Shrine - Chapter 103

Chapter 103

The wine pairing for this meal was extensive. From the aperitif to the digestif, each wine had its own unique flavor. With an extra bottle selected by Su Chang, there was plenty to go around, and they were still enjoying it long after the meal had ended.

The eight of them left the long table, gathering on the sofa by the floor-to-ceiling windows. Some stood, others half-reclined, drinking and talking. Chen Piaopiao discovered that her manager knew Su Chang, and the two struck up a conversation. Upon hearing from Yu Zhou that Su Chang had a bad back, Chen Piaopiao enthusiastically offered to introduce her to a physical therapist she knew.

They cordially exchanged WeChat contacts. Tao Jin, who usually preferred a proper chair, perched on the arm of the sofa, looking down as Chen Piaopiao and Yu Zhou saved each other's information with custom notes.

But Ji Mingcheng was exasperated.

She adjusted her glasses, watching as Peng Xiangzhi leaned over, propping herself up on the table next to Shi Ran. Peng Xiangzhi was scrolling through photos on Weibo, telling Shi Ran she had seen one of her outfits that was particularly stunning. The tailoring made her waist look incredibly slim, and she asked if Shi Ran had been wearing shapewear.

Shi Ran suppressed a smile. "No."

"Then your waist is really that slim," Peng Xiangzhi praised.

After chatting for a while, she asked Shi Ran if she could have her autograph. Shi Ran said she didn't have a pen and paper, so Peng Xiangzhi opened the memo app on her phone. "An electronic signature. It's what's popular now."

Shi Ran blinked faintly and tilted her chin slightly. "An electronic signature?"

On the memo app… handwritten?

Peng Xiangzhi brought up the 26-key keyboard. "Here, S-H-I, Shi. Just type it."

Shi Ran extended her index finger, glancing at Peng Xiangzhi's expression out of the corner of her eye. She tentatively typed: S-H-I, R-A-N, Shi Ran.

Like this?

"Alright, thanks." Peng Xiangzhi took back her phone, straightened up, and saved it.

What… is the point of this? Shi Ran glanced at Ruan Ruan, who simply smiled and shook her head. She had rarely met a girl like Peng Xiangzhi, one with such a vibrant, devil-may-care attitude. It was a novelty.

Before finishing the last of her wine, Peng Xiangzhi hugged a sofa armrest and asked them, "Is the third season of your drama about to start filming?"

"Soon," Ruan Ruan said. "We'll be joining the production in a few days."

"Hah," Peng Xiangzhi chuckled. "I actually directed the radio drama for that. It was years ago, and it nearly killed me, but I absolutely loved the story. I picked it out at a glance. I just knew it was going to be a hit. See? I've got a good eye, don't I?"

Her eyes sparkled as she sought praise from Yu Zhou. Yu Zhou, quite embarrassed, linked arms with Su Chang, her face flushed from the wine.

"Where did season two leave off? What's season three going to cover? I remember there's a twist later on. The post-production for that part was so well done; it left the listeners completely stunned."

"Season two should have ended when the shrine was smashed, but then it was reborn inside a lightbulb, right?" Yu Zhou chimed in, asking Ruan Ruan.

"Right. After that, Qiao Qiao disappeared, and Shen Bai went to find her."

Yu Zhou recalled with some emotion, "That part was quite moving. Qiao Qiao hid herself so she wouldn't be controlled by greed and hurt Shen Bai, and Shen Bai gave up everything to go after her. Later, they discovered the real reason the shrine appeared."

"What was the reason?" Ji Mingcheng, who had been quiet, suddenly asked.

She had only listened to half of the Shrine radio drama and hadn't finished it. Now her curiosity was piqued.

"Take a guess, you're so smart," Peng Xiangzhi said, nonchalantly rolling her neck.

The group laughed, clinking their glasses a few more times here and there before the rare gathering came to an end.

Su Chang's group had driven, so they had already called for designated drivers. Meanwhile, Ruan Ruan's assistant, Feng Feng, was waiting downstairs with the car. Although Chen Piaopiao and Tao Jin had also driven, they wanted to squeeze into Ruan Ruan's car, so they handed their keys to Xiao Lin, who had come to pick people up. The group of young women headed downstairs together. As they were parting ways, Su Chang, holding her coat, said to Shi Ran, "I know a place with an excellent wine pairing—their team is very professional. Let's find a time that works for you. My treat next time."

"Alright." Shi Ran gave a light smile.

After watching them leave, the commercial van pulled up to the entrance. The four of them ducked their heads and quickly got in, settling into the enclosed space.

The faint scent of milk tea still lingered in the car, washing away the smell of wine. Ruan Ruan snuggled limply against Shi Ran, the kaleidoscopic city lights flickering across her face like the end of a silent film. Today had been exhausting, but it had also been happy. She hadn't just made friends with such different personalities; it felt as if she had rediscovered life's possibilities.

They were so vibrant. As they left, they had even set expectations for seeing each other again, making her feel that the days ahead were long, with plenty of time for dreaming.

Shi Ran lightly scratched the space between Ruan Ruan's fingers, then squeezed the fleshy part of her palm. Seeing her so listless, she asked, "Dizzy?"

Ruan Ruan shook her head. "No, but the food was a bit rich. I'll make noodles at home tomorrow, a clear broth. How does that sound?"

The back of the seat vibrated gently as Chen Piaopiao nudged it with her knee. Ruan Ruan turned around to see Chen Piaopiao leaning lazily against Tao Jin. She asked, "Are neighbors allowed to freeload?"

Ruan Ruan smiled. "Of course. I'll message you, and you can come up."

Perfect. Chen Piaopiao and Tao Jin exchanged a look, raising their eyebrows. Neither of them was much of a cook, but they both loved to eat.

The car drove into the underground garage. The group walked into the building entrance together, finally parting ways in the elevator.

After showering and climbing into bed, it was already almost two in the morning. Ruan Ruan wasn't sleepy yet. After applying lotion to her neck, she snuggled under the covers, hugging Shi Ran and zoning out.

The day had been so fulfilling it made her bones ache. Perhaps even her body didn't want to turn the page.

After three more days in Jiangcheng, they would return to Shucheng to throw themselves back into their work in front of the camera, all to support the selves who lived outside the frame.

"Shi Ran."

"Hm?"

"Is there anything you want to do?" Ruan Ruan suddenly asked in a husky whisper.

Shi Ran had always been the one guiding her, but what about Shi Ran herself? What did she want to achieve most? Besides sea fishing and whale watching, was there anything else?

Shi Ran was silent for a long time. First, she pursed her lips, then slowly closed her eyes. Finally, she reached out, picked up the phone from the bedside table, opened Weibo, went to her drafts, and found the single entry, handing it to Ruan Ruan.

In the pitch-black room, the phone screen was glaringly and abruptly bright, as if describing the shadows on a person's face.

Ruan Ruan's heart skipped a beat. In the drafts, there were only two words: "Goodbye."

She's… thinking of quitting the industry?

Ruan Ruan locked the phone, held it to her chest, and wrapped her arms around Shi Ran's waist, looking at her somewhat helplessly.

Shi Ran looked at the ceiling and smiled.

This smile was different from her usual ones—more unrestrained, more boundless.

"It's not that I'm unhappy with work, but," she paused, "that day you smashed the wine bottle, was it satisfying?"

"Yes." Ruan Ruan nodded gently.

"I also want to, one day, shatter myself," Shi Ran said softly.

But not now.

Ruan Ruan understood. She could always understand Shi Ran. She intertwined their fingers and silently nuzzled against her collarbone.

She decided to put a secret message in her drafts too, to commemorate everything Shrine had given her.

—"I love you with all my greed."

This "you" was Shi Ran, and it was also Ruan Ruan herself.

November, Shucheng.

The weather suddenly turned cool. The autumn tiger had fled in a hurry, but Shucheng was a city without seasons, because the costumes seen everywhere contained spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

The opening ceremony for the third season of Shrine was in two hours, but Ruan Ruan had come alone to the apartment she used to share with Wu Mei. She was here to take Wu Mei to the set; Wu Mei's name was on the cast list for season three. They were going to act opposite each other again, but not like the countless times before—in a cluttered bedroom, half-kneeling on the bed, their heads bent together over a single script as they rehearsed.

Wu Mei was in the middle of an emergency face mask application. When she heard Ruan Ruan arrive, she didn't even show her face, just called out in a drawn-out voice, "Have a seat, fifteen minutes."

Ruan Ruan didn't sit. Dressed in a black overcoat, she slowly looked around the place where she had lived for quite some time.

The entryway was small. Wu Mei's shoes were always kicked off in a messy pile. When she had first arrived, carrying two large suitcases, Wu Mei had helped take them from her while squatting down to tidy her own shoes, then looked up at her with an embarrassed smile.

On the coffee table were always the same few snacks: marinated beef tendon, boneless chicken feet, and devastatingly spicy vegetarian tripe. Sometimes they would crave them terribly but not dare to eat, afraid of breaking out the next day. So they would tear open a package, take a sniff, and then rinse the snack with water before eating it. Sniffing it counted as eating it.

On the sofa, Wu Mei had once hugged her and sobbed, saying those damn men were all bastards. At the time, while wiping Wu Mei's tears, she had wondered, When will the days of not being bullied finally arrive?

The two of them would bicker and fool around, giving each other terrible advice. Wu Mei didn't have Shi Ran's knack for strategic planning, for seeing three steps ahead. She would just anxiously say, "Bribe the producer, get a better spot on the call sheet," or superstitiously claim, "The fortune teller said I'll get famous if I change my name."

This room always smelled of Wu Mei making instant noodles, of quilts that hadn't been aired out in time and had a faint musty scent, and of the few dishes they always cooked in the kitchen, a mix of salty and sweet.

And yet, amidst this air of mundane life, in a corner of the dining area, they had enshrined a shrine.

"You want to burn some incense?" Wu Mei asked, having washed off her mask and now dabbing her face with a cleansing towel.

"We're out of incense. We haven't offered any in a long time," Wu Mei added. "But you don't need to anymore, right? You can just do it on set later."

Ruan Ruan gazed at the kind-faced, benevolent-looking shrine and smiled.

Wu Mei followed her gaze and smiled too. Back then, they hadn't realized how small and poorly made the shrine they'd bought was. How could something like that possibly be effective?

"Remember how we were always brewing sour plum soup back then? Every time, I'd say to you, 'What's the point of brewing dark plums? I'm the one being stewed here. When will it ever end for me?'"

Wu Mei said teasingly, "I never thought things would get better so quickly. You know, on my last show? The Master of Lights there called me Sister Mei. Haha, Sister Mei."

"See, I didn't listen to that old master and change my name to Wu Lei. I'm still Wu Mei. And I wasn't burning incense or kowtowing back then. I just met you."

Wu Mei turned her head and glanced at Ruan Ruan.

"You say Shi Ran is your benefactor. Then you must be mine, right?" she asked, gazing at the shrine with a soft, sentimental smile.

Her words sent a jolt through Ruan Ruan's heart. Shi Ran was her shrine, and she was Wu Mei's shrine. The shrine, just like in the drama, was truly reborn everywhere.

There was a message from An Lu on her phone. She said the company was preparing to get her a custom RV and sent a PDF of optional features for her to choose from. Ruan Ruan didn't look at it, only asking, "Does it have an ice maker?"

She remembered how she and Wu Mei had huddled under the canopy, and how Wu Mei had looked at Shi Ran's RV with envy, saying, "I heard their RVs even have ice makers."

This time, she wanted to use one, to see one, together with Wu Mei.

"Let's go." Ruan Ruan shook her hands in her pockets. The expensive, spotless overcoat made her look tall and elegant.

"Let me grab my bag." Wu Mei hurriedly checked its contents, then pulled her set case along, setting off with her once again.

The door, which didn't close smoothly, was shut with force. The poorly crafted shrine, which had been neglected for a long time, seemed to exude one last trace of compassion.

A few days ago, at the gathering in Jiangcheng, Peng Xiangzhi had asked Ji Mingcheng with a cheeky grin, "Do you know how the third season of Shrine ends?"

At the end of the story, Qiao Qiao finds the tiny rental apartment where she lived before she became famous, a place filled with the lingering bitterness of her unfulfilled ambitions.

"Do you know where the greed in the shrine comes from?"

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