Chapter 122

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The temperature in the room was unusually high. Xia Xingcheng’s body was soaked through with sweat, yet he lazed on the bed with no intention of moving. The towel he’d been tightly clutching at a moment ago had been crumpled into a ball.

Yang Youming was lying on his side behind him, his palm flush against Xia Xingcheng’s sweat-soaked skin, caressing it endlessly.

Xia Xingcheng suddenly said, “Don’t you think Ling Jiayue’s attitude towards you is not quite right?”

Yang Youming didn’t speak, continuing to stroke Xia Xingcheng’s waist—until Xia Xingcheng turned his head to look at him, upon which he flatly said, “I did sense it.”

Xia Xingcheng stared at him, and found that he didn’t avoid his gaze at all. He thus asked, “You don’t plan on doing anything?”

Yang Youming appeared to be giving it some thought. “There’ve been many women who’ve expressed or hinted their interest in me before. If they directly come out and say it, I tactfully decline. If they only hint at it, I generally pretend like I have no idea. They’d get it after some time.”

Ling Jiayue hadn’t straightforwardly expressed her interest. In fact, he couldn’t even say that she had hinted at it at all. She was probably just a little oblivious of propriety.

Xia Xingcheng turned over and lay on Yang Youming’s shoulder. “I think she dislikes me though.”

Taking the opportunity to lie flat, Yang Youming reached out to pinch Xia Xingcheng’s lower jaw and shook it from side to side. “We’re working together just this once. If you don’t like it, then I won’t work with her in the future. You don’t have to care about whether she dislikes you or not, you only need to know that I love you.”

Xia Xingcheng quietly listened to his words and felt a perfectly content kind of happiness overcome him. “Go tell her you love me so she won’t use those eyes when looking at me.”

Yang Youming asked, “Those eyes?”

Xia Xingcheng recounted Ling Jiayue’s gaze. “Those mean, hateful eyes.”

Yang Youming was mute for a moment. “Did she look at you like that?”

Xia Xingcheng actually didn’t want to mention it—he’d always felt like he was seeking Yang Youming to tattle. In fact, he was usually friendly and got along well with women, especially little girls like her. He’d always been caring and considerate, and he never thought that there’d be a day where someone would look upon him with such a gaze.

“Forget it.” Xia Xingcheng felt silly for asking. “Why should I bother about a child. It makes me seem as childish as she is.”

Yang Youming laughed at his words. He kissed Xia Xingcheng’s forehead. “When you’re with me, you’ll always be a child. Be as childish as you want.” After that, he added, “If there’s a chance, I’ll let her know.”

Xia Xingcheng couldn’t help but smile. He didn’t want Yang Youming to see, so he tilted his head to the side and pressed his face to Yang Youming’s shoulder.

Yang Youming raked his fingers through Xia Xingcheng’s disheveled hair. “So that’s why you stared at me so firmly, and yet you were chatting so happily with Song Yanyan the whole day. Shouldn’t you be giving me an explanation?”

Momentarily speechless, Xia Xingcheng raised his head to stare at him. “Song Yanyan? Seriously? Do you know what Song Yanyan said to me? She said that she wanted to do a sex scene with you!”

Yang Youming seemed genuinely unprepared for that answer, his fingers stilling. “I thought I heard someone say that she was your fan?”

Xia Xingcheng complained, “All my fans want to shoot a bed scene with you, not with me. Care to explain that to me?”

Yang Youming reached out to hug him tightly. “All right, all right. I’ll give you an explanation, okay?”

Xia Xingcheng asked, “So?”

Yang Youming whispered, “In the future, I’ll only shoot sex scenes with you. You can shoot it however you want to shoot it.”

–

Halfway through filming, Xia Xingcheng gradually shared more and more scenes with Ling Jiayue.

The reason that led up to this was: after Han Bohan became aware of Sun Xunyan’s existence, he visited Sun Xunyan’s school, and from the class records that he’d acquired from her homeroom teacher, he found that Shu Mian was listed among them.

Han Bohan had gone in the afternoon, and when he came out of the school, it coincided with the end of the school day. From afar, he spotted Shu Mian squatting down next to his car with her hands over her stomach. When he approached her, he raised her head and weakly said that she had a stomachache.

Han Bohan helped her into his car, then bought her a cup of longan and jujube tea.

Shu Mian sat in the front passenger seat, drinking the tepid longan and jujube tea clasped between her hands.

Han Bohan stood outside the car as he watched her. He asked, “Are you Sun Xunyan’s classmate? Best friend?”

Shu Mian stared at the cup in her hands, and softly said, “Yes, Yanyan is ill. I accompany her everyday.”

Han Bohan bent at the waist and kept his gaze at her eye level. ”In that case, what’s your relationship with Sun Yao? You know who I am, no?”

Shu Mian looked at him and nodded. “You’re a prosecutor. Sun Yao is Yanyan’s dad.” After that, she abruptly faced the car door and leaned out, nearing Han Bohan.

Han Bohan subconsciously stepped back to keep his distance from her.

Shu Mian said, “Yanyan wasn’t Cao Yuxiang’s girlfriend. She didn’t like Cao Yuxiang one bit. She wouldn’t kill herself over Cao Yuxiang.”

Han Bohan stared at her and asked, “Do you know how Sun Xunyan fell?”

Shu Mian’s watery eyes resembled shiny black gems. She said, “I only know that Sun Xunyan wouldn’t kill herself.”

Meanwhile, Sun Yao had started working at the company Han Bohan had introduced him to. The president of the company was Han Bohan’s little uncle*, and because Han Bohan had informed them in advance, Sun Yao was given special treatment—he was allowed to take out time to make several trips home per day.

*his mum’s little brother

That day, Han Bohan was visiting the company to meet his little uncle. When he left, he went to the underground parking lot and caught sight of several men surrounding Sun Yao, beating him up. Han Bohan yelled, “What are you all doing!”, and immediately ran over.

Upon seeing someone approaching, those men turned and fled. Among them was a man with what seemed to be a lame leg who he limped as he ran.

Han Bohan went over and helped Sun Yao up. His immediate response was to take out his phone to call the police, yet Sun Yao captured his hand with such a strong grip that he almost suspected that his phone screen was going to crack. After, he heard Sun Yao say, “Don’t call the police, I need to go back and take care of Xiao Yan.”

“You’re hurt.” Han Bohan said as he looked at him.

Sun Yao shook his head. “It’s nothing serious. I have to go back now.”

The scene they were currently filming was the scene after Han Bohan sent Sun Yao back home.

After Sun Yao took on this new job, in order to be close enough to the company, he rented a new apartment. The environment of this particular set was worse off than the previous one; it was an extension on the side of an old building in a residential complex that only had two rooms and one bathroom. The outer room had a single bed, and functioned as Sun Yao’s room as well as the kitchen. They no longer had a need for a living room.

Prior to filming, Yang Youming’s face was adorned with SFX makeup to make him look injured; the corners of his eyes and mouth were red and swollen, his neck had an abrasion, and there were bloodstains on his clothes.

He was wearing a company uniform, an ash-gray set consisting of an unfashionable jacket and loose trousers. On the average person, it would in no way look appealing, but Yang Youming’s figure was able to make it work.

As soon as Sun Yao got home, he headed straight for the small bedroom. Han Bohan stood at the doorway, watching him pick up his reclining daughter. This motion bumped against a wound somewhere on his body, and his entire face was tense, exposing a pained expression, yet his hands were as gentle and steady as ever. He readjusted his daughter’s position, then stroked a hand over her back, feeling for sweat.

Feeling that he couldn’t continue watching, Han Bohan silently retreated to the outer room.

The room wasn’t cramped, per se, but there were too many things in it, so it looked somewhat messy. There was a single bed against the wall and an unfolded blanket on top of it, a small square table not far from the bed with two chairs arranged next to it. A small gas stove was directly in front of the square table, and a gas pipe led from the stove to the gas tank on the floor.

A while later, Sun Yao came out of the bedroom and said to Han Bohan, “Would you like some water?”

Han Bohan was standing at the centre of the room, yet he actually only stood there because there was nowhere else to stand with all the things scattered on the ground. He asked Sun Yao, “Why not call the police?”

Sun Yao picked up the insulated electric kettle on the table and reached out to fetch a clean drinking glass from the cabinet above the stove, then poured water into the cup. The back of his hand appeared slightly dirty, and due to his thinness, the veins there were particularly prominent as his slender fingers tightly gripped the kettle.

As he poured the water, Sun Yao said, “I got some hits in too. I’m worried that the police would declare that I got into a brawl. It’ll be troublesome if they arrest me.”

Han Bohan stared at him as he brought the cup of water before him and handed it to him. He then raised his hand and took the cup, and at the same time, he said, “What were you doing in the underground parking lot?

Sun Yao walked over to the bathroom, leaving Han Bohan with a view of his back. He answered, “I was repairing the circuit in the basement.”

“Who were those people that attacked you?” Han Bohan asked.

The sound of water resounded from the bathroom. At the same time, Sun Yao slightly raised his voice as he said, “I don’t know.” He wrung a wet towel in a basin and wiped his face, forehead creasing with pain as it knocked against the injuries on his face. Afterwards, he tossed the towel back into the basin and took off his jacket, then reused the towel to wipe his body.

When Sun Yao came out, his upper body was bare. It was littered with a good number of bruises. He said, “The only people I’ve offended are that family.”

Han Bohan didn’t ask him which family—he knew who Sun Yao was referring to.

Sun Yao walked to the side of his bed and plucked a jacket that had been abandoned near the pillow. He put it on directly, not knowing whether the jacket was clean or not.

Han Bohan looked at the man and was suddenly struck with a raw sense of powerlessness for him. He asked, “How long will this last? Until when do you think you can hold out?”

Sun Yao immediately turned towards him with a vicious look in his eyes like a man who’d been offended. He glared at Han Bohan, and only after a while did he say, “Until Xiao Yan recovers.”

Han Bohan initially wanted to ask him if such a day would come, but in the end, he couldn’t bear to utter the question aloud. Sun Yao, this man, was already drenched with blood, there was no need for him to rub salt into his wounds. He’d always thought—if he was in his shoes, there was no way he’d be able to persevere like Sun Yao. It was too hard, too hopeless.

At that moment, the phone in Han Bohan’s jacket pocket suddenly rang. He fished his phone out, and after putting the call through, his mother’s anxious voice rang out as she told him, “Your father’s been reported[1]. Just now, people from the supervisory committee went straight to the city bureau to take him away.”

The final shot was a close-up of Han Bohan’s expression upon receiving the phone call.

He Zheng retook this shot many times and was still unsatisfied. He asked Xia Xingcheng, “What do you think you ought to be like at that moment?”

Xia Xingcheng pondered over it earnestly, yet this was something he’d never experienced before, so in the end, it was hard for him to truly figure out what kind of reaction a person like Han Bohan would show in that situation.

From there until they wrapped up a day of filming, He Zheng never mentioned whether or not he was satisfied with Xia Xingcheng’s scene. Moreover, from that moment on, He Zheng grew very critical of Xia Xingcheng’s performance, and ofttimes, many scenes had to be retaken several times.

For that matter, Xia Xingcheng felt a lot of pressure. On top of that, in the scenes that were recently shot, Han Bohan was also under a constant state of anxiety, which made him feel that the atmosphere on set was stifling.

By chance, one day, Xia Xingcheng and Yang Youming simultaneously received an invitation from their old friend Chen Hailan, inviting them to attend his son’s one-month birthday banquet. [2]

Chen Hailan’s invitation was also passed on to He Zheng. It looked to be about the same scale as his wedding.

Thus, He Zheng announced that the entire cast and crew of ‘The Trap’ would halt production for a day.

☆ ☆ ☆

[1] raws said ‘real-name report’ which is basically the opposite of an anonymous report

[2] lit. called a ‘full moon feast’

t/n – Thank you to Anon for the kofi! and happy valentines day ❤

⟵ Chapter 121 | TOC | Chapter 123 ⟶

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