Chapter 49: Did Qu An’ge… bully you?

The weather was somewhat gloomy that morning.

Murky seawater connected to the overcast sky, piling up to the horizon like old cotton wadding. The sky seemed very low, as if you could touch the clouds by raising your hand just a bit more. The weather forecast predicted heavy rain in the coming days.

Shen Hai had joined the set last night, so Director Fan simply moved all of Yi Nandie’s scenes to the back and started shooting the later plot first. Qu An’ge had to change her makeup and styling today, so she got up especially early.

Just as she was preparing to go to the dock area and do some stretches, she saw a thin figure from afar, crouching by the dock. One hand hugged a knee, the other reached out towards the sea’s surface, as if trying to touch the foam-flecked water.

It was Yi Nandie.

The girl leaned forward, losing her center of gravity, and swayed violently.

Startled, Qu An’ge feared her voice might scare her, so she walked closer before speaking. “What are you doing here?”

As it turned out, Yi Nandie was still frightened. The person shuddered and toppled towards the sea. Qu An’ge reached out, grabbed the back of her collar, and hauled her back.

So light.

That was the first sensation upon grabbing her. The girl was at least 168 cm tall, but holding her felt like lifting an empty shell. Her clothes were oversized, making her seem like a stick wrapped in a sack.

Pulled back, she plopped onto the ground. Looking up, she stared wide-eyed at Qu An’ge, eyes panicked but clear.

Qu An’ge smiled. “Sorry, I scared you.”

Yi Nandie shook her head. “You saved my life.”

Qu An’ge crouched down too. “Not that dramatic. Why are you up so early, watching the sunrise here?”

Yi Nandie gazed out at the sea. The clouds were thick; not a single ray of sunlight could be seen.

She honestly said, “No, I just felt upset and wanted to be alone quietly.”

As she spoke, she lowered her head, looking like she was about to cry again.

Lately, Qu An’ge had seen Yi Nandie cry at the drop of a hat. At first, she felt some sympathy, but later it just gave her a headache. She took a tissue from her pocket and handed it over, unable to stop a slightly lecturing tone from creeping into her voice. “Instead of spending so much time crying, you’d be better off working on your acting.”

After saying it, she regretted it a little, thinking Yi Nandie would probably start crying again at those words.

She had figured it out: Yi Nandie wasn’t the petty type, but she was truly too soft. This kind of person was unlikely to survive in showbiz, no wonder she couldn’t rise despite all the promotion later.

Unexpectedly, this time Yi Nandie didn’t cry.

Actually, if Director Fan had said that, Yi Nandie surely would have been heartbroken again. But Qu An’ge was her peer, so Yi Nandie didn’t feel lectured; she just felt Qu An’ge was reminding her.

She wiped her nose, silent for a long while, then suddenly blurted out, “Why can’t I perform as well as you?”

Qu An’ge felt a small pride at that, but also some guilt. She shouldn’t be proud; she was simply reaping the benefits of over a decade of extra hard work. Looking at Yi Nandie, she said, “You do have talent. Just work a bit harder.”

Yi Nandie kept her head down. “My agent also says I have talent. The director of my last drama said so too. But seeing you, I feel like they must have just been humoring me.”

Qu An’ge didn’t know what to say. Yi Nandie’s eyes were red-rimmed, starting to choke up again. Qu An’ge had no choice but to coax her. “They meant it. You were definitely chosen for this role because of that.”

Yi Nandie shook her head. “Oh, just let me cry a bit. Usually, if my assistant sees me crying, they tell my agent, and my agent scolds me. I normally don’t even dare to cry…”

Qu An’ge’s headache intensified. She really hadn’t expected that the usual frequency of tears was already after holding back.

No wonder her agent had to have an assistant monitor her.

And Yi Nandie, looking at Qu An’ge’s face, suddenly realized she harbored jealousy towards her. Upon first meeting Qu An’ge, she had been stunned by her beauty, even suspecting maybe her acting wasn’t great and she was cast only for her looks.

But after watching her perform the first scene, she was shaken. This was a seasoned, mature performance she had never seen in anyone her own age.

Pampered since childhood and a quick learner, only others had ever been jealous of her. She’d also been taught jealousy was a bad emotion, so she’d stubbornly refused to admit it until now.

Now, feeling both guilty and upset, she cried even harder.

Qu An’ge had come to comfort her, not expecting the girl would just cry harder looking at her. But feeling bad, maybe crying it out was better. She could only stand by helplessly and say nothing more.

At that moment, emerging from the thick sea fog, a boat emerged. A fishing boat painted blue, looking tiny, like a leaf on the sea. It rapidly drew closer, docking at the pier.

There was heavy fog today and boats had clearly been canceled. Qu An’ge watched curiously, then saw a middle-aged man tie the rope and greet her, “Well, isn’t this An’ge.”

Qu An’ge thought for a long time but couldn’t remember who he was. She revealed an awkward smile, just as a familiar voice came from the deck. “Second Uncle, you don’t need to put down the plank. We can just jump over.”

In a daze, Qu An’ge thought she was dreaming. Shifting her gaze, she saw Xu Mi emerge from the cabin, holding onto the railing.

The sea wind messed up her hair, whipping it into the air like splashed ink. Within the black strands, a somewhat pale face emerged. A blue denim jacket was blown taut by the wind, making her look even smaller and frailer. She was squinting slightly, her expressionless face appearing cold and distant.

Qu An’ge froze, but Yi Nandie beside her nearly shrieked, “Oh my god, it’s Tan Zhenzhen!”

Qu An’ge came back to her senses, finally remembering the man on the boat seemed to be…

A relative of hers, not too close, but they’d met in childhood. She hurriedly switched to dialect. “Second Uncle, you… you’re from this island?”

The man said, “Yeah, this very island.”

Qu An’ge: “Going out to sea today?”

Second Uncle: “No, just docking the boat. Mimi and the others wanted to come, so I brought them along.”

Because Xu Mi and Qu An’ge were close, the Xu Mi family, who came from out of town, were now more familiar with Qu An’ge’s relatives here than she was.

After Qu An’ge finished talking with Second Uncle, Xu Mi and the others also jumped off the boat. Qu An’ge finally had a sense of reality, knowing the scene before her wasn’t a dream. Xu Mi had actually appeared right in front of her.

Suppressing her excitement, she was about to speak when Yi Nandie rushed forward, clasping her hands tightly before her chest in a praying gesture, looking at Tan Zhenzhen in surprise. “You’re Tan Zhenzhen!”

Then she looked at Xu Mi. Xu Mi was taking a hair tie out, pulling her wild-flying hair back.

In the videos, Xu Mi only showed her back, but recognizing Tan Zhenzhen naturally led one to guess the person next to her could be Xu Mi.

One look, and among the four people in front of her, only this person matched the characteristics.

Watching the videos, Yi Nandie had often imagined what Xu Mi looked like. For some reason, seeing her face now, she felt her imagination completely fell short of the real person. Before her, Xu Mi was pale and slender, with delicate features, possessing an untouchable aura. Her face was expressionless, cool and detached.

But Yi Nandie felt her heart was about to explode. Stammering, she asked, “Then you… are you Xu Mi?”

Xu Mi’s gaze flickered, sweeping past Yi Nandie to land on Qu An’ge.

But it was only a brief glance before she retracted it. Politely, she said, “Yes, hello.”

Tan Zhenzhen was both surprised and delighted. “You know us!”

She paused, then asked, “Why are you crying like this?”

Just moments ago, Yi Nandie had indeed been weeping bitterly, so her eyes were red and swollen like walnuts. The tear tracks on her face had been dried by the sea wind, leaving some white residue.

Hearing this, she quickly wiped with a tissue again. Her already thin, pale skin was rubbed red. Qu An’ge couldn’t bear to watch. “You still have to put on makeup. Stop messing up your face.”

Yi Nandie stuffed the tissue into her pocket and murmured, “Sorry.”

Realizing she must not look her best right now, she felt great regret and walked back to Qu An’ge’s side. But her eyes were still excited. Grabbing Qu An’ge’s sleeve, she said, “Look! That’s the food blogger I was telling you about!”

Qu An’ge helplessly said, “I know.”

She noticed Yi Nandie’s action and suddenly became alert, quietly shifting away a little.

But it was too late.

Tan Zhenzhen came over, her eyes swinging back and forth between Qu An’ge and Yi Nandie. “Who’s this, Qu An’ge? A new little sister you know?”

Qu An’ge hurriedly said, “She’s a colleague, of course! A fellow actor in the crew.”

Tan Zhenzhen grew interested. “So you’re an actress too. No wonder so pretty.”

Qu An’ge took the opportunity while Tan Zhenzhen was talking to Yi Nandie to quickly move to Xu Mi’s side. Xu Mi was speaking with Second Uncle, words of thanks. Qu An’ge tried to join in. “Where does Second Uncle live? Our tents are all set up at the base of the mountain.”

Second Uncle said, “We live at the mountaintop.”

Qu An’ge looked at Xu Mi. “Are you staying at the mountaintop too?”

Xu Mi acted as if she hadn’t heard, or perhaps hadn’t seen her. She turned her head to call Yue Mei and the Little Assistant. “Alright, let’s take the luggage up first, then look around.”

Qu An’ge felt a thump in her heart.

If she hadn’t realized Xu Mi was angry before, she’d have lived in vain.

Indeed, just talking to the paparazzi outside the hotel had earned her Xu Mi’s cold shoulder, let alone the scene just now.

A girl crying bitterly, and she was the only one nearby.

But how to explain?

Qu An’ge trailed after Xu Mi. Seeing Xu Mi reaching for a huge suitcase, she quickly said, “Let me take it, let me.”

She snatched it away, causing even Xu Mi to pause. Taking advantage of Xu Mi’s momentary surprise, Qu An’ge leaned close to her ear and whispered, “That’s the second female lead. She was upset and crying by the sea. I came over for morning exercises and happened to see her.”

Xu Mi raised an eyebrow. “What was she crying about?”

Qu An’ge sighed in relief, thinking that at least she was willing to talk.

“She’s having some performance issues, getting scolded by the director every day. How can her mood be good?”

Hearing this, Xu Mi understood.

Actually, because Qu An’ge sent her long messages every day, she generally knew the situation on set. It was just that Qu An’ge usually didn’t gossip or speak ill of others in those reports. So when she mentioned the recent bad atmosphere, she only said it was due to some issues causing delays.

Hearing this now, she could guess the reason for the delays.

But she was still a bit unhappy.

Before they had docked, she had already seen the two people on the shore.

In the fog, she saw both of them with their heads lowered, as if murmuring softly. One was slightly taller, one slightly shorter, both with slender, graceful figures.

Getting closer, though she couldn’t see their faces yet, Xu Mi suddenly recognized the taller one as Qu An’ge. She couldn’t name any specific feature; she just recognized her.

Then she saw Qu An’ge pull something from her wind-blown coat and hand it to the other person. In the hazy fog, it even looked like she had helped wipe her face.

She let out a cold laugh and went right back into the cabin.

Call it petty or dramatic, she was happy to indulge herself right now. She didn’t want to endure it anymore.

Carrying luggage up the mountain, watching Qu An’ge’s slightly struggling silhouette, perhaps out of some unwillingness of the heart, Xu Mi recalled the scene she saw in the fog earlier and thought maybe the face-wiping was a misunderstanding.

She wasn’t entirely sure. She looked back and saw the girl called Yi Nandie still following, eyes sparkling at her.

She slowed her pace slightly, and Yi Nandie quickly caught up. Xu Mi said, “Hello. Sorry about earlier, I was busy with the luggage and didn’t get to talk.”

In the past, Xu Mi wouldn’t have said such polite phrases, but after meeting with advertisers and such over these months, she found it wasn’t that difficult.

Yi Nandie said, “It’s fine. Are you here to shoot videos?”

Xu Mi said, “Yes. We were in a bit of a rut, wanted to change locations for a change of mood.”

She put on a hesitant expression and lowered her voice to ask, “Why were you crying? Did Qu An’ge… bully you?”