Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After An Jiujiu finished shooting the commercial in her first year of middle school, she continued doing occasional work related to the entertainment industry, such as shooting for print ads and taking small roles. Her family was an ordinary three-person household, with no connections or background. These opportunities came from her mother, Wang Shanshan, who distributed business cards on set. These weren’t formal industry jobs, and the locations were all around Wangcheng, so the pay wasn’t high, and it was unlikely that she would encounter any significant roles.

But it was still enough to earn some money.

An Jiujiu's father, An Huaimin, had been transferred to another city when she was in first grade. After that, he would only return during holidays, sending money home regularly every month. Over the years, his salary in the new city hadn’t increased much, and the amount he sent home remained the same. After paying the tuition fees, she and her mother, Wang Shanshan, were gradually struggling financially.

Fortunately, she was still able to earn some money.

For five years, she worked intermittently in the entertainment industry. Last month, she got a great opportunity.

The commercial that Wang Shanshan helped her secure last month was through a recommendation from an old acquaintance—the makeup artist, Xie Qi, who had done her makeup for her first commercial. Five years ago, Xie Qi had just started out in the industry, but after five years of hard work, she had gained access to some opportunities to work with first-tier celebrities. Of course, she wasn’t the main makeup artist yet—she mainly assisted and did secondary styling when needed.

Xie Qi was quite obsessed with makeup. She liked to collect faces that were especially photogenic and suited various styles of makeup. An Jiujiu had been on her list from the start.

When An Jiujiu was only twelve, Xie Qi noticed her because of her quiet nature, high level of cooperation, and excellent facial features. Xie Qi always kept her in mind. Whenever there was a suitable job or project she was involved in, she would contact Wang Shanshan.

Over time, many of An Jiujiu's opportunities came through Xie Qi. Wang Shanshan would always give a small agent fee in return, though it wasn’t much—about 20% of An Jiujiu’s income.

After knowing each other for five years, Xie Qi noticed how An Jiujiu’s facial features were maturing, and her tall, slender figure was starting to give off a star-like presence. The resources available to her also became more professional. Xie Qi felt that An Jiujiu would eventually become famous and began introducing her to more serious industry jobs. This photoshoot was one of them.

It was for a cultural tourism project about an ancient city. The idea was to find a group of men and women to shoot scenes that spanned different dynasties from the existence of the city. The main goal was to promote cultural tourism. The cost of hiring only celebrities was too high, so they used them for key moments, while hiring a group of expressive models for the other scenes to keep the cost down.

Xie Qi, who was one of the makeup artists, showed the project manager An Jiujiu’s photo. She really stood out, and out of the candidates, she was one of the first to be selected.

This was An Jiujiu’s first official job since the sports shoe commercial. It happened to be during the summer break, so she and her mother, Wang Shanshan, went to the northern ancient city for the shoot.

The role she was assigned was that of a university student from the 1990s. The stylist paired her with a yellow cartoon-patterned T-shirt, oversized denim overalls, white sneakers, and long hair flowing over her shoulders.

The photoshoot itself didn’t have anything particularly special—there was a wind machine blowing in the sunlight, and she held a magazine with her long hair flying and squinted at the camera, smiling.

Among the sixty models, there were some outstanding period costumes and some striking modern looks, but An Jiujiu stood out even with a simple, ordinary look. Director Yang Zhengyi, a famous film director in his fifties, saw her photo and contacted Wang Shanshan.

Yang Zhengyi was known for winning awards with nearly every film he made over the past decade. He had been preparing a suspense film for many years and needed someone to play the young female lead. After seeing An Jiujiu’s photo, he contacted Wang Shanshan.

Wang Shanshan had never seen Yang Zhengyi’s films, but she knew the weight of the words "movie role," so she eagerly accepted the audition offer.

This was the audition script that An Jiujiu was holding in her hands.

It was actually very thin, with the first few pages containing confidentiality agreements. The real content only started on the last few pages, but An Jiujiu had read it multiple times.

This was her first time holding a real script. Previously, when she had small roles in the crew, the work was paid on a daily basis, and she was just told where to stand, where to walk, or to fall at a specific signal, or to pop the blood bag on her body. This was her first proper audition with a whole month to prepare.

She wanted to share this joy with Chi Tuo, but clearly, he didn’t seem too interested.

She had tried handing him the script several times, but he never took it to look at.

In the end, he even forced her to redo all the wrong questions from her practice. She pouted, but he frowned and glared at her.

So sometimes, An Jiujiu would think that perhaps Chi Tuo was her "dad" born on the same day, same month, and same year because her real father had been mostly absent from her growth, so the heavens gave her a "dad."

Of course, An Jiujiu didn’t dare say this in front of Chi Tuo. In the end, she still diligently finished her homework, glanced at the time—it was already 11:10 p.m.

Not a single call had come from her mother during this entire time.

And Chi Tuo hadn’t called either. His phone had been off.

"Could my mom have gone to the film city again today?" An Jiujiu muttered in disbelief. "She said she’d leave me a month to prepare for the audition!"About 50 to 60 kilometers away from Wangcheng, there was a film and television city. Wang Shanshan often went there when she had nothing to do, handing out business cards, and sometimes she would stay there overnight if she encountered any work opportunities.

If she didn’t contact An Jiujiu by 11 PM, it was highly likely that she was at the film and television city.

"My dad didn't forget to send the family money this month, did he..." An Jiujiu frowned.

"My mom hasn’t contacted me because she’s accompanying someone at the hospital today," Chi Tuo interrupted her thoughts, glancing at the time, his own brow furrowed. "Don’t worry, I’ll take you home."

During the summer break, the pre-senior year classes usually ended by 8 PM, and they would typically reach their neighborhood in about ten minutes. They usually did homework until 10 or 10:30 PM before heading home. But today, it was so late, and Wang Shanshan hadn't called once. This made Chi Tuo feel uneasy too.

It wasn’t convenient to walk side by side, so Chi Tuo, wearing a baseball cap like some weird stalker, followed An Jiujiu while pushing his bike. Luckily, there weren’t many people in the neighborhood at this hour, and in just a few minutes, they reached the building where An Jiujiu lived.

They understood why Wang Shanshan hadn't contacted An Jiujiu.

An Jiujiu lived on the third floor of an old multi-story building without an elevator. It wasn't very high, and you could hear arguments from the first floor if the windows were open.

Her father, An Huaimin, had come back, and he was in the middle of a loud argument with Wang Shanshan.

It was already past 11 PM, with all the windows and doors shut, except for her parents, who were completely unconcerned about disturbing others, continuously arguing loudly.

"Acting, acting, acting!!!" An Huaimin's voice sounded furious, "Is this what you want, to be a celebrity mom? Have you even looked at what you've been busy with for the past few years? Five years, and what have you accomplished? You couldn’t even pass your studies, and now you want to be a star? You can only take a few lousy photos! Now, just when you’ve finally made it to senior year, you tell me you want to go act in a movie? You don’t even know how to teach your daughter! Ask around! Is there anyone who has a mother like you?!"

"You’ve been away for five years?" Wang Shanshan, sounding like she had been crying, replied hoarsely, "How many days do you actually come back in a year? How many days have you come home? Aren’t you supposed to have been promoted? Didn’t you get transferred to a better department? Where’s the money? Ten years ago, you sent back 2,000 a month, and ten years later, it’s still 2,000. Do you even know how tall your daughter is now? Do you know how much tuition, clothing, and living expenses cost? Do you know how much it costs to attend university?"

"If it weren’t for your daughter taking those few lousy photos, do you think we’d even have enough to eat?" Wang Shanshan’s voice grew shrill, "I’m not afraid to ask around, you go out and ask, have you ever met a father like you? What right do you have to teach me how to raise a daughter? Where am I wrong in teaching her? What do you mean 'not studying well'? Do you think it’s easy to get into the first high school? Do you think the film academy is easy to get into?"

With a loud bang, the motion-sensor light in the hallway turned on, illuminating all three floors.

An Jiujiu stood silently in the hallway, pressing her lips together, while Chi Tuo stood next to her, both of them silent.

"I work hard every day to provide for you!" An Huaimin panted, "And you tell me I don’t have the right to teach my daughter?!"

"I, An Huaimin, swear that if you dare take her to act in a movie, I’ll kill you! If necessary, I’ll end this marriage—I'd rather not live with you!"

Another loud bang echoed, and the previously dimmed motion-sensor light flickered and immediately turned on again.

Wang Shanshan was sobbing loudly, and the house was filled with the sound of broken dishes.

An Jiujiu pursed her lips and ran upstairs, opening the door to her home.

Her parents were standing in the living room, with broken dishes scattered across the floor.

"Stop living like this," An Jiujiu said with surprising calmness, looking at her parents. "Just go die together."

Her voice was soft, and her expression was equally indifferent.

"What does it matter if I want to act or go to university? What does it have to do with you?" She looked at An Huaimin. "When I went from primary school to middle school, you scolded my mom because I didn’t get into the advanced class."

"When I went from middle school to high school, you said my grades only allowed me to get into Class 11, that I was a useless girl, and you scolded my mom again."

"You send only 2,000 yuan back home each month. Do you know how much a student’s meal plan costs? Do you know how much it costs for us to eat and dress? Ask around, and see if your 2,000 yuan is enough for the two of us to live on?"

"I don’t admit that you support me, so you have no right to teach me."

An Huaimin was furious. He charged forward and raised his hand to slap An Jiujiu across the face. He shouted at her and Wang Shanshan, "This is how you raise your daughter?! This is the good daughter you’ve raised?!"

An Jiujiu’s head was turned to the side from the slap. Chi Tuo rushed up the stairs and stood in front of her, blocking the blow.

An Huaimin froze for a moment, then smiled."Fuck." He spat, "Is this what you call a tutoring class? With him? It's 11:30 PM, and you call this a tutoring class?"

"Did you hear what others are saying behind their backs about the two of them?" An Huaimin’s words became more and more harsh. "You still want to train your daughter to be a female star? Hanging out in the middle of the night with a worthless researcher's son? No wonder her grades are so poor—her mind's all on this!"

While speaking, An Huaimin tried to grab An Jiujiu. Wang Shanshan, her hair messy, tried to pull him back. In the chaos, Chi Tuo grabbed An Huaimin's wrist.

His voice was calm as he said, "Uncle, it’s really late."

But his grip tightened, and An Huaimin’s arm twisted outward, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" An Huaimin swung with his other hand, aiming to slap Chi Tuo.

Chi Tuo dodged, tightening his grip further.

An Huaimin was sweating in pain, his other hand futilely swinging, cursing as he did. "Are you trying to hit me? Damn it, aren’t you going to call the police? A little thug coming to beat people up! Help! Murder!"

He wasn't afraid of looking foolish, yelling loud enough for everyone in the building to open their doors and look outside.

"Enough?" An Jiujiu muttered, her fists clenched. One side of her cheek was swollen as she glared at An Huaimin.

At that moment, Wang Shanshan seemed to realize something. She loosened her grip on An Huaimin's arm, hurriedly looking at her daughter.

Her daughter didn’t look at her but instead stared at her real father. "You’re the one with a dirty heart. Don’t think everyone else is as filthy as you."

She knew she shouldn’t say this. Wang Shanshan had once told her, holding her hand, that she wasn’t yet 18, so she couldn’t speak like that.

But now, with her cheek stinging and her mother’s face bearing the same handprint as hers, with this biological father standing proudly in their house, acting like the head of the family, and speaking such cruel words, she couldn't hold back.

So she finished her sentence: "Is it because your mistress finally got pregnant, or was it because she pressured you into divorcing my mom?"