“Can you tell me about it?” Chu Feiliang raised the wine bottle and gently clinked it against the glass in Rong Guang’s hand.
The topic was actually a bit presumptuous and abrupt. After all, they hadn’t known each other for long, and it really didn’t seem like the right time to discuss such things.
But the atmosphere had reached that point, and everything seemed to fall into place naturally.
At the very least, Rong Guang didn’t feel offended in the slightest.
She thought about it very seriously and carefully.
In her life, she had experienced it three times… no, four times.
Four times, a beloved person had left her side.
The first time was when she was young. Her parents took her on an outing, but they got into a car accident along the way. At the critical moment, her father, acting on his instincts as a retired special forces soldier, slammed on the brakes and forcefully pushed her and her mother out of the car.
However, he himself was completely buried by the overloaded dump truck, followed by a towering blaze.
The second time was her grandma’s passing.
That was also the most difficult period in her memory, a time when she almost couldn’t hold on, a time that remained a lingering shadow to this day.
The third time was Chacha.
But to this day, she still didn’t know the cause of Chacha’s death in her past life. She didn’t even have the standing to apply to view Chacha’s body with the medical examiner. Afterward, it was only publicly announced as an accident.
So in this life, Rong Guang was already discussing with her grandma about handling the adoption procedures for Chacha.
The fourth time… was Chu Feiliang.
Rong Guang sighed slowly, and when she looked up, she saw Chu Feiliang’s eyes, as gentle as water.
She suddenly felt that the outside world’s descriptions of Chu Feiliang weren’t that accurate.
Chu Feiliang rarely appeared before the media. Aside from necessary promotions with pre-prepared scripts, she almost never appeared in front of any mainstream media.
One reason was that she didn’t need the hype generated by publicity stunts, and another was that she herself was a walking synonym for ‘masterpiece’.
In the industry, generations of young starlets came and went, but only Chu Feiliang remained firmly enthroned on her pedestal, with nearly every one of her films becoming a blockbuster of the year.
Because of this, the candid photos that occasionally appeared before the public almost always showed the same cold expression and a very half-hearted, professional smile.
The media had once labeled her a ‘stone-faced beauty’, but the moment it was published, it was bombarded by the entire internet—“Can your stone-faced beauty win Best Actress?” “Can your stone-faced beauty be featured in Zhonghua Net’s inspirational video and be named the most touching artist of the year?” “Can your stone-faced beauty…”
After that, another term was attached to her: cold and glamorous.
This term swept the makeup trends for two whole years. Later, Chu Feiliang, almost single-handedly, even guided the entire industry toward the angle of ‘women should be strong and independent’. That year, countless female artists spoke out and released incredibly striking photos.
But Rong Guang felt… that a person’s appearance wasn’t their true self.
Chu Feiliang was clearly very gentle.
She would remember all the inconspicuous little things at the right time, pay attention to one’s mood because of small details, and even have Wang Lujie specially deliver food out of worry that one couldn’t order a late-night snack.
She was like a ball of fire, but something was sealing it on the outside.
Rong Guang squeezed the glass in her hand, pursed her lips, thought carefully, and said, “I once had a dog that I raised myself. From the moment she was born, I delivered her myself with a doctor’s assistance. I always… always took care of her very carefully and meticulously, mixing her milk formula, preparing her nutritious meals, brushing her teeth, trimming her nails, teaching her how to go downstairs, and even how to shell melon seeds… I did everything myself.”
Chu Feiliang listened quietly.
Rong Guang organized her thoughts.
She was very reluctant to touch upon those words that always seemed ominous to her, especially since her grandma was perfectly fine right now.
She could only do her best, using her own ability, to express that most heart-wrenching feeling of losing a loved one. “I wasn’t even this good to myself… but she died in an accident, and I couldn’t even collect her body.” Rong Guang’s throat constricted, and she swallowed a few times, feeling a painful lump.
Chacha and her grandma were the most painful and reluctant memories of her past life.
She really couldn’t even collect the body.
When she rushed back, all she faced were two cold stone monuments, erected far apart in a forest of tombstones.
She glanced cautiously at Chu Feiliang, pursed her lips, and continued, “That accident, to this day I still feel that I was the most direct culprit, the trigger. If it weren’t for me, she could have lived a better and happier life.”
Chu Feiliang looked up at her, her brows furrowing slightly, and said softly, “You…”
However, Rong Guang didn’t cry out as Chu Feiliang had expected. Instead, she lifted her head and said in an extremely certain and firm tone, “I’m fine. Later… I had a dream.”
“What dream?” Chu Feiliang asked softly.
“She told me that I had to live on well,” Rong Guang said with a smile.
She had later asked Chacha, and even her grandma.
She asked what if, one day, she did something wrong and accidentally got them killed, would they blame her, or even hate her.
Chacha and her grandma’s replies at the time were identical: “Then what if it were the other way around, and I accidentally got you killed? Would you resent me? Would you want me to live forever in guilt, in constant fear and unease?”
Rong Guang understood immediately.
Death itself isn’t actually that scary.
Sometimes, it’s the ones left behind who have the hardest time.
At that time, Rong Guang was deeply trapped in the nightmares of the past, constantly sinking between pain and clarity in her previous life.
It was true that she had had a dream, and it was also true that she knew her grandma would definitely forgive her.
But it wasn’t until she personally asked the question not long ago that she was truly at ease.
Chu Feiliang fell into deep thought, narrowed her eyes, and said, “Is that so.”
“Mhm.” Rong Guang nodded forcefully. “Because I know she loved me very much; she loved me more than anyone in the world. No matter what I did wrong, she would never truly blame me in this life… not even for death. If I were to live in pain all day because of it, that would be the greatest disrespect to the deceased.”
Her grandma’s accident in her past life was also because her concern clouded her judgment.
Rong Guang blamed herself for everything, but little did she know, the person she was wronging the most by doing so was her grandma.
Her grandma wanted her to live well.
Chu Feiliang must be the same.
After listening, Chu Feiliang was quiet for a long time.
Rong Guang just sat there quietly with her, neither of them moving.
She watched as time ticked by. It was even past two o’clock when Wang Lujie, seeing that they still hadn’t come out, brought them two lunches. After they both calmly finished eating, still no one spoke first.
Rong Guang was still quietly keeping her company.
Chu Feiliang’s gaze fell on Rong Guang’s face.
The young girl’s gaze was pure and gentle, fixed on her without wavering. If she made the slightest movement, Rong Guang’s eyes would flicker in response.
Suddenly, she smiled.
“Hearing these words from you, there’s always a feeling of unreality.” Chu Feiliang narrowed her eyes and said, torn between laughter and tears, “How old are you this year?”
“I…” Rong Guang almost subconsciously said ‘twenty-six’, but the words were already on the tip of her tongue when she slammed on the brakes, choking and coughing twice. She said, “I… I’m, uh, eighteen, nineteen in East Asian age reckoning, no, I’ll be nineteen soon.”
“Only eighteen.” Chu Feiliang clicked her tongue softly, a hint of annoyance on her face. When she looked at Rong Guang again, her gaze was filled with apology. “At your wonderful age, instead of talking about something positive and uplifting, I made you sit here and discuss such a heavy topic with me. It’s my fault.”
Rong Guang was taken aback and waved her hands repeatedly. Her heart was beating a little fast, and she felt as if she had vaguely grasped something.
But the thought hadn’t even fully formed in her mind before it flew far away again.
A moment later, there was a knock on the door below.
Both of them turned their heads at the same time to look at Zhang Nanchuan, who was boarding the vehicle.
Zhang Nanchuan greeted Rong Guang, then turned to Chu Feiliang with a concerned expression and said, “How are you doing? Are you stable? Can you film this afternoon or not?”
Chu Feiliang frowned.
Zhang Nanchuan raised his hand and waved it.
However, before he could tell Chu Feiliang to rest, he heard her laugh and say, “I can film… but Director Zhang, give me a chance to rest. Being barely able to film and being able to film well are two different concepts.”
Zhang Nanchuan was stunned, but hearing Chu Feiliang say this, he actually smiled as if relieved and said, “Alright, quality over quantity—you rest. Xiao Rong has a scene with you this afternoon. After crying with you like that today, she’s probably had enough too. Just take the day off with her.”
Rong Guang blinked. “I get the day off too?”
“Take a break and rest.” Chu Feiliang relaxed and leaned back, slipping off her house slippers and curling up in the seat. She said, “Consider it keeping your senior company this afternoon. Let’s go out for a bit, maybe go to a nearby temple to offer some incense and pray. How about it?”
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