I woke up to find I have a child - Chapter 37
Five years ago, that is to say in 2013, Yin Jiahe appeared among Ye Mingxin’s Moments on WeChat. This was how Han Feixu met her.
To say the two know each other is a bit of a leap as they’ve only had a total of two meals together. At the time, Yin Jiahe was a mere second-rate florist working a small flower shop and Han Feixu was still a student. The two barely crossed paths with each other and since they had nothing in common, they didn’t exchange more than 2-3 sentences with each other.
Even so, Yin Jiahe couldn’t accept that Han Feixu didn’t remember her. What was even more embossing was that she had thought Han Feixu was purposefully ignoring her because she was a professional actor, but in reality, she simply did not remember her. It felt like she had slapped herself in the face.
Yin Jiahe stayed silent for a long time before finally leaving in a state of embarrassment. Meanwhile, Han Feixu blinked dumbfoundedly as she could not understand why Yin Jiahe left without answering her question.
The arrival of Zhong Yuanyuan distracted her and Han Feixu put away her phone. They moved to leave when she turned around and found Ye Mingxin and Yu Tingxue standing next to each other. Yu Tingxue was very short, maybe just over 1.5 meters (abt. 5 ft), and her voice was so soft that Ye Mingxin needed to lean down slightly to hear her clearly.
As Ye Mingxin lowered her head and leaned in, Yu Tingxue seemed to have said something that made her smile gently and reach out to pat the other’s head. Yu Tingxue raised the corners of her lips shyly in response before she glanced over to find Yin Jiahe leaving. The woman quickly followed suit, running over to Yin Jiahe but not before turning her head and waving goodbye to Ye Mingxin.
Zhong Yuanyuan and Han Feixu stood together and watched this scene play out from a distance. Zhong Yuanyuan turned her head and smiled wryly, “Teacher Han, don’t you feel this picture is a little bit prickly to the eyes?”
Han Feixu frowned, “No, why would I think that?”
“Because you’ve always said that one of the things you liked about Ye Mingxin the most was her patting your head. So whenever she did the same thing to others, you would get upset.”
Han Feixu snapped her head to look at her assistant and said in a raised volume, “When did I ever say that I liked getting my head patted?!”
Zhong Yuanyuan was taken aback by her increase in volume, “Shhh, keep your voice down! There are other people around you. And when you two just started dating, I remembered when Ye Mingxin accidentally brushed a little actor’s bangs and then you complained to me about it all night.”
Ye Mingxin is a bit of a germaphobe and so she not only hates when others touch her, but she also tries to reduce her own contact with others as much as possible. Yet, when it comes to clothes or hair, she doesn’t seem to have any qualms.
Zhong Yuanyuan then said in a frustrated yet teasing tone, “I mean really, you don’t care when Ye Mingxin has to kiss others, so why do you always make such a big reaction for a simple pat on the head.”
Han Fexiu had already started turning away to see what Ye Mingxin was doing, but Zhong Yuanyuan’s words caused her head to flick back around again. The speed at which her neck turned was so fast that Zhong Yuanyuan was getting worried about her breaking her spine.
“She kissed someone?!!”
Zhong Yuanyuan gave her a strange look, “Of course? Isn’t this normal? You are both actors after all, and I guess you haven’t kissed anyone because you’ve acted in too little films. Once you pick up enough movies, you will get some kiss scenes too.”
Taking a look at the time, Zhong Yuanyuan hurriedly bent over and picked up everything, “Let’s go, let’s go. We can’t keep Little East* waiting.” (*T/N: ?? (xiao dong), would’ve kept the pinyin but no would get the joke + I couldn’t do Little Dong because that’s slang in English for something…inappropriate)
Little East is the nickname for one of Han Feixu’s new assistants, his full name being Zhai Xiangdong. The two other assistants are named Zhang Xi and Gong Nan respectively. For convenience’s sake, they were nicknamed as Little West, and Little South Han Feixu asked if there was Little North, and Liang Zhu replied that they didn’t have a Little North but they did have an Old North. Old North being the head stylist didn’t want to tell others his real name, so he let others call him by his stage name – Bei Lun. (T/N: Basically they each have a character in their name that correlates to a direction. Dong= east, Nan = South, North = Bei, and West = Xi)
The assistants were each in charge of a certain division of labor. Little East is the assistant in charge of booking transportation and purchasing tickets. Han Feixu also gave him a difficult task of buying a luxury van for the trip tomorrow.
Apparently, Little East has already purchased a van and didn’t spend even a fifth of the budget given to him to do so. With Zhong Yuanyuan’s urging, Han Feixu completely forgot about Ye Mingxin and they returned to the car Wei Xun was driving in. After giving Wei Xun the address, they were off.
Little East said he couldn’t drive the van to them because he didn’t have a Class A driver’s license. Han Feixu had no clue what each classification of the driver’s license means, so she didn’t understand his trouble. If she did, she may be more impressed and excited about her new vehicle = = (T/N: Class A = needed to drive a 20k lb/11k kg+ car/truck. Her van is closer to a movie star trailer style at that weight)
They passed many dealerships along the way before finally stopping at a car factory. Once they got out of the car, they followed the staff’s instructions and arrived at a warehouse. Han Feixu fell into silence as she stared at the van that looked more like a big freight truck than a car.
Zhong Yuanyuan was similarly stunned for a long time and studied the van with an incredulous expression. She walked around the car, and after feeling like she had walked around a large building, she turned towards her new colleague, “This is a van?!!”
This is a van?! It’s closer to a military missile carrier?!
Little East answered with a serious expression, “Yes, although it’s more accurate to call it an RV or an extended-length luxury van. This vehicle has everything you may need, including two bedrooms, one living room, a luxurious jacuzzi, a luxurious silk satin bed, a luxurious automated closet, and a full set of luxurious leather seats. There is also a full set of mobile cooking facilities, and enough space you can divide into 3 smaller studios. It fully guarantees privacy for the owner, their guests, and their assistants!
“Enough about the interior, please take a look at the exterior! The color of the vehicle is the perfect combination of piano black and elegant brown. These off-road tires are guaranteed, it won’t break even if you drove over a gravel beach for three days and three nights! That’s not even the best part! The best part is if you buy the vehicle now, you will also get a Bulgarian long-haired, noise-reducing carpet installed free of charge! This carpet will cover every corner of the vehicle, ensuring your quiet life to the max! In addition, they’ll throw in a case of 1973 Montage wine, which you can put in your Swarovski crystal wine cabinet and add to the beauty of your car! It’ll make it so that you’ll never have an unbearable journey ever again!”
Zhong Yuanyuan: “…..”
She couldn’t hold herself back any longer, “Are you buying or selling the car? Why are you saying so much? Didn’t we tell you to buy a van? Who told you to buy an RV? And such a big RV too! Don’t you know she has enough scandals and rumors circulating around her? Are you trying to add a few more?!!!”
Little East squirmed, “But the boss said that I had to buy a good one. I searched for one all day and this is the best one!”
“Oh, why not just buy a private jet then since they’re so much better! We can just fly directly to the set and then when it’s break time you could just drop a rope and we can climb up! Honestly!”
The three newly recruited assistants are not your usual personal assistant. They usually just stayed in the studio and pushed around paperwork. Zhong Yuanyuan, a versatile and highly qualified personal assistant, can thus be regarded as their boss.
She stomped her feet in frustration and dragged Little East to the side. She asked him in a whisper, “Have you bought it already?”
Little East nodded mutely.
“Han Feixu only allocated 10 million to you, right? This van is definitely worth more than 10 million? How did you buy it?”
Little East glanced nervously at Han Feixu and made sure she wasn’t paying attention to him as he sneakily pulled out a black card from his pocket, “Boss Ye gave this to me. She told me to spend as much money as possible, no expenses spared. So I used this card to pay for the vehicle.”
Little East is one of the people Liang Zhu asked for from Qi Yu. Apparently, he used to be Ye Mingxin’s shopping assistant and Ye Mingxin said that he is indeed very good at shopping.
This RV has been sitting in the factory for nearly half a year. It was originally a custom-made RV for some rich man but before the man could pick up the car, his family went bankrupt and so he had to sell it back to the dealership at a much lower price.
Most people don’t need such a big RV, so except for certain celebrities and travel enthusiasts, there was no need for it. Little East was lucky, for where else can you find such a car in just one day?
Zhong Yuanyuan looked at the black card, and sighed bitterly and silently in her heart. Got to hold back, hold back. She must maintain her calm, she can’t start hating the rich right now. The future is long, there are still many more days ahead where there will definitely be events that will cause her hatred for the rich to grow.
Ever since she graduated, she has been an assistant to one celebrity after another. It has been about 7-8 years now and she has followed two celebrities in total, one behind Han Feixu and the other being Lin Yi. Lin Yi has also spent a lot of money in one go before. She is very generous with her money, but not as generous as Ye Mingxin who just casually spent tens of millions on one car.
Zhong Yuanyuan pondered quietly in bitter silence when she suddenly realized something was wrong, “Didn’t you report that you spent 2 million? Where did that 2 million go, did you buy a more reasonable car?”
Little East grinned sheepishly, “No. They sold me a full set of car insurance and other necessities, saying that I needed heated seats, sunshades, and so on. So I bought everything!”
Zhong Yuanyuan: “…..”
In the future, she’ll leave the shopping to Little West. She had originally thought that a boy will be more conservative when shopping, but it seems she was too naive = =
Zhong Yuanyuan still felt the car was inappropriate, “This car is too high-profile. Who knows what people will say when they see us drive this. I’ll discuss this with Han Feixu. If she doesn’t agree or if something doesn’t work out, we’ll just return it.”
Her words just landed when Han Feixu’s voice called out from the side, “It’s so cool! I don’t even want to go home anymore, can I live here instead???”
“…..”
Little East looked over at Han Feixu who was excitedly asking Wei Xun about the specifics of the RV. He watched them for a while before turning back to Zhong Yuanyuan, “Do you still want to return it?”
Return my ass = =
Among the group of them, only Wei Xun has a Class A driver’s license. He drove the RV back while Zhong Yuanyuan sat in the back with Han Feixu who was looking around like a bumpkin from the countryside who had just entered a city for the first time. The car they drove there in was driven back to Gan Company by Little East where Ye Mingxin’s men will take over and drive it back to their house.
No matter how old or young a woman is, none of them can resist the thrill of shopping. Even after returning home, Han Feixu was smiling happily like an idiot.
When Ye Mingxin returned, she found Han Feixu lying on the couch while applying a sheet mask to her face while scrolling through her phone to see the latest news from her fans.
As soon as the first episode of the variety show aired, her popularity shot straight into the sky like a rocket. Her Weibo fans increased every day and the amount of comments and fan works have become uncountable. Liang Zhu bought some trending searches for her at the right time and since each ranking was different every time, it didn’t arouse anyone’s disgust or was too quiet to cause a ruckus.
The money to buy those hot and trending search rankings came from the salary she received from the show. Since Han Fexiu’s status wasn’t too big, her salary was closer to the low-medium ranking. Even if she is the wife of a friend, Jiang Liangyan didn’t give her a high salary. She gave her the same amount as the other ordinary stars, about 400,000 yuan (~62k dollars) per episode. As for how many episodes she was paid for, well that depended on her own ability.
Han Feixu always thought that her salary was the lowest with Zhang Tonghui earning the same amount as her, but he has been eliminated already.
Ye Mingxin sat beside her, “I saw your newly bought RV outside, it’s very cool.”
Han Feixu didn’t even bother turning her head towards her, “Once I finish filming in that TV series, I’ll repay you the money.”
She already knew that the RV was bought with Ye Mingxin’s money, but she didn’t plan to return the car or immediately pay her back. Ye Mingxin is not short on money anyways, so she’ll simply owe her this debt for now and then arrange payments after she finishes her work with the TV series she’ll be in. Once her financial situation is settled, she’ll transfer the money over.
The corner of Ye Mingxin’s mouth pressed down. She was silent for two seconds and then replied, “I don’t want money.”
Han Feixu froze for a moment, took off her mask and sat up. She gave Ye Mingxin a look of surprise.
Ye Mingxin already knew that Han Feixu’s mind has probably jumped to weird conclusions so she chuckled, “Those assistants were mine a long time ago, I’m not going to steal them from you.”
Ye Mingxin understood they weren’t close enough yet, and she also understood that she must do everything slowly. After all, the hasty don’t get to eat hot tofu*. (*T/N: idiom that means one has to be patient as haste ruins everything.)
Han Feixu asked her, “Then what do you want?”
Ye Mingxin thought about it, “I want you to buy me a present. You didn’t give me one for my birthday this year.”
She had said those words in such an aggrieved and wronged tone, but Han Feixu’s attention was not on her tone. Rather, when she heard the “birthday” part, she remembered her conversation with Yiyi two days ago. Han Feixu lowered her eyes.
Seeing that Han Feixu wasn’t answering her, she pouted and added, “You won’t even buy me a present?”
Han Feixu pursed her lips and raised her eyes, a determined look in her gaze. She threw her sheet mask into the trash and looked straight into Ye Mingxin’s eyes.
“Why didn’t I buy you a present for your birthday this year?”
Ye Mingxun’s expression shifted, she chuckled lightly, “Naturally because of the relationship between the two of us, so you didn’t have the heart to buy any gifts.”
After saying these words, she moved to stand up. Han Feixu saw that she wanted to escape again and quickly grabbed her hand. Her head was stained with the oils of the sheet mask so it felt cold and slippery to the touch. Ye Mingxin shivered on instinct, but then remembered this was Han Feixu’s hand and relaxed again.
These reactions were subtle, but Han Feixu noticed all of them. She let go and looked up at her suspiciously, “What’s wrong?”
Ye Mingxin turned her head and said with a slight smile, “It’s nothing. I’m feeling a little hungry. I’m going to grab a bowl of noodles, do you want any?”
Han Feixu stared into her blank eyes but couldn’t find anything obviously wrong. She hesitated for a second, “I do.”
Ye Mingxin doesn’t cook very often. She was raised as the Eldest Young Miss of a rich family and never dirtied her hands. When she left the family to become an actress, she learned how to cook instant noodles, stir-fry vegetables, and fry some chicken chops or fish. When she heard that Han Feixu gave birth to a child, she also learned how to cook broth and noodle soup.
After all, a new mother can’t eat greasy food right after birth nor do any serious cooking. And so, they can only boil some soup and make a few bowls of simple noodle soup. Unexpectedly, Han Feixu likes to eat her simple noodle soup. A handful of noodles, half a tomato, four or five chopped green onions, and a spoonful of soy sauce. Such a simple recipe is one of Han Feixu’s favorites.
Han Feixu is a southerner with a household registration in the north. Even though she only lived in the south for ten years, her taste buds are similar to those of the southerners.
In less than 5 minutes, the noodles were ready. The housekeeper offered to help halfway through, but Ye Mingxin persuaded her to back off. She made the entire thing by herself before bringing it back out. She also sprinkled some cooked sesame on top for garnish.
“Give it a try.”
Ye Minginx was looking forward to her reaction and her eyes were bright with excitement.
Han Feixu has never eaten this type of handmade noodles before, and tentatively picked up a chopstick. She grabbed a noodle and slipped one into her mouth. She chewed twice.
A surprised expression blossomed on her face, “Delicious!”
As soon as these words came out, Ye Mingxin laughed, “I plan on opening my own private restaurant when I retire. I’ll be both the head chef and owner, and you’ll be its only guest and manager.”
Han Feixu laughed, “A restaurant that can only make noodle soup?”
Ye Mingxin did not back down, “Aren’t there a lot of stores like that out there? If they can get away with selling only one thing, then I can too.”
Han Fexiu picked up another pile of noodles, still piping hot, and blew twice, “Your retirement is still several decades in the future, you will definitely change your mind by then.”
“No, I am a person with long-lasting affection. Once I make up my mind, I won’t ever change it. Whether it comes to ideas or the person I like, it will never change.”
Ye Mingxin’s voice was not loud as she spoke, but her words were firm and determined.
Han Feixu’s eating speed slowed down. She didn’t raise her head, so naturally she didn’t see the sincere and warm expression on Ye Mingxin’s face.
Ye Mingxin saw the other bury her head in her bowl of noodles, not knowing how to respond to herself, so she tried to relieve the tension, “Besides, my retirement isn’t as far off as you think. It won’t be long now before I retire.”
Han Feixu finally raised her head, her eyes wide, “When do you, the so-called movie queen, want to retire?”
“I’m still thinking about it,” Ye Mingxin didn’t provide a definite date. Although she was 8.9/10 sure of when she wants to retire, the matter was not completely settled yet, “In two years, when Yiyi is in elementary school, if both of us are still working then there will be no one to take care of her. She can’t be allowed to live with her grandma and grandpa all the time either. Wouldn’t it be the same as abandoning her if we did that?”
“Also…..in the last few years, I have always been busy with work and thus neglected my family. I don’t want to do that again in the future.”
Her voice was a little quiet, a little loud. She laughed again, her tone becoming lighter, “How about you work and I can become your full-time housewife?”
Han Feixu stared at her dumbfoundedly.
Ye Mingxin saw that she wasn’t saying anything and asked her hesitantly, “If you also want to become a full-time housewife, that’s fine too. We can raise Yiyi together or move to another country. Didn’t Yiyi go to Switzerland? If she likes it, we can move there in the future and let her get an education there. That way, we can also slowly travel around Europe as well.”
Han Feixu doesn’t want to become a housewife. Her education taught her that the woman must have a job, not simply for money, but to broaden their horizons and enjoy a busy and fulfilling life. Her mother instilled this kind of thinking in her since she was a child and even in those few years abroad, the old Han Feixu was not idle as she invested in various projects and made lots of money.
In her childhood, she has only known one housewife. And the tragic life that person went through left a large impact on her life. So, ever since she was a child, she made up her mind. She promised to herself that she will be the one who is in charge of her own life, the one who will hold all the power in their hands.
Han Feixu didn’t answer her, not because she couldn’t accept Ye Mingxin becoming a housewife, but because she couldn’t understand why Ye Mingxin always talked to her like that. As if they were back together. Han Feixu only promised to give them a chance to try again, but never promised that she would never leave or try to get divorced again.
The contradictions between them have always been there. It hasn’t disappeared just because she has forgotten it. Han Feixu had a feeling in her heart that sooner or later…she would remember everything again.
Han Feixu put down his chopsticks and looked her in the eye, “Ye Mingxin.”
Ye Mingxin looked at her with questions in her eyes, “Yes?”
“Can you tell me why the two of us were getting divorced in the first place?”
The only one who currently knows the answer to this question is Ye Mingxin. There was no other way for Han Feixu to get the answer except by asking the only person who knows.
Ye Mingxin wrapped her hand around a glass of water, the cup shaking slightly due to her movements.
The corners of her mouth twitched. Although she was still smiling, Han Feixu could see that the smile did not reach her eyes, “Do you really want to know?”
“I really want to.” Han Feixu replied stubbornly.
Ye Mingxin softly sighed, “If I were to tell you, would you leave me?”
Han Feixu paused before answering, “I have already promised you that I will give you the chance to try again. As long as it isn’t something that goes against my principles, I will not leave. I also want to give this relationship a chance, I want to give it a try and see if I can start over with you.”
Ye Mingxin lowered her eyes, smiling slightly when she heard the words start over, “The reason is not as serious as you think.”
She moved the glass of water to the side, the glass making a small sound as it rubbed against the solid wood dining table. She raised her head and gave the most perfect smile.
“The reason is actually very simple. You don’t love me anymore. No, my statement is not very accurate. From the very beginning, your feelings for me had stayed at the stage of ‘like’. The me from before could be considered someone you depended on, a life-saving medicine for you. But you are no longer sick anymore and you don’t need me anymore, so our marriage is coming to an end.”
Author’s notes:
The next update will be at night, I don’t when that is, so please don’t wait on me.
I’ve been very busy recently (midterms have arrived…) and I basically have no time to reach the comments and I will make up for it in the future.
In addition, as everyone knows, this is a serialized work and this author is a person who likes foreshadowing very much. Sometimes there will be some frustrating plots, so it is easy to misunderstand if you read just one chapter, but these misunderstandings will be solved in the future. Our little cub really is a good wifey, everyone please believe me, believe me–
T/N:
Haha, angst train in-coming. Be prepared.
The noodle soup Ye Mingxin made is something like this:
