Zhui Ye smoked Marlboro Ice Blast. The cool mint air passing between lips and teeth overpowered the smell of tobacco.

A cold kiss, yet it burned her tongue.

Wu Man was like a startled nightingale, her eyes widening slightly, anger mixed with panic in her expression.

She rarely lost her composure like this. In these years with Yu Jiaze, everyone knew more or less about their relationship. All the male actors who had worked with her were polite and proper, never overstepping boundaries outside of filming contexts.

But this kiss happened after the wrap. It didn’t belong to Deng Lizhi and Chen Nan.

From the private room not far away came Zhong Yueqing’s singing voice. He was singing that song “Whirlpool” again.

“Come embrace me

Form a whirlpool

Stirring up passionate kisses behind ten thousand feet of turmoil

Submerging you

Along with the mortal world…”

The thin soundproof wall couldn’t block out the languid melody, making someone’s ears go soft.

She should push him away.

The voice in her heart shouted deafeningly. Every cell was desperately clamoring: Push him away, are you crazy Wu Man, push him away!

Zhui Ye’s eyes were tightly closed, his eyelashes like a dense forest under moonlight, mysterious and profound. She opened her palm and placed it on his chest. Just as she was about to push hard, that forest suddenly opened, revealing eyes dark as uncut gems.

They had once kissed wantonly under the shells of Deng Lizhi and Chen Nan, behind everyone’s backs, enjoying a kind of secret pleasure similar to an affair. Because they knew it was acting, no matter how tender it became, there would always be an insurmountable peace of mind.

But sometimes, this mentality was actually self-deception. Human emotions weren’t machines—once given out, they couldn’t be taken back exactly as before.

Her hand suddenly lost its strength, limply clutching at his clothes, pulling out messy wrinkles.

“Sister…”

His breathing was as disordered as the wrinkles. His fingers caressed her ear as he let out a low call.

The voice was soft, yet like thunder.

All the strength returned to Wu Man’s body. She pushed Zhui Ye away with force.

She said, somewhat disheveled, “The production has ended. Don’t call me that anymore.”

Zhui Ye’s other hand hung low, holding the cigarette that had burned to its end, scorching his fingers though he seemed completely unaware. He just looked at her and asked, “Then what should I call you?”

“Teacher Wu Man, Sister Wu Man, Wu Man—all fine, whatever you like.” She turned her head away. “I’m no longer your sister. This kiss… just consider it the unfinished farewell between Chen Nan and Deng Lizhi in the film.”

*

On the night of the wrap, Wu Man had insomnia again.

Unable to sleep, she leaned on the balcony holding her Su cigarettes, suddenly wanting very badly to light one and take a drag.

Her mouth still held the fleeting taste of Marlboro Ice Blast, awakening the cigarette addiction she’d quit for many years. At four in the morning, Wu Man wrapped herself in a thin cardigan, put on a mask, and walked to buy a lighter.

She could have easily called for delivery or driven there. But she just wanted to walk, like that night tour.

This time it was her solitary night tour, from home to a 24-hour convenience store several kilometers away.

The store was especially deserted, the clerk dozing at the counter. Wu Man in her mask lingering in front of the lighter rack set off the clerk’s alarm bells, instantly waking them up.

She hesitated for a long time, so long the clerk was about to call the police, before she left with her hands in her pockets.

The adventure failed.

She still hadn’t mustered the courage to break the habit she’d quit for several years. She felt that if she bought this lighter, something sealed deep in her bones would also break through the soil and be drawn out from her lungs.

*

She finally fell asleep at dawn, sleeping through the entire day, finally woken by her phone vibrating—it was Zhao Boyu calling.

She looked groggily at the sky outside the window, nearly evening, and answered lazily.

Zhao Boyu’s anxious voice rang out: “Oh my god oh my god oh my god, my dear ancestor, you finally answered the phone!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you kiss Zhui Ye at KTV last night?”

Wu Man started, bolting up from the bed. Her chest violently contracted before gradually stopping.

Hearing her fail to immediately respond, Zhao Boyu was pretty much certain.

“Paparazzi got photos. We intercepted them before they could publish.” Zhao Boyu asked with a headache, “What’s going on with you two? That other time you were photographed—that was you too, right? We didn’t intercept that one. Since the face wasn’t clear, we let it go.”

“…Last time was for filming purposes.”

“What about this time? Don’t tell me it was still for filming? I’m your agent—you can’t hide this kind of thing from me!”

Wu Man was silent for a long while before saying, “It was just an accident.”

Zhao Boyu breathed a sigh of relief. “Did you drink too much?”

She vaguely hummed in acknowledgment.

“Yu Jiaze will probably see the photos too… You’d better not provoke him right now. Why don’t you go abroad for a few days to avoid the storm? Take the opportunity to give yourself a vacation.”

Wu Man hesitated for a while, then said, “Book me a ticket to Los Angeles then. Just me alone.”

“…You’re going to see her?”

“Mm.”

Zhao Boyu moved quickly. Soon her phone app received a notification for a flight to Los Angeles.

Other than that, there was no other activity.

Wu Man opened WeChat, looking at that pinned profile picture that asked nothing, said nothing. The turbulence in her heart slowly became calm.

*

Twelve hours later, the flight landed in Los Angeles.

Wu Man dragged her suitcase out, looking for her pickup at the arrival gate. Zhao Boyu still didn’t trust her alone and insisted on finding her a driver.

She pulled down her sunglasses and scanned around, seeing a young girl in the crowd holding… a poster of her.

Wu Man couldn’t help feeling a bit embarrassed and hurried over saying, “Xiao Qin?”

The other person said enthusiastically, “It’s me, it’s me! Wow, sister, you’re really beautiful!”

She welcomed Wu Man to the car, then quickly left. Wu Man thought she’d gone to the restroom and paid no attention, scrolling through her phone for a while, but the person didn’t return.

Only then did she send a puzzled message: “Where did you go?”

No reply.

…How reliable is this driver?

Wu Man couldn’t help feeling a bit angry. She stuck her head out the car window to look. That girl was walking over with another man.

The man also wore sunglasses, dressed in a black silk shirt and pants with rolled-up sleeves, revealing a silver watch on his wrist.

It was the one Wu Man had given him for his birthday last year.

She sat frozen in place, watching Yu Jiaze appear before her as if by magic, opening the car door and sitting directly beside her, his hands naturally pulling her into his embrace.

He said lightly, “You don’t seem very surprised.”

Goosebumps instantly rose all over Wu Man’s body.

“…I really didn’t expect it.”

“Zhao Boyu said you were coming to Los Angeles. I happened to have two days free, so I flew over to keep you company.”

Wu Man said nothing. Yu Jiaze said to the driver in the front, “Get out.”

The girl was stunned, getting out in confusion. Yu Jiaze switched to the driver’s seat.

He looked at Wu Man through the rearview mirror. “Come sit beside me.”

Wu Man stared him down for a while before moving to the passenger seat. Then, without waiting for that girl to get back in the car, Yu Jiaze revved the engine and drove off in a cloud of dust.

The car drove out from the airport. Gradually the coastline became visible. Yu Jiaze drove calmly. Wu Man tilted her head to look out the window. The mountains were shrouded in layers of afterglow, carving out thin rays of light that染上ed the interior with the declining air of dusk.

Yu Jiaze’s fingers tapped lightly on the steering wheel, casually breaking the silence.

He said, “Delete Zhui Ye, and I can wipe out everything else.”

Wu Man turned to look at him. “What?”

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

“He’s just my colleague. There’s follow-up work that requires contact. It’s inconvenient if I delete him.”

“Colleague?” Yu Jiaze laughed coldly. “Those scenes you secretly changed behind my back—did you really think I didn’t know?”

Wu Man’s eyelid twitched.

He actually knew.

The car became increasingly oxygen-deprived. A pervasive suffocation gripped her throat. Like a beast crouching on the plains, she had been seen through completely while complacently thinking otherwise, while the other party just mockingly licked its fangs, waiting for the right moment to pounce and bite the artery of its ignorant prey.

She was silent for a while, then said with a broken jar attitude, “It doesn’t matter if you know. I’ve wanted to say this for a long time—I’m an actress. Whether it’s kissing, embracing, or even larger-scale scenes, these are all work requirements.”

Yu Jiaze let out a light laugh, his tone sighing.

“Your wings have really hardened.”

Wu Man bit her lip tightly.

His tone shifted, his face expressionless. “Kissing in scenes isn’t enough, you need it outside of scenes too, right? My dedicated little bird.”

Her heart began pounding wildly again.

“It was just an accident… there won’t be a next time.”

“So when I tell you to delete him, what are you resisting?”

“If I delete him, doesn’t that prove I have a guilty conscience?”

“Right now, I’m telling you to delete him.”

“…You can sleep with other young idols, but I can’t even have WeChat with work colleagues?” Wu Man closed her eyes. After holding back and holding back, she still said it. “That handkerchief you never go without—I saw it at her place.”

The air pressure in the car suddenly dropped very low. The sky grew darker, leaving only the last bit of light teetering on the edge. Their faces sank into shadow, as if they were both wearing masks.

But Yu Jiaze’s tone was pleased.

“So you did all this to get back at me, is that it?”

She immediately shook her head. “You know me—I’m not someone who acts on impulse.”

Yu Jiaze suddenly pressed hard on the accelerator and opened the car windows. Cold wind from both sides rushed in, blurring Wu Man’s eyes.

She coughed, hearing him say slowly, word by word, “If it’s not acting on impulse, then it’s serious.”

“I already said it was just an accident.” Wu Man felt exhausted. “Not revenge, and definitely not serious.”

“Being contrary again.” Yu Jiaze tapped the steering wheel. “But which part are you denying—the first part or the second?”

Wu Man stopped answering, gulping in the air rushing through the open windows.

Suddenly, something heavy landed in her lap. Yu Jiaze had tossed over his phone. The lit screen displayed a photo.

The photo showed a family banquet. Yu Jiaze wore a suit, sitting listlessly in a corner. Two or three people away, Tang Yingxue sat there dressed completely differently from her stage appearance, her arm linked with an old man with half-white hair.

That old man had appeared countless times in Wu Man’s dreams, from the vague imagination of childhood to having a concrete shadow in adulthood.

“The stage name she debuted with—her real name is Tang Tang.” Yu Jiaze laughed somewhat mockingly. “The only daughter of the Tang family who never showed her face. Your sister.”