In the lush March, sunshine brightens the Capital. The bustling streets are filled with throngs of people, and groups of children run around playing.
A woman clad in tattered clothes, her dirty scarf barely covering the lower half of her face, wobbles as she walks, clutching tightly onto something.
She stands out starkly amidst the crowd.
Children at play catch sight of her and immediately run up to her, chanting, "Ugly monster, ugly monster, the ugliest in the Capital, hideous and evil." As they chant, they spit at her.
The woman, already lame, stumbles in a panic to avoid the spit and falls to the ground. Simultaneously, a few sweet potatoes gnawed by bugs roll out from her arms.
These were unwanted leftovers from the vegetable stall.
She hurriedly tries to pick them up, but the children kick them away. She reaches again, and the children kick them further.
The onlookers around show her no sympathy, instead, they heartlessly mock her just like the children.
"Why's this ugly monster out again, oh, such bad luck."
"If you ask me, she should just find a lake and jump in."
"No, don't dirty the lake water, just die in a mass grave, no one would bother to collect her body anyway."
At this point, a mischievous child pulls off the woman's veil, revealing the cross-shaped scars on her face in a ghastly display for all to see.
Realizing what happened, she hastily raises her hand to cover her face, which only incites even more merciless ridicule, with not a shred of sympathy or pity.
The new emperor has ascended, establishing new penal codes, including facial branding for those guilty of heinous crimes.
Suddenly, a shadow looms overhead, and black satin short boots appear in the woman's line of sight.
Staring at those short boots, she hesitates for a moment, then abruptly looks up, meeting the gaze of a faceless masked man.
Those eyes are cold and profound.
He...
No...
Her face turns deathly pale, and abandoning even the sweet potatoes that might stave off hunger, she limps away in fright.
Before she even covers a few meters, someone deliberately trips her, causing her to crash heavily to the ground, the pain evident on her face, but she pays no mind, scrambling to her feet and leaving in disgrace.
As if she had seen a specter.
...
Lin Qiao had not dreamed of that strange dream for several days in a row, like a never-ending drama that had run for a month.
Is it the end?
At this moment, a voice interrupts her thoughts, "Ms. Lin, it's your turn to shoot."
The assistant pushes the door open and calls her, then adds in a low dissatisfied tone, "Jiang Youyou's scenes have increased again, the second female lead almost has as many parts as the lead."
"She must've 'discussed the script' with the director last night."
The female protagonist Lin Qiao, already used to it, looks at the woman in the mirror wearing a blue ruqun, adjusts her hair by her ear, and then walks out.
When they reach the set, Jiang Youyou is still performing, so Lin Qiao stands in the blazing sun waiting for a while. Just as it's about to be her turn, the director announces a half-day break.
Lin Qiao, having woken up at six to do hair and makeup, with a headpiece weighing about three to four pounds and difficult to manage, is now told to rest for half a day? Meaning she'll have to endure the weight for another half-day?
Watching the director mingle closely with the second female lead, all her patience over these past days snaps, and she picks up her phone to take a few pictures.
The director and Jiang Youyou freeze, and then Jiang Youyou says, "Lin Qiao, what are you doing?"
Lin Qiao raises an eyebrow, "Getting you on trending," and with that, she uploads the photos in front of them.
The assistant next to her, realizing what happened, starts to panic as Ms. Lin's temper couldn't be contained, quickly calling out, "Ms. Jia, get on Weibo, hurry up with the PR."
The woman on the other end, still taking a nap, yawns, unperturbed, "What happened this time?"
The assistant whispers, "Ms. Lin posted those director and second female lead photos online."
"What! Doesn't she know about the national internet clean-up?" The woman on the other end, thinking there were intimate photos involved, roars instantly.
The assistant goes numb, trying to explain, but the call gets abruptly cut off, "..."
As an actress with millions of fans, the buzz wasn't usual, and within a few minutes, tens of thousands of likes skyrocketed her to trending first.
Hotel
"Lin Qiao, look at what you've done with yourself today. You just offended Director Lin a few days ago, and now you've crossed Director Li. Do you not want to work in the entertainment industry anymore?"
A smartly dressed woman in a white suit says through clenched teeth to Lin Qiao, who's eating while scrolling on her phone.
All these years, her 'fiery' temper hasn't changed; another actress would've sunk into obscurity long ago.
Remarkably, her fans loved her 'defiant attitude', boosting her popularity day by day.
"Ms. Jia, want to join me for a meal?" Lin Qiao is already accustomed to it, smiling as she hands her a pair of chopsticks, adding, "I haven't had a dream in several days."
Wu Jia accepts the chopsticks, sits down unceremoniously to eat, already aware of her dreams; for the past half-month, she frequently woke up drenched in cold sweat, and numerous visits to the psychologist hadn't helped.
"You want to dream again? Not afraid anymore?"
"I feel like it's not over yet."
Having acted for so many years, Lin Qiao had never encountered such a script with an inconclusive ending for the protagonists.
Wu Jia looks at her overly refined face, both exasperated and helpless, "I'm worrying about the mess you've made, and you're worried about your chaotic dreams, are you even human!"
Lin Qiao laughs, giving her a piece of meat, "I couldn't hold back, I really couldn't, he tried to 'discuss the script' with me last night, and I kept my silence."
"He tried to 'discuss the script' with you last night?" Wu Jia pokes the takeout box with her chopsticks, sternly exclaiming, "You should've skewered him."
"Alright, have your meal and rest, I'll handle this."
After finishing her meal, Lin Qiao unhesitatingly takes a nap. Likely having woken up too early today, she drifts off shortly after lying down.
Her tightly knitted brows show some fear, indicating she's experiencing an unpleasant dream.
"Sis, food is ready."
"Sis, don't sell me, Sis, I can work, Sis, don't, don't sell me, Sis!"
"Sis, save me, save me! I don't want this! Get away from me, don't touch me! Sis, Sis save me…"
"Sis, why do you treat me like this, why!!"
Images flicker past, finally settling on a woman bound to a crucifix in a prison cell, hanging there silently, barely distinguishable from a corpse if not for her faintly rising chest.
Suddenly, a white light appears, accompanied by a looming shadow, soon the brightness fades, returning to the previous dimness.
In the quiet prison cell, footsteps echo clearly.
The lifeless woman tied to the crucifix suddenly raises her head slowly; it's unmistakably the ugly woman from the Capital, her lips tremble, indicating deep-seated fear.
"Ya ya ya..."
Her mouth opens and closes, but no sound emerges.
In no time, a man in a long black robe stands before her, observes her wretched state, and lets out a cold sneer.
In the dim light, the contours of his ghastly, concave side profile remain faintly visible.
The woman struggles furiously, instinctively rejecting the demon before her.
The man lets out a deep chuckle, both mocking and self-deprecating, as he nonchalantly grips her chin, saying in a sinister tone, "Sis, are you afraid of me?"
"Hmm?"
The grasping force gradually tightens, seemingly about to crush it at any moment.
...
"No!"
Lin Qiao suddenly wakes up, sitting up from her nightmare, clutching her chest and gasping for air, clearly rattled by the nightmare.
Suddenly, a voice from outside calls out, "Sis."
Like the voice in her dream, Lin Qiao's recently settled spirit is once more unsettled; she stiffly raises her gaze, greeted by the sight of a boy in plain clothes, around twelve or thirteen years old.
It's him.
The masked man from the dream.
His appearance before turning dark.
A cold shiver runs through Lin Qiao's entire body, her mouth opens, but no sound escapes.