“Why are you looking at me like that?” Yun Xiangxiang turned around and met Song Qian’s strange gaze.
“I’m curious. Don’t you have a goal for yourself?” Song Qian asked.
“What kind of goal?” Yun Xiangxiang was puzzled.
“A height in your life. How far do you want to go?” Song Qian continued.
Yun Xiangxiang mulled it over. “I used to have none. I wanted to do what I love, have fun the way I wanted. Basically just living a quiet life. But I love being an actress. So living a quiet life is not in the cards.”
She wanted to have better resources, come across better scripts, and play as characters she loved or found challenging.
If she wanted those to happen, Yun Xiangxiang could never be an ordinary actress. She didn’t have the dream of being a superstar, or to stand at the top of the mountain of stars.
But she wanted to stay competitive. She wanted to have the right to compete for the chance to play as a significant character.
But that was then. She had changed. Now her fire of ambition was lit, and it was all thanks to love.
She had a dazzling boyfriend. If she wanted to be worthy of him, she had to be dazzling herself.
This was the first time Song Qian saw a fire being lit in Yun Xiangxiang’s eyes. She saw Yun Xiangxiang’s fighting spirit getting fired up.
“Not every excellent individual can get to where they want even after they have worked hard for it.”
Song Qian wasn’t trying to douse Yun Xiangxiang’s fighting spirit. Too many excellent individuals worked hard only to fail in the end. All because they were not lucky.
Many of them became sickeningly obsessed with something. Some blamed the world for everything that had happened to them. Some even became psychopaths.
Many criminals were geniuses. But they did not start evil. Many of them were crushed by the gap between their dreams and reality.
“I know that. I never really expect to get everything I want just because I worked for it.”
Yun Xiangxiang had a healthy way of thinking. “Having a goal is just a reason for working hard. I know working hard alone might not get me there, but at least it can get me closer to my goal. That’s still a win for me.”
“But you might also be just one step away from success when you lose everything. Wouldn’t that upset you?” Song Qian probed.
“I’ll be lying if I say I wouldn’t. But if I fail even if after that I did my best, then that means luck was not on my side. Obsessing over it would only make me unhappier. It brings nothing to me.
Yun Xiangxiang was no saint. If she missed her goal by millimeters after putting in her all, she would, of course, be disappointed.
But she knew how to get out of the sadness. The things she had lost would never be hers. She would be better off drawing up her next goal, aiming for the future.
Life is a wonderful journey. Missing one didn’t mean she had to live life with sorrow. She had more things to discover. Maybe the next one would be better.
“If there is a way for you to get whatever you want without doing that much work, why would you want to work hard?”
That was the point of Song Qian’s questions. Yun Xiangxiang understood it.
Yun Xiangxiang pursed her lips and smiled. “Sister Qianqian, humans are bizarre creatures. They won’t treasure things they can easily get.”
Nothing would make a human treasure what they had more aside from hard work, whether it be riches, fame, power, or even love.
“You only work hard just to cherish the things you have more?” Song Qian didn’t think so.
“That is part of the reason. Another part is related to my pride and dignity.” Yun Xiangxiang was honest. “I date Song Mian for the person himself. Not the power he has. If I use him to get what I want easily, I’ll come to despise myself eventually.
Whenever Song Mian would give her help, he did so without interfering with her work.
If a day would come where everything she had didn’t belong to herself; if everything she had was due to Song Mian’s interference, she would feel suffocated.
Her life would lose all meaning.
She loved Song Mian. If he were in any danger, she would give everything to save him, even if it meant her life.
But she refused to be nothing more than Song Mian’s vase. She couldn’t accept simply being known as “Song Mian’s wife.”
She was willing to be his wife, but she wanted people to still recognize her as the famous actress Yun Xiangxiang even after they knew her as his wife.
She could be a part of Song Mian’s family, but she had to have her own identity.
Yun Xiangxiang might be a woman who was too headstrong for some people.
“I understand,” Song Qian finally knew why Yun Xiangxiang did this.
The pair didn’t speak after that. They went into the arranged hotel once they arrived at their destination. He Wei went to talk about SL’s endorsement for her. He didn’t follow them here.
Yun Xiangxiang brought her makeup artist – Zhou Jie, Song Qian, and Ai Li with her. She had two rooms for her and her team.
Yun Xiangxiang would be sharing a room with Song Qian. Zhou Jie would share one with Ai Li.
Yun Xiangxiang had a dream that night. It was rare. She seldom had dreams. She was in the same room in that dream, but it was morning. She had to use the bathroom, but she saw a gigantic snake lying in there when she lifted the toilet bowl’s lid. The sight shocked her awake.
It wasn’t even dawn when she woke up. Song Qian was alerted. She turned on the bedside lamp. “What’s wrong?” Song Qian asked.
“I had a nightmare. A venomous snake is lying in the toilet bowl in the dream,” Yun Xiangxiang wiped the sweat off her forehead.
“It’s fine. It’s just a dream. Let’s go to the washroom and take a look. Or else you’re going to be traumatized,” Song Qian slipped into her slippers and went to the washroom.
Yun Xiangxiang called her, “It’s fine. It’s not my first time having a nightmare.”
“That dream of yours was too realistic. You’ll never find peace if you don’t check it out,” Song Qian insisted.
She knew Yun Xiangxiang could adapt quickly, but Song Qian came across something similar to what Yun Xiangxiang was facing now. Her comrade was traumatized and lost her life in a mission due to the fear of her dream.
Yun Xiangxiang disliked using any hotel’s toilet bowl. She would go to the public washroom in the center of the story. The washroom there didn’t have any toilet bowls.
She didn’t use this room’s bathroom for anything else except bathing.
Yun Xiangxiang couldn’t stop Song Qian, so she followed Song Qian to the washroom. When Song Qian was about to touch the bowl’s lid, Yun Xiangxiang palpitated. She grabbed Song Qian’s arm.
“Qianqian, I’m panicking for no reason,” Yun Xiangxiang reflexively stopped Song Qian.
Song Qian was amused seeing Yun Xiangxiang being ashen. “Why don’t you go out and come back in after I’ve opened the lid?”
“No, it’s not that, Qianqian. Don’t open that lid. I have never been this panicked for no reason before.”
Scared by her dream, Yun Xiangxiang felt a chill run down her spine. Her heart pounded.
The sound of something banging against the lid could be heard. It was a faint sound, but they heard it nonetheless.
Song Qian quickly took something to press down on the lid before taking Yun Xiangxiang and leaving the washroom.