h.e.l.lo everyone,
Just as a head"s up, this story is somewhat more serious than the usual stories we do. It takes place in the same universe as The Most Majestic You, written a year before, and is focused on Ye Qianxi"s cousin, but is a separate story of its own.
Enjoy.
Starlight Has No Past
Chapter 1 Part 1
It was pouring hard after the premier.
Around 10 pm, beyond the gleaming lights outside the theater, it was a
dark and wet night. People crowded near the doorway as the media people
were preparing to leave but trapped under the canopy, hiding from the rain.
Amid the noise of the rain, music playing inside the theater could still be
heard in the background-- --It was the theme song of the movie《Sleeping Wind》,
a French folk song played with Scottish bagpipes.
Film critics had called the movie a triumph of romance movies.
-- -- “《Sleeping Wind》, a movie by director Lai Zhicheng, had won an
award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Cinematography and screenplay
were both outstanding. It featured a newcomer, Ye Qiao, as the lead actress
and her performance was unexpectedly superb. This actress carried with her
the dramatic tension between Eastern poise and modernity, perfectly showing
us the desolation and purity of the mute female character in the movie.”
-- -- “Besides, she had a charming body.”
Ye Qiao, wearing high heels, walked inside the empty underground garage.
Amidst her echoing footsteps, the tail lights of one of the cars in front of her
suddenly flashed. The driver lightly honked the horn.
The license plate read 6379, it was director Lai"s car. Ye Qiao waved to the
people inside the car and walked over. The person sitting in the back unlocked
the door for her. Ye Qiao was about to open the door…...when her calf suddenly
cramped.
The twitching pain seemed to reach to her heart.
Ye Qiao slightly bent over to relieve the severe pain.
Director Lai, sitting at front, was wondering why she still hadn"t opened the
door, “Hey, anything wrong?”
The one at the back had already gotten off the car from the other side and moved
around the car to her side. The voice was deep and gentle, “Cramping again?”
Ye Qiao clenched her teeth and took a look at him, “It"s nothing.”
Gu Jin didn"t pay attention to her obvious resistance, kneeling down to support
her leg, “Which leg?”
“......Left.”
She was wearing a short skirt today, that went above her knees. The man"s
big and warm palm began to skillfully ma.s.sage her delicate calf with just the
right amount of force. “Does it still hurt?”
Ye Qiao with knitted eyebrows reluctantly answered, “It"s a little better.”
Gu Jin lightly smiled, “You should eat more. Your calf is as thin as your arm.”
Ye Qiao took a deep breath, her voice turned cold, “It"s none of your business.”
Director Lai, who was wondering what was going on, opened the door of the
driver"s seat. He looked back and called out, “What, your leg cramped?”
“En.” Ye Qiao apologetically smiled, “It just happened, I don"t know why.”
Gu Jin very naturally added, “It"s alright. She always gets it.”
Ye Qiao"s smile froze.
Director Lai couldn"t figure out the awkward interaction and sat back into the car.
Gu Jin was director Lai"s favorite student. He had worked for director Lai in
the early days and now he was one of the black horses among the new directors.
He had a good grip on the taste of young people, his movies in the last couple
years had performed well in the the box office, even better than director Lai"s
movies which were usually on heavier topics.
Ye Qiao met Gu Jin through director Lai.
But, director Lai had already grown past the age to be interested in gossip. He
didn"t know that these two young people were actually a couple and certainly
oblivious to the fact that they had broken up half of month ago.
It was a peaceful break up, just like graduating from school.
Nonetheless, it didn"t mean they would still get along.
The cramping subsided somewhat, Ye Qiao pulled her leg back and limped
into the car. Gu Jin stood up as if nothing had happened and went back to the
car. Both of them sat in the back seat next to each other. The way Gu Jin was
looking at her seemed to say, “Was that really necessary.”
Director Lai gave a hearty laughed, “I heard that you lost some weight while
filming this movie. It"s all my fault. Make sure you eat more at the party later!”
She certainly would eat a lot more at the celebration banquet.
Ye Qian didn"t like to socialize. During these kind of social events, she always
followed the rule: eat more, talk less. She would only occasionally chat with other
actors at the same table. It was the reason that she was always being pictured
burying her head eating at these parties.
However, today Gu Jin being at the party somewhat affected her appet.i.te.
As a student of director Lai, Gu Jin was here especially for the premier and was
treated as a special guest, sitting at the head table with all the main characters
of the movie. Ye Qiao was sitting right next to him. She lost her appet.i.te despite
the alluring food in front of her.
She ended up quietly drinking.
After director Lai gave his speech, everyone applauded and raised their cup for
a toast. Ye Qiao followed everyone else at the table and stood up with a full gla.s.s.
Gu Jin reached out to stop her from drinking, “You have too much.”
Ye Qiao sneered. She was only planning to take a sip, now she drank the whole
gla.s.s. Afterwards, she held the empty gla.s.s with two fingers and shook it in front
of him as a silent defiance.
There wasn"t much Gu Jin could do, “Is that really necessary?”
Ye Qiao ignored his words and sat down. “Just mind your own business.”
Gu Jin started to place food onto her plate just as she was sitting down. They
were all lighter, non greasy food, good for relieving the effects of overdrinking.
“I came from Yang City and visited your father there.” He looked at her as if she
was an unruly child. “Your father isn"t in good health lately. Aunty Cheng"s taking
care of him.”
“Enough.” Ye Qiao put down the chopsticks. “Gu Jin, in what position are you
talking from right now?”
“It has nothing to do with what position I"m in.” When she first met Gu Jin, she
had felt that he was overly mature and prudent to the point that everytime he
furrowed his brows, she would feel like she had done something wrong. He
lectured her in his usual way, “Mr. Xu Zang is such a peaceful and open-minded
person, why are you always against him?”
Ye Qiao couldn"t believe what she was hearing and instead of being upset she
started to laugh, “You like my father so much, what did you two talk about when
you visited him? Did you tell him that you broke up with his daughter? And in less
than half a month, you found a new lover?”
“Ye Qiao.”
“Don"t call me by my name, you disgust me.”
Ye Qiao decided to leave. As she stood up, her calf twitched again.
“Be careful.” Gu Jin was going to help her but she had already stepped aside.
With her wide side step, the redwood chair pulled a wide arc and made a heavy
squeaking noise.
She was so tired of hearing that sound. Bearing with the twitching pain, she
strode out.
The high heels were making crisp and rhythmic sounds, as if she could get away
from everything.