The train arrived at the provincial capital.
Bai Kou looked up at the platform, which was several times larger than Heyan City’s train station, and felt a bit dazed.
When they exited the station, a light drizzle was falling outside. Someone in a red raincoat rode a bicycle past them, splashing up a spray of water.
Yang Wanxi reacted quickly and pulled Bai Kou behind her. Then she tightly hugged Bai Kou’s shoulder and moved in front of her, facing her to block the wind.
The cold wind cut like knives.
Yang Wanxi frowned and opened her phone’s contacts. Following Auntie Yang’s instructions, she called “Auntie Wang Min.”
It was damp and chilly with the drizzle, and the wind blew in relentless gusts. After the call, they stood at the exit waiting for Auntie Wang.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Bai Kou saw that the wind was strong and the raindrops were drifting closer, almost reaching Yang Kuikui’s pant legs.
She reached out and wrapped her arms around Yang Wanxi’s waist, pulling her back while urging her to move further inside.
Yang Wanxi, who had been turning her head to look left, turned back and glanced at her.
Bai Kou met Yang Kuikui’s puzzled gaze but did not loosen her hold. Instead, she hugged even tighter.
“Yang Kuikui, if I watch from the side while you audition later, will you get nervous?”
Click, click—
At the audition site, standing not far behind the monitor amid the crowd.
Bai Kou watched Yang Wanxi’s cold-faced expression facing the camera on the screen and suddenly got goosebumps all over. This felt even more wondrous than when she had watched the ad at Yang Wanxi’s house!
Standing under the lights, even though her clothes hadn’t changed, Bai Kou felt that Yang Kuikui seemed so different…
Just like how she and Lu Tongtong usually praised Li Wan.
She had the aura of a big star!
After one round of test shots, an unfamiliar director whom Bai Kou didn’t recognize stood up from behind the monitor and walked straight to Yang Wanxi’s side. He patted Yang Wanxi’s shoulder.
“Little Xi is pretty good! Director Song He really has an eye for talent!”
A bit later, the assistant director on site informed them that a few more groups of actors would come for auditions, so Yang Wanxi and Bai Kou could go wander around first.
Yang Wanxi then pulled Bai Kou downstairs to buy oden—Heyan didn’t have it, and on the way to the provincial capital, Bai Kou had kept saying she wanted to try it.
As they went downstairs, they ran into a group of young people who had come together. They looked a bit older than Yang Wanxi. As this group passed Yang Wanxi, their gazes swept over her quite rudely.
“No wonder she got recommended for an audition with no experience—she looks like Teacher Li.”
“That ad she did with Li Wan before… it was really not great…”
These words drifted intermittently back to Yang Wanxi and Bai Kou’s ears.
Bai Kou was furious and… nervous. She stole a glance at Yang Wanxi’s profile and, in the silence, quietly reached out to hold Yang Wanxi’s right hand. She was just about to say some encouraging words.
“I’m fine.” Yang Wanxi glanced at her and continued walking down naturally. “You should focus on thinking about what to pick for oden later.”
On the way back to the studio with the oden, Yang Wanxi held the umbrella over Bai Kou with her left hand and kept her right hand in her pocket. She stared expressionlessly at the rain curtain ahead.
Bai Kou silently bit into a fish ball, not daring to ask if Yang Kuikui wanted any.
She could tell when she could comfort Yang Kuikui and when she couldn’t.
Back on the third floor of the studio, just before pushing open the glass door, Yang Wanxi’s hand paused on the handle. She unconsciously pursed her lips for several seconds before lightly exhaling and putting on a smile as she pushed the door open.
Bai Kou saw all these changes. She could only grip Yang Wanxi’s hand more tightly and wholeheartedly, following her inside together.
The studio inside was structured like a small villa home, with doors and curtains dividing different shooting themes. The walkways outside the shooting sites were very dimly lit. For first-timers with poor memory, it was easy to get lost.
But Yang Wanxi led Bai Kou without any hesitation in her steps, firmly lifting curtain after curtain as they headed deep into the studio.
The moment the last bit of light appeared, it went dark again. Yang Wanxi turned to look at Bai Kou.
“They’re still shooting inside. Let’s wait here first.”
Yang Wanxi’s expression didn’t change as she said this, but Bai Kou felt she could tell that Yang Kuikui didn’t want to go in so soon.
She nodded immediately. “Yeah! Right here is fine! I think it’s stuffy inside anyway!”
Just as she finished speaking, from right behind the nearby curtain came two extremely familiar names.
“Song He, you’re saying we already have a Li Wan in our movie—do we really need to stock up on a little Li Mengjun? The kid looks good, sure, but her professionalism? Oof, it’s way too lacking…”
Bai Kou grew more and more shocked as she listened. She instinctively reached for Yang Wanxi’s hand, wanting Yang Kuikui not to listen and to go hide outside with her—
Yang Wanxi gripped her hand firmly instead, turning back to look at her in the dim light. She frowned, shook her head, and mouthed, “It’s fine.”
Bai Kou’s lips moved, and a thousand words turned into an extremely soft sigh.
A voice came from inside again, this time deeper in tone. “I get what you mean, but I’ve told you—I spotted her resemblance to Li Mengjun at first glance. For me, having that face is enough. Professionalism? That’s later. Right now, I just need the media to take an interest in her.”
“I get it, but you have to think about our reputation too. To be honest, if not for your sake, I really wouldn’t want to use her in this ad… If it’s not working, it’s not. Looking like her doesn’t make her Li Mengjun. With so many great newcomers from the film academy, you suddenly shoving in an average kid like this—aren’t you afraid of demoralizing everyone?”
“…” The questioned person fell silent for two seconds. “Fine, anyway, this ad—you—”
With the words, a hand reached from inside to grab the curtain, about to pull it open!
Bai Kou’s heart tightened. She wanted to pull Yang Wanxi away, but it was too late.
Thud thud thud! Thud thud thud!
In front of them were the two surprised directors behind the curtain, along with Yang Wanxi’s extremely quiet shoulder silhouette.
“Teacher Song?” Yang Wanxi said in a surprised tone full of delight. “Why are you here?”
The light projecting from inside the curtain flickered on and off on Yang Wanxi’s face, making it hard to read her emotions. Song He’s mouth stiffened for a moment as she tried to gauge how much Yang Wanxi had heard.
Next to Song He was the chief director who had just praised Yang Wanxi as “pretty good.” Her smile was even stranger as she asked directly, “Little Xi, you two were… here the whole time?”
“Huh?” Yang Wanxi’s tone seemed a bit panicked. “N-no, we weren’t… Director Zhou just told us we could go downstairs for a bite, and we just got back and were about to go in when we ran into you and Teacher Song… Sorry, should I have waited here? Did I hold up your work?”
Song He let out a breath of relief and patted Yang Wanxi’s shoulder. “No, no. Since Director Zhou agreed to let you go down, it’s her arrangement. Little Xi, don’t be nervous.”
A few minutes later, Song He pulled the chief director aside and left.
Bai Kou accompanied Yang Wanxi back to a corner of the studio. She noticed that the group of people they had bumped into on the stairs earlier was gathered in another corner, occasionally glancing their way with unpleasant expressions.
Anger surged in her heart.
Bai Kou really wanted to go over and confront them—”What exactly are you looking at?”—when Yang Wanxi suddenly hugged her, burying her face in Bai Kou’s neck.
Soon, a faint sobbing sound came by her ear.
Yang Wanxi’s body was trembling uncontrollably.
Seeing Yang Kuikui like this, Bai Kou felt terrible too. Her heart seemed to shatter along with Yang Kuikui’s.
“Yang… Yang Wanxi…” Her voice choked as she called out Yang Kuikui’s full name unclearly.
“Mm…” Yang Wanxi suppressed her crying and managed a response from her throat.
After that, they held each other in the corner, listening to the “click, click” from the studio side continuing nonstop.
After crying, Yang Wanxi went into the bathroom and splashed a handful of cold water on her face.
Bai Kou stayed right by Yang Kuikui’s side. When Yang Kuikui straightened up, without a word, she raised the tissue in her hand and carefully wiped the water droplets from Yang Wanxi’s face.
Only now did she dare to get angry on Yang Wanxi’s behalf. “They’re so annoying—how could they say that! Yang Kuikui, let’s just go! We won’t do it!”
Yang Wanxi grasped her wrist and pulled down the tissue blocking her view. She gave Bai Kou a calm smile again.
“We’ve come all this way. Let’s wait until the end, at least to see it through.”
The two returned to the studio and stood at the back for more than two hours until past six in the evening. Song He pulled the chief director to her feet and walked toward Yang Wanxi and Bai Kou.
The chief director said something completely different from behind the curtain. “Little Xi, after seeing everyone today, you’re still the best fit. We don’t know when your parents are free—we could invite—”
Yang Wanxi spoke up then. “Sorry, Director He.”
The chief director watched Yang Wanxi and Bai Kou’s departing backs and frowned. “How does this kid not know to seize the opportunity?”
Song He raised her hand to cut off the chief director’s words.
She let out a long sigh toward Yang Wanxi’s back, then turned and walked silently back to the monitor.
Outside the studio building, Yang Wanxi stood in the moist night breeze, raising her arms for a relaxed stretch.
Bai Kou stood beside Yang Wanxi, feeling like Yang Kuikui might have gone mad with anger. “Yang Kuikui, that director said you were the best fit—how could you say Auntie Yang called and doesn’t agree—”
Yang Wanxi turned her head and looked at her expressionlessly. Bai Kou immediately stopped the rest of her words.
But her face still showed clear confusion.
Yang Wanxi then said, “Does she pick me mean I have to agree?”
Bai Kou chuckled speechlessly. “But on the way here, you were clearly looking forward to this shoot.”
Yang Wanxi made an “mm” sound. “But that doesn’t mean I have to agree.”
“…Are you still upset?” Bai Kou asked.
Yang Wanxi looked into Bai Kou’s eyes for a moment, then smiled and shook her head. “No, I was never upset. Let’s go, home.”
Bai Kou was pulled toward the exit of the studio park. She muttered, “Taking the train so late… is it safe…”
“With me leading you, what are you afraid of?” Yang Wanxi said from ahead. “Just hold my hand tight.”
“…” Bai Kou yanked hard, making Yang Wanxi stop.
Then she took two steps, circled in front of Yang Wanxi, grasped both of Yang Wanxi’s hands, and her eyes sparkled under the streetlight. “Yang Kuikui, don’t go yet. Let me draw a picture for you here.”
Yang Wanxi looked at her like she was a ghost. “Here? With what?”
“Hehe, please wait a moment.”
After saying that, Bai Kou let go of Yang Wanxi’s hand, lowered her head, and took a palm-sized notebook from her bag, along with the green pencil clipped to the spiral binding.
“You—” Bai Kou looked around and pointed under the streetlight. “Go stand there.”
“What is this?” Yang Wanxi walked over helplessly. “You’re really drawing?”
“Yes yes, right there is fine.”
Bai Kou stepped back a few paces, held up the pencil vertically, squinted to balance Yang Wanxi’s figure against the studio building behind her, then shifted two steps to the left.
