30: Trapped in the tent

"Li Xiuwu, thank you for helping Shu Chang with her studies."

Upon arriving at the film set in Sichuan Province, Li Xiuwu met this step-aunt of Shu Chang for the first time.

"Shu Chang and I are good friends; it's only right that we help each other." Li Xiuwu nodded with a smile, noticing that her shrewd gaze landed on Shu Chang without any affection.

In fact, there wouldn't be any affection.

Shu Chang's guardianship had only been transferred from her aunt to her uncle this year.

And this aunt had also only married her uncle this year.

By the end of the year, this aunt had already begun meddling in Shu Chang's acting career.

"Shu Chang, you go ahead and study. Auntie will go talk to the director to get you a more relaxed schedule."

"Thank you, Auntie." Shu Chang thanked her.

He Xujun left Li Xiuwu's tent.

Li Xiuwu frowned. He stood up, walked to the tent window, and watched the departing figure.

He turned back to look at Shu Chang. She was keeping her head down, the ballpoint pen in her hand writing, with no expression visible on her face.

Outside the window, He Xujun's back walked straight back to the tent where she was staying, went inside, and closed the door.

In the snowy mountains in winter, the air was bitterly cold, but Li Xiuwu could feel that Shu Chang's heart was even colder.

Living under someone else's roof and facing her uncle's new wife, she would subconsciously try to please her.

"Sigh." Li Xiuwu sighed inwardly. In a situation like this, as an outsider, it was very difficult for him to intervene.

"Is there anything you don't understand?" Li Xiuwu sat opposite Shu Chang.

She took out her textbook and pointed to a physics problem.

Li Xiuwu guided Shu Chang in her studies; she was very diligent, whether in acting or in her studies.

Outside of acting, one could always see her holding a textbook, reading, or memorizing vocabulary.

During filming, their scenes were basically always together, and they would study together for a while in the evening.

The filming conditions in the snowy mountains were too harsh; He Xujun hadn't even stayed a week before she left.

"Shu Chang, I can't help you much on set. I'll go back and contact some cooperative resources for you." She said this when she left.

"Thank you, Auntie." Shu Chang saw He Xujun out of the set and watched her get into the car to leave.

"Shu Chang, no matter what happens, you can tell me. I can help you." Li Xiuwu came up behind her and stroked her hair.

"Mm." Shu Chang kept her head down, and the two of them returned to the crew's rooms together.

The conditions for the crew were very harsh; there wasn't even coal, so they could only rely on buying firewood from the villagers to keep warm.

The firewood the crew could provide was insufficient, so after dinner in the evening, everyone hid in their tents and refused to go out.

Li Xiuwu naturally wouldn't mistreat himself. He had his own tent, had bought plenty of wood, and the stove was burning very brightly.

Shu Chang followed him to his tent. After taking off her shoes, her white socks stepped onto the carpet, and she hugged her legs, sitting beside the stove.

Li Xiuwu brewed a cup of local milk tea and brought a cup over to Shu Chang.

"Thank you." Shu Chang thanked him, took it, carefully took a sip, and holding the milk cup, she stared blankly at the flames through the glass.

"Is something on your mind? If you feel uncomfortable keeping it bottled up inside, you can say it out loud."

Shu Chang was silent, watching the flames, taking a sip of milk tea from time to time.

After a long silence, she suddenly spoke: "My uncle treats me very well. Whatever my cousin has, he prepares a portion for me too."

"My aunt treats me very well too, just like my mother."

Shu Chang slowly recounted her brief life.

A single-parent family; living in a damp and narrow tenement courtyard in her youth had not been easy.

She debuted as a child star, which made the family life better, but then her mother passed away when she was ten.

Later, she lived with her aunt, and this year, she parted ways with her aunt again.

She was only fifteen; life was bitter, and she had experienced too much.

"Sigh." Li Xiuwu came to her side and stroked her hair.

He didn't even know how to comfort her.

"I am very lucky to be able to know Xixi and to know you." Shu Chang suddenly laughed.

"Mother Xiaoli treats me very well." Her face beamed with a smile. "Xixi also takes good care of me."

She raised her head and looked at Li Xiuwu: "And you."

She revealed a look of admiration and longing, somewhat expectant: "Can I call you Brother?"

When she asked this, there was a hint of nervousness in her expression.

"Sure you can." Li Xiuwu nodded, stroking her hair.

"Brother." She called out, her eyes fixed on Li Xiuwu's face.

"Yes." Li Xiuwu answered.

"Waaah." She suddenly threw herself into Li Xiuwu's arms and began to cry bitterly.

"Cry, it'll be better if you cry it all out." Li Xiuwu patted her back, not trying to stop her, letting her cry loudly.

Before long, Li Xiuwu heard footsteps, and the tent flap was suddenly lifted.

Wang Xinming and a few executive directors burst in, bringing with them a gust of cold wind.

"What's going on?" Wang Xinming asked with a cold face. Although it wasn't the uncontrollable scene he had imagined, he was still uneasy.

Shu Chang was also startled; she hurriedly stood up to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Director. I've disturbed everyone's rest."

"That's not important. What's wrong with you?" Wang Xinming looked at the two of them; it was good that Li Xiuwu hadn't bullied her.

If something like this happened on his crew, he would be held responsible.

"My aunt left, and I'm missing my family a little." Shu Chang sobbed, and Li Xiuwu handed her a tissue.

"Then it's only right to cry." Wang Xinming nodded. He had invited Shu Chang, so naturally, he had looked into her background; she was a quite pitiful little girl.

He turned his head to look at everyone: "It's nothing, it's nothing. The little girl is homesick. Everyone go back to rest."

Hearing this, everyone felt it was reasonable. Both of them were fully dressed, and Shu Chang didn't look like she had been bullied.

"Take good care of Shu Chang." Wang Xinming nodded at Li Xiuwu, with a hint of warning in his eyes.

"Don't worry, Director. Shu Chang and I are good friends." Li Xiuwu wasn't angry at Wang Xinming's warning; this was what a responsible, good director should be like.

"Director Wang, put on my down jacket before you go back. It's too cold outside." Li Xiuwu handed over his long down jacket.

Wang Xinming had run over in a hurry, wearing only a sweater and long johns.

"Alright." Wang Xinming didn't refuse. He put on the down jacket and walked out.

When he reached the door, he lifted the tent flap and looked back at Shu Chang: "If you encounter any problems, just tell me. We'll solve them together."

"Thank you, Director." Shu Chang thanked him solemnly.

Everyone had left. Li Xiuwu and Shu Chang looked at each other, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.

"Since you've stopped crying, pull yourself together, face life positively, and make your future life more beautiful."

"Mm." Shu Chang nodded. She saw that the carpet at the door had been dirtied by everyone, so she picked up a towel and a brush to clean it.

She busied herself for a while, cleaned up the stains, and looked up to see the milk tea Li Xiuwu was handing her.

"Thank you, Brother." She said softly.

"Mm." Li Xiuwu nodded.