86 A Wounded Little Animal

The end result of the heated argument was Yin Fenghua shouting "What a rubbish crew! What a hypocritical director! I'm not acting anymore! I quit!" and left the set in a fury.

Yuan Ge also returned to his office in a rage and deleted all the footage taken today without even reviewing it. Since returning to China, he thought he had seen the world and learnt to control his emotions so well that he would never be so angry again, but little did he know that this bastard Yin Fenghua must have been sent by God to torment him. He actually had the ability to enrage himself so utterly, so completely!

Yuan Ge feels like a boneless chicken at the moment, unable to muster up any strength, slumping at his desk, not wanting to move at all. It is only when a mug of hot latte touched the back of his hand that he comes back to his senses and see Amélie's pretty face beside him, her beautiful eyes full of concern.

"What's the matter, regretting messing things up?" Amélie's expression doesn't show a hint of frustration, her smile as heart-warming as that mug of coffee.

"What's there to regret! The most vulgar singer in China, bar none! He has the nerve to brag about how popular he is, even though his specialty is to perform in village halls! How come I've never seen his name on any charts? Not only does he act like a prima donna, but he's also terribly unprofessional. He can't act at all! If it wasn't for Fat Chow's sake, I would have replaced him a million times over!"

"Come on, bemoaning is not your style. Our director Yuan wouldn't lower himself to the level of that kind of person. Why take his words to heart when he's so much beneath you?"

Yuan Ge pouts and looks at Amélie. Today, Yin Fenghua had called him gay and used so many swear words in front of so many people, and she must have heard it all. He has lost all his face. But how can he explain that to this woman beside him? Especially as she is so considerate and gentle and has never talked out of place. How depressing!

Amélie loves the way Yuan Ge occasionally takes off his artist's mask, revealing such a vulnerable look, like a wounded little animal. She wants to reach out to stroke his messy hair. He looks so childlike with his face buried in the crook of his arm, not wanting to see anyone. But who knows how much she wants to hug and comfort this frustrated but stubborn child.

"I understand what you're thinking. It's true that Yin Fenghua is not ideal, but we don't have a better candidate at the moment. We don't have the kind of financial power like King Guan Entertainment has, so we can't just hold an audition like they did, right? Besides, if you replace Fat Chow's pick for the leading man, how do you expect him to continue to fund the production?"

"I know." Yuan Ge says sullenly without looking up, "That's why I've held back every time since the shooting started. I kept telling myself to put up with it a little longer, that maybe this was the last retake. But the truth is, as long as Yin Fenghua is there, I can never convince myself that the next shoot will be better. He is not playing Qiuchen, he's simply destroying him!"

"Why don't you play Qiuchen yourself? I'm not trying to pander to Yin Fenghua, don't get me wrong, but when you demonstrated today, your eyes were really evocative. I don't think anyone could have played it better than that."

"It's not because I'm a good actor, but because in my dreams, I've seen that look many times. Really, Amélie, can you believe it? It's like I owe it to Qingqing to make this film. He comes into my dreams countless times, as if asking me to do him justice to the world. I really don't want to tarnish this trust of spiritual friendship for any reason. It's a pity that I can't take you into my dreams to show you. If only you could see his beautiful face and eyes, you would have understood how much I wanted to replace Yin Fenghua! Not even I could have reproduced the divine charm of Qiuchen."

"You're just too much of a perfectionist, can't tolerate the slightest imperfection. You don't rest your brain all day, always immersed in a reverie of another world. It's a miracle that you haven't worn yourself out. Of course everything in the dreams is perfect. If you compare your real life with your dreams, how can you not be disappointed? Don't you think it's too hard on yourself to demand that kind of perfection? Look at yourself, you've lost so much weight, and there are visible dark circles under your eyes."

Yuan Ge feels Amélie's slender fingers gently caressing his face, and in her beautiful eyes is his own reflection. He smiles gratefully, "Then let's go eat something to make up for it, shall we? By the way, where is Jinghai?"

"He went to Yin Fenghua's place with Fat Chow. They are taking him to dinner to try to make amends..." Amélie looks at Yuan Ge and says, "You're indeed a troublemaker. They probably didn't expect you to back down, so they took it upon themselves to be the peacemaker. "

Yuan Ge sighs. Despite the constant turmoil, Du Jinghai and Chow Mingrun are no less indulgent to him than Amélie. He considers himself very lucky to have such partners.

"Let's go. They can eat whatever they want and we'll go find what we want. They say that eating is the best cure for anger. I'm going to eat that filthy-looking Luzhu[1] that everyone raves about to get this bad energy out of my chest!"

Amélie is very happy to see Yuan Ge's morale recover so quickly. As long as this ever childlike man is by her side, life seems to be full of fun and excitement, and she feels content and settled no matter how busy and tired she is.

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[1] Luzhu huoshao, which literally means 'pork stew with bread', is one of the most well-known traditional Beijing street foods. The main ingredients are pork, pork lung, pork intestines, pork liver, tofu, and some may add fermented bean curd or chives sauce. It is served with 'bing' (a type of flatbread).