Chapter 363: Never Lost Herself
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Fina was walking away so fast, as if she was afraid that if she slowed down, she would be lingering on that momentary tenderness, although that wax figure was just a fake Cleopatra. With her pride, Fina would never allow herself to reveal her inner vulnerability to a substitute of her real owner.
Snowy Lionet was closely and quietly following Fina. It found itself growing increasingly fonder of Fina, because Fina liked another Queen Her Majesty… luckily for Snowy Lionet, that Queen Her Majesty was deceased and was no longer a threat to it. And then… it wrinkled its nose and fiercely stared at Zhang Zian. After taking this stinky man out of the picture, Fina would be all its own.
Zhang Zian was walking leisurely behind the elvins and looked around from time to time, explaining the identities and origins of the wax figures that he knew about to Old Time Tea, Galaxy and Richard.
Occasionally, he laid his eyes on Fina, who was pretending to be strong. He had never expected that he could replace Cleopatra VII, the last Pharaoh of Egypt, with any other legendary life. Even if she was just an ordinary woman, in the mind of Fina, she was irreplaceable.
There were many vivid wax figures of stars from the entertainment, sports, and political industries in the wax museum. If a person had never visited a wax museum before, it would be worth buying a ticket and seeing those figures. For Zhang Zian, this was just a fresh experience, and he would feel bored if he visited a the second time… unless he was to accompany his girlfriend.
Every few minutes, he would look at his cell phone. The aperture representing the unknown elfin was still there, shrouding a circular area centered on the Walk of Fame. The elfin had not been moving nor had it disappeared. It was right here, but was difficult to find.
The area was too large and was so crowded. However, anxiety would do him no good. He tried to remain patient and trusted to his luck on capturing this elfin.
...
"Mom, mom, who is this person? She is so pretty!"
A blonde girl, around seven or eight years old, was pulling her mother by the hand, eyes gleaming when she saw a very beautiful and graceful wax figure. She pointed to the wax figure and dragged her mother there.
The mother also had blonde hair, but the shade was darker than that of her daughter. She was in her thirties, and her facial outline was somewhat similar to her daughter’s. From her temperament, she seemed like a housewife. She fondly let her baby girl drag her there, watching the ground tentatively for fear that her daughter might stumble on stairs or other things because of her overexcitement.
When they arrived in front of the wax figure, her daughter released her hand and folded her little arms over the small table in front of her, watching the wax figure intoxicatedly, "Mom, she is so beautiful, just like an angel!"
The mother looked up and smiled heartedly. When she was young, she also thought the celebrity that this wax figure modeled was an angel…perhaps she still believed she was an angel, but the image of her had been hidden at the bottom of the mother’s heart, for she had been replaced by another little angel—her daughter.
"Baby, her name is Audrey Hepburn."
The wax figure of Audrey Hepburn was modeled from her classic posture in Breakfast at Tiffany's. She wore a tight black mini dress, and her elbows, adorned with black dress gloves, were placed elegantly on the table. Her slender neck was surrounded by a Tiffany pearl necklace, and her brown hair, set in a bun, had a matching tiara hairpin.
Black was the color that made people look thin, and this fitting black dress had thoroughly presented her slender stature.
A silver coffee pot and ceramic coffee cups were placed on the dining table. A red rose was inserted in the vase beside her right elbow. If there was anything missing from the movie scene, it would be a long, tobacco rod in Hepburn's hand. Perhaps the wax figure maker didn’t want to encourage smoking?
The little girl could not see enough from the front. She also went behind the wax figure, watching the vaguely visible scapula in perfect shapes, thinking that this woman was so perfect in every aspect.
Exploring the wax museum with her mother for a long time, she had seen many female celebrities. A few of them had left deep impressions on her, such as Marilyn Monroe, whose smile was as bright as sunshine, Vivien Leigh, who had the essences of beauties from ancient times, and Elizabeth Taylor, who had a pair of mysterious purple eyes… She admired these beautiful women, but only this statue of Audrey Hepburn was she sincerely fond of. It made her feel cordial. Whether it was Audrey Hepburn’s posture or her expression, she didn’t have that same sense of alienation like other female celebrities had. She looked just like a big sister living upstairs, inviting the little girl off to have breakfast together.
The little girl's mother was also gazing at the wax figure of Audrey Hepburn. When she first saw the face of Audrey Hepburn from the photograph, she was just as amazed and mesmerized as her daughter, admiring that such a perfect woman indeed existed in this world, and that as a woman herself, she wasn’t bitterly jealous of Hepburn.
Since then, Audrey Hepburn had become her angel. She was crazy about collecting all photos, videos and materials of Audrey Hepburn, imitating her accent, learning her moves, and naively believing that she would be the second Audrey Hepburn if she had absorbed everything... Yet the reality was ruthless and cruel. As she grew up day by day, her dream of becoming the next Audrey Hepburn became more unrealistic. She gradually understood that this woman was unique, and no one could be like her.
"Mom! Is she an awesome actress?" The daughter was running around the wax figure but returned to pull at her mother’s hand to ask this question.
The mother gently stroked her daughter's hair, and said softly, "She had excellent acting skills and received numerous awards. Even in the golden age of Hollywood, she stood out among numerous female stars. But she was more than an actress. Most importantly, she was a person of integrity that never lost herself, even in the materialistic and dissipated Hollywood."
...
It didn’t know when and how it appeared, but since regained its consciousness, the elfin was in this strange shop with many wax figures—with only a slight sniff, it knew that these were not real people, for they didn’t have the smells of real people. Their human-like appearances couldn’t fool it.
Some tourists walked by, pointing at the wax figures excitedly and taking turns to take group photos.
After standing still for a while, it confirmed that these tourists could not see it, as if it was a ghost… or perhaps they were the ghosts—it hoped the latter situation was true.
It aimlessly patrolled around the shop, gazing at the faces, expressions, and postures of each wax figure, interpreting their body languages, and understanding what they were trying to convey to the viewers at the instant when time stood still.
It moved its ears, keenly capturing every word in the air.