“My family is arranging a blind date for me.”
This sentence was like a clap of thunder on a clear day, blasting Rong Guang’s thoughts to the high heavens. She almost suspected she had misheard.
Stunned by the news for a long while, she still doubted her own ears and couldn’t help but say hesitantly, “What? A… a blind date?”
Chu Feiliang looked like she wanted to say something but held back, her face full of displeasure. Her brows were furrowed, looking very troubled and unsure of how to solve the problem. She sighed and said, “Yes. My grandma is idle at home all day with nothing to do, so she can only focus her energy on tormenting me.”
Rong Guang, completely bewildered, subconsciously nodded along, but her expression was dazed. She didn’t even know what to do.
Most people in the industry kept their private lives under very tight wraps. Many people, even if they were truly in a relationship or have been in one before, were unwilling to expose these things, whether to protect the other person or themselves.
The exception was people like Jiang Ruyi, who had no significant works and were restless when they’re not in the public eye, so they could only rely on scandals and relationships for hype.
Although Rong Guang knew Chu Feiliang, she didn’t know her past relationship history.
Because it was something they couldn’t talk about.
If she were to ask Chu Feiliang how many times she had been in love, she worried she wouldn’t be able to stop her curiosity from wanting to know more.
It wasn’t about being gossipy; it was just that when you truly like someone, you always want to know everything about them, the more the better.
And often, after finding out, you can’t help but compare yourself to them.
Rong Guang didn’t want to compare herself to anyone. She was just herself.
But she was afraid she would ask.
That’s just human nature’s flaw. So it was better not to know anything from the start, to completely curb any inappropriate curiosity from the very beginning.
Chu Feiliang watched Rong Guang’s expression change several times, finally settling on a pitiful and dejected look. She couldn’t help but ask, “What’s with that expression? You don’t want to agree?”
Rong Guang looked up at her, shook her head with great disappointment, and said, “No, it’s not that. I just suddenly remembered something unpleasant… Sister Chu, you… your blind date, around when is it scheduled? Do we need to adjust our dinner time? Or… should we do it after you meet your blind date?”
Chu Feiliang thought for a moment and said, “I haven’t decided yet.”
Then she glanced at Rong Guang’s expression and added, “We’ll see how it goes. Plans can never keep up with changes. If something unexpected happens, we can adjust on the fly.”
Rong Guang thought that made sense.
They didn’t even know if the blind date was a man or a woman yet, so they could plan the details later. Anyway, there was still plenty of time.
But being pulled along by Chu Feiliang to be a shield against those blind dates… on second thought, Rong Guang felt happy.
Being able to pretend to be Chu Feiliang’s partner was good, no matter for how long.
All this time on the set of The Eldest Princess, all those kissing scenes and intimate moments filled with personal feelings—whether it was the deep bond between master and servant, the cherished friendship between close friends, or the budding, innocent affection… she had stolen all of it.
One must be content.
Rong Guang pursed her lips. Something came to mind, and her heart began to pound like a drum. She said, “Right, Sister Chu. If… I mean if, someone wanted to confess to you, what kind of confession would you like?”
“Confess to me?” Chu Feiliang answered without thinking, “There are quite a few of those. Many fans are always clamoring about wanting to marry me; it’s become a running joke. Why… does someone want to get to me through you?”
Rong Guang nodded randomly and started spouting nonsense, “Um… I, I have a friend…”
As she spoke, the second half of Rong Guang’s sentence trailed off.
Chu Feiliang looked at her and said, “You have a friend, and what about them?”
Rong Guang froze for a moment. “What friend?”
Chu Feiliang: “…”
She was amused by Rong Guang. Crossing her arms, she sat on a garden bench by the road, not knowing if it was clean or not, and said, half-laughing, half-exasperated, “Didn’t you just say you have a friend? What about your friend?”
“I do.” Rong Guang didn’t even know what she had just said. Hearing the question, she just agreed. She quickly thought of something and started making things up: “I have a friend who really likes you, so she wanted to ask me to help her pass a love letter or something to you. I was wondering if it would be convenient for you to receive it…”
“It is.” Chu Feiliang nodded, generously extending her hand. “Give it to me.”
Then she looked at Rong Guang closely and said, “You waited for me specifically today just to talk about this?”
Rong Guang was stunned.
She looked at Chu Feiliang’s fair palm, held her breath for a long time until her face was almost red, and then said, “I… I didn’t bring it…”
Chu Feiliang raised an eyebrow. Her outstretched hand seemed to get a little cold after a moment, so she pulled it back, rubbing it as she said with a smile, “You’re a bit careless, then, to forget something so important.”
Rong Guang’s mouth moved a couple of times as she continued her insincere fabrication, not even knowing what she was saying herself: “She… she, um, she gave me the love letter before I joined the crew. I… I joined the crew in a hurry and accidentally left it at home…”
“How convenient.” Chu Feiliang tilted her head. “Give it to me next time we meet. Don’t you forget again. You owe me a love letter now.”
Rong Guang could only nod in embarrassment, experiencing for the first time what it truly meant to shoot herself in the foot.
“I… I’ll definitely remember.” Rong Guang’s expression was a bit dazed, unable to fully process what had just happened—how did she suddenly owe a love letter and agree to be a stand-in…?
Although she was quite happy about it, why did it feel like she had suffered a huge loss?
What about the love letter? Should she forge one?
But Chu Feiliang knew her handwriting.
But Chu Feiliang’s mood seemed to have suddenly improved. She smiled at Rong Guang and said, “Are you ready? Should I have Lulu drive you to the entrance of the film base?”
Rong Guang thought for a moment and said, “Will it take up your time?”
“Didn’t I tell you?” Chu Feiliang’s eyes curved into a smile. “I already escaped. I’m skipping work today. It’s no use no matter who comes; they can’t rush me.”
It was rare to see Chu Feiliang being so willful.
Seeing the rare mischievous look on Chu Feiliang’s face, Rong Guang couldn’t help but let her own eyes curve into a smile.
Rong Guang couldn’t help but think back to the past. Whenever Chu Feiliang wanted to slack off, there were always little warning signs.
For example, she was usually decisive and efficient before going out, but when her procrastination kicked in and she wanted to be lazy and not leave the house, she would touch up her makeup one moment, change her shoes the next, or forget this and that… She would always drag it out until the very last second and would absolutely not give up.
And during the process, her mood would remain low, and her gaze would seem to carry a hint of grievance—in short, she would act as pitiful as possible until she wore you down into agreeing.
However, as soon as her goal was achieved and she could do what she wanted, she would instantly become happy again.
Just like now.
She was happy doing anything.
Adding in the time Chu Feiliang left the house today, it was obvious she had already dragged it out for a long time before being pulled into the car by Wang Lujie.
Unfortunately, Wang Lujie still hadn’t anticipated that Chu Feiliang would still run off. She just didn’t want to go to the set, openly skipping work.
Rong Guang no longer refused, nodding with a smile. “Okay, then I’ll have to trouble you, Sister Chu.”
After a nearly six-hour drive, Rong Guang and Chacha finally dragged their exhausted bodies back to their little house.
Since no one had lived there for almost half a year, the rooms were covered in dust. The two didn’t have time to rest; they first sprayed water everywhere, up and down, to prevent the dust from flying up too high.
After finishing all this, Rong Guang and Chacha wiped two stools, rested for a while, and then began cleaning with a burst of energy.
Chacha was in pretty good spirits, cleaning upstairs and downstairs with particular cheerfulness. She wiped the staircase handrail several times, clearly very fond of this new home.
She looked exactly the same as when she first arrived. Rong Guang watched her, her eyes curving as she smiled, “Chacha, come down.”
Chacha bounced in front of Rong Guang, looked at the now sparkling clean interior, and rubbed against Rong Guang, saying, “Sister Guangguang, can we take a good rest for a while now?”
“Yes.” Rong Guang pinched Chacha’s nose, wiping her sweat with a tissue in one hand. “Tomorrow and the day after are the weekend, so you’re allowed to rest at home. The final exams are coming up soon. If you don’t pass the average on this month’s monthly test… I’ll have to…”
“Hire a tutor.” Chacha wilted. She took her tablet out of her bag and slowly trotted over to the study balcony Rong Guang had specially set up for her to start cramming her lessons.
Rong Guang smiled at Chacha’s retreating figure, then looked back at the house, frowning as she suddenly remembered something.
Her father actually had a house in B City before he died.
She was so familiar with the area where Chu Feiliang lived and its surroundings partly because she had lived here for many years, and partly because she had lived here for a period before she was eight. Even though the surroundings had changed a lot over the years, the memories were preserved in her mind, so it still felt very familiar.
Rong Guang couldn’t remember much from when she was very young, but the events of the year she turned eight were so deeply etched in her memory, and she had been through so much, that she remembered everything from that time with exceptional clarity.
Her father died in the height of summer. That winter, her mother found her a stepfather. They announced to others that they were married, but they never officially registered it, nor did they hold a wedding banquet.
Rong Guang had no memory of her maternal grandmother or grandfather. Those relatives hadn’t been in contact with her mother for many years. She only knew that her mom and stepfather later moved in together.
After that was the matter of her moving out.
But she remembered that her biological father should have a house in B City.
That was the place where she often climbed up and down playing hide-and-seek in her childhood. She remembered the small garden on the third floor, and she also remembered a swimming pool behind the first floor that was quite large in her childhood memory.
Rong Guang frowned and thought for a while, planning to go to the B City property registration office to check.
She had no concept of her family’s assets, only vaguely knowing about this house. There were also two small apartments in her hometown. Because they were pre-marital property purchased by her grandparents, the names on the deeds were theirs. After her father passed away, those two apartments were simply renovated and rented out.
The monthly rent wasn’t much, but it was enough for daily expenses, enough for her grandparents to pay the mortgage and medical bills, with some left over.
But later, after her grandma passed away, Rong Guang didn’t want to touch these things and kept putting it off, never dealing with it for all those years.
Her household registration should still be under her mother’s name, not transferred out at all.
She didn’t know why her mother and stepfather never got legally married in her past life, but now… Rong Guang seemed to have an inkling.
If it involved that house, then her mother not marrying her stepfather was actually the most correct choice.
Because in her past life, her stepfather was scheming for her father’s and grandmother’s inheritance until the day he died. And in the coming years, property prices would skyrocket, and the price of that small villa would at least triple, if not more.
Rong Guang pursed her lips, planning to start transferring everything into her and her grandmother’s names after her birthday.
She didn’t trust her mom.
Rong Guang lived with her grandmother from age eight to eighteen. She only remembered her mother visiting her a few times when she was very young, each time carrying large and small bags, looking travel-worn.
Later, perhaps because she felt it was too far and too tiring, and Rong Guang was unwilling to go back to B City with her, she never came again.
To this day, Rong Guang still remembered when her mother said, “Uncle was just joking with you.” In a fit of rage, her grandmother chased the couple out of the house with a broom, and they were ultimately driven out of the village by all the villagers, young and old, wielding hoes and clubs.
Thinking of her grandma, Rong Guang’s eyes curved into a smile again.
In this life, heaven and earth were vast, but Grandma was the most important.
Even if she had to give up her career, she had to protect her grandma and Chacha well. She absolutely could not let another accident happen.
After roughly sorting things out, Rong Guang pushed these miscellaneous matters out of her mind. After all, worrying was useless; she had to take it step by step.
She went to the sofa, found a notebook, and started searching for recipes online.
There were many things Chu Feiliang had never eaten but had come to love after trying them later.
Rong Guang remembered them all, big and small, and planned to show off her cooking skills.
After a moment’s thought, Rong Guang suddenly slapped her own head, her expression a little annoyed.
She had originally planned to bring her grandma over these past few days!
After all, it was Rong Guang’s own Farewell Stage.
In her past life, her grandma had nagged for a long time, saying she didn’t want to miss her final performance. Unfortunately, the performance was never held in the end, and her grandma also had an accident.
This time, Rong Guang was determined not to let her grandma have any regrets, so she had been planning it for a long time.
“Chacha!” Rong Guang called out towards the balcony.
Chacha came running over unsteadily, her eyes dizzy like mosquito coils. She asked, “What’s wrong?”
“How has Grandma been recently?” Rong Guang asked. “Did you check the train tickets I asked you to look at before?”
“I did.” Chacha nodded. “Grandma is very happy. I’ve been telling her all about you. She’s been looking forward to it for a long time and packed her things early. These past few days, she’s even been going to her old friends’ houses for meals instead of cooking. She’s just waiting for us to finish work and pick her up.”
“Good.” Rong Guang calculated the time, then glanced at the house and pinched Chacha’s cheek. “After Grandma comes, you’ll have to share a room with me.”
“No problem!” Chacha made an ‘OK’ sign, wrapped her arms around Rong Guang’s waist, and said with a smile, “I like sleeping with you. I can warm up the bed for you.”
Children have high body temperatures. Chacha wasn’t afraid of the heat either, and in winter, she was like a little furnace. With her around, Rong Guang didn’t even need an electric blanket.
Rong Guang was amused and patted Chacha’s head.
The wound on the back of her head had completely healed, but a small patch of hair was still missing where it had healed over. Although it wasn’t obvious, every time Rong Guang touched it, she felt a painful prick in her heart.
She touched it again, and Chacha seemed to sense something, nuzzling against Rong Guang.
Rong Guang said, “My salary has come in. After Grandma arrives, we’ll go to the supermarket together. Speaking of which, your birthday is coming up too. Have you thought about what you want?”
Chacha’s birthday was on New Year’s Day, a very lively day of the year.
Not many shops closed for the holiday on New Year’s Day; instead, the discounts were huge, and there would be all sorts of events.
Usually, every year at this time, Rong Guang would take Chacha out for a stroll and let her buy whatever she liked.
Thinking of this, Chacha’s eyes indeed lit up. She asked, “Is Grandma going to stay here past New Year’s before she leaves?”
“Yes.” Rong Guang thought for a moment. “Actually, I want to have her stay here for the Spring Festival—but she might miss her old friends back home, so we’ll have to pack up and go back to our hometown to be with her then.”
“That’s good too.” Chacha agreed with everything. She thought for a moment and said, “The grandpas and grandmas at home are nice to me too. They give me lucky money every New Year.”
Rong Guang’s hand paused on Chacha’s head. She sighed softly and said, “Yes, everyone likes you very much.”
The elderly people didn’t actually have much money. In their village, the children in every household most often clutched a few jiao or one-yuan coins, and the most common snacks were little spicy strips and candy.
But ever since Chacha’s entire family passed away, the lucky money they gave her was always a considerable amount. In fact, the amount they gave her was just enough for Chacha to finish high school, and a portion of it was given to Rong Guang’s grandmother to help keep it safe.
Rong Guang didn’t believe this was a coincidence.
She thought for a moment and said, “Chacha, you must know to be grateful. When you earn money in the future, if someone in the village asks for your help, you must also do your best to help them.”
“I know.” Chacha’s eyes were wide, and she said with a smile, “I’m learning.”
“Good.” Rong Guang rubbed Chacha’s face and let out a relieved breath.
Although she had wrapped up filming and left the crew, she hadn’t left the group chat.
This was a small tradition in the industry. Crew members would create separate group chats among themselves, for example, for the main creative team, the supporting cast team, and other branch teams. Later, to coordinate with the show’s broadcast, they would release some of the private chat content from the groups to build hype.
Although Rong Guang had wrapped up, Chu Feiliang and the others hadn’t, so the group chat was still lively with daily conversations.
When they were actually filming and everyone got familiar with each other, an actor’s status wasn’t that important in many people’s minds. Privately, they still chatted and made friends normally.
Chu Feiliang wasn’t too active in the group, but she would pop up and say a few words unexpectedly.
There weren’t many members in the group, only nineteen in total—not including the director and screenwriter. It was an open and aboveboard little clique of actors. Zhang Nanchuan had tried to join several times but was righteously kicked out by Chu Feiliang.
In the days after Rong Guang left the crew, the people in the group would inevitably mention her when they talked, and Rong Guang would reply with a few words when she was free.
When they sent messages, they often sent pictures from the set—whenever this happened, Rong Guang wished her eyes had been a microscope in her past life.
She was truly searching for any sign of Chu Feiliang in the background.
And one time, she actually found her.
It was the actor playing Chu Feiliang’s deputy general, working out on set, showing off his muscles and the sweat on his face. He was probably planning to post it on Weibo and sent it to their small group and the main group chat in advance—he was quite a narcissist.
Rong Guang had no interest in this kind of picture. The only reason she clicked on it that day was because Chacha suddenly added, “Sister Guangguang, the person drinking water in the background looks like Sister Chu.”
Then Rong Guang zoomed in on the picture as much as possible.
Sure enough, in the upper right corner, she saw Chu Feiliang tilting her head back to drink water.
Then she secretly took a screenshot. Even though the picture was so blurry it looked like a mosaic after being enlarged, Rong Guang didn’t mind at all and saved it in a special folder named “Sister Chu’s Set Photos”.
Chu Feiliang didn’t know about this folder.
She didn’t know in her past life, and she didn’t know in this one.
Rong Guang didn’t dare let her know… If she really found out, she would definitely be teased by her all day long.
“How much longer until Grandma’s train arrives?” Chacha let out a small yawn.
Rong Guang had booked a business class high-speed rail ticket for her grandma for today, worried that the long journey would be uncomfortable for an elderly person.
At first, she insisted on picking her up herself, but her grandma knew she had just wrapped up filming and was at her most exhausted, so she didn’t want her to travel so much. Plus, Rong Guang had indeed been so busy these past few days that her feet barely touched the ground—she had to practice dancing and go out to negotiate with Tang Yuan and the company. A several-hour drive back to her hometown… she could endure it, but her condition would definitely not be good, and she would probably end up having her grandma take care of her instead. So after thinking it over, she agreed.
After all, her grandma was still young, only sixty-three, and in excellent health. She often went off on trips by herself without a word, living a very happy life, and had no trouble communicating with people. After weighing all the factors, Rong Guang didn’t insist anymore.
Rong Guang checked the time, frowning. The official website said the train was delayed. She patted Chacha’s head and said, “This train is fifteen minutes late… Let’s wait a little longer.”
Just as Rong Guang’s voice fell, she spotted a… particularly glamorous old lady at the exit.
When Rong Guang and Chacha saw clearly what she was wearing, they were both stunned.
She looked at the old woman in front of her, who was wearing sunglasses, a floral silk scarf around her neck, white velvet lace gloves on her hands, and a huge flowery hat on her head. She fell silent, unable to hold back a laugh.
Her grandma was really… too cute.
When Xu Mingli walked up to them, Rong Guang took her hand, looked at her carefully, and said with smiling eyes, “Grandma, did you put on makeup specially for your trip here?”
Her grandma was a very refined person.
The land in their hometown was passed down from their ancestors. When she and her grandpa were young, they would occasionally grow some vegetables to be self-sufficient—though Rong Guang suspected it was because the town was too far away, and neither she nor her grandpa was willing to go out. The sun was strong in the fields, and her grandpa was the main laborer, but she always had to go out to bring him some water or to take a stroll and get some fresh air.
Every time she went out, her grandma would put on makeup. It wasn’t too elaborate, but she always had to fuss with it for a bit.
Rong Guang’s eyes curved as she looked at Xu Mingli’s specially made-up face and said with a smile, “You’re so beautiful.”
Xu Mingli was overjoyed by Rong Guang’s open praise and couldn’t help but laugh. “Grandma has been in the village for so long. I’m attending your Farewell Stage performance, after all. I can’t embarrass you.”
Rong Guang held her hand, took Xu Mingli’s luggage from her, and led her towards the exit, saying, “You’re not embarrassing at all. You look beautiful no matter what.”
But she could understand her grandma’s mentality. Every time she went to Chacha’s parent-teacher conferences, she would also dress up specially.
Squeezing Xu Mingli’s soft hand, Rong Guang smiled with curved eyes.
Tang Yuan was waiting for them at the entrance.
After settling her grandma in, Rong Guang had to go out again later to the company. With one old and one young at home, both with maxed-out life skills, she didn’t need to worry.
And tonight, she would probably have to fight a tough battle with the company.
When Tang Yuan came to find her today, her expression was very grave. She said the company didn’t plan to let her go easily.
Even though the contract was expiring, if they really wanted to nitpick and find fault, it would be very easy for them to find countless flaws.
They were unwilling to let go of Rong Guang, this hot commodity who was about to make them a fortune, and had decided to be completely shameless.
Since they were being shameless, Rong Guang naturally didn’t plan to be a pushover and give them any face.
She smiled, and just as she was about to say something to Tang Yuan, she heard her grandma lean in mysteriously and whisper, “Guangguang, Grandma heard you have someone you like recently, and she’s a pretty girl—who is it? Is it that person standing by the car up ahead?”
Rong Guang looked at Tang Yuan in the distance: “…”
Seeing them come out, Tang Yuan was waving enthusiastically in their direction, her face full of joy.
Rong Guang fell silent. She had to explain this quickly, or else how awkward would it be for her to interact with Tang Yuan in the future?
Besides, who did her grandma hear this from?
Rong Guang’s gaze instantly shifted to Chacha beside her, who was sitting on the suitcase, kicking her legs and pretending to drive it like a car.
The latter’s eyes were unfocused, her gaze evasive, drawing circles in the air, doing anything but looking at her.
Rong Guang: “…”
Well, now she knew who it was.
Get instant access to all chapters now.
