“Knock, knock, knock!”
When the knocking came, Ming Yi was leaning against his headboard reading a script. The little Song Xiong dozing beside him was startled awake, flipping over to stand and barking fiercely at the door.
Ming Yi quickly put down the script, scooped the puppy into his arms, and raised his voice tentatively. “Who is it?”
“It is me.”
Ming Yi rubbed his aching temples. He must have read himself into a daze; Xie Yunxie had dismissed all the servants, so who else would be knocking at this hour?
He got out of bed and opened the door. His eyes carried a hint of confusion as he looked at Xie Yunxie, who was wearing pajamas and holding a stack of books. He clearly had something on his mind. Upon seeing the person, the puppy stopped barking and zipped back into his crate, hiding under the bedding as quiet as a mouse.
Xie Yunxie was half a head taller than Ming Yi. When he looked down, he naturally carried a slight air of pressure. Ming Yi felt a bit self-conscious under his gaze. “Is something the matter?”
“It is already late,” Xie Yunxie began, his grayish-blue eyes fixed unblinkingly on Ming Yi. “Are you still reading the script?”
Ming Yi gave a soft “Mm.”
Xie Yunxie frowned slightly in disapproval. “You have the audition first thing tomorrow morning. You should sleep early.”
Ming Yi told the truth. “I am a little anxious. I cannot sleep.”
Xie Yunxie did not say anything else. He glanced into the room and asked tentatively, “May I come in for a bit?”
Ming Yi hesitated for a moment before reluctantly agreeing. A bedroom is a private space, and having a relative stranger enter can easily cause the discomfort of an invaded territory. Fortunately, Xie Yunxie did not look around or touch things; he sat down honestly in a chair, adopting the posture of someone ready for a long talk.
Ming Yi sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes asking the silent question. What exactly was this man here for?
Xie Yunxie spoke with apparent sincerity. “Seeing how anxious you are, you probably will not be sleeping anytime soon. How about I give you some chicken soup for the soul?”
“Chicken soup?”
“Personal motivational stories,” Xie Yunxie said mysteriously. “After hearing them, perhaps you will not be so anxious.”
Was he going to tell his own story? Ming Yi’s attention was instantly captured. Since the arrival of this imposter, Ming Yi had only guessed that Xie Yunxie had faced similar hardships and had experience fighting against a plot; though he had ultimately failed, which led to the system bringing him to this world. However, Ming Yi knew very little about what Xie Yunxie had actually experienced.
Ming Yi looked at him curiously, waiting for the so-called chicken soup. Under that gaze, the gland at the back of Xie Yunxie’s neck felt slightly warm. He cleared his throat to hide it and began slowly. “In a far-off ABO world, there was a family that also brought home the wrong child.”
The word “also” was quite poignant. Ming Yi could not hide his surprise. He could not help but think: Was Xie Yunxie chosen by the system because he, too, was a cannon fodder in a True and False Young Master story?
Xie Yunxie smiled. “Does this plot sound familiar? You can guess: was I the real young master or the fake one?”
“The real one?” Ming Yi thought for a moment. Only a real young master would understand another.
“Wrong,” Xie Yunxie shook his head with a sigh. “I was the fake young master in that story. Just as I had obtained my dual degrees and returned from abroad in high spirits to take over the family business, the real young master of the Xie family returned.” Xie Yunxie lowered his eyelashes and gave a helpless smile. “As the fake one, I was naturally pushed out of the inheritance line and fell into a very awkward position.”
This was very different from Ming Yi’s situation. In the Yan family, Yan An, the fake young master, had not been pushed out at all.
Ming Yi could not help but ask, “And then?”
“I wanted to leave. I had the confidence that with my own two hands, I could create new wealth.” Xie Yunxie’s tone shifted. “But it was not that simple. The Xie family had only one child. Before the real one returned, all the family resources were tilted toward me to groom me as the next successor. As you can imagine, the real young master did not have the ability to take over the family business.”
Ming Yi guessed what happened next. “So they made you assist the real young master?”
“Yes. I had indeed enjoyed the family’s resources, so logically and emotionally, I owed them a return,” Xie Yunxie said plainly. “Just then, the family business faced a crisis. I was commissioned to head to the shareholders’ meeting to save the day. Like you, I spent the whole night mentally preparing, so anxious I could not sleep. I studied cases for several nights, prepared multiple versions of my talking points, and practiced my facial expressions in the mirror for a long time. I intended to face the crisis in my best state and turn the tide.”
Xie Yunxie’s tone grew nostalgic. “That day, I walked into the meeting room aggressively and delivered a passionate speech to a pack of old foxes, and then”
Ming Yi asked impulsively, “Did you succeed?”
“Then,” Xie Yunxie smiled, “I was beaten up by bodyguards and thrown out the front door of the company.”
Ming Yi: “…”
“What are you thinking?” Seeing Ming Yi’s blank expression, Xie Yunxie shook his head with a chuckle. “I was just a green youth fresh out of the ivory tower. There was no way I could outplay those old foxes. If I still had the status of the Xie heir, they might have been polite to me. But I was an imposter, an outsider with no power or influence. Why would they be polite?”
Ming Yi pursed his lips. “You said this was chicken soup.”
“It is chicken soup, just not a mindless power fantasy,” Xie Yunxie laughed. “I eventually built my own business empire. Is that not motivational enough? I just wanted to say that sometimes when you feel anxious and think you cannot do things well, it is perhaps not because your ability is poor, but because you lack experience and worldly wisdom.”
Xie Yunxie looked at Ming Yi, his voice very soft. “To grow that experience, you need to keep trying and keep making mistakes.”
Ming Yi stared at him, dazed.
“I do not know much about acting,” Xie Yunxie flicked the books in his lap. “But from my experience, rather than standing still and worrying about an illusory future, it is better to step directly onto the thorns beneath your feet and stomp out a path. I hope my chicken soup helps.”
Xie Yunxie handed the books to Ming Yi. “These are some other books I found for you. Look through them when you have time.”
Ming Yi accepted the books blankly. He watched as Xie Yunxie bid him goodnight, stretched, walked out of the room, and thoughtfully closed the door behind him.
After a long while, Ming Yi stood up to lock the door. He returned to bed and, under the light, flipped through the books. In a collection of poetry, he found a bookmark. Following it, he turned to a page and saw a poem that had been specially marked: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.
Ming Yi whispered the lines aloud:
“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Yes. The moment he learned this world was just a group-favored novel, his past and future lost all meaning. He had felt anger, grief, ridicule, and despair. He had once decided he would simply walk into that good night, into the ending of death by drowning at sea, ending his already ridiculous life.
But Xie Yunxie told him: Do not go gentle into that good night.
Ming Yi smiled, and as he smiled, tears dropped one by one onto the pages of the book. Asking himself honestly, was he willing to just die like this? Of course not. Fame, affection, ideals; he had obtained nothing he wanted, only to become a vicious cannon fodder in someone else’s life and die without a sound. How could he be willing?
The reason he stepped toward that good night was that before him, there was only one hopeless path he could not resist. But now, someone told him: It is better to step directly onto the thorns beneath your feet and stomp out a path.
At this moment, Ming Yi suddenly realized that on this thorny path, he was no longer walking alone. He could refuse to enter that good night and grasp the last sliver of light. Who decided such a fate for him? Who manipulated this world and turned it into a story revolving around one person?
“Rage, rage against the dying of the light,” Ming Yi murmured.
Yes. He would rather be in pain than be numb.
The next day, Ming Yi arrived at the audition venue on time. Besides him, there were three other actors. Seeing Ming Yi enter, everyone’s face showed a slight hint of something odd. After all, Ming Yi’s acting was famously terrible in the industry.
Ming Yi ignored the looks and focused on contemplating the character in the script. He had read the original work. The villain he was auditioning for, Ying Buran, was a relatively complex character. As a child, he was just a beggar. After doing a series of bad things, he rose to the heavens and became the famous Wuwang Immortal Lord of the cultivation world.
However, just before his ascension, he developed a heart demon. To resolve it, he began secretly taking revenge on all his former enemies until he faced off against the righteous protagonist group. During the investigation, the protagonists pieced together Ying Buran’s past and eventually fought a final battle at the peak of Wuwang Mountain. Ying Buran’s combat power was very high; in the early stages, he left the protagonist group with no room to fight back. He only lost because the protagonists used his disgraceful past to trigger his heart demon.
It was a very typical villain role, and a type Ming Yi had never attempted. He had been afraid he could not act such a role well, but thinking of Xie Yunxie’s chicken soup from last night, he felt okay. He could accept the consequences of failure. At the very least, if he acted poorly, he would not be beaten up by the director and producer and thrown onto the main road.
So, let it be. There was no need for high expectations; simply experiencing the feeling of acting was enough. Ming Yi placed himself into Ying Buran’s experiences and state of mind. When it was his turn, he stood up calmly and walked inside.