Chapter 111: Chapter One-Hundred and Eleven: Dumplings
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The news of Ding Pei’s arrest spread like wildfire and the entire entertainment industry soon knew about it.
Gao Bei held a press conference and cried about her unfortunate experience. She thought she had met her ‘Mr. Right.’ The man claimed he was an heir of a wealthy family; he spent money on her freely and treated her very well. He told her he had to go abroad for business and said the trip would be boring without a partner, so he wanted her to accompany him for a few days.
Gao Bei was a naive girl who dreamed of love, so she secretly left with her ‘boyfriend’ without telling her manager. She thought it wasn’t a big deal—she would just be skipping work for a week. She didn’t mind if they terminated her contract—her ‘boyfriend’ had plenty of money, and he’d already agreed to help her pay the penalty for her breach of contract.
However, her ‘boyfriend’ changed his attitude once they were overseas. Not only did he confiscate her passport, but he also raped her and then sold her to a foreign man.
That man sent her directly to a brothel. She refused to obey and was nearly beaten to death; she probably would’ve died there if a gunfight hadn’t broken out outside. She took the chance to escape, and on the way, she met a
kind-hearted countryman who saved her.
Gao Bei broke down and cried several times during the press conference. She told the audience the first thing she did when she returned to the country was call the police and have her scumbag ‘boyfriend’ arrested. That scumbag was just a gigolo working at a nightclub. Ding Pei had given him money and asked him to pretend to be a rich heir to deceive her.
Now, her career was ruined, and Gao Bei felt sorry for disappointing her manager who had nurtured her, and she was also sorry for letting down ‘4:30 P.M.’ and its production team. She would turn over a new leaf and start anew, but she would never forgive the people who harmed her. She would definitely bring them to justice.
This matter had a huge social impact. Ding Pei was a member of Yun Entertainment and Yun Liu’s manager. Even though the Yun Corporation had announced to the public that Ding Pei had resigned before Gao Bei held the press conference, the public didn’t buy it. After all, Ding Pei was still a member of their company when she committed those acts. Are they trying to kid themselves? Did the Yun Corporation take the public for fools?
Yun Nan was making dumplings with everyone at the Shi family’s house when Gao Bei’s press conference was broadcast on TV. Well, to be exact, Yun Nan, the housemaid, and the family’s cook were making dumplings together while Shi Xiu was making a mess. Shi Nian only watched as he stood beside them, knowing well that—even with a demonstration right before him—he would probably fail in making a dumpling.
Mom, Dad, and Grandpa surrounded the chefs, singing all sorts of praises, but they didn’t join in the dumpling-making fun. Yun Nan had tasked them to only watch because it would be a waste of flour to teach the newbies hands-on how to make dumplings.
Only Shi Xiu didn’t believe she would have much difficulty learning how to make dumplings when she’d learned complicated embroidery. The family was having a lot of fun, laughing and making dumplings. It was like another world from the sadness shown on the television.
Shi Xiu finally learned how to roll out the dumpling skin. She held up her successful dumpling skin and showed it off to everyone in the living room. She then stood in front of the television and watched it for a while. When she returned to the dining room, she asked Yun Nan, “What made you choose Gao Bei to be the lead actress back then?”
Yun Nan turned to look at the television and answered frankly, “I showed Mika a picture of my mother. She bears a slight resemblance to my mother. She was also quite astute during the audition, so I decided to choose her.”
“What a pity,” Shi Xiu sighed. “I kind of feel like I’ve stolen her role.”
‘Why?” Yun Nan questioned, bewildered. Then, she understood and chuckled, “Silly girl, what makes you think that? To be honest, we’re all very glad that this incident happened early on. We’re not wishing bad on Gao Bei, but think about it. If this incident happened after we finished filming the movie, it most likely wouldn’t pass the review because any work done by artistes with spotty reputations has great difficulty passing the reviews. In that case, all of our hard work would be in vain, wouldn’t it?”
Shi Xiu thought about it and shook her head, saying, “That would be terrible!”
“So, I really have to thank the heavens, and thank you! Thank you for helping me… thank you for helping us!” Yun Nan said to Shi Xiu with a smile as she handed her the dumplings she’d pleated in the wheat pattern.
Shi Xiu’s eyes lit up, and she marveled, “Yun Nan, you’re so skilled at this! I just learned how to make a normal dumpling, and here you are, showing off your unique skills again. How am I supposed to catch up to you?”
Yun Nan chortled, “You managed to learn embroidery. This is nothing compared to that!”
Everyone laughed. “Our Yun Nan is so ingenious! Shi Xiu has finally found a good friend and mentor! ” Xu Yun remarked as she examined the fat wheat pattern dumpling.
Shi Nian looked proud, pleased that his relatives praised his wife..