Chapter 32: I’m Back
The supermarket wasn’t far from the hotel, and they arrived in less than ten minutes. However, just as they reached the entrance, a call from the crew summoned Ji Junxin back.
The crew ultimately decided to film according to the chronological order of the script as much as possible and moved the equipment back to the palace set. The scene they filmed that morning, although good, couldn’t be used. After setting up the equipment again, Director Pan thought that since they needed to recalibrate anyway, they might as well film a scene. He chose one of Ji Junxin’s scenes.
After confirming that it was just a scene between Ji Junxin and some extras, Mi Hongdou didn’t see any reason to follow. She could only watch Ji Junxin leave, their first supermarket trip together after her rebirth ruined.
Since she was already at the supermarket entrance, Mi Hongdou thought she might as well buy the things herself.
She quickly found soy sauce in the condiment aisle and also grabbed a bottle of vinegar. Mi Hongdou recalled that the other seasonings in the room seemed complete. Leaving the condiment aisle, she entered the produce section, pushing a shopping cart and hesitating in the middle of the aisle.
Logically, someone like Ji Junxin, who couldn’t cook, shouldn’t have so many seasonings in her room… The open kitchen and the pots and pans were understandable, they should be standard in the hotel suite. But seasonings, would a suite come with those too? Mi Hongdou had never stayed in such a well-equipped hotel. So, where did those seasonings come from? Without Ji Junxin around, Mi Hongdou’s IQ gradually returned to normal, and she finally started to question the strange things she had seen in the room.
Lu Gaoshi should also know that Ji Junxin wasn’t good at cooking, logically, she wouldn’t have prepared these things for her. Could it be that assistant named Shen Zhu? The image of Shen Zhu happily accepting the autograph book appeared in Mi Hongdou’s mind. In her previous life, before Ji Junxin retired, Lu Gaoshi had handled all her trivial matters. Now that Qiao Rubai was also reborn, she should be finding ways to get rid of Lu Gaoshi, who later sided with Jiang Duo. Could it be that the butterfly effect had brought that insignificant little assistant from her previous life into the spotlight? Was it Shen Zhu who arranged all those things?
Thinking back to those seasonings, even the expired soy sauce bottle, they were all new and unopened. It must be due to Qiao Rubai’s influence that Ji Junxin started using someone other than Lu Gaoshi. And Shen Zhu, finally given a chance, would definitely try her best to do a good job. Seeing the open kitchen in the suite, she might have bought those things to show her attentiveness and gain favor. The more Mi Hongdou thought about it, the more plausible her guess seemed.
Unfortunately, Ji Junxin herself was terrible at cooking, especially when it came to measuring ingredients and controlling the heat. In her previous life, it wasn’t until Ji Junxin retired and had plenty of free time that she, by chance, started learning to bake, opening the door to a new culinary world that suited her. In baking recipes, the amount of each ingredient was precise down to the gram and milliliter. The order of mixing, the strength of stirring, the baking temperature and time, everything was detailed. It was perfect for Ji Junxin, who even needed measuring cups and an electronic scale to make fried rice. From baking small cookies and cakes to large cream cakes, Ji Junxin made great strides in her new culinary journey. Speaking of cakes, Mi Hongdou sighed again. If she hadn’t had the accident, she could have tasted the ice cream flavored cream cake that Ji Junxin recently developed.
Anyway, Ji Junxin had no talent for cooking. If the seasonings were arranged by Shen Zhu, it wouldn’t win Ji Junxin’s favor at all. Looking at the soy sauce and vinegar bottles in the shopping cart, Mi Hongdou’s mood inexplicably improved. Gaining Ji Junxin’s favor wasn’t just about preparing a bunch of seasonings, it was about turning those seasonings into dishes. Thinking this, she felt a surge of excitement, her footsteps unconsciously drifting towards the produce section.
But, would it be strange if she suddenly started cooking in the suite? Would Ji Junxin mind the smell of cooking oil in the open kitchen? Changing her mind, Mi Hongdou stopped, took out her phone, and started typing.
“What time will tonight’s filming end?” Mi Hongdou typed, glancing at the time in the top right corner, almost 5 PM, and added, “Does the crew provide dinner?” After typing the message, she was about to send it when she froze.
She didn’t have Ji Junxin’s number! After being reborn, she had been so out of it that she forgot she wasn’t close enough to Ji Junxin to have exchanged numbers yet.
So, all their interactions these past few days were purely coincidental?
She naturally had Ji Junxin’s number after she retired, even if not in her phone, she had it memorized. But she really didn’t have Ji Junxin’s number from before her retirement.
Silently deleting the message, Mi Hongdou glanced at the produce section and dejectedly left the supermarket with just the soy sauce and vinegar.
Ji Junxin, who was having her makeup done at the film set, hungry and enduring the process, would have cried if she knew what opportunity she had missed by not exchanging numbers with Mi Hongdou earlier.
Putting on period makeup was troublesome. While Ji Junxin was changing and having her makeup done, the crew members were eating their boxed meals. Although the crew meals were very ordinary, the aroma was enticing, and there were many people eating together. Ji Junxin, hungry, found the usually unappetizing boxed meals somewhat tempting. When only her lips were left to be done, Ji Junxin, who had been craving food, could finally eat.
However, by now, the crew members had finished eating, the atmosphere was gone, and the boxed meal, which had looked tempting because she couldn’t eat earlier, tasted very ordinary… Ji Junxin, with only her lip makeup left to be done, didn’t dare to eat or drink too much. She just ate a few bites of the dishes and a few mouthfuls of rice, just enough to take the edge off her hunger.
After eating the boxed meal, she missed the egg fried rice from earlier even more… if she had known it was so delicious, she should have brought a bigger bowl and swapped it with the prop bowl before filming, the half-hungry Ji Junxin thought.
The night scenes weren’t difficult, just a bit long, and were filmed in several takes. By the time they were almost finished, only a few close-ups left to film, it was almost 10 PM. Ji Junxin thought that if the close-ups took too long, she might not get back until midnight, so she asked the crew member in charge of notifying actors about filming schedules for Mi Hongdou’s number and sent her a message.
Mi Hongdou, who was bored and playing with the moonlight in the bedroom, heard her phone beep. A message appeared: “This is Ji Junxin. Filming isn’t over yet. You rest early. I’ll try to be quiet when I get back so I don’t wake you.”
After sending the message, Ji Junxin sighed softly. It seemed that living together would indeed be a little inconvenient. She hoped that the little empress wouldn’t mind too much; otherwise, she would feel very embarrassed.
But soon, Ji Junxin’s phone lit up. “I’m not sleepy. Does the crew provide dinner at night? I heard it’s braised lion’s head meatballs tonight. Was it good?”
“Not at all! I was having my makeup done when they were eating. It smelled good, but when I actually ate it, I found that the lion’s head meatballs were full of scallions and ginger!” Ji Junxin paused, added a crying emoji at the end, and sent the message.
Pfft! Mi Hongdou almost burst out laughing when she received the message. When she heard that the crew meal tonight was lion’s head meatballs, she knew that Ji Junxin, who hated scallions, ginger, and garlic, would be in for a bad time. Those finely chopped scallions and ginger that were impossible to pick out were Ji Junxin’s biggest food enemy. As expected, mentioning lion’s head meatballs elicited a tearful reply. Looking at the cute and pitiful crying emoji at the end, Mi Hongdou was amused at first, then felt a pang of sympathy. She must not be full… poor thing…
“Did you not eat much? Are you hungry now?” Mi Hongdou’s message went unanswered for a while.
Meanwhile, Ji Junxin was filming the last few close-ups. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and they finished in half an hour.
Although the filming took a long time that night, it went smoothly. Most importantly, it was all scenes with extras, and Ji Junxin’s state was much better than the previous day. Director Pan, happy, waved his hand and announced late-night snacks.
Late-night snacks! The few bites of food she had earlier were long gone. The starving Ji Junxin, hearing about late-night snacks, almost wanted to skip removing her makeup and go straight there. However, seeing the message from Mi Hongdou on her phone, sent half an hour ago, Director Pan’s late-night snacks no longer seemed so appealing.
Was there a better opportunity than this? “Filming is over, I’m coming back. I only ate a little tonight, I’m so hungry… hungry… hungry…” Ji Junxin smiled, chose a pitiful finger-pointing emoji, and sent the message.
“Do you want to eat late-night snacks outside?”
“I don’t want to eat outside… (pitiful face)”
“Are you coming back now?”
“Yes! (cute face)”
“But aren’t you hungry…” Where was the gentle and mature foodie… Mi Hongdou had never seen Ji Junxin act so cute in her previous life. Holding her phone, Mi Hongdou’s heart itched from Ji Junxin’s messages, each with an emoji. It was like seeing a tiny, adorable kitten, so cute it made her heart itch.
“I’m hungry… (crying face) I really want to eat the egg fried rice from this morning…” No matter how she hinted, Mi Hongdou didn’t respond. Having craved the egg fried rice all night, Ji Junxin finally confessed her wish. After sending the message, Ji Junxin held her phone tightly, clasped her hands together, and silently prayed that she wouldn’t be rejected.
“Isn’t egg fried rice too greasy at night… How about I make some congee? It’s easier on the stomach.” Mi Hongdou had checked earlier, and there were only rice and eggs in the suite, no lard, no free-range eggs, and no leftover rice to make delicious egg fried rice. She didn’t want to make ordinary fried rice for her idol.
“Okay! I’ll be right back!” Ji Junxin’s reply was quick.
This message didn’t have an emoji. Mi Hongdou felt like she had been tricked.
Removing makeup wasn’t easy. Half an hour later, when Ji Junxin left, Director Pan was surprised that she would leave without having any late-night snacks, especially since she loved food so much.
Ji Junxin arrived at the hotel, took her key card, opened the door, and saw Mi Hongdou, a few steps away, wearing a light pink nightgown, her hair tied up, stirring a pot of rice porridge with a spoon. The room was filled with the aroma of rice.
Hearing the noise, Mi Hongdou was startled. She stopped and looked towards the door. Seeing that it was Ji Junxin, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “You’re back?”
Taking a deep breath of the fragrant rice porridge, Ji Junxin suddenly felt a warmth in her heart and smiled back at Mi Hongdou. “I’m back.”
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