Song Yecheng wasn't the only one experiencing a system outage.

As Jiang Que watched the bookstore's trending video automatically play, with a whole row of playback records appearing in the list next to it, he fell into a state of rigid stillness.

The folder named "Song Yecheng" is actually a hidden folder.

In the past, every time he watched a video, he would first set the file option to "Show hidden files", then go in and find the target and play it directly. After watching, he would turn off the video and then restore the option to "Do not show hidden files".

For so long, he had never paid attention to the player, nor had he noticed that its history records would even display hidden files. He never expected that when he accidentally lent his computer to Song Yecheng, he would just happen to encounter such a "big scene".

The moment he came to his senses, Jiang Que's first reaction was to reach out and close the monitor. However, just as he raised his hand an inch, he immediately realized that this behavior was simply a case of trying to cover up one's guilt. It was like a thief with a guilty conscience and was obviously trying to cover up his crime.

Song Yecheng's sitting posture was originally slightly tilted, so although Jiang Que's movement of raising his hand and then pausing was subtle, it still flashed in his peripheral vision.

This immediately caught his attention, causing him to suddenly turn his head to look at the hand that was hung a few centimeters above Jiang Que's leg, half-raised as if it had nowhere to go. Then he moved his head up along the arm and met Jiang Que's gaze.

The moment their eyes met, he clearly saw an expression of near bewilderment in Jiang Que's eyes. At the same time, he was surprised to find that Jiang Que actually—

Blushing.

The light in the room was not very bright, but even in this slightly dim light, the blush on Jiang Que's face was clearly visible. Coupled with the flickering helplessness in his deer-like eyes, Song Yecheng inexplicably had the illusion that he was being bullied.

Song Yecheng was stunned for a few seconds, then laughed incredulously: "Why are you blushing?"

Although those historical records did surprise him, he thought there were many reasonable explanations, such as "You are the leading actor in my script, and I am curious about your acting experience", or "I was not familiar with you before joining the group, so I got to know you through videos". Anyway, any of them should be reasonable, so why should he blush?

However, Jiang Que's reaction was like a squirrel caught stealing pine cones. There was a touch of embarrassment in the embarrassment, and a touch of shame in the embarrassment. I don't know what dimension of spiritual baptism he had experienced. After holding it in for a long time, he suddenly blurted out: "I, I actually, I."

Well, not only is he blushing, but he's also stuttering?

Song Yecheng wanted to laugh: "...you actually?"

Jiang Que lowered his eyes and avoided his gaze. After a long while, he finally blinked and squeezed out a complete sentence: "...Didn't I tell you that I used to be a fan?"

Hearing this, Song Yecheng's mind suddenly froze for a moment, and then he recalled the conversation on the night of the opening ceremony, which was interrupted by He Jingsheng's sudden visit:

“How did you get into writing?”

"When I was a kid, I was a fan and my dad found out..."

"Who did you like as a child?"

"yes--"

Recalling this, Song Yecheng suddenly realized something. His originally teasing look instantly became one of anticipation and trepidation, as if to say: No way? Is this what I understood?

The expectation in his eyes inexplicably gave Jiang Que a bit of courage, making him suddenly feel that it was not that difficult to say it out loud.

After a moment, he finally seemed to let out a sigh of relief, and a faint smile appeared on his face: "It's you."

boom!

Fireworks all over the sky bloomed silently in my chest.

Actor Song's acting skills experienced a cliff-like Waterloo at this moment. He could hardly control his facial muscles, so that complex emotions such as astonishment, surprise, disbelief and "Should I stay elegant" intertwined into a colorful web on his face, just like a layer of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" superimposed on Munch's "The Scream".

He, loves, bean, is, me?!

Did he start writing because of me?

So when I was reading his book, he was actually paying attention to me?!

This feeling is similar to suddenly discovering that the treasure you have longed for in the window has actually been in your own safe for a long time. It is impossible not to be ecstatic. Song Yecheng felt that the fireworks blooming in his chest turned into a freshly shaken Coke, with cheerful bubbles popping up.

Jiang Que stared at his unpredictable expression, unable to figure out his thoughts for a moment. He stared at him for a long time, as if he was a wooden man and couldn't blink. Finally, he couldn't help but say, "You..."

“Huahuahuahuahua——”

Suddenly, a burst of warm applause came from the computer, drawing their attention to the screen again.

At this time, the video of the Taiwan Strait Bookstore has been played, and the player automatically plays the next video in the history.

The clarity of this video is far inferior to the previous two. The player window even adaptively shrinks a circle, and the image quality looks like an old 480P standard definition.

Accompanied by thunderous applause, the young Song Yecheng appeared at the center of the podium. Dressed in an exquisite gown, his eyes sparkling, he leaned forward slightly to get closer to the microphone and said, "May light always find its way to crack into the darkness, which in turn, be open to ept the brightness." (May all the light in this world shine into the darkness, and darkness be willing to accept the light.)

Song Yecheng looked at the image of himself sixteen years ago in surprise. It was both fresh and incredible, and he felt a little embarrassed: "How come you even have this video?"

This is a video of the award ceremony in 2004. The winning work was his first film "The Abyss" in 2003 when he was 12 years old. He was only 13 years old in the camera, and now he looks so young and immature.

PCs had just become popular in those two years, and smartphones were not even around yet. Both the movie "The Abyss" itself and the subsequent awards ceremony were broadcast on TV. Moreover, because it was so old, there were very few versions circulated online. Even his longtime fans might not have this footage.

"How old were you then?" Song Yecheng asked, calculating in his mind, "Seven or eight?"

"Eight years old." Jiang Que said.

"Then you understood it at that time?" Song Yecheng looked at him with a slightly teasing smile, and gestured towards the screen, "Do you know what I meant?"

This question was actually a bit insulting to one's intelligence, because even if Jiang Que didn't understand English at the time, he would be able to understand the subtitles. As long as he understood the subtitles, the meaning of the sentence would not be difficult to understand.

However, Jiang Que did not feel offended. Without even the slightest hesitation, he said something completely opposite: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

——The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

——I hope all light can shine into darkness, and darkness is willing to accept light.

These two sentences seem to have contradictory meanings, but they obviously have the same origin - Jiang Que did not translate Song Yecheng's speech at all, but directly quoted the sentence in the Gospel of John to trace the source and point out the origin of his speech.

Although this sentence wasn't that uncommon, it wasn't well-known either. Jiang Que's confident answer surprised Song Yecheng a little. "Are you religious?"

Jiang Que chuckled: "I don't believe it, I just happened to know this."

Song Yecheng nodded, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and asked with interest: "Then do you know why I said this at the award ceremony?"

This time Jiang Que did not answer immediately.

He was silent for a moment, but it didn't seem like he was thinking, but rather recalling something. It was as if the answer had been in his mind for years, but he had never verified it. "Because... you hope that every A Luo who lives in darkness can meet a Liang Qi, and that they... are willing to accept the light that Liang Qi brings?"

If Song Yecheng was just surprised just now, he was really surprised to hear this answer, because this answer was exactly what he had thought in his heart back then. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a repetition of his thoughts.

"The Abyss" is a drama film with two male protagonists.

One of the protagonists, A Luo, is one of a group of orphans living in a chaotic border area. Those orphans were raised by criminal gangs since childhood and were indoctrinated with countless distorted ideas. At a young age, they were used by the gangs for fraud, smuggling, drug trafficking, and human trafficking, with almost no bottom line.

The other protagonist, Liang Qi, is a policeman who originally worked in a big city. However, he was transferred to the impoverished border area because of a violation of discipline during an operation. He met the young A Luo by chance and embarked on a long journey to pull him out of the abyss.

This process is tortuous and difficult, because A Luo, who has long been accustomed to the darkness under the abyss, does not think that he needs to be saved. His long-term distorted sense of right and wrong makes him unable to distinguish between black and white, good and evil. He is full of resistance and disgust towards Liang Qi's extended helping hand.

But Liang Qi did not give up easily. He saved A Luo again and again. Although A Luo seemed to be ungrateful every time, he began to waver uncontrollably and doubted his previous cognition. He slowly tried to touch the faint light that came from the crack opened by Liang Qi.

However, the battle between light and darkness always comes at the cost of countless painful blood and tears - just when A Luo was about to completely turn back from the wrong path, his hesitation was betrayed to the gang leader by his companions.

That was the first time he was in a desperate situation of death.

It was also the last time Liang Qi saved him.

When A Luo was finally rescued, but holding the blood-soaked and dying Liang Qi in his arms, he was filled with unprecedented regret and pain, but no matter how much he understood, he could not reverse the passage of time. All he could do was to ensure that all Liang Qi's efforts would not be in vain, and to take a more determined step to break away from the darkness.

So he inherited his legacy and beliefs.

He grew up to be him.

He was like a seed sprouting in the abyss. It should have rotted and withered, but because it had been watered with hot blood, it struggled to climb to the top of the cliff and finally bloomed into a flaming flower in the morning light.

Back then, Song Yecheng played the young A'luo, the unruly A'luo who was full of barbarity and violence, but would occasionally be confused and wavering alone.

At that time, Song Yecheng had not received any systematic acting training. He relied solely on his extraordinary talent and empathetic instinct throughout the performance. Because of this, he was often unable to extricate himself from the role, and occasionally even tossed and turned in bed because of his self-questioning.

He always wondered: What would have happened to A'luo if Liang Qi hadn't appeared? If A'luo had reached out and touched the light earlier, would Liang Qi have avoided dying?

Unfortunately, there are no ifs in this world.

But there can be hope.

So he hoped that even though the abyss was dark and dangerous, those who carried the light would still be willing to use their sincerity and tenacity to split a crack in it, and when the light penetrated the gap, the dead grass and wild flowers under the abyss would also be willing to fight for it.

——I hope all the light in this world can shine into the darkness, and the darkness is willing to accept the light.

Song Yecheng recalled his journey back then, feeling both emotional and immersed in the past. After a while, it was as if he had found an unusual pebble in the torrent of time, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "By the way, do you know when I first saw that sentence?"

Jiang Que's eyelashes suddenly trembled, as if someone had gently touched them. He didn't know whether it was because of Song Yecheng's sudden voice or because of the question he asked.

But that was only a fleeting moment, and he quickly looked at Song Yecheng seriously, indicating that he was waiting for him to reveal the answer.

Song Yecheng blinked and slowly recalled: "That was the year before I filmed "The Abyss", when I was 11 years old. One night, I was reading to a little kid in the hospital to coax him to sleep..."

kid.

This gentle and lovely name brushed Jiang Que's cochlea like a feather, causing him to repeat it silently in his heart.

"Beside my bed in the hospital, there was only a tattered pamphlet of the Gospel of John, a KJV English version with particularly obscure wording. I could manage to translate it, but I didn't think it was very smooth. But he didn't seem to care too much and just listened quietly. Until I read 'The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it,' he suddenly whispered to me: '...Why doesn't the darkness overcome it?'

Song Yecheng's narration is gentle and slow, as if he has unknowingly brought people back to that late night more than ten years ago.

"How would I know why?" Song Yecheng gave a helpless smile. "At that time, I knew nothing about religion. I didn't even know if God and Jesus were the same person. But I was still the older brother, so I felt I couldn't fail to answer. I told him seriously: Maybe you've been in the dark for too long and aren't used to the light yet. It's like when you're sleeping soundly at night and suddenly someone turns on their headlights and shines them at you, you'd be very upset, right?"

At this point, he couldn't help but laugh. "At that time, I thought my explanation was perfect. I thought, wow, my comprehension ability is perfect. I even convinced myself."

The more he spoke, the funnier it became. The last few words even had a slight tremor in their voice, which made Jiang Que couldn't help but smile as well.

But at this moment, he suddenly seemed to have thought of a twist, and he paused for a moment before letting out a soft, self-deprecating sigh: "But I haven't seen him since then. I don't know if he'll remember this when he grows up, and whether he'll feel like he's been scammed."

Will it?

The unknown but unanswered suspense floats in the air, slowly flows in the soft light, and gradually blends into every gentle breath.

Jiang Que pondered silently for a moment, his eyes changing slightly. Then, he asked softly, as if hesitating, "Um... kid, do you still remember what he looks like?"

Song Yecheng still maintained the posture of resting his hands on the back of the chair, which had never changed from the beginning to the end. He slightly raised his head and recalled for a while, and finally shook his head slowly.

"It's been too long," he said. "I was still young then, and the only thing I remember is that he was very thin, like a wounded and hungry kitten. Only his eyes were bright, but they were always downcast, as if he was afraid of making eye contact with anyone. He seemed very insecure."

At this point, he didn't know what he was thinking about, and his tone was slightly relieved: "But later I heard that he already has someone who can take care of and protect him, so I think... he shouldn't feel insecure anymore."

Jiang Que didn't say anything, but a complicated and indescribable feeling spread in his heart.

When he asked that question, he actually didn't know what answer he wanted to hear.

It's been too long.

Just as Song Yecheng said.

So whether you remember it or not, it is all a passing cloud in the long period of more than ten years, and should have disappeared by now.

At this moment, his cell phone on the table suddenly lit up.

Jiang Que turned his head to look, and Song Yecheng's attention was also attracted.

Two push notifications from Zhuang Yan were displayed on the screen. He sent Jiang Que a license plate number, saying that the car would be waiting for him in the parking lot tomorrow morning to take him to the airport.

Song Yecheng glanced at the time and found that it was almost midnight. He quickly said "tsk" and stood up: "It's so late? I'm leaving, you should go to bed quickly, you have to get up early tomorrow."

Jiang Que nodded and stood up as well. He took out his phone and sent a reply to Zhuang Yan, then walked towards the door with Song Yecheng.

When he reached the door, Jiang Que stopped, put his hand on the door handle, and watched Song Yecheng walk to the opposite side and open his own door.

Jiang Que was about to say goodnight and close the door, but suddenly saw Song Yecheng pause, standing in front of his own door and turning around: "You just said... that you liked me when you were a child?"

The sudden word "like" made Jiang Que confused for a moment, and then he realized that he was referring to chasing stars. He was a little amused and confused, wondering how long was this reaction time?

With a bit of a laugh and a cry, he nodded slightly: "Yeah."

Just after he nodded, he suddenly realized that what Song Yecheng said was actually a bit strange - his emphasis did not seem to be on "I", but on "when I was a child", as if Song Yecheng wanted to verify not the object of his idol pursuit, but the time of his idol pursuit.

Jiang Que was just beginning to feel strange when he heard Song Yecheng ask, "What happened next?"

Jiang Que was a little confused for a moment: "Hmm?"

Song Yecheng licked his lips, seeming a little embarrassed: "Later... now... has it changed?"

This time, Jiang Que finally understood what he meant. He never expected that this was what he was thinking about. In an instant, a smile spread to the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.

He seldom smiled on weekdays, and even when he did, it was always faint and shallow. But now he seemed unable to stop, his beautiful eyes curved into two crescents, and even his body trembled slightly.

Song Yecheng felt a little guilty when he laughed at him, and touched the tip of his nose uncomfortably: "Hey..."

Jiang Que finally managed to suppress his smile, and facing Song Yecheng's slightly angry but expectant gaze, he finally gave an answer slowly and seriously.

"No," he said, "it's always been you."