Chapter 22: Get in the Car p1
The break room door closed again.
Jiang Mi stepped out and could still feel the sunlight on the corridor floor. Then, she stepped into nothingness, and the light passed through her flesh and bone, shining on her leg. She looked down and saw the dazzling, eye-piercing autographed photo in her hand.
Yan Wei, wearing a cheongsam, sat under a locust tree. Moss covered the stone alley, and locust blossoms fell silently on her like snow. She was devastatingly beautiful in her solitude.
She had never thought that Yan Wei and Qin Shui were similar, except for this moment.
She had never thought that interacting with Yan Wei would be something that would leave her feeling lost, except for this moment.
A pity… a pity for what?
A pity that Qin Shui wasn’t real. A pity that she couldn’t get close to Yan Wei either.
**
At seven-thirty in the evening, Jiang Qu added a scene at the last minute.
The reason was that she had heard a medic remind Bai Qiu that it was best not to use ointment on the bruise within 72 hours.
Jiang Qu smoked two cigarettes. After all work was paused for five minutes, she stood up and said to Jiang Mi and Yan Wei, “Right now, I want to film a change in Qin Shui’s attitude. From here on, Qin Shui is no longer so eager towards Yongping. Your reaction needs to be a bit ambiguous, neither showing that you’ve given up hope, nor that you’re playing hard to get. Improvise the lines.”
Yan Wei thought for a moment and nodded.
Jiang Qu turned to Jiang Mi and said, “For this scene, I want to ask you first, what do you think Liang Yongping’s thoughts would be?”
“Bewilderment.”
Jiang Qu was surprised by her quick response. “Explain.”
Jiang Mi was silent for a moment, then said, “No matter what kind of relationship, as long as there’s an entanglement, it’s very difficult to break it off cleanly in an instant. What’s more, they are the closest lovers in each other’s hearts. The other person’s sudden change in attitude, even if this result was forced by oneself, one would still feel bewildered at first, right? Not knowing how to face it, how to deal with it, how to walk out of this indifference, how to pretend nothing happened, or how to make oneself seem less pathetic?”
Jiang Qu was surprised. “Continue.”
Even Jiang Mi herself was surprised. Was she now able to analyze Liang Yongping’s state of mind so smoothly?
“And then—is the belated dull ache, spreading from the heart to the limbs. You want to cry but can’t. She feels that she should be sad, but it also seems like she shouldn’t be, after all, this is the result she wanted. But she doesn’t understand why it turned out this way. Then, she should feel reluctant, missing all the beautiful moments they experienced, like their first meeting…”
Jiang Mi’s words suddenly stopped. She was shocked to realize that in that instant, what she had thought of was actually her first meeting with Yan Wei. That day, she had hugged Yan Wei by mistake, and the person on the LED screen had descended before her eyes.
She resisted the urge to look at Yan Wei’s face at this moment, even though she felt it was absurd and childish.
She shouldn’t have been unhappy. It wasn’t the first time Yan Wei had rejected her anyway—she didn’t know what was wrong with her. Was she angry with herself, or with Yan Wei?
Why was she angry? What reason, what right did she have to be angry?
This was too surreal.
“You’re improving very quickly.” Jiang Qu pulled her soul back. “You’re a bit like Liang Yongping now. Very right, very right. This way, the audience will really feel that you’re personally experiencing it, that you are Liang Yongping.”
Jiang Mi smiled. “You’re a good teacher.”
“She’s quite good now, isn’t she, Yan Wei?” Jiang Qu suddenly asked.
Yan Wei seemed to have been distracted. She paused, then nodded. “Mmm, she’s improved a lot.”
This is the first time I’ve gotten Yan Wei’s approval, right? Jiang Mi thought.
She said with a smile, “Thank you, Teacher Yan. It’s also thanks to you teaching me.”
Yan Wei looked at Jiang Mi’s curving, smiling eyes, unable to discern her thoughts. But since the afternoon, Jiang Mi hadn’t taken the initiative to say anything—although Jiang Mi’s expression and reaction seemed no different from usual.
She felt an inexplicable sense of irritation and silently waited for Jiang Qu’s arrangements.
Different people, different fates. Jiang Qu’s anxiety, on the other hand, had completely relaxed. She was in a good mood. “Alright, you two go get ready. Yan Wei, we need a shot of your waist, both close-up and long shot. After the makeup artist is done, let me take a look at the details.”
Yan Wei responded faintly.
Jiang Qu turned to give instructions on the camera positions.
Jiang Mi stood where she was. Only after Yan Wei had also left for the makeup room did she walk towards the folding chair not far away.
Jiang Qu hadn’t given them any lines; it was all improvised on the spot.
At nearly eight o’clock on the set, there were less than half the people there were during the day, yet her ears still felt as if they were filled with sound. It turned into white noise, buzzing, and even felt a bit torturous.
She couldn’t think anymore, her face scrunched up like a bitter melon.
“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” Zhao Jia draped a coat over Jiang Mi and asked, staring at her pale face.
Jiang Mi was quiet for a few seconds. “If someone suddenly changes their attitude towards you, but you don’t know why, what do you do?”
Zhao Jia: “Ask them.”
“What if you’re not that happy, and you don’t really want to ask?”
“Why aren’t you happy?”
“It’s hard to say, anyway—” Jiang Mi suddenly didn’t know how to continue.
Zhao Jia followed her train of thought. “Did you argue with apple? Weren’t you fine this afternoon?”
Jiang Mi didn’t want to talk about it anymore and shook her head. She felt she needed some time to clear her head.
Zhao Jia looked at her expression and patted her shoulder sarcastically. “You haven’t really fallen for apple, have you? She has a girlfriend. Being the third party is not appropriate.”
“…” Are you crazy!
Seeing Jiang Mi’s expression liven up again, Zhao Jia smiled and pulled a chair over to sit down, quietly keeping Jiang Mi company. But the smile on her lips unconsciously faded. She looked up, her eyes filled with a complex emotion.
Was the decision to have Jiang Mi take on this drama a mistake?
“Mimi.”
Jiang Mi looked over and saw Zhao Jia’s serious expression, a rare seriousness. “When you stay in one environment for too long, it’s very easy to be assimilated. One night last year, at around ten o’clock, I suddenly received a call that my mom had accidentally dialed. The first thing I said to her was actually, ‘You scared me to death, I thought something had happened to Jiang Mi.’ After I said it, I shuddered. I felt it was really scary for those words to come out of my mouth. Because I realized I had been assimilated by my identity as a manager. Fortunately, I came to my senses in time, so this year for the New Year, I gave myself a vacation and went home to be with my mom. It’s actually the same for you—”
Zhao Jia said, “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I think you’re just temporarily being assimilated by the role of an actor. This isn’t a bad thing. It’s perfectly normal in this industry, right? Your feelings, your emotions, your thoughts might not be purely for a certain person, but have a lot to do with the roles you’re playing. To put it bluntly, they might not be completely real. This isn’t the first drama you’ve filmed, and it won’t be the last. No matter what you’re thinking now, it won’t be the last time. Don’t think so much. After filming for another two months, everything will be over.”
**
By the time the last scene of the day was finished, it was already past ten at night. The next day’s start time was delayed until after lunch.
Shen Ruoxi suggested they go for a late-night snack.
Yan Wei was the first to refuse. Jiang Qu also didn’t participate, saying that if she went, it would be inconvenient for the others, but she would reimburse their meal expenses. Everyone was laughing and joking, and the atmosphere was harmonious.
Jiang Mi was also smiling and watching the fun from the side. Shen Ruoxi then asked her.
She glanced at Yan Wei, who was already preparing to leave, then turned back and nodded happily. “I’ll go!”
Shen Ruoxi was a very open and fun-loving person. With Shen Ruoxi’s energy, the entire private room was more lively than the New Year.
After a few bites, Shen Ruoxi turned to Jiang Mi and offered her a glass of wine. “Mimi, have a sip?”
Beside her, Zhao Jia first came to Jiang Mi’s rescue. “She can’t drink. Come on, Ruoxi, I’ll have one with you.”
“Really?” Shen Ruoxi didn’t believe it.
Jiang Mi shrugged. “I’m really not good at it.”
“To what extent?”
Jiang Mi held up her index finger.
Shen Ruoxi laughed. “One glass and you’re out?”
Jiang Mi shook her head. “One sip.”
Shen Ruoxi: “…Pfft, hahahahaha.”
In the Jiang family, whether it was Jiang Youshu or Jiang Hu, beer was consumed by the case. Only Jiang Mi had never been able to hold her head high in this matter. In front of others, it was beer, white wine, and red wine. For her—it was juice, milk, and AD Calcium.
Another actor came over. “Not even a little bit? Mimi, you’re an Alpha, right?”
Can’t Alphas be bad at drinking? Jiang Mi thought.
No one believed it. After all, the “one sip and you’re out” thing was only seen on TV. In real life, no one had ever seen someone actually get drunk after one sip of alcohol.
Zhao Jia explained a little, and Shen Ruoxi was also tactful. “Then Sister Zhao will have a drink with me. Mimi can skip it. I don’t want the director to come after me tomorrow.”
Jiang Mi looked over gratefully. Shen Ruoxi threw her a flirtatious glance and said in a low voice, “You owe me one.”
Jiang Mi: “No problem.”
As they were happily eating, someone’s voice said “Yan Wei.”
Jiang Mi perked up her ears. A not-so-familiar actor, probably drunk, had a flushed face. The people around her were trying to stop her, but she seemed not to hear and continued, “But don’t you think she’s a bit pretentious? No, it’s not a bad thing, I mean, she seems hard to get close to, and then she seems a bit fierce.”
The latter part was clearly a frantic attempt to backtrack after realizing she had misspoken.
“It’s not that I don’t like her. Actually, I’m a fan too. She’s quite nice. This won’t accidentally get out, will it? I don’t dislike Teacher Yan.”
Listening to that half-hearted explanation, Jiang Mi gently put down her chopsticks.
“She’s not even here. Let’s not talk about her, okay?”
The moment she spoke, the surroundings quieted down for a couple of minutes.
Even Zhao Jia was surprised. Having worked with Jiang Mi for so many years, she knew better than anyone that Jiang Mi was genuinely angry at this moment.
But just as everyone was surprised and bewildered, a smile quickly spread across Jiang Mi’s face. She said with a laugh, “Teacher Shen and I have a lot of scenes too! Can you pay attention to us supporting characters too? Alright, since everyone is so happy, I’ll have a sip too.”
Before Zhao Jia could stop her, Jiang Mi picked up her wine glass and took a big gulp.
Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and then the noise started up again, the atmosphere quickly returning to normal.
The late-night snack lasted for a full two hours. If Shen Ruoxi hadn’t gotten drunk, they probably would have gone for another round.
A little past midnight.
Jiang Mi was leaning against the car window. The effect of that big gulp of red wine had long since kicked in. Fortunately, the alcohol content wasn’t high. Apart from feeling a little light-headed and her face being hot, as well as a bit of stuffiness, she didn’t feel particularly unwell.
“Usually, you can tolerate it when people curse at you, but you can’t stand a single word against your idol?” Zhao Jia could tell that Jiang Mi was not herself today.
Jiang Mi said, “I didn’t want to hear it, so I spoke too quickly.”
That sip of wine was just a regulator. She couldn’t let the atmosphere turn cold because of her. It would be awkward for everyone, and they still had to work together.
Zhao Jia opened her mouth, but in the end, only said, “We’ll be there in twenty minutes. Get some sleep.”
Jiang Mi hummed in agreement and closed her eyes, but unfortunately, she didn’t sleep much, feeling groggy the whole way.
Getting out of the car, Jiang Mi’s legs gave way. If she hadn’t held onto the car door in time, she would have almost knelt down. Zhao Jia came over to support her, but she was more stubborn than usual. “I’m fine.”
She really was fine.
Her mind was very clear. Apart from being a little hot, she didn’t think she was drunk.
She thought it was because as she got older, her alcohol tolerance had also increased. Or maybe the red wine tonight was just weak.
Zhao Jia indulged her, letting go and praising, “Amazing, amazing.”
Let’s see you not stumble then.
Jiang Mi shook her hair. Her flushed face had a charm she herself was unaware of. “A piece of cake. Next time, I’ll challenge two sips.”
Zhao Jia: “…” So bold.
Not far away, a white Bentley’s engine was off, blending in with the other cars.
Jiang Mi turned her head, and a night breeze carrying a heavy smell of alcohol hit her face. Shen Ruoxi also got out of the car, half her body hanging on her manager’s shoulder. But she was too drunk, and the manager couldn’t support her at all, to the point where Zhao Jia had to help.
After finally getting her into the elevator, Jiang Mi remembered that she had left something in the car. The two people in the elevator were busy “taking care of” Shen Ruoxi, so she walked out of the elevator alone.
The elevator doors closed behind her. She walked towards the nanny van with unsteady steps. Fortunately, the driver hadn’t left yet.
Soon, she came down from the car with a plastic bag.
The cold white light of the parking garage stretched her shadow long and thin. Her knees felt weak and sore with each step.
Jiang Mi was wearing a slim-fitting white knit cardigan that accentuated her curves. Her waist was slender and toned, and jeans hugged her long legs. Her shoulder-length black hair was a bit messy. Her face and neck were like ripe honey fruit, and of course, her ears and lips were even redder.
Clearly, she was a bit tired.
But she smiled and waved goodbye to the driver, reminding him to be careful on the road, and politely added, “Thank you.”
Perhaps it was because of the alcohol, but her mouth was dry, and she licked her lips. She pulled the zipper of her knit cardigan down, revealing the faint blush on her collarbone from the alcohol. Feeling it wasn’t enough, she wanted to pull it down a little more.
It was at this moment that Yan Wei opened her car door.
The sound of the car door closing heavily sounded behind her. Jiang Mi subconsciously turned her head, then stared in a daze at the woman getting out of the white car. The damp smell of the underground garage didn’t seem so heavy at this moment.
The woman’s face was not looking good, even colder than during the day, but still so beautiful.
Yan Wei looked straight ahead, walked past the person reeking of alcohol, and into the elevator. She turned, and her cool, well-proportioned fingers hovered over the open button. She looked at Jiang Mi outside the door. “Get in.”
Jiang Mi wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she heard a hint of command in the cold tone.
She didn’t feel anything was wrong at this moment, just thought, Can’t Yan Wei just smile at me?
_
