Something Doesn’t Add Up
Liu Qianxiu usually woke a little after six for his morning practice.
Mu Wan slept later.
By the time Liu Qianxiu finished making breakfast, she would finally rub her eyes awake and wander sleepily into the kitchen to find him.
Breakfast was sandwiches and juice.
Everything had already been prepared and set on the table.
Liu Qianxiu was washing his hands at the sink when a warm body leaned against his back.
Mu Wan was considerably shorter than him.
Her face rested naturally between his shoulder blades.
She rubbed her cheek against him twice.
Liu Qianxiu turned off the faucet.
After drying his hands with a paper towel, he turned around and kissed her forehead.
Even in the middle of summer, mornings still carried a trace of freshness.
Mu Wan received her kiss.
She smiled.
Only then did she finally open her eyes and wrap both arms around him.
“You’re up early today.”
Liu Qianxiu glanced at the time.
Mu Wan continued clinging to him.
Her bare feet stepped onto his.
She clearly had no intention of moving.
So Liu Qianxiu simply tightened his arms and lifted her.
This was no longer the first time they had done this.
The moment he moved, Mu Wan reacted instinctively.
As he picked her up, she wrapped both legs around his waist.
Just like that, Liu Qianxiu carried her to the dining table and set her on one of the high stools.
“There’s a launch ceremony today.”
Mu Wan picked up her sandwich and took a bite, chewing slowly.
“For Thousand Threads of Snow. The one I told you about.”
The empress was the best role Mu Wan had received in the past few years.
She was genuinely happy.
But whenever she remembered that Mu Qing would be there too, that happiness became complicated.
Mu Qing had not withdrawn from the production.
She was still the female lead.
They would definitely meet at today’s launch ceremony.
Still, Mu Qing did not want anyone to know about their relationship.
With so many people around, she probably would not say anything strange like she had the last time.
Mu Wan took a sip of juice.
Looking at Liu Qianxiu, she suddenly remembered her encounter with Mu Qing in the production-base alley.
That had been the first time Mu Qing had deliberately approached her.
The things she said had been unpleasant, but Mu Wan had heard them and quickly forgotten.
Looking back now, however, something seemed strange.
Mu Qing had always maintained the image of an elegant orchid blooming untouched in an empty valley.
Why had she lost her composure specifically after Mu Wan received the empress role in Thousand Threads of Snow?
Clearly, Mu Qing did not want her in the drama.
And Shen Entertainment was the production’s primary investor.
If Mu Qing truly did not want Mu Wan to act in it, then logically, Mu Wan should never have been able to keep the role.
When people were caught inside an event, they often failed to notice what was wrong.
Only later, after stepping away and looking back, did different details begin to emerge.
Then Mu Wan remembered Mei Yaozhi at the hospital yesterday.
Liu Qianxiu was eating.
Sensing her gaze, he looked up.
Mu Wan’s eyes were bright.
Clearly, she was turning something over in her mind.
“Not happy?”
Liu Qianxiu took a sip of juice.
“Mm?”
Mu Wan came back to herself.
She lowered her head.
“I am happy.”
Then she sighed.
“It’s just that I suddenly remembered Mu Qing is the female lead in this drama.”
Mu Wan had never really told Liu Qianxiu about the Mu family.
He looked toward her.
Mu Wan smiled and gave him the simple version.
“She’s sort of my younger cousin. We’re about the same age.”
“Growing up, she could never beat me at anything.”
“When I became an adult, I moved out of the Mu family home and basically stopped having anything to do with them.”
“But she entered the entertainment industry recently. Her boyfriend is Shen Cheng, the young master of Shen Entertainment.”
“She’s always had good resources. I was doing perfectly fine with my own acting too. I don’t know why, but suddenly she started coming after me.”
“All my work disappeared last week because she had people cut my scenes.”
Mu Wan shrugged.
“Then this week, for some reason, I suddenly started getting work again.”
“She was furious.”
“A few days ago when we ran into each other, she even said I was being kept by some man.”
“That’s why I told you not to believe rumors like that.”
Mu Wan looked at Liu Qianxiu.
“At the time, I was just happy I had work again, so I didn’t think about it too much.”
“I thought she accused me of being kept because she wanted to spread rumors and ruin my reputation.”
She paused.
“But several days have passed, and nothing has happened.”
The more she spoke, the more thoughtful she became.
“Now that I’m looking back at everything, there seem to be quite a few things that don’t make sense.”
She took another bite of her sandwich.
“Don’t you think?”
Liu Qianxiu’s expression did not change.
He looked at her quietly.
“What do you think happened?”
“I don’t really think anything.”
Mu Wan smiled and shook her head.
“But being on the same production as Mu Qing will definitely be annoying.”
“She’s the lead and I’m supporting cast. She’ll find ways to make things difficult for me.”
She shrugged again.
“But even if she does, I’m still going to act.”
“I like this character.”
Mu Wan paused.
Then she looked at Liu Qianxiu.
“It would be nice if Tang Qin were still the female lead, like they originally planned.”
“She doesn’t know me.”
Mu Wan smiled.
“She definitely wouldn’t make trouble for me.”
There was frustration in her eyes.
And a little hope.
But after saying it aloud, she seemed to let it go.
She had not told Liu Qianxiu because she expected him to solve the problem.
She was simply sharing her troubles with him.
A small wish of her own.
Nothing could have been more ordinary.
Liu Qianxiu looked at her quietly.
It was impossible to tell whether he had noticed anything.
Or whether he had noticed everything.
Then his gaze moved toward her plate.
“Finish eating.”
“Oh.”
Mu Wan obediently lowered her head and continued.
After breakfast, Liu Qianxiu went to work.
Mu Wan took a taxi to the production base.
Today was the launch ceremony for Thousand Threads of Snow.
As a supporting actress, she would not have needed to come at all if she did not also have scenes scheduled today.
Preparations for the ceremony were already underway.
Mu Wan helped whenever she could.
The ceremonial platform was still being arranged.
Once everything was ready, the actors would finish their makeup and costumes, then come over for the formal blessing.
The lead actors had not arrived yet.
After helping where she could, Mu Wan sat to one side and began studying her script.
She had an important scene today.
She could not afford to be careless.
Gao Mei was working on the production next door.
She happened to be waiting for her own scene, so she came over to find Mu Wan.
“How do you have time to come over?”
Mu Wan smiled and closed her script.
“Where’s Little Brother Li Cheng?”
Yesterday, Gao Mei had bombarded her with photos of Li Cheng.
At first Mu Wan had played along.
Eventually, she had simply let Gao Mei talk to herself.
It had taken until eight or nine that evening before the messages finally stopped.
“He doesn’t have scenes today.”
Gao Mei wore the expression of someone freshly heartbroken.
She lowered her fuller figure beside Mu Wan.
Then she reached out and picked up Mu Wan’s script.
“You really got it.”
She sighed.
“I’m so jealous. You get to act in whatever you want.”
Gao Mei had been the one to recommend the original Thousand Threads of Snow novel to her.
At the time, Mu Wan had already said she liked the empress.
Now she had actually gotten the role.
In its own way, it was a dream coming true.
At Gao Mei’s words, Mu Wan lifted her eyes toward the makeup rooms.
People came and went.
Everything looked calm and busy.
Nothing seemed unusual.
“What do you want to play?”
Mu Wan turned back to Gao Mei.
“Little Brother Li Cheng’s goddess!”
Gao Mei answered immediately.
Mu Wan stared at her.
Gao Mei burst out laughing first.
“A girl still has to have dreams.”
She began imagining it aloud.
“Maybe one day I’ll get rich enough to invest in my own drama.”
“I’ll play the female lead.”
“Little Brother Li Cheng can play the male lead.”
She had barely finished when someone approached.
Both women looked up.
Mi Yu stood beside them in full makeup and lit a cigarette.
She was playing an imperial consort whose character would turn darker later in the story.
Her makeup was particularly glamorous.
Combined with her hanfu and the cigarette between her fingers, she gave off the commanding air of an older, powerful beauty.
Apparently, she had heard the end of their conversation.
Her elegant fingers held the slender cigarette.
Red lips parted.
White smoke drifted out.
Then Mi Yu joined the conversation without invitation.
“Even if you eventually get rich enough to invest in a movie, you still won’t get to play the female lead.”
She looked Gao Mei up and down.
“Even if you want the role, the other investors won’t agree.”
“They still expect to make money.”
Gao Mei’s face immediately flushed.
She stood up, ready to leave.
The two women worked for different agencies.
Mu Wan had told Gao Mei before that Mi Yu only looked intimidating and was actually a decent person.
Gao Mei still preferred to trust her first impression.
Mi Yu looked at Gao Mei’s puffed cheeks and smiled faintly.
“If you fund the entire project yourself, though, that’s different.”
“Then the whole production belongs to you.”
She tapped the ash from her cigarette.
“Who gets which role is entirely up to you.”
The instant she finished speaking, something shattered inside the makeup room.
A sharp crack rang out.
Gao Mei immediately forgot that she was angry.
Curiosity made her turn toward the sound.
Mu Wan looked over too.
At the same time, she glanced toward Mi Yu.
Mi Yu happened to be watching her.
Mu Wan raised one brow.
Mi Yu’s expression was unreadable.
She extinguished her cigarette.
Then she said,
“Mu Qing has been removed.”
“The production made me the female lead at the last minute.”
With that, Mi Yu stood and walked away.
— To be continued in Part 2 —
She should lost some weight for it first because most of the CNs I've read have slim/slender FL. Or, she should write her original script with FL who was tailor-made to suit her. 😅
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