Countless Blossoms: The Actor's Gamble | Chapter 91 | Cutting the Past | Novela.app

The documentary featurette they were filming was, more accurately, a miniature documentary that Lin Yuewei intended to include in the end credits. With the rest of the crew on holiday, the small team consisted only of the three of them, now joined by Ruan Qiuji. The subject of the shoot was Xiao Tang, the real-life inspiration for the film’s protagonist, along with several of her transgender friends. Lin Yuewei had filmed her before, so the communication was quite relaxed. They prepared to start shooting early the next morning. It took over an hour by taxi to get from the city hotel to the filming location. By the time Ruan Qiuji stepped out of the car, they had already begun. The location was a mundane hair salon in a small county town. Ruan Qiuji had never been to such a place before; he stared at the glass doors and windows, which hadn't been cleaned in years, and the two "money trees" flanking the entrance, pausing for a moment before heading inside. Upon entering, the first person Ruan Qiuji saw was the cinematographer recording alongside the director. Seeing him arrive, Lin Yuewei gestured for him to take a seat. Ruan Qiuji circled around a row of barber chairs and sat on a sofa in the waiting area. It was only then that he saw Qi Bailu sitting in one of the barber chairs. A stylist was trimming his hair, and black locks lay scattered across the floor. Qi Bailu had his eyes downcast, playing with his phone. Hearing the commotion, he looked into the square mirror in front of him, locking eyes with Ruan Qiuji, who was gazing at him. The scene was entirely unexpected. Ruan Qiuji hadn't anticipated that Qi Bailu would cut his hair short today; his current appearance was almost identical to how he had looked when they first met. Ruan Qiuji felt a sudden tug at his heart, as if he had been yanked back three years to that winter night. The scissors went *snip-snip*. The barber cutting Qi Bailu’s hair glanced at Ruan Qiuji and asked, "A friend of yours?" Qi Bailu tucked both hands under the tied-on cape and gave a soft "Mm." The cape was printed with cartoon patterns. From this angle, with most of his body hidden beneath it, Qi Bailu looked like a short-limbed penguin, possessing an unexpected air of docility. Every detail of their first encounter three years ago was like a seashell washed ashore by the tide, and now Ruan Qiuji was picking them up one by one. Opening a shell revealed a pearl of past infatuation. Ruan Qiuji watched for a while before taking out his phone and opening the camera. The lens openly captured Qi Bailu’s profile. His movements weren't subtle, not like he was trying to take a secret photo, so Qi Bailu noticed after a moment and immediately glared at him through the mirror. But Ruan Qiuji had already taken the shot. Qi Bailu used his eyes to threaten him to behave, but two seconds later, the phone in his hand vibrated. He shot Ruan Qiuji a suspicious look before looking down at WeChat. Ruan Qiuji had sent him one of the photos he just took, captioned: *This one is suitable for Weibo.* In the photo, a bottle of iced black tea sat on the table. Two rows of red characters were pasted on the wall: "Perm" and "Highlights." Below them, an A4 sheet of paper clearly listed the price for a haircut at fifteen yuan. The square mirror was a bit grimy, but it didn't detract from Qi Bailu’s beauty at all. Ruan Qiuji had specifically chosen the one where he was glaring, making him look incredibly fierce. Qi Bailu replied: *Not posting it.* *It’s very cute.* Qi Bailu replied with a smiling emoji. *Six hundred thousand people would say you’re cute.* *I don't get that many comments.* *I’ll buy you a water army.* Qi Bailu replied with a question mark. He heard Ruan Qiuji let out a soft chuckle from the sofa nearby. *Blocked. I don't accept paparazzi shots.* Ruan Qiuji replied with a question mark as well, but his message was immediately "shut out." Qi Bailu had actually blocked him. Ruan Qiuji looked up to see Qi Bailu putting his phone away without blinking. Qi Bailu looked cold and detached, yet Ruan Qiuji still caught a trace of a smile escaping from the corner of his lips. Sensing that Ruan Qiuji was still watching him, Qi Bailu pressed his lips together more firmly, ignoring him as if nothing had happened. Regardless, in Ruan Qiuji’s eyes, Qi Bailu’s act of cutting his hair signaled a new beginning. Though it was highly likely Qi Bailu just found long hair troublesome or was simply shedding his previous role. The fine *snip-snip* of the scissors seemed capable of severing past sorrows as well. Why did a simple change of hairstyle feel like a complete transformation? Could it truly be that white hair grows three thousand zhang, for sorrow is just as long? Qi Bailu stood up and touched his ear in front of the mirror. On his neck, just behind the ear, was a small mole that hadn't seen the light of day for a long time. At noon, they ate at a nearby noodle shop. Because they had to rush back to work in the afternoon, none of them ate their fill—especially the cinematographer and the director, who were the most physically exhausted. Qi Bailu only occasionally helped by holding the interview microphone. As the shop began to fill with customers, Qi Bailu pulled on his hat and prepared to leave. After a few steps, he suddenly turned back to look for Ruan Qiuji. Ruan Qiuji didn't need to be called; though Qi Bailu didn't say a word, he followed him out. The two of them pushed through the glass doors one after the other, stepping into the autumn sunlight. Ruan Qiuji thought he had something to say, but Qi Bailu simply said, "I'm buying milk tea. Are you coming?" "Your treat?" "My treat, you wait in line." If Qi Bailu could have carried so many cups by himself, he wouldn't have called him. After all, they were the only two idle people in the shop. They ordered ten cups of milk tea in total. On the way back, the two of them crossed the street and stood together waiting for the light to change. A few students with backpacks were heading to extracurricular classes; a heterosexual couple whispered with their arms linked; an old man on a bicycle had a small dog in his front basket; a woman with her head down carried a suitcase. They stood among these strangers. Ruan Qiuji was originally watching the countdown timer, but then he turned to look at the silent person beside him. For some inexplicable reason, the thought suddenly occurred to him that *the answer doesn't really matter.* Qi Bailu didn't know what he was thinking. Seeing that he wasn't moving even though the light had turned green, he nudged Ruan Qiuji’s arm with his elbow, signaling him to keep up. Did this count as tacitly allowing him back into his life? Ruan Qiuji thought to himself that when he had seen Qi Bailu at the charity gala, he never imagined that one day he would be carrying milk tea across a street with him. There was nothing romantic about the scene, yet as the afternoon breeze blew, it felt as if they were walking the road home. The leaves overhead rustled in the wind, and a single leaf fluttered down, brushing past Qi Bailu’s hair before hitting the ground. Qi Bailu thought someone had touched his head and turned back in surprise, only to find it was just a yellow leaf. A gust of wind blew, and more fallen leaves swirled across the street. Ruan Qiuji noticed him glance at his hand and asked, "Thought it was me?" "You're not Nezha," Qi Bailu paused, then added, "It’s enough if you’re even human." Such a meaningless conversation, and Qi Bailu was being so prickly, yet Ruan Qiuji really wanted to laugh. They finished the walk down the ordinary long street without incident—the only "incident" being someone who seemed to recognize Qi Bailu and looked over. Qi Bailu calmly ducked behind Ruan Qiuji’s left side, using him as a shield. When the person tried to get a closer look, Qi Bailu nearly buried his head in Ruan Qiuji’s shoulder. After a moment, Ruan Qiuji said, "They're gone." Qi Bailu peeked out; they had indeed left quickly. Ruan Qiuji remarked, "She probably didn't expect you to be out on the street buying milk tea yourself." "I even drink the milk tea myself," Qi Bailu added caustically. "Are you afraid of being recognized?" Qi Bailu shot him a look, and Ruan Qiuji understood. Qi Bailu didn't want to be recognized *with him*; there was no telling what kind of sensationalist headlines would appear tomorrow. Fortunately, this place was remote and far from the city center; the entertainment reporters who had been following Qi Bailu lately couldn't be bothered to come all this way. After buying the milk tea and distributing it to everyone, Qi Bailu told Lin Yuewei to take a break. In truth, Lin Yuewei was so tired she wanted to wail, but she always maintained her cool and mature persona in public. She could only vent by savagely biting her straw, nearly mangling the paper tube. Xiao Tang, holding her milk tea, said she would treat them to dinner tonight. Seeing that Ruan Qiuji was their friend, she kindly added, "Would this gentleman like to join us as well?" A giant question mark practically popped up over Qi Bailu’s head, but Ruan Qiuji had already reached out his hand to greet her. "My surname is Ruan." "Will Mr. Ruan be coming?" "I hope I won't be an intrusion." Xiao Tang smiled. "Sister Lin’s friend is my friend." Qi Bailu stared at Ruan Qiuji, his eyes clearly screaming: *What are you doing?* Ruan Qiuji said, "Then I'll be in your care tonight." Xiao Tang hurriedly said it was no trouble at all. They chatted back and forth for a while, while Qi Bailu, standing beside them, killed Ruan Qiuji a million times over with his eyes. When Ruan Qiuji heard that Lin Yuewei and Qi Bailu would both be staying at Xiao Tang’s place tonight, his eyebrows twitched upward, though he said nothing. Qi Bailu seemed to see right through his little schemes, and his gaze upgraded from mere murder to a slow, agonizing execution. But Ruan Qiuji didn't care for his glares at all. He took that "death by a thousand cuts" and treated it like the rippling of autumn waters, accepting every single one. ***