Chapter 55: Lin Xingsen's Background
How do you know her husband has a problem?
After leaving the hospital, Lin Yuanzhou handed his car to a friend who drove it away, taking the depressed Lin Xingsen with him, while he himself got into Su Yunruo's car.
“That child is about the same age as Lin Xingsen, so I guess she was a beautiful young woman when she got married.” She paused, “A woman with a happy marriage, a loving husband, and a comfortable life wouldn’t be in her current state. Moreover, she hasn’t contacted Lin Xingsen for over ten years, and even refused to contact him, yet she impulsively went to the scene today, which means she’s desperate. Her husband wasn’t there for her during her difficult time; hasn’t she realized the problem?”
Lin Yuanzhou lowered his voice, his expression heavy, "I don't know what to do in this situation either."
"Then we won't do it."
"After all, she is Xiaolin's mother."
“Then let’s get it done.” Su Yunruo made the decision in just two or three seconds, and then began to plan: “First of all, no one is in a position to give Lin Xingsen any advice on this matter. You just need to tell him the whole story. He agrees to try the matching test, which is fine, but he needs to know what he will face if he is a match in the end. Think it through before making a decision. However, before he makes a decision, let’s investigate Ms. Zhang’s husband.”
Su Yunruo tossed her phone to Lin Yuanzhou, "Help me dial Jiang Chunrou's WeChat number. Password: □□□□□"
Lin Yuanzhou unlocked the app with the password, opened WeChat, and found that the homepage was full of pinned posts. Jiang Chunrou was the first one, followed by the family group, the Pinduoduo group, Su Yunruo's parents and brother, and Fan Xingchen, whom he had recently contacted.
Lin Yuanzhou glanced at the name and quickly avoided it, then dialed Jiang Chunrou's WeChat number.
"Miss Su."
"Help me find out about the woman who called Lin Xingsen's son today. The more details you can provide, the better. After you've done the research, bring the documents to my house."
"good."
Without consulting Lin Yuanzhou, the decisive Su Yunruo drove directly to the island in the middle of the lake.
Upon entering, he asked the housekeeper to help tidy up the study, connect the projector, and wait for Jiang Chunrou to arrive with her laptop.
Lin Yuanzhou smelled a faint orange fragrance in the air, as if the oranges had been picked but not eaten yet, and were fully ripe, golden, juicy, and sweet with a hint of sourness.
The tiny 20-square-meter meeting room was decorated in a completely different way from the outside. Outside, there was an exquisite European-style villa with a custom-made stained glass roof, where sunlight streamed in and refracted onto the floor, creating a kaleidoscope of colors. Inside, however, it was lifeless and dull, resembling that meeting room at Western Digital Technology that no one wanted to go into.
Lin Yuanzhou was carefully examining the conference room, but in Su Yunruo's eyes, he seemed to be staring motionless at a certain corner.
Following the gaze, I saw a strangely shaped decoration.
Ever since she scared Xiao Ou last time, all of Su Yunruo's dolls have been moved to the small room next to her room. There used to be one in that spot, but now it's been replaced with something that Liang Shi found at some art exhibition. Lin Yuanzhou kept looking at that thing, and she suddenly thought it was even uglier.
Are you hungry?
Su Yunru tried to divert his attention by bringing up other topics.
"Han Shicheng also has this."
Upon hearing the name, she instinctively distanced herself, saying, "Liang Shi bought it; I didn't even look at it."
Lin Yuanzhou smiled inexplicably, "Don't you like it?"
Does it look like it has room for appreciation?
"..." Lin Yuanzhou's smile deepened, and he lowered his head, softly saying, "I suppose so."
Su Yunruo was puzzled, so she sat down and asked Jiang Chunrou how things were going. She soon learned that Jiang Chunrou was on her way to her house.
Ten minutes later, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.
"Wait—wait for me—"
The shouts reminded Su Yunruo of Jiang Chunrou running ahead with her laptop, and Yu Youqian, that good-for-nothing, chasing after her but unable to catch up.
They practically burst open the study door.
Jiang Chunrou opened her laptop and prepared to connect it to the projector immediately.
As soon as you sit down, you immediately make eye contact with the tall, undeniably tall man across from you.
She silently closed the notebook again.
Su Yunruo gestured to her, "It's okay, just say it."
Jiang Chunrou nodded to Lin Yuanzhou as a greeting.
A dozen seconds later, Yu Youqian finally caught up.
She was taken aback when she saw Lin Yuanzhou, but she couldn't keep her mouth shut and blurted out to Su Yunruo, "Your marriage is settled?"
Those five words made the two people in the study perk up their ears. They didn't dare to look at Su Yunruo, but they cautiously glanced at her.
"Even if you decide, I won't decide." Su Yunruo casually picked up something from the table, ready to smash it.
"I was wrong, I was wrong."
Yu Youqian dragged the chair that Jiang Chunrou was sitting on next to Su Yunruo to the other side of Jiang Chunrou and sat down on it, hoping that Jiang Chunrou could act as a life-saving shield in the middle if Su Yunruo was about to make a move.
Jiang Chunrou was used to it, but reluctantly connected to her laptop and opened the file. "Ms. Zhang was once a contracted model with LY. Because of her outstanding appearance, she was invited to be the cover model for a novel, and later she was even invited to film a movie adapted from the novel. However, before filming started, her agent suddenly couldn't contact her, so the role was changed, and LY terminated her contract as a result. According to people from the same village, after leaving S City, she went on blind dates in her hometown and had a whirlwind marriage with Mr. Wang, who owned a shop at the entrance of the village. The following year, she gave birth to a boy for Mr. Wang, who is the child in the hospital room right now."
"The details are too numerous to ask about immediately. All we know is that a year ago, after Ms. Zhang's son was diagnosed with leukemia, Mr. Wang divorced her. She sold the house left by her parents and brought her son to S City for treatment."
Jiang Chunrou paused for a moment, her gaze becoming serious: "People in the village don't have a good opinion of her, and there are even rumors that she was someone's mistress, and that her child getting sick is retribution. So I did some research based on what's going on in the news today, and found that only Ms. Zhang herself participated in the matching."
Lin Yuanzhou was taken aback, probably because the truth was different from what he had learned from Ms. Zhang.
Jiang Chunrou: "Logically speaking, the success rate of matching between immediate family members is higher than that between strangers, so the child's father should also be allowed to try."
Lin Yuanzhou stood up: "I'll make the contact."
"Wait a minute."
Lin Yuanzhou: "..."
“You can’t convince a man who chooses divorce even when his wife and son are facing a crisis. Listen to him again if you don’t believe me.” Su Yunruo asked Jiang Chunrou, “What’s the current situation of Mr. Wang, who has a very high probability of being a match?”
I remarried a few months ago through a relative's introduction.
Lin Yuanzhou sat down in silence.
Su Yunruo nodded: "Then let's not bother him with this matter anymore."
Jiang Chunrou: "Should we try to persuade them, or offer to pay for it?"
"The popularization of knowledge is still a long way off. He might be in such a hurry to get a divorce that he thinks donating bone marrow is a life-for-life exchange. And even if he agrees, what if he can't stand the suffering during the bone marrow transplant and backs out at the last minute? The child will basically be gone."
"But they are still father and son."
Su Yunruo knew that Jiang Chunrou and Lin Yuanzhou were on the same wavelength in some ways, and she couldn't persuade two warm-hearted people. So she compromised: "You can try to ask, but don't waste too much time. A man who abandons his wife and children to remarry in difficult times has a harder heart than you think, but a softer shoulder than you think."
"..."
"Focus your efforts on the kind-hearted volunteers in the bone marrow registry."
Su Yunruo offered another solution, and the two of them finally looked better.
Yu Youqian tilted his head and pondered for a while, then suddenly stood up: "What? You want to get involved in this?"
Jiang Chunrou: "..."
Lin Yuanzhou: "..."
Su Yunruo had tolerated Yu Youqian for thirty years, and she could continue to tolerate him. She tried her best to reply to him calmly: "Yes."
Yu Youqian raised his voice: "Then even more people online will say that your relationship with Lin Xingsen is ambiguous."
"Are the rumors online that important? They even swear that you and I are having an affair."
Yu Youqian paused for a moment, then said, "My mom has been pressuring me to choose a wife lately, and I suddenly realized that you might be a good option. You could help me make money for the rest of my life."
Su Yunruo finally grabbed something and threw it at him, yelling, "Get out!"
Yu Youqian covered his head and turned to flee.
Jiang Chunrou stood up and stopped Su Yunruo from chasing after him. "Miss Su, don't be angry. President Yu is just like a child."
"He's really got a good plan! He wants me to work for him for the rest of my life."
"Never mind him, let's discuss Ms. Zhang and Lin Xingsen's matter first."
Su Yunruo took a deep breath and sat back down in her chair.
The three of them divided the tasks according to her arrangement. Jiang Chunrou went to try to persuade Ms. Zhang's ex-husband, Lin Yuanzhou took care of Ms. Zhang's affairs at the hospital, and Su Yunruo... Su Yunruo stayed at home.
Her name is still trending on social media, and if she goes out and about, paparazzi might take photos of her and write things about her. She can only stay at home and wait for news.
The relationship between Lin Xingsen and Su Yunruo remained a hot topic of discussion the next day, and resourceful netizens also uncovered Ms. Zhang's identity through clues.
The beautiful book model who was a bestseller for twelve years has now become a haggard, out-of-shape, and dowdy woman, which has spurred marketing accounts to publish articles with ugly words to attract attention, as if they were on steroids.
As the hype continued to rise, marketing accounts continued to use fabricated content from other marketing accounts as "evidence" to make new "inferences." Within just a few hours, thousands of malicious speculations were published online, and even outrageous claims such as "Su Yunruo became a mistress and squeezed out the original wife" were believed by the general public.
As evening fell, things escalated, with some unscrupulous marketing accounts even launching a poll: Who is prettier, Su Yunruo or the original wife?
With over 100,000 participants, Su Yunruo suffered a "crushing defeat".
There are many reasons. The recent hit show "Let's Travel Together" has brought Su Yunruo a lot of attention, and she also shows signs of trying to clear her name. Everyone is envious and will definitely seize any opportunity to destroy her. Most people hope that the fact that Su Yunruo is Lin Xingsen's mother is true, so they can have fun and label Su Yunruo as a "mistress," "having a child before the legal marriage age," and "forcing the original wife," etc.
That evening, Su Yunruo finally clarified the matter on her Weibo account.
@Su Yunruo: Ms. Zhang was once a beauty, and she must have endured many hardships over the years to become like this. I hope everyone can have compassion for her, rather than using her as a source of entertainment. Moreover, she has long since left the entertainment industry; using ordinary people to gain traffic is a shameful act.
@SuYunruo: Here's Su Yunruo at eighteen, wishing you all happiness every day! [Images]
Two Weibo posts, one indicating the direction of public opinion, the other clarifying the situation.
The nine-grid photos all show Su Yunruo looking even younger.
She has an innocent and pure look, and at eighteen years old, she's in the prime of her youth—it's absolutely stunning.
Of course, these photos were not chosen randomly. They deliberately covered the nine months before Lin Xingsen was born, and also selected highly representative dates. For example, that year happened to be the year of the Olympics, and Su Yunruo took a photo in front of the stadium. It also happened to be National Day, and she took a photo in the crowd. The timing is almost impossible to replicate.
Su Yunruo was so beautiful when she was little!
She was involved in many major events that year.
[It's obvious this has nothing to do with pregnancy. Who on earth is so righteous as to spread such an outrageous rumor that Su Yun is Lin Xingsen's mother?]
[These words came from Zheng Chengcheng's mouth.]
Everyone knows Lin Xingsen grew up in a single-parent family with only his father, so it's understandable that he fantasizes about Su Yunruo as his mother, right? After all, Su Yunruo really has him completely under her thumb.
[Maybe he wants to set up his own father with Su Yunruo.]
It's entirely possible that a widow raising a child alone needs a little sun like Su Yunruo to heal him.
[Don't get obsessed with Su Yunruo's photos. I think she's absolutely right. Some marketing accounts are really going too far. They'll do anything for traffic, constantly criticizing ordinary people's appearances. Isn't that inciting cyberbullying?]
[Celebrities get criticized even for publicly mentioning ordinary people; we can't let those rumor-mongering marketing accounts disappear without a trace.]
As most people came to their senses, major mainstream media outlets published articles criticizing cyberbullying and mocking ordinary people.
Things are moving in a positive direction.
After thanking several senior figures in print media, Su Yunruo received a call from Lin Yuanzhou.
"Xiao Lin plans to give it a try, and if he is a match, he will decide to donate."
As late autumn approached, the weather was gloomy, and Su Yunruo breathed a sigh of relief as she stood in front of the French windows.
"I'll treat him to dinner after this is all over."
Lin Yuanzhou chuckled on the phone, "Mm."
*
Before the recording of the final episode of "Let's Travel Together", the director asked Su Yunruo if they should pause the recording to wait for Lin Xingsen. Su Yunruo thought about it for a long time and decided to leave a regret for this perfect program. With a shortage of people, she recorded an episode that summarized all the previous content.
Netizens were crying and the news trended on social media, with everyone wailing about how "unfortunate" it was. But soon the training camp for "The Legend of Yao Yue" was brought up, and the screen full of new faces made the viewers, who were already feeling both grief and anger, want to uninstall the video app. The official Weibo account of the training camp released makeup test photos of all the young actors.
Sorry, it smells so good!
Isn't this makeup and styling amazing? The armor looks so high-quality, everyone looks so handsome, and this style has never been seen before!
@《Yaoyue Legend》Training Camp: To help actors better embody their roles, we specifically selected outstanding new actors with strong physiques, upright postures, and the ability to portray a general to enter the training camp. The subsequent curriculum will adopt a holistic approach, focusing on both internal and external development, with several renowned instructors providing on-site guidance. Welcome to watch "Transformation! 100 Days," airing every Saturday at 8 PM on Orange Video.
The popularity of "The Legend of Yao Yue" has surged again, and viewers who were initially skeptical now find the new faces in the training camp interesting.
In recent years, the entertainment industry has produced too few top stars, and TV dramas are basically the same few actors being filmed repeatedly, causing some viewers to frequently lose immersion in the story.
Seeing a decent male actor now reminds me of the passionate days a few years ago when I was following idol debut variety shows and cheering them on every day. I followed their official Weibo account, downloaded Orange Video, subscribed to a membership, watched "Let's Travel Together" first, and then eagerly awaited "Transformation! 100 Days".
The momentum of "The Legend of Yao Yue" is even more ferocious, and now all the production teams shooting web dramas in the industry are feeling the crisis.
The "Female General" production team, in particular, vaguely recalled what Lin Yuanzhou had once said to the leaders present at the meeting that day.
Seeing was far more terrifying than hearing; Su Yunruo finally followed Lin Yuanzhou's prediction and established herself in the entertainment and capital circles.
...
Su Yunruo was shopping when she received Hu Yang's call. Lin Xingsen deserved a huge reward for his bone marrow transplant. After thinking it over, she decided that in addition to a meal, she should also prepare a gift for him so that he would know that doing good deeds would be rewarded.
"Can you do me a favor?" Hu Yang cut straight to the point. "The director of 'Female General' initially promised me that he would make the script more male-centric, but now there's a new investor who's taking a hard line. They're now demanding that the screenwriter polish the script to make it a female-centric story, and I don't have any meaningful scenes at all. I want to terminate my contract with the production team."
After a moment's thought, Su Yunruo suddenly realized that the root of Hu Yang's sadness was actually the suggestion she had made to Lin Yuanzhou.
However, since "The Female General" is a female-centric script, Lin Yuanzhou was right not to allow script changes.
Hu Yang's desire to terminate the contract is also due to the circumstances.
Unable to break into the film industry or the serious drama circle, he has been stuck in ancient costume dramas for several years since his debut. There is also Ke Jinyang as a replacement, not to mention that "The Legend of Yao Yue" is preparing to produce a batch of young male actors.
Hu Yang urgently needs an opportunity to help his career reach the next level.
It's clear that when the director made the promise to him, he thought "Women General" could serve as a stepping stone, but now that the promise can't be kept, he's stuck in a rut.
In a way, Fan Xingchen and Hu Yang are the same kind of people, with a sincere love for acting. That's why he chose to stay on set and not participate in her and Ke Jinyang's activities. However, he wasn't as lucky as Fan Xingchen; he didn't get a stepping stone into the film industry, and his upcoming works are basically still fan-exclusive, with ordinary plots and no breakthroughs. He also tried other projects during this period, but they didn't make a splash.
Once Su Yunruo understood his motives, she asked, "Have you planned which film crew you'll go to after terminating your contract?"
“I’ve been looking at scripts again recently, and there are two or three pretty good serious dramas that I plan to give a try.”
"The supporting male character?"
"..." After a few seconds of silence, "At my age, it will be too late if I don't change my career path now."
Su Yunruo opened the window to let in some fresh air. "Here's what we'll do: you should focus on filming 'The Female General' for now. You know, the official team has already promoted your pairing with Pei Xue. If you terminate your contract, it will have a huge impact on both the production team and yourself."
"I just received a notification that the filming of 'The Female General' may be postponed."
Upon hearing this, Su Yunruo roughly guessed what Lin Yuanzhou wanted to do.
However, this practice of extending the filming period was too hasty and simply reckless.
Su Yunruo knocked on the window repeatedly, deep in thought.
Seeing that she didn't answer, Hu Yang spoke more quickly, "It seems that it might not be as good as your 'The Legend of Yao Yue' right now. The internal situation of 'The Female General' is very chaotic. The makeup and styling team of VV Video is focusing their efforts on the second female lead, Ning Yu. Pei Xue is preparing to bring her own styling team. LY Fang wants to use this drama to introduce new actors and even put their own company's director team in."
That does sound rather unreliable.
Su Yunruo stopped what she was doing. "I'm going to tell you the truth, but don't tell anyone else."
"you say."
“I know Lin Yuanzhou. He’s incredibly organized and meticulous, almost frighteningly so. Right now, he hasn’t quite figured out the rules, which caused chaos in the crew before filming started, but he’ll quickly sort out everyone’s relationships. Once filming begins, you’ll definitely find that the entire crew becomes more and more organized in the overall direction, and every step becomes more and more professional. You won’t even be able to find a single mistake.” He paused. “So, between ‘The Legend of Yao Yue’ and ‘The Female General,’ ‘The Legend of Yao Yue’ is positioned as a web series that’s going to be a hit for a while, while ‘The Female General’ is a critically acclaimed series with a long-tail effect. The reason why the two crews seem to be at odds right now is actually a strategy that Lin Yuanzhou and I devised to control the people in our respective crews. Calm down, keep filming, and make time as needed. ‘The Female General’ won’t let you down.”
"..."
"What's wrong?"
Do you know Lin Yuanzhou?
"know."
Hu Yang sighed on the other end of the phone, "Then I trust your judgment."
"Thanks."
Did you know that Fan Xingchen is preparing to direct a movie herself?
"What's wrong?" Su Yunruo knew, but had a feeling that Hu Yang had more to say, so she asked the next question directly.
"He approached me to play the male lead, but after reading the script, I realized you'd be perfect for the female lead. It's his first project; would you like to give it a try?"
Oh, so they're here to act as intermediaries for Fan Xingchen.
However, Fan Xingchen's decision to have Hu Yang make a film surprised her. Hu Yang's salary is not low, and "Immortal Journey" is a small investment, so she couldn't afford to hire him at all. She probably went to Hu Yang because she was worried that she would encounter difficulties when negotiating with the cinemas, so she wanted to add an extra layer of protection.
Hu Yang agreed to the role, presumably at a friendly price.
“I won’t try it. Filming a period drama would kill me.” He paused, “I’ll talk to Fan Xingchen about this. I recommend Ruan Rourou, the current female lead in ‘The Legend of Yao Yue.’ If all goes well, it can be released next year after ‘The Legend of Yao Yue.’”
After a pleasant conversation with Hu Yang, Lin Yuanzhou sent a message saying that Lin Xingsen's matching results would be available soon.
Su Yunruo and Lin Yuanzhou made an appointment to go to the hospital together, without asking anyone in advance, and they also had to bring Lin Xingsen along.
That day, Lin Xingsen looked more worried than before. He sat silently in the back seat. Su Yunruo tried to talk to him from time to time, and he started to respond, but he was listless and seemed to be lost in thought.
When Su Yunruo saw Ms. Zhang again, she was in much better condition than the last time she saw her; at least there were no more stray hairs on her forehead.
Ms. Zhang was filled with anxiety. She clasped her hands tightly in front of her stomach, her fingers curled up. She looked at Lin Yuanzhou several times, hesitant to speak, and then lowered her head in silence.
Fortunately, Lin Yuanzhou took the initiative, saying, "You wait in the ward for a while, I'll go talk to the doctor."
Su Yunruo led Ms. Zhang and Lin Xingsen, whose complexion was getting worse, into the ward and poured water for the two of them.
“Ms. Zhang, don’t worry. If it doesn’t work, we can recruit volunteers from the community. Lin Yuanzhou will cover all the expenses.”
Ms. Zhang frowned. "Can we find volunteers?"
"There are still many kind-hearted people."
Ms. Zhang lowered her head, "Where are there so many kind-hearted people?"
She spoke these words softly, and Su Yunruo saw Lin Xingsen's fingers twitch slightly. Her gaze went up and met his eyes, which were similar to Ms. Zhang's. Even the furrowed brows were exactly the same.
Su Yunruo: "What are your plans after the child's illness is cured?"
Ms. Zhang was taken aback; clearly, she hadn't made any plans for the future.
“Stay in S City, my company needs people.” Su Yunruo reached out and took her hands. “You don’t need to worry too much about living conditions. The company will provide accommodation and a dedicated canteen, including breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
"I……"
“It takes time for a child to recover, and he might need a follow-up check-up. You’ll have to take him back and forth, which is too much trouble. It’s better to just stay and have a better life.”
Ms. Zhang's eyes instantly turned red, and she leaned on Su Yunruo's shoulder and burst into tears.
Su Yunruo gently comforted her, and noticed that Lin Xingsen finally relaxed his furrowed brows.
Actually, she just used a little trick. Even if she didn't do it, Lin Yuanzhou would have done it anyway. By doing it before Lin Yuanzhou could speak up, she made him owe her a favor.
Although Lin Yuanzhou already owes Su Yunruo a great deal of favors...
"Don't worry, we will definitely not abandon you."
Su Yunruo calmed Ms. Zhang down with some toilet paper, just as Lin Yuanzhou finished talking with the doctor and returned to the ward.
You can't tell whether the outcome is good or bad from his expression, but Su Yunruo guessed the result because he walked up to Ms. Zhang first.
"I'll have my secretary go find the child's father now, and if possible, have him come and try to see if it works."
Fortunately, Su Yunruo had just dealt with Ms. Zhang's emotions; otherwise, given how nervous Ms. Zhang was at the beginning, she probably would have gone crazy.
Ms. Zhang's eyes reddened again, and she covered her face, crying, "He wouldn't do that."
"Leave this to me."
“He really wouldn’t.” Fine lines appeared at the corners of Ms. Zhang’s eyes, and her face gradually became distorted from crying: “He has always misunderstood that I was being kept by Han Yao, and he hates me to the core.”
Han Yao, kept by a sugar daddy!
Su Yunruo immediately turned her head to look at Lin Xingsen.
He sat there motionless, as if struck by lightning.
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