Against the Light - Chapter 175
Chapter 175: Premiere
"Ahem." Gu Xinran coughed lightly and shot Lin Yuqing a frantic look.
Lin Yuqing froze. She looked at Gu Xinran, then at Yilan, who was curled up tightly in the quilt beside them. Her eyelid suddenly twitched as a bold idea popped into her head.
"Xiao Ye, how about Auntie makes you a bottle of milk?" Lin Yuqing walked over and picked Xiao Ye up.
Ye Nan also seemed to realize what was going on. She gave the two of them a knowing look, then turned and walked out, closing the door behind her.
"Huh? What's going on? Still not up?" Yu Hua, who hadn't figured anything out, was dragged away by Ye Nan, grumbling all the while.
"Phew…" Gu Xinran let out a long, heartfelt sigh of relief. She glanced at Yilan and snickered. This was way too exciting!
Bai Yilan was furious and embarrassed. She hit Gu Xinran in frustration, then buried her face in the quilt and refused to come out.
"Hurry up and get dressed. The little one will sneak back in any minute." Gu Xinran turned on her side, wrapped an arm around her darling wife's waist, and moved her hand down to pat her perky bottom twice.
Only then did Bai Yilan lift her head, shooting her an aggrieved look.
The two of them quickly got up, dressed, and washed up. Once they were ready, they walked out to find the little one eagerly running over, wanting her Mommy to hold her.
"Mommy, it's snowing! So much snow! Xiao Ye wants to go out and play in the snow!"
"Oh?" Bai Yilan turned her head to look at the courtyard. It was true. A layer of snow covered the ground, almost ankle-deep. Goose-feather-sized snowflakes were still falling, looking especially beautiful.
The mother and daughter pair leaned against the door and watched for a while, identical expressions of anticipation on their faces.
Seeing them like this, Gu Xinran knew they were scheming something again. In her past life, this pair had loved playing in the snow. Every time it snowed, Yilan would take Xiao Ye into the courtyard to build a big snowman. She would even dress the snowman in her own clothes and tell Xiao Ye that it was her mama.
"Alright, you two eat your meal obediently. After you finish, you can go out and play for a little while."
Hearing this, the little one was overjoyed. She ate her meal with relish, not even needing to be fed.
After eating, Yilan couldn't wait to dress the little one, bundling her up completely. Then, leading the little milk bun who looked like a polar bear, she prepared to run into the courtyard.
Gu Xinran grabbed her and, with a doting expression, helped her put on her scarf.
Xiao Ye shook off the two dawdlers and skipped into the courtyard, leaving a trail of small footprints. She found this very interesting and deliberately stepped where there were no footprints yet.
Gu Xinran and Bai Yilan each rolled a large snowball and stacked them together. The little one ran inside to get a carrot and some tomatoes to make the snowman's nose and eyes. Looking at the snowman, she couldn't stop laughing.
When Yu Hua, Shi Qing, and the others saw the family of three having so much fun, they couldn't help but run over to join in. As they were building the snowman, someone threw a snowball, and a snowball fight immediately broke out.
Gu Xinran's family of three was one team, and the others were the other team.
Gu Xinran packed a large snowball and was just about to throw it when she heard her little milk bun cry out in protest.
"Ah! Don't hit my Auntie Lin!"
"…" Gu Xinran's hand was already raised, poised to throw, when she stopped abruptly, nearly throwing out her back. She looked at the others one by one. Yu Hua's hand hadn't fully healed, so she didn't dare hit her. She definitely didn't dare touch her two mothers-in-law. And now Lin Yuqing was being protected by the little one…
While she was hesitating, four or five snowballs flew toward her from the other side. She didn't have time to dodge and was hit squarely, her head covered in snow.
The little one was amused by her sorry state and burst out laughing. She grabbed snow from the ground and threw it at Gu Xinran. Yilan also decisively switched sides. The situation became completely one-sided, with Gu Xinran fleeing around the yard in a sorry state.
They played for nearly an hour without realizing it, until they were all exhausted.
"I'm tired. Let's go back and rest for a bit," Shi Qing said.
"Xiao Ye wants to play a little longer~"
Shi Qing picked the little one up and felt her clothes, then frowned. "Your clothes are all wet. Go back and change first, then you can play again."
"Mmm, okay!"
Only then did everyone call a temporary truce.
In the room, Bai Yilan helped the little one change her clothes, then placed her next to the heater to warm her little body.
"Auntie Lin, what are you doing?" Xiao Ye asked, looking at Lin Yuqing, who was sitting on the sofa.
"Looking at the news."
"What news is it?"
"Hmm… your mama is trending again."
"Huh? What did I do now?" Gu Xinran heard this and looked bewildered. She took the phone, glanced at it, and was stunned.
【Smile Master Gu Xinran :)】
【Topic Ender :)】
What the hell?
She clicked on the first topic and was even more stunned.
The topic had actually been started by Lin Guo!
【Big Guozi: After the gala ended last night, I sent Sister Ran a message asking her how my singing was. This was the reply I got: [Sister Ran: Smile]. I'd like to ask, can I still keep this boss?】
The top few comments below were all from her own people.
【Fang Yi: You're not alone. Yesterday in the group chat, we asked Sister Ran to send red envelopes. The reply we got was: Smile. Then the group went quiet for the rest of the night and no one dared to speak.】
【Jin Shuang: Same in the production crew's group chat :)】
【Ling Xue'er: Me too… I wished Sister Ran a Happy New Year and got a 'Smile' in reply. I was wondering what I did wrong [facepalm].】
【Me too…】
【+1, I feel relieved seeing you all got the same thing. I was so scared yesterday I couldn't sleep well all night [crying].】
"???" Gu Xinran was dumbfounded. She immediately opened WeChat to take a look. Sure enough, from top to bottom, her message notifications were a neat row of 'Smile' emojis she had sent. And every group chat was quiet; no one was talking to her anymore…
No wonder. She had thought her phone was eerily quiet last night.
Gu Xinran took a deep breath and turned to look at Bai Yilan. "This is how you replied to my messages???"
Knowing she was in the wrong, Bai Yilan gave her a beautiful smile, picked up their cub, and made a run for it.
The others were tired from playing and went to take a nap, but Gu Xinran was busy replying to messages. In the end, she simply passed the buck to Xiao Ye, posting on her Moments that her child had been playing with her phone and randomly tapping things.
She also sent several large red envelopes in all the group chats as compensation.
In the afternoon, the group got ready and prepared to go out.
Today was the day Gu Xinran had long been waiting for: the premiere of Deep Love. After today, she believed, the audience would get to know and remember the name Lin Yuqing.
The movie theater was packed with people. The group headed straight for the screening room.
It was the little one's first time at a movie theater, and everything seemed new and exciting to her.
Gu Xinran held the little one in her arms, opening her coat to wrap around her. "Xiao Ye, when the movie starts, the lights in the theater will turn off. If Xiao Ye is afraid of the dark, you can hide inside Mama's coat. Mama will protect you."
"Mmm." The little one nodded, immediately leaned back, and snuggled into Gu Xinran's embrace, leaving only the top of her little head exposed.
Gu Xinran stroked her little head and turned to exchange a smile with Yilan.
Before long, the movie began.
The screening room went dark for a moment, but then the big screen lit up.
The group immediately focused their full attention on the big screen.
During the one-and-a-half-hour movie, someone like Ye Nan, who cried easily, cried for a solid hour. She started crying from the moment the two characters were boycotted by the public and didn't stop until the final scene where Lin Yuqing's character was lying in a flowerbed.
Shi Qing was harder to move to tears; at most, her eyes reddened. Seeing Ye Nan like this, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Although Yu Hua was used to all sorts of plots, certain scenes still made her nose tingle. She also gained a whole new appreciation for Lin Yuqing's acting skills.
The lights in the theater came on.
Gu Xinran rubbed her red eyes, turned to look at Yilan, and helped wipe away the tear tracks from the corners of her eyes. Just as she was about to get up, she realized the little one lying on her had fallen asleep at some point.
Bai Yilan also noticed the little one and gently picked her up. She really was still just a child, after all.
Gu Xinran glanced back. Auntie Ye was still crying her eyes out. It looked like she wouldn't recover anytime soon. Shi Qing sat beside her, her brows knitted into a knot, continuously handing her tissues.
"So? Are you impressed?" Gu Xinran asked Yu Hua, glancing at the relatively calm Lin Yuqing beside her.
"Not bad. She's a real treasure. Your eye for talent is truly sharp," Yu Hua praised effusively.
Gu Xinran chuckled, nodded at Lin Yuqing, and gave her an appreciative look.
Gu Xinran took out her phone. For the first time, she was this eager to see the Weibo trending topics—even more eager than when her own movies were released.
She opened Weibo and scanned the trending list. Gu Xinran couldn't help but smile knowingly, feeling very satisfied.
Topics about Deep Love and Lin Yuqing's performance instantly took over half of the trending list.
For example: Deep Love is such a tearjerker, Lin Yuqing's acting is explosive, and Gu Xinran's eye for talent is amazing.
Gu Xinran casually clicked on one and saw that in the comments section, netizens had once again lost their ability to form words and could only use 'Ahhh' to express their emotions.
【Ahhh, I'm becoming a fan of Lin Yuqing! You really can't tell she was just a camerawoman before. With acting skills like these, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her a veteran actress!!】
【The girl is only eighteen this year! She played an old woman so flawlessly. How did she do it?! She must have such rich life experience!!】
【Ahhhhh, the part where her clothes were burned destroyed me, I cried so hard wuwuwu. Isn't today the first day of the new year? Why would you do this to me, ahhh!】
【Where are the people who said Ran Zai was just forcing Lin Yuqing on us? Let me ask you, does your face hurt? Is this what you call forcing someone? She has real talent, do you see it now? By the way, Ran Zai's eye for talent is seriously sharp!】
【That was me. I misjudged Ran Zai. I apologize. This young lady has a long road ahead of her! It's a good thing she met Xinran and her talent wasn't buried!】
Gu Xinran casually scrolled through. After reading these comments, she felt utterly refreshed in both body and mind. All these days of hard work had not been in vain!
Three days later, topics related to Deep Love still occupied the top three spots on the trending list. Every screening was sold out, and major theaters urgently added more showtimes.
A week later, Deep Love was leading the Spring Festival box office with an impressive ten-day gross approaching two billion. Discussion about Lin Yuqing remained incredibly high, and for a time, she was unrivaled in the spotlight.
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