Another arrow.
Right through the heart.
Zhu Wenhai clutched his chest dramatically, his expression bordering on tragic. He stared at her for a long moment, then laughed weakly, half in disbelief, half in defeat.
Every time they met—if this could even be called a meeting—she managed to surprise him anew.
She didn't seem interested in the entertainment industry at all.
Then suddenly, something clicked in his mind.
"Do you know Bao Bao?" he asked quickly.
Lin Che looked at him as though he had asked whether the sun rose in the east.
"Who doesn't know Bao Bao?" she replied plainly.
Zhu Wenhai's eyes lit up. "Exactly!"
He slapped his knee with enthusiasm, ignoring the way his head throbbed in protest.
"Then how could you not know me?" he exclaimed. "That film that made him famous—the one everyone talks about—I directed it! That was my work!"
He leaned forward, genuinely aggrieved. "Miss Lin, how could you do this to me?"
Lin Che stared at him for a second.
Then another.
Finally, she sighed.
"I truly don't know who you are," she said calmly, with no hint of mockery. Just fact.
Zhu Wenhai felt as though the last pillar of his dignity had quietly collapsed.
Before he could spiral any further into self-pity, Lin Che cut straight to the point.
"You said you had a proposal for me," she said. "What did you mean?"
Her tone was polite, but firm. Businesslike.
Zhu Wenhai paused.
He looked at her properly this time—not as a director assessing potential, not as a man nursing wounded pride, but as someone standing at the edge of a moment that might change another person's life.
He inhaled slowly.
"Yes," he said, his voice steadying. "That's why I came all this way."
Director Zhu Wenhai finally stopped pacing.
He drew a long breath, wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, and then looked straight at Lin Che, as though afraid that if he delayed another second, she would dismiss him entirely.
"I came here," he said, slower now, "because I want you to be the female lead of my next film."
The words landed heavily in the small room.
Lin Che blinked.
Her grandmother blinked as well.
For a brief moment, neither of them spoke, as though the sentence had passed through the air without finding a place to settle.
Director Zhu, unaware of how absurd his proposal sounded to two people who had lived their entire lives far from the film industry, continued speaking with mounting enthusiasm.
"The film is called Moonlit Promise," he said. "Everything else is already in place—the script, the crew, the investors. The only thing missing is the female lead. I've been searching for months."
He began gesturing as he spoke, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten.
"When I saw you at the Gong family banquet, I knew immediately. You weren't trying to draw attention. You weren't clinging to anyone. You stood there quietly, like you didn't belong to that world, and yet you didn't look out of place either."
He leaned forward.
"That's exactly what I need."
Lin Che and her grandmother exchanged a glance.
Director Zhu paused mid-sentence.
Only then did he notice that their expressions were… blank. Polite, but distant. As if everything he had said so far had passed straight through them.
"Did you," he asked carefully, "even listen to what I just said?"
Lin Che nodded at once. "Of course. We heard you."
Her grandmother nodded too, adding earnestly, "Yes, yes, we heard everything."
Director Zhu felt a vein throb at his temple.
He reached up instinctively to adjust his glasses—only to remember, halfway through the motion, that he was not wearing any. His frustration doubled instantly.
Lin Che noticed his reaction and felt a flicker of guilt.
She lowered her gaze briefly, then looked back up and asked, "You said you want me to be the female lead. What if I refuse?"
The light in Director Zhu's eyes dimmed.
"Why would you refuse?" he asked, genuinely bewildered.
Lin Che hesitated, then lifted her hand and gestured toward him.
"Because," she said honestly, "you're a stranger who suddenly ran up a hill to my house, looking like you just escaped a dust storm, and now you're telling me you want to put me in a movie."
She paused.
"If you were me, would you believe this?"
Director Zhu felt as though several invisible arrows had struck him at once.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again, clearly struggling to keep his composure.
Before he could respond, Lin Che stepped closer and raised her hand toward his forehead.
Her touch didn't quite land.
"Grandma," she said seriously, "do you think he still has a fever? He fainted earlier, remember. Hallucinations can happen."
Her grandmother immediately stood up. "That's true. I'll make some medicine. The one from yesterday worked well."
Director Zhu shot to his feet.
"I'm fine!" he exclaimed. "I'm really fine. No fever. No hallucinations."
Seeing that words alone weren't working, he pulled out his phone with shaking hands, typed rapidly, and thrust the screen toward them.
"There. Look."
Lin Che leaned over.
On the screen was a photo of Zhu Wenhai standing beside Bao Bao, smiling at a press event.
Her grandmother's eyes widened instantly.
"Oh my," she breathed. "It's Bao Bao."
Even Lin Che couldn't help reacting. Her expression softened in surprise, her earlier skepticism faltering just a little.
Director Zhu straightened, pride finally reclaiming some ground.
He flipped through several more photos—film posters, behind-the-scenes shots, interviews.
Only then did Lin Che slowly hand the phone back.
"I see," she said quietly.
"So now you believe me?" Director Zhu asked, hopeful.
"I believe that you're a director," she replied. "And that you've made many successful films."
Then she added, calmly, "But I still don't think I can accept your offer."
The hope in his eyes shattered.
"Why?" he asked, almost pleading now.
Lin Che took a breath.
"I've never acted before," she said. "Not once. I don't know how a film set works. I don't know how to express emotions on command. If something goes wrong because of me, I would feel responsible."
Director Zhu immediately countered, "That can be taught. I can arrange acting coaches. Line tutors. Anything you need."
She shook her head gently.
"You have a reputation for choosing the right people," she said. "I saw that myself. If I take this role and fail, I won't just be failing myself. I'll be dragging you down with me."
Her sincerity left him momentarily speechless.
He stared at her, then asked quietly, "Are you really going to reject me without even listening to the story?"