I woke up to find I have a child - Chapter 90
Making a same-day appointment for an interview was already a breach in propriety from Pinko, and would be even more rude for them to make the other party’s photographs and crew run around.
So, they sent their staff directly to Marie Claire’s headquarters and announced they would have the interview there.
The main focus of the interview was on the designers, so Han Feixu’s role was merely to take a few photos and symbolically answer two or three questions.
During the interview, Marie Claire’s Chief Editor watched from the side while the interview editor occasionally asked her whether certain statements could be said. Only after receiving a nod of approval from the Chief Editor would the interview continue.
The Pinko staff member’s eyes darted around. First at Chole, then at Han Feixu, and then at Liang Zhu, as she tried to discern any special connections among them. However, she couldn’t identify what connection they could possibly have that gave them a backdoor.
Chloe had little interaction with Han Feixu throughout the interview, only offering her a beautifully packaged pink box at the end. “There’s a patisserie near my place that’s quite good and uses healthy ingredients. Kids love it. Take this back for Yiyi; consider it a small gift from me.”
This was a roundabout way of giving Han Feixu a gift. Chloe knew Han Feixu would refuse any gifts for herself, but if she presented it as a gift for Yiyi, especially something as innocuous as a pastry cake, Han Feixu would not have the nerve to decline.
Han Feixu accepted it, nodding, “Then I’ll thank you on her behalf.”
“You’re welcome,” Chloe smiled. “Let me know if Yiyi likes it. If she does, I’ll get her more in the future.”
Han Feixu weighed the box in her hand. It was a bit heavy, meaning that it wasn’t a small cake, one that Yiyi couldn’t possibly finish all by herself. She peeked into the box through the transparent window on top, but could only see the whipped frosting on top. “Too much sugar isn’t good for kids. I’m currently controlling her sugar intake. She’s always whining about wanting to eat cake, or ice cream, or even jelly, as long as it’s sweet. So she’ll gladly eat any type of cake, but we try not to buy her too much and only about once a month. For a cake like this one, I can only give her a small piece.”
After saying that, she raised her head and said seriously, “The rest will probably end up in my stomach. Ye Mingxin doesn’t like these things much, and she’s very strict about her weight. She avoids such foods whenever possible.”
Chloe paused, “Are you allowed to eat that much cake?”
Ah, here we go again. Why did everyone always ask her the same question? Do actresses have no human rights? Did everyone think actresses are like rabbits that can sustain themselves only on tiny vegetables? Han Feixu curled her lips, “It’s not a question of if I’m allowed to or not, and I’ve eaten quite a bit anyway. Ever since my comeback, I haven’t been on a diet.”
“Living is all about eating and drinking what you want.”
Chloe chuckled at Han Feixu’s response, “Yes, living happily is the most important thing. Then you should go home and give the cake a try. If you like it, tell me and I will buy more for you.”
Embarrassed, Han Feixu held the cake box up with its ribbon, “That would just be a waste of money.”
“It’s just a cake, it’s not much money.”
Liang Zhu and Zhong Yuanyuan silently observed their exchange from the side. Under normal circumstances, Han Feixu should have thanked Chloe sincerely and then offered some polite platitudes in response.
However, that was under normal circumstances. When it comes to Han Feixu, nothing is normal. So she made her request brazenly, “I like strawberry and durian flavor, preferably in the form of ice cream cakes.
Chole: “….”
Her smile remained as she replied, “Alright, I’ll remember that.”
As they left Marie Claire, Wei Xun drove them straight to the entrance of the kindergarten to wait for Yiyi’s school to end. Liang Zhu, puzzled, asked Han Feixu, “Didn’t you say you were going to take things slow with her, until step by step you go from acquaintances to friends?”
“Isn’t that what I’m doing?” Han Feixu replied innocently.
Zhong Yuanyuan turned around, “Is that how you treat acquaintances? Would you really just ask anyone you barely know to buy your favorite cake?”
Han Feixu felt wronged, “I didn’t ask for it. She offered, and the conversation just led there.”
After a long silence, Liang Zhu told Zhong Yuanyuan, “Write down Chloe’s birthday on your phone. When we send her birthday gifts, let’s keep it in the same price range as for Jiang Lingyan.”
Han Feixu interrupted, “Uh, wait, why the same range as Jiang Lingyan?”
Liang Zhu glanced at her, “With your pace of making friends, by Chloe’s next birthday, you two might already be two peas in a pod. Shouldn’t I make preparations in advance?’
Han Feixu: “…..”
Han Feixu didn’t plan to become particularly close with Chloe. She preferred to let things happen naturally, but as an inherently friendly person who often becomes comfortable with people rather quickly, it was an unavoidable outcome. After just three days of knowing someone, she could build enough rapport that she felt like she’d known the person for several years.
After picking up Yiyi, Han Feixu spent the afternoon with her. When Ye Mingxin returned in the evening, she mentioned that her mother invited them to go shopping for Lunar New Year’s goods sometime in the middle of this month.
Han Feixu laughed, “Shopping for New Year’s goods? Why wait till mid-month? We can go on any day.”
Ye Mingxin looked up, “Honey, we’re both only off during the middle of the month.”
….Oh, right.
As the shoot neared its end, the workload in the production team increased, and Dugu Yuehua’s temper worsened day by day. Even as the only two leading actresses in the entire crew, they received no special treatment. They were scolded when necessary and had to reshoot scenes as required.
In the final days of filming, Han Feixu was under great pressure. She had to immerse herself into four distinct characters, each with their own personality and temperament and there were no mistakes allowed in the details.
For instance, in action scenes, Xia Ning Personality No. 1 was the most agile and could even climb up to the third floor of a building with her bare hands without breaking a sweat, while Xia Ning Personality No. 2 was particularly cowardly and didn’t even know how to defend herself.
In one scene, Xia Ning hung from a third-floor window sill, gripping it with one hand while keeping the other behind her back to avoid being discovered.
During this shoot, Han Feixu was secured with a safety rope, but it was only meant to protect her and did nothing to help her climb or hang on the window sill.
Hanging outside the window, her entire body weight rested on her left hand. Even in such a situation, the eccentric Dugu Yuehua demanded that she convey a sense of resolute determination. A sort of determination that was harsh on others and even harsher on herself.
Han Feixu thought it was already good enough that she wasn’t panting and her veins weren’t bulging on her face. After struggling to maintain her expression, she simply didn’t have the energy to display the range of emotions he requested.
But she had to muster the energy somehow. For two whole days, Han Feixu was consumed by this one shot, even dislocating her arm at one point. Ye Mingxin had wanted her to give up and use a stunt double, but Han Feixu refused and even went as far as to switch arms to continue shooting.
After much struggle, she finally was able to create the feeling Dugu Yuehua wanted.
With her hand still gripping the window sill, Xia Ning turned her ear to listen to what was being said inside the room. The window Xia Ning was hanging from was the scene of the movie’s final murder. Inside were three people: Qi Hanxue, Gao Tian, and a suspicious supporting character. In the scene, Qi Hanxue methodically pressured the supporting character to tell the truth that would uncover everything.
At that moment, Xia Ning looked down at her dangling feet. She chuckles sarcastically yet indifferently before listening again. Hearing silence from the other side, she reached up with her other hand and agilely flipped into the room.
This scene was divided into two shots. The latter was easier because she was supported by wires, so Han Feixu didn’t need to exert much effort.
After completing the first shot, Han Feixu collapsed on the ground, feeling like she might develop acrophobia after this scene.
Ye Mingxin came over and helped her up to stop her from sitting on the cold ground. Han Feixu was exhausted and leaned on her. Then Dugu Yuehua approached her with a thumbs-up, “Han Feixu, based on your performance today, no matter how the first movie is received, I’m going to make a sequel, and you must be my lead actress again.”
Han Feixu weakly smiled, “Then my dislocated arm was worth it.”
After returning home that day, Han Feixu enjoyed the skills of a professional masseuse as she reviewed the script for the next day.
Liang Zhu initially wanted to take her to a massage parlor, but Ye Mingxin had the best masseuse come directly to their home instead.
Sitting beside her, Ye Mingxin, with her fingers interlocked and resting on her knees, watched Han Feixu for a long time before asking, “Little Xu, do you really enjoy acting that much?”
Han Feixu, lying down on the massage table with her face towards the ground, her voice somewhat muffled, replied, “Yeah, I like it a lot.”
“Acting is like experiencing someone else’s life. While the audience enjoys watching the story of someone else’s life, I enjoy acting in them.”
Lifting her head, Han Feixu propped her chin on her arms, “You’re an actress too. Haven’t you ever felt this way?”
Of course, she had. However, Ye Mingxin lowered her eyes without responding.
The lack of response was as good as agreement. Han Feixu smiled knowingly, “See, we’re the same. Don’t worry. I know when not to cross a line. Scenes like today might seem a bit extreme, but what job doesn’t require effort? Salespeople have to be humble all the time no matter how harsh the buyer is, educators are always on guard for angry parents, and even doctors have to be extremely cautious of getting beaten up by some of their patients.”
“Every job has its challenges, and compared to others, ours is relatively easy. Not every scene is that demanding, and it’s not every day you come across such a strict director.” Han Feixu pulled an exaggerated ‘I’m so scared’ face at the strict director part.
Ye Mingxin smiled lightly, walking over and squatting in front of Han Feixu, “Then can you promise me that you won’t get hurt again in the future?”
Han Feixu nodded nonchalantly, “Sure! I promise you right now that I won’t get hurt again. But… I can’t guarantee I won’t get tired occasionally, but that doesn’t count as getting hurt, right?”
“It doesn’t,” Ye Mingxin looked into her eyes, “But what if there’s an accident on set?”
Han Feixu replied, “If something’s happening, then I’ll run, and even be the first one to run away! I’ll ensure my own safety first before I help others. Is that okay?”
Han Feixu was just saying these words casually and wasn’t actually making a serious promise. Ye Mingxin knew that, but having Han Feixu make a promise, even an insincere one, made her feel somewhat better.
She stroked Han Feixu’s head, and the latter smiled back at her.
This moment was so perfect that even the masseuse felt this secretly married couple looked like a fairytale come true.
After the masseuse left, Han Feixu applied some of her skincare products and asked, “Did you tell the masseuse to keep our secret?”
“No,” Ye Mingxin shook her head, “There’s no need for secrecy. I actually hope he doesn’t keep it. In a little while, I plan to go public. Letting this news slip out now means people won’t be as shocked when we do go public.”
Han Feixu’s eyes sparkled, “Are we going public? How do you want to do it? By posting our marriage certificate?”
That approach seemed too blunt and straightforward, which was more Han Feixu’s style, but not Ye Mingxin’s. She smiled slightly, “You’ll see when the time comes.”
Han Feixu pouted.
Han Feixu always thought she was the spendthrift in the family until she saw how Yan Yuerong spent her money.
They walked into a jewelry store, and Yan Yuerong immediately had the staff bring out all the latest pieces. She tried on whatever caught her eye, before discarding each piece to the side. In about five minutes, she had tried on everything that she liked. Then, her assistant packed up the pieces she had tried on, while the items she hadn’t were wrapped up by the staff to be sent to her home later.
The assistant then explained to Han Feixu that the items Yan Yureong tried on and was being taken home by him were for Yan Yuerong’s personal use, while the rest were gifts for others.
With Lunar New Year approaching, Yan Yuerong had many gifts to give out and couldn’t be bothered to choose each one individually. She simply decided to buy everything and let her assistant decide who gets what based on their relationship with her.
Yan Yuerong, being the highest-level VIP of this jewelry store, was shown pieces of no less than half a million each. Han Feixu sat quietly to the side, feeling like a fake rich person in comparison to her mother-in-law.
Besides buying gifts for friends, Yan Yuerong also shopped for the grandparents and other elders in the family. Since Ye Mingxin was married now, Yan Yuerong specifically chose a day for them to shop together, making it easier to coordinate gifts.
Han Feixu and Ye Mingxin, both wearing sunglasses and high heels, stood on either side of Yan Yuerong, looking every bit the part of her prestigious daughters and drawing 100% of the attention from passersby.
Yan Yuerong couldn’t help but beam with pride as she walked. Women all become a little vain as they age, and Yan Yuerong was no exception. She wasn’t like this when she was younger, but now she has grown to enjoy comparing her family to others. She might not surpass others in many aspects, but when it came to her family’s looks, even if others combined their efforts, they couldn’t even match the least attractive member of her family—her son, Ye Mingde.
After a full round of shopping in the mall, and fully satisfying her urge to show off, they settled down in a restaurant for a meal.
Sitting in the private room, Yan Yuerong excitedly asked Ye Mingxin, “Daughter, did I do well just now?”
Before leaving, Ye Mingxin had told her to be obvious so everyone could see them and show that they were a close-knit family. Yan Yuerong enthusiastically agreed and promised to fulfill this mission to the best of her ability.
However, Yan Yuerong’s enthusiasm was over the top. She strutted around with an air of authority, resembling a former underworld boss making a grand comeback with her two new proteges.
Not wanting to dampen her spirits, Ye Mingxin politely responded with a smile, “You did very well.”
Yan Yuerong, feeling even happier after hearing such praise, “When do you plan to go public? The internet has been buzzing about you two, but they’re all talking about some imperial concubines, which I don’t understand.”
“That’s just the fans shipping our characters from the drama. I don’t plan to go public while the drama is airing. That might seem like we’re exploiting it for publicity. If we go public, it should be for us, not for the sake of increasing our drama’s viewership.”
Ye Mingxin always had a knack for turning light conversations into serious ones. Yan Yuerong listened quietly, feeling her initial enthusiasm quickly doused by Ye Mingxin’s solemn responses.
After a pause, Yan Yuerong turned to Han Feixu, “What about you, Feixu? When do you want to go public?”
Han Feixu was engrossed in reading the menu and only looked up upon hearing the question, “Anytime is fine by me, I don’t mind.”
Yan Yuerong immediately turned back to Ye Mingxin, pleading, “Feixu doesn’t mind, Mingxin, please, can we go public before the Lunar New Year?”
Ye Mingxin frowned, “Why?”
“So I can proudly and openly send our family portrait to all my friends!”
Ye Mingxin: “….”
In the end, Ye Mingxin didn’t agree and just said she would consider it. Lunar New Year was coming early this year, with Lunar New Year’s Eve being on the 4th. The film’s shooting schedule had extended, and by the time they wrapped up, it would be the 4th. Ye Mingxin also mentioned a family vacation to Iceland, though it was uncertain if it would happen.
The drama’s current popularity has boosted both Ye Mingxin and Han Feixu’s fame.
Previously known primarily as movie actresses, they were unfamiliar to some drama-focused audiences. Now, that has changed. Ye Mingxin had gained a fanbase of older women, while Han Feixu attracted some critics among them.
One morning, as they stopped for breakfast, Han Feixu observed two elderly ladies in Tai Chi attire, carrying Tai Chi swords. They were strolling on the sidewalk and with the car window slightly open, she overheard their conversation as they passed by.
“I really dislike that Wen Shan character from the Gorolo clan. She’s so evil. I wonder when she’ll die.”
“You’re going to have to wait for a while. I looked it up on my phone yesterday, and it seems she’s going to survive until the finale.”
“Ah, such a nuisance. Why not just poison her food and be done with it?”
Han Feixu: “….”
Do you have to be that harsh!
In a couple of days, it will be Lunar New Year’s Eve and?The Sleeper? had already had its closing ceremony a few days ago, but Dugu Yuehua after reviewing all the footage, was particularly dissatisfied with two scenes and decided to call the actors back for a reshoot.
One of the scenes involved Han Feixu, so she had to get up early once again.
The scene they were reshooting was a crucial plot point between Xia Ning and the doctor, where the doctor wants to see Xia Ning No. 1 and ask her what exactly she had done, but only Xia Ning No. 2 shows up. So, he locks Xia Ning in a pitch-dark, silent room.
At first, Xia Ning No.2 remains calm, but gradually she becomes more frightened and even starts to cry. At this point, Xia Ning No. 3 appears. Initially, Xia Ning was curled up in the fetal position, but once No. 3 appeared, she sat up in a bold, masculine posture.
She spoke in a soft voice, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here with you.”
As if hearing a comforting inner voice, her expression softens, “Yes, I’ll always be with you, it’s okay. He won’t hurt you; he likes you. How could someone who likes you hurt you?”
As soon as she finishes speaking, Xia Ning closes her eyes and chuckles, “What an idiot.”
This scene captures the transition between the three personalities, with the doctor observing all of Xia Ning’s reactions like a voyeur from a room behind the wall. He didn’t even dare to blink as he watched. After hearing her make that remark, he immediately rushes out and runs to Xia Ning’s side.
The scene Dugu Yuehua wanted them to reshoot was the moment the doctor forcefully opened the door, and Xia Ning, hearing the noise, looked up at the doctor.
Fortunately, the original set hadn’t been dismantled yet, which saved a lot of time.
This scene was relatively simple and was completed in one morning. As Han Feixu was leaving the set, she received a call from an unknown number.
After staring at her phone for a moment and confirming she didn’t recognize the number, she answered.
“Hello?”
The caller seemed surprised she picked up so quickly and hesitated before responding, “Sister-in-law, it’s Ming’An.” (*T/N: Ye Ming’An is Ye Mingxin’s female cousin, not her sister)
Han Feixu didn’t expect a call from Ye Ming’An and was taken aback, “Oh, Ming’An, what’s up?”
“It’s nothing much… just, Sister-in-Law, could you come out for a bit? I’m at Jiang LingYuan’s pub and I wanted to talk.”
Han Feixu found the call strange, but sensing the urgency in Ming’An’s tone, she agreed to meet.
When she arrived at the bar, Ming’An was sitting alone at a table and stood up nervously when she saw her. After hesitating for a while, she finally spoke, “Sister-in-Law, please, have a seat here.”