CH 15.2

Chapter 15.2 — To Dote Even a Bit More (2)

Regarding the drama sequel, the story editor still had not formally signed any contracts yet, but over on Qiao Qiao’s end, news had already been released. There was an inundation of news stories, with both truth and untruth mixed in, hyping things and stirring up excitement. When Jia He asked him whether he would accept the project of filming the sequel, Yi Wenze answered with seriousness that he likely would not have room in his schedule for it.

Hearing this, Jia He could not say whether she was overjoyed or disappointed.

If he did film it, she would feel weird about it; if he didn’t, then without him starring in it, there really was nothing about this drama worth watching.

Downstairs of the production company office, Jia He stood by a newsstand, staring at the magazine for which half a month ago Yi Wenze had shown his face. While she was groaning over how she was making a fuss over something so small, someone nearby called her name.

She turned and saw that it was Director Liu’s assistant. Smiling at her, that young assistant said to the newsstand owner, “That one.” The item handed to her was the magazine with Yi Wenze’s photograph splashed across the cover. On that cover, his head was bowed slightly, a faint smile on his lips, as if he had just finished speaking and was now patiently listening to someone’s question.

Jia He blinked. She had bought a copy of it, too.

That young assistant’s eyes instantly lit up. “Screenwriter, you like him, too?”

Yup, I like him. In fact, it’s way more than just “like”…

She nodded. “I’ve liked him for many years.”

That little assistant fondly slipped an arm through Jia He’s. “Me too.” Only after she said this did she suddenly recall something. “Oh, I forgot. Screenwriter, didn’t he star in your last drama? And they’re even saying a sequel’s going to be filmed?”

With an “mm-hmm,” Jia He self-consciously tried to cover up for herself, superfluously adding, “He’s very professional, and also very polite and courteous.”

Even she cringed after speaking these words.

The entire way, this young girl spoke in a soft, sweet voice, but for the full ten minutes that they walked, she merely sighed over things like how she had missed the concert, or how his girlfriend was truly so lucky, etc., and did not hound Jia He with a lot of questions. She was completely unlike the usual fans who, when they encounter such a chance, will continuously throw out questions such as “What is he like in real life?” or “What type of gossipy stuff did you see when you were with the cast and crew?”

But now that she thought carefully about it, all these years, he was accustomed to being low-key and his fans also all held their silence.

Other than that one time with his divorce, there practically had not been any romance-related gossip news about him.

Even this time, he had resolved everything in one go and then would not answer any other questions on the matter. She remembered that afterwards, when she scanned through his official Tieba[1]page, all the fans on there had been very protective of him and when newcomers or media people barged in and tried to probe and ask questions, most would respond by saying that their idol did not like discussing his personal affairs. Someone had even politely given the reminder that the past was in the past and to please cease the pointless probing.

Truly… like attracts like; the type of person you are is the type of fans you attract.

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When she was back in the room, the group still had not fallen into discussion mode yet, so she opened her magazine and casually thumbed through it.

Actually, the content of his interviews was generally all pretty similar, and it was unavoidable that there would always be some mention or questions concerning his love life and relationship. The writer of this particular article was very playful, brushing over this topic with a single remark: He says the relationship is really stable. Oh gosh, as soon as I saw his smile, I didn’t feel right asking any further questions.

“Hey, Screenwriter,” someone nearby all of a sudden addressed her, “my wife and my mom are both faithfully watching your drama. Give me a spoiler: what’s the sequel going to be about? That way, when I go home, I can use this info to make my wife happy.”

Jia He looked cheerlessly at him. “To be honest, I don’t know.”

Even though her O respected story editor had turned over all authority of this sequel to her… she had stewed on this for many days with still no progress. Her creativity was thoroughly dried up.

That person teased Jia He for keeping her lips so tightly zipped, then offhandedly commented, “Liao Jing, that starlet, truly is not to be taken lightly. In just her second film project, she was already acting across Yi Wenze, and there are even romance rumours about the two of them. Someone forwarded her Weibo post yesterday. Holy, it certainly is allusive: ‘Thank you for giving me this moment of happiness.’ The whole Internet has exploded in mad gossip. A lot of people are saying that there were several times in Hengdian when the two of them partied crazily together the whole night through.”

A tremor went through Jia He’s heart. That young assistant was in the middle of handing out printouts of notes on the suggestions for script revisions, and very solemnly she spoke up to set things straight. “That’s impossible. That’s just her trying to sensationalize things. If she really were Yi Wenze’s girlfriend, she definitely wouldn’t have such moral character.”

Sure enough, this was a hardcore fan. Jia He felt even her bones tingle from listening to her.

“True love born out of onscreen love. This analysis is very well done and convincing.” That person turned his computer around to show the two of them.

It was generally an outline of when the schedules of the two artistes had coincided. The big coincidence was that on the day of the concert, Liao Jing had happened to be in Beijing. And the real killer was, someone had managed to dig up that gong show that had occurred in the KTV in Hengdian, claiming to have witnessed Liao Jing singing Tian Chu’s song and that Yi Wenze had been present.

Jia He roughly scanned through everything. All sorts of “inside scoops” had been “divulged.” She clicked through more than ten pages…

The further that young assistant read, the quieter she became until eventually she actually turned her eyes onto Jia He, as if hoping to seek confirmation. Jia He originally had not even wanted to respond to this, but that person just had to add another remark. “See? Even you believe it now, don’t you?” After the young girl heard this, she was in such a state of fret that her eyes grew red.

Not having the heart to see her like this, Jia He cleared her throat and spoke up nonchalantly, “As far as I know, it’s not likely to be true.”

This one sentence that she tossed out caused a ripple. Every person lifted his or her head and looked at her.

So it turns out they were actually all listening in…

Bringing her eyes down, she flipped through the three thin, insubstantial sheets of A4-size papers in her hands, forcing herself to hold up under the pressure and strengthen the plausibility of her fib. “One time, we were all eating together and he jokingly mentioned that he doesn’t really like women who are really tall.” When she finished saying this, she hastily added, “Don’t trust me. I’m just randomly spouting nonsense.”

Those three sheets of paper in her hand were flipped through, back and forth, over and over, as she looked through them. At the end, she even put on a show of picking up her pen and underlining a couple of things.

However, everyone’s burning gazes still stayed on her, and they were unwilling to let her off the hook. Luckily, that young assistant came to her rescue. “Screenwriter, our idol doesn’t like talking about his personal matters. Truth will eventually speak for itself. Just ignore them.”

Jia He nodded vehemently. The inside info I gave out because of you was not a waste. Good child…

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As a consequence of her one sentence, for the whole afternoon, people were chasing after her and intercepting her, and it was evening before she finally was able to escape from them.

Because his production company’s first film had moved into the post-production phase, Yi Wenze had worked overtime for a dozen or so days in a row already. He, as the boss, was being so dedicated, so of course the young people working for him were pumped and gung ho. When she drove over, Jia He was right on time for dinnertime. His employees had long since become acquainted with her, and once they saw her park the car and get out, they, of their own accord, greeted her, “Boss’s Wife,” and even did not forget to helpfully mention that Boss was in the dining hall.

All the while as Jia He walked inside, she would repeatedly say, “Thanks for all your hard work.”

Right as she stepped into the dining hall, she saw the chef behind the window hand some food over to Yi Wenze as well as say a few words to him.

As she was still a distance away, Jia He naturally was unable to hear what was said, but she particularly enjoyed this picture before her. She liked watching him treat everyone with such friendliness and also enjoyed gazing at his backside from afar. Never did he have any unnecessary little accessories. He would wear a simple, clean button-up shirt. If it was cold, he would add a jacket on top. Most of the time, he would choose the low-key colour of black.

He never viewed himself as an idol and could always make the people around him feel at ease.

Yet, when it came time to work, his speech and manner would truly be that of a public figure and he held himself to very strict standards.

On the tray was a plate loaded with a dozen or so deep-fried mantis shrimp seasoned in chilli, spiced salt, and garlic.

Sitting on her chair, her chin propped on one hand, she stared at him while he brought dinner and juice over for her. Out of the blue, she asked him, “In the past, was there anyone who was extra attentive to you or extra keen in trying to please you? Don’t say no; I won’t believe it.”

Yi Wenze ripped open the plastic film around a straw and stabbed the straw into her cup. “Is this considered a background check on me?”

Jia He bit down on the straw. “I just suddenly thought of it.”

“When I was filming, there would be people who would prepare a lot of disposable hand warmers for me ahead of time,” he recounted musingly, “or send some warm foods to me. Sometimes I was a little slow on the uptake and would even send something back to reciprocate the gift.”

Giving an “oh,” Jia He took a suck of juice. “So not original. Anything else?”

He smiled. “There were also people who would specify that they wanted to act opposite me in certain types of scenes.”

You sure are honest.Nibbling on her straw, Jia He continued drinking and drinking.

“Still want to hear more?” He smiled a warm, harmless smile.

“Of course.” Watching as he smiled and seemed to carefully ponder, all Jia He could feel was the blood dripping from her heart. Sure enough, everyone has masochistic tendencies. You say, just why did I have to ask? Just why? Why in the world did I have to? …

Yi Wenze took out a moist towelette and wiped his hands. Hastily, Jia He set down her chopsticks and, in a bootlicking manner, helped him roll up his sleeves. She watched as his gorgeous fingers nimbly peeled the shrimp, relishing in the sight. When she was in the midst of waiting for yummy food while watching her yummy guy, Yi Wenze finally spoke up again, his tone laidback. “There was someone, too, who put a dozen or so photographs of me on her computer as a hint to me. She also, on a snowy day, prepared a hot pot for me at the outdoor filming location. Now that I think about it, these last two left the deepest impression on me.”

She had just picked up a shrimp with her chopsticks and tossed it into her mouth. Immediately choking on the spiced-salt seasoning, she fell into a fit of coughing.

Back then, I really didn’t have any wolfish intentions…

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Film post-production schedules are always very tight. It was already late at night when Yi Wenze brought her with him to the recording studio, which was not far from his company’s office.

In the first place, this was normally not a lively place, and now with the hour being so late, other than some people who had stayed behind to do overtime work, there was no one really moving about in the break room anymore. While Yi Wenze was in the workroom expressing his greetings and care to the masses, Jia He was outside meandering around, playing and fiddling with all sorts of things.

Beginning with the Wi-Fi, she worked her way along, amusing herself until she reached the pool table. Discussions were still in full swing inside, with no hints that a break was in sight.

She truly was bored. So, she could do nothing but fish out the billiards balls from each of the pockets and set them up. Picking up a pool cue, she began to position herself as if she knew what she was doing, and then she made a move. After a sound of thunk, the various coloured balls were still huddled tightly together—her break shot had failed.

That sucked so bad…

She stared in depression at those balls. Just as she was about to give up, someone embraced her from behind, holding her in front of himself and correcting her hand positioning on the pool cue. “You’re not holding it steady enough. When you make a stroke, you have to keep the cue straight.” His hand holding hers, he took a shot and pocketed on it.

Jia He was even more dispirited. “You guys are all masters at this. Xiao Xiao is the same. She claims she’s played pool since first-year middle school, and every time she’ll play with only one hand the entire game and still beat me. It seems I’m just more suited to typing on a keyboard and watching DVDs.”

His lips against her ear, Yi Wenze chuckled, commenting, “I already discovered that a few days ago when we were playing tennis.”

She nearly vomited blood at that. Setting down the cue in chagrin, she strode over to the bar counter, made herself a cup of coffee, and then indignantly plopped herself down on a faraway couch.

But when she lifted her head again, Yi Wenze, his hands still propped on the edge of the pool table, was watching her with a smile.

Forget it. A great person does not hold grievances for the faults of little men.

Giving a sigh of lament, she pulled out her mobile phone and said, “Friend Yi Wenze, to comfort this heart of mine which you hurt, strike a pose for me that’s so handsome it’ll amaze the heavens and earth and make even the gods weep.”

With a smiling look at her, Yi Wenze lowered his body and put himself in a stance like he was about to take a shot. Everything about his posture, from the look in his eyes, to the positioning of his hands, to even the arm that would make the stroke, was spot on and impeccable.

It was a perfectly-composed picture. And the most important part was, that person—so perfect—belonged only to her.

After taking the photo, she even specially added a heart sticker onto it before bringing it over for him to see. “You’re not going to still be this handsome when you’re eighty, right? How am I even going to live?”

Chuckling, he swept a glance over the photograph. “Happy now?”

“Mm-hmm,” she answered. “Happy. I have forgiven your offense.”

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By the time the work was finally considered done, it was the middle of the night. When Jia He stepped with him into the workroom, someone straightaway stood and said with a grin, “Teacher Yi, have a look. We just redid it.” Upon saying this, that person walked straight out and tactfully left only the two of them in the room.

Yi Wenze listened through the dubbing work very carefully while Jia He sat docilely off to the side and played with her mobile phone. “I met a hardcore fan of yours today. People said just a few slightly bad words about you, and then she got so upset she was about to cry. I used to be like that, too. I couldn’t stand hearing anyone saying anything, even half a word, bad about you. The thing I hated most was when people would talk about any romance gossip about you.”

He played the clip back another time, only listening to her with a smile and not speaking.

Recollecting the celebrity-chasing days of her past, she sighingly added, “The silliest thing I did was to assign your name to ‘10086[2]’ in my phone address book. The instant I got a text message saying I had to top up my phone, the words ‘Yi Wenze’ would show up on the screen. Every time I saw that, my heart would speed up. Was I a crazy fangirl or what?”

The voices being played back were still as clear as before. She was still reminiscing with great feeling when, all of a sudden, he tranquilly, noiselessly covered her lips with his, preventing her voice from escaping. The way he pressed in on her was somewhat suffocating and practically left her no room to move. This was his first time doing this out in public… Out of reflex, her arms reached up and slid around his neck, and she tilted her head back to oblige him—until a noise was heard at the door. She gave a jolt. But then, immediately, she heard the sound of the door being pulled shut.

Not until he had released her did Jia He finally stammer, “S-s-someone saw.”

She had dropped her voice very low, as if she had just done some sort of atrocious act. With all her might, she tried to guess who might have stepped in just now. If it was the publicity assistant from Yi Wenze’s company or someone like that, things would be a little better, but if it was some random, unrelated person, that would be trouble. He was very close to her, but for a long time he remained silent, watching her as she gradually calmed down and brought a bewildered gaze onto him. Then, at last, he smiled.

That smile spread from his lips into his eyes, so warm it sent her heart into a flurry.

He said, “Honey, I love you.”

[1]贴吧“Tieba,” which literally means “Post Bar” is a Chinese key word-based forum provided by the search engine, Baidu. It is a massive online communication platform, and keyword searches will bring a user into a group discussion site or “bar” in which one can start or join posts on that topic.

[2]10086 is the customer service number of the mobile telecommunications provider, China Mobile.