Translator: Kingbao Editor: DarkGem
Lu Jinnian took in her actions, and even though he remained expressionless, his face turned tender and loving. He started the engine, heading onto the road.
Qiao Anhao lowered her head, carefully arranging the documents and photographs with seriousness, before finally raising the two red marriage certificates. Turning, she passed Lu Jinnian’s certificate over to him. “Here’s yours.”
Lu Jinnian turned his head slightly while keeping his focus on the road. When he saw the words “Marriage Certificate” imprinted on the cover page of the red book, he suddenly realized that both of their names would be together now. Abruptly, the steering wheel steered sideways, slightly out of control, but quickly, Lu Jinnian stabilized the car and calmly reached over to grab the red book.
Only after holding it in his hands for a long while was he willing to put it aside into his pocket. Even though the red book didn’t hold much warmth, he could still feel a hint of heat through the thin pocket fabric separating it from his skin.
When they hit a red light, Lu Jinnian glanced at Qiao Anhao through the rear view mirror: she was studying the red book intently.
The faint glow from the sunset fell onto her face, coloring it with a faint reddish shade. Her long lashes were lowered, her lips curled into a slight smile.
Lu Jinnian was mesmerized just then, but the continuous honking from the cars behind him snapped him back to reality. He turned his attention back to the road. Even though his features were soft and tender, he spoke coldly. “Which house do you like?”
“Uh?” Qiao Anhao asked in confusion as she lifted her head.
“Do you intend for us to stay separately on the first day of our marriage?”
“Uhh…” Qiao Anhao frowned, seemingly unclear of the meaning before suddenly realizing what he had meant. Tilting her head to the side, she thought for a while. “Mian Xiu Garden.”
That mansion in Mian Xiu Garden held many of their memories, and even after she had left, he still maintained everything as though they were still living together.
Hence, after they got married now, she wished for Mian Xiu Garden to be their home.
After she replied, she realized that she had sounded too resolute so she added, “Can we?”
Without replying to her question, he said,”After such a long flight, you must be tired. After dinner, we’ll go back to rest. I’ll help you move your things tomorrow.”
He seemed to be agreeable.
–
After dinner, they returned to Mian Xiu Garden. While Qiao Anhao showered, Lu Jinnian headed to the study room. Out of habit, he lit a cigarette. After just a few puffs, he reached for the red book in his pocket.
He stared at the cover page for a long while before flipping it open to look at the photo of himself and Qiao Anhao.
She was smiling sweetly, her eyes curved into crescents. He clearly remembered that he was emotionless at that time, but in the photo there was a hint of a smile on his lips.
After a long while, he glanced down at their names.
Lu Jinnian.
Qiao Anhao.
Translator: Kingbao Editor: DarkGem
Lu Jinnian lifted the cigarette towards his mouth to take a deep breath. Exhaling slowly, he looked at the two names behind the smoke for a long while. In the end, he still couldn’t resist reaching towards his thigh to pinch himself. When the sharp stinging pain pulsed through his veins, he was reassured that the past twenty four hours—the flight back from America all the way till now—had really happened.
Qiao Anhao was really married to him, she was his wife.
“Lu Jinnian…” Qiao Anhao’s voice suddenly sounded from the staircase. Soon, he could hear her hurried footsteps.
He came back to his senses and extinguished the cigarette instantly, stuffing the marriage certificate back into his pocket. He turned to walk out of the study room. Qiao Anhao had just showered and was dressed in a cotton night dress and had a towel wrapped around her head. With a cleanly scrubbed face, she ran up the stairs with her hands on the railing as she shouted continuously, “Lu Jinnian, Lu Jinnian…”
“Here.” Lu Jinnian frowned, he shut the study room door and walked down the stairs towards her.
The moment she heard his voice, she lifted her head in its direction. The moment his face came into sight, the obvious anxiousness and anxiety etched on her face faded away, turning into a warm smile. Rushing up the staircase once more, she panted slightly, seemingly out of breath. “I filled the tub with hot water for you.”
Was she worried when she couldn’t find him?
His heart increased in tempo, the drumming clear in his ears, and his gaze turned fiery. After a while, he nodded his head silently. Grabbing her hand, he walked her back to the bedroom.
–
When Lu Jinnian came out of the shower, Qiao Anhao was already lying on the bed, chatting in a low voice. He didn’t pay attention to the content but when he heard her say “Brother Jiamu”, he froze slightly before returning to the bathroom and closing the door behind himself.
Qiao Anhao didn’t talk for long, it was about two minutes before the conversation ended. Lu Jinnian tossed the towel he had in his hands before returning back to the bedroom.
Qiao Anhao sat on the bed. When she heard him, she turned asking gently, “Done showering?”
“Yea,” Lu Jinnian replied coldly. He switched off the bedroom lights and laid down on the bed.
Nothing happened on the first night after they got married, they just laid on the bed silently.
Qiao Anhao inched slightly towards him. He didn’t avoid and even brought her into his embrace.
Since they came back from America, they had gone straight to get their marriage license. They never once stopped to rest, so by then they were exhausted. Qiao Anhao nestled in Lu Jinnian’s arms and fell asleep after a short while.
Lu Jinnian waited till her breathing became deeper before he lowered his head. With the faint glow from the night lamp, he looked at her face for a while. Reaching out with his arm, he lightly caressed her face. The feeling was real. Glancing back at the ceiling, he stared for a while more before gently removing Qiao Anhao from his arms. Silently, he put on a sweater before going to the study room.
He sat at the same spot he was in previously. Picking up the box of cigarettes in front of him, he lit a stick.
Chapter 645: Marriage (16)
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
Qiao Anhao was the warmth that Lu Jinnian had tried with all his strength to get near.
He once thought that he never had any hope of receiving this warmth.
But now he had gotten it. Yet he felt like he could lose it at any time.
He couldn’t not admit that the words “Xu Jiamu” from her mouth instantly exposed his unbearably disheveled self of the past few months.
Lu Jinnian didn’t go back to the bedroom all night. Instead, he was smoking for most of the night on the balcony of the study room until a slither of light escaped from eastern skies. As the bright red sunlight rose, he moved about with his body having become stiff from sitting for too long. He then pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
“Lucy, it’s me… Have you slept? It’s nothing, haven’t you always wanted to travel to China? If you have time lately, you can come over… Uh huh, I want to talk to you… All right, I’ll wait for you to book the tickets. Tell me when, I’ll come pick you up… Uh huh. See ya.”
He hung up the call. The sunlight had already pierced through the windows of the first floor.
Qiao Anhao was probably going to wake up soon, right? He should go back to the bedroom.
Lu Jinnian rubbed his face a little and sat there with his phone in his hand for a while. He then tidied up the mountain high pile of cigarette butts and went back into the bedroom.
He wasn’t in a rush to climb back into bed and went to the bathroom first to take a shower and brush his teeth to get rid of the smell of smoke. Only then he quietly slipped back into the bed.
Qiao Anhao was deep asleep. Her face was just as beautiful and peaceful as it were before he left. Lu Jinnian’s eyes flickered for a moment, and he pulled her into his arms again and shut his eyes.
–
On the third day after their marriage, Qiao Anhao officially started filming in Beijing for “Love at First Sight”, a movie Huan Ying Entertainment had previously arranged for her.
“Love at First Sight” wasn’t a movie with a big budget, and so the celebrities cast weren’t major stars. Qiao Anhao was cast as the female lead, and the male lead was an older celebrity, who had been in the industry for a long time and was never able to catch a break. The supporting female actress was an old acquaintance, Lin Shiyi.
Ever since being blocked after “Alluring Times”, Lin Shiyi wasn’t cast in any movies for several months. It was not until in November, when she jumped between different men that she incidentally hooked a film investor. The investor seemed to have really fallen for her, as he actually injected a large sum into the “Love at First Sight” and helped her snag the supporting female role.
Because of the investment, Lin Shiyi was bolder than when she filmed “Alluring Times”. Even the director and screenwriter had to let her be to some degree, not to mention the other staff members and actors. Whoever saw her would always treat her with respect and call her Sister Shiyi.
Honestly speaking, if it weren’t for Zhao Meng’s reminder, Qiao Anhao would of completely forgotten about Lin Shiyi.
Lin Shiyi’s personality was overbearing. The two of them had argued on so many occasions, and every time, Lin Shiyi would never get anywhere. Now that she had bounced back, Qiao Anhao’s first instinct was that this movie won’t be that easy to film.
However, in truth, the situation was much better than she had imagined. At the very least, she and Lin Shiyi didn’t have to see one another for a week before shooting, so things between them seemed calm and peaceful.
Qiao Anhao and Zhao Meng sat in the break room, waiting to shoot the next scene, but as there were so many outtakes during the current scenes being shot, Zhao Meng yawned in boredom. Suddenly, she came over to Qiao Anhao to gossip. “Qiao Qiao, how is life after getting remarried to Mr. Lu?”
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
Qiao Anhao, who was looking at the script at the time, was a little stunned by Zhao Meng’s question.
Actually, she couldn’t quite describe life after her and Lu Jinnian’s marriage. He had been back in China for some time now, but since returning, he hadn’t gone back to the office, and yet whilst she was working, he seemed to be busy as well. All in all, it was like he was busy with something that she didn’t know and wouldn’t tell her about.
Lu Jinnian treated her well. After their marriage, there hadn’t been a single night when he didn’t come home. Two days ago, Zhao Meng was busy with something and had to take the car. When she made her way back to the set, she came across traffic, so Qiao Anhao had to wait for quite a long time. Perhaps it was because it was winter and she had to wait so long in the cold wind, Qiao Anhao had a fever in the middle of the night. Lu Jinnian then personally ran out to get her some medicine. Since then, he would come by every day to the set.
Now that she thought about it, there was really little to complain about her husband, Lu Jinnian. If she had to find something, then she would say that since they got married over ten days ago, they had slept together every night, but he would never touch her. Not once.
It was not like she was thirsty to start something between them but since he hadn’t touched her on the second day after marriage either, she couldn’t make an excuse. She couldn’t tell herself that Lu Jinnian had done it too many times in America and so he was just recovering from that now since it’s been so many days now. Even if she was being optimistic, she knew that there was a big problem between them.
At that thought, Qiao Anhao couldn’t help but get a little irritated.
She closed the script, turned her head to the white sky out the window, and furrowed her brows even harder.
She thought that after marriage, the two of them would slowly get closer, but from what she saw, that wasn’t the case. She had to think of a plan to fix the situation, but who could tell her what would be effective?
“Qiao Qiao, why are you daydreaming? You’ve been ignoring my questions for half a day. They’re starting to film now. Hurry!” Zhao Meng sat on the side. She couldn’t help but pull her arms out and slap Qiao Anhao on the shoulders.
Qiao Anhao’s entire body shivered for a moment, and she suddenly snapped back to reality. She first let out an “Oh!”, then hastily stood up and walked over to the set.
–
After Qiao Anhao finished filming the scene, the entire crew took a mid-shoot break.
It was already four in the afternoon, so they only had her and Lin Shiyi’s scene to shoot at half past four.
As Lin Shiyi’s current boyfriend was rich, she got her assistant to use a large sum of money to order afternoon tea in advance. It arrived during the mid-shoot break, so she gave everyone on set a portion.
Lin Shiyi didn’t use the fact her and Qiao Anhao were not on good terms to exclude her. Instead, she personally brought over two boxes of take out to Qiao Anhao and Zhao Meng. She gave an unusually friendly smile and said, “Here’s a little something. You’re welcome.”
Qiao Anhao knew full well that Lin Shiyi only did this to appear superior because she had an investor backing her.
Zhao Meng’s personality was rather frank and she didn’t like Lin Shiyi for past events. Seeing how sickly sweet she was acting, Zhao Meng felt sickened, and when Lin Shiyi came to especially hand her a box, she didn’t take it and turned her head, pretending to talk to Qiao Anhao.
As for Qiao Anhao, she smiled brighter than Lin Shiyi and said “Thank you” as she took it.
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
Naturally, the only reason why Lin Shiyi was so generous whilst everyone was watching her was because she couldn’t lose to Qiao Anhao and let people see her as a joke.
Qiao Anhao maintained a smile until Lin Shiyi left, then she put the two lunch boxes on the corner of the table. She turned her head and rehearsed the lines for the upcoming scene with Zhao Meng.
Since Lin Shiyi had joined the crew, she often treated everyone to afternoon tea, to dinner, or to karaoke. Above all else, she had an investor backing her, so she had a group of members of staff an actors to feed, who respected her and surrounded her with compliments.
“Sis Shiyi, your ring is so pretty! Is that Chanel’s latest model?”
“Also, that dress Sis Shiyi wore this morning looked like a limited edition.”
“Did you guys see the car Sis Shiyi drove yesterday?”
With everyone’s compliments, Lin Shiyi could only keep smiling. Every now and then, she drank her coffee through a straw. From the very start, her assistant by her side spoke on her behalf. “They were all gifts Sis Shiyi received from her boyfriend.”
Lin Shiyi’s assistant’s words drew a roar of admiration.
Zhao Meng, who was rehearsing lines with Qiao Anhao, couldn’t help but roll her eyes, and complain in a quiet voice. “That’s enough… There’s always something to brag about every day on set. I can’t take it anymore. Qiao Qiao, shall we go take a walk?”
Qiao Anhao turned her head and glanced over at Lin Shiyi, who was crowded by everyone not too far away. Every now and then, laughter could be heard from the group, and so they got all the scripts together and chucked them onto the table.
But just as Qiao Anhao got ready to get up, the director’s assistant suddenly ran over. He brought over a new script for her and said, “Apologies, Miss Qiao. The director instructed that I give this to you. He says that there were some inadequate areas, and so they made some readjustments. Later, when we shoot, follow this new draft.”
On set, it was quite normal for there to be amendments to script to improve the story, and so Qiao Anhao didn’t see anything to fret about. She calmly took the script and nodded at the director’s assistant.
The assistant bowed a little, then ran over to Lin Shiyi and handed her the script.
“Did the script change for the upcoming scene?”
As Zhao Meng asked, she yanked the script from Qiao Anhao’s hands. She randomly flipped through it with furrowed brows and an increasingly dark expression on her face. When she reached the end, she suddenly threw the script hard onto the table.
“What is the meaning of this? It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a script change like this during filming. The next scene was clearly meant to be the female lead slapping the second female. How did it end up being the other way round? Also, how did the second female end up with the male lead in the end? They dare make us film for half a day, then turn you into the supporting actress?”
Qiao Anhao furrowed her brows when she heard Zhao Meng complain and looked at the script.
This wasn’t an amendment; they were clearly writing a new script altogether!
Zhao Meng was fuming as she flipped through another few pages. Because she was so angry, she ended up severely creasing the script. She said, “Also, Qiao Qiao, look! Every couple of scenes, you have to get slapped by the supporting actress. What bullshit is this?!”
“What’s wrong? Why are you so mad?” asked Lin Shiyi, who was just surrounded by compliments, in a sweet voice.
Translator: Paperplane Editor: DarkGem
When Qiao Anhao heard Lin Shiyi’s voice, she lowered her head for a moment, then curved the corner of her lips to reveal a cold smile.
So her and Lin Shiyi weren’t on peaceful terms or harmonious as they were before: It was all set up for this very precise moment.
The instant Lin Shiyi spoke, Zhao Meng realized why the script was amended like this. The rim of her eyes turned red, for she couldn’t contain her anger the same way as Qiao Anhao.
“Is it because of the script?” Lin Shiyi didn’t mind how Qiao Anhao and Zhao Meng ignored her at all, speaking while flicking through the script in her hands. Then she put on a stunned expression. “Ah, how did the script change like this…”
Zhao Meng, who had already thought that Lin Shiyi was an eyesore, couldn’t listen to her fake words any longer, especially since she changed the script to be so unrecognizable. At that moment, she erupted. Without even thinking twice, she retaliated.. “The only reason the script changed like this was because some people have no shame and messed with it behind the scenes!”
When Zhao Meng said this, Lin Shiyi, who was calm and composed, instantly looked annoyed. “Who are you calling ‘shameless’?”
“Of all people, YOU should know best just who I’m calling ‘shameless’!” scoffed Zhao Meng, immediately turning her head and staring straight at Lin Shiyi. Without holding back at all, she exposed the truth, “What’s wrong? You dared to use your private ties with the investor to change the script, and yet you’re too cowardly to let me talk about it? Come on then. Tell everyone just how much you spent to amend the script like this?”
During university, Zhao Meng’s mouth was extraordinary. Right now, the few words she said forced Lin Shiyi to be at a loss for words, before she eventually let out a soft chuckle and threw the script in her hands with a “pah” on the table. She didn’t even bother with Zhao Meng. Instead, she stared at Qiao Anhao.
“Qiao Anhao, is it worth it to get mad? The industry has always ran like this. Rich people call the shots. If you really can’t take the loss, then why don’t you find a several thousand million investment and change it back? Don’t go getting upset because you’re incapable of something like this, and don’t go ordering your assistant to randomly curse people!”
“Lin Shiyi, with what eyes did you see Qiao Qiao ever order me to curse you out? So you are blind after all! You must’ve been blind when you got with your man too!” Zhao Meng was so pissed at Lin Shiyi, the words spewed thoughtlessly from her mouth. “Let me tell you, Lin Shiyi! It’s enough for you to go round parading that blind boyfriend of yours, you have to go and do it in front of Qiao Qiao. Aren’t you afraid of getting slapped? That man of your can’t even compare to a single strand of Qiao Qiao’s boyfriend’s hair!
“Also, do you feel proud for treating the entire crew to afternoon tea? I’ll leave it at that. Let’s not even talk about afternoon tea, with Qiao Qiao’s man’s single word, he could have everyone on set receive a paid leave!
“Of course, there’s the script. Let’s not even talk about the script, he can cut out your entire role! Cutting your role is nothing, he can stop the filming at any minute!”
When Lin Shiyi heard this, she laughed like it was a really funny joke. She snorted disdainfully and let out a snicker. “If you’re really capable of that, Qiao Anhao, then may we ask you to please call him? Call him to come over and let everyone get to know him.”
