Chapter 10

Can I Buy This Prop?

It was like in a Woody Allen movie, where no one understood why she would obsessively go out in the middle of the night, dressed to the nines; and no one knew that this fictional city she had stumbled into had already become part of her life.

The man her dad introduced was completely unreliable. At 183 cm, he looked strong, but Hu Xiu easily sensed selfishness, boredom, vulgarity, and—something concealed.

The man very politely found a Hunan restaurant near Hu Xiu’s workplace, four dishes and one soup, attentive and diligent. Throughout the meal, he carefully inquired about her work schedule and income.

He talked about future plans and mentioned the “golden age,” as though he was casually bringing it up, but every sentence had been rehearsed too many times.

The most interesting part was probably his name—Qian Jinxin, likely lacking money in his five elements. The deliberately wise look in his eyes and his overly cautious enthusiasm made Hu Xiu feel somewhat sad. In her father’s eyes, she seemed to deserve such a man.

“I’m sorry to ask, but your dad told me you have a grade 10 piano certificate and can dance ethnic dance. Why didn’t you pursue the arts?”

“Probably not good enough.”

“Good thing you didn’t. No offense, but Uncle is an excellent teacher.

But girls who learn dance, with good figures, end up as cheerleaders, then marry old men.

The real path in life is hard, but you’re doing well as a translator now. In the future, you could quit your job and stay home to raise kids, maybe do some interpreting on weekends. That’s really the ideal wife for a man.”

“Oh...”

“I have a house in Minhang District. If your income is good too, we could easily afford one in the city, but I don’t have a household registration. Does Xiao Hu have one?”

Seeing the old-fashioned terms, “cheerleader” among them, Hu Xiu felt embarrassed. She spooned the spicy hotpot soup into her mouth in small bites, unable to speak due to the heat, using it as an excuse to delay.

The man seemed relentless, “What do you like to do in your spare time?”

“Play murder mystery games...”

“What’s that?”

“Role-playing, solving cases and doing tasks together.” Hu Xiu surprisingly spoke a little more, “It’s quite popular in Shanghai too. A friend introduced me, at first I didn’t think much of it, but later I got hooked.”

“I don’t get the games you young people play. But for adults, it’s childish, all fake.

I usually play ball games, burn some calories with friends. After all, as you age, uric acid levels go up.”

Every sentence started with “I,” she couldn’t stand it anymore. When the check came, the man picked up the nearby credit card with a Friday 100-50 sign and went to the counter. Hu Xiu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking about how to turn down this man who seemed happier about meal discounts than finding a wife.

Relatives and friends push unsuitable suitors onto you, then gossip behind your back when the marriage goes wrong—this behavior is truly malicious.

Thinking about it made her feel utterly defeated. Her dad didn’t even underestimate her, because the real situation in the past year was: living in the suburbs, with an annual income of less than 50,000, unable to make ends meet, and still sending money to the Snowpiercer.

According to Zhao Xiaorou, the Snowpiercer is a gold mine, and Hu Xiu often has to find some wild men to spend time with.

However, Hu Xiu didn’t find this offensive at all; in fact, it felt somewhat ambiguous. Being able to have a wild fling with Qin Xiao Yi, what more could she ask for? It was definitely more interesting than being with some tall, strong, and boring man whose whole life revolved around having children and starting a family!

After working for three weeks, Hu Xiu spent her days doing paperwork, organizing entertainment activities for the hospital, and following around her senior.

The hospital urgently needed staff, and after her senior from the same school found her resume, it was immediately sent to the HR department. She was offered the job and started almost immediately.

During weekdays, she worked as an administrator, serving the doctors and the system. Her first weekend, her senior dragged her into a translation task. She was so anxious while preparing the materials that she couldn’t sleep and ended up being so tired she passed out as soon as she got home, losing seven pounds in the process.

After that night when he sent her home, Hu Xiu didn’t see Qin Xiao Yi for an entire month. She finished work by six, but by then, the rush hour had passed, and she couldn’t get tickets for the 6:30 shows. The weekends were booked in advance, and she didn’t have a chance to grab tickets.

Though she comforted herself with the thought that once she got her salary, she’d immediately try to get tickets for the Friday midnight show, Hu Xiu still couldn’t get one. The midnight show tickets were even more expensive at 598 RMB, and she had to stay up late, but why was it so hard to get a ticket? Were there so many young night owls in Shanghai?

After figuring out the pattern, Hu Xiu stopped being too picky about the popular Friday and Saturday shows. As soon as she saw a midnight show available, she would immediately pay and join the group buy.

Once the group buy was successful, Hu Xiu lingered on the Snowpiercer page for a long time and saw something a little special — the Snowpiercer themed scene and birthday wish package.

Though her birthday had already passed, wasn’t it still okay to celebrate it again?

The more she stared at the words “extra scenes,” the more Hu Xiu was tempted. She paid 88 RMB and left a note with the session time and Qin Xiao Yi’s name, excitedly waiting to meet him in the play.

Soon after, she received a friend request on WeChat: “Snowpiercer Customer Service—Joyce.”

Once she accepted the request, the customer service politely introduced themselves: “Hello, Miss, I’m Joyce from Snowpiercer’s customer service. I saw you purchased an extra scene service. Did you specify that Qin Xiao Yi should send you birthday wishes?”

“Yes...” Roundabout, this was like chatting with Qin Xiao Yi.

“Great, I’ll make a note of it. May I ask which Qin Xiao Yi you are referring to?”

In the three photos sent, Qin Xiao Yi was wearing a military uniform, with his hair hidden under a hat. He looked less menacing, but more... uniform and tempting.

Hu Xiu blushed as she looked at the photos. She saved them and sent them back to customer service: “This is the Qin Xiao Yi I mean. Could you tell me his real name?”

“We’re not able to reveal the actor’s name, but we’ll communicate with the director, and you’ll know how he sends his blessings during the session.”

Even though she couldn’t find out his name, Hu Xiu still kept staring at the photos, imagining Qin Xiao Yi playing Feng Youjin, with a military uniform and upright demeanor, which didn’t quite match his wickedly charming features.

If he didn’t break character, then Qin Xiao Yi’s acting was so good it could have been like cosmetic surgery.

It had been a long time since Hu Xiu had seen Qin Xiao Yi, and she couldn’t help but ask, “By the way, could I join the Qin team in secret? Just as the dancer role?”

“No problem, Miss, I’ll arrange it.”

Hu Xiu even brought a qipao to the venue, stuffing it in her bag. After finishing all the translation materials after work, she took the subway to Snowpiercer at nine o’clock.

Once she changed into the qipao and carefully read the role card, Hu Xiu thought to herself that the dancer role needed a red lip color, so she also packed her lipstick in her prop bag.

The lipstick was a birthday gift from Zhao Xiaorou, engraved with Hu Xiu’s name and date of birth, and it also had a blessing: “Drink the strongest alcohol, date the wildest dogs, and be the coolest Hu Xiu.”

When Hu Xiu received the lipstick, she was still living in the suburbs, leading a dispirited life. She hadn’t yet met Qin Xiao Yi and couldn’t imagine how much she would spend for an NPC experience like this.

The whistle blew, and the iron doors rang. Once again, Hu Xiu hid behind the platform, her trembling legs exposed, and in her mind, the usual lines: “So handsome I’m dying, dying, dying.”

Qin Xiao Yi’s suit seemed to have changed, the color slightly darker than before. He surveyed the crowd and, upon seeing Hu Xiu hiding behind the platform and avoiding his gaze, smiled and turned to walk toward the city: “Everyone, it’s getting late for our arrival in Rongcheng, follow me.”

He was the male lead who had held an umbrella for her in the rain and called for a taxi. In a daze, walking into Rongcheng, that familiar, warm feeling came again.

Waiting for her in Rongcheng was Lin Qiumei, wearing a green long qipao with a gray shawl, who winked at her affectionately — she remembered Hu Xiu.

In the first scene, Feng Youjin transformed into a casino boss, suave but sly. He quietly handed Hu Xiu 1,000 yuan as initial funds.

Everyone was somewhat familiar, and they smiled knowingly when they saw her. Hu Xiu thought of the movie “Midnight in Paris,” where the writer Gil, lost on the streets, stumbles into a celebrity ball and meets the Fitzgeralds and Hemingway, falling helplessly in love with Paris.

And like in a Woody Allen film, no one around her would understand why she was so obsessed with going out in the middle of the night, dressing up in style. Others didn’t know that this fictional city she had accidentally entered had already become a part of her life.

In the first five minutes of the play, Hu Xiu and two other players entered Qin Xiao Yi’s room.

The familiar setting, the familiar Qin Xiao Yi, with glasses on the cabinet and a housekeeper sitting on the sofa.

Hu Xiu nervously hid her face behind the task card as she listened to Qin Xiao Yi explain the mission, almost struggling to breathe.

After the other two players were sent out, Qin Xiao Yi spoke to Hu Xiu: “Go to the casino and help me get the gambling money that Boss Jiang left last time. If you get it, it’s yours as a welcome gift.”

When Hu Xiu awkwardly stood up, Qin Xiao Yi said from behind, “Don’t be so nervous. Are you always this nervous when you come to my room?”

Hu Xiu thought, “It’s not just nervous. Looking at you, I’m losing my mind.” After getting the gambling money and betting a few rounds, she returned to Room 301, only to hear Qin Xiao Yi teasing another female player from another group. Qin Xiao Yi smiled and said, “Come to my room to dance and drink, you’re really good at it. I, Qin Xiao Yi, have never met such enthusiastic guests.”

As soon as the door opened, Hu Xiu saw three women chattering as they squeezed out. The woman in the red qipao, looking exquisite, smiled and waved goodbye to Minister Qin, and the headlights of the car blazed by, blurring in her line of sight. The qipao she wore wasn’t as flattering as Hu Xiu’s.

But the visual impact was explosive, not only stunning Hu Xiu but also leaving Qin Shaoyi in awe.

His ears were red, clearly very pleased with the dance just now. Hu Xiu felt a surge of anger and thought to herself, as expected, men are all the same—just animals thinking with their lower halves. Men who think with their lower halves can’t escape the allure of the big white rabbit.

The more she thought, the angrier Hu Xiu became. She grabbed the pair of glasses from the cabinet and put them on. The butler spoke first: “Hey? Why are you wearing our young master’s glasses?”

“Giving them to her, she looks better in them than I do.” Qin Shaoyi walked over and smiled wickedly: “You seem to have lost some weight.”

This was a typical line from a brothel, but it was worth the 598 yuan!

And the 88 yuan for the birthday package hadn’t even been accounted for. Hu Xiu wandered around, waiting to see how to trigger her birthday benefits when suddenly a handsome new actor approached and greeted her: “Miss Mei, seeing how beautiful you are, this piece of cured meat, originally priced at 3,000, I’ll sell it to you for just 1,000. Why not give it to Minister Qin? He loves the cured meat from Rongcheng.”

Not one to refuse, Hu Xiu thought, “Since there’s so much money in this scene, I might as well buy some happiness.”

She returned to room 301 with the cured meat prop. Qin Shaoyi frowned. “Do you think I, the noble Qin Shaoyi, would eat such a thing? What, wearing my glasses, got too excited?”

Excited was an understatement—her intelligence dropped at the speed of light. Just then, Feng Youjin suddenly barged into room 301: “Miss Mei, I heard you have a communist party badge on you, mind if I search you?”

How had the storyline changed again? Before Hu Xiu could react, Qin Shaoyi blocked her from view: “She’s mine. Don’t touch her.”

“Ah, Minister Qin, it seems you and Miss Mei have become quite close. Let me search you!”

Hu Xiu then remembered that there was indeed a party badge in her bag. However, neither Feng Youjin nor his subordinates could find it, so they turned their attention to Qin Shaoyi.

With righteous indignation, Qin Shaoyi opened his arms in front of Hu Xiu. Before he was taken away by Feng Youjin, he turned around and glanced at her, saying, “Take care of yourself.”

The interrogation room scene was rewritten so that Qin Shaoyi took the beating for her. Hu Xiu, both excited and heartbroken, stood outside the interrogation room, listening to the girl in the form-fitting qipao shout “handsome,” growing more and more excited: “What if she has a large bust? Qin Shaoyi is taking a beating for me!”

The plot didn’t stop there. When Qin Shaoyi emerged and saw Hu Xiu waiting by the door, he threw on his suit and grabbed her hand, still fuming, walking briskly.

Confused, Hu Xiu followed him, but in her qipao, she struggled to keep up. She tripped on a snow-covered threshold and was quickly pulled into Qin Shaoyi’s arms. His voice rang in her ears: “Are you alright?”

She was fine physically, but Hu Xiu regretted her choice of a thin cup bra. Qin Shaoyi’s arm was pressed against her chest, and she hadn’t thought to buy silicone inserts for comfort.

Looking up, they were at a department store. Hu Xiu often came here to send things during her missions. Nearby was a jewelry counter full of dazzling items, but she didn’t have time to look at them.

Qin Shaoyi took out a key and opened the counter himself, pulling out a watch and putting it on her wrist. “Miss Mei, I heard it’s your birthday today. Happy birthday.”

Hu Xiu stood there dazed as Qin Shaoyi’s long, sensuous fingers put the watch on her wrist. She couldn’t think straight and just replied, “Aren’t you going to pay?”

Qin Shaoyi smiled. “This entire department store is part of the Qin family’s business. Do you think I need to pay? Don’t underestimate me, Qin Shaoyi. The public election is coming up. Do you want to go do a mission to help me get into power?”

“Sure!” Hu Xiu excitedly stepped back, but in her hurry, she crashed into a phone booth, the impact leaving her head ringing and a bump on her forehead. The headache persisted long after the game ended.

Qin Shaoyi didn’t win the election, but in the third round, he stayed close to Hu Xiu, protecting her from anyone who tried to harm her.

That warm back was like a shield in front of her. Hu Xiu couldn’t help but think: “Damn, I’m done for. This 88 is worth 888!”

Having survived thanks to the birthday benefits, Hu Xiu, under Qin Shaoyi’s personal protection, boarded the Snowpiercer.

The sound of the whistle echoed as Hu Xiu took a deep breath, reluctant to leave. She wanted to ask Qin Shaoyi one last question—did he remember her? That was the unsolved mystery of her entire love story.

But she couldn’t ask. The distance was too close, and she hadn’t brought any mint candy.

Instead, Qin Shaoyi delivered his final line: “Miss Mei, meeting you in Rongcheng today is my luck. I hope that after leaving Rongcheng, your future will be filled with happiness.”

With the iron door closing, Hu Xiu’s love story ended once again. Her story, along with Qin Shaoyi, who had secretly bonded with her in the storyline, was left behind in the parallel world of Rongcheng, like a dream.

Shivering, Hu Xiu returned to the prop room. The staff saw her with tears in her eyes and asked with concern, “Did the impact hurt too much? We saw it on the monitor.”

Hu Xiu, with a sad face, pointed at her wrist. “Can I buy this prop watch?”