Chapter 49: Profound
At a little past five in the morning, she saw a notification. Yan Wei’s flight had been canceled due to special reasons. She subconsciously lowered her eyes and met Yan Wei’s slowly opening eyes.
“Did I wake you?”
“No.”
Yan Wei hadn’t actually slept much, so she had woken up when the phone screen in the car lit up. Her gaze still carried a faint, hazy quality from just having been pulled from a light sleep.
“Your flight,” Jiang Mi said, “…is canceled. The earliest one that can leave is not until the afternoon.”
To avoid unnecessary speculation, they had deliberately staggered their flights.
So now, Yan Wei could only catch the afternoon flight, which meant that Yan Wei had to stay in Jincheng for another six or seven hours, or even longer.
And the scenes originally scheduled for the afternoon, she wouldn’t be able to get back in time to film.
Jiang Mi’s fingertips were quickly swiping across the cold phone screen, trying to find even one feasible route among the grayed-out options.
Yan Wei propped herself up, her gaze sweeping over Jiang Mi’s slightly furrowed brow from worry. A very faint, almost imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of her lips. “If we can’t go, then let’s stay.”
“Hmm?” Jiang Mi looked up from the screen and into those eyes, which had now returned to clarity. “But what about the afternoon’s scenes? Do we need to coordinate with Director Jiang?”
She was considering whether Jiang Qu would be angry. After all, both female leads had now taken leave one after another.
“Even if we coordinate it, with a four o’clock flight, you’ll still have to waste a lot of time here…” she said in a low voice, more like she was sorting out her own thoughts.
Yan Wei didn’t reply, but just tilted her head slightly, with an almost scrutinizing playfulness, watching the subtle fluctuations in Jiang Mi’s brow.
Jiang Mi was a little uncomfortable being looked at like this and suddenly thought of a compromise. “How about… we find a hotel near the airport? We can be low-key, and at least you can get some better rest.”
Coordination was inevitable.
Yan Wei definitely couldn’t go back in these few hours. She just couldn’t rest assured leaving her alone.
“Just for this, you can get so worked up?” Yan Wei sat up completely, the fabric of her clothes, tightened by the change in posture, outlining her smooth lines. She met Jiang Mi’s questioning gaze, and her voice fell lightly, “Since you’re so worried, you might as well just stay too.”
“Then won’t the crew be in chaos?” Jiang Mi said subconsciously.
Two core actors absent at the same time, and all those crew members waiting in the studio… besides, she had just confirmed with Jiang Qu this morning that she could return to work at noon.
Although she really wanted to stay with Yan Wei, she really couldn’t just ignore everything.
Hearing this, Yan Wei’s expression didn’t change. She calmly took out her own phone from her bag, tapped her fingertips a few times, and only faintly replied, “It won’t be chaotic.”
The slight vibration of a successful message being sent was transmitted.
Jiang Mi’s gaze avoided the screen and turned to the faint morning light outside the window. The next second, her chin was lightly touched by cool fingertips.
Yan Wei’s force was not heavy, but it carried an unquestionable assertiveness, turning her soft face back.
Their gazes met, so close that they could clearly see the fine shadows cast by each other’s eyelashes.
“You, sometimes—” Yan Wei’s voice lowered, the end of her words carrying a strange tenderness.
Jiang Mi subconsciously blinked, as if she were mesmerized by this sudden intimacy and whisper. “What?”
Yan Wei didn’t answer immediately. Her always-unfathomable eyes were now filled with an almost appreciative expression. She clearly enunciated three words:
“Very interesting.”
Jiang Mi’s ears were slightly hot, but her body was honest. She didn’t avoid Yan Wei’s hand. “Every time you say I’m cute or interesting, I always feel like you’re teasing some kind of pet.”
She muttered in a low voice.
Hearing this tone, Yan Wei’s brow raised inadvertently.
“…” Jiang Mi’s heart was in her throat. “…Are you really treating me like a pet?”
“How could I?” Yan Wei’s hand didn’t leave, but instead, she gently rubbed her cheek with her fingertips. That patch of skin was delicate and soft, and the place that had been rubbed, as if it had been dyed with pigment, slowly spread a layer of pale red.
It made one’s heart itch.
Yan Wei was fascinated by this change, her force alternating between deep and shallow, playing with the tender white skin in that small area.
But her eyes were on the side of her neck. She asked, “Does it hurt?”
Jiang Mi said truthfully, “A little. So sister, don’t you think that compared to me, you’re actually more like a puppy—hiss, my mistake, my mistake.”
Yan Wei gently pinched the flesh of Jiang Mi’s cheek. The force was actually not heavy, but Jiang Mi was very sharp and took the opportunity to retreat.
She was in the mood to continue the conversation, so she picked up, “Say it again.”
“You, you… sister, I’m a puppy, I’m a puppy.”
Is that okay?!
Only then did a very faint smile appear on Yan Wei’s lips. She touched that rosy cheek. “Very good.”
But Jiang Mi didn’t hide. Although being said so was a little bit shameful, she didn’t dislike it that much. On the contrary, she suddenly had a faint sense of happiness.
She was enjoying the present moment.
Jiang Mi’s gaze shifted, and she asked softly, “Did you send a message to Director Jiang? What did you say?”
“I said I’m with you and I can’t go back today.”
The atmosphere in the air changed slightly.
Jiang Mi was stunned. Her lips moved several times before she squeezed out a dry, “This…”
“…Is it appropriate?” When she went back and saw Jiang Qu, just thinking about that scene made her toes curl. And did this count as admitting their relationship? To an outsider?
Yan Wei’s voice showed no emotion. “You don’t like it?”
Jiang Mi keenly caught that hint of probing and quickly shook her head. “I like it.”
Of course, Jiang Mi was happy to be able to spend more time alone with Yan Wei.
But under that joy, there were also some worries. After all, standing up the crew for no reason, not to mention offending the director, there were also the coordination and arrangements of so many people…
“I’ll be responsible for all the losses. You don’t have to worry about Jiang Qu’s side. You don’t have to worry about these things.” Yan Wei’s tone was a matter of course and brooked no argument. “What you need to think about now is how to ‘compensate’ me.”
“…You’re really not going back to the set?”
“Mmm.”
Jiang Mi confirmed the answer again, trying to ignore the uneasiness in her heart, and took the initiative to ask, “Then… what do you want to eat? Can I treat you to a meal?”
“You decide.” Yan Wei’s reply was casual. She had never been very interested in food.
The light of day had completely broken.
The two of them found a place to tidy up briefly. Jiang Mi moved to the driver’s seat and let Yan Wei catch up on sleep.
The car drove into the city. She found an inconspicuous corner to park, put on her hat and mask, and then got out of the car.
Before long, she came back with two packed breakfasts.
“It’ll be much better if we can find a place with a private room for lunch. For breakfast, we can only make do in the car.” As she spoke, she handed the still-warm bag to Yan Wei.
Yan Wei took the bag of still-steaming breakfast—eggs, soy milk, and a small piece of rice cake.
The warmth from her fingertips spread up her nerve endings, bringing a vague but sharp sensation.
She lowered her head, but the image of Jiang Mi appeared before her eyes—her hat was pulled down low, and her mask covered most of her face, as if she were carrying out some secret mission. She was holding this bag of breakfast with both hands, walking through the faint morning light, her steps hurried. She was probably not yet familiar with this kind of situation that required hiding, and she ran towards the car with a clumsy caution.
A complex, almost forgotten warmth, mixed with a deeper emotion, unexpectedly rose in a corner of her heart, faint but very clear.
Many years ago, there seemed to have been a similar morning.
Before Yan Xiaotan left this world.
That woman would also park her car on the roadside. She would also put on her hat and mask, get out of the car, and walk towards the steaming breakfast stall, just to buy a portion of soy milk and egg pancakes that she thought her daughter liked.
While waiting in line, Yan Xiaotan would occasionally turn her head, and through the crowd and the car window, she would gently raise her hand to her younger self sitting in the back seat, as if silently comforting a little animal that was waiting impatiently.
For a long time after Yan Xiaotan left, there would always be a portion of egg pancakes on the dinner table. It was for Mo Xi.
Because Mo Yun thought that was what she liked to eat.
To remind her—not to be so heartless, not to think of living too comfortably.
But Mo Yun still didn’t know that in fact, she had never liked to eat egg pancakes, didn’t like that greasy taste.
She just had never been able to refuse the portion that Yan Xiaotan handed her. Every time, she would silently eat it all.
“You should drink some soy milk first to warm your stomach.” Jiang Mi’s voice interrupted the thought that had sunk into time.
Jiang Mi temporarily placed her own breakfast on her lap and carefully wiped each finger with a wet wipe. Her focused look was as if she were about to do something very important.
After wiping them clean, she picked up a warm boiled egg, patiently peeled off the brown shell, and then handed it to Yan Wei.
Yan Wei took it, was silent for a few seconds, and asked, “Where are we going?”
Jiang Mi was sipping her soy milk through a straw, her gaze sweeping over the street scene outside the car window. She was thinking about this very challenging question—with Yan Wei’s identity, where was a “hiding place” that was both safe and not too boring?
Her gaze unconsciously wandered around, and suddenly, it landed on a colorful and strangely shaped sign not far away.
Haunted house?
She blinked. A closed space, very low public exposure, and it was fun… objectively analyzing, it seemed to be a rather ideal choice?
“Mmm.” Jiang Mi tentatively opened her mouth, her tone carrying a hint of eagerness that even she herself hadn’t noticed. “What do you think of going to a haunted house to play…?”
Jiang Mi turned her head to look at Yan Wei, her eyes dancing with a curiosity and playfulness that had not yet been completely worn down by life. She still held a fresh, exploratory expectation for this world.
Completely different from her.
Yan Wei thought.
But she wasn’t tired of this Jiang Mi. On the contrary, she faintly felt a joy at the probing and smile on the other’s face. On the contrary, she felt that strange, small palpitation.
Perhaps it was because of this that she could indulge Jiang Mi in being different from others in front of her.
To her, it was interesting.
More interesting than death, more interesting than anything else in this world.
“I’ve never played,” Yan Wei said.
Seeing that she didn’t directly object, Jiang Mi was as if encouraged, and her words became light and fast. “I was dragged there once by Jiang Hu before. As a result, she screamed even more scarily than the ghosts the whole time, clinging to my back. In the end, she had to rely on me to push her out with her eyes closed!” Recalling that scene, the corners of Jiang Mi’s mouth couldn’t help but lift.
“Jiang Hu?” Yan Wei’s thoughts seemed to be slightly blocked by this name.
Her gaze brushed over Jiang Mi’s face like a feather, and the smile at the corner of her mouth. “Your sister?”
“Mmm, yeah.” Jiang Mi nodded, her expression frank.
Yan Wei remembered that Surui had checked Jiang Mi’s family organization. Jiang Mi and Jiang Hu were not biological sisters. In that instant, she thought of too many things, and a little bit of gloom came out for some reason.
She just looked at Jiang Mi like this, her eyes becoming a little deep. For a few seconds, it was unclear what she was thinking.
Finally, she said, “Then let’s go.”
If this matter was so profound in Jiang Mi’s memory.
It didn’t matter.
Just erase it with a more profound memory.
