Chapter 51: Scammer Decides to Be a Good Person 26 – Your Idea Is Very Modern

The next day was New Year’s Eve. The film crew got off at three in the afternoon and had half a day free. They were also off on the first day of the new year, and work would only resume on the second.

At noon on New Year’s Eve, Shi Lan still sent over two pots.

Braised lamb, and old duck soup with pickled radish.

The empty pots were returned in the afternoon, along with thank-you gifts from the crew, some fruit and snacks.

Du Heng also brought back an invitation. “They booked a New Year’s Eve dinner at the hotel tonight. Everyone invited you to come.”

“I’ve already prepared the ingredients for tonight.”

“This weather won’t spoil them. We can eat them tomorrow.”

Shi Lan found it novel. Du Heng was actually taking the initiative to join this kind of gathering, and even persuading her to go.

Du Heng grew uncomfortable under her stare. “You have to show your face at least. If you think the food at the banquet isn’t good, we can come back and cook more.”

Tsk, his social skills had matured a little, but apparently not by much.

That night, at the crew’s New Year’s Eve dinner, Shi Lan got a seat beside Du Heng and met his coworkers. They were all very warm and basically never let her feel left out, which showed that Du Heng got along pretty well with the people on the set.

Of course, what got discussed most was still her early marriage to Du Heng, along with Shi Lan’s cooking.

Once they learned she ran a chain restaurant, everyone started asking for the restaurant’s name.

With the atmosphere already built up this much, whether they were genuinely curious or just being polite, Shi Lan welcomed all of it and handed out business cards to anyone who asked, inviting them to come and try the food. Thankfully, she had brought plenty of cards with her this time.

What a great publicity opportunity, and what a great celebrity effect. It wasn’t like she had asked for it herself. She only gave them out because other people asked.

“President Shi, when are you opening a branch in Haidu?”

“And Jiangcheng too.”

“You’ve got to come to Beifu sooner or later.”

Shi Lan answered modestly, “It’s just a small business.”

Granted, her goal was to open stores all across the country and then go abroad, bringing the taste of home to people living far away. But could she really brag when things hadn’t even gotten off the ground yet?

The best way to make a fortune was to keep a low profile.

The New Year’s Eve dinner finally reached the moment everyone had been waiting for, handing out red envelopes!

The director, producers, investors… each gave New Year’s money to every person present. Shi Lan was included in that “every person.”

She wasn’t part of the crew, so she wasn’t as restrained as they were. Right there under the table, she quietly counted the money. Most of it was in auspicious amounts¹ like 66 and 88, and the biggest envelope had 120 in it.

Would anyone dislike red envelopes?

Of course not!

The amount didn’t matter. What mattered was the good fortune behind it.

So happy!

Seeing how delighted she was while counting money, Du Heng smiled and passed his own share to her under the table.

She accepted it without the slightest pressure. How could her husband’s money not count as her money too?

Double happiness!

The chef for the New Year’s Eve dinner performed decently enough that night. The only problem was that the dishes came out too slowly, so some had gone cold. But once the mood at the table got lively, no one cared about that.

At any rate, Shi Lan didn’t go back and cook a second dinner.

Du Heng was slightly tipsy… actually, the director had specifically spoken up and limited the amount of alcohol at each table so it wouldn’t affect filming afterward, so nobody was allowed to drink freely. Basically no one got drunk.

By the time they got back to the hotel, it was about closing time.

Shi Lan quickly held a review call with her employees. From what she heard, the day’s revenue had been very impressive, and there hadn’t been any major problems. Overall, things had gone pretty smoothly.

“You all did well. Small accidents are unavoidable, but we can learn from them and prepare more backup plans in the future, so we don’t end up flustered and scrambling when something happens. In my office, there’s a box on the desk. It’s the New Year’s red envelopes I prepared for everyone. Thanks for all your hard work and overtime. Happy New Year to all of you, and I wish you good health and smooth sailing in the year ahead.”

Shi Lan had never mentioned the red envelopes to them beforehand.

So for the employees, it was definitely a surprise. Through the phone, she could hear the sudden burst of noise and excitement on the other end.

After she hung up, a pair of well-defined muscular arms climbed onto her shoulders and wrapped around her from behind.

The breath by her ear made her earlobe itch.

“You prepared gifts for all your employees. Why didn’t I get one?”

His breathy voice was full of grievance.

“Didn’t you already give all your New Year’s money to me? And you’re still asking me for a gift?”

She tilted her neck to dodge, only to be pulled back by those arms.

The scorching heat of his presence drew even closer. Her vulnerable, exposed neck was caught between his teeth. He bit lightly, then slowly nibbled and sucked along the skin that had already broken out in goosebumps.

He said, “We’re off tomorrow. No scenes.”

“Hm?”

The next instant, along with her unfinished question, she was lifted into his arms. Shi Lan didn’t think she was exactly light, but he held her steadily, and in the crook of his arms she felt completely secure.

“I haven’t showered yet…”

“It’s fine. I’ll help you in a bit.”

…

How much intimacy did it take to dissolve the longing from a long-awaited reunion? Shi Lan’s answer was this: the ingredients she had brought, intending to cook for Du Heng, went almost entirely unused.

There just wasn’t any time!

She set off on the return trip with just as much luggage as when she came.

Next time, she was never bringing this much stuff when visiting him on set again. For a certain someone, aside from her, everything else was optional. The one doing all the hard work was still her.

No, there wouldn’t be a next time!

Qin Qiaohui came to the house to pay Shi Lan a New Year visit and brought some news with her.

“I’ve decided. I’m going to open the internet cafe you mentioned. Staying at the factory every day is seriously boring.”

Shi Lan was surprised. “That takes a pretty big investment. Did your family agree?”

“My dad definitely won’t agree.” Qin Qiaohui lowered her voice. “But I pulled my brother over to my side, and the two of us are the main investors. We also brought in a few friends we know. Everyone emptied out all the New Year’s money they’d saved up since childhood. My brother and I did the math, and it should be just about enough. If it really doesn’t work, we can always increase the number of computers gradually instead of doing it all at once.”

Right, she should have thought of that. The rich second generation were surrounded by other rich second generation.

“You brought in other people too?” Shi Lan wasn’t very supportive of that.

“I know what you’re worried about. My brother already made it clear to them. If we make money, they can sit back and collect it, but they can’t interfere in the business side. He also had someone go over the contract, and we’ll be signing a formal agreement.”

She hadn’t expected the brother and sister to act so decisively. Shi Lan had only made a suggestion, and for them to move this quickly, they really did have guts.

Qin Qiaohui said, “Before the New Year, the two of us went to Haidu and the capital to look around. There still aren’t many of them. At first, we searched using the term internet cafe and couldn’t find any. Later we realized they’re called computer rooms.”

Huh… so the concept of an internet cafe didn’t exist yet?

“But I still think the name internet cafe sounds better. It’s just especially… you know…” Qin Qiaohui couldn’t quite describe it. After thinking for a long time, she finally said, “Very modern.”

Uh… what a wonderfully dated word.

After endless anticipation, the mainland version of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber was finally about to air, and Shi Lan specially replaced the television at home with the biggest one available on the market.

Watching Du Heng on screen felt completely different from seeing him in real life. It was like they were two different people with the same face. She simply couldn’t connect the man on the screen with her own husband. At first, Shi Lan had mentally prepared herself, telling herself that if there were any intimate scenes on television she would skip them, constantly reminding herself that it was all fake. But as the plot gradually unfolded, she almost forgot that the man belonged to her.

Instead, she started shipping Yang Xiao and Ji Xiaofu, while furiously cursing Abbess Miejue² for being so heartless.

That night, when she called Du Heng, this was exactly what she complained to him about.

Du Heng: “…”

Shi Lan was still asking about the later plot. Even though she knew the general direction of the story, every adaptation handled the details differently. And wasn’t that exactly what was fun about shipping a couple?

Du Heng: “…”

The word “shipping” didn’t exist yet in this era, but Du Heng could still grasp the essence of what she meant from the way she spoke.

He was completely helpless against her and said with resignation, “When you see me together with another woman, you can still be this…” He didn’t know what word to use.

Shi Lan threatened him, “You wouldn’t dare! I’d chop you up.”

“Then why are you still so, so concerned about Yang Xiao and Ji Xiaofu?”

“That’s different, okay?” Shi Lan argued sophistically. “It only proves your acting is good enough that I can completely separate you from the character. If even your wife can reach that level, the audience reaction will only be better.”

Shi Lan’s prediction was spot on. This version’s reputation was unbelievably good. So many people mailed letters to the production team’s public correspondence address, and nearly a third of them were for Du Heng, all because of those brief three episodes of the Yang-Ji romance. Later, when Yang Xiao and Yang Buhui recognized each other, the audience letters reached a whole new peak.

The production team forwarded the letters to their home. When Shi Lan went to pick them up, the post office handed her a huge burlap sack.

“These are all of them?”

The postal worker was dripping with sweat. “Just part of them. There are still more that haven’t been sorted out yet. Come back again tomorrow.”

Shi Lan had lived through the fan culture of the traffic-star era in later generations, but no online voting campaign could compare to a whole sack of actual letters. The impact was too great. She had no idea what Du Heng would feel when he came back and saw them.

With no other choice, she called the store and found an employee to carry the sack back for her.

What she didn’t know was that for Du Heng himself, the role of Yang Xiao had come out of nowhere. The shock she felt was nothing compared to everyone else’s.

–

Mr. Rice Chinese-style Fast Food, branch in a shopping mall building.

During the staff lunch break, everyone gathered together to gossip.

“Have you guys watched Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber?” someone mysteriously opened the topic.

The others looked at one another, as if they could all see the same curiosity in each other’s eyes. President Shi never took the initiative to talk about her private life, so as employees, all they could do was guess.

The little circle tightened even more.

Employee A: “Have you noticed that the Yang Xiao in it looks a lot like President Shi’s boyfriend?”

Employee B: “I thought he looked kind of similar too while I was watching, but it probably isn’t him, right? He just happens to look alike. Didn’t people say President Shi’s boyfriend was a construction laborer? That doesn’t match at all.”

Employee C: “Pfft, you actually believe that nonsense? With President Shi’s big business, how could she possibly let her boyfriend work as some construction laborer? What I heard is that he used to work at a nightclub, and President Shi took a liking to him while discussing business there, which is how they got together. Haven’t you seen how attentive he is to President Shi, always waiting on her hand and foot? If he were just some ordinary macho guy, would he humble himself like that for his wife?”

Employee D: “How come everyone’s version is different? What I heard was that he’s a Hong Kong businessman with a wife and kids over in Gangzhou, and President Shi is the woman he’s keeping on the mainland. He only comes to see her once every few months. Our President Shi only managed to build up this business because he funded it. Otherwise, how could someone as young as President Shi have a family fortune like this?”

Employee A: “So is the one on TV him or not?”

“Probably not, right?” “But he really does look alike.” “The one on TV is more handsome.”

Li Wei, who was making his rounds to inspect the stores, came in from outside and said loudly, “Well now, what are you all talking about, huddled so close together?”

Most of the employees shrank their necks and kept eating, pretending they hadn’t heard him and trying their best to make themselves invisible. But there were also a few bold ones who grinned and said, “We were talking about a TV drama. There’s an actor in the recently aired The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber who looks a bit like the man at President Shi’s home.”

“You mean Yang Xiao, right?” Li Wei burst out laughing. “Looks like you all already figured it out. That’s right, it’s President Shi’s beloved, Mr. Du Heng. President Shi said that to celebrate Mr. Du’s drama going on air, all employees will receive an extra half month’s salary this month.”

That set off a round of cheers. Nothing was more appealing than a pay raise.

By the time Li Wei left to inspect the next store, the tone in the shop had completely changed.

“Didn’t I say so? As expected of our President Shi, even the man she picked is a big star.”

“Exactly, exactly. I wonder when he’ll come to our store again. I wonder if we can ask him for an autograph.”

–

Shujia Village, the village head’s home.

The village head’s son was lounging around watching TV.

On the TV screen, at the Ming Cult’s Brightness Peak, the Left Envoy of Light, Yang Xiao, made his elegant entrance. The shot froze on a forty-five-degree close-up, and that incomparably familiar face startled him so badly he nearly slipped off his little stool.

The village head’s son was the same age as Du Heng. They had been classmates since childhood, going in and out together for more than ten years. Du Heng had gotten better grades than him, but had worse luck. He himself had repeated a year and gotten into college, while Du Heng had become a construction worker.

He rubbed his eyes. No mistake, it was still that same person.

But… how could that be!

He raised his voice and shouted, “Dad! Dad! Come quick, come quick!”

The village head cursed, “What are you yelling for, feeding the cattle or something?”

“Du Heng, Du Heng, he’s on TV… no, that’s not it, there’s a Du Heng on TV… no, that’s not right either, there’s someone on TV who’s really Du Heng…”

“What are you even saying?” The village head was already getting annoyed, but when he entered the room and saw the TV, he too began stammering incoherently. “This… this…”

–

A market in some rural township.

A young man carried a basket on his back, filled with fertilizer and urea. He leaned forward slightly under the weight, mentally calculating when he should go out to find migrant work again after the spring plowing was done.

Farming was important, but earning money through labor was important too.

His gaze swept over a poster at a roadside stall and suddenly froze.

The person in the picture really looked like that kid Du Heng, his former coworker. They hadn’t seen each other for a year. He wondered how that kid was doing now.

Thinking that, he stepped closer to get a better look at the poster, but then he sensed something was off.

No, this was Du Heng. There was even that scar on his forearm from where a stone had gouged him. The position and shape were exactly the same…

Could it be… how was that possible…

–

As The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber aired to enormous acclaim, in places all across the country, people who had once crossed paths with Du Heng saw that version of him on screen through all kinds of different channels.

It was him, and yet it wasn’t him.

Translator’s Notes