Yu Cheng suddenly saw the light, feeling a sense of sudden enlightenment as if a new path had opened up amidst dark times.
What romance and companionship, what love-hate entanglement—compared to his own little life, those were all utterly trash!
Thus—
Other people desperately fought for promotional appearances.
Yu Cheng sprawled on the sofa, cracking sunflower seeds.
Other people woke up early and stayed up late to run schedules.
Yu Cheng lay in bed visiting the God of Dreams.
Other people cast uncomprehending gazes.
Yu Cheng responded with a sympathetic look.
Everyone: “?”
Even Tong Shi was completely baffled as to where Yu Cheng got this leisurely and carefree attitude; a ball of stifled anger blocked his chest, and nothing about him felt comfortable.
The exhilarating feeling of revenge supposedly achieved was completely absent; instead, the more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became.
“Is Yu Cheng’s brain broken?!”
At 1:00 AM, the bloodshot veins in Tong Shi’s eyes were clearly visible. Burned by a fury that had nowhere to vent, they looked terrifyingly red: “Even work has stopped, what on earth is he so happy about all day long?!”
Tong Shi’s manager didn’t understand either, thinking long and hard: “Aside from the show Home, Yu Cheng’s nearly-negotiated web drama has also fallen through. President Zhong has no intention of letting him off, so he can only sit around the company doing nothing.”
Tong Shi sat in front of the vanity mirror, sizing up his own face: “Of course President Zhong won’t let Yu Cheng go. Leaving aside the fact that I am now the company’s cash cow, just based on my relationship with President Zhong…”
He stopped right there without continuing, but the manager knew the twists and turns behind it and chuckled in agreement.
Seemingly thinking of something, Tong Shi’s expression abruptly changed: “Go find out if Chu Hanfeng is really planning to go on Home. Don’t tell me he just casually threw out a gimmick to fool people and waste my time.”
The manager paused, hesitating: “How could that be?”
“You never know,” Tong Shi said irritably. “Otherwise, why would the parachute opportunity that Yu Cheng worked so hard to negotiate—now that it’s gone—make him act like he won millions in the lottery, happy like a fool all day long? I’m afraid he’s getting ready to watch us make fools of ourselves.”
On the other side, Yu Cheng’s dream of roast meat hadn’t even reached his mouth before he was startled awake by a ringing phone, the rich aroma at his lips vanishing instantly.
He was so mad.
After repeatedly reminiscing about that illusory, delicious feast, Yu Cheng lazily reached a hand out from under the quilt, grabbed at the air a few times before finding his phone, and unpolitely let out a “Hello?”
“Yu Cheng, what’s your situation?”
“?”
Yu Cheng already had a heavy bed-waking temper, and being asked such a sudden question by the person on the other end made him even angrier. He demanded inexplicably, “Are you sick in the middle of the night?”
The person on the other end laughed instead of getting angry, mixing banter with the rowdy background music: “When you asked me to help you get on the show without arousing suspicion, we were like brothers, calling me your little darling. Now that you’ve crossed the river and burned the bridge because you don’t want to go anymore, you start stamping your feet and cursing me for being sick?”
Yu Cheng: “?”
When had he ever said such disgusting things?
Yu Cheng fell silent for a few good seconds: “Pei Yan, you must be dead drunk. Darling your grandpa.”
The group of people on the other end of the phone were clearly having a wild time, the sound of wine glasses and rolling dice constant. Pei Yan dragged out his tone amidst the lively noise to reply: “Have you played enough of the hard-working and striving persona? If you’ve played enough, come out for a few drinks. I have something to discuss with you.”
Half an hour later, at the bar.
Yu Cheng raised a hand to adjust the brim of his cap. The black hair on his forehead had been pressed somewhat messy, the tips slightly blocking his eyes. Paired with that dispassionate expression, he looked lazy and drowsy.
Before he even had a chance to sit down, Yu Cheng’s head tilted sideways as someone hooked their arm around his shoulders.
Pei Yan’s body reeked of alcohol, so pungent that Yu Cheng couldn’t help wrinkling the bridge of his nose and impatiently pushing the other man away: “Say what you need to say, keep your hands to yourself.”
“Look at you. We’re family, is it possible you’re trying to stay pure for Chu Hanfeng to this extent?”
Pei Yan complained in disgust, dropping the formalities with Yu Cheng to get straight to the point: “I’ve run into some trouble recently. Can you help me bridge a connection with Chu Hanfeng so we have a chance to share a meal together?”
Yu Cheng wore an expression asking whether you are sick or I am sick, and before he could refuse, Pei Yan leaned close to his ear and snatched the words away: “Didn’t your family have some history with Chu Hanfeng before? Just step forward and make the introduction; we’ll figure out the rest ourselves.”
Others might not know it, but Pei Yan had grown up alongside Yu Cheng since they were kids. He knew that because of his family background, Yu Cheng had known Chu Hanfeng back when they were students. There was once when Yu Cheng had been dragged by him to fight and they both ended up in the police station; it was Chu Hanfeng who came in the middle of the night to pick them up.
Though Yu Cheng was always reluctant to dwell on that.
He still hadn’t figured out what kind of relationship existed between these two, but with a dead horse treated like a live horse, Pei Yan figured after much thought that if Yu Cheng could help him speak up, there might be a two-tenths chance.
Yet Yu Cheng only felt that if he stepped forward, it might just give the other party even more things to worry about.
After all, following standard development, anyone who got entangled with a villain like him probably wouldn’t end up with a very good fate.
“If my words carried any weight, would I still need you to help me snatch a guest spot on a show?” Yu Cheng blocked a hand. “I’m not drinking, don’t pour me any.”
“You’re the one making trouble out of nothing, insisting on running away from home under the noble banner of following in Chu Hanfeng’s footsteps.”
“?”
“Let me tell you, the persona of the hard-working, pitiful underdog is out of style,” Pei Yan pushed the wine glass Yu Cheng had just shoved away right back in front of him. “Listen to your big brother and you won’t go wrong. It’s just a glass of wine and a bed; how could you still worry about failing to chase someone down?”
Yu Cheng frowned, casting a suspicious look at Pei Yan.
The other man winked at the rim of the cup: “I’ll figure out a way to get some good stuff later. Once Chu Hanfeng gets a little hot-headed, won’t things just naturally fall into place?”
Before the words could even fade, Yu Cheng casually brushed the wine glass away!
The glass shattered against the marble floor with a crisp sound, splashing wine all over the ground.
In an instant, the surrounding people fell silent.
The frantically spinning dice tumbled out of the dice cup along with the deafening rhythm of the music, landing among the splashing shards.
“You—”
Almost as a conditioned reflex, Pei Yan leaned forward, instinctively clenching his fists, only to freeze for half a moment upon realizing the person opposite him was Yu Cheng, blankly meeting Yu Cheng’s angry eyes.
“You aren’t even disgusted by your own words.”
Yu Cheng’s expression was unkind, and it was also at this moment that he recalled a few scattered fragments of memories from his dream.
In the dream, Chu Hanfeng had indeed once accidentally drunk some spiked wine at a banquet, while he himself had inexplicably taken the wrong room key and appeared in Chu Hanfeng’s hotel room.
At that time, he was jealous because Chu Hanfeng was close with others, and coupled with the provocative words added by Pei Yan and the others, he really had almost nearly crossed the line with Chu Hanfeng…
Unable to suppress it, Yu Cheng took a deep breath, re-evaluating the close friend of over twenty years standing before him.
Meanwhile, the other man’s hands were still tightly gripping Yu Cheng’s sleeve. Trying his hardest to control his temper, Pei Yan asked in disbelief: “Yu Cheng, are you out of your mind?!”
Yu Cheng stood up, looking down condescendingly at the stunned person before him: “Even if you like someone, you shouldn’t resort to tricks like this. Put away those improper thoughts of yours before you bring fire upon yourself.”
Pei Yan’s breath surged up and down, and he retorted with displeasure: “I was only talking about it, do you have to overreact like this?”
“Talking about it isn’t allowed either.”
Yu Cheng furrowed his brows in silence for half a second before adding: “Besides, I don’t like Chu Hanfeng anymore. I won’t chase after him all day long and make him unhappy.”
It was also right then that Yu Cheng raised his head. Through the glittering, dissolute lights of wine and song, amidst the gorgeous halo, he caught sight of a tall figure that had no business being there. That white shirt and tailored suit trousers looked out of place with the surrounding environment no matter how one looked at it.
That person was separated from him by a few booths, locking eyes with him amidst the interlacing lights and shadows. Those short few seconds felt like passing through several centuries.
Yu Cheng was dazzled by the colored lights, nearly thinking he was seeing things.
On a sudden impulse, he instinctively wanted to run.
As a result, his sleeve was still being grabbed by Pei Yan.
The coffee table was bumped with a loud clatter, sending wine bottles crashing over in all directions.
“Fine, fine, fine, if you don’t like him then you don’t like him, I won’t bring him up to you anymore, alright?”
Pei Yan bit the inside of his cheek, looking somewhat unconvinced, though his tone softened with a conciliatory stance: “Chu Hanfeng is just a bastard. The world is full of fragrant grass, it’s his own loss for not knowing a good thing. Since you’ve come to your senses, that’s great.”
Yu Cheng: “?”
Pei Yan stood up as well, turning to wrap an arm around Yu Cheng’s shoulder, speaking in a coaxing tone: “Right on time, I recently met a few people from the drama academy—good-looking guys and pretty girls. Next time I’ll set up a date and bring them out so you can see if any catch your eye…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a shadow paused right in front of him out of the corner of his eye.
Pei Yan turned his head only to run straight into an incomparably cold face, swallowing the rest of his unsaid words right back into his stomach.
Pei Yan: “?”
Chu Hanfeng?
Pei Yan’s first reaction was: Hell, why is he in a place like this?
Pei Yan held his breath as he stared at Chu Hanfeng’s calm, pitch-black brows and eyes, his mind blank for a few seconds.
Chu Hanfeng’s face always gave people a subtle feeling at first glance. Perhaps the sense of unapproachability was simply too strong, set off against his perfect bone structure and handsome appearance. It transformed his already aloof and cold temperament into a kind of astonishing impact. Even his distinct facial contours and clean, sharp jawline exuded an indescribable nobility, giving off the illusion of someone completely detached from worldly mortal affairs.
And Chu Hanfeng just stood there expressionless, sweeping a single, unblinking glance over the two men shoulder-to-shoulder beside him without even twitching a brow.
Unconsciously, Pei Yan stepped aside, taking the initiative to clear a path for Chu Hanfeng alongside Yu Cheng.
Yet Chu Hanfeng didn’t move his feet.
Recovering his wits, Pei Yan glanced past Chu Hanfeng’s gaze toward Yu Cheng’s tense profile, and abruptly remembering his original intention, tentatively asked: “Brother Feng, did you come here to hang out too?”
Yu Cheng: “?”
Pei Yan: “If it’s convenient, care to join us?”
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”
Before Chu Hanfeng could make any move, Yu Cheng muttered softly into Pei Yan’s ear.
Without even needing to think, there was no way the answer would be convenient.
Yu Cheng’s thin eyelids drooped slightly, his eyelashes fluttering softly amidst the flashing colored lights. For a fleeting second, he looked remarkably like he had back at the police station when Chu Hanfeng had appeared out of nowhere.
His face was plastered with rejection and awkwardness. If not for saving face, he probably would have bolted on the spot.
Before, he used to think it was humiliating.
This time, he was desperately trying to distance himself from an improper relationship.
Fortunately, Chu Hanfeng’s gaze didn’t linger in Yu Cheng’s direction for long.
He withdrew his gaze. His naturally sharp brows and eyes, along with his tightly pressed thin lips, pushed his innate aloofness to the absolute extreme. Passing by them shoulder-to-shoulder, he didn’t leave behind a single extra glance.
Yu Cheng’s tense shoulders immediately sagged, finally letting out a long sigh of relief.
Only the restless heart inside his chest was still pounding frantically, reminding him of the helpless, panicked state of mind from just a second prior.
It was practically going to cost him his old life.
Having finally calmed his emotions, Yu Cheng silently pondered: meeting Chu Hanfeng used to feel harder than ascending to the heavens, but now that he himself was wishing he could stay three hundred miles away from the man, he had gone and run right into him by sheer coincidence.
Sure enough, his luck as a villainous cannon fodder really just sucked!
He had nothing when he needed it, and whatever he tried to hide from came right at him.
Disregarding Pei Yan, who had rushed off to chase after Chu Hanfeng, Yu Cheng was left standing in place speechless until Sun Can suddenly called him.
The other end transmitted Sun Can’s shocked and delighted voice, his tone undulating with ups and downs like a herald of good news: “I heard President Zhong and Tong Shi both backed down! The parachute spot for Home hasn’t changed, it’s still you!”
Yu Cheng: “?”
Sun Can: “Count yourself lucky!”
Yu Cheng: “?”
Lucky my foot.
Yu Cheng paused for a second: “Help me check the almanac, is today an exceptionally bad day for everything?”
Sun Can: “?”
Yu Cheng: “Do I really have to go? Can I not go?”
Sun Can: “?”
Yu Cheng gritted his teeth resentfully: “There are always scumbags trying to frame me!”
Sun Can: “?”
For Tong Shi to actually back down—Yu Cheng felt this was definitely a trap.
Digging a pit and filling it with soil all in one smooth motion, they were probably just waiting for him to obediently jump right in.
Yet to outsiders, this opportunity falling from the sky was no different than pie dropping from the heavens or the gods handing food to eat.
“I knew it, what was Yu Cheng looking so happy about the other day? Turns out he latched onto a backer and was feeling smug about having a patron.”
“Seems like his last name is Pei. The reason Yu Cheng managed to hook Home before was also because that person pulled strings…”
“Finding a sugar daddy on one side while setting up a loyal-fan persona for Chu Hanfeng on the other, isn’t he ashamed of himself? I heard that when he was hanging out with his sugar daddy yesterday, he happened to run into Chu Hanfeng, and Yu Cheng didn’t even dare make a peep.”
“So what if he has a backer? If brother Tong Shi hadn’t given up the opportunity to him, there’s no way he’d be strutting around like this… Why are you pushing me?”
Two or three people muttered among themselves as they walked, never expecting that Yu Cheng—who hadn’t been seen for days—would suddenly appear in the company in such a fiery rush. Their footsteps immediately came to a halt.
Yu Cheng cast a light glance toward the corners of his eyes. The moment their eyes met, that lazy, bantering amusement grew even heavier.
To say he felt no guilty conscience would be a lie.
Yet ordinarily, Yu Cheng always looked down his nose at people. There were plenty of folks who found Yu Cheng displeasing to the eye, and having finally waited for Yu Cheng to take a tumble, only to see signs of a resurgence just days later, was genuinely infuriating.
Especially being slanted with a look like that by Yu Cheng—
That person flew into a rage out of humiliation and snapped, “Don’t push me, I didn’t say anything wrong.”
These words weren’t directed at Yu Cheng, but the exaggerated tone with an intentionally raised pitch made the meaning self-evident.
Yu Cheng stopped in his tracks and turned around.
There were already plenty of artists in the company, especially with talent shows popping up endlessly over the past few years. Regardless of whether they had potential or not, management signed them all first anyway—even if only one dark horse charged out of a hundred people, it was still profit.
Yu Cheng thought for a fleeting moment, unable to recall the name of the person before him.
Perhaps because Yu Cheng wore his thoughts straight across his face, the other person’s complexion transitioned from red to green in less than half a second, becoming even more indignant: “So what if you have a backer? What’s so great about that?”
This remark directly laughed Yu Cheng out of his annoyance. Too lazy to expose them, he sneered, “So what if I do?”
Probably not expecting Yu Cheng to brazenly and openly admit to it in broad daylight, the other person choked for a moment, failing to immediately follow up.
The mockery in Yu Cheng’s eyes didn’t wane: “Not only do I have a backer, but I’m also better-looking than you. Got a problem with that?”
“You—”
“If all else fails, go take a page out of your Brother Tong Shi’s book. That way you might avoid remaining a complete zero-hits-across-the-entire-web figure, free enough to do nothing but gossip behind people’s backs.”
“…”
Disregarding the low-toned dissuasions of their companion, that bastard’s eyes turned red with anger, their breathing gradually deepening as they blurted out: “Still better than your shameless black-and-red fame! Bullying Tong Shi is one thing, but you’re dead-set on clinging to Chu Hanfeng for clout, why don’t you check whether Chu Hanfeng even knows who you are!”
Even though he was reluctant to bring up that name…
Yu Cheng let out a cold chuckle, his eyes narrowing slightly: “Whether Chu Hanfeng knows who I am, what does that have to do with you?”
“I’m just speaking up for Chu Hanfeng.”
“Or is it…” Before the sentence could finish, Yu Cheng cut them off, “…that he doesn’t know me, but he knows you?”