Mu Xuefei originally thought that since she had no scenes for the next few days, she could go hang out with Yun Yongjun for a bit before starting work. However, all her wonderful vacation plans were ruined by a notification from Director Mo.
“What? Director Mo wants to add scenes for me?” Seeing Yun Yongjun nod, Mu Xuefei did not know what to say. Why would Director Mo suddenly add scenes for her out of nowhere? What on earth was the director thinking?
“It’s mainly because Director Mo feels the character of Shui Yu can be more prominent, which is why she added more scenes,” Yun Yongjun said, handing over a document. “This is the new script. You didn’t have many scenes to begin with, so even if we double them, it just gives you a bit more presence.”
Mu Xuefei frowned and quickly skimmed through it. Her scenes had indeed increased just as Yun Yongjun had said. However, given the setup of the script, whenever one person’s scenes increased, someone else’s scenes would naturally decrease a little. A quick comparison revealed that the person whose scenes were cut was none other than Bai Tiantian.
After finishing the script, Mu Xuefei gave Yun Yongjun a meaningful look and said, “Bai Tiantian is probably going to be furious to death.”
“Naughty.” Yun Yongjun raised a hand to flick Mu Xuefei on the forehead, then added casually, “When I got the script, Bai Tiantian was chewing out her assistant.”
The force on her forehead was light, but Mu Xuefei felt as if it had scorched her heart. At a loss for what to do, she looked away. “Ah.”
“Ah, what?” Yun Yongjun found Mu Xuefei’s dazed and silly reaction amusing. How could she be so clueless right now? But immediately afterward, she frowned. Right now? Clueless? Why would she have such a thought? When had Mu Xuefei ever been clueless around her?
“What’s wrong?”
Yun Yongjun pushed the doubt to the back of her mind, shook her head in silence, and brought Mu Xuefei to the set.
“I heard that person is a relative of Director Mo, which is why she got extra scenes.”
“No way, I heard that person got her face disfigured, so Director Mo took pity on her and added scenes for her.”
“You’re both wrong. My relative told me that the person who made Director Mo add scenes has three heads, six arms, and a mouth growing right where her eyes should be. She threatened Director Mo, which is why the director caved.”
…
On the way to Director Mo, Mu Xuefei was completely startled by everyone’s wild imaginations. A relative was fine, but what on earth was this business about facial disfigurement and pity? Most horrifying of all—kid, three heads, six arms, and a mouth on your face—was that even human?
“Ahem.” Stopping in her tracks, Yun Yongjun naturally noticed that Mu Xuefei was spacing out again. But since they had already reached Director Mo, she had to cough to snap the other person out of it.
Hearing the cough, Mu Xuefei quickly reacted and called out, “Hello, Director Mo.”
“Did you read the script?” Director Mo casually glanced at Yun Yongjun, who was wearing glasses, before turning back to Mu Xuefei. “If there are no problems, we’ll start filming your scenes in a moment.”
Did she even have the right to refuse? Mu Xuefei rolled her eyes internally, but put on a prompt face on the outside. “Okay.”
“Then I’ll go get ready, and you go prepare with the wardrobe stylist in a moment.” With that, Director Mo walked off to the side, and shortly after, the roar of the director rang through the studio once more. “Where on earth did the prop master go?” “Is the wire rig ready or not?”
Looking at the director turned roaring lion, then at Bai Tiantian who was glaring at her with unblinking hatred, and finally at the onlookers who thought they were being stealthy while openly rubbernecking, Mu Xuefei desperately wanted to howl at the heavens: I must have stepped onto a fake movie set.
“What strange things are you thinking about this time?”
Pulled back to reality by a finger tapping her forehead, Mu Xuefei cast her gaze upward at a solemn forty-five-degree angle, only to discover… right above her was the studio spotlight, with no sky in sight. With a silent sigh, she lowered her head back down.
Meeting Yun Yongjun’s puzzled gaze once again, she shook her head. “I’m going to change clothes now.”
“Go ahead.” Yun Yongjun smiled and nodded, but the moment Mu Xuefei vanished from sight, that smile faded away. Being kept in the dark about what the other person was thinking really wasn’t a good feeling.
“Well, now, who managed to upset our Second Young Miss Yun?” Just as she was pondering what Mu Xuefei might be thinking, a teasing voice rang out beside her.
She turned around to see Director Mo standing not far away, and instinctively looked around. Noticing that the crew had already been shooed off to work and weren’t paying attention to them, she spoke up, “Why are you coming over here right now?”
“No one is going to suspect anything.” Director Mo watched Yun Yongjun’s cautious movements with a sense of wonder. When Yun Yongjun had previously announced her retirement from in front of the camera work to move behind the scenes—and even became a manager—he had found it incredible and quite a pity, given how breathtaking her acting talent truly was.
Now, looking at her current behavior, he more or less understood what she was trying to do. “Does your family know about Xuefei’s existence?”
Yun Yongjun’s run-away rebellion back in the day had shaken the entire family. Groomed as the family heir from a young age, Yun Yongjun had publicly declared her sexual orientation at sixteen, fought with her family, and ran away to work odd jobs for a year. At seventeen, she was scouted and entered the entertainment industry, rising smoothly until she clinched the Best Actress title at twenty. From then on, her career skyrocketed, and she scooped up Best Actress and Best Leading Actress awards until her hands grew soft. Later on, Yun Yongjun’s mother was the first to soften and reached out to her. However, after turning twenty-three, Mother Yun began nagging her to bring a wife back home. Lacking a wife, Yun Yongjun once again met a tragic fate and fled home to escape the marriage pressure, only returning during major holidays while spending the rest of her time filming or vacationing in her own villa.
Saying she was retiring from acting this time was more like preparing to take over the family business. But in his view, her primary job was being Mu Xuefei’s manager, while running the company was just a side gig.
“They don’t know.” Even though Mu Xuefei had started accepting her intimacy, she wanted more. Yun Yongjun pushed up her glasses. “Second Uncle, don’t stir up any trouble for me, otherwise…”
“Turns out girls really do lean outward once they grow up.” Feeling the cold glare Yun Yongjun shot his way, Director Mo let out a symbolic sigh. “I don’t know who called me in the dead of night demanding I add scenes for Xuefei…”
“That’s enough.” The moment she saw that familiar figure reappear, Yun Yongjun lost all desire to bicker with him further. Dropping a quick “talk to you later,” she walked right past him.
Watching Yun Yongjun melt into sheer tenderness and affection the moment she faced Mu Xuefei, Director Mo couldn’t help but marvel: she really was head over heels. Immediately after, he chuckled, pulled out his phone, and dialed quickly. “Hey, Xiao Xi, I just found out something…”
There were two daughters in the Yun family, both single. Eldest Miss Yun Xi was a staunch believer in singlehood and was on the wrong side of thirty this year, having endured years of matchmaking pressure from the family. Ever since she tracked down the runaway Yun Yongjun, that matchmaking pressure had been shared, slightly improving her bleak life. But she never expected her own younger sister to avoid coming home, which drove their mother right back into a frenzy of matchmaking madness—terrifying Eldest Miss Yun so much that she didn’t dare go home! Now that Director Mo was telling her Yun Yongjun might have a romantic partner, she would definitely cling to this glimmer of hope and refuse to let go.
On the other end of the line, upon hearing Director Mo’s words, the person quickly shoved the young man in her arms away, pondered for a moment, and burst out laughing.
Second girl, better you than me. For your older sister’s peaceful life, just obediently bring your lover back home.
“My dear Eldest Miss Yun, what is it this time?” Seeing the fiercely rushing, glamorous woman preparing to storm off, a few other people in the private room stood up, shooed the young men in their arms outside, and began to tease, “Is Auntie Yun finally off your back about marriage? You look awfully happy.”
The woman holding her handbag paused for a fraction of a second, then twitched her thin lips, which were coated in vibrant red lipstick. “More or less. I’m heading out first. Going to City H for a trip, let’s catch up later.”
“Hey, wait, Xi, you…” The others watched their high-speed friend and shrugged helplessly. “Let’s keep going then. It’s rare for us to get out and relax.”
On the other side, Mu Xuefei’s first day of shooting naturally involved the scenes where she is assigned by the male lead to serve as a maid beside the female lead. However, whether it was because of her or not, Bai Tiantian was completely out of sorts all day.
“Cut! Bai Tiantian, what are you doing? Answer the line and speak up!”
“Cut! Bai Tiantian, you’re supposed to look upset, not fly into a murderous rage. You’re just disappointed in Shui Yu, not seething with burning hatred!”
“Cut! Bai Tiantian, did you even memorize your lines?”
“Cut—…”
“Cut—take a five-minute break and then we’ll resume.”
Mu Xuefei rubbed her brow and glanced at Bai Tiantian, who wore a dissatisfied expression while remaining completely oblivious to her own mistakes. She suddenly felt her IQ dropping—why on earth did she bother picking a fight with someone like this? If the other person couldn’t deliver a good performance, wouldn’t she be dragged down along with her?
“Director Mo must have misjudged someone today.” As soon as Mu Xuefei walked over, Yun Yongjun’s voice rang out.
“Probably.” Mu Xuefei looked at Bai Tiantian, who was whispering something to her assistant and casting a resentful glare in her direction, and nodded.
Perhaps because of her assistant’s advice, Bai Tiantian took her acting much more seriously afterward. She managed to pass after being corrected twice, and even breezed through the subsequent scenes smoothly, which improved Director Mo’s mood slightly. Even so, by the time today’s filming wrapped up, night had already fallen.
“I’ll take you out to dinner before we head back.” Just as Yun Yongjun finished speaking, her phone alarm went off, forcing her to gesture apologetically and step aside to take a call.
Standing nearby, Mu Xuefei noticed that Yun Yongjun kept glancing over her way while talking on the phone. A few minutes later, the other woman walked back with a reluctant smile.
“Did something happen?”
“It’s nothing. I need to pick someone up at the airport in a bit, so I probably won’t have time for dinner.” Yun Yongjun calculated the time. “Let me drop you back at the hotel first.”
“Actually, I can just take a cab.” Even though she was a bit curious about who was on the other end of the call, Mu Xuefei understood priorities and quickly refused. “Besides, the hotel isn’t far from here anyway, a taxi ride is only ten minutes or so. Go pick your person up.”
“I’m worried about leaving you alone, though.” Yun Yongjun shook her head, pulled Mu Xuefei directly into the car, and started driving toward the hotel.
After getting out of the car and watching the vehicle’s tail lights quickly fade into the distance, Mu Xuefei suddenly felt a bit uneasy. Since they had met, this was the first time Yun Yongjun was keeping something from her, and also the first time she had dropped her for someone else. Although she knew it was probably someone close to the other woman, a lingering discontent remained in her heart.
Realizing her own mental state, she shook her head helplessly. Someone this clingy is definitely not the real me, Mu Xuefei.
Back in the hotel room, she looked at the pajamas Yun Yongjun had changed out of that morning. The corners of Mu Xuefei’s mouth twitched upward unconsciously, but she quickly flattened them out.
“Elf, do I need to stay here after completing the mission?”
“Not at all. Of course, you can choose to stay if you want, though it will consume a certain amount of time.”
Thinking of everything in the real world that might happen because of her departure, Mu Xuefei suddenly fell silent.
After changing into her pajamas, she sat on the sofa while a cheesy television drama played in the background—featuring endless clichés about you love me, I love him—making the spacious living room feel even more desolate.
Until the deep hours of the night when she drifted off to sleep unconsciously, Yun Yongjun still had not returned.