The Martial Arts Stunt Double of the Entertainment Circle – Chapter 14
by Little PandaTuoba Jiao pushed the visibly glum Li Guanting away and trotted back to Tuoba Yan in quick little steps.
Their conversation went like this:
“Jiejie, I missed you so much.”
“Uh…”
“Jiejie, how have you been lately?”
“Fine. You?”
“I… I’ve been the same. Pretty good, actually.”
“That’s good.”
“Jiejie, did you get taller? It feels like it takes more effort to look up at you than before.”
“…”
“Jiejie, you’ve changed so much. I barely dared to recognize you earlier—not just your height and looks, it feels like there are other changes that are hard to put into words.”
“…”
“Jiejie, did you hear my new song? I wrote the lyrics myself. You were the inspiration, you know.”
“…”
“Um, Jiejie, can I have your phone number?”
“13606376xxx.”
“Eh… Jiejie really is different from before. I was just trying my luck—I didn’t think you’d actually tell me.”
“Uh, is that so?”
“Mm, I like the Jiejie you are now even more!”
Tuoba Yan had never encountered such a difficult girl. It wasn’t that Tuoba Jiao was willful or demanding—Tuoba Jiao was genuinely, earnestly asking whether she was well. Yet hearing those words, Tuoba Yan simply had no idea how to respond.
Tuoba Jiao pulled out an iPhone in a pink case, unlocked it, and dialed Tuoba Yan’s number. Tuoba Yan casually saved Tuoba Jiao’s contact name as “Xiao Mei,” which nearly brought the girl to tears all over again. She mustered the courage to lunge forward and wrap her arms around General Tuoba Yan’s waist, nuzzling her face against her chest as she whispered, “Jiejie, I like you so much.”
In the distance, Li Guanting’s face had gone as dark as the bottom of a charred pot, eyes bulging and neck craned toward them.
Fortunately, Tuoba Jiao released her grip soon after. Blushing, she bid farewell to the thoroughly dumbfounded Tuoba Yan, then turned away with the corners of her mouth stubbornly curving upward.
Li Guanting felt her life was truly bitter. The person she secretly loved was hopelessly oblivious, treating her only as a Jiejie, prattling on all day about “my Jiejie this” and “my Jiejie that,” heaping every beautiful adjective imaginable onto her paternal half-sister.
And yet that same Jiejie was on guard against her at every turn!
That delicate girl whose fingers had never known housework1—to curry favor with Tuoba Yan, she had personally baked cookies. Her tender fingers, delicate as green onion shoots, had been blistered several times by the oven, yet she had endured the pain and packaged them by hand. Knowing that Tuoba Yan disliked seeing her, she had asked Li Guanting to deliver them.
And Tuoba Yan?
She had turned right around and confided to her desk mate: “I think my Xiao Mei is trying to kill me. Look at these cookies she sent—blackened and nasty-looking, giving off a smell of death. Absolutely toxic.”
Li Guanting had been furious enough to explode. If you won’t eat them, give them to me! These were cookies that Jiaojiao had personally baked. Sure, they didn’t look great, and the taste was a little odd, and eating them might actually poison you to death… but she would accept that!
Tuoba Jiao could be a bit oblivious, but she could plainly see that Li Guanting’s expression was less than pleased. After a moment’s thought, she hooked her arm through Li Guanting’s and said brightly, “Tingting, don’t worry. I think Jiejie has changed a lot. Look, she even gave me her phone number. Distance tests a horse’s stamina; time reveals a person’s heart2—Jiejie will accept me one day.”
Li Guanting: “…” That’s exactly what I’m afraid of!
The two exited Huacheng Haiji. Li Guanting called the driver. “Uncle Chen, come pick us up.” She turned back to Tuoba Jiao. “I remember your grandmother wanted you home early this afternoon?”
The delight drained from Tuoba Jiao’s face almost instantly, her small, palm-sized features twisting with conflict. “Yeah…”
Li Guanting ventured cautiously, “Want me to go back with you?”
Tuoba Jiao bit her lip. She looked at her friend’s concerned face, bitterness welling up inside her. Her grandmother Jiang Guilan had told her more than once to invite Eldest Miss Li to the Tuoba home as a guest. But this wasn’t hospitality—her grandmother plainly wanted her to cultivate ties with the Li family.
Tuoba Jiao said quietly, “Okay. I have things I need to talk to you about, anyway.”
Li Guanting couldn’t have asked for more time with her beloved. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together—she was equally rough-edged in temperament and completely failed to notice Tuoba Jiao’s reluctance. Uncle Chen arrived with the car right on cue, and she pulled Tuoba Jiao into the car to head to the Tuoba Residence.
The car drove through the gates of the Tuoba Residence. Uncle Chen parked with practiced familiarity, and Li Guanting and Tuoba Jiao entered the living room to find Jiang Guilan sitting upright on the sofa, reading a newspaper.
Jiang Guilan was getting on in years, and her hair was inevitably half-black, half-white. To appear younger, she dyed it every month. At the moment, her slick black hair was pulled tightly back and pinned at the nape with a plain silver hairpin. She wore a black skirt suit, and the pearl necklace around her neck was full and lustrous—clearly no ordinary piece.
Not that Li Guanting paid any attention to Jiang Guilan’s attire. She simply found the old woman entirely rigid and proper, even the wrinkles on her face seemingly symmetrical. Amused, but fearing she might say so and upset Tuoba Jiao, she tried her best not to look at Jiang Guilan’s face.
Seeing that her granddaughter had indeed brought Eldest Miss Li, Jiang Guilan’s wrinkles twitched into what she presumably considered a warm expression. “Jiaojiao and Tingting are back? Did you two have fun this morning?”
Tuoba Jiao replied flatly, “Mm. We went to Yuying, and had lunch at Huacheng Haiji.”
“What’s so good about a place like that? Tingting, would you like to stay for dinner? I’ll have the kitchen make some proper dishes, and you two can spend more time together.” Jiang Guilan smiled.
This was exactly what Li Guanting wanted. She draped her arm over Tuoba Jiao’s shoulder. “I was just worried Jiaojiao wouldn’t want me to.”
Jiang Guilan said, “Why wouldn’t she? Jiaojiao is always talking about it at home—she just clicks with Tingting. Then it’s settled. Tingting’s bedroom has a big bed—have her move those stuffed animals downstairs, and you two can sleep in the same bed tonight. How nice.”
Li Guanting wished night would fall this instant.
“Is Jiaojiao back?” Gu Min came down the stairs, having heard the voices.
She was naturally gentle and soft-featured—Tuoba Jiao had inherited half her looks and temperament from her. She now wore ankle-length dark pants, a long-sleeved sky-blue base layer, and a thin knit cardigan over it all. Her face was bare of makeup, and an indescribable sorrow lingered between her brows. She looked haggard and aged—nothing like the wife of a wealthy household.
Jiang Guilan’s smile dimmed by half at the sight of her. “Ah Min, go check if my soup is done. If it is, bring it over.”
Gu Min flinched at the words, keeping her eyes downcast. “I’ll go right now.”
Once Tuoba Jiao and Li Guanting had gone upstairs to the bedroom, Jiang Guilan dropped her smile and said to Gu Min:
“Stop putting on that pitiful act. Eldest Miss Li is here—you make it look like we’re mistreating you. Bring my soup, then go help Zhang-ma and the others prepare dinner. Do you hear me?”
Gu Min quietly said yes and hurried toward the kitchen with her head down.
Tuoba Jiao’s room was the innermost one on the second floor. Everything in it—the wallpaper, the bedsheets, the sofa—was in shades of pink, fulfilling any girl’s fantasy of her dream bedroom.
It also fulfilled Li Guanting’s fantasy of Tuoba Jiao’s bedroom.
Li Guanting bounded around like a large dog, panting as she darted from the balcony to the bathroom and back. Tuoba Jiao couldn’t help laughing. “It’s not your first time in my room. What are you so excited about?”
Li Guanting said with deadpan sincerity, “Naturally, it’s all to make you laugh.”
Tuoba Jiao froze.
Li Guanting sat down beside Tuoba Jiao and looked into her eyes. “I don’t know why, but you’re unhappy the moment you come home. I can tell.”
The two sat in silent eye contact. Tuoba Jiao’s expression slowly crumbled, her forced composure collapsing as her brows knitted together in grievance. At last, she could hold back no longer—her eyes reddened, and she threw herself into Li Guanting’s arms.
The author has something to say:
First post! Plans can’t keep up with my excuses—running late today QAQ
Footnotes
- 十指不沾阳春水 | shí zhǐ bù zhān yángchūn shuǐ | Classical idiom describing someone, typically a sheltered noblewoman, whose fingers have never touched spring water—i.e., never performed manual labor or housework.
- 路遥知马力，日久见人心 | lù yáo zhī mǎ lì, rì jiǔ jiàn rén xīn | Classical proverb: 'Distance tests a horse's stamina; time reveals a person's heart.' True character is proven only through long experience.
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