When Zhui Ye leaned down to kiss her, he faintly wrinkled his face without leaving a trace.

The corners of Wu Man’s mouth curled up in a mischievous arc.

After this take, he widened his eyes and said, “You did that on purpose?”

“Blame me for being in such a rush to shoot that I forgot to eat candy to moisten my mouth.” Wu Man’s mood finally improved a bit as she feigned guilt and said, “Did it taste too bitter for you?”

Zhui Ye’s mouth twitched as he ran off to the side to gulp down water frantically.

Wu Man’s eyes curved with pleasure, her mood greatly improved.

This scene wasn’t completely finished yet—there was still another kiss to follow. Wang Cheng had originally hesitated about whether to delete it, but since they had filmed the previous take very smoothly with energy to spare, he decided to also film the kiss from later in the script.

After a brief rest, Zhui Ye left for a bit before returning to the set.

The next scene had Deng Lizhi pushing Chen Nan away. Chen Nan smiled and asked her, “Sister, as a courtesy, do you want to sketch me too?”

Having said this, he sat down on the old chair of his own accord.

“Stop teasing me.”

Deng Lizhi’s myriad emotions—impossible to articulate clearly—churned together and surged to a peak. She stepped forward two paces and pushed the sketchbook he had tucked into her arms back into his.

But he seized her wrist with the momentum and pulled forward.

She suddenly found herself straddling his waist. Just as she grabbed his shoulders, her body still swaying, Zhui Ye caught her waist with one hand and tilted his head back, his chin pursuing upward. The upturned jawline was fierce.

What should have been a simple, fleeting, gentle kiss changed flavor in the electric flash when Zhui Ye’s hand fastened on the back of her neck.

Though he only needed to press against her lips, he pried open her teeth and passed in a piece of candy.

A long-missed plum candy—half sweet, slightly sour.

He rolled the candy with his tongue and pushed it into her mouth.

The five fingers gripping his shoulders tightened until they turned white, creating wrinkles in his shirt. Wu Man’s breathing quickened, the exposed line of her half-bare back straightened, looking from afar as if she were sinking deeply down, the broken feathers on her skin fluttering as if to fly out of this shadowy basin.

Under the camera lens, their calmly pressed lips—no one would have thought they were secretly resisting each other beneath the surface.

Only the sound recordist wearing headphones caught the extremely faint sound of silk rubbing against the shirt, along with the old chair legs creaking gently as they swayed, and a very difficult-to-detect swallowing sound.

By the time Wang Cheng called cut, that piece of candy had already melted half in each of their mouths.

Zhui Ye pulled up the shoulder strap that had slipped down Wu Man’s shoulder and laughed wickedly, “Sister forgot to eat her candy, so I helped you make up for it. Sharing bitterness and sweetness together, from beginning to end.”

Wu Man glared at him viciously, her body still somewhat weak as she said in an angry voice, “The script doesn’t have any of this!”

“Just adding some harmless little actions.” He blinked. “Or do you think my kissing skills aren’t good?”

“Indeed not very good.”

Zhui Ye’s smile froze on his face. He leaned back and asked lazily, “So is Yu Jiaze better than me?”

“…This is a kiss between Deng Lizhi and Chen Nan. If you want to compare, you should compare with Xu Long.”

Wu Man still maintained her straddling position on top of him, looking down from above with a deliberately cold tone.

“Don’t break the rules again next time.”

*

After filming intermittently for another period, Wu Man requested a day off from Wang Cheng.

Only after Zhao Boyu reminded her did she remember there was still a variety show appearance—the finale night of “Girl Group 101.” The platform had invited her as a guest to crown the female idols who would form the final group.

Wu Man found it ridiculous—she was an actress, not an idol. Was she going to be laughed at as a decorative vase?

But Zhao Boyu insisted on dragging her to show her face, saying she’d been mysteriously absent filming for so long, how long it had been since her name appeared on hot searches, how many positions she’d dropped on the rankings, how popular this show currently was, how much traffic it had, blah blah blah, going on and on.

Wu Man threw out two words—”I’ll go”—perfectly shutting his mouth.

When the stylist was doing Wu Man’s styling, she put in considerable effort to match the idol theme.

She couldn’t wear stodgy evening gowns, nor was a flashy short skirt appropriate. In the end, they settled on a vintage white suit with a crop top underneath, paired with wide-leg pants. Her dark red long hair was pulled back entirely, revealing distinctive birdcage earrings.

Wu Man realized it had been quite a while since she’d engaged with fans, so she immediately pulled out her phone to resume her selfie business, taking a full-body shot of her outfit in the fitting mirror.

@WuManV: Who will you pick tonight~ [Image]

Within seconds, fans swarmed over like hungry wolves.

“Wife, I miss you so much, sob sob sob, I’ve cried all my tears missing you!!!”

“Sister is so cool! The sky has cleared, the rain has stopped, and I can go on again!”

“Baby, please take good care of yourself on set, eat well, dress warmly, and don’t work too hard.”

Fans even specially photoshopped a poster of Wu Man wearing a trainee uniform debuting in the center position, asking everyone to vote for her.

A warm current surged in Wu Man’s heart. For her, other people were both hell and heaven.

The reason she hadn’t grown tired of the entertainment industry after all these years, the reason she could still stand trembling under so much malice and slander, was because she was surrounded by an even greater love and support.

Although this love was distant and could easily vanish in an instant. Sometimes she would think sadly—of the batch of people who said they loved her today, how many overlapped with yesterday’s batch, or the day before’s?

She often felt that she and her fans were trapped together on a speeding subway. She was locked in the driver’s compartment at the front, while they were scattered across countless connected cars, forced to watch her through tightly closed windows.

Some people grew tired of watching and got off at some unknown station. Some couldn’t see one hundred percent of her, so they filled in the gaps with their fantasies of perfection, only to get off the train once they discovered she was just an ordinary person.

Unknowing people boarded the train again, the cycle repeating endlessly.

It seemed no one would stay by her side forever.

And all she could do was continuously burn herself to power the engine, never letting this subway stop.

Wu Man walked from backstage to the spotlight, the corners of her mouth lifting in an impeccable smile.

*

Because Wu Man had been too busy filming to pay attention to this program, she still crammed in two episodes to prepare for her appearance, learning that this was an elimination-style talent show that would select nine people from a hundred to debut—currently the hottest variety show.

And the most popular person in the show was currently ranked first on the voting leaderboard: Tang Yingxue.

Wu Man sat on the elevated platform looking down. The dance center position for the public performance stage was hers. This group didn’t have the usual energetic dance style—the song was soothing and dreamlike. She leaped down from the moon prop, like a fairy descending to the mortal realm.

Wei Wei, sitting behind her holding a cup of traditional Chinese medicine, heard the entire venue screaming Tang Yingxue’s name and rolled her eyes secretly, saying, “Sister Man, she’s the one who rode your coattails for popularity.”

Wu Man asked casually, “Do you think she resembles me?”

“Not at all.” Wei Wei was indignant. “Not just anyone who dyes their hair red can look like you!”

Wu Man smiled and rubbed her head.

She propped her chin and continued watching the stage. Tang Yingxue pointed her toes, extended her arms, and spun in place with large, open movements. You could see she had very deep ballet training, which didn’t quite match the girl group dance style of the others.

She was the most eye-catching among that group of garishly dressed people. The other young ladies were already very beautiful, but her beauty carried an essential difference. The distinction was like that between glass marbles on the street and genuine, lustrous pearls.

No wonder the entire audience section was screaming Tang Yingxue’s name like crazy, regardless of gender.

Wu Man smiled indifferently and said, “She’s so popular yet still trades on my name—maybe I’m even reverse-riding her popularity wave.”

Wei Wei muttered, “Your temper is too good.”

After the performance, the male traffic idol hosting the stage had some connection with Wu Man—it was that young fresh meat Ji Zhou.

He began announcing the debut list one by one.

Below, there was crying and laughing as fans screamed their hearts out for the trainees they supported. When it came to the final center position, the big screen showed Tang Yingxue and another girl holding hands, waiting together for fate to descend.

Compared to the other girl whose eyes were already red, Tang Yingxue appeared very strong. She directly hugged the other girl, patting her back gently, not caring at all about her own ranking.

The calls from below grew even louder, as if they were shipping these two as a couple…

Finally, Ji Zhou announced the center position name. Unsurprisingly, it was Tang Yingxue, with a landslide vote count.

Next it was Wu Man’s turn to go on stage.

She was responsible for announcing the new girl group’s name and then hugging each of these girls one by one to congratulate them on their debut.

Wu Man took the envelope and walked on stage, delivering tonight’s remarks with ease.

“First, before announcing the group name, let me say a few simple words.”

“Although I come from an acting background, I believe actors and idols have something in common—that is, creating dreams for audiences.”

“Actors do it through drama, idols through the stage. We dedicate ourselves to let audiences experience another world. I think this is the meaning of our existence.”

She opened the envelope. “So, congratulations to our nine-member girl group debuting tonight—Numerous. I hope you can harvest love and courage from this stage where dreams begin, and continue to work hard!”

Wu Man opened her arms and hugged each girl who had cried their eyes red in turn.

When it came to the last one, Tang Yingxue, she seemed quite overwhelmed with emotions, but only reddened her eyes while biting her teeth hard to keep tears from falling.

Wu Man patted her back and said gently, “You did wonderfully. Congratulations.”

Tang Yingxue hugged Wu Man back tightly.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for so long.” She abruptly lifted the corners of her lips. “Finally I’ve met you.”

Wu Man was startled and looked at Tang Yingxue with confusion.

Tang Yingxue smiled. “The internet has always said we look somewhat alike, so I really wanted to meet you in person.”

Wu Man raised an eyebrow. “So how do you feel after seeing me?”

She answered without hesitation, “I found you look a bit like me.”

Having said this, she separated from the hug and stepped back, looking at Wu Man with a face full of gratitude.

Wu Man acted as if she hadn’t heard clearly what she’d said, her face maintaining its smile as she waved gracefully to everyone and left the stage.

Walking off stage, the cameras no longer following her, the lights gradually dimming, only then did the smile on Wu Man’s face fade along with them.

How interesting.

*

The noisy and boring evening finally ended, but Wu Man still couldn’t make a triumphant exit. The production team was holding a celebration party, and she had to show her face and give them some respect before she could leave.

The car drove to a certain hot pot restaurant. Wu Man entered the second-floor private room, where people were already eating enthusiastically.

“Sister Man!”

The first to greet her was Ji Zhou, with that unruffled, calm demeanor, as if the messy situation of riding coattails, losing resources, and fans tearing each other apart didn’t exist at all.

In this circle, what everyone practiced was burying rotten, stinking things underground, then sticking a plastic flower on top—a scene of prosperity. You’re good, I’m good, everyone’s good.

Ji Zhou pulled out a chair for her, smiling warmly. “Feels like I haven’t seen Sister Man in forever. Are you back in Beijing now?”

“Mm, currently filming in Beijing.”

“Oh! Then I must find time to visit Sister Man on set!”

Wu Man secretly rolled her eyes. This kid had wanted to find an excuse to visit the set in Guangzhou before, which she’d declined saying it was too far and not worth the trouble. Now he was still persistent—he just wanted to meet Wang Cheng.

She really wanted to tell him straight out: even if you stripped naked in front of Wang Cheng, he still wouldn’t fancy you.

If Zhui Ye were also at this gathering, he probably would actually say it out loud.

Wu Man suddenly froze. Why did she suddenly think of him?

“Sister Man?”

“Oh, then you’d better hurry.” Wu Man came back to her senses. “It’s almost finished filming.”

She picked up her chopsticks to fish for food in the pot, casually deflecting this topic like scattering a thousand gold pieces. Her chopsticks hovered between meat slices and vegetables, finally settling painfully on the vegetables.

The newly debuted girl group sat at another table. At this moment, all nine of them held wine glasses and came to this table to toast in turn.

When they reached Wu Man, Tang Yingxue at the front said very politely, “Teacher Wu Man, we’re grateful you came to witness our debut tonight. If we trouble you in the future, please be understanding with us.”

Not a trace of the arrogance she’d blurted out when they embraced on stage could be seen.

Wu Man returned the toast. “The younger generation is formidable.”

The remaining eight people each said similar things about how hard it was and so on. Only then did they let her go and move on to Ji Zhou beside her.

Wu Man opened WeChat and told Wei Wei to bring the car around—she was done here.

She greeted the platform’s person in charge and was about to leave when the nine people also finished toasting and returned, meeting on a narrow path.

In a flash, Tang Yingxue’s high heel twisted when she was very close to Wu Man, and the remaining wine in her glass splashed onto Wu Man’s white suit.

“Oh my god—I’m so sorry, so sorry!”

Her expression was panicked. Wu Man couldn’t help but click her tongue. Provoking her repeatedly with such lowbrow tactics—it was really too stupid.

“It’s fine.” She rubbed between her brows, wanting to just walk past, but Tang Yingxue was a step faster, pulling out a handkerchief to help her wipe away the stain.

Wu Man’s footsteps halted.

She looked down at the handkerchief Tang Yingxue was holding—black with gold patterns.

The one Yu Jiaze habitually used.

She withdrew her gaze, acting as if she hadn’t noticed, tossing out “no need to wipe it” before striding away.

*

Wu Man remembered her twenty-second year, when she had been with Yu Jiaze for a full year.

It had already exceeded the sum total of days anyone had ever spent with him.

But Yu Jiaze had gradually stopped bringing her to certain gatherings. To Wu Man at the time, this was a signal.

So when she saw photos on her social media feed of him attending a dinner party with another young starlet, Wu Man felt this was probably his way of saying goodbye.

She cleared out her things from the villa and left Yu Jiaze a note: let’s part on good terms.

For several months after that, they had no contact. When she returned from filming out of town, she suddenly discovered her newly rented apartment had been emptied, leaving only a sofa.

Yu Jiaze sat in the empty room reading a book. He glanced at her and said, “Your flight was delayed forty-five minutes. The moving company has already moved your things back.”

Wu Man’s gaze fell on the book he was holding—it was a Bible. His finger joints were slender; with one hand he could hold the entire thick, classical hardcover edition in his palm.

She set down her luggage in a daze. “How are you here?”

“My little bird flew away.” Yu Jiaze set the book aside, his tone gentle. “I let her fly for a few months. It’s time she should return to her cage, right?”

Wu Man lowered her eyes awkwardly. “Didn’t you bring a new person to that dinner party?”

He walked up to her, gripped her chin, and forced her to look up at him.

“I’ve even forgotten that person’s name.” Yu Jiaze murmured. “There can be many women in this world, but I’ve only raised one unique little bird.”

“Are you saying I’m not a person?”

Yu Jiaze paused for a moment, then laughed quietly, his chest vibrating as he pressed her toward his embrace.

“You’re always so adorable.” He hugged her tighter and tighter. “Don’t you like that I still have other people?”

Wu Man didn’t answer.

She bit her lip lightly. “No. I know the nature of our relationship. I have no right to demand anything.”

“My little bird is so smart.” Yu Jiaze held her and swayed gently, like coaxing a child. “Then honestly tell me, when you saw that photo, didn’t you feel uncomfortable?”

Wu Man buried her head in Yu Jiaze’s chest. After a very, very long silence, Yu Jiaze heard a very soft “mm.”

He curved his eyes and bent down even more, nuzzling her head.

“If I don’t say it’s over, then it’s not over between us. Understand?”

The Bible on the sofa was flipped back one page by the wind, revealing a sentence underlined in black pen—

[I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.]

*

From then on, Wu Man never heard of or witnessed Yu Jiaze entangled with other women.

Perhaps he truly hadn’t found anyone else, or perhaps he hid it more imperceptibly so she wouldn’t know.

In any case, for many years, she hadn’t discovered traces of other women around Yu Jiaze. Until Tang Yingxue appeared.

But so what? This day would come sooner or later.

Perhaps even before the movie premiered, her ambiguous relationship with Yu Jiaze would end. She wouldn’t have to worry about how to explain those live-ammunition kissing scenes to Yu Jiaze.

That would be good.

Wu Man pulled herself from her memories, patted her face, and focused on the next filming.

This scene was her confrontation with Zhong Yueqing. In the final section of the script, the two finally had it out openly, with Deng Lizhi exploding at Xu Long.

She carried dishes toward the dining table. Zhong Yueqing sat casually, wiping a fishing rod.

He glanced sideways at the fish tank. “Why is this black fish still here?”

Wu Man sat down. “There are no other fish. It looks too bare and empty, so I just kept it in there.”

“Then I’ll go to the market tomorrow and buy you a few goldfish.”

Wu Man looked down and smiled. “After all this time, you only just now thought of the fact that the fish tank is empty?”

Zhong Yueqing’s hand wiping the fishing rod paused.

“If you don’t want them, forget it.”

“Is it that I don’t want them?”

“What’s wrong with you? Is menopause coming early?”

“I’m a person with normal emotions and desires. When I’m angry it’s menopause and picking fights, but when I want to make love it’s being insatiable and shameless?”

“…You weren’t like this when we first got together.”

Wu Man pressed down hard on herself under the table and asked in a trembling voice, “Then what was I like at the beginning?”

Zhong Yueqing was confused for a while, stammering, “You were very obedient, very gentle, very cute…”

Wu Man interrupted him. “Don’t say any more. That wasn’t me at all.”

The two made eye contact, a sheet of silence between them.

She stood up and murmured, “I’m going to feed the fish.”

Wu Man walked to the fish tank, her hand unsteady as she scattered the feed, spilling out too much.

“Lizhi…”

She didn’t turn around, her back to the camera. All that could be heard was her slow narration and her undulating shoulders.

“Ah Long, actually I’m very prone to jealousy, and I’m very insecure. I love you very much, but I’ve never dared to say these things to your face, even though we’ve been married for so many years. Or rather, precisely because we’ve been married for so many years, bringing these things up now would make you think I’m even more affected. And back then I didn’t say anything because I could only pretend to have these superficial qualities to attract you.”

After Zhong Yueqing’s shock, a sigh escaped. “You haven’t said you love me in a long time.”

“Ah Long, I loved you.”

Zhong Yueqing’s hand gripping the fishing rod suddenly tightened.

Wu Man set down the feed, turned around, and looked at him calmly.

“So let’s just end it here.”

He violently threw the fishing rod aside, breaking it in two, and cried out in pain, “I don’t agree!”

“When you went to the bathhouse, did you think about whether I would agree?”

Zhong Yueqing visibly deflated, the momentum from just now completely gone. It took him a long time to find his words again.

“That was just looking for thrills. All men are like that. The person I love is you—your eye crust when you wake up in the morning, your burps when you eat, your sweat smell in summer, your runny nose when you have a cold, your drool when you sleep deeply—I love all of these things about you. But loving these things is the prerequisite for wearing down my desire for you.”

Wu Man smiled, then laughed until tears came out.

“You could have just said it’s disgusting. Why is it that when I loved you, I found all these things adorable? Xu Long, I thought you loved me. I was wrong.”

She pulled out a divorce agreement from her pocket, wrinkled and crumpled, clearly having been balled up and thrown away before being retrieved.

“I’ve already signed it.” She placed it on the table. “Your turn.”

Wu Man straightened her back, turned, and left without looking back once.

“Cut—”

Wang Cheng called cut, but Wu Man still walked forward in a daze, tears falling in large drops.

Finally she collided into someone’s embrace.

She didn’t see who it was clearly, only felt that the scent of this embrace made her feel very secure. She stayed still, letting her tears wipe onto the other person.

“Alright, Sister, if you keep crying, I’ll go beat up Zhong Yueqing for you.”

Zhong Yueqing followed up crying injustice. “Man Man, stop crying. You’re making me feel genuinely guilty.”

Zhui Ye extended his fingertip to wipe away her tears. Wu Man came back to her senses and brushed away his hand, standing straight.

“What are you doing here when you don’t have a scene?”

She still remembered this kid overstepping boundaries during the last filming.

“Once you’re out of character you’re this fierce, but just now you were so soft.” Zhui Ye muttered. “Of course I came to watch my Sister and her man break up. How could I miss such a satisfying scene?”

Zhong Yueqing joked, “You brat trying to steal my woman—in your dreams!”

Wu Man kept her head down wiping tears, hearing Zhui Ye say from above her head, “You made my Sister cry, so naturally I have to steal her away.”

“…That’s enough from both of you.” She helplessly interrupted their bickering and lifted her head again, looking past Zhui Ye to see Yu Jiaze at the entrance to the studio.

He held a Lady M cake box in his hand, smiling as he watched inside the studio.