Chapter 41

Zishan Grand Residences arrived. Upon entering Gate 1, his speed slowed down. Qu Yanting held the steering wheel with one hand, leisurely driving past the outer ring of Zishan Park. Twenty minutes later, he entered Gate 2 and arrived at the villa garden.

Along the way, he only caught a glimpse of a third of the complex, which included the Mingxin Book Tower, the Willow Embankment, and the boundless Yong Lake. Sika deer roamed freely on the lawn by the lake's shore.

Besides Zeng Zhen and Wang Mingyu, many well-known producers and A-list actors in the industry had bought property here. Living in Zishan Grand Residences was once jokingly referred to by the media as "the standard for A-listers."

Qu Yanting didn't plan to stay long. He parked the car at the entrance, went upstairs with Wang Mingyu to copy the original script file, along with a stack of paper documents. He stuffed them into his bag and quickly left the villa.

Without turning around, Qu Yanting drove straight down the shady road. He made a turn at the intersection, where a large box truck from a logistics company was parked by the roadside.

The truck's cargo hold was open, filled with square or flat individual wooden crates containing crafts and paintings. Besides the movers, there were also an insurance agent and a broker from an auction house, checking them one by one.

Qu Yanting glanced over as he passed by. Behind it was a white villa, probably newly renovated, that was being furnished with decorative items.

There were few people on the street in the afternoon. Qu Yanting drove home at a brisk pace. On the way, his phone rang once on the center console.

Commander Huang had only been enthusiastic for two days and was already tired of him today, ignoring Qu Yanting when he opened the door and entered the house. But Qu Yanting ignored it too, heading straight for the balcony to tend to his flowers and plants.

After finishing his gardening duties, Qu Yanting finally had some free time. He picked up his phone to check the unread message he'd received while driving. It was a WeChat message from his accountant. After exchanging a few words to end the conversation, he didn't exit the app, idly scrolling through his chat list.

In just three short days, Lu Wen's profile picture had been pushed down to the tenth spot.

Qu Yanting didn't like looking at Moments, but he opened it now, skipping past others as he scrolled down.

At a little after ten in the morning, Lu Wen had posted a photo. In the picture, he had his arm around his own stunt double, who was holding a Black Forest cake and a gift box.

The caption was brimming with enthusiasm: Congratulations to "me" for wrapping up! Only someone as handsome as you can be a double for someone as handsome as me. Let's be co-leads next time we meet!

Ordinary stunt doubles were a group that was often overlooked. Hired by the production crew with a salary that wasn't very high, they were just silent substitutes who followed the lead actors around, like a shadow. Qu Yanting's award-winning film, Shadow Man, was about the life of a stunt double.

According to procedure, after filming wraps, their pay is settled in one lump sum, and they can leave the crew. No one would give them a second thought. That was why this photo was so vivid. The cake and gift personally prepared by Lu Wen, and that line about being co-leads, were his immense respect for the other's dream.

Unavoidable social obligations, fake smiles and pleasantries, an estranged marital relationship, messy casting couch politics... Qu Yanting stared at Lu Wen's smiling face in the photo, as if he had collected a piece of silly purity.

Below was a comment from Ruan Feng: Brother Lu Wen, let me be your supporting actor next time.

Lu Wen replied: What if Teacher Qu wants me to be the male lead?

Each had more nerve than the last. Qu Yanting couldn't help but smile. Besides, what did it have to do with him? Were they already eyeing his next project? Since he had been called out, he moved his finger and left a like.

Not five minutes later, a message arrived on WeChat. Qu Yanting's like was like a signal. Lu Wen had said he wouldn't disturb him rashly, so he only came bouncing over to respond after receiving the signal.

Idiot: Teacher Qu?

Qu Yanting: Mmm.

Idiot: How have you been since you got back?

Qu Yanting: Fine.

Idiot: What did you have for lunch?

Qu Yanting: Something expensive.

Idiot: Are you on a date with someone?

Qu Yanting squinted at this Q&A. Why was it like an interrogation? He wasn't used to being led by Lu Wen, so he seized the initiative back, typing: Contact me again when you have something important to say.

Idiot raced against time: Hey!

Idiot: I do!

Idiot: Don't go yet!

Qu Yanting didn't move an inch, sunk into the sofa holding his lukewarm phone. His lazy and aloof air was about the same as Commander Huang's in its nest. He provoked the person until they were anxious, then slowly replied: What is it?

The top of the screen showed that he was typing. It took a long time; a 500-word diary entry should have been finished by now. Qu Yanting waited patiently, even going to get the documents he had brought back.

Abruptly, Lu Wen sent: You won't forget me, will you?

Without the sentence-ending particle, it was just six words, filled with probing and worry. It was possible to picture Lu Wen repeatedly deliberating, deleting, and rephrasing. Separated by a thousand miles, Qu Yanting couldn't see his expression, so he cruelly hardened his heart and replied: Not yet.

Idiot: What do you mean, not yet?!

Qu Yanting: Who knows, I might get busy and forget one day.

The chat page went silent. Lu Wen stopped replying. Qu Yanting's fingers tensed. 'Disappointed? Angry?' He regretfully wanted to remedy the situation, but as a wordsmith, he was slow to organize his thoughts.

Suddenly, Lu Wen's profile picture refreshed, changing to a photo of himself.

Lu Wen was wearing a slightly puffy, mid-length black down jacket, unzipped. Underneath was a hoodie, sweatpants, and sneakers. He had his hands in his pockets and a brilliant smile, like a sunny college student who could win first place in a 3000-meter race.

The background was very familiar. It was the balcony of the Room 101 screenwriter's lounge. Qu Yanting tapped to view the full-sized picture, then tapped again. Lu Wen finally sent a new reply.

Idiot: Teacher Qu, check out my new profile pic!

Qu Yanting: I have.

Idiot: Handsome?

Qu Yanting asked back: Who took it for you?

Idiot: Your brother.

Qu Yanting went back to answer the previous question: Handsome.

Idiot: You'll see my profile picture whenever you log into WeChat. If you still forget, I'll just have to send you red packets every day.

After taking the photo in front of the balcony of 101, Lu Wen didn't move, leaning against the wall, not minding the dirt, as he chatted with Qu Yanting. He stayed until the costume teacher leaned out of a second-floor window, yelling for him and Ruan Feng to come upstairs and change.

Lu Wen reluctantly said "goodbye" to Qu Yanting. Just as he sent it, Ruan Feng ran over. His bossy demeanor was exactly like his older brother's. He said, "Brother Lu Wen, let's treat everyone to afternoon tea."

"Why am I treating again?" Lu Wen held his phone, hesitating to exit WeChat.

Ruan Feng said, "I treated everyone to breakfast today."

Lu Wen suspected that in everyone else's eyes, he and Ruan Feng were the crew's pair of suckers. He agreed and shouted to Sun Xiaojian in the distance, asking him to order afternoon tea.

Ruan Feng asked curiously, "Who are you chatting with?"

"Huh?" Lu Wen stammered, "Wh-what's wrong?"

Ruan Feng said, "You're smiling at your phone so hard the corners of your mouth are reaching your temples."

Lu Wen hadn't realized his own expression. Now that Ruan Feng pointed it out, he unnaturally ran his hands through his hair. But trying to hide it would be even weirder, so he admitted, "I was chatting a bit with Teacher Qu."

"My brother?" Ruan Feng was a little surprised. "My brother never likes to chat."

Lu Wen paused for a moment, silently making a mental note of this, deciding not to disturb Qu Yanting casually in the future. But he was afraid he couldn't control himself, so he scrambled for an excuse: "I... I just wanted to see the cat."

Ruan Feng took him at his word and immediately pulled out his phone. "Easy. I have a lot. I'll send them to you."

Lu Wen was in a difficult position and said, "Thanks."

The two put their heads together, one sending and one receiving. Ruan Feng was a truly straightforward person, wham-wham-whamming over a dozen gorgeous photos of Commander Huang, emptying out his album's entire collection.

The phone kept ringing, the screen filled with cats. It felt like the screen itself was shedding fur. Lu Wen said tactfully, "You have a lot of data."

"Bro, are you dumb?" Ruan Feng said. "Connect to the WiFi in 101. You're always hanging around downstairs on the balcony, I thought you knew."

The notification sounds finally stopped. Lu Wen enlarged the last photo and looked through them in reverse order.

Commander Huang in all sorts of poses—lying in his nest, sprawled on the floor, licking his fur, with his fur standing on end. As he swiped through them one by one, Lu Wen's focus wasn't on the cat itself.

The fabric sofa, the light-colored wood floor, the scratched cabinet... Lu Wen was like a little thief peeking at the screen, picking out background fragments from each photo, trying to piece together the home where Qu Yanting lived his daily life.

It was different from the luxurious suite 6206. It was warm and simple, even a bit ordinary and messy. Living in a house like this, would Qu Yanting have a bit more of a human, domestic touch?

Lu Wen's thoughts ran wild as he swiped to the next picture, and he stopped abruptly.

The photo's color palette was extremely brilliant. Amidst the lush flowers and plants, Qu Yanting was holding the cat, sitting on a small beige sofa, his head slightly tilted as he rested with his eyes closed. In the vase on the table were clusters of blooming European roses, their branches so heavy with flowers they drooped next to his face. Orange sunlight streamed in from the glass window behind him, enveloping him completely. Only his eyelashes cast two small, curved shadows.

This photo, this palette of colors, these flowers and plants, this person... other than "beautiful," Lu Wen couldn't find any other adjectives.

He half-exclaimed, half-sighed: "Holy shit."

Ruan Feng looked up, confused. "Shit what?"

Lu Wen had been saying this curse for so many years, and this was the first time someone had followed up on it. The screen was still lit, his fingertip was still pressed on Qu Yanting's image. He snatched his hand back in fright and explained, "Holy shit... the resolution of this photo is so high."

Entering the apartment building, Lu Wen fell a few steps behind. In the mottled and old corridor, he saved that photo, secretly. Only the tiny, swirling dust motes knew.

After wrapping up for the night, the production assistants distributed the new shooting schedule. The upcoming filming tasks were even more tightly packed. The director gave everyone a heads-up, saying that it would inevitably be tough.

In the early stages, Lu Wen and Ruan Feng were in Groups A and B respectively. Now, Ruan Feng was also assigned to Group A, and the two would have a large number of scenes together.

Ye Shan and Lin Jie got into the same university and became roommates. To Lin Jie, Ye Shan was both a stranger and familiar. Living under the same roof, he slowly noticed the abnormality in Ye Shan's behavior.

Lu Wen and Ruan Feng gradually became familiar with each other. Needless to say, filming went smoothly. During breaks, they would squeeze into a single RV to rehearse their lines and memorize the script. When working around the clock, they didn't have time to change their accumulated dirty clothes and would borrow from each other.

On the day of the Winter Solstice, they didn't finish work until midnight, a time when even the sasaeng fans were fucking snoring. Ruan Feng took Lu Wen out for hotpot. Lu Wen finally ate his first-ever scalded pig brains, and felt he became much wittier at that moment.

The next day on set, both the male and second male leads were puffy-faced. The camera operator, Duan Meng, shouldered the camera and couldn't help but ask, "Did you two get Botox last night?"

Usually, it was Lu Wen who took care of Ruan Feng more, since the younger man called him "Brother, Brother" and was Qu Yanting's actual younger brother. But he never asked about Ruan Feng's private matters—about his childhood, family, or upbringing, he never inquired about a single thing.

The weather in Chongqing grew colder and colder. Lu Wen thought he wouldn't get used to it, but it was fine. He worked from dawn till dusk every day, growing attached to even the nooks and crannies of the place, not to mention the beautiful Mountain City itself.

He was too busy to go online, only getting to play on his phone more every ten days or half a month. Lu Wen and Ruan Feng followed each other on Weibo. For promotional purposes, Sun Xiaojian required him to post on Weibo, but he preferred posting on Moments, because only then could Qu Yanting see it.

Lu Wen was afraid of bothering Qu Yanting, so he didn't contact him much. Sometimes, when he really couldn't hold it in, he would send a stupid message like "Thank you for your like." After sending it, he would fall into deep thought, feeling that he still hadn't eaten enough pig brains.

It was worth mentioning that he passed his trial period as a volunteer. To do a good job, he specially bought a laptop in Chongqing.

At first, Socially Anxious Little Writer was often so speechless that he would just send ellipses. Later, this evolved into the "vomiting blood" emoji. All in all, he had become a bit livelier.

Lu Wen pressed his advantage, hoping to add him on QQ for more convenient and timely chats. The little writer considered it for a full three days, which made him wonder: if someone proposed to the little writer, would he have to ponder it for half a year?

The happy news was that Socially Anxious Little Writer agreed.

Both of them were using side accounts with no information and no profile pictures. Perhaps they were the only ones on each other's friends list.

Colleagues from the crew wrapped up their filming one after another. On Christmas Eve, Ruan Feng also finished. Lu Wen saw off the older brother at Jiangbei Airport, and now he was seeing off the younger brother. He was reluctant to part with the older brother; when seeing off the younger brother, he almost had his shoes squeezed off by fans.

That night, Ruan Feng stayed at Qu Yanting's place. The two brothers spent Christmas Eve together.

Lu Wen saw the other's Moments post, pushed aside his boxed meal, and began to sing with envy and jealousy: "Other people's lives are framed in gold and wrapped in silver, my life is worthless... worthless!"

After New Year's Day passed, the crew of The First Night was finally going to return home in triumph.

However, there was still one scene left. It was a scene between Lu Wen and Tao Meifan, which required them to go back to film on location.

Once it was time to go home, the feeling of homesickness became particularly strong. Lu Wen was no longer tired or sleepy, and he walked with more energy. He bought several large boxes of Chongqing local specialties alone.

The last day was a day off. After packing his luggage, Lu Wen took Sun Xiaojian and Li Dapeng out. They first went to Zhazi Cave, then to Ciqikou, not missing any of the spots popular with tourists.

In the afternoon, they drove around the city, looking at the residential buildings scattered at different heights, the bustling little eateries, and the elderly couples slowly climbing the slopes.

The next day, they checked out of the hotel in the morning. Rooms 6206 and 6207 had always faced each other. The wall vases had been changed to hold delicate roses. Who knows what kind of people would move into them separately in the future.

Lu Wen arrived at Jiangbei Airport once again.

It was time to bid farewell to the sky, land, grass, and trees of this city. Everyone from the crew was there. Sun Xiaojian stood guard by his side. Behind them, pedestrians came and went. Everything seemed to take on the appearance of farewell.

Lu Wen gathered his emotions, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted at the sky: "—Chongqing! Goodbye! Sayonara!"