WOOY Chapter 24

Probably because of what they did the night before, they both slept deeply until they were woken up by the noisy arguing outside.

Chang Dong got up feeling a bit congested. After sniffing twice, he saw Ye Liuxi in the back seat, using a clip to gather her hair, preparing for her morning routine, and looking at him with a complicated expression.

Chang Dong asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

She quickly squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush, poured some mineral water into a paper cup, and got out of the car to brush her teeth. With one leg on the ground, she leaned back in, feeling the need to speak her mind.

“Chang Dong, your physique isn’t great… You look strong but are weak inside… You should run in the evenings or do some push-ups.”

Chang Dong: “…Thank you.”

“You’re welcome… You’ll understand after spending more time with me, I have a good heart.”

Chang Dong looked around, trying to find something to throw at her, but the door was already closed.

——

After a night of turmoil, the wind had calmed down quite a bit but hadn’t completely ceased. Visibility was still low, with the sky covered in a dust-yellow fog. Luckily, the climate here was dry; otherwise, if it were humid, the dirty stuff sticking to sweat would make one feel sticky and itchy, and without the possibility of a shower, it would be unbearable.

Ye Liuxi brushed her teeth while listening to an argument.

It was a model from Meng Jinggu’s side arguing with someone from Hui Ba’s group. Both sides had people either trying to break up the fight or chiming in. The woman’s voice was resilient and sharp, piercing through the men’s voices with great clarity. Her catchphrase was: “I, Qiao Meina[mfn]Her name means tall, beautiful and graceful lol[/mfn]...”

As Ye Liuxi continued brushing, she understood the gist: Qiao Meina and her two female companions were sleeping in a vehicle, and in the morning, they were startled to find a creepy man leaning in and pulling the blanket off Qiao Meina!

Qiao Meina was furious. She was wearing a low-cut nightgown, and the man saw her cleavage! She wasn’t even sure if she had been touched, and to make matters worse, the man was unattractive.

Ye Liuxi rinsed her mouth and went over.

Wherever there are people, there are conflicts; where there are men and women, there are scandals: romantic and scandalous.

When she arrived, the situation had escalated. Qiao Meina reached out to scratch the man’s face, but he dodged, and she grabbed his collar, pulling it up. His inner clothes were pulled over his head, covering his face. It looked like the man had no head, and from within the clothes, an angry voice shouted, “Damn you, do you think I’d be interested in someone like you?”

Meng Jingu was at a loss, trying to break up the fight, but couldn’t calm down the furious Qiao Meina. Simon, unsure whose side to take, kept saying, “Let go, let’s talk this out rationally…”

Hui Ba’s men were mostly watching and egging them on: “It’s not a big deal, and she’s making a scene. Models like her, who knows how many rich men she’s slept with…”

Qiao Meina’s eyes widened with anger: “Who, who the hell is talking crap?”

Amid the chaos, Ye Liuxi said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t keep arguing.”

Both groups turned to look at her, and Qiao Meina still fuming, asked, “What do you mean?”

Ye Liuxi said, “Isn’t it obvious? Arguing, fighting, risking your life—all require strength. In terms of numbers, how many of you are there? Only he can fight, right…”

She gestured toward Meng Jingu.

“Look at how many people they have. You brought cameras, lenses, reflectors, while they have iron shovels, pickaxes, and axes—your voice is loud now because they let you. If they get serious, they can make you disappear without a trace…”

Qiao Meina said, “I, Qiao Meina, am not afraid of anyone. Believe it or not, I can call the police…”

Ye Liuxi sneered, “Sure, go ahead. Check if your phone has a signal first, and then figure out how many days it will take for the police to find this place.”

She turned and walked toward Hui Ba’s camp, followed by laughter from Hui Ba’s men. Qiao Meina’s side fell silent.

——

In the camp, a large pot was boiling. Today, instead of porridge, they were cooking potato and vermicelli soup.

Hui Ba approached with a sly smile, “That useless guy, causing a ruckus all morning, giving me a headache. I thought if it didn’t stop, I’d have to teach them a lesson. But Sister Yexi handled it perfectly with just a few words. Sister Yexi, you haven’t had breakfast, have you? I have some ready, shall I send two portions over?”

Ye Liuxi said, “Sure, let Tuhzi bring it.”

She wandered back to Chang Dong’s car.

Chang Dong had already finished washing up and was drawing a topographical map of the Bailongdui area in a booklet, planning today’s scanning area. Hearing the commotion, he didn’t even lift his eyelids: “Has the peacekeeper returned?”

Ye Liuxi ignored him, pulled out a folding canvas chair, and comfortably sat down in it.

After a while, Tuhzi came over with a tray holding two meals. Ye Liuxi recognized him as the one who had set fire to Chang Dong’s belongings during the ambush.

Tuhzi, unaware that Ye Liuxi had specifically asked for him, thought he was just running an errand. He placed the tray down and turned to leave.

“Wait a moment,” Ye Liuxi said.

She picked up a bowl of soup, slowly blew on it to cool it down, and nonchalantly asked, “What happened this morning? Got caught being a peeping Tom?”

At the mention of this, Tuhzi got angry: “Absolutely not! That woman, her chest isn’t even as big as my wife’s. You think I’d be interested in her?”

Chang Dong frowned, finding Tuhzi’s words vulgar.

According to Tuhzi, he went out early in the morning to relieve himself and, on his way back, took a shortcut through Meng Jingu’s camp, where he saw a car with its door open.

“It was early, no one was up, and I was curious, so I went over to look—I’d heard there were models, and everyone wanted to see how pretty they were.”

He snorted, “They weren’t anything special, small nose, small eyes, no meat on their bones, small butt. Women like that can’t bear children. I wouldn’t take her even if she were given to me…”

Ye Liuxi said, “Stick to the point.”

“It’s weird, everyone in the car was asleep, and the woman was leaning against the car door, the blanket hanging down to the ground. I just stretched my neck to take a look, and she suddenly woke up. Boy, was she fierce, she scared the life out of me…”

“The truth?”

Tuhzi straightened his neck and patted his chest, “If I’m lying, let me be run over by a car! If it weren’t for Hui Ba saying to stay quiet these days, I would’ve torn her mouth apart…”

He cursed as he walked away and encountered Fei Tang, who looked dejected. Seeing his pitiful state, Tuhzi got angry, “Stand up straight, stop walking like a woman!”

Fei Tang, like a deflated balloon, looked at him blankly before dropping his head again.

He shuffled over to Chang Dong and pleaded, “Dong ge, can we leave today?”

Ye Liuxi, not wanting to see Fei Tang’s pitiful demeanor, quickly finished her soup and went to find Qiao Meina.

——

Simon was also having breakfast while discussing the day’s shooting plan. Everyone was polite to Ye Liuxi, feeling thankful for her warning earlier—they realized afterward how dangerous Hui Ba’s group seemed, fierce and threatening, with unknown intentions.

Ye Liuxi called Qiao Meina aside to ask her something.

When not losing her temper, Qiao Meina was quite reasonable. She was a bit shorter than Ye Liuxi and quite attractive, but in the modeling industry, it was all about standing out. Her willow-like eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, and thin lips made it difficult to shine among other beauties.

She spoke clearly and logically, “We didn’t lock the car door… Metal reminded us last night, but the three of us women were chatting and forgot… No one got up during the night… In the morning, feeling groggy and chilly, I woke up to a fright…”

Ye Liuxi said, “Got it, you go ahead.”

If Tuhzi wasn’t lying and Qiao Meina didn’t make it up, then the situation was suspicious: Who opened the car door? If someone really wanted to sneak in, they’d be careful and wouldn’t leave the door wide open, right?

After taking a few steps back, she had a sudden thought: Since the car door wasn’t locked, it could be opened from the outside with force. Could the one who opened the car door be the same entity that grabbed Fei Tang last night?

Intuition said yes, there were similarities, and neither incident involved harm.

While pondering this, Simon’s voice echoed loudly:

“…Even if given a lemon, we have to make lemonade. Sure, the weather isn’t great today, but we need to think creatively. Look at this yellow sand, doesn’t it feel apocalyptic? Today we’ll shoot a post-apocalyptic Loulan series, capturing the emptiness, desolation, and helplessness of Loulan’s people facing the end times, all in the photos…”

Chang Dong approached Ye Liuxi, and she casually asked, “Did Fei Tang need something from you?”

“He was scared out of his wits and wanted me to take him away. I couldn’t leave, so I drew him a detailed map—he just has to follow my tire tracks and flags from yesterday, and keep going along, and he’ll be fine.”

Ye Liuxi acknowledged with a hum, multitasking while still listening to Simon’s enthusiastic monologue.

“Makeup artists, pay attention. Today’s model makeup must be heavy, intense, but that’s not enough. The props must have a strong contrasting impact, something completely unexpected, for example…”

Chang Dong said, “I wanted to ask you, I’m driving out today to search by sections. Are you coming with me, or staying…”

Ye Liuxi, eager to hear the unexpected idea, raised a finger to signal Chang Dong to hold on.

“For example, once the scene is set and the model’s makeup is done, with her cold, stern gaze, what props do you usually think of? Don’t just use guns or knives, those are too cliché. Let me inspire you…” 

Ye Liuxi felt she had no connection with the fashion world—

“The current fashion trend is strong contrast. What is strong contrast? A cold, noble beauty appearing in an unexpected place, like a dirty alley or a coal mine, doing something out of character, like sweeping the streets or shoveling coal… This infinite blank space draws out the viewer’s endless imagination. That’s innate fashion!”

Ye Liuxi had a revelation, “Isn’t he describing me? They go through all that trouble to take photos, but my entire life is fashion. Any random snapshot is a masterpiece.”

Chang Dong: “…Does holding in pee count?”

Ye Liuxi didn’t respond for a while, trying to come up with a clever and fitting retort but found no words.

After a pause, she said, “Chang Dong, do you know how you’ll die?”

“No, can you tell? Palm reading?”

“Yes, palm reading. Give me your hand.”

Chang Dong scrutinized her, ensuring she didn’t have a knife and wouldn’t chop his hand off as soon as he extended it.

He reached out.

Ye Liuxi held his hand, looking down to examine it.

His palm was broad, fingers long and slender, warm with calluses, slightly rough to the touch, especially on the index finger, probably from frequently using a carving knife.

Remarkably, it was clean.

Chang Dong lowered his eyes. Her head was bowed low, her hair falling aside to reveal a small section of her fair neck, with a beautiful curve extending into her clothes.

At the nape, near the hairline, were soft, short brown hairs, different from the surrounding black hair. When she was a child, adults said that girls with such light hair were called “yellow-haired girls…”

Ye Liuxi looked up, “You’ll be killed by me.”

Expectedly, Chang Dong asked, “Is there a way to avoid it?”

“Yes, treat me to life-saving meals three times a week, with no less than three meat dishes on the table each time. Pay me life-saving money every month, bow whenever you see me, and kowtow on holidays. If it doesn’t make a sound, it doesn’t count[mfn]She wants him to slap his head on the floor when bowing [/mfn]…”

Chang Dong withdrew his hand, “Then kill me sooner, living is suffering anyway.”

He left her behind.

Ye Liuxi snorted and stood there for a while, bored, looking around—

Simon and his team were unloading photographic equipment from the car, about to start their “Post-Apocalyptic Loulan” photo shoot.

Hui Ba divided his men into four groups, each with two or three people, loudly instructing them: “Go in four directions, mark the roads, don’t get lost and unable to return, keep your eyes sharp, don’t miss anything, if you want to get rich, you need guts, don’t be like some people…”

As he said this, he disdainfully looked back.

Fei Tang’s car was slowly leaving the camp.