Chapter 4

Mocheng had an endless expanse of green grassland.

The grass, reaching halfway up one’s calves, bent and swayed beneath the fierce winds of the overcast day, like green ocean waves washing over the souls of everyone who set foot upon the land.

Against this vast stretch of dark green grass, a pure white dress was particularly eye-catching.

The wind teased long, jet-black hair, swept up the sacred white dress, and stirred confusion in the saintess’s eyes.

Click.

The camera captured the instant she raised her hand.

There was no sacred compassion in Cheng Yuan’ai’s eyes, only a distant, ethereal gaze that seemed to look down upon all living beings with disdain.

The watch on her wrist, edged in emerald green, blended with her expression and the forbidden-land-like grassland surrounding her. It seemed less like a watch and more like a magical artifact belonging exclusively to the saintess of this forbidden land.

“I think the photographer is having the time of his life.”

“You’re right. So am I.”

“There’s a reason only Teacher Cheng could portray a silent lunatic like Si An so perfectly.”

“Fuck, don’t mention Si An! If I go home tonight and can’t get this woman out of stolen content my head, I’m holding you responsible.”

“…”

Below the set, staff members occasionally gathered in groups, chatting noisily among themselves.

No one noticed Lu Wu emerging from Cheng Yuan’ai’s changing room.

She looked considerably better now, apart from the faint flush still lingering on her face.

Lu Wu concealed the suppressant spray inside the sleeve of her jacket. Carefully trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible, she planned to slowly make her way back along the edge of the crowd.

Unfortunately, with her naturally captivating beauty, she had never been able to blend into a crowd. There was simply no way she could pass through the group before her unnoticed.

And so, despite her best efforts to stay at the edge of the crowd, she somehow found herself inexplicably pushed toward the front amid all the jostling.

Before she could quietly slip away, her partner, Chen Yanyi, spotted her and immediately grabbed her.

“Little Lu, you came to watch Teacher Cheng’s shoot too?”

“Come on, come over here! You can see much more clearly from my spot!”

Lu Wu: “…”

She smiled awkwardly as she was forcibly dragged over to her partner’s side.

“Why are you here? Haven’t we still got filming left to do over there?” Lu Wu desperately wanted to leave. She kept an unconvincing smile on her face, pursed her lips, and forced the words out through gritted teeth in a breathy whisper.

Chen Yanyi was completely mesmerized by what she was watching and paid no attention to what Lu Wu had said.

“Coming here today was absolutely worth it. Good thing I shamelessly pestered them and traded an entire script for this filming opportunity.”

“Otherwise, with my status as a ninety-ninth-tier nobody and that tiny, run-down excuse for a company I’m signed to, I probably wouldn’t get to meet Teacher Cheng even once in my entire life.”

Lu Wu pressed her lips together and turned her gaze away. She barely looked at Cheng Yuan’ai, and even when Chen Yanyi spoke about her, her expression remained indifferent.

The excited chatter around her, the surprise and admiration written across everyone’s faces—Lu Wu had witnessed scenes like this countless times since entering the entertainment industry.

And understandably so.

Ever since Cheng Yuan’ai first stepped into the entertainment industry, she had spent seven or eight years struggling through its ups and downs without ever becoming involved in any scandals or negative publicity.

She seemed to have always marched straight ahead along her chosen path of acting, never once stopping.

Just last year, shortly after celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday, she had won the Golden Rooster Award for her performance in Wild Daisies.

Lu Wu still remembered how the internet had been flooded that day with news of Cheng Yuan’ai becoming the youngest actress to win all three major Best Actress awards.

Even after turning off her phone, she could still see the enormous congratulatory message that fans had paid to display on the giant screen across the commercial district.

She had never known that Cheng Yuan’ai loved acting, much less that she had already reached such extraordinary heights.

That was the first time Cheng Yuan’ai had ever felt like a stranger to her.

“Hey, do you think Teacher Cheng would give me an autograph if I asked her later?”

“…” Lu Wu lowered her head and tugged her knitted cardigan a little higher, covering her shoulders.

She remained silent for quite some time. All the conversations around her seemed to revolve around the same subject: Cheng Yuan’ai.

“…Chen Yanyi, I’m going back first.” After listening quietly for a while, Lu Wu glanced toward the passageway beside them and parted her lips.

But before she could finish speaking, Chen Yanyi let out another dreamy sigh.

“Ah, tell me, what kind of person do you think someone like Teacher Cheng would fall for?”

Lu Wu froze where she stood, instantly forgetting what she had been about to say.

As though compelled by some unseen force, she suddenly looked toward Cheng Yuan’ai standing in the middle of the grassland.

The dark green grass climbed inch by inch along the skin concealed beneath Cheng Yuan’ai’s dress. Every step she took caught one or two clusters of long grass.

Lu Wu didn’t look at Cheng Yuan’ai’s face. Her bailiantales.com gaze barely reached the lower portion of the plain-colored dress.

The hem of the dress swayed only slightly.

Cheng Yuan’ai didn’t like…

“Huh?” Chen Yanyi nudged Lu Wu’s arm.

Lu Wu snapped out of her daze and withdrew her gaze. She turned her head, about to ask Chen Yanyi what was wrong, when she keenly noticed that the entire filming location had suddenly fallen deathly silent.

Lu Wu froze.

Chen Yanyi sounded slightly surprised. “Why is she looking over here? I’m not seeing things, am I?”

But in the very next second, Cheng Yuan’ai stopped what she was doing.

“Sorry, I’ve lost the feeling.”

Cheng Yuan’ai’s voice came from so far away that it seemed to be carried over by the wind, fragmented and indistinct.

“It’s fine, Teacher Cheng. We’ve got enough shots.”

No one thought Cheng Yuan’ai was acting like a diva.

When Cheng Yuan’ai announced that she [stolen content]was done filming, everyone who gathered around her wore smiles. They even kept praising how outstanding her performance had been.

Only the area around Chen Yanyi remained deathly quiet.

Lu Wu’s gaze grew distant and unreadable. It wasn’t until the crowd had surrounded Cheng Yuan’ai that she finally raised her eyes openly and looked toward where Cheng Yuan’ai stood.

The endless grassland was reflected in her amber eyes, and the gentle ripples of the swaying grass seemed to mirror the shimmering waves already stirring in her gaze.

Chen Yanyi had fallen silent as well, momentarily unsure what to say.

She was standing closer to Lu Wu, so naturally, she could tell exactly whom Cheng Yuan’ai had been looking at in that final glance.

Chen Yanyi had never taken the rumors about Cheng Yuan’ai and Lu Wu being on bad terms seriously. Much less had she believed the gossip claiming that Cheng Yuan’ai looked down on Lu Wu because her acting was terrible.

That simply couldn’t be true.

Cheng Yuan’ai had once served as a mentor on a program called Aspiring Actors. The contestants on that show had displayed every imaginable level of acting ability, yet from the beginning of the program until its conclusion, Cheng Yuan’ai had never once shown an expression of disgust.

But regardless of how strongly Chen Yanyi had doubted the rumors before, the evidence was now right in front of her.

She had no choice but to reconsider the relationship between Lu Wu and Cheng Yuan’ai.

She pursed her lips, tilted her head, and pondered for quite a while. Finally, she took a deep breath and asked with considerable difficulty, “Lu Wu, have you ever… well, you know, demonstrated that absolutely astonishing acting ability of yours right in front of Teacher Cheng?”

“…” Lu Wu shot Chen Yanyi ​bailiantales.com​a sideways glance, then kicked her while wearing a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“No.” Her answer was firm and immediate, without the slightest hesitation.

Chen Yanyi clearly didn’t believe her.

“Then why would Teacher Cheng…”

Lu Wu refused to answer and turned to leave.

Chen Yanyi hurried after her, still determined to keep questioning her.

Lu Wu turned her head and glanced once more in Cheng Yuan’ai’s direction before offering a casually dismissive reply.

“Maybe it’s because I’m too beautiful.”

Chen Yanyi: “?”

“Teacher Lu, there’s such a thing as being too confident.”

Lu Wu chuckled softly. She swept the curls resting against her shoulder behind her back, concealing the neck where she had once again fastened her suppressant collar.

“Am I not beautiful?”

Chen Yanyi quickly caught up with her, glanced at Lu Wu from the corner of her eye, and [bailiantales.com]answered sincerely, “Beautiful. You’re the first person I’ve ever met in this industry who’s managed to survive for so long purely on her looks.”

“So why on earth would Teacher Cheng dislike such a beautiful, likable woman like you…?!”

–

More than half a month had passed since they parted ways in Mocheng.

Most of Cheng Yuan’ai’s work had been suspended. Evidently, the company’s senior management was extremely displeased that she had accepted a dating reality show without permission.

Although Ren Zhong had been negotiating on her behalf, quite a few executives had still approached Cheng Yuan’ai for discussions.

Cheng Yuan’ai didn’t think there was anything worth discussing. Once she made a decision, she wasn’t the type to regret it simply because someone offered a few words of persuasion.

Her refusal to listen to reason only infuriated the company further, so they simply redistributed most of her resources to other artists.

With no scripts in hand and no other work commitments, Cheng Yuan’ai was perfectly happy to enjoy the peace and quiet.

Summer was approaching in Zhaocheng.

The temperature had noticeably risen by several degrees.

Cheng Yuan’ai stayed at home, taking advantage of the beautiful sunshine to open several windows in her walk-in closet.

Sunlight poured freely into the entire room.

After lunch, Cheng Yuan’ai began slowly reorganizing the clothes in her closet.

It wasn’t until sunset that she finally finished.

The orange-red glow of the setting sun streamed through the transparent windows and fell across the backs of Cheng Yuan’ai’s hands, which were braced against the floor and covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

She sat cross-legged on the floor, breathing a little heavily.

After sitting quietly for a while, beads of sweat began rolling down from her temples.

The orange glow of the sunset stretched her shadow into a long silhouette, making her appear particularly lonely in the spacious walk-in closet.

Cheng Yuan’ai sat quietly, her thoughts unknown.

After a short while, she raised her eyelids and silently looked toward a school uniform hanging near another window.

A small name badge was pinned to the pink-collared blazer.

It was a school uniform.

The skirt looked rather short. It had clearly been altered.

Cheng Yuan’ai gazed silently at the uniform.

Outside the window, the tree that had stood motionless suddenly began swaying wildly.

Its leaves were shaken into disarray, drifting crookedly through the wide-open window.

They landed beneath the hem of the uniform skirt.

The skirt swayed in the wind as well, its fluttering folds resembling a young girl taking light, graceful steps as she danced.

Cheng Yuan’ai stared at it in a daze.

For a long time, she made no move to get up and close the window, allowing more fallen leaves to drift inside.

[November 15, 2017, Clear Skies, Strong Winds

She’s not a good student, nor is she an obedient child.

The wind is so strong.

I’ve been locked in the attic.

I think I’ll hate him forever. And I’ll forever remember that woman who stood beside him, gloating and whispering in his ear.

And you.

You were supposed to be included too.

But you’re a lunatic.

Lu Wu, do you know that?

You’re a lunatic.

I don’t know what I’m thinking. It feels like I’ve never known what I’m thinking.

The attic window was kicked to pieces.

I don’t know what I’m thinking.

I don’t remember the expression on that lunatic’s face.

All I remember is the hem of a skirt.

That school uniform skirt I hate so much.

Swaying before my eyes.

Cheng Yuan’ai.

What are you thinking?

I don’t know.]