Twenty third Day of Wanting a Divorce.
The director of the program team was in the middle of a warm reunion with his charming wife, whom he had not seen in a month, when his phone began to ring incessantly.
Irritated, he grabbed his phone only to see that fans had swarmed his Weibo, questioning whether the wolf pack was actually a group of “extras” hired by the show.
The director lost his patience and typed out a message with lightning speed: “Do you have any common sense? Even a domestic wolf is not controlled by anyone other than its owner. So what if Xiao An is just liked by wolves? Should I hire a wolf expert to give you all a proper lesson?”
A group of anti-fans charged at everyone they saw, once again pushing the show onto the trending searches. For a time, the topic of wildlife caught the attention of many animal research bloggers. They gathered together to study the abnormal behavior of the wolf pack in the program.
“It is understandable for the pack to obey the Alpha, but this Alpha, it is impossible to judge if it is wild based on its initial aggressive state.”
“I also think they do not look wild. Perhaps an owner was issuing commands off-camera?”
The anti-fans were delighted. The director had been so assertive, only to be collectively slapped in the face by animal bloggers.
An Rao scrolled through the comments; a flood of people were cursing him and the program team by association. In two days, the program team would launch a vote. It was a major event that would determine whether he could go on the seven day trip to Nepal. Therefore, he had to find a way to prove that the wolves were indeed wild.
After thinking for a long time, he got up and went upstairs.
Chu Guannan was in the room packing his luggage. He had a full schedule and had to rush to a film crew to shoot a new movie the next day. An Rao hesitated at the door for a while before slowly walking in. He casually took the clothes from the bed, folded them, and placed them into the suitcase.
“Something the matter?” Chu Guannan looked up to study him. He felt that An Rao had lost some weight, but his state of mind seemed quite energetic; it appeared he had not suffered much.
An Rao sat down, smoothing out the clothes Chu Guannan had organized, stroking the small lint on the wool coat bit by bit: “It is just, Husband, you have been interviewed by CCTV before, right? Then you should be quite familiar with the Station Director.”
Without further explanation, Chu Guannan understood his meaning. He took out his phone, scrolled through the contacts, and handed over a number: “This is the phone number for the head of the Biological Science Channel, surname Zhang.”
An Rao finally broke into a smile: “Thank you, husband!”
Chu Guannan studied him out of the corner of his eye and suddenly said: “I forgot to ask, was the chocolate good? If you like it, I will buy you more.”
“What chocolate?” An Rao did not react for a moment.
Chu Guannan straightened up, his gaze suddenly turning a few degrees colder: “I had my assistant give it to you yesterday. Did you not eat it? Or, did you not receive it?”
An Rao was puzzled. It was for him? Was it not for Lin Jingxi? He understood now. It turned out someone had been feigning compliance, taking the boss’s money but not doing the boss’s work.
“Oh, that. I ate it. It was delicious,” An Rao smiled meaningfully. He said so, but he believed Chu Guannan was no fool.
Chu Guannan was certainly not a fool. Seeing An Rao’s confused face at the mention of the chocolate, he knew Chen Keke had definitely done something unwise. It was not just a day or two that Chen Keke had disliked An Rao, yet An Rao was still protecting her. He is a kind child.
“You can contact Director Zhang when you have time; just say I introduced you. I have a schedule and will not be home for the next few days. You do not need to worry about the cleaning; a housekeeper will come. Call me if anything happens.”
“Hard work. Make sure to bring back lots of money!”
Chu Guannan gave a light laugh, picked up the suitcase, and went downstairs. Once out the door, his smile vanished instantly.
As soon as he got downstairs, he saw Chen Keke waiting at the entrance of the community in that repulsive Porsche. This car was a birthday gift from Lin Jingxi last year. He had not wanted to accept it, but Chen Keke had decided to transfer it to his name without informing him. It would be impolite to return it, so he simply planned to return a car to Lin Jingxi for his birthday this year.
“Boss!” Seeing him, Chen Keke hurriedly got out of the car like a lackey to help with the luggage.
Chu Guannan avoided her: “No need.”
Chen Keke looked at her boss hesitantly, feeling that he did not seem very happy. Getting into the car, she stole glances at her boss’s expression through the rearview mirror several times. By accident, her eyes met his. Chen Keke shuddered, lost her focus, and almost ran a red light.
“Scared?” Chu Guannan gave a cold laugh.
“Boss, what are you saying? I do not understand.”
Chu Guannan sat up straight, his fingers elegantly crossed over his knees: “You do not know? Should I remind you?”
A wail echoed in Chen Keke’s heart. An Rao, that bitch! He must have complained about the chocolate again!
“I am sorry, boss! I know I was wrong. It will definitely never happen again!” she said, looking like she was about to cry the next second.
“An Rao and I are legally married in name. I hope you understand boundaries. I have turned a blind eye because you have been with me for so many years, but I hope you do not challenge my bottom line again and again.”
Chu Guannan slowly raised his eyes: “There are some things I do not say, but it does not mean I do not know.”
“I understand, Boss, I am sorry.”
“You do not need to say sorry to me. Once we reach the film set, call An Rao and apologize. If he does not forgive you, you should seriously consider your career future.”
Chen Keke gripped the steering wheel tightly, tears falling. But she did not dare to cry. She knew Chu Guannan was easy to talk to, but that did not mean he did not have a temper. She could not continue to stroke his scales the wrong way, or she might really have to leave.
On the other side, An Rao mentally rehearsed his words several times. Just as he was about to dial the number for CCTV’s Director Zhang, a call from an unknown number came in. He answered, and a trembling female voice came from the other end.
“Brother An, about the chocolate, I sincerely apologize to you. I hope you can be magnanimous and forgive me.”
Sincere apology? Would a truly sincere person not even say the words “I am sorry”?
“So what do you want me to say?” he asked with a laugh.
“No, you do not need to say anything, just please do not take it to heart. I was also just, just.”
Seeing her stuttering and unable to speak clearly, An Rao did not want to get tangled up with her: “I see. You are busy; I have something to do right now.”
Without waiting for a response, he hung up the phone decisively. Gazing at the disconnected call, Chen Keke slid down against the wall as if drained of strength, suddenly covering her face and sobbing quietly. She had never been this aggrieved in her life!
An Rao took a deep breath and dialed Director Zhang’s number.
In the afternoon, the host began: “Welcome to the CCTV Biological Science Channel live broadcast room. Today, we are fortunate to have Professor He, a wolf research expert from the National Biological Institute, to discuss the abnormal behavior of the wolf pack in a certain survival program.”
Following the host’s introduction, an elderly scholar with graying hair slowly walked into the studio.
“Wow! This old professor is a big deal. I heard he raised wolves himself.” “Waiting for An Rao and the program team to get slapped in the face, hahaha.”
“There has been a lot of discussion online recently. Many people believe the reason the wolf pack in the program showed submission to humans is because they are domestic wolves, with the owner issuing commands off-camera. Professor He, what is your view on this?”
Professor He watched the variety show clip again, pondered for a moment, and said: “To be honest, when I saw the clip, I was also very puzzled and suspected they were not wild wolves.”
“Here it comes! The slap is coming!” “I really want An SJ to see this too.” “Does he dare? This is basically like skinning him alive in front of the whole country, hahaha.”
Professor He took a deep breath and shifted his tone: “But after careful observation, this pack has a clear line of sight. Most importantly, even now, wolves cannot be completely domesticated.”
Professor He unfolded an evolution chart he had brought, his aged fingers tracing across the surface: “It took over thirty thousand years for dogs to branch off from their wolf ancestors and be domesticated. Yet a wolf remains a wolf from beginning to end, which shows that they have not been fully domesticated even after thirty thousand years. A three month old wolf cub already possesses a wild nature. To say an owner is issuing commands behind the scenes is truly a bit too much to ask of a wolf.”
The host followed up with surprise: “So, you mean these are really wild wolves?”
Professor He gave a gentle smile: “Wild animals are wild animals. Domestication is just a way of life; even after many years of being raised, their wild nature cannot be smoothed out. Once they are returned to nature, all their wild nature and predatory instincts will reappear. They might not even remember their owners.”
“Then why do you think this pack would show goodwill toward humans?”
Professor He looked at the camera: “Speaking from their character, the most likely reason is that they received help from humans, so they have a good impression of them. Wolves do not recognize masters, but they will always remember their benefactors. Another possibility is that the Alpha wolf is showing courtship behavior. It might have mistaken the human for one of its kind; this person possesses qualities that attract it. Such a situation is very rare.”
Host: “Amazing! So, what is your conclusion?”
“My conclusion is that this pack is one hundred percent wild. They did not attack humans immediately likely because they were seeking help due to injury, or they were simply too full.”
“Ouch, certain fans’ faces must be swollen now.” “They are definitely wild wolves. Did you not see them in a ready to attack state against the three of them at the beginning? Then they were completely confused by a Little Duck song, hhh.” “In front of my Rao, all wolves are just Huskies!”
But certain fans were unwilling to accept the slap to the face and were always looking to cause trouble. They saw the clip of Lin Jingxi arguing with Yin Xueya over the pheasant and got excited again, this time charging directly under Yin Xueya’s Weibo.
“Do you not know that pheasants are a national second class protected animal? Xixi stopped you from committing a crime and you are still here talking nonsense. How disgusting.” “You are so supportive of him, are you a normal person?”
Yin Xueya smiled while biting into a wife cake. She posted two pictures on Weibo: “Xueya’s Little Classroom is in session. The pheasant that is a national second class protected animal refers to the Common Pheasant, as shown in Figure 1. Plain mountain chickens do not belong to the national protected animals, as shown in Figure 2. There are significant differences in size and feather color. Furthermore, it was killed by the wolves.”
“Hahaha, Baby Xueya is beautiful and well read. Are certain fans angry? Second class protected animal? Can you even tell the difference between a chicken and a dinosaur?” “We do not know if Sister Xueya is a normal person, but it is obvious to all that you are a moron.”
Chu Guannan, the busy man, rushed to the film crew without stopping after returning from the Shete Mountains. He was recently preparing to shoot a new movie, Anniversary, adapted from a real life murder case. The case involved a horrific serial murder. Chu Guannan played the protagonist, who was the killer.
After the protagonist divorced his wife, he lived with his eight year old daughter. At that time, he was busy starting a business and had no one to take care of the child, so he had to take his daughter to various cocktail parties. Once, he was lured into getting drunk by a high level executive of a business partner. When he woke up, he found his daughter missing. Finally, he found her in a hotel room, having been raped and dismembered into over a dozen pieces.
The murderer of his daughter was the high level executive who had plied him with alcohol. However, this person had deep connections and a vast network; no one could do anything to him. The protagonist reported it to the police, but the police did not dare to take the case and kept passing the buck. The protagonist tried to petition, but he was beaten by people sent by the executive, nearly losing his life.
Helpless, he decided to take revenge in his own way. He devised a perfect revenge plan, killing the executive and his entire family, not even sparing the relatives, just to provoke the inactive police. The day he took the life of the final victim was June 6, his daughter’s birthday.
The case had been adapted, but it remained largely the same. An Rao looked at the plot description, feeling somewhat dazed. Because this case had happened in the real world, he had been deeply moved by it at the time. It was likely adapted for the second time by the original author, which is why it appeared in Reaching the Altar Again.
An Rao was very curious to see what it would be like for Chu Guannan to play a villain. Besides, the man had helped him; he should give a small reward in return. He sent a message to Chu Guannan: “Husband, I am bringing some delicious food to visit the set. Send me the address.”
After a long time, Chu Guannan replied with only two words: “No need.”
But An Rao was a stubborn soul; if he was told not to go, he insisted on going. He rummaged through everything to find Chu Guannan’s schedule and accurately targeted the film crew’s location. An Rao prepared a lunch box that looked very unappetizing at first glance, then hailed a taxi straight to the set.
A row of fans stood outside the set, including Chu Guannan’s fansite master. It was said that she was very wealthy and had given him a storefront on his birthday last year, though it seemed Chu Guannan had returned it. Seeing An Rao, the fansite master raised her SLR camera with a knowing smile: “Is Nannan’s wife here to visit?”
An Rao smiled: “Hard work. Are you not hot? Let me treat you to ice cream.”
The fansite master covered her mouth and laughed: “Teacher An, keep your money to buy gifts for Nannan. If Nannan is happy, we are happy.”
For the first time, An Rao felt that some celebrity fans were quite cute. As expected, fans take after their idols. He went inside the set where Chu Guannan was currently filming. A crowd of stagehands surrounded him, but although there were many people, it was silent.
The plot was the protagonist, having killed the executive’s wife, turning his gaze to the executive’s eight year old younger daughter. The little girl asked him while crying pitifully: “Uncle, did I do something wrong?”
The protagonist was instantly reminded of his own daughter. Before she was murdered, she must have also asked the executive in terror what she had done wrong. But then he thought, this person was the descendant of the murderer who caused his daughter’s tragic death. Both were eight years old; why did his daughter not even have a whole corpse left, with no one willing to seek justice for her, while the true murderer’s daughter was still free and happy?
Amidst extreme grief and indignation was the final condemnation of his conscience.
Chu Guannan was wearing a black hooded raincoat. Moist bloodstains were hidden in the darkness, revealing only his cold and pale face. Next to his reddened eyes was a hand holding a sharp knife, trembling violently.
“Uncle, did I do something wrong.” The child actor huddled in the corner, shivering, her large eyes filled with terror.
Chu Guannan’s eyes widened instantly. His eyes were naturally long and tilted, exuding a cold and lonely feeling, which interpreted the intertwined feelings of grief and hatred to the fullest.
“You are not wrong.” Chu Guannan raised his hand and gently placed it on the little girl’s shoulder, his fingers slowly tightening, and the veins on the back of his hand bulging. But he only gripped the child actor’s clothes and did not exert any force on her shoulder.
“Then our Shanshan, what did she do wrong?” When he said the name “Shanshan,” he was incredibly gentle. But the following sentence carried a sob amidst indignation, accompanied by intense trembling of his lips.
After a long time, he slowly lowered his head, painfully burying his face in the little girl’s chest, tears sliding down: “If Shanshan was disobedient, you could have told me. I would have gone back to teach her. Why did you have to hurt her.” The last few words were silently hidden in the sound of sorrowful sobbing.
An Rao watched silently, his heart trembling violently. Suddenly, his nose felt a sting. He snapped out of it and quickly raised his hand to wipe his eyes. The director stared intently at the lens, his face flushed with the intense feeling of suffocation.
“OK!” The director finally shouted, then took large gasps of air. “Perfect! Teacher Chu is amazing! It was like being there.”
The staff members hurried over to help Chu Guannan take off the raincoat and tidy his hair.
“Alright, everyone take a break!”
The white shirt on Chu Guannan was stained with some prop blood. He sat on a chair, his hand trembling slightly as he unbuttoned it, his expression as cold as ever, the corners of his eyes reddened as if he had not yet come out of the character.
The child actor, however, came out of character very quickly. One second she was shivering and crying, and the next she was skipping off to eat a pineapple bun. An Rao carried the lunch box and quietly walked behind Chu Guannan, then lightly touched his cheek with the still warm box: “Tada, Husband, look what delicious food I brought you.”
Chu Guannan’s back visibly stiffened as he slowly turned his head. His tone was as cold and distant as ever: “Did I not say not to come?”
“I am a rebel; I insisted on coming.” An Rao smiled and opened the lunch box. “Besides, I have not seen my husband for several days. I missed you.”
As the lid of the lunch box opened, a heavy smell of oil and smoke hit the senses. “I have specially prepared braised chicken wings, fried hairtail, and clam soup for you.”
Chu Guannan turned his gaze away, unable to bear looking. An Rao picked up a piece of hairtail and brought it to Chu Guannan’s lips, coaxing him softly: “Come on, Husband works hard to earn money. I have removed all the side bones of the fish, leaving only one big bone in the middle. Give it a taste.”
Chu Guannan moved his mouth away and asked: “Did you again not taste it yourself?”
“I said it was prepared for you; why would I taste it?”
At this time, several stagehands noticed An Rao and came over to joke: “Is the sister in law here to visit the set? Wow! So much delicious food! Sister in law, can I have a taste? I am getting sick of eating lunch boxes lately.”
An Rao smilingly held out the lunch box: “Feel free to taste. If you like it, I will prepare more next time.”
A stagehand impatiently grabbed a braised chicken wing and happily put it in his mouth. After a long while, he cleared his throat: “Well, I will not trouble sister in law. I will just eat my lunch box.”
An Rao feigned sadness, looking like a beauty about to burst into tears: “What is wrong? Is it not delicious?”
The stagehand took a deep breath: “Mainly I am afraid Teacher Chu will not have enough. Teacher Chu, you enjoy it slowly. I will go get busy now.” With that, he slipped away.
An Rao looked pitifully at the lunch box, furrowing his brows and asking: “Husband, is it really that bad? You never eat the food I make. Let us just divorce. You find someone with good skills; I absolutely have no complaints.”
An Rao’s inner thoughts: “Say yes, quickly agree.”
Chu Guannan took a deep breath, silently picked up his chopsticks, looked at them for a long time, then closed his eyes and picked up a piece of hairtail. Just as he took a bite, a clear tear slid down his cheek. He wiped his eyes and said in a cold tone: “Sorry. I was too deep in the role just now. It is not because it is bad that I am crying.”
An Rao thought: “You might as well not have explained.”
Chu Guannan did not know how he finished the entire lunch box. He rinsed his mouth in the bathroom for a long time, finally clearing that indescribable taste. He looked up at his expressionless face in the mirror. Strange, why did I care about his feelings so much just now that I could finish all of that?
Exiting the bathroom, he saw that An Rao had not left yet and was sitting with the director watching the footage. Seeing Chu Guannan return, An Rao threw himself onto him in front of all the stagehands, his eyes curving with a smile: “Husband, I watched the shot you just took. You are too amazing! So great!”
Chu Guannan looked at the shocked gazes of the people around them and reached out to pull him off. A trace of a smile that was not easily noticed appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“By the way, Husband, the My CP program team will be coming to our house tomorrow to film a surprise visit video. You will not be home tomorrow, right?”
Chu Guannan gave an “Mhm,” saying he would be living and eating with the film crew for the next few days.
“Then can I invite Xu Renyu to our house to film together? After all, we are the program’s CP, and he had to withdraw halfway due to injury. The program team also wants to supplement a few shots of him.”
Chu Guannan suddenly looked at An Rao, and that tiny bit of a smile vanished. An Rao blinked, bordering on being cute: “Is that not allowed?”
“Suit yourself,” Chu Guannan said coldly, then turned to tell the stagehands they could continue filming.