I really didn't intend to make a living based on my looks.

When Jiang Chen returned to Jinan, his first stop wasn't home, but the Lao Feng Xiang Gold Shop on Quancheng Road.

In 2010, the price of gold was just over 300 yuan per gram. He chose a smooth round bangle weighing 26 grams, which, including the labor cost, came to nearly 10,000 yuan.

Wang Qinqin was squatting on the balcony watering the flowers when she saw him enter. She said, "You're back," but her eyes were already on the red jewelry bag in his hand.

"Mom, this is for you."

Wang Qinqin opened it, then slapped him on the arm: "Are you crazy? Why did you buy this? You barely make any money! Don't you know how to save it?"

"Mom, this is the first time I've received payment for a film, so of course I have to buy you a gift."

Wang Qinqin was cursing under her breath, but she had already put the bracelet on and held it up in the light, looking at it from left to right, unable to suppress the corners of her mouth.

She lowered her head and rubbed it a couple of times, then her eyes suddenly reddened. She turned her face away, scolded, "You child," and went into the kitchen.

That afternoon, Wang Qinqin took half a day off and went back to her parents' home wearing the new bracelet.

Jiang Chen didn't go with them, but he heard from his father that his mother stayed at her maternal grandmother's house for three hours without taking off her bracelet. When serving tea and water, she would deliberately roll up her sleeves and accidentally show it to everyone she met.

"Oh, Mom, you're asking about this? Chen bought this for me. It was the first time he got paid for a movie, and he insisted on buying it for me. I said no, no, but he wouldn't have it."

"What? You asked how heavy it is? You didn't ask? You definitely asked!"

"26 grams, more than 10,000 yuan, that's three months' salary for me. I told him it was too expensive, but he said, 'Mom, you look good in it, it's worth it.'"

"Oh, sister-in-law, don't look at it anymore. It's just an ordinary bracelet... Is it pretty? I think it's pretty too. It's not that the bracelet is pretty, it's that my son is so filial."

That evening, Jiang Chen spent 1,600 yuan to buy two bottles of 53-degree Feitian Moutai and took Jiang Daqiang to Director Fang's house.

Jiang Daqiang, carrying the bottles of liquor, muttered at the door, "All I did was pass on a few words. Does that warrant such expensive wine? Even I, your father, have hardly ever drunk any..."

Jiang Chen changed his shoes without even looking up: "Dad, Uncle Fang did more than just pass the word. He recommended me to Yu Zheng; that's him endorsing my character. If I don't do anything in return, what will he think, even if he doesn't say anything? Will he help me next time?"

"Besides, in this industry, ability is the ticket, and connections are the elevator. If you only have ability but no elevator, you'll climb yourself to death. If you only have elevator but no ability, you'll fall to your death. You need both."

"Let's go, Dad. When your son becomes successful, you can have as much Moutai as you want."

Jiang Daqiang was rendered speechless by his words and followed along with the wine.

I didn't stay at the guide's house for long. We had a cup of tea, chatted for a bit, and that was enough.

As Jiang Chen was leaving, Fang Jing saw him to the door, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "You're a kid, you'll definitely make it big in the future."

As they went downstairs, Jiang Daqiang walked behind, watching his son's back.

He suddenly realized that this kid had really grown up.

September 1, Yanjing.

Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport was bustling with activity.

Under the enormous dome, people came and went: passengers dragging suitcases, people holding signs to pick up passengers, and ground staff in uniforms, with various accents mingling in the air.

Flight information was playing on a loop over the loudspeaker, a female contralto speaking slowly and deliberately, listing Air China, China Southern, and China Eastern flights, one after another.

Jiang Chen dragged his suitcase out. The September sun in Yanjing was shining brightly, streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and making the marble floor gleam.

He was a little hungry.

I wasn't very full from the in-flight meal, so I found a coffee shop at the airport.

I ordered an Americano and a sandwich, then found a corner to sit down.

I had just taken a bite when I felt a gaze fall on me.

He looked up and saw a little girl leaning on the back of a chair at the opposite table, her chin resting on her hands, staring intently at the sandwich in his hand.

She wore two small pigtails, a floral dress, pink sandals, and her skin was so white it practically glowed.

She has a small beauty mark under her left eye, and looks to be only about ten years old, but her eyes are big and round, and she has a delicate appearance like a porcelain doll.

Jiang Chen was taken aback.

This face looks familiar...

He chewed on his sandwich, his mind racing, but he couldn't recall anything.

The little girl noticed him looking at her, but instead of looking away, she rested her chin on the back of the chair, blinked her eyes, and continued to stare at the sandwich in his hand.

Jiang Chen couldn't eat because of her stare, so he picked up his plate, walked over, and sat down opposite her.

"Little girl, are you alone?"

The girl shrank back slightly, looking at him warily, but her chin remained resting on the back of the chair: "My mother went shopping, she'll be right back."

"Don't worry, my brother isn't a bad person."

"Bad people don't wear their badness on their faces," she said seriously.

Jiang Chen choked for a moment.

"However..." The girl looked him up and down, "you don't look like a bad guy. Bad guys usually look shifty-eyed, but you're quite good-looking."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"You're welcome," she said, her eyes falling again on the unfinished sandwich on his plate. She swallowed hard. "Brother, was your sandwich good?"

"good."

"What does 'it's alright' mean? Does it mean it's tasty or not tasty?"

"It's... alright."

The girl wrinkled her nose, seemingly dissatisfied with the answer.

She thought for a moment, then suddenly sighed, "Oh, my mom's been gone for ages, and I'm so hungry."

As she spoke, she touched her belly with her little hand and looked at him expectantly.

Jiang Chen was taken aback.

"Do you want to eat?"

"I didn't say I wanted to eat," the girl blinked. "I just said I was hungry."

Jiang Chen pushed the untouched half-sandwich on the plate over: "Here you go."

The girl didn't stand on ceremony, took the bite, her cheeks puffed out, and mumbled, "Thank you, brother. You're so kind."

"You came to Yanjing with your mother?" Jiang Chen asked.

"No," she chewed and swallowed, tilting her chin up with a hint of pride, "I came to Yanjing to study. I study dance, and I'm really good at it!"

A dance student? So young.

Could it be the Affiliated High School of Beijing Dance Academy?

Jiang Chen's heart skipped a beat.

"What's your name?"

The girl stuffed the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth, wiped her lips, and answered crisply, "My name is Liu Haochun."

As expected! Liu Haochun!

The future "Zhang Yimou Girl"!

That's it?

A tiny little thing?

Seeing him in a daze, Liu Haochun tilted her head and looked at him: "Brother, do you know me?"

"I don't know him."

"Then why are you staring at me?"

"Because the way you eat reminds me of someone I know."

"Who is it?"

"Someone who will be very successful in the future."

Liu Haochun blinked, then suddenly smiled, her eyes crinkling like crescent moons: "Then I'll be really good at it in the future. My mom says I'm the best dancer in the world."

Jiang Chen leaned back in his chair and looked at her: "Your mother's opinion doesn't count."

"Then who gets to decide?"

"When you grow up, you'll be in charge of your own life."

……