Chapter 89
Zuo Bian wasn’t sure if she had seen correctly, but she memorized the car’s license plate number.
Lost in her thoughts, she returned to the small apartment. As soon as she sat down, she received a call from Qin Ai.
“Have you had dinner? Do you want me to come over and cook for you?”
Zuo Bian, lying on the bed, happily rolled over, but she rolled right off the bed. She had forgotten that she wasn’t at home, and the bed was much smaller.
“Ugh…” She got up from the floor, her knee slightly bruised.
Qin Ai, hearing the commotion, immediately asked, “What happened?”
Zuo Bian sat back on the bed. “Nothing, I just accidentally fell off the bed.”
“Wait a moment.” Qin Ai hung up the phone and then called back with a video call.
Zuo Bian accepted the call without hesitation. Qin Ai’s face appeared on the screen.
“Let me see where you fell.”
Zuo Bian pulled up her pants leg. “It’s just a bruise, not even broken skin. Don’t worry.”
“Do you have any red flower oil? Apply some.”
“Okay.” Zuo Bian found the red flower oil and rubbed it on her bruised knee, muttering about its strange smell.
Qin Ai said with a hint of exasperation, “Will you be more careful next time?”
Zuo Bian capped the oil and nodded obediently at the camera. “I will.”
“You haven’t answered my previous question. Have you eaten dinner?”
Zuo Bian replied, “Yes, I’m full. So you don’t need to come over and cook for me, Qin Ai.”
She could see that Qin Ai was still at the office. If she was still working at this hour, it meant she was busy.
Zuo Bian didn’t want Qin Ai to work all day and then come over to cook for her.
“Then I’ll cook for you tomorrow. Do you want me to bring the groceries?”
Zuo Bian thought for a moment, then shook her head. “I’ll go buy the groceries myself. I’ve never been to a wet market before.”
“Okay.”
They chatted for a while longer, hanging up the phone only when it was getting late.
The apartment had a separate bathroom, but it was cramped, making it difficult for Zuo Bian to move around freely. After showering, she wanted to blow-dry her hair but realized she hadn’t brought a hairdryer.
So she sat by the window, letting the night breeze dry her hair naturally.
She was on the seventh floor, and across from her was a forty-story residential building.
At 10 p.m., most of the windows were still lit. Zuo Bian could hear couples arguing, parents scolding their children, lonely elderly people watching TV…
It was as if she could see a glimpse of all walks of life through this small window. She felt like she understood this world a little better.
A world wasn’t just about the good things, there were also bad things. And some things were neither good nor bad.
The family of three across the street: The child had just been scolded by his short-tempered mother for his messy handwriting. The father tried to mediate, but the mother was still fuming. It seemed like the argument would continue, but then the mother brought a bowl of sweet soup for the child, her tone gruff as she said, “Drink it if you want.”
The child took the bowl and started drinking, tears silently rolling down his cheeks.
The mother felt bad but couldn’t bring herself to apologize. She said sternly, “Write neatly next time,” then started nagging again.
Zuo Bian could see that the mother loved her child; she just had a quick temper. Life wasn’t always about dramatic events, it was mostly made up of these mundane, trivial matters.
The cool night breeze brushed against Zuo Bian’s hair, which was almost dry now.
Zuo Bian’s thoughts were simple: Live in the present. Qin Ai, her mother, father, brother, 555, and Little Frog all thought she was suffering by moving into this small apartment for the sake of filming, but she didn’t see it that way.
She didn’t feel bad about not wearing expensive designer clothes or eating luxurious meals. The smaller bed and cramped bathroom were a bit inconvenient, but not unbearable.
What mattered was that she seemed to be seeing another world, or rather, another side of the world.
Not everyone could buy whatever they wanted. They worked hard every day, struggling to make ends meet.
They would haggle over a few yuan. Zuo Bian had spent a long time bargaining with a middle-aged street vendor over three yuan when she was buying clothes. She wanted to save money, and the vendor just wanted to earn a little more.
However, her master seemed to dislike her being exposed to these things, saying that the complexities of the mortal world would cloud her mind.
Whenever Zuo Bian saw her senior and junior disciples descending the mountain, she felt envious. She wondered what the world outside was like.
Later, she became a senior disciple herself, qualified to take on missions and descend the mountain.
But the missions she received were carefully chosen by her master. And if she went somewhere far away, her master would send someone to protect her.
Her fellow disciples, both senior and junior, all said that her master doted on her. But Zuo Bian envied them. She also wanted to be with everyone, but she was always alone, watching them go on missions in groups.
She had asked her master why she wasn’t allowed to train and go on missions with others. Her master had simply said that she was her most prized disciple, so she was special, and it was all for her own good.
Zuo Bian, naive and trusting, looked at her master’s kind and loving face and nodded, saying she understood.
Gradually, the night breeze dried Zuo Bian’s hair. She ran her fingers through it, feeling that it was almost dry, and closed the window.
The sounds from the building across the street were muffled, and Zuo Bian lay down on the small, clean bed, her eyes open.
A dim yellow light from the streetlamp outside shone through the window, casting a faint glow on the floor. Zuo Bian stared at it, lost in thought.
The memories of her previous life had faded since coming to this world. She realized that she preferred this world to her old one.
Slowly, she drifted off to sleep.
She seemed to have fallen into a strange dream. In the dream, she was a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes.
A woman held her tightly in her arms, her embrace warm. A sticky, warm liquid dripped onto Zuo Bian’s forehead. She opened her eyes, her vision a blur of red.
The woman’s face was obscured by blood, and Zuo Bian could only make out her silhouette.
Although she couldn’t see the woman’s face clearly, and her parents had been dead for as long as she could remember, she knew this woman was her mother.
The woman was saying something to her, but her words were muffled, like they were coming from behind a veil.
More and more blood dripped down, and the woman’s voice grew weaker.
Zuo Bian felt cold, so cold. And then, as if reaching the peak of coldness, she was enveloped in warmth.
She didn’t know how much time had passed. When she opened her eyes, she saw a hand, as white as jade, reaching out to her.
“Are you alright?”
Zuo Bian instinctively looked up and saw a woman who looked like a celestial being.
The woman had a cool and elegant aura. She wasn’t breathtakingly beautiful, but there was a strange allure about her.
Her eyes were gentle and clear, like water. Although she looked young, her gaze held the wisdom of countless years.
Zuo Bian, who was on the verge of starvation, reached out her bony hand, her dirty little hand landing in the woman’s palm.
This was Zuo Bian’s first encounter with her master, Meng Zhen, in her memory. She remembered Meng Zhen’s hand being cold, as if she was touching a lifeless piece of jade.
The dream was long, so long that when Zuo Bian woke up, she could barely remember what she had dreamt about.
A faint light shone through the thin curtains. Zuo Bian got out of bed and opened the curtains.
Although she had slept for a full eight hours, she didn’t feel refreshed. Instead, she felt tired.
【It must be the small bed, you didn’t sleep well, Host.】
“Should we buy a bigger bed, ribbit?” Little Frog asked.
Zuo Bian, who was about to brush her teeth, said, “No, I just had a dream last night.”
【Was it a nightmare?】
Zuo Bian mumbled, “Not really. I should feel better after washing my face.”
After washing up, she changed into the new clothes she had bought yesterday. They were very ordinary: a white T-shirt with random English letters printed on it and a pair of black sweatpants with white stripes. It was the kind of outfit that would easily pill.
On an ordinary person, this outfit would look frumpy, but on Zuo Bian, it looked decent.
Perhaps it was because of her good figure. As long as the clothes fit, they looked good on her.
Before heading out, Zuo Bian put on her baseball cap as usual. She received a call from the director, saying that he had sent someone to pick her up.
Today was her first day of “work.” She got into the van and soon arrived at the restaurant.
In the movie, she played a restaurant employee, and some of the scenes would be filmed in this restaurant.
Coming here to “work” was also a way for her to familiarize herself with the set. Since it was her first day, Director Li only asked her to get acquainted with the environment and the procedures. She would officially start working tomorrow.
Of course, it wasn’t real work. Considering her background, everyone in the restaurant would take care of her, and her work wouldn’t be strenuous.
After learning what she needed to know, Zuo Bian decided to buy some groceries and head back to the apartment. Qin Ai was coming over to cook for her at noon.
Director Li offered to give her a ride, but Zuo Bian declined, saying that she wanted to buy some things.
She left the restaurant with her canvas bag and went to a nearby wet market.
She hadn’t gone to the supermarket because she wanted to experience haggling. The vendors at the wet market were much more experienced. Zuo Bian thought she was good at bargaining and had gotten the best vegetables at a low price.
But then she turned a corner and saw two middle-aged women carrying bags of vegetables, laughing and saying that the vegetables were only 3.5 yuan per kilogram. They had just bought them from the same stall where Zuo Bian had bought her potatoes.
Looking at the vegetables in her hand, which she had bought for 4 yuan per kilogram, Zuo Bian suddenly felt a bit cheated.
【It seems like your bargaining skills need some improvement, Host.】
Zuo Bian: …
Leave a Reply