Chapter 54

       Wen Jianing didn’t go to see ‘Springtime Dream’, but his performance in this movie was highly praised.

　　The first to give a response was the netizens who went to the cinema to see the movie. Many people commented that the movie was average, but watching Ke Xinhang was worth the ticket price.

　　Later, a well-known movie critic on a website wrote a movie review, in which Wen Jianing’s performance was mentioned in great length:

“The movie always carries Cao’s familiar style. If the performances of the heroes and heroines are quite satisfactory, then the biggest surprise this movie brings us should be Ke Xinhang. He is a ‘man’ who is young, beautiful, clean, with a girlish heart who can support his best friend at a critical time. It turns out that a sissy can still be like this, not twisted and not pretentious. While naturally he doesn’t forget to remind the audience that: he is a woman in his heart.

In fact, Ke Xinhang’s acting skills were initially reflected in ‘The Strange Fate of Hairpin and Phoenix’ TV series. However, the style of idol drama and the fast-pace shooting method make it easy to ignore the acting and only focus on some other aspects. Now looking back, Xiao Zongyan’s natural sassy character comes not only from Ke Xinhang’s perfect face but also from his wonderful interpretation. I think we have reasons to have greater expectations for Ke Xinhang. “

　　Naturally, it goes without saying that Ke Xinhang’s fans were very fiery on the Internet and were eager to announce to everyone that their idol was not just a face.

　　It was just that Wen Jianing, who was the person in the spotlight, hadn’t been in the mood to care about these lately.

　　The company struck while the iron was hot and arranged a small meet and greet for him. At the meet and greet, Wen Lin was also invited to sing the theme song of ‘The Strange Fate of Hairpin and Phoenix’ with him.

　　It could be said that the ticket to the meet and greet that day was hard to acquire, and it was sold at a high price on the internet.

　　Almost at the same time, the TV series starring Yi Nan and Wen Lin aired. Since it was adapted from a well-known game, and at the same time invited a very well-known screenwriter to make the adaptation. The rating of the TV series went all the way to high ratings from the beginning of the broadcast.

　　Wen Jianing, who had only a total of one scene as a celestial being, was shocked.

　　After the first episode of the TV series was broadcasted, Wen Jianing’s long and flowing hair was captured on the internet by the audience, which immediately caused a lot of reposts.

　　Wen Jianing had instantly become the most talked about and most popular male celebrity at the moment.

　　With two TV dramas in succession, Wen Lin had also accumulated a lot of popularity, but he was still far from Wen Jianing.

　　Including Yi Nan.

　　In the past in the singing competitions, Yi Nan used to look down on Wen Jianing, and until now, he also still thought that Wen Jianing and Wen Lin were inferior to him when it comes to singing. However, in terms of acting, he had to admit that Wen Jianing’s acting skills were for all to see, and naturally, he was unable to catch up with all his efforts.

　　Now that Wen Jianing returned to the company, even Jiang Yongfei had to greet him politely when she saw him. It was rumoured from the outside that Lei Xing would step up their efforts to promote Ke Xinhang to the top, and Jiang Yongfei’s positions would inevitably be affected.

　　At this time, Bai Shengzhe asked Zheng Xin to call Wen Jianing back to the company to officially meet with the producer of the new movie.

　　The new movie was invested by Lu Jinlang in the name of Lei Xing as the main investor. And the producer was a friend of Bai Shengzhe, whose name was Ji Mingcheng.

　　Bai Shengzhe said bluntly to Wen Jianing, “This movie is invested specifically for you. The director is Lu Jinlang, and you are the leading actor. You should be all clear, right?”

　　When he heard Lu Jinlang’s name, Wen Jianing took a deep breath and said, “I know.”

　　Ji Mingcheng was very kind. He shook hands with Wen Jianing and said, “Although I am the producer of this movie, it is Mr. Lu who really checks from beginning to end. He is now discussing the script with the screenwriter. This is his first work as a director, which is very groundbreaking.”

　　Wen Jianing nodded.

　　Ji Mingcheng said to Wen Jianing, “And once the funds are in place, we will pay you in advance.”

　　Wen Jianing was a little surprised and looked at Bai Shengzhe.

　　Bai Shengzhe said, “This is what Lu Jinlang wants. He knows that you have not paid the final payment for the house.”

　　Wen Jianing put his hands on the table and gently wiggled his fingers.

　　Before Ji Mingcheng finally left, he said to Wen Jianing, “The script is almost finished with revisions. The next time we meet, the whole crew will meet together with the main creators. I look forward to working with you.”

　　Wen Jianing shook hands with him again.

　　Less than a week later, Lu Jinlang called Wen Jianing and asked him if he was free to receive an email online.

　　”What is it?” Wen Jianing asked.

　　Lu Jinlang said, “The movie script.”

　　Wen Jianing downloaded the script by email, and saw that the tentative title was ‘Bitter Summer’, and the screenwriter was a well-known screenwriter in the industry, named Han Rong.

　　The protagonist of this movie was a college student. During the summer vacation of his sophomore year, he got the news that the single mother who raised him alone was going to remarry. Because he was upset, he called from his father’s home and was told that his father was seriously ill and was about to die.

　　Because his parents divorced before he went to elementary school, he had only seen his father once a year in recent years, and he hadn’t seen his father since he went to college. He was actually indifferent to his father’s imminent death.

　　But he was unwilling to go back to face his mother who was about to remarry. He chose to go to his father’s home village to see his father for the last time. When he arrived, his father lay unconscious in bed, but he had not breathed his last breath.

　　It was the hottest time of summer, without air conditioning and showers, and drinking water could only be poured from the kettle. The protagonist was caught in the heat and lay down on the bed dejectedly, complaining about how could his father still be alive. The relatives in the family couldn’t stand him being pretentious. At this time, only one cousin who looked ferocious and behaved outrageously in the village expressed concern for him.

　　His cousin brought him medicine, helped him pour water and take a bath, and bought him frozen mineral water from the outside. After he recovered, he followed his cousin who knew everything around. He told his cousin about the bitterness in his heart, and he advised him to think about it and to accept the fact that his mother had remarried. He also followed his cousin and looked through the photos of his parents when they were young and read the love letters between them at that time. His mood gradually calmed down. When his mother called, he was able to talk calmly with his mother and even said hello to his stepfather.

　　It seemed that everything was getting better until one night the cousin came to say goodbye to him. He was puzzled, and when he wanted to ask more clearly, his cousin hurriedly left. That night, his father died in the hospital bed. He saw him for the last time and was grasped by his dry palm.

　　When he saw his cousin again, the cousin returned to his original ferocious appearance and wouldn’t say a word to him. He began to want to find the memories he shared with his cousin but found that all those memories belonged to his father……

　　This was where the story comes to an abrupt end. The ending appeared to be both a tragedy and a comedy; There seems to be some regret, but when you think about it carefully, there was nothing to regret.

　　Wen Jianing called Lu Jinlang, “I’ve finished reading it.”

　　”How is it?” Lu Jinlang asked him.

　　Wen Jianing said, “Very good, very touching.”

　　Lu Jinlang asked him again, “Are there any changes that need to be made?”

　　Wen Jianing hesitated, “Some small details.”

　　Lu Jinlang paused for a while. Wen Jianing seemed to hear what he was talking to others and then said to him after a while, “Well, come over to me tomorrow if you are free. I’ll make an appointment with Han Rong for another modification. After the revision, the draft will be finalized.” After that, he added, “Is it alright with you?”

　　Wen Jianing said, “It’s alright.” But he quickly asked, “Where are you?” He wasn’t sure whether Lu Jinlang was still in the house where they lived together.

　　Lu Jinlang said to him, “The house in the western suburbs.” He had moved back to his villa.

　　When Wen Jianing arrived, Han Rong hadn’t arrived yet.

　　Lu Jinlang was watering the flowers on the balcony on the second floor. Wen Jianing saw him as soon as he looked up.

　　Lu Jinlang put down the watering can, waved to him, and then walked down to the first floor.

　　Wen Jianing was actually familiar with the villa. He didn’t need to wait for Lu Jinlang to attend to him. He changed his shoes and walked in. He saw Lu Jinlang coming down the stairs.

　　As Lu Jinlang went down the stairs, he said, “Please wait a minute. Han Rong said he was temporarily delayed and might be half an hour late.” With that, Lu Jinlang went into the kitchen to pour water for him.

　　Wen Jianing sat down on the sofa.

　　Lu Jinlang came out of the kitchen and put the water glass on the coffee table in front of Wen Jianing. If it were past, he would probably just put the water cup directly into Wen Jianing’s hands.

　　”Thank you,” said Wen Jianing.

　　Lu Jinlang sat down on the single sofa next to him. He was wearing a white cotton shirt and loose light coloured trousers at home. He looked particularly gentle.

　　It would be a lie to say that it was not awkward at all. Wen Jianing didn’t know how Lu Jinlang felt, and it was the first time he had this kind of experience of facing his former lover. On the outside, he could behave naturally without caring. After all, so many years of acting experience were not in vain.

　　As for whether Lu Jinlang was just acting or if he really didn’t care, Wen Jianing couldn’t tell.

　　Lu Jinlang mentioned the script of the movie, and Wen Jianing picked up the conversation.

　　”I thought it would be a romance,” he said.

　　 Due to various restrictions in domestic movies, it was always difficult to work on visual effects. If they wanted to make a good movie, most of them had to rely on emotional expression.

　　 Love had become an eternal theme in this regard.

　　 Lu Jinlang said, “At the beginning when I discussed it with Han Rong. He also was leaning toward romance movies. It was me who suggested whether there was anything more warm and moving than romance.”

　　 The script was written by Han Rong, but it mainly expressed Lu Jinlang’s intention. In a sense, this movie would be a movie that was shot completely in accordance with what Lu Jinlang wanted.

　　 Wen Jianing nodded, “I like the script very much.”

　　 Lu Jinlang suddenly said, “My father passed away relatively early. For a long time, my eldest brother supported the family. Maybe there are some plots of my brother and father in it.”

　　Wen Jianing’s father also passed away early and he was brought up by his mother, so he could understand Lu Jinlang’s feelings. But he couldn’t say much, because he was Ke Xinhang, not Wen Jianing.

　　After a while, Han Rong hurried over, and Wen Jianing began to discuss the details of the script revision with him.

　　Before this, Lu Jinlang had already communicated with Han Rong many times, and so at this time he mostly sat next to him and listened in silence.

　　Even so, Wen Jianing could not ignore Lu Jinlang’s presence at all. Every little movement Lu Jinlang made, Wen Jianing would be able to notice it.

　　After a long discussion, Lu Jinlang stood up and said, “Let’s go out and have something to eat together?”

　　Before Wen Jianing could answer, he suddenly heard a violent braking sound from outside the house.

　　Lu Jinlang walked toward the door, and Wen Jianing and Han Rong followed.

　　When they came out of the house, they only saw a car parked on the side of the road in front of the house. Lu Jinxin got out of the car, opened the passenger’s door and pulled the little boy who was sitting inside out.

　　The little boy was naturally his son Tongtong. At this time, Tongtong was holding the door with all his strength and refused to get off.

　　Lu Jinlang picked up his pace and walked over. He grabbed Lu Jinxin’s hand, and said, “What are you doing?”

　　Tongtong saw Lu Jinlang as if he had seen a saviour, so he hugged Lu Jinlang’s waist and said, “I want to go home!”

　　Lu Jinxin finally released his hand and said to Lu Jinlang, “Let him stay with you for two days.”

　　Lu Jinlang reached out and touched Tongtong’s head, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

　　Lu Jinxin said, “His mother is fvcking crazy.”

　　The husband and wife had been arguing over and over again about the divorce. Until now, they still hadn’t made it clear, and Lu Jinlang had never interfered. However, judging from Lu Jinxin’s action this time, it seemed that they were going to completely end the matter.

　　Tongtong began to cry, “I want my mother.”

　　Lu Jinxin was grumpy and yelled at Tongtong, “Your mother? Your mother was fooling around with other men outside and didn’t want you. Don’t you know?”

　　After he yelled, Wen Jianing and Han Rong looked at each other and suddenly felt awkward. After all, Lu Jinxin was a figure with a good reputation and was respected. He definitely didn’t want people to know about the matter of his wife cheating.

　　And Lu Jinxin only realized that there was someone else in Lu Jinlang at this time. With a sullen face, he said to Lu Jinlang, “Lock him up and break his legs if he dares to run! I’ll go first.”

　　With that, Lu Jinxin got in the car before Lu Jinlang could react.

　　Before he left, Lu Jinxin once again stressed it to Lu Jinlang, “Don’t let his mother take him away.”

　　Tongtong was carried by Lu Jinlang, and he buried his head on his shoulders.

　　As soon as Lu Jinxin left, Han Rong immediately said goodbye to Lu Jinlang.

　　Wen Jianing originally wanted to leave, but Lu Jinlang said to him, “Wait for two minutes, I will go up and get something and help me look at the child, okay?”

　　He could not think of a suitable reason to refuse.

　　Lu Jinlang handed Tongtong to him and hurried upstairs by himself.

　　Wen Jianing looked down and saw that the child was looking at him with wide eyes. He had forgotten everything about crying for his mother just now. Suddenly he asked him, “Are you Xiao Zongyan?”

　　The Lu family accompanied the old lady to watch the entire ‘The Strange Fate of Hairpin and Phoenix’.

　　Wen Jianing smiled and said, “I am not.”

　　Tongtong said, “You look exactly the same! I know you are Xiao Zongyan’s actor, and my third uncle is also a big star.”

　　Wen Jianing was about to answer him when he heard the sound of a car coming.

　　A car stopped in front of Lu Jinlang’s house. The door opened and two women came down. One was a very old lady full of white hair, and another woman appeared to be well-dressed in her forties. The woman helped the old lady walk towards Wen Jianing and Tongtong.

　　Tongtong broke free from Wen Jianing, ran towards the old lady and yelled, “Grandma!”

　　The old lady was naturally Lu Jinlang’s mother, whose real name was Yu He, and the woman next to her was Lu Jinlang’s sister-in-law, whose name was Kang Huanxian.

　　The old lady Lu was here to pick up her grandson, but when she saw Wen Jianing standing next to her grandson, she was stunned. After a while, she went to pull Kang Huanxian’s hand with some excitement and said, “Sister in law*, look, isn’t this Xiao Zongyan?”

　　Kang Huanxian felt a little embarrassed by the fuss she was making at her age, and whispered, “Mom, take it easy.”

　　The old lady Lu totally ignored her and the grandson who ran over her. She walked in the direction of Wen Jianing and said, “Can you take a picture with me?”

　　”Mom!” Kang Huanxian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

　　Wen Jianing couldn’t react for a moment. He had guessed the identity of these two people. He thought perhaps she was Lu Jinlang’s mother, and he couldn’t help but be a little respectful. Although he felt that the location and atmosphere were inappropriate, he still couldn’t refuse the request for a group photo.

　　When Lu Jinlang came downstairs and walked out of the door, he saw his mother holding Wen Jianing’s arm, and his sister-in-law took out her phone to help them take pictures.

　　The old lady Lu was not satisfied after taking a picture herself, and she waved to Tongtong, “Come and take a picture together.”

　　Kang Huanxian said, “Mom, it’s going to be pretty much the same.”

　　Lu Jinlang came over and said to Kang Huanxian, “It’s okay, Sister in law, just take a picture of them.”

　　Only after taking two more pictures, the old lady Lu was willing to give up. Then she proceeded to grab Wen Jianing’s hand and said, “Your name is Ke Xinhang, right? We all enjoyed watching your performance in the  ‘The Strange Fate of Hairpin and Phoenix'”

　　Wen Jianing quickly said, “Thank you, Madam Lu.”

　　Old lady Lu said, “Don’t call me Madam, you just call me by name, my name is Yu He, you can call me Xiao He.”

　　Lu Jinlang couldn’t listen any longer. He interrupted their conversation and said to the old lady Lu, “Why are you here?”

　　Only then did the old lady Lu come back to her senses. She remembered why she came here and said unhappily, “Tongtong is doing just fine with me. He doesn’t know what kind of madness he did early in the morning, that he must take him away.”

　　Lu Jinlang said, “Maybe he’s afraid that second sister in law will come and look for Tongtong.”

　　The old lady Lu is still very upset, “Does he not trust me taking care of Tongtong? Can Zhujia come to me to take him away?”

　　Ye Zhujia was the name of Lu Jinlang’s second sister in law.

　　When Wen Jianing looked at the family, his only regret was not being able to leave as quickly as Han Rong.

---

*Yu He calling Kang Huanxian sister in law is not a mistranslation. She friggin’ called her daughter in law sister in law. There will be indirect explanation later on why Yu He decided to call her sister in law.

Notes:
This chapter is pain I tell you. Not because it’s hard to translate or that it’s longer than usual but because each and every line spoken when Lu Jinlang is talking about their relationship makes my kokoro brokoro 💔

ONE MORE ONE MORE ONE MORE and I’ll be finished catching up……

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