We Are Filthy, Born From Mud - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Yes, She Only Cares About Herself. Through You, I Am Looking at…

“Sister Yougu, you finally picked up. Where are you? I’m coming to pick you up right now.”

Two hours before the audition, Zong Yougu received a call from Hu Yinghua.

Hu Yinghua’s tone was anxious, almost shouting, wishing she could reach through the phone and drag Zong Yougu to the site herself.

But she couldn’t be blamed.

During these two days at the orphanage, Zong Yougu’s phone had remained powered off. This was, of course, Yougu’s doing; she had always been willful and demanding.

However, Zong Liangu had tacitly allowed it.

“Sister Yougu, say something! Can I come pick you up now, please?”

Seeing that Zong Yougu didn’t answer, Hu Yinghua grew even more frantic.

“No need. I’ll head over myself. I know what I’m doing,” Zong Yougu said slowly, without a shred of urgency.

With that, Zong Yougu hung up the phone decisively.

She looked around. It was quiet outside the window; occasionally, a leaf or two drifted down from above to land on the sill. The children weren’t up yet.

The room was also quiet, save for Zong Liangu’s imperceptible, steady breathing; she was still sleeping as well.

Zong Liangu had spent last night helping the director sweep fallen leaves and wind-blown trash from the yard, then hauled all the accumulated waste to the nearest recycling station. She had been busy almost the entire night, so naturally, she was still burrowed under the covers.

“Get up, it’s time to go.” Zong Yougu slapped Zong Liangu’s quilt mercilessly.

“I’ve been awake.”

Zong Liangu’s muffled voice came from under the blanket. She rubbed her eyes, preparing to get out of bed.

Her movements were slow, every gesture carrying a hint of exhaustion.

“So now you know what tired feels like? The director kept saying ‘no need, no need,’ but what did you do? You were flying with three big boxes of trash, huffing and puffing as you ran forward, and no one could stop you even by shouting. Anyone would think you were an ox in your past life, given how much you love suffering. Truly looking for trouble and asking for it,” Zong Yougu mocked.

Zong Liangu squatted on the floor, seriously tying her shoelaces, her long fingers crossing skillfully. She said nonchalantly, “Say whatever you want. It’s not like you didn’t do anything; don’t think I didn’t know you helped the director peel edamame yesterday.”

Hearing this, Zong Yougu immediately lowered her head guiltily and hid her hands behind her back.

Her fingers still throbbed slightly, and a faint green stain remained on her nails.

“Anyway, today is your audition. It has nothing to do with me.” Zong Liangu continued to tie her laces slowly. “We agreed before: you handle the dialogue, I handle the stunts. You aren’t allowed to back out.”

Zong Yougu suddenly burst into laughter. She squatted down and tilted Zong Liangu’s chin up, forcing her to meet her eyes.

Zong Yougu’s eyes darted about, and she said, “You make it sound like you’ve become my stunt double.”

Zong Liangu brushed away the hand at her chin. “I do the action, you do the lines; I do the chasing, you do the monologue. Our appearances are the same; we’re just using our respective strengths. I am your double, and you are mine.”

Zong Yougu laughed even louder. “It feels like we’re cheating.”

“Everyone cheats; the methods are just different.”

Zong Liangu pushed off her knees and stood up gracefully, her height tall and her posture upright. She turned back and reached out to pull up Zong Yougu, who was still squatting. With a surge of force, the muscles on her forearm defined themselves clearly.

“Stop dawdling. Let’s go.”

“Fine.”

“Director, we’re leaving! We’ll visit often,” Zong Liangu waved.

The gate gradually closed behind them.

A hint of melancholy clouded Zong Liangu’s heart, but Zong Yougu’s voice arrived before the sadness could fully ferment.

“Let’s go! We’re going to bring Lin Lingwan to life!”

Zong Yougu hopped around excitedly, shaking Zong Liangu’s hand.

Strange to say, both Zong Liangu and Zong Yougu were germaphobes to the extreme; they had always loathed physical contact. But once the object was each other, Zong Yougu became obsessed with brief touches, and Zong Liangu had no instinctive rejection.

They truly were one person; the only person they could accept was themselves.

Fate had allowed these two, who should have been parallel lines never intersecting, to meet, ensuring that someone meant to be lonely for a lifetime finally had a companion.

“We are going to bring Lin Lingwan to life.”

This time, it was Zong Liangu who spoke.

The drive back was still handled by Zong Yougu.

Originally, Zong Liangu was supposed to drive, but considering she hadn’t slept most of the night…

It wasn’t that she was afraid of an accident—getting injured was a small matter that could be filed as a workplace injury. It was mostly that Zong Yougu was truly afraid of being pulled over by traffic police halfway and charged with fatigued driving; a fine was the last thing Yougu wanted.

Weighing the pros and cons, Zong Yougu reluctantly sat in the driver’s seat again.

“Don’t treat me like your chauffeur. Next time, and the time after that, you have to be the one driving, got it?” Zong Yougu said through gritted teeth.

Zong Liangu gave a perfunctory wave of her hand.

Everything along the road sped backward. The orphanage was left far behind; after a turn, it vanished completely.

Zong Liangu turned her head, her index finger propped against her temple. Tilting her head, she could see Zong Yougu’s profile perfectly.

She hated mirrors because, during operations, mirrors increased the risk of exposure. Moreover, she rarely had enough free time to observe herself.

“What are you looking at me for?” During a red light, Zong Yougu reached out and pushed Zong Liangu’s face away.

Zong Liangu chuckled. Her tone was as irreverent as Yougu’s usually was. She said quite seriously, “Who’s looking at you? I’m looking at myself.”

“Good luck with the audition,” Zong Liangu whispered. Having said that, she closed her eyes and began to catch up on sleep.

“Hu Yinghua, hasn’t Zong Yougu arrived yet?” Qi Fang’s voice came through the receiver.

“Not yet… but… but Sister Qi Fang, Sister Yougu isn’t the type to break her word. She told me she’s almost here. You… you can rest easy. Right… she just told me she was driving the subway over… wait, no, she’s on the subway coming over. Don’t worry, Sister Yougu isn’t that kind of person; she’s always serious about her work…”

“Fine. She’s an adult; I trust she’ll be responsible for herself. When you see her, help me wish her luck on the audition.”

“Thank you, Sister Qi Fang! I’ll pass it on. Sister Yougu will be so happy to hear your blessing…”

Hanging up, Hu Yinghua breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could fully exhale, her anxiety surged back.

Because Zong Yougu hadn’t arrived, nor had she said where she was. Zong Yougu was the type who might suddenly run off even in the middle of a shoot; Hu Yinghua couldn’t understand her at all. Given her past performance, Hu Yinghua couldn’t help but worry.

A cheerful ringtone sounded.

“I’m here. In the parking lot. Where are you? We’re coming up right now.”

“We? No… I mean, Sister Yougu, I’ll come get you immediately.”

Hu Yinghua wanted to cry but had no tears. She always spoke without thinking. Zong Yougu was here for an audition; what was wrong with having a girlfriend accompany her to such an important occasion? Hu Yinghua had no standing to question it.

And, if the partner was present, Zong Yougu probably wouldn’t act up. She should be happy.

Thank heavens, thank heavens.

“Sister Yougu!” Hu Yinghua waved vigorously. “Great, you finally made it.”

“I told you to relax,” Zong Yougu said easily.

Hu Yinghua took a file from her crossbody bag and handed it to Zong Yougu.

“Sister Yougu, this is today’s general process.”

Zong Yougu skimmed it rapidly, nodding as she read.

The audition wasn’t being conducted in groups, which meant that during the audition, she would have to face a crowd of directors, crew members, and advisors alone.

Zong Yougu smiled, and she heard Zong Liangu’s soft chuckle as well.

Zong Yougu wasn’t worried at all about whether pressure would affect her performance; she never feared pressure from others. They were all just people; what was there to be afraid of?

“Sister Yougu, let’s go. It’s almost time for the draw.”

“Okay.”

Hu Yinghua led the way, while Zong Yougu and the masked Zong Liangu followed.

Zong Yougu hooked her finger through Zong Liangu’s index finger. She whispered, “Do you think I can succeed?”

“If you want to succeed, you definitely will.”

Zong Yougu scratched Zong Liangu’s palm with her nail. “You should have answered, ‘Of course you can’.”

Outside the building, it was crowded and very noisy. There were people practicing self-introductions over and over, others frowning as they continued to study their materials; in such a high-tension state, there were quite a few conflicts.

Her gaze cut through the crowd, and Zong Yougu spotted a familiar face: Su Tongguo.

Standing next to her was Liao Qinghe.

Su Tongguo noticed her gaze but quickly turned away, appearing somewhat guilty.

Just as Zong Yougu frowned, Zong Liangu leaned into her ear to explain: “I forgot to tell you last time—they’re dating.”

Zong Yougu nodded nonchalantly. “That’s nice. But what does that have to do with me?”

“Exactly. What does it have to do with me?” Zong Liangu echoed with a smile.

The crowd began to stir. People talking to themselves and those arguing both began to move forward.

“Sister Yougu, it’s time for the draw.”

“Okay.”

Zong Yougu wasn’t in a hurry; she just followed slowly at the back of the crowd.

By the time it was her turn, there weren’t many number tags left in the box. She looked at the tag in her hand: No. 46, towards the middle-back of the line.

“Is the character Lin Lingwan this popular? So many people,” Zong Yougu couldn’t help but sigh.

“Indeed. Based on the current info, her character setup is very appealing; she’s the type of role that easily blows up.”

“Is that so?” Zong Yougu pulled out a chair and sat down, spreading the materials over her face to rest her eyes.

“Did Sister Yougu not rest well yesterday?” Hu Yinghua whispered to Zong Liangu, who was sitting beside her.

Zong Liangu kept her eyes closed. “Yeah. She was tossing and turning most of the night.”

Hu Yinghua let out a small shriek. Zong Liangu opened her eyes and looked at her strangely.

Hu Yinghua rubbed her hands back and forth on her knees, speaking hesitantly, “It’s nothing… but… you two really should be careful… clearly there’s something important the next day, you shouldn’t mess around like that…”

Zong Liangu felt Hu Yinghua’s words were loaded, but she couldn’t figure out why, so she closed her eyes again to sleep.

The wind brushed past her nose, and she drifted into a light sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, she heard voices nearby. It was Zong Yougu and Su Tongguo.

“Yougu, I’m going in first,” Su Tongguo said. The number tag marked 36 hung from her hand.

“I’m sorry.”

Su Tongguo dropped those words and hurried away.