The Film Empress White Moonlight Wants To Be A Salted Fish - Chapter 5

It was twelve o’clock, and Lu Yiran woke up from bed with a slight headache, fumbling for her phone beside her.

Xie Shuyao: [Teacher Lu, are you awake?]

Lu Yiran: [I’m awake. I caused you trouble last night.]

Xie Shuyao looked at the message Lu Yiran sent, unsure if she should say anything, but recalling what Lu Yiran did last night, she gave up. It was best to keep the events of last night buried deep inside.

After chatting for a while, Lu Yiran went to wash up.

When she came out, Lu Yiran smelled the aroma of cooking. “What’s for lunch?” Lu Yiran asked, standing next to Chen Ziyun.

Chen Ziyun flipped the contents in the pot with a spatula. “We’ll eat whatever we have at home.”

Although she said that, Chen Ziyun still treated Lu Yiran well, and Lu Yiran enjoyed the meal very much.

Chen Ziyun was clearing the dishes and asked, “When are you going back?”

Seeing Chen Ziyun cleaning up alone, Lu Yiran quickly sat up to help her.

“This afternoon, I guess. It’s too boring staying at home,” Lu Yiran said, returning to her room after helping Chen Ziyun.

Xiao Yu walked into Wen Shiyan’s room and was startled by the dark circles under her eyes. “You didn’t sleep last night, did you?”

Wen Shiyan sat on the sofa with a look of annoyance, as if someone owed her money. Seeing Wen Shiyan like this, Xiao Yu wanted to slip away, but Wen Shiyan stopped her.

“I remember Sister Xiao Yu has a game on her phone, right?”

Xiao Yu felt like crying but handed her phone to Wen Shiyan.

Opening the computer, Lu Yiran logged into her game account. While matchmaking, Lu Yiran noticed a master in her team and felt certain they would win this round.

Unexpectedly, once the game started, the “master” ran straight into the enemy’s territory to give away a first blood. Lu Yiran initially thought it was a mistake, but after a series of absurd maneuvers, Lu Yiran was left stunned.

Even after losing the game, Lu Yiran felt it wasn’t real.

Wen Shiyan stared at the death count of her game character in thought, and Xiao Yu on the side couldn’t say a word. She swore to heaven that she really hadn’t expected Wen Shiyan to be so bad at the game otherwise, she wouldn’t have so confidently let Wen Shiyan use her account.

“Boring,” Wen Shiyan said, returning the phone to Xiao Yu before leaving. Xiao Yu looked at the dazzling word “Defeat” on her match history with heartache. She was so close to an eight-game winning streak, and it was ruined just like that.

Work injury! This must be counted as a work injury!

With a bad start, Lu Yiran wasn’t in the mood to play anymore. After turning off the computer, Lu Yiran changed her clothes, said goodbye to Chen Ziyun, and went home.

On the sofa, Lu Chiqiu, who was eating snacks, put them down when she heard the door open. “You’re back?” she asked, looking at Lu Yiran, who was taking off her shoes at the entrance.

Lu Yiran nodded.

Lu Yiran walked over to Lu Chiqiu, hugged her arm, and sweetly called out, “Mom~”

“You want something from me?” Lu Chiqiu looked at Lu Yiran with a ‘tell me about it’ expression.

“Of course not, I just missed you.”

Lu Yiran knew that her past stubbornness had hurt the two most important people in her life. Thinking about the ending of her mothers, Lu Yiran couldn’t help but blame herself. Fortunately, it wasn’t too late to wake up now nothing had happened yet, and everything could still be changed.

Lu Chiqiu was momentarily stunned, then gently stroked Lu Yiran’s head. Lu Yiran’s previous behavior had worried her, making her wonder if Lu Yiran had become an idiot after eating something contaminated. But now, it seemed her daughter’s intelligence had returned after being knocked in the head.

In the evening, the family had a rare dinner together, openly discussing their feelings. Lu Chiqiu opened a bottle of wine for the occasion. Since Lu Yiran’s wound hadn’t healed, she didn’t partake. After finishing her second glass, Lu Chiqiu was coldly glanced at by Pei Ruochu.

“Chiqiu,” Pei Ruochu suddenly called out, but Lu Chiqiu was too happy drinking to hear. Lu Yiran, feeling nervous, tugged on Lu Chiqiu’s arm.

“Huh?” Lu Chiqiu looked at Lu Yiran in confusion. Lu Yiran frantically pointed to her left.

Lu Chiqiu thought Lu Yiran was referring to her left arm, so she looked at her arm, but when she lifted her head, she saw Pei Ruochu staring at her.

Oh no…

After dinner, Lu Chiqiu was dragged away by Pei Ruochu. Lu Yiran silently lit a candle for Lu Chiqiu in her heart.

Back in her room, as soon as Lu Yiran sat on the bed, she saw a message from Xie Shuyao.

Xie Shuyao: [Teacher Lu, you’re a local, aren’t you?]

Lu Yiran: [Yes, but you can just call me Lu Yiran.]

Xie Shuyao: [No, no, calling you Teacher Lu is better. The film crew has a day off tomorrow. Would you mind accompanying me to go sightseeing tomorrow?]

Lu Yiran: [Of course I can.]

After setting the meeting location and time, Lu Yiran started looking up interesting places nearby.

The next afternoon, when the heat subsided a bit, Lu Yiran went downstairs and saw only Pei Ruochu in the living room.

“Mom, I’m going out,” Lu Yiran said before leaving the house.

Arriving at the set, Lu Yiran saw Xie Shuyao and walked up to her. Unexpectedly, Wen Shiyan was also there.

“Well, Teacher Wen also came along after hearing I was going out.”

Looking at Wen Shiyan, Lu Yiran had a bold thought. Could it be that Wen Shiyan considered her a love rival? Interesting…

Thinking this, Lu Yiran smiled and linked arms with Xie Shuyao.

“Then let’s go. The places I chose aren’t too crowded on a weekday,” Lu Yiran said, pulling Xie Shuyao away. Wen Shiyan followed close behind them.

She wanted to see what Lu Yiran was planning, as her personality had completely changed since she was discharged from the hospital.

Throughout the journey, Wen Shiyan kept watching the two. When Lu Yiran turned her head, she saw Wen Shiyan gazing affectionately at Xie Shuyao.

Lu Yiran kept in mind her mission to be a wingman. She took the two to a popular spot for couples.

Lu Yiran suggested, “Speaking of which, we haven’t taken any pictures yet. How about we take one together?”

Since Lu Yiran had suggested it, the two naturally agreed.

The three happily took a group photo. But it was the only one. Wen Shiyan noticed that Lu Yiran was constantly taking pictures of her and Xie Shuyao. Could it be that Lu Yiran wanted to post these photos and create a scandal about her and Xie Shuyao?

But seeing Lu Yiran and Xie Shuyao chatting and laughing, Wen Shiyan felt that Lu Yiran didn’t seem like that kind of person. In the end, she decided to trust Lu Yiran this one time.

Lu Yiran didn’t know she had aroused Wen Shiyan’s suspicion. She was happily snapping photos of the two. It had to be said that two beauties standing together were quite a sight.

When they got tired, Lu Yiran took the two to a restaurant she was quite fond of for dinner.

Lu Yiran handed the menu to Xie Shuyao and Wen Shiyan.

The restaurant had small portions and a wide variety of dishes, satisfying guests who wanted to try a little bit of everything. Once the dishes were served, Lu Yiran was relieved to see Xie Shuyao enjoying the food.

The restaurant was small but warmly decorated. Inside the private room, the faint sound of flowing water from the rock garden outside could be heard, bringing a hint of coolness to the hot summer day and soothing the diners’ hearts.

It was Wen Shiyan’s first time discovering this place. This seemingly ordinary restaurant surpassed three-fifths of the food she had eaten at other high-end places.

As night gradually fell, Lu Yiran chose a haunted house as the final stop. The three stood outside the haunted house and watched, hearing various screams coming from inside. Wen Shiyan outwardly stood tall and calm.

After entering, the area was pitch black. A few more steps and the three saw a faint light.

Suddenly, a withered hand grabbed Wen Shiyan’s arm. Wen Shiyan calmly shook off the hand and continued following Lu Yiran and Xie Shuyao.

Xie Shuyao couldn’t see the path well and grabbed the hem of Lu Yiran’s clothes.

Continuing forward, the three saw several coffins. The coffins were motionless. Just as Wen Shiyan thought they were just decorations and prepared to pass, fresh blood started oozing out of the coffin seams. The coffin lids were jolted open one by one, and many faces appeared on the bloody surface.

The eyes on the faces stared straight at Wen Shiyan, the faces smiled eerily, and blood started seeping from their features.

Wen Shiyan abruptly grabbed Lu Yiran’s arm. Lu Yiran cautiously led the two to avoid the coffins. Before leaving, Wen Shiyan looked back. As the eyes on the faces met hers, the faces’ mouths curved into a wider smile. Wen Shiyan quickly turned her head away.

After the three left, the faces sank into the blood, waiting for the next round of tourists.

Outside, Lu Yiran didn’t find the haunted house scary. Xie Shuyao, being slightly nearsighted, saw everything along the way quite vaguely. Wen Shiyan stood next to Lu Yiran, her face pale. Noticing that Wen Shiyan’s hand was still gripping her arm, Lu Yiran quickly removed Wen Shiyan’s hand.

Her palm suddenly felt empty, and Wen Shiyan tightly clenched her hands.

The three strolled along the street. Lu Yiran felt a strange sensation that someone was watching her from behind, but when she turned around, Lu Yiran saw no one.

Lu Yiran inexplicably felt that the gaze behind her was becoming more frequent. She quietly asked the two, “Do you feel like someone is watching us from behind?”

Xie Shuyao shook her head after hearing that. Wen Shiyan looked behind Lu Yiran but found nothing. However, based on her many years of experience being followed, Wen Shiyan trusted Lu Yiran’s intuition.

“It’s getting late now. Why don’t you have someone pick you up? It’s better to be careful,” Wen Shiyan said. Lu Yiran also felt it was better to be cautious, especially since she had been previously staked out by paparazzi.

She called her family driver. Only after seeing Lu Yiran safely drive away did Wen Shiyan and Xie Shuyao return to the set.

Lu Yiran felt inexplicably uneasy on the way, but she couldn’t pinpoint the reason. This feeling slowly disappeared only after she arrived home.

After dinner, Pei Ruochu asked Lu Yiran about her future plans. Lu Yiran was about to say she would think about it later, but Lu Chiqiu interrupted her.

“Don’t say ‘later’. Either come work with us at the company, or continue doing what you want,” Lu Chiqiu gave Lu Yiran two very good options.

“Mm, thank you, Mom.”

Lu Yiran didn’t want to work systematically at the company. After discussing it with Pei Ruochu and the others, she decided to stay in the entertainment industry, but this time, not for Wen Shiyan, but for herself.

Back in her room, Lu Yiran felt the sensation of being watched return. Lu Yiran stood by the window and cautiously looked outside. She bit her lip, pondering as she looked at the empty street outside. Could it be that she was too sensitive and overthinking things?