634
When all was said and done, Jiang Ran was a phoenix amongst mankind—wait, scratch that—a fighter jet amidst planes. Despite the graveness of his condition, his HP bar maxed out again after just a few days of rest.
Whether or not it’s because he was under my excellent care, I’m not spilling~
635
The filming for the entire drama was also nearing its conclusion. The director chose an overcast afternoon to make up for the footage we were missing from the last time we were up the mountain, and even scheduled to shoot a few scenes that night.
When the director called to stop, Jiang Ran’s agent helped him wear an extra long and extra thick cotton-padded jacket, also stuffing a hot water bag into his arms.
Wen Zhao asked him, “Senior, you aren’t freezing this time, right?”
Jiang Ran calmly shook his head. He turned over and walked to me. “Are you feeling cold?”
I habitually stuck my hands into my pockets like a middle-aged uncle, watching him walk over.
“Nope, my costume has always been…”
“Are you sure? Your face is flushed from the cold already.”
!! The me who was stuffed a hot water bag instantly felt warmer, shrinking my neck inwards in bliss.
Jiang Ran put an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t just stand here, silly. Let’s go in.”
636
A hut like this for travellers to rest their feet was indeed the best solace in the freezing weather.
I saw that Jiang Ran’s lips were still purplish, so after holding the hot water bag for a while, I gave it back to him.
An assistant handed us two cups of hot tea.
Snow mountains always had an otherworldly charisma in the evening. In the afterglow of sunset, the expanse of snow was tinged with a pale violet.
Holding the cup, I took a sip. A scene from the play, Returning Home on a Snowy Night, automatically popped up in my head.
“What’s are you thinking about?” Jiang Ran suddenly asked.
I pulled back to reality, turning my head to lock gazes with his slightly hooded eyes. My heart trembled.
Geez, since when did I turn into a literary connoisseur?
Could I really be in love?
[doubt.jpg]
637
As I blinked at Jiang Ran blankly, he came a few inches closer, raising a hand to brush the fringe on my forehead.
It jabbed my eyes and felt a little itchy. I squinted. “What are you doing?”
He blew softly at my fringe. “There’s snow in your hair. It’s going to melt soon.”
With that, he borrowed a napkin from an assistant, holding my head then starting to dab it.
I silently rolled my eyes at him, but I still obediently lowered my head.
The hot water bag was still with Jiang Ran. It was so warm that I unconsciously wanted to lean into his body.
638
“Are you tired?” He pointed at his shoulder. “You can lean on me and rest for a while.”
“No need.” I filched the hot water bag from him. “I’ll be good with just this.”
Jiang Ran chuckled softly by my ear, then his gaze drew into the distance.
“I didn’t expect that it would snow today.”
“Mm.”
He turned his head over to look at me. “Have you been to a snow mountain before?”
“No. Why?”
“It feels exactly the same as what you described in your novel. The scenery is beautiful to look at, but the people in the scenery only feel its bitterness.”
Hearing this, my soul shook. I jabbed him with an elbow. “Now you can recite my book without even having to look at it anymore?!”
Jiang Ran’s lips pressed together in veiled amusement. “Because your words move the heart, Teacher Mo.”
“……” If it weren’t that my arms and feet were frozen stiff right now, I would challenge this bastard to three hundred rounds of fierce battle for sure!
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
639
Aljcu Ejc qfgrlrafv bc atf abqlm jcv rajgafv ab jrx wf jybea ws mgfjalnf qgbmfrr.
Cmaejiis, P vlvc’a gfjiis tjnf jcs qjgalmeijg lcrlutar. Ktlr ylhjggf cbnfi kjr lc lar frrfcmf rbwfatlcu P bcmf tfjgv ogbw ws ojatfg.
Pcfzqilmjyis, atf akliluta tbegr yfakffc fnfclcu jcv cluta rffwfv ab vgjk bea lcolclafis. Pa kbeiv yf bvv obg akb qfbqif tevvifv abufatfg cba ab ajix.
After wavering for a while, I ended up answering him, “My father had told me these stories. He worked in the railway industry and often travelled across the map. Every time he returned, he would bring me souvenirs from other regions and tell me many exotic stories. When I was young, I really…”
When I was young, I really liked him.
Coming to this point, I suddenly choked up.
At that time, we were the most affluent family in the village. While other kids were still playing in the mud, I was already playing with models and blocks that city kids played with, brought back by my dad from Beijing and Shanghai.
My dad was clearly such a good engineer. Why had he later…
Get involved in gambling?
“Fuck…” My vision quickly blurred.
If I could go back to that time, I would definitely be on my knees, begging him not to go into that.
I would never have cut off my relationship with him, I would never have told him: Gamble if you want, if you die outside or if someone mugs you, I won’t care about you.
At the end of it all, my father had chosen to betray the family.
640
“Shuyao, what’s wrong?”
Jiang Ran held me by my shoulders.
I twisted my head away, my hair scraping his face.
He looked me in the eyes. “What is it? Did I say something wrong?”
“No. I just thought of my parents.”
I pushed his hands away, putting on a strong front as I got up and gazed outside at the swirling snow blotting out the sky.
Mo Shuyao, as a handsome young man, you can’t cry!
I silently consoled myself in my heart.
641
Jiang Ran walked over. “I’ve mentioned before that you can tell me about your parents. If you really lack money…”
“I don’t lack money.” I inhaled deeply and interrupted him.
Any lack of money could be earned back one day. But after a relationship was severed, a person departed—that was my deepest regret.
“Then what do you lack?”
His tone was very even. I gave a slight start when I heard it.
My mind blanked for half a second. I turned to look at him. I could see the faint outline of his silhouette through the dampness of my eyes.
A voice suddenly spoke from the depths of my heart—
I lack someone who would never walk out of my life.
Jiang Ran slowly stepped towards me.
I stood rooted to the spot.
642
As was customary in mary sue dramas, there should be an embrace of love right here.
But while my mind was freely supplementing the possible dogblood scene that could unfold in the next second, the director called us out to start the filming for the night shoots.
I wrote over a million words in total for this novel. The drama didn’t cover it in its entirety.
Tonight was the last scene of the whole drama.
After returning from the Four Season Mountains, the gong realised that the shou was also a descendent of an immortal who had a complicated past with his own family. So the gong unleashed his powers to cheat the shou into drinking Mengpo soup, wiping his memory, then leaving him.
In all honesty, I think that those poor novel fans would go crazy to have the first season cut off at such a heart-wrenching cliffhanger.
But now, I was the one going crazy.
I was brought to tears because of that bastard Jiang Ran just now. Before my tears could dry, I was made to go out; the piercing wind blowing at my eyes made it feel even more unbearable.
643
I wasn’t in a good state when the shoot formally resumed.
As our party travelled down the mountain, Jiang Ran stopped me all of a sudden. “Chen Mingge, are you thirsty?”
Amidst the wind and snow, the chill in his voice made him sound apathetic.
I nodded my head.
He handed me a water flask. “Let’s rest for a while then.”
But I knew that it was filled with Mengpo soup. Once I drink it, my eyes should roll and I should fall over in a dead faint.
Then, I would cleanly forget everything that had happened, returning home to become an ordinary forensic doctor.
I don’t know where all these emotions welled up from. When taking the flask from him and staring into his icy eyes, the rims of my eyes suddenly reddened.
644
The director stopped the scene. “Mo Shuyao, what’s up with you? Although I know you’re the one who wrote the novel and this ends at an excruciating point, you haven’t reached the time to cry yet.”
I sniffled, smiling. I bowed in apology. “Sorry, I fell into character too early.”
Jiang Ran’s expression seemed to turn even colder than before.
The director waved his hand at me. “Come on, again. It’s cold outside today; we should quickly finish filming and wrap up.”
I nodded seriously.
645
Jiang Ran handed me the water flask again.
This time, I didn’t overthink it, immediately bringing it to my lips and chugging it all down.
“Mo Shuyao, you should faint now; Jiang Ran, get ready to catch him!” The director instructed through the walkie-talkie.
In the fleeting moment that I closed my eyes and collapsed, I didn’t know what was on my mind, but tears naturally rolled from the corners of my eyes. I staggered into a not-quite-tender embrace and was subsequently laid on the ground.
“I’m sorry. I still lost you in the end.”
Jiang Ran whispered in my ear.
A tear landed on my face.
My eyes were closed; I felt his hand slowly pull away from under me as Wen Zhao and the others gathered around.
“I have always had someone in my heart. He is nameless and faceless. But I know—he was once here.”
This was the shou’s last internal monologue.
646
My heart abruptly skipped a beat.
I found that I was actually this reluctant to let go of the memory of him.
Even if this wasn’t real.
647
The director called cut. The crew hurriedly helped me up.
By then, my tears had almost turned into icicles.
The director was so excited that he was clapping, exclaiming, “Brilliant, brilliant! What a show!”
Even Wen Zhao was moved, wiping his tears. “Amazing, practically the performance of two film emperors. I cried watching it.”
My agent looked like his ship had set sail. “This is the expression of true love. Mo Shuyao must be very reluctant to forget our President Jiang.”
Me, “……”
Happiness is for others, not for me.
648
The atmosphere was unusually quiet on the road back to the guesthouse.
My heart was heavy. Seated beside me, Jiang Ran didn’t say anything either.
Our agents thought that we were tired, advising us to rest earlier once we returned.
649
Back in our room, I hastily turned on the heater, took off my jackets, and curled up under the quilts.
“You’re not going to shower?” Jiang Ran rummaged through the wardrobe for his sleepwear. “Are you really that tired?”
I quietly mumbled back at him.
Jiang Ran sat on the side of my bed, poking me through the quilts. “What’s wrong? Crying so suddenly isn’t your style.”
I pretended not to hear him.
“So what is it that you lack?” Jiang Ran paused. Seeing that I showed no response, he continued. “If you don’t say anything, I’ll assume that it’s because you fell too deeply into character and can’t bear to forget me.”
Har? Where did your confidence come from?
I bolted up from the bed, viciously glaring at him.
“Seems like I got it right?” He broke out into an impish smile instead.
OYYY! In your dreams!
Bastard!!
650
Under Jiang Ran’s unrelenting coercion and cajolery, I ended up telling him what had happened to my family in these years.
This included my father’s gambling and domestic abuse of my mother, how I won a lifetime achievement award for unemployment, how I borrowed money to pay back his debt, and how my mother later extorted money for her medical bills.
In her eyes, it was only right that a father’s debt should be paid by the son. Under my father’s abuse, my mother did need money to treat the problems that had developed all over her body.
But laozi didn’t have any money, okay!
I was frigging about to starve to death myself.
She threatened that if I didn’t cough up the money, she would haunt me after her death, getting my aunts and uncles to take me to court and have the entire village make trouble at my workplace, such that I would be unable to hold my head high for the rest of my life.
I’ve always been vain since I was a child. The clutches of this one trick dug deeply into me.
Luckily, I had a few wealthy classmates in university who didn’t even blink when I borrowed tens of thousands from them.
Speaking of which, laozi still hasn’t paid them back that hundred thousand over yuan.
651
When I finished, Jiang Ran’s expression was austere.
“Do you intend to continue supporting your mother financially?”
I lowered my head. “I have money now, I should be able to afford it.”
“But if you’re this compliant, now that you’re earning more, she’ll want more from you accordingly.” Jiang Ran spoke with steely certainty.
“But I don’t have any other way.” I jerked my face away, averting his gaze, desperately trying to keep my words steady. “I already don’t have a dad. I don’t want to lose my mom too.”
The tone of Jiang Ran’s voice turned gentle all of a sudden; he moved closer to me, using a finger to poke me in the chest. “Who would’ve thought. You appear all wild and feisty, but your heart turns out to be so soft.”
When he said that, my chest felt even stuffier.
I might as well hang myself and write off my life if I had to live out this chaotic life sober.
I sniffled again. Jiang Ran sat closer, gently taking my shoulders. He turned his head over to blow softly into my eyes, which had reddened slightly from crying.
And my mind abruptly jammed. My body felt slightly limp, falling straight into his embrace.
Bloody hell, why is my heart jumping so quickly?
No way, Mo Shuyao, you need to calm down!
“Mm…” Suddenly, my body jolted.
652
Jiang Ran’s eyes sharpened. “Are you feeling uncomfortable? Why is your face flushed?”
I shoved him away, whipping the blanket over me and huddling into a ball. I shouted, “Getlostgetlost, hurry up and go shower!”
Little did I expect that he would straightforwardly get up this time. His gaze scanned over me from head to toe, and he gave a soft smile. “Okay.”
!! My face instantly turned beet red.
Despicable. I almost got eaten up by Jiang Ran again.
😂
Somehow, this one emoji really sums up this rollercoaster of a chapter wipes tears
thanks for the chapter ♡
Teacher Mo- I feel so bad for you. I can imagine the pain of having to say that to your father. And then to have your mother take advantage. You deserve to be loved wholeheartedly- with no ulterior motives.
Thanks for the chapter <3
Hehe
Thank you for the chapter 🤍
Teacher Mo you deserve someone who loves you…. fortunately film emperor Jiang will love you forever 💞
😂😂
Seriously? You might as well put him through gunpoint, if he wasn’t ready to tell dun force him to.