Sat by a window, two women dined in an otherwise empty restaurant. The sound of their cutlery clinking against the bowls filled the air. To hear each other, they leaned in closer, one woman’s ear near the other’s rose-lipped mouth. As the restaurant served their main dishes, their conversation started shallow, with cordial greetings.
“Anyway, enough about acting stuff, how are you?”
“Doing quite well, especially now that I’m eating with you. How about you?”
“A little better after that compliment... I’m doing well though, happy to share a meal...”
As their meal continued and conversation delved deeper, the restaurant served their only late-night customers their desserts. A mango fruit jelly for one and a half-scoop of vanilla ice cream for the other plus a bowl of warm red bean soup to split.
“What have you been up to recently?”
“Not much... This project has been my break, in all honesty. After finishing a couple blockbuster high-budget films, I wanted to do something a little smaller, a little more artistic, and a little more... meaningful. How about you?”
“A lot less than you... I practically haven’t done anything these past few years. I’ve kept up with my vocal training; that’s about it.”
“Ah, still planning on singing?”
“Not... right now, I’m still not really comfortable singing because of the ‘incident’ three years ago, but I’d like to keep my voice just in case.”
“Understandable... apologies if you’re uncomfortable sharing, so disregard this question if you want, but do you mind sharing a little about what happened three years ago? Barely anything reached the media except for the whole, you know, throwing up blood on stage thing.”
“I-... hmm... yeah... I... don’t mind sharing...”
“Take your time, and don’t force yourself to share anything, you were hospitalized afterward and disappeared for three years, so I assume it's quite severe.”
“No, it's fine. The truth is though, I really don’t know much either. I don’t even know who did it in the first place, which makes me all the more hesitant to return to music.”
“That’s... surprising, I’d never expect you not to know either...”
“In fact...”
---
Xia Ruyun’s meal and conversation with Li Feiling ended up running late into the night because of the... deeper topics they wandered into. Both ended up sharing a few stories from the past and their private lives. By 1 am, when they retired to their respective rooms, the rest of the hotel had also fallen quiet. Xia Ruyun let out a long sigh as she closed the hotel room’s door behind her with a click, and went straight into the bathroom. She washed up, did her skincare, checked her messages, and ran through the rest of her evening routine before heading off to bed.
The next morning, though, came in what felt like seconds. Sleep hadn’t eluded her, but rest had. She lumbered through her morning like a still-dead zombie, and, before she knew it, she had returned to the set with Gao Qian. Together, they walked from the parking lot towards the general rest area where everyone congregated each morning. Still blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she paused as she heard Wu Linjie’s voice.
“Here, have this box of chocolates.
“Yeah, it's just a gift.
“What type of gift?
“It’s an apology. I recently had an... enlightenment about my past actions. I just wanted to apologize if I came off awkwardly in the past and violated anyone’s boundaries. I can’t say I’ll improve immediately but I’m going to be putting my best effort into it.”
Xia Ruyun turned and made eye contact with Gao Qian before jogging forward towards where most of the cast and crew had gathered. She came to a skidding halt once near. On her tip-toes, she tried to see into the center.
“Here, have a box of chocolates, I bought enough for everyone,” Wu Linjie smiled as he handed out box after box to each of the cast and crew members, no matter their role. “Ahh, here, thank you so much for all the times you fixed my outfit after a fight scene.”
“Interesting, hmm?” Li Feiling’s voice came from beside her.
Flinching, Xia Ruyun whirled around, only to find Li Feiling standing beside her with a faint smile tickling at her lips. Her eyes widened as she took a half step back.
“Don’t worry, I just got here, I was trying to max out my sleep time. I haven’t been following you,” Li Feiling laughed. She crossed her arms as a yawn fought its way out of her mouth. Afterward, she nodded her head towards the center of the circle. “Anyway, it seems like he’s had a bit more of a self-discovery. Going somewhere positive now.”
Xia Ruyun nodded. A few seconds later, as a slight smile tickled at the corners of her lips, she murmured, “He’s doing much better than I was at twenty-three.”
“You were doing amazingly, don’t put yourself down like that,” Li Feiling raised her eyebrows. After a second though, she patted Xia Ruyun’s shoulder as her expression softened and eyebrows relaxed. “Don’t get too stuck on what happened at the end of that year. It wasn’t your fault.”
Staring off into the distance, Xia Ruyun couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. “I guess so... yeah. I’m back now, and that’s what matters...”
Together in the back of the crowd, they stood in quiet silence for a couple seconds. Only after the crowd had begun to thin did Xia Ruyun break the silence. “Anyway, want to get some chocolate with me? We’re going to be at the end of the line if we wait any longer.”
“Sounds good,” Li Feiling flourished with her hands, striking a gentleman-like pose. “After you then, milady.”
---
Throughout the rest of the week, Xia Ruyun spent most of her time sitting by the side of the set. She spectated as the others continued shooting the climax, where Long Fei and Yang Guiying seized her death as motivation to defeat Warlord Cao and unify the country under one banner. Here and there, she suited back up to reshoot some of the scenes before her death. A writing scene here, and a background set piece there as other officers talked in her vicinity. Then, by the time Saturday and the PR shoot rolled around, she had packed—her suitcase now sat in Gao Qian’s car—and she had said her goodbyes to most of the crew.
Sunny. Light flooded in from the floor-to-ceiling windows.
She shaded her eyes. Her arm rested against the railing in front of the window. A few other cast members stood near her as they gathered in a semicircle to listen to Zhang Jingsong. On the fifth floor, they had set up a few makeshift makeup chairs nearby as the reporters waited on the other side of the hall.
“Okay, listen up,” Zhang Jingsong cleared his throat. Projecting to ensure the cast could hear his voice over the chattering of the reporters in the back, he folded his hands behind his back. “Thanks for agreeing to do this bonus shoot. The first three to go will be Wu Linjie, Li Feiling, and Xia Ruyun, so head off to get your makeup done now. I’ll be talking about the other group assignments with the rest of the cast for now. Just try to highlight things about your roles and answer the reporter's questions to the best of your ability. If it's uncomfortable, feel free to refuse answering it, we’ll be editing everything before this gets posted.”
“Alright.” “Sounds good.” “Thank you.”
A session of makeup and preparation later, Xia Ruyun sat off to the side as Wu Linjie and Li Feiling went up first. They sat side by side as a battalion of cameras, lights, and reporters surrounded them from all sides.
Flashes.
So many camera clashes.
A faint smile tugged at Xia Ruyun’s lips.
It’s nice to be back...
Before she could reminisce too much though, the first reporter asked their question, speaking into a microphone. “What pushed you two to be part of this production?”
“It’s rare to see a period drama with a plotline like this,” Li Feiling crossed her legs, sitting up on the couch. “This type of war-filled setting is often filled with men. Heroic generals and their dainty princesses. Nothing wrong with them, of course, but that’s just how it often is. You were in one similar to that, right Linjie?”
“Yeah, I was, Senior Li,” Wu Linjie nodded, raising the microphone to his mouth as he answered.
“For female-focused ones, it's more often something like a court drama. So when I saw the script, I just leapt at it,” Li Feiling raised her hands in a claw pose like a tiger before breaking into laughter. “I know many of my fans won’t be surprised to see me take part in this. If you’ve liked my past work, you’ll love this one as well. I really admire the main character, Yang Guiying, who has a willingness to fight for her own dreams. It’s a trait I always hope to inspire in the younger generation.”
“Well said,” Wu Linjie leaned against the couch with a few slow nods. “Thinking back, I didn’t have as solid of a motivation as Senior Li here. It was a happy coincidence we bumped into each other on this set, to be frank. Originally, though, I participated to diversify my acting portfolio. I noticed that much of my work seemed to be similar, and I don't want to get typecasted in the future, so I’m trying to broaden my horizons.”
Xia Ruyun, listening to their two answers, couldn’t help but begin to zone out a little. The noise kept coming in a steady drone.
Their ability to work is impressive... It’s only been half a week since their little confession incident, but here they are, working together like nothing’s happened.
It’s nice to see Wu Linjie trying to move on and... blossom a bit more into a better person. He’s really coming out of his shell these days. What admirable resilience...