Chapter 149: Drunk
Watching helplessly as the bodyguards in black suits strode away on their long legs, the paparazzi opened the photos they had just taken, only to realize that because the bodyguards' figures were so good and their posture for carrying people was so uniform, the scene looked staged no matter how they looked at it.
They could already imagine the scene after they posted these photos online as an "expose": a bunch of people asking in the comments how much they were paid, begging for a group chat number to earn money together.
This wasn't the scene they wanted. What they clearly wanted were the crucial photo evidence of these few actors from the "Blood Mist" crew drinking freely with their financial backer late at night, revealing the filth behind their sudden popularity.
Even if it wasn't with a sugar daddy, capturing a picture of them with arms around each other's shoulders, in an "ambiguous" atmosphere, and deliberately stirring up a CP ship would have many face-appreciating fans willing to buy in and ship it!
But now, none of the scenes they wanted were there, the screen was filled only with the bodyguards' long legs.
Never mind how the paparazzi were beating their chests in frustration, Yin Chengjue took Rong Yu back to his home in another residential complex in A City. The house was regularly cleaned by housekeeping, so there was no dust inside, and the bedsheets and duvet covers were all new.
Yin Chengjue carried him into the bathroom to freshen up.
The drunk Rong Yu looked very well-behaved, his peach-blossom eyes half-closed, his face and the corners of his eyes flushed red. At first, Yin Chengjue thought it was makeup from his appearance on the show, but after carefully wiping two or three times with a soft towel, he realized this was Rong Yu's natural skin tone. Perhaps he had been eating too much rich food lately, as two pimples had broken out on Rong Yu's forehead. They had been concealed with makeup, but became much more obvious after Yin Chengjue wiped it off.
Yin Chengjue started considering whether he should cook some lighter dishes in the coming days, as applying makeup over pimples must be uncomfortable.
After rinsing off and cleaning up, the bathtub was already filled with water. Yin Chengjue placed the clean Rong Yu inside, letting him lean against his body as they bathed together.
"Xiao Yu, is the water temperature okay?" Yin Chengjue couldn't resist poking his cheek.
Rong Yu felt the itch on his face and tilted his head to rub against Yin Chengjue's finger, making vague, unclear sounds in his throat.
Yin Chengjue then pinched his chin: "Do you know what you did today was very imprudent? Hmm?"
Knowing Rong Yu wouldn't answer, Yin Chengjue continued: "If I hadn't arrived in time, you all would have been photographed by those paparazzi, you know?"
"They don't care if you were just having a group meal, and they won't listen to your explanations. All they need is a set of pictures, then they can spout nonsense, making up the lies most likely to attract gossip. Even if evidence later proves your innocence, nobody else will care."
The entertainment industry has always been a mix of truth and falsehood. Besides teams and fans, who is willing to bother getting to the real truth?
Yin Chengjue kept muttering incessantly into Rong Yu's ear. It was unclear whether Rong Yu actually heard him, as he only responded with a few vague "mm-hmm" sounds.
Feeling the water was getting a bit cold, Yin Chengjue lifted Rong Yu out of the bathtub and carefully dried the water droplets from his body.
After being moved around, wiped down, and soaked in the bath, some of the alcohol's effects had worn off. The dazed look in Rong Yu's eyes was gone, replaced by a clearer focus. He soon noticed Yin Chengjue close by, murmured his name—"Yin Chengjue..."—then hooked his arms around Yin Chengjue's neck, chuckling softly: "Yin Chengjue..."
"Mn, I'm here."
"Yin Chengjue..."
"Yin Chengjue!"
"Yin Chengjue, I like you."
"Mn, Yin Chengjue likes you too."
Yin Chengjue gently laid Rong Yu on the bed, kissed his forehead softly, and said tenderly, "It's very late, sleep."
But Rong Yu suddenly flipped over, pinning Yin Chengjue beneath him instead, his hands grasping Yin Chengjue's wrists.
"Yin Chengjue, I caught you." Rong Yu leaned down, his eyes fixed intently on Yin Chengjue, and said, "I finally caught you."
Hearing this, Yin Chengjue couldn't help but recall the things he had seen before in the locked room in Rong Yu's home.
The photos plastered all over the walls, the eyes that seemed to be everywhere.
His past, as if constantly watched, observed by someone.
And now, that person was telling him.
Caught you.
Although Yin Chengjue wanted to pretend he didn't know about this matter, to act as if he had never entered that room...
But something like this, how could you just forget it by pretending not to know?
Yin Chengjue opened his mouth, and ultimately couldn't resist asking Rong Yu: "Why did you want to catch me?"
Rong Yu, whether he understood or not, just hugged Yin Chengjue: "Because I like..."
Yin Chengjue: "When did it start?"
Rong Yu: "A long, long time ago."
The drunk Rong Yu seemed to answer every question without holding back. Yin Chengjue continued to ask: "How long ago?"
"Mm..." Rong Yu was silent for a long time. Just as Yin Chengjue thought he had fallen asleep, he said: "Six years old..."
Yin Chengjue thought he had misheard, raising his voice: "What? How old?"
Rong Yu seemed startled by Yin Chengjue's sudden loud voice. After a moment, he said: "Six years old... saw brother... brother was so good..."
Yin Chengjue, who had been ready to sleep, was instantly wide awake after hearing Rong Yu's drunken words.
He racked his brains but truly couldn't remember knowing someone named Rong Yu before, nor did he recall any past interactions with Rong Yu.
If Rong Yu claimed to remember him, could it be... could it be that he had mistaken him for someone else?
The thought that this was possible, that Rong Yu might have been stalking and taking photos of him because he mistook him for someone else, gave Yin Chengjue an indescribably uncomfortable feeling.
The previous subtle feeling of being stalked for years turned into a kind of anxiety. He was very worried that this "stalking" stemmed from a misunderstanding.
"How can you be sure it's me?" Yin Chengjue couldn't help asking.
Hearing no answer from Rong Yu, Yin Chengjue wiped the sweat from his palms and asked again: "Could it be... you recognized the wrong person?"
Yin Chengjue waited for a long time, but still got no answer. Puzzled, he looked at Rong Yu and saw that he was already lying on his chest, eyes closed, breathing even, clearly fast asleep.
Yin Chengjue suddenly felt like he was being left hanging, his emotions in turmoil.
Rong Yu was asleep, but Yin Chengjue was completely unable to sleep. He couldn't help but send an email to Yin He, who had gone abroad to rest and recuperate, asking if she had ever known someone named Rong Yu in the past.
Before Yin He replied, Yin Chengjue saw an email in his inbox that had been sent an hour ago.
When he opened it, the sender turned out to be Fei Zhengqi, who hadn't been seen for a long time.
Since the incident last time, Fei Zhengqi seemed to have completely disappeared. Although the news that broke out was an attempted suicide, the internet quickly scrubbed all information about this person. Over time, it was as if the person was gone.
Yin Chengjue didn't need to think hard to know that the one who scrubbed all news about Fei Zhengqi was Young Master Qi Le.
Although Yin Chengjue hadn't paid much attention to the follow-up, he learned from others' gossip that Fei Zhengqi later ran away from the hospital. Qi Le had been searching for him all this time but couldn't find him.
Logically, Fei Zhengqi shouldn't have had the ability to run, because while Young Master Qi might not be all-powerful in A City, catching one person with no one to rely on shouldn't be a big problem.
However, Yin Chengjue knew that he had previously given Fei Zhengqi a large sum of money.
In other words, under normal circumstances, Fei Zhengqi indeed had little ability to escape, but after receiving that large sum of money, he gained the power of money.
And now, this person who had been missing for months sent him an email.
Yin Chengjue hadn't yet taken a close look at the contents of this lengthy email.
He was hesitating whether it was better to avoid trouble and simply pretend he hadn't seen it.
But the email was already opened. Looking or not looking was just a matter of lifting his eyelids.
So by the time Yin Chengjue finished hesitating, the content of the email had already successfully entered his mind.
It turned out he wanted to make a deal.
Somehow, this Fei Zhengqi, while evading Qi Le, still found the leisure to get hold of leverage against Chang Fengyuan.
Yin Chengjue now deeply suspected that even if Fei Zhengqi didn't become a celebrity, he could have been an undercover agent.
So, was the earlier suicide news really not a move by Fei Zhengqi to "shed the cocoon"?
[金蟬脫殼 (jīnchántuōqiào): lit. golden cicada sheds its shell; fig. a strategic disappearance or deception to escape a situation]
To be honest, Fei Zhengqi's looks weren't considered high among the previous "Hey Brother, Let's Debut" trainees. Yin Chengjue's first impression of him was a red mole between the bridge of his nose and the corner of his eye, and his gloomy personality.
Judging by the sheer effort he put into the program tasks after joining "Hey Brother, Let's Debut," he must have really liked this career. It was a pity that Qi Le later stopped him, first forcing him to leave "Hey Brother, Let's Debut," then erasing his information from all aspects of public opinion, even scrubbing the news of his attempted suicide, making the name Fei Zhengqi a blank slate.
On one hand, erasing the other's traces from the internet, while on the other hand searching for Fei Zhengqi's whereabouts—Yin Chengjue really couldn't understand what game Qi Le was playing.
Yin Chengjue had no interest in meddling in other people's business, but the email Fei Zhengqi sent him now was indeed helpful.
It could even be said to be a case of receiving a pillow just as one was falling asleep.
[瞌睡送枕頭 (kēshuì sòng zhěntou): lit. delivering a pillow when sleepy; fig. providing exactly what is needed at the right time]
After Rong Yu was kidnapped last time, Yin Chengjue found out it was Chang Fengyuan's doing. But Chang Fengyuan was different from Chang Yue; this man was ambitious, single-mindedly determined to take over everything in the Chang family, making him not so easy to deal with.
Also... Yin Chengjue had never been able to figure out why Chang Fengyuan would target Rong Yu. He always thought the person to guard against most was Chang Yue.
But before Chang Yue could take any action, Chang Fengyuan had already made his move.
Just as Yin Chengjue was still investigating the reason, Fei Zhengqi happened to deliver the reason right to him.
There was a male actor named Lu Muyang playing a supporting role in the "Blood Mist" crew, who came from the same orphanage as Chang Fengyuan. Although they later took different paths, they had never lost contact over the years.
This Lu Muyang was a male actor who had previously debuted in a group, but that group had long since disbanded for various reasons. Lu Muyang had been inactive for many years, and this time he was chosen by Qin Linlin to play a minor role in "Blood Mist."
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