Chapter 345: Determination
An Xiayue’s grandparents had lived in the country for many years. Because they were old, they didn’t fly abroad much. Even when their family had moved to the United States, they hadn’t followed. They said they still preferred to stay in the country. An Xiayue would come back with her family every year, but it was rare for her to come back alone like today.
But her grandparents were very happy. They had specially cooked a table of delicious food. Knowing that this little foodie loved to eat snacks, they had also specially gone out for a walk and bought some snacks back. As soon as An Xiayue had finished her meal, she lay on the sofa, eating snacks and watching TV. When she wasn’t filming, she was just this lazy, lying around like a corpse however she wanted.
Anyway, she had worked hard enough filming in Africa, almost leaving her life there, and had also filmed so many action scenes. While she was on vacation, she had to have a good vacation and make up for all the happiness she hadn’t enjoyed at once.
“Yueyue, I hear you’ve already returned to the country to develop. Do you have any arrangements for the future?”
Her grandmother brought a plate of fruit and put it on the table, casually asking about her affairs.
“Mmm, I don’t have any long-term plans for now, but I’ll be taking on a few suitable scripts next. I’ve already seen the scripts. I’ll probably start working in a while.”
“When are you going back to America?”
“I don’t know. It’s impossible in the short term. I now want to eat well and drink well, and be a good little lazy bug~”
“You child, how old are you, still so fond of acting spoiled.”
Her grandmother said with a laugh, scraping her nose, and then brought a box of melon seeds.
She was very fond of this granddaughter of hers. Since she was little, she would give her whatever delicious food there was. Even if An Xiayue was willful, she would try her best to satisfy her. She couldn’t bear for her to suffer. When she had learned that An Xiayue had entered Hollywood as a child star, she was so angry that she had called her son, who was on the other side of the earth, and scolded him for sending his child to Hollywood, to follow in her mother’s footsteps.
But as An Xiayue had achieved some success in Hollywood, and she had also said that she liked acting, her grandmother had just let her be.
She only had one precious granddaughter. She didn’t want anything to happen to her.
Yes, so many years had passed in the blink of an eye. Now everything had settled down. In any case, her grandmother only needed her family to be safe and sound, and for nothing to happen. She didn’t need or long for her children to achieve anything. As long as they were safe, that was enough. She still remembered the days when Yueyue’s mother had cried her heart out so many years ago. Even after so many years, she couldn’t forget. So now she just needed her family to be safe, and for nothing to happen again. Yes, she just wanted peace.
“Grandma, I’m taking Peggy for a walk.”
“It’s only 4 o’clock. You’re taking it out?”
“I’m bored anyway~”
“Haha, go ahead. Be safe.”
“I’m not a child anymore, really.”
An Xiayue puffed out her cheeks, slightly expressing her dissatisfaction, then changed her clothes and went to the doghouse in the courtyard to take the family dog, Peggy, out for a walk. Today was her first day back in her hometown. She wanted to rest well. After she had rested enough, she would go to Guangnan.
Her grandmother watched as her granddaughter grew more and more beautiful, taller and taller, and her face looked more and more like her mother’s. Just looking at her smiling face, her grandmother would unconsciously show a kind smile. But at the same time, she would also show a sad expression.
If that incident hadn’t happened…
“Old dear, what are you thinking about?”
Her grandfather slowly walked over, stood next to his grandmother, and said with a smile.
A bitter smile appeared on his grandmother’s face.
“Old husband, I sometimes think, Yueyue has grown up so much, but I can’t be so happy. Originally, I could have seen more.”
Her grandfather shook his head, not saying anything, watching An Xiayue pull the dog leash and excitedly walk out of the house, taking the dog for a walk. He also felt a trace of sadness.
Time could not forget everything. On the contrary, it made people care more, especially for this old couple.
Yueyue had grown up healthy, but what about that one…
The one who should have enjoyed all this, how was she?
Her grandfather sighed. This was always a regret for the family, a hurdle they couldn’t get over.
And An Xiayue was humming a little tune, walking her dog, not feeling anything at all.
…
A few more days passed. Yu Linna stayed at home, working hard on her manuscript. She had already finished the final volume of The Magician. A work that had been cut short, to be able to tell the story she wanted to tell in such a short space was not an easy thing, but fortunately, she had still managed to tell the story she wanted to tell in the limited space. All that was left was the illustrations, which she would finish soon. This month, she would still be writing three books. Besides The Magician and Zixuan and the Paper Airplane, she would also be writing a short story, With You? Not You, to be published next month.
But she really didn’t know how long she could continue to create like this. Chen Xi had said that next time, if she still handed in a work like The Magician, it would be directly rejected.
She was now considering whether to go to Japan for a trip, to study, and to enrich herself.
Unable to think of an answer, she went for a walk by herself after dinner. She lived alone, and Zhao Yuyan was not around, so she was used to it. Fang Jiangning had already gone on a trip with her family. The seafood feast she had promised to treat her to had also not happened.
The hot summer, even after dusk, you could still feel the heat. Yu Linna bought herself a bottle of water on the road and also bought a magazine at the bookstore to take back. She thought that tonight was a rare occasion, so she might as well stay up and read a magazine. She didn’t want to work anymore.
Suddenly, while on her walk, she happened to run into Xiao Yanhan, who was coming out of a convenience store to buy things. But to say it was a chance encounter was not quite appropriate.
Although Xiao Yanhan had deliberately made it look like she had run into Yu Linna at the convenience store, Yu Linna knew that although they lived in the same city, their homes were not close. It would take about an hour by subway to get there. If Xiao Yanhan didn’t have something special, it was impossible for her to come over.
“Yanhan.”
“Ah, ah… Linna, hello. What a coincidence. I’m here to buy soy sauce, ahaha.”
So awkward, this acting.
Yu Linna silently evaluated in her heart.
And after Xiao Yanhan had been awkward for a while, she couldn’t pretend anymore. Her ears drooped, and she slowly explained her purpose.
“Linna, I’m here to find you.”
“Mmm.”
She had Xiao Yanhan sit down in the park. There were chairs in the park, and not many people to disturb them. At this hour, it was impossible for any old men to be practicing tai chi, so it was a good place to chat.
“Hey, Linna, can you really not like me?”
After Xiao Yanhan sat down, the first thing she asked was this.
Clearly, she hadn’t really let go.
Even though she knew she had been rejected, she still couldn’t let go. She still liked her after all, even though she knew this was an unrequited love.
“Yanhan, I don’t want to lie to you. I can’t like you. In my heart, you can only be a friend, not that kind of relationship.”
Yu Linna didn’t want to be hesitant and lead her on. This time, she chose to say it directly.
“Why… you didn’t even dare to say it to me before. Why can you reject me so frankly now?”
“…I don’t want to hurt you. If I keep doing this, it will only hurt you more, right? I’ve thought about it. Instead of letting you have expectations, it’s better to make it clear from the beginning. That way, it might not be so painful.”
“You’re so mean. You made me fall in love with you, but you don’t even give me the right to have you. You’re so mean.”
Xiao Yanhan said with a bitter smile, almost on the verge of tears.
As expected, it was still no good. She couldn’t get Yu Linna’s love, couldn’t get anything from her.
So painful.
She liked her so much.
This was ultimately an unrequited love.
“Linna, do you have someone you like?”
When she asked this question, a black-haired girl’s figure flashed through Yu Linna’s mind, but that girl’s face was blurry. She didn’t even know who it was. But Yu Linna was very concerned.
“I don’t know… probably.”
“Haha, I see…”
Xiao Yanhan’s smile became even more bitter.
She could more or less guess. Perhaps it was the black-haired girl she had accidentally seen when she went to Shenzhen with her parents. She had even seen Yu Linna being intimate with that girl. Even she hadn’t made Yu Linna show such an expression, but she had done it in front of that girl.
Xiao Yanhan should more or less know that this was the truth.
“Linna, I don’t know how long I will continue to like you. I will keep my feelings for you until I forget you. Although it might not be good to say so… if you break up with someone one day or can’t find a partner, you can still consider me.”
In the end, Xiao Yanhan still shamelessly said this, even though it was a completely foolish act. She still did it, simply because she wanted to be with her.
“By the way, Yanhan, how’s your manga?”
Yu Linna coughed twice, trying to skip this topic and ease the atmosphere.
“It’s okay. I’m working hard now, but it’s still very difficult to create on my own. I’ve been thinking of finding someone to cooperate with on a manga recently. It’s always better to create together. My screenwriting ability is very weak, so I want to find a suitable partner to draw with.”
Xiao Yanhan had also finally started to find her own direction. A long time ago, Yu Linna had thought that perhaps this child was suited to partner with someone to draw manga, rather than going it alone. When she drew manga alone, she was always lacking something. Since her screenwriting ability was poor, she should cooperate with others to draw manga, or adapt others’ works into manga.
Then, should Yu Linna also make up her mind and do what she should do?
“Yanhan.”
“Mmm?”
“I, I might be going to Japan for a period of time, to learn their experience and know-how in writing bestsellers. I’m lacking too many things now.”
Yes, she was too stubborn. She always thought she could do everything, always thought she was the greatest.
But that wasn’t the case.
She was just an ordinary girl. She could write a big hit once, but that didn’t mean she could do it every time. She was lacking too many things. This time, she had to make up her mind to settle down, to make herself stronger, more rational.
She would no longer be blindly confident, no longer think she was the best in the world, and she didn’t want to think that her work was everything.
She wanted to be a storyteller, a storyteller who could tell stories that could move people all over the world, to leave the stories she created for the whole world.
Yu Linna wanted to set sail again.
