“You’re still continuing your hard work even though you know that you’re hurt…” Wei Zhiqian’s voice was soft. “You don’t know how to take care of yourself.”
Tan Mo was supposed to be the one who understood him the most, but she didn’t understand why he was mad. That only made him more angry.
She was hard to persuade.
SIGH… Tan Mo could understand Wei Zhiqan’s point of view, and she even understood why he became frustrated when she seemed to not comprehend the importance of what he was saying.
She tugged on Wei Zhiqian’s shirt. “I know, I know… It’s not that I don’t understand where you’re coming from, it’s just that my brain’s a little muddled right now.”
Tan Mo released her grip on his shirt and rubbed her temples softly. “My brain’s not functioning well today, so I didn’t give it enough thought.”
HUMPH! Wei Zhiqian let out a frustrated sound. Here we go…
“Go to sleep.” He tucked her in.
Since they’d been at the hotel the entire evening, Tan Mo had changed into fuzzy pajamas for maximum comfort.
This saved her the time and effort to get changed for bed.
Tan Mo closed her eyes immediately. She was exhausted.
She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.
Just look at how drained she was…
…
Wei Zhiqian and Tan Mo had been chattering away so privately. Director Liu and Tan Jinqi couldn’t really hear what they had been babbling on about.
It seemed as if they had been talking about some secret between them.
Tan Jinqi was so jealous that his eyes started watering.
Then Director Liu’s phone rang.
He picked it up at the first ring because he didn’t want to wake up Tan Mo. He was planning to head out now anyway.
He then heard the person on the other end of the phone introduce themselves, and his shock was visible.
“Headmaster Mu!” Director Liu exclaimed, making sure to keep his voice low.
“I heard from Professor Zhao and Professor Guo that Tan Mo was joining your scriptwriting team? And that she’s also not only handling the scriptwriting, but also the expert consultancy.
Director Liu didn’t know how to respond.
Professor Guo and Professor Zhao had told Headmaster Mu about this?
“Ah, yes.” Director Liu started to praise Tan Mo again.
With Headmaster Mu calling personally, of course he had to praise her again.
During the past two days, he’d praised Tan Mo so much that his mouth felt sore.
“I just wanted to make sure that she is in capable hands,” Headmaster Mu said.
How many students would receive such care from Headmaster Mu personally? To receive a personal phone call?
First, it had been Professor Zhao, then it had been Professor Guo, and now it was Headmaster Mu.
Just exactly what position did Tan Mo have at Beijing University?
It definitely seemed as if the school couldn’t spoil her enough, could they?
“Of course,” Director Liu responded quickly.
“Did she have a good day today?” Headmaster Mu asked.
“Speaking about this makes me feel a little ashamed. Tan Mo quite literally pulled an all-nighter yesterday in order to write a script and then she wrote this entire day also. She has only just gone to sleep. She must be exhausted,” Director Liu said. “I’ll be supervising her from tomorrow onward. I can’t let her drain herself like this every day.”
“She’s got plenty of knowledge in that brain of hers. Director Liu, you’ve got to take care of it.” Headmaster Mu reminded him after hearing what he’d said.
Director Liu hurriedly agreed.
And, after hanging up, he began wondering if anyone else was going to give him a call tomorrow.
He was too naive.
He never would’ve thought that he would have been able to keep such a sweetheart.
He really had to look after her. There was no such thing as replacing Tan Mo. There was no replacement for her at all.
This was the best team he could assemble.
Director Liu left after his phone call to let Tan Mo get a good night’s sleep.
Tan Jinqi made sure that Wei Zhiqian left too.
As reassuring as it had been to have Wei Zhiqian take care of Tan Mo, it wasn’t as if he should be staying with her all night.
…
Tan Mo woke up at 8:00 in the morning the next day.
Since she had gone to sleep early, she was able to wake up at her normal time the next day.
After a good night’s rest, she was in good spirits and in better writing condition too.
Wei Zhiqian didn’t have to leave until 3:00 in the afternoon to head to the airport.
Tan Mo wanted to go to the airport to send him off, but Wei Zhiqian wouldn’t allow it.
If Tan Mo were to accompany him to the airport, she’d have to come back alone. He was worried about that.
This was why he’d only agreed to have Tan Mo take him down to the hotel’s entrance and watch him leave in his car.
No matter what Tan Mo said, she couldn’t change his mind.
Wei Zhiqian sat in his car with the door still open. Tan Mo bent down to say her goodbyes. They couldn’t bear to leave one another.
It was hard enough that Wei Zhiqian had come to see her, and Tan Mo had had to stay in her room almost the entire time, typing away. Even though he was beside her most of the time, it was still not any fun.
And they hadn’t been together for so long before that…
“Go back inside.” Wei Zhiqian ruffled her hair.
Tan Mo nodded and went inside the hotel. She watched the car drive away. Only when she couldn’t see it any longer did she head back to her room..
Once she returned, she felt as if the room was empty.
Wei Zhiqian had been with her in the room, and, if she wanted anything, Wei Zhiqian was always at her service.
He didn’t do anything else but focus on her.
But now, Wei Zhiqian wasn’t around anymore.
Not only was the room empty, her heart had gotten a lot more hollow too. It was like something was missing.
She sat down and continued writing, but she felt as if something was wrong.
Every few minutes, she’d turn around to see if Wei Zhiqian was there.
But he was long gone.
She would turn around and all she would see was a plain wall.
Her shoulders sagged in disappointment as she pouted and got back to writing.
In her current condition, she’d be able to finish writing today’s task. That was better than nothing.
During the next few days, Tan Mo wrote every day.
Tan Mo even participated in the opening work of the drama team.
She met the cast not just as a writer, but also as a historical consultant.
“Tan Mo, you’ve got three days before you have to leave. Do make use of these three days, and tell the staff about the mannerisms of the time, please. Our cast has to to know these things also,” Director Liu said. “You can put down the script for a while.”
Tan Mo agreed.
Director Liu then took her along and introduced her to the main cast.
The main cast was mostly full of actors who were experienced and in their 40s; there were even some in their 70s.
But, as in any drama, you couldn’t have just experienced actors like these. You had to have at least a few young, fresh actors for some other roles.
This was why there was a relatively young cast around as well.
Some of their acting skills were already not that bad, while there were others who had room for improvement.
And those who were not that bad also had room to improve as well.
Tan Mo realized that if it had been just the younger cast performing, the show would still be watchable. But when the older cast were working, that changed the game. Their differences in skill were huge.
“Everyone, this is Tan Mo. Not only is she our scriptwriter, she’s also our consultant. In the next three days, we’ll be having Tan Mo explain to us the different mannerisms of the different people in the era we are filming. This includes greetings, body actions, drinking, dining, and so on. We can’t have the crowd catching us making mistakes on these little details.” Director Liu smiled as he explained.
