Chen Wanda stomped off, fuming. Yi Ling wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Yan Huan, on the other hand, was entirely unperturbed. She did not look like someone who had just lost an amazing opportunity; she merely looked as though she had wasted half an hour.
Yan Huan did, in fact, feel that she had wasted her time. She did not want to spend a single minute with someone as disgusting as Chen Wanda, let alone half an hour. If it had been up to her, she would have stayed at home and spent the time playing with her cat instead.
“Huanhuan, what’s wrong? Why didn’t you accept the offer?”
That was the question Yi Ling repeated over and over again on the way home. She did not blame Yan Huan; she was merely sorry to see the opportunity slip away. Chen Wanda had been unnecessarily scathing with his choice of words, but he was right: who knew how long they would have to wait for their next opportunity to come knocking?
Yan Huan stopped. She looked directly into Yi Ling’s eyes as she asked, “Yiyi, do you know what kind of movies Chen Wanda makes?”
Yi Ling was caught off-guard by the question. “Um, he’s a new director, and this is his first feature film. But I’ve seen his short films, and I think they’re okay. Kind of artistic. He’ll be writing and directing this movie. It’s low-budget, he doesn’t have a lot of money or sponsors to work with, which is probably why he chose us. I mean, he would have gone with someone more famous if he had the money, right?”
Yan Huan reached out and squeezed Yi Ling’s shoulder. In her previous life, both of them had been deceived by Chen Wanda. They had happily signed the contract with the director without knowing what the movie was truly about. On the first day of the shoot, they finally discovered, to their horror, that it wasn’t an art film at all—it was one of “those” films. Yi Ling had frantically tried to stop Yan Huan from going ahead with the shoot; she had even gone so far as to agree to pay the director for breach of contract. It was an astronomical amount of money, but they would pay it, slowly but surely, even if it meant having to take on every small role and stunt double job that came their way. But Yan Huan had not been able to appreciate Yi Ling’s desperate efforts back then; she had been ravenous for fame, and her hunger had clouded her judgment. She took on the role, and thereafter it followed her around like an indelible stain for the rest of her short life. And why wouldn’t it? Everyone had seen her naked.
That was all in the past now. She was no longer the naïve girl who would willingly put her lifelong reputation on the line for a film that would end up being worse than trash.
“Yiyi, I have to take off all my clothes for that role. Do you understand what that means?”
She smiled. It was a complicated smile: it was the smile of a prisoner who had finally broken free, and also the smile of a woman looking ironically upon her past.
“What did you just say?” Yi Ling could not believe what she had just heard. “You’re saying it’s a porno? A… a porno?”
The word was so repulsive to her she had to force herself to spit it out. She didn’t mind her sweet Huanhuan taking on small roles, but acting in such a disgusting movie? Never!
She understood now why the director had said that the role did not require any acting skills, only that Yan Huan would have to “show her true self.” She knew now why he had been adamant about choosing someone young and beautiful, and why she had been deeply uncomfortable with the way he had looked at Yan Huan. She would never have guessed…
Yi Ling’s face clouded over. “Let’s go.” She took Yan Huan’s hand, squeezing it. “I don’t care if we have to take on small roles for the rest of our lives. I will never, ever, let you act in such a trashy movie. That scumbag Chen Wanda tried to pull a fast one on me, eh? The next time I see him, I’ll break both his legs—and make sure he won’t be able to have children!”
Yi Ling was bristling like a protective mother hen. Yan Huan’s heart, which had become cool and cynical, gradually warmed up again as she listened to Yi Ling’s angry rambling. She felt a slight stinging in her eyes, but she did not cry.
We won’t shed any more tears this time.
We’ll be happy this time.
Right?
