Liu Zhe thought this suggestion was good, so he supported Qi Ruizhe to the rooftop platform. It was a very large platform, with only a few cleaning tools placed in the corner, making it very spacious.
Qi Ruizhe, intoxicated by alcohol, came up in high spirits. His whole demeanor was very excited. He flipped around on the platform like a monkey, doing all sorts of somersaults, while showing off to Lin Ran, “How’s that? Isn’t my kung fu amazing, bro?”
Lin Ran saw railings around the platform and wasn’t worried about him falling, so she let him go crazy there.
Qi Ruizhe rolled around for a while, messing up his white shirt. But he didn’t feel tired at all. He ran to the railing facing the street and started howling.
Liu Zhe sighed, “Too embarrassing…”
Lin Ran nodded in agreement, “Next time, if we eat with him again, I won’t let him touch a drop of alcohol. His tolerance is really poor…”
At that moment, Qi Ruizhe climbed onto the railing.
Lin Ran was worried he might fall and was about to stop him when she saw Liu Zhe looking calm. She knew then that it should be fine.
Indeed, Liu Zhe explained, “His shoes are custom-made with several rows of automatic retractable hooks on top. It’s fine even if he walks upside down.”
Lin Ran looked at those shoes and said, “Won’t those shoes fall off? He weighs around 150 pounds, right?”
Liu Zhe shook his head, “No, they won’t. They can withstand up to 500 pounds. We even performed a magic act of two-person handstand before. I held his hand below while he walked upside down above, and it was totally fine. It was on an 8-meter-high stage, and the audience kept screaming! We haven’t done that magic recently, so I guess he just wanted to show off to you…”
Lin Ran looked at Liu Zhe and said, “You’re talking more than usual today.”
Liu Zhe blushed, “Ah? I… I’m sorry…”
“No, it’s nice,” Lin Ran smiled, “Next time, you can drink a little more at gatherings, but Qi Ruizhe… let’s forget about him. Not a drop should touch his lips.”
Liu Zhe agreed deeply, “Indeed.”
After Qi Ruizhe was blown by the wind, he sobered up a lot. He probably remembered the embarrassing scene just now and felt awkward. He didn’t dare to approach Lin Ran. He upgraded his performance, standing on the railing at a tilted angle, trying to alleviate the embarrassment with a high-difficulty stunt.
Just then, a figure rushed out like the wind and hugged Qi Ruizhe, then they both fell onto the platform.
Lin Ran didn’t see until they hit the ground. The one who rushed towards Qi Ruizhe was a slender teenager.
There was a big stone on the ground, and the teenager scraped against it when he fell, tearing his sleeve and dripping blood along the tear.
But he seemed indifferent, reaching out to help Qi Ruizhe up and earnestly saying, “This gentleman looks handsome and young. What’s there to be upset about? Life still has a long way to go, with so many beautiful things ahead. Don’t ever think about giving up!”
Qi Ruizhe glanced at the railing behind him, then looked down at his shoes.
Those shoes could withstand 500 pounds, but his soles were still hurting now.
Liu Zhe quickly explained, “No, we were performing magic. His shoes can be fixed to the railing. He wasn’t trying to commit suicide, really!”
The teenager frowned, unconvinced. “It could have easily come off; very dangerous! Don’t do such risky things in public, you know?” Get faster updates on g.com.
Liu Zhe pondered, “Maybe this prop has been around for too long. It should be repaired.”
Lin Ran walked up to him, looking at the wound on his arm.
“I’m sorry, you misunderstood and got injured. Shall I accompany you to the hospital to bandage it? We will pay for the medical expenses.”
The teenager waved his hand casually. “No need, I can go by myself. I know a doctor, she’s very skilled.”
Lin Ran caught the gist of his words. “…So, do you often get injured? What do you… do?”
The teenager suddenly realized he hadn’t introduced himself yet. “I’m Meng Xiao, a stunt double. Getting injured is common in our line of work, I’m used to it. I saw someone who seemed like they were about to jump off, so I came up to see if I could stop them. Oh, by the way, when I came up from downstairs just now, it seemed like someone had called the police…”
Qi Ruizhe felt quite embarrassed. “Ah… How do I explain this to the police…”
Lin Ran smiled, changing the subject. “No wonder you’re so agile. When you dashed out just now, you were so fast I couldn’t see clearly. Hello, we’re from the Miracle Magic Troupe. I’m Lin Ran, this is Qi Ruizhe, and this is Liu Zhe.”
Meng Xiao looked somewhat proud. “Rescuing people requires being fast and accurate, otherwise, they’ll jump before you can react. Of course… I misunderstood this time. Did I hurt you when I fell? I’m sorry…”
Qi Ruizhe was even more embarrassed and dared not lift his head. “N-no, it’s you… Because I got injured, I… I’m sorry. Mr. Meng is right, we shouldn’t perform here. Passersby might get scared if they don’t know it’s a performance.”
Meng Xiao hesitated, then smiled slightly. “Not Mr. Meng, I’m actually a miss!”
“You…” Qi Ruizhe’s mouth dropped open. “You’re actually a girl?”
Meng Xiao had a sunny and handsome appearance, full of vitality. Coupled with her neat, short hair and neutral clothing, at first glance, anyone would think she was a handsome boy. Even her voice is somewhat neutral, like that of a teenager whose voice has not changed.
Lin Ran looked at Meng Xiao, squinting her eyes and smiling, “You’re really good-looking.”
Meng Xiao was momentarily stunned, then also smiled, “You’re the good-looking one!”
At this moment, the police car arrived downstairs. Qi Ruizhe reluctantly went downstairs to explain to the police, and was severely reprimanded, his face turning as red as a cooked lobster.
He wanted to show off in front of the beauty, but ended up embarrassing himself to the extreme, wishing he could disappear on the spot.
Lin Ran went downstairs to the hotel staff and asked for a first-aid kit. She quickly applied a simple bandage to Meng Xiao’s wound to stop the bleeding. She then pointed to Qi Ruizhe, “No matter what, it’s because of him that you got injured. So, at least let me drive you to the hospital. I haven’t been drinking.”
Meng Xiao hesitated, looking at her blood-stained sleeve, but agreed in the end. “Alright, I do look quite scary like this. It’s not good to scare passersby. Thank you!”
Lin Ran asked Qi Ruizhe for the keys and let the two of them take a taxi back to the hotel. She drove Meng Xiao to the hospital in the magic troupe’s car.
The doctor was a middle-aged woman named Fan. When she saw Meng Xiao coming with a wound, she wasn’t surprised. While treating her wound, she complained, “Why do you get injured so easily in your job? You’ve only been working for half a year, how many times have you been injured?”
Meng Xiao giggled, “It’s alright with Auntie Fan’s medical skills, a little injury isn’t a big deal.”
Lin Ran paid the bill and sat aside, waiting.
“Where do you live? I’ll drive you!” Lin Ran said.
“I couldn’t possibly…” Meng Xiao moved her arm and said, “I’m fine now. I’ll just take a taxi back.”
“No way, we agreed I’d take you back. Don’t be polite with me.”
As they talked, they walked outside.
Suddenly, a boy, about five or six years old, rushed swiftly from behind Meng Xiao. Fortunately, she reacted quickly and dodged, avoiding being injured on her already hurt arm.
She turned around somewhat angrily, swiftly grabbing the boy’s arm with her uninjured hand. The boy tried to struggle, but Meng Xiao’s strength was great, and he couldn’t break free.
A woman in her forties ran out, following the boy, repeatedly apologizing. “I’m sorry, my son… Oh? Aren’t you Xiao Meng?”
Meng Xiao also recognized the woman. “Director Liu, what a coincidence, you’re…”
Director Liu pointed at the boy caught by Meng Xiao.
“I brought Qiqi here to have his tooth pulled. He’s afraid of pain, and he ran off when I wasn’t paying attention. He’s really spoiled…”
Qiqi struggled until he got tired and finally gave up, yelling angrily, “I don’t want to pull my tooth! It hurts so much, I don’t want to pull it, Mommy’s bad!”
Director Liu grabbed Qiqi’s hand, her face stern as she lectured, “You can’t be so rude! And you almost bumped into Sister Meng’s wound just now, you should apologize!”
Qiqi finally looked up at Meng Xiao, with her arm wrapped in bandages hanging around her neck. He tilted his head, thinking for a moment, then nodded, “Sorry, sister!”
Lin Ran stood still for a moment before walking up.
She recognized this person called Director Liu. She used to be in the entertainment industry and happened to be arranged by the company into a drama directed by Liu Yixin.
After a few years, Liu Yixin seemed to have aged a bit, with an extra wrinkle or two on her face.
Liu Yixin was a demanding director. Back then, because Lin Ran’s acting skills were so poor, she had scolded her many times. Later, since she couldn’t teach her well, she replaced her.
At that time, Lin Ran was very sad, feeling that Director Liu was too heartless. She had worked so hard, yet she was still unsatisfied.
Later, Lin Ran was arranged by the company into another crew and worked with another director surnamed Zhu. Director Zhu was quite easy-going, allowing her to act badly. As a result, the drama became a stain on Lin Ran’s career and became one of the reasons why she was ridiculed online later.
What surprised her was that even when she was attacked by the whole internet, Liu Yixin didn’t speak ill of her when asked about the crew-changing incident. She just casually said, “She didn’t do anything wrong, it was just a normal trial process for the crew,” without complaining about her at all.
Looking back now, Liu Yixin didn’t do anything wrong back then. She did try to teach Lin Ran to act seriously, but Lin Ran was just not diligent enough. At that time, she only wanted to become famous quickly and didn’t have the patience to learn to act properly.
Liu Yixin had always been a career-oriented, strong woman. She got married at forty and gave birth to Qiqi when she was forty-one. When Lin Ran was on the set, she saw Liu Yixin’s mother-in-law bringing Qiqi for a visit. Qiqi was only four years old at the time, just starting kindergarten, so adorable and innocent. She even held him a few times. She didn’t expect him to grow up so much in just a few years.