DP Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Xiang Yiye pillowed his arm, gazing at the pitch-black ceiling. The sofa wasn’t small, but he still couldn’t stretch out his arms, making lying down feel cramped. He felt exhausted, but the emotional fluctuations of the entire day were too much, and he couldn’t fall asleep at all.

His phone was on silent, but the screen lit up from time to time, with messages constantly popping up.

“What can I do to make you feel better?”

“Can I read the books in your room?”

“You’re so nostalgic, you even kept your junior high school exercise books.”

“How old were you in this photo? Can I take it and keep it?”

“If you ignore me, I’ll mess up your room.”

“Where in City M is the scenery more beautiful?”

Xiang Yiye remembered that he hadn’t contacted Gu Wenyu’s assistant yet. The business card was probably still in Xu Chuo’s car. Fortunately, he still remembered Gu Wenyu’s address, so he could visit with gifts after the New Year, he thought.

He picked up his phone, ignored the long string of messages from Xu Chuo, and opened Weibo. His number of fans had increased, mostly attracted by the promotional video for the new drama.

There was also a Weibo post @ing him, which had been retweeted a lot. It was posted by the girl who took a photo with him at the art exhibition that day.

Xiang Yiye clicked to open the large image and saved it. He immediately saw Xu Chuo among the people who had liked it. He resisted the urge to click on the other person’s profile picture and switched to his private account, which few people knew about. The first post on the timeline was posted by Xu Chuo, a day ago.

Xu Chuo had uploaded several real-life pictures from the art exhibition, with the caption “Running wild in the wilderness is the only way to be reborn.”

Running wild in the wilderness – that nameless oil painting. Xu Chuo wasn’t just asking casually that day; he really did take his advice in the end.

Just as Xiang Yiye was saving those real-life pictures, he heard a soft sound from the bedroom door. Someone was coming out. He quickly put his phone back under the covers, held his breath, and pretended to be sound asleep.

Extremely light and slow footsteps, accompanied by the rustling of clothes, someone stopped at the edge of the sofa.

He’s looking at me, Xiang Yiye thought, what is he going to do?

After a long while, Xu Chuo squatted down, gently brushed aside the stray hairs on Xiang Yiye’s forehead, and placed a kiss between his eyebrows. Xiang Yiye’s hand, which was hidden under the covers, immediately curled up.

“I really like you,” Xu Chuo had said a few hours ago, but in this moment, Xiang Yiye felt like he was about to believe it.

“I’m leaving, Yi-zai,” Xu Chuo said in a barely audible voice.

Xiang Yiye really wanted to grab him and ask him where he was going in the middle of the night, but the harsh words he had spoken not long ago stood in the way, like an insurmountable high wall. He heard the front door open softly and then return to silence in the blink of an eye.

Xiang Yiye returned to his room, turned on the light, and everything in the room was as it had been, except there was a business card on his bedside table.

In the week that followed, Xiang Yiye filled his time with all kinds of things. He took his parents to the hospital for check-ups one after another. Qiao Sha’s indicators were all normal, and Xiang Wan was ordered by the doctor to take his medicine on time, reduce his alcohol intake, and avoid overwork.

Xiang Yiye was like a timekeeper, reminding Xiang Wan to take his medicine every day without getting tired of it. When he was at home, he would directly prepare the medicine and hand it to him; when he was at work, he would make a video call and wait for Xiang Wan to swallow the medicine in front of him before hanging up.

In addition, Xiang Yiye rejected all unknown dinner invitations and was constantly on guard against his parents arranging blind dates for him.

From high school to university, there were quite a few people who liked him, but it was as if he was cursed. He didn’t like the people who liked him, and the people he had a good feeling about were always straight. He also didn’t have the idea of turning people gay, feeling that it was a bit of a disservice to them.

The busy days led to New Year’s Eve. Early in the morning, Xiang Yiye was called up to do a big cleaning.

“Wait for me to finish exercising,” Xiang Yiye said. He had been working out every day these past few days. The gym had closed for the holidays the day before yesterday, so he was working out at home.

“If you want to exercise, go run a few laps at the stadium. With your fancy footwork, what can you train?” Xiang Wan said.

Xiang Yiye held the dumbbells and lifted weights with undivided attention. He was still in the recovery period from myocarditis and was not suitable for strenuous exercise. He could only do some moderate-intensity exercises at most. He always reported good news and not bad, and he hadn’t even mentioned being sick.

After Xiang Wan went on vacation, he liked to chat with his son every day. Seeing that he was ignoring him, he continued, “Exercise, exercise, I see that except for your arms, nothing else is moving.”

“I want to gain muscle. If I do too much cardio and don’t get enough protein, it’s easy to lose muscle… Forget it, today is New Year’s Eve, it’s unlucky to quarrel,” Xiang Yiye said.

Qiao Sha smiled and said to Xiang Wan, “You don’t understand. Nowadays, young girls like muscular men. He’s working hard, so don’t discourage him.”

Xiang Wan understood. Not only was he not angry anymore, but he also urged him, “Then you should train well.”

After Xiang Yiye finished his anaerobic exercise and came out after taking a shower, he saw two large cans of protein powder on the table. Xiang Wan must have read the instructions on the can and brought them in for him.

His parents wouldn’t buy these; Xu Chuo had sent them before. He and Xu Chuo hadn’t been in contact for more than a week, Xiang Yiye thought.

With a towel on his head, he sat down on the chair, opened the chat window with Xu Chuo, typed a line, and then deleted it.

Maybe he didn’t take that day to heart at all, and he’s already returned to City S, Xiang Yiye thought, put down his phone, and went out to help Qiao Sha make dumplings.

At eight o’clock in the evening, Xiang Yiye nestled on the sofa, absentmindedly watching the Spring Festival Gala with his family. What was more lively than the TV was his phone. Every time there was a new message, Xiang Yiye couldn’t wait to open it and see if it was a mad grab for red envelopes in the family group or New Year’s greetings copied and pasted by old classmates.

Every year at this time, the messages were overwhelming, especially this year. Many friends and classmates who had been quietly lying dormant in his contact list in previous years had also emerged this year, probably after hearing that he was going to be an actor and coming over to ask him if it was true.

Xiang Yiye would reply to those who seemed sincere with a few words. He didn’t bother with those who were just trying to find out information and gossip. He had a strong sense of boundaries and treated people outside his circle this way.

“Waiting for whose message?” Qiao Sha asked.

“No one,” Xiang Yiye said.

“Your dad can’t tell, but I can,” Qiao Sha smiled. “You’ve been holding your phone all night and your soul has left your body. If you miss him, just call him or send him a message.”

Xiang Yiye hesitated for a long time before saying, “He’s not sincere.”

“Did you try to win him over?”

Xiang Yiye didn’t speak. Qiao Sha said, “You didn’t even try to win him over, so how do you know if he’s sincere? Back then, your dad used his many words to attract your mom’s attention.”

Xiang Wan was chatting with relatives on a video call. At this time, he seemed to hear someone mention him, so he looked up and said, “What about me?”

“Nothing, you talk to them,” Xiang Yiye raised his chin in the direction of the TV and changed the subject. “Mom, isn’t that who you like?”

Qiao Sha smiled without saying a word.

“Third Grandpa, is Uncle Yiye next to you?” A childish voice came from Xiang Wan’s phone. It was JunJun, the granddaughter of his eldest brother, Xiang Yiye’s uncle, who was only six or seven years old, and Xiang Wan usually doted on her very much.

This was also one of the reasons why Xiang Wan desperately urged him to get married whenever he had the chance. He dreamed of having a grandson and wished that Xiang Yiye would get married as soon as he graduated from college.

“He’s here,” Xiang Wan’s rough voice changed when he spoke to JunJun, and if you listened carefully, you could even hear a slight affectation. “JunJun, do you want to chat with him?”

“Of course. I haven’t seen my uncle for a long time. I miss him so much,” JunJun said in a childish voice.

Xiang Yiye took Xiang Wan’s phone. Before he could finish greeting her, JunJun’s round eyes stared at the screen and said, “Oh my god, Uncle, why are you so handsome again? When are you coming to my house?”

Xiang Yiye and Xiang Wan were both amused. Xiang Yiye said, “I’ll go in a few days, JunJun. Wait for your uncle to give you a red envelope.”

“I want the biggest one,” JunJun said. “Uncle, I saw you on the internet these past few days. Are you going to be a celebrity in the future?”

Xiang Yiye was stunned and immediately said, “It must be that I look like some celebrity. JunJun must have mistaken me.”

Xiang Wan didn’t understand, but he was very interested: “Which celebrity? Let me see if you look alike.”

“You can see for yourself. My aunt sent it to the group chat…” The call was disconnected. Xiang Yiye had cut it off in time.

“I pressed the wrong button,” Xiang Yiye said, holding on to Xiang Wan’s phone. “Dad, don’t look at your phone. It’s bad for your eyes. You should watch TV with Mom.”

“Give me the phone,” Xiang Wan sensed that he was hiding something.

Xiang Yiye didn’t return it. Xiang Wan turned to look at Qiao Sha, who had already seen the group chat messages, but she didn’t immediately side with Xiang Wan. Instead, she said to Xiang Yiye, “Xiao Yiye, talk to your dad, talk nicely, and don’t quarrel.”

After struggling inwardly for a moment, Xiang Yiye returned the phone to Xiang Wan and said with reservations, “It’s nothing. It’s just that I acted in a TV series last year.”

Xiang Wan opened the group chat messages and watched the promotional video and behind-the-scenes footage from beginning to end, confirming that it was his son inside. Then he said, “This TV series, you filmed it when you were in school?”

Xiang Yiye wanted to say yes, but it was just a cameo and didn’t affect his studies. But then he thought, he could hide it for a while, but not forever, so he simply came clean: “Dad, Mom, I’ve been unsure how to tell you. I met a talent scout last year. After auditioning, I signed with a company. I want to be an actor in the future.”

“You want to be an actor?” Xiang Wan seemed not to understand for a moment, and after a long while he said, “Have you discussed such a big thing with your family? You signed with a company behind our backs?”

“It’s because I knew you wouldn’t agree that I didn’t say anything,” Xiang Yiye said.

“In all these years, our Xiang family has produced all kinds of people, but we’ve never produced a celebrity. Don’t even think about it!” Xiang Wan said.

“Not a celebrity, an actor,” Xiang Yiye didn’t know how to explain.

“How much difference can there be? There are so many good-looking people, and they just took a fancy to you? Actors, celebrities, glamorous and beautiful, sounds nice, but the entertainment industry is just a big dye vat!” Xiang Wan said.

“Those are all prejudices. Every industry has good and bad,” Xiang Yiye said. “Dad, listen to me, an actor is just a job, just like yours and Mom’s. I’ll only focus on acting and won’t get involved in anything else. No matter how chaotic others are, it won’t affect me.”

Xiang Wan laughed in anger: “How old are you now? Just over twenty. Can your words guarantee the next few decades? Your mom and I have worked hard for twenty years to raise you, not to raise an actor!”

Xiang Yiye was also a little angry: “Dad, can you please not say such nasty things? I like acting and want to support myself with it in the future. What’s wrong with that? Your views are outdated…”

“You can make a living with your youth now, but what about when you get old? Will you be drinking the northwest wind on the street? You’re just daydreaming! After the New Year, go to the company and cancel the contract. Go back to school and study peacefully. Do you hear me? Otherwise, I’ll break your legs!” After Xiang Wan finished speaking, he picked up the ashtray on the coffee table and was about to smash it over.

Qiao Sha was busy comforting Grandmother and then came to hold Xiang Wan back: “Lao Xiang! What are you doing? Just talk, why are you getting physical? Xiao Yiye, you shouldn’t say anything either…”

“I must make this dream come true,” Xiang Yiye said. “It’s useless if you don’t agree. I’ve already signed with the company! I won’t be able to pay off the breach of contract fee even if I work for ten years after graduation. If you don’t want me to be in debt in the future, I’ll cancel the contract right away!”

“If you don’t cancel the contract, get out! I’ll pretend I don’t have a son like you!” That glass ashtray still slipped out of his hand, hitting Xiang Yiye’s thigh. It was probably bruised again.

Xiang Yiye immediately went back to his room to change clothes, ignoring Qiao Sha’s obstruction, and stormed out on New Year’s Eve.