The Martial Arts Stunt Double of the Entertainment Circle – Chapter 21
by Little PandaLin Huai looked at Chen Wanwan oddly for a moment, then suddenly laughed. “What’s it to you? You’re not my wife — why should I have to listen to you?”
Chen Wanwan’s face flushed red. She stamped her foot. “What nonsense are you spouting! Get lost. The very sight of you makes me sick.”
“This is my place. I come and go as I please.”
Tuoba Yan emerged from the restroom and was making her way back along the path she’d come when she heard someone behind her call out hesitantly:
“Yanyan?”
It was a man’s voice. She stopped and turned around. Before her stood a middle-aged man in a sharp suit, slightly tall, with refined and elegant features. He hadn’t gone soft or paunchy like many men his age — he could even be called a handsome gentleman in his middle years. But the dark circles under his eyes couldn’t be concealed, and his gaze was slightly clouded — the unmistakable signs of excessive indulgence.
He was staring at her with astonishment written across his face. Tuoba Yan felt a revulsion and nausea rising from the very depths of her heart. Her instincts told her: this was Tuoba Yan’s father, Tuoba Xiu.
Tuoba Xiu hadn’t expected to run into his eldest daughter here, either.
When Qiao Chunyi divorced him all those years ago, she had made just two demands: first, that she take their daughter with her; second, that he pay the child support in a single lump sum. After that, the two families would never see each other again, never have anything to do with each other. He thought he must have been out of his mind at the time — under Jiang Guilan’s instigation, he’d actually agreed.
That woman Qiao Chunyi was ruthless. The very day the divorce went through, she packed up four-year-old Tuoba Yan and moved far away to Yuchuan. Tuoba Xiu had felt some remorse at first — he knew he’d wronged Qiao Chunyi. Sure, she was too stubborn, too headstrong, but the years of affection between them hadn’t been nothing.
But seeing Qiao Chunyi be so cold and unfeeling about it all, coupled with Jiang Guilan’s pointed and not-so-subtle goading, that sliver of remorse curdled into resentment. Tuoba Xiu conveniently ignored his own betrayal of the marriage, his own neglect of his wife and daughter, and shifted all the blame onto his ex-wife. After all, what man didn’t have a wandering eye? That Qiao Chunyi walked around with a long face every day, squabbling with her mother-in-law Jiang Guilan, glaring at him, not smiling at him for months on end — not even bothering to tidy herself up, hair wild like a madwoman — why shouldn’t he be allowed a female confidante1?
Besides, he hadn’t been the one to ask for the divorce. No matter how wild he played, he’d never once considered divorce, let alone marrying Gu Min. Tuoba Xiu just wanted a son of his own — was that so wrong? Compared to those rich layabouts who spent every waking moment drinking and carousing, he was practically a saint. It was Qiao Chunyi who didn’t know when she had it good!
Too bad the impulsive, spite-driven remarriage to Gu Min hadn’t improved his life one bit. That woman had also given birth to a daughter. And as for their daily life — forget about her smiling at him. She barely spoke three sentences to him a day. In bed she was like a dead fish, every intimate encounter wearing the same blank, wooden expression, making Tuoba Xiu feel like he was raping her. A woman that much of a mood-killer — Tuoba Xiu lost interest after just a few times. He’d rather keep a mistress on the side, hit up clubs for hostesses, than share a bed with her.
He knew his mother was anxious to hold a grandson, but two failed marriages had left Tuoba Xiu with an aversion to the very idea of marriage. He figured he was still young, still wanted to play around for a few more years. As long as he had money, there’d be no shortage of pretty, compliant women willing to bear him sons. As for Gu Min — if she couldn’t read the room, he saw no reason to treat her as a wife. Jiang Guilan could take out her frustrations on her however she pleased.
And so he’d dragged his feet all the way to the present. His younger daughter Tuoba Jiao was already fifteen. But that girl wasn’t close to him either — not even as close as Tuoba Yan had been as a toddler, chasing after him the moment he got home from work, demanding to be picked up, punching him with tiny fists when she was mad…
Now in his middle years, Tuoba Xiu genuinely wanted a child who was close to him — son or daughter, it didn’t matter anymore.
More than once he’d wondered: if only Qiao Chunyi hadn’t been so stubborn back then, if she’d agreed to let someone else bear him a son, wouldn’t everything have turned out differently? Jiang Guilan would have a grandson and would naturally pour her energy into the child instead of making life miserable for Qiao Chunyi. Qiao Chunyi wouldn’t have to worry about that kid — just focus on raising Yanyan. If she wanted to work, there’d be a position waiting for her at the company, her pick of any role.
Then the five of them could have been one happy family, couldn’t they?
No matter how much he hypnotized himself with this fantasy, Qiao Chunyi was never going to come looking for him. And Tuoba Xiu himself had never worked up the resolve — never found the courage or the justification — to go find the mother and daughter. Only when he occasionally felt weary did he find himself missing his bright, vivacious young wife, missing the sweetness of little Tuoba Yan calling out “Daddy.”
Tuoba Xiu had just caught a glimpse of this young woman’s back and had blurted out his eldest daughter’s childhood name without thinking. And now that she’d turned around, seeing a face that was nearly a perfect union of his and Qiao Chunyi’s best features — all those feelings he’d bottled up for over a decade came flooding out. This was surely his little princess Yanyan!
Tuoba Xiu stepped forward, losing his composure. “Yanyan? Tuoba Yan?” His voice trembled.
The closer Tuoba Yan was to him, the more nauseated she felt. “Sorry, you’ve got the wrong person.” She turned to leave.
“Wait—” Tuoba Xiu hurried forward to block her path, fighting to keep his emotions in check. “How could I mistake my own daughter? Yanyan, it’s me. It’s Dad.”
Tuoba Yan met Tuoba Xiu’s eyes directly. “That’s right. How could a father mistake his own daughter? How could a father go over a dozen years without once seeing his daughter’s face? How could a father not know that his daughter slept in a self-service bank lobby? How could a father not come to visit when his daughter was nearly dying in a hospital?”
Tuoba Xiu froze. “Yanyan, you were sick? I… your mother never told me. If I’d known, how could I not come see you… Even though your mother and I divorced…”
“You never fulfilled a father’s duty. I thank you for giving me life. Those cancel each other out. Mr. Tuoba, I sincerely hope we never see each other again.” Without waiting for Tuoba Xiu to respond, she strode away with long, purposeful steps.
Leaving only Tuoba Xiu standing there, rooted to the spot.
When Tuoba Yan returned to the private room, Lin Huai and the waitress Kanako were already gone. Only Chen Wanwan remained, sitting fuming on the tatami, with Zhao Mi trying her best to make herself as small as possible. The moment she spotted Tuoba Yan, her eyes lit up. “Chen-jie, Xiao Yan’s back.”
Chen Wanwan looked up at the sound. She’d been about to pour out her grievances to Tuoba Yan, but seeing that her mood seemed off, she asked with concern:
“Little Mop, what’s wrong?”
Tuoba Yan kicked off her shoes, a thousand emotions churning in her chest. She walked over to Chen Wanwan and sat down beside her with effort, head bowed in silence.
Chen Wanwan completely forgot about that wretch Lin Huai. She couldn’t imagine what could shake someone who’d once jumped from a third-floor balcony over a pond to climb to the other side. “Yanyan, what is it?”
Tuoba Yan didn’t know herself. Why did she feel so awful? By all rights she wasn’t the original Tuoba Yan — so why did she have such a visceral reaction to Tuoba Xiu?
She said to Chen Wanwan, “If — I’m just saying if — there was a person who, along with her mother, was thrown out by her husband’s family at age four, and the two of them had only each other for over a decade, and just when life had finally stabilized, her father suddenly showed up… what should she do?”
Of course Chen Wanwan could hear that Tuoba Yan was talking about herself. She squeezed her hand reassuringly. “She should tell that man to roll as far away as possible and not come disturb her life. And she shouldn’t let him affect her, either, because someone like that isn’t worth it.”
“Thank you.” Tuoba Yan looked at Chen Wanwan’s worried face and thanked her sincerely. She was truly lucky — in this life, she’d met so many wonderful, kind friends. “Thank you.”
Their two hands clasped tightly together.
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