Drug Catalyst Revealed
A week later, the wrap party was held in Shuye, and it was bustling with noise. Yu Sheng felt it was a bit noisy, so she pulled the slightly tipsy He Wei to the open-air balcony for some fresh air.
He used to enjoy this noisy environment, which allowed him to disguise himself and blend into the crowd, masking the loneliness deep in his bones. Even when he was alone on the top floor of the building, he would always turn on the TV, turn the volume up to the maximum, and fill himself with noise.
But things are different now. He no longer needs those empty sounds as a cover, and has even begun to "forget his roots" and hate the noise.
He Wei, who had drunk a bit too much, swayed and leaned against the railing, teasingly saying, "Why are you pulling me along? Why don't you go find your Officer Lu?"
Yu Sheng steadied him, afraid that the drunkard might lose his balance and throw her off the balcony. "Drink less, don't you know how precious your only son's kidney is?"
His gaze passed over He Wei's shoulder and landed in the center of the banquet. Lu Chenyang was being led by Lan Dajing and Yan Jianghe, who were introducing him to several people who weren't part of the film crew. Yu Sheng could recognize a few of them, while others were complete strangers, but all of them were influential figures in the film and television industry.
It seems that through this collaboration, Lan Dajing has indeed shown great favor to Lu Chenyang. Yu Sheng is happy for him.
"bite--"
A WeChat notification sounded. Yu Sheng supported He Wei with one hand and opened the message with the other. After just one glance, his eyes lit up instantly, and he excitedly paced back and forth, almost throwing the drunkard in his arms out of his arms.
"Ah Jiang! Ah Jiang!" He hurriedly waved to his assistant and handed He Wei over. "Go quickly and get a room for Teacher He upstairs."
After giving the instructions, Yu Sheng rushed towards the restroom, turning back to remind him after a few steps, "Don't forget to notify his assistant!"
Lu Chenyang's gaze remained subtly fixed on Yu Sheng. He caught a glimpse of him suddenly leaving and, wondering what had happened, wanted to follow. However, Yan Jianghe was currently pulling him along, enthusiastically introducing him to a senior screenwriter, and he couldn't get away.
Fortunately, only five or six minutes later, Yu Sheng reappeared in the banquet hall. He walked briskly, jogging along, his face beaming with uncontrollable joy, his lips turned up high like a deer with its head held high, as if he had encountered something happy.
Lu Chenyang's gaze followed him tenderly until Yu Sheng threw herself into a man's arms.
Lu Chenyang's heart skipped a beat; he didn't know how to describe his feelings at that moment.
The man gave him a feeling of familiarity mixed with strangeness. He was in his early thirties, tall and slender, a full head taller than Yu Sheng. He wore a well-tailored light gray suit, both formal and approachable. He was raising his hand, with a gentle smile, to affectionately ruffle Yu Sheng's hair.
Lu Chenyang shifted his gaze slightly to the left and saw Lan Zhong standing to the side. He quickly understood the source of that familiarity. It was Lan Yi, Lan Zhong's older brother.
So it was Lan Yi who came back. No wonder Yu Sheng was so happy, no wonder there was that hug. Everything makes sense.
Lan Yi held an extraordinary place in Yu Sheng's heart; Lan Yi had saved Yu Sheng's life, and Yu Sheng regarded Lan Yi as an elder brother. Lu Chenyang knew he should also be happy for Yu Sheng, as he was finally able to see the person he had longed for for so long.
However, the uncontrollable soreness rising in his throat couldn't lie. He cared, he cared deeply. This concern seemed so petty, yet it so real, lingering in his heart, making him feel suffocated and achy.
Like a child asked to share his beloved possession, he obediently handed over his most precious little cake, watching others enjoy it, perhaps even earning a "sensible" praise from his parents and teachers. But the tearing sadness and reluctance in his heart are known only to himself.
He loved that little cake so much that he didn't want to share it, even though he was labeled a "bad kid."
In that brief moment of distraction, Yu Sheng and Lan Yi had already disappeared into the crowd in the banquet hall.
More than half an hour passed and Yu Sheng still hadn't returned. Lu Chenyang could no longer suppress his unease and anxiety. He quickly dealt with the seniors around him, then excused himself to go to the restroom and left.
To hell with being sensible! He's a bad kid; he's going to snatch his little cake back. No one else deserves to eat it, not even a lick.
The banquet hall was enormous and packed with people. Lu Chenyang finally managed to find a familiar waiter and learn that Yu Sheng had gone to a more secluded terrace.
He hurried over, and as soon as he got close, a gentle, magnetic voice came through the crack in the door. The voice had an innate softness and affection that made people unconsciously fall in love with it, and it was very distinctive.
"...Ah Sheng, Xiao Zhong told me that your illness...has improved? Is it because of a person named Lu Chenyang?"
Lu Chenyang's steps suddenly stopped, frozen in the shadows at the entrance to the terrace.
"Hmm," Yu Sheng's voice was filled with a light laugh, the joy almost penetrating the door panel, "It's not an improvement, it's more like a full recovery."
There was a moment of silence on the terrace, broken only by the soft rustling of the evening breeze. Then, that distinctive voice rang out again—it was Lan Yi.
“Ah Sheng, over the years… I’ve thought a lot. As an older brother, and also as someone who can face my own heart. I’ve watched you grow up, and all along, I’ve regarded you as a younger brother who needed care, just like Xiao Zhong. The things you said to me back then, I interpreted with the mindset of an elder, as dependence and confusion… I mistakenly thought that perhaps it was just because I appeared when you were in the most pain and took you away, which caused you to develop a psychological perception similar to the ‘suspension bridge effect’…”
He paused, his voice tinged with complex emotions: "I told myself that you had just come of age then, and my world and my orientation should not affect you. So I chose to keep my distance, thinking it was rational. Later I realized that it was actually a kind of arrogance."
“…Brother Lan.” Yu Sheng’s voice was lowered, as if he didn’t know how to respond.
"Over the years abroad, I've repeatedly thought back to everything related to you. Only today, when we met again, did I truly realize that you are no longer the little child I needed to protect, but a mature, radiant person who can completely take control of your own life. I've also begun to understand myself, those lingering concerns, those feelings that have long surpassed the bounds of brotherly duty... perhaps I should have understood this long ago..."
Lan Yi's voice became lower and more serious: "I apologize for my past avoidance and arrogance. Asheng, the person standing in front of you now is no longer Lan Yi who only treats you like a child, but someone who wants to love you, respect you, and appreciate you as an equal... if you are still willing to give me this chance."
"Clang—"
A very faint, crisp sound. Lu Chenyang's fingers dug into the wooden frame of the decorative painting beside him. Due to excessive force, his knuckles were taut and drained of color. He leaned against the wall, subconsciously reaching out to loosen his tie, trying to force more air into his lungs, which felt like they had been vacuumed.
He didn't rush in, nor did he make a sound. A sliver of reason remained; he was confident that Yu Sheng's feelings for him wouldn't be easily shaken by the intervention of others, even if that person was Lan Yi.
But the uncontrollable tightening of his fingers and the faint creaking of the wooden fibers inside the picture frame betrayed his wavering heart. Every phrase, "suspension bridge effect," "belated realization," and "I truly love you," was like a red-hot, dull knife, grinding repeatedly into his heart.
He held his breath, as if awaiting his final judgment.
Finally, he heard Yu Sheng's reply.
“Brother Lan, I was too young back then and said a lot of nonsense. Like you said, maybe... maybe I had a wrong perception and mistook my dependence on salvation for love. So... Brother Lan, I'm sorry, I couldn't reciprocate your feelings.”
My heart, which had been hanging in suspense, seemed to ease slightly, yet it still throbbed with pain.
"It's alright." Lan Yi's voice remained gentle and refined, showing no sign of being embarrassed by the rejection. "Then, Asheng, can you tell me the reason? Is it simply because you've seen through your past misconceptions, or is it because of... someone else? For example, Lu Chenyang?"
He seemed not to need Yu Sheng's answer and continued, "Sheng, if it's because of Lu Chenyang, then I don't think I've lost the right to express my love for you. During the years I was away, I'm grateful that someone took care of you for me. But I heard that you two haven't known each other for very long, and..."
Lan Yi paused, but her next words were like a bomb, shattering the world Lu Chenyang was barely maintaining: "...I vaguely know some of the reasons why you chose him. Xiao Zhong told me that you only used him as a 'catalyst,' is that right?"
'Medicinal guide'. Three words, light and airy, yet like the most vicious curse.
The lively atmosphere and laughter in the banquet hall suddenly faded into silence. Lu Chenyang felt a chill run from his feet to the top of his head, as if the blood in his body had frozen.
The brightly lit corridor twisted and distorted, and countless unseen, pitch-black vines burst forth from the shadows, binding his neck, crawling into his mouth and nose, and blocking any possibility of breathing. He tried in vain to tug at his tie again, only to find it already loose and frayed.
His fingers slipped from the sunken picture frame, his nails throbbing with a dull pain from the force of the impact. This pain, accompanied by the memory of Yu Sheng's voice, pierced his brain, churning wildly within it.
——'I need you'
—'I like your voice'
"Officer Lu, talk to me. Hearing your voice will stop my nightmares."
Yu Sheng had said "I need you" countless times, and he once thought it was the most beautiful love confession, proof of Yu Sheng's love for him. Looking back now, however, every word seemed like a tear. Yu Sheng seemed to have never said "I love you," only "I need you."
She refused to marry him and to make their relationship public, yet she showered him with substantial resources in his career… Was it compensation? Or was it a fair and reasonable exchange for the "miracle drug"?
A wave of intense dizziness washed over him, and he almost collapsed, desperately reaching out to brace himself against the wall. It seemed to be his only foothold before he suffocated. Invisible vines tightened, digging deep into his flesh, but he felt no pain. He simply used his last ounce of strength to await Yu Sheng's answer, even if that answer would plunge him into the abyss.
"Brother Lan!" Yu Sheng's voice rose and became urgent, breaking the suffocating silence and pulling Lu Chenyang, who was wandering on the edge of the cliff, back to reality.
“I admit that my initial motives for approaching Lu Chenyang were not pure. I treated him as a life-saving medicine and gave him a lot of benefits in return. But that’s not the case now, and it won’t be in the future.”
Oxygen, with its icy stinging sensation, slowly seeped back into my lungs.
Lu Chenyang leaned against the wall, breathing heavily for a few moments, and forced himself to stand up straight. He raised his hand to straighten his disheveled tie and collar, and smoothed out every wrinkle on his shirt.
Then, he summoned all his talent as an actor, locking the bloodshot eyes, the trembling in his chest, and the beast about to burst out of his chest back into this tattered body.
He strode onto the terrace, his voice soft and natural, gentle yet with a hint of surprise: "Ah Sheng, what are you doing here? I've been looking for you for ages."
Yu Sheng turned around at the sound, and in an instant, his heart felt as if it had plummeted from a great height into an ice cave. The feeling was like a child who had done something terribly wrong behind his parents' back and was caught red-handed; immense panic gripped him. He didn't even dare to look Lu Chenyang in the eye.
He wanted to run away, to hide and avoid being found, to avoid danger. Escaping fear was his usual tactic, it had become instinct. His heart was pounding, and he pressed his lips tightly together, afraid that if he opened his mouth, blood and flesh would gush out.
The next second, his shoulder was forcefully pulled close. Lu Chenyang's arm was like an iron band, his fingers tightening around him, pressing him firmly into his embrace, yet on the surface, it still appeared natural and intimate. He wore his usual business smile, his gaze shifting to Lan Yi, his tone polite yet distant, "This gentleman looks very familiar. Ah Sheng, aren't you going to introduce him?"
Yu Sheng struggled slightly in his arms, but the arms tightened instantly, the force making his shoulders ache. His voice trembled slightly as he whispered, "It's Lan Yi, Brother Lan."
"So it's President Lan." Lu Chenyang seemed to realize something at the last moment, and extended his right hand at the right time, his smile impeccable. "I've heard so much about you. Ah Sheng often mentions you to me, saying that you took good care of him in the past. I've never had a chance to properly thank you."
Lan Yi's gaze lingered on Lu Chenyang's face for a moment, a faint smile appearing on her lips. She reached out and shook hands with him, saying, "Mr. Lu, you're too kind. I'm Asheng's older brother, and it's only my duty to take care of him. It seems that Mr. Lu shouldn't be the one to express his gratitude."
“Chenyang…” Yu Sheng finally regained a sliver of his senses from the immense shock. He looked up at Lu Chenyang, and through that flawless, gentle mask, he glimpsed a terrifying crimson churning wildly deep within those eyes. He instinctively tugged at Lu Chenyang's sleeve.
"What's wrong, Asheng?" Lu Chenyang lowered his head slightly, his tone gentle. He seemingly affectionately rubbed the back of Yu Sheng's neck, but Yu Sheng was startled by the icy, lifeless temperature of his fingertips.
"Are you tired?" Lu Chenyang looked up at Lan Yi again, his smile still calm and polite. "I'm sorry, President Lan, it's getting late. Asheng is tired, we should go home."
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