章 40: Strawberries
Lin Zixun soon sent details of the gathering over, along with a tongue-in-cheek humble query about whether he could have the honour of escorting her over.
Su Qiao looked at the time. It was already nearly 4 and the gathering was booked for 6, a time that most office workers in this bustling city wouldn't be able to make. A 9-to-9 job was the new 9-to-5 and being able to leave early for a friend's birthday wasn't a luxury that many young people could afford.
She could return to the hotel first and wait for Lin Zixun to pick her up from there, or she could just hang around here and accompany Mo Chen over later. The latter made more sense, practically speaking, but would be risky. Unlike Yao Xun, whom the public was used to seeing her hang out with, she had no connection to Mo Chen and if they were caught leaving the set together or worse, tailed to the restaurant that Lin Zixun had booked, the rumours that would abound would be detrimental to the both of them. More to her than to him, seeing as he had already established a skilful reputation for himself, but Su Qiao didn't want to bring him any unnecessary inconvenience.
If she were caught with Lin Zixun…well, they were what people would call 'matching door inscriptions' (1), right? Since the Zhou Family had no women of a suitable age range, the most compatible candidate to marry into the equally prestigious Lin Family would be Su Yongshen's daughter.
His only daughter.
If nothing else, Lin Zizhou's reaction would be entertaining.
Making up her mind to give Lin Zixun that 'honour' he insisted he desired, she was about to text him when Mo Chen walked into the hub, surrounded by his team of personal assistants and manager. He was rarely seen without them, whether on set or in front of the media, and his antis had criticised him once for being self-important. Su Qiao could see why he did it though. The way they flanked him was like a shield, keeping everyone he didn't want to let near at arm's length.
He didn't have the same qualms towards Su Qiao, however, striding over quickly to appropriate the seat opposite her.
"I've heard that you're coming along tonight."
Su Qiao raised an eyebrow. "Does Film Emperor Mo not welcome me?"
"Would I dare?" he waved his phone carelessly before tossing it onto the table like it had somehow offended him. "If I dissuaded Ms Su from attending my birthday dinner, would you believe that I'll receive a call within five minutes telling me that it's been cancelled?"
She chortled. It was obvious that his real intention was to hype up the regard Lin Zixun had for her. Whether Lin Zixun had recruited him to help demonstrate how sweet the deal he was offering Su Qiao was, she wasn't sure. But of course, she wasn't going to take this seriously. At the end of the day, they were a convenient arrangement and Mo Chen was Lin Zixun's genuine friend, she knew the extent of her worth and how to maximise it for both their mutual benefit.
Su Qiao was spared from having to come up with a witty retort, though, when a pink cake box was placed down on the table in front of her. They looked up in tandem to see Yun Zhou with three plates and an unnatural expression.
She shot Mo Chen a side-glance. Film Emperor Mo was infamous for not giving anyone he didn't deem worthy time of the day. If he felt like a junior in the industry had potential and was of a personality that he could get along with, he was happy to pay them attention, even if they were complete nobodies who were of no use to his career. On the other hand, if he disliked a person for whatever reason, it didn't matter if they were an influential producer, he wouldn't spare them a second glance.
As far as the rumours went, this was just how he operated. Su Qiao had become acquainted with him because of Lin Zixun's intervention but after working for weeks with him, they had settled into a comfortable camaraderie. Now she was curious what his relationship with Yun Zhou was like; he'd recommended Yun Zhou to Director Ma and Yun Zhou now, in turn, had come bearing the gift of cake. Both of these actions seemed out of character for either of them and if she hadn't known better, if they hadn't been so open about their interactions, she might even have her suspicions.
Mo Chen's smile brightened up his eyes. "You remembered," he said, pulling the cake box over to peer inside.
"You remembered mine last time," Yun Zhou muttered. His attitude had melted from its typical coldness to a milder lukewarm but Su Qiao was surprised that he chose to sit next to her, instead of Mo Chen, whom he was clearly closer to.
She scooted over to give him more space and accepted the fork he handed to her with thanks.
Inside was a beautiful crepe cake that had 'Happy Birthday' piped onto the top in beautiful calligraphy. Yun Zhou didn't look like he had any candles on hand and he didn't seem like the sort to burst into song either, so Su Qiao didn't ask why they were skipping past all the formalities and going straight to the cake-cutting bit. Mo Chen must have thought the same because he'd already picked up the knife.
Just as he served Su Qiao a slice, Yun Zhou appeared to remember something.
"It has nuts in it," he told her. "Any allergies?"
She shook her head, he nodded once, and then went back to waiting for his piece quietly. It was such an abrupt start and end to the conversation that it took Su Qiao a good couple of seconds to realise that he'd done that out of concern. He didn't know her well enough to be sure of whether she had any dietary requirements and she certainly hadn't been the intended recipient of this cake, so now that she was an impromptu addition, he had to take care of her too.
She felt her chest fill with warmth. This little ice prince wasn't as frosty as he looked.
Cake and casual conversation became the order of the day, with Mo Chen and Su Qiao carrying most of it, Yun Zhou interjecting once in a blue moon to show that he hadn't tuned them completely out. They were halfway through their tea break when the lights in the hub suddenly went out.
Su Qiao froze. The hub was made up of a wide expense of empty offices that occupied an entire floor of the building that the production team had rented out and this large room that they were in didn't have any windows. The darkness was pitch black, reminding her of the days she hadn't been able to pay the electricity bill in time and had the supply cut off, unable to do anything but bury herself under three layers of clothing and her thin blanket in the dead of winter and pray she didn't freeze to death. Her part-time jobs had been a blessing then because at least they had heating that she could thaw herself with.
"What's going on?" she heard Yun Zhou say. "A power outage—"
"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!" The door to the room burst open as an enthusiastic chorus broke out and the weak glow of candlelight eased some of the tightness in Su Qiao's chest. She wasn't afraid of the dark per se, had no issues switching off the lights at night when she went to bed. Rather, what had triggered her discomfort had been the suddenness of the situation, bringing along with it a flood of bad memories, and she had been a hair's breadth away from hyperventilating.
As such, when she glared at the culprit who must have played with the mains to generate this 'pleasant surprise', Su Qiao's gaze was more poisonous than she realised.
Bai Meixin's melodious singing faltered for a second. She held a giant plate with a lavish strawberry shortcake on it. By her side were the other members of the cast and some of the staff from the other departments too.
Su Qiao couldn't help but let out a huff of laughter. At first glance, it looked like Bai Meixin's cake had been organised by the production team, but if so, then too many people had missed the memo, Su Qiao included. In which case, this had to be out of the 'goodness' of Bai Meixin's little lotus heart.
Sure, there was nothing wrong with wanting to celebrate someone's birthday for them, it was a nice gesture, in any other industry, would be thoughtful, even. But the caveat was, you didn't give others the wrong impression.
Just like how Yun Zhou bringing a cake for Mo Chen could be misconstrued in so many ways, Bai Meixin grouping other members of the team together to host this small party for him could also be misread. A positive interpretation of it would be that she was just a sweetheart who would go out of her way for any colleague, not just the high and mighty film emperor. On the other hand, though, if Mo Chen decided to be gentle with her feelings and accept her surprise graciously, no one would believe him if he said they weren't at least friends.
What sort of genuine gesture came along with a social-climbing component as a two-for-one deal? This was no longer being thoughtful, this was being inconsiderate.
Su Qiao watched Mo Chen, waiting to see what he would do, but Mo Chen was looking to her right instead, where Yun Zhou had gone very still.
"…should I have asked others to join in as well?" he asked after a while, a small pondering frown on his face as though he was considering this for the first time.
"No," was Mo Chen's reply. "I liked it like that."
They spoke like Bai Meixin wasn't standing right next to their table, the sweet smile on her face slowly growing more awkward as no one seated acknowledged her presence.
Aided by the candlelight, Su Qiao took a small bite from her cake. It was delicious; not too sweet, with just the right amount of cream between the layers.
"Mo Laoshi," Bai Meixin said with a bit of forced cheer in her voice. "Happy birthday, I've noticed that you've been really busy with filming these few days and everyone on set has put in a lot of hard work too, so I was hoping a little celebration would be relaxing…"
Behind her back, the other people she'd invited over exchanged hesitant looks, aware that the atmosphere was not quite what they had expected. Was Film Emperor Mo…not happy about something? They had thought that he had become close to Bai Meixin during filming and that was why Bai Meixin had gone to all this effort instead of just waiting for the production team to plan something official, as was customary.
But now they were realising, oh great, it was just her taking too much initiative all along.
Mo Chen's expression was inscrutable as he glanced up at her. His mask had snapped back on the second the door had opened and even Su Qiao couldn't tell what he was thinking anymore, let alone Bai Meixin, who hadn't had the opportunity to hang out with him day-in and day-out for weeks on end.
"Ms Bai has gone to great lengths," Mo Chen said.
Even in the dimness of the room, Su Qiao could see Bai Meixin's cheeks turn rosy.
"It—it was nothing—"
"You mean, it was for nothing."
All eyes turned to Yun Zhou. He placed his fork back down and reached for a napkin, cleaning his fingers casually before raising his gaze to meet Bai Meixin's. Like Mo Chen, he had donned his facade again, or rather, perhaps this unfriendliness was his actual self and he only softened in the presence of those he was close to.
"It was for nothing," he repeated calmly. "Ms Bai…was it? Next time you plan a surprise that involves food, make sure to check whether your recipient can actually eat it."
The rosiness in Bai Meixin's cheeks drained away.
"Film Emperor Mo is allergic to strawberries, didn't you know?"
クリエイターの想い 
Queeniecat
Queeniecat (1) Matching door inscriptions: An idiom that means to come from matching socialeconomic family backgrounds. A reference to the stone inscriptions on the front doors of the houses of officials and nobles in ancient times, which would denote their rank and status. Only households that had the same inscriptions would be considered a good marriage prospect and a perfect match.
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