The Martial Arts Stunt Double of the Entertainment Circle – Chapter 26
by Little PandaTuoba Yan gently closed the door and saw that Qiao Chunyi had come out of her room at some point. She sat on the sofa with her head bowed, one hand cupping her cheek as she stared into space, lost in thought.
Tuoba Yan sat beside her mother and began gently kneading her shoulders. “Mom, how’s Aunt Gu?”
Qiao Chunyi let out a barely perceptible sigh. “She’s alright, I suppose. She must have been utterly exhausted — she fell asleep the moment she lay down.” She paused, then said in a muffled voice, “That accursed1 father of yours really is no good. He beat Gu Min so badly. You’d think his family doesn’t lack for food or clothes — how could he let his own wife waste away like that?”
Tuoba Yan shifted position, pressing a bit harder, kneading Qiao Chunyi’s shoulders in a steady rhythm, hitting precisely the acupoints that relaxed the nerves. She spoke softly and slowly: “I need to go to the set in a bit. Mom, you should take a day off. I noticed Jiaojiao has bruises too — it’d be good for you to stay home and look after them both.”
Qiao Chunyi’s head snapped up, scarcely able to believe it. “Jiaojiao?” After all these years, Tuoba Xiu had sunk so low as to lay hands on his own daughter?
“Jiaojiao has a huge bruise on her shoulder where he grabbed her,” Tuoba Yan said, wrapping her arms around Qiao Chunyi’s shoulders and nestling her head against her mother’s neck. “She said Tuoba Xiu was going to hit her, but Aunt Gu blocked him. He was furious he couldn’t get to her, so he took it out on Aunt Gu instead. Mom, thank goodness you took me with you back then. Otherwise, who knows how much more I’d have suffered at his hands.”
Tuoba Yan knew that for years Qiao Chunyi had carried guilt over being unable to provide her daughter with the material comforts she deserved. Today presented the perfect opportunity to voice her true feelings and help ease that burden.
Qiao Chunyi’s eyes reddened. She clasped Tuoba Yan’s hand. “Yanyan, Mommy’s little treasure, my little padded jacket2, my sweet baby…” She murmured all the pet names she’d used to coax her daughter to sleep as a child, feeling like the happiest mother in the world.
“Mom, in my next life I still want to be your daughter.” General Tuoba shamelessly burrowed into her mother’s embrace, rolling around and acting spoiled, entirely forgetting that her mental age wasn’t far off from Mama Qiao’s.
“Enough of that, go change your clothes. It’s only your second day at work — it wouldn’t do to be late.” Qiao Chunyi gently stroked Tuoba Yan’s long, straight black hair, patted her back, and shooed her toward the door like a mother hawk nudging her fledgling out of the nest.
Tuoba Yan changed clothes, slung on her small bag, and Tuoba Jiao and Qiao Chunyi saw her off at the door with visible reluctance. The two of them wore identically wistful expressions — so perfectly synchronized that General Tuoba’s heart melted.
After sending Tuoba Yan off, Qiao Chunyi said to Tuoba Jiao, “Jiaojiao, you and your mom can stay here in peace. The only thing is, my place doesn’t have many rooms, so you’ll have to make do sharing a room with Yanyan. I’ll room with your mom. Auntie and your sister Yanyan will find a way to help you break free from the Tuoba family. It’s not like we can’t survive without them, right?”
Tuoba Jiao nodded gratefully, tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Aunt Qiao, for taking us in.”
Tuoba Yan’s temper was stubborn and blunt, and she rarely showed vulnerability or dependence — Qiao Chunyi was a sucker for exactly that, and she comforted the young girl: “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Jiaojiao, you need to learn to be strong. You’ll have to protect your mom from now on. She’s so soft-tempered — no matter how people push her around, she never makes a sound… oh, poor dear.”
She settled Tuoba Jiao in Tuoba Yan’s room to rest, bringing in plenty of fruit and snacks and telling her to read or browse the internet as she pleased. Then Qiao Chunyi returned to her own room.
Gu Min seemed to be having some terrible dream. She was drenched in sweat as if she’d just been pulled out of water. Qiao Chunyi hurriedly fetched a thermometer and took her temperature — no fever. If anything, her body was terrifyingly cold.
Qiao Chunyi didn’t dare tell Tuoba Jiao. She quickly put ginger soup on the stove, and worried it would be too spicy for Gu Min to swallow in her groggy state, she boiled it with cola instead. After it was done, she brought a large cup to Tuoba Jiao, who was reading, then returned to her room and managed to feed Gu Min a little.
The Old Residential Compound hadn’t turned on the heating yet. Qiao Chunyi switched on the rarely used air conditioner and set it to heat. Once the room had warmed up, she used a dry towel to wipe Gu Min down. The more she wiped, the angrier she got — Gu Min’s body was practically skin and bones, her gaunt shoulders and waist covered in large patches of bruising.
Qiao Chunyi set the towel aside and coaxed a few more mouthfuls of ginger soup into Gu Min. When she saw that Gu Min truly couldn’t drink any more, she tucked her into bed and filled a hot water bottle to keep her warm.
“Sigh…” Qiao Chunyi sat in a chair reading a magazine, but her eyes kept drifting to Gu Min’s face. She couldn’t focus at all, and finally set the magazine down. “I really owe you, don’t I?”
She stripped off her outer clothes, leaving only her old-fashioned underwear, and climbed under the covers to hold Gu Min.
Gu Min’s body was chilly and damp with cold sweat. She was all sharp bones, uncomfortable to hold. Qiao Chunyi’s warm, soft body drew her in like a magnet, and she unconsciously burrowed deeper into Qiao Chunyi’s embrace, breathing in a fragrance both familiar and strange, until the crease between her brows finally smoothed out.
The two bodies nestled together. Qiao Chunyi began absently patting Gu Min’s bony back, and when she realized what she was doing, she muttered in irritation, “What a troublemaker.”
But her hand didn’t stop.
Tuoba Yan arrived at the set, thankfully not late. Zhang-jie showed up almost the moment she stepped onto the soundstage. Seeing that Tuoba Yan had arrived early, she gave an approving nod. Tuoba Yan stuck out her tongue when Zhang-jie wasn’t looking.
Today again there were no scenes for Tuoba Yan. She pitched in wherever help was needed, and in the process learned why lighting was set up, what camera blocking was, how to make sure she stayed out of frame, and what to do during makeup touch-ups to prevent it from wearing off…
Chen Wanwan also made a point of teaching her during every spare moment. Since there was no rush for a crash course, she lent Tuoba Yan several old textbooks from the film academy and told her to study them carefully, asking her about anything she didn’t understand.
Time passed quickly and productively. Soon the day’s filming wrapped, and Chen Wanwan asked with an odd expression on her face: “Do you have plans tonight?”
Tuoba Yan glanced at her peculiar expression and said apologetically, “Something came up at home. I probably can’t go out.”
Chen Wanwan was both disappointed and relieved. “Alright, another time then.”
She took the bus home. By the time she reached her building, the sky had already gone dark. Tuoba Yan climbed the stairs and opened the door — the aroma of cooking hit her full in the face. She kicked off her shoes and called out, “Mom, what delicious dishes did you make today? I could smell it from outside the door!”
Tuoba Jiao bounced over like a little rabbit, clutching a vegetable peeler. “Sister’s back!”
Tuoba Yan noticed a smudge of dirt on the tip of her nose and wiped it off. She smiled. “Jiaojiao, you can cook too?”
Tuoba Jiao’s eyes sparkled. “Aunt Qiao had me wash vegetables, peel potatoes, smash garlic…”
“Amazing.” Tuoba Yan’s praise was genuine. For a pampered young lady of the household to adapt to her new circumstances this quickly and manage even this much was already quite impressive.
Of course, Tuoba Yan later learned that little sister Jiaojiao’s culinary skills began and ended at washing vegetables and peeling skins. If she was allowed anywhere near the subsequent steps, whatever came out would absolutely possess the destructive power of a biological weapon.
Tuoba Yan washed her hands and came to help. “Is Aunt Gu awake?”
Qiao Chunyi said while stir-frying shredded potatoes, “She woke up for a bit this afternoon, but she was still groggy.”
Tuoba Yan sighed. “One step at a time.”
When the food was on the table, Tuoba Yan pushed open Qiao Chunyi’s door. Gu Min was still sleeping soundly. She backed out quietly and called Tuoba Jiao to eat first.
Tuoba Jiao had elegant, lovely table manners. Qiao Chunyi poked Tuoba Yan on the forehead with exasperated affection. “All you do is shovel food in. Nobody’s going to steal it from you. Eating that fast — aren’t you afraid of choking?”
Tuoba Yan was indignant. “Mom, what kind of mother curses her own daughter like that?”
The dinner table was full of laughter and cheerful chatter. After the meal, the two younger ones were in charge of clearing dishes and washing up. Qiao Chunyi sat contentedly watching television, feeling like she was living the retired life ahead of schedule?
The author has something to say:
I really envy Old Master (the cat kept at our warehouse). While I’m busy writing, he’s eaten and drunk his fill and comes trotting over to cause trouble — biting my feet one moment, climbing up to stomp on the keyboard and pounce on my fingers the next. He knows perfectly well I can’t bear to swat him! Scheming boy!
Footnotes
- 杀千刀的 | sha qiandao de | Literally 'one who deserves a thousand cuts' — a severe traditional Chinese curse invoking lingchi, the historical execution method of death by a thousand slices, used to call someone utterly despicable.
- 小棉袄 | xiao mian'ao | Literally 'little padded jacket' — a traditional metaphor for a devoted, affectionate daughter who warms her parents' hearts, likened to a child's quilted winter coat that provides comfort and closeness.
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