Chapter 28: The Scientific Big Shot × The Glamorous Movie Queen 8

This wedding celebration lasted a full three days, leaving all the netizens amazed.

[Didn’t expect a traditional Chinese wedding to be this spectacular.]

[Xi Nian’s dress is so beautiful! Does anyone know where to get the same one? I want it!]

[Nian Bao is truly stunning, the pinnacle of ancient costume beauty!]

[Boss Gu looks handsome too. Both of them have fair skin, and the red makes their complexions even more radiant.]

[Can we look forward to their child? With their combined good looks, their baby will definitely be amazing.]

[Nian Bao, can I be your daughter-in-law?]

[Have some shame upstairs! I’m different — I want to be Nian Bao’s in-law.]

The two people everyone was talking about were already abroad. They had booked their tickets and planned to spend their honeymoon overseas because there were too many people in the country who knew them, making it impossible to have a quiet, private time just for the two of them.

On the beach, Gu Yin sat on a chair by the sea wearing sunglasses, waiting for Xi Nian to finish changing clothes and come over. Not long after, Gu Yin’s shoulder was tapped.

He turned and saw the woman under the sunlight, her apricot-shaped eyes bright, her starry gaze slightly annoyed but smiling. She stood there like that, and all the beauty in the world couldn’t compare.

“Lost in thought?” Xi Nian waved her hand teasingly in front of Gu Yin’s eyes.

“I’m dumbstruck because of your beauty!” Gu Yin pulled her into his arms, letting her sit on his lap. The two of them enjoyed the sea breeze, watching the diverse crowd, feeling a different kind of tranquility.

“Want to go water skiing?” Gu Yin noticed Xi Nian staring at the people water skiing, clearly interested.

“Sure!” Xi Nian stood up excitedly. She wanted to try every activity.

Gu Yin knew how to do some water sports. For the simpler ones, he would take Xi Nian along himself; for the dangerous ones, he hired instructors to accompany them. This trip was to let Xi Nian enjoy herself to the fullest.

…After a whole day of playing, Xi Nian was a little tired. She leaned on Gu Yin’s chest, watching the sea waves sometimes surge in and sometimes recede.

“I’ll take you somewhere tomorrow.”

“Where?” Xi Nian was curious, wondering if he had secretly been here before without telling her.

“Remember when we had that fight last time?” Gu Yin didn’t answer directly but changed the subject.

“Of course I remember. You were really mean then — clearly you bullied me, and yet you ran off secretly, not even coming back for my birthday.”

That time, Xi Nian had been followed by paparazzi, almost exposing their relationship. The original owner blamed her for being careless, accused her of doing it on purpose, and said many harsh things. They had a cold war for several days. To avoid trouble, the original owner took the opportunity to go abroad for an exchange program and avoided Xi Nian. To teach her a lesson, he even didn’t come back for her birthday.

“I didn’t run off secretly,” Gu Yin kissed her hair. “It was an exchange program!”

“Who knows?” Xi Nian rolled her eyes.

“That time, I came to this very place. After the exchange ended, I thought your birthday was coming up, so I wandered around.” Wandering around was true, but the original owner actually bought some luxury goods to appease Xi Nian.

“So where’s my gift? You wandered around but where’s the stuff?”

“The gift is in one place.”

“The place you’re taking me tomorrow?”

“Yes. I accidentally found a shop. The owner is an old lady who said all the things in her shop have only one name: ‘sorry’.”

“Sorry?” Xi Nian waited curiously for Gu Yin to continue.

“Yes. She said when she and her husband were young, they often quarreled, but every time her husband would secretly prepare a gift for her. Though he never directly said sorry, each small gift was marked with the word ‘sorry’.”

“Look at them, and then look at you!” Xi Nian teased, “You never say sorry.”

“I also prepared a ‘sorry’ for you. I was too embarrassed to give it to you then, so I left it at that shop. Let’s go get it tomorrow, okay?”

This was a bug in the system that Gu Yin exploited, hoping to use the original owner’s past mistakes to apologize to Xi Nian.

“Fine, I’ll forgive you since you seem sincere enough!”

Seeing her adorable expression, Gu Yin couldn’t help but kiss her. Xi Nian saw him lean in for another kiss and immediately ran away. They chased each other on the beach for a while before returning to the hotel.

The next day, they went to the shop as promised. The shop was in a small alley, with a large hand-carved sign saying “sorry.”

As soon as they entered, the old lady recognized Gu Yin. She slightly bent over as she walked toward them. The last time this young man had come, he was indecisive and unreliable. She never thought he’d come back with a young lady. She wondered whose good girl he had fooled into being with him.

“Your girlfriend?” The old lady pointed at Xi Nian.

Gu Yin smiled and shook his head. “No, my wife.”

“Oh my god, you actually have a wife?” The old lady’s tone was full of disbelief and a bit of disdain.

Gu Yin felt a little embarrassed and scratched his nose, then glanced sideways at Xi Nian, who, as expected, gave him a look of disdain.

“I’m here to pick up what I left here last time.”

“Okay! Follow me.”

The old lady led them to the innermost shelf and pointed to the densely packed items, saying, “Everything here is left by people.”

“Many young people like you say they leave things with me, planning to come back with their partner to pick them up, but you see, most leave them here and never return.” She sighed. (Just treat it like reading English, haha.)

Xi Nian looked at the various items on the shelf — wooden daggers, flowers, small cakes, cups… Every gift had the word “sorry” carved on it in a twisted, uneven way.

“I first met my old man on the street when I was buying flowers. He was my first customer and then became a daily customer. Every time he came, he looked shy, paid, but didn’t take the flowers — instead, he quietly handed them to me.” The old lady’s eyes sparkled as she recalled.

“He was like a ray of light shining into my lonely, dark life. Later, we got together. But his family didn’t agree because of my lowly status. I didn’t want to burden him, so I tried to run away secretly, but he found me. We struggled for half our lives, always full of misunderstandings and missed chances. Until once, when I was sick, I left without telling him. He went crazy looking for me, abandoned his family, and chased after me here to live an ordinary life with me.”

The grandmother’s whole body was filled with deep longing for her lover.

“After he left, I opened this shop. I hope that no one in this world misses each other because of misunderstandings, and no one loses the chance to love because of status. Saying sorry is not shameful; what’s shameful is not daring to say sorry.”

“You two coming back here together proves you will be happy for a lifetime!”

“Thank you, Grandma!”

They looked at each other. Gu Yin took out the little rabbit he had made before. The craftsmanship was rough, but it was somehow endearing.

“Shall we make another one?” Gu Yin looked at Xi Nian, who was staring fixedly at a ring.

“Okay, shall we make that kind? One for you, one for me.”

Xi Nian really liked the ring. It was simple but had a lingering, profound feeling.

“Alright.”

The grandmother looked at their harmonious figures, her eyes slightly moist. She smiled and walked over to them, softly telling them, “You are the tenth couple to come back together. For every returning couple, I give a gift. This pair of rings is for you. You don’t have to have the word ‘sorry’ on this gift; write whatever you want on it.”

“Thank you~” Both were very happy. This blessing filled everyone’s hearts.

Neither of them was very skilled with their hands. After bustling around for most of the day, they finally made a rough shape. The fine details were helped by the grandmother, who wore reading glasses. They put on their exclusive rings, feeling very happy. Xi Nian couldn’t help taking some photos and posted them on Weibo.

[Xi Nian: The sandalwood scent lingers, kindness is rare.]

The photo showed their hands overlapping, fingers long and fair, with the sandalwood ring on the ring finger standing out prominently.

“Ahhh, the missing person finally posted!”

“Thank you, Nianbao, still remembering us fans.”

“The jealousy upstairs is about to overflow.”

“The rings look so nice, though a bit rough.”

“Hahaha, this is definitely made by my Nianbao, she’s clumsy.”

“Don’t mention Nianbao’s sad story, okay?”

“The English engraving is delicate; is it Gu Daobao’s handiwork?”

Seeing this, Xi Nian immediately replied, “[Not at all, he’s clumsy too!]”

“Hahaha, Nianbao replied! Do you know what you said, Gu Daobao?”

“Please, Gu Daobao, teach her a lesson.”

“Gu Daobao is not clumsy; several patents have his name on them.”

The two said goodbye to the grandmother and walked arm in arm down the street. The roadside was shaded by green trees and fragrant with flowers. They looked at each other and smiled…

They stayed abroad for over two months, acting like ordinary young couples — playing and fooling around together. They attended refined concerts as well as energetic rock shows. The happy life made them forget everything. If Wu Mei hadn’t called, they probably wouldn’t have wanted to come back.

“Back already?” Wu Mei looked at Xi Nian, who was carrying many parcels with a joyful expression, thinking her call two days ago was right on time — if she hadn’t called, Xi Nian might have lost direction.

“Back, back.” Xi Nian smiled and handed one parcel to Wu Mei. “Sister Wu, this is a bag we bought for you, the latest model, very suitable for you.”

Wu Mei’s eyes lit up. Women just love this kind of thing. “You bribe me successfully. I sent you the script. Study it well these days. Audition on Thursday. You know how popular Director Zheng’s dramas are. Do well.”

“Okay!” Xi Nian distributed the gifts to the studio team, then obediently went home to study the script.

That evening, Xi Nian and Gu Yin sat properly. Gu Yin held the script, admiring his wife’s acting.

“You only know she’s sad, how could you understand my difficulties?”

“Your matters, I don’t want to hear or know about,” Gu Yin read the lines expressionlessly.

“Ahhh, Gu Yin, can you have some expression? You’re ruining the scene for me!”

Xi Nian grew increasingly irritable and kicked Gu Yin. “Forget it, forget it. I won’t watch you anymore. Try again, try again.”

Xi Nian watched the footage several times, pondered the heroine’s mindset, and confidently went to the audition for The Legend of the Bright Moon.

The Legend of the Bright Moon was a female-led drama, depicting the heroine’s journey from personal love affairs to later taking on the fate of the nation. The role required great emotional depth and the heroine’s transformation in emotions and character was a major highlight.

Looking at the lineup at the audition site, Xi Nian’s earlier confidence vanished, and she suddenly felt nervous. Wu Mei comforted her by patting her hand, “Don’t worry!”

“Mm-hmm.” Recently popular, and her audition number was early, so she was called quickly.

“It’s little Xi! Come try this scene.” Director Zheng, who had worked with Xi Nian before, was especially friendly, which calmed her nerves.

“I’ll act as little Nian’s counterpart!” The already chosen male lead had previously played siblings with Xi Nian, so they were quite familiar.

“You cannot govern the family, how can you govern the country!” Xi Nian’s expression was serious, her voice full of determination.

“Bright Moon! I told you, Little Five is the only hope Hua Xi left me, also the future master of this world!”

“Master?” Xi Nian sneered disdainfully, raising her voice. “Does the world know that its master plans to destroy them?”

“…”

“Well done, well done. Go back and wait for the news.” Director Zheng nodded, clearly satisfied with Xi Nian, though the final decision on the lead still needed more discussion.

“Thank you, Director Zheng. Thank you, Brother Gu! I’ll leave first.”

“Go ahead, come eat together sometime!” Gu Cheng waved his hand.

“How was it?” As soon as she came out, Wu Mei immediately asked.

Xi Nian shrugged, “Waiting for the news.”

“All right, don’t worry. Director Zheng never decides on the spot. You have a chance.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Sure enough, a few days later, Wu Mei received the crew’s notice, “Not bad, Nian Nian. Dinner is on me today. Everyone pick a place.”

“Sis, can I bring my plus one?” Xi Nian had just told Gu Yin about this, and Gu Yin also wanted to treat her to some good food — might as well go together!

“Bring them!”

…

[The Legend of the Bright Moon: The bright moon hangs high, illuminating the Milky Way. Hello, Bright Moon @Xi Nian.]

“Ahhh, Nianbao is amazing! Is this a promotion?!”

“Promotion, promotion! Looks like the Best Actress title is within reach!”

“Looking forward to The Bright Moon, looking forward to Xi Nian!”

“The bright moon shines, remembering Xi Nian!”

The filming progressed quickly. Although the location was in their city, Xi Nian rarely got to go home. Most of the time, Gu Yin came to visit her, and she squeezed out a little time from her busy schedule to accompany him.

Her fans thought their idol had disappeared and kept demanding that the Bright Moon production reveal Xi Nian. Seeing the high popularity, the crew released some behind-the-scenes clips in due time.