Chapter 31.2

The first guest was Xie Zhuguang’s classmate, a documentary director just back from Africa, a burly man as dark as coal. Standing at the entrance, he intimidated customers, so Xie Zhuguang sent him to the market to buy supplies.

The director got lost, and the locals, mistaking him for an international visitor, spoke broken English mixed with the local dialect. After much gesturing, they finally understood each other.

When he was brought back by the locals, they asked Xie Zhuguang, “Are you hiring foreign employees?”

Xie Zhuguang, with a straight face, replied, “Yes, we’re going international.”

The director nearly punched him.

“Who let you change my nationality?”

The locals laughed, “Oh! Your Mandarin is pretty good!”

The director was gruff in familiar settings but shy around strangers, so he said nothing in response.

Thus, their store gained a “foreign employee.”

The director particularly loved the bubble tea Zhu Xinyue made.

After trying it once at lunch, he couldn’t do without it, asking Zhu Xinyue for more every so often, “Can I have another bubble tea? Extra ice, regular sugar. Put it on Xie Zhuguang’s tab.”

When it was time to settle accounts, Xie Zhuguang, infuriated, grabbed his neck and limited him to two bubble teas a day.

However, sometimes Zhu Xinyue would soften, sneaking him half a bubble tea under his “pitiful” gaze, letting him drink it secretly in the kitchen before going out. Eventually, store manager Xie Zhuguang caught on. Unable to scold the young girl, he took the director to the seaside after business hours to reflect while facing the sea breeze.

Though Zhu Xinyue didn’t know what they discussed by the sea, the cameraman followed them.

When they returned, both had red, wet eyes as if they’d cried.

When the show aired, Zhu Xinyue learned that they had reminisced about old times by the sea. Just as she was about to get emotional with them, Xie Zhuguang abruptly changed the subject, negotiating with the director, “Let’s not drink bubble tea tomorrow, okay?”

The dark-skinned director, suppressing his voice, said, “I still need to drink it.”

Even in such a moment, he couldn’t forget his bubble tea, earning him the nickname “Bubble Tea Brother” from netizens, who were very curious about how good Zhu Xinyue’s bubble tea could be.

The second guest only stayed briefly for a day while passing through Yunhai City. He claimed he wasn’t there to work but to be a guest, but he was forced by Xie Zhuguang to draw a new menu at the front desk and help them make promotional advertisements and new signs.

This guest was a prop master when Xie Zhuguang first entered the industry and later became a producer, making several films and TV shows before retiring.

After the evening’s business ended, the producer was hammering the new sign, with Xie Zhuguang lighting the way below and Zhu Xinyue holding the ladder.

When the producer came down, his hands were still shaking.

Xie Zhuguang asked him what was wrong.

The producer sighed.

“Actually, I came to Yunhai to pay my last respects to my mentor, who brought me into the industry. Out of his five apprentices, none could carry on his craft…”

Zhu Xinyue then understood why the producer always carried a carpenter’s toolbox. When they met in the morning, he had praised the tree planted in their yard as a good piece of wood as soon as he entered the door.

He hadn’t forgotten, he had just come too far.

After the producer left, Xie Zhuguang invited two more friends as guest stars: a washed-up female singer who used to be the lead singer in his band and a songwriter behind many hits. Being old friends, they talked about anything.

“Do you regret getting married at the peak of your career at the age of 25 and then getting divorced ten years later?” The lead singer, a cool older sister with wavy hair and earrings big enough to be Zhu Xinyue’s bracelets, asked.

Xie Zhuguang tactically drank water, only to find his bubble tea had been finished by the dark-skinned director.

Zhu Xinyue, who had been sitting at the long table listening to their conversation, stood up to avoid the sensitive topic.

“I’ll go make bubble tea for Brother Chen.”

“No need, you’ve been busy all day. Take a break,” Xie Zhuguang told Zhu Xinyue to stay, implying she was part of their circle and there was nothing she couldn’t hear.

Besides, even if she avoided it, she would still know when the show aired.

Zhu Xinyue obediently stayed at the counter behind the long table, a bit distanced from them but closer to the fan, as if she stayed for the breeze.

“If I say I don’t regret it, some people won’t believe me, especially my ex-wife. She didn’t believe it and divorced me.” Xie Zhuguang’s smile was a bit bitter, and the fan’s breeze couldn’t blow away his sorrow.

Apart from the fan’s hum, there was the serene sound of distant waves.

He lowered his eyes, finally showing a bit of his usual melancholic, handsome self.

The lead singer picked up a cold cola from the table, clinking it against his water glass, and drank half of it, as if comforting him.

“I actually wanted to fight that divorce case for a lifetime,” Xie Zhuguang smiled. “But she said she was tired and didn’t want to get entangled anymore, asking me to let her go.

“Being with me was hard for her.”

Zhu Xinyue didn’t know what had happened between Xie Zhuguang and his ex-wife, but just from his tone, she could tell how much he loved her.

“So, young artists should focus on making money during their career rise and avoid romance. Don’t you think so, Xiao Zhu?”

The only young artist there, Zhu Xinyue, received the gaze of four seniors.

Zhu Xinyue shook her head and seriously told them, “You can’t measure it like that. If you think that way, how much money would you need to be with the one you love?

“If a person can’t live as they wish, money becomes a shackle.”

“I have been making plans for myself since I was a child. When I finish my homework, I will go to the store to buy popsicles. When I get my New Year’s money, I will buy fairy wands. When I grow up, I will travel with my friends. When I make money, I will spend more time with my family… I have so many things waiting for me, but none of them can be realized.”

“After finishing my homework, the store was closed. When I got my New Year’s money, the fairy wands were out of production. After growing up, friends drifted apart. The tree wants to stay still, but the wind won’t stop. The child wants to care for their parents, but they don’t wait. Instead of waiting, it’s better to seize the moment.”

More importantly, making money wasn’t limited to acting. If she sacrificed her freedom for money, she’d lose the reason she wanted money in the first place.

Zhu Xinyue’s words were insightful, but how many people had the courage to do what she said?

The songwriter, unfamiliar with Zhu Xinyue, spoke bluntly, thinking she was just a young person who liked to speak in platitudes. So she provocatively asked, “So, Xiao Zhu, are you planning to date while acting?”

As soon as she said this, the camera focused on her and Zhu Xinyue, the air thick with tension.

Xie Zhuguang was about to intervene.

“It’s too early to say,” Zhu Xinyue seemed unaware of the trap.

“Xiao Zhu means it’s too far off to consider,” Xie Zhuguang secretly glared at the songwriter, signaling her to tone down her temper.

The songwriter realized she misspoke and was about to apologize.

But Zhu Xinyue smiled, unfazed, her eyes sparkling as she dropped a bombshell on camera.

“I mean, I have a crush on someone, but I don’t know his feelings, so it’s too early to tell.”