The woman opened the door, came in and immediately saw the person huddled in the corner. She stared fixedly at the skinny, crippled and sloppy man, unable to tell what he looked like originally from his current appearance. She had thought he’d live a very good and happy life without her.
A long-lost dull ache slowly spread through her chest like a tide. Her throat became dry and she couldn't speak. She seemed to ask the man and herself at the same time, "I didn't expect you to be like this now." The man shrank in the corner, not speaking or looking at her.
The woman took out a stack of money from her exquisite bag. She put it on the ground, and said, "I’ve come to Nanjing with my daughter to celebrate my father's birthday, and I’ll be going back to Beijing tomorrow. Take this money. Consider it as help from a friend."
She left as soon as she finished speaking. She slowly trudged through the low eaves and the damp alley. Her heart had gone cold again. The first and only man that she loved had left her. From then on, her heart was like this damp alley, no sunlight would come in again.
At night, she lay in her husband's arms as she recalled the past. Tears streamed down from the corner of her eyes. At the same time, Hua Ziyan slashed his wrists in the dilapidated house and committed suicide. The blood drained all over the bed, soaking the mattress and everything on it as he passed away, laying in that filth. Du Jiao left Nanjing the next day. She’d never find out about Hua Ziyan’s suicide.
The filming finally ended amidst the cheers of the cast and crew. Tao Ran's body was painted gray and he felt a little itchy. Guan Dao came over and patted him on the shoulder. "Tao Ran, go and clean up. There will be a banquet in the evening and you have to be there."
“Okay." Tao Ran agreed and went to the car to change his clothes. Tony wiped Tao Ran's neck and hands with a wet tissue, wiping the body makeup off thoroughly. "Oh, the director was right. You’re so dirty. Wipe the dust off your body. It’s not good for your skin."
Tao Ran smiled and asked, "There's going to be a banquet tonight. Will the Lady Dragon attend?"
"You only know to ask about Miss Long." Tony pouted. "You don't care about the others."
Tao Ran instantly got goosebumps. “I’m just asking.” Since Bai Shaohui said he would come, he had to prepare in advance. If Long Qiu also came, he would have to make arrangements early. In short, he couldn’t allow Long Qiu to find out that he and Bai Shaohui had become good buddies, nor could he let her know that he and Cui Xiao had nothing between them.
Tony rolled his eyes and said, "She will come. The Lady Dragon will come, alright?"
Tao Ran smiled dryly. He got out of the car and went over to a quiet place that was out of Tony’s ear shot to call Bai Shaohui. Tao Ran asked him to not act like they were familiar with each other at the banquet.
Bai Shaohui asked him skeptically, "Why?"
"Because... Oh, just do me a favor, okay?"
Bai Shaohui said, "If you don't make it clear, I will give you a hug as soon as I reach."
"..." This is terrible, ughhh! Tao Ran could only make up some nonsense. "It’s because Miss Long suspects that I’m gay, I can't let her see me being close to men, okay? I’m just asking you for help to pretend not to know me, okay?"
“What's the problem?" Bai Shaohui still couldn't understand, "What did you do for her to have this misunderstanding?"
"It’s because I told her that I’m not interested in women, and that she’s like a sister to me. Then I persuaded her to be bold and at ease with me so I could sleep with her."
Bai Shaohui: "..."
Bai Shaohui was immediately rendered speechless. He was silent for a long time before finally saying, "Don't worry. I will ignore you and pretend not to know you."
Bai Shaohui and Long Qiu were both producers, so it was normal for them to attend the banquet. The director didn’t invite anyone else, it was just the crew and the two producers. Tao Ran removed his makeup and changed his clothes before following the others to the hotel.
Tao Ran was rather extroverted so he quickly became familiar with everyone soon after he joined the crew. In addition, he was now a man, so he was becoming more and more unscrupulous. The rest of the crew also cleared up and left for the hotel.
The Deputy Director said, "I’ve taken a look at the calendar. There are no strong competitors around the time-frame of our release date, and so far, there have been no good films this year. I think we might win prizes at this year's film festival."
Director Guan slapped the table. He cursed inwardly, "Look at you, is this a good point? What do you mean by ‘We can win because there are no competitors’? You should know, I've never been afraid of competition!"
The film won an award in the novel. Cui Xiao and Tao Ran also won the Best Actress and Best Actor awards respectively. This was a great honor for the two newcomers. Moreover, it was very important to have a good starting point in the entertainment industry. From then on, Tao Ran’s career had gone smoothly. If Long Qiu hadn't accidentally murdered him, his career would’ve been smooth sailing in the future as well.
Tao Ran felt scared when he realized that Long Qiu and Bai Shaohui would meet Cui Xiao soon. Cui Xiao and Bai Shaohui’s relationship was now steadily deepening. When Long Qiu arrives and sees them being so close, would she feel that he hadn't worked hard enough to break them apart? After all, it had already been more than two months since he was ordered to seduce Cui Xiao. Not only did he make no progress, but Bai Shaohui and Cui Xiao had an even better relationship now. What if Miss Long got angry and sent him back to the studio to continue dancing?
He felt sad just thinking about it.
The director sat down on the table’s host seat and called to Tao Ran, "Xiao Ran, come and sit here."
Tao Ran's eyes lit up when he saw the location. He looked around and found Cui Xiao. He pulled her aside and said, "Cui Xiao, let’s go and sit down next to Director Guan. These past days, Director Guan has been teaching you so much, you have to pay him respect and offer a few toasts."
Cui Xiao didn't notice anything amiss so she happily walked together with Tao Ran towards Director Guan and sat down. Tao Ran sat opposite to Cui Xiao, so now the positions on both sides of Cui Xiao were occupied by the Director and Tao Ran respectively, thus Bai Shaohui would not be able to sit beside her even if he came. The two wouldn’t appear to be close if they didn't sit together, and it would serve as a good explanation to Long Qiu.
When Long Qiu drove over, she happened to run into Bai Shaohui in the parking lot. She immediately became a little nervous. She worried about whether her makeup looked good or not, and whether her skirt matched her blouse. Bai Shaohui also saw her as he stepped out of his car. He remembered Tao Ran pretending to be gay to trick Long Qiu to sleep with him and couldn't help but laugh.
He smiled at me...he smiled at me! Long Qiu's mind was filled with thoughts about Bai Shaohui's smile.
Bai Shaohui walked over and stopped in front of Long Qiu. "What a coincidence. President Long, are you here to participate in the banquet too?"
Long Qiu was inwardly excited but smiled nonchalantly on the surface. "Yes.”
"Let's go together then." Bai Shaohui offered the invitation with the same smile plastered on his face.
"Okay." Long Qiu accepted, her mind still in a daze.
The two went up the elevator together, and Bai Shaohui said, "I heard that the movie is very likely to win awards."
"Well, yes. The person evaluating the company and the media reviews said the same." Long Qiu said, "If Little... If Tao Ran wins an award in his first movie, I'm afraid he will jump with joy and be very proud."
"If you keep on encouraging him, he could do even better." Bai Shaohui said from the bottom of his heart, "He seems to take your words very seriously. "
Long Qiu didn't notice the meaning behind his words, so she just replied, "I’m his boss. Naturally, he would value my words."
Bai Shaohui smiled subtly, not saying anything. The two entered the private room where the banquet was being held. At a glance, Long Qiu caught sight of Cui Xiao who was sandwiched between the Director and Tao Ran. She was extremely satisfied with this arrangement. Her eyes immediately brightened when she saw Tao Ran and she couldn't help but think he was really the most considerate person she had ever met. Tao Ran saw her as he looked up and invited them over at their table. "Miss Long, you’re here. Come and sit with us."
In order to increase the distance between Cui Xiao and Bai Shaohui a bit more, Long Qiu walked over and sat on the other side of Tao Ran. Bai Shaohui was not happy. Tao Ran clearly knew about his relationship with Cui Xiao, so he wanted to sit next to Cui Xiao.
It's just that Bai Shaohui had promised Tao Ran that he'd pretend not to know him, so he couldn’t simply open his mouth and ask Tao Ran to change seats with him. Bai Shaohui couldn’t do anything so he just sat on the other side of Long Qiu. Long Qiu was extremely satisfied, and couldn't be happier.
The food and wine quickly arrived at their table. Cui Xiao remembered what Tao Ran said beforehand. She first poured a glass of wine to respect the director, bowing her head as she offered the glass. "Director Guan, thank you for the many days of teaching. I really learned a lot from everyone, especially from you."
Guan Dao was very happy today. Everyone’s performance had been very commendable, plus Cui Xiao did work very hard, so he no longer looked at her as if she was the same unpleasant and ignorant actress as when she first started out. He accepted the glass from Cui Xiao and said, "You’re still young and your future is limitless. Don't care about an old man like me."
Cui Xiao blushed and said, "What did Director Guan say?"