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“Have you ever loved someone for over ten years, yet spoken fewer than fifty sentences to them in that time, feeling so much agony that you couldn’t sleep at night?” Shao Niannian asked her friend, her face covered in tears.
Ten years ago, fifteen-year-old Shao Niannian was handpicked by her mother’s friend, Director Lin, to star in a film set in the Republican era. She played opposite Jiang Yan, the newly crowned “Linghua Award” Film Empress, who was at the peak of her fame. Every movement Jiang Yan made—the way she tilted her head, her faint smiles, her slender waist wrapped tightly in a cheongsam, and the soft Southern accent she mimicked for the role—left Shao Niannian completely mesmerized.
For the next decade, figuring out how to get close to Jiang Yan became Shao Niannian’s lifelong challenge. Unfortunately, over those 3,650 days, their only connection remained that single film. They weren’t even on nodding terms. In fact, Jiang Yan was more familiar with the new “rising starlets” she worked with than with her.
Watching those younger starlets call Jiang Yan “Sister,” Shao Niannian struggled to maintain a calm exterior while her heart went mad with jealousy. “I never dared to expect her to love me, but at the very least, she should know who I am, right?” she lamented in chats with her friend.
Infatuation, reunion, re-acquaintance, falling in love on set, and finally, love turning to resentment. That was how outsiders defined Shao Niannian’s year of romantic scandals. Ironically, after being dumped by the “playboy” Film Empress, Shao Niannian finally found her own style. No longer confined to teen romance dramas, she held her own even in New Year’s blockbusters filled with veteran A-listers.
“If dating a Film Empress boosts one’s acting skills this much, I hope Jiang Yan ‘scums’ (dumps) every single untalented new starlet equally!” Netizens marveled at Shao Niannian’s exquisite acting. While enjoying the “gossip,” they lamented the beautiful but talentless actresses, wishing they could all have an “epiphany” like Shao Niannian.
Emerging from a remote filming location in the mountains, Shao Niannian looked at the hundreds of thousands of private messages and tags. She silently restarted her phone, which had completely crashed due to the Weibo notifications.
It wasn’t until she landed that she realized the so-called “echo of love” had long since been answered.
Jiang Yan [Verified]: “I’m not the scumbag who dumped her! She’s the one who doesn’t want me! I’m actually quite desperate here—can anyone help me plead my case? I’ve been blocked and can’t get off her blacklist!”
“Love has an echo; may the fireworks last for years.”
