Book 2 Chapter 6 – Another Domain

　　Original and most updated translations are from volare. Please don’t read elsewhere and stop supporting theft.

　　The rehearsals for the video shooting progressed smoothly. The director was called Zheng Mo. He was quite knowledgeable in his field, had quick wits and a plenitude of creativity. He called himself Xiao Hei and invited everyone to do so as well. Li Yiming found him certainly more agreeable than one of these producers who would take on an English name after a small surge in fame and, to his irritation, kept mixing their unrefined, feminine speech with English words. 1 The three other people invited by Liu Meng were also very capable, and the project progressed smoothly to the joy of all. The rehearsal, which was planned to last nine days, was finished in six, so Li Yiming could even afford to visit around in Wen City with Bai Ze and Liu Meng for the remainder of the allotted time.

　　A point worthy of mention, however, is that on the first day, Liu Meng and Li Yiming fought for the guardians.h.i.+p of Bai Ze during the coming night. Although Bai Ze was on very friendly terms with Liu Meng, she adamantly resisted the idea of sleeping with her. Liu Meng insisted, fruitlessly, until little Bai Ze commented that perhaps Liu Meng was desirous of the pretense of staying with her only so that she could sneak out during the night to his big brother. This remark put an abrupt end to the conversation as Liu Meng strided out of the room in frustration, slamming the door behind her and never brought up the topic again.

　　Another unforeseen change was that Xiao Hei, the producer and director of the MV, screeched with amazement when he saw Bai Ze, and, true to his temperament of being a very proud person mixed with a tinge of effeminate manners, insisted vehemently that for the sake of his art he needed Bai Ze to also take part in the filming. He was to come up with an improvised role for the little girl, and, Li Yiming, under the dual-p.r.o.nged attack of both him and little Bai Ze herself, conceded.

　　On the ninth day of the rehearsal, Fang Shui’er, the main character of the show, had finally arrived. She was to partic.i.p.ate in the final revision and voice her opinion on the set-up. She hid her head behind a big, orange sombrero and her eyes behind a pair of aviator sungla.s.ses. However, even with a casual combination of a pale yellow jacket and everything else in plain white, she projected an air of such elegance and dignity that the moment she stepped into the studio, everyone became breathless. Fang Shui’er’s presence furthered Li Yiming’s reserve, making him momentarily forget that he was a guardian who had seen the life and death of others. After all, not too long ago he was but a poor n.o.body. Liu Meng too, unlike her usual nonchalant manners, acted in a way that conformed much more to what others expected.

　　The only one who stayed unchanged was Xiao Hei. He stayed as proud as ever and did not abase himself much beyond the usual politeness. He nodded his head in politeness and talked with Fang Shui’er’s manager. He pointed at Bai Ze, undoubtedly explaining her unforeseen addition to the video shooting. Fang Shui’er’s a.s.sistant seemed to oppose the idea, since adding an extra person was no easy task, especially when improvised.

　　Bai Ze wore a red gym suit today, the front of her jacket was decorated with a big cartoonish figure, which made her baby-face seem even more adorable. She sat alone in a corner of the studio and remained focused on her cellphone. Her vivid smiles, frowns, sighs and teeth-clenching were enough to melt the heart of any onlooker.

　　Fang Shui’er’s manager looked at her with an impa.s.sive smile, not too moved by it. Li Yiming guessed the content of their conversation, but did not care to intervene neither. He thought that it was a funny idea for a mythical beast to film a musical video, but there was nothing to lament if it did not work out. On top of it, it would be hard to explain the existence of Bai Ze herself if anyone ever started wondering, since he did not have any paperwork to back up his claims.

　　Fang Shui’er’s manager, who was at the same time her secretary, was called Zeng Qian. She was in her thirties, short, and slightly overweight from a comfortable life with a pale complexion. She squinted her eyes in a professional smile as she listened to Xiao Hei, but it did not seem like the negotiations progressed smoothly. The improvised changes did not seem to please this woman, who wore a suit despite the torrid sun.