"Director Nian… Director Nian… are you okay?"
Su Yi sounded concerned, but inwardly he was quietly wondering whether she'd secretly stuffed some sort of purple little gadget somewhere and was indulging in a very questionable kind of play.
He'd heard the entertainment industry could be a mess.
He'd definitely be washing his hands afterward.
"I'm fine. It's just… it's been a long time since anyone called me 'Director Nian.'"
Nian released Su Yi and wiped away a tear at the corner of her eye, moved to the point of near-sobbing.
"Uh… is it really that serious? When you're on set, don't your actors, makeup artists, and camera crew call you Director Nian?"
"They all call me a maggot."
That was harsh—but Su Yi couldn't muster a shred of sympathy.
Ever since her debut, this so-called Director Nian hadn't made a single film with a Taiban rating above 2.0.
And for the record, Chasing Dreams in the Adult Film Circle had a towering 2.2.
Everyone on her team knew they were just a screw and a nut on a manure-producing machine. They were there to get paid, nothing more, and naturally had zero respect for their "director."
Besides—was what Nian paid them really "wages"?
That was psychological-damages compensation.
They refused to acknowledge her status as a director.
"Let's drop that." Su Yi said. "I came today to ask—Director Nian, are you really a colossus? It's not that I don't believe you. I just want to see it with my own eyes."
"Easy."
Nian patted herself, and from who-knew-where produced several sheets of paper.
Su Yi took them—and froze.
They were all penalty notices issued against her.
[Colossus Fragment Nian: In consideration of your sincere remorse, you are hereby ordered to repair Wangchun Pavilion within ten days. — Ministry of Works]
[Sui Fragment Nian: You are required to forge one hundred sets of armor within five days. Failure will be at your own peril. — Ministry of War]
[Smashed: a pair of glass goblets; one pierced, openwork famille-rose "single-mindedness" vase; one blue-and-white ruyi-shouldered meiping with fruit-and-flower scrollwork… Penalty: one year of cultivation at the Celestial Master's Manor. — Ministry of Rites]
…
Su Yi read them one by one and felt his scalp tightening.
Because beyond the Six Ministries of Yan, this girl had also collected penalty notices from the Court of Judicial Review, the Inspectorate, the Censorate, the Office of Sui Affairs… and a host of other official organs.
Seals he'd never seen in his life—he'd now seen them all.
"Are you collecting stamps?" Su Yi couldn't help asking.
At this point it wasn't even about whether she was a colossus anymore—it was whether meeting her today would get him designated an accomplice by Yan's authorities.
"Of course not. I went on-site to gather material for authenticity. I just got too immersed and—oops—broke a few things."
Nian spoke as if she were discussing the weather.
"I know the sacrifice I've made is tremendous, but for art, any price is worth paying."
For a moment, Su Yi genuinely couldn't decide whether she was inspiring… or simply unwell.
At this point, there was only one sensible move: claim kinship first.
"Actually," Su Yi said, "I think I might be a colossus too. Maybe we're relatives."
"You?" Nian looked him up and down, utterly uncharitable. "A skin-wearer coming to seek investiture?"
"I really might not be human," Su Yi insisted. "Look carefully."
"Huh. Now that you mention it, you do look a little different from everyone else. Here—give me your hand."
Nian took his hand and palpated it carefully, muttering as she did:
"Heaven is a great furnace, earth gives birth to five metals—demons and monsters, show your true forms! Show your true forms!"
Su Yi was about to mock the "incantation," when he suddenly felt a warm current surge from his palm up to his shoulder—then spread through his whole body, leaving him pleasantly heated.
"Hm?"
Nian's brows knit tightly.
"You're definitely not a colossus, and you don't feel like a beast-lord either. Judging by skeletal structure and your vascular system, you're unquestionably human… but you don't match any known Terran race."
"Then what exactly am I?" Su Yi was thoroughly confused.
If he was human, why was he immune to Oripathy?
If he wasn't human, why wouldn't an actual colossus "register" him?
"I don't know." Nian picked up the menu. "I've lived for thousands of years and I've never seen your kind. Anyway—given where we are, let's eat first."
"Fair enough. Director Nian, order whatever you like—my treat today."
"Then I want a full-on mala base. That okay with you?"
"No problem."
In his previous life, Su Yi came from the so-called "Bride-Price Province." He wasn't just good at eating bitterness—he was even better at eating spice.
Soon, the server brought over a pot so red it looked ready to combust, along with several plates of premium marbled packbeast meat.
Nian lifted a slice thin as cicada wing, swished it through the boiling broth, didn't bother cooling it, and ate immediately.
"If you really could become my little brother, I'd actually be pretty happy. In my family, I'm the only one who truly loves spicy food. Everyone else just humors me with a couple bites."
"People have different tastes." Su Yi asked, "By the way—do colossi have siblings?"
"Not sure about other colossi. Our family has twelve members."
"Twelve?!" Su Yi blurted.
"Sounds like a lot, but really we all split off from a colossus named Sui. So sometimes I'm like you—I don't even know what I'm supposed to count as."
"You've still got it better than me," Su Yi said. "At least you know where you came from. I don't even know what I am."
The two hit it off immediately—like old friends meeting late—and conversation flowed without restraint.
When the mood rose, they even opened two bottles of beer—one each.
Meanwhile, outside the "Addicted to Pepper" hotpot restaurant, a red Sankta and a gray Lupo passed by.
They were almost past the storefront when Exusiai caught a familiar figure in the corner of her eye.
"Su Yi? Texas, look—Su Yi's eating hotpot in there."
Texas peered through the street-facing glass and frowned slightly.
"Who's the woman sitting across from him?"
Only then did Exusiai notice: across from Su Yi sat a stunning, flawless-looking woman. Exusiai's smile vanished instantly.
"No idea. Let's go in and ask."
The two entered and headed straight for Su Yi's table.
Up close, they saw Su Yi and the woman were not only eating—they were already drinking, clinking bottles, faces flushed, cheerful as could be.
Perhaps sensing a bad atmosphere—or perhaps because Nian's expression shifted—Su Yi turned around.
"Why are you two here? Have you eaten? If not, sit down and have some."
"Who is she?" Exusiai asked, staring at Nian.
"You don't even know Director Nian?" Su Yi praised without blinking. "She's a famous, well-known director in the industry!"
"Flattered, flattered. I'm still just a small fry in the film world."
Nian put on a modest tone—not because she was modest, but because she wanted to experience what "modesty" felt like.
Exusiai's mind snapped back.
Isn't this the bad-movie queen?
Yesterday Su Yi was watching her films, and today he's meeting her in person?
Exusiai didn't know many directors. The ones she did know were either exceptionally brilliant—or exceptionally terrible.
Nian, without question, belonged to the latter.
"Lil bro—hic—so between these two… which one is my good little sister-in-law?"
Nian asked it half as a joke, half as a tease.
"Sis, you've got the wrong idea," Su Yi said quickly. "They're just coworkers. Don't misunderstand."
It was obvious: the two of them had already settled into a brother-and-sister dynamic.
"Is that so?" Nian leaned in, shamelessly playing matchmaker to his face. "I think they're both pretty great. You'd better seize your chance."
Her films might be atrocious, but as a person… she was surprisingly decent.
Exusiai's opinion of Nian improved dramatically.
....
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