Chapter 132: The Secret is Revealed
Originally, Rong Yu had said he wanted to be alone for one night. However, when Yin Chengjue arrived early the next morning at Rong Yu's dorm, he found it empty. After asking the acting coach Sally had arranged for Rong Yu, he learned that Rong Yu had asked for a day off.
For a moment, Yin Chengjue felt a pang of panic. He could sense that Rong Yu was truly angry this time.
Yin Chengjue quickly set aside the matters at hand, and those that urgently needed handling were delegated to Assistant Guan. Then, he stepped on the gas and drove onto the road.
After thinking it over, Yin Chengjue could only think of the place Rong Yu had previously rented. So, without hesitation, he drove there.
When he had helped Rong Yu move his things into the company dorm before, he had asked others to do the moving. He himself had never actually been to the place Rong Yu rented.
Because Rong Yu had paid a year's rent upfront, he hadn't terminated the lease after moving into the company dorm, and he would still go back every now and then.
Yin Chengjue generally didn't restrict Rong Yu's freedom, nor did he require Rong Yu to report every single thing to him, so he never asked much about it.
This time was also Yin Chengjue's first visit to Rong Yu's rented place. He used the key Rong Yu had given him earlier to open the door.
Unfortunately, Rong Yu was not there.
The rented apartment had three bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom. It wasn't particularly small for one person. The living room was furnished in a minimalist style, with a beige sofa atop a checkered carpet. Next to the sofa was a coffee table, which held nothing on it. As no one lived here regularly, a layer of dust had settled on the surfaces. Under the coffee table, however, was a tea set, covered with a cloth to keep the dust off.
The curtains were light blue, and a pot of cactus sat on the windowsill. The cactus was thriving, clearly because Rong Yu remembered to water it whenever he visited.
The kitchen was empty except for a sink, clearly not a place for cooking. The bathroom was also clean and sparse, the necessary items had probably all been moved out.
While calling Rong Yu, Yin Chengjue looked around the place, trying to find any signs that Rong Yu had been there today.
Because he truly didn't know where else to look for Rong Yu.
Only now did he realize how little he actually knew about Rong Yu.
So much so that once Rong Yu was out of his sight, he had no idea where to find him.
Yin Chengjue called for the Nth time, but it couldn't get through.
Unable to do anything else, Yin Chengjue contacted Wei Shu.
"I owe you another favor. Help me find someone, and be quick," Yin Chengjue said.
Wei Shu was silent for a moment before replying, "No need to owe me. Let's settle it all at once now."
Yin Chengjue: "How?"
Wei Shu said seriously, "I want to pin Hua Yun down. Give me an idea, that's the first favor. Help me successfully pin him down, that's the second favor. Agree to this, and I'll help you immediately."
Yin Chengjue said instinctively, "Does that even require my help?"
Yin Chengjue: "I mean, okay, I guarantee I'll help you succeed! Can you start looking for the person now? Check the surveillance around Huansheng carefully to confirm where Rong Yu went."
"Xiao Yu? What's wrong with him?" Wei Shu sounded surprised.
Yin Chengjue: "Find him first, then tell me immediately."
"Alright then. Can't you get through to his phone either?" Wei Shu asked curiously.
Yin Chengjue: "You try it later."
So Wei Shu hung up directly. Two minutes later, he called Yin Chengjue back, his tone barely concealing his anger: "You know what? I actually got through to him! But as soon as I asked him, 'Where are you now?', he hung up on me! Just hung up like that! And now it's unreachable again!"
Yin Chengjue facepalmed: "If you ask like that, of course he'll know I asked you to call."
Wei Shu was very curious: "So, did you two have a fight? How rare, for Xiao Yu to actually argue with someone."
Yin Chengjue: "Can you hurry up and find him? Don't just focus on talking to me! It's already been three hours since he left the company dorm!"
Wei Shu suddenly felt like throwing his mouse.
Dammit! Three hours and you're this anxious? And you want me to hack and check all the surveillance around Huansheng Entertainment to locate him? With your level of urgency, I'd think he'd been gone for three days!
Yin Chengjue: "I guarantee Hua Yun will willingly let you pin him down!"
Wei Shu: "Okay, President Yin! Mission guaranteed to be accomplished!"
After hanging up, Yin Chengjue paced restlessly around the living room of Rong Yu's rented apartment. His agitated steps eventually carried him into the bedroom.
Seeing three rooms, Yin Chengjue's first thought was that Rong Yu might still live with his family. However, the dust suggested the family hadn't been around recently. One room was used for storage, filled with large boxes. The bed in the middle room only had a mat on it, with clothes and quilts stored away in the closet.
The third room, however, was locked. Yin Chengjue tried the key twice but couldn't open it, so he gave up.
Truthfully, Yin Chengjue was convinced that Rong Yu would eventually come back to this apartment. It was the very reason he had decided to wait there, repeatedly trying Rong Yu's phone. Yet each call was met only with the frustrating sound of a busy signal.
Frustrated, Yin Chengjue tossed his phone aside. It bounced on the sofa and slid right into the crack between the cushions.
Yin Chengjue still needed to wait for Wei Shu's call, so he lifted the cushion to retrieve the phone.
However, lifting it revealed a poster.
Yin Chengjue was all too familiar with posters; entertainment companies themselves produced celebrity signed merchandise and posters, so there was nothing novel about it.
But what made Yin Chengjue extremely surprised was that the face on the poster was his own—Yin Chengjue's.
Moreover, the person in the poster clearly wasn't posing for a professional photoshoot—it was very casual, like a candid shot, because the Yin Chengjue in the picture wasn't even looking at the camera.
Yin Chengjue picked up the poster. From the school uniform, he confirmed this was from his high school days. The face in the picture still held a youthful immaturity, and he was lifting one side of his school uniform to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
Because the uniform was lifted, the eight-pack abs on his stomach were exposed, becoming especially prominent in the entire frame.
Why does Rong Yu have a picture of me?
Shock and uncertainty flickered in Yin Chengjue's eyes. His gaze lowered and he saw a key pressed under the poster.
Seeing the key, Yin Chengjue first thought of the locked room. The keyhole seemed to match.
To enter, or not to enter?
Yin Chengjue felt conflicted.
He wasn't the type to enjoy snooping into others' privacy. But this poster printed with his high school photo had successfully plucked the string of curiosity in his heart.
After a moment of internal conflict, Yin Chengjue picked up the key and unlocked the door.
A faint fragrance wafted out from the opened door.
Unlike the other rooms, this one clearly had an air freshener inside.
The room had heavy curtains drawn, making it pitch black even during the day, impossible to see the furnishings inside.
Yin Chengjue felt along the doorframe and switched on the light.
The fluorescent light suddenly brightened, and everything in the room was exposed under its glare—
After seeing what was inside the room, Yin Chengjue's eyes widened, his pupils shaking violently.
It was as if thousands of volcanoes erupted simultaneously in his heart, gushing out streams of scorching lava that bombarded his entire brain into a daze, his ears ringing.
On the walls, on the tables, in picture frames, on the floor—everywhere his eyes could see—it was all him, entirely him.
Yin Chengjue walked closer with stiff steps, examining the photos on the wall.
The photos varied in size, clearly not printed from the same device, and the time periods were different too. Looking closely, some photos were taken recently, while others could be traced back to a long time ago.
So long ago, it was even before he and Rong Yu had first met.
His university days, high school days, junior high days, even photos of him as a child appeared in those pictures.
And without exception, none of these photos showed him looking at the camera. The photos had been taken from many different angles, yet not a single one was a direct, frontal shot.
Obviously, these were all secretly taken photos!
It was as if a pair of eyes had been following him like a shadow, watching him closely since he was a child, staring at his every move, observing everything about him.
Everything had been secretly captured: his profile as he propped his chin in class looking at the blackboard, his sleeping face as he napped on the desk after class, him washing his face at the sink after P.E. class... and so much more.
Besides the photos on the walls, the table held various character models. Without exception, these models, whether life-sized or chibi-fied, were all sculpted with his face! Even the clothes on the models were ones he had worn before.
And the paintings in the frames on the easels went without saying.
Sketches, oil paintings, ink wash paintings, watercolors—every single one depicted him.
Some were finished, some were still in progress, and some had been collected and clipped inside thick sketchbooks.
His limbs moving stiffly, Yin Chengjue took in the contents of the room, his mind a complete mess.
A sense of crisis and urgency, as if being watched, rapidly swept through his entire body.
Yin Chengjue took deep breaths, trying hard to calm himself down.
He sat down on the edge of the nearby bed, interlocked his fingers, rested his chin on them, and tried to sort out the chaotic thoughts.
This... seems to be Rong Yu's room.
Yin Chengjue first clarified this point.
Rong Yu's room was filled with his photos.
After sorting out this point, Yin Chengjue's heart pounded violently, and he suddenly felt himself relaxing from the stiffness.
It... shouldn't be a problem that Xiao Yu's room is filled with my photos, right?
Thinking this, Yin Chengjue felt he should be happy.
Until he lifted his head and saw those photos dating back over a decade.
The smile froze at the corners of his mouth.
Who can tell me why Rong Yu has photos of me from every stage of my life?
Author's Note: President Yin has finally discovered Little Fish's secret~~
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