WS - Chapter 7
Chapter 7
With half the bedroom wall collapsed, the room was obviously uninhabitable.
If the wall had only collapsed due to ordinary quality issues or a natural disaster, dealing with it would have been easier. Yu Nianbing would just need to move her personal belongings from the bedroom into the adjacent guest room, then ask Auntie Wang to find someone to repair it.
The problem was, this was not just a simple case of a wall collapsing...
Unfortunately, what had happened in that place was truly awkward. When Song Shiyue first woke up, the two of them hadn't discussed what to do about the wall in detail. Later, Song Shiyue's agent arrived and forcefully shoved over a sack of gifts, interrupting them, and Yu Nianbing temporarily forgot about it.
By the light shining through from her side, Yu Nianbing could see the bedroom next door, the smoke already dissipated, and those several large charcoal braziers... In any case, she had to deal with that first, cover up what had happened here, before she could call someone to repair the wall.
Yu Nianbing sighed, rolled up her sleeves, and tried to push the half-length table that had stabbed into her bedroom back toward Song Shiyue's side. But after straining to push for a long time, she only managed to move it a few centimeters before the table legs got stuck on the broken bricks and wall debris. She also tried lifting the table, but the metal table was terribly heavy; she could push it a little, but couldn't lift it at all. She wondered how it had managed to stab through like that... Helplessly, she let go and opened her StarNet port.
When Wang Mancang received Yu Nianbing's StarNet message, he was in the middle of checking Song Shiyue out of the hospital.
More precisely, he had just opened his StarNet and was about to send a message to Yu Nianbing.
When he went to handle the discharge procedures, Wang Mancang learned that Yu Nianbing had placed Song Shiyue's Ciming Hospital expenses on her own account. Contacting Yu Nianbing now, on one hand, was to transfer the payment; on the other hand, they now had to go back and deal with that bedroom. According to Song Shiyue, she had been saved by Yu Nianbing because the wall happened to collapse. Regarding the wall repair, Wang Mancang also wanted to see if Yu Nianbing had any requirements.
It just so happened that their thoughts aligned with the message Yu Nianbing had sent.
"In a moment we'll first go tidy up your bedroom, then call someone to fix the wall. After that's done, we'll talk to the landlord about terminating the lease. Tell me, what were you thinking? I was barely away on a business trip when you went and rented the place next to Yu Nianbing. Did someone in the company egg you on to leech off her popularity again? And is the apartment in Xingzhu Garden really that bad? If it weren't for the fact that the collapsing wall also saved your life, I'd really want to file a complaint..." After just a brief exchange, Wang Mancang, having finished the discharge procedures, grumbled as he herded Song Shiyue into the car.
The Original Host had indeed been egged on by someone. Once wasn't enough to ride her coattails, she wanted to do it again. But the neighboring apartment had apparently been empty all this time... Before the Original Host could leech off her a second time, she was driven to unbearable collapse by debt and even gave up on herself.
Luckily, the neighbor suddenly returned. Otherwise, Song Shiyue didn't dare imagine how unwilling she would have been to find herself in this normal world with such difficulty, only to suffocate and die without even having eaten a single bite of meat.
In response to Wang Mancang's nagging, Song Shiyue just smiled sheepishly and didn't dare say much.
It was just that, if she remembered correctly, when she had been dazed and smashed the wall with the table, the table had also stabbed into the neighbor's side...
The collapsed wall could be blamed on poor quality, but the table... you couldn't exactly say it had grown legs and walked on its own.
However, persuading Wang Mancang to let her leave the hospital had already depleted all the congee and xiaolongbao Song Shiyue had just eaten. She simply couldn't overcome Wang Mancang's insistence on accompanying her back to tidy up and repair the wall.
Oh well, it was just a matter of dealing with things as they came.
Throughout the drive, Song Shiyue in the passenger seat was reluctant, and Wang Mancang behind the wheel wasn't especially willing either.
In Wang Mancang's view, matters had their order of importance. The debt repayment had already taken shape, and right now the most important things were naturally Song Shiyue's physical and mental health.
Since she was already in Ciming Hospital, she might as well stay a couple of days, get a physical checkup, and get some counseling. Ciming's expenses weren't cheap, but since they already had so much debt to pay off, a bit of hospital fees was just a drop in the bucket.
Alas, Song Shiyue insisted stubbornly, and Wang Mancang, as her agent rather than her father, could only offer advice.
But Wang Mancang hadn't expected that Song Shiyue would actually want to use the pile of dry branches and dead grass he had brought over as a pretext, using whether she could successfully start a fire by friction to prove that she was physically and mentally healthy, that she had met the standard to be discharged and return to society.
Wang Mancang had brought over a sack of branches and leaves, originally intending to let Song Shiyue have a bitter experience trying to start a fire by friction, to make her appreciate how difficult it was for ancestors to survive, reflect on it, and cherish her life. It would also serve as practice for the variety show. Seeing Song Shiyue so cooperative, he had agreed to let her be discharged if she could produce a fire within half an hour. In fact, from Wang Mancang's limited understanding of wilderness survival, trying to start a fire by hand via friction, even two or three hours without a spark was normal...
However... there were always exceptions.
Wang Mancang never imagined that after just a few minutes, they would set off the ward's smoke alarm... and end up drenched like two drowned rats...
Oh, so how had he forgotten that hospitals had things like smoke alarms?
He must have dealt with too many foolish artists; now he was starting to become foolish himself.
Thankfully, Ciming lived up to its reputation as professional and high-class; they even promptly provided a change of clothes.
After all that fuss, Wang Mancang still went ahead and completed Song Shiyue's discharge procedures.
Although the pile of dry branches and leaves had gotten soaked by the sprinklers, before that Song Shiyue had already blown a flame into a small handful of dried grass. The girl had won the bet quite easily.
Thinking of Song Shiyue in the ward, holding the little flame and beaming brightly, Wang Mancang couldn't help but glance at the passenger seat.
He saw the girl sprawled against the car door; from his glance, he could only see the back of her head.
Wang Mancang's heart lurched. He swerved the steering wheel and braked hard, pulling the car over to the roadside.
"What are you doing?!" Wang Mancang, three parts anger and seven parts lingering fright, grabbed Song Shiyue, who had been draped over the door as if about to jump out at any moment, and shoved her back into her seat.
"Um..." Song Shiyue ignored Wang Mancang's rough handling. She raised her hand and pointed out the car window at the shops that were now behind them. "Can we go buy something to eat?"
Wang Mancang followed the direction of her finger and looked. The street they had just driven past had quite a few food shops.
"So you were staring at those shops just now?" Wang Mancang could hardly believe the gap between his own wild imagination and reality was almost lightyears apart.
"Alright, I know I owe a lot of money... but... just a little bit, okay?" Song Shiyue noticed Wang Mancang's displeased expression, but thinking of what she'd seen earlier--the roast ducks hanging on iron hooks, the cakes in the transparent display cases, and the pork jerky being grilled right on the street... She couldn't help but pinch her thumb and forefinger together to indicate a tiny amount and plead.
Heavens above, she hadn't seen such a normal street in seven years.
Even the major bases of the Apocalypse, though they could restore order and try to keep streets clean, could never display food so openly and abundantly...
Not to mention these normal foods, which had disappeared long ago with the arrival of the Apocalypse.
Just by looking, Song Shiyue could imagine how delicious they would be.
The rich, fatty roast duck; the pure, sweet, and soft cakes; and the pure pork without a trace of gaminess, not some strange mutant hog substitute...
Just the thought made her want to cry, okay?
Wang Mancang was only briefly stunned, not even having time to properly regret his overly vivid imagination earlier, when he saw the girl in front of him suddenly redden around the eyes, a shimmer of moisture rising in her bright gaze.
This was crying because she wanted to eat? Who had eaten those several trays of food at Ciming just now?
Wang Mancang had always treated the young ladies and lads under his care quite well. He was called their agent, but most of the time, he couldn't help but slip into the role of a guardian. Among them, Song Shiyue, always seeming delicate and weak, naturally received a bit more care. Earlier, Wang Mancang had marveled privately that this girl, having teetered on the brink of life and death, seemed much steadier and more capable. But after driving just a few streets, she had reverted to her usual delicate appearance. Or rather, her ability to cry on command seemed to have even improved compared to before.
Seeing Song Shiyue looking so pitiful over a few bites of food, Wang Mancang couldn't help but think again of that mountain of debt. Speaking of which, ever since Song Shiyue's father had come looking for her and extorted money from all sides, Wang Mancang had advised her several times, but seeing her mostly agree on the surface, he had grown somewhat coldhearted and hadn't asked much about their father-daughter affairs for a while. He hadn't expected... that a moment of inattention would nearly lead to disaster.
He didn't know how many days this girl had gone without good food and sleep because of the debt...
"Eat, eat, eat. What do you want to eat? I'll go buy it." Feeling somewhat distressed, Wang Mancang briskly unbuckled his seatbelt and made to open the door.
After all that had happened today, eating a bit more was no big deal.
At worst, she could control her diet a few days before going back to work.
"Pork jerky! Roast duck! Three kinds of siu mei! Chocolate cake, strawberry cake, cheesecake, marshmallows! Takoyaki, milk tea, chestnuts, grilled cold noodles, oh oh oh heavens, and lamb skewers... is that lamb skewers? There's naan at the door, do they sell dapanji inside... and that..." Song Shiyue squinted, trying to identify what the shop that was now a bit far away was selling.
"Wait." Wang Mancang let go of the car door handle and looked again at Song Shiyue, who was practically glued to the window. "All of those? Can you finish them?"
Oh... right...
She was a normal human now...
Song Shiyue recalled her own appetite before the Apocalypse, then looked again at the food street outside, still unable to tear her eyes away.
"It's almost dinner time. Pick a few things for dinner. Whatever else you want, buy it later. Don't worry. After filming The Wilderness Journey, there will surely be plenty of acting jobs coming your way. The money won't be comparable to now, and paying off the debt is just a matter of time. In a moment, I'll vouch for your StarNet account and unlock a bit of credit. However much it is, it'll still cover your food and drink. In the future, if something comes up, tell me earlier. At least don't go hungry." Wang Mancang had been startled at first by Song Shiyue's grand ambition of ordering from every shop down the street, and then he only felt sadder.
In the hospital earlier, Wang Mancang had more or less gotten a clear picture of Song Shiyue's situation.
Her savings were wiped out; her StarNet personal credit loan was maxed out and about to come due; one of her two private high-interest loans outside had already been due ten days ago. Song Shiyue burning charcoal today was most likely triggered by the pressure from that overdue loan.
She didn't have a penny to her name... and who knew how long she'd been hungry...
"Alright, from what you mentioned, I'll go down and buy a bit. If you're hungry tonight, ordering food on StarNet is also convenient." Wang Mancang sighed, shook his head, and got out of the car to shop.
Back at Xingzhu Garden, when Yu Nianbing received Wang Mancang's reply, she dismissed the idea of asking Auntie Wang to come over.
She had spent half a year with the Yu Xian production crew, and Auntie Wang had followed the crew for half a year with her. That job had only just ended, and she'd just let Auntie Wang go home. Yu Nianbing didn't want to turn around and immediately call her back.
Just as well that Song Shiyue's agent was willing to handle the wall repair, which saved Yu Nianbing the trouble. While waiting for the neighbors to return, Yu Nianbing took the chance to clear her personal belongings from her bedroom into the guest room. When the time came, she'd just lock the bedroom door and let the neighbors fix it however they pleased.
It wasn't far from Ciming to Xingzhu Garden. Yu Nianbing had timed it and was quite efficient in packing up the bedroom, but there was still no sound from next door.
She had missed lunch, and seeing that it was almost dinner time, the two xiaolongbao in her stomach had long since stopped being enough. Opening the fridge and seeing the marinated meats that Auntie Wang had prepared the day before, Yu Nianbing finally couldn't keep her hands off.
By the time Wang Mancang returned, laden with bags, leading Song Shiyue who had already eaten half the food in the car, the grilled meat on Yu Nianbing's side was just about done.
Even though she had devoured an entire roast duck, two pieces of cake, and a bag of pork jerky in the car, and was still sipping a cup of milk tea, Song Shiyue was still captivated by the aroma of freshly grilled meat.
Too bad it was the neighbor's meat...
Wang Mancang had only packed things that were easy to carry, like those skewers of grilled meat he didn't buy... But thinking of the hardship Song Shiyue had endured recently, Wang Mancang had bought quite a bit of food in bits and pieces, enough not just for two but for a table of six.
Of course, if he didn't keep an eye on her, by the time they got out of the car, it might only be enough for two.
"What's wrong with this door?" Wang Mancang entered the house and went to open the bedroom with the supposedly collapsed wall. He twisted the lock and pushed hard, but it wouldn't budge.
"Uh... there seems to be something piled inside." Song Shiyue reached out, then suddenly thought of something and drew back. She turned and said, "I'll go in from the neighbor's side and move it. Uncle Wang, wait here."
So saying, Song Shiyue didn't wait for Wang Mancang's reply and dashed out of the apartment.
Wang Mancang was momentarily stunned, then sniffed the aroma of grilled meat that seemed to be drifting from the locked room. He couldn't help but follow to the door and call out, "Hey, just move the stuff, don't eat the neighbor's meat."
Yu Nianbing, who opened her door upon hearing the commotion, happened to meet the two of them face-to-face, and naturally did not miss Wang Mancang's words.
"What about the meat in my house?" Yu Nianbing leaned against the door coldly, her expression calm, but the gaze she directed at Wang Mancang carried a hint of earnestness.
"..." Standing in the doorway, Wang Mancang hastily explained, "She really ate a bit too much today. I'm afraid she'll go mooch meat again and end up with true indigestion later. When the time comes, she'll gain weight and have to lose it again, which is so harmful."
Yu Nianbing looked at Song Shiyue in front of her, and the latter somewhat embarrassedly lowered her head.
Thinking of how she herself had later taken the initiative to order an extra serving of xiaolongbao for Song Shiyue, Yu Nianbing knew that, combined with the portion she had left unfinished earlier, Song Shiyue had indeed eaten quite a lot in one sitting. Yet for some unknown reason, seeing the young girl's currently somewhat awkward appearance, Yu Nianbing couldn't help but speak up: "She isn't considered fat. Ciming's meals are mostly easily digestible. Just a few bowls of porridge and side dishes, plus two servings of dim sum, isn't considered that much..."
After Yu Nianbing finished speaking, she looked at the young girl again.
Unexpectedly, after she spoke up to help her, the other party's head actually buried itself even lower.
Wang Mancang was stunned for a moment before he realized that Yu Nianbing was speaking up on Song Shiyue's behalf.
What happened to being cold, arrogant, and unapproachable?
Although Wang Mancang had never had any professional interactions with Yu Nianbing, he had heard many rumors about this Best Actress who had won the Golden Planet Award twice at such a young age.
However, judging from today, this person was not only helpful but even willing to meddle in domestic trivialities.
Is her public persona about to collapse?
"Do you want to eat?" Yu Nianbing caught a yearning gaze that frequently darted toward the inside of the apartment.
"Wait..." Wang Mancang heard the implication of an invitation in Yu Nianbing's words and quickly took a few steps forward, grabbing Song Shiyue, who hadn't yet had time to nod.
"Only when there are needs can there be a passion for life." The moment her previous words of invitation left her lips, Yu Nianbing was already somewhat regretful; she clearly shouldn't have been so meddlesome... but seeing Wang Mancang's so obviously preventative attitude, she couldn't help but add one more sentence.
It's all to blame on that single glance after the wall collapsed... meddling in more and more other people's business...
Wang Mancang naturally didn't know the internal conflict in Yu Nianbing's heart at this moment. He could appreciate Yu Nianbing's good intentions, but he truly felt quite caught between laughter and tears.
This kind-hearted person probably didn't know that if Song Shiyue's passion for life was measured by her need for food, then her passion could probably set this building on fire instantly.
Friend, you truly know nothing about this little girl's appetite.
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