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Psst! We're moving!
A song played on a loop. Wen Di seemed to have no objection to the song he was playing.
Yan Heyu suddenly put down his chopsticks, picked up his phone, and stood up.
Wen Di looked up at him but didn’t ask what he was doing.
Yan Heyu walked to the bedroom and placed his phone on the bedside table.
The music from the bedroom became background noise, not affecting their conversation.
Even without chatting, it wouldn’t be awkwardly silent.
He kept the atmosphere within a comfortable range.
Wen Di saw that he didn’t have much beef left in his bowl, so she poured lamb into the pot.
Yan Heyu picked up a spoon and scooped a few spoonfuls of hot soup into her bowl. She ate slowly, and by the end, her food would always be cold. He used to ladle soup to warm her dishes, ensuring they stayed hot.
“Did you order the hotpot?” Wen Di asked.
Because from the dipping sauces to the dishes, everything was to her liking; none of the dishes she disliked were present. Qin Xing was a careless person and could never remember what she liked or disliked.
There was only one possibility: he ordered it under Qin Xing’s name.
Yan Heyu set the spoon aside and said, “Not exactly. Qin Xing asked me what you liked to eat, and I gave him a list.”
Wen Di said “Oh,” picked up the paper cup of drink beside her, made a toasting gesture with him, and without speaking, tilted her head back to drink.
Yan Heyu kept watching her, forgetting to drink his own.
“What are you looking at me for? Eat your food.”
“Rest a bit before eating,” Yan Heyu pulled a tissue for her.
Wen Di paused, took the tissue, and wiped her mouth directly. A little juice stained her lips.
The smell of hotpot in the room was too strong, so Yan Heyu went to the balcony to open the window for ventilation.
The courtyard gate opened, and a child propped it open as an electric scooter rode in.
It was the other family living in the courtyard, a family of three residing on the first floor. An adjacent bungalow also belonged to them, used for cooking and storing a few miscellaneous items.
When the neighbor casually looked up and saw him, they greeted him warmly: “Moved in already?”
Yan Heyu said, “No, still setting up furniture.”
“Oh, well, soon then.” The neighbor parked the electric scooter and turned to call his child inside.
He had heard from the landlord that the downstairs neighbors were surnamed Huang. Both husband and wife worked at a factory in the park, leaving early and returning late. Their son was in second grade this year.
Yan Heyu wasn’t in a hurry to go inside. He stood on the small balcony for a moment, waiting for Wen Di to slowly finish the beef in her bowl.
The light in the bungalow downstairs came on. From his angle, he could see a yellow light bulb hanging on the wall, illuminating the entire room.
Light seeped from under the door, casting a diagonal strip across the bungalow’s entrance.
Through the window, at the stove, Mr. Huang tied on an apron and began making dinner.
The downstairs balcony window was probably also open, as he could hear the boy reciting text.
This was a life he had never experienced before.
Simple.
Reassuring.
Not long after, the iron gate creaked open from outside, and another electric scooter with flashing lights entered. It must have been Mrs. Huang returning from work.
“Mom!”
“Hey. Finished your homework?”
“Already done, I’m reciting the text.”
“So good.”
The light on his balcony was on, and Mrs. Huang also saw him.
The couple said almost the same thing when they greeted him, “Moved in already?”
Yan Heyu: “No, haven’t finished tidying up yet.”
Mrs. Huang took off her helmet, charging both scooters while talking to him. “My husband and I often leave very early in the morning. This iron gate is a bit noisy, so please bear with us if it disturbs your sleep.”
“It’s okay, we don’t usually live here.”
Mrs. Huang understood: “You bought a school district house for your child, right?”
Yan Heyu: “...”
He mumbled an ambiguous reply.
Mrs. Huang asked, “Is your child a boy or a girl? How old are they?”
Yan Heyu: “...A daughter, five years old.”
“Oh, she’ll be starting elementary school soon then.”
Mrs. Huang took her helmet and bag inside, and the courtyard quieted down.
Wen Di walked over at this moment. “I didn’t know you had a five-year-old daughter.”
Yan Heyu detected the sarcasm. He said, “It’s Wenwen.”
Little fairy Wenwen is five years old this year.
She called him Dad, so she’s his daughter.
Wen Di had guessed earlier that the daughter he spoke of was Wenwen. “Wenwen has nothing to do with you.”
“I think she does.”
Wen Di glanced at him.
Yan Heyu changed the subject, telling her to look at the bungalow in the courtyard and the surrounding houses.
Wen Di leaned out the window. This area was the oldest part of Jiangcheng, mostly bungalows. It looked monotonous during the day, but at night, it was lit up with countless household lights.
Yan Heyu turned off the balcony light; the visual effect of the night view was better.
From the bungalow, there was the sound of stir-frying, oil sizzling in the wok.
She couldn’t smell the dishes, but it felt delicious.
Yan Heyu said, “I wonder what dish it is.”
Wen Di: “Maybe shredded potatoes with vinegar.”
Yan Heyu smiled. “You want to eat that dish?”
Wen Di shook her head, leaning on the windowsill, looking into the distance.
He looked at her profile, lazy and gentle.
For a moment, he wanted to lean down and kiss her, but he forced himself to resist.
“Come inside and eat hotpot.” He returned to the living room and scooped out the cooked dishes.
The hotpot meal lasted over two hours. Wen Di enjoyed every dish to the fullest. Aside from her family, only when eating with Yan Heyu could she eat her fill without any mental burden.
When eating with others, it wasn’t that they would rush her, but rather she subconsciously wanted to eat as quickly as possible. If she couldn’t keep up, she would just eat less.
Chewing each bite of food at least thirty times was a habit she formed as a child, later becoming an obsessive-compulsive behavior. When she was little, she would consciously count how many times she chewed. Later, she didn’t need to; her muscles and cells had memory. If she chewed only ten or so times and swallowed quickly, her stomach would hurt. Qin Xing said it was psychological.
That was possible.
But indeed, when she ate too fast and didn’t chew enough, her stomach didn’t feel comfortable.
After eating, Yan Heyu washed the pot clean and carried the rest of the trash downstairs.
Wen Di locked the door and followed him out.
They left the old district, filled with the smell of hotpot and the scent of everyday life.
________________________________________
During the second week of Behind Desire relocating to Jiangcheng, filming of the villa scenes began.
Qin Xing and Zhou Mingqian hadn’t booked separate rooms at a hotel; they had been staying at the villa the whole time. Wen Di found it inconvenient and hadn’t visited.
Today, with the set here, she came to take a look.
The villas in the area were largely similar, and Wen Di didn’t pay much attention until she saw the couplet pasted on the main gate.
“Qin Xing!”
“Coming, coming.”
Qin Xing was smoking in the courtyard, extinguishing his cigarette butt on a stone.
“What’s wrong?” He strode over.
Wen Di stared at him. “Whose villa is this?”
Qin Xing blinked. “The landlord’s.”
“Who’s the landlord?”
“Let me think. It seems to be surnamed Yan, the same as Brother Yan.”
“Pfft,” Qin Xing burst out laughing.
He confessed everything, laying out the whole story of the house.
He rented Yan Heyu’s villa because it was suitable. “Zhou Mingqian saw the video I shot and decided it was good. We don’t do things without certainty. Besides, does Brother Yan need a house to meet you now?”
Wen Di, seeing that the house truly matched the script well, didn’t argue with him.
She understood Yan Heyu’s intentions—he was finding ways to insert his own things into her drama. When the drama aired, if there were any shots of his villa, he’d probably replay them multiple times.
Qin Xing looked around the courtyard but couldn’t find anything particularly special that would make Wen Di guess it was Yan Heyu’s house.
“How did you figure it out?”
Wen Di pointed to the couplet on the door. “I wrote it.”
“Amazing, you’re truly a calligraphy master whose talent was overshadowed by screenwriting.”
“Keep flattering me.”
Qin Xing laughed.
After filming a few scenes in the morning, Wen Di went to find Yin Ziyu.
The previous scene was a confrontation between Yin Ziyu and Tan Moxie, a scene where their relationship broke down. Tan Moxie had already left, leaving only her in the house.
Even after “cut” was called, Yin Ziyu was still shedding tears, unable to break character.
Tan Moxie saw her eyes were red from crying, so he went to the restroom, wrung out a hot towel, and brought it to her. “If you cry anymore, we won’t be able to film this afternoon’s scene.”
Yin Ziyu sat on a beanbag chair, looking up at him with teary eyes, asking, “Why did you have to leave?”
Tan Moxie sighed helplessly inwardly. His character in the script had abandoned her.
He squatted in front of her, patted her shoulder, and coaxed her, “Didn’t I not leave?”
“But you did leave.” Yin Ziyu choked, tears streaming down her face. She buried her face in her knees, crying uncontrollably, her shoulders trembling along with her.
Gu Heng tossed a few bags of snacks to Tan Moxie, signaling him to give them to Yin Ziyu.
Yin Ziyu didn’t lift her head, immersed in the character’s sorrow.
Tan Moxie tried to put the snacks in her hand, but she pushed them away fiercely.
He was half-squatting, lost his balance, and sat directly on the floor.
Yin Ziyu’s assistant quickly came over. Yin Ziyu didn’t like to be disturbed when she was in character, which Tan Moxie didn’t know.
She quietly apologized, “Mr. Tan, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Tan Moxie got up, brushed off his clothes a few times. He only kept one bag of snacks, tossing the rest back to Gu Heng.
His character, the male lead, had many scenes with Gu Heng’s character, the second male lead, even more than with Yin Ziyu’s character, the female lead.
After spending more than five months with Gu Heng, their conversations, though still not many, were much more familiar than when they first joined the crew.
Wen Di arrived, greeted them, and sat next to Yin Ziyu.
Yin Ziyu hugged her and cried for a while longer. After crying out her inner sorrow, her tears dried up, and she was exhausted from crying. She leaned back onto the beanbag chair behind her, letting out a long sigh.
“Oh my god, Boss Wen, the way you wrote this scene, it has such a huge impact. It’s even more heartbreaking than my own breakup.”
Zhou Mingqian led a few rounds of applause for her. Today’s emotional scene was the most difficult to film, and Yin Ziyu nailed it in one take.
Yin Ziyu wiped her tears, fixed her makeup, and went to apologize to Tan Moxie. She had been so deep in character earlier that she had taken out all her resentment on him.
Tan Moxie: “It’s fine.”
Yin Ziyu was still a bit reserved around Gu Heng and Tan Moxie. She didn’t chat much, going to Wen Di’s side to eat fruit and calm her emotions.
Wen Di peeled an orange for her. “It’s not peeled very nicely, but just eat it.”
“Thank you, Boss Wen.”
Yin Ziyu sighed and took a big bite.
She rubbed her temples; her head ached from crying.
Yuanyuan finished the tasks Qin Xing had given her and also came over. She wasn’t sure why Yin Ziyu was crying so terribly. Although she was on set every day, she also acted as an assistant for both Qin Xing and Wen Di, so she had many chores to do and sometimes could only watch a third of a scene.
“Why are you crying so much?”
Yin Ziyu laughed and said, “Ask Boss Wen. She told me to cry, and I dared not to.”
Wen Di told Yuanyuan that in the scene just now, Yin Ziyu and Tan Moxie had a complete falling out.
Yuanyuan nodded, realizing it was crying from a breakup.
“Sister Wen Di is best at writing crying scenes. Two years ago, I watched that historical drama, and the ending almost made me cry to death. I dreamt of the male and female leads all night, and my internal organs ached from the torment.”
Yuanyuan asked curiously, “Sister Wen Di, do you cry yourself when you write?”
Wen Di peeled another orange for Yuanyuan, handed it to her, and said, “Of course I cry, otherwise how can I immerse myself? I cry even harder than you all.”
Yin Ziyu: “Then when you wrote my scene, your eyes must have been swollen from crying.”
Wen Di smiled, “Pretty much.”
Yuanyuan asked Yin Ziyu, “Will you and Mr. Tan get back together after breaking up in the drama?”
“No reunion, it’s an open ending.”
Yuanyuan clutched her heart as if in pain. “I won’t be able to handle that.”
Wen Di had recently been considering whether to pair Yin Ziyu and Tan Moxie for another drama.
She wanted Yin Ziyu to audition for the female lead in the film version of No One Compares to You. Yin Ziyu’s versatility was strong; she could be pure or seductive, sweet or cool. Taking on this role might allow her to portray a completely different “human world” than what was in the script.
But it would depend on Yan Heyu’s opinion, as he was the investor after all.
“Mr. Yan is home today,” Yuanyuan’s words interrupted Wen Di’s thoughts. She followed Yuanyuan’s gaze and turned to see Yan Heyu coming down the stairs, dressed in white shirt and black trousers.
Perhaps he had no plans to go out; he wasn’t wearing his watch, and his shirt cuffs were casually rolled up.
“You all knew this was Mr. Yan’s house?” Wen Di asked Yuanyuan and Yin Ziyu.
Yuanyuan said, “We just found out this morning.”
She pulled Yin Ziyu up. “Come on, let’s see what we’re having for lunch today.”
They shouldn’t be a third wheel here.
The two left, chatting and laughing.
Yan Heyu went directly to the kitchen, and soon came out with a glass of warm water.
Everyone on the crew knew that this young master of the Yan family was pursuing screenwriter Wen, so they consciously kept their distance, leaving a quiet space for them.
Yan Heyu sat down next to Wen Di, placing the water glass on the coffee table in front of her.
He asked, “Is the crew lunch box good? I’ll have lunch with you.”
“It’s not good.”
“Then I’ll taste it and see how bad it is.”
“...”
Wen Di picked up the orange peeler, took an orange from the fruit plate, and started peeling it, mentioning the couplet on the main gate: “Did Uncle Fan give that to you?”
Yan Heyu nodded. “Yes. It was my first New Year in Jiangcheng, and I hadn’t prepared anything. Director Fan sent a few couplets. I guessed at the time that you wrote them, so I didn’t change to new couplets this year.”
Wen Di was surprised, looking up at him. “How did you guess that?”
Yan Heyu met her gaze and said, “It wasn’t really a guess. Anything anyone gives me, I think of you, and I feel like it’s related to you.”
There were a few seconds of silence between them.
The silence was broken by the vibration of a phone.
Yan Heyu glanced at the phone screen. It was the number of Jiang Yunxing’s uncle.
He didn’t avoid Wen Di and pressed the answer button.
Jiang Zhengqian, while dealing with the evidence of his own various affairs, wasn’t faster than Yan Heyu, and Yan Heyu had also obtained some other crucial evidence, mainly about his embezzlement of group profits.
He sternly warned Yan Heyu: “Young man, I advise you to think twice. Think about whether you can bear the consequences after sending that email to other members of the Jiang family.”
Yan Heyu remained unperturbed: “I don’t know how many people have threatened me, have you seen me fear anyone? People like you, I don’t even pay attention to.”
He habitually looked at his wrist for the time, but he wasn’t wearing his watch.
He looked at Wen Di, and when he spoke to her, he seemed like a different person, his voice instantly becoming gentle: “Lend me your watch for a moment.”
Wen Di heard the intense tension in his conversation with the other person. She didn’t ask further, directly took off her watch, and handed it to him.
“No need to take it off, I just need to look at it.” Yan Heyu pinched her knit sweater sleeve, pulling her wrist closer to him, seeing the time on the watch face clearly.
He coldly reminded Jiang Zhengqian: “Think about how you’ll clean up your own mess. You have six and a half minutes. The email will be sent to your inbox on time, with copies sent to your entire extended family and your father-in-law’s family. This is only one-third of the evidence of your private dealings. I have two-thirds more. Take care of yourself.”
He hung up the phone.
Wen Di pulled her sleeve back. “Can you let go now?”
Yan Heyu was still holding on. After he put his phone down, he said, “Yes.”
Then he released her.
Wen Di was speechless and didn’t want to say anything more to him. She continued peeling her orange.
Yan Heyu picked up the glass of water he had poured for her and drank it himself. “Someone threatened me. Aren’t you going to show some concern?”
“You’re not even scared yourself. Do you need anyone else’s concern?”
“Actually, I was also quite scared inside.”
Wen Di wanted to roll her eyes but resisted.
Yan Heyu smiled, put down the water glass, went to the kitchen to wash his hands, and after sitting back down, took the orange and peeler from her hand. “I’ll do it.”
The peeler slid quickly under his fingers, peeling the orange for her in a few swift motions. The orange peel was neat and beautiful, like a blooming flower.
This speed was all thanks to peeling oranges for her in the past.
________________________________________
Wen Di stayed at the film set until evening, and Zhou Mingqian gave her high praise for the revised emotional scenes, saying he finally found the feeling he used to have.
There wasn’t much for her to do with the post-production of the drama. She and her second aunt had flights tomorrow to go skiing.
Returning home, her second aunt was back from work, lounging on the sofa, playing with Wenwen.
Grandma came out of the bathroom holding a glass bottle. In the bottle was the Juliet rose, which was slowly wilting after almost two weeks.
“This rose is prettier than others. When it completely fades, I’ll dry it for you and keep it.”
Wen Di: “It’s just a flower; you don’t need to put so much effort into it.”
Grandma said, “It’s no trouble anyway.”
Whenever she went on a long trip, Grandma would always pack her a bag of snacks. This time, for skiing, it was no exception. Grandma prepared a bag of snacks for both her and her second aunt, tucking them into their suitcases.
And she reminded them that she had bought them the same snacks, so they weren’t allowed to fight over them.
Second Aunt laughed, saying, “Am I that kind of person?”
Grandma: You almost snatched Wenwen’s snacks too.
Second Aunt laughed so hard tears came to her eyes, grabbing Grandma’s arm and shaking it vigorously twice: Don’t badmouth me.
________________________________________
The next morning, Wen Di and her second aunt boarded the plane.
She couldn’t recall which year she last traveled with her second aunt; it felt so long ago, like it was in a past life.
Second Aunt proactively mentioned Guan Xiangmu, saying he had invested in the new materials company next door to her, and frequently visited the factory for inspections.
Wen Di opened a box of chocolates, took out two spoons, and shared it with her second aunt.
She asked, “Do you often meet CEO Guan?”
“Not really. Every time he goes to the company next door, he sends me a text message saying he’s arrived.” But she never replied, yet the next time, he would continue sending messages as if nothing happened.
Wen Qizhen scooped a spoonful of chocolate into her mouth, then changed the subject. “When are you starting to write the screenplay for the No One Compares to You movie?”
“I’ll start writing after I get back from skiing.”
“Have you found that feeling?”
“I don’t know if you could call it that, but over the past few days, I’ve been sporadically picking out all the furniture, and there are still some decorative items I haven’t bought yet.” Wen Di paused and said, “It feels pretty good.”
“That’s good then.”
After finishing the chocolates, Wen Di and her second aunt put on their eye masks and rested.
Waking up, the plane had landed in the North Country.
They had booked a special homestay, and the owner of the homestay came to pick them up from the airport.
They planned to stay for three days. Her second aunt brought two sets of ski clothes for herself and prepared three sets for Wen Di.
Wen Di breathed out warm air. Before her were green pines, wooden cabins, and an endless expanse of snow.
Her first time skiing was when she was four years old. Her second aunt took her to a ski resort abroad. At that time, she was short, and falling didn’t hurt. After falling for a few days, she learned quite well.
On the second day of the ski trip, Qin Xing asked her how her trip was going.
Wen Di casually took a photo of the ski resort and sent it to the group chat: [It’s Saturday today, more people than yesterday.]
She and her second aunt had been snowboarding today. They had just put away their boards. After skiing all morning, she finally found the feeling of skiing from years ago.
It was lunchtime, so they went to find food first, planning to continue playing in the afternoon.
Qin Xing asked Wen Di, then asked Yan Heyu: [Brother Yan, did you find Wen Di today?]
Yan Heyu had just skied down from the mountain and hadn’t seen the message.
Kang Bo was with his boss on this ski trip. His boss said it was a winter vacation reward for him.
He knew that his boss was here to find Wen Di, but after two days, he still hadn’t found her.
Play was play, but work couldn’t be relaxed.
At the restaurant for lunch, Kang Bo reported on Jiang Zhengqian’s situation. The Jiang family was in chaos, and Jiang Zhengqian was overwhelmed.
“Mr. Yan, that new project of the Jiang family?”
“Take it over.”
“Alright, I’ll arrange it now.”
The room was like summer. Yan Heyu took off his ski suit and looked out the restaurant window, searching the entire ski resort, but he couldn’t find her.
He had this afternoon and tomorrow morning left. She should be taking a flight back tomorrow evening.
“Mr. Yan, Miss Wen might also visit nearby attractions.” If they only looked at the ski resort, they definitely wouldn’t find anyone.
Yan Heyu: “When she skis, she purely skis.”
Kang Bo nodded, no longer offering random suggestions. He didn’t plan to ski anymore that afternoon; he had drunk some alcohol to warm his stomach.
After lunch and a short rest, they returned to the ski resort.
Yan Heyu told Assistant Kang and the bodyguards to stay at the bottom of the mountain and not follow him.
He took the cable car up the mountain.
Even while riding the cable car, he was looking for her everywhere. Within his line of sight, the ski slopes were full of blurry figures, making it impossible to distinguish anyone.
When skiing down the mountain, Yan Heyu didn’t go fast, primarily focusing on finding her.
Everyone at the ski resort wore similar ski suits and goggles, so he had to carefully identify each similar figure.
He didn’t know what color ski suit she was wearing today; it could be white, or perhaps black and gray.
Yan Heyu was skiing on double skis today. When turning, he would tap with his ski pole, his gaze always on the people around him. When someone quickly passed him, he would take a second look.
Just like that, he unconsciously reached the bottom of the mountain again.
Yan Heyu slowly skied to the side, turning his head to look back at the ski slope; it was crowded with people.
A black figure came down from above, also on double skis, with an elegant posture. There were many people at the bottom of the mountain, but that person easily avoided everyone.
As she passed him, he turned with her.
“Wen Di.”
The figure clearly paused, then suddenly turned her head.
Yan Heyu pushed up his ski goggles. He saw her ski suit today: black and gray, with red and black boots and skis.
It was similar to his own ski suit.
Wen Di also pushed up her ski goggles; the cold wind blurred her eyes. “Why are you here too?”
Yan Heyu looked at her. “I came to find you.”
He had lost her once, and he always wanted to find her again. Today, he finally found her.
He gently pushed with his ski pole, slowly glided in front of her, and reached out to hold her gloved left hand. “I’ll accompany you to ski from the top of the mountain one more time.”
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