DP Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Am I seeing things? Is there someone standing on the top floor railing?”

“It really is a person! What’s he doing up there? He’s not going to jump, is he…”

“Don’t just stand there, call the police!”

“Don’t jump—” Xiang Yiye ran desperately, pushing through the dense crowd, but it was too late. He watched helplessly as the person in the hospital gown fell from the high building, shattering at his feet like a flower that withered instantly.

D University student dormitory, 3:30 AM, Xiang Yiye woke up with a start.

His roommate Wu Yiyue was staying up late playing games and asked with concern, “What’s wrong? Had a nightmare?”

Xiang Yiye grunted in response, taking deep breaths. The emotions in the dream were too real, and he found it hard to pull himself out of that extreme sadness.

Wu Yiyue took off one side of his headphones and said, “What did you dream about that made such a big commotion? Did zombies chop you up in your dream?”

Xiang Yiye calmed down for a moment and forced a laugh. “It’s nothing, I dreamt that my audition didn’t go well.”

“No way, Xiang God, I haven’t seen you this anxious even during finals week.” Wu Yiyue said, “Wait… you don’t actually want to be an actor, do you?”

“I guess so,” Xiang Yiye said.

“Oh my god, that’s way too sudden. I’ve never heard you mention wanting to get into the industry before,” Wu Yiyue said.

Xiang Yiye didn’t know how to explain. He had always had smooth sailing with his studies, and after the college entrance exam, he followed his parents’ advice and applied for an engineering major. Since entering university, his grades had always been among the best. It wasn’t without reason that Wu Yiyue always called him School God/Genius Student.

So in his previous life, when a talent scout approached Xiang Yiye, he rejected them without hesitation. As for why he became an actor later, that’s another story.

Wu Yiyue lost interest in playing games and became concerned about his roommate’s future: “So what if your audition goes well? You’re not going to quit school, are you?”

“It hasn’t come to that yet, let’s just get through this hurdle first,” Xiang Yiye said. In his previous life, he didn’t enter the entertainment industry until two years later, after graduating from university. It wasn’t this early.

Wu Yiyue lamented, “Our department is losing a cutting-edge talent, what a pity, I thought you really liked our major.”

Xiang Yiye said, “I wouldn’t say I like it. Before finding something I truly love, it seems like doing anything is just so-so.” Although he entered the industry two years later in his previous life, and it wasn’t entirely voluntary at first, after those eight years of acting career, he discovered that he genuinely loved acting.

Wu Yiyue said, “You’re being too humble, you can get such high scores even if you don’t like it. How about this, before you become an actor, leave your IQ with me, and I’ll be the one getting all the high grades from now on.”

“Dream on, you think you can be an actor just by having a pretty face?” Xiang Yiye said with a smile.

Wu Yiyue followed his lead: “Then hire me as your manager or assistant. I’m not good at anything else, but I’m best at running errands and doing odd jobs. I’m not going to study anymore, I’ll drop out of school tomorrow and wait for the Film Emperor to take me to success.”

“That won’t do. You still need to study. At most, I’ll allow you to resell my images,” Xiang Yiye joked, knowing that Wu Yiyue was deliberately acting foolish to ease his fear from the nightmare he had just had.

The silent night stretched on. Xiang Yiye tossed and turned, unable to fall back asleep. He opened his Weibo, tapped on user search, and entered a long and somewhat complicated username.

He originally just wanted to see if he could find it. When the familiar profile picture popped up, he realized that Xu Chuo’s username and profile picture had never been changed.

Xiang Yiye switched to his alternate account and followed him without hesitation.

In his previous life, Xu Chuo had already graduated for many years when they met. Xiang Yiye was like a peeping tom hiding behind the screen, frantically capturing Xu Chuo’s every moment in school.

Xu Chuo was a graduate student in the art department at L University, and his life was rich and fulfilling. Usually, he was either painting in the studio, visiting exhibitions, attending concerts, or hanging out at the library or bars. During holidays, he traveled all over the world, and his photo album was full of travel photos.

Xiang Yiye calculated that on average, every three months, at most half a year, the person by Xu Chuo’s side would change. What remained unchanged was that in every photo, next to every partner, Xu Chuo looked happy.

Without him, he would still be fine, or rather, without him, he would be even better, Xiang Yiye thought. As he looked through the photos, he told himself that it didn’t matter. He was just looking and wouldn’t affect Xu Chuo’s personal life.

He looked until dawn.

At 7:00 AM, roommate Wu Yiyue had just fallen asleep when Xiang Yiye cut off the alarm before it rang, got up quietly, washed up, changed clothes, and took the high-speed train home.

It wasn’t a holiday, but Xiang Yiye had to go back to do something very important: take his dad to the hospital for a check-up.

In his previous life, Father Xiang got liver cancer the year Xiang Yiye graduated from college. After spending all their savings, Father Xiang was unwilling to burden his family any further and decided to give up treatment.

And it was at that time that Xiang Yiye accepted an olive branch offered by a “benefactor” and officially entered the entertainment industry.

Nipping the possibility of his father being diagnosed with liver cancer two years later in the bud became Xiang Yiye’s top priority after his rebirth. Some time ago, he made several phone calls home, urging his dad to go to the hospital for a check-up.

But Father Xiang insisted that there was nothing wrong with his body and kept delaying it with various excuses. Xiang Yiye had no choice but to go home himself and personally take him to the hospital.

That day, Father Xiang still didn’t cooperate and instead launched a counterattack, questioning Xiang Yiye for not studying properly.

“I don’t have class today,” Xiang Yiye said truthfully.

“If you don’t have class, go out with your girlfriend!”

“I’m single, where would I get a girlfriend?” Xiang Yiye asked, baffled.

Father Xiang said in disappointment, “Look at you, not studying properly, not having a girlfriend, you’re simply not doing your job! When I was your age, my romantic stories with your mother were enough to write a book…”

Xiang Yiye couldn’t help but interrupt, “What romantic stories? You two were introduced by relatives. The times are different now. I’m still young, it’s okay to be single for a few more years… no, I’m talking about you, don’t change the subject. Take a day off and come to the hospital with me.”

“Go, go, go, why go to the hospital if I’m not sick? I still have work to do,” Father Xiang said stubbornly.

“Dad, do you know what it means to take preventive measures? It’ll be too late if you really get sick,” Xiang Yiye said.

“You brat, isn’t the phone enough for you to scold me? You specifically bought a ticket to come home and curse me?” Father Xiang frowned.

Xiang Yiye was helpless and used his trump card: “If you go to the hospital with me today, I promise you, I’ll bring a girlfriend home for winter break this year.”

Father Xiang rolled his eyes around a few times and decisively chose the latter between half a day’s salary and his son’s lifelong happiness.

The check-up results were better than expected. There were no signs of cancer for the time being, but hepatitis was detected. Father Xiang kept complaining that Xiang Yiye was making a fuss.

Xiang Yiye didn’t dare to be careless, bought the medicine according to the doctor’s prescription, wrote the daily dosage on the medicine shells with a marker, and told Father Xiang to remember to take it on time.

At the hospital, Xiang Yiye opened his mouth several times, wanting to tell Father Xiang about his audition a few days ago. But after thinking about it, he couldn’t figure out how to say it even after all the check-up items were done.

After returning home, at the dinner table, Xiang Yiye started a seemingly casual conversation: “Dad, our college is holding a cultural festival next month. Some classmates from the drama club invited me to perform in a play together.”

Father Xiang obviously didn’t take it to heart: “Oh, you’re going to perform in a play? That’s good, relax during your free time, and you can meet some pretty female classmates.”

Mother Xiang put a piece of vegetable in Xiang Yiye’s bowl and said, “Take a video and show it to your dad and me when the time comes.”

“Oh, we’ll see. I haven’t decided whether to perform or not,” Xiang Yiye said vaguely, not continuing to follow up.

He remembered that in his previous life, Father Xiang would rather die than use the money his son earned from acting to treat his illness. Until his death, he kept persuading Xiang Yiye to quit the entertainment industry, feeling that it was not a proper job after all.

The phone vibrated, and the small window on the screen saver showed that the message was from Xinghui Film and Television Company. Xiang Yiye quickly picked it up and unlocked it discreetly.

The message was from Director Li’s assistant. It didn’t say whether he passed the audition a few days ago, but only told him to go to Xinghui Film and Television Company again this Saturday.

Saturday, Xinghui Film and Television Company’s makeup room, makeup artist Xiao Ya used a comb to style Xiang Yiye’s hair.

“Sister Xiao Ya, are you doing Chen Xu’s makeup and styling for me?” Xiang Yiye asked. In the impromptu performance where he saved the day last time, he played Chen Xu.

“That’s right,” Xiao Ya said, “It would be even better if your hair was longer. And then a pair of glasses, preferably half-rimmed, and you’d be Chen Xu himself.”

It seemed that Director Li was likely interested in him playing this role. This was a good thing for Xiang Yiye. The role he originally auditioned for was just cannon fodder to highlight the male lead, and it would be great if he had two episodes worth of scenes. Although Chen Xu wasn’t the main character in the drama, he appeared on screen much more often and was a relatively positive character.

“It takes time to grow hair,” Xiang Yiye pondered, “As for glasses… I remember there was an eyewear store on the way to the company, I’ll go out and buy them right away.”

Xiao Ya thought, what a well-behaved rookie/fresh meat, and said, “There’s probably not enough time to go buy them now. How about this, I’ll help you borrow a pair, you wait here, I’ll be back soon.”

After Xiao Ya finished speaking, she rushed out and quickly brought back a pair of gunmetal half-rim glasses, put them on Xiang Yiye, and praised him while looking at him: “Perfect, too perfect! This is exactly the kind of high-intellect feeling we want!”

Xiang Yiye stared at the mirror, unable to make heads or tails of it, only feeling dizzy. The glasses probably had some degree of correction, and he wasn’t nearsighted.

He took them off and noticed that the glasses were finely crafted and had a lot of texture, and couldn’t help but say, “Thank you, Sister Xiao Ya. These glasses look quite expensive, whose are they? I hope I’m not causing him trouble?”

“It’s a friend’s, you probably don’t know him, but he’s super nice, it’s okay, use them boldly, just don’t drop them,” Xiao Ya said.

Xiang Yiye left the makeup room with the glasses, planning to wear them when he auditioned.

In the audition room, in addition to Director Li, there were other people. One young male actor inexplicably attracted Xiang Yiye’s attention. He didn’t recognize the other person, but the other person’s style was similar to his, and he was likely another candidate playing Chen Xu, and his real competitor today.

That male actor said something in Director Li’s ear, and the latter shook his head. The male actor had no choice but to leave. But he kept staring at Xiang Yiye as he came in, only looking away when the two brushed past each other.

That look contained an undisguised scrutiny, as well as a hint of confrontation. Xiang Yiye became even more certain of his guess and knew that his performance next would be extremely critical.