Grandma Yu’s house was on the east side of the village, with a river running in front of the door. By the river were a few flat stones, where two women were crouched washing things.
Grandma Yu introduced to Gu Xi, “Xiao Lin’s family used to live right behind my house—our vegetable gardens were right next to each other. His mother was such a kind person. Sometimes when she saw me carrying water to water the vegetables, she’d even help me carry it. She was so thin, but she still thought about me being old.”
“Xiao Lin has been filial since he was little. Such a tiny thing, not even as tall as the table, and he already knew how to feed the chickens for his mother, and he’d stand on a little stool to wash the pots and bowls…”
As she spoke, Grandma Yu’s eyes took on a nostalgic look.
Gu Xi walked alongside her and heard many stories about his childhood. In her mind, she could almost see a sensible, well-behaved little boy—a side of him she had never known.
The Bai Shulin she remembered was extremely cold and stern, never showing any emotion toward anyone, always watching from the sidelines like an indifferent observer.
She couldn’t help but think—his mother’s death must have left a deep scar on him.
Grandma Yu had rushed out halfway through cooking. The boy was very thoughtful—as soon as he entered the house, he picked up a broom and started sweeping the yard. Gu Xi followed Grandma Yu into the kitchen to help, though there wasn’t much she could do besides tending the fire. Grandma Yu used a traditional earthen stove.
Watching the flames in the stove, Gu Xi asked, “Grandma, why is Xiao Lin’s grandmother so partial to his older cousin? I noticed she often doesn’t give him food.”
“Really?” Grandma Yu’s face immediately flushed with anger upon hearing this. “That old hag—how can her heart still be so black? She’ll get her comeuppance sooner or later.”
Realizing she had cursed too harshly, she added, still fuming, “That old hag—back when Xiao Lin’s mother was still alive, she was the one who bullied her the worst. The day Xiao Lin’s mother came over to ask me how to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes—Xiao Lin had eaten it at my house and said it was delicious, so she wanted to learn to make it for him on his birthday—that very night, she drowned herself. And she was carrying another little one in her belly.”
“It must have been that old hag saying something awful again. Xiao Lin’s father only came home once or twice a year. The old hag was afraid Xiao Lin’s mother would fool around with someone, so she brought her eldest grandson and moved right into their house. Sigh…”
Talking about it made Grandma Yu’s heart ache. Her own son and daughter-in-law had passed away early, and she and her husband had raised their two grandchildren alone. Xiao Lin’s mother had always felt sorry for her and often came over to help with chores after finishing her own.
Gu Xi suddenly realized—that man never seemed to celebrate his birthday, and Grandpa Bai never mentioned it. So this was why.
On his birthday, his mother had gone next door to learn how to make a dish for him, only to come home and drown herself—along with the unborn baby in her belly. How much suffering must she have endured… And for the young Bai Shulin, it must have been like a bolt from the blue.
And the pain continued. His grandmother brought her eldest grandson to live with him and his father, and the bullying went on.
In that moment, Gu Xi suddenly understood why the adult Bai Shulin hated Grandpa Bai so much. If it were her, she might have hated him even more.
Gu Xi asked softly, “How old was he then?”
“Eight or nine, I think.” Grandma Yu couldn’t remember clearly either. “He was in third grade, I believe. When he came home from school that day, the boy just went blank. He couldn’t even cry. For a whole six months or more, he didn’t speak a word. Sigh, poor child.”
Gu Xi fell silent for a long time. Grandpa Bai had always said she was pitiful—without a mother since childhood, unloved by her father—and so he doted on her endlessly. Was it because he saw a reflection of that person in her?
Only he couldn’t go back in time to make up for anything, so he hoped that at least she would have someone to protect her.
But to Bai Shulin, that must have been another wound. No wonder she had been puzzled in her previous life—why would a man like him fall for such clumsy seduction tactics?
Now she thought about it—maybe in the beginning, he had harbored a desire for revenge. But there was no way to verify that now.
Gu Xi had originally treated all of this as just a dream, but now she couldn’t let it go.
She couldn’t imagine how that young child had walked out of the darkness all alone.
After sweeping the yard, the boy picked up a bucket and made several trips back and forth, filling Grandma Yu’s water vat to the brim.
At noon, Grandma Yu cooked five dishes. She barely ate herself, constantly piling food onto their bowls. Gu Xi ate until she was stuffed.
When they left, Grandma Yu walked them to the village entrance. On the way, they ran into an old grandfather, and Gu Xi greeted him along with Bai Shulin.
As the two walked toward the town, Gu Xi couldn’t help saying, “Does Grandma Yu live all alone?”
Bai Shulin’s voice was low as he replied, “When I was little, her son and daughter-in-law drowned trying to save their youngest son. Her husband passed away a few years ago.”
Seeing Gu Xi’s sad expression, he added, “Her two grandsons—one’s in college, one’s in high school. They’re probably out working to earn tuition money now. Things will get better for them.”
“What about you?”
He was caught off guard. He turned and looked at her. Gu Xi met his gaze calmly and said earnestly, “Bai Shulin, I hope things get better for you too.”
It suddenly came to her—Bai Shulin always wore a watch on his left wrist. Once, she had seen the wrist beneath the band, marked with several scars of varying depths. But back then, she hadn’t cared about those old scars; she’d glanced at them and looked away, and he hadn’t offered any explanation.
Now, as she recalled it, a pang of sorrow rose in her chest.
“Bai Shulin, if anyone bullies you again, fight back. If you can’t win fair and square, fight dirty. If no one protects you, protect yourself. If no one loves you, love yourself twice as much. I hope things get better for you.”
The boy stared at her in a daze. Her words resounded in his chest, shaking him to the core.
No one had ever said such things to him. When he was little, his mother always told him to bear with it—that things would get better once his father came home. And later, when his father did come back, he told him that elders were still elders, no matter how unreasonable they were—he had to be tolerant and patient…
But now, someone was telling him—there was no need to endure. If someone bullied him, he should fight back.
Gu Xi reached out and took his hand. The boy’s hand was cold and rough. She said softly, “I’ll hold your hand for this stretch of the road. The rest of the way, you’ll have to walk by yourself. If you don’t have the courage, you can draw strength from me for now. My childhood wasn’t wonderful either, but I made it out. I hope you can too.”
She thought to herself—even if this was just a dream, she hoped the boy in it could suffer a little less.
The two of them reached the town and boarded the bus back to the provincial capital. Halfway there, the boy, exhausted, leaned against Gu Xi and fell asleep. When he woke up, the seat beside him was empty.
He stared blankly out the window, his eyes stinging. He whispered, “Liar. You said you’d come home with me.”
The film Gu Xi had taken on this time was a sci-fi movie. Domestic sci-fi films were rare, and quality ones even rarer. The story was set in a future where Earth was no longer habitable, and humanity used advanced technology to search for a habitable planet, eventually finding an Earth-like world.
On that planet lived a group of kind-hearted natives. Though their technology was backward, each of them possessed a mysterious power. The first spacecraft sent to the planet crashed, leaving only a few human pioneer explorers alive. Some of them tried everything to contact Earth, while others couldn’t bear to harm the natives who had nursed them back to health…
In the end, the few surviving human pioneers were treated as expendable pawns. When the second human fleet arrived, they chose to help the natives drive the fleet away. But after their victory, they discovered that the natives weren’t truly natives either.
It wasn’t a happy ending. Perhaps precisely because the director was a newcomer, he dared to shoot it this way, without chasing box-office success at all costs.
Gu Xi guessed that because not many people had high hopes for this film, the director hadn’t been able to hire well-known actors—which was how she had gotten the opportunity.
Fortunately, the lead actors were all solid performers, and Gu Xi learned a lot from them. The atmosphere on set was good too. She wasn’t great at socializing, but Fang Pingping was—and within a few days, she had gotten familiar with a lot of people.
Gu Xi played the wife of the native leader—beautiful, kind-hearted. She was the one who saved the captain of the human pioneer team, awakened the conscience of several of them, and even stirred feelings in the captain’s heart.
But she was also the one who drove a bone dagger into the captain’s chest. In the end, it was revealed that she was the true leader of the natives—that both the current natives and the human pioneers were invaders.
Gu Xi’s role had very few scenes—only a handful of appearances—but it was a crucial character.
She needed to be breathtakingly beautiful, capturing everyone’s attention the moment she appeared.
When filming was about to start, the director said that while there were plenty of beauties in the entertainment industry, they got stale after a while. He wanted a fresh face—and Gu Xi fit the role perfectly.
Gu Xi thought he was just feeding her empty promises—after all, the production looked pretty low-budget; they probably couldn’t afford anyone famous.
Still, the director was very serious about his work. He rejected three makeup and hair designs from the stylists before finally leaving the set for a day to bring in a retired makeup artist. Gu Xi didn’t recognize her, and neither did anyone else on set. The old woman dressed plainly, with short graying hair, looking like any grandmother taking a stroll in the park.
But her skills were extraordinary. After learning about the character, she immediately started sketching out hair and makeup designs. She finished the concepts in just over an hour and then got to work.
With the same tools, it was as if they came alive in her hands. When the crew saw the finished result, they were all stunned.
The girl was already beautiful, but now her skin glowed like pearls, with ocean-blue eyes that complemented the strange markings on her forehead. Her deep purple wavy hair fell to her waist—no overly complicated decorations or patterns. The old woman had someone find a piece of flowing white gauze, which she draped loosely over Gu Xi’s head, wrapping half her face in soft layers.
It made her look even more beautiful and mysterious.
Her fair skin and blue eyes represented her kind-hearted side, while her deep purple curls hinted at ambition and the path of revenge.
By the time Gu Xi got back to the hotel, it was already eight in the evening. Fortunately, Xiao Chen was with them this time, so they could leave the set and drive straight back—no need to hail a cab.
After Gu Xi got in the car, Xiao Chen said, “Someone was asking about you today. I kept an eye on them—they’re the bodyguard for the male lead.”
During a shared meal, the person had tried to subtly fish for information about Gu Xi’s background.
Gu Xi frowned. “What were they asking?”
“All sorts of things. I’m not sure what they were after, but I didn’t say anything.”
The guy couldn’t hold his liquor—after a few rounds, Xiao Chen had drunk him under the table.
Gu Xi gave a noncommittal “Mm.”
That afternoon, Fang Pingping had gotten her period and was feeling some discomfort. Around five, Gu Xi had told her to head back to the hotel early. When Gu Xi returned to the room, she found a note on the table from Fang Pingping, saying there was silver ear porridge she’d made in the kitchen.
Gu Xi felt a warmth in her heart. She went to the kitchen and ladled herself a bowl. She had only taken a couple of spoonfuls when Grandpa Bai called. “Xixi, it’ll be New Year’s Eve soon. Can you come back for the holiday?”
Hearing that, Gu Xi instinctively glanced at the calendar on the table while saying, “I’m not coming back—no one else is going home either.”
Her gaze paused as it landed on the calendar. She suddenly remembered—that person’s birthday was coming up soon too.