Chapter 981 We Can't Enjoy It Together
The rain kept falling without stopping.
A car drove along the road beside the river.
Two beams of headlights pierced the darkness of the rainy night.
The car drove all the way to a bridge arch before stopping.
Lu Yanhe got off the car.
At that moment, someone got out of a car parked on the other side.
Ma Zhiyuan.
The two people looked at each other across the street.
Apart from the car's humming engine, all that could be heard was the sound of rain and wind.
The empty bridge archway seemed to serve as a dock that could offer some shelter from the wind and rain.
Then, Ma Zhiyuan walked over here.
His face became clear in Lu Yanhe's vision.
Over the years, many people have mentioned Ma Zhiyuan's recent situation to Lu Yanhe.
Many people say that Ma Zhiyuan is still the same as before. Even if something happens and his career is ruined, he still has the same temper as before: unruly and arrogant.
Arrogant.
However, the moment Lu Yanhe saw Ma Zhiyuan walking across the street today, when he clearly saw his face and the expression on his face, Lu Yanhe had a strong feeling—
He has changed.
He was still arrogant, of course, but his arrogance had become more profound and cold.
This was beyond Lu Yanhe's expectations.
Ma Zhiyuan walked up to him.
Are you on a film set?
Lu Yanhe did not answer, but instead asked, "You just said on the phone that you have key evidence about why Xingyu suppressed me back then?"
Ma Zhiyuan nodded.
Lu Yanhe's brow remained furrowed as he continued, "What do you want?"
"So direct?" Ma Zhiyuan's lips curled into a sarcastic smile. "I thought that after all these years of playing the nice guy, so... aloof, you wouldn't be like someone like me, so... mercenary?"
"A mercenary?" Lu Yanhe not only remained expressionless, but in fact, in front of Ma Zhiyuan, he didn't even show his facial expressions, striving to project a sense of superiority and compassion—in this world, very few people would make Lu Yanhe put on such a deliberate performance.
Ma Zhiyuan: "I know you won't admit it."
“It’s okay, I admit it, so what?” Lu Yanhe’s voice sounded calm. “In this world, there is a type of person who can only ever see others. He sees others as idealistic and thinks they are foolish; he sees others as materialistic and thinks they are mercenary. One day, he sees someone whose behavior is ugly, but he finds them real. Do you know why?”
Ma Zhiyuan looked at him silently.
Lu Yanhe: "Because he didn't know he saw himself. He just subconsciously felt that everything about this person was understandable. He didn't even know why he understood an ugly person, because he could only see others."
Ma Zhiyuan: "Are you mocking me?"
Lu Yanhe: "You can understand it that way."
Ma Zhiyuan smiled.
Lu Yanhe: "I think we don't need to keep wasting our breath. What do you want? You're not going to give me these things for free. Since you called me, it means that only I can give you what you want."
"Let me star in a film you wrote, whether it's a commercial film, an art film, or a low-budget movie," Ma Zhiyuan said, making a surprising statement.
Lu Yanhe looked at Ma Zhiyuan with disbelief.
If you were to ask who in today's entertainment industry wouldn't be willing to participate in Lu Yanhe's works, Lu Yanhe would say the number is very small.
However, besides Chen Pinhe, there must also be Ma Zhiyuan on this list.
He believed that Ma Zhiyuan's dislike for him was just as great as his dislike for him.
Especially since Ma Zhiyuan just had a blockbuster film during the National Day holiday, although the subsequent public criticism plunged him into another abyss—
But to be honest, this point of no return was nothing to Ma Zhiyuan; he was like someone who was "not afraid of itching when he had too many lice."
What can we do?
A person like Ma Zhiyuan, whose values are fundamentally flawed, will never feel remorse or suffer internal turmoil over things that have hurt others.
Why would Ma Zhiyuan, at this time, ask Lu Yanhe for a role in a play for the sake of his career?
Lu Yanhe: "What's this?"
Ma Zhiyuan: "I need to let everyone know that you and I have become friends again and can cooperate."
Upon hearing this, Lu Yanhe burst out laughing.
"Are you kidding me?"
“I’m not joking, Lu Yanhe.” Ma Zhiyuan stared at Lu Yanhe. “Those people who jumped out to attack me a while ago, weren’t they all being instigated by you?”
"In your current state, do you still need me to tell others what to do?" Lu Yanhe shook his head. "You overestimate yourself."
Ma Zhiyuan's forehead veins were bulging.
A fierce storm raged.
Looking at Ma Zhiyuan's expression, Lu Yanhe felt extremely angry.
It's a pity that Li Zhibai and Yan Liang couldn't enjoy the show together.
"Yes, and also, I refuse."
Ma Zhiyuan was taken aback.
Lu Yanhe slowly raised his hand and rotated his wrist, as if his joints were a little sore from holding one position for too long.
"If I were to put on an act for you before my friends gang up on you, that would be fine," Lu Yanhe smiled slightly, because he was thinking of his friends when he said this. "However, right now, whether you give me those things or not is not that important to me. Although I don't know what you hold, whatever it is, it won't affect my life right now, and no one is more important to me than these friends. Playing along with you would be like stabbing them in the back, so even if I'm mercenary, I won't do that kind of deal."
Ma Zhiyuan remained silent.
Lu Yanhe: "You can deal with your own affairs. You hurt so many people back then, including me. I have no intention of clearing your name. I didn't kick you when you were down. It's just that now... how should I put it? It's too good. My life and career are too good. You may never understand what it's like to be so good that you don't even want to get your hands dirty to take revenge on someone. Even at the height of your fame."
A fierce glint had already appeared in Ma Zhiyuan's eyes.
To kill someone is to destroy their spirit.
Lu Yanhe tilted his head slightly.
The front door opened.
Zou Dong got off the car.
"Okay, I'm done talking."
"I'm leaving."
Lu Yanhe took two steps forward and was about to get into the car when Ma Zhiyuan suddenly shouted, "Lu Yanhe, do you think you'll have a smooth life forever? I don't believe you don't have any problems!"
Upon hearing Ma Zhiyuan's words, Lu Yanhe paused, smiled, shook his head, and got into the car without turning back.
-
"Are you stupid! Just agree first, get the stuff from him, and then turn against him!" Li Zhibai said with exasperation after hearing Lu Yanhe directly reject Ma Zhiyuan.
Lu Yanhe: "...I wouldn't do such a thing."
Li Zhibai's eyes held an even stronger sense of disappointment and frustration.
"Forget it. No matter what, it's like dealing with a tiger for its skin. Once you're involved, you can't get rid of it," Lu Yanhe said. "Why cooperate with him? There's no need."
Li Zhi nodded a hundred times.
"Now that you put it that way, I can accept it a little better."
Lu Yanhe: "Moreover, I know what Xingyu has done in the past and what Zhou Pingan has done in the past. I also have the evidence. I have already made myself clear. Given his personality, if he had something strong enough, he would be even more arrogant than me and would try to suppress my arrogance. But he didn't. Actually, I don't think he could have anything strong. As long as he doesn't know why Xingyu suppressed me back then, that's fine."
Li Zhibai knew that Lu Yanhe was referring to Chen Pinhe's matter.
"Yes, if he finds out about that, he'll probably be stirring up trouble."
“Sometimes I think to myself, this has actually become my weakness.” Lu Yanhe shrugged helplessly. “I study hard, work hard, and strive to be a good person, a kind person. Even so, I still have weaknesses that can be exploited. Even though I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this matter from the bottom of my heart, and there’s nothing wrong with it in itself, it will still be a stain. Once people find out, it will become the biggest stain on my life. No matter what achievements I make or what position I hold, when they mention me, they will always label me as Chen Pinhe’s illegitimate son. I find it ridiculous. Is this my problem? No. In fact, most people who mention this matter don’t think it’s my problem, nor do they laugh at me for it. But the label is still on me.”
This is an unsolvable problem.
This is also why none of the people around Lu Yanhe who knew about this matter told him—at worst, he could just honestly tell everyone the truth.
Things in life that can be changed through hard work, no matter how difficult, will not make one feel hopeless.
However, there are many moments in life when no matter how hard you try, you are powerless—and it is often in these moments that people feel despair.
For Lu Yanhe, this was not enough to make him despair.
But it's like an old stain on a piece of glass.
It can't be wiped off no matter what, so it can only be left on that piece of glass.
Li Zhibai put his arm around Lu Yanhe's shoulder, patted him, and said, "Even if this matter is exposed one day, it's okay. Rumors and controversies are a standard feature of every legend, it's always something. We've played the love and hate of various characters in many dramas, what are we afraid of in real-life drama? Just act it out, you can act it out on screen, and you can act it out off screen too. As long as you seem not to care about it at all, the audience will be infected by you and won't care about it either. You're a movie star, what are you afraid of?"
-
Li Zhibai's words of comfort sounded somewhat inexplicable.
However, Lu Yanhe understood.
-
"We need to find out exactly what Ma Zhiyuan has in his hands," Chen Ziyan said on the phone. "Otherwise, this is a ticking time bomb, and we don't know when it will explode."
Is there any way?
"Let's find someone we know and trust to pose as a paparazzi and try to get information out of them," Chen Ziyan said. "I'll also go see Zhou Ping'an and see what he knows."
Lu Yanhe: "Hmm."
“Yan He, I think we might have to prepare for this to eventually be exposed,” Chen Ziyan said. “Especially when we decide to take action against Zhang Yuezhen later, unless she’s dead, once she’s in an unsafe situation, she won’t have the need to keep this secret. Chen Pinhe and she are probably really having problems now; they’re living separately now, and Zhang Yuezhen is also dividing her assets with Chen Pinhe—although she’s doing it very discreetly.”
Lu Yanhe took a deep breath.
“It’s okay, Sister Ziyan. Although I’m really reluctant to face the consequences of being exposed, I’m prepared for it,” Lu Yanhe said. “At worst, I’ll take this opportunity to rest for a few years and let the gossip churn.”
“Okay, I’m relieved that you think that way,” Chen Ziyan said. “Your approach to dealing with Ma Zhiyuan this time was correct. For someone like him, any deal is a trap for the future. We can’t afford to lose big for small gains.”
"Well, let alone publicly signaling that I've reconciled with him, even doing so privately is not an option. Wouldn't that be a slap in the face? He just wants to use this signal to alleviate his current terrible professional situation."
“Indeed, once you signal your cooperation with him, his situation of being attacked by the masses will change,” Chen Ziyan said. “After all, others will see it as your support for him, and he’s quite shrewd.”
"He's always been this kind of person."
-
When Zhou Ping'an learned from Chen Ziyan that Ma Zhiyuan had secretly tried to make a deal with Lu Yanhe using evidence of Xingyu's suppression of him back then, a surge of anger rose up instantly.
How dare he?!
Then came a familiar sense of powerlessness.
All these years, Ma Zhiyuan has remained the same. He dares to do anything and doesn't care about anything. His logic is like that of a wild beast, relying entirely on instinct and lacking any brain.
Zhou Ping'an suddenly realized that he had made a mistake.
He shouldn't have hesitated to act because of Ma Zhiyuan's threat.
We should have cut our losses in time.
“He thinks he has some incredible knowledge, but in reality, you all know what’s really going on.” Zhou Ping’an’s heart was in turmoil, but he still tried to maintain his composure on the surface. “He doesn’t know that Lu Yanhe actually knew all along, and what Yanhe’s attitude was.”
Chen Ziyan did not answer, but just looked at Zhou Ping'an.
Zhou Ping'an knew what Chen Ziyan was thinking.
He said, "You should have been able to see my true feelings about Ma Zhiyuan during the National Day holiday."
So many people were condemning Ma Zhiyuan; the public outcry was terrifying.
Zhou Ping'an made no move.
Chen Ziyan, being in the same entertainment industry, should have been able to easily see this.
Having public relations and not having public relations are two completely different situations—although having public relations does not necessarily change public opinion.
Chen Ziyan: "Parents who let their children scream and play on the high-speed rail will not be considered irresponsible, and their silence will be seen as tacit approval. It was not easy for you to rebuild your cooperation with us. You lost Li Zhibai because of Ma Zhiyuan. I suggest you think it over carefully."
(End of this chapter)
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