Self-Perception - Chapter 63

“Auntie Bai, can you really not stay for a few more days?” Xiao Mian’s watery little eyes gazed at Bai Jin and the two people beside her.

“Next time we come back, we’ll stay for a few extra days, okay?” Bai Jin stroked her head affectionately to comfort her.

“Okay, then you must remember our promise. Pinky swear!” Xiao Mian held out her pinky finger. Bai Jin hooked it. “Pinky swear, a hundred years, no changing. Whoever lies is a little dog!”

“Alright, alright.” Bai Jin thought to herself, she has to do this pinky swear with her every single year, this child.

“Sister Gu and Sister Wen have to do it too.”

In the end, all three of them made the promise to Xiao Mian. A child’s mind is just that simple, they trust adults implicitly. In the blink of an eye, she was back to her happy self.

“Grandmother, we’ll come see you again next year.”

“Travel safely,” Grandmother said as she bid them farewell.

The group drove back to Jiang City and immediately began rushing through promotions. With the movie roadshow imminent, Gu Wansheng became busy once again.

Wen Jinyan’s life remained much the same as usual. She wrote her novels every day. When Su Muqing asked if she wanted to go out and play, Wen Jinyan declined politely. “Next time.”

“Then I’ll bring you back some local specialties.”

“Okay.” Wen Jinyan chatted with Su Muqing for a while longer until she heard someone calling Su Muqing on the other end, and the two ended their conversation.

Just after hanging up, another call came in. It was Gu Wansheng.

“Gu Wansheng.”

“Yanyan, are you free tomorrow?”

Wen Jinyan replied, “Yes.” She walked slowly to the bar and picked up the kettle to pour herself a glass of water.

“My movie roadshow is tomorrow. I’ve reserved three seats for you, Su Muqing, and the others. Are you coming to see the movie?”

“Su Muqing and the rest are going out to play, so there’s no need to save tickets for the two of them,” Wen Jinyan explained.

“What about you?”

“I’m going, of course. Even if you hadn’t called me now, I would have asked you when you got back,” Wen Jinyan answered softly.

She heard heavy breathing on the other end of the line and a long silence. She called out, “Gu Wansheng, are you listening?”

“I’m listening.” Gu Wansheng repeated, “Yanyan, I hear you.”

“Bai Jin is calling me to go over some details, I have to go now.”

“Mhm, you go ahead and hang up.”

Gu Wansheng hung up the phone and placed her hand over her heart, listening to its powerful, rhythmic thumping.

Meng Qiu, who had just bought coffee, saw Sister Gu leaning back on the sofa with her hand placed… over her heart?

“Sister Gu, are you feeling unwell?” She hadn’t handed the coffee to Gu Wansheng yet. If she really was unwell, it would be better not to drink coffee.

“No.” Gu Wansheng adjusted her state, thanked her, and told Meng Qiu to put the coffee on the coffee table.

Meng Qiu did as told and said, “By the way, Sister Gu, Director Bai said for you to go to the conference room.”

“Let’s go.” Gu Wansheng picked up her coffee. Just as she stepped out, she saw the other lead actor of the movie. The two greeted each other and walked side by side.

Meng Qiu and another assistant followed behind them. Because of the filming, Meng Qiu had interacted quite a bit with that assistant; they weren’t exactly close, but they had things to talk about.

As they neared the conference room door, the other assistant stepped forward ahead of time to push the door open. Seeing this, Meng Qiu driven by some inexplicable impulse, also stepped forward to push open the door on the other side.

Gu Wansheng paused for half a second, glanced at her without saying anything, and walked straight inside.

“You’re here. Have a seat,” Bai Jin greeted them as they entered.

“What’s the matter?” Gu Wansheng got straight to the point.

“The timing and number of screenings for the roadshow have changed. We’re adding a session tomorrow morning. Xiao She’s movie is being released at the same time as ours.”

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone understood.

Generally, movie release dates are staggered, especially for highly anticipated films. Production teams with smaller IPs will avoid the release dates of major films, and even movies with similar hype will stagger their releases to avoid splitting the heat.

“Wasn’t the news before that Teacher Xiao She’s release was in the afternoon? Why did it suddenly change to the same time as ours?”

“Since it’s changed, we have to adapt. The opening day’s momentum is very important.” Bai Jin massaged her temples. She had used her connections to try and gauge the situation on Xiao She’s side, but even those people weren’t sure.

“His time changed?!” Wen Jinyan stopped typing on her keyboard.

“Yes, I only found out today after hearing Bo Shan and the others talking.”

Why did Xiao She suddenly change the time? Was it to target Gu Wansheng? But hadn’t it always been rumored that he admired Gu Wansheng and wanted to invite her to be his leading lady?

Wen Jinyan was no longer in the mood to write her novel. She told Zhang Wen to keep observing the situation and hung up the phone.

Xiao She, what exactly are you trying to do?

After the discussion ended, the group dispersed. Once they were back in the trailer, Gu Wansheng called out to Meng Qiu.

“Why were you acting like a doorman today?” Gu Wansheng asked with her right leg crossed over her left, leaning back in a relaxed posture.

Meng Qiu’s brain took half a minute to process this. She asked tentatively, “Sister Gu, I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

Gu Wansheng stared at Meng Qiu and said bluntly, “You opened the door for me today.”

Hearing this, Meng Qiu actually felt relieved. She thought it was something serious.

“Sister Gu, I saw Xiao Wen opening the door, and I thought your status is higher than her artist’s, so we couldn’t let her look down on us.”

“Is that the kind of thing you use your competitive spirit for?!” Gu Wansheng’s volume didn’t change, but it gave Meng Qiu a sense of sternness.

She knew Sister Gu was angry.

Gu Wansheng continued, “Meng Qiu, what did I tell you when you first started?”

Meng Qiu recalled, “Sister Gu, you said that as your assistant, I should be neither humble nor arrogant, never swallowing my pride, but never being overbearing either. Do not provoke others, but do not let others provoke you.”

“You are yourself first, and my assistant second. I don’t need my assistant bowing and scraping to open doors for me. You are not a waitress, your duties do not include that. Moreover, this kind of comparison is completely meaningless. What others do is their business, but we are not them. We just need to do our own jobs and fulfill our responsibilities.”

“I understand, Sister Gu. I was wrong,” Meng Qiu said sincerely, her head lowered.

Gu Wansheng’s voice softened slightly. “Is tomorrow’s schedule arranged?”

“I’ll go confirm it immediately.”

The car came to a steady stop in the apartment complex. Gu Wansheng put on her mask and got out.

She took the elevator to her door and entered the foyer. As soon as she walked in, she heard the sound of the range hood in the kitchen. Opening the sliding door, she saw Wen Jinyan wearing an apron, the thin strings tied tightly around her waist, making it look like it could be held in one hand.

Gu Wansheng closed the sliding door. Wen Jinyan turned her head at the sound and started to speak, “Gu Wan… cough, cough.”

Gu Wansheng turned the range hood to maximum power, turned down the heat, glanced at the ingredients in the pan, and asked, “Why are you cooking today?”

“I’m making shredded potatoes,” Wen Jinyan answered truthfully, covering her nose and mouth as she coughed several times.

Shredded potatoes?

Gu Wansheng looked at the pan again. There were long, thick chunks of food, if Wen Jinyan hadn’t said they were shredded potatoes, she would have thought she was frying French fries.

Gu Wansheng didn’t stop her from cooking. Her intention was good, she probably saw how tired Gu was and wanted her to have a hot meal as soon as she got home. Besides, she couldn’t bring herself to dampen her girlfriend’s enthusiasm for cooking.

Gu Wansheng felt her deduction was perfectly correct, but this confidence lasted only until the “shredded potatoes” were served on the table. Looking at the potatoes, which were scorched on the surface, Gu Wansheng still used her chopsticks to mix them with rice and eat.

“How is it?” Wen Jinyan’s eyes were fixed on Gu Wansheng’s movements.

“It’s quite good.” Gu Wansheng took another bite and encouraged her, “The flavor is really not bad.”

After saying this, she picked up the water glass nearby and calmly took a sip. Then she took another.

Watching her drink water, Wen Jinyan didn’t think there was a problem at first, until Gu Wansheng took that second sip.

She took a bite herself. Gu Wansheng watched as Wen Jinyan’s facial muscles gradually tensed into a knot. Then, she grabbed a tissue and spat it out.

“Actually, it really is quite good. I just have a heavy palate,” Gu Wansheng said, reaching out with her chopsticks to take another bite just to prove her words.

Wen Jinyan pulled the plate away. Gu Wansheng missed her mark and looked up to meet a pair of apologetic eyes. Her heart skipped a beat as she called out, “Yanyan.”

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have ruined those potatoes,” Wen Jinyan lowered her eyes, her expression somber.

Gu Wansheng took the plate from her hand, set it on the table, and grasped her hands. Her voice was steady. “Yanyan, everyone has things they are good at and things they aren’t. Attempting something you aren’t good at is a challenge in itself, so you don’t need to feel guilty. The fact that you were willing to try is already wonderful.”

“But you are always omnipotent, you can cook, you’re beautiful, wealthy, gentle, and capable.”

Noticing her mood becoming increasingly despondent, Gu Wansheng hurried to say, “Yanyan, no one is perfect. I have my flaws too. I just haven’t shown them to you. I have my own selfish side. I wanted to show you the most perfect version of myself.” Gu Wansheng cupped her face, their noses touching as she said, “The ‘me’ in your eyes is the ‘me’ I want you to see. I can be petty, I hold grudges, and I’m not always magnanimous. The person others see, the person on the screen, is just the good side, the side I want them to see. There are people in this industry I dislike intensely, and I do seek revenge.”

“During those years as an extra, although I constantly told myself that gold will always shine eventually, I felt lost. The road seemed endless. I’d wait forever just to get a role with one or two lines, and I’d spend so much time analyzing the character’s inner monologue, only for the scene to be cut because of a lead actor’s mistake. In the end, it was all for nothing.”

“In my fifth year, perhaps the Goddess of Luck finally glanced my way and I got an audition for a significant supporting role. I fought desperately to grab that chance, but I was easily replaced by someone the sponsors pushed in. I was indignant, but I had to hold it in. Later, after I gained some fame, I happened to discover her secret. I simply gave it a little push and made her secret public. Because of that, she was finished in the entertainment industry. So you see, Yanyan, I haven’t had smooth sailing, I’m not entirely ‘upright,’ and I’m certainly not a perfect person.”

“But in my eyes, you are the best, best Gu Wansheng,” Wen Jinyan said hurriedly.

Gu Wansheng’s eyes crinkled with a smile. “So in my eyes and in my heart, you are the best too.”