On the day of signing the contract, Lu Yufei took a taxi by herself.
Sister Zhang was waiting for her downstairs at the company. Sister Zhang, in her early forties, was wearing a black knitted cardigan with her hair meticulously pinned up. Her expression seemed to say, “You better perform well.” The first thing she did when she saw Lu Yufei was size her up from head to toe.
“No makeup?”
“Didn’t you say not to wear any?”
“Good.” Sister Zhang straightened Lu Yufei’s shirt collar, stepped back to take another look, and clicked her tongue. “You really were blessed by the heavens with this face.”
Lu Yufei instinctively touched her own face. The original owner’s face was indeed gorgeous, which explained why she used to throw tantrums yet still get acting roles—gaining fame through negative publicity still required capital.
The production team’s conference room was on the fifteenth floor. In the elevator, Sister Zhang gave a few more reminders: don’t proactively mention Fu Qing, don’t mention bankruptcy, don’t mention past black materials, and if anyone asked about the child, just say it’s a private matter and not convenient to discuss too much.
“What if they keep asking?”
“Just say, ‘Thank you for your concern, the baby is very healthy.’ Then shut your mouth.”
The contract terms weren’t complicated. A one-episode guest appearance, filming for three days and two nights, 50,000 yuan after tax, with the company taking a 40% cut, leaving her with 30,000 yuan. Lu Yufei did the math in her mind—30,000 yuan was enough for her to rent a one-bedroom apartment with an elevator, just enough for one month’s rent as deposit and three months’ advance payment.
She signed her name on the contract. Her handwriting was neat, stroke by stroke. Seeing her signature, Sister Zhang raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
After signing the contract, the production team’s publicity director walked in. He was a man in his early thirties wearing a black hoodie, and he introduced himself as Zhou.
Before sitting down, he glanced at Lu Yufei, as if evaluating how much traffic she could bring.
“Teacher Lu, thank you for coming. We will release teaser posters ahead of time, and you might need to cooperate by taking a few promotional photos.” He paused. “The promotional copy will push the angle of ‘working during pregnancy.’ Can you accept that?”
“Yes,” Lu Yufei said, “but don’t use phrases like ‘single mother.’ I’m not a single mother.”
Director Zhou made a note in his notebook and asked again, “The child’s father—”
“An ordinary civilian, inconvenient to appear on camera.”
She spoke very calmly, but Sister Zhang glanced at her from the side.
When Director Zhou left, Sister Zhang lowered her voice and asked her, “What on earth is your relationship with Fu Qing right now?”
“A partnership to raise a child.”
“No marriage certificate?”
“None.”
Sister Zhang was silent for two seconds before saying, “Legally speaking, you’re a single parent then. You can’t control how the production team promotes you, but you need to be clear about it in your own mind.”
Lu Yufei didn’t refute her. She put the contract into her bag.
Coming out of the building, she sent Fu Qing a message: “Done signing.”
Fu Qing replied in seconds with three words: “I’ll pick you up.”
“No need.” Her fingers flew across the keyboard. “The subway has air conditioning, and riding an e-bike is too sunny.”
The other person is typing… It flickered for a good while before finally replying with a single “Hmm.”
Lu Yufei put her phone in her pocket and walked toward the subway station. She wore a mask, and her baseball cap pulled down low.
The carriage wasn’t very crowded. She found a corner to stand in, holding onto the overhead ring with one hand while her other hand habitually protected her front abdomen.
A girl opposite her kept staring at her.
She pretended not to notice and shifted her gaze to the billboard outside the window. But the girl lowered her head, raised her phone at a very concealed angle, and the sound of the shutter gave her away.
Lu Yufei sighed inwardly—oh well.
When she got home, it was already dark.
She climbed up to the sixth floor and pushed open the door. The fan was running, and its oscillating breeze made the papers on the table rustle.
Fu Qing sat on the plastic stool, with an open delivery box in front of him.
“Sent by Qin Zhou.”
Lu Yufei ran the name through her mind.
The novel mentioned that Qin Zhou was Fu Qing’s college classmate, started a business with him, and was the second-in-command at Qingyao Group.
After Fu Qing went bankrupt, he was one of the few who didn’t leave, continuing to help Fu Qing secretly gather evidence.
The items in the box had already been unpacked; it was a small white box.
Fu Qing pushed the box in front of her.
“A fetal heart rate monitor, for home use. He said pregnant women at this stage can listen at home by themselves.”
“…How would a single man like him understand this?”
Fu Qing didn’t answer the question.
He flipped the instruction manual to the Chinese page and spread it out on the table. “Want to try?”
Lu Yufei unpacked it, applied the coupling gel to the probe according to the manual, lifted the hem of her shirt, and pressed it against her belly.
The instrument first emitted a burst of static noise, and then—thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.
It was fast and light, like a little pony running from far away.
She turned up the volume.
The whole room was filled with that sound.
Fu Qing squatted in front of her, his ear close to her abdomen, about a fist’s distance away.
His eyelashes drooped, hiding the light in his eyes, and his Adam’s apple rolled slowly.
After a long while, he stood up and turned toward the balcony. Lu Yufei heard the sound of the faucet turning on, probably washing his face.
She put away the fetal heart rate monitor and wiped the probe clean with a tissue. When Fu Qing came in from the balcony, there were still water droplets on his face, and the corners of his eyes were slightly red.
The next day, Sister Zhang sent over the guest list of the production team.
Lu Yufei sat in front of the fan, reading them one by one.
A has-been male singer whose ringtone song was a nationwide hit ten years ago. People still requested it at KTVs, but nobody remembered what he looked like.
Three young idols from talent shows—two guys and a girl—whose debut night was their peak, after which they faded into obscurity.
Lu Yufei checked their Weibo profiles; their follower counts were even lower than hers—well, except that she had more anti-fans.
There was also a female internet celebrity in the beauty track with millions of followers who supposedly only ever had one photo angle. Going on a variety show was reportedly meant to prove her acting skills.
The last name made Lu Yufei stare for a long time.
Su Wan.
A rookie actress, gentle and elegant, fresh on the scene.
Her acting hadn’t been recognized by the public yet, but she would soon meet a director who appreciated her and rise all the way up.
Most importantly—she was the female protagonist, the person in the original plot who ultimately stood by Fu Qing’s side.
Lu Yufei clicked on Su Wan’s Weibo homepage.
She had fewer than 100,000 followers. Her latest post was a share of the production team’s official announcement poster, with only a few dozen comments, almost all words of encouragement.
She closed her phone and blew air against the fan for a good while, trying to blow away the messy thoughts in her mind.
A week later, the official Weibo for Leisurely Inn released its first teaser poster.
When Lu Yufei saw herself appearing in the bottom right corner of the poster, her heart still skipped a beat.
The photo was taken on the spot the day they signed the contract.
She wore a white shirt, no makeup, and her belly was slightly protruding.
Yet even without makeup, even standing next to a group of meticulously styled artists, her facial features remained the most striking.
The comment section was pretty much what she expected.
[Is that Lu Yufei on the far right?? How does she still have the face to come out??]
[Wait, is that Su Wan? What kind of magical scene is Su Wan and Lu Yufei in the same frame?]
[Though I don’t want to admit it, how is Lu Yufei bare-faced prettier than the internet celebrity next to her? Does this make sense?]
Sister Zhang forwarded a post to her.
It was a paparazzi shot taken by a passerby in the super-topic, featuring the photo taken by the girl on the subway—she stood in the corner of the carriage, wearing a mask, holding the ring with one hand and protecting her belly with the other.
The caption read: “Ran into Lu Yufei on the subway today. She looks a lot heavier than before, and her clothes aren’t like they used to be. Didn’t she used to refuse to ride in anything other than luxury cars? Now she’s actually squeezing into the subway; looks like she’s really fallen on hard times.”
The top comment underneath had only three characters: “Must be pregnant.”
Lu Yufei stared at the paparazzi photo for a few seconds. It wasn’t terrible—at least it didn’t make her look five feet tall.
She put her phone down, dug an old canvas bag out of her wardrobe, and started packing her luggage.
Three sets of spare clothes Fu Qing had packed earlier, a pair of flat shoes, toiletries, plus a tube of sunscreen—traveling light!
Fu Qing stood at the door watching her pack, turned around to grab a small blue bag, and pulled out a few boxes of items.
“Calcium tablets, DHA, multivitamin.”
He picked up each item to show her before putting them back into the bag, like he was taking inventory of equipment.
“Folic acid has been taken continuously, only you weren’t very cooperative before.”
When he said this, it sounded like he was stating a fact unrelated to either of them.
“Now it’s switched to multivitamins. You have to take these on time.”
“Do I have to take this many?!” Lu Yufei looked at the three large boxes of supplements, somewhat shocked.
Fu Qing glanced at her and said, “Don’t forget how you used to diet and passed out from low blood sugar. Everyone says pregnant women need to pay attention to nutritional supplements. I bought these after asking a doctor.”
Fu Qing zipped up the bag and said, “Still, since you’re five months pregnant, you shouldn’t take supplements casually on an empty stomach. All vitamins, DHA, and calcium tablets must be taken after meals. Usually, you should eat smaller, more frequent meals. I put some small cookies and milk candies in the bag; as soon as you feel dizzy or flustered, eat some immediately. Don’t try to tough it out.”
A warmth bloomed in Lu Yufei’s chest. She hadn’t expected him to be so meticulous and considerate, and for a moment she didn’t know what to say.
On the morning of departure, Lu Yufei woke up very early.
Fu Qing had already gone downstairs to buy breakfast and left it on the table: a basket of steamed dumplings, a bowl of porridge, and beside them sat two fresh-keeping bags filled with washed peaches, cut into pieces with a little fork stuck in them.
She sat on the stool sipping her porridge in small sips while Fu Qing nagged beside her.
“If you don’t feel well, stop, don’t force yourself. If something feels off, tell the production team immediately; don’t worry about breach-of-contract penalties. Keep your phone turned on—”
“Fu Qing.”
“Hmm?”
“I can’t finish this.”
Fu Qing looked at her remaining steamed dumplings and paused. “I’ll eat them later.”
The ride-hailing car was already waiting downstairs. Lu Yufei glanced at her phone. “The car is here, I’m heading out.”
Fu Qing stood up and took the bag from her hand. “I’ll go down with you.”
The two of them went downstairs one after the other. Her canvas bag was slung over his shoulder; the strap was a bit short, getting stuck right at the line of his shoulder, looking somewhat uncoordinated.
Downstairs, the ride-hailing car was parked by the side of the road with its hazard lights flashing. Fu Qing handed her the bag, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something.
Lu Yufei took the bag and spoke first: “I’ll be back in three days.”
Fu Qing looked at her and nodded.
“Go on, take good care of… the child.”
Lu Yufei nodded, opened the car door, got in, and rolled down the window to wave goodbye to Fu Qing.
Under Fu Qing’s gaze, the car slowly merged into the flow of traffic.
Her phone chimed.
A message from Sister Zhang: “The production team sent a car to pick you all up at the high-speed rail station at the filming location. Contact this person when you arrive.”
Followed by a phone number.
Then another message: “Su Wan is on the same train as you. Travel together.”
Lu Yufei raised her head; the ride-hailing car had already merged into the morning rush-hour traffic.
The plane trees along the road retreated one by one, sunlight leaking through the gaps in the leaves, flashing on and off.
She looked down at her belly and gently patted it.
“Let’s go,” she whispered, “I’ll take you to see the mountains.”