Chapter 39 "I hate you" "I miss you"...
The film's shooting schedule was short; the original plan was for a three-day reading session, but Yu Jianshan's obsessive-compulsive disorder kept him fixated on details and striving for perfection, dragging it out to five days. During those five days, he received a message every day at noon without fail:
Smile more.
When has he ever received such an imperative sentence, or one that teaches a great director like himself how to manage his facial expressions? Every time, he gets so angry he wants to smash his phone on the spot, but then he glances at the contact name, rationally replies with an affirmative answer, and then forces a smile at Wen Jia.
Yu Jianshan was always serious, with a deep frown line etched on his forehead and downturned corners of his mouth. He was naturally unsuitable for smiling, and he always wore a baseball cap, the brim casting a dark shadow on his face. Every time Wen Jia saw him smiling at her from the shadows, she felt a chill run down her spine. Yet, he never smiled at anyone else, only at her. Finally, one day, Wen Jia couldn't take it anymore. Her hair stood on end, and she pouted, suggesting to Yu Jianshan:
"Director Yu, perhaps you should stop laughing..."
"..."
That day, Yu Jianshan was so angry that he didn't say a word for the entire afternoon.
Five days, which is only about a hundred hours at most, but there is a full seven-hour time difference between China and Switzerland in winter. Wen Jia contacted Xu Shaoting by taking advantage of this time difference, and she felt as if her day had been stretched into thirty-one hours.
However, Xu Shaoting was busy for most of those 31 hours.
He was too busy, as he needed to expand Tianxu's hotel brand to Switzerland, considering a series of factors such as target customer groups, analyzing competitors, and discussing site selection strategies.
The Swiss branch had a total of nine thousand employees, and countless plans and proposals were presented directly to his desk, in Chinese and English. He personally reviewed each one, day and night, and then decided whether to reject, postpone, or approve them.
After selecting the twenty proposals that best meet the expectations, it is necessary to deal with the Zurich government in person and finalize the best one-in-a-million plan based on local laws and regulations, economic market, taxation, etc.
While Wen Jia was reading a script in China, he was reviewing land planning documents that had just been sent by the Zurich City Hall in Switzerland. Wen Jia was about to go to bed in China when he had just signed the foreign-invested hotel permit approved by the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs.
Meeting after meeting were held, and it was common for him to be the last to walk out of the meeting room with a hoarse voice and red eyes. He would go to bed in the early hours of the morning, rest for four or five hours, and then appear in front of the public the next day with a meticulous image, attending one forum and summit after another.
Yang Ruiming had been personally leading the branch office in Switzerland for more than half a year, but he was still more tired than in these five days. He was so tired that he almost vomited blood, but he had to swallow the nearly eight-figure bonus promised by Xu Shaoting.
Wen Jia didn't want to bother him, and she was very busy herself, so she only sent him occasional messages during her breaks, briefly reporting what she had eaten that day, what interesting things had happened on set, and how beautiful the sky was in Linzhou today.
The only difference is that the old adage about Yu Jianshan being too serious has been replaced by Yu Jianshan's ugly smile.
After sending these messages, she wasn't in a hurry to reply, because usually after two or three hours, Xu Shaoting would read through her messages word by word and then reply to each one.
Wen Jia was sometimes curious about what he was doing, but asking him directly wouldn't give her an immediate answer, so she cleverly went to ask Lin Youzhe.
"Secretary Lin, what is your boss doing right now?"
Lin Youzhe did not go to Switzerland with Xu Shaoting, but he personally arranged most of Xu Shaoting's itinerary. He answered Wen Jia's questions without reservation and replied instantly every time.
"Ms. Wen, Chairman Xu should be in a meeting with his employees right now."
"Secretary Lin, what is your boss doing right now?"
"Ms. Wen, Chairman Xu has two summits to attend today. He should be attending the second one at this time, which will end in about an hour and a half, but it may end earlier."
"Secretary Lin, what is Xu Shaoting busy with right now?"
"Ms. Wen, Chairman Xu is probably attending a dinner party hosted by our Swiss partners right now, and it might not be over anytime soon."
Secretary Lin
"Ms. Wen, Chairman Xu may need to stay in Switzerland for a few more days."
Xu Shaoting has very little free time. When he does have a spare moment, he's also curious about what she's doing, but his approach is much more direct. He simply calls her, and if she doesn't answer, he calls again half an hour later.
In the end, a tacit understanding had been formed.
On the fifth night, Xu Shaoting made a video call to her as usual.
Wen Jia cut to the chase, saying directly:
"Lin Youzhe told me that I should stay in Switzerland for a few more days."
"Yes, the matter is not yet finished."
Her voice betrayed a hint of disappointment, "I thought you'd be back tomorrow... Didn't you say it would be over in about five days?"
Xu Shaoting looked at her little expression with a half-smile, but instead of coaxing her, he indirectly told her, "You'll basically have to stay for another half month."
Wen Jia lowered her eyes, lay down on the bed, deliberately avoiding looking at him, "Then I'll be joining the film crew soon,"
He then optimistically comforted himself, "It doesn't matter, work is more important, work makes money."
Xu Shaoting chuckled, "While I'm not here, you can ask Lin Youzhe to take you wherever you want to go, and he'll pay for it."
Wen Jia scoffed lightly, masking the sadness in her heart. She didn't say she missed him or wanted him to come back soon. She just continued, "It's no fun shopping alone. Besides, I'm so busy every day. I don't have time. I'm not going."
Then he hung up the phone decisively.
She's starting to feel nostalgic around these things, to the point that she finds the sight of her six bodyguards, who are always on duty, increasingly pleasing to the eye every morning.
-
The script reading was finished, and the sixth day was the opening ceremony. Yu Jianshan was very superstitious, and this drama was the culmination of his hard work; he couldn't wait to present the best.
Setting up incense burners, paying respects to the four directions, unfurling banners, offering roast suckling pig, covering the camera with a red cloth, and finally giving a speech and unveiling the curtain... a complete set of actions, leaving no stone unturned, doing everything that could be done.
Originally, the photographer for the opening ceremony was to be a member of the production crew, but Yu Jianshan refused and specially hired someone else. The ceremony was filmed and announced on the same day, and the special relationship between the male and female leads was officially announced on Weibo. Netizens couldn't contain their curiosity and discussed the matter in thousands of comments within just half an hour.
Sixty percent were bystanders who enjoyed the spectacle.
I'd heard they were teaming up before, and it's true! Oh dear, I can't even imagine how awkward that would be.
Ordinary people get breakup fees, celebrities get breakup dramas. You people in the industry are really something else. I'm definitely going to follow this.
[Wasn't Sister Wen's relationship exposed just a couple of days ago? Now she's acting with her ex-boyfriend again. There's a love triangle both on and off screen. [Thumbs up] I'm a country bumpkin and I love watching this.]
[Director Yu Jianshan, it's alright now.]
[I wonder if Sister Wen's boyfriend watches this show?]
...
The remaining 40% consisted of comments controlled by fans of both sides. It was as if they had planned it beforehand; they were all very respectable and rational, not controlling comments about their own favorites individually, but rather controlling comments about the movie as a whole.
[Before the Freeze, It's Already a Sensation! The Extreme Tension Between Scientist and Painter Has Already Become a Masterpiece Before Its Release!!!]
Hundreds and thousands of similar comments were copied and pasted.
As a result, the first Weibo post from the movie's official account topped the entertainment trending list with the hashtag #BeforeTheFrozen#.
Before the opening ceremony was even over, there was already some pre-production hype. With Xu Shaoting's investment of 100 million RMB, Yu Jianshan was in a good mood and generously treated the entire crew to a camping trip and dinner to bring good luck to the film.
This was my first time camping in Wenjia during winter. When I arrived at the lawn, it was only two or three in the afternoon, and staff were already stacking firewood layer by layer, preparing to start a campfire.
Everyone was busy with their own things, and she naturally felt embarrassed to be idle, so she walked to the barbecue grill, took out skewers, and prepared to skewer the raw beef.
"Teacher Wen, please don't. You can leave it there. I'll take it. It'll smell bad."
Art director Lao Fang quickly snatched the skewer from her hand, saying, "Go sit and rest in the tent, and come eat when you're done."
Wen Jia glanced at him and said, "I'm not that delicate. I think it's quite fun to grill."
Old Fang pushed her toward the tent, making up a flimsy excuse, "We've already paid our respects to the four directions; the main character can't be involved in this kind of raw food."
"What kind of saying is this? I've never heard of it before..." She chuckled, but didn't insist, and obediently went to sit in the tent.
She's now very familiar with the second and third male and female friends. The group laid out a soft mat in the tent and played Uno cards. Wen Jia is a pro at it, winning several rounds in a row and making the other four cry. Without someone of equal strength to fight against, she felt it was boring, so she lay down to the side, took out her phone, took a video, and sent it to Xu Shaoting.
She was already used to his two- or three-hour-long cycle of messages. After sending the message, she was about to put her phone down when the message notification sound and the lock screen sound rang at the same time.
Hsu Shao-ting: "A group dinner?"
Wen Jia: "Yes, Yu Jianshan is really generous; the entire crew came."
"Why are you replying to messages so quickly today? Aren't you busy?"
"Just finished."
Then another message came:
"I have a meeting later, I don't have time to call, you go to sleep first."
Wen Jia stared at the few cold words on the screen, briefly pursed her lips, and replied:
"oh"
Xu Shaoting could see her disappointment even through the screen, but he had no time to comfort her.
"Be good, I'll be back in a while."
Wen Jia locked her phone completely.
It doesn't matter, we're camping and having dinner outside tonight anyway, I might not even have time to call him, she thought to herself, and got out of the tent.
The aroma of the barbecue was so enticing it made her dizzy, but being a female celebrity, she could only see the sizzling oil on the grill. In the end, she only cautiously ate two bites before self-disciplinedly closing her mouth.
As everyone chatted and ate, the barbecue was finished. Burps and pats on bellies filled the air as people dispersed in twos and threes to rest in their tents. Some, however, couldn't stay still and strolled around the lawn to digest their food.
As darkness fell, and the darkness deepened rapidly, someone carried a stereo from the car onto the lawn. A deep, melodious male voice emanated from the car, echoing the deepening night.
Yu Jianshan has always been a strong leader. Seeing that everyone had rested enough, he shouted and called everyone out of their tents. They sat around the campfire, and since everyone was already familiar with each other, they were relaxed and chatted casually.
Since there were more men, Lao Fang drove a few of them to a nearby store and bought several cases of beer, whether out of good judgment or simply because he wanted to drink some himself, is unclear.
The green glass, packed in a plastic box, was placed on the ground by Lao Fang with a thud. He wiped his sweat and instructed those around him, "Give me a hand, divide it up."
He clearly had no sense of proportion when buying things; in the end, several boxes remained untouched.
Wen Jia hadn't drunk beer for half a year, but her eyes lit up at the sight of it. The person next to her kindly opened the cap before handing it to her, and she just drank it.
After drinking half a bottle, the coldness made her feel numb all over, and then she felt a pleasant sensation from the numbness.
Actually, she was harboring some grievances and was trying to drown her sorrows in alcohol. She had originally thought that Xu Shaoting would appear before her tomorrow, but it was unexpectedly delayed. When she texted him today, his attitude was lukewarm. He knew she was disappointed, but he didn't try to comfort her, which made her even more unhappy.
As the protagonist of the movie, he naturally received many toasts from others. Wen Jia accepted them all without hesitation, and was very generous and happy to drink them down.
She was good with words and drank quickly; before her brain could even register the alcohol, the dark green glass bottle was almost empty.
Old Fang looked at her with amusement and remarked to those around him, "Hey, look at this Teacher Wen, she can really hold her liquor."
Upon hearing this, everyone glanced at her and burst into laughter, teasing her. Everyone was in a good mood and high spirits today, so no one urged or stopped them from drinking.
Yu Jianshan boldly opened a new bottle of beer, stood up from the camping chair, held the bottle up, and spoke with unusual excitement.
"Come on! Let's raise a glass to everyone. Although filming hasn't officially started yet, everyone has worked hard these past few days. Thank you all for your cooperation! I don't have anything else to say, it's all in this drink. I'll drink it first!"
After saying that, he gulped down the wine in one go.
When a famous director offers a toast, no one dares not return the toast.
"Bravo!" A hearty male voice rang out, and Old Fang took the lead in standing up, raising his wine bottle high like him. "Cheers!"
One by one, people stood up, the glass clattering together with a clanging sound. Everyone drank more than half a bottle with great sincerity.
Wen Jia's alcohol tolerance is really terrible, and she doesn't seem to have any clear understanding of her own capacity. She only knows that she's enjoying herself, and after nearly three bottles, not a drop was left. Her face is already a little flushed, and she's about six or seven tenths drunk.
When alcohol is on your head, you tend to overthink.
Xu Shaoting's face intruded into her mind without warning, and she took out her phone to take a look.
He was indeed busy; he didn't send a single message on his own initiative.
Wen Jia didn't react much; slightly drunk, she tossed her phone aside and stopped looking at it.
The third male character, Qin Jiawen, carried a bunch of card games out of the tent and scattered them on the ground. Wen Jia's eyes lit up as she moved closer.
At the beginning, they played Uno, and the loser drank half a bottle. Occasionally, shouts, bursts of laughter, and the annoyance of the loser would emanate from the campfire.
Not many people in the crew were good at playing Uno, but Wen Jia took advantage of the situation and got everyone around her drunk, until everyone had a slightly tipsy look on their faces by the end.
Later, Qin Jiawen, unconvinced, waved her hand and said that she was bullying her, and wanted to play Werewolf. The people around had been suffering for Wen Jia for a long time, and they clapped and cheered. Wen Jia thought the rules were complicated and was not interested, so she wanted to be a coward and run away at the last minute. She had just gotten off the camping chair when she was pressed down by the second female lead, Pan Yunwen, with a malicious smile on her face.
Wen Jia gave a forced, insincere laugh and obediently sat back down.
The more exhilarating the wins at Uno, the more pathetic the game of Werewolf becomes.
After playing seven rounds, I was the werewolf in three of them. In all of them, because I played the villain and couldn't hide my laughter, I was voted out in the first round, and the werewolf lost the whole game.
She played the witch, killed the villagers, and protected the werewolves, who ultimately won.
I played the Seer twice, almost revealing myself once, and being rendered incoherent by a wolf pretending to be the Seer the other time.
The only game I won as a civilian was when Pan Yunwen covered my mouth tightly to prevent me from speaking, and that's how I won.
The crowd finally got their chance to get revenge, so they naturally wouldn't let her go so easily. Surrounded by several pairs of eyes, she had nowhere to retreat and consciously gulped down beer after beer.
The last green glass was thrown onto the grass. Wen Jia leaned on Pan Yunwen's shoulder and waved to the crowd, pleading, "No, no... I'm going to throw up."
Her cheeks were completely flushed, her eyes were glazed over, and she was barely conscious. She spoke in a muffled, incoherent voice, her words were jumbled and incoherent.
The crowd looked at her and burst into laughter, but it wasn't mockery; rather, it was a teasing and helpless laugh.
"Yunwen, help her to the tent to rest. Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't secretly drink any more. I think she's a big drinker."
No one dared to force Yu Jianshan to drink; he became the most sober person in the room.
Pan Yunwen nodded and helped Wen Jia, whose legs were weak and head was throbbing, back into the tent. As soon as her calves touched the soft mat, she collapsed forward as if all her strength had been released, muttering a couple of things. Pan Yunwen leaned closer to listen carefully, but couldn't understand what she was saying. She could only vaguely make out the word "man".
After lying down for a while, she sat up, struggling to keep her heavy eyelids open, took out her phone, and started doing whatever she wanted.
She opened Xu Shaoting's chat box, as if she wanted to vent all the pent-up grievances, dissatisfaction, and unhappiness in that instant. The poor keyboard was pounding away as she sent several text messages to the other side.
Pan Yunwen knew she was incapable of doing anything rational, so he reached out to snatch her phone. But this drunk woman suddenly became quick-witted and dodged him.
Pan Yunwen had no choice but to let her have her way since she couldn't force it.
Wen Jia sent a screen full of messages. Her heart was burning with the heat of the alcohol, which gradually swept away her rationality. She was no longer satisfied with text messages. She pressed the voice message button, leaned close to the receiver, and sent him several more voice messages incoherently, gesturing wildly.
Her previous grievances had vanished without a trace. She began to boldly accuse him of being untrustworthy, saying he would stay for five days but then postponing it for ten; she began to berate him for being heartless and ungrateful, knowing she was wronged but unwilling to comfort her; she also began to criticize him for being too materialistic, having nothing on his mind but work all day long, and not even making phone calls.
After sending those messages, she ignored the consequences, casually logged out of WeChat, and with the last vestiges of her rationality, called Yu Kaiqing, "Kaiqing, come pick me up..."
When Yu Kaiqing arrived, Pan Yunwen was still by Wen Jia's side. The latter was already drunk and unconscious, curled up on her side on the soft mat in the tent, muttering to herself while playing with her mobile phone.
Yu Kaiqing hissed, a series of alarms sounding in her mind. Wen Jia had quite a few people in the industry in her contacts, and she was afraid that Wen Jia might do something embarrassing in a moment of impulse, so she swiftly stepped forward and snatched her phone away.
Looking down and focusing, it was indeed embarrassing, but whether she had caused any trouble or not, Yu Kaiqing, being an outsider, had no idea—
In a chat interface without a contact name, she sent a series of messages that seemed to go on forever...
The voice messages were interspersed with a few text messages, making them quite noticeable. They contained only two types of content, each consisting of three characters, likely representing her only two thoughts while intoxicated:
I hate you.
"I miss you"
She sends these two messages alternately, and she's a master at copying and pasting.
Yu Kaiqing had no time to pay attention to the contents of the other voice messages. She rationally exited the chat window, checked her message list from beginning to end, and only after confirming that she hadn't caused any major trouble did she put her phone in her bag, half-dragged and half-carried Wen Jia out of the tent, said goodbye to the entire crew, and sent her back to the nanny van.
Fortunately, she was light enough that Yu Kaiqing could handle it with ease.
"Back to the villa," Yu Kaiqing instructed the driver.
Wen Jia slumped back in her chair, her words muffled, "I don't want to go home..."
"Don't go home, then where are you going? You're going to sleep on the streets."
Yu Kaiqing's tone was somewhat reproachful, but not in a way that she was blaming her. Rather, she felt sorry for her for drinking too much and blamed herself for not keeping a close eye on her.
Wen Jia stretched out her hand and waved it haphazardly in front of her eyes, then smacked her lips. "I want to... go to Fushan Avenue."
"What avenue?"
"Fushan Avenue".
"I've never even heard of Fushan or anything like that."
Wen Jia rubbed her extremely sleepy eyes, but surprisingly managed to speak clearly and rationally, "Xu Shaoting's family!"
Yu Kaiqing gasped and touched her forehead. "Didn't you say that Chairman Xu wouldn't be back for many more days? What were you doing at his house? Stealing things?"
"I just want to go..."
"No, it's too late. They won't let you in, and I don't trust you. Let's go home."
Seeing that Yu Kaiqing wouldn't listen to her, Wen Jia started to make a fuss, kicking the back of the chair with her legs without any regard for her own feelings.
"I don't care, Liu Jianming, you better drive me right now! Otherwise I'll dock your pay immediately."
The driver was in a dilemma, unsure whether to press the accelerator or not.
"What...what are you going to do at Chairman Xu's house?"
"He sabotaged things. I want to get revenge on him."
"Chairman Xu will blame you."
“He won’t blame me. He’ll be happy. There’s a room I’ve never stayed in. He saved it for me. It’s so big. The bed looks so soft and clean. It must be very comfortable to sleep in. I might as well sleep in it.”
She was drunk, and her speech was illogical, consisting of word combinations, uttering whatever came to mind, one word after another.
"I'm going to sleep in every single room in his house while he's away..."
After saying that, he added smugly, "I've already slept in his room..."
Yu Kaiqing's brow twitched, and she glanced at the front row, afraid that she might say something she shouldn't. She immediately covered her mouth, completely silencing her.
"Kaiqing, please let me go..." Her lips were between Kaiqing's thighs, her words as if they were veiled.
Yu Kaiqing is easily swayed by emotions, so she had no choice but to give in a little, but still asked very thoughtfully:
“Do you remember where his house is on that mountain avenue? What if he breaks into a stranger’s house? It’ll be on the news first thing tomorrow morning,” Yu Kaiqing tried to bring her back to her senses. “If a popular actress like Wen Jia breaks into a private residence late at night, your haters will laugh themselves to death.”
After listening to her wild idea, Wen Jia chuckled with her eyes closed, and waved her index finger from side to side. "You're overthinking it. There's only one villa on Fushan Avenue," she murmured. "I know where it is. It's easy to find. Ten minutes. Just drive in for ten minutes and you'll see his house."
"..."
"Liu Jianming, get the car moving right now!"
...
The Alphard drove for half an hour into the night, and when it entered Fushan Avenue, it was only six o'clock, but the sky was already extremely dark.
Wen Jia's nanny van was stopped at the guard post before it even reached the main gate of the manor.
She rolled down the car window, rested her arm on the windowsill, propped her head up, completely disregarding her celebrity image. With a flushed face and a somewhat dazed mind, she greeted the greeter in a flamboyant and proactive manner.
"Hi, can I come in?"
-
Xu Shaoting received the call at 11:00 AM Swiss time.
He once again stepped onto the gangway of the Bombardier 7500 amidst the wind and snow.
The voice of the housekeeper came through the phone:
"Young Master, Miss Wen has arrived at the manor."
Xu Shaoting curled his lips into a smile. "Don't stop her."
The flight attendant closed the cabin door, slowly walked into the cockpit, and within two minutes, approached Xu Shaoting and said respectfully:
"Chairman Xu, the aircraft has completed all pre-flight checks, the route permit has been approved, the current weather along the route is ideal, the cockpit is ready, and it can take off at any time."
Xu Shaoting turned his gaze away from the vast expanse of frost and snow outside the window in Zurich.
"Take off," he said.
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