The day like this went well. After shooting too many scenes today, we heard the sound that we really wanted to hear — "Okay, done for today. Pack up, we'll shoot the remaining scenes tomorrow," the director said to the whole cast and crew members.
I took a deep sigh and turned towards my room where Yang Lulu was waiting for me. She said, "Mam, please change your costume, and if you need something then please call me." She started moving outside the room but I stopped her. I said, "Wait, Yang Lulu." She stopped and turned towards me, "Yes mam, tell me what you want?"
"First, I want that you should stop calling me mam."
"But mam, how's that possible?" she asked shockingly.
"It is possible. We are friends, and between friends there is no superior or inferior. Friends are on the same level."
She smiled and said, "Mam— sorry, Zhao Shiza, you are really very sweet and innocent. I have worked so many years but I haven't seen a pure-hearted girl like you ever. I'll pray to God that your heart will never break."
"Thanks for your blessings, Yang Lulu. But now you go home, your family must be waiting for you. Bye bye."
"Bye bye, Zhao Shiza. Reach safely," she said and left.
Then I changed my costume and came out of the room. It had become late evening, quiet late today. As I stepped out of the set, the weather became a little dark. Because today we shot the whole day, that's why it became so late. Maybe from now onwards I'll get late daily or maybe more than that.
I stood at the bus stop waiting for the bus to arrive, but I think this time the bus won't come. It will come after one hour because it's not the bus time. And after one hour it will become very late, so I needed to take a cab. But the moment I started moving to take a cab, a big black car stopped in front of me, and from it a voice came:
"Get into the car. It's too late. The weather also gets very cold at this time. Come inside."
I knew this voice. I told myself many times that I can recognise this voice in billions of voices. Then I got inside the car.
Xu Yuan was on the driving seat, wearing a black jacket with a white cap and a black mask on his face. But his attractive eyes were visible — just enough to make me lost in him. I quickly moved my eyes away from that direction and started looking outside the window.
While looking outside, I asked him, "Where is your assistant? Ain't today he is going with you like always?"
He smiled and said, "First tell me, isn't there someone in the morning who said to me that if I save her, she'll treat me to the China's best milk tea available in the whole Shanghai?"
I smiled a little but didn't say anything.
He said, "Tell me, when are you going to give me the treat? After all, I saved your life when dinosaurs came."
I got shocked and asked, "Dinosaurs? When did dinosaurs come? Didn't they get extinct way before?"
"But you were behaving like some dinosaurs came to eat you at that time. And I'm the only saviour you found then."
I smiled a little and again looked out of the window because I didn't have enough courage to meet his eyes.
"Tell me, where is your home?" he asked.
"It's on this side, turn right from here."
The moment the car turned right, he saw the university and said loudly, "Shanghai University? Are you a student?"
"Yes."
"Where is your home? Do you have classes now?"
"No, actually I live in a dorm."
"Oo, that's nice. You know what, when I saw you for the first time on the look test day, I thought you seemed like a student. But I never thought they actually cast a learning student beside me." He laughed lightly while saying this. "Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable or did anything wrong. Really sorry."
He asked shockingly, "Why sorry?"
"Because I am new here, and I know it may ruin your reputation if you work with a student like me. You are such a fine actor of China, and now on 2 December you are going to Malaysia for some meet and greet event also. So I know working with me feels like disrespecting your hard work that you have done since 10 years in this industry till now." I said all this in a single breath.
But he asked me something out of the box, like a maths paper with out-of-syllabus questions. How much I prepare doesn't matter because the paper asks the most unexpected question. His question to me was exactly like that.
"How do you know that I'm going to Malaysia on 2 December?"
My words got stuck. I rolled my phone in my hands, moved my eyes 360 degrees, and tried to say confidently, "Actually, it's all over Weibo that you are going there. It's such a big thing, everyone knows it."
"Okay… accepted. But how do you know it's been 10 years for me in this industry?"
I laughed a little, a forced laugh, and said, "It's also on Weibo. Your fans posted so much about it… celebrating your 10 years journey and all. So while scrolling Weibo I saw that too. You are such a big star and the most famous one in the whole China, everyone knows about you. It's nothing special."
He nodded his head but I don't think he was convinced with my answers.
Then I said, "Just stop here. I need to go now. Thank you for the lift. Bye bye, Mr. Xu Yuan." And I ran away from there without even listening to his reply.
But why should I listen to his reply? After all, he didn't answer me why he was driving the car today and where his assistant went. Nothing wrong in this. I kept thinking these thoughts and collided with Wang Ruoxi. She held both my shoulders and asked, "Where are you lost, Shiza?"
I smiled and said, "Nothing, just got tired so much. We shot the whole day today. I don't have the habit of all these things. After all, I am just an ordinary student here."
"Okay, everything fine. But tell me, who dropped you? Who's that boy in the big black car wearing that mask?"
My words got stuck again but I said, "It's some set's boy… you know assistant boy. Today it became late so they asked the assistant to drop me here for safety purpose."
She got convinced and said, "Wow, such caring set persons you have."
I smiled forcefully and nodded my head.
"Your set assistant has such an expensive car. Amazing."
I smiled again and diverted the topic. "I am hungry, Ruoxi. Please bring some food for me."
"Okay, I'm going. Till then, you change yourself."
I nodded my head and she went out of the room.
I lay down on my bed and said to myself, "You are such a pretty liar, Zhao Shiza. Pretty liar. Today you lied to Xu Yuan and Wang Ruoxi both, and both of them didn't even know it." I said it proudly to myself, but a thought struck me immediately — I don't think Xu Yuan was convinced with whatever I said, because he didn't seem convinced.
I started biting my nails again while thinking what Xu Yuan must be thinking. It's only he knows. But whatever he thinks, I don't need to concern about it.
And after saying this to myself, I went to my bed for a little nap until Wang Ruoxi arrived with the food....