The Martial Arts Stunt Double of the Entertainment Circle – Chapter 9
by Little PandaTime passed quickly. Before long it was late September, and by now Tuoba Yan had been recuperating at home for over a month.
Her colleagues at the supermarket all said that Qiao Chunyi must be living quite comfortably lately, since the smile on her face had hardly stopped — completely unlike before, when she was always shrouded in a deathly gloom. The reason was none other than her daughter Tuoba Yan, who had become much more sensible and mature after being saved from a suicide attempt.
The neighbors in the Old Residential Compound couldn’t stop praising Qiao Chunyi for raising such a good daughter whenever they ran into her. Only upon closer questioning did they learn that Tuoba Yan had been quite active in the compound lately — often smiling as she chatted with the lonely elderly whose children had left for work, helping them take out trash and bring in laundry, planting vegetables and spreading fertilizer on the open ground together, even leading them through simple fitness exercises, and she could carry rice bags and gas cylinders to boot!
The sharpest-tongued and most calculating busybody in the compound, Old Lady Zhang, would grab Qiao Chunyi’s hand and insist on playing matchmaker for Tuoba Yan, prattling on about how accomplished her distant grandnephew was — even though he was only a junior college graduate, well, wasn’t Yanyan not attending school either? The two of them were simply made for each other, and so on and so forth. It annoyed Qiao Chunyi so much that she would dodge Old Lady Zhang from afar, terrified she’d come matchmaking for Tuoba Yan again.
Her Yanyan was only eighteen! After the new year, she was going back to finish her senior year and take the college entrance exams!
Qiao Chunyi was rather taken aback about the rice bags and gas cylinders, and she tried to ask in what she thought was a subtle way. Tuoba Yan’s reply was:
“Grandma Li’s bag of rice is only a few jin1 — I can lift it with one hand. The tallest building in our compound is only five floors. If I couldn’t even climb five flights, wouldn’t that make me a cripple? And as for everything else, didn’t Aunt Qiao say that moderate exercise can help with rehabilitation? I actually feel stronger than before now. Don’t worry, I know my limits.”
And just like that, she glossed over it and fobbed off her silly mother Qiao Chunyi.
Tuoba Yan’s daily life was quite comfortable too. To help her build up her nutrition, Qiao Chunyi simmered bone broth every day, buying fresh, cheap marrow bones from the market. Even though there wasn’t much meat on them, the broth was extremely delicious when stewed. Tuoba Yan even made her own herb pouches using surplus Astragalus2 and other medicinal ingredients, telling Qiao Chunyi they were discounted items from the pharmacy.
How could Qiao Chunyi know that her audacious daughter had gone all the way to the herb market herself to source quality ingredients, happily stewing them into the broth? Mother and daughter drank their nourishing broth every day, living with regular and healthy routines, and soon their complexions grew fair with a rosy flush, their vitality entirely different from before.
The change in Tuoba Yan was even more pronounced than in Qiao Chunyi. The girl had always taken after her mother in looks — quite striking and eye-catching. Before, she’d been tormented by anorexia and mental health issues until she was gaunt beyond recognition, her face sallow and haggard, practically just a layer of waxy yellow skin stretched over bone. Even if there’s a saying that beauty is in the bone, not the skin3, probably no one would appreciate a skeleton.
Now that her body had been nursed back to health, combined with Tuoba Yan’s daily intake of blood-nourishing and tonifying medicines, and once her wrist wound had healed enough to permit soaking, she maintained a regimen of medicated baths every three days. The vicious scar was rapidly fading under the miraculous efficacy of Flesh-Engendering Scar-Eliminating Ointment4 — no one could have imagined that this snow-skinned, radiant young beauty had been tormented beyond recognition by psychological illness just two months ago.
This body of Tuoba Yan’s was fine material for martial training. Although she was somewhat past the ideal starting age, General Tuoba hadn’t had the benefit of childhood training either. Back then, to avenge her grandfather, she had sought out renowned masters everywhere and trained relentlessly day and night. With superhuman perseverance, she had forcibly surpassed her Eldest Senior Martial Brother, who had trained since childhood — right up until she was confined in the Buddhist Shrine by the Emperor and tormented for decades. Even then, those Imperial Bodyguards couldn’t do anything to General Tuoba; it was only when she herself lost all will to live that she seized a sword and took her own life.
Naturally, the matter of suicide counted as something of a dark history for her. More than once, Tuoba Yan had thought that if she could go back to that moment, she would never foolishly let that fatuous Emperor and Wench An off — even if she had to die, she would watch those two scum ascend to heaven first before she breathed her last.
This morning, Tuoba Yan headed out for her training as usual a little after four. By the time she returned home carrying a bag of youtiao5, it was already six o’clock. At first, Qiao Chunyi had been embarrassed about letting her daughter go out jogging and buy breakfast on her own while she hid in bed sleeping in, but Tuoba Yan had insisted, and eventually it became routine.
She was in the bathroom brushing her teeth when she heard Tuoba Yan come through the door: “I’m back! Youtiao for breakfast today!”
Qiao Chunyi quickly rinsed her mouth, washed her face, and tied back her shoulder-length hair. She poked her head out and said to her daughter in athletic wear: “Yanyan, it’s Mom’s turn to ride along with the outreach vehicle to the rural townships today. You know where I keep the spare cash at home, right? I won’t be back until seven tonight. Don’t forget to eat and take your medicine.”
Tuoba Yan grinned and flashed an OK sign. “You still don’t trust me?”
Qiao Chunyi laughed and scolded, “You little rascal!” She quickly dried her hands and came over to eat youtiao.
After their simple breakfast, Qiao Chunyi drained the soy milk from her bowl and grabbed a tissue to wipe her lips. “I’m heading out. You clean the soy milk maker today — I’m out of time.” She grabbed her bag, changed her shoes, and went downstairs.
Tuoba Yan hummed as she cleaned the soy milk maker, scrubbed the apartment spotless, gathered the trash bags and left them by the door, then went back to her room to get online.
“Where should I go today…” She pinched her chin and studied the online map. She’d already ridden buses all over old Yuchuan City these past weeks. Now she dragged the digital map with her mouse, and a place name leaped out at her.
Yuchuan Film and Television Base, located in Huai’an District, Yuchuan City, Zhongjiang Province — the largest film and television location base in the entire province.
Thinking of all the TV dramas she’d watched on the computer, Tuoba Yan tapped the yellow circle on the screen that marked the Yuchuan Film and Television Base. “I’ll go here.”
With the internet, everything was convenient. Even though she’d never been to Huai’an District, she could still look up clear, detailed bus routes. Tuoba Yan saved the route map to her phone, changed clothes, and set out for this place that held a certain mysterious allure.
After transferring twice, Tuoba Yan arrived smoothly at the east gate of her target — the Film and Television Base. The towering gate shaped like an ancient city tower was quite striking. She walked over to a bulletin board to check the posted map, only to discover that entering the base required buying a ticket. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
Tuoba Yan tucked her hands loosely into her pockets and looked around. People came and went through the gate — either holding tickets or brandishing a “pass.”
She was just observing the situation to see if she could slip in unnoticed, when suddenly she felt as though something had locked onto her. Tuoba Yan’s eyes flashed like lightning as she swept her gaze toward the source — only to find a student-looking girl holding up her phone, about to snap her photo.
Since Tuoba Yan’s rebirth, this body had grown another two centimeters, now standing at 169 centimeters. Even if she stopped growing from here on, this height could absolutely be called tall, and with her striking appearance, the student girl probably mistook her for some minor celebrity — hence the sneaky photo.
Tuoba Yan trusted her instincts. The girl hadn’t managed to press the shutter yet. She extended her arm and waved her hand, signaling no photos, then turned and walked away.
After circling the entrance twice, Tuoba Yan still hadn’t found an opening. Just then, she sensed another burning gaze — thinking it was yet another person trying to sneak a photo. Instead, it was a short, stocky man in his thirties: “Hello, are you here waiting for work as an extra?”
Tuoba Yan noticed the staff pass hanging around his neck. Her eyes flickered. “Uh, not exactly, I’m…”
The man looked quite anxious. He spoke rapidly: “We’re the 《Blood Sacrifice》 production crew. I’m the casting assistant director, surname Zhang. We have a temporary female role that needs someone to play it right now. Your look is a great fit — would you be willing to give it a try? Pay can be settled daily.”
Tuoba Yan was somewhat tempted, but also felt something was off. Why would they be so desperate as to pull people off the street?
Confident in her martial skills, she wasn’t afraid of this Assistant Director Zhang. After a moment’s thought, she agreed. The security guard at the gate apparently recognized him and let Tuoba Yan through without any trouble.
The author has something to say:
Hehehe, second! post!
Grand General: What a load of boasting. A wound this deep could never recover to be as smooth and flawless as before. Having the hand move freely after healing is already the result of doing good deeds in a past life.
Li Yanrao: My Yanyan’s skin is so good prprpr
Secretary Liu: President, could you please have some sense…
Footnotes
- 斤 | Jīn | A traditional Chinese unit of mass, standardized in modern times to 500 grams, roughly 1.1 pounds.
- 黄芪 | Huángqí | Astragalus root, a qi-tonifying botanical used in traditional Chinese medicine for immune support and wound recovery.
- 美人在骨不在皮 | Měirén zài gǔ bù zài pí | A classical Chinese idiom meaning 'true beauty lies in the bone, not the skin,' valuing inner substance over superficial appearance.
- 生肌灭瘢膏 | Shēngjī Mièbān Gāo | 'Flesh-Engendering Scar-Eliminating Ointment,' a fictional medicinal formula named using classical Chinese pharmacological naming conventions for tissue-regenerating scar treatments.
- 油条 | Yóutiáo | Deep-fried golden dough strips, a ubiquitous Chinese breakfast staple also known as 'Chinese crullers' or 'fried breadsticks,' typically paired with soy milk.
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