Chapter 41

Chapter 41

This sentence was really bizarre.

It wasn’t the sentence itself, because An Ye, as a big star who had been in the industry for eight years, was the "luxury" that Yan Wan referred to. It seemed quite reasonable for the first lawyer she hired to sign after deciding to establish her own studio, after offering a discount, to request exclusivity and uniqueness.

What was unreasonable was that this sentence came from Shi Tuo’s mouth.

Moreover, the rhythm of the words “lawyer” and “exclusivity” didn’t match, and it seemed like he had swallowed some term and replaced it with the word “lawyer.”

He looked serious, even a bit nervous.

An Ye rarely saw Shi Tuo nervous. The most recent time seemed to be when he told her he was preparing to go to Singapore with his mother.

So, for no reason, An Ye straightened up, nodding seriously, even though she didn’t fully understand: “I wasn’t planning to find another lawyer anyway…”

“You were planning to.” Shi Tuo reminded her. “You only discovered I was back when you were looking for a lawyer.”

He didn’t seem so nervous anymore.

“So, since you’re back, I definitely found you first…” An Ye got confused by the logic.

Shi Tuo didn’t continue the conversation. He stuffed his laptop back into his bag, organized the documents, and stood up. “I need to go over the contract with my supervisor. If there’s anything later, just contact me.”

It was 11:30 PM, snow falling outside. After saying that, he pretended to compose himself, planning to make a hasty exit.

So what term did he replace with "lawyer"?

“Did you drive here?” An Ye crossed her arms, watching Shi Tuo clean up the kitchen scraps in her kitchen, preparing to take them with him. “Don’t drive back. Take a cab, and message me when you get home.”

“Mm.” After cleaning up and washing his hands, Shi Tuo stood in front of An Ye and paused again.

An Ye patiently looked at him.

“I’m not happy.” Shi Tuo finally stopped after some unnecessary actions and looked at An Ye as he spoke.

An Ye looked up at him, thinking, this person surely isn’t still growing every year, what a sweet potato.

“You weren’t my first choice for the guardian intention signing,” he said.

An Ye: “…”

She thought to herself: I just ate three of your noodles, and how can you suddenly act so childish, like an 8-year-old?

“That’s because I didn’t know you were back.” She paused, emphasizing, “I didn’t know you’ve been back for almost a year.”

Come on, let’s be childish together.

Who had been back for a year and didn’t contact her, and in the end, she had to contact him?

“You’re a star now.” Shi Tuo raised the briefcase in his hand. “You’re a big star, and once I sign the cooperation intention with you, our team’s performance this year will probably be stable in the top rank of the entertainment group, and that’s with a discount.”

“Put your eyebrows down.” Shi Tuo pointed at her just before An Ye raised her eyebrows.

An Ye: “...You have my contact number.”

“But you don’t answer my calls and don’t contact me,” Shi Tuo emphasized. “Sending red envelopes doesn’t count as contact.”

Old Bai passed by on his way to the bathroom, kicking some cat litter at them.An Ye: "......"

Shi Tuo: "......"

Actually, neither of them could explain how they got into this argument. Their reunion was so dramatic, and after they got back together, they were always busy with things. It seemed like their lives hadn’t become any easier after ten years. At first, Shi Tuo led the pace, getting closer, and An Ye just followed suit.

But it was always awkward.

It was like two children wearing adult clothes, tugging at each other’s collars, each trying to test the waters—now the test had torn their clothes, exposing things neither of them wanted the other to see.

Ten years hadn’t turned them into dignified adults.

Ten years, and they were still the same petty, immature children who liked to pretend to be grown-ups.

Before An Ye could regain her composure, the words that had been buried in her heart for so long slipped out: "Is contacting you even useful? You going to Singapore was the best choice back then. Me terminating the contract and signing with Huan Zhou five years ago, not wanting to contact you anymore, that was the best choice back then."

She hadn’t expected they would be apart for so long.

Neither of them had expected that the two people who once merged all their trivialities together would, overnight, grow apart, with no intersection left.

Shi Tuo didn’t speak anymore.

An Ye didn’t look up at him either.

After a while, An Ye heard Shi Tuo toss his bag onto the couch. She looked up at him.

"I’m not going back today," he said. "The snow outside is too heavy. I’m a Southerner, I can’t drive in the snow."

He said it so confidently, as if Canada never had snow.

"I also don’t feel comfortable letting a Southern taxi driver drive in the snow," he added. "I’ll sleep here tonight."

An Ye: "...... Shameless."

Although she had already planned to do this when she saw the snow, it didn’t stop her from calling him shameless.

She went to her room, grabbed a set of toiletries, and handed it to Shi Tuo, emphasizing once again: "Shameless."

Shi Tuo didn’t reply, but reached out and flicked the cat hair from her forehead.

"So, what did you really mean by 'exclusivity' earlier?" An Ye glared at him.

"Friend." The shameless Shi Tuo finally didn’t tell the truth. "The first person you think of when you need help."

He had walked down this path for ten years, and it was only enough courage to say that much. Anything more, he didn’t dare to say.

He was especially nervous when he said it, even replacing the term right before he spoke.

He didn’t expect this sentence to have such an effect. If he had known, he would’ve been more direct.

An Ye stared at him for a long while, not calling him shameless again, and not answering whether it was good or not. She picked up the cat and went into her room.

Shi Tuo went out alone to throw away the trash. When he came back, he saw An Ye on the balcony, making little snowballs with the thin layer of snow. When she saw him come back, she hurriedly ran back inside, slamming the door behind her.

Shi Tuo rubbed his nose.

He was in a great mood, very good. For the first time in ten years, he felt completely unburdened.

He thought An Ye should feel about the same. So before going to bed, he wore the death-pink dinosaur onesie and 9-point pants An Ye had given him, with his ankles exposed, and went out on the balcony to make snowballs for a while.An Ye, when she got up in the middle of the night to get some water from the fridge, saw six little geese neatly arranged in the freezer.

Geese, geese, geese, geese.

An Ye lowered her gaze, pressed against the fridge door, and laughed softly.

How annoying.

This person.

Using the same old joke for ten years.

"Teacher An seems to be in a good mood these days." Stylist Xiao Yang smiled as he applied the base makeup on An Ye. "The songs she’s been listening to are all so cheerful."

"Probably to get into character. Among her multiple personalities, two of them are the cheerful type," Zhaolin Jun, who was sitting next to An Ye reading the script, chimed in. He was playing the role of a police officer and had many scenes opposite An Ye. Since just now, he had been reading the newly revised script. "Director Yang made some big changes. All my previous preparations were for nothing."

"Director Yang said this is the most important project of his career," An Ye said while applying lip makeup, her lips not even moving but her words were still clear. "It’s only natural to be nervous."

Zhaolin Jun sneered. "Which of his films isn't a big deal to him? He acts like it’s always his first day in the industry."

Zhaolin Jun was one of the regulars in Director Yang’s supporting cast. He had worked with An Ye on two films. In the last one, he played one of the kidnappers, the one who beat An Ye up the most. In this new film, he played a police officer, and the girl who died was his niece. In the script, he had to mentally torture An Ye in various ways.

Even Lan Yifang was a bit afraid of him.

An Ye and he had a decent relationship, but they weren’t very close. She couldn’t get along with people too well. Whenever she chatted with people, it was usually just small talk. If the topic got personal, she’d let the conversation drop and pretend she hadn’t heard. When others had dinner gatherings or parties after shooting, she’d go, but would just smile in the corner. Over time, the actors who worked with her often knew her temperament and stopped calling her out, and she didn’t mind—actually, she preferred it that way.

Like now, hiding in the RV on set, not willing to go out. Not many actors in the crew dared to act like this.

An Ye didn’t really mind. To her, anywhere outside her house—where she had installed surveillance cameras in every corner—was a public place. Anyone could come.

"Hey, I want to ask you something," Zhaolin Jun glanced outside, then leaned closer to An Ye.

An Ye opened her eyes and looked at him through the mirror.

"Director Yang said you’re considering a romance drama next. Is that true?" Zhaolin Jun asked.

An Ye wanted to raise an eyebrow, but for some reason, she remembered Shi Tuo telling her to keep her eyebrows in place. So, she just kept her face neutral and said, "I did mention it to him."

Zhaolin Jun scratched his head, leaned back against the chair, and scratched his head again. "Then why did your manager reject the script? It made me get scolded by the screenwriter."

An Ye looked at him. "What?"

Zhaolin Jun said, "Director Yang said you were tired of doing suspense dramas and wanted to try a good-quality romance film. I thought, ‘Isn’t this perfect?’ because before, Screenwriter Li, you know, Li Yue, had this period romance script. I auditioned for it. I only saw the rough draft, but it’s really good, solid, and not shallow. She wanted to find a fresh face, someone who wasn’t the typical romantic lead type. The ones with too familiar faces just give off pink bubbles. She wanted someone who, when they step into a romance, makes you not expect it. So, I told Screenwriter Li about your interest in romance, and she contacted your manager. But your manager didn’t even let her finish speaking and rejected it, saying you were in bad health."

An Ye was silent for a while.

Li Yue was one of the top screenwriters in the country and had a lot of influence in the industry. Among the writers in the crew, she was one of the few whose opinions mattered. When she wrote a script, actors didn’t usually turn it down, and if they were serious about their acting career, they would at least audition for the smallest roles.

Yet, Yan Wan rejected it...

And not just rejected it, but rudely.

This wasn’t the first time Yan Wan had done something like this. As far as An Ye knew, this was the third time in the past six months.

This was one of those things she couldn’t make a scene about. Yan Wan always had a reason for rejecting a script, like mismatched character arcs or the risk of spoilers from certain co-stars. In this industry, coming up with a fancy excuse was too easy.

And now, it wasn’t convenient for her to make a big fuss. Qi Wei’s arrangements hadn’t been completed yet."Zhao Ge, can you give me the contact information for Screenwriter Li Yue?" An Ye took the phone from the makeup table. "I'll apologize to Teacher Li Yue. There’s a lot going on at the end of the year, and if I just say her name, she might think it’s a nuisance call. After all, I’ve never acted in this kind of drama before."

This, of course, was a way to save face.

But Zhao Linjun still gave An Ye the WeChat contact of Screenwriter Li Yue, smiling as he said, "Don’t think too much, it's just that in the last movie, I tortured you so much that I had nightmares about it. I felt like if I didn’t do something for you, I’d be losing my conscience."

An Ye smiled. "Well, in this movie, you didn’t exactly treat me well either. In the final scene, you’re still planning to lock me in a warehouse and scare me to death."

Zhao Linjun waved his hand in frustration. "Good thing you're not a big star, otherwise I wouldn’t dare act in this film. Director Yang is too ruthless."

The topic was quickly brushed aside.

Assistant Director Qian asked Zhao Linjun to go to the warehouse to rehearse, while An Ye's makeup had to be done for two different personalities, so her left and right sides had different makeup, and she also had to touch up the wounds on her body. Xiao Yang spent another half hour working on her makeup in the RV.

An Ye didn’t change the cheerful background music, but Xiao Yang didn’t dare speak much anymore.

Having been with An Ye for years, Xiao Yang knew about the underlying tensions in the company. It wasn’t the first time Yan Wan had pushed away An Ye’s work opportunities.

Although An Ye appeared to have no visible issues, and even took a phone call after finishing her makeup.

"I’m about to start shooting." An Ye’s tone didn’t sound off; Xiao Yang even felt that she seemed a little happy.

So, as she packed up, Xiao Yang couldn’t help but take a glance at An Ye.

With half her face in harsh makeup and the other half in a soft, fresh pink makeup, An Ye was looking into the mirror, her eyes feeling a bit cold.

Xiao Yang froze. She quickly averted her eyes.

The call was from Shi Tuo. They had an argument out of nowhere and then made up just as unexpectedly. Afterward, it felt a bit like the past ten years had vanished. They would reach out to each other about little things, but most of the time, it was Shi Tuo taking the initiative.

"I’ll only take two minutes," Shi Tuo said. "Old Bai’s got diarrhea. Do you have any medicine? Or should I take him to the hospital?"

"How’s his appetite?" An Ye had already stood up, stretching out one arm for Xiao Yang to help her change clothes.

"He hasn’t lost his appetite; he finished a whole can of food this morning." There was a faint sound of Old Bai in the background, followed by Shi Tuo’s quiet voice telling him to hold on, as diarrhea meant fasting.

"The Brady is in the middle shelf of the fridge, in the row of medicine," An Ye smiled, adjusting her hair. "Give him one, and if he’s still having diarrhea, take him to the hospital."

"Okay," Shi Tuo paused, then added, "Or should I take him back to my place? The heater’s off here, and I’m worried he’ll catch a cold."

"Mm." An Ye responded softly, then noticed the bruises painted on her exposed forearm. It looked a bit terrifying, so she quickly covered it up.

Shi Tuo was quiet for a while before asking, "Not in a good mood?"

An Ye was quiet for a moment, then said, "I’m fine. I’ll contact you after I’m done."

The call ended.

She tidied up the last bit of her disheveled hair, pushed open the RV door, and walked out.