After pulling a half-nightery researching materials, the sound of a pen scratching against paper filled the room. Wu Yan looked at the A4 sheets spread across the desk, now covered in writing, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face.
Every inch of that dense handwriting was the result of his hard work. It wasn’t until he was so exhausted that he could no longer keep his eyes open that he crawled into bed, pulled up the covers, and fell asleep.
The bright moonlight spilled over the earth, and he slept peacefully through the night.
The next morning, Wu Yan was jolted awake by the alarm he had set. He climbed out of bed in a daze, threw on a robe, and headed downstairs after washing up. Unsurprisingly, he saw Auntie Wang busy in the kitchen.
He let out a yawn, took his water cup to get some hot water, and took a few small sips. Softly, he called out, “Auntie Wang.”
“What is it, Young Master?” Auntie Wang turned around and saw Wu Yan entering the kitchen. Her eyes were full of surprise, and her tone was even more astonished. She hurriedly said, “Young Master, please go sit outside. The kitchen is full of things; what if you accidentally hurt yourself?”
Wu Yan, however, walked nonchalantly to the refrigerator. He pulled it open, scanned the ingredients inside, and spoke concisely: “I’m going to cook.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the entire room fell into silence.
This young master, who had never dipped his fingers in spring water and had been pampered since childhood where would he have learned to cook?
Auntie Wang’s movements froze. she persuaded him, “If there’s something you want to eat, just tell me. There’s no need to do it yourself.”
The original Wu Yan indeed didn’t know how to cook, but the current Wu Yan was different. He was a “ox-and-horse” college student (a hardworking laborer/student); since he usually lived near campus and couldn’t always order good takeout, he would cook for himself. His skills weren’t top-tier, but they were barely sufficient.
However, Auntie Wang refused to let Wu Yan cook no matter what he said. Combining persuasion with the “threat” of calling Wu Yan’s mother, she directly “chased” him out of the kitchen.
“…” Wu Yan hadn’t expected his first attempt to be so unsuccessful. He pursed his lips, holding his glass cup and standing still, looking like he was questioning his life choices.
After a long while, he could only sit at the dining table and eat the breakfast Auntie Wang had prepared. He picked up his milk and drank half a cup, chewing on his soft-boiled egg and bacon sandwich as if it were wax.
He lowered his eyes to unlock his phone. He still hadn’t received a reply to the message he sent Pei Jin. He assumed the man was still busy. His gaze circled the room, and he suddenly asked, “Where is Xu Yike?”
“Assistant Xu just went out; he hasn’t returned yet,” a servant wiping the cabinets at the entrance responded.
“He went out?” Wu Yan murmured softly. That was truly a rare occurrence, but he was happy for the peace and quiet—one less person watching him.
After finishing breakfast, Wu Yan stayed home for a while before packing his things to head out. Every time he left the house, Father and Mother Wu would arrange for several people to follow him, claiming it was to protect his safety.
As long as they stayed out of sight, Wu Yan acted as if he didn’t know they were there. He lowered his eyes, edited a text message to send out, and then gave the driver his destination.
The driver in the front seat was already used to it. Lately, the place Wu Yan frequented most was the film studio where Pei Jin was located.
“Young Master, I’ll wait for you here,” the driver said after parking the car.
Wu Yan nodded slightly in response. He quickened his pace toward Pei Jin’s location and happened to see several men in black suits carrying insulated boxes inside.
Upon seeing him, the men in black set the boxes down and greeted him respectfully, “Young Master.”
“Hurry and take them inside. Just say they are a treat from Pei Jin,” Wu Yan said calmly.
After speaking, he entered first. Seeing his figure, the surrounding staff were no longer surprised. They had been told previously that he was a friend of Film Emperor Pei. Since set visits were allowed, they couldn’t say much, though they felt he was coming far too often.
Following the route in his memory, Wu Yan smoothly reached the door of Pei Jin’s dressing room. He was holding an insulated bag he had specifically prepared for Pei Jin. He hadn’t even knocked when he heard the sound of conversation coming through the ajar door.
Inside the dressing room, Pei Jin was sitting in a chair. Xu Yike, who had been missing since morning, sat diagonally across from him. The simple, temporary dressing room lacked decorations and felt somewhat empty.
“Don’t you know what kind of personality Wu Yan has?” He heard Xu Yike’s voice.
Pei Jin’s gaze fell upon the little penguin hand warmer on the table. The surrounding air seemed to freeze slightly. His expression was obscure, emotions swirling in his light brown eyes, yet he only lowered his head and remained silent.
Seeing him not speaking, Xu Yike let out a helpless sigh before continuing: “Brother Pei, I’ve been by his side for so long. Although part of the reason for his bad temper is his illness, he has been spoiled since he was a child. Anything he wants, Madam and Master will hand to him on a platter. I know I shouldn’t say this, but…”
He could see that Wu Yan did indeed like Pei Jin very much, but how long could this “liking” last? He would soon grow bored; it was likely just a passing interest.
“I understand,” Pei Jin finally spoke after a long pause.
The rumors about Wu Yan in the outside world surely didn’t come from nowhere, and it wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen it himself. However, the way Wu Yan acted in front of him was indeed different.
Since he didn’t know the full story behind those past events, it wasn’t right for him to judge too much.
Standing at the door, Wu Yan listened to the voices inside. Although eavesdropping was impolite, he felt as if his feet were made of lead; he couldn’t move them.
The conversation lasted for a few minutes, and he listened for a few minutes. His originally fiery heart seemed to sink to the bottom as time passed.
But as the saying goes, chasing someone requires patience, time reveals a person’s heart.
Just as he was thinking about how to find an opportunity to enter, he heard a loud shout from not far away, saying that Film Emperor Pei was treating everyone to afternoon tea.
In the moment Wu Yan was slightly dazed, the door in front of him was pulled open. In the next second, he looked up and met a pair of eyes that were cold to the extreme.
“Wu Yan?” The voice came from Xu Yike, who was still sitting in the chair; he was clearly more surprised.
Wu Yan glanced at Xu Yike’s face before immediately shifting his gaze back to Pei Jin.
“Brother…” He wanted to speak, but meeting Pei Jin’s cold gaze, he suddenly felt at a loss. The words at the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down.
Xu Yike stood up and walked to Pei Jin’s side. Knowing he had overstepped today and having been caught in the act, his expression was somewhat unsightly. After a pause, he bypassed Wu Yan and walked out the door.
“Come in,” Pei Jin said, uttering only two words.
Wu Yan entered the dressing room in silence, and the door was closed behind him with a dull thud. He turned to face Pei Jin, his palms holding the bag breaking into a cold sweat.
Pei Jin’s gaze landed on the insulated bag in Wu Yan’s hand. Understanding dawned on him, and he asked, “You’re the one who treated everyone to afternoon tea, aren’t you?”
He had always disliked others making decisions for him without permission. Wu Yan hadn’t told him beforehand, and this action indeed made him a bit angry.
Hearing Pei Jin’s serious tone, Wu Yan froze. He bit his lip and spoke with a hint of grievance: “I just wanted to do something for you, Brother…”
Seeing the man’s eyes reddening yet his face full of stubbornness, Pei Jin suddenly wondered if his tone just now had been too harsh. He wanted to soften his mood, but then he thought that if he didn’t make things clear to Wu Yan, there was no guarantee the other wouldn’t do it again.
It wouldn’t be worth it if it caused trouble later.
“The set is very busy. You are in poor health; you should rest properly,” Pei Jin looked away, not wanting to see the other’s face, and spoke in a flat voice.
To Wu Yan’s ears, these words meant Pei Jin was angry and wanted to draw a clear line between them.
In a state of shock, he reached out to grab Pei Jin’s hand, but suddenly heard a knock at the door. He lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong and stopped speaking.
Pei Jin frowned almost imperceptibly. He turned and pulled the door halfway open. The staff member standing at the door saw that Pei Jin’s expression wasn’t great and immediately realized they had come at a bad time, but they still braced themselves to speak: “Brother Pei, the director changed the scenes to be filmed today. These are the revised script pages.”
The staff member handed the papers to Pei Jin and then turned to leave hurriedly.
Inside the room, Wu Yan felt suffocated. Likely because his emotions were too intense, his heart felt uncomfortable. He hurriedly placed the insulated bag on the long coffee table.
Seeing Pei Jin turn around as if to speak, he immediately preempted him: “Then I won’t disturb you anymore. If you don’t like these desserts, just throw them away.”
With that, he didn’t care what the reaction was and almost ran to leave the scene.
Once out of the dressing room and back in the car, he felt his heart was aching terribly, and his head felt dizzy. The driver in the front seat spoke with concern: “Young Master, are you unwell? Should we go to the hospital?”
Wu Yan shook his head: “It’s nothing.”
He fished his portable pillbox out of his pocket, poured out a single dose, and popped it into his mouth. He chewed the tablets directly between his teeth and swallowed them dry.
Xu Yike, who had just opened the car door, saw Wu Yan’s pale complexion and immediately stepped forward to hand a silver thermos he had prepared long ago to Wu Yan.
Wu Yan looked at the thermos in front of him. With a frown and a surge of strength, he swiped the cup away. A dull thud echoed in the car as the cup rumbled and rolled into the distance. “I don’t need your fake kindness.”
Xu Yike looked at Wu Yan’s face, which was flushed due to his emotional state. The other’s breathing seemed somewhat rapid. He hurriedly spoke to soothe him: “Young Master, please don’t get excited. Your health is important…”
Wu Yan interrupted him directly: “Get out.”
After the car door was closed, the interior fell back into silence. Wu Yan closed his eyes and rested for a while. His hands, resting on his knees, were trembling slightly, and his lips were pressed white. His voice was like a puff of wind.
“Go home,” he said.
The driver in the front seat, hearing Wu Yan’s voice, hurriedly started the vehicle and drove at a moderate speed toward Jianglan Road.
The scenery outside the window flashed by. The bare trees were covered in snow—a vast expanse of white. The monotonous white appeared very cold and lonely, so Wu Yan simply closed his eyes to avoid looking.
The thoughts in his mind gradually became chaotic. He thought about the words he had heard today and felt a bit of a headache.
After returning home, Wu Yan didn’t even change his shoes before heading straight to his room. He turned on the hot water and took a bath in the tub, as if this could wash away the cold and irritability brought from outside.
The rising mist blurred his vision, and the curling white smoke was dense.
After finishing his bath, Wu Yan changed into comfortable pajamas. He put on his headphones and sat on the soft couch in his room, hugging his knees and curling himself into a ball. His long, curled lashes drooped slightly, concealing the emotions in his eyes, as if he were isolated from the outside world.
Soothed by the melodious music in his ears, his frantic thoughts finally began to settle.
He let out a long breath of turbid air and felt his heart grow much calmer.
Just then, the phone on the table suddenly lit up. However, Wu Yan was immersed in his own world and didn’t see it.
On the glowing screen, the message was clearly from Pei Jin.
[Pei Jin: Sorry, I was a bit emotional today.]