I woke up to find I have a child - Chapter 53
They returned to Hengdian and to their respective jobs. In other words, they returned to the days of filming non-stop and as time went by, Director Tian felt that there was not enough time and they needed to do more in order to finish shooting the drama. So he began taking the lead on every scene and had the whole crew rush day and night. The moment they opened their eyes, they would find themselves filming, and wouldn’t return till late in the night when the stars and moon were high above in the sky.
Ye Mignxin sat in a chair behind the camera and silently watched Han Feixu play a scene with other actors. Lan Zhu moved an electric fan towards Ye Mingxin so its full power was blowing at Ye Mingxin.
“Han Feixu’s acting is getting better and better.” Lan Zhu praised in a quiet whisper, not letting go of this chance to gain favor with the boss.
The corners of Ye Mingxin’s mouth twitched upwards, “This is not even her true acting level.”
“Ah, this isn’t? But I think she’s already acting very well? I feel that her acting is already very good, and she can hold herself against the aura of other actors very well. She’s already very amazing.”
Ye Mingxin shook her head slightly, “A TV series can’t showcase her true talent. Her talents don’t work very well with this type of script and crew. Although you think she’s acting very well, this is merely an average performance from her. She feels no love for the role she is playing thus her performance is mediocre at best.”
Lan Zhu turned her focus back on Han Feixu. She didn’t agree or disagree with Ye Mingxin’s statement. In her opinion, Han Feixu’s acting was not bad at all, but Ye Mingxin has always held herself to a high standard and held others at that same high standard.
The scene finally finished after Director Tian was satisfied. Han Feixu walked off the set and sat down in her own seat. Zhong Yuanyuan quickly handed over a smoothie and wet towel, before helping her take off the heavy layers of her costume. Han Feixu wiped her sweaty palms, took two mouthfuls of the smoothie and nonchalantly lifted her dress, exposing her two long legs that were covered all morning in heavy clothing before leaning back and letting the fan blow its cool air at her. Ah, she finally could cool down.
Ye Mingxin: “…”
The makeup artist quickly rushed over and asked to touch up her makeup. Han Feixu laid there in a frozen state for a few seconds before begrudgingly sitting up. The makeup artist quickly brushed some paint on her face while Han Feixu took out her phone and glanced through it.
Except for two WeChat group chats that were always flooded with spam, only Liang Zhu had sent her a message. When she clicked on it, it opened to a photo of a grass-green off-road vehicle that she had never seen before. She sent a question mark and Liang Zhu replied, this is CEO Yu’s apology present.
Han Feixu pondered silently for a little while and finally decided that this car will forever be used to guard the warehouse instead. Even with the fan on, Han Feixu felt that she was going to be suffocated to death. It was too hot, especially since she was wearing a two-pound wig on her head, on top of the two-pound real hair she has. With all that weight, she almost couldn’t feel her scalp anymore.
The hot summer morning was so stuffy that one couldn’t even breathe. Everyone was praying for rain to come here, but the rainy season has long since passed. Even if it does miraculously rain, it would be in the evening when the sun was below the ground.
After five in the evening, when the weather was not so hot anymore, a cool wind descended and dark clouds covered the sky.
Han Feixu stood in the rooftop garden of the hotel and looked up at the turbulent and unpredictable sky.
“Wow, so it turns out that dark clouds are real.”
Lan Zhu glanced at her curiously, “Have you never seen a dark cloud before?”
Han Feixu shook her head, “No, not really. When it’s going to rain, usually all I can see is a gray and overcast sky. The smog used to be so thick and foggy that I couldn’t see the clouds at all.” (T/N: The pollution was really bad in the 2000s Beijing where you couldn’t see the sky at all)
The air quality in the north has always been poor and even in this place the clouds were mostly invisible during the day and the stars invisible at night.
It only rained for about an hour before it slowed from a downpour to a slow drizzle and finally the moon showed its face again.
There was a rocking chair in the rooftop garden. Han Feixu sat on it, looking up at the night sky with unblinking eyes. The sky after a bout of rain is clear and the air is fresh. The wind was still blowing strong, and one could see the thin and dense clouds moving quickly through the sky. The clouds in the sky were like terraced fields, each one layered on top of the other giving off a slightly frightening appearance that could trigger someone’s trypophobia.
Han Feixu couldn’t help sighing, “I never understood what they meant by ‘A moonless and windy night’, but now I think I do.” (*T/N: This is a sentence from a Yuan Dynasty text, which talks about a night where it’s so dark people are killed without being seen and the winds are so strong that flames become wildfires)
Ye Mingxin sat beside her, looking up at the soft moonlight as well. There was a small smile at the corner of her lips, but she didn’t say anything. Their surroundings were quiet and tranquil, as if they were back home and not on a rooftop garden. This was a rare moment of peace and Han Feixu took this opportunity to enjoy the quiet.
She squinted her eyes and tilted her head. She suddenly felt that this scene was familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before.
A tiny and brief picture flashed through her mind and before Han Feixu could register it, the picture was gone. She turned her head and found that Ye Mingxin’s gaze was also somewhere far away right now. She rested her chin in one hand, her posture casual and lazy.
She blinked lightly and noticed the jade bracelet on Ye Mingxin’s wrist. She asked, “Do you know where my necklace is?”
Ye Mingxin, who was called back to the present by her voice, looked at her questioningly, “Which one?”
“My emerald green one. The one my grandmother left to my mother in her will. The one with a brown cord that has a ‘ping an kou’ about this big on it.” She made an “ok” gesture with her hand to illustrate her point. (T/N: ‘ping an kou’ is a type of donut shaped jewelry that looks like a copper coin and is worn for good luck/warding off bad stuff)
Ye Mingxin searched through her memories, “I saw you wearing it before, but I haven’t seen it in a while. Maybe you misplaced it somewhere in your room back home?”
Han Feixu had just searched rather thoroughly in her room and if she had found the necklace in there she would’ve known. So she shook her head.
“Then I wouldn’t know.” Ye Mingxin didn’t seem bothered. Since Han Feixu doesn’t go out often, she probably lost it somewhere in the house or misplaced it somewhere in the corners of the house and couldn’t find it. “I’ll help you find it after we return. Who knows, maybe it will appear somewhere suddenly on its own.”
Han Feixu snorted, “You say that as if it’ll grow legs and start walking on its own. Alright, I’m feeling a little sleepy so I’ll head back first. You should go back soon too.”
Ye Mingxin replied in a gentle tone, “Ok, go, have a good night.”
After watching Han Feixu leave the garden, she turned around and laid down in her chair. Her view of the sky got wider and she stared at the silver moon up in the sky that looked like a ‘ping an kou’. Ye Mingxin frowned, and took out her phone. She wanted to call a certain someone but even if that someone answers the phone they’ll just give her a long lecture. Just thinking about it made black lines appear on her face, so she simply put her phone back in her pocket.
==========
Ye Junyuan and the others will be back by next week. Han Feixu wants to return by then to pick up her daughter in person, but that seems impossible now. If she asks for leave again, Director Tian will definitely chop her up into pieces and then turn her into a pickled vegetable.
A new ad was launched today and seeing herself on the ads for products she endorsed made her feel weird, especially seeing them on her Weibo homepage. She skipped the ad and as she walked, she scrolled through her phone to see which unlucky fellows got exposed by the paparazzi this time.
Han Feixu silently walked towards the set and spotted the back of a gorgeously dressed woman. Han Feixu turned her head out the side and asked Zhong Yuanyuan, “Isn’t she from the crew of ?God of War: Wu the Second?? Why is she coming here to visit us every few days?”
In the end, Lu Rong, the internet celebrity, didn’t get the role of Concubine Wen Xi. Director Tian would rather let an unknown actor play the role than have Lu Rong ruin another series of his. Lu Rong raised a ruckus twice about this and then quickly signed a contract with the crew next door that had started filming a few days ago. Lu Rong has been here for five days and she has visited the set of ?Return of the Phoenix?three times already. (T/N: Lu Rong is first mentioned in Ch.46)
Zhong Yuanyuan had no answer for her and although Lu Rong has been chatting with Director Tian and Old Jin this entire time her eyes have been wandering, as if looking for someone.
When she spotted Ye Mingxin’s car approaching, Lu Rong’s gaze froze for a second and she started smiling even more earnestly at the director.
The woman abruptly ended the conversation between the two. Director Tian wiped his brow, he really had to acknowledge her tenacity. He has seen stubborn actresses stalk people before, but he has never seen someone who can pester and stalk others as badly as Lu Rong can. If Lu Rong left any later, that fake smile of his would’ve collapsed soon.
Lu Rong walked with a smile towards Ye Mingxin, but the latter abruptly turned on her heel and headed towards Han Feixu’s side.
The two of them talked to each other in whispers, their conversation quiet enough that no one else could hear it. However, anyone could see that they were in a good mood. Lu Rong felt that it was strange, was their relationship that good? She’s been here a few times now, and almost every time she has seen the two of them together. Although they didn’t exhibit any overly familiar behavior, it still looked strange.
Lu Rong stood in place for a few seconds before raising her smiling face again and stepped in between the two of them with a radiant smile on her face.
“Hi, what are we talking about?”
She approached in a rather friendly manner, so Han Feixu took the time to like without a single change in her expression, “I couldn’t understand some things about today’s scene so I thought to ask Ye Mingxin for advice.”
Actually the two of them were discussing Yiyi’s return to China. The time has already been set, but the weather report states that it would be raining that day in Beijing and so who knows how many hours the flight might be delayed.
Lu Rong nodded in a knowing manner and then smiled again, “Yes, after listening to her words it seems that everything suddenly becomes clear, right? She is just that amazing, hahaha.”
Why did those words sound so awkward? As if she’s saying that she knows Ye Mingxin very well.
Does she need her to tell her how amazing Ye Mingxin is? Out of all the people here, she is the one who knows her the best.
Han Feixu gave her a light glance, “En, I know.”
Lu Rong’s expression remained unchanged, but she snorted silently in her heart and thought: See, there are no pure intentions in this circle. As expected she is just another person who wants to take advantage of Ye Mingxin.
After saying a few more superfluous words, Lu Rong left and Han Feixu also stepped away to her dressing room with a disgruntled expression. Meanwhile, Ye Mingxin stood there without moving a single step.
Lan Zhu gave her a worried glance, “Mingxin-jie, are you not going to take care of this?”
Ye Mingxin smiled, “Take care of what?”
“Take care of Lu Rong? Didn’t she come over to test Han Feixu’s attitude toward you? What if she finds out about your relationship?”
“She doesn’t have the IQ for that.” Ye Mingxin seemed to be in a good mood, “Leave her alone for now. Right now she treats me as her prey and is putting out some bait to reel in the big fish. She won’t become a problem for a while.”
Lan Zhu didn’t understand her. If there’s a problem that can be solved now, why not solve it? The more you procrastinate, the more problems will crop up, so why leave her alone?
Thinking along these lines, she wanted to ask these questions but Ye Mingxin smiled knowingly at her, “I just want to see a little more of Little Xu’s jealous face. Before it’s always me being jealous and I’ve never seen her show a sense of crisis. It’s rare for such a thing to occur, so it’ll be a pity if I miss out on this opportunity.”
Lan Zhu stayed silent and then said, “Mingxin-jie.”
“En?”
“Han Feixu has never felt a sense of crisis because of two reasons. One, because she has a bigger heart than you.”
The smile that lifted the corners of Ye Mingxin’s mouth froze and she turned her head to stare at Lan Zhu with a blank expression, “Then what’s the second reason?”
Facing her boss’s death stare, Lan Zhu exhaled and decided to go all out, “Secondly, your personal charm is much worse than Han Feixu’s.”
Ye Mingxin: “…..”
Lan Zhu counted her fingers as she listed off the reasons, “She’s more kind, gentle, and generous than you. Plus she has a higher emotional quotient than you. Of course, that last point can be considered erased since she lost her memories, but in terms of the first tree, you are no match for her. It’s no wonder there is always someone who likes Han Feixu while no one dares to like you.”
Ye Mingxin nodded, “Very good.”
She gave Lan Zhu an indifferent look as she continued, “You’re fired.”
Lan Zhu: “I’m saying all these things for your benefit too! QAQ”
Of course, it is impossible to fire her without a formal contract and the final conclusion is that Ye Mingxin said that out of a short bout of anger.
Ye Mingxin ignored her and headed towards her single dressing room. She closed her eyes and allowed the makeup artist to apply makeup to her eyes as Qi Yu walked in.
“Dugu Yuehua has approached me again and asked if you wanted to participate in his film. He plans to start filming at the end of October or early November. I’ve calculated the time, and the filming of ?Return of the Phoenix?should be wrapping up by then. Although the schedule will be a little tight and there will be no time for rest, you’ll be able to immediately join their crew after you leave this one.” (T/N: Dugu Yuehua is the director of the film Han Feixu is most famous for (before she lost her memories))
Ye Mingxin is the main investor for Dugu Yuehua’s new movie, but she hasn’t decided whether she wants to participate in it yet. So she asked, “Has the script been finalized?”
“It has. He just sent it over and I printed a copy. Do you want to see it?”
Ye Mingxin stretched out her hand, “Give it here.”
She accepted the script and held it as far away from her face as she could so as to not disrupt the makeup artist. She read the first ten minutes and then flipped to the last half hour of the script. She considered it for a moment and then nodded, “The script is pretty good.”
Taking the script back, Qi Yu pulled up a chair and sat beside her, “Four well-known screenwriters worked together to write it, so how can it not be good? Dugu Yuehua wants to eventually submit this film for the Cannes Film Festival.”
“Won’t others mistake this as a horror movie after it comes out?”
Qi Yu couldn’t say, “It depends on how he’s going to direct it. This film can be considered an independent film from him so under that label there may be many more people who want to watch it than you think.”
Ye Mingxin’s thinking has been gradually changing to that of a businesswoman. When she previously said she wanted to quit the entertainment circle, it was not just talk. She really was considering the idea. Standing on the stage for so long has been tiring and has taken much of her time, so she wants to move to more behind the scenes activities.
No matter if it’s from a personal perspective or a family perspective, or even a career perspective, she should have changed careers by now.
Han Feixu is younger than her and her European ancestry will help her open doors in the international market. She, on the other hand, has acted for many years and is close to the peak of her acting development. She had chosen to become an actor in the first place because she had found acting a challenging career that would interest her. And second, her family had strongly opposed her choice to step into an industry where privacy is nonexistent. At that time, she had been very rebellious and was very willing to do anything that her family disagreed with.
But now, she is no longer the rebellious little girl she once was. She wants to make a good plan for her future and being an actor has stopped being her passion a long time ago. Now she is more passionate about tidying up her little home and family.
The script really is pretty great and one can even say that Dugu Yuehua has reached a new level with this film, but Ye Mingxin still didn’t make up her mind, “Which role does he want me to play?”
“The female lead, the one with psychological shadows in her heart.”
Ye Mingxin glanced at him, “ Don’t all the characters have psychological shadows in their heart?”
Qi Yu froze for a moment and then opened up the character sheet, blinking as he read it, “Oh, I mean Qi Hanxue specifically, Officer Qi that is.”
There are a total of six main characters, each of them with some sort of mental health problem. Four of them are good people while the remaining two are both righteous and evil. Although these last two are, for various different reasons, both executioners with blood on their hands the protagonist couldn’t bring herself to hate them.
All six of them are considered protagonists but if someone had to find the most important protagonist then it would be Qi Hanxue, the person who founded the special cases investigation team. She is also both the most positive yet miserable character of the film.
Ye Mingxin asked a question that she wanted to ask a long time ago, “Does Dugu Yuehua have some sort of unspeakable past? Why does he like to abuse his protagonists so much? In every movie of his, his protagonists always have the worst endings. At the time, when he made?Blossoming Dreams?, Fan Rumeng was stabbed to death by Japanese soldiers when she fell down on the streets and when Bai Jinglan went abroad to pursue her dreams, her ship sank before she could arrive and there weren’t even any bones left of her.”
The makeup artist finished her job and left. With no outsiders around, Lan Zhu grabbed the script and turned to the page about the characters. She was curious just how miserable the protagonist is this time.
“Qi Hanxue, 30-years-old––hey that’s the same age as Mingxin-jie! What a good match for you!”
Ye Mingxin rested her chin in her hand but didn’t speak as Lan Zhu continued to read, “She had a happy childhood with both parents alive and well and an older brother who was studying abroad. When she entered college her older brother returned from abroad and went out to eat a meal with her. On their way home they were targeted by a serial killer who was disgusted with society. After being kidnapped, the killer played a series of games with them in order to choose which one of the two to kill. In the end, the killer chose her older brother and so our protagonist was forced to watch her brother get killed in front of her and then have his liver eaten. The protagonist lived with her trauma and PTSD for seven years, her condition slightly easing by the end of the seven years. Then she created a special cases investigation team that was established to specifically investigate serial killers.”
“A few remarks from the author… her trauma continues to haunt her and she would vomit everytime she sees a dead body. Being a police officer was a constant source of torture for her, but she inisted on continuing out this twisted form of atonement and self-imposed punishment.”
Lan Zhu: “….” This character was so pitiful, and besides being pitiful she’s kind of a masochist = =
She silently put down the script and decided to not watch this movie when it comes out in the future. She was most afraid of dark plots like this one.
Silence fell in the room and Ye Mingxin shook her head, “I won’t participate. Just tell him that I have a curious child at home who wants to watch everything I act in. If I act in this film, I’m afraid I will traumatize my child.”
Qi Yu nodded then looked as if he suddenly remembered something, “Then what is the real reason you don’t want to participate?”
“This character loves vomiting too much. I don’t want to make vomiting sounds all the time. This will ruin the beautiful and sweet image I have cultivated.”
….Ok?
“Speaking of, this movie will be released together with that one movie Han Feixu wants to act in right?”
Ye Mingxin hadn’t thought of this and looked startled, “That seems to be the case,” She turned her head to look at Qi Yu, “Keep discussing it with him and ask him to postpone the release by half a month or even a full month. The Cannes Film Festival is in May so there is no rush.”
Qi Yu picked up his phone without saying another word and typed a bunch of words on the keyboard. Soon enough, the other party replied.
Qi Yu smiled without showing his teeth. It was rare to see him smile and Lan Zhu and Ye Mingxin both looked at him in puzzlement. Qi Yu flashed the phone screen towards them and they read the short line written next to Duhu Yuehua’s profile picture.
—The incapable ruler is not qualified to give opinions.
Ye Mingxin: “….” You’re the incapable ruler!
Due to the bad weather in Beijing and the fact that Ye Mingxin and the others were all in Henggian, Yan Yureong decided to take Yiyi to Hengdian for some fun while letting Yiyi see her two mothers that she hadn’t seen for a long time. Then take her home after that.”
Hearing that her precious baby daughter was coming, Han Feixu was so excited she couldn’t sleep and got up at six o’clock the next morning.
Even though Yiyi and the others won’t be arriving at the airport until four o’clock in the afternoon.
Everyone could tell that Han Feixu was in a good mood today and although Ye Mingxin was not as emotional as her, she was much more approachable than usual as well. After finishing their work in the afternoon, the two of them went to a private house Yan Yureong bought a long time ago that was not too far from here. The house hasn’t been lived in for a long time and although someone was sent over to clean it two days ago, it still looked empty and smelled kinda stale.
But Yiyi didn’t mind, because for her, as long as it’s not her own home, it felt new to her and she liked living anywhere that was new and exciting.
Yiyi had arrived at the house earlier than them. When she heard the doorbell rang, she ran over and opened the door. When she saw her Mama and Mommy, she immediately smiled, “Mama, Mommy, I’m back!”
Han Feixu bent down and Yiyi immediately climbed into her arms like she was climbing a pole. Holding her daughter tightly, Han Feixu almost cried as she breathed in the faint and sweet milk fragrance that only children could carry, “Darling daughter, your Mama missed you so much….”
Yiyi also missed her very much and stuck to her like glue the entire time. As she carried Yiyi into the living room, about a half a minute later, Han Feixu asked, “Did you get fatter again?”
Yiyi: “….”
Ye Mingxin: “….”
After a moment of silence, Ye Mingxin stretched out a hand to take her daughter, who was about to cry, out of her mama’s arms and comforted her softly, “You didn’t get fat, only taller that’s why you’re heavier.”
Yiyi expressed her indignation and refused to speak to her mama for a little while = =
It was rare for the entire family to have dinner together. If Ye Mingde, her brother, was there as well, then the picture would be complete. At the dinner table, Yan Yureong kept talking about how happy Yiyi was in Switzerland and how she wanted to take Yiyi there again next year. Since Yiyi didn’t show any resistance and expressed how much she liked going out to play, Yi Mingxin saw no reason to refuse.
“Ok. Next year will be her last summer before starting elementary school. If you want to take her out to play then, you can. It would be good for her to go for a few more walks outside.”
Yan Yureong’s mouth did not stop as she continued to speak and she slapped her thigh in excitement, “Right, Yiyi is so much more amazing than me! She can climb up anywhere and when I wanted to take the cable car, she refused and instead walked everywhere on her short little legs. All the passersby praised and complimented her and even praised me along the way. Oh, our Yiyi is such a precious little treasure, everyone who sees her will fall in love with her….”
Seeing that his wife was going to talk endlessly, Ye Junyuan reminded her, “Didn’t you buy them gifts? Bring them out and let them see.”
“Oh, yes, yes,” Yan Yureong stood up, “That’s right, Yiyi, didn’t you buy gifts for your Mama and Mommy? Show them your gifts first and then your grandma will get hers later.”
“Ok~”
After agreeing, Yiyi jumped off her seat and ran towards her small suitcase, taking two boxes out of it. One of the boxes was rather small and flat while the other one was about 30 centimeters (~12 inches) long and 20 centimeters (~8 inches) high.
She handed the smaller box into Ye Mingxin’s hands, “Mommy, this is an antique brooch that grandma helped me buy. I bought it with my own money, and didn’t spend any of grandma’s money!”
Ye Mingxin accepted the gift and lowered her head to kiss Yiyi loudly on the forehead, “Thank you, baby.”
With a bright smile, Yiyi turned her head and looked up at Han Feixu who looked down at her expectantly.
“Mama, haven’t you always said that the air in Beijing is bad? So I brought you a box of fresh air. I even grabbed it with my own hands and I grabbed a lot! Look!”
She opened the box and inside was a half-deflated bag of air.
Han Feixu almost let her expression collapse. Ye Mingxin was given an antique brooch while she was given a bag of air, and that air was basically all gone!
Yiyi was still looking up at her, wanting to see her reaction, “Mama, do you like it?”
Han Feixu silently looked down at the empty box, then at Ye Mingxin who was trying very hard to hold back her laughter, then back at her daughter, “Haha, I like it. I like it so much”