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Chapter 290: I Won’t Be Your Mistress

“I have to go now.” Lu Yi withdrew his hand and shoved it into his pocket. He wanted to say something else, but could not bring himself to say it.

He was not the talkative type—he was a man of action, the kind of person who would rather do things than talk about it.

“Okay.” Yan Huan kicked the leg of the table again, feeling the dull pain in her toes. She was trying to use the external pain as a cover for what she was feeling inside.

Lu Yi turned and walked to the door. Just as he was about to step over the threshold, Yan Huan abruptly got to her feet.

“Lu Yi...”

“What is it?” Lu Yi stopped, but did not turn around.

With a few quick steps Yan Huan closed the distance between them. She hugged Lu Yi from behind, burying her face in his back. She was struck with a sense of déjà vu: in her previous life, she had hugged him in a similar fashion, using her small, petite body to shield him from harm. She did not regret dying to save him in her previous life, and she knew she would willingly do the same for him in this life, too—she would step in front of him if someone came at him with a knife, and give up her life to save him.

Lu Yi was momentarily stunned. After a moment, he slowly lifted a hand and placed it over Yan Huan’s hands, which were still clutched around his waist.

“Lu Yi...”

“Yes?” Lu Yi’s face had grown warm, but he did not turn around.

“I won’t be your mistress. I’m not a boyfriend stealer, or a homewrecker.”

“No, you’re not.” Lu Yi paused, before adding, “I’ve already broken up with Fang Zhu.”

Yan Huan sniffled, her face still buried in Lu Yi’s back. She could smell the faint scent of sand and dust on him, but she did not find it unpleasant. In fact, she did not want to let go.

She had to gather every last bit of her courage to take this step in their relationship.

And he had not pushed her away—that meant that he liked her too, right?

Lu Yi lowered his head. Suddenly, his lips curved into a small smile. When he spoke again, his voice was warmer than usual; the change was so slight it was almost imperceptible, but Yan Huan picked up on it all the same.

“I have to go now. Wait for me, I’ll be back.”

Those six words at the end—”Wait for me, I’ll be back—encapsulated everything he wanted to say. He would be back for her. And after that...

Those six words were all Yan Huan needed to hear right now.

Yan Huan finally released him. She awkwardly smoothed her hair, and then abruptly turned and fled into her room. She had to escape—she could not face Lu Yi at that moment.

Lu Yi shoved his hands into his pockets, balling them into tight fists as he strode away.

He vowed to himself that he would return very soon.

Both Yi Ling and Luo Lin had eaten so much their bellies bulged in an unsightly manner. The two women had to hold each other up as they painstakingly made their way back to the apartment.

“Huanhuan.” Yi Ling poked Yan Huan’s cheek with a finger. “Hello? Earth to Huanhuan!”

Yan Huan finally looked up. Her eyes rested on Yi Ling’s stomach. “I think your waistline is bigger than your chest now.”

“Ooh, I’m going to kill you, Yan Huan!” Yi Ling jumped to her feet and lunged for Yan Huan, who countered by throwing her body pillow at Yi Ling. It was late at night, but that did not stop the two women from engaging in a lively pillow fight.

Luo Lin rubbed her bulging belly. She shook her head as she vowed never again to have dinner with Yi Ling—she would rather not die of overeating.

Luo Lin could tell that something was different with Yan Huan now: her eyes appeared to shine with eager anticipation. There had been a hint of uncertainty in Yan Huan’s eyes before this—as though she was not quite sure she was on the right path—but that uncertainty was gone now, replaced by a lively twinkle that signified her firm conviction.

The next day, Yan Huan was just about to make her way to the set when she received surprising news: they would be shooting only her solo scenes that day, as Bai Qiu and Su Muran had been hospitalized.

“What happened?” Yan Huan asked Luo Lin. “Why are they in the hospital? Did they really slip and sprain an ankle in the bathroom last night? Seems too much of a coincidence for that to happen to the both of them on the same night, don’t you think?”

Luo Lin shrugged. “They said they fell and injured themselves, but I asked around and apparently a complete stranger beat up Bai Qiu last night. From what I heard, he was out on the street late at night, going through his lines, when a savage ran up to him and beat him to pulp for no reason. Su Muran saw the whole thing, and was traumatized by it.”

“Do you really think there are actual savages running around, in this day and age?” Luo Lin added incredulously. She did not believe the story.

Yan Huan merely smiled in reply.

She had a pretty good idea who the “savage” was.

She was surprised that Lu Yi would actually do something like that for her. She found it hard to imagine that the renowned Prosecutor Lu—the man who was famous for placing the law above all else—had beaten someone to a pulp for her. For a moment she almost pitied Bai Qiu: he had to have suffered serious injuries at the hands of someone as skilled as Lu Yi.

Yan Huan did not visit Bai Qiu and Su Muran at the hospital. She was not the type to kick her enemies when they were down, but she was not the type to help them up, either. She merely stood by and allowed karma to do its job—it was none of her business.

The scenes scheduled for the day were shot quickly and efficiently. Everyone was in a good mood; things seemed to magically fall in place, mostly because neither Bai Qiu nor Su Muran was around to mess things up. Everything went so well the director did not ask for a single retake.

The next day, Su Muran returned to the set. This was not surprising, as she had not been injured in the attack; she had only been in a state of shock after witnessing the beating. As soon as she was back, morale on the set immediately plummeted: no one wanted to work with someone as exasperating as her. Even Director Jin could not keep from cursing his horrible luck—what had he done to deserve her, exactly?

Su Muran was actually a lot more cooperative now, after her brief stay at the hospital. She tried her best to carry out the director’s instructions, but there was only so much a mediocre actress like her could do. She was simply not good enough for the role of the female lead.

Director Jin could only sigh and shake his head. Yan Huan, on the other hand, was pleased to see that Su Muran was now clearly aware of her inadequacies as an actress.

As the saying went: “Comparison is the thief of happiness.”

It was important for Su Muran to know just how badly she compared to Yan Huan. This would teach her that having a powerful family could not save her from being a mediocre actress.

Three days later, Bai Qiu finally returned to the set. He looked thin and haggard, but there was no visible injury on his face. The rest of his body had been beaten black and blue, but the “savage” had made sure not to touch his face. If the “savage” had gone all out, the makeup artist would have had to use an entire bottle of foundation just to cover up the bruises on Bai Qiu’s face.

The production team was taking the film-as-we-air approach for Beauty, and the story was finally taking off—thanks to the introduction of Chen Jing—after a lackluster start. There was only one problem: Chen Jing out-classed Mei Rushi in every conceivable way, and the viewers could not shake the feeling that Chen Jing was supposed to be the female lead of the show.

But the show was called Beauty—the female lead therefore had to be Mei Rushi, whose name was a Chinese pun that translated into “as beautiful as a poem.”