“Look at me now,” Yan Huan pointed at her arm. “Can I do any filming in this state? There’s no role for a cripple in it.” She felt quite helpless, but the script had to be shot. From it, those that would become famous would emerge, whereas those who were declining in fame will eventually lose it. However, she knew that within these couple of years, she would still maintain her fame.
Of course, the Earth would continue to spin even without Yan Huan, and there would still be new drama series that would be produced and aired. Many dramas were shot decades ago that had outstanding viewership, but did not feature Yan Huan in them.
Therefore, she was not very important in the entertainment industry after all.
This industry had always been merciless.
Luo Lin stuffed the script back into her bag. Great, she had finally gotten to meet Yan Huan, so it was now time to leave. She would start to get very busy soon, with so many newbies under her management. She was no longer the manager of Yan Huan alone. The newbies were still waiting for her, and as for poor Yan Huan, it was best for her to rest and recover from her injury. Her current schedule was free anyway.
Only after Luo Lin left did Yan Huan tug at Lu Yi’s sleeve, and said, “I think she dislikes me.”
“Yeah,” Lu Yi replied with a single word.
This made Yan Huan more upset.
“I’m only temporarily crippled, and I didn’t ask to be in this situation.”
Yan Huan touched the cast on her hand, not knowing when this annoying thing would be removed. She could not move around freely, and it had to be secured around her neck daily. Moreover, her injury forced her to use her left hand to eat, brush her teeth and even clean herself after using the washroom.
Lu Yi placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her backwards.
“Go back to sleep.”
“Again?” Yan Huan felt like she was becoming a pig at that moment, a hibernating pig.
“Why is it that all I do is eat and sleep?”
“When you sleep, you might recover faster.”
Lu Yi tucked her under the blanket. Then, he sat beside her to make sure that she did fall asleep.
“Who said so?” Yan Huan would not believe such a saying. One should not sleep too little or too much. By sleeping too much everyday, she would be as good as dead, instead of recovering faster. She had to keep her spirits up for a speedy recovery.
Her mind was filled with all sorts of wild thoughts. However, the peculiar thing was, she did fall asleep after thinking about it. When she woke up, guess what she had to do?
Eat. What else could she do besides eating?
She could leave, but only after a month.
Luo Lin visited a few more times, telling her that the script had already been approved, and that the casting of actors would be handled by the professional personnel in the company.
“Director Jin wants you as the female lead.”
She threw herself heavily onto the chair and then reached out to touch Yan Huan’s face.
“He said that you are most suitable for this role, because you have the right build for it.”
“That’s not the case anymore,” Yan Huan laughed while holding up her arm. “I’ve been eating so much that my muscles are turning back into regular fat.”
Luo Lin poked her left arm, and true enough, the arm was now soft. She could not help poking it again. Sadly she could only poke this side, not the other one at the moment.
“Don’t you feel that it’s a pity though?” Luo Lin asked Yan Huan.
“The role of female lead would go to someone else.”
“What is there to mourn about?” Yan Huan sincerely did not feel that way. Currently she was not in a state to act in front of a camera, but if she wanted to do it, she would be offered any leading role in any movie or drama that she wanted. The company was hers, so it made sense that she got to choose the roles that she liked.
Besides that, she was only 25 years old. She could still last for at least another 10 years on screen by starring in at least a movie or television series each year. She would still have many opportunities to be the female lead.
Moreover, she felt that she had starred in enough films within the last few years, and had started to feel burned out. Coincidentally, she had gotten the time to have a good rest because of her arm injury. After recovering, she would return to the scene in full force.
“Director Jin asked if you would like to make a special appearance in the film?” Luo Lin asked. Her visit this time was still to ask if Yan Huan could still act.
“Let’s wait till I recover before I make any promises,” Yan Huan demurred. She could not promise anything at the moment. “With my situation now, I can go nowhere. I can’t possibly have this cast hung on my neck daily. Let’s wait three more months until I get the cast off, then I won’t mind acting as a corpse or whatever.”
Luo Lin rolled her eyes. The best actress acting as a corpse? The mere idea of that was inconceivable.
“Fine.” She picked up her stuff. “I get what you mean, I will let Director Jin know.”
She spun on her heels and left after saying so. She was starting to look more like a corporate lady. As for Yi Ling, she seemed to be getting more and more absent-minded lately. As the saying goes: ‘Pregnant mothers having baby brains.’
Lu Yi came in, he found Yan Huan propping her face on the table. He did not know what she was thinking about.
He walked over and sat down, waiting for her to come back to her senses.
When Yan Huan turned and saw that Lu Yi was seated not far away, she grabbed onto his sleeves happily.
“Lu Yi darling, would you bring me to the temple festival? I almost forgot that the temple festival in our area will be starting soon, Yiyi and I used to go every year.”
There were all kinds of food there that you could not get during normal days. They were only sold there once a year. She had just remembered it after looking through the calendar. Since she had been imprisoned indoors for almost three months, she had wanted to go on an outing for some fresh air.
“Do you think that you can go in this state?” Lu Yi reminded her of the situation that she was in. That was a hefty blow to her enthusiasm.
“You are currently crippled.”
Another blow.
“But I want to go… ” Yan Huan bit her own fingers. “I want to go, I must go, I must must go, if you don’t allow me to go…”
“Then what?” Lu Yi raised his eyebrows. She had built up enough courage now to have the nerve to threaten him.
“Then I would go on a hunger strike.”
Yan Huan held her chin up high. Either she would get to attend the festival, or she would starve to death.
Lu Yi got up and left immediately, leaving Yan Huan terribly upset. It was true, things would lose their value when you get your hands on them. Not only did he refuse to bring her to the temple fair, he had even lost his temper at her… No, this time he actually walked out on her.
Here she was, a sad orphan who had no maternal family to go back to.
The more she thought about it, the sadder she felt, and tears started to roll down her cheeks.
When Lu Yi returned, he saw her crying as if someone owed her money and refused to pay up. Why was she so upset?
He had only left to get a glass of milk.
What’s wrong? Why was she offended by him getting a glass of milk? Why these tears?
He sat down, placing the milk on the table.
Yan Huan took the glass and drank it sadly. She would need to keep herself hydrated after crying so much, if not she would die of thirst. Lu Yi would then be a widower, and eventually marry another woman. He would let the woman sleep in her bed, a woman who would snub her as a ‘short-lived ghost’ in her heart.
“When is the temple festival?”
Lu Yi was helpless against her.
How would he not understand Yan Huan’s temper? If she insisted on going, she would never give in, and would argue with him about it for a long time. Fine, just this once.
Yan Huan looked up and blinked.
