Yuan Wei’s shoulders were broad. Wrapped entirely in his embrace, Su Youtian was pinned like a little chick, unable to move for quite a while.
She quietly breathed in his scent, and only then did her chaotic mind slowly begin functioning again.
Her home was a thirty-minute drive from Yuan Wei’s place. Had Yuan Wei been waiting here all along, or had he just happened to run into her?
Her fingers pinched lightly at the fabric on Yuan Wei’s back, and she realized it was already soaked through.
She froze. Had he run all the way here?
Su Youtian could not help wriggling slightly. As though finally realizing it, Yuan Wei slowly let her go.
Under the moonlight, the blush on his face gradually faded.
“It’s good that you’re alright.”
Su Youtian watched him take a step back, as though in that instant he had clearly drawn a boundary between them. His emotions seemed swallowed by a surging river, leaving behind only a faint and indistinct distance.
Su Youtian felt puzzled. Why was this person hot and cold all the time?
She coughed lightly. “You… did you hear everything?”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
Walking beside her, Yuan Wei quickly denied it.
Didn’t hear anything? Then why were you so happy just now?
Su Youtian muttered inwardly, but in the next instant, she caught the brief upward curl of his lips. It vanished in a flash. If the light had not happened to fall on his face just then, she probably would not have noticed it at all.
…So he really did hear it after all.
He was even secretly smiling. Was he really that happy?
Su Youtian could not help wanting to cover her face.
But then she thought about it, if someone told her that she was so beautiful they would lose their pants and drool over her, she would probably secretly laugh too. No, she might even roll around in delight…
The more Su Youtian thought about it, the more embarrassed she became. She wished she could drag out the version of herself who had said those things and beat her up violently.
Serves you right for never having a filter on your mouth!
Serves you right for talking nonsense!
She sighed wearily, while pretending not to notice Yuan Wei’s little thoughts. Casually, she asked:
“Did you come here looking for me?”
Yuan Wei answered quickly, “No, I came to see Tuotuo.”
…Fine, let’s just pretend you came to see Tuotuo.
Su Youtian said, “Tuotuo isn’t with me for now. I’ve been filming these past few days, and I was afraid it would get scared staying home alone, so I left it at my mom’s place. Don’t worry, I go back to see it whenever I have time. It’s gotten several times chubbier already.”
She would not be staying with the crew for very long anyway, and she did not trust leaving the pet at a pet shop, so she left it at Sheng Xia’s mother’s house instead.
Sheng Xia’s mother was a gentle and elegant woman. Honestly, Su Youtian was a little afraid of her. In this world, there was no one she was not afraid of. Because Sheng Xia’s mother was the kind of woman who would stop at nothing for what she called love, clawing her way upward for power and status, even at the cost of destroying other people’s families. In her eyes, Sheng Xia was nothing more than a tool to help her climb even higher.
When dealing with this sort of outwardly gentle but deeply calculating woman, Su Youtian wished she could maintain one hundred and twenty thousand percent focus.
At the time, Sheng Xia’s mother had merely glanced at her indifferently before lowering her gaze.
“Leave it here.”
Su Youtian had felt as though she were carrying Tuotuo straight into a demon’s lair. What angered her even more was that Tuotuo had originally been reluctant to part with her, but the moment it saw the table full of snacks, it immediately could not move its legs and pounced into its grandma’s arms.
Yuan Wei frowned. “Your mother?”
Su Youtian turned back, surprised by his reaction. “What’s wrong?”
Yuan Wei shook his head, then casually asked, “What kind of show are you filming?”
Su Youtian instinctively straightened her posture. Walking as she spoke, she said:
“Oh, it’s nothing major, just an ordinary anti-Japanese war drama. I play a patriot who infiltrates the enemy’s ranks, walking on the edge of danger while constantly using intelligence and beauty to confuse the enemy. But amid all the glittering nightlife and decadent luxury, she gradually loses herself, torn between love and justice, before finally sacrificing herself for righteousness and becoming a legendary heroine remembered for generations.”
Yuan Wei: “……”
Su Youtian felt puzzled. Why was he silent? At a time like this, shouldn’t he be praising her or expressing some admiration?
Yuan Wei tugged at the corner of his mouth. “How are the costumes?”
The costumes? Why ask about the costumes?
Su Youtian simply assumed he was curious. After thinking about it, she replied:
“They’re alright, I guess. Either qipaos or military uniforms, changing every day is really annoying. The military uniforms are okay, but the qipaos are such a hassle. If my waist weren’t slim enough, I probably wouldn’t even fit into them.”
Yuan Wei quickly turned his head away for a moment before looking back seriously.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Su Youtian immediately laughed and waved her hands.
“It’s not hard at all, not hard at all. I’m more than willing to sacrifice myself for art. Oh right, what have you been doing lately?”
Yuan Wei replied, “I found a part-time job.”
A part-time job?
Su Youtian felt worried for him. She knew this part-time job would not last long either. Shen Haolin would eventually sabotage it. At this moment, she actually hoped Yuan Wei would go to City B, at least then he would not have to suffer here.
Carefully, she began, “Have you ever considered going to B…”
Yuan Wei suddenly pressed his lips together.
“It’s late. You should go back and rest.”
Seeing that he seemed unwilling to talk about the topic, Su Youtian stopped herself.
She nodded. Noticing there was still sweat on Yuan Wei’s face, she said, “Do you want to come upstairs and rest for a bit? You must be pretty tired from running.”
Yuan Wei paused, then glanced at her.
“I didn’t run. I came by car.”
Alright, alright, you didn’t run!
Su Youtian hurriedly corrected herself. “Riding in a car is tiring too. Come upstairs and have some water.”
Yuan Wei shook his head and lightly pushed her from behind.
“Go on.”
Su Youtian rubbed her back.
“There you go again with this move.”
Left with no choice, she walked up the stairs.
When she casually looked back, she saw Yuan Wei standing there with both hands in his pockets, watching her. Then he lowered his eyes again. The brief flash of light in those eyes almost seemed like Su Youtian’s imagination.
Su Youtian’s heart trembled. She turned to the system and said, “I keep feeling like he’s avoiding me.”
【You only just noticed? Because of you, he still loves Sheng Xia deeply, but he also doesn’t want to hold you back. So all he can do is avoid you, yet he also doesn’t want to leave this city.】
After returning home, Su Youtian plopped onto the sofa and said in confusion, “Why blame me? I already completed the mission!”
【Did you really complete the mission meticulously without the slightest deviation?】
Su Youtian wanted to argue back, but suddenly choked on her words.
That was true. She had shown Yuan Wei too much mercy, constantly finding excuses to protect herself from suffering. And now look what happened. She herself had not suffered much, but Yuan Wei’s future had been dragged down instead. If Yuan Wei still refused to hate her after all this, Shen Haolin would end up tormenting him to death. Especially after tonight’s incident, she could already imagine that Yuan Wei’s future path would only become even harder.
Su Youtian scratched her hair in frustration.
“Then what do you want me to do? From now on, whatever you tell me to do, I’ll do it. I won’t bargain with you anymore!”
【Don’t worry, I still have two more missions waiting for you.】
For some reason, Su Youtian suddenly shivered.
Early the next morning, when Su Youtian arrived at the filming set, she discovered that Xiao Hu had not come to work.
She could not reach her by phone either. The moment she thought of Shen Haolin’s methods, she immediately understood.
“Damn, things changed way too fast.”
Fine, let it change then. After all, this opportunity had been given to her by Shen Haolin. Now that she had rejected him, it was not unreasonable for him to take back that privilege.
Right now, the crew’s attitude toward her still seemed fairly normal. Perhaps Shen Haolin had not completely crushed her yet. But if one day people noticed that her “sugar daddy” had stopped showing up, or if Shen Haolin casually said a sentence or two, then she might not even be able to keep this role anymore.
Su Youtian did not really care about the role itself. What she cared about was the mission.
“System, if my role gets cut, that doesn’t count as failing the mission, right?”
【It’s because you broke character that Shen Haolin got angry and started suppressing you! If you ruin Sheng Xia’s entertainment industry storyline, then just wait for death!】
Su Youtian: “……. Please don’t kill me! Please just electrocute me instead QAQ”
【Did I somehow raise a masochist?!】
Just as Su Youtian was wiping away imaginary tears, she suddenly heard rustling noises coming from next door, like a mouse gnawing on wood while clutching a stick. Holding her breath, she leaned over to look.
Around the corner, Green Bean-kun was sitting steadily in place. In his left hand he held a piece of wood, and in his right, a carving knife that slowly worked away at it. He was carving so carefully that his eyes were practically pressed against the wooden block. Su Youtian had walked right up beside him, yet he had not even noticed.
Looking at the layers upon layers of bandages wrapped around his face, she felt speechless.
Wasn’t he hot?
Being an extra actor nowadays was really not easy. She had never once seen him remove those bandages!
Still, although Green Bean-kun was strange, every time Shi Feng came to harass her these past few days, he would conveniently appear. The coincidences were almost unbelievable.
Su Youtian suddenly had a bad feeling.
Unable to resist, she edged a little closer.
“What are you carving?”
Green Bean-kun loosened his fingers slightly, revealing a small gap. Su Youtian leaned in and saw that he seemed to be carving a circle.
“A ring?”
Green Bean-kun shook his head.
“A flower?”
Shake.
“Candy?”
Shake.
Su Youtian gave up. Her gaze repeatedly swept over Green Bean-kun’s head and figure as she casually asked:
“Who’s it for?”
Green Bean-kun paused.
“A female actress.”
Su Youtian turned around and looked over the few actresses nearby.
“Who? Tell me.”
Green Bean-kun said, “A woman willing to sacrifice herself for art, someone who possesses both beauty and intelligence.”
Su Youtian shuddered, and a bead of sweat appeared on her forehead.
“I-is that so?”
Green Bean-kun slowly blew away the wood shavings in his palm.
“I admire her very much. For the sake of acting, she can endure the restraints of all kinds of qipaos and withstand every sort of trial…”
“Enough!”
Su Youtian abruptly raised a hand.
“I think I still have lines to memorize. Mr. Green… excuse me.”
Green Bean-kun grabbed the turtle shell shield hanging behind her back.
“You forgot something.”
Su Youtian turned back. Yuan Wei opened his palm, revealing a little wooden turtle poking out its head obediently while lying in his hand.
Su Youtian: “……”
With a howl, she lunged straight at him.
“How dare you laugh at me! How dare you laugh at me!”
Yuan Wei let out muffled laughter as he untied the bandages from his face, revealing deep and handsome features.
“I wasn’t laughing at you.”
Even as he spoke, muffled laughter continued rumbling from his chest.
Su Youtian gritted her teeth and stood up.
“What are you doing here?”
Yuan Wei sat up and brushed the dust off himself.
“A friend introduced me here.”
Su Youtian did not believe him.
“Wasn’t it because you admired my heroic acting performance?”
Yuan Wei tapped on her turtle shell, silently telling her to have some self-awareness.
A faint blush appeared on Su Youtian’s face, and she could not help glaring at him.
“You acted so convincingly last night. You’re even better at acting than I am!”
The corners of Yuan Wei’s eyes curved slightly.
“I was afraid you’d feel embarrassed.”
Su Youtian was speechless.
“Then why expose me today? Would it kill you to let me keep pretending for a little longer?”
Yuan Wei replied, “It was stuffy.”
Stuffy?
Because of the bandages?
Su Youtian said, “Keep brushing me off then. You always treat me like an idiot.”
The smile on Yuan Wei’s face faded slightly. He placed the little turtle into Su Youtian’s palm and said softly:
“In my eyes, you’ve always been an idiot, so I don’t hold things against you.”
Su Youtian puffed out her cheeks and angrily turned to leave.
Yuan Wei remained motionless behind her, silently watching her walk away.
That evening, Yuan Wei returned home and dropped heavily onto the sofa. The room was deathly quiet.
In the photograph, his mother quietly gazed at him, and his heart settled slightly.
Suddenly, his phone lit up with a new message.
“Three days left.”
Yuan Wei froze, then clenched his teeth.
The moment he thought back to the phone call from half a month ago, he could not help frowning.
At the time, he had still been busy searching for a new job when someone suddenly called him, saying that he was the long-lost eldest grandson of the Yuan family. His biological father was gravely ill in bed, while his half-brother from the same father had died in a car accident. The family hoped he would return and inherit the Yuan family business.
Such a dramatic situation was something most people would never believe.
But the call had not been outside his expectations.
Because ever since childhood, he had known his background was unusual. His mother often held a photograph and pointed at the sharply dressed man in it, telling him that was his father.
Yuan Wei remembered that man. He often saw him on television, a famous financial tycoon in City B.
Yuan Wei could see traces of his own features in the man’s appearance. Yet he had never once asked his mother why the man abandoned them, nor had he ever hoped for a father-son reunion.
Having his mother alone had been enough.
So he rejected them without hesitation.
But the other party used the thing he treasured most to threaten him, Sheng Xia’s future.
If he refused, Sheng Xia might no longer be able to continue as an actress.
Yuan Wei pressed his thin lips together. Seeing how happy she was while acting, he could not bear to cut off her path.
But he had only just found her again. If he left now, who knew when they would meet again?
He… could not bear to part with her.
He picked up the ring from beside his bed and carefully placed it in his palm.
Should he move forward… or retreat?
Early the next morning, Su Youtian arrived at the filming set. This time, for some unknown reason, the crew members kept sneaking glances at her.
Su Youtian rubbed her arms uncomfortably. She felt like a monkey at the zoo, being stared at and mocked for her red butt.
She assumed Shen Haolin was unhappy that she had not given him a way out, so he had started pressuring her instead.
She sighed. “System, my mental endurance still isn’t strong enough. Being laughed at like a monkey makes me want to hit people, what should I do?”
【That’s easy. You can act like a monkey and throw poop at them.】
Damn it!
Out of spite, she sat under a tree root and poked angrily at a dirt mound with her finger.
Today’s scene was being filmed on a mountain. Since they needed to shoot a retreating battle scene, the crew had specifically come outdoors for location filming.
She had just taken a bottle of water from her bag and drunk a mouthful when she suddenly heard several girls scream.
Looking up, she saw the six rainbow-colored sisters covering their faces while staring into the distance.
She craned her neck to look and saw Yuan Wei, his face smeared black with dirt, sitting under a tree root talking to a burly man.
Although he looked disheveled, the dust on his face could not hide his refined features.
Especially now that he was wearing a military uniform, he practically embodied restrained abstinence and cold elegance.
Shi Feng was dressed flashily and meticulously styled, but standing beside Yuan Wei, he instantly looked like a clumsy black bear.
Shi Feng seemed to realize he had been completely overshadowed. Huffing angrily, he turned and walked away.
Su Youtian snorted proudly.
“I told you, the moment he shows up, Shi Feng can’t even compare. Now this is what you call handsome.”
Yuan Wei seemed to hear her voice and turned to glance at her before looking away again.
Su Youtian’s whole body tightened. For some inexplicable reason, she felt as though she had just been licked all over, sticky and strange.
“Why is he acting so weird today…”
she muttered.
Right then, filming began. Su Youtian patted the dirt off her backside and stood in front of the sisters with her weapon in hand.
Her weapon had already destined her to be the team’s meat shield…
The director shouted, “Action!”
Su Youtian instantly perked up and charged forward with loud cries, determined not to let Yuan Wei look down on her. No matter what role she played, she had to be the best!
Standing on the hillside, she had just been about to pull out her gun when:
【Ding! Host, please roll down the hillside within ten seconds. Failure to comply will result in obliteration! 10, 9, 8…】