SM Chapter 47

Chapter 47: It’s Nothing, Feel Free to Curse

Chapter 47: It’s Nothing, Feel Free to Curse

Ye Lai’s words were very light, like silk ribbons swaying in the air. The damp, hoarse sound, along with the subtle wrinkles that surfaced, drifted into Sheng Mingqian’s ears.

Often, the softer something is, the more painful its thorns are, specifically targeting the softest spots. Ye Lai wasn’t just pricking Sheng Mingqian; he was pricking himself as well.

Ten years, and in the end, there were only two light, floating sentences. He wasn’t talking to Sheng Mingqian; he was just trying to convince himself.

Wrong is wrong, and forcing it won’t work.

Sheng Mingqian didn’t owe him anything.

In the darkness, Ye Lai’s eyes were just two dim specks of light. The room was already too dark to see clearly. Ye Lai didn’t want to turn on the light. He groped for the photo album and notebook he had already sorted out and moved them to the side, finally sitting directly on the floor.

Sheng Mingqian was still thinking about Ye Lai’s words. His body felt as if it had been pricked by thousands of needles, a dense, tingling pain. His eyes held the storm stirred up by Ye Lai’s words, which he forced down with great effort. The fist that hung by his side clenched and unclenched, sweat forming in his palm. He moved his legs, heavy as if filled with stagnant water, squatted down with a slight tremble, met Ye Lai’s gaze, and sat down beside him on the floor, saying something neither light nor heavy.

“I promised the head of the orphanage that I would take good care of you.”

When Sheng Mingqian spoke, his breath brushed against Ye Lai’s neck, leaving a spark-like warmth.

Ye Lai pushed himself up, his tone a bit sharp: “Sheng Mingqian, I’m not a child anymore. I don’t need anyone to take care of me, especially not you.”

After he said that, he didn’t care about Sheng Mingqian still sitting on the floor and turned around and left.

Ye Lai didn’t even know how he fell asleep that night. When he woke up the next morning, he was in his own bed, still wearing the clothes from the night before, covered with a blanket.

He thought Sheng Mingqian had left last night, but as soon as he entered the dining room after washing up, he saw Sheng Mingqian and Sun Ayi taking care of the children’s breakfast, wearing an apron around his neck that clashed with his crisp suit.

Sheng Mingqian didn’t often do this kind of serving, and the expression on his face was always serious. He was in a frantic state, one moment comforting a crying child, the next being called by another child, and after taking care of the children, he went to help serve the food.

Finally, after getting everything settled, Sheng Mingqian wiped the sweat from his forehead. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, he looked up and saw Ye Lai. His gaze fixed on Ye Lai’s face, and that breath caught in his throat again. It was Xiao Yu who called out to Ye Lai that broke Sheng Mingqian’s gaze.

“Brother Lai, come and eat quickly. Uncle Shèng made it.”

Ye Lai looked away and walked slowly to the dining table, sitting down and asking in a low voice, “Why haven’t you left yet?”

Sheng Mingqian had been standing opposite Ye Lai, but he changed positions and sat to Ye Lai’s left: “Eat first, we’ll talk after.”

Xiao Yu and the children clearly hadn’t slept well the night before, their eyelids swollen like bells, making them have to crane their necks to see people. After Ye Lai fell asleep last night, he vaguely heard the children’s rooms filled with intermittent crying.

Sun Ayi said while eating, “Mr. Shèng, thank you for these past two days. The children cried badly last night, and Mr. Shèng even helped to coax them for a long time.”

Sun Ayi was saying the last half to Ye Lai, and Xiao Yu also tugged on Sheng Mingqian’s clothes and said, “Uncle Shèng, thank you.”

Even the children were saying thank you. Ye Lai knew that he had no reason to chase people away now. Sheng Mingqian had indeed helped him a lot. He picked up his chopsticks and focused on shoveling rice into his mouth, not looking up.

–

–

Life still had to move forward, but for Ye Lai, there was one less thought and color on the road home.

Sheng Mingqian didn’t go back and stayed at the orphanage for several days.

After the head of the orphanage’s seventh day memorial, Zhang Yihao called Ye Lai and finally helped him secure an endorsement deal that had only been half-negotiated before, asking him to go there today to finalize the contract in case of any further accidents.

Ye Lai wanted to drive himself, but Sheng Mingqian said he would take him: “You’re not in a suitable state to drive right now. I’ll take you.”

Sun Ayi also pushed Ye Lai to get in Sheng Mingqian’s car.

The two were silent all the way. Ye Lai sat in the back seat, pretending to sleep the whole time.

Sheng Mingqian only stopped him after Ye Lai got out of the car: “Ye Lai, I didn’t come looking for you because I knew you were Fu Ruige. Even if you weren’t, I would still come.”

Getting out of the car, entering the door, getting on the elevator—Ye Lai was thinking about Sheng Mingqian’s last sentence the whole way, but he couldn’t figure it out, so he shook his head.

Zhang Yihao was still on his way. He had already sent him the location in the morning, telling him to go to the lounge first when he arrived.

When Ye Lai pushed open the door, he saw Zhou Ran sitting inside playing with his phone.

Ye Lai was taken aback. He only glanced at Zhou Ran and pretended he didn’t see him, going in to find a sofa furthest away from Zhou Ran to sit down.

The last time he had a conflict with Zhou Ran on Ning Yuan’s show, the two hadn’t had any contact since. Ye Lai had almost forgotten about it, but during this time, Zhou Ran’s fans had been very active online, cursing at him the most fiercely, constantly attacking him.

Ye Lai didn’t want to get into a fight with Zhou Ran, but Zhou Ran was eager to find him: “Ye Lai, how does it feel to be on the trending searches for a few days?”

Ye Lai ignored Zhou Ran, pretending he didn’t hear or see him. He took out his phone and sent a message to Zhang Yihao, saying that he had arrived.

Zhou Ran had a sinister smile on his face and continued: “Ye Lai, I really didn’t expect it. No wonder you were so emotional when you were recording the show with me last time.”

Ye Lai gritted his teeth, the lines of his cheeks bulging slightly. He raised his eyelids and retorted: “Zhou Ran, my affairs seem to have nothing to do with you. I’m not familiar with you, and I don’t need to report to you. Mind your own business.”

Zhou Ran didn’t care at all about what Ye Lai said, coldly snorting, his tone even more sarcastic than before: “Speaking of which, you only filmed one movie with Mingqian five years ago. What means did you use to marry Mingqian? Does Mingqian have something on you? How else would he be attracted to someone like you?”

Ye Lai changed to a comfortable sitting position, patted the front of his clothes, and laughed instead of getting angry: “Zhou Ran, do you want to know what means I used to get Sheng Mingqian to marry me? Come here, I’ll teach you.”

Ye Lai just said it casually, but he didn’t expect Zhou Ran to really come over, standing next to him, waiting for him to continue. Ye Lai crossed his arms over his chest, crossed his legs, and tapped his toes rhythmically, looking up at Zhou Ran.

“Zhou Ran, you’re standing so tall, how can I tell you? How can such shady tricks be heard by others?”

Zhou Ran stood there and thought for a moment, his face still showing confusion and incomprehension, but he actually bent down.

Ye Lai held back his laughter, thinking that Zhou Ran was really a stupid person.

Zhou Ran had repeatedly provoked him, calling “Mingqian, Mingqian” so affectionately, and finally said that he had used means, which poked at Ye Lai’s sore spot even more.

A cold light flashed in Ye Lai’s eyes. He leaned close to Zhou Ran’s ear and provocatively said, “Zhou Ran, are you trying to learn some tricks from me? Tsk, tsk, what are you thinking? You don’t really think I used shady means, do you? Marriage is of course a matter of mutual consent. Sheng Mingqian loves me, that’s why he married me.”

Zhou Ran knew that he had been played by Ye Lai. His face turned red and then green. He glared fiercely at Ye Lai, straightened his back, and angrily kicked over the chair next to him: “Ye Lai, you’re playing me.”

Ye Lai stood up: “Zhou Ran, it’s not your turn to point fingers at me. Who do you think you are? If you dare to shout again, believe it or not, I’ll replant you back in the ground.”

“You, you…” Zhou Ran was furious, pointing at Ye Lai, unable to say a complete sentence.

“What about you? Point again…”

Ye Lai was still holding back nameless fire in his heart, and he hadn’t found an outlet to vent it. Zhou Ran started it, so he didn’t plan to take it back, stepping forward step by step, forcing Zhou Ran to retreat.

“I used to wonder, according to your Zhou Ran’s Bad soothing character, if you really had something with Sheng Mingqian, you would have shouted it out for miles. Every time you’re interviewed, you’re always evasive, hesitant, and incoherent. Now I understand that it’s because you really have nothing with Sheng Mingqian. You saw that Sheng Mingqian didn’t care about scandals, so you didn’t hold back from making up stories for yourself, right? How can you add so much drama to yourself?”

Ye Lai was the one who really hit Zhou Ran’s sore spot. Zhou Ran interrupted him loudly, his voice cracking: “Ye Lai, shut up.”

Ye Lai insisted on not shutting up: “Zhou Ran, you’re such a tea, even if you soak in a pool for three days and three nights, the tea flavor would still be strong enough…”

After he said that, he spread his palms in front of his nose and fanned himself, as if there really was a strong green tea smell around his nose, frowning with a look of disgust, and taking a step back to get away a little.

Ye Lai’s words completely enraged Zhou Ran. The veins on Zhou Ran’s neck popped out. He picked up the water glass on the table and threw it at Ye Lai. The angle was off, and the glass shattered on the floor, fragments flying everywhere.

Only then did Ye Lai remember that Sheng Mingqian had told him before that Zhou Ran had bipolar disorder. Seeing him like this now, he was also a little scared. His physique was no match for Zhou Ran if they really fought.

Zhou Ran looked around and picked up the ashtray on the table, smashing it at Ye Lai’s head. Ye Lai tilted his head to dodge, and a gust of wind blew past his ear, chilling him. Zhou Ran then grabbed a chair, and Ye Lai instantly got goosebumps.

There were footsteps in the hallway. Ye Lai estimated that others must have heard the sound inside. He turned his head and shouted at the door: “Help! Zhou Ran is hitting people!”

The four people outside heard the call and rushed in together. What they saw was Zhou Ran holding the chair in his hand, facing Ye Lai, who was huddled in the corner of the sofa.

Zhou Ran looked fierce, while Ye Lai looked innocent and scared, his shoulders still shaking.

Ye Lai glanced at the few people who rushed in, his eyes red. In the blink of an eye, two lines of tears rolled down his cheeks. He lowered his head and sniffed, “Brother Ran, don’t be angry. I didn’t do it on purpose just now. Don’t hit people.”

“Ye Lai, you motherfucker, still pretending, still pretending.” Zhou Ran couldn’t control himself in his anger. He didn’t care how many people had come in and raised the chair high in his hand.

Zhang Yihao also arrived, rushing in with his phone raised: “Zhou Ran, put the chair down for me. I’m recording here. Put the chair down. If you hit him, I’ll immediately call the Police and publish the video. You’re an award-winning actor. Hitting people is a jail sentence. Your life will be ruined.”

Zhou Ran’s action of striking paused. Seeing this, the others quickly stepped forward to hold Zhou Ran back and snatch the chair from his hand.

Zhang Yihao ran in to help Ye Lai up. Zhou Ran was being dragged back by three or four people, still kicking his legs in the direction of Ye Lai: “Ye Lai, I’ll go to your granddaddy. When it comes to tea, you’re the ancestor.”

“Am I the ancestor? Then call me grandpa and let me hear it?” Ye Lai still had tears on his face, mockingly hooking his lips at him, but his face still looked terrified, as if he was really scared by him.

“You…” Zhou Ran’s face turned red, and before he could finish a sentence, he had already been dragged out by the others.

The chaos ended quickly. Ye Lai sat back on the sofa, listening to the increasingly distant noise in the hallway. He waited until he couldn’t hear it anymore, wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and looked up and laughed a few times.

“What’s going on?” Zhang Yihao kicked his foot next to him and asked.

Ye Lai leaned lazily against the sofa and closed his eyes: “Brother Hao, that was really great just now, but I’m not satisfied yet. I haven’t cursed enough.”

“Who did you curse?” Sheng Mingqian hadn’t left downstairs. Seeing Zhou Ran being pulled out, still cursing Ye Lai, he knew something had happened and quickly rushed up to see.

Ye Lai recognized Sheng Mingqian’s voice, opened his peach blossom eyes, raised his eyes a few degrees, and said sarcastically, “Director Shèng, you haven’t left yet? I cursed Zhou Ran, what’s wrong?”

Sheng Mingqian looked Ye Lai up and down a few times, figuring out that he shouldn’t have suffered a loss. He lifted his leg over the glass shards on the ground and said casually, “It’s nothing, feel free to curse.”