Yun Chu couldn’t shake the feeling that after the mid-session break in the script reading, everyone was looking at her strangely when she returned to the conference room. She sat down, maintaining her smile, and sent Jian You a message.
Xiao Chu Xiao Chu Will Never Admit Defeat: I told you not to kiss me!
Wifey: Did you?
Wifey: But when we kissed, you clearly wrapped your arms around my waist and even used your tongue.
Xiao Chu Xiao Chu Will Never Admit Defeat: I did?
Wifey: You did.
Xiao Chu Xiao Chu Will Never Admit Defeat: You’re slandering me!
Wifey: I tasted it!
Xiao Chu Xiao Chu Will Never Admit Defeat: Stop talking, you’re even using exclamation points!
Wifey: The exclamation points are to enhance my credibility.
Xiao Chu Xiao Chu Will Never Admit Defeat: Only guilty people speak loudly. The truth isn’t determined by volume.
Wifey: [Screenshot: You’re slandering me!]
Wifey: I’m not slandering you.
Xiao Chu Xiao Chu Will Never Admit Defeat: …Was it tasty?
Unable to win against her director and screenwriter, Yun Chu decided to fight magic with magic, launching a roundabout flirtatious counterattack. As expected, the other end suddenly went silent. Yun Chu looked up and saw the tips of Jian You’s ears had turned red.
She pressed a hand to her mouth to hide her rising smile, and her phone vibrated again.
Jian You: I want more.
Yun Chu: !!!
This was a level she simply couldn’t handle. She coughed twice to cover her fluster and stuffed her phone back into her pocket. Just then, someone next to her leaned over quietly. “Teacher Yun.”
Yun Chu forced herself to remain calm. “Yes?”
The person asked, “Are you and our Director Jian dating?”
Yun Chu: “!!!”
Why were the people at Jian You’s studio so gossipy!
Yun Chu hesitated for a second, and the person immediately added, “I get it. I understand. We’ll keep it a secret!”
Yun Chu: “?”
Wait! We??? Just how quickly had her relationship with Jian You been exposed! Did you all start a private group chat behind your boss’s back?!
Fortunately, the second half of the script reading began soon after, and this little interlude passed.
Time flew by when they were working. When it was time to clock out, Jian You announced that they were done for the day. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief, quietly discussing their after-work plans as they packed up. The scraping of chairs being pushed back echoed harshly across the floor.
Yun Chu, however, remained seated. She waited until only she and Jian You were left in the conference room. Jian You shut down her laptop and asked, “Not leaving?”
“I was thinking,” Yun Chu said, twirling the pen in her hand, “why did you have to write the sister to die?”
“Dramatic conflict.”
“I understand that. Dramas need a sense of regret,” Yun Chu said. “After the sister leaves, she doesn’t really leave. The filming techniques that follow are all from the sister’s perspective.”
Watching her younger sister go to school, make new friends, travel, see the ocean, fall in love, and finally graduate under a sunny sky.
Yun Chu rested her chin on her hand, her brow furrowed slightly. “If only the sister were still alive.”
Jian You was silent for a moment before sighing as well. “Yes, if only she were.”
After a pause, she said suddenly, “I am that sister.”
Yun Chu’s eyes widened slightly.
Jian You asked, “Do you want to hear about it?”
Yun Chu countered, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Jian You said, “If you want to listen, I’ll talk.”
Of course she wanted to listen. In fact, from the moment she got the script, Yun Chu had a vague feeling that this story was related to Jian You’s personal life, but there was a sense of dissonance everywhere.
The dissonance was that the surviving sister wasn’t Jian You. The one who died was.
“I’ve told you before, right?” Jian You led Yun Chu to the rooftop. In a place where every inch of land was precious, the view was exceptional. She gathered her coat around her and said, “My stepmother gave birth to a girl.”
Yun Chu reached for her hand. It was ice-cold.
“I wasn’t actually close to this sister. She was just a baby when my mom took me away.” Jian You’s voice was soft, like ethereal starlight that could be scattered by the wind at any moment. “The next time I saw her, I was in sixth grade, and she was in first. She had pigtails and wore a plaid school uniform. My mom pointed at her and said, ‘Youyou, look, that’s your sister.’”
Yun Chu cupped Jian You’s hand in hers, brought it to her lips, and breathed a warm puff of air onto it, listening quietly to the troubles of Jian You’s heart.
“The second time I saw her was at my junior high graduation. My prodigal father had turned over a new leaf and was actually living a normal life. He even brought his whole family to my graduation ceremony. She was holding a lollipop and said, ‘Sister, have some candy.’”
“Guess what I did?” Jian You asked.
Yun Chu looked up, her long lashes trembling. “You didn’t take it, did you?”
Jian You smiled faintly and shook her head. “When no one was looking, I snatched her candy, threw it on the ground, and stepped on it. I said, ‘I would never eat your candy.’ She cried so hard. But I felt gratified.”
The Jian You of that time was rebellious yet timid, only daring to bully a little girl, finding a sliver of comfort in her cries, as if that could avenge the fatherly love that had been stolen from her.
It was wrong. She knew now that it was wrong. She owed that little girl an apology and a piece of candy.
A sourness pricked Yun Chu’s nose. Her lips moved. “And then?”
Jian You was silent for a long while before she said, “Later, she died.”
Yun Chu froze.
“She’d had asthma since she was little. That time, they couldn’t save her. She was forever thirteen.” Jian You turned her hand to grasp Yun Chu’s, tucking it into her coat pocket. “My dad and stepmom were devastated for a long time. Later, they left the island.”
Who knew where they went?
At that time, Jian You was in her last year of high school, studying with all her might, vowing to live a good life and take her mother away from that small town so they would never have to worry about what to eat the next day again.
But that summer was so, so long. Just after she received her college acceptance letter, a typhoon came roaring in. Someone stumbled up to her and told her to go to the beach to identify a body.
Her beautiful, gentle mother was also left on that island forever.
Later, Jian You left the island and forced herself to integrate into normal society. Many people liked her and her work, but she became obsessed with making money, as if she had fallen into a money pit. She had to become more beautiful, more outstanding, more invulnerable.
And she succeeded.
“But the knot in my heart can’t be untied.” Jian You played with Yun Chu’s fingers, counting them one by one, then counting them again. “I always wonder, what would it be like if they had never left?”
Her sister, her mother—they should have had the most brilliant and beautiful lives.
What couldn’t be achieved in reality could be placed in the world of a film. She began to write the script for Sister. The protagonist was the younger sister, but the title was Sister—it was the life the older sister hoped her younger sister would have.
Yun Chu’s fingers intertwined with Jian You’s. “So in this movie, you’ll be playing the grown-up sister.”
The film ended on the day of the younger sister’s college graduation. The older sister comes to watch the ceremony. The shots are only of her back, seeing the younger sister from her perspective as her brilliant life is just beginning.
The younger sister, wearing a cap and gown, calls out from the crowd, “Sister!”
Then she runs toward her, smiling.
The film ends there, abruptly.
It was Jian You’s most beautiful wish, preserved in the film. So whether it won awards or was a box office hit, she didn’t care. This was the closing chapter of her youth. She would place this film in a memory box and walk toward a new life.
Yun Chu’s eyes were red. “Teacher Jian…”
“Don’t cry,” Jian You said, cupping her face. She smiled faintly and pressed her forehead against hers. “There were many times I wanted to leave this world, but I met you. So, thank you.”
-Thank you for adding countless hopes and attachments to my long, endless life.
-She let her know that she actually loved this world so much, a world with her in it, where every day was full of hope, so she wanted to live to a hundred with her.
So, thank you.
Yun Chu’s tears finally fell. She wrapped her arms around Jian You’s neck, pressing her face against hers, and said with a choked, profound voice, “I love you too.”
Yun Chu and Jian You’s relationship was too sensitive right now, so it wasn’t good for them to be seen together too often outside of the show. They couldn’t go out on dates. But after a long day, neither of them felt like eating out anyway. They drove back to Qingyao Alley and had Wen Yi cook a couple of simple, home-style dishes.
After walking Liuyue, they turned on the projector in Jian You’s bedroom to watch the new episode of Little Tricks for Love. Yun Chu still hadn’t quite recovered. She sat on the bed with red-rimmed eyes, sipping milk in a daze.
“Pay attention,” Jian You said, poking her in the waist.
Yun Chu shot her a mournful look before ignoring her again.
Honestly, she was already trying to process everything Jian You had told her about her past. It was a miracle she wasn’t sobbing all night, and now she was expected to watch a dating show? She was in no mood.
Jian You chuckled. “Does your heart ache for me?”
The thought that Jian You had once considered taking her own life made Yun Chu angry, but she didn’t want to leave Jian You’s words hanging. She gave a muffled “mhm.” “It does.”
“Then will you dote on me more in the future, okay?” Jian You said.
Yun Chu looked at her with teary eyes.
Jian You’s eyes were filled with a smile. “Dote on me more, love me more, and only love me, okay?”
Yun Chu felt like crying again. She hastily wiped away her tears and nodded fiercely. “Then you also have to know that with me, you don’t have to be beautiful, you can be a mess, you can be undignified. I’ll love you no matter what.”
Jian You smiled. “Okay.”
Yun Chu sniffled and added, “But you’re always beautiful.”
Jian You pinched her cheek. “You little pervert. Finally admitting you fell for my looks?”
Yun Chu blushed and turned her back to Jian You to compose herself. By then, Jian You had already started the show.
The second episode began with Jian You and Yun Chu returning from rock climbing. The segment Meng Zhaozhao had asked the cameraman to cut was still aired.
By the fireplace, Wen Xi and Meng Zhaozhao were bickering.
Yun Chu was still feeling down and wasn’t very interested in the show. Jian You tried to start a conversation. “I think Meng Zhaozhao and Wen Xi are a bit strange.”
Yun Chu replied instinctively, “Meng Zhaozhao and Wen Xi are dating. Qi Ke was right.”
Jian You hadn’t expected to uncover a piece of gossip. “How do you know?”
“You can tell from the atmosphere,” Yun Chu said, finally perking up. She sat up straight and began to analyze it for her. “The atmosphere between them is too subtle, don’t you think? From the first time they met, it looked like they were meeting for the first time, but they totally weren’t! And they deliberately acted like they weren’t familiar with each other, which is super suspicious. Meng Zhaozhao even told me she likes Wen Xi and wants to pursue her.”
“Maybe it’s a one-sided crush from Meng Zhaozhao?”
“Impossible!” Yun Chu waved her hand. “Wen Xi cares about Meng Zhaozhao a lot too. Even though she’s always flirting with everyone on the show, she’s never made a mistake when it comes to the big picture. She’s always on Meng Zhaozhao’s side.”
“You figured all that out?” Jian You took her hand and drank a sip of milk from the glass she was holding. “Is that how you came to your conclusion?”
Yun Chu paused. “Well, not exactly.”
Jian You: “Then how?”
Yun Chu said, “I saw Wen Xi sneak into Meng Zhaozhao’s room at night.”
Jian You: “?”
“The first couple of days we were at the courtyard, Meng Zhaozhao had insomnia every night,” Yun Chu explained. “I asked her about it later. I told her I saw Wen Xi go into her room and asked how they progressed so quickly. Then she confessed everything to me.”
“Confessed that she and Wen Xi knew each other all along and were pretending not to for the dating show?”
“Confessed why she had insomnia.”
“?”
“Because someone who’s used to sleeping with their wife every night has a hard time sleeping alone.”
“…”
Yun Chu sat on the bed with her legs tucked under her, her expression downcast and indignant. “And just like that, I was brutally subjected to their public display of affection! I was going to expose them to the production team, but then I thought, forget it. As long as they’re together, that’s what matters. From now on, I won’t be jealous no matter who you go on a date with!”
Jian You couldn’t help but laugh.
She knew Yun Chu was an optimist, but she hadn’t realized to what extent. It was as if no matter how bad something was, she could find a silver lining, magnify it, and end up cheerful.
Jian You said, “What a pity.”
“A pity about what?” Yun Chu asked.
“It’s a pity we won’t be together for the next recording,” Jian You said, placing the empty glass on the nightstand. “Otherwise, we really should have shown our affection right back at them, in person.”
Yun Chu paused, then broke into a smile. She threw herself into Jian You’s arms and gave her a milk-flavored kiss.
Then she whispered, “We won’t show off in front of them.”
-Because she wanted to have a private date with Jian You.
In mid-January, Jian You’s new film, Sister, officially began shooting. The location was a small seaside town where it was spring all year round, though January brought endless rain. The story, too, unfolded in the rain.
Unlike other film and television productions that split into A and B units and shot scenes out of order, this shoot followed the script chronologically.
Jian You was adamant about filming the sister’s life in sequence.
Yun Chu’s scenes were scheduled for later, but to better understand her character and the script, she chose to join the crew from the very beginning. No matter what was being filmed, she would sit beside Jian You and watch, her script becoming more and more covered in notes.
She was no longer an 18th-tier nobody. Now, people took pictures of her coming and going from work every day and posted them online to ease the longing of her fans who couldn’t see her.
【My daughter is so pretty even without makeup today! She looks like she’s not fully awake yet, trailing after Director Jian in a daze. So cute!】
【I say Yun Chu’s fan sites should just rebrand as CP fan sites. When is Jian You ever not next to her? And they don’t dare to blur out the director. Every time a picture like this comes out, I think I’ve stumbled onto a CP site.】
【The great director and her canary, kswl.】
【They’re together day in and day out. This is a film set, not your personal dating spot!】
【Yun Chu is so dedicated. I’ve seen some behind-the-scenes photos of her on set, and I’ve never seen anyone so serious. Even when it’s not her scene, she’s on the side, watching and studying the emotional progression.】
【I saw that too! Is it the one where she’s wearing a jacket with her hair in an apple-style topknot? Adorable!】
【So, so, so cute. And Director Jian is watching her from the side. How does Director Jian resist giving her little cheek a peck?】
【You think Director Jian is you? Of course she waits until they’re home to kiss her, hehehe.】
【I saw the shooting schedule. Yun Chu’s scenes are in February, but she still cleared her entire schedule to stay on set. She gets to be in love and focus completely on the film. I’m so jealous.】
【Doesn’t Yun Chu have to go on a date with Jian You at the end of the month? I remember hearing the date is on an island.】
【I heard it’s the island where Jian You grew up.】
【??? Meeting the parents?】
【Jian You doesn’t have any parents for Yun Chu to meet, does she?】
【Doesn’t Jian You still have a father?】
【Her father left the island with her stepmother a long time ago. I heard he left the house to Jian You before he left, but Jian You has never been back since she got into college.】
【I wouldn’t go back either if I were her. There’s nothing worth going back for.】
【That’s why it’s so significant that Jian You chose this place for their date! It’s a place she sealed away in her memory, covered in dust. Bringing Yun Chu there this time must be her way of saying goodbye to the past.】
【Saying goodbye to the past and embracing the future. I’m crying.】
【I seriously love Little Tricks for Love. Every single one of my CPs I shipped on this show ended up being a real couple. Thank you, thank you.】
【It seems Jian You has really fallen this time.】
Jian You and Yun Chu’s final date was, indeed, on the small island where Jian You grew up.
The island was truly small, about the size of a town. A trip around it took no more than half an hour. It was once an obscure, unnoticed place, but after Jian You became famous, it attracted many film fans who came to visit. They were pleasantly surprised to find the scenery beautiful, and after they spread the word, more and more tourists came, and the economy gradually developed.
According to the production team’s arrangement, Yun Chu and Jian You arrived on the island separately. That morning, they had been cuddling in bed together, but upon learning that the crew was going to film them waking up, Jian You had reluctantly returned to her own room.
The follow PD gently tapped her. “Teacher Jian, time to wake up.”
Jian You opened her eyes.
Follow PD: “How are you feeling right now?”
Jian You: “Fine.”
In truth, she felt terrible. If you were dragged out of your girlfriend’s warm, soft bed only to find it was just six in the morning, you’d be annoyed too. But since they were filming a variety show, she reined in her emotions and blocked the camera. “Give me some time to wash up.”
An hour passed in the time it took to block and unblock the lens.
Jian You slipped on a pair of light canvas shoes and asked, “Has Yun Chu left?”
Follow PD: “She’s already on the yacht.”
Jian You was surprised. “So soon?”
Follow PD: “Mhm…”
Yun Chu was in a hurry to go on a date with her Director Jian. She had her makeup done on the boat. Fortunately, the makeup artist she hired had a steady hand and could maintain her work no matter how fast the yacht went, giving Yun Chu a fresh, radiant, full-face look.
Yun Chu took a couple of selfies and posted them on Weibo: “Going on a date today!”
【So pretty! Baby, are you coming to date me?】
【You’re at sea! Are you going to Jian You’s home? Sob, sob, sob, Jian You, you have to be good to my wife!】
【Dude above me, I think your hat is a little green.】
【Departing separately really gives it a proper date feel.】
【You’re dressed so cute today! If Jian You doesn’t love you, I’ll just scoop you up and take you away.】
@LittleTricksforLoveOfficial: !!! Teacher Yun, no spoilers!
Half a minute after that comment was posted, the Weibo post was deleted. Yun Chu then posted a new one: “Sorry, the production team doesn’t allow spoilers, as if everyone doesn’t already know I’m going on a date with Teacher Jian!”
@LittleTricksforLoveOfficial: ???
【Hahahahahahahahaha! Deleting it is useless! I’ve already saved the photo and made it my wallpaper!】
【Everyone, please do not spread the news that Yun Chu is going on a date with Jian You. It’s not good for anyone if it gets out. Also, do not @JianYou and @YunChu to let everyone know they’re going on a date, and especially do not @LittleTricksforLoveOfficial, or they’ll say our little Yun Chu is giving spoilers.】
【LMAO, hope the date goes well!】
【Waiting for the ‘We’re together’ announcement.】
It was a rare, beautiful day.
It wasn’t tourist season, so there weren’t many people on the island. Aside from the follow PDs, the other cameras and microphones were well hidden. Yun Chu held up the hem of her dress as she walked along the asphalt road, following the signs Jian You had drawn.
The date was planned entirely by Jian You, who had gone over many of the details with the director’s team. Yun Chu was the one being invited; she only needed to be guided.
Everything seemed new and fascinating to Yun Chu.
Thanks to the development of tourism, everything here had been revitalized. The houses were painted in vibrant colors, their murals set against the blue sea and sky. On the uphill road, bright yellow winter jasmine was in full bloom, and the sea breeze was gentle and warm.
Was this the path Jian You took to school? Did Jian You ever see these brilliant flowers here? Did Jian You ever run barefoot on the sand and into the sea? Did she ever collect seashells? Did she ever hold a shell to her ear to listen to the whistling sea wind?
She not only thought these things but also said them aloud, murmuring to the camera, completely oblivious to the slowly widening smile on her follow PD Xiao Lan’s face.
At the end of the road stood a villa.
Unlike the other houses, it stood there gray and dusty, its back to the endless sea. It seemed as if every gust of sea breeze could blow off a thick layer of dust, yet never blow it all away.
There was a mailbox by the door, and a camera was set up next to it. Yun Chu asked, “Is that it?”
She walked over. The green paint on the mailbox was peeling, and its old, broken lock couldn’t keep the door shut. It swung open and closed in the wind, revealing the corner of an envelope.
“A letter from Teacher Jian for me?” She took out the envelope.
It was a very old-fashioned envelope with an eight-fen stamp. In the center, in Jian You’s handwriting, were the words: To Yun Chu.
Yun Chu opened the letter. “Oh, it really is for me! Let me see… wow, this stationery is so old too. The fountain pen ink has bled. Teacher Jian’s handwriting is so beautiful.”
“Yun Chu, the place where you are standing now is my father’s house. He left it to me before he left the island. When he sent the key, he also sent a letter. He apologized to me, and he apologized to my mother. He said that if I forgave him, I should accept this house. As you can see, I never came back.”
“I never forgave him, nor do I have the right to forgive him on my mother’s behalf.”
“But I think growth is a wondrous thing, and love is even more wondrous. Growth allowed me to leave this place and fly to a wider sky. And love allows me to reconcile with everything and face this place again.”
“You are my love, my little sun. Your arrival in my life is a gift from heaven. I am willing to retract all my antagonism toward the world and thank this world for letting us meet and fall in love. That is why I chose this place for our date. The key is also in the mailbox.”
“Please, take the key, push open this door, and walk into the dust-covered corners of my world.”
By the time she finished reading the letter, Yun Chu’s eyes were already red. She lowered her head, and a tear fell onto the thin paper, smudging a patch of ink. Remembering the camera was filming, she quickly turned away, her voice choked. “Don’t edit this part in.”
Forget it, she thought. She would just have Chen Jing deal with the production team in post-production. Right now, she would do whatever she wanted.
So she wiped away her tears, refolded the letter, placed it back in the envelope, and carefully put it in her pocket. Then she pushed open the door and walked inside.
It had indeed been a very, very long time since it had been cared for. The yard was overgrown with weeds, but the stone path leading to the living room had been trodden on.
There were no cameras inside. Xiao Lan had also remained outside. This was an isolated island that belonged only to her and Jian You.
The heavy curtains in the room were drawn. It hadn’t seen the sun in a long time, and even the air was damp. She followed the footprints Jian You had left upstairs, the wooden floorboards creaking under her feet.
In the dimness, she could only hear her own heartbeat.
Thump, thump.
No one lived here; the power had been cut long ago. The gloomy old house was unsettling, but her heart was filled with a passionate fire. She imagined Jian You as a princess in this magnificent castle, and she had to cut through thorns to save her.
She had to be brave. She had to move forward. She had to defeat the demon and bring Jian You home.
Finally, the attic was right before her.
She walked forward and pushed open the door.
And saw Jian You.
It was just like the dream she had that night, only the dusty little girl in the dream had grown up. Her eyes held a smile of indulgence and release, and she looked at her with a shimmering gaze.
Yun Chu let out a breath of relief and smiled at her. “The light is here.”
Jian You’s smile widened.
Once, heaven had been stingy in bestowing even a sliver of daylight upon her, and she had desperately reached for it, grasped for it, chased it. But now, she thought, the light was Yun Chu herself.
So now—
Yes, the light is here.
End of Main Story
