Yuan, come for the scene. The scene is ready," Director Li said to him the moment he stepped out of his makeup room. Then the scene was prepared, and we shot the scene. After that, Director Li announced, "Everyone, please be on time tomorrow. Everything is booked—tickets and everything—so reach the airport on time and bring your essentials. It's a three-day trip to Beijing." Everyone nodded to Director Li's announcement. Then everyone started packing up their things and going back to their homes.
Then Yuan said to me in my ear, "I am dropping you off today at your dormitory. I'll be waiting for you in my car. Come soon after changing your costume." I smiled and just nodded my head.
Then after some time, when I changed my costume and was about to go out from the set to Yuan, Ji Juan called me, and I turned around toward him immediately.
"Miss Zhao, sorry for disturbing you, but I just want one favour from you," he said. At first, I got a little shocked after hearing that. What favour could I offer to him? I thought to myself, but I just nodded my head and said to him, "Just say it, Mr Ji Juan. If it's in my hands, then I'll definitely do it for you."
Ji Juan took a long, deep sigh and said, "Actually, Miss Zhao… actually, I… I was… no… I am…" He was confused in his own sentences and couldn't complete it.
"Mr Ji Juan, if you don't say it properly, how will I be able to understand it? Please make it a complete, clear sentence so that I can understand it," I said to him.
Then Ji Juan finally said, "Actually, I am a little bit afraid of flights." After hearing that, for a moment I laughed a little.
"Are you laughing at me, Miss Zhao?" Ji Juan asked me.
"No, no, no, you are getting me wrong. You know what, Ji Juan, we are not different. In fact, I also have a phobia of flights. You know what, when I came to Shanghai from my hometown, I also took the train, not the plane. So tomorrow, you are not the only one who is going to face your biggest phobia in life. I will also be there like you," I said to him.
"So tomorrow, it's your first time on a flight? Really?" Ji Juan asked me shockingly. I nodded my head and said yes.
"And what about you?" I asked Ji Juan.
"Mine will be the third time. The other two times, I just kept vomiting in there," Ji Juan said.
I smiled at him. "Okay, be relaxed. I'll also be there. We'll accompany each other, okay? And bring some motion sickness pills. Maybe it will stop your vomiting and feeling of nausea."
He nodded his head and said, "Okay, I will. But as a friend, you need to be there, because you are the one who knows this biggest secret of my life other than my own family members. If anyone else comes to know about it, they'll think what kind of actor I am—afraid of taking flights—and my whole image will get ruined," Ji Juan said quite honestly.
I smiled at him and said, "Mr Ji Juan, I won't tell anyone about your phobia. But from my point of view, if you are being so cautious about your image and always thinking what others will think if they know you have a flight phobia, then it's a very wrong thing—hiding your true self and pretending to be someone you are not inside. Isn't it quite unfair to your fans or whoever is walking with you on your journey? Not telling anyone is totally up to you, and it's your call. I am no one to say anything. I just want to say that the day you stop thinking about what others might think about you, whatever you do, your life will become much easier," I said to him.
After that, I was about to leave, but Ji Juan asked me, "So what should I do?"
I smiled, and without turning around to him, I said, "Just follow your heart. Do whatever it says and wherever it takes you." Then I left him there and went straight to Yuan.
Yuan was waiting for me inside his car. I opened the car door and sat inside.
"Why so late?" he asked me.
"Nothing, just packing up my stuff and bag."
He smiled at me and started the car. Within thirty minutes, we reached my dormitory. I stepped out of the car and was about to go inside when Yuan rolled down his window and said, "Silly girl, do you need my help packing your stuff for tomorrow?"
I smiled and said, "No, not needed. I'll do it on my own. It's just a three-day trip, not a whole month," I said.
He smiled and said, "I know, but still, it's your first trip with me, so I'm just being a little more cautious."
"Cautious about what?" I asked him.
"Cautious that you'll feel comfortable and won't have any problems during the trip," he said.
"Don't worry, my overprotective boyfriend. Your silly girl is not a fragile one. She'll take care of things. You don't need to worry. I'll pack my things, and if anything is needed, then Wang Ruoxi is always there for me. I think you have forgotten that," I said while smiling.
"Wang Ruoxi… yes, of course. How can I forget her? She is the one who always comes between us with her ever-perfect timing," he murmured to himself.
"Did you just murmur something to yourself, Yuan?" I asked him.
"No, nothing," he said.
"But I heard that. Stop lying," I said.
"Then why did you ask me if you already heard it?" he said.
I smiled mischievously and said, "Just to make you accept it from your own mouth."
"You are such a—" he was about to say something, but I completed his sentence by saying, "Such a what? You're right."
He chuckled and said, "You are growing up pretty smart."
"Hmmm, after all, I am spending all my days with you. So yes, your smartness and intelligence have affected me and made me smarter too," I said.
He laughed a little and said, "Okay, now go back. It's getting late. Pack up your things and go straight to bed, okay? Tomorrow is a morning flight at nine a.m."
I nodded my head and said, "Okay. Good night, Yuan Yuan," waving my hand at him.
"Good night, my silly girl," he said, then started his car and drove away.
When I entered my room, I started packing my stuff and told Wang Ruoxi everything that happened today.
"So it seems like a love triangle between you, Xu Yuan, and Ji Juan, isn't it?" Wang Ruoxi said while eating the snacks in her hand.
"Stop watching dramas all the time. This is real life, not a drama series," I said while taking clothes from the cupboard and putting them into my suitcase.
"But it feels like a drama series—like the one Xu Yuan did," she said.
"Stop it, Wang Ruoxi. My biggest problem is that tomorrow is going to be my first flight. You know about my flight phobia. I haven't taken any flights till now. I am scared, afraid—whatever you call it."
"Did you tell Yuan about it?" she asked.
"No. He'll definitely stress himself, and I really don't want to bother him or affect his work," I said.
"He is your boyfriend. He must know these things about you," she said while eating snacks.
I snatched the snack packet from her hands and said, "First, stop eating. I am literally scared about tomorrow. And yes, he is my boyfriend, but first, he is an actor, and I really don't want to come between his work."
Wang Ruoxi took a deep sigh, looked at the time on her phone—it was 12 a.m.—smiled, hugged me tightly, and said, "Happy Chinese New Year. I really hope your problem gets solved, and I wish you and your Yuan Yuan a very happy, wealthy, healthy, and long life together—forever."
"Happy Chinese New Year to you too, Wang Ruoxi," I said.
Then I broke the hug, took my phone, and messaged Yuan on WeChat, saying "Happy Chinese New Year," and sent it to him.
Then I went back to packing my stuff. Meanwhile, Yuan—my Yuan—was enjoying his New Year with his grandparents and mother after a very long time, eating his favourite dishes like fish, which he had waited so long to eat, and enjoying time with them after all his hard work. He stayed happy with them. I didn't know that he was with them, but I could feel it in my heart that he was happy right now, wherever he was. I could feel it because my heart was at peace after a long time. That definitely meant my Yuan Yuan was happy and laughing somewhere.
I really hope this Chinese New Year brings happiness to everyone's life, and may everyone get what their hearts ache for. For me, I just want to live with him, breathe with him till my last breath, and want him beside me every time.
I kept thinking about all this while looking at the sky and lost myself for a while. Then Wang Ruoxi called me from behind and said, "Zhao Shiza, come complete your packing and sleep; otherwise, you'll get late."
"Coming," I said to her. "Let's see what tomorrow holds for us. Tomorrow is the first day of the new year. I hope everything starts smoothly with my Yuan…"