DP Chapter 44
by Volare“It wasn’t for nothing,” Xu Chuo stood behind Xiang Yiye, stroking his Adam’s apple, “I want to lock you up in Little Cang Mountain, just for me to see every day.”
It sounded like keeping a pet. Xiang Yiye thought of an inappropriate person.
In his previous life, he played a painter in a suspense film, just a few minutes of screen time. He hadn’t received any professional guidance and relied entirely on his inherent impressions of painters to act.
Xie Zhimin found him after watching the movie and said he would pay for his father’s medical expenses, but he had to be available whenever Xie Zhimin contacted him.
When he arrived, Xie Zhimin liked to stare into people’s eyes and squeeze their necks while talking: “How about putting a collar on you here?” As he spoke, he tightened his hands, as if simulating the feeling of wearing a collar.
Xu Chuo sensed Xiang Yiye’s aversion and changed the subject, but his tone just now was so similar to Xie Zhimin’s back then.
After that, Xiang Yiye tried to avoid going to Xinghui Film and Television as much as possible, postponing the renewal as much as he could.
He directly coordinated work matters and locations, read scripts at home, flew to other places to shoot commercials and magazines, and accepted interviews.
Minghua TV invited him to perform at the New Year’s Eve gala and arranged for him to sing a Cantonese song.
In early November, Xiang Yiye went to Minghua TV for rehearsals, which ended earlier than expected, so he returned to City S a night early.
He arrived at the apartment that evening to find no one at home. Xiang Yiye glanced at the messages that hadn’t been replied to since the afternoon, assuming Xu Chuo was at L University or his studio, and made a call.
At the studio, Xu Chuo threw the paintbrush in his hand into the bucket, looked at the phone screen, and long-pressed the power button to turn it off.
Xie Zhimin leaned on the sofa, casually flipping through a fashion magazine. The person on the cover stared straight at the camera, with Xiang Yiye’s name written in the sidebar.
“I went to Little Cang Mountain to see Uncle a few days ago. I don’t think getting him off drugs is necessarily good for him. He’s not physically uncomfortable, but mentally he’s suffering. His temper is even worse, constantly babbling about those paintings of his. I don’t recognize any of them,” Xie Zhimin said.
“There are a few wooden boxes on the second floor of Stone^3 Drawing Studio, his paintings are all stored there,” Xu Chuo said.
“You should be the one to take them over. Over the years, Uncle has treated you like his own child. Now that he’s only having this little trouble, you’re in such a hurry to distance yourself. You really have no conscience,” Xie Zhimin said.
“I’ll give you all future opportunities like this, wouldn’t that suit your wishes perfectly?” Xu Chuo said.
Xie Zhimin’s grandfather founded the Xie Corporation single-handedly. Of his three children, he loved his youngest son, Xie Lei, the most. Even after Xie Lei took the initiative to sever ties with the family, he still held a portion of Xie Corporation’s shares.
After Xie Lei left, Xie Zhimin often visited him. At first, perhaps there was some genuine affection between uncle and nephew, but as time went on, the struggle for control within the Xie Corporation among the second and third generations became increasingly fierce. If Xie Zhimin could obtain Xie Lei’s shares, it would be a significant advantage.
Xie Zhimin threw the magazine onto the table, the corner hitting the palette, and a bit of paint stained the cover.
He said, “The newcomer is quite handsome. Looking at his eyes… he’s a bit like you, like someone who would be very stubborn.”
“So-so,” Xu Chuo said, “He’s nothing special after you’ve seen him for a while.”
“I don’t know.” Xie Zhimin recalled, “You and Xiang Yiye should have… met last October? It’s been over a year, and you’ve even taken him to Little Cang Mountain? No one else gets that treatment.”
Hearing Xiang Yiye’s name from his mouth felt discordant. Xu Chuo frowned, his peripheral vision catching sight of the sharp art scraper in the corner, only three steps away.
“Once you’ve had your fun, settle down,” Xie Zhimin said, “I’ve looked at Yunhua’s reports from the past few quarters. The repayment rate for the Yunshui Residence project is far from ideal. You’ve been messing around for years. If you keep being unproductive, Yunhua will eventually have no successor.”
“You’re interfering too much. Whether Yunhua is good or bad has nothing to do with you,” Xu Chuo said.
His main interest wasn’t in business. His father, Xu Mian, had him take over Yunhua’s affairs, but he was always somewhat unenthusiastic.
“Don’t speak too soon. As longtime partners, the Xie Corporation won’t abandon Yunhua. I’ll be in the country for the next six months or so. I plan to have dinner with Uncle Xu this week and discuss future cooperation properly. You’ll be there, right?” Xie Zhimin said.
Xu Chuo moved a few steps, only half a step away from the art scraper, but the blood that had been filled with anger and fear had cooled down.
What then if he did stab? Where could he go?
Xie Zhimin continued to stare at him: “Come to me, Xu Chuo. Do you have to stay so far away from me?”
In the early hours of the morning, Xiang Yiye received a call back from Xu Chuo.
“I fell asleep in the studio, my phone was off, I just plugged it in to charge,” Xu Chuo said, “Aren’t you resting yet, or have you been waiting for me?”
Xiang Yiye glanced at the charging cable on the coffee table and calmly said, “Should I come pick you up from the studio?”
“I’ll be at the studio for the next few days working on my graduation project, I won’t be going back,” Xu Chuo said.
Xiang Yiye said, “Did Lin Xiao tell you? She just got back from Madrid and wants us to have dinner together sometime.”
“She must have bought a lot of strange things to give away again,” Xu Chuo laughed, “But I have to meet with my advisor next week, and there are a lot of places in my thesis that need to be revised. I also have to go home, so I might not be able to make it. Can you go in my place?”
A week later, on the weekend, Xiang Yiye went to meet Lin Xiao alone.
Lin Xiao chose a Chinese restaurant, saying that she had eaten enough foreign food in the past few months and missed Chinese food the most.
“I was originally planning to sit in the main hall to see how long it would take for me to be recognized after not filming for more than half a year, and whether I’ve faded from the public eye,” Lin Xiao walked into the private room wearing sunglasses, and saw that only Xiang Yiye was there. “What’s going on, is Xu Chuo really not coming?”
“He’s busy,” Xiang Yiye said.
Lin Xiao sat down and flipped through the menu: “Don’t make excuses for him. Looking at how attentive he was before… did he fall for someone else?”
The words struck Xiang Yiye’s heart.
Xu Chuo had rarely returned to the apartment recently. He had Xiang Yiye’s schedule and had been avoiding meeting with Xiang Yiye. Once was a coincidence, twice was accidental, but more than that was deliberate.
Lin Xiao saw his dejected expression and said, “Don’t be sad, Yiye. Xu Chuo is like a kite in the sky, no one can hold onto him.”
“It hasn’t gotten to that point yet,” Xiang Yiye said, “I’ll talk to him after he’s done with this.”
“Talking is fine, but don’t be pathetic,” Lin Xiao took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of red and swollen eyes, “The worst that could happen is breaking up. I broke up too, I’ll keep you company, am I a good enough friend?”
Then, Lin Xiao burst into tears, reminiscing about how difficult her underground relationship with someone in the industry was.
At first, Xiang Yiye thought it was Jiang Xi who broke up, but after listening to the rest, he realized it wasn’t.
“Of course I was the one who brought it up,” Lin Xiao said while wiping her tears, “My new company doesn’t allow dating, so I dumped him that day.”
Xiang Yiye comforted her, and Lin Xiao said, “Being sad is only for a moment. Even if the company didn’t have that rule, I would have broken up anyway. Jiang Xi is a good person, but he’s not someone I can be with in the end. I only realized it recently, like that time I didn’t have any roles to film for a long time. When he found out, his first reaction was actually to be happy.”
“Can you understand how I felt? I was so anxious during that time, and all my friends knew how worried they were about me. But he thought it was nothing, saying what’s the big deal about not having any roles to film? He also doesn’t have roles to film often, so now I’m just like him,” Lin Xiao said.
“I understand,” Xiang Yiye said, “You need someone who will move forward with you, not someone who will trap you with his pace.”
Lin Xiao nodded: “So he and I aren’t suitable.”
They also talked about Xinghui Film and Television. The vice president had contacted Xiang Yiye several times recently, increasing the offer in the hopes that he would renew his long-term contract, but Xiang Yiye explicitly refused.
“Then you have to be prepared to follow in my footsteps,” Lin Xiao said, “Luckily, you only signed a two-year contract back then. You’re young, so not getting any roles for a year shouldn’t be a devastating blow.”
Xiang Yiye had also considered the cost of refusing to renew the contract. His current plan was to reach an agreement with the new company he would sign with later, and have them pay the termination fee on his behalf.
He Jingming and Gu Wenyu were both helping him select or recommend, and he was already seeing some progress. If it didn’t work out in the end, he would just lay low for a year.
After dinner, Lin Xiao went to the lobby to pay the bill.
The restaurant manager was telling a customer that a private room would be available soon. Lin Xiao turned her head and saw the customer, and said, “Xu Chuo?”
As she spoke, she looked at the strange man next to Xu Chuo. Before Xu Chuo could reply, she immediately pulled him over: “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at L University right now…”
“I changed my plans last minute,” Xu Chuo said.
The strange man looked to be less than thirty years old, with short hair and a tall, thin build. His skin was a healthy tan color. He frowned when he saw Lin Xiao suddenly pulling and tugging, and followed closely: “Who is this?”
Lin Xiao said to Xu Chuo, “Can you go somewhere else? What if Yiye comes out and sees you?”
Xu Chuo looked up and met the eyes of Xiang Yiye, who was coming out of the private room.
Xiang Yiye’s gaze shifted between the three of them, finally landing on Xu Chuo.
How long had it been since he and Xu Chuo had seen each other? More than ten days, right?
When he was on set a few months ago, he and Xu Chuo would often only see each other every ten or twenty days, but it didn’t seem as long as this time.
Xu Chuo briefly introduced the strange man as “a friend,” and hurriedly entered the private room.
In the evening, Xiang Yiye returned to his own place. Since Xu Chuo didn’t come to the apartment much anymore, he didn’t go there often either.
In the middle of the night, Xiang Yiye had just fallen asleep when he felt someone wrap their arms around him from behind.
Xu Chuo probably hadn’t changed his clothes. He still carried the coolness from outside and a hint of alcohol.
Sensing that Xu Chuo was smelling him, Xiang Yiye fought off his drowsiness and asked in the dark, “Are you getting tired of it?”
Was it because they had made their relationship too clear, like slowly seeing that the gorgeous robe was actually covered in lice, that Xu Chuo was starting to find it dazzling and weary?
After a long wait, Xu Chuo said, “It’s not like that.”
Xiang Yiye waited for him to continue, but Xu Chuo didn’t say anything else.
“Who was that person?”
“A high school classmate.”
He was a friend in the afternoon, and now he’s a high school classmate. What a clumsy excuse.
“Do you like him?”
“No… he’s a policeman.”
“Then do you like policemen?”
Xu Chuo held him even tighter: “Yiye. I’ve neglected you these past few days. I’ll make it up to you when I have time later.”
His compensation would be sending luxury goods.
Xiang Yiye had to express ten times the joy for the two points of happiness he felt when he received those things. He was tired of acting.