14 Chapter 14
He only looked at Song Jinyu like that.
Xiao Ji didn't know if she was alright.
The night Song Jinyu had his accident was at the celebration banquet hosted by his film crew.
He won the award for best new director, and in theory he should have been riding high. But the truth is, in this fame- and fortune-driven industry, it's impossible to get anywhere without connections.
He didn't rely on the Xiao family, nor on his uncle; his background was so clean that all that remained was a list of awards for being a good student on his resume. He was aloof and unwilling to lower himself to the level of corruption, which made him the most out-of-place person under the spotlight.
After a few rounds of drinks, Xiao Ji handed over several scripts. Investors had talked to him several times, each with their own purpose: to get people into his film crew, or to write a script that catered to the morbid tastes of capital. They had no interest in making a good movie or telling a good story.
He drank a lot of wine, chatted with many people, and the words of praise turned into sarcasm after hearing his cold rejection.
His grandmother sent him a message.
Are you coming home this weekend? Grandma will be cooking something delicious for you. Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle are all so happy to hear you won an award. Your Aunt Zhou from next door even came over to congratulate us.
She said you're very outstanding, so accomplished after only two years since graduation, unlike her boyfriend, Xingxing, who, for some reason, insisted on staying at that school as a PE teacher. While other schools are reducing PE classes, he's adding more and more.
[That's what she said, but I could tell she was really happy. She said she'd invite Xingxing to have dinner with you when you got back.]
[I don't know what's wrong with you two. You used to get along so well. Xingxing is such a good-tempered kid, for him to be angry with you for so long, you must have done something to upset him. If you ask me, take this opportunity to come back and treat him to a meal to ease the tension between you two.]
Stars, stars...
The stars in the sky were all bright, but Xiao Ji's star wouldn't even let him a sliver of light through.
Perhaps the alcohol had numbed his brain, because Xiao Ji sent a message to Song Jinyu.
There was no reply from the other party, so he leaned against the door of the private room and made a phone call to Song Jinyu.
I didn't answer the first time.
He patiently typed it a second time.
He knew that Song Jinyu was soft-hearted and would answer the call even if it angered him.
Two months, five days, twelve hours, and three minutes later, they spoke for the first time.
Xiao Ji didn't know what to say, so he could only maintain the relationship as before, as if they had never become estranged.
But Song Jinyu didn't expect that his love and hate were always clear-cut. When he liked someone, he could be completely devoted to them, but when he didn't like someone, he knew exactly where to stab Xiao Ji to hurt the most.
"Congratulations on winning the award..."
"You'll be a household name as a director in the future, and I might even have to rely on you, brother."
He went out of the private room. The stars were twinkling outside, and the moon looked like a street lamp.
Xiao Ji thought about it for a long time.
He thought to himself that he wasn't entirely useless.
He thought that Song Jinyu didn't seem to dislike him that much.
He thought that he seemed to be a little different to Song Jinyu.
So, could he hold his first trophy and ask his star for an unlikely possibility?
...
later,
The bracelet broke.
-
Xiao Ji subconsciously put his hands in the pockets of his trench coat.
Inside, a tiny doll, no bigger than the palm of his hand, shook it.
"fine……"
Xiao Ji said.
Rong Huai couldn't discern the expression on his face, and she, who was usually playful and carefree, became serious.
The house was crowded with people. The high-ceilinged living room was brightly lit and looked magnificent. The floor tiles were so clean that you could see the texture of your hair.
At first, no one noticed Xiao Ji until Xiao Zheng and Rong Jiao walked up to him.
Rong Jiao hasn't filmed in a long time; the Xiao family's birthday banquet was her most recent public appearance. She's a well-known cold beauty in the entertainment industry, and Xiao Ji inherited most of her features, which are also cold, as is his skin tone—naturally fair and cool-toned.
The two men led him toward Old Master Xiao, and Xiao Zheng introduced him to everyone he met.
“This is my eldest son. He was in poor health when he was young and was raised by his maternal grandparents. He is closer to his maternal grandparents and doesn’t come back often. We’re taking advantage of his grandfather’s birthday to have a family reunion.”
Xiao Ji was stunned for two seconds, then he understood what Xiao Zheng was planning.
He never relied on the Xiao family's influence when he was out in the world, and he never used the money given to him by Xiao Zheng and Rong Jiao. He didn't want to depend on the Xiao family, but Xiao Zheng insisted on making his identity a reality.
Sure enough, not long after they started talking, someone recognized Xiao Ji.
"Your son looks familiar. Has he won any new director awards?"
As soon as he finished speaking, many people's expressions changed. Because of Rong Jiao, many of the people who came to celebrate his birthday were from the entertainment industry. Some time ago, the incident of Xiao Ji beating someone up caused a great uproar. He was removed from his position as assistant director. He thought he would be met with retaliation from that boss, but instead, he witnessed the other party going bankrupt.
It's quite obvious whose handiwork it was.
Immediately, a chorus of compliments poured in.
Song Jinyu listened and slept very well.
Perhaps due to his unstable soul, he felt extremely sleepy every night around 8 PM.
When Xiao Ji arrived at the Xiao family home, it was already past 7:50. He listened intently to the gossip for a while and thought that rich people were really interesting; a person's ability was actually measured by the thickness of their wallet.
He turned over and fell asleep.
When he woke up groggily, there was no sound of people talking around him. He touched himself and found that he was still in Xiao Ji's pocket.
Unsure of the situation, he dared not make a sound and furtively tugged at Xiao Ji's clothes as he crawled out.
The pocket wasn't big, and he easily poked his head out.
The place where Xiao Ji was seemed to be a small garden. He could hear the rustling of insects. The moon was nowhere to be seen, and the streetlights were shining brightly overhead.
Song Jinyu turned her head with difficulty to look up, but could only see the man's chin. He was looking down, as if he was looking at something.
Seeing no one around, Song Jinyu tried to rummage through his pocket and land on Xiao Ji's lap, but he misjudged the distance and rolled to the ground with a thud.
The next second, Rong Huai's carefree voice rang out.
"Cousin, I'm here!"
Song Jinyu was startled, and before he could react, Xiao Ji scooped him up.
Before the man could put it back in his pocket, Rong Huai looked over and asked, "Ah... why do you have a doll in your hand?"
Putting it back in would seem too deliberate, so Xiao Ji pressed Song Jinyu's raised hand back down, signaling him not to move.
"I like it, so I brought it with me."
Rong Huai translates to: I like this doll so much that I have to carry it in my pocket even when I come to a banquet.
"..."
For a moment, she wondered if there was something wrong with her ears.
She chuckled dryly twice. "You asked me for advice on how to dress up your dolls because you like it?"
Xiao Ji did not deny it, which meant he admitted it.
Rong Huai sat opposite him and couldn't help but look at the doll that Xiao Ji was holding down. Although the clothes and hairstyle were different and a lot of the makeup on the face had been smudged, Rong Huai still recognized the doll that he had given away at a glance.
"This is... the doll I gave you?"
The man's long, slender hand rested casually and lazily on the doll, his fingertips patting its back as if to soothe it.
"Um."
Rong Huai felt the world was truly magical.
At the time, she gave the doll simply because she felt that her cousin was cold-hearted. She had stayed in his remote suburb for a few days. It was a bit far, and he couldn't get takeout, but when she returned to his room and saw the cold and impersonal decor, she felt like she didn't even have the strength to hang herself.
So she gave the doll away, thinking that its final destination was the trash can, and that even if it was good, it would just sit on a cabinet collecting dust.
She hadn't expected Xiao Ji to bring the doll with him; she held it carefully in her palm, as if it were a precious treasure.
There was just something strange about his eyes that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
Before she could think it through, Xiao Ji looked at her.
Rong Huai shuddered inexplicably. Seeing Xiao Ji's expression, he couldn't help but speak up, "I didn't expect you to have such a new hobby. Don't you like it? I'll give you two more. My house has all kinds of things."
"No need, this one is enough." He asked Rong Huai, "Did you get what you went to retrieve?"
Rong Huai then seemed to wake from a dream. She opened the notebook in her hand and introduced it to Xiao Ji, "This is my record of new experiences in raising children over the years. I've done my homework on which makeup services are good and which children's clothes are pretty. Of course, I can also do my own makeup and make clothes. If you don't want to buy them, I can teach you."
Song Jinyu sat stiffly in his palm, listening to them discuss how to apply makeup to the doll. The man's fingers tapped his back intermittently, gradually lulling him to sleep.
I woke up again the next day.
The tallow trees outside Xiao Ji's bedroom window have turned a vibrant red and yellow, the sky is as blue as if it had been washed clean, and the wind blows in through the half-open window, causing the curtains to flutter in a light arc.
Song Jinyu tiptoed and caught a tallow tree leaf that flew in.
The leaves were a deep red in early autumn, with a few small holes bitten by insects in the middle. Song Jinyu looked out through the holes and saw the sunlight falling on the grass.
Xiao Ji was frying steak in the kitchen when he guessed that someone should be awake, and he pushed open the door, smelling the aroma of charred beef.
Song Jinyu asked him, "Can I go out and play?"
“Okay,” Xiao Ji replied, “but Rong Huai will be here later. You can go play after she leaves.”
Rong Huai came to pick up the books.
She was studying design and recently needed a book for research. The book was now out of print and she had searched online for a long time but couldn't find it. Then her aunt said that Xiao Ji had the book, so she shamelessly asked him for it.
Xiao Ji was eating when I entered.
Because she was at home, Xiao Ji dressed casually in loose gray loungewear, with the sleeves rolled up to reveal her wrists, where the red cinnabar shimmered.
He asked Rong Huai, "Have you eaten?"
Rong Huai naturally didn't dare to expect her cousin to make her food. She put on shoe covers, stood at the door and looked around. "I've already eaten. Where's your book? I'll take it and leave."
Xiao Ji pointed to a book hanging on the cabinet next to him, which seemed to have been specially placed there to wait for her.
After taking the book, Rong Huai politely apologized to Xiao Ji and then prepared to leave.
Standing at the door, she didn't know what she was thinking, but she turned around and looked back.
Her cousin remained seated in the chair, his face slightly turned towards the cabinet.
There was a doll on the cabinet, the one she had given her. The doll was holding a leaf that had turned red in autumn, and it was tilting its head back, looking somewhat nervous.
Xiao Ji was very perceptive about her gaze as she looked at the doll, and almost instantly looked over at her.
Rong Huai heard the coldness in his voice, "Is there anything else?"
She looked away and went out the door.
The stone path outside the door was covered with fallen Chinese tallow tree leaves. Rong Huai stepped on them and suddenly stopped.
She finally understood why she found Xiao Ji's gaze strange.
Because she had seen that look before.
He only ever saw Song Jinyu like that.
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