SM Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Step by Step, Only Because He Loves Him (Minor Edits)

(Part 1)

The sky was like a thick layer of gray-black putty, completely overcast, with dark clouds surging, slowly concealing the layer of blackness under Sheng Mingqian’s eyes.

A rumble of thunder sounded in the sky, and raindrops hit Sheng Mingqian’s nose, chilling him to the bone. The thunderstorm came quickly and heavily, the raindrops quickly turning into lines, and then completely forming pillars of rain.

The cloud that Sheng Mingqian couldn’t see clearly in his heart, covered by a layer of gauze, was now torn open by the pouring rain, and the abyss claws wrapped inside finally stretched out, grabbing him and desperately dragging him in.

The rain grew heavier and heavier. Sheng Mingqian got into the car, his soaked clothes clinging tightly to his skin, dragging him down due to gravity. His trouser legs were covered in water, and his leather shoes were stained with black mud.

The seat was also wet from him, and water droplets from the hair on his forehead dripped onto the steering wheel, then slid down the steering wheel, and a clear sound of landing echoed in his ears.

Sheng Mingqian was a mess, his eyelashes drooping and his eyes dull, his thoughts wandering outside. Coupled with his pale face, he had none of his usual decency and calmness.

He should have thought of it a long time ago. Those things he couldn’t figure out before were just because he was too self-righteous.

Why did Ye Lai want the role of Bai Yusheng in “The World on the Bough” so badly? Why did Ye Lai read “The World on the Bough” in front of him? Why did he always have an ethereal feeling in his heart that he couldn’t grasp?

The dense raindrops on the glass window transformed into a large net, trapping Sheng Mingqian tightly inside, while also opening its mouth wide, just waiting for an opportunity to devour him.

In the crackling sound of the rain, Ye Lai’s words reappeared one by one, constantly stirring Sheng Mingqian’s ears, tugging at his auditory nerves, striking him again and again, accurately and mercilessly.

“I entered the entertainment industry back then because I wanted to be closer to you, Sheng Mingqian, do you know? I knew you many, many years ago.”

“I first saw you in the newspaper, and later on TV. I started liking you when I was 19 years old. I’ve seen all the movies you’ve directed.”

“Sheng Mingqian, I’ve liked you for a long time. You’ve appeared in my dreams many, many times. I want you to know.”

When the “Life Unveiling” cast and crew were filming in the mountains, he found the lost and injured Ye Lai. Ye Lai’s confession while lying on his back wasn’t flattery or trying to get close. He was telling the truth.

The scene changed to after their secret marriage, in the audition waiting room for “The World on the Bough,” Ye Lai looked at him with a face of despair: “Bai Yusheng loves Jiang Yuanzhou, he loves him, Sheng Mingqian, he loves him.”

…

Everything was connected.

Ye Lai first saw him in the newspaper. Ye Lai was also the child in the hospital who agreed to wait for the warm spring of the following year with him. Ye Lai entered the entertainment industry for him, and finally, after several years, managed to get an audition for his movie.

Step by step, step by step, only because he loves him.

Just thinking about the footsteps Ye Lai left in the mud, Sheng Mingqian’s heart ached as if someone was twisting it and wouldn’t let go. Those footprints stomped heavily on his body, each footprint a heavy blow.

But what about him? He denied Ye Lai’s ten years with a casual remark. He didn’t deny the ending of Bai Yusheng, he denied Ye Lai’s ending.

His sentence “That’s not love, that’s just obsession” destroyed all of Ye Lai’s beliefs.

What kind of pain and despair did Ye Lai feel when he saw the ending of the new script? How sad must he have been.

Sheng Mingqian didn’t dare to think anymore…

He failed to let the child on the sixth floor wait until the sun shone on his head, and instead ruthlessly cut off the last belief he was pursuing.

He was just a ruthless executioner.

Lin Han was still talking on the phone, but Sheng Mingqian didn’t hear a word.

“Mingqian, Mingqian, are you still listening? The production company wants to sue Ye Lai. What are you going to do now?”

Lin Han’s last sentence had Ye Lai’s name in it, so Sheng Mingqian finally heard it. Without thinking, he said, “Tell the production company that I will bear all the losses and compensation. No matter how much the liquidated damages are finally negotiated with them, don’t go through legal procedures. I will compensate everything. Let them… don’t go looking for Ye Lai to cause trouble.”

Sheng Mingqian’s voice was wet from the rain. Lin Han sighed. He had expected Sheng Mingqian to say this. “I knew it. After all, Ye Lai has been with you for so many years. There’s still some affection, right? I’m familiar with the production company. I’ll negotiate the compensation and liquidated damages. It won’t be too outrageous.”

After Lin Han finished speaking, he laughed at Sheng Mingqian on the phone, “If I were you, I wouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

–

–

Sheng Mingqian drove home as fast as he could. He had never watched that video. Every time he thought about it, the video that night seemed like a reminder, reminding him of the false start of his marriage with Ye Lai, that everything was a disguise and a scam.

The night the marriage agreement expired, Ye Lai returned the memory card to him. He held the memory card in his fingertips, wanting to break it directly several times, but finally gave up.

The memory card and the jade lock were still in the drawer in the study. Sheng Mingqian hadn’t touched them since Ye Lai left that night.

Looking at the jade lock, Sheng Mingqian remembered that the day after the divorce trending search, Yuan Ling had called him and asked him what was going on between him and Ye Lai, and why they had divorced so soon after returning home.

On the phone, Sheng Mingqian couldn’t tell his parents the truth. Sheng Mingqian knew how much Yuan Ling and Sheng Dehui liked Ye Lai.

Of course, he also knew how attractive Ye Lai was.

Before Ye Lai left that night, he said that the sound system in the home theater was very good, and if he wanted to watch the video, he should remember to turn the sound up to the maximum.

He had ignored that obvious hint at the time. Ye Lai had wanted him to watch the complete video many times before, but he had given up.

Now it was too late to watch, Sheng Mingqian smiled wryly.

Sheng Mingqian carefully took the memory card and went downstairs to the home theater.

The rain outside hadn’t stopped, but the soundproofing in the home theater was very good. When he closed the window, the sound of the rain and all the noise were isolated outside. Besides his own footsteps, there was no other noise.

It was like two worlds that didn’t interfere with each other.

On the double-seat viewing sofa, the long blanket that Ye Lai had covered himself with was still draped over the pillow next to it, full of wrinkles.

Sheng Mingqian was still wearing his wet clothes. When he lay down, he could still faintly feel the traces and warmth of Ye Lai’s body, as well as Ye Lai’s rapid breathing every time.

They had done it too many times in this home theater. Many times Ye Lai wanted to watch a movie, but they couldn’t wait until the movie was over.

Sheng Mingqian picked up the remote control and pressed it. The gray screen that covered the entire wall instantly lit up, and the slightly blue light shone on Sheng Mingqian’s deep face. His dark eyes stared unblinkingly at the screen.

The video was 12 hours, 28 minutes, and 35 seconds long. It was so long, but back then, he only watched a few seconds of it, those few seconds were of him and Ye Lai.

The progress bar started playing from the first second. The camera shook a bit. Sheng Mingqian frowned. In the third second, the upper body of a stranger appeared.

Judging from the figure, the person in the camera was a man. He didn’t film the face, only the area from the neck to the chest. The man didn’t stay in front of the camera for long. After a few seconds, he quickly left the front of the camera. It seemed that he had just been adjusting the angle of the video.

The video was facing the white bed. After the man who set up the camera was done, he left. The sound of his footsteps gradually faded away, but there was no sound of the door closing. The camera was steadily facing the bed, and the light from the hallway shone through the crack in the door, and the dim yellow light spread across the end of the bed in irregular strips.

Sheng Mingqian pressed the pause button and went back a few seconds, back to the scene where someone was just there.

He could tell at a glance that the man wasn’t Ye Lai.

The man was wearing a silver-gray suit. Two seconds later, his left hand gently pressed the suit button. The man’s little finger wore a silver wide-band ring. The ring had a hollow design and unique patterns engraved on it.

Sheng Mingqian stared at the ring for a long time, and a flash suddenly appeared in his dim eyes. He remembered.

When he was filming “Life Unveiling” back then, one of the investors temporarily replaced the person who was going to play the role that Ye Lai was going to play. A few days before the start of filming, the investor brought the new actress to him. He didn’t remember the actress’s face, nor did he remember her name, but his peripheral vision glanced over her finger and noticed the ring on her little finger, because the ring’s design was very special, so he remembered the ring.

The camera was placed by that person.

However, an actor can’t casually enter and exit his room, the production company booked the hotel for the wrap-up banquet.

There was someone else, the investor from back then.

After filming of “Life Unveiling” began, that investor was still angry that he refused to change the actor, so he rarely asked about the progress of the film. After filming wrapped, he also said he wouldn’t attend the wrap-up banquet, but the investor came to the wrap-up banquet early and his attitude took a 180-degree turn. He frequently toasted him at the reception.

And the last glass of wine they drank was handed to him by that investor. After drinking it, he also said some pleasantries about continuing to work together.

All the truth was about to come out.

The investor put the drug in the wine, and the new actress set up the video. As for the purpose, it was to retaliate against him, teach him a lesson, or to control him.

And Ye Lai just accidentally entered the game.

(Part 2)

The video continued. After half an hour, the door was opened from the outside, and the small patch of bright color on the white sheets slowly enlarged until it covered half the bed.

It was Ye Lai. He could tell just by the sound of his footsteps.

Sheng Mingqian’s fingers on the corner of the sofa clenched involuntarily. The blanket was already wet from his clothes, and his palm was full of moisture.

Even though Ye Lai hadn’t appeared on the screen yet, and he hadn’t watched the video, he could smell Ye Lai’s scent from the screen.

“The door isn’t closed…” Ye Lai was talking.

Even if the door wasn’t closed, Ye Lai still knocked on the door three times, “Knock, knock, knock: “Director Sheng, are you in the room?”

The video was quiet for a few seconds, then Ye Lai’s footsteps got closer. He must have entered the room.

But Ye Lai only stayed in the room for a short time. Maybe he couldn’t find him and turned around to leave. Just as Ye Lai’s footsteps got a little farther away, the door was opened forcefully, and a rush of chaotic and hurried footsteps directly collided with Ye Lai. Ye Lai exclaimed, followed by a deafening sound of the door closing.

“Director Sheng, you’re back.” Even if it was just a voice, Sheng Mingqian could still hear the surprise in Ye Lai’s voice.

“Who told you to come?” His voice was hoarse and unpleasant, and there was a cold question.

“Director Sheng, I saw you drink a lot of alcohol at the reception just now. I was afraid you wouldn’t feel well, so I bought you some stomach-warming things and hangover candies, here…”

Before Ye Lai could take the things out of his pocket, his wrist was grabbed. “I’m asking you, who let you in?”

“It was… President Zhang, President Zhang told me. He said this was your room.”

“What are you doing here? Did you give me the wine to drink?”

“What wine? What’s wrong with the wine?”

In the home theater, the surround sound of the sound system surrounded him from all directions, and finally surrounded Sheng Mingqian, leaving no space for him to breathe.

Half a minute later, Sheng Mingqian watched himself in the video push Ye Lai onto the bed.

Ye Lai opened his mouth to say something, but he had already lowered his head and kissed him. Ye Lai’s body instantly stiffened, his eyes wide open, and he looked like a piece of wood that had been struck by lightning, charred, and stiffly lying under him, accepting his stormy kiss.

It wasn’t a kiss, it was more like biting.

When he knelt on the bed and took off his shirt, Ye Lai was still lying straight on the bed, his eyes dull.

It wasn’t until he pressed down again that Ye Lai came back to his senses, propped himself up and moved backward along the edge of the bed. When he was about to fall off the bed, he grabbed Ye Lai’s ankle and dragged him back under him.

“Mingqian, what’s wrong with you? Don’t do this, I’m scared.”

“If you have the ability, put something in my wine, now you know you’re scared?”

“What? “Ye Lai didn’t understand what he meant, because he didn’t put anything in the wine.

“Still pretending?”

“I didn’t…”

Before Ye Lai could finish speaking, he grabbed Ye Lai’s wrist and raised it over his head, then blocked his mouth again.

The doorbell rang, but it didn’t affect them on the bed at all.

The sound system at home was indeed good. Sheng Mingqian was surrounded by the amplified sound of their intertwined breathing. Ye Lai’s soft moans were like sounds from outside the sky, directly stimulating Sheng Mingqian’s eardrums and eye sockets, reaching the depths of his soul.

“Mingqian, I’m scared,” Ye Lai pushed him away, his fingers trembling a few times in the air, he was really scared. “What do you want to do?”

“Don’t be afraid…”

He in the video lowered his head again and moved closer bit by bit, his nose touching Ye Lai’s earlobe, and then sucking on his neck.

The scent that he could smell from the screen had already been engraved in his body that night, and he had never forgotten it all these years, flowing with his blood.

A faint smell of alcohol, mixed with the scent of freesia perfume. Ye Lai never wore perfume when filming, so he must have sprayed it specially for the wrap-up banquet.

Before he was completely drunk, he also noticed that the suit Ye Lai was wearing that night was almost the same as his.

Ye Lai’s body was trembling, and his fingers were grasping the sheets under him. If you listened carefully, you could hear the sound of Ye Lai’s nails scratching on the sheets in the noise of the sound system.

But he didn’t feel Ye Lai’s fear at the time, nor did he feel Ye Lai’s struggle when facing him. His brain was powerless after being controlled by drugs, and there was only primitive desire.

“Don’t be afraid.” He comforted Ye Lai, a subconscious comfort.

“Mingqian, do you want to do it with me?” Ye Lai’s voice was hoarse, hiding his uncertain test.

He didn’t speak, nor did he make a sound, just kept kissing Ye Lai’s lips, touching them and then moving away, touching them again and then moving away, as if afraid of kissing Ye Lai too hard.

Sheng Mingqian watched the few minutes of video with torment and pain. The side of his face under the blue light was covered with a layer of frost. The sides of his nose were bulging because he was trying to suppress his impending burst of breath. His lips were pursed into a straight line, and his body was as if cursed, unable to move.

Until he took off Ye Lai’s clothes, Ye Lai slowly raised his arms and hooked his neck: “Mingqian, I love you, I’ve loved you for many, many years, since I was nineteen. Are you acting with me today? Acting after the wrap-up banquet? I’m scared…”

“Don’t be afraid, it’s not acting.”

Ye Lai closed his eyes, his neck tilted back hard, his Adam’s apple rolling in the night, and asked him, “Will there be sun tomorrow morning?”

“The weather forecast says it will be sunny tomorrow, there will be sun tomorrow morning.” He said to Ye Lai.

“Sheng Mingqian, did I finally wait until the sun with you?”

“You waited.”

At the last moment, Ye Lai’s eyes were red in the screen, and tears kept flowing.

His eyes flashed with light, pain, forbearance, and a desire for the morning.

Sheng Mingqian sat on the sofa and slowly raised his hands, wanting to wipe away the tears on Ye Lai’s face in the screen, but he couldn’t touch them and couldn’t reach them. All that was biting his fingers was the empty cold air in the home theater.

Those breaths and sounds were clearly joyful, but how happy they were at the time, how glaring they were now, and how they pierced through Sheng Mingqian’s body.

Two hours later, the sounds surrounding his ears completely stopped, and it was already one o’clock in the morning.

In the next few hours, Ye Lai curled up in his arms, sleeping soundly.

Over the years, Ye Lai had also fallen asleep in his arms like that, defenseless, his body curled up to keep warm.

Sure enough, it was a sunny day the next morning. The sun shone into the room through the cracks in the curtains, covering a layer of golden light on their entwined insteps. The video turned into a warm color.

Ye Lai woke up first, sat on the head of the bed, and stared at the screen for a full ten minutes, then looked at him sideways, and finally Ye Lai got out of bed and slowly walked towards the camera, waved his hand at the camera, and frowned, very puzzled.

In the last scene, he, who had just woken up, saw the camera and Ye Lai standing next to him, his eyes full of shock and anger, and the disappointment and loss that he had suppressed in his eyes at the time, all of which were so clearly presented in front of his eyes.

Sheng Mingqian sat in the home theater and watched the video from beginning to end, without missing a second.

The video ended.

Sheng Mingqian still remembered that Ye Lai wanted to explain, but he had already made up his mind in his heart, and in the end, he personally cut off that ray of light.

“What do you want? Money? Or resources?”

Ye Lai hesitated, lowered his head and remained silent for a long time, finally smiled faintly, and took out the memory card from the slot at the back of the camera, as if he had finally found an opportunity to get close to him, he said: “Since Director Sheng has asked, then I really want to ask for something, I want you.”

In their five years of secret marriage, the only role that Ye Lai asked him for was the male lead in “The World on the Bough.” Even in the end, what Ye Lai wanted was him.

“The World on the Bough” was written by Ye Lai. Ye Lai was writing about him and him. That was the confession that Ye Lai couldn’t say out loud.

Ye Lai’s confession grew out of thorns. Sheng Mingqian was covered in blood as soon as he touched it, but the blood wasn’t his, it was Ye Lai’s.

The screen turned black, the rain outside had stopped, and it was almost dawn. Sheng Mingqian patted his numb legs hard a few times, and finally stood up holding the edge of the sofa. Something hot was flowing down his eyes.

Was the water on his hair still not dry?

Sheng Mingqian thought, raised his hand and touched under his eyes.

It wasn’t rain.