Chapter 132: Fireworks
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
"Yes." Xi Mo turned the steering wheel, and the car turned right.
Since Ruan Yesheng brought up Ding Ru, she guessed that Ruan Yesheng must have known Auntie Lan through Ding Ru.
Ding Ru had always taken care of Ruan Yesheng. Ruan Yesheng helped Ding Ru before. Ding Ru's branch company also invited Ruan Yesheng to work with them, so they had a lot of contact.
Even though Auntie Lan and Ding Ru were half-siblings, Ding Ru really loved this sister. Auntie Lan cooked well. She often brought snacks to visit Ding Ru. During that time, it made sense that Ruan Yesheng saw Auntie Lan too.
"Since you know her, things will be easier later." Xi Mo felt more at ease and said, "If Auntie Lan comes back and sees you, you two will get along. Auntie Lan is always very nice to people she knows."
"She really is nice." Ruan Yesheng smiled and said, "She even gave me dumplings she made. They were delicious."
Xi Mo said, "Before, when I was filming for a long time, I didn't stay at home much. But Auntie Lan always asked someone to clean up on time. She was afraid I would suddenly go home. She always put some long-lasting food in the fridge. Maybe there are still dumplings at home now."
Ruan Yesheng opened her phone map to check the supermarkets nearby. She said, "There’s a big supermarket ahead. We should go buy some fresh food and fruit. You haven't been home for a long time. You also didn't tell Auntie Lan. There must be nothing at home."
"Okay." Xi Mo reset the navigation.
They parked in the parking lot beside the supermarket. Ruan Yesheng opened the car door and got out. She said to Xi Mo, "Stay here and wait for me. Don’t get recognized. I will go buy it."
Xi Mo said without thinking, "Then put your mask on."
Ruan Yesheng held the car door with one hand, smiling with squinted eyes. "I'm not famous now. It doesn't matter if I wear one or not. Strangers won't recognize me. You think everyone is like you? So well-known nationwide."
Xi Mo froze a bit, then quickly explained, "That’s not what I meant. I’m just used to wearing a mask when going out."
She realized she had said something wrong and was afraid Ruan Yesheng would think she was showing off about being popular. But deep down, she knew Ruan Yesheng was open-minded and polite, and would not misunderstand her like that.
Even so, she still felt a bit nervous and conflicted.
She did not know when it started, but somehow, she already cared this much about how Ruan Yesheng saw her.
"I understand." Ruan Yesheng's smile had a kind of magic, like it could smooth over any uneasy feeling. Anyone who saw her smile would calm down right away.
Xi Mo finally relaxed.
"I’ll be right back," Ruan Yesheng said.
She had not walked far when Xi Mo suddenly called her. Ruan Yesheng stopped, looking back under the winter streetlights.
"I’ll go with you," Xi Mo said, stepping out of the car with her mask on.
"You’re not worried it’ll be inconvenient?" Ruan Yesheng was a bit surprised.
"There are fewer people at night. It’s fine." Xi Mo handed Ruan Yesheng another pair of gloves, frowning. "Why are you still not wearing gloves?"
Ruan Yesheng took them, staring at the gloves in a daze.
She thought of the hotel garden during the wrap up party, when Xi Mo had taken off her own gloves and helped her put them on. Xi Mo had just taken out her hand and the gloves were warmed. When her frozen hands touched that warmth, she couldn’t help but want to cling to it.
“I left in a hurry and forgot,” Ruan Yesheng said, a bit dazed.
This time, Xi Mo seemed a little reserved. She didn't help her put them on like before and just stared at her.
Under Xi Mo’s gaze, Ruan Yesheng obediently put on the gloves.
The gloves had a British knit style. She opened both hands in front of Xi Mo, curled her fingers, then opened them again, playfully saying, “Report, gloves are on. Please rest assured, Boss. I’ll remember your teaching and wear gloves every time I go out. I’ll win the hand protection battle for sure.”
Xi Mo gave her a sideways glance. “Hurry up and go.”
Ruan Yesheng smiled and walked beside Xi Mo, close to her, like she was staying near the only warmth in winter. But she didn’t dare to hold Xi Mo’s arm and just kept a careful distance.
After walking for a while, Ruan Yesheng said, “I didn’t think you’d come to the supermarket ‘yourself’.”
Xi Mo: “…”
She saw the look in Ruan Yesheng’s eyes and knew she was being teased again. She said, “Listen to what you’re saying. These past few months I had no assistant, and my manager wasn’t around either. I had to do everything myself. I came to the supermarket more often than you did.”
“How’s that the same?” Ruan Yesheng wanted to laugh even more. “You had no choice. We swapped, and you had to go out with my face. When I was pretending to be you, I never went to the supermarket. Everything was prepared by my assistant. That says a lot about your usual lifestyle.”
Xi Mo gave a cold snort. “I’ve gone to the supermarket plenty of times before.”
“When?” Ruan Yesheng asked.
“While filming. Some scenes were set in supermarkets.” Xi Mo looked serious. “I experienced life in the supermarket. I watched how others acted while shopping. How else would I know how to act in those scenes?”
“Wow, amazing.” Ruan Yesheng praised her with exaggeration.
Xi Mo: “…”
Ruan Yesheng almost laughed into her shoulder but held back. This time she asked properly, “Then the last time you went to a supermarket just to shop for your own daily life, when was it?”
Xi Mo stayed silent.
Ruan Yesheng had already guessed.
Ordinary people can never imagine the huge gap between themselves and those who come from truly powerful families.
When Xi Mo went out to film, she had an assistant and Lu Qingming. At home, there was Auntie Lan. In the Xi family estate, there was Auntie Zhou who looked after her dad, and other helpers in the manor. Even at the villa where her mother’s grave was, if she went there to stay for a few days, there were people to take care of everything. She really didn’t need to go shopping. The people around her would prepare every detail for her.
It’s true she had traveled to many places for acting, and even visited a mental hospital. She wasn’t a spoiled Young Miss. When it came to her job, she could endure a lot. And a serious actress has to go through hardships others can’t imagine.
She studied all kinds of people in the world and used those experiences in her acting.
But she only went to those places for her roles, not because of her real life.
After a long while, Xi Mo finally said, “Then I guess it wasn’t recent. It was... back in college.”
Ruan Yesheng was surprised: “Was it that one time you went with me?”
“...Mm.” Xi Mo nodded unwillingly.
Ruan Yesheng was overjoyed: “So it looks like every time you went to the supermarket for your own needs, it was with me.”
Xi Mo: “…”
Right then, she didn’t know what to say. Seeing a few rows of shopping carts ahead, she quickly walked over, pulled one out, and started pushing it forward.
Xi Mo followed the supermarket signs with ease and walked to the vegetable section. She turned back to ask Ruan Yesheng, who had followed along, “What kind of vegetables do you want to buy?”
“Just get some simple ones. Don’t buy too many leafy vegetables at once, they wilt fast. I can come out and get more later,” Ruan Yesheng said while picking a few winter bamboo shoots. “This season’s shoots taste pretty good.”
After buying vegetables and fruits, the two went to the meat section and looked at the ribs inside the refrigerator.
This supermarket was open late, and it was almost closing time. Not much meat was left. The staff wanted to finish up quickly and go home. One of them picked up a piece of ribs and said, “How about this one? It’s got lots of meat. Good for soup or sweet and sour.”
Xi Mo frowned. “Not that one.”
She used a plastic bag as a glove, poked at two pieces of ribs with red and white layers, and said, “These two. The meat is firm but not too much, nicely stuck to the bone. Please cut them into small even pieces, thank you.”
The staff cut them the way she asked, weighed them, then handed them over.
Xi Mo also bought two big bones and half a chicken. She asked them to chop the big bones into sections, but left the chicken untouched, just packed up. Then she placed them all into the shopping cart.
“You’re pretty skilled,” Ruan Yesheng praised her sincerely this time.
The two ribs Xi Mo picked were indeed the best in the refrigerator. The big bones and chicken were good too. You could tell she had experience. She also knew ribs and big bones were hard to chop at home, better to let someone strong handle it now, while chicken needs technique to slice, best done later.
Xi Mo shot her a look. “I told you I’ve experienced supermarket life before. I wasn’t lying.”
“Yes, yes, you're really amazing. You can suffer any hardship for a role,” Ruan Yesheng lowered her voice and whispered in her ear.
Xi Mo looked away, and her cheeks seemed a little red. She said, “See if there’s anything else to buy.”
Ruan Yesheng looked around. “That’s about it. Almost enough to cook for tomorrow.”
The two pushed the shopping cart to the cashier to pay. They saw a promotion poster next to them. There was an event today. As long as you spent one hundred sixty yuan, you could have one chance to draw a prize. Ruan Yesheng looked down at the receipt. They could totally go draw once.
The cashier smiled and said, “You two can go to the customer service counter over there to draw. Thank you.”
Xi Mo didn’t say anything. Ruan Yesheng and she each carried a bag and walked forward.
Ruan Yesheng didn’t plan to go draw. She also thought Xi Mo surely wouldn’t be interested in drawing. The prize you could get with this amount of money in a supermarket was usually not interesting. If it’s not a big bottle of juice, then it’s tissue, noodles, or chopsticks. If not those, then maybe a “Thank you for coming.” Anyway, she didn’t want to join the fun.
A person like Xi Mo would even less want to go.
But Xi Mo suddenly stopped halfway and said to Ruan Yesheng, “Do you want to draw a prize?”
Ruan Yesheng: “...”
“I’ve never drawn a prize before,” Xi Mo said, a bit awkward. “I want to try my luck.”
Ruan Yesheng was surprised, but when she saw Xi Mo wanted to try the feeling of drawing a prize, she also found it very interesting and got excited. She said, “Then let’s go.”
The two walked to the customer service counter. On the counter, there was a box with a stack of red cards inside. Ruan Yesheng told Xi Mo to draw one. “There are six prize levels. Let’s see your luck.”
Xi Mo’s hand hovered over the red paper cards. She started to count seriously from left to right. When she got to the ninth one, she picked it.
“Scratch it quick. What did you get?” Ruan Yesheng also got excited for no reason. Even though the prize wasn’t important, she hoped Xi Mo could feel the joy of winning.
Sometimes, the prize really didn’t matter. What mattered was whether you had that bit of luck.
More important was who you played with.
Xi Mo scratched off the layer. Ruan Yesheng moved her head closer. It showed: “Fourth prize.”
“You won.” Ruan Yesheng’s eyes lit up. “Fourth prize. You're lucky.”
The staff gave them a clear rice bowl and said, “This is the fourth prize, a bone china bowl. Please take it.”
Xi Mo took the bowl and looked at Ruan Yesheng. There was a ripple in her eyes, like she felt luck had picked her, and there was a small excitement hidden deep inside.
The two walked away a bit. Ruan Yesheng smiled and said, “I saw this bowl in the tableware section just now. It’s really cheap and even on sale. Since it’s a prize, they won’t give you anything too good. It’s fine not to use it. Just for fun.”
“Wait for me here,” Xi Mo said to her.
Ruan Yesheng looked at Xi Mo with confusion but still waited in place.
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Xi Mo walked quickly back and disappeared into the layers of shelves. After a while, she appeared again at the checkout. She paid in a rush and came back to Ruan Yesheng.
Ruan Yesheng stared at the extra bone china bowl in Xi Mo’s hand, the same kind as the fourth prize, looking shocked.
“Why did you buy another one?” Ruan Yesheng asked. “You really like this bowl?”
Xi Mo handed the bowl to Ruan Yesheng. “It’s for you. You only get one chance at the draw, and you didn’t get to try. Just think you also won the fourth prize. This is your prize.”
Ruan Yesheng froze for a while, then took the bowl and smiled. “Thanks. Then I’ll think I won the prize from you.”
“Let’s go back,” Xi Mo said.
Ruan Yesheng stacked the two bowls together and put them in the bag. A quiet smile showed at the corner of her lips.
The two walked out the supermarket doors and headed to the parking lot.
Ruan Yesheng carried the bag in one hand and looked at Xi Mo beside her. Xi Mo didn’t look at her, only focused on the road ahead. The shopping bag in her hand made a soft rubbing sound. Cold wind lifted the hair by her ear. Her face was covered by a mask, but her eyes were full of light.
Xi Mo didn’t need to care about this ordinary life, but she still chose to walk through this worldly fireworks with her.
Ruan Yesheng felt a quiet joy rise in her heart.
Author's Note:
The lottery is really such a happy thing, isn’t it, Wood? You won a small bowl as a prize and secretly bought a matching one for your wife, right? [.
Let's play a lottery too~ I'll pick one girl who votes with overlord tickets under this chapter and draw a simple black-and-white headshot for her. [Hey, what a boring prize, nobody wants it!]
Thank you for your ratings and comments, overlord tickets, nutrient solution irrigation, etc. ~
