She and Xi Jia had spoken on the phone a few days ago, chatting about all sorts of things, and she had inquired about her health. Even so, Xi Jia had forgotten to tell her about coming to the mountains.
"I'm in Beijing now, I'll come back for the audition."
Xi Jia asked, "What new drama? What role do you play?"
Ye Qiu: "It's the one adapted from Mr. Yue's work." They used to talk about that show quite often.
Xi Jia was overjoyed, "Which role do you like? I've already started writing the script."
Ye Qiu couldn't express how he felt at that moment.
Xi Jia has begun to forget the trivial details of her interactions with him. She played along with Xi Jia, saying, "I like the personality of a younger woman, but I'm afraid the director won't like me."
Speaking of Zhou Mingqian, Xi Jia couldn't help but complain: "That guy is so arrogant, who could he possibly be interested in?" Then, talking about the audition: "Did you really decide to play the role of the youngest daughter?"
Ye Qiu hummed in agreement, repeating what she had told Xi Jia. She had auditioned before, and the assistant director had a good impression of her; now they were just waiting for Zhou Mingqian's final decision.
Xi Jia: "Zhou Mingqian was in the mountains. I met him at my grandfather's house."
Ye Qiu knew that Zhou Mingqian's assistant had called her. "Jiajia, does your head hurt?"
"It comes in waves," Xi Jia reassured Ye Qiu, saying it was nothing serious, that she felt much better after taking the medicine. She then turned her attention to Ye Qiu, asking, "How about you? How have you been lately?"
Ye Qiu felt a bit stuffy in the car, so he pushed open the door and got out.
Along the suburban roads, the landscape is lush with greenery, with vast wheat fields stretching as far as the eye can see.
Ye Qiu said into the phone, "I'm almost forgetting about your second brother."
Xi Jia didn't know how to respond. Ye Qiu had broken up with her second brother several months ago, and she still hadn't dared to mention it, afraid that Ye Qiu hadn't gotten over that heartbreak.
Ye Qiu tried to ease the tension, saying, "I earn enough money to support myself; I don't need a man. I've been thinking lately about earning more money so I can support you too."
Xi Jia smiled and said okay.
After hanging up the phone, Ye Qiu looked at the wheat field. It was green, but it lacked the vibrant life of spring.
She opened the car door and got in.
The car started and continued forward.
Ye Qiu didn't know where he was going, so he just drove aimlessly.
Last night, she even dreamed of Ji Qingshi.
When I woke up from the dream, there was no one beside me.
——
As soon as Mo Yushen stepped out of the airport, he received a call from an unknown number in Beijing. The last few digits of the number were auspicious, so he answered.
"It's me."
Mo Lian's voice.
To outsiders, Mo Yushen and Mo Lian are family, but over the years, they have spoken no more than a hundred words to each other, and most of those words were related to work.
Neither of us has saved the other's contact information.
Mo Lian called today, which, needless to say, was because he knew about the 'heartwarming little gifts' that Chairman Mo had received.
Mo Lian's emotionless voice came through, "I'll play along however you want from now on."
Mo Yushen: "You probably won't need the word 'to the very end.' Whether it's underhanded tactics or overt ones, you're no match for me. How can you possibly play along to the very end?"
Mo Lian: "Heh."
Mo Yushen was too lazy to argue and hung up the phone.
The car turned onto the highway, with lush greenery and overlapping mountains on both sides.
As Mo Yushen gazed out the window, he inexplicably thought of the night Xi Jia picked him up from get off work. After seeing the news about Mo Lian, she held his hand and said, "Honey, no matter what, I'll always be on your side and I'll never leave you."
Neither his father nor his mother managed to stay with him.
He was already old enough to remember things when his parents divorced.
He wanted to stay with his mother, but she gave up custody of him.
Mo Yushen snapped out of his thoughts, plugged in his headphones, and turned on the audio.
It takes four hours to drive from the airport to the mountains.
It was already dark when we arrived at the hotel in the scenic area.
The scenery in these mountains is beautiful all year round. The food street halfway up the mountain is bustling with tourists who have been playing all day and are now out looking for food.
Mo Yushen's hotel is located on the food street, the same one he stayed at last time.
Coincidentally, it was the same suite as last time.
Mo Yushen asked the waiter to change his room.
The shadow of a one-night stand still lingers to some extent.
After taking a shower, Mo Yushen changed his clothes and went downstairs.
Next to the hotel is a row of specialty restaurants, with tables set up in front of them, and the aroma of barbecue stalls permeates half the street.
Mo Yushen packed a local soup and snacks, carried them, and walked west along the street, towards where the old lady's house was located.
Today, Xi Jia didn't contact him all day again.
Mo Yushen took out his phone and checked the local weather forecast. It wasn't raining today. Without a doubt, she was out fishing, completely absorbed in her hobby.
He messaged Xi Jia: 【What are you doing?】
A few minutes later, Xi Jia replied: 【I'm waiting for you to call me~】
Then, she sent a winking emoji.
Mo Yushen: "..."
When it comes to being charming, no one can compare to her.
Mo Yushen dialed the number, and Xi Jia answered quickly.
"husband."
"Um."
A simple line of dialogue, yet it brings a strange sense of peace.
"Are you outside?" Xi Jia heard a lot of noise and voices coming from the receiver.
Mo Yushen was walking down the food street when he said, "Let's go out for a meal."
Xi Jia, "When I wasn't home, did you lose your appetite or sleep?"
Mo Yushen remained silent.
Seeing that he remained silent, Xi Jia teased him deliberately, "You called me because you missed me?"
There was still silence on the phone.
If it weren't for the noise, Xi Jia would have thought he had died.
"husband."
"explain."
Xi Jia: "You asked me to say it, so I'll say it. I won't be able to go back to Beijing for more than a month this time, so I'm sorry to trouble you."
“…Xi Jia, speak properly.”
Xi Jia teased him, "You're all adults now, stop pretending to be innocent."
She didn't mean to bring this up; she just happened to be reviewing her past with Mo Yushen, and the page in front of her described their married life.
There's also a dialogue: 'Whose are you?' 'Mo Yushen's.'
If she hadn't looked at the notes, she wouldn't have known that he was such a possessive man in bed.
Xi Jia closed her notebook and asked, "Aren't we at the restaurant yet?"
"On the way."
"How long will it take to get there?"
"Ten minutes."
We can chat a little longer then.
Xi Jia glanced at her watch; it was almost nine o'clock.
There was silence on the phone for a moment.
Their conversation was disjointed and intermittent.
Xi Jia suddenly realized that she and Mo Yushen didn't seem to have anything to talk about, and they had no idea where to start. The contents of her notebook only started more than ten days ago.
She remembers nothing from the past.
Mo Yushen took the initiative to ask, "Did you write the script today?"
"I've been writing since noon until now." When talking about the script, Xi Jia couldn't hide her joy.
“Read it to me.”
The awkward silence in the conversation was thus broken.
Besides horseback riding, Xi Jia is most proud of her script. She scrolled to the top, drank some warm water to soothe her throat, and then began to read.
Before we knew it, fifteen minutes had passed.
Mo Yushen looked at the packaged food in his hand and felt it was getting cold.
“Xi Jia,” he interrupted.
Xi Jia glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the computer screen. "You've arrived at the restaurant, right? I'll read it to you next time."
Mo Yushen: "I'm outside Grandma's house."
Chapter Twenty-Two