Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Handwriting Verification (2)

After Fu Bainian returned home, he went straight to his study but found that none of the words were sinking in from the document that he was looking over. Even the news that Lan Xin had told him earlier about her entering Blue Hall Entertainment had been cast to the back of his mind. He was too preoccupied with replaying what Shen Yu had said to him before.

After Shen Yu had given him the recommendation letter, he’d said that Director Chang and Lan Jinyao had been on very good terms. Their friendship had even surpassed that of Shen Yu and Fu Bainian’s, so it was impossible for him to have mistaken the handwriting. It was undoubtedly written by Lan Jinyao.

However, from what Lan Xin had said earlier, he’d inferred that it was impossible for her to have written that letter. In that case, there could be two possibilities; one was that Lan Xin wasn’t the real Lan Jinyao at all, and the other was that Chen Meimei had asked someone to forge the letter in order to get that role. If it was the latter, then how did Chen Meimei know that Lan Jinyao had had a close relationship with Chang Sheng? And, how could she be so confident that Chang Sheng would give her the role after reading that letter?

Fu Bainian felt as if he’d entered a vast maze. He kept going forward, but he’d encounter forks no matter where he went; there was no exit at all.

After thinking for a while, he closed the folder in his hands and took out the envelope from his chest pocket. He opened it and stared at the delicate and prettily written words for a long time. It was indeed her handwriting; both the shape and the size of each word wasn’t much different from those that she’d written in her company contract. But, he still wasn’t a hundred per cent certain.

He became increasingly anxious with every minute that passed. How he wished that Lan Jinyao wasn’t dead and that she’d just changed her name to Lan Xin. However, he couldn’t pull the wool over his eyes. That night, he’d seen it with his own eyes that she’d fallen, and even if he’d extended his hand back then, he wouldn’t have been able to catch her.

An hour later, Fu Bainian took out his phone and made two phone calls. However, his expression remained the same; serious and hard to read.

As night fell, Fu Bainian returned to his bedroom where he then stood in front of the window and stared outside. This housing area was luxurious, and it was relatively quiet at night as on the other side of the road many lights were already turned off. There was one house that seemed to be out of place though, and that was the one bought by Chen Meimei. At that time, Chen Meimei was following him everywhere and had somehow learnt where he’d bought his house, so she’d also bought one in the same area. He didn’t know how much money she’d spent, but she’d actually managed to drive away the previous owner of the house so that she could live there.

Now that he thought about it, that woman was really stupid back then. She didn’t care about anything, and there was only one person in her eyes; him. How was he any different? There were so many women who’d fancied him, but which one could ever compare with the Lan Jinyao in his heart?

The two apartments weren’t far from one another. When he looked over from a distance, he could practically see if there was anyone in the room.

He also didn’t know whether, at that time, Chen Meimei had ever peeked at him with binoculars.

While he was reminiscing, Fu Bainian’s lips curled up into a faint smile that he didn’t even realise had appeared.

When Lan Jinyao returned to her room, she brought back a bottle of red wine. Not only had she managed to successfully get the female lead role for Rouge Fermentation, but she’d also landed a supporting role in A Thousand Years Of Tears. When Li Qi had returned to the company, he’d immediately called her and told her that a meteorite had fallen from the sky to land straight on her!

Hence, on her way home, she’d gone to the supermarket to buy a bottle of red wine. After taking a bath, she put on a nightgown and went to relax on the balcony. Laying on the recliner, she enjoyed the glass of red wine in her hand sip by sip.

She’d really lost a lot of weight recently, and she reckoned that after she finished filming A Thousand Years Of Tears, she’d have completely regained her former slim figure!

Lan Jinyao was tipsy after finishing the glass of red wine, her eyes becoming hazy. She felt as if she’d seen Fu Bainian on the balcony at the apartment across from hers. It wasn’t far from where she was reclining, and it seemed like he was looking in her direction.

Lan Jinyao massaged her head for a while as it seemed that she was really drunk. That man was so eager to spend every day with Lan Xin, so how could he be so free to stand there and watch her?

Not long after the doorbell rang, but Lan Jinyao lay motionless. The doorbell kept ringing; it seemed as if that person wouldn’t stop ringing until she opened the door. She glanced at the man on the balcony opposite hers again before going inside.

“Chen Meimei, open the door...”

The person outside stopped ringing the doorbell and instead started pounding on the door, the bangs echoing throughout the room.

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Who’s there?” Who would come to visit so late at night?

The man outside turned out to be Chen Zetao; the man who was said to be Chen Meimei’s childhood sweetheart. Lan Jinyao stared at him and was momentarily at a complete loss for words.

The fact was when Lan Jinyao found out that Chen Zetao and Chen Meimei were childhood friends, she felt that this man was quite dangerous. If she’d guessed correctly, this man ought to be in love with Chen Meimei.

“So it's you!” Lan Jinyao smiled awkwardly as she deliberated whether to let him in or not.

Chen Zetao raised his eyebrows as he asked, “I'm not welcome?”

“Haha, a single man and a single woman in the same room...that’s not very appropriate!”

“It’s not appropriate?” Chen Zetao gave her a weird look and continued, “When you were eighteen, we used to sleep in the same room.”

Lan Jinyao blinked and said, “Well...I'm married now, right? When a girl is married, it's different.”

It was better if she didn't say all this, but now that she’d said it, it was like she’d touched his sore spot. Chen Zetao's expression completely darkened. He extended his hand and tightly gripped her arm as he ferociously said, “Chen Meimei, have you been blinded by Fu Bainian? He humiliated you like that, and yet you’re still unable to forget him?!”

Yes, she, Lan Jinyao, was just as laughable as Chen Meimei. She’d been rejected by Fu Bainian, yet she was unable to forget him.

Lan Jinyao grunted coldly and shook off his hand. “Come on in! If you have something to say, just hurry up and say it. When you’re done, I’ll go and get some rest.”

“What? You’re angry now?”

Chen Zetao sat on the chair next to the recliner and reached out his hands to pinch her plump cheeks before softly saying, “I came here today, firstly, to congratulate you, and secondly, I happen to have a new movie in production. We’re just missing the female lead, and you happen to be available!”

As soon as Lan Jinyao heard that he was there about a new movie, she immediately regained her spirits. She sat up from her recliner and asked Chen Zetao, “Did you bring the script? I want to have a look!”

She had to admit that this man had excellent insight and that, apart from the scripts he wrote himself, those he picked were the one in a million.

The movie was a literary film, and although it didn’t have much commercial value, the chance of it winning an award was extremely high. Lan Jinyao flipped through the script and instantly became interested. “This script is quite well-written. How come you want to let me act in it?”

Chen Zetao glanced at her and clasped his hands together, seemingly mulling over what he was about to say.

Lan Jinyao was flabbergasted as she looked at him. To think that this man still had words that he was abashed to say. Don’t tell her that he wanted to take this opportunity to profess his love for her?!

And so, Lan Jinyao, who was pondering over what he wanted to say also became slightly nervous. She was thinking about how to reject him in case she’d hit the mark regarding his affections.