SM Chapter 67

Chapter 67 It’s Okay, Let Them Take Pictures If They Want

Chapter 67 It’s Okay, Let Them Take Pictures If They Want

Zhang Yihao took Ye Lai to the same alley pub as before, to the same bamboo forest-style private room, quiet and elegant. It wasn’t raining outside, but it was windy.

Much like Ye Lai’s mood at the moment.

Only after the private room door was tightly closed did Zhang Yihao speak.

Ye Lai’s return to China hadn’t been publicized, but a team of idols was arriving at the airport today. Many paparazzi and fans were waiting outside. Fortunately, the idol group arrived first, and those fans and paparazzi followed them. But Zhang Yihao was still worried that someone would notice Ye Lai. Ye Lai’s photos had already been exposed, and if they saw him, they certainly wouldn’t let him go. So, he had to cover him up tightly as soon as they got off the plane.

Luckily, he wasn’t photographed.

However, Ye Lai’s itinerary would be discovered sooner or later, and Zhang Yihao was still a little worried about him.

While eating, Zhang Yihao glanced out the window: “The weather forecast says it will rain tonight.”

Ye Lai checked his phone several times, the screen dimming and brightening, brightening and dimming again. He replied to a few friends’ messages, a bit absent-minded: “It is a bit stuffy.”

Zhang Yihao put his arm on the table, half-smiling, and asked, “What’s wrong? Getting impatient?”

Ye Lai’s thoughts were seen through. The bright screen of his phone displayed his chat history with Sheng Mingqian. The last two messages were the location he sent to Sheng Mingqian, and Sheng Mingqian replied, “Coming soon.”

Ye Lai turned his phone face down on the table, scooped a spoonful of crab roe tofu with a spoon, put it in his mouth, and stubbornly said, “No.”

“It’s written all over your face,” Zhang Yihao sighed. “Now, I can probably understand.”

Ye Lai knew what Zhang Yihao meant by “understand.” He didn’t respond. The tender tofu he just ate suddenly started to choke him in his throat.

Like a stone.

He couldn’t spit it out, and he couldn’t swallow it.

“Sheng Mingqian has been quite anxious these past few days, calling me a lot every day. Yesterday, I heard he even had a fever, and his voice was hoarse,” Zhang Yihao casually mentioned, glancing at Ye Lai’s reaction from the corner of his eye.

Ye Lai sat on the chair, his eyes half-lowered. Sheng Mingqian’s voice in the phone call floated into his ears again. He seemed to be on the road, the wind was a bit loud, but he could still hear the hoarse voice, like it was wrapped in a layer of sand.

He lifted his half-lowered eyes: “He’s sick?”

“I heard it from others. Sheng Mingqian didn’t tell me this. He only called me a few times. I didn’t see him. You’ll know when you see him later.”

The meal was finished, but Sheng Mingqian hadn’t arrived yet.

Zhang Yihao went to the front desk to pay the bill. Ye Lai hadn’t drunk any alcohol, but he felt a tightness in his chest. He wanted to go out for some fresh air. Afraid that someone would be waiting for him at the front door, he told Zhang Yihao and went through the kitchen to the back door of the pub. The pub owner said that the back door faced a deep alley with few people.

There were many restaurants and pubs in this alley. Next door was a grilled fish restaurant. A fishy smell of fish and shrimp wafted from the half-open back door.

Ye Lai put his hands in his pockets and stood on the stone steps at the entrance of the alley. He tilted his head and looked into the depths of the alley. The dim light stretched to the corner of the high wall, and finally disappeared into a patch of darkness.

With a “creak,” the back door of the grilled fish restaurant next door opened completely. A man walked out cursing, with a cigarette in his mouth, holding a kitchen knife in his hand, and carrying a large iron basin. The fish in the basin were half-dead, flopping about sporadically. It looked like he wanted to kill the fish in the back alley. There was a tall cement sink next to the door.

No wonder the alley smelled so strongly of fish. Ye Lai glanced into the basin, and the reddish, muddy water in the basin made him feel a bit nauseous.

The man put down the basin. He didn’t expect anyone to be in the back alley. He turned to look. Ye Lai didn’t have time to put on his mask. The cigarette-smoking man paused, recognized Ye Lai, and pointed at him with the kitchen knife in his hand, mumbling, “Aren’t you, aren’t you, that that that…”

The man’s hands were covered with fish scales. He grinned and thought for a long time, took the cigarette butt from between his fingers, and said, “The photo that was posted online, that Ye Lai?”

Ye Lai pulled the mask on his chin up, covering his nose and the corners of his eyes, and pressed down hard with his fingers, revealing only a pair of dazed eyes, and turned to walk back.

“It really is! Hey, he looks quite fair-skinned in the photos…”

This was a very quiet murmur, not very loud, but in the deep, long alley at night, it sounded much louder in Ye Lai’s ears. Even the echoes that hit the walls were clear.

Ye Lai gritted his teeth and quickened his pace, slamming the back door shut with a bang. He leaned against the door panel and took a deep breath. After a few minutes, he continued to walk back.

Ye Lai was walking with his head down, not paying attention to the front, and bumped into a man who was also rushing towards the back door.

He wanted to apologize, but before he could speak, he smelled a familiar scent. Ye Lai seemed to have finally found a place to hide his face. Without raising his head, he buried his face in Sheng Mingqian’s chest.

Sheng Mingqian was still cold, mixed with a hint of tobacco. He put his arm around Ye Lai’s back: “Sorry I’m late. The police called me back halfway to supplement some materials, and I rushed over here after signing.”

Ye Lai didn’t breathe for a long time. Sheng Mingqian’s voice, carrying the vibration of his chest, entered his ears, sounding even hoarser.

“You’re sick?” Ye Lai raised his head, his eyes red, and reached out to touch Sheng Mingqian’s forehead.

Hot, very hot. He had a fever.

“You have a fever, do you know that?”

“I know. I took medicine last night.”

“Taking it last night doesn’t mean you’ll be better today. Let’s go, let’s go back,” Ye Lai sighed softly, pulling Sheng Mingqian out.

Zhang Yihao was waiting in the front hall. Seeing the two of them coming back together from the back door, he knew that Ye Lai had someone to pick him up. He didn’t stay any longer, said goodbye to them, and left first.

–

–

Sheng Mingqian drove here. On the way back, Ye Lai drove. Passing by a pharmacy, Ye Lai went in to buy antipyretics and cold medicine first.

Li Xun called him halfway. On the phone, she cursed Fu Xiang for a long time, wishing she could grind his bones to ashes to relieve her hatred.

After Li Xun finished scolding, she took a breath and said to Ye Lai, “Little Ye, don’t mind what they say online. In my opinion, you should concentrate on writing books and creating. The entertainment circle is a big dye vat, not a good place. It’s not worth it.”

“It’s okay, Sister Xun, I’m fine,” Ye Lai said with a smile.

Ye Lai stood by the car, Sheng Mingqian stood next to him. Li Xun scolded for another ten minutes before hanging up. After Ye Lai hung up the phone, he accidentally clicked on the app. His finger touched the private message column, and countless unread messages came into view. Ye Lai didn’t want to look, but those messages still rushed into his brain.

“Ye Lai, I will always support you.”

“Ye Lai, keep going! Don’t pay attention to what those people say. Looking forward to your new show.”

“Ahhh, Ye Lai, I didn’t expect you to be Bamboo Sign! I cried to death when I read the book, sob sob sob sob.”

“Bamboo Sign, I’m not a fan of your movies, but I’m a fan of your books, keep going…”

Even though most of the messages were encouragement and support, a few messages mixed in were as striking as fresh blood dripping into clear water, glaring red, making it difficult for Ye Lai not to notice.

“Ye Lai, how much does it cost to play with you once? Is there a price list?”

“How could Sheng Mingqian be interested in you?”

“Ye Lai, you don’t deserve Sheng Mingqian. Stay away from Sheng Mingqian in the future.”

…

Sheng Mingqian saw the page on Ye Lai’s phone clearly, took the phone from his hand, and uninstalled the app: “This stuff is useless. Let’s go home.”

Ye Lai was very quiet on the way back. Sheng Mingqian told Ye Lai about what had happened these past few days.

“I asked Fu Qingyun for help these past two days. You were right before. Fu Xiang is rotten to the core. Fu Xiang accidentally killed someone before, and in the end, I don’t know what means he used, but in the end, that matter was classified as an accident. That was still Fu Qingyun’s father’s generation. This time, he helped find the family of the previous victim and obtained the key evidence from that year. Fu Xiang won’t be able to get out in the future.”

After listening, the stone hanging in Ye Lai’s heart finally fell to the ground. His fingers gripped the steering wheel tightly.

He didn’t set the navigation, nor did he ask Sheng Mingqian where they were going. His brain’s memory of that route had already taken control of his body.

The car shuttled through the darkness, and finally slowly drove into the villa gate.

As soon as Ye Lai got out of the car, Sheng Mingqian walked to his side, raised his arm and put it around his shoulder, and leaned close to Ye Lai’s ear: “There are paparazzi taking pictures across from the gate.”

Ye Lai’s back stiffened, and he straightened up for a moment. Sheng Mingqian put his arm around him in that stiff posture and led him into the house.

It wasn’t until the gate was closed that Ye Lai breathed a sigh of relief.

It had been a long time since he’d been here. Nothing in the house had changed. The vase on the dining table was still filled with Heather, blooming in full glory, with large petals blooming in the fullest, most delicate arc, making it impossible to take your eyes off it.

Sheng Mingqian noticed Ye Lai’s gaze and moved the vase closer to Ye Lai: “Every few days, I buy a bouquet of fresh Heather. I don’t have time to take care of it outside, so I let the cleaning lady who comes regularly help take care of it.”

Ye Lai stretched out his finger, a little distance away, tracing the outline of the beautiful petals in the air. Thin.

“I like it.”

“I know.” Sheng Mingqian hugged Ye Lai from behind.

“You go take your medicine first,” Ye Lai broke free from Sheng Mingqian’s arms. “You still have a fever.”

Sheng Mingqian obediently went to take his medicine. Lin Han called him, and he told Ye Lai to go back to the bedroom to rest first, and he went to the study to deal with work matters.

The bedroom remained the same. The curtains were drawn tightly. Ye Lai walked to the window, his expression faint, but if you looked closely, you could still see the heaviness in his eyes.

Opening a corner of the curtain, Ye Lai watched from the gap with his arms folded. It was pitch black outside the window, and nothing could be seen. The shadows of the trees by the roadside were dark, trembling in the wind, swaying.

Although he couldn’t see anyone, Ye Lai could still feel the camera lens pointed at the window, pointed at him, the round lens like a black hole, opening its bloody mouth, and wouldn’t be satisfied until it tore him apart and swallowed him.

As soon as Sheng Mingqian returned to the bedroom, he saw Ye Lai still standing by the window in a daze. He walked over and yanked open the curtains.

“You…”

Ye Lai turned his head, but before he could finish speaking, Sheng Mingqian put his arms around his waist and kissed his slightly open red lips.

Although Ye Lai hadn’t seen anyone just now, he was sure that someone must still be lying in wait outside.

The antipyretic hadn’t taken effect yet. Sheng Mingqian’s breath and skin were still scalding hot. The scorching temperature started from the tip of his tongue and penetrated into Ye Lai’s body, making his legs weak. He could only clench Sheng Mingqian’s arm to steady himself.

Sheng Mingqian let go of Ye Lai after kissing him enough, dragged his waist, and deliberately stood by the window: “It’s okay, let them take pictures if they want.”

“But…”

Ye Lai couldn’t finish speaking again. Sheng Mingqian’s body was heating up, and Ye Lai’s cool lips were fatal to him at this moment. Holding Ye Lai’s cheeks, he lowered his head and kissed him.

In the end, what devoured Ye Lai wasn’t the black hole hiding outside the window, but the person in front of him.