LBC |Love Beyond Control/Chapter 22

Chapter 22

After Xiang Zhufeng finished the socializing and was sent back to the hotel by a designated driver, it was already ten o’clock at night.

He could not remember how many dinner gatherings this month it had been, but the content was always much the same. It was nothing more than helping Xin Jianye attend occasions where he was not fit to show up in person.

Tonight was the same. Because of the needs of the film shoot, Wang Muge needed to build a new Republican-era film and television base as soon as possible, and he needed to help Xin Jianye secure this project.

Although a film and television base required a large upfront investment, after the movie wrapped, it could not only be rented out to other crews, it could also sell tickets to tourists. It was a business with huge profits and no losses.

More importantly, the financial maneuvering room involved in building a film city was enormous, and it could perfectly serve as a smokescreen for Hanhai to handle abnormal cash flow.

For two hours, five glasses of strong liquor. Just as Xiang Zhufeng had been disgusted to the extreme by these hypocritical rules of drinking-table socializing, and was about to topple over headfirst, he finally got the result that would make Xin Jianye trust him even more.

Back at the hotel, after vomiting for the third time in the bathroom, Xiang Zhufeng considered himself mostly sober. Aside from his head still aching in waves, he had basically regained control of his limbs.

After washing up, the painkillers he had urgently ordered had also been delivered to the door.

Xiang Zhufeng opened the door and took them in. In the gap before he was about to close the door, he heard the sound of the room next door opening.

He had not deliberately memorized it, but he still remembered that Xin Yuan was living in the room next door.

Xiang Zhufeng quickly admitted that his earlier judgment might have been wrong.

If he were really in a sober state, he should not have cared, let alone wanted to know why Xin Yuan would go out at this hour.

Xiang Zhufeng’s steps were still a little unsteady, but fortunately the hotel floor was covered with a thick carpet, so until Xin Yuan pushed open the rooftop door, he had not noticed Xiang Zhufeng following not far behind him.

Through the crack in the door that Xin Yuan had not fully closed, Xiang Zhufeng saw Ren Song’s figure standing not far away.

He could not hear exactly what the two of them were saying, and could only see Xin Yuan and Ren Song leaning side by side against the railing, chatting easily.

At first the two of them were still keeping some distance, but very quickly, after Ren Song lit another cigarette, Xin Yuan took the initiative to turn around.

Surrounded by the night, Ren Song slowly lowered his head toward Xin Yuan. Their figures blended together, drawing closer and closer, as if the next second they would be kissing.

Creak.

For no reason, Xiang Zhufeng heard a crisp crack from the joints of his fingers.

He had thought he would just turn around and leave, pretending he had seen nothing.

But his hand had already slipped out of conscious control. Within a few seconds, he took out his phone and dialed Xin Yuan’s number.

“Where are you?”

The moment he asked that, Xiang Zhufeng saw Xin Yuan’s body visibly tremble, then stiffen in place.

“Xin Yuan, don’t lie to me again.”

Xiang Zhufeng gritted his teeth. He could not even tell whether this was an order or a plea. He only thought that if Xin Yuan lied to him again, even if it was only one more word, he would never in his entire life feel the slightest softness toward this person again.

Through the phone, Xin Yuan also sensed Xiang Zhufeng’s suppressed anger, and replied carefully.

“…I’m with Ren Song.”

“Where, and what are you doing?” Xiang Zhufeng asked at once.

Such a pinning interrogation, as if being with Ren Song were some enormous sin.

Xin Yuan really fell silent again. It took several seconds before he said, “I couldn’t sleep tonight, and I ran into him on the hotel rooftop, so we just chatted for a while…”

“Chatting?” Xiang Zhufeng let out a cold laugh. “Then what’s in your hand?”

Xin Yuan’s hand holding the cigarette shook violently, and his whole body was instantly frozen in place.

As if summoned by some force, he stiffly turned his head and saw Xiang Zhufeng’s figure emerging from the darkness not far away, walking toward him step by step.

Xin Yuan’s mind went blank. He instinctively stepped back, but the cold railing was right behind him, so he could only put his hands behind his back and hide the cigarette butt there.

The ember seared his palm in an instant, but Xin Yuan did not feel the pain. He could only feel Xiang Zhufeng’s boundless anger, as if he had done something terribly excessive and unforgivable again.

Before Xiang Zhufeng even reached him, the strong smell of alcohol hit him.

At half a meter away, Xin Yuan also smelled the thick odor of smoke and liquor, something that absolutely would never have been on the old Xiang Zhufeng.

Xiang Zhufeng did not speak. He only suddenly clamped down on Xin Yuan’s wrist and forcibly yanked the hand hidden behind his back to the front.

Xin Yuan had no doubt that if Ren Song had not still been there, Xiang Zhufeng would have directly broken his wrist.

Under such an out-of-control force, Xin Yuan should obviously have felt very pain, but what was terrifying was that he found himself unable to cry out in pain, and unable to speak. It was as if, once he met Xiang Zhufeng’s gaze of such disgust toward him, not even a single extra syllable could come out.

“Mr. Xiang, I think you may have misunderstood something.”

Before the situation could further deteriorate, Ren Song spoke to explain.

“I came to the rooftop tonight for some air, and happened to run into Xin Yuan. I just said a few words to him.”

It would have been better if Ren Song had not said anything. With this explanation, Xiang Zhufeng only felt even more disgusted.

What kind of coincidence would it take for two people to be so in sync as to come to the rooftop at the same time, and make such intimate gestures.

Fifteen days.

From the start of filming until now, it had only been half a month. Yet Xin Yuan could already so lightly, so casually, develop this kind of relationship with someone he had never known.

Before, Xiang Zhufeng could still fool himself. Even if Xin Yuan was full of lies, at least during that time in the rental apartment, Xin Yuan had truly treated him well.

But only now did he understand that, whether it was him or Ren Song, or any person in the world, as long as they threw Xin Yuan a little worthless olive branch, they could unconditionally receive Xin Yuan’s intimacy and trust.

Xiang Zhufeng’s temples hurt again. His nerves felt as if they were being torn back and forth by an invisible hand, and the face that was always so innocent before his eyes also blurred.

Before his body completely lost control, Xiang Zhufeng forced down the discomfort and flung away Xin Yuan’s hand.

“Then it seems very unfortunate that my appearance disturbed you both. Please continue.”

After saying that, he turned and left, not wanting Xin Yuan to see his abnormal state at that moment.

But before he had even taken two steps, the abnormal stabbing pain intensified.

Xiang Zhufeng’s eyes instantly went white. He subconsciously wanted to find something to support himself, but there was nothing around him. He could only stagger about in embarrassment.

“…Xiang Zhufeng!”

In his daze, Xiang Zhufeng heard an anxious call by his ear. Immediately after, a pair of very cold hands caught him from the void.

Xin Yuan also knew that to panic like this and catch someone who had just shoved him away looked like a very humiliating thing to do.

Clearly, the second before, he had still been confused, wronged, and, because of Xiang Zhufeng’s inexplicable anger, angrily, though to little effect.

But when he saw Xiang Zhufeng suddenly bend over, painfully clutching his forehead, he still rushed forward at once to support him. Just like all this time, he knew Xiang Zhufeng hated him, yet still could not help thinking about him again and again.

It was just that everything happened too suddenly. After Xin Yuan caught Xiang Zhufeng by instinct, he realized he simply could not bear his weight, and was instantly dragged to the ground by the momentum.

Fortunately, Ren Song reacted quickly. Before the two of them fell together, he supported Xiang Zhufeng’s shoulder.

“Xin Yuan, stand steady first. Put his arm over my back. You can’t carry him alone.”

Ren Song had been mixing in the circle for so many years, and at a glance he could tell that the relationship between Xin Yuan and Xiang Zhufeng was not ordinary. At this moment, he also did not want to get angry with a jealous drunk.

He helped Xin Yuan drag and carry Xiang Zhufeng all the way, and finally got him onto the bed in Xin Yuan’s room.

“He drank like this, so tonight you won’t be able to rest well either.”

Ren Song panted hard and shook his head. “So young, and already not taking care of his body. You’ll have plenty to worry about in the future.”

Sensing Ren Song’s misunderstanding of their relationship, Xin Yuan originally wanted to explain a few words, but Ren Song only left one sentence, telling him to call anytime if anything happened again, then left the room.

The room instantly became terrifyingly quiet, with only Xiang Zhufeng’s rough breathing left.

Xin Yuan stood by the bed, looking at the tightly furrowed brows of Xiang Zhufeng, and after hesitating for a few seconds, he finally walked forward.

If Xiang Zhufeng were in a sober state, he probably would not have wanted to stay with him for even one more second.

Only in this state of complete unconsciousness would he allow him to slowly undo his collar and wipe his burning-hot skin with a towel.

Xin Yuan’s movements were very light. When he wiped his wrist, he saw that Xiang Zhufeng was wearing a watch that was clearly very expensive.

Xin Yuan stopped moving, and for a moment he could not tell what he was feeling.

Aside from this watch, Xin Yuan knew that the suit on Xiang Zhufeng was also expensive. Even the tie he had just taken off could cover the living expenses of the old Xiang Zhufeng for a year, or even longer.

He Ye had called him some time ago and said that Xiang Zhufeng was very capable. In just a few short months, Xin Jianye already dared to hand him the company’s key project. Given time, Xiang Zhufeng would definitely surpass her authority and become a very big hidden danger, so he absolutely had to stay far away from Xiang Zhufeng.

Ever since the day Xiang Zhufeng had him sign the contract for those two hundred thousand, Xin Yuan had already understood that all of this was only a matter of time.

He was just curious. Helping someone like Xin Jianye work would definitely involve many moments that went against one’s conscience and principles. Would everything exchanged at such a price really be what the original Xiang Zhufeng wanted?

Thinking this, Xin Yuan’s fingertips slowly touched Xiang Zhufeng’s tightly furrowed brow.

No matter which path you choose to take, I hope that when you look back in the future, you won’t regret it.

Because he was not sure when Xiang Zhufeng would wake up, and in order to make sure that when he woke up he would not get angry because the first thing he saw was Xin Yuan by his side, after helping Xiang Zhufeng clean up, Xin Yuan chose to hold a pillow and make do with sleeping on the sofa chair for one night.

But just as Xin Yuan was about to leave the bedside, the hem of his clothes was suddenly grabbed by a very strong force.

Xin Yuan’s clothes and heart instantly tightened. Before he could make any response, he heard Xiang Zhufeng speak in a daze.

“Don’t go…”

Xiang Zhufeng’s voice was very hoarse, so much so that it took Xin Yuan several seconds before he realized what he was saying.

His brows furrowed even tighter, as if he had encountered something extremely painful in a dream. His whole body, wrapped in the blanket, slowly curled up like a wronged child.

Although he knew that this sentence was in no way meant for him, Xin Yuan still slowly turned around, took Xiang Zhufeng’s trembling hand into his own palm, and carefully sat back down beside him.

He did not know if it was because he had vomited beforehand, but although his head still had its usual pain, Xiang Zhufeng finally slept well once.

In the dream, for the first time, he did not have a nightmare about the car accident.

He did not see the tragic scene of his grandmother and younger sister bleeding from all seven orifices, nor did he hear them wailing and asking why he had not gone to save them, why he had stayed beside the murderer doing things for him.

Everything became soft and calm. He returned to the very distant past, to when he was little, following behind his mother every day as she took him to and from school, tightly holding that hand that held him securely.

The next morning, Xiang Zhufeng woke from the familiar dizziness.

Every time he woke after a hangover, it took him several seconds to remember that he had already become Xin Jianye’s assistant, had already done many things against his conscience for him, and that he could only and had to keep going in order to step by step obtain the evidence he wanted.

Before Xiang Zhufeng was fully awake, Xin Yuan had also opened his eyes.

Last night, after several attempts still could not shake off Xiang Zhufeng’s tightly held hand, Xin Yuan finally gave up struggling and leaned against the headboard at as much distance from Xiang Zhufeng as possible, sleeping stiffly for the whole night.

Now that he finally felt the force on his wrist loosen, he was just about to pull his hand back when he met Xiang Zhufeng’s opened eyes head-on.

The air froze instantly. The two of them looked at each other silently for several seconds.

Just as Xiang Zhufeng lowered his brows and was about to open his mouth to ask why he was here at this time, he found that he was gripping Xin Yuan’s wrist in an extremely unreasonable posture.

The place he was holding already had an obvious ring of bruising, and the owner of the injured wrist was looking at him nervously and helplessly.

A chaotic flood of memories rushed into his mind. Although the images were still blurry, through the brand-new clothes on his body, as well as the basin and towel by the bedside, Xiang Zhufeng more or less guessed what had happened.

Just then, a knock suddenly sounded from outside the door.

Xiao Nuan’s voice came through the door.

“Xiaoyuan ge, are you done getting ready? The car is already waiting downstairs, we’re getting ready to leave.”

There was no real response in the room. Xiao Nuan thought that Xin Yuan was still washing up and had not heard, so after waiting a few more minutes, she was just about to knock again when she saw the door open from inside.

Xiang Zhufeng’s figure appeared in front of the door out of nowhere.

At this moment, Xiao Nuan was biting a rice ball. She immediately widened her eyes and coughed hard, almost vomiting out the grains she had not yet swallowed.

“There was an urgent matter at the company just now. I came to find him, and we have already talked it through.”

When Xiang Zhufeng said this, his expression was very natural. After speaking, he also glanced imperceptibly at Xin Yuan beside him.

Xin Yuan immediately understood. “Mm, we just finished talking, and now we can leave.”

Xiao Nuan was full of suspicion, but could not find any evidence. Relying on her extremely high professional standards and survival instinct, she decided to act as if she had seen nothing.

Xin Yuan usually finished his makeup the fastest. But today, when the makeup artist was doing his makeup, she added a bit more concealer under his eyes, and even teased him about whether he had not slept well last night, and whether it was rare for her to get to show off her makeup skills.

Fortunately, although Xin Yuan was sleepy to the point of not being able to hold on, his state in front of the camera was still perfect. Only after filming one scene and going to wait for the next one did he finally not hold up anymore and start dozing off.

While half asleep, Xin Yuan’s wrist suddenly felt cold. He opened his eyes and saw Xiao Nuan half-crouched in front of him, applying an ice pack to his wrist.

“Xiaoyuan ge, I saw your wrist getting more and more swollen, so I bought you some ice packs. Does it hurt like this?”

Xin Yuan froze. Only then did he lower his head and see that a red ring had appeared there at some point.

“Thank you, I don’t feel much. If you hadn’t said it, I wouldn’t have even noticed…”

If Mr. Xiang hadn’t sent me a message, I wouldn’t have noticed it either!

Xiao Nuan muttered to herself in her heart, thinking how good it was that her boss cared about the artist.

But the strange thing was that Xiang Zhufeng kept sending her several messages telling her to buy ice packs for Xin Yuan, and if he felt uncomfortable, to take Xin Yuan to the hospital, but after sending them, he said not to tell Xin Yuan, and that she could only say it was something she herself had noticed.

Xiao Nuan did not understand, but for the very high salary, Xiao Nuan decided to obediently do as told.

When the film had been shooting for nearly a month, Xin Yuan met his manager Lin Sheng for the first time.

In He Ye’s description, Lin Sheng was a very capable woman. Although she had come for the purpose of making him famous, she was still fundamentally someone from Xin Jianye’s side, so he had to be on guard.

But He Ye would not know that, for everything outside of filming, Xin Yuan actually did not want to ask about it.

From the day he clearly knew everything was a trap, yet still agreed to sign the contract with Xiang Zhufeng, he had already stopped caring about these people’s true motives. After all, no matter what they wanted to use him for, it would never exceed one ten-thousandth of the harm Xiang Zhufeng had once done to him.

“Xin Yuan, although I haven’t been able to come find you during this time, I’ve been watching the videos Xiao Nuan sent, and I also heard that Director Wang Muge is very satisfied with your performance. Your potential is even greater than I had expected.”

Faced with Lin Sheng’s praise, Xin Yuan only said thank you, without any especially strong reaction.

“But in this circle, if you want to go farther and make more people remember you, being good at acting alone isn’t enough.”

Lin Sheng paused, then said the real purpose of her visit today.

“For the time being, besides filming, I will arrange special teachers for you to teach you how to deal with the media. In addition, I will have Xiao Nuan record videos of all aspects of your filming, life, and so on, as material for marketing you in the future. I need you to cooperate with her.”

In this one-sided conversation, Xin Yuan remained very quiet the whole time. In his calm expression there was neither acceptance nor any particular rejection, only a reply that he understood and would try his best to cooperate.

Looking so easy to talk to and with no temper at all, Lin Sheng actually felt that Xin Yuan was somewhat pitiful.

On him, too many tangled interests had been wrapped together.

Xiang Zhufeng was using him as the ticket to gain Xin Jianye’s trust, then slowly collecting the evidence he wanted, waiting for the day he could get revenge.

Xin Jianye was using him, wanting to build a first-class entertainment company so it would be convenient for him to launder money on a large scale and transfer the abnormal funds that Hanhai could not handle from behind the scenes.

Even his biological mother only treated him as a trump card to maintain her own rights and status, not caring at all about her son’s true feelings.

Thinking about it, the only person around him who could be called pure in purpose was probably only the always cheerful Xiao Nuan.

After meeting with Lin Sheng, Xin Yuan returned to the set to wait.

A film crew was a place full of people who fawned on the powerful and trampled on the weak, a gathering of all kinds of snobs.

At first, many people thought Xin Yuan was just an unknown nobody with good luck, and they were all indifferent toward him. But after a period of filming, seeing Xin Yuan’s stunning performances scene after scene, they realized that this person would definitely have a boundless future, and all of them rushed up to him, hoping to build some connections for the future.

Xin Yuan was not good at this. Every day on set, if there was a scene, he filmed it. If there was no scene, he would find a quiet place to read the script. After wrapping up, he would immediately return to the hotel, with a schedule even more regular than an electronic pet.

“Dear, I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time. Your skin is so good, which teacher do you usually go to for care? Introduce me to them too~”

At first Xin Yuan did not react, and only when the owner of the voice sat down beside him did he realize that this dear was calling him.

The person whose words were more syrupy than honey was named Qiu Yu. Before the official filming started, Xiao Nuan had even specially introduced him to Xin Yuan.

With Qiu Yu’s acting skills, he was not even qualified to play the most trivial bit part in Wang Muge’s movie. But he was the youngest son of some big conglomerate, and his own older brother had forcefully stuffed him into the production, with a role in the film that also had several scenes opposite Xin Yuan.

Qiu Yu had been spoiled all the way through life, and usually his nostrils practically hung over his forehead, so his reputation was very bad.

Right now Xiao Nuan was still coordinating with Lin Sheng, and Xin Yuan really was not very good at handling this kind of situation, so he could only smile politely. “Sorry, I don’t really understand these things.”

“Oh my, being in the same crew is fate. I also have a very good teacher. We can exchange recommendations, what’s there to hide~”

Qiu Yu leaned in a little closer, and the perfume rushing toward him made Xin Yuan frown inwardly.

“I’m not hiding anything from you, I really just have never had contact with these things.”

Feeling that this answer might be too cold, Xin Yuan deliberately added, “If I ever need to do it in the future and run into someone suitable, I can recommend them to you.”

Qiu Yu had not been having a pleasant time on set lately. Although Wang Muge had not directly scolded him in public, she was always picking on him openly and covertly, making him go through repeated trouble over even a single line before letting it pass.

In contrast, Xin Yuan, who had no experience at all, was often praised by Wang Muge. In a little while, Qiu Yu was going to film his first scene opposite Xin Yuan, so he specially came over to feel out this person’s weight.

He rarely lowered his posture toward others. Today, he had finally put on a good face. Who knew that Xin Yuan would be so ignorant of his place, hiding things and then insisting on putting on the attitude of “I was born naturally beautiful, so I don’t need to do the kind of work you do every day”? What did that mean!

“If you don’t want to say it, then forget it. With such a fake pretentious look, it’s really boring.”

Qiu Yu’s expression changed so fast that Xin Yuan was caught off guard. Xin Yuan was still thinking about exactly which step had gone wrong when Qiu Yu had already suddenly stood up.

“Don’t think just because you’re a few years younger and have a pretty face, you can be so ignorant of your place!”

Qiu Yu was furious and turned to leave, but because he was still wearing costume, with a sweep of the hem of his long robe, he happened to knock over the unfinished dinner beside Xin Yuan.

The lunchbox happened to contain chicken soup, and in an instant it all spilled onto Qiu Yu’s clothes.

“Aah!”

Qiu Yu screamed, then turned around and started cursing at Xin Yuan, “Are you freaking sick? I just said one thing to you, and you actually dared to splash leftover food on me!!”

Xin Yuan froze completely, even suspecting whether this was some part of the script he had missed reading. Otherwise, how could anyone in reality be this suddenly insane.

“…Sorry, just now you stood up too fast and bumped into it yourself.”

Xin Yuan did not want to cause a bigger dispute, so he tried to smooth it over. “Of course, I also bear part of the responsibility. I should have sealed the lunchbox more tightly.”

Qiu Yu did not think Xin Yuan was solving the problem at all, and instead thought Xin Yuan was deliberately provoking him. His face went white, then red, then black. In the end, he pointed at Xin Yuan hard.

“Xin Yuan, I remember you now. Just you wait for me!!”