There was only the two of them in the brightly lit dining room.
Under the light, the man's eyes were deep and charming, his delicate facial features more mysterious in the quiet night. His voice was particularly deep, charming enough to cause Qiao Moyu's heart to skip a beat.
She tried to carefully recall what Ye Peicheng's role was in the novel's plot.
Qiao Moyu was certain that the original host had never met Ye Peicheng before the drama 'Sheng Shi' was filmed, since no interaction of theirs was ever mentioned in the novel.
In the plot, Ye Peicheng was an upright man; he never had an affair, no gossips surrounding him, neither did he share a relationship with anyone.
However, the reason why he's the second male protagonist in the novel is because when he first met Qiao Ruohuan, his eyes couldn't look away from her wrist for a moment. From then on, he paid more attention to this girl.
However, at that time, Qiao Ruohuan and Xing Yichen were already together. There were emotionally stable and naturally wouldn't cross paths with Ye Peicheng.
Thus, Ye Peicheng only paid attention to Qiao Ruohuan from afar.
Perhaps he's a one-minded kind of person. This kind of attention and care from a distance lasted until the end of the plot; he had always been a loner.
Moreover, his insistence on his acting career along with his refusal to attend blind dates arranged by his family strained his relationship with his father more and more. It escalated to the point where he couldn't stand staying in the same room as his father for more than half a minute.
Afterwards, his father died in a plane flight, leaving his brother, Ye Peiqing, to inherit the Ye Group. Ye Peicheng suffered even more oppression when this man took over.
Until the end of the story, Ye Peicheng gave off a feeling of melancholy and independence.
Qiao Moyu had no doubt that his ending would be a lonely one.
Throughout the entire novel, there wasn't any mention of Ye Peicheng having any relationship to the original host. It was simply mentioned that the former Qiao Moyu acted in a film as his first love.
However, after the two of them finished filming the movie, their interaction with each other was cold without attachments. Later, it was even less likely that the original host had anything to do with the Film Emperor Ye Peicheng.
So, could Ye Peicheng have mistaken her for someone he knew?
Qiao Moyu was about to deny in reply, when her heart suddenly trembled excitedly!
The novel mentioned that Ye Peicheng's attitude changed after seeing Qiao Ruohuan's wrist. Could he, like Xing Yichen, have mistaken the female protagonist for someone else?
Her heart beat violently as her thoughts were thrown in turmoil. A suspicion arose in her mind– Did the original host not only save Xing Yichen from the fire, but also got involved with Ye Peicheng?
Isn't this too coincidental? There's nothing mentioned about him in the original host's diary!
Her mind was a mess, so Qiao Moyu couldn't just answer casually. Instead, she asked, “Film Emperor Ye, can you explain to me what you meant by those words?”
Ye Peicheng glanced at Qiao Moyu's reddish cheeks, his thoughts occupied with something. The man's Adam's Apple rolled and his voice deepened like the dark night. “At that time, I saw someone when a dim light shone in the dark.”
Who can explain it to her? What does he mean by 'light in the dark'?
Qiao Moyu felt hot for no reason. She swallowed her saliva and quickly replied: “Film Emperor Ye, I may not see so well in the dark, so even if there was a dim light in the dark, I won't be able to see the person well in front of me.”
“Really?” Ye Peicheng smiled and sat upright, his voice full of meaning: “But I think you look like that person.”
Chapter 70
Qiao Moyu wanted to ask him if the person he met was an enemy or a friend, but she resisted that urged and simply laughed it off: “Really? Perhaps it's because I'm more popular lately.”
As a result, Ye Peicheng replied in an more straightforward manner: “The taste if very similar to yours.”
Qiao Moyu: “…” Can she feign death right now?
Soon however, Ye Peicheng resumed his usual appearance and said lightly: “Anyways, I'll find out and confirm it.”
“Oh, good!” Qiao Moyu pretended to be relaxed as she smiled and relaxed her brow.
The pair finished their noodles, cleaned up the table, and left the dining room together.
Under the moonlight, the two figures walked side by side. Time seemed to slow down. Neither of them spoke any more and simply returned to their rooms in silence.
For the next few days, the crew filmed the scenes in the Villa.
Qiao Moyu had just finished her solo scene around noon, when her cellphone rang.
She picked it up and looked at the screen; it was Nanny Yu. She quickly answered the phone and went to a secluded place to answer it.
On the other end, Luo Luo's soft and cute voice sounded through: “Mom!”
Qiao Moyu's heart melted and she smiled: “Baobei, mom misses you!”
“Luo Luo also misses mom. When will you come home?” Since he learned to count recently, Luo Luo counted up the days his mom had been gone– a total of five days. The boy heard his nanny say that a week equals seven days, so it's almost a week since Qiao Moyu left.
“Baobei, Mom should be able to come home in two days! Originally on our schedule, we can leave after we finish filming tomorrow, but the crew is too tired to fly back right away. So after everyone has a good night's rest, we can go back the next day.”
“So when Nanny said that mom would go home in a week, she wasn't playing tricks with Luo Luo!” The little boy happily exclaimed: “Mom, Luo Luo learned to count!”
“Wow, Luo Luo knows how to count, why don't you count to mom!” Qiao Moyu encouraged.
The toddler immediately began to count: “1, 2, 3–” He counted up to 100 in one breath as Qiao Moyu waited patiently. She couldn't help but sigh. Compared to that niece of hers from her previous world who could barely count to 10 around the same age, the original host's baby was so much smarter. Who could be this son's father?
“Baobei's amazing!” Qiao Moyu praised through the phone, “Mom should reward Baobei with 100 muah muah muah!”
(T/N: kisses)
The little toddler blushed when he heard her promise. He replied with a shy 'hmm' and hung up quickly.
Qiao Moyu laughed in a good mood, knowing this proud baby was feeling embarrassed.
As soon as she looked up, she spotted Ye Peicheng under a tree, not far from her. He wore a military uniform while leaning back against a tree trunk. Feeling her stare, his profound eyes lifted and gazed right back.
Such eyes were deep like pools, reflecting Qiao Moyu's bright smile.
Neither of them said a word. Qiao Moyu simply laughed at him and put away her cellphone.
She knew that Ye Peicheng shouldn't have heard a word of her conversation from that distance. After all, only Sister Wu was aware that the original host had a child while keeping it a secret. It's not appropriate to expose such a child unless she discovers who the father is and once she's firmly established herself in the entertainment world.
The act to be filmed this afternoon was a rare and sweet scene between Qiao Moyu and Ye Peicheng.
That's because in the script, the injured Ye Peicheng was just beginning to recover, so he asked Qiao Moyu to help him get up and walk around.
Within the mountain forest, he will hold her hand for the first time. The feeling here was like the ticklish touch of a cat's paw; the couple's first taste of sweetness draws them near to each other, but because of shyness, the two still maintain a certain distance from each other.
Chapter 71
The camera was put in place and the director shouted for them to begin.
On the grassland, Ye Peicheng held Qiao Moyu's hand. His palm was broad and warm, while hers was small and delicate, so tender that it almost seemed to lack bones.
Because she didn't expect him to suddenly take her hand, Qiao Moyu's cheeks flushed. She pulled away shyly, not daring to look him in the eye. The man continued to hold on tightly to her hands without looking straight at her; for a moment, his anxious gaze quickly surveyed the hidden shadows in the distance.
Afterwards, the imperial young commander relaxed, dispelling his usual iron blooded aura. Right now, he was simply a happy young man who held his beloved girl's hand by a hillside full of flowers. During a time of war and icy chaos, they now relished a rare moment of peace.
Just then, Qiao Moyu tripped over something. Ye Peicheng pulled her safely into his arms. All of a sudden, her soft body landed against his hard bosom. Both of them were shocked, their eyes raising at the same time.
As her eyes glanced into his, she turned away quickly in her fluster. But she sensed that the man's deep eyes seemed fixed on her cheeks, as if drunk.
The air seemed to freeze even more. Just as Qiao Moyu was to lose her breath, the song of a bird floated through the air. She coughed softly and pointed in the distance: “Let's go and take a look over there!”
“Alright,” Ye Peicheng replied gently.
His hold tightened as Qiao Moyu eagerly went forward, causing Ye Peicheng's fingertips to slip along the woman's wrist. Suddenly, he recalled when that day at the governor's palace, when he measured the size of her wrist.
Qiao Moyu pulled him forward unconsciously, but the man's eyes couldn't look away from their holding hands.
Ye Peicheng thought that he must have gone mad, his eyes appearing bewitched. He couldn't help but rub her wrist lightly; they were thin and white, just like the ones he saw in the hotel that day.
The man's Adam's Apple rolled slightly. Ye Peicheng couldn't control his thoughts as they wandered to that day three years ago, when his consciousness was blurred.
At that moment, he couldn't tolerate himself. Ever since their filming at the governor's palace that day, he concealed his thoughts towards Qiao Moyu.
Qiao Moyu walked in front of him, clueless of all of this, when the director suddenly called out: “Cut! Very good, all in one-take!”
Qiao Moyu immediately let go of the actor's hand and prepared for the next scene.
Meanwhile, Ye Peicheng looked down at his palm, paying attention her touch as if it still lingered.
For the next scene, both of the sat on the grass.
The wind caused the grass to bend. Qiao Moyu turned her head and smiled at Ye Peicheng, her brow raised.
The director shouted: “Cut.”
He came over and said: “Moyu, you acted well, but there's a feeling you're lacking.”
“What's missing?” she asked doubtfully.
“Love.” After thinking for a moment, the director said: “Unlike your first time filming at 'Sheng Shi,' your scene here is up close so your expression must be appropriate. You acting just now is fine, but going forward in the future, it won't be good enough. Right now, you're supposed to be in front of the person you like. What kind of emotion should you show when you look into his eyes?”
As this idea dawned upon her, Qiao Moyu couldn't help but turn and look at Ye Peicheng.
Their gazes once again collided, neither of them looking away.
Next to her, the director said: “Moyu, find that feeling.”
Moyu nodded and repeated the phrase to herself in her mind several times. Although she was improving, she still lacked the feeling.
“Actually, only one expression is needed,” said Ye Peicheng beside her. He slowly parted his lips and said, “It's the expression you showed when you were on the phone.” As he said so, his lashes lowered slightly, and his heart felt an inexplicable loss.