Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Qi Wei hurriedly left, half joking and half reminding An Ye: "If you two don't want to stir up rumors, don't appear in the same frame. If you absolutely have to, remember to change your default earrings. Otherwise, I can't help you with these ear piercings in PR."

An Ye's left ear piercings were practically her trademark. There had been several close-ups during her role as Lin Luo, and each time she walked the red carpet, she'd make sure to highlight the earrings on that ear.

Chi Tuo, who had a classical aesthetic of a black shirt and black suit, looked particularly out of place with the black ear piercing on his left ear. And it was the same exact style — when they bought it, they thought it was just the most ordinary black design, but because it was cheap, the originally supposed smooth diamond-shaped earrings were a little irregular, with a very thin white line down the middle.

They hadn't noticed this detail when they bought them, but after wearing them for so many years, and now that they were standing in the same frame, it was easy to tell that these two earrings were a unique pair.

Considering the way fans scrutinized CPs under a magnifying glass, it would be very hard to explain if these two appeared together in the same frame.

An Ye touched her left ear, smiling without saying anything.

Chi Tuo didn’t say much in front of Qi Wei, only exchanging contact information for future work.

With the most outgoing person now gone, the remaining three fell into an unspoken silence.

Lan Yifang started tidying up the living room, An Ye went to get canned food for the white cat, and Chi Tuo scanned the room, helping Lan Yifang sort out fruit peels and food scraps and putting them into a trash bag.

At around 3 AM, Chi Tuo carried a pile of trash downstairs and told An Ye: "Go get some sleep. If you’re heading to the set tomorrow, let me know, and I’ll come feed the cat."

"I’ve left its travel bag under the cabinet by the canned food," An Ye said, standing by the door. "If it’s too much trouble for you, you can just take it home."

After a brief pause, Chi Tuo said: "I’ll go back and change the earrings. You don’t have to change yours."

An Ye raised an eyebrow: "Why change it? That’s the only thing on you that even remotely looks fashionable."

Chi Tuo: "..."

"Did you wear this same outfit when you left my place for work last time?" An Ye couldn't help herself.

"I bought several sets of the same clothes," Chi Tuo replied. "That way, there’s no chance of making a mistake, and I don’t have to think about matching."

An Ye: "..."

Another moment of silence.

Lan Yifang, who had finished cleaning up, was now napping on the sofa. She had drunk quite a bit earlier, and her soft snoring was now beginning to fill the room.

The night was quiet. The light strip in the hallway was a soft golden color, giving off a dreamy glow, dim and hazy.

The atmosphere was much calmer than it had been during the meeting.

Chi Tuo looked at An Ye and asked her softly: "Is Qi Wei trustworthy?"

He spoke so quietly, almost like a whisper, fearing that Lan Yifang would hear.

An Ye nodded: "She used to manage an artist from scratch, but Yan Wan blacklisted her, forcing her out of the industry. They have a huge grudge, so she’s in the same trench as I am."

It was a strange feeling.

Their conversations had become much more distant over the years. Most of the time, they would talk for a while and then fall into silence, but no matter what the other person asked, they would answer honestly without a second's hesitation.

"About the person on the sofa..." An Ye even ventured into Chi Tuo’s question, "She’s a bit soft-hearted. She only leaves herself a thousand yuan per month for food. She’s also a bit of a pushover, so I had no choice but to take her with me."

Lan Yifang, who was sleeping soundly on the sofa, was deeply affected by the alcohol, her snores growing louder.

Her heart was soft too, otherwise, she wouldn't have kept an assistant who was so easy to manipulate around her and even brought her into her studio.Under the golden sensor light, An Ye’s heavily made-up face reflected a soft glow, with a greenish shadow under her long, curled eyelashes.

"Go to sleep," Chi Tuo said, taking a small black bag out of his suit pocket and handing it to An Ye. Smiling, he wished, "Happy New Year."

He said it with great restraint, his smile warm and gentle.

So, except for him, no one would know how long he had waited to say this "Happy New Year" in person.

"What’s this?" An Ye raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I didn’t prepare anything."

"A little something," he replied nonchalantly. "It was a lucky draw at the company’s New Year party. You can play with it."

An Ye smiled, her eyes squinting. The previously inexplicable unpleasant mood lifted a little because of this seemingly ordinary black bag.

Chi Tuo smiled as well, putting on his shoes and heading to the elevator.

In the living room, Lan Yifang started mumbling in her hometown dialect, talking in her sleep. An Ye leaned against the wall, holding the black little bag, staring at it for a long time.

It was a black velvet bag. An Ye believed that Chi Tuo's law firm, which always made sure their golden logo was prominent and had superstitions about offering pig’s heads every New Year, wouldn’t send such a black little gift at the New Year’s party. And this bag didn’t look particularly new either.

She hadn’t felt the excitement of unwrapping a gift in a long time. When she first became a celebrity, fans would send gifts to the agency. Back then, the agency wasn’t strict, and they accepted all the gifts, which were then piled up in her home. After filming, she would open the door to a foul smell, with the packages containing spoiled food and strange, frightening objects sent by anti-fans.

This made her feel nauseous every time she saw a package with liquid seeping out. The lingering smell never left her.

Since that time, she stopped accepting gifts. She returned everything sent by fans, and every birthday she received piles of empty boxes with an inedible cake for a photo, just to fulfill the ritual.

As she gradually established herself in the industry, she became the one giving gifts—giving them to her managers, assistants, staff, and fans.

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye, and this was the first private gift she had received in all that time. The person who gave it to her had arrogantly said it was from the company’s annual meeting lucky draw, but the fact that she didn’t have to worry about what was inside, didn’t feel suspicious about the giver’s intentions, still lifted her mood, which had been terrible recently.

She stopped admiring the bag and opened the drawstring to peek inside.

She paused for a moment.

Then, she looked again.

Not believing it, she took it out and inspected it from all angles, examining it several times.

First of all, it was a small ceramic ornament, no more than four centimeters tall, and very delicate.

Of course, that wasn’t the point.

The point was, it was six geese singing in unison, side by side.

And every single goose was exquisitely different in movement.

Goose, goose, goose.

Late at night, or rather, in the early morning.

Lan Yifang, who had drunk a bit and was sprawled out on the sofa at An Ye’s house, heard a faint laugh.

It was very vague.

So, she scratched her face, turned over, and went back to sleep.

It could have been a hallucination or a dream.

After all, it seemed like she only ever heard that clear, fleeting laughter when An Ye was deeply immersed in her role while filming.The next day, at five in the morning, Lan Yifang yawned as she sat in the chauffeur-driven car. Behind her, An Ye was quietly taking a phone call.

Yang Zhengyi, as a dedicated and passionate director who was obsessed with his work, had called An Ye six or seven times on New Year’s Day afternoon while she was still shivering on a cruise ship, wearing a thin veil to shoot the magazine cover.

The theme of his calls was simple: he thought that the old campus of the Ninth People's Hospital in Bai Gang City had a lot of character, especially the small garden below the inpatient department in the early morning. He was very impressed by it.

So, the movie-obsessed An Ye, on the only rest day during the New Year schedule, woke up at four in the morning and called the driver to take her in the chauffeur-driven car through the winter morning mist to that location that Yang Zhengyi found so impressive.

She even brought her camera, planning to take a few pictures to study later.

But not long after getting into the car, Yan Wan’s call came through.

This had become the usual after An Ye confirmed her filming schedule, so Yan Wan didn’t try to stop her. On the phone, he merely said she was asking for trouble, wasting her rare day off and not getting enough sleep, dragging the driver out early in the morning to indulge her whims.

He never mentioned who arranged this death schedule for her, nor did he mention the hefty New Year red envelope she had given to the unfamiliar driver. It sounded like An Ye was causing trouble by dragging company staff out at the crack of dawn.

Ever since An Ye figured out what Yan Wan was planning, many of his actions had become predictable.

She figured that this early morning conversation would likely be recorded, so she also pressed the recording button. When Yan Wan asked her if her narcolepsy had flared up, causing her to disappear for a few days, she coolly responded, "Brother Yan, can we push back the schedule for the day after tomorrow?"

Yan Wan froze for half a second, and his voice suddenly grew louder: "What are you going to do this time?!"

An Ye’s voice sounded innocent and wronged, even a little hoarse: "I’ve had a cold for a few days. Yesterday, the two temporary assistants you arranged for me on the cruise didn’t even give me a sip of hot water. I had a fever again in the middle of the night."

Lan Yifang, who had been dozing off, looked at the thermos cup in An Ye’s hand, where red date and coix seed tea was steeping, releasing a steady stream of steam.

Indeed, there had been two temporary assistants yesterday, but An Ye usually never let temporary assistants handle her food and drink. Lan Yifang remembered that she had made the tea for An Ye yesterday.

Yan Wan’s tone didn’t soften, and he spoke sternly: "Besides the temporary assistants, you also have Lan Yifang with you! How old are you, and you can’t even get hot water?"

But An Ye didn’t argue with him over that. She kept the same aggrieved tone: "I really have a cold. I can’t cancel tomorrow’s variety show guest appearance; after all, you asked me to help Qing Ze with publicity. So, I can only push the one after tomorrow’s event. The banquet really can’t be done. My stomach’s been uncomfortable, and I have a cold. I’m afraid I’ll collapse at the dinner table."

Yan Wan took a deep breath on the other end.

An Ye lowered her head and slowly tidied the frayed zipper on her camera bag.

After a while, Yan Wan coldly snorted: "It can’t be delayed. If you do collapse at the dinner table, I’ll carry you to the hospital."

After that, the call ended, as always.

An Ye smiled at Lan Yifang without explaining anything.

Lan Yifang knew there was also a driver from Huanyou Entertainment in the car, so she didn’t ask anything. She just reached out and squeezed An Ye’s hand.

An Ye smiled again.

Yan Wan’s last sentence put her mind at ease. His confidence meant he didn’t suspect that she knew about his plans.

Actually, on New Year’s Eve, she had something she didn’t say out loud. If Yan Wan really intended to expose her mental health issues, he would have done so with great justification, because he truly believed she had mental problems.

She had overheard Yan Wan talking to her mother about her mental state more than once. One of them said how the doctor couldn’t possibly not prescribe medication, that she was like this, and the other said it was fine, that if she had an episode, just tie her up, and it would be fine.

They didn’t avoid her when talking about these things. Yan Wan even thought it was admirable that he had stuck by her all these years despite thinking she was crazy. So, he had become accustomed to being arrogant in front of her.

It was fine, unexpectedly so.

She looked up at the window, and the reflection in the car window showed her face with a smile curving on her lips.An Ye paused for a moment.

Lan Yifang had been mumbling about how An Ye seemed to be in a good mood, mentioning that she had only slept a few hours the night before but still didn't seem too grumpy when she woke up.

An Ye glanced at the time. It was just before five.

She pursed her lips and opened the chat page for Chi Tuo, sending him a picture of the six geese.

Little Goose: 【Did your company give out things like this at the annual meeting?】

She had originally just wanted to vent in the early hours of the morning, not expecting him to reply at this time, so after sending the message, she put on her headphones, opened some music, and planned to catch a little more sleep.

But just as the headphones connected to her phone, a notification pinged. She hadn't had time to adjust the volume, and her ears were almost ringing from the loud sound.

Chi Tuo: 【Goose goose goose, goose goose goose.】

Little Goose: 【... Are you sleepless, or just woke up, or did I wake you up?】

Chi Tuo: 【Woke up, I’m still on a time difference.】

Little Goose: 【...】

He’s been back for a year, and he still has a time difference, this fake foreigner.

Chi Tuo: 【What about you? Did you just finish work at this time?】

Little Goose: 【Went to the Ninth Hospital to take photos and gather material.】

Chi Tuo: 【I’m off today. Want to hang out?】

Little Goose: 【Hang out at the Ninth Hospital? You’re really creative.】

Little Goose: 【I haven’t counted the number of characters in a message in a long time. Your obsessive-compulsive disorder still hasn’t changed?】

Chi Tuo: 【Can’t change it.】

Chi Tuo: 【I’m heading out.】

Chi Tuo: 【I’ll send you my location when I get there, and I’ll come find you.】

An Ye locked her phone.

She rubbed her forehead, trying to force down the incessant thought of "goose goose goose" that was filling her mind.