Yun Chu loved posting on her Moments.
The trivialities of the film set, a cat she happened upon, a new handbag, a dessert she craved but didn’t dare eat for fear of gaining weight-she was always ready to post a nine-photo grid. If she really had nothing to post, she’d share a song.
Chen Jing had lectured her about this, asking if she could try to appear more mature and stable. How would it look if people in the industry saw her Moments!
Yun Chu reassured her, “I don’t have that many industry people on my Moments.”
Chen Jing didn’t believe her. “What about your classmates?”
Yun Chu said, “They’re either still struggling nobodies, or they got famous and deleted me.”
Chen Jing: “…Never mind then.”
Since she couldn’t control her Moments, Chen Jing managed her Weibo instead. Yun Chu had just over a hundred thousand followers on Weibo, most of whom had been drawn in by her looks during a birthday livestream. Her streams were relaxed-just eating, drinking, and chatting-which plenty of people enjoyed watching. Over time, she had gathered a small group of die-hard fans.
Chen Jing lectured her again: “You need to maintain some distance from your fans! You’re an actress, not a streamer!”
Yun Chu muttered under her breath, “I don’t even have as many fans as a streamer.”
Chen Jing: “…”
After that, Chen Jing stopped trying to manage her.
Yun Chu became more and more unrestrained, but she still maintained a bit of an idol persona on Weibo. She didn’t post as frequently as on her Moments, and her posts were more polished. So-
Yun Chu flopped onto her bed, frantically scrolling through her own Moments. “Ahhh! I thought Jian You would follow my Weibo first!”
Zhou Zhitao asked, “Did you accept her friend request?”
Yun Chu said, “Not yet.”
Zhou Zhitao: “…What are you waiting for?”
Yun Chu put her phone down and buried her face in the soft duvet, her voice muffled. “I’m just… just a little nervous.”
Zhou Zhitao was puzzled. “Nervous about what? It’s not like she remembers you’re the one who slept with her.”
Yun Chu fell silent.
Zhou Zhitao: “What’s wrong?”
Yun Chu: “That’s a good point!”
Zhou Zhitao: “…”
Yun Chu unlocked her phone. On the friend request screen, Jian You’s profile picture was a Ragdoll cat, looking up at the camera with stunningly beautiful, sparkling blue eyes.
Yun Chu tapped “Accept.”
A chat window popped up.
【You have added Y. You can now start chatting.】
After a moment’s hesitation, Yun Chu sent a sticker first: Hello, Teacher Jian!
Y: Hello
Yun Chu: Thanks for the pork rib soup tonight 🙂
The chat window showed that the other person was typing…
Yun Chu: How did you get my WeChat ID, Teacher Jian?
Y: It was in the materials the director gave me.
Yun Chu: 【I see.jpg】
Y: Mmm.
Yun Chu: 【Shoots a wink.jpg】
Jian You didn’t reply after that.
Zhou Zhitao was still messaging her: How’s it going? Are you two talking?
Yun Chu: We are, we are!
Taozi: What did you talk about? Show me.
Yun Chu: [Screenshot]
Taozi: .
Yun Chu: What?
Taozi: Isn’t she your wife?
Yun Chu: [Screenshot]
On the screenshot, Jian You’s contact name had been conspicuously changed to: Wifey (spreading rumors)
Taozi: …You’re something else.
Yun Chu couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from turning up. She rolled over on the bed and posted on her Moments.
Chu: It snowed today, and I got to have pork rib soup. It was super yummy ^ ^ Thanks for the treat.
Jian You didn’t like posting on Moments and probably didn’t like browsing them either, so Yun Chu didn’t expect her to see it. She had to get up early tomorrow, so she took a shower and went straight to bed.
Since this was the place where she’d grown up, she slept soundly and deeply, and by the time she woke up, the sky was already bright.
The snow had stopped. The warm sunlight was hidden behind the clouds, peeking through from time to time.
Yun Chu wrapped a scarf around her neck and went to buy breakfast. The alley was located in the city’s 5A-rated historical district, surrounded by modern shopping malls. It was a quiet retreat in the middle of the hustle and bustle. Just across the bridge was the main street, and on this winter morning, the breakfast stalls were lively.
“Xiao Chu, you’re back?” The auntie selling wontons had watched her grow up and greeted her familiarly. “Where have you been busy lately?”
Yun Chu smiled sweetly. “I just finished filming a TV series!”
The auntie started cooking her wontons and asked, “Do you have a big part? Last time, my youngest and I watched your show from beginning to end, but he couldn’t find you. He kept asking me, ‘Where’s Sister Xiao Chu?’”
“I definitely have a big part this time!” Yun Chu promised. “I’m a supporting actress!”
“Alright, we’ll be waiting for it then.” The auntie gestured to her. “Don’t stand in the wind, you’ll catch a chill. Is it still two bowls, one without green onions?”
Yun Chu said, “Three bowls this time.”
The auntie was surprised. “Did you bring someone home?”
“No,” Yun Chu’s face flushed. She stepped under the awning, treading on a pile of snow that had been swept to the side, and denied it in a small voice. “It’s for the older sister next door.”
Well, Jian You is the older sister next door, that’s not wrong.
Wen Yi was an early riser. She had just returned from walking the dog when she ran into Yun Chu about to knock on the door. Yun Chu handed her the breakfast. Wen Yi asked, “Aren’t you coming in to eat with us?”
“No, thanks!” Yun Chu tucked her long hair back, her eyes curving as she smiled. “I have to go out for something in a bit. Please say hi to Teacher Jian for me!” After a pause, she turned back and gave a thumbs-up. “Wen Yi, your pork rib soup was amazing!”
Wen Yi looked at the bag in her hand, shaking her head with a smile as she pushed the door open. “This child…”
She had gotten up early to make tea eggs. While she was out walking the dog and grocery shopping, she had asked Jian You to watch the pot for her. Steam was rising from the white earthenware pot. Jian You had pulled over a bamboo chair and was sitting beside it, staring at the pot with her chin in her hand.
Hearing the door, she didn’t look up. “Is that Yun Chu?”
“Who else! The young lady is up so early, and she even brought breakfast over.”
Wen Yi unclipped the leash, and Liuyue scampered over to Jian You. Jian You frowned and held up a hand to stop him. “You’re dirty. Don’t come over here.”
Those words made Liuyue feel wronged. He crouched by her feet, whimpering and rubbing his head against her leg. Jian You patted his head and looked up. “Breakfast?”
“It’s wontons,” Wen Yi said. “But she didn’t know you don’t like them.”
Jian You didn’t like filled foods, including but not limited to dumplings, buns, and wontons.
Wen Yi asked, “Same as yesterday? A savory pancake?”
Jian You hummed noncommittally.
She lowered her head, smelling the aroma of the tea eggs, and suddenly said, “Just leave it here.”
Wen Yi didn’t quite hear her. “Huh?”
Jian You stood up. Liuyue took the opportunity to paw at her, but she pushed him off. Without looking at Wen Yi, she said casually, “I heard the wontons here are pretty good. I’ll give them a try.”
Although Wen Yi was a little surprised, she understood.
It was normal for a great director’s thoughts to be hard to guess. She poured the wontons into a porcelain bowl and went to give Liuyue a bath.
Jian You fished out a tea egg and walked over to the stone table in the courtyard to sit down. The table, cleared of snow, was damp. Steam rose from the wontons. While waiting for them to cool, she took out her phone.
She opened her chat with Yun Chu.
Typed: Thank you for the breakfast.
Deleted.
Typed again: The wontons are delicious.
Deleted.
After several rounds of typing and deleting, she finally just sent a “Thank you.”
Yun Chu replied quickly: You’re welcome! The wontons from that place are super delicious! If you like them, I’ll take you there again next time! I know the owner really well! We can get a discount!
Jian You replied, “Okay.”
She then went to Yun Chu’s Moments and replied to last night’s post: You’re welcome.
After breakfast, Jian You changed her clothes to go out.
She chose a dusty pink overcoat. The elegant color gave her a serene and gentle aura against the gloomy sky. She slipped her feet into a pair of tall boots, picked up her scarf, and said, “I’m going to the studio today. I won’t be back for lunch.”
“What would you like for dinner?” Wen Yi came out of the kitchen. “I’ll prepare it in advance.”
“Something light.”
Jian You wrapped the scarf around her neck and crouched down to say goodbye to Liuyue, who had come to see her off at the entryway. Ludeng was squatting by her feet, yawning, completely indifferent to her departure.
Jian You poked him with a finger. He thought she was going to pet him and promptly flopped onto the ground, exposing his belly.
Jian You: “Silly cat.”
Ludeng: “Meeow~”
Jian You stood up. “I’m leaving.”
Her high-heeled boots were a bit slippery on the snowy ground. She walked carefully, her concentration so intense that she didn’t hear Yun Chu call her name until the second or third time.
She snapped out of it and saw Yun Chu crouching in the snow, tying her shoelaces.
She was wearing the same down jacket as yesterday. The wind had turned her pretty, fair little face rosy, but her eyes were sparkling as she looked at Jian You. “Teacher Jian! What a coincidence! Are you going out too?”
Jian You hummed in acknowledgment.
Yun Chu stood up. “Where are you headed, Teacher Jian?”
Jian You was surprisingly forthcoming. “Pingze Road.”
Yun Chu’s eyes lit up. “The studio where I’m having my promotional photos taken today is over there too!”
Jian You nodded, her tone unruffled. “You can hail a cab at the intersection.”
Yun Chu: “…Okay.”
Watching Jian You cross the stone bridge in her high heels, Yun Chu stood in place for a moment before sighing and following her onto the bridge. She thought to herself that Jian You had been known as the “ice queen of the mountain” back at the film academy, and her personality hadn’t changed a bit after all these years in the entertainment industry.
She sent a message to Zhou Zhitao: “This is what you call staying true to yourself!”
Zhou Zhitao replied impatiently: “Don’t bother me, I’m sleeping! Take your one-hundred-and-eighty-layer filter for your Director Jian and get lost!”
Yun Chu: “I’ll forgive you, but only because you called her my Director Jian.”
Zhou Zhitao: “…Speaking of which, how did you know Jian You was gay anyway?”
Jian You said it herself.
Back then, Jian You had gotten into the Bei City Film Academy as the top student in the directing department. The release of her ID photo before she even started was enough to stun everyone. Once she enrolled, she had countless pursuers, all relentlessly trying to win her over.
Eventually, Jian You got annoyed and said coldly, “I like women. If you want to pursue me, go castrate yourself first.”
She became famous overnight for that.
As she spoke, Yun Chu came off the bridge, clutching her chest. “My wife is so hot.”
Zhou Zhitao clicked her tongue. “Love it, love it.”
Yun Chu was not pleased. “Who said you could love it?”
Zhou Zhitao: “…Get lost!”
The historical district was fifteen hundred meters long, with narrow streets, small bridges over flowing water, and red lanterns hanging from the riverside eaves. Set against the freshly fallen white snow, the scenery was exquisite.
Unfortunately, cars couldn’t drive in, and since it was rush hour, it was hard to get a ride. Yun Chu stood by the roadside, waiting in the queue on a ride-hailing app.
40 people ahead of you in the queue.
Maybe I should just take the subway, Yun Chu thought. I could walk there in the time it’ll take to get a car.
Just as she was pondering this, a car horn suddenly blared in her ear.
“Beep-”
The long honk interrupted her thoughts. She froze for a second and looked up to see a white Audi stopped in front of her. The passenger-side window slowly rolled down, and Jian You turned to look at her. Her features were still indifferent, but the slight frown on her brow gave her a touch of worldly charm.
Yun Chu stammered, “Teacher Jian…”
Jian You looked at her. Seeing her still standing there foolishly, she honked again. Her thin lips moved. “Get in the car.”
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