Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Ye Tianxin, you should get some rest. You need to get up early tomorrow for your interview. I wish you success.”
Madam Du smiled sincerely as she spoke.
Sometimes, interpersonal relationships are cultivated from a mutual liking for each other.
Perhaps it was Ye Tianxin’s filial piety toward her grandmother that had impressed Madam Du, convincing her of her good character, that she didn’t seem to mind letting Ye Tianxin stay at her bookshop, giving her full access to her shop.
“Madam Du, since I won’t be able to bring my grandmother along for the interview tomorrow, could she wait for me in the shop, please?”
“Of course she can. So, goodnight then, Ye Tianxin.”
That said, Madam Du proceeded to leave her shop without a second thought, leaving it in Ye Tianxin’s hands.
She opened the door and disappeared into the quiet night.
Ye Tianxin went up to the loft. Her grandmother, who hadn’t yet fallen asleep, opened her eyes when she heard Ye Tianxin come in.
“Tianxin, what did the shop owner say?”
“She agreed to let us stay here temporarily. Grandma, I have to go to the academy tomorrow for my interview. You just stay here and wait for me while I’m gone. Aftward, we’ll go further afield to look for accommodation!”
“All right.”
Grandma looked at Ye Tianxin’s face, which radiated beauty like a rose in full bloom, and suddenly felt deep down in her heart that Ye Tianxin had aged.
On their journey here, she clearly saw that Ye Tianxin had changed into a very responsible person who was organized and dependable.
She wondered if perhaps it was because she had had to make a living for them both, and hadn’t had the time to give Tianxin the care that she needed, that had caused Tianxin to grow up prematurely.
“Grandma, get some sleep!”
As it was their first night in an unfamiliar environment, neither Ye Tianxin nor her grandmother was able to sleep soundly.
It was barely dawn when Ye Tianxin quietly got up. Since Madam Du had so kindly offered them a place to stay, she couldn’t possibly repay her kindness by sleeping in until she arrived at the shop.
Once out of bed, Ye Tianxin set about quietly cleaning the shop, making as little noise as possible. She used water to wipe down the bookshelves and every inch of the floorboards, paying attention to every single detail.
Rising a short while after Ye Tianxin, her grandmother helped to water the flowering plants outside the shop and swept away the fallen leaves at the shop entrance.
When Madam Du arrived, she was greeted with a picture of sparkling tidiness.
She was holding a washbasin in one hand and a bag containing pork dumplings and a few buns in the other. “Ma’am, you’ve been working too hard.”
Grandma replied gently, “Not at all. If you hadn’t kindly taken us in, my granddaughter and I would’ve had to sleep on the streets....”
Madam Du and Grandma walked into the shop. Ye Tianxin, fresh from the shower, was dressed in a white dress patterned with tiny blue flowers. With her shiny black hair braided into two long plaits, she looked exceptionally charming, like a little fairy.
“Grandma, wait here for me while I go out and buy breakfast for you.”
Clad in her signature qipao, Madam Du said, “I brought you some breakfast. Just eat these for now since you don’t have a lot of time to spare.”
Ye Tianxin thanked her repeatedly.
After she and her grandmother had breakfast, YeTianxin left the shop with her simple but worn backpack.
Watching Ye Tianxin’s energetic figure walk away, Madam Du suddenly had a thought, a feeling that perhaps this was her.
It was like the character that she had created with her pen had come alive and walked out of the book.
It was her. She had finally found her.
She had found the female lead who could play the role in that particular movie. The person in her imagination had come to life.
She’d resigned herself to the fact that she’d never find someone in her lifetime to play that part. Without a suitable person to play it, she’d rather not shoot the movie at all.