My Darling (我的曼达林)

Untitled Part 1

Prologue

"I heard you and Tong Fei have your own production company?" the person in the phone asked her in surprise.

"Nowadays, if you're an artiste, you're part of a production company. Screenwriters have them, too, as do directors. It's not really all that sophisticated and special. It's just so you have a name you can put down in the spot for whom the invoices should be made out to." With her eyes on the display screen in front of her, Chu Jian offhandedly provided this response.

Oh crud. She just lost her last fifty Hong Kong dollars worth of credit.

On the other end of the line, the other party rambled on for another couple of sentences. After hanging up the call, Chu Jian rummaged through her backpack and discovered that she had used up all of the Hong Kong currency she had on hand... Should she go up to the second floor and find an "unofficial" money changer to change some?

The feeling of being penniless was annoyingly depressing. Tong Fei had just left her here, and Chu Jian did not even know when she would be returning. If she did not change some money so she could continue betting, she really would have nothing to do.

While Chu Jian was still wavering on what to do, a man sat down by her side.

© 2013-2016 FANATICAL hui3r.wordpress.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r.wordpress.com. If you are not reading this from hui3r.wordpress.com, then this translation has been posted without the permission of the translator.

A pair of black-frame glasses with flat lenses. Very young. He was wearing a dark gray pair of casual pants, black sneakers, and a white, cotton, short-sleeved athletic shirt. He looked like a university student. However, so as to have the best outcome when on camera, his facial contours were very chiseled and defined, and hence he appeared to be on the slightly slim side.

Jian Bianlin? Chu Jian was somewhat taken aback. Concealing her face with the back of her hand, she furtively surveyed around the area and then whisperingly asked him, "You're not scared of your picture getting taken?" He did not speak. Rotating the cap in his hand a half-circle, he put it on so that its brim obscured half of his face.

"Do you have any Hong Kong dollars?" Chu Jian's second sentence cut straight to the chase. Still, he did not make a sound. From his pants pocket, he fished out his wallet and searched through it from front to back, but he was only able to find two thousand Hong Kong dollars.

"This casino is so weird. It's in Macau, but its machines only accept Hong Kong dollars."

© 2013-2016 FANATICAL hui3r.wordpress.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r.wordpress.com. If you are not reading this from hui3r.wordpress.com, then this translation has been posted without the permission of the translator.

Muttering, Chu Jian took the two bills of Hong Kong currency from him. After inserting them in turn into the machine, she spun her chair in a semicircle and tilted her head to the side to look at this young man beside her.

Hmm... she was a little thirsty.

But to make him trek across half the casino to grab a drink for her was not a very realistic idea either.

Behind the both of them were countless slot machines, and in the distance, there were several hundred table games. So very noisy.

Chu Jian had no choice but to lean in close to speak to him. "Sit here and keep an eye on the machine for me. Absolutely make sure no one photographs you. I'm a little thirsty. I'm going to go get two cups of milk tea."