Chapter 12: CH 12

Lu Zhi Wei walked over happily, and left with a face of utter confusion.

She still hadn’t figured out why Sang Wan Ci would say that to her.

She hadn’t even managed to say anything!

Was that even my intention? I clearly was trying to let you rest!

And why did you say it as if you were going to work hard for me?

When did our relationship progress so quickly!

Could it be…… The female lead was deviating from the story again?

She rubbed her forehead irritatedly, a bold thought floating to the top of her mind.

Sang Wan Ci, she…… couldn’t have fallen for her, could she?

She recalled Sang Wan Ci’s usual not-hot-not-cold attitude towards her, it didn’t seem like how someone who liked her would act?

But Sang Wan Ci’s words just now had something that couldn’t be ignored.

…… Maybe Sang Wan Ci was a secretly flirty type?

She really couldn’t figure it out, so she decided to ask for help: 【Lao Wu, are you there?】

【What’s up?】

Although Lao Wu was busy, he could still reply her quickly.

Sometimes, she wondered if Lao Wu was living a life as 007. But after more thought, the nature of his work might not be the same as ordinary jobs, and she didn’t need to worry about it.

【Did you hear what Sang Wan Ci said just now?】

【I heard it.】 Please read at jiulian lian . wordpress . com

【Why did it sound like she was saying she would work hard for me?】

【Not bad.】Lao Wu said.

Lu Zhi Wei: 【?】

Lao Wu: 【It shows that you’re in her heart!】

Lu Zhi Wei: 【???】

They had only known each other for how long, how could she be in Sang Wan Ci’s heart!

Lao Wu said calmly: 【I’m just saying there’s a possibility. She’s not the type to pester someone after just a few meetings, maybe she just has a good feeling about you.】

【So?】Lu Zhi Wei asked with a frown.

Lao Wu: 【As the male lead, you must, of course, work hard to gain the female lead’s affection. From affection to attraction, and you must let her know you like her, you have her in your heart.

【Get together earlier, or something bad might happen if things keep dragging along.】

【……】Please read at jiulian lian . wordpress . com

Lu Zhi Wei: 【It’s easy for you to say.】

How could it be so easy to turn a romance story into a baihe[1] story!

Besides, she didn’t even know her own sexual orientation, but thinking about Sang Wan Ci’s face…… Damn it, it really works.

Humans are really superficial creatures!

【So there’s a long way to go, daughter.】Lao Wu had completely gotten used to his role as an old mother.

Lu Zhi Wei sighed.

—— Indeed, there’s a long way to go for this ordinary transparent entity.

She turned around to look at the direction Sang Wan Ci had walked away.

But there were some things Lu Zhi Wei still wanted to properly discuss with her.

In the following days though, she couldn’t find the chance to speak to Sang Wan Ci at all.

If Sang Wan Ci wasn’t reading the script, she was getting into character to try and act as flawlessly as possible.

Add on to that the fact that Zhang Xian Rui would come to the filming area from time to time to see Sang Wan Ci, and she had pretty much no opportunity at all.

If she tried too hard, it was easy for others to think she had an ulterior motive, especially for Zhang Xian Rui, an established manager who might get annoyed at an outsider being a busybody.

If that happened, it would just be more trouble for Wen Yao.

Actually, she didn’t know what right she had to be concerned either.

There were so many people who were closer to Sang Wan Ci, did she even have the right to interfere?

But she couldn’t bear to watch Sang Wan Ci force herself and overexert herself.

That was all.

…… Please read at jiulian lian . wordpress . com

Lu Zhi Wei had only one scene today —— Her character had received a birthday present, a wooden hairpin carved by the female lead herself, and she loved it.

The female lead of《Phoenix》had learnt some carpentry and woodworking when she was young, and she previously made many unique and strange trinkets.

Because of this, Sang Wan Ci had learnt wood carving from a carpenter for a week and she was very familiar with the tools. Although she wasn’t an expert by any means, it was enough to let the audience believe that the female lead was someone who had known how to work with wood since she was small.

She was just someone like that, she had to make sure even the slightest details were achieved so as to not disappoint any of the audience.

Lu Zhi Wei was more and more confident Sang Wan Ci would be able to win plenty of awards in the future.

Today’s scene was to showcase how much Lu Zhi Wei’s character treasured this relationship.

The more she liked and treasured the wooden hairpin and female lead, the more it would be heartbreaking when she fought with a concubine in the palace over the object and the person.

Sang Wan Ci’s female lead carefully wiped the wooden hairpin clean and placed it into a wooden box, preparing to surprise Lu Zhi Wei’s character.

Lu Zhi Wei, acting as the stammering maid, was sitting behind a curtain, grasping a brush in her hand as she practised writing.

The way she grasped the brush was clumsy and even the words she wrote were the same.

But her mistress had never laughed at her, always sitting patiently by the side to teach her.

“If it’s not good today, we can keep practising tomorrow. There are plenty of days ahead, there’ll always be a day when we get it right.” Her mistress had told her that before.

She couldn’t describe how happy she was when she heard those words.

How many days were plenty of days? It should be a lot, as long as a lifetime?

Then didn’t that mean she could stay by the young miss’ side for the rest of her life, and not be sold away anymore!

She practised writing seriously.

The curtain was suddenly pulled aside as the pretty and clever young miss came in holding a wooden box.

Because of the cultural difference of that era and their birth situations, the maid had never thought she was on equal footing as the young miss.

The young miss was a young miss, the young miss was also her goddess. How could a human compare to an immortal?

Lu Zhi Wei grasped this feeling steadily as she looked at Sang Wan Ci walk in slowly. She immediately put down the brush and sat upright, like a puppy waiting for their owner’s command.

“Young, young miss.” Please read at jiulian lian . wordpress . com

Sang Wan Ci’s eyes were filled with warmth, unlike how she was when not acting.

She calmed the maid then, then handed over the wooden box.

Looking at the wooden box, Lu Zhi Wei’s gaze was calm. She was just a bit curious where she would have to deliver the box to: “Who do you want, want me to send it to?”

As she spoke, she reached out to take it. Her gaze fell onto her ink-stained hands and she quickly withdrew them, giving them a good scrub on her plain-coloured skirt before reaching out again to take the box.

“It’s alright, it’s not dirty.” Sang Wan Ci laughed lightly. “It’s for you.”

The stammering maid froze for a moment.

The young miss said warmly: “Thank you for our little miss He growing another year older safely. I hope you’ll always be happy.”

Lu Zhi Wei looked at Sang Wan Ci before she lowered her head slightly. Her eyes turned red quickly as her tears dripped down and splashed onto the wooden box.

She quickly wiped them away the next second, almost as if she was afraid her tears would dirty the first present she had ever received in her life.

She suddenly envied Xiao He a little.

The young miss would remember her birthday and give her a present.

In the future, there were many people who would give Xiao He birthday presents too.

Unlike her. After working so hard for so many years, only she could remember herself.

She recalled when she was young, to let her parents remember her birthday, she would always use a crayon to draw a big circle on the calendar a few days before then tell her parents: “You guys can’t forget.”

Her father and mother would always say, we know, we know.

But in the end, they would always forget. After forgetting, they would say: “We’ll remember next year, we’ll definitely organise a big party for you.”

But it would be the same line again next year. Time seemed to always revolve around this point.

Slowly, she stopped being excited for her own birthday.

Her parents didn’t treat her sister this way. They would always give her the best, the most exciting and happening birthday party.

But the older sister would always be the one who was forgotten. Even if she sat in her own room, nobody would remember to invite her to attend the birthday party.

The way she lived, it was more like she was dead.

The more she thought about it, the sadder she got. Tears are like the outlet for emotions, once opened, they couldn’t be stopped.

The grievances she had suppressed suddenly shot out of her heart, swirling around in her eyes.

She didn’t want to expose her tragic past, but since she couldn’t control it, she might as well use this scene to let it all out.

Sang Wan Ci hugged her.

“Never, never has anyone remembered……”

She stammered through her lines.

“No, nobody can, can remember……”

Nobody remembers Xiao He. Please read at jiulian lian . wordpress . com

And nobody remembers Lu Zhi Wei.

“There is.” She heard Sang Wan Ci’s warm, gentle voice by her ear. “In the future, I’ll remember.”

She froze before burying her head even lower.

Director Li felt that Lu Zhi Wei’s emotions at this moment were at their peak, so she didn’t stop the cameras. All the way until Lu Zhi Wei’s tears stopped, then she shouted “cut!” in satisfaction.

“Xiao Lu’s crying scene was good!”

Lu Zhi Wei wiped her tears away as she smiled embarrassedly at Director Li.

—— Sorry, I brought my own personal baggage into those tears just now.

Sang Wan Ci had been brought along by Lu Zhi Wei’s emotions as well. In that moment, it felt like the person in front of her wasn’t Lu Zhi Wei but Xiao He.

Xiao He, whom nobody doted on or loved.

“Xiao He” had cried so terribly, because someone had given her a birthday present, because someone had remembered her birthday……

Sang Wan Ci looked at Lu Zhi Wei unwittingly.

Director Li handed a tissue to Lu Zhi Wei as she joked: “Look at this child’s crying, I even thought nobody had celebrated your birthday with you before.”

After she said that, Sang Wan Ci astutely caught a flash of shock on Lu Zhi Wei’s face before she schooled her expression back to neutral and laughingly changed the topic.

Blinking slowly, Sang Wan Ci looked away.

Director Li decided to let them take a short break as the production team were moving on to shoot the next scene.

The two of them nodded as Lu Zhi Wei followed behind Sang Wan Ci.

The two of them walked on the dirt road.

Extracting herself from Xiao He’s emotions, Lu Zhi Wei realised there weren’t many workers around her. Looking at Sang Wan Ci’s back, she realised this was a good time to talk.

She rehearsed her lines in her head and plucked up her courage, walking forward as she called out Sang Wan Ci’s name.

The moment Sang Wan Ci turned around, Lu Zhi Wei suddenly felt something was wrong.

The next second, a pebble flew out from under her left foot.

She couldn’t help herself as her body lurched towards Sang Wan Ci ——

The two of them widened their eyes in shock.

Following the script of an idol drama, once the leading character fell, they would definitely kiss the love interest straight on the lips.

Lu Zhi Wei started to panic.

She even started praying for a flash of deliverance from heaven.

—— And then her face was stopped by Sang Wan Ci’s hand.

The air solidified as the world fell silent.

Lu Zhi Wei saw Sang Wan Ci through the gaps in her fingers.

She never expected the storyline to develop like this.

Was this a new-age idol drama?

She was in love with it.