SM Chapter 55

Chapter 55: I’m Just Drained Right Now

“He’s gone mad, has Sheng Mingqian lost his mind? What nonsense is he spouting to the reporters? Does he even know what he’s saying?”

Ye Lai’s fingers gripped the tablet tightly, his knuckles white as he stared blankly at Sheng Mingqian on the screen, listening to him list off points one through four.

Sheng Mingqian’s eyes seemed to penetrate the screen, looking directly at Ye Lai. Lately, the Sheng Mingqian that Ye Lai saw always seemed to have such a gentle gaze.

Outside the window, dark clouds were gathering, threatening rain. The office lights were off, and the greyish sky grew darker. The screen’s light illuminated Ye Lai’s pale face, his features haloed by faint light.

The cigarette between Ye Lai’s index and middle fingers was burning unattended, its ash accumulating into a long column. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Ye Lai’s fingers twitched, and the ash fell in a rustling cascade, unnoticed on his trousers.

Zhang Yihao still didn’t understand what exactly had happened between Ye Lai and Sheng Mingqian. He watched Ye Lai continue to stare at the screen, replaying the video repeatedly, cursing Sheng Mingqian but unable to tear his eyes away. Zhang Yihao began to form a vague understanding.

He seemed to finally grasp a little about Ye Lai. If Sheng Mingqian’s candor had come sooner, he had no doubt Ye Lai would have jumped for joy. But now, Ye Lai’s eyes held more forbearance and repression.

Zhang Yihao looked at Ye Lai with a touch of pity. He took the tablet from Ye Lai’s hands and moved it a little further away, saying, “Don’t watch it anymore. How many times have you seen it?”

“I won’t watch it, I won’t watch it.”

Ye Lai realized that his behavior just now had been a bit foolish. He smiled slightly, put out the burnt cigarette in the ashtray, and sat back on the sofa, listless, as if he had just survived a catastrophe, barely holding on until the end, looking very tired.

Zhang Yihao said, “You two are going to be stuck on the trending searches for the next few days. Besides filming, don’t go out for now. And, they’ve already splashed paint on your door, so people definitely know your address. Don’t go back to your place. Come to my house tonight.”

“No need, I’ll go ba…” Ye Lai wanted to say he’d go back to the orphanage, but the words stopped at his lips. He didn’t want to bring trouble back to the orphanage, so he changed his mind and said, “I’ll just find another place.”

“I’ll help you find one in a few days. Don’t show your face yourself. I’ll find you a better community. The last place you rented wasn’t safe enough, and the property management was terrible, no security cameras at all.”

Ye Lai mumbled an “okay.”

“The comments are flooding in again…” Zhang Yihao opened his cell phone, swiped a few times, and flipped through the comments, reminding Ye Lai.

“It’s not the first time. Let them curse if they want to, let them say whatever they want.”

“It’s not all curses this time,” Zhang Yihao analyzed as he read. “Most of the attention has shifted to Sheng Mingqian. His fans, except for a few and some extremists, are mostly making harmless jokes, cheering him on, those nasty comments are being suppressed. It looks like… Sheng Mingqian’s side must have handled it.”

For his new role, Ye Lai had let his hair grow out for two days, and a few strands of hair hung over his eyes, obscuring the corners of his vision. Ye Lai blankly thought for two seconds before understanding what Zhang Yihao meant by “handled it.” He gave a perfunctory “uh-huh” to show he understood and didn’t continue the topic.

Sheng Mingqian didn’t end up picking up Ye Lai. Ten minutes after his car got on the elevated highway, there was an accident ahead, and he was stuck for a full forty minutes.

When he arrived at the film set, Director Sun shrugged at him. Ye Lai had already been picked up by Zhang Yihao. Sheng Mingqian couldn’t find Ye Lai and couldn’t get through to his phone, so he had to sit in the car and ask Lin Han about the situation.

“How’s it going on your end?” Sheng Mingqian asked.

Lin Han sighed deeply, “Don’t worry, it’s not a big problem. The public relations department isn’t useless. But next time you have this kind of response, can you say something beforehand? You were too sudden.”

“I didn’t plan to respond,” Sheng Mingqian rubbed his temples, suppressing his weariness. “I’m with Ye Lai every day now, so we’ll definitely be photographed more often. Ye Lai told them about the divorce himself. If I didn’t respond, they would only target Ye Lai. Before, reporters blocked the entrance to the orphanage during the director’s funeral. Now they know his address, they must have been following him beforehand. And now this paint-splashing incident.”

The more Sheng Mingqian thought about it, the more panicked he became. Lin Han analyzed with him, “Logically speaking, you’re a director, not in front of the camera, your fans shouldn’t be this extreme.”

Sheng Mingqian agreed with Lin Han. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Let’s wait for the police’s results. I’ve already submitted all the evidence.”

Lin Han reminded him, “Have Ye Lai be more careful. There might still be people targeting him. If you run into someone extreme, no matter what you do or say, it’ll be wrong.”

“I know,” Sheng Mingqian’s eyes turned cold. “I’ve been in this industry for so many years. If I can’t even protect one person, then all these years have been wasted.”

His person, he would protect himself.

–

–

In a private pub, Ye Lai turned off his phone and drank half the night with Zhang Yihao. After a few glasses of wine, Ye Lai felt drunk. There were only the two of them in the booth, so they talked openly about everything.

“Brother Hao, I’m really tired of being in this lively place that is the entertainment industry…”

Zhang Yihao patted his arm and poured him another glass of wine, “I know, that’s how people are. There are ups and downs. It’ll be better after you get through it.”

Ye Lai took another sip. The light from the hanging lamp above was reflected in his eyes, dim and ethereal. The sound of raindrops hitting the glass window was erratic.

The booth was decorated in a bamboo forest style. A bamboo screen stood between the booth door and the table. Ye Lai stared at the continuous green bamboo leaves on the screen, and soon his eyes blurred. Even though the screen was far away from him, he still felt like he could reach out and pluck a bamboo leaf.

That’s what Ye Lai thought, and that’s what he did. He raised his arm and grabbed at the air in front of him, but he didn’t catch anything.

Zhang Yihao flicked the back of his hand, “What are you grabbing at?”

Ye Lai shook his head and laughed, “Nothing, I was grabbing bamboo leaves to play with.”

“You’ve had too much to drink,” Zhang Yihao said. “If you’ve had too much, then drink your fill. Temporary happiness is still happiness.”

Ye Lai hmm’d. He said whatever came to his mind, “Brother Hao, when I was little, I never thought about my life now, what with being an actor, becoming famous, filming movies. I never thought about any of that. I was just an ordinary kid who wasn’t very lucky. I don’t even really like facing the camera.”

Zhang Yihao looked up and interjected, “But your acting is good, really good.”

“I act through immersion. I have to completely transform myself into that person. If you’re just talking about acting skills, I’m not good. I know I’m not good.” Ye Lai’s hoarse voice floated in the booth. He held his glass for a long time without moving, as if he had frozen.

Zhang Yihao waved his hand in front of his eyes. Ye Lai blinked and then came back to himself. He looked at Zhang Yihao and continued, “Brother Hao, do you know what my dream was when I was little?”

Zhang Yihao raised his glass and clinked it against Ye Lai’s, listening to Ye Lai’s helplessness. After drinking, he asked, “Tell me, what did you want to do when you were little?”

The air conditioning in the booth was hot. Ye Lai took off his coat, wearing only a shirt, and leaned back in his chair, “You might not believe me if I told you. When I first started elementary school, there were always people selling cotton candy at the school gate. I didn’t have money to buy it, so I could only swallow my saliva as I passed by. At that time, I thought that when I grew up, I would open a store that specialized in selling candy. I would give it to kids who didn’t have money to buy it. I would hold a big bag of candy every day and stand on the street at the school gate after school and pass out candy…”

Ye Lai started laughing as he spoke, tears welling up in his eyes under the lights. Zhang Yihao imagined Ye Lai standing at the school gate passing out candy and being chased away by the security guard, and he laughed along with him.

“Of course, that was my elementary school dream. It changed when I got to middle school. In middle school, I thought about what I could do to make money in the future so I could help the director of the orphanage. I not only wanted to eat candy myself, but I also wanted the children to have candy to eat.”

Ye Lai closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep. He spoke slowly, one sentence after another.

“My grades were okay in high school, but… Brother Hao, do you know what? I didn’t even get to take the college entrance examination.”

“Later, I single-mindedly wanted to get into this industry. Now I suddenly feel like I can’t keep going. It’s too tiring. When I first entered the industry, my head was sharp. I could drill through a wall made of thick sheet metal, I wasn’t afraid of anything, but now it’s soft, limp. It hurts as soon as I drill, even if I’m drilling through cotton.”

“Brother Hao, I’m just drained right now. I don’t know what I want. I’ve wasted so many years.”

Ye Lai’s last sentence was very soft. After he finished speaking, he fell asleep leaning against the chair. In the rain, it took Zhang Yihao a long time to figure out what he had said. Zhang Yihao sat in the chair for a long time, then finally paid the bill and called a trusted friend to help him drive.

Halfway there, Ye Lai woke up. He looked at the rain outside the window for a while, and suddenly said he wanted to go back to the orphanage. On the way, he bought all kinds of candy and toys, muttering, “My children, you can eat as much candy as you want.”

Zhang Yihao indulged his craziness half the night, and the three of them carried several large boxes into the orphanage.

The children were all asleep. Ye Lai divided the things evenly and asked Sun Ayi to distribute them to them the next day. Ye Lai squatted on the ground and counted for a long time, making sure that every child was accounted for before clapping his hands with satisfaction.

Coming out of the orphanage, Zhang Yihao wanted to take Ye Lai home to sleep, but Ye Lai fell asleep as soon as he got into the car.

Zhang Yihao couldn’t take Ye Lai away. He didn’t even see where Sheng Mingqian came from. He hadn’t even gotten into the car yet, and Ye Lai, who was fast asleep in the back seat, had already been carried out horizontally by Sheng Mingqian.

“Director Sheng, Director Sheng…” Zhang Yihao had also drunk a lot, and he swayed as he stood holding the car. He spoke with a slur, “What are you doing? Put Ye Lai down.”

Sheng Mingqian didn’t let go. He nodded to Zhang Yihao, “Sorry for the trouble, I’ll take Ye Lai back to sleep.”

“Lai Lai Lai Lai, now you’re calling him so affectionately.” Zhang Yihao complained, but his alcohol-soaked tongue wasn’t very straight, and the words he spoke were muffled and unclear. “You put Ye Lai down, I’ll take him home.”

“If you can find Ye Lai’s house, you might also be able to find your house. I’ll protect Ye Lai, don’t worry. I’ll send him to the film set tomorrow morning.”

Zhang Yihao scratched his head, not knowing what to do. He suddenly remembered the look in Ye Lai’s eyes when he watched the video today, and the incoherent words he said tonight. He gave up, reminding Sheng Mingqian, “Ye Lai has drunk a lot.”

“I know, I’ll take good care of him.”

The two of them were talking, and Ye Lai only felt very noisy in his dream. He moved unhappily and subconsciously grabbed Sheng Mingqian’s collar, sniffed, and felt that the scent was very familiar. He sniffed a few times, frowned, and then completely calmed down after a few seconds.

Sheng Mingqian held him steady, greeted Zhang Yihao, and turned to leave.

“Hey,” Zhang Yihao saw that he was about to leave and knocked on the car window, stopping him. “Sheng Mingqian, Ye Lai drank a lot tonight, and he talked to me half the night, but I still didn’t figure out what he wants right now? You’ve been married to him for five years, do you know what Ye Lai wants?”