Chapter 6 Six Fires

A few days later, Yan Duo unexpectedly received a phone call from Ji Ran’s mother, An Yixin.

“Mom,” Yan Duo whispered softly from inside the bathroom.

Yan Duo had heard many people say they felt awkward calling their mother-in-law “Mom,” but she never had such troubles. She switched naturally, and when she said it, it felt just like facing her own mother. She wondered if Leader Xu would be heartbroken if he found out about this.

“Ah!” An Yixin responded cheerfully on the other end of the phone. Having only given birth to two sons in her lifetime, both of whom grew increasingly dull, she had longed for a sweet and adorable daughter for ages. Now, having a gentle and obedient daughter-in-law finally made up for her regret!

“Duoduo, are you doing well on set? Has anyone bullied you? If so, you must tell Jiran and let him stand up for you, understand?”

Yan Duo couldn’t help but laugh. “Mom, don’t worry. Everyone on set is very nice—no one bullies me.”

Of course, even if someone bullied me, I wouldn’t tell Jiran, Yan Duo thought to herself.

After casually catching up for a while, An Yixin asked Yan Duo, “Jiran’s movie premiere is the day after tomorrow. We’re all going to support him. Do you want to come along?”

Hearing this, Yan Duo excitedly stood up from the toilet seat. Suppressing her excitement while pacing back and forth, she asked, “Are there any extra tickets?”

Premiere tickets are all complimentary from the organizers and not available for public sale. Because of this, Yan Duo had never had the chance to attend Jiran’s movie premieres all these years.

An Yixin replied, “That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll just ask Shi Lei for one.”

Ji Ran always been worried about exposing his family to the media, which would affect their normal lives. That’s why, throughout all these years since his debut, he have never let them participate in any variety shows or even movie premieres. This time, An Yixin suddenly wanted to attend on a whim and didn’t even tell Ji Ran—she directly asked Shi Lei for tickets.

Yan Duo almost jumped with excitement. “Great, I’ll go back the day after tomorrow.”

An Yixin was also quite happy. “I’ll have Ranran pick you up.”

Yan Duo quickly declined, “No need, he must be very busy that day. I wouldn’t want to disturb him.”

She didn’t even know if he’d be upset that she secretly went to his premiere, and combined with the messages from the past few days, Yan Duo didn’t quite dare to see Ji Ran.

An Yixin smiled, thinking that young couples enjoy playing surprises, so she didn’t interfere further. After telling Yan Duo the specific time of the premiere, she hung up the phone.

Yan Duo spun around in place, feeling like she was about to float away again. She walked to the bathroom door, eager to hurry and ask Director Chen for leave, but hesitated as her hand rested on the doorknob. Fang Fang had mentioned that Director Chen’s door was knocked on every night—if she went now, whether mistaken for “delivery service” or interrupting someone’s good time, it wouldn’t be appropriate.

So she suppressed her excitement, went out to find some clothes, and headed into the bathroom to shower. She planned to discuss taking leave with Director Chen the next day—her scenes for the following two mornings weren’t heavy, so coordinating with him shouldn’t be a problem.

The next day, Yan Duo arrived at the film set early in the morning and approached Director Chen to request a day and a half off. Director Chen flipped through the script in his hand and said, “How about you put in some extra effort today and shoot two more scenes? I’ll give you two days off in return.”

If it had been a few days ago, Director Chen would definitely have been unwilling to approve the leave request, but now things were different. Not to mention giving face to Young Boss Fan, but also because Yan Duo’s recent progress had greatly improved the filming efficiency. Director Chen couldn’t find any reason to refuse.

The holiday was extended from one and a half days to two, and Yan Duo couldn’t be happier about it. She agreed without hesitation, clarified which two additional scenes were added, then cheerfully headed to the makeup room.

Fang Fang helped Yan Duo book an early morning flight for the next day. Seeing that she had no other arrangements, she hesitantly asked, “Duo Jie, what about me?”

Yan Duo shifted her gaze from the script to Fang Fang’s face and said, “Just wait for me at the film set.”

“I’m your assistant, shouldn’t I be following you?”

Yan Duo smiled and said, “No need, I can handle it alone. If you get bored these two days, I’ll give you a break; you can go out and have fun too.”

Fangfang pouted, understanding her meaning—essentially, she would rather Fangfang take a leave than follow her around. Although Yanduo had assigned her tasks these days, it was clear she still didn’t trust her.

Yan Duo knew Fang Fang was unhappy, but thinking of Ji Ran, she steeled herself and pretended not to notice.

Zeng Meng knew she wanted to take leave and asked her the reason, “You’re not going back to see Young Master Fan, are you?”

After filming with Yan Duo for over a month, only Fan Xiaoban came to visit the set. Most importantly, Fan Xiaoban seemed exceptionally gentle—Yan Duo would surely be very happy with him.

Yan Duo shook her head. “Before, he was my senior; now, he’s just my boss—nothing more.”

During the summer vacation of her junior year, after signing the agency contract, Yan Duo only then realized that the senior student who had always been on good terms with her was actually the son of the big boss. Just like in school, Fan Xian took care of her in every way, but that was the extent of it.

Zeng Meng gave her a sidelong glance, “There’s more to it than that!”

Fan Xian’s demeanor told her that his feelings for Yan Duo were far from just those of a senior and a boss—the affection in his eyes was unmistakable.

Yan Duo shrugged, “That’s just the way it is.”

Zeng Meng saw that Yan Duo’s eyes were clear and she didn’t seem to be lying. She guessed Yan Duo was either pretending to be naive or genuinely clueless. But either way, as a friend, Zeng Meng decided to take Yan Duo’s words at face value and stopped mentioning Fan Xian.

That evening, due to additional tasks, Yanduo didn’t finish work until 10 PM. When she returned to the hotel, Fangfang—who had come back earlier—had already packed all the luggage neatly as requested. Yanduo thanked Fangfang.

Fang Fang pouted and whispered, “No need to thank me, just don’t leave me behind again in the future.”

Yan Duo smiled and replied, “Alright, next time I’ll definitely bring you along!”

Fang Fang looked at her seriously, “A promise is a promise!”

Yan Duo laughed, “A promise is a promise!”

Early the next morning, Fang Fang dropped Yan Duo off at the airport and waited until she passed through the security checkpoint before heading back to the film set by car. kanshuboy.com

The plane arrived in City T at 11 AM. Yan Duo pushed her luggage out and immediately spotted the tall boy standing out in the crowd—his naturally black side-swept bangs paired with a simple black sweater and pants made him particularly striking. At that moment, his fair face wore an expression of disdain as he scrutinized Yan Duo approaching gracefully.

The tall boy walked towards Yan Duo, wrapped one arm around her, patted her back, and said, “Duo’er, it’s been a month since I last saw you. How did you get uglier?”

Yan Duo stamped a little black cat print on the other’s pristine running shoes with her foot. “Bro, if you keep this up, you’ll never find a girlfriend!”

Having been single for 24 years, Yan Yi didn’t care about having a girlfriend or shoes with footprints on them. Right now, what concerned him most was his sister’s thinner face.

“Is the food on set not to your liking? You shouldn’t be picky.”

Yan Duo jokingly stretched out her hand and said, “No money for bird’s nest, how about you sponsor me a little, bro?”

Yan Yi raised an eyebrow, “What about your husband? Doesn’t even let you eat bird’s nest? Is he mistreating you like this?”

Yan Duo rolled her eyes inelegantly, “Brother, if you don’t want to, just say so. Must you make up such ridiculous excuses!”

After speaking, Yan Duo pushed the suitcase toward Yan Yi’s direction, stuffed her hands into her pockets, and walked forward alone.

Ji Ran is perfect in his sister’s eyes, not a single bad word can be said about him!

Yan Yi felt a bit frustrated, but he didn’t want to upset his sister any further. Dragging his suitcase, he quickly caught up and declared grandly, “Who said I wasn’t willing? I’ll transfer you 100,000 right away—buy whatever you want to eat, and when you finish, just ask me for more!”

Hearing this, Yan Duo immediately beamed with joy. Linking arms with Yan Yi, she giggled, “You’re the best brother in the world! Thank you, bro!”

Yan Yi patted her head and sighed inwardly. His sister’s life was too tough—from now on, he’d just have to work harder to earn more money!

The siblings didn’t head straight home but went to T University first, driving directly to Huixing Building. When the car stopped at the foot of the building, Yan Duo pushed open the passenger door, quickly got out, and threw herself into the arms of the middle-aged woman standing downstairs.

“Director Xu, I miss you so much.”

Xu Yarou was the dean of academics at T University, and at home, she was the head of the household. On ordinary days, Yanduo liked to jokingly call her mother “Boss.”

Xu Yarou hugged Yan Duo, her gentle voice carrying a hint of reproach. “If you missed me, I didn’t see you calling me much.”

Yan Duo stuck out her tongue, slipped out of her mother’s embrace, and led her toward the back seat of the car while making excuses. “The film crew is so busy—I barely have time to sleep every day.”

Xu Yarou looked at the dark circles under her daughter’s eyes and couldn’t bear to say anything more.

Meanwhile, the driver Yan Yi muttered under his breath, “No time to sleep, but plenty of time to attend that person’s premiere.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Yan Yi’s handsome face was stretched out of shape, and a voice said in a sinister tone, “Brother, the driver needs to focus on driving and shouldn’t talk!”

Yanyi hissed in pain and finally couldn’t withstand his sister’s cruel hands, softly begging for mercy before shutting up and focusing on driving.

The room quieted down, and Yan Duo began speaking to Xu Yarou, “Mom, this dress looks absolutely stunning on you. The bright red makes your skin glow, and it enhances your elegance so well. And this silk scarf—it’s the perfect finishing touch! Whoever picked this outfit has impeccable taste!”

Speaking of the clothes she was wearing, Xu Yarou smiled and said, “Your father bought them.”

Yan Duo exclaimed exaggeratedly, “Wow, Dad’s taste has improved at lightning speed—this outfit makes Mom look like a celestial beauty.”

Xu Yarou gently tapped Yan Duo’s head, “You’re such a sweet talker! Mom bought you one too, try it on when we get home.”

Yan Duo was genuinely surprised—after being away from home for a month, she still got a gift! She hugged Xu Yarou’s neck and planted a big kiss on her cheek. “Mom, you’re literally the best mom in the world!”

Xu Yarou’s smile grew even gentler.

Meanwhile, Yan Yi in the front seat couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. That dress was clearly bought after Dad had Duo’er help pick it out. Duo’er kept praising the good taste—outwardly complimenting Dad, but secretly referring to herself. This girl had always been sweet-tongued since childhood, coaxing everyone into doting on her.

Back home, Yan Xuenian, wearing an apron and holding a spatula, came to open the door. At the sight of Yan Duo, his face—rated by students as the most handsome “academic look”—softened involuntarily. “Duo’er, you’re back.”

Yan Duo looked at her father with a smile, walked over, and gave him a big hug. “Dad, I missed you so much, and I really missed your cooking.”

Yan Xuenian held up the spatula, careful not to let the hot pan touch his daughter, and replied with a smile, “Take a rest first, dinner will be ready soon.”

“Great!”

Yan Duo stepped back from her father’s embrace, directed Yan Yi to carry the suitcase upstairs, then linked arms with Xu Yarou to go see the newly bought clothes.

Yan Xuenian held the spatula, looking at the suddenly lively home with a face full of contentment, but then a hint of melancholy crept in. After nurturing this crystal-cabbage for over twenty years, it ended up being dug up by a pig—sigh.

The author has something to say:　　 Yan Duo is probably the happiest among all my female protagonists when it comes to family background—so much so that I’m jealous, ahhh~

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