The Security Guard Who Won the Heart of the Unattainable Actress - Chapter 33.1

Chapter 33.1

Ran Mingyue didn’t know why, but after she said that, Li Guang started to cry even harder.

Her clothes, shoes, and pant legs were soaked from running out in a hurry. But Ran Mingyue didn’t move. She just stood there in the entryway, holding Li Guang for a while, letting her cry.

Li Guang instinctively clutched at the corner of Ran Mingyue’s clothes. In her muddled mind, she had a memory of the faint, cool scent on Ran Mingyue, and she followed her in, to this environment that had always made her feel safe.

Since Ran Mingyue had already seen her, Li Guang stopped hiding. Ran Mingyue’s hug came at just the right time. Li Guang was like a half-wilted plant in desperate need of care and nutrients, and Ran Mingyue was her special nutrient solution.

Ran Mingyue reached out to wipe away Li Guang’s tears. Her hands were wet, but Li Guang’s tears hadn’t stopped. This child had suffered a great grievance.

“Li Guang?” Ran Mingyue said. “I’ll help you change your shoes.”

She took out the indoor slippers Li Guang had worn before. Li Guang’s white sneakers were splattered with water and dirt from her run. Ran Mingyue said, “Take off your socks too, okay?”

The rain outside was so heavy, her socks must be soaked.

“Take a deep breath.” Li Guang didn’t move. Ran Mingyue straightened up, patted Li Guang’s back, and said, “Let’s go inside first. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”

Li Guang looked down at the fuzzy slippers, wiped her own tears, and the surging sadness finally receded a little. Her socks were wet, and she felt bad about getting Ran Mingyue’s house slippers dirty, so she obediently took them off, put them in her shoes, and silently took out a wet wipe to clean her hands.

Ran Mingyue changed into her own indoor shoes as well and led Li Guang to the sofa.

The sofa was covered with a new plush blanket, and everything felt warm and cozy.

Ran Mingyue got up to get Li Guang a cup of warm water to hold in her hands. She said, “Wait for me for a moment,” and when she came back, she had changed her clothes and was wearing a thin sweater. In her hand was a new pair of lambswool socks.

Li Guang thought Ran Mingyue would ask, “What’s wrong?” and was mentally preparing her words. But Ran Mingyue knelt down in front of her instead. “I’ll change your socks for you.”

“I’ll do it myself, I’ll do it myself,” Li Guang said, her voice small and muffled with a nasal tone from crying. She quickly took a big gulp of water.

It was hard for Li Guang to open her eyes, her eyelids must be swollen. She wondered if she looked ugly right now.

“Let me do it, it’s fine.” Ran Mingyue lowered her head, carefully putting on the socks for her. A strand of her hair brushed against Li Guang’s foot, making her toes curl up in embarrassment.

Ran Mingyue put the socks on Li Guang. “Warm now?”

“Mm.” The warmth from the cup soothed Li Guang’s eyes. Ran Mingyue sat down beside her. “So, can you tell me what happened now?”

Li Guang wasn’t wearing shoes. She pressed the tips of her toes together. The red socks with a brown reindeer on them were so thick that her feet looked like something out of a cartoon. Li Guang suddenly felt a little like laughing, but at the same time, she also felt like crying.

She didn’t make a sound. Ran Mingyue asked again, “Then how did you get here?”

Li Guang’s eyes scanned the umbrella by the entryway. “I came to return your umbrella.”

“Return the umbrella,” Ran Mingyue murmured. The person returning the umbrella was all good, while the owner of the umbrella had clothes all soaked.

Li Guang drank half the cup of water and stopped crying. She felt much better as soon as she was in Ran Mingyue’s home. Holding the cup, Li Guang embarrassedly asked, “I must look really ugly when I cry, right?”

She used the word “really,” as in again.

Though it was inappropriate, Ran Mingyue couldn’t help but smile a little. She knew Li Guang remembered. “No, you don’t.”

“You didn’t say that two years ago,” Li Guang said, lowering her gaze.

“I was just teasing you back then… You really remember that until now?” Ran Mingyue grabbed a pillow and gave it to Li Guang. The latter naturally curled up on the sofa with her legs crossed. Ran Mingyue continued, “You little rascal, you even lied and said you didn’t remember.”

Perhaps because of the special circumstances tonight, this was the first time Li Guang had voluntarily brought up what happened two years ago with Ran Mingyue.

She was quite a grudge holder.

It was true that Ran Mingyue had said Li Guang’s smile was beautiful, like a little sun.

But the other half of the sentence, which Li Guang hadn’t said to Wang Rou, was:

Ran Mingyue’s second sentence was, “When you cry, your features disappear, you look like a wrinkled-up New Year’s print doll.”

Li Guang’s attention was diverted, and her sadness finally receded, calming her mind. She propped her elbows on the pillow, holding her face, and said in a slightly unhappy tone, “Today, my family asked me for autographed photos of the guests. Yours, Teacher Xiang’s, and Teacher Song Suoqi’s.”

“Especially yours,” Li Guang said. “I didn’t want to.”

Ran Mingyue said, “That’s why you’re crying like this?”

“Mhm.” Li Guang’s voice was muffled and troubled. “It sounds so ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

“Not at all ridiculous. Wait for me for a moment,” Ran Mingyue said. She figured the time was right and got up to go to the kitchen. Soon, she came back with a four-inch small cake, decorated with strawberries and pineapple, and even some fresh flowers.

Li Guang sniffled in surprise, only to realize that her nose was stuffed from crying. She hadn’t smelled the scent of baking in the house at all!

Now that it was in front of her, a sweet aroma wafted up, smelling so good.

Wait, why would Ran Mingyue be eating cake at this time?

“This was for you anyway. It’s better to eat it while it’s fresh.” Ran Mingyue’s eyes were filled with a look of eagerness. She put the fork and the cake in Li Guang’s hands and watched as Li Guang’s eyes narrowed in delight.

Her eyelashes were still wet, thick and clustered together. Li Guang took another bite.

Ran Mingyue couldn’t help but laugh. “Eat slowly. By the way… I was going to sign autographed photos for you anyway. We agreed, didn’t we? I have a lot, I can sign a bunch more for you to take.”

She had originally wanted Li Guang to come to her room to sign them, but seeing Li Guang’s state, Ran Mingyue felt that would be taking advantage of the situation, so she suppressed the thought.

“No way!” Li Guang stubbornly opened her eyes wide. “I won’t give them away. I said, your autographed photo is very important to me, and I only have one. I’m not going to take it and let a kid show off with it…”

Ran Mingyue connected the dots. Because Li Guang had cried so much on the street last time, she had gone back to the manager to ask for the surveillance footage.

Of course, there was only the footage of the checkout counter. A woman who looked like Li Guang’s mother happily packed a takeout order and left with the little boy.

Li Guang’s steps were slow, her face tense and distracted, not her usual self.

Ran Mingyue had specifically asked what they had packed. The manager proudly said, “It’s the pig liver congee. Everyone says our pig liver congee is great, not fishy at all!”

A server next to them added, “That’s right, that’s right. They were originally going to order the shrimp congee, but then the mom said her brother loved pig liver congee. See? They made the right choice. It’s our signature dish.”

The staff and servers were busy promoting how good their food was, but Ran Mingyue had paid attention.

What was the use of the food being so good? Li Guang clearly didn’t like it.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Ran Mingyue said. “I can give you more special ones. We can give your brother some regular ones, how about that?”

Over the years, Ran Mingyue had accumulated countless photos and commemorative albums. Brands and photographers were eager to send them to her. She naturally had some at home. She casually opened a wooden cabinet, took out some photos and a pen, and quickly signed her name. She added, “I have photos of the others, too. I’ll have them get more for you tomorrow.”

Li Guang pursed her lips, trying to keep a straight face, but she couldn’t resist how delicious the cake was. After a couple of bites, her mental wall, which had been as solid as a copper wall, began to crack. A hint of a smile appeared on her face.

“I have a lot,” Ran Mingyue said. “Take them back with you. It’s fine if you want to hand them out. Kids always want to show off a little. It’s not a big deal.”

Ran Mingyue had already organized the signed photos, squared them up, and was about to put them in Li Guang’s clothes pocket. Li Guang tightly covered her pocket, not looking at the photos, and sat up straight on the sofa. “I’m not giving them away. Why should I take them to let him show off?”

“You don’t want to show off?” Ran Mingyue was amused by her childish actions. She noticed that whenever Li Guang was being stubborn, she would straighten up her body.

“You know so many celebrities, and you can get a stack of my autographed photos anytime. Don’t you want to show off a little?”

Ran Mingyue’s words chipped away at Li Guang’s resolve. She wanted to nod, but she kept a straight face. “Still not giving them away.”

There was a little cream on the corner of Li Guang’s lip. She wasn’t wearing her uniform, but her own clothes—a light blue zippered sweater. Her eyes were moist and bright under the light, and her hair was down, soft and fluffy. Even her angry expression made Ran Mingyue want to pinch her. She didn’t look angry at all.

Ran Mingyue placed her hand on top of Li Guang’s hand, holding it, and gently pushed it away. She put the photos in the pocket, took the spoon, and offered a piece of cake to the angry person. She leaned in and whispered, “Don’t be stubborn. Just take them back, okay?”

Li Guang’s cheeks puffed out on one side as she said, “I’m the one who wants to show off.”

“Of course, you’re the one who wants to show off.” Ran Mingyue knew she had agreed. She smiled gently, looking at Li Guang for a moment, then handed the fork back to her. “And I’m the one who’s letting you show off.”

When Li Guang lowered her head, Ran Mingyue used a tissue to wipe the cream from her lips. Li Guang didn’t notice a thing. She just repeated, “You’re the one who’s letting me show off.”

Li Guang felt much better. She accepted the photos.

The pressure in her heart disappeared as soon as she made this decision. Ran Mingyue had helped her make the choice she wanted and had even given her a legitimate excuse.

Li Guang came to her senses and asked Ran Mingyue, “Why are you at home?”

Ran Mingyue said, “Did you check your phone?”

On her phone screen, besides the current time which was almost 1 AM, there was an unread message from an hour and a half ago.

[SunStarThreeMissingOne: I’ll bring you a small cake tomorrow. I promised you today.]

Oh…

If Ran Mingyue hadn’t said anything, Li Guang would have completely forgotten about it. But Ran Mingyue had said she would bring it “tomorrow.”

Does that mean Ran Mingyue came back in the middle of the night just to make her a cake?

Li Guang, you really have a lot of nerve to think that now!

Realizing this, Li Guang looked at Ran Mingyue, her lips slightly parted.

“It just so happens that you came to find me now, so you can eat it now.” Ran Mingyue looked at the cake, which was almost half gone. “Is it good?”

Li Guang answered honestly, “It’s delicious.”

She added, “It’s so late…” Wasn’t Ran Mingyue tired? The show had said they had to get up early tomorrow.

“It’s raining, I couldn’t sleep anyway,” Ran Mingyue said. “Do you want to watch TV? Or we can just talk? I’ll keep you company for a bit longer.”

Ran Mingyue added, “You seem to have unread messages on your phone. Don’t you want to check them?”

Li Guang had quickly put her phone away just now. She hadn’t expected Ran Mingyue to notice. Actually, her thoughts were easy to guess. First, she had put her phone on silent, then after checking it once, she had become distracted.

She was trying to pretend but wasn’t doing a good job of it.

Ran Mingyue couldn’t help but think of what Li Guang had said on her first day of the advanced training class.

“Hello, everyone, I’m a method actress. But I’m a little different from what you might think.” The girl with a round bun on the back of her head had a slight dimple on her left cheek when she smiled. “I just can’t act out roles that I haven’t experienced or imagined. I hope you don’t find my acting too embarrassing.”

Ran Mingyue had always had a strong impression of this classmate.

Embarrassed by Ran Mingyue’s gaze, Li Guang put down the uneaten cake and finally opened her phone. Just now, when she had checked Ran Mingyue’s message, she saw three unread messages from Ms. Ye Cailan. They were all voice messages, sent shortly after she had hung up the phone. At the time, Li Guang had pretended to be asleep with the sound off to be stubborn.

She was afraid that Ye Cailan would say something else to blame her, and she was also afraid that she would continue to be irrational. Li Guang really disliked being like that.

Adults should learn to control and manage their emotions gracefully. Li Guang had only learned the latter in front of her family, which was why she often used that method.

She clicked on the voice messages, but it wasn’t Ye Cailan’s voice.

Li Yang’s childish voice came through: “Sister? Sister? When are you coming back? It’s too cold. I made roasted sweet potatoes today. Mom said they would get cold if she brought them to you, so she wouldn’t let me come. She said the bus fare is expensive. I secretly saved some pocket money. Do you want to eat some candy?”

The second message: “Sister, don’t argue with Mom. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told my classmates that my sister knows celebrities… The little fatty in kindergarten was going to fight with me, and I said my sister was really amazing so they wouldn’t mess with me. They said I was a liar.”

The voice message stopped. Li Guang clicked on the third one without hesitation.

“Sister, why aren’t you coming back? When are you coming back? I don’t want those autographed photos anymore. You can have my bed when you come back. I can sleep on the desk in the study.”

Yangyang’s voice stopped there. Ye Cailan’s voice could be heard in the background, asking what he was doing, and then the voice message ended.

Li Guang had listened with the speaker on. Ran Mingyue asked, “Don’t you think some things are understandable? When it’s not intentional, every kid wants to show off a little.”

Li Guang felt too embarrassed to listen to it again, but she transcribed the messages and read them once more. She looked up, saying hesitantly, “But you said that I also wanted to show off.”

Ran Mingyue smiled. “You’re still a kid, too.”

Li Guang’s eyes began to well up. She sniffled, controlling her voice, and said in a muffled tone, “Mingyue-jie, thank you.”

Ran Mingyue tilted her head, smiling. “You’re being very polite with me now.”

Li Guang’s body relaxed. She curled back up on the sofa, burying her head in her hands. “Why couldn’t I think like you from the beginning? It’s just a change in perspective, but I made it such a big deal.”

If she had just asked why Li Yang wanted the autographed photos so badly, she and Ms. Ye Cailan wouldn’t have gotten so upset.

Or maybe she could have told Ye Cailan last time that she was unhappy because she was always concerned about Li Yang.

Li Guang had never said it.

She covered her face and said, “Actually, when my mom first called, she was concerned about me. But I only thought she was concerned about me for Yangyang, for the autographed photos. I kept thinking—doesn’t she know I don’t have heat? Doesn’t she know I’m tired from a long day of filming? Why didn’t she ask me anything?”

Li Guang gave a bitter laugh. “If I had just said something, maybe it would have been different. And I wouldn’t be bothering you so late.”

“That’s not it, Li Guang. Do you think I believe your mother and your brother were in the right?” Ran Mingyue said. “Absolutely not.”

“Not?” Li Guang looked up, her eyes sparkling with tears. “But you told me to check my phone and signed so many photos for me.”

Li Guang couldn’t think of any other reason. If it weren’t for Ran Mingyue’s guidance and persistence, she might still be crying outside right now.

“You were so sad, crying so terribly. I was too angry for you. How could I think they were right? But I know that you’re too sensible. You might blame your family now, but when you wake up, you’ll blame yourself.”

“You’ll start to self-reflect. Of course, you might forget about it for a while. But it won’t be long before you come to your senses and ask yourself the same question you just asked me—’Why didn’t I do it that way back then? It was a much better solution.'”

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