A Gentleman
Her mood immediately matched the weather.
Last night, she had been drunk.
This morning, however, she was painfully sober.
Fortunately, Mu Wan did not remain miserable for long.
She took out her phone and sent Liu Qianxiu a message.
She told him she had been drunk the night before, thanked him for letting her stay, and apologized for causing him trouble.
After sending it, she did not linger.
She returned to her own room.
Gao Mei was already gone.
A breakfast voucher had been left on the table.
Filming began at seven.
It was already past six, leaving little time to eat.
Mu Wan went downstairs, ate something quickly, then asked for a cup of soy milk.
It came in a sealed paper cup.
She pushed a straw through the lid and drank as she stepped into the elevator.
The elevator descended quickly.
When the doors opened on the first floor, Mu Wan walked out and immediately noticed a crowd near the hotel entrance.
Reporters.
Staff.
Bodyguards dressed in black.
They surrounded someone in the center like stars circling the moon.
A woman with short hair.
She wore a black cropped top and a light brown silk skirt that revealed a narrow section of her waist.
Her figure was graceful.
Her head was slightly lowered.
The outer corner of her right eye tilted upward, marked by a small beauty spot.
Standing at the center of the crowd, she showed little reaction.
She seemed completely accustomed to being surrounded.
Admired.
Watched.
A soft shade of red colored her lips.
Their polite curve made her look elegant and cultivated.
Mu Wan looked away.
She walked past the crowd.
A woman’s figure flashed briefly at the edge of Mu Qing’s vision.
It was striking enough to make her glance sideways.
Her gaze landed on the profile of a woman drinking soy milk through a straw.
Mu Wan looked straight ahead.
Her expression remained indifferent.
She did not look at Mu Qing even once.
Inside the magnificent hotel lobby, the two women passed each other like parallel lines.
They had never truly intersected before.
And there was no reason they ever would.
“Miss Mu.”
Mu Wan had not yet left the lobby when a familiar voice called after her.
Her teeth were still lightly holding the straw.
She turned.
When she saw Xiao Tan standing alone, she released it and smiled.
“Director Xiao.”
Xiao Tan was thirty-seven.
He did not look it.
He had the polished warmth and composure of a successful man, making him appear only a little over thirty.
“Doctor Xiao is fine.”
He smiled.
Then glanced at the soy milk in her hand.
“No time for breakfast?”
Mu Wan had just drawn another mouthful through the straw and was about to swallow.
Xiao Tan continued casually.
“Oh, right.”
His smile deepened.
“You slept in Qianxiu’s room last night.”
Mu Wan inhaled the soy milk straight into the wrong place.
She coughed.
Her face immediately reddened.
Xiao Tan’s eyes filled with amusement.
Mu Wan pulled away from the straw.
“I got drunk last night. Doctor Liu was just taking care of me.”
Xiao Tan listened quietly.
His gaze remained warm and easy.
He did not interrupt.
His expression even suggested complete belief in her explanation.
Talking to someone like him was naturally comfortable.
When Mu Wan finished, Xiao Tan smiled.
“I know.”
Then he added,
“Qianxiu didn’t sleep there last night. I happened to see him when he went to book another room.”
His tone remained light.
“Qianxiu is a gentleman.”
The words seemed to pull Mu Wan out of the dead end she had trapped herself in.
“The hospital car is here.”
Xiao Tan glanced toward the entrance.
“Qianxiu is already waiting for me at the hospital. I should go.”
After saying goodbye, he walked through the revolving doors.
Outside, an assistant handed him a stack of documents.
Xiao Tan accepted them, every movement composed and refined.
Mu Wan watched him leave.
Then she reconsidered the previous night from another angle.
Liu Qianxiu leaving had not necessarily meant rejection.
She had been drunk.
Her judgment had been impaired.
And Liu Qianxiu had known it.
He was a gentleman.
He simply had no intention of taking advantage of her while she was not fully conscious.
Mu Wan lightly bit the straw again.
Slowly, her lips curved.
Rain fell steadily over Wen City.
The drops were small but dense.
Within minutes, they could soak someone through.
Film productions did not always shoot scenes in script order.
Since it was raining, the crew decided to film the scene leading into Mu Wan’s character’s death.
She wore a loose pale-gray cotton dress with white socks and black leather shoes, a typical Republican-era outfit for a young woman.
The dress was wide.
Beneath it, her stomach protruded.
Her character was pregnant when she was murdered.
The rain became finer.
Dark clouds covered the hospital grounds, turning everything gray and oppressive.
The scene was being filmed beside the curving lake.
The area had been cleared.
No one remained nearby except the crew.
Only the sound of rain striking the water filled the space.
Mu Wan held one hand protectively over her stomach.
Rainwater and tears mixed across her face, hot trails running down her cheeks.
Her expression was tense as she hurried forward.
A pouch of documents was clutched against her body.
Her square-toed black shoes splashed through muddy water.
When she reached the lakeside, someone blocked her path.
Mu Wan stepped backward.
Then fell.
Her entire body was soaked.
Mud stained the hem of her dress.
She held the documents toward the approaching figure while pleading and retreating, one arm wrapped tightly around her stomach.
The other person took the documents.
Then killing intent entered his eyes.
He grabbed Mu Wan from behind.
Terror filled her face.
She protected her stomach desperately.
Struggled.
Begged.
Called for help.
Pleaded for her life.
Every emotion passed through her eyes.
One black shoe came off.
Then, with a splash, Mu Wan disappeared beneath the lake.
Underwater, she thrashed.
The terror of drowning showed clearly across her face.
Eventually, her struggle weakened.
And she sank.
The sequence required several camera angles.
Standing by a window, Liu Qianxiu watched the separate takes become one continuous scene.
Mu Wan was a good actress.
Most of the shots passed on the first attempt.
When the crew pulled her from the lake, she was drenched.
She stood behind the camera while the director said something to her.
Probably praise.
Mu Wan smiled lightly.
She liked acting.
Liu Qianxiu could see that much from watching her.
Someone handed her a towel.
She dried herself briefly, opened an umbrella, and headed toward the inpatient building.
The production had turned several rooms there into changing areas.
Rain continued to fall.
It had washed much of the heat from the air.
Mu Wan was soaked through.
She wrapped the towel tightly around herself to block the wind.
Raindrops struck the umbrella in rapid bursts.
Then a gust swept through.
Mu Wan’s teeth nearly chattered.
She hurried into the inpatient building.
There were no proper shower facilities available to the crew.
She dried herself as thoroughly as possible and changed into her own clothes.
Even those felt slightly damp from the rainy weather.
Still, they were far better than the soaked costume.
Warmth gradually returned to her body.
Mu Wan coughed softly.
She continued drying her hair as she stepped into the corridor.
Then she looked up.
Liu Qianxiu was standing near the entrance.
Something shifted in Mu Wan’s eyes.
Then she smiled.
“Liu Qianxiu…”
Her voice carried a faint nasal softness.
She had cried heavily during the scene.
Her eyes were still red.
So was the tip of her nose.
Against her pale skin, both carried a delicate pink flush.
She rubbed her nose with one hand.
That morning, after Mu Wan sent her apology, Liu Qianxiu had replied simply that there was no need to thank him.
She had planned to contact him after filming.
She had not expected to see him here.
Then again...
Perhaps this wasn’t an accident.
The thought made Mu Wan look at him more carefully.
Liu Qianxiu was already watching her.
Mu Wan shifted slightly.
Then her reddened eyes curved into a smile.
“I cried so hard just now that I cried the baby away.”
Her character had been pregnant in the scene.
Liu Qianxiu, however, remembered something else.
That night in the passenger seat.
Mu Wan had pushed out her small, rounded stomach beneath the seat belt and proudly told him it was all his doing.
His gaze lowered briefly toward her now-flat abdomen.
Then he held something out to her.
A glass cup with its lid screwed tightly shut.
Its clean surface reflected the corridor lights.
Inside was a pale brown liquid.
Two tiny bubbles clung to the glass before slowly drifting upward.
“You can always have another.”
His voice remained calm.
“Don’t catch a cold.”
Mu Wan’s heart lurched.
The smile in her eyes deepened.
The air around them was still damp and cold.
Her clothes were still thin.
Yet warmth began spreading through her body.
Her heart beat faster.
Blood rushed beneath her skin.
Within seconds, she felt warm from the tips of her toes to the ends of her hair.
Mu Wan accepted the glass.
It was still hot.
Freshly mixed banlangen.
The warmth settled comfortably into her palms.
Mu Wan lowered her head and held the glass close.
Her pale fingers traced lightly across its surface.
Then she murmured under her breath,
“Well, that only works if you’re willing to have one with me…”
Her voice was so quiet that she could barely hear herself.
She assumed Liu Qianxiu could not either.
But the moment she finished speaking, his low voice sounded beside her.
He was much taller than she was.
Yet somehow, that single sound seemed to fall directly against her ear.
Slide over her earlobe.
And close around her heart.
“Mm?”
— End of Chapter 16 —
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