Rebirth: A big star falls in love with me

By the time the site was inspected, it was already dark.

As the three walked back, the streetlights lit up one by one, and the red light of the lanterns was reflected in the river like scattered stars.

"Director Zhang," Liu Shishi suddenly said, "I'm going back to Beijing tomorrow; I still have classes at school."

"So fast?" Zhang Yu was somewhat surprised.

"Yes." Liu Shishi nodded. "But I will keep practicing what you taught me. When the casting for 'The Scholarly Family' begins, I will definitely come to audition."

“Okay, I’ll wait,” Zhang Yu said.

Upon reaching the entrance of the Shen family ancestral home, Liu Shishi stopped and said, "Then I won't go in. I'll go straight back to the hotel to pack my luggage. Director Zhang, Senior Chen Chen, thank you for taking care of me these past two days."

She bowed slightly, turned, and left. Her figure in the light blue sweater gradually disappeared into the night, like a faint ink stroke vanishing into the darkness.

Chen Chen watched her retreating figure and said softly, "Shi Shi is a good girl."

"Mm." Zhang Yu nodded.

"Do you like her?" Chen Chen suddenly asked.

Zhang Yu paused, then turned to look at her. In the darkness, her face was soft and hazy in the glow of the lanterns, her eyes as clear as moonlight on a lake.

“She’s a good actress,” he finally said.

"I'm asking, do you like her? As a woman?" Chen Chen insisted.

Zhang Yu fell silent. After a long while, he said softly, "Chen Chen, this question is meaningless."

"why?"

“Because…” Zhang Yu looked at her, “because I already have the most important person in my heart. Others, no matter how good they are, are just ‘others’.”

He spoke vaguely, but Chen Chen understood. Her eyes suddenly reddened, but she smiled: "Zhang Yu, you're always like this. Saying the gentlest words, doing the cruelest things."

"What do you mean?"

“You say I’m the most important, but there are always so many women around you.” Chen Chen’s voice trembled slightly. “Zeng Li, Li Xiaoran, Bai Bing, Yang Mi, Liu Shishi… every one of them is beautiful, and every one of them is interested in you. And you never refuse them.”

She finally spoke the words she had kept inside for so long. Zhang Yu looked at her; tears welled up in her eyes in the night, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall. That mixture of vulnerability and strength in her eyes pained him.

“Chen Chen,” he reached out to hug her, but she took a step back.

"Don't touch me." She shook her head. "Let me finish."

Zhang Yu withdrew his hand and looked at her quietly.

“I know the rules of this industry, and I know that there are bound to be ambiguous relationships between directors and actresses. I also know that you are very talented and destined to be liked by many people.” Chen Chen’s voice was soft, but every word was like a knife. “I can accept these things, I can accept that your job requires you to deal with them. But what I can’t accept is... that you seem to enjoy it.”

She looked at him, tears finally falling: "Zhang Yu, you've changed. The you of the past, though talented, was purer. Now you're too complicated, too adept. You're enjoying being the center of attention, enjoying these women fighting over you. It scares me."

She spoke bluntly, and painfully. Zhang Yu was deeply shaken—she was right, he had indeed changed. Ever since those fragments of memory awakened, ever since he learned of that mission, he was no longer pure. He was playing a game, and these women, including Chen Chen, were all pawns in that game.

This realization made him feel guilty, but it also made him...more certain—since he had already embarked on this path, there was no turning back.

“Chen Chen,” his voice lowered, “people always change. In this industry, if you don’t change, you’ll be eliminated. I can only guarantee that no matter how I change, your place in my heart will never change.”

“That’s that line again.” Chen Chen smiled bitterly. “Zhang Yu, do you know? Sometimes I wish you would say ‘I don’t love you anymore,’ so I could at least give up. But you always say ‘you’re the most important,’ which gives me hope, only to watch you being ambiguous with others. It’s too cruel.”

After she finished speaking, she turned and ran into the courtyard, her figure in a light purple cotton robe quickly disappearing into the night.

Zhang Yu stood rooted to the spot, the winter wind blowing, yet he felt no cold. Chen Chen's words echoed in his mind—"You're too cruel..."

Perhaps she's right. He's doing cruel things in a gentle way.

But he had no choice.

That mission, those star-studded marks, and this complex circle... everything was pushing him forward.

He could only move forward.

The night deepens and the stars twinkle.

The mole under Zhang Yu's left eye gleamed faintly in the darkness.

Once the game has started, it can't be stopped.

This is his choice.

……

On the morning of February 14, 2000, light snow was falling in Beijing.

Zhang Yu stood by the window of his dormitory at Beijing Film Academy, watching the snowflakes falling softly outside. The dormitory was very warm, and a thin layer of condensation had formed on the glass window. He unconsciously traced the character "琛" with his finger, but it was quickly blurred by the newly formed condensation.

Filming for "Old Tales of Jiangnan" wrapped up three days ago, and the entire crew returned to Beijing from Xitang. Post-production won't begin until after the Lantern Festival, leaving a gap of nearly twenty days. Logically, he should be able to breathe a sigh of relief, but he felt like something was weighing on his mind—Chen Chen had been avoiding him ever since he returned from Xitang.

My phone vibrated on the table. It was a text message from Li Xiaoming: "Director Zhang, Happy Valentine's Day! The casting meeting for 'A Family of Scholars' is set for March 1st. All the candidates will be there. Are you free today? Some investors would like to invite you to dinner and introduce you to a few new friends."

Zhang Yu looked at the text message, paused his finger on the screen for a few seconds, and replied: "Tonight is fine, send me the location."

After replying to the text message, he turned to wash up. The star-shaped birthmark under his left eye was clearly visible in the morning light, and his eyes held a complex emotion he couldn't quite explain. Since returning from Xitang, the fragments of memories about the Star Gate and the Starlight Mark hadn't faded; instead, they had become increasingly clear. Sometimes in his dreams, he could see 108 rays of starlight flowing in the darkness, each ray corresponding to a woman's face—Chen Chen, Huang Ying, Zeng Li, Bai Bing, Yang Mi...

He shook his head and tossed the towel aside. Whether the mission was real or not, life had to go on.

While getting dressed, my phone rang again. This time it was Huang Ying: "Zhang Yu, it's Valentine's Day today. Chen Chen went out early this morning and seemed to be in a bad mood. Where are you?"

Zhang Yu's heart tightened: "I just got up. Where did she go?"

"She didn't say anything, she just left carrying a box," Huang Ying replied. "Why don't you go look for her? I think she needs you."

Zhang Yu hesitated as she looked at the text message. Did Chen Chen need him? That night at the entrance of the Shen family ancestral home, she said he was "too cruel," and then ran away crying. For the next three days, she deliberately avoided him while packing up equipment on set, and even switched seats with Huang Ying on the train back to Beijing.

Perhaps what she needs is to get away from him.