Chapter 126

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Xia Xingcheng returned to the hotel. When he opened the door and entered his room, he saw Yang Youming standing by the window, on an ongoing phone call. The curtains were half drawn, and the room was somewhat dim.

He walked to Yang Youming’s side. Yang Youming turned and looked at him; the phone was still pressed to his ear, yet he was already leaning in, planting a kiss on his forehead.

Xia Xingcheng heard Yang Youming say, “Go take care of it. I think it’s best to downplay this issue. Those pictures aren’t a big deal, it’s not like they’re bed photos.”

He didn’t know who was on the other end of the line. All of a sudden, they raised their voice somewhat emotionally, so much so that Xia Xingcheng could hear the sound of their voice leaking out of the receiver, but he couldn’t exactly catch their words.

Yang Youming subconsciously distanced the phone from his ear, and once the caller finished speaking, he calmly said, “I was joking. You’re too tense, Du Jin.”

Only then did Xia Xingcheng find out that the caller was Du Jin. On the other end, Du Jin added a few more things, speech swift and brisk as he prattled off a string of words.

Yang Youming’s eyelashes hung down, his gaze falling on the printed curtains. Afterwards, he replied, “Got it.”

After that, Du Jin hung up first.

Yang Youming moved the phone away from his ear and looked down at the darkening screen before stuffing it into the hem of his jacket pocket and letting it slide down on its own. He then turned to face Xia Xingcheng, and said, “Why are you back?”

Xia Xingcheng reached out and hugged him. “He Zheng gave me the day off.”

Yang Youming wrapped a hand around Xia Xingcheng’s back and stroked his hair with the other. He said, “Scared?”

“What’s there to be scared of,” said Xia Xingcheng in a rather indifferent tone. “Why don’t we just come out directly!” With that, he tilted his head and looked up at Yang Youming, expression faintly expectant.

Yang Youming chuckled. “Seriously?”

Xia Xingcheng said, “Seriously. There’s no need to hide, as long as we’re happy, it doesn’t matter what they say.”

Yang Youming couldn’t resist tightening his embrace. Their bodies were pressed together from head to toe. “It’s not that simple. We’d be happy, but have you considered how others would take it?”

Xia Xingcheng looked confused. “Who?”

Yang Youming said, “Your mom and dad, for one.”

The moment he heard those two words, Xia Xingcheng’s spirits fell somewhat.

Yang Youming added, “And Huang Jixin?”

Xia Xingcheng clicked his tongue. “Huang Jixin would probably kick my door down and stab me to death in the middle of the night.”

Yang Youming laughed as he caressed Xia Xingcheng’s hair. He then let go of him, walked over to his bed, and sat down. “Chen Hailan called me—he was furious. He’s going to the hotel to check the surveillance and see who secretly took photos of us.”

That day, all the tearooms on that floor were filled with Chen Hailan’s guests. The person who had taken the photos was mostly likely one of the guests who had attended the one-month birthday banquet. Chen Hailan felt that it was his fault, so he insisted on getting to the bottom of it.

Xia Xingcheng’s mood was a little complicated.

Yang Youming continued, “Huang Jixin and Du Jin called me. Du Jin said he can check the source of the photos with the marketing account. Huang Jixin’s reaction was more interesting—his first response was to tell me to comfort you, and tell you not to worry.

Xia Xingcheng was a little taken aback when he heard this. “Why didn’t he say that to me when he called me.”

Yang Youming chuckled. “Probably because he’s too embarrassed to show that he cares about you. See, he’s worried about your career. You shouldn’t get mad at him.”

Xia Xingcheng thought of the pressure Huang Jixin must be under right now, and his chest suddenly ached. He said, “I know. I won’t.”

That night, Xia Xingcheng felt like checking Weibo. He found that, sure enough, the public’s thoughts tended towards the aforementioned stills. Xia Xingcheng’s studio was slow to issue a statement because they still hadn’t determined the source of the photos. They didn’t know whether there would be a follow-up, so they didn’t dare rush to clarify, fearing that they’d only be digging a hole for his future self.

The theory that they were film stills sparked a round of speculation among a great number of fans and netizens, with some solemnly believing that they were unaired footage from ‘Gradual Distance’. They even compared those photos with photos of Yang Youming to prove that the faceless man in the photo was actually him.

Others mentioned how Yang Youming and Xia Xingcheng were currently shooting another movie together, so maybe it was a scene from this movie? This assumption roused the excitement of the many fans of ‘Gradual Distance’, and they began hoping that in the new movie, Yu Haiyang and Fang Jianyuan would be given another chance by fate. Truth be told, Xia Xingcheng hadn’t anticipated it to head in that direction.

Though of course, there were more Weibo users who simply ate melons* and only wanted to know the truth. These melon-eating masses were the easiest to distract, however, and once there were new melons, the old melons would no longer be sweet.

*eat melons = consume gossip/rumours/etc.

Xia Xingcheng, this large, juicy watermelon, only needed to endure this patiently and not produce any new melons on his vine, and he’d eventually ripen into an old melon.

He briefly scrolled through Weibo, deliberately avoiding the negative comments, and when he exited Weibo at the end, his heart was an oasis of calm.

When Yang Youming finished showering, the phone that he’d left on the bedside table rang. He approached it and glanced at the screen, then picked it up and answered the call.

Xia Xingcheng looked up at him.

Yang Youming smiled when he heard the voice on the other end. He said, “Yeah, it was me.”

Xia Xingcheng showed a puzzled look.

Seeing this, Yang Youming mouthed “Ding Wenxun”, then directly moved the phone away from his ear and put it on loudspeaker.

Ding Wenxun’s voice immediately resounded from the phone. “Don’t play with me, was it really you?”

Yang Youming said, “Xingcheng’s right next to me. Want to say hello?” With that, he held the phone in front of Xia Xingcheng and moved it closer to him.

Xia Xingcheng was wholly unprepared. Startled, he waved him off vigorously.

Smiling, Yang Youming moved the phone a little closer and said, “Go on.”

Xia Xingcheng had no other option—he could only brace himself and call out, “Director Ding.”

Ding Wenxun was silent for a moment. After a while, he said, “That explains it then. I wondered what was going on.”

Yang Youming asked him, “What on earth are you talking about?”

Ding Wenxun said, “I don’t know. It’s beyond me. We’ll talk again later.” With that, he hung up directly.

Xia Xingcheng looked at Yang Youming, somewhat apprehensive as he asked, “Is he upset?”

“He didn’t sound upset.” Yang Youming placed his phone on the bedside table. “Don’t worry. He can’t even manage himself, he doesn’t have time to concern himself with other people’s business.”

Xia Xingcheng sat cross-legged on the bed.

Yang Youming bent his leg, kneeled on the bed, bowed down, and shifted closer to Xia Xingcheng’s lips, capturing his lower lip and sucking on it gently.

Xia Xingcheng’s eyes flew open. He stared at his beautiful brows and eyes that were just within reach, and opened his mouth to withstand the kiss.

They kissed for a while. Xia Xingcheng silently closed his eyes, yet that was it—as if all he wanted was a tender and affectionate kiss.

When their lips parted, Yang Youming kissed the tip of his nose and the skin between his eyebrows, his lips moist and warm. At last, he said, “It’s not a big deal.”

Xia Xingcheng said, “I know.”

He’d already made it through his hardest days. To him, anything that came after was truly nothing.

The next day, Xia Xingcheng returned to the set to continue shooting.

He sensed everybody looking at him with probing eyes—they were curious, yet nobody dared to question him.

He Zheng simply asked him if he was alright. After receiving a positive answer, with a cigarette wedged between his lips, he said, “Then let’s continue.”

Yang Youming had left the hotel with Xia Xingcheng at dawn, but he didn’t have any scenes until later on in the day. He finished styling a little later, so he directly sat down by He Zheng’s side and watched Xia Xingcheng shoot.

Xia Xingcheng and Ling Jiayue reshot the previous day’s scene, starting off from when Shu Mian reached out and pulled Han Bohan’s hand.

Ling Jiayue’s hand was colder than it was yesterday. The instant she held his hand, Xia Xingcheng’s whole body broke out in goosebumps. He forced himself to not break character and immerse himself in his role, looking at the young lady in front of him—the young lady who made his heart flutter.

Han Bohan liked Shu Mian a lot, but Shu Mian still hasn’t graduated from high school—she wasn’t even eighteen yet. He was more than ten years older than her, which was a terrible age gap.

Xia Xingcheng caught Ling Jiayue’s wrist and pushed away her hand slowly.

Yang Youming’s attention fell on the close-up shot of their hands. He saw how Xia Xingcheng’s grip was so tight that the blue veins on the back of his hand protruded as his grip turned Ling Jiayue’s wrist red.

Unwilling to be pushed away, Shu Mian reached for his hand again, yet Han Bohan rejected her once more.

This time, Shu Mian turned around and hugged Han Bohan’s leg.

Xia Xingcheng’s reflexes were practically identical to Han Bohan’s. He got up at once and retreated in a hurry, taking a deep breath before saying, “You need to go home!” His tone was slightly vicious, like the expression he had on his face as he looked at Ling Jiayue.

Yang Youming’s phone, which had been turned on silent, vibrated in his jacket pocket. The muffled buzz still made He Zheng throw him a discontented glance. He picked up his phone and headed out.

The scene passed smoothly in one take.

Hearing that He Zheng hadn’t requested a retake, Xia Xingcheng breathed a lot easier. These days, he was the actor who had the most NGs and retake requests. Yang Youming and Ling Jiayue often only needed one take for a scene to pass. They hardly ever NG-ed, especially when the two of them shared a scene.

The next scene was a shared scene between Xia Xingcheng and Yang Youming which required both a change in set and costume, so the staff got busy. When Yang Youming came back in, his face was expressionless. When Xia Xingcheng moved to greet him before changing his clothes, he found that Yang Youming’s eyes were cold. It was a kind of anger that didn’t involve his entire face—only those pair of profound and magnanimous eyes were unexpectedly frozen over.

Xia Xingcheng felt slightly uneasy, but he had to change his costume first.

When Xia Xingcheng came out after he finished changing, He Zheng was explaining the scene to Yang Youming. He promptly picked up his script and made his way over.

Prior to this scene, the plot had Han Bohan visiting his uncle’s company to obtain some help for Han Zhang. Yet instead, his uncle advised him against doing anything.

The fact his uncle was able to establish such a big company relied a great deal on Han Zhang’s position and connections. Up until now, on one hand, Han Bohan’s uncle sincerely wanted to help Han Zheng out—it was hard to do business if Han Zhang fell, after all—yet at the same time, he was worried that Han Zhang’s affairs would implicate him. And if that time comes and he himself followed Han Zhang in, nobody would be able to fish anybody out.

When he drove out, Han Bohan came across Sun Yao by the road outside the company and offered to drive him home. On the way back, Han Bohan stopped his car by a roadside florist and bought a bouquet of flowers.

Sun Yao stared at him as he got into the car with the bouquet in his hands.

Han Bohan gazed down at the flowers, and said, “For Xiao Yan. I hope she recovers soon.”

Sun Yao’s hand on his knee trembled faintly.

The scene they shot was a studio scene that occurred after Han Bohan sent Sun Yao home.

When Xia Xingcheng approached He Zheng, he heard He Zheng say to Yang Youming, “You’d better focus on your daughter. Don’t reveal any thoughts about Han Bohan’s actions, you don’t need to be moved.”

Yang Youming nodded.

Xia Xingcheng snuck a look at Yang Youming and only felt that he looked solemn—there was no other emotion displayed on his face apart from this.

He Zheng asked Xia Xingcheng, “Why do you think Han Bohan would go to Sun Yao’s place time and time again?”

Xia Xingcheng inwardly thought: to progress the plot. But there was no way these words could be uttered aloud. Instead, he carefully thought over Han Bohan’s current state of mind, and said, “He needs a crutch.”

“Sun Yao is his crutch?” He Zheng’s head remained bowed. He only lifted his eyes at him.

Xia Xingcheng said, “Han Bohan has never suffered this kind of hardship in his life. Only when he saw how staunchly Sun Yao kept on living despite having such a hard life did he feel a little consoled. It tells him that he’ll get through it.”

He Zheng didn’t say anything.

Yang Youming raised his eyes and looked at Xia Xingcheng. The corners of his mouth were faintly upturned as he said, “Very good. I’m with you on this.” It was as if the fury in his eyes that Xia Xingcheng saw before had never existed.

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⟵ Chapter 125 | TOC | Chapter 127 ⟶

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