Incurable Chapter 15 Part 1

Chapter 15 (1/2)

Wencheng Central Hospital was an old hospital dating back to the Republican era, and it had remained in operation ever since. Its architecture leaned toward the garden villas of that time. The grounds were thick with greenery, broken up by little paths and pavilions. Behind the inpatient buildings lay the hospital’s rear garden, centered around a curved lake from which the rest of the landscaping spread outward. The flowers there were varied and plentiful. A small bridge arched over the water, and beneath it the lake ran clean and clear. Under broad layers of lotus leaves, the surface rippled lightly from time to time, and flashes of koi could be seen gliding below.

The first scene for the Wencheng hospital unit of Red Embroidery was filmed by the curved lake.

Once Mu Wan finished her part and the crew confirmed they would not need to reshoot it, she went to the pavilion by the water.

Wencheng lay south of Xiacheng and, being inland, was even more humid and stifling. Even the stone bench in the pavilion was hot to the touch. Mu Wan leaned back against one of the pillars, holding a small portable fan in one hand and her phone in the other, chatting with Lin Wei.

The midday sun blazed overhead. The actors sheltering in the pavilion all looked wilted and spiritless.

Mu Wan, by contrast, was glowing.

Lin Daniu: What? Taoist Liu is in Wencheng, too? And at the same hospital as you?

Typing one-handed, Mu Wan confirmed it.

Mu Wan: Mm. He’s here for a research conference.

When she had run into Liu Qianxiu outside the ER building earlier, he had only just arrived from Xiacheng and was on his way straight into the conference. They had not spoken much. Before entering the building, though, he had told her not to worry—the cats at home were all being looked after.

Only then had Mu Wan fully come back to herself from the surprise and joy of seeing him and remembered her own kittens. At the beginning, the kittens had been the reason she and Liu Qianxiu started getting closer. Now, she had somehow reversed the order of things and found herself caring more about Liu Qianxiu than the cats.

Then again, perhaps that was not quite fair.

The reason she was not worrying about the cats was precisely that Liu Qianxiu was so dependable. When it came to them, she knew she did not need to think about anything—he would take care of it all.

At the moment, Mu Wan felt only happiness.

Whatever else might or might not happen, if Liu Qianxiu were here too, they could at least see each other every day.

As long as she could see him once a day, Mu Wan would already be satisfied.

Lin Wei, however, was not.

Lin Daniu: I don’t buy it! Yesterday,y when you asked, he said it depended on the arrangements. Today, the arrangements just happened to bring him here? He arranged it himself, didn’t he? He came here for you! Why would he come here for you? Obviously, because he’s interested in you!

Lin Wei’s use of exclamation marks conveyed just how convinced she was by her own theory.

Her certainty gave Mu Wan a small moment of doubt. She was just about to reply when another message came in.

Lin Daniu: If you’re not sure whether he likes you—seduce him.

Mu Wan: ...

Lin Daniu: Don’t be so repressed. Body and soul can’t be separated. If he’s not interested in your body, then he’s definitely not interested in you. If he is interested in your body, then just take it further from there!

Reading her friend’s advice, Mu Wan lifted one brow ever so slightly.

The little fan sent a cool breeze against her ear, carrying away some of the heat. She tapped out a reply.

Mu Wan: Stop giving me terrible ideas. I honestly wouldn’t care about sleeping with him. I already like him, so if he liked me too, of course,e I’d be willing. But what if he doesn’t? Then that’s sexual harassment. What if he starts avoiding me after that?

The moment the message was sent, Lin Wei’s chat window showed typing..., but before anything came through, someone called Mu Wan’s name.

She pushed herself away from the pillar and looked over.

It was Assistant Director Ma.

There were many assistant directors on a production. Assistant Director Ma was the one specifically responsible for the supporting cast scenes. He was lean, not very tall, and wore a small mustache that gave him a slightly artistic air.

“Director Zhang just passed word down,” he said. “He wants you to come to Yingkexuan on the fifth floor for dinner tonight.”

Yingkexuan was one of the private dining rooms in Wencheng Hotel.

Director Zhang Chengze had not arrived the previous day. Today had been the opening ceremony, and filming had gone on from morning to night. Only now did he finally have time to gather some of the cast for dinner.

But someone at Mu Wan’s level—a small supporting role—would normally eat with the assistant directors and crew.

If Zhang Chengze had named her specifically, the meaning would have been obvious.

Assistant Director Ma knew Mu Wan well enough, too. She was beautiful, had a good figure, and her acting was more than decent. The only thing was that she had no real ambition. Everyone else in the entertainment industry scrambled to climb to the top of the pyramid. Mu Wan seemed perfectly content being one of the bricks at the bottom.

“All right. Thank you, Director Ma,” Mu Wan said with a smile.

The little fan buzzed in her hand.

The plan in her mind had just been disrupted.

Once the assistant director left, Mu Wan looked back at her phone. Lin Wei had finally replied.

Lin Daniu: Then pretend to be drunk and test him. If he doesn’t like you, just fake being asleep and say the next day you remember nothing. If he does like you, then sleep with him first and talk later. I’m telling you, the more abstinent a man looks, the more intense he is in bed.

The tips of Mu Wan’s ears, which had only just cooled down, turned red again.

She pinched one lightly. It was burning hot.

Holding the little fan to her face, the image of the man’s face—and body—only became clearer in her mind. Mu Wan drew in a breath, swept the fan in a quick circle around her face, then exited WeChat and opened her text messages instead.

Mu Wan: Dr. Liu, where are you staying? I’m at Wencheng Hotel.

After sending it, she remembered that Liu Qianxiu was most likely in the conference right now, with neither the time to read messages nor reply to them. Tapping her finger once against the screen, she thought for a moment and sent another:

Mu Wan: I come to Wencheng to film pretty often, so I know the place well. I know a restaurant here that does very good home-style dishes. If you have time, let’s have a meal together sometime.

As soon as she sent it, the assistant director called for her again.

Responding, Mu Wan put the phone away and started toward the set. Just before she reached the shooting area, her phone chimed.

Mu Wan stopped at once and quickly pulled it out.

A message glowed on the screen.

Taoist Liu: The hospital arranged for us to stay at Wencheng Hotel.

Again, it was the hospital’s arrangement.

Mu Wan’s eyes curved at once.

A second message arrived right after.

Taoist Liu: All right. When?

Mu Wan: Tomorrow. I have dinner tonight.

Taoist Liu: Okay.

Once the time was set, Mu Wan felt happy all over again.

Whenever she filmed out of town, apart from a few familiar people from the production, she had never had friends in the same city. Now, not only did she have someone, but that someone was the person she liked.

Now that they had agreed to have dinner tomorrow, under normal circumstances,s she would not see Liu Qianxiu again until then.

Naturally, that was more than Mu Wan could bear.

Whenever there was a break in filming, she wandered over to the ER building several times. There were plenty of busy doctors there, but none of them was Liu Qianxiu. The research conference must have been keeping him occupied. She did not even get a chance for an accidental encounter.

After finishing work that evening, Assistant Director Ma took Mu Wan up with him to Yingkexuan.

The meaning of Zhang Chengze’s specific call for a small supporting actress like Mu Wan to attend the dinner could hardly have been clearer.

Mu Wan had been filming for years. In the beginning, she had not known how to handle situations like this. Later, she had become practiced.

She had no dreams of shooting to fame. The bait a director might dangle in front of her held little temptation. She did not reach for the olive branch, and the director naturally understood what that meant. There were too many actresses in the industry. No director had the energy to waste himself on a minor supporting actress who refused to sleep with him.

Even so, dinners like this still had to be attended.

You could refuse the olive branch, but you could not deny the director the chance to extend it in the first place. That would make him lose too much face.

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