Not Sentimental Enough

Zhong Chuhong worked with care. First she wet the rim of the glass with a slice of lemon and rubbed a thin layer of fine salt around it. Then she added tequila, orange liqueur, and fresh lemon juice to the shaker in set proportions, dropped in ice, and shook hard until everything was thoroughly mixed. She strained it into the glass. Last of all she set a lemon slice on the rim. "Wow, it worked this time!" She had learned only this one cocktail, a Margarita. The glass held a color like fresh orange, and the salted rim had a style all its own. She looked at her handiwork with satisfaction and took a small sip. A clean, fresh fruit aroma mingled with the peculiar taste of tequila. It was tart and sweet on the tongue, and very refreshing. "Ahong, you've finished your training?" "It looks pretty good today!" Liu Dehua and Liang Jiahui crowded over, trading compliments. Liang Jiahui had a girlfriend. Liu Dehua did not. They were all worldly people of the same circle, close enough in age that a little romantic interest was hard to avoid. "That's right. I finally mixed it. You two try some!" "That wouldn't be right, would it? Isn't that an indirect kiss?" "In your dreams. I'll pour it into glasses!" Zhong Chuhong split it between two glasses. A cocktail wasn't meant to be poured from one glass into another; the taste would change. The two men did not care, and launched into another round of lavish praise. Greatly pleased, she drew a glass of ice water and drank it down in gulps. "Who'd have thought shooting a film could teach me something? If I can't make it later, I can still be a bartender. Hey—I could work with clay too!" She opened her mouth wide and laughed brightly, white teeth and charming dimples. Liu Dehua stared, a little dazed. Under the table he kicked Liang Jiahui. Liang Jiahui rolled his eyes and swayed off out of the way. "Ahong, are you free tonight?" "For what?" "Nothing much. I figure we're the male and female leads, so we ought to get more familiar. A meal or something wouldn't hurt, right?" Liu Dehua stammered out the invitation. Back in school he had had a first love. The two of them had made a five-year pact, but his first love had run off with a good buddy of his. He was in a dry spell now. His romantic history was a rich one. Historically, he really had pursued Zhong Chuhong. "A meal? A meal out of the blue—I don't have time!" "We get off so early. What are you going back to do?" "Can't I help my mom sell clothes?" "All right, then. We'll eat another day..." Liu Dehua took himself off in a gloomy huff. Zhong Chuhong pursed her lips at him. The man was good-looking enough, but far too green, and he had no education. She liked men of letters. A little of the drink was still left in the glass. She finished it. Afterward she felt thirsty again, drew another glass of ice water, and drained it in gulps. She let out a long breath. "Ha, that hits the spot!" The next second she nodded awkwardly. "Uh—Mr. Chen!" Chen Qi had appeared at some point no one had noticed, and was once again sizing her up with that appraising look that irritated her so. "You've learned to mix a Margarita?" "I have!" "Mm. Table read continues in ten minutes." He left after saying it, but Zhong Chuhong clearly saw him make another note in his notebook. She could not help an expression she could barely keep composed. She still did not understand what on earth he was doing. ............ The table read was held right here. In the home of the male and female leads, on the living-room sofa. Chen Qi would have the lights dimmed and music playing. No one had to sit bolt upright. Slouching was fine, lying down was fine—whatever was comfortable. So all of them rather liked this part. Fewer people were here today: the four leads, Liu Dehua, Liang Jiahui, Zhong Chuhong, and Xiao Fangfang, plus him. "Where were we?" "Ahong and I, talking through the door." Xiao Fangfang said. She liked the table read best of all. It made her feel she was creating a work, not brushing things off with careless chatter. "All right. Start from there. Jiahui, you handle the narration." Soft, unhurried music rose, and the lights dimmed, helping everyone settle into the scene. Zhong Chuhong did not resist. She even took off her shoes, half reclined on the sofa, and held the script. The scene was this: the male lead and the spirit medium went again to find the female lead. She simply would not believe he had become a ghost, and would not open the door. "You still don't understand? Ah Jie's death wasn't an accident," Xiao Fangfang said. "He found out Ah Paul was laundering money for people, and they killed him to shut him up!" Ah Jie was Liu Dehua's role; Ah Paul was Liang Jiahui's. "Why are you doing this to me? Why make up these lies? I watched Ah Jie buried with my own eyes, and you insist he's still alive. Do I have some grudge against you..." Zhong Chuhong said. "Aiya, he isn't still alive. He's become a ghost!" "You get out of here, or I'll call the police!" Liang Jiahui read the narration. "At that moment Ah Jie passed through the wall into the room and saw his lover falling apart. His eyes were full of aching tenderness, but he had to make her believe." Liu Dehua said, "Tell her the shirt she's wearing was stained by my coffee, and her earrings were the Christmas gift I gave her!" Xiao Fangfang said, "Ah Jie says the shirt you're wearing was stained by his coffee, and your earrings were the Christmas gift he gave you... Use your head and think. I'm not lying to you!" Liang Jiahui went on, his voice low and gentle. "Ah Jie asked for a coin and used his power to make the coin float. Hongdou saw the coin and could not hold back her tears. At last she opened the door." Hongdou was Zhong Chuhong's role. Under the deliberately heightened atmosphere, and with the music, a little feeling welled up in everyone before they quite noticed. But it was only a little. Zhong Chuhong, the one in the scene, was calmer still. Her face hardly stirred. "..." Chen Qi watched in silence the whole time. In the original Ghost, the leads were cleaning the house when they found an antique coin. The male lead said it could bring good luck, a little secret between the two of them, which was why he later used the coin to make the female lead believe. When Chen Qi wrote the script, he had kept this stretch of plot for the time being. Turning it over again and again, though, he always felt it only skimmed the surface. To put it plainly, it was not sentimental enough. He had long wanted to change it. Seeing how everyone played it now only confirmed the thought. Change it! In any case, over these past few days he had more or less finished gathering material. "Sister Fangfang, you keep things going. I've got something to take care of. If I'm not back, you can wrap up on time." He told Xiao Fangfang quietly. She nodded, and Chen Qi left. The others went on with the table read. ............ In the blink of an eye it was afternoon, and time to get off again. Zhong Chuhong stretched lazily, then suddenly felt a little unworthy of her pay. She had been slacking far too much! Just then Chen Qi, who had left, came back with four printed copies in his hands. "That scene just now didn't feel right to me. I revised it on the spot. Take a look when you get back." "All right!" They answered. There was nothing odd about it. A script was there to be mauled by anyone. There was not much, only a few pages. Zhong Chuhong stuffed them into her bag and left the set with Liu Dehua and Liang Jiahui, because all of them had to take the minibus.