A Private Wish

A large portion of The Setting Sun Enters the Heart had to be filmed by the sea. Tong Zhao had scenes to shoot as a supporting actor, so he went along. The director had chosen Stone Bay Beach as the filming location, and the shoot would last three days.

As luck would have it, the cruise ship hosting the deck dinner was departing from Fine Jade Island, just across from Stone Bay Beach. If they were lucky, they might even run into it.

Hua Xiaotang glanced at her script, her face alight. "The dinner's on my second day, and I don't have any scenes until the third. I can go back and forth by speedboat. It couldn't be more convenient!"

Tong Zhao had never stopped worrying about Hua Xiaotang's confident claim that she would win Shu Sizhuo over. He tried to hold back, but in the end he asked, "What exactly are you planning to do that day?"

Hua Xiaotang said, "You shouldn't be too curious about how other people win over their mission targets."

"Don't do anything..." Tong Zhao paused, then added vaguely, "...that puts you at a disadvantage."

Hua Xiaotang laughed as though she had heard a joke, resting a hand against her forehead. "How would I be at a disadvantage? With a mission target who looks like that, how could I be losing out? I'd be the one getting the better end of the deal, all right?"

Tong Zhao grew even more anxious. "That may be true, but Senior Sister, it's not worth going that far for a mission!"

"That far?" Hua Xiaotang elegantly drew out a slim cigarette and pointed it at Tong Zhao. "Listen, this is none of your business, so stop worrying about it."

Tong Zhao had no right to concern himself with it. He was frantic inside but had to act calm on the surface, and so he endured until the day they left for Stone Bay Beach.

The crew had originally arranged for him and Shi Ruohe to share a standard twin room, but after they got off the plane, a staff member informed them that the arrangements had changed. They each had a single room, and they were on different floors.

Several actors nearby looked over, unfriendly expressions appearing on their faces.

Apart from the two leads and three veteran actors, everyone in the cast was staying in twin or triple rooms. What gave these two the right to single rooms?

For some reason, the stares made Shi Ruohe feel guilty. He lowered his head and leaned closer to Tong Zhao.

Tong Zhao smiled openly at the group, and they turned away, disgruntled.

Shi Ruohe asked uneasily, "Why did they give us single rooms?"

"We'll stay wherever the director puts us." Tong Zhao found it strange too, but as a little-known actor, he couldn't ask so many questions.

The hotel faced the sea. Standing at the window, Tong Zhao could indeed see Fine Jade Island in the distance. A luxury cruise ship was anchored beside it, probably the one hosting the deck dinner.

He hadn't seen Shu Sizhuo in almost two weeks. He wondered how he was doing.

At noon, the crew arranged lunch in the restaurant on the first floor. After Tong Zhao sat down with Shi Ruohe, the leads at their table, who had been chatting and laughing, fell silent with unfriendly looks on their faces.

Tong Zhao paid them no attention and began eating.

Shi Ruohe picked up his chopsticks too, but just as he reached for the stir-fried pork in front of him, the lazy Susan turned, carrying the dish away.

He reached instead for the chicken with shiitake mushrooms that had slid in front of him, but the lazy Susan turned again.

He paused, then tried to reach for the steamed fish, only for it to be turned away as well.

He looked up at the actress turning the lazy Susan. She rolled her eyes at him and stopped it with the side dishes and cold salads in front of Shi Ruohe.

"Having seen all the dishes, I find them pretty mediocre. I've lost my appetite, but I can't go without eating," the actress complained to the leads beside her.

"Make do with it. You're away from home, and you're still being picky," one of the actors said with a laugh.

Only when the lazy Susan stopped moving did Shi Ruohe reach out with his chopsticks for the side dish in front of him.

Seeing this, Tong Zhao used his chopsticks to put some of every meat dish he could reach into Shi Ruohe's bowl. Before long, the bowl was full.

"Eat," Tong Zhao said.

The actress across from them muttered coldly, "It's one thing to have a nanny following him around all the time, but he even needs his nanny to serve him at meals."

The actor beside her took a sip of cola and sneered, "You don't understand. He wouldn't know how to survive without a nanny. Someone that spoiled must have some powerful backing. How else could he have switched to a single room at the last minute?"

"Oh, so he has backing. No wonder he got more scenes."

The pair were Yu Tao, the second male lead who played the heroine's older brother, and Qiaozi, who played his girlfriend.

Their parts had been cut back while Shi Ruohe had been given more scenes, and they had long been unhappy about it. As they saw it, Shi Ruohe had no acting credits or popularity, yet he could play the third male lead. He must have gotten in through connections.

As for Tong Zhao, he had to be Shi Ruohe's lackey. Both of them were annoying.

"If you have questions about the extra scenes and the switch to single rooms, you can ask the director," Tong Zhao said with a smile.

"I can't be bothered." Qiaozi gave a soft huff, then turned to the others and changed the subject. "Hey, did you see that big cruise ship not far from here?"

"What about it?" the female lead, Liu Danning, asked softly.

"I heard there's going to be a dinner on that ship tomorrow night. Everyone attending is rich and influential."

"Really?" Liu Danning's palm-sized face had a pair of enormous eyes. "I'm so jealous."

Bai Yue raised his head and smiled. "I received an invitation too, but I have to film three nights in a row, so I turned it down."

Everyone let out envious exclamations.

Yu Tao said, "Why did you turn it down? You could have given it to me. I only have one scene tomorrow night. I could have slipped in and had some fun afterward."

Bai Yue smiled. "You can't give invitations to someone else for gatherings like that. What's the rush? I'll take you all along when there's another chance. Dinners like that are nothing special."

At that, the actors immediately began flattering and fawning over him.

Tong Zhao put down his chopsticks and asked Shi Ruohe, "Are you done?"

Shi Ruohe shovelled the last mouthful of rice into his mouth and nodded.

"Then let's go," Tong Zhao said with a smile.

Shi Ruohe and Tong Zhao took a walk on the beach to help digest their food. As they walked, Tong Zhao kept feeling that someone was watching him, but whenever he looked back, there was no one there. He frowned in puzzlement.

He and Shi Ruohe reached a coconut tree and heard two tourists talking about a temple on the mountain behind them where prayers were readily answered. Curious, he asked them about it.

Seeing how good-looking the two young men were, the female tourist smiled and answered gently, "There's a Stone Bay Mountain a kilometre from here, with Wanqi Temple on it. They say prayers at that temple are readily answered, whatever you ask for. But getting up the mountain is a bit troublesome. You have to climb stone steps for two or three hours."

Before long, Tong Zhao had returned to his room and changed into a pair of sneakers.

Shi Ruohe stood beside him with a backpack full of bottled water. "Are we really going?"

"Of course. Neither of us has any scenes today, and besides, we're already here, so we have to go. We'll pray for you to become a Best Actor soon."

Shi Ruohe blushed. "How could becoming a Best Actor be that easy?"

Tong Zhao tied his shoelaces, then looked up at him with a smile. "We'll pray for Grandpa's good health and for you to find your brother soon."

Shi Ruohe paused, then lowered his head, pressed his lips together, and gave a faint smile.

In this world, only Tong Zhao knew what he wanted most.

"What about you?" he asked Tong Zhao. "What are you going to wish for?"

Tong Zhao stood up, slung a crossbody bag over his shoulder, and pulled a baseball cap onto his head, casting a faint shadow over his handsome features. He curved his lips and said—

"I have a private wish, so I'm not telling you." He turned the doorknob. "Let's go."