Chapter 81 He lowered his head and kissed Fang Xin's warm lips…

Tan Zhi felt his blood pressure spike. He roared into the phone, "What do you know! I don't care how you do it, just delete that video you sent right now. I don't want to have anything to do with the 'Water Devouring Sand' production team!"

Jiang Zhou sneered: "Teacher Tan, it's too late. Now you and I are in the same boat."

Tan Zhi's vision went black: "You're a lunatic! Who wants to get on a pirate ship with you!"

Jiang Zhou was currently holed up in a run-down budget hotel. He laughed maniacally, "Yeah, I'm just as crazy as that woman Shen Shiyun! Do you know how Xu Xingye treated me a while ago? He was afraid that my continued madness would be detrimental to 'Water Devouring Sand,' so he actually tried to control me. He claimed he had found a few people to look after me, but in reality, they were just monitoring me. I went through a lot of trouble to escape, and I have to make a name for myself during this time!"

Jiang Zhou: "So, Teacher Tan, don't think you can stay out of this. Just think about how much dirt I have on you."

Tan Zhi abruptly hung up the phone. He could no longer control himself and angrily swept the teacup on the table to the ground. With a crisp sound, the ceramic teacup shattered into pieces, and the tea inside spilled all over the floor.

Just then, the conference room door was pushed open, and Tan Zhi's agent frowned as he looked at the mess on the floor: "What's the use of getting angry? Let's think about how to solve this."

"'How to solve it'? You make it sound so easy!" Tan Zhi shouted. "That bitch Feng Ji'an won't answer the phone, and Tan Zhi has so much dirt on me. How am I supposed to solve it!"

"It's all your own doing. You have to steal a song to write it, and you can even get secretly filmed when you're in bed."

The agent chuckled, but there was nothing he could do about what had already happened: "Forget it, I've already contacted the 'Water Devouring Sand' production team and explained to them that the interlude wasn't written by you. Back then, you just received a song submitted to you by someone from Feng Ji'an, and after auditioning it, you thought it was okay, so you sent it to Jiang Zhou. Unexpectedly, Jiang Zhou mistakenly thought it was written by you. As for what the relationship between Feng He and Feng Ji'an is, the 'Water Devouring Sand' production team will have to figure that out themselves. But if the production team needs clarification, we will definitely cooperate."

After listening to his agent's analysis, Tan Zhi felt like he had found a pillar of support. He slumped into his chair, still a little uneasy: "Will this work?"

The agent leaned back in his chair: "Don't worry, the 'Water Devours Sand' production team will definitely gather all the evidence before delivering the final blow to Jiang Zhou. We'll then cooperate to issue a statement distancing you from that theme song. By then, Jiang Zhou will be overwhelmed and won't have time to deal with you. Besides, isn't there Xu Xingye? Do you think Jiang Zhou only has dirt on you and not on Xu Xingye? Xu Xingye is only more worried about his affairs being exposed than you are."

That night, countless people stayed up all night, and countless others were frantically gossiping.

However, in the early hours of the morning, some netizens who searched for the keywords "Jiang Zhou" and "Shui Shi Sha" on Weibo suddenly saw a small account criticizing Jiang Zhou.

Late-night grumbling: "Damn, does Jiang Zhou have paranoia? He actually thinks whatever you say goes. The 'Water Devouring Sand' crew didn't mess with us [smile]"

At this point, the internet was overwhelmingly on Jiang Zhou's side, and no one could stand such comments. Many people immediately rushed to speak up for Jiang Zhou, saying, "Jiang Zhou is the one who didn't cause trouble [smile]".

"You 'Water Eats Sand' crew, have some decency! What more do you want from Director Jiang?"

This "late-night grumbling" user forwarded the post with a very strong tone: "There are actually people who feel sorry for the cheating man. Has no one remembered that his infidelity caused Shen Shiyun to have a depression attack and commit suicide? By the way, Jiang Zhou may have had more than one affair [tongue out]."

Soon, this Weibo side account was artificially promoted, and many people saw this post on their homepage and clicked in out of curiosity to see what was going on: "Holy crap, what kind of gossip is this? I feel like a harbinger of trouble in the melon patch."

"Does the blogger have some juicy tidbits? Share them quickly!"

"Isn't the topic of the 'Water Eats Sand' production team plagiarizing Director Jiang right now? Some people are trying to divert attention."

The late-night grudge immediately replied: "Hahaha, there are actually people who believe Jiang Zhou's nonsense? Anyway, the plagiarism of the storyboard is absolutely impossible. On the contrary, it was Jiang Zhou who stole Director Han's storyboard manuscript."

"Do you have any evidence to back up your nonsense?"

"Here comes the melon!"

Midnight Resentment is good at keeping people in suspense. He didn't reply to netizens immediately. Instead, after a long time, when everyone thought he was just being stubborn and didn't have any solid evidence, he leisurely released a few photos of Jiang Zhou and Han Gaocen's assistant discussing something together.

But a few photos don't prove anything, and many people still don't believe it: "That's it? Who knows what the two people in this photo are saying?"

"The blogger started with a picture and the rest of the content is made up. Let's all move on. This blogger has no solid evidence at all."

Just as everyone was starting to condemn Midnight Resentment again, he appeared again. This time he was much more direct, releasing a video in which Jiang Zhou was instructing Han Gaocen's assistant to steal Han Gaocen's storyboard manuscript.

The situation suddenly reversed: "Dude, you really have it???"

"It's really not AI?"

Why did Jiang Zhou steal Han Gaocen's manuscript?

"Holy crap, now who can say for sure who copied whose manuscript!"

The incident caused a huge stir, leaving everyone stunned. Shenye Yuannian then posted several more photos and videos, shocking everyone into silence.

Damn, it seems they really were tricked by Jiang Zhou!

In just one night, public opinion shifted dramatically. When those who hadn't stayed up all night woke up, they found that the situation had completely reversed, and it seemed that Jiang Zhou was the perpetrator and the "Water Devouring Sand" crew was the victim.

A group of people inexplicably started gossiping, and after finding the account of "Midnight Resentment," they also made the same "Holy crap" sound as the group of netizens in the early morning—Jiang Zhou is crying wolf!

However, some people raised doubts: "The storyboard issue can be explained, but what about the interlude? Surely it's true that Feng He plagiarized Tan Zhi."

A small group of people who insisted that Jiang Zhou was the victim held their ground and argued back and forth with the others.

But they soon ran out of options, because the production team of "Water Devours Sand" issued an official statement that completely clarified that the interlude had nothing to do with Tan Zhi, but was jointly completed by Feng Ji'an and Jiang He, and also released some timeline evidence of the songwriting process.

Just as netizens were still skeptical, Zhiyu Entertainment also issued a joint statement, acknowledging the production team's explanation.

This time, netizens flocked to Tan Zhi's post, and Tan Zhi quickly came out to apologize, saying that after receiving the song, he liked it so much that he recorded a version and sent it to Jiang Zhou before completing the song receiving process, which was indeed not in accordance with regulations.

However, since Jiang Zhou did not participate in the filming of "Water Eats Sand" in the end, the matter was dropped at the time. Unexpectedly, it caused such a commotion a few years later. He sincerely apologized to Feng Ji'an and Jiang He and was willing to compensate them for their mental distress.

Under Fang Xin's arrangement, Jiang He didn't bother Tan Zhi too much, but he still got some money from Jiang Zhou—after all, Feng Ji'an was still in a vegetative state and was always short of money.

With things as they are now, the controversy surrounding "Water Devours Sand" has finally come to an end. Jiang Zhou has completely lost public support, and everyone has realized that he only came out to smear and retaliate against the production team because he was kicked out of the "Water Devours Sand" crew back then and missed out on the benefits of this project.

Because this incident was handled quickly, it not only did not affect the box office of "Water Eats Sand," but also attracted some viewers who had not seen the movie before to go to the cinema. In fact, the box office even showed a reverse trend for several days in the later stages of its release.

But some people are curious about where Jiang Zhou has been all this time and why he hasn't said a word.

Many people subconsciously felt that Jiang Zhou was too ashamed to show his face after his past was exposed.

But in reality, on the same day that the crew of "Water Eats Sand" issued a statement, Jiang Zhou, feeling guilty, opened the door of his cheap hotel room to go out and get takeout, only to find several people gathered at his door, with Xu Xingye naturally leading the way.

Xu Xingye gave him a cold look: "So you were hiding here."

Looking at the tall, strong bodyguards behind Xu Xingye, Jiang Zhou felt his legs go weak: "...What do you want to do!"

Xu Xingye smiled menacingly: "You should know the consequences of refusing a toast only to suffer the consequences of a penalty drink."

.

In late April, Fang Xin's album was finally mostly completed. After being busy for half a year, he finally had some leisure time and had time to start writing songs for Ye Wenlian.

After obtaining permission from the production team, Ye Wenlian sent Fang Xingu a rough cut of her own drama, asking him to watch it and find inspiration.

However, the rough-cut version of the show was really hard to watch. Not only was the cinematography rough, but there were also bloopers and random crew members everywhere. Moreover, due to the poor sound recording on set, it was impossible to hear the actors' lines. Fang Xin started to feel sleepy after watching for a short while.

In the end, it was Jing Yitong who made a video call to wake him up from his slumber.

Jing Yitong: "What are you doing?"

Fang Xin rubbed his eyes and yawned: "I was writing a song for Ye Wenlian, and I started to get sleepy while I was writing."

Jing Yitong immediately felt resentful and muttered, "You've never written a song for me."

Fang Xin's mouth was still open after he finished yawning, and after a while he muttered, "Actually, I did write it..."

"Huh?" Jing Yitong was taken aback. "You wrote it for me? How come I didn't know? Did you never send it out?"

Fang Xingu didn't really want to bring this up with Jing Yitong yet, and subconsciously tried to brush it off: "Well... anyway, in the end, due to some reasons, I'll tell you later."

Jing Yitong refused to accept it. Heaven knows how long he had been brooding over Fang Xingu's failure to write him a song. Fang Xingu had promised to write him a song six years ago, but he hadn't heard a single note from him.

Now that Jing Yitong heard that Fang Xingu had actually written songs for him, he immediately got excited and pestered Fang Xingu to tell him what songs he had written for him, even if they were never published, he wanted to hear them privately.

Fang Xingu was driven crazy by him and had no way to deal with Jing Yitong, so he had no choice but to say, "That's all in the past. Now it sounds like there are a lot of immature parts. Why don't you let me write a song for your current work?"

Jing Yitong's eyes lit up: "Really? I can get Teacher Fang to write a song for me too?"

Fang Xin glanced at him and said, "Why don't you beg me? I'm quite wealthy now, I can't just rush to write songs for you."

"Please, Teacher Fang, just grant me a song," Jing Yitong said, his hands clasped together in a devout gesture as he looked at him. After speaking, he felt the scene looked familiar, and he tried to recall the last time this conversation had taken place. Then, a look of suspicion appeared on his face. "Does this trick really work? I don't think you wrote one for me after I begged you last time?"

Fang Xin Gu: ...

Why are you bringing up such a sensitive topic again!

Fang Xingu angrily threatened Jing Yitong: "If you keep nagging, I won't write it for you!"

Jing Yitong felt that he was like a snarling kitten, and smiled as he raised his hands in surrender: "Okay, okay, I'll shut up."

Fang Xingu snorted, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Does your 'Green Water River' need any songs or background music? Otherwise, I can write some for 'Green Water River'."

Jing Yitong had only meant to tease Fang Xingu earlier, not to force him to write a song for him. But now, seeing Fang Xingu seriously asking him about "Green Water River," and not seeming to be joking, Jing Yitong agreed, saying, "Are you really going to write it? If you're busy, then forget it. I'd rather you get some rest."

Fang Xingu sighed at Jing Yitong's quick change of attitude: "I don't know who was begging me to write this just now... Don't worry, I'm not tired. Writing songs is a kind of rest for me."

"Are you really going to write it?"

Jing Yitong pressed for an answer, and seeing that Fang Xingu still had that serious expression, he said seriously, "I don't know much about music. I'll talk to the producer first, and then I'll give them your WeChat."

"OK".

The next day, Fang Xingu actually received a friend request from the producer of "Green Water River," who was very enthusiastic towards him.

Producer: "Hello, Mr. Fang! I heard from Mr. Jing that he begged and pleaded with you to come and do the music for our production team?"

...Did Jing Yitong say that?

Fang Xingu was extremely embarrassed, but he still tried to remain calm and replied, "More or less."

The producer was clearly delighted: "Our 'Green Water River' is now in the final stages of editing, and we'll be starting to work on the music soon. We're still missing a lot of background music. If you're interested, Mr. Fang, would you like to discuss this in detail?"

The producer launched into a long, detailed explanation, not only of the soundtrack for "Green Water River" but also a brief overview of the film's content.

When Jing Yitong was filming "Green Water River", it was the most painful period for Fang Xingu after his breakup. At that time, he deliberately avoided a lot of news about Jing Yitong and didn't even know what kind of story "Green Water River" was about.

To his surprise, "Green Water River" was an art film that Jing Yitong had never made before. It tells the story of a protagonist suffering from a terminal illness who is destined to live no more than five years. On his journey along the Green Water River, he comes to understand the true meaning of life and accepts his inevitable death.

After hearing the plot summary, Fang Xingu was even more surprised: "Is this a death education film? Isn't it too heavy?"

It sounds like the kind of film that doesn't do well at the box office but is purely aimed at winning awards; it's a complete loss-making venture that only generates buzz.

Fearing the person might leave, the producer patiently explained, "No, the entire script is quite humorous. If Mr. Fang is interested, you can ask Mr. Jing."

Fang Xin replied, "Okay."

After the two had a preliminary discussion about their intention to cooperate, Fang Xin lay on the bed and began to quietly stare at the ceiling, thinking about "Green Water River".

What kind of story is "Green Water River"? Can a film about life and death really be humorous? Can the heavy theme of death truly be combined with a comedic style?

Fang Xin was very curious about "Green Water River". As he thought about it, he couldn't help but think of Jing Yitong. How could Jing Yitong have taken on a movie with this subject matter?

He rolled over and curled up on his side in bed, taking a deep breath. Jing Yitong had been in Suizhou for over a month, and the atmosphere of Jing Yitong in this house was fading more and more... and he missed Jing Yitong more and more.

He used to only see Jing Yitong once every year or two, and he wouldn't have felt this bad. But now, after only a little over a month apart, he already misses Jing Yitong terribly. It's true what they say: it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

But it's not his fault. From the start of filming "The World Is So Big", he and Jing Yitong have been together. After returning to Beijing, they started living together and were inseparable every day.

Now that they've suddenly separated, and for so long, Fang Xin feels that the fact that she hasn't experienced separation anxiety or impulsively abandoned her work to go to Guangzhou to find Jing Yitong is already a very restrained and calm outcome.

Fang Xingu suddenly opened his eyes, but the past is the past, and the present is the present. His album is almost finished, and he spends his days writing songs and slacking off, which is a relatively free time. Moreover, the producer just said that if he has any questions about "Green Water River", he can ask Jing Yitong.

Since he misses Jing Yitong, isn't busy with work, and is curious about "Green Water River," why can't he just go to Suizhou to see Jing Yitong?

Fang Xingu thought about it more and more and felt that his logic was sound, his thinking was clear, and his plan was feasible. He had had enough of the long-distance relationship!

Fang Xin, unusually, acted decisively. He booked the next available flight from Beijing to Guangzhou, quickly packed his bags, and arrived in Guangzhou by the afternoon.

He wanted to give Jing Yitong a surprise, so he didn't tell Jing Yitong that he was coming. Instead, he secretly asked Song Kan, "Brother Song, where does my brother live in Suizhou?"

Song Kan replied with the name of a residential community.

Fang Xingu immediately recognized the house; it belonged to Song Jiao, and Fang Xingu had lived here with Jing Yitong when he was a child.

Now that he didn't need to ask for the address, house number, or password, Fang Xin got into a taxi and headed straight to Jing Yitong's house.

Song Kan, unaware of what was about to happen, asked, "Xin Gu, why are you asking this?"

Fang Xingu dropped a bombshell: "I just arrived in Suizhou and was planning to go to my brother's house to wait for him and give him a surprise. When does he finish work today?"

Song Kan: ...

Haha, what exactly do these two want?

Song Kan was helpless, but he could only resign himself to covering for Fang Xingu: "He should be able to get off work around six o'clock today. I'll tell you when he comes out of the film set."

"Thank you, Brother Song."

.

At 7 p.m., Jing Yitong had just finished removing her makeup and stepped out of the RV into the minivan when she saw Song Kan constantly checking the time. She chuckled and asked, "Are you in a hurry to get home?"

Song Kan gave Jing Yi a look he couldn't understand—it's not that I'm in a hurry to go home, it's that someone at your home is anxiously waiting for you to come home, and I'm afraid that after you know the truth, you'll regret not going home earlier today.

But Song Kan had promised Fang Xin to keep his secret, so he couldn't say it outright. He simply said, "Hurry up, I have something to do."

Jing Yi got into the car and told the driver to go faster.

Jing Yitong leaned back in his seat, looking at the bustling night view of Suizhou outside the window, but he felt no emotion at all. Moreover, he didn't particularly want to go home. The house was too empty, and he felt lonely every night. So sometimes he preferred to stay on set for a while longer.

But since work ended early today and Song Kan had something to do, Jing Yitong had no choice but to go home early.

But as he stood outside his door, ready to open it, he suddenly noticed light coming from inside through the crack in the door.

Jing Yitong stared at the light that seemed to come from nowhere, wondering if he had left the light on when he went out in the morning. But he hadn't turned the light on either, had he?

With a hint of doubt, Jing Yitong pushed open the door. The next thing he saw was a furry head turning around on the sofa, revealing the face he had been longing for day and night—

It is Fang Xin Gu!

How could it be Fang Xin's old friend?!

Jing Yitong was completely frozen in place, even forgetting to close the door. He just stood there blankly in the entrance hall, staring at Fang Xingu.

How did Fang Xin get here? Is this his dream?

Seeing that he seemed startled by her sudden appearance, Fang Xingu ran up to him, both amused and exasperated, and waved her hand in front of his face: "What's wrong, standing there like that?"

Jing Yitong's gaze followed Fang Xingu until Fang Xingu ran up to him. He tentatively grasped Fang Xingu's wrist, as if he had grasped a corner of reality. He felt the soft, supple skin under his palm and realized that everything was real. He called out in disbelief, "Xingu?"

“Hmm,” Fang Xingu smiled, his eyes crinkling, “You didn’t expect me to come, did you? It was a spur-of-the-moment decision; I suddenly decided to come to Suizhou.”

Jing Yitong didn't say a word, but just frowned and stared at Fang Xingu for a long time. His expression was somewhat aggressive, but his eyes were also very tender, as if he wanted to engrave every detail of Fang Xingu in his mind.

Seeing Jing Yitong's expression, Fang Xingu's heart skipped a beat, but before Fang Xingu could say anything, a pair of strong arms embraced him and held him in their arms.

It was a very tight and forceful hug. The two were pressed tightly together, and Fang Xin could feel Jing Yitong's nose brushing against his neck. The hot breath he exhaled was like a wildfire, turning his snow-white neck a bright red.

Fang Xingu subconsciously wanted to push Jing Yitong away, but then she thought that since he had specially flown from Beijing to Guangzhou, what would be wrong with indulging in this hug for a while?

After hesitating for a moment, Fang Xingu decisively raised his arms and hugged Jing Yitong back, closing his eyes to enjoy this intimate moment. He then felt Jing Yitong hug him even tighter, as if he wanted to melt him into his bones.

It wasn't until quite a while later that Jing Yitong slightly loosened his grip on Fang Xingu, but the two were only about twenty centimeters apart. The air was already thick with tension. Jing Yitong cupped Fang Xingu's face in his hands, gently stroking his cheek with the pad of his thumb, his face full of tenderness: "Why did you suddenly decide to come over?"

At that moment, Fang Xingu had many possible answers in his mind, such as wanting to talk to you about the content of "Green Water River", or wanting to travel around since his work has come to a temporary end.

But perhaps the embrace just now was too intoxicating, Fang Xin felt that his mind was a little unclear. He looked into Jing Yitong's eyes, those eyes seemed to have some kind of magic, making him intoxicated and unable to extricate himself. What's more, at this moment, Jing Yitong's pupils reflected his image. He wished that from now on, Jing Yitong's eyes would only have him in them.

Fang Xingu's Adam's apple bobbed as he replied, "I miss you a little."

Jing Yitong asked with amusement, "Is it just 'a little'?"

This time, Fang Xingu looked at Jing Yitong seriously, and after a long silence, he admitted his feelings for the first time: "I really, really want to."

In that instant, Jing Yitong almost forgot how to breathe. He heard his heart pounding so fast it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. His mind went blank, and he even forgot to think. He felt as if everything in the world except Fang Xingu had disappeared. They were like being in a vast and ethereal world, gazing at each other, with only each other in their eyes.

At this moment, Jing Yitong truly felt the resonance of two hearts, realizing that they were each other's one and only.

I miss you too.

As those slightly hoarse words fell, Jing Yitong could no longer restrain himself. He cupped Fang Xingu's cheeks and lowered his head to kiss Fang Xingu's warm and soft lips.

-----------------------

Author's Note: I feel like stopping here is perfect! Young couples should just kiss (no official status yet, we'll give them official status tomorrow [pat on the head]).

.

I'm never setting a goal again, sob sob, I'm about to faint from writing 10,000 words in eight hours...