The Best Director

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Wow, I’m still seeking for votes, if you guys think it’s good, remember to smash that vote button! Plus, the New Year is coming, and it’s inevitable to be busy around this time, but I’ll try my best to keep the updates unaffected. Also, for the sake of chapter cohesion, I don’t want to split the chapters arbitrarily. Today there are 5,000 words, which could have been split into two updates, but I chose to only do one, so everyone, please discern carefully! Vote, vote!

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“Pizza for dinner? Awesome!” Zachary Levi was thrilled upon hearing this news. He spun on his feet and broke into a dance step, carelessly singing, “Pizza, pizza, pizza… Why isn’t it here yet? I’m so hungry I could faint.”

Wang Yang and Rachel, sitting on the couch, both had expressions of “there’s no dealing with him” and then exchanged a smile.

Jessica didn’t keep them waiting long; it was less than half an hour before the doorbell rang. While discussing performance issues with Rachel and Zachary, Wang Yang clapped his hands, stood up with a smile, and said, “Jessica’s here, dinner time!” He went to open the door and indeed saw Jessica standing outside, holding a box of pizza in her arms.

She was dressed very stylishly today, a low-neck T-shirt topped with a black leather jacket, revealing her sexy collarbones; and a pair of black leather pants emphasized her fiery figure to the max. Looking at her slightly wavy brown long hair exuding the fragrance of shampoo, and that pretty, sweet face with a touch of light blush on both cheeks, it was clear she had made an effort to dress up before coming over.

Seeing Wang Yang opening the door, a gleam of light flashed in Jessica’s dark eyes as she flashed a toothy smile and said, “Hi, Yang!”

“Hi, Jessica!” Wang Yang greeted her. He was amazed by Jessica’s outfit today. She reminded him of Nancy from “Sin City,” so sexy, so enchanting. With that thought, scenes from “Sin City” automatically started playing in his mind.

However, whenever Wang Yang watched these mental images, his eyes and expression would become as still as a dead pool of water. This caused a wave of disappointment in Jessica’s heart.

“Hey, buddy!” Just then, another person suddenly popped out from behind Jessica, a tall figure with a youthful face, wearing a coat and jeans, Jessica’s younger brother Joshua. Joshua stepped between Wang Yang and his sister, hugged Wang Yang, but didn’t cling unnecessarily and quickly let go, then winked at Wang Yang with a smile that said, “I came to see you, you happy?” as if sharing a private joke.

Wang Yang came back to his senses, smiled at Joshua and said, “Yeah, welcome.” He gestured to both siblings with a wave of his hand and said, “Come on in.”

It was just now, when the scenes from “Sin City” flashed in his mind, that he suddenly thought of something. Since they were encountering difficulties with filming, why not quickly revisit some classic psychological thrillers in his mind? Perhaps there would be some gains.

“Mmm.” Jessica waited for Wang Yang to move aside before pulling Joshua closer, looking at him sternly, and whispered fiercely, “Joshua, what did you promise me? Remember your own words!”

With a sigh that looked like he was about to collapse backward, Joshua rolled his eyes and said, “Please, I remember, I remember! You can relax; I won’t embarrass you. OK?”

Muttering to himself, he thought: What’s the big deal with one Canadian girl? What was her name again? Rachel? Oh, a gentle lamb—was this situation really such a big ordeal?! Damn, after planning all day, making pizza for half of it, and spending the other half getting dressed up, Jessica’s really obsessed!

“As long as you remember!” Jessica glared at him again before entering the house with the pizza.

However, as soon as they entered, Joshua made a comment that nearly made Jessica trip, his face full of amazement as he stared at Rachel and said dumbfounded, “Wow, she’s so pretty! Yang, is she your girlfriend?”

“Haha!” Rachel burst into laughter, and Wang Yang just shrugged, saying, “No, not me. She’s Kevin’s girlfriend.” That’s when Zachary Levi finally showed his sense of humor and innocently added, “I’m Kevin.”

Everyone laughed, and just like that, the awkward moment was averted.

After exchanging greetings, Jessica came into the kitchen with the box of pizza. She placed the pizza on the small dining table and called out with a smile, “Dinner time! The pizza is still hot, everyone come and eat.” She opened the pizza box, and a delicious aroma wafted out. She added with a laugh, “But wash your hands first!”

“Oh my God, it smells amazing!” Zachary exclaimed as he rushed off to wash his hands; Rachel and Joshua followed suit.

Jessica looked at the aromatic pizza on the table, the corners of her mouth curving up in pleasure. The pizza was topped with roasted meat, tasty bacon, some fresh vegetables, and a select cheese sauce that she was sure would result in rave reviews. This was her masterpiece, and she was confident of that.

She pushed back her hair from her ears, humming softly, turned on the kitchen faucet, washed her hands, and then picked up a pizza cutter to rinse it, calling out with a smile, “Is everyone done washing their hands? Come over.”

After washing their hands, Zachary, Rachel, and Joshua all came over. Jessica picked up the pizza cutter, sliced the round pizza pie into a “cross,” then cut two large pieces into four, and said with a smile, “Come and get it, everybody.”

Zachary, drooling over the scent of the pizza, hurriedly took a slice and was the first to start eating; Rachel also took a piece, thanked Jessica, and then went to eat on the balcony; and Joshua, with a sneer, seemed quite annoyed at his sister’s self-important demeanor as the lady of the house.

Zachary, standing next to the dining table, took a bite of the pizza, chewed, and then his eyes widened with shock as he exclaimed, “Oh, my God, this is delicious!” He looked at Jessica and marveled, “God! Jessica, this pizza is even better than Pizza Hut’s, it’s unbelievable, incredible! Wow!”

“Oh, really? Thank you,” Jessica responded nonchalantly, her gaze fixed on Wang Yang, who was sitting on the couch not coming over for pizza. She called out to him, “Yang! Come and have some pizza.”

“Just a minute, just a minute!” Wang Yang replied, his mind rapidly flipping through classic horror films. Vaguely hearing Jessica’s call, he pressed “pause” in his mind, then stood up and walked towards the kitchen, saying with a smile, “I’m coming.”

Seeing him approaching, Jessica’s mouth turned up into a smile again. She picked up a large slice that made up a quarter of the entire pizza pie and offered it to Wang Yang with a smile, “Here you go.”

After washing his hands, Wang Yang took the pizza, thanked her with a smile, and bit into it. He chewed the pizza in his mouth, eyes suddenly lighting up, swallowed with a “Mmm,” and was about to say something! Jessica’s heart immediately leaped, her gaze anxious yet hopeful as she watched him, not blinking an eye.

Wang Yang, with a look of surprise, exclaimed, “Oh, my God! Rachel! I’ve got it, I’ve got a great idea!” He, holding his piece of pizza, turned around and walked briskly toward the balcony, excitedly saying, “Rachel, listen to my latest idea…”

Jessica’s heart tightened, and the smile on her face instantly stiffened. She watched them on the balcony, Wang Yang talking animatedly to Rachel, her fingers twining anxiously together.

“Oh, this is so good!” Zachary, still munching and praising the pizza, had surprisingly finished his large slice. He looked at Jessica with an apologetic expression and asked, “Uh, Jessica, could I have another piece?”

“Sure,” Jessica said with a forced smile, “Help yourself, take as much as you like.” After speaking, she took a piece, one-eighth of the pizza, sat down on the couch feeling downhearted, and started nibbling on her slice.

“Look at those two…” Joshua, also sitting on the couch and somewhat gloating, looked toward the distant balcony and said, “Look how happy they are talking! A director and a leading lady, quite a match, aren’t they?”

Jessica listened with growing irritation and pushed him away, grinding her teeth as she said, “Joshua, shut up! If you keep this up, I will definitely throw you out!”

“OK, I’ll shut up,” Joshua shrugged, but he still kept staring over at the balcony.

On the balcony, Wang Yang excitedly shared his new idea with Rachel, “I’ve got it—the problem isn’t with the acting, it’s the design of the shot itself!” Rachel asked with interest, “Oh, what do you mean?”

Wang Yang took a bite of his pizza, his mind completely on the film, hardly tasting anything. He said, “Well, the reason that shot isn’t creepy or scary enough is that it’s too monotonous, not that your performance isn’t good enough! Just think about it, Mel in the mirror is laughing in a terrifying way, but the Mel standing in front of the mirror is looking confused and sleepwalking…”

Rachel nodded in agreement, praising, “That sounds good, this design has more conflict.”

At that moment, Joshua got up from the couch, turned on the TV, and suddenly shouted, “Hey, Yang, Rachel, come watch TV! Please, it’s dinner time, let’s not talk about work. Come on over, watch TV.” After shouting, he glanced at Jessica with a look that seemed to say, “Are you happy now?” Jessica turned her head away but didn’t scold him.

“OK, coming right over!” Wang Yang and Rachel smiled at each other, with Wang Yang laughing, “Joshua’s right, we shouldn’t talk about work during dinner.”

They both came over to the sofa, with Jessica and Rachel sitting in the middle, Joshua on Jessica’s left, and Wang Yang on the far right. As he watched the news on TV and took small bites of pizza, it seemed to taste good finally, as his mind wasn’t on other things. He gave a contented “Mmm” and gave Jessica a thumbs up, praising, “Wow, Jessica, the pizza’s delicious!”

Jessica, who had been covertly watching him, immediately perked up, smiling happily, “Really?”

“Really, this pizza isn’t from Pizza Hut, is it?” Wang Yang laughed heartily and took another bite. Jessica rolled her eyes, pretended to be angry, and replied, “Yes, you guessed it.” While she seemed to be annoyed on the surface, she was actually feeling sweet and full of energy on the inside. Wang Yang smiled and said, “Don’t be like that, I’m just kidding. It’s really tasty; how did you do it?”

Jessica started to laugh, brimming with pride as she said, “Oh, that’s a long story. I usually order a few food magazines, and I saw the recipe for this pizza in one of them. After failing over and over, I eventually learned to make it.” Her tone made it sound like it was nothing much, but her expectant eyes clearly yearned for praise as she asked, “Do you like it?”

“Of course, I like it.” Wang Yang nodded and praised further, “Jessica, I had no idea your cooking was this good.”

Jessica’s sweet face was now filled with happy smiles—none of the previous gloom remained. At Wang Yang’s compliment, she laughed and waved her hand dismissively, “Just a little bit. I enjoy cooking, things like pizza, steak, pasta, and I can make some Chinese dishes too.” She shrugged her shoulders, half-mockingly, half-humbly, “I mess things up all the time, sometimes mixing up the condiments, sometimes adding too much. But, I’ve managed to keep at it.”

Joshua, sitting beside her, gave Jessica a disdainful look—she got all excited over a few compliments. Ah, this poor woman!

Rachel quietly ate her pizza, watching Wang Yang and Jessica chatting and laughing together and had no inclination to speak. In fact, she could have joined in the conversation like she always did, but she didn’t want to do it this time and wasn’t interested. It felt like a voice inside her was saying, that was their conversation, not mine.

Jessica laughed again and said, “Yang, you know what? You’re the one who got me interested in cooking.” She recalled nostalgically, “I remember that day, my birthday, you brought a box of cookies to school, saying you made them as a birthday gift for me.” She sighed, “Wow, I remember those cookies were so delicious, I ate three or four of them. At that moment I thought, I’ve got to learn how to cook, so when your birthday comes around, I can make something for you too.”

She spoke with a touch of sadness, “It’s just that I moved away not long after that, before your birthday came. But I still fell in love with cooking.” She smiled once more and asked, “By the way, what’s the recipe for those cookies? Do they have a name? I’ve missed that taste.”

Up to now, Jessica had always deliberately avoided those memories, including the cookies. After moving to Los Angeles, she didn’t receive any letters from Wang Yang, which left her heartbroken, believing he had rejected her confession, so naturally, she didn’t want to think about those little things anymore. But now, as the memories came flooding back, she was bursting with enthusiasm—she wanted to make those cookies!

Wang Yang made an “uh” sound, not knowing what to say. He had actually forgotten about these things long ago, and now that Jessica mentioned it, he vaguely remembered that those cakes were not made by him at all. Before heading to school that day, he suddenly remembered it was Jessica’s birthday, and he didn’t have any budget for a gift. But for the sake of their friendship, he casually took some cakes from home to school, then bragged to Jessica that he had made them.

These cakes were called wife cakes because a neighbor near his house had just gotten married and had given his family a bag of these cakes…

“Uh, just some ordinary cakes,” Wang Yang said with a laugh, trying to gloss over it and steer the conversation elsewhere, “Some other time I’ll cook some delicious Chinese food for you to try. You know, I grew up in a restaurant. But then again, it’s been a long time since I’ve cooked.”

Jessica’s eyes lit up as she said, “You cooking? That’s really something to look forward to!”

“Welp, this pizza is really delicious…” Wang Yang was afraid that Jessica would hold him to his offer to cook, even though he was a good cook but had always disliked being in charge of the kitchen. He hurriedly changed the topic again while shoving the last small piece of pizza into his mouth and laughed, “Is there more? I’d like another piece.”

“Sure, I’ll get you one,” Jessica said as she walked to the kitchen with an upturned mouth, clearly distracted by the new topic and no longer mentioning the cakes.

Wang Yang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but Joshua, sitting at the far left, was looking at him with a mischievous grin, teasingly saying, “Dude, I’m onto you. I’ve got my eye on you.” Wang Yang frowned, feeling a bad premonition…

“Ah! Where’s the pizza?!” Suddenly, Jessica’s exclamation came from the kitchen. Her shout drew everyone’s attention. They all saw that the pizza box on the dining table was empty without a trace of pizza left.

Joshua crossed his arms and mockingly said, “It couldn’t have been stolen by mice in the house, could it? I recall there are quite a few mice here.”

At this moment, the absent Zachary Levi, looking very embarrassed, touched his head and said softly to everyone, “Oh, sorry, I ate three pieces…” The pizza had been cut into seven pieces, with Wang Yang’s piece taking up two-eighths, and the remaining six pieces were one-eighth each. Jessica, Joshua, and Rachel each had one piece, while Zachary Levi, alone, had three pieces.

“Uh, I couldn’t control myself…” Zachary Levi said, even more embarrassed as everyone stared at him in astonishment, twisting about and explaining, “I was just really hungry and the pizza was so delicious that, before I knew it, I ate three pieces.”

How could he do that? The pizzas were all prepared for Yang! Jessica frowned in annoyance, hesitating to speak. She had really wanted to see Yang enjoying the pizza!

Wang Yang smiled at her and shook his head, saying, “It’s alright, I’m already full.” He looked at Zachary and laughed, “Zachary, since you ate the most, you can take care of cleaning up.”

“OK, OK!” Zachary raised his hand in agreement and immediately started to clean up the pizza box, pizza cutter, and other items on the dining table.

Wang Yang and the others returned to the living room sofa. Before they could sit down, Joshua suddenly called out loudly, “Hey, Yang! What were those cakes called again?” With his shouting, Jessica remembered the matter again and looked at Wang Yang with anticipation, smiling and asking, “Well, Yang, tell me. I want to learn how to make those cakes.” Even Rachel looked at him curiously, since she could tell that Wang Yang was trying to avoid the question.

“Dude, what’s wrong?” Seeing that Wang Yang wasn’t responding, Joshua, feigning a surprised look but ready to enjoy the spectacle, said, “I bet you’ve already forgotten about it, haven’t you?” After speaking, he looked smugly at Jessica, who was standing there in a daze.

Alright, wife cakes it is then! Wang Yang shrugged and said, “Haven’t forgotten. It’s just that the name of the cakes is pretty interesting.” He paused, then continued, “They’re called ‘wife cakes’.”