Chapter 108: Angry
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Ruan Yesheng could only go to the table and sit down.
Xi Mo stood beside her, opened the food box for her, and handed her a pair of chopsticks. The service was very thoughtful.
Ruan Yesheng held the chopsticks and picked up a thin slice of pork knuckle to eat. She ate while thinking in her heart, she wasn't short of these few slices of pork knuckle, what she lacked was this blockhead Xi Mo.
At first, she felt a little depressed, but after eating a few bites, she suddenly figured it out herself.
She did like eating pork knuckle. Usually, to keep her figure, she had to hold back and rarely had the chance to eat it. Only on some very meaningful days, she would reward herself and eat a little.
Xi Mo chose to bring pork knuckle back after the audition was successful today. Did it mean that Xi Mo was also quite happy and wanted to celebrate with her?
Ruan Yesheng hid a burning secret in her heart. She usually thinks wildly. Sometimes she gets tangled up, and sometimes she stuffed candy into her mouth because of some tiny guesses. On this road of secret love, she really walked a path full of twists and turns.
As she thought this, she felt comfortable again. She even felt sweet, her eyebrows relaxed, and when she ate, the corners of her lips turned up.
Xi Mo saw all the small changes in her face, from being a little depressed to being full of smiles, but didn’t know the reason for these changes, so she stared at her even more carefully.
Ruan Yesheng finished eating two slices of pork knuckle and looked up.
Xi Mo was trying to figure out the reason. She frowned slightly while looking at her, sometimes even forgetting to blink.
Ruan Yesheng saw her like this, and her heart jumped uncontrollably.
When Xi Mo’s eyes met hers, she quickly looked away, pretending not to care.
Ruan Yesheng wanted to laugh even more. She said boldly, "Do you like watching me eat that much?"
"Don't stick gold on your face*," Xi Mo said. "I wasn't looking at you."
*to flatter oneself
"Alright, my fault, I said nonsense," Ruan Yesheng slowly put down the chopsticks. "I'm done eating."
Xi Mo turned her face and looked at the thin slice of braised pork knuckle soaked in sauce. "I said you can eat three slices. You've only eaten two slices and you're done? Are you sure you don't want more?"
Ruan Yesheng smiled and asked her back, "You said you didn't look at me. Then how do you know I only ate two slices?"
Xi Mo: "..."
Ruan Yesheng looked proud like she set a trap and won.
Xi Mo examined her for a while, then finally replied in a half-cold half-calm voice, "I already counted how many slices of braised pork knuckle there were before. Then I looked at how many slices are left now. This kind of simple subtraction, I think anyone can do it."
Ruan Yesheng: "..."
She got outmaneuvered. Though she wasn't sure if Xi Mo really counted, probably not, it was most likely just Xi Mo's excuse. But now, it seemed like she didn't get any advantage.
However, Ruan Yesheng became even happier. This time she ate while chatting casually with Xi Mo. "What did Director Gu say to you?"
Xi Mo briefly talked about some parts of the audition process with Ruan Yesheng. Then she said, "Director Gu always thinks highly of you. She is very sincere about this cooperation. You carefully read the contract. If there's anything else you want to discuss with Director Gu, you can mark it. I will talk to Director Gu."
"Alright, I will take a look tonight. But I'm already very satisfied. How could I dare to ask for anything more?" Ruan Yesheng smiled.
"Alright." Xi Mo thought for a while, then nodded and said, "I helped you look over it. Except the pay offered by the production side is a bit low, the rest is fine. But Director Gu's movies always have good reputation and box office. After it releases, it will surely have a lot of exposure. You just returned not long ago. If you can act in her movie, it will definitely help your future path. Later, after your career moves forward, you will have more bargaining power to negotiate with the production side. With this foundation, if you move forward step by step steadily and take more high-quality projects, your chances of getting selected for awards will also be much higher. You will surely achieve your wish sooner or later."
She said more than usual today. She was clearly seriously giving advice for Ruan Yesheng's acting career in the future.
Ruan Yesheng had never seen Xi Mo care this much about anyone's future before. Now she was patiently planning step by step for her. The warmth in her heart was impossible to describe.
"Did I talk too much?" Xi Mo looked at Ruan Yesheng's expression and suddenly showed a bit of unnoticeable embarrassment. She said, "This is your future matter. I should not interfere too much."
"No, no." Ruan Yesheng quickly said, "This isn't interfering. You are thinking for me. I can't be happier."
Xi Mo's expression softened a lot, but she still kept her composure.
"Also, I feel the pay isn't low. I'm quite satisfied." Ruan Yesheng smiled, "Of course, compared to you, it surely can't be compared."
Xi Mo's pay was one of the highest in the circle. She was very picky about scripts, and her family background was powerful. She wasn't controlled by capital, so she wouldn't take bad projects arranged by capital like some very popular stars. Movies that caught her eye were very few.
Because she was this kind of noble and hard to invite, her pay stayed extremely high. Directors like Lin Qitang and dramas like Sui Ting, even though their productions were already very careful and high quality, still weren't enough to invite her. If it wasn't because Xi Mo was one of the investors this time, and there would be good profit sharing after airing, she wouldn't have considered acting at all.
Xi Mo fell silent.
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
When she saw Ruan Yesheng's pay, she had actually felt a bit unhappy at that time.
Such pay didn't match Ruan Yesheng.
Ruan Yesheng was a dazzling bright pearl. She deserved higher.
Better everything.
But Xi Mo understood that there was no way. After a star falls out of popularity, in the eyes of capital, the value drops a lot. Reality is just this cruel.
"Ruan Yesheng." Xi Mo suddenly spoke softly again.
Ruan Yesheng didn't know what she wanted to say. She waited for her to continue.
Xi Mo paused for a long time before saying again, "You are very good. In the future, your pay will be very, very high."
Ruan Yesheng was stunned. After a while, she tasted the meaning. This was another wooden-style comfort. Xi Mo probably had to think for a long time before forcing this sentence out. It was not easy for her.
"Thank you." Ruan Yesheng sincerely smiled.
She finished eating three slices of pork knuckle and kept her promise to stop. She asked Xi Mo if she wanted to eat. Xi Mo shook her head. So, she started to tidy up the table.
During the time, Ruan Yesheng thought of something and said again, "By the way, Yan Mu heard the song you wrote and thought it was very nice. He asked if he can have it. He won't spread it. He just wants to make a guitar score. This is your song, so I have to ask you."
"Send it to him," Xi Mo said.
"Alright." Ruan Yesheng smiled, "Then I will thank you for him."
She stayed in Xi Mo's room for a while before going back. After reading the contract, she sent Yan Mu a message and sent the song over.
Yan Mu was simply flattered. He kept saying thank you and praised this song in fancy ways. His praise was full of real feelings.
Ruan Yesheng pretended not to see it. She just tested him by asking one more question: "When you write songs, you write both lyrics and melody yourself. Do you have any special experience in writing lyrics?"
"Sister, are you going to write lyrics for this song?!" Yan Mu got even more excited. "This song is really too suitable to become a song. It only lacks lyrics now. If you finish it, can you send it to me to take a look?"
"I just asked casually," Ruan Yesheng denied.
But Yan Mu didn't just listen casually. The next afternoon after Ruan Yesheng asked, he sent over a document. It was thousands of words long, all about his own experiences on writing lyrics, including the use of rhymes, rhythm control when matching with the melody, and he even attached some reference materials for writing lyrics.
He mentioned one point in it. That was the sense of pictures when listening to the melody. If it can resonate with one’s own mood, the level of the lyrics will rise.
Feelings are much more important than skills.
But he knew Xi Mo was good at piano and music theory. Even though he had never seen Xi Mo write lyrics, he had listened to her melody. In his view, he trusted Xi Mo’s ability very much. So the lyric writing skills he sent over were a bit advanced.
Helplessly, Ruan Yesheng had no experience in writing lyrics. When she read this document, it was a bit hard to understand. She had to take it out and read it again and again every day when she was free, and also study some tutorials.
After a week, Yan Mu officially finished filming. The crew specially opened champagne to celebrate and gave him flowers.
Not long after Yan Mu left, he sent Ruan Yesheng a new demo that he rearranged. The main instrument was guitar, with piano added. The whole song was fresh and the rhythm was more clear than before. It was more suitable for lyrics.
Days flew by. She and Yan Mu messaged much more than before. Most of the time, they talked about matching the melody and the lyrics. Yan Mu liked music, so of course he was very happy to answer such questions. His replies were very warm.
In a blink, winter came. The weather got colder and colder, especially after a few days of continuous rain. The rain was wet and cold, making people shiver.
As her and Xi Mo’s scenes finished one by one, they were about to wrap up filming. Xi Mo saw her performance these days and finally could not help but say, "You've been contacting Yan Mu a lot lately."
"Mm, I had something to ask him recently," Ruan Yesheng said.
"What is it?" Xi Mo's face seemed a bit cautious.
"Private matter." Ruan Yesheng took her eyes off the phone and looked at Xi Mo.
Private matter meant it was not convenient to say. Xi Mo heard this meaning, and her face did not look happy. Her tone was colder than the cold rain outside: "Don't get too close to Yan Mu."
Ruan Yesheng seemed to sense something. She quickly put away her phone and carefully looked at Xi Mo’s face full of frost.
Finally, she carefully asked her, "Are you angry because I’m close to Yan Mu?"
Xi Mo: "..."
Ruan Yesheng knew she was being self-indulgent, but she still could not stop thinking in that direction. She waited nervously for Xi Mo's answer.
Xi Mo sat down beside her. She did not look at her, only said, "His personality is clingy. Before, I couldn’t even avoid him. I ‘m not used to dealing with people who talk too much. Now you get along with him well, but when we switch back, how am I supposed to clean up this mess you leave?"
When Ruan Yesheng heard this, her eyebrows and eyes lowered slightly.
She felt a little disappointed. She even thought her disappointment was ridiculous. It was all because she had unrealistic hopes that she now felt this kind of loss.
She brought it on herself.
Four days later, the last scene of Ding’e was scheduled for the afternoon. The weather was gloomy, cold rain was falling, which matched Lin Qitang’s mood. To shoot this important scene well, he had talked with Ruan Yesheng and Xi Mo several times.
The scene was outside the hall. The two of them sat under the resting tent on set, waiting to shoot.
Yan Mu sent another message. Ruan Yesheng replied a few lines. Yan Mu said some of her lyrics ideas were pretty good. After working hard for so long, Ruan Yesheng finally tasted a bit of how it felt to write lyrics, and her lips curved up with joy.
Xi Mo saw her smiling while chatting with Yan Mu. Her face became darker than the sky outside.
After the chat, Ruan Yesheng was going to hand her phone to Feng Tangtang for safekeeping. But the message alert sounded again.
She looked down and saw that the message was from Xi Mo.
It said: “I’m angry.”
Ruan Yesheng: "..."
Xi Mo did not look at her either. After sending the message, she handed her own phone to Feng Tangtang. Then she turned around and moved the chairs, which had been put together, a little farther apart. She sat down and looked at the gray sky where the rain was falling.
Author’s Note:
I hope that when you read, you can be happy and forget the helplessness and unhappiness in life. Reality is already so difficult. I hope that the world I present to you in my writing is beautiful, and I hope that you will always feel the gentleness when reading.
Thank you.
