Chapter 37: The Tables Have Turned
Having not shared a room with anyone for years, and with so much happening the previous day, Mi Hongdou forgot to put her phone on vibrate before going to bed. Now, the ringing startled her. After seeing the name on the screen, she sighed, quickly got up, and went to the living room. She seemed to see the person on the bed next to her stir, wondering if the ringing had also woken her up. Thinking this, Mi Hongdou felt even more resistant to answering the call. At the same time, she confirmed the identity of the familiar figure she had seen the day before.
Mi Hongdou couldn’t remember how long it had been since she and her father had spoken. If she hadn’t seen a figure resembling Mi Yu on the set the previous day, she probably wouldn’t have answered this call. However, having seen someone who looked like Mi Yu the day before, and receiving a call from Mi Hongcai early the next morning, Mi Hongdou had to answer. As expected, after a few polite greetings, without even waiting for Mi Hongdou’s response, he got straight to the point, asking about her plans after graduation.
From the moment she saw Mi Hongcai’s name light up on her phone screen, everything he said was basically within Mi Hongdou’s expectations. It was the same as in her previous life, just not at this time, and not with this probing tone.
At this time in her previous life, Mi Hongdou hadn’t joined the “Imperial Secrets” crew. “Divorce, So Be It” was filmed in Jiang City, so there was no chance encounter with Mi Yu. It wasn’t until “Divorce, So Be It” became a hit that Mi Hongdou’s acting career came to Mi Yu’s attention. Mi Yu, who was still in college, pestered Mi Hongcai to contact Mi Hongdou and ask her to help her get into the industry. After divorcing Wang Linyue, Mi Hongcai, forget about fatherly love, had barely seen Mi Hongdou. His only contribution was probably the few hundred yuan of child support he deposited into the bank card every month. So, in her previous life, after returning the card and the money to Mi Hongcai when she turned eighteen, Mi Hongdou thought that she wouldn’t have anything to do with this father anymore. However, this thought changed after she finished filming “Divorce, So Be It.”
This was mainly due to two reasons. One was the drama itself. Mi Hongdou played the adult Lin Qiao, who acted as a mediator and comforter amidst her parents’ marital conflicts and family disputes. The drama ended with a happy ending, Lin Qiao’s efforts and sacrifices rewarded with a flawed but loving family. The second reason was that “Divorce, So Be It” was Mi Hongdou’s first drama. Without formal training, she meticulously studied the script over and over again and immersed herself in the role of Lin Qiao, finding it difficult to detach for a while. It could be said that during the filming, because Mi Hongdou was too immersed in the role, it even triggered her sadness over the lack of a complete family in her own life. A single mother, busy making a living, couldn’t take care of everything. After filming “Divorce, So Be It,” Mi Hongdou couldn’t help but wonder, what if, what if her father had been involved in her growing up… What if… It was precisely because of this sudden conflict and regret that when Mi’s mother, after watching “Divorce, So Be It,” asked if she should have agreed to have another child back then, so that Mi’s father would have stayed, Mi Hongdou did something she regretted for the rest of her life. She… nodded…
In her previous life, Mi Hongcai, seeking her help for Mi Yu, appeared at this time. Gentle, polite, with a kind smile… It wasn’t the first time Mi Hongdou had met her father, but it was the first time she met him with longing. One was asking for a favor, deliberately trying to get closer, while the other was filled with longing, subconsciously ignoring the other party’s intentions. After a few interactions, they got along quite well. So, in her previous life, after repeated requests from Mi Hongcai, Mi Hongdou, putting aside past grievances, paved the way for Mi Yu, asking Yang Lianyi to give Mi Yu a role in “Divorce, So Be It 2.” However, since Yang Lianyi was obsessed with “cute things” and really didn’t like Mi Hongdou’s half-sister, even for Mi Hongdou’s sake, the role she offered was just a minor one with not much screen time. But for Mi Yu, who was still in college, getting this role and some exposure was already enviable. However, for Mi Yu, having a person she had always looked down upon as the lead, while she played a supporting role with little screen time, with Mi Yu’s personality, how could she accept it so easily?
The stories of the foolish old man and the wolf, the farmer and the snake, they were all true. Mi Hongdou, holding the phone, had a hint of mockery in her eyes. After being reborn, if she was still blinded by that false family affection, she might as well jump off a building! This time, if Mi Yu didn’t provoke her, then fine. But if she did, she shouldn’t blame her for being ruthless.
On the other end of the phone, Mi Hongcai was trying to subtly bring up the question, using the excuse of concern to inquire about Mi Hongdou’s recent life and work. Mi Hongdou suppressed the urge to hang up immediately and, after several rounds of back and forth, finally made Mi Hongcai believe that she was working as an advertising designer at a small, unknown company. After hanging up, Mi Hongdou felt that her face was stiff. Speaking gently and kindly while feeling disgusted and angry was still quite difficult for her. She had already experienced Mi Yu’s persistence and Mi Hongcai’s manipulation with filial piety in her previous life. If Mi Hongcai, like in her previous life, had come to her after “Divorce, So Be It” became a hit, when she was starting to become famous, and the second drama was about to start filming, when she had established herself in Mengguan and the industry, Mi Hongdou wouldn’t have bothered with him for so long. The key was that now, in Shudian, both of her dramas had just started filming, and she didn’t have the energy to deal with them.
This time, Mi Hongdou wanted to see if, without her help, Mi Yu could still enter the industry so smoothly. This time, Mi Hongdou could foresee that after “Imperial Secrets” and “Divorce, So Be It” aired, she would become even more famous and have a more stable footing than in her previous life. Mi Hongcai was willing to spend money for his daughter, but the key was, would money really be useful at that time? It would be more interesting to deal with them then. Mi Hongdou touched her left shoulder. After their falling out in her previous life, she had accidentally learned that the scar wasn’t an accident, but a deliberate act by the eight-year-old Mi Yu. From then on, Mi Hongdou had decided to completely cut ties with them. If it weren’t for the fact that she was busy eating and drinking with Ji Junxin later, and didn’t have the time or the energy, she would have taught them a lesson long ago. If they still didn’t behave this time, Mi Hongdou wouldn’t mind taking a break from her eating and drinking to deal with them.
Just in case, after hanging up on Mi Hongcai, Mi Hongdou called her mother. She didn’t mention Mi Hongcai, just said that the two dramas she was filming didn’t have any large-scale publicity plans for the near future, and asked her mother not to tell anyone about her acting. Actually, Mi Hongcai hadn’t called Mi’s mother since the divorce. If he wanted to find her, he would contact Mi Hongdou directly. However, Mi Hongdou didn’t dare to underestimate their shamelessness and really didn’t want to waste time dealing with them at this time, so she still made this call to her mother.
Day after day, the filming of both dramas progressed smoothly. Especially for Mi Hongdou, who had a lot of scenes in both, so after the first few days of adaptation, her schedule was packed every day. Perhaps the two companies had discussed it, but basically, she filmed for one production each day. If it weren’t for this arrangement, even if Mi Hongdou was reborn, she might have developed a slight split personality.
With such a busy schedule, Mi Hongdou was basically out early and back late. Forget about finding time to cook for Ji Junxin to increase her favorability, even eating together was difficult to schedule. But at least, living together, they could see each other before going to bed, chat for a bit, and every night, Mi Hongdou could open the curtains for her idol and check for bats, which was a comfort and a small joy amidst her busy filming schedule.
Ji Junxin actually quite liked this kind of life. Perhaps because she and Mi Hongdou really clicked, living together and chatting every day was quite nice. It was just that Mi Hongdou’s filming schedule was a bit tight recently, and Ji Junxin was also embarrassed about the digestive tablets incident that night, so one was too busy, and the other was too embarrassed to mention it. After the candied egg rolls, Ji Junxin hadn’t had a chance to experience Mi Hongdou’s cooking again. It was a pity that the palace scenes seemed endless. If they could finish them quickly, they could move on to the estate scenes. Ji Junxin was looking forward to the few cooking scenes the little empress had in the estate.
Unknowingly, a month of living together passed by peacefully. That day, when Ji Junxin woke up, she saw that the bed next to her was empty. She listened carefully, but there was no sound from the bathroom or the living room. Okay, she must have gone to film early again. During the first few days of living together, they would compare their schedules, checking what time they would leave, what time they would come back, whether they could eat together, or if they would eat separately. Later, they realized that it was always the poor Mi Hongdou who was out early and back late, with no time to spare. So, they gradually stopped comparing schedules. Ji Junxin quickly got used to waking up alone in the room.
However, this was destined to be a different morning.
As Ji Junxin, still drowsy, came out of the bedroom and walked towards the small study, before even reaching the bathroom, the aroma of food wafted towards her, making her stop. After taking a few deep breaths, confirming that the aroma was real and not a hallucination caused by her morning hunger, she immediately abandoned the bathroom and quickly walked to the living room.
It wasn’t a hallucination… Her previously sleepy, half-closed eyes now shone with the sharp glint of a foodie on the hunt.
Leave a Reply