Chapter 7 Look at Your Remarks_2

An Chuyu's fans magnanimously said, "Stay low-key, low-key."

But An Chuyu herself, after the award ceremony ended and she had bid farewell to the production crew, got into her team's car, surrounded by her assistant and agent congratulating her, yet she wasn't very happy.

Shen Qiang was beaming, even more excited than An Chuyu: "You won an award and you're not happy?"

An Chuyu stuffed the trophy and the award certificate into her arms and pulled the blanket over her shoulders, "My mother was a three-time Best Actress by my age, and she was even nominated for Best International Actress."

Shen Qiang: "You can't think like that. Du Longqiu started acting at fourteen, you began much later than her, there is no comparison. Haven't you heard the very famous saying—each person in the world has their own time zone of development."

If Shen Qiang remembered correctly, it was written in Du Longqiu's biography that she was an orphan, raised in an orphanage, and later adopted by a couple. When she was fourteen, the couple died in a car accident, leaving her alone again. Afterwards, she went from one TVB crew to another doing bit parts until at seventeen she was recognized by Director Zhou Chunzhi and won an award for her very first movie.

Undeniably, Du Longqiu was a talented actress.

Her life was brief yet legendary.

Shen Qiang advocated an encouraging approach to nurturing her artists. She wrapped her arms around An Chuyu, patting her shoulder gently: "Wait for 'Dawn Breaks' to be released. You might win another trophy and soon catch up with your award-winning mother."

An Chuyu's lips curled up: "Qiang sister, you should be a bit stricter. I'm not used to you being like this."

Shen Qiang pushed her away annoyed: "Go, go, go, I'm too lazy to comfort you."

Zhu Cuixi watched the drama unfold, laughing heartily.

——

Back at the hotel, An Chuyu dawdled and took a bath, and by the time she lay on her bed, it was already very late. On the bedside cabinet sat her certificate and trophy.

She touched the Golden Rooster trophy and retreated back under the covers with her phone.

Many friends from the industry had sent her congratulatory messages, plus there were a few missed calls.

Scrolling through, An Chuyu saw an unexpected text message, from "Xi Zheng." She clicked on it and there were just three simple words.

It was this ordinary "Congratulations" that reminded An Chuyu of that absurd night, which she had almost forgotten.

She closed her eyes, trying to expel certain images from her mind.

Just like she had replied to all the other congratulatory messages, An Chuyu typed out "Thank you" and sent it.

The instant the message sent she regretted it, maybe because she had just replied to so many "thank you" messages, it was too automatic. Originally, she had intended to ignore Xi Zheng.

She frowned, wanting to take it back, but the fact was text messages couldn't be withdrawn like on WeChat.

An Chuyu pressed the return key to exit the message, pretending as if nothing had happened. The next second, a reply came from the other end.

"Xi Zheng."

An Chuyu glanced at the time on the top right corner of the screen. It was already past two in the morning. He suddenly sent his own name, and she didn't understand why.

An Chuyu: "?"

"Take a look at your notes, then my name. Do you see anything wrong?"

Xi Zheng guessed that she had saved his number under a formal name rather than as "hubby". In her perception, his name was "Xi Zheng."

He had to correct her.

An Chuyu really did check the name she had saved for him and realized it was wrong.

It wasn't the "Zheng" of "conquest", it was the "Zheng" of "guqin", which didn't quite sound like a man's name, it seemed more suited for a refined lady.

——

The next afternoon An Chuyu returned to Beijing, officially starting a brief vacation. When she suddenly remembered that she still had to reshoot scenes for "Dawn Breaks," her whole being became restless.

Zhu Cuixi was inside, helping her sort through gifts sent from various big brands. Hearing her sigh, she looked up curious, "Sister Yuyu, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

An Chuyu put on her slippers, fished out the neglected script from the bedroom, returned to the living room, laid across the sofa, and flipped to the lone sex scene, wrinkling her brow as she pondered it.

Zhu Cuixi was amused by her posture: "Your hair is dragging on the floor."

An Chuyu's legs were thrown over the back of the sofa, her head hanging down, her long hair piling on the carpet as she raised the script and whispered the words. Lost in her world, she was oblivious to Zhu Cuixi's remark.

Zhu Cuixi felt acting wasn't easy, she wouldn't be able to perform such a scene in front of so many people on set.

"Sister, seeing you this troubled, why not contact Teacher Ji beforehand, give the scene a try?"

The reshoot was for a bed scene, and it definitely couldn't be done with just An Chuyu alone. The male lead, Teacher Ji Yutang, would also need to come back for it.

An Chuyu shifted her position, sitting cross-legged on the sofa with the script covering her face: "We're reshooting tomorrow, where am I supposed to find Teacher Ji, and moreover..."

"It's awkward, I know." Zhu Cuixi finished the sentence for her.

An Chuyu let her head droop.

Having tidied everything, Zhu Cuixi stood with her hands on her hips, surveyed the room, saw nothing else that needed cleaning, and then poured a glass of water on the coffee table: "Then I'm leaving, Sister Yuyu. Call me if you need anything. You're leaving tomorrow evening, right? I'll bring the driver over to pick you up."

An Chuyu didn't look up, just waved in her direction.

Zhu Cuixi gave her a sympathetic glance, grabbed her backpack, and on leaving, threw out one last piece of advice: "Sister Yuyu, if you don't want to find Teacher Ji, you could ask your husband to help you rehearse the scene, to get the feel for it. Didn't you two get along well in Paris?"

Thinking she had offered a brilliant suggestion yet afraid of angering An Chuyu, she quickly slipped away after speaking.

With a "clang," the door shut, An Chuyu lifted her head and Zhu Cuixi was no longer in sight; her voice seemed to linger in her ears.

An Chuyu scooped up her phone, found Xi Zheng's friend request in the list, and surprisingly, it had not yet expired.