Chapter 83: World Two [53] Part 2

“Jing Ke, the dishes Teacher Yu and Teacher Jiang make are indeed delicious, but none compare to yours. The food you make is the best I’ve ever eaten.” To preemptively avoid being quizzed at the dinner table, Shao Qing had already learned to soothe this jealous-prone person, Jing Ke, in advance.

“Yes, I know that.” Jing Ke said. Her tone sounded very calm, but the smile tugging at the corner of her lips was impossible to hide.

“By the way, did you notice any change in the relationship between Teacher Yu and Teacher Jiang? I feel like they seem much closer,” Shao Qing asked, smoothly steering the topic far away.

To avoid being overheard by the parties involved, Shao Qing even specifically pulled Jing Ke over to the sofa in the living room and asked in a lowered voice.

“I suppose so. They are indeed more intimate. Things probably ran their natural course.” Jing Ke seriously recalled.

Although there weren’t any overly conspicuous marks on Jiang Qingyi and Yu Hongjun’s necks, the interaction pattern between good friends and lovers was just a tiny bit different.

Though this pair of lovers wasn’t exactly young, as the saying goes, a lover is a completely different existence from a good friend.

–

After spending the National Day holiday—with its super-high foot traffic—at Grandma Shao’s house, the first wave of box office data for the tribute film came in.

Amid the National Day holiday period packed with patriotic films, the tribute film featuring Shao Qing carved a bloody path through the competition, becoming the undisputed champion with a seven-day box office take exceeding three billion.

Although Shao Qing was only the third female lead, her outstanding acting gained recognition from many. More importantly, Director Hu truly captured the greatness of women of that era, resonating with countless women and prompting many to watch it a second or even third time.

The slogan “Women hold up half the sky” had existed for ages. Countless predecessors had proven this statement. Why hadn’t they managed to inherit and carry forward that spirit?

What bull about “fair, young, and thin”? That was all just a way for patriarchal society to domesticate women.

What men could do, women could do too. Everyone had hands, feet, and brains. Why implement policies like prioritizing the hiring of men?

And what was the most ridiculous part? The most ridiculous part was that those men who benefited from priority admission and lowered score requirements would then turn around and use so-called data to “prove” that women weren’t suited for that industry.

Truly absurd—taking advantage while pretending to have been wronged was exactly what described those people.

Because it was a tribute film’s director conveying the spirit of women, the attacks it faced were relatively fewer, and it wasn’t stigmatized by capital.

More importantly, among the actors showcasing the female spirit was Shao Qing.

Jing Ke wouldn’t let those messy, unfounded comments appear on various platforms. She directly hacked into the system and banned every single pea-brained person posting them.

Had it been anyone else doing this, they’d likely have been invited for tea by the relevant authorities long ago.

But if it was Jing Ke doing it, then there was no problem.

Comrade Jing Ke had made so many contributions to the nation; she merely wanted to optimize the underlying logic of certain programs. How could that possibly be wrong?

Because it touched upon the conflict between genders, the tribute film’s final box office gross directly broke six billion. Many women chose to express their stance with real money.

Although Shao Qing wasn’t the biggest beneficiary among them, she was still noticed by even more directors. She was even selected by the only female director among the fourth-generation directors, invited to star as the sole female lead in her movie.

Compared to the older generation of women eulogized in the tribute film, this female director wanted to start from modern society and film the women who were still silently contributing to social progress.

“I’ve seen many movies that hand women’s achievements over to men, and many TV dramas that wrongly pin men’s mistakes onto women,” the already sixty-year-old director said.

Director: “I don’t plan on shooting any earth-shattering blockbuster. I just want to return the honors that originally belong to women back to them.”

“I might not be able to give you a very high salary, nor provide too many spotlight moments. I want to capture a person’s complete life, starting from her unpromising birth, through her arduous path of education, and finally sacrificing herself as a doctor on her own battlefield,” the director explained.

“I’ve been polishing this script for several years. If you’re willing, we can start filming next year.”

Staring somewhat dazedly at the script the director handed over, Shao Qing lowered her head, lost in thought.

Shao Qing recognized this director. Many films immortalized in textbooks were her work. In fact, she herself was the person who wrote the first edition of those teaching materials.

But Shao Qing had also heard about this director’s experiences. Betrayed by her husband at forty, she was branded a plagiarist and a work-stealer at the time. It took her a full ten years to reclaim her innocence.

So, to a certain extent, this Director Zhang had similarly had the fruits of her labor stolen by a man. The only difference was that she eventually regained them after a decade.

“Director Zhang, do you think I can do it?” Shao Qing asked, her tone carrying a rare hint of uncertainty. “I’ve wanted to challenge a script like this for a long time, but previous directors always said I couldn’t convincingly play someone born into poverty. My appearance… isn’t quite right…”

“Lotuses can bloom even in the mud. Why must someone born into poverty necessarily be dusty and unkempt?” Director Zhang countered.

“Your appearance isn’t a problem. But when we first start filming, you’ll need to lose about ten pounds. The real person the character is based on had a relatively slimmer frame.” Director Zhang added.

“Alright, I understand. Director Zhang, I want to give it a try.” Shao Qing said, then bowed slightly. “Director Zhang, thank you for giving me this opportunity.”

“Don’t thank me. I chose you after comprehensive consideration.” Director Zhang said with a smile, throwing a meaningful glance towards Jing Ke, who was standing not far away.

Shao Qing noticed this detail, turned around to look at Jing Ke, and silently questioned her with her eyes.

Jing Ke took a few steps forward, standing before Shao Qing, and cleared her throat. “Originally, I wanted to give this script to you as a gift on our first anniversary of knowing each other. But Director Zhang has rather high standards; she wasn’t willing to compromise her principles just for investment.”

“Director Zhang looked at your detailed profile and knew you hadn’t stopped funding female students in impoverished areas all these years. So, after seeing your performance in the tribute film, she finally agreed to the request I’d made.”

Jing Ke explained briefly, then looked at Director Zhang with a hint of helplessness. “Director Zhang, to be honest, you’re the first director who’s so steadfastly refused my investment.”

“I’m already at this age. I have everything I should have. My last wish is simply to make one film I truly want to make.” Director Zhang laughed upon hearing this.

Then, jokingly, she added, “I wasn’t that firm, actually. If you’d been willing to double the investment amount, I might have compromised.”

“Study the script carefully first. I plan to shoot completely according to the script’s timeline, so before next March, Shao Qing, you need to lose about ten pounds.” Director Zhang instructed.

Seeing that Shao Qing clearly had things she wanted to say to Jing Ke, Director Zhang left her contact information and departed first.

“How did you know I wanted to play a role like this?” Holding the script, Shao Qing looked up slightly at Jing Ke.

“Did you forget? Earlier, when we were watching movies at home together, weren’t you complaining about never getting offered roles like that? You even said you wished for a chance to challenge yourself.”

Jing Ke blinked, putting on a “waiting for praise” expression. “I carefully remember everything you say. Plus, I figured fulfilling this wish of yours wouldn’t be difficult, so I asked people to search for relevant scripts.”

“Originally, I planned to commission a custom script and ask Director Li or Director Hu to film it. But while talking to the two directors, they recommended Director Zhang to me, saying I could try inviting Director Zhang out of retirement.”

Jing Ke gave a brief rundown of the process. During Shao Qing’s extremely busy July and August, she had been very busy too, rejecting many scripts and expending considerable manpower and resources to secure Director Zhang’s script.

Fortunately, none of Jing Ke’s efforts were in vain. Judging by Shao Qing’s expression, she seemed pleased with this script.

“Idiot. You could have told me sooner.” Shao Qing set the script down on a nearby table and wrapped her arms around Jing Ke’s neck.

Jing Ke didn’t hesitate, immediately dipping her head to kiss her.

“Knowing now shouldn’t be too late, right?” After the five-second kiss ended, Jing Ke asked, licking her lower lip.

“Passable. But this day isn’t the anniversary of when we first met,” Shao Qing stated, her breathing still steady enough after the five-second kiss.

Jing Ke smiled upon hearing this. “Although today isn’t the first anniversary of us getting acquainted, it is the anniversary of when we truly met. Have you forgotten?”

“Hmm?” Shao Qing paused, pulled out her phone to check the date, then belatedly reacted. “Today is the one-year anniversary of you becoming human?”

“Yes.” Jing Ke nodded. “We already missed one anniversary; we can’t miss a second one.”

Upon getting the answer, Shao Qing said nothing more. She tightened her embrace around Jing Ke’s neck, freed one hand to grab her collar, and kissed her again.

“On the day the movie successfully premieres, I’ll give you a surprise too. You can start looking forward to it from now on.” After the kiss ended, Shao Qing panted slightly, drawing a pie-in-the-sky promise for Jing Ke in return.

“Alright. I’m very much looking forward to that day.” A contented smile graced Jing Ke’s face.

Although they had kissed countless times already, her girlfriend’s lips were still so soft and enticing, making her very much want to do it again.