Chapter 12 Arsenic Under the Frosting
Xu Yuewei was stunned for a moment, her hands gripping the hem of her clothes, her tongue stiffening.
When she gave him the flowers that day, she thought he would throw them away. It didn't matter, since she really couldn't take them home anyway.
For a mother, roses carry the connotation of betrayal.
I remember when I was a child, fresh roses were delivered every day, and Ye Wanzhi would carefully trim them and put them in porcelain vases of varying heights.
After the tragedy, on the day she left the old house, the porcelain vase turned into shards and dust of varying sizes, and Ye Wanzhi's blossoming life seemed to wither overnight, never to bloom again.
If she takes the flowers back, not only will it be difficult to explain their origin, but it will also upset her.
So she decided to give it to him, killing two birds with one stone.
She wasn't oblivious to the undercurrent of subtle hostility that emanated from him when he stood beside her at a delicate distance, packing things up behind the counter, and when he pretended to accidentally step on a rose.
It seems he wasn't satisfied with just getting a ride with her that day.
She handed over the flowers, not as a secret signal to reconcile.
Then just treat the flowers as her and let your emotions run wild.
She guessed he might pluck the rose petals off one by one and throw them into a hole in some city sewer.
But unexpectedly, he did something even more venting his anger.
In that instant, it was as if a scar had appeared out of nowhere on her body.
If she hadn't been momentarily surprised, perhaps her heart wouldn't have been so intensely burned by the stark contrast when she witnessed the true cruelty.
Xu Yuewei was stunned. Her hand, which was gripping the hem of her clothes, slowly relaxed, remaining stiff as if she had shed her skin.
The footsteps behind her grew louder and louder. Jiang Shiyan used that coaxing tone again, his voice softening yet firm, as if he wanted to force her to speak: "What did you see?"
Xu Yuewei subconsciously tried to find excuses for him. She thought that Jiang Shiyan wasn't the only one in the studio, and perhaps it was someone else's prank.
But since he brought the flowers in, how dare anyone mess with his things?
The scales, teetering between feigning ignorance and feigning blindness, tipped out of control. Finally, she looked up at him directly and asked casually:
Do you smoke often now?
"And you?" Jiang Shiyan looked down at her and quickly asked, "Have you learned to drink?"
Xu Yuewei looked away, tilting her head towards him in a wary posture.
Jiang Shiyan didn't say anything, but moved away and walked towards the window.
He parted the curtains halfway, and the rain-streaked window came into view, the soft light of the incandescent bulb making it look like a piece of jade with internal cracks.
"The rain is getting heavier." He let go of her hand, leaned lazily against the windowsill, and looked at her casually from a few meters away. "What a coincidence."
Xu Yuewei raised her eyebrows in confusion and looked over.
He met her gaze calmly and said, "Wasn't it raining heavily that day too?"
Xu Yuewei was stunned for a moment, and almost instantly, a sense of relief welled up in her heart.
After so many twists and turns, genuine resentment and feigned kindness, it turns out he wasn't as carefree as he seemed.
Having lived for twenty-six years, Xu Yuewei still couldn't figure out whether loving someone or hating someone was more tiring, so she dared not say anything more.
She just lowered her eyes, thinking that if they had never met, "the last time we met" wouldn't have been changed to "the last time we met".
It is clear that as long as one is still alive, one should not easily decide on a final meeting.
Seven years ago, on the day they broke up, it was also a rainy night.
It was just summer rain, damp and sticky, a rain that soaked you to the bone without feeling guilty.
It's as if the long years are filled with dry, boring sunny days, with only that day and today raining, standing on the timeline as special anchor points.
So much time has passed, now, what is he hoping she will say?
Players of the guqin (a seven-stringed zither) often need to keep their nails neither too short nor too long, and Xu Yuewei is no exception. At this moment, the nails, which are usually used as tools, transform into weapons, digging into the tender flesh of the palm, causing a continuous and slight dull pain.
She was still holding his towel and tissues in her left hand. She pursed her lips, bent her knees, and put the things back on the coffee table.
With a humble attitude, I chose the lightest thing to say in gratitude:
"Thank you for the towel."
Amidst the indistinct sound of rain, Jiang Shiyan was momentarily dazed. His gaze fixed on her, and he slowly raised his head, his eyes gradually clearing.
"Anything else?" he asked.
Xu Yuewei twirled her middle finger around her ear near her temple:
"Thank you for the opportunity; I will cherish it."
"Thank you for coming to support our store's business."
"...Thank you for the flowers too."
As she was speaking, Jiang Shiyan suddenly broke his silence and began to move.
He walked a few steps to the door, grabbed the handle, and pulled it in. The sound of pattering rain poured into the room, and the orderly rhythm now sounded like everything was out of order.
A slight frown furrowed between his brows as he coldly commanded her:
"Alright, get out."
*
The next day, the weather was neither sunny nor cloudy, with continuous clouds blocking the sky.
The day after tomorrow, the clouds will dissipate, and the bright autumn sun will bring just the right amount of warmth to the city.
When Xu Yuewei arrived at the "Guanshan" film crew by taxi, her heart started racing uncontrollably as she looked at the huge crowd not far away, and a feeling of stage fright welled up inside her.
No one contacted her, and she didn't even have the contact information for the crew members.
Jiang Shiyan only sent her the address and told her to go directly to the director when she arrived.
How could she dare?
Xu Yuewei scanned the area, spotted a group of people who looked like extras, slung her shoulder bag over her shoulder, and walked towards them.
The crew was filming an outdoor scene. The group of people were all dressed as servants in blue and white maid outfits and green eunuch outfits. Their makeup and costumes were not very elaborate. During breaks between scenes, they stood loosely in place, probably because they couldn't play on their phones. Everyone looked bored.
Looking in the same direction as the crowd, one sees ornately decorated pavilions and waterside terraces, a classical beauty in a gorgeous robe, and photographers and others around her who look rather drab.
The director was passionately directing the scene, gesturing wildly, while the beautiful woman stood languidly, letting the stylist arrange her clothes and jewelry.
Filming seems to have been temporarily halted.
Xu Yuewei ran over quickly and grabbed a kind-looking young girl at the end of the extras line: "Hello, I'm here to work as a hand double. Do you know which person in charge I should contact?"
The extra, half-asleep, turned around at the sound of the voice after being approached, and her eyes widened in surprise: "What are you? A stunt double? I thought you were a star!"
The girl looked quiet, but when she spoke, her voice was incredibly loud, and people around immediately craned their necks to look.
Although her face won't be captured in the photos, Xu Yuewei wore traditional Chinese makeup for this occasion. Her delicate eyebrows, like willow branches, held a subtle hint of melancholy, and her already elegant face was lightly rouged, giving her a beautiful, rosy complexion.
Feeling stared at, Xu Yuewei's expression froze for a moment, then she smiled and gently shook her head, repeating softly, "No, I'm just here to be a hand double. You can tell me..."
“I’m not quite sure either. Why don’t you go ask that…” The girl tried to point, but standing in the back row, she couldn’t reach him. She withdrew her hand and fiddled with her long sleeves. “The one sitting behind the camera looking at his phone right now is the assistant director. Go ask him while he’s free.”
Xu Yuewei smiled and thanked her, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling with a gentle glint.
She turned around, and even after taking only two steps, she could still hear people talking.
"This older sister is more like the female lead, isn't she? She looks very delicate and graceful."
"Actually, Meng Jiao isn't unattractive, she's just not suited for it, her double eyelids are so wide..."
Xu Yuewei paused for a moment in her steady steps, then continued walking forward.
The question of "why Meng Jiao appeared in their conversation" was immediately answered.
She saw her.
Whether heavily made up or lightly adorned, surrounded by admirers, Meng Jiao remains unfazed by the crowd, her head held high and her unrestrained laughter still captivating.
Those extras were right; her demeanor wasn't that of an ancient noblewoman, but rather like a female knight-errant or a queen from a European fairy tale.
In Xu Yuewei's memory, Meng Jiao was a girl with a baby face, who wore a simple school uniform, had no star-like aura, and was not good at managing her facial expressions when she smiled.
She has changed so much, she seems to have become someone from another world.
That world was like a warning line, keeping her outside.
Jiang Shiyan is someone who can freely cross this line and then cross it back.
...Step over there and you'll find Meng Jiao; step back and you'll find her.
Xu Yuewei was startled by her own thoughts. Her lungs felt as if they were filled with water, and she could only inhale a shallow amount of oxygen, which would float to the top and be quickly exhaled.
At the same time, it also cleared up the mystery: it turned out that beneath his kind-hearted sugar coating lay such poison.
Xu Yuewei stood there for a while, stepping on the pebble path without any shadows, and walked forward without running away.
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