CH 1

PART ONE

1.

The film emperor got up from the couch just as the psychiatrist across from him finished packing up his belongings, getting ready to leave.

The trailer for his latest movie was playing on the TV in the living room. This was the first movie he participated upon his return to the film world after three years.

In the display cabinet beside the television was the Film Emperor award trophy that he won at 25 years old. Now that he had turned 30, the entire entertainment industry was speculating whether he still stood a chance to regain his spot on the top.

Dressed in loose pajamas, the film emperor walked the psychiatrist to the door.

The psychiatrist said, “Your condition is now stable, so I won’t have to do regular visits anymore from now on. You can look for me again if you need any help.”

“Thank you.” The film emperor said with a smile. He had always been an easy-going person with a low profile, almost never putting on any airs.

The psychiatrist took out a watch from his pocket and passed it to him. “You left this in my clinic before.”

The film emperor lowered his head and stared at the watch with a blank look, “I don’t remember that.”

2.

The film emperor attended a fashion gala that night.

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Reappearing in front of the cameras for the first time after three years, he was undoubtedly the centre of attraction on this red carpet.

He wore an exquisite black suit that accentuated his tall figure perfectly. As he walked down the red carpet, all cameras – big or small – focused on him.

The event didn’t end until 9p.m. As soon as the film emperor entered the car, he immediately noticed his assistant’s expression that was off.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

His assistant carefully handed him the phone, “Brother Rong, don’t get mad after looking at this.”

3.

The film emperor’s name made the headlines.

However, it wasn’t due to the red carpet event tonight, but the news of a love affair that got exposed.

An hour ago, a z-lister starlet1 posted a photo of two people’s hands tightly intertwined together on Weibo.2

The hands of two men.

The bigger hand was wearing a platinum bracelet with a red silk thread and when zoomed in, you could see the letters ‘LR’ engraved on it.

That was the film emperor’s initials.

The film emperor had worn this bracelet to many occasions in the past, so fans could easily recognize it at one glance. The second the photo was uploaded, Weibo was flooded with all sorts of speculations about his love affair.

The film emperor gave his manager a call and asked, “Have you contacted the person who uploaded the photo?”

“Yes. We’ll suppress this matter, so don’t worry about it.”

“No, I’d like to meet him.”

His manager was already frustrated from this sudden incident exploded on the spot when he heard that.

“What reason is there to meet him? It’s just some unpopular small fry trying to use your fame for clout, or a competitor trying to smear your name. As if that photo was real to begin with.”

“The person in the photo is indeed me.”

The film emperor calmly said.

4.

His manager helped him contact the starlet and arranged an appointment for them to meet at noon tomorrow.

The starlet was very good-looking. His skin was fair and he carried the air of a youthful student. Upon seeing the film emperor, he nervously sipped a few mouthfuls of tea.

The film emperor sat down in the seat opposite of him and asked straightforwardly, “Are you the other person in the photo?”

The starlet was frozen with shock, “You don’t remember who you took this photo with?”

“I’m sorry, I lost some of my memories so I don’t remember who you are.” He said.

The artist hesitated for a bit before speaking up a while later, “It’s alright. I can help you remember them.”

As he said that, he held on to the film emperor’s hand.

5.

After returning home, the film emperor called his manager and told him, “You don’t have to take care of the photo incident anymore. There’s no need to clarify it either.”

The manager went ballistic, yelling at him from the other end of the phone, “Liang Rong! I don’t care what happened to you in the past three years, but it wasn’t easy for you to make a return to the industry! Your reputation is really important, do you understand that! Don’t let it be ruined in your own hands!”

The film emperor patiently reassured him, “There won’t be a problem, I know my limits.”

His manager sucked in a few deep breaths and asked, “Are you and that starlet really a couple?”

The film emperor did not answer.

His memories of the past three years were disjointed, like a piece of torn up canvas even if he put them together.

The film emperor hung up the phone. He sat on the couch, staring at the photo posted by the starlet for a very long time, attempting to recall some fragments of their shared memories but it ended in vain.

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He called the psychiatrist but no one picked up after it rung for a long time.

The film emperor smiled bitterly, as though he was mocking himself. It wasn’t easy to cure this disease of his. If some things had been forgotten, then so be it. He could just start from scratch again, it was no big deal.

Footnotes

A star who is unpopular and not well-known at all.Chinese microblogging website/app. Biggest social media platform in China.