “It’s fine—” She had not finished speaking when Yi Wenze already cut in, “Dry your hair first. There’s no rush.”
The white hairdryer was haphazardly tangled up by its black power cord. He casually took it from the server like this and said thanks before holding it out to her. Jia He reflexively accepted it and only thought, after they had left, that she had not even said thank you…
She closed the door, extremely vexed as she leaned her forehead against the wall and silently cursed herself for half a minute.
She soon took care of everything and arrived at Director Jiang’s room. Liao Jing was happily saying how she did not have much experience and ever since finding out she would be acting alongside Teacher Yi, she had not been sleeping well for days and so on. Director Jiang readily mocked Yi Wenze several times but he simply shook his head with a smile, not saying anything.
In truth, though it was called a discussion of the scenes, it was merely idle chatter amongst a few people and they only casually touched upon the script. Jia He poured herself a cup of coffee and listened as Liao Jing casually talked about how her emotions were lacking in certain scenes and the acting was not enough. She tried hard to listen carefully but could only understand seventy to eighty percent because it was in Cantonese. Still, since both Director Jiang and Yi Wenze were Hong Kongers, she did not dare interrupt and could only force herself to comprehend it. Only when she really did not understand something would she raise her hand to ask a couple questions.
She even started to admire Liao Jing. As a newly-risen Mainland Chinese celebrity, she had actually managed to learn Cantonese so fluently…
“For the mutiny scene, I feel like my emotions didn’t quite get there either,” Yi Wenze suddenly spoke up, but he used Mandarin. “Li Chengqian had been plotting for many years, yet in the last moments, the military power was schemed away first by his younger brother, Li Longji, then there was the subsequent mutiny and murder of Wei. But in the end, he only took away Li Longji’s woman and did not fight again for power anymore. It feels… abruptly cut off,” he said slowly while holding his cup and sitting quietly on the chair. Word for word, by the time he got to “abruptly cut off,” he was thinking over whether he had used the right description. “However, I read through this part of history a few days ago. Since this particular storyline has a strong fictional composition, I could only flip back and read the actual records about Li Chengqian…”
Jia He listened attentively until he was finished before setting down her cup.
This was a historical drama about Emperor Tang Xuanzong’s reign. The entire world’s women were merely these plots and schemes. Generally, actors would at most read through their characters’ sections when they received a script, but Yi Wenze was so dedicated that he had gone to read up on that period of history. She felt an uncommon urge to debate and get something off her chest. “Actually, his emotional outburst comes in the end.”
… Director Jiang laughed as he listened to the two debating without interrupting. And so they discussed until past eleven o’clock before finally finishing up. Since the actors needed to have their make-up done early the next day, she could only jot down what needed to be revised for now and then go through each one tomorrow to modify the script. When they exited the room, Director Jiang suddenly remembered several scenes he had asked her to revise earlier so Jia He hurried back into the room to grab her notebook. With all three people watching her, she pressed the power button.
In the next second, she was completely frozen. Some habits, when unintentionally revealed, could bring about disastrous consequences.
Without any password lock, the screen darkened for half a second before slowly displaying the desktop background. Amidst the light blue color was a mosaic of Yi Wenze compiled from all his magazine covers over the last three years. Whether head lowered pensively, head turned in a slight smile, leaving merely his back in the shot… Regardless, they were all solely pictures of him.
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