Incurable Chapter 2 Part 1

Chapter 2 (1/2)

“Hahaha.” Mu Wan burst into laughter. Still chuckling, she rolled up her window, started the engine, and drove away.

Daoist Liu truly lived up to his name—completely detached from worldly desires.

Mu Wan drove back to her place in the northern district. A couple of months ago, she bought a second-hand apartment in the Qinghe Dream Garden community. Located in Xia City’s old town, the buildings were over thirty years old.

It was a classic old, cramped, and slightly run-down city-center apartment. Though the building itself was showing its age, the location was prime, surrounded by great amenities, making it comfortable and convenient.

Mu Wan had only graduated two years ago, and two years of acting gigs barely covered the down payment. She was currently paying off the mortgage month by month.

The apartment was so old that the previous owner’s 1980s-style decor and broken furniture needed an overhaul. Since Lin Wei was an interior designer and Mu Wan didn’t want to do any major structural changes, Lin Wei gave it a simple makeover. She went with a cozy, rustic Taiwanese-style interior that felt very pastoral.

The community didn’t have dedicated parking, so Mu Wan parked her car at the alley entrance and walked the rest of the way. Though the neighborhood was old, it was densely populated. It was dinnertime, and uncles and aunties carrying grocery baskets were chatting in dialect, making plans to hit the small park for square dancing after their meal. Ivy crawled up half the exterior walls and tangled around the iron railings of the stairwell windows. Despite the dilapidated state of the community, it was brimming with the lively warmth of everyday life.

The Qinghe Dream Garden complex only had six buildings arranged in two rows, and she lived in the first building of the back row. Pushing through the door into the stairwell, Mu Wan climbed to the third floor and unlocked the door to the left-hand apartment.

The light switch was right by the door. With a click, warm, milky-white light flooded the living room. The entire apartment was barely seventy square meters. The living room wasn’t big, but it was spotless and tidy, making it incredibly cozy.

The tension she’d been holding onto all day vanished the moment she stepped inside. Mu Wan plopped onto the armrest of the sofa and then let herself flop backward onto the cushions.

She had been shooting since early morning, taken the high-speed rail back at noon, and rushed straight to the hospital to see Lin Wei without even unpacking. Now, she was completely drained.

Outside, it started to drizzle again. Amidst the pattering rain, Mu Wan heard two soft meows.

In these old, run-down neighborhoods, pet cats were practically raised like strays. At night, you’d find them everywhere under the trees and in the bushes. Nobody bothered neutering them, so once they were let outside, they multiplied rapidly. The community was absolutely swarming with cats of all sizes.

Lin Wei had once told her she was a lot like a cat—wild, lazy, and perfectly content wherever life took her. She’d even tried to convince Mu Wan to adopt one, but Mu Wan had refused.

She wasn’t lonely, nor did she need a cat for company. Bringing a cat into the house just meant having something to worry about; neither she nor the cat would be truly free.

Thinking of cats, Mu Wan’s mind drifted back to the scene at the hospital. The man lifts his gaze, the faint glimmer of light reflecting in his dark eyes. Mu Wan raised her wrist to cover her eyes and let out a soft, low chuckle.

Exhausted from the day, Mu Wan ate dinner and went straight to bed. She slept dreamlessly until her phone alarm rudely woke her the next morning. Opening her eyes, she saw the sky outside was a dull, overcast gray. It wasn’t raining, but it hadn’t cleared up either.

The rainy season brought heavy humidity, and the air felt damp and sticky. Mu Wan grabbed her phone. The screen read “Li Nan.” She swiped to answer. “Hello, Boss.”

Li Nan was the sole agent at Xinzhou Entertainment, and all seven or eight of his artists called him that. Mu Wan had signed with Xinzhou right after graduation. It wasn’t a big company, but they paid on time, had no exploitative clauses, and offered a moderate amount of resources—which suited her perfectly.

“Tomorrow night at seven. Director Zhang Chengze is hosting a dinner at Qingsong Pavilion. He’s prepping a new TV drama. Mi Yu is going for an audition, so you two will go together,” Li Nan briefed her briskly.

For a small-fry actress like Mu Wan, social banquets weren’t an everyday thing, but they weren’t entirely avoidable either. In this industry of fame and profit, drinking and dining were just part of the job. She probably had to attend two or three of these a month.

The main focus of this dinner was Mi Yu, the hottest artist under Li Nan, who had once played the second female lead in a massive hit drama. Mu Wan was just tagging along to fill a seat, eating and drinking quietly in the corner, toasting to show her face, and securing a minor role for herself.

Mu Wan agreed to everything. After Li Nan gave a few more instructions, he hung up.

Hanging up, Mu Wan stripped off her clothes and headed for the shower. The weather was cool and damp, leaving a sticky film of mist on her skin that felt uncomfortable. After her shower, she grabbed a glass and her toothbrush to brush her teeth. She hadn’t even finished when Lin Wei called.

Spitting into the sink, Mu Wan answered the phone with her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth.

“Any bookings today?”

“Nope.”

“Bring me porridge from Xu’s shop!”

“Your wish is my command.” Mu Wan had woken up early specifically to bring her porridge. Lin Wei was from Jing City; her parents and younger brother were all back there, so she had no one to look after her in the hospital. Mu Wan, having no parents of her own, knew that when she ended up hospitalized, it would be Lin Wei taking care of her.

After hanging up, Mu Wan heard the sound of cats meowing downstairs again. She walked over to the living room window, pulled back the curtain, and looked down. A few cats were tangled together, playfully wrestling. Mu Wan smiled.

“What’s so funny? You’re grinning like a goofball,” Lin Wei said.

Dropping the curtain, Mu Wan turned back to the living room. “When I was leaving last night, I ran into Daoist Liu at the hospital.”

Mu Wan recounted the events of the previous day.

“Wait, what? And then? And then?!” Lin Wei was thoroughly invested.

“I asked him if he liked cats—he said ‘mm’, so I meowed at him,” Mu Wan said casually.

“Ahhh!” Lin Wei shrieked.

Once Lin Wei calmed down, she told Mu Wan, “That’s brilliant, Miss Mu! Taking the unconventional route. Daoist Liu, the man who makes countless women swoon, was completely conquered by a single meow!”

“Not conquered. It was just a joke. I’m in perfect health. I won’t be ending up in the ER, and we probably won’t even cross paths again,” Mu Wan said, tilting her head back. With a mouth full of toothpaste, her words came out in bubbly gurgles. “Ah, gotta go, I need to rinse. I’ll get ready and bring you your porridge.”

Mu Wan hung up in a rush. The sink was in the bathroom. Grabbing the glass she’d been using to brush her teeth from the living room table, she sprinted toward the bathroom.

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