There Is Nowhere She Cannot Grow
The days without Liu Qianxiu were difficult.
And boring.
Mu Wan filmed during the day. After work, she either went to the Mei residence for dinner or met Lin Wei.
At night, she returned to Liu Qianxiu’s apartment and slept with the four cats beside her.
When Liu Qianxiu first arrived in Austria, they had stayed in fairly frequent contact.
Two or three calls a day.
But after half a week, even one call a day became difficult.
This time, two full days had passed before he finally contacted her.
Mu Wan was sitting cross-legged among the four cats.
She had originally planned to complain.
But the instant she heard Liu Qianxiu’s voice, her own softened like a strip of melting sugar.
“Liu Qianxiu, I miss you again.”
Mu Wan never held back when telling him how much she missed him.
Inside, she was delighted.
Every day, she counted how many days remained until Liu Qianxiu came home.
“I’ve been a little busy lately.”
Liu Qianxiu was the one who apologized first.
Then he smiled and asked,
“Have you eaten dinner?”
“Mm.”
Mu Wan answered casually.
“I went out with Lin Wei. We had little wontons. She complained they were too bland and dumped in half a bottle of chili. Hahaha.”
Hearing her laugh, Liu Qianxiu’s lips curved faintly.
“You like little wontons?”
When he cooked at home, she had never once asked for them.
“They’re all right. It’s mainly because there isn’t much light food when I eat out.”
Mu Wan smiled.
“I have to be especially careful about what I eat now.”
Then she added cheerfully,
“I might already be pregnant.”
Liu Qianxiu had been in Austria for a week.
This was the first time they had spoken about it.
There was a brief silence on the other end.
Mu Wan asked,
“You don’t think I could be pregnant?”
“You can test.”
Liu Qianxiu said,
“Try a pregnancy test tomorrow.”
“All right.”
Mu Wan’s smile widened.
She lay back on the bed.
The three kittens stepped across her thighs, making her itch.
“If I’m pregnant, then when you come back, you have to marry me.”
A soft laugh came through the phone.
Then a couple of light coughs.
“All right.”
Liu Qianxiu said,
“We’ll get married.”
Mu Wan immediately brightened.
Her heart turned sweet.
She rolled across the bed twice before ending up on her stomach.
The three kittens promptly climbed onto her back.
“You just coughed.”
She paused.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Liu Qianxiu’s voice was quiet.
“I’ve been busy these past few days. I got sick.”
The fact that he admitted it so readily left a strange emptiness in Mu Wan’s chest.
She immediately pushed herself upright.
Outside the window, the moon was gradually waning.
“Really?”
“Really,” Liu Qianxiu confirmed.
Mu Wan relaxed.
She trusted him.
Even so, she emphasized,
“Liu Qianxiu, you’re the most important person in the world to me.”
“If anything happens to me, I’ll tell you.”
“So if anything happens to you, you have to tell me too.”
“Otherwise…”
There was a threat in her voice.
But when she reached the end, she suddenly could not think of anything threatening enough.
Liu Qianxiu laughed softly.
“Otherwise what?”
“Otherwise I’ll break up with you.”
There was a long silence on the other end.
Only after it passed did the man answer, his voice distant and deep.
“All right.”
Mu Wan continued chattering afterward.
Eventually, perhaps because she was sleepy, her voice became slow and affectionate.
After one final, “Love you,” there was no more sound from her side.
Inside the cold, cavernous castle, Liu Qianxiu sat behind a desk and looked out the window.
He called her name softly.
Only the cries of the three kittens and the woman’s slow, even breathing answered him.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
Then his brows suddenly drew together.
Only after ending the call did he allow himself to cough twice.
Cai Qingliang stood beside the desk.
He handed Liu Qianxiu a cup of hot tea.
Compared with when he had first arrived, Liu Qianxiu had grown noticeably thinner in only a week.
His skin had always been cool and pale.
Now there was an added trace of illness.
The fingers wrapped around the white porcelain cup were almost translucent, nearly blending into it.
After taking a sip of tea, Liu Qianxiu did not return to the documents in front of him.
Instead, he looked outside.
The castle garden had been carefully maintained, lush and green as far as the eye could see.
“The bamboo still hasn’t arrived?”
His gaze passed beyond the black window frame.
Cai Qingliang had not expected him to ask about that.
“We already planted one batch.”
He hesitated.
“But I’m afraid the climate isn’t suitable for bamboo.”
The desk was covered with catalogs and documents detailing every artifact involved in the Liu family’s recent troubles.
Liu Qianxiu withdrew his gaze.
He looked down at a landscape painting in one of the catalogs.
“Then plant it again.”
His voice was calm.
“As many times as it takes.”
“As long as I’m here, there is nowhere she cannot grow.”
Mu Wan’s original name had been Mu Qingzhu.
She liked bamboo too.
Especially the bamboo forests in historical martial arts films.
That was precisely why she had asked Li Nan to get her a role in this production.
Whenever Mu Wan arrived on set, her scenes were filmed first.
Once she finished, she simply left.
The leads and supporting actors alike were naturally envious.
There was no shortage of gossip behind her back.
After finishing her scenes for the day, Mu Wan went to the changing area.
For outdoor shoots, the changing rooms were nothing more than separate compartments formed by fabric partitions inside a temporary tent.
Mu Wan was changing when she heard two women whispering in the section beside hers.
“Who exactly is backing Mu Wan?”
One woman shook out her clothes irritably.
“Even the leads in our drama have to adjust their schedule around hers. Isn’t that a little arrogant?”
“I heard it’s someone from one of the Four Great Families.”
A woman with a childish voice answered.
“Last time, Young Master Mei Yaozhi drove a Ferrari here to pick her up. Everyone at the production base knows.”
“Someone from the Mei family?” the first woman asked eagerly.
“No.”
The childish voice denied it.
“Mei Yaozhi was pretty polite with her. They looked like friends, not lovers.”
“But if she can get Mei Yaozhi to personally drive over and pick her up, then whoever is behind her has to be from one of the Four Great Families.”
“Maybe one of the Four Young Masters.”
“That’s a little far-fetched, isn’t it?”
The first woman clearly did not believe her.
“If one of the Four Young Masters were really keeping her, why would she only play supporting roles?”
“If someone that powerful were backing her, she’d be like Mu Qing, getting lead roles in every project.”
“Oh, speaking of Mu Qing, did you hear she just accepted a new movie?”
The woman with the childish voice eagerly moved on to the latest gossip.
“It’s The Dao, directed by Director Cheng.”
“A prestigious director, Hollywood actors and actresses, and she’s the lead while everyone else supports her.”
“The investment is over a billion.”
“Holy shit, seriously?”
The other woman sounded shocked.
“Shen Entertainment is willing to spend that much?”
“No. It’s not Shen Cheng anymore.”
“She seems to have changed patrons.”
“I heard the new one has something to do with the Liu family.”
The woman lowered her voice.
“If you told me Young Master Liu was keeping her, that I’d believe. Just look at those resources.”
She clicked her tongue.
The other woman seemed to agree, but then raised another doubt.
“Still, would anyone really put that much money into her?”
“She’s a complete newcomer.”
“Wouldn’t they be afraid they couldn’t recover the investment?”
“I know someone who worked with Mu Qing before. Apparently she really is beautiful, but her acting is absolutely terrible.”
“Can she actually carry a lead role?”
“Aren’t they afraid the box office will collapse?”
“Maybe the whole point is for the movie to lose money.”
The childish voice grew even quieter.
“For example, money laundering.”
“Seriously?”
This was clearly outside the other woman’s experience.
Shock and curiosity filled her voice.
“Who knows?”
“There are plenty of rich people. There must be plenty of gray money too.”
“The Liu family runs auction houses. They deal in antiques.”
“Sell a fake as genuine, then sell the real piece afterward, and suddenly you’ve doubled the money.”
“What do you do with money like that?”
“You have to launder it.”
The conversation became increasingly ridiculous.
Mu Wan stopped listening.
She pulled aside the curtain and walked out.
The two women happened to emerge at the same time.
The instant they saw Mu Wan, both froze.
Fear flashed across their faces.
Mu Wan smiled.
“Are you taking your costumes back?”
“Could you return mine too?”
The woman with the childish voice immediately nodded.
“Sure.”
“Thanks.”
Mu Wan handed over her costume and left.
Behind her, their quiet whispers began again.
— To be continued in Part 2 —
If you like what I do, please consider donating our website to show your support, so I can try my best to update you regularly. Thank you. ☕️💕
Comments
Post a Comment