Blasphemy
Song Ciying was extremely efficient; the news arrived early the next morning.
The person who sent the private message on Weibo is Yang Tieshuan, a 67-year-old resident of Y City. He had previously been sentenced to 15 years in prison for multiple crimes, including buying trafficked women, abuse, and illegal imprisonment. Because he was not a principal offender and "redeemed himself" during interrogation by revealing information about many accomplices, his final sentence was not long. He was released from prison about a month ago.
"We can only find this much information in a short time. It will take some more time to uncover more details," Song Ciying said on the phone.
Yu Sheng held her phone, remaining silent for a long while. "Thank you, Sister Ciying. No need to investigate further."
This information was sufficient. It was almost certain that this Yang Tieshuan was the same person who bought Lu Chenyang back then. Buying and selling are equally criminal, and the briber was no more forgivable than the trafficker. Moreover, this man shamelessly used Lu Chenyang's father's name to extort money. Yu Sheng's eyes hardened; she wished she could tear this man to pieces and feed him to the dogs.
"Is there anything else I can help you with, little Sheng Sheng?" Song Ciying's lazy, smiling voice came from the other end of the phone.
Yu Sheng had no time to care about the woman's teasing nickname. His voice was low as he said, "Sister Ciying, tell this person to keep quiet."
"No problem." Song Ciying answered lightly, then lowered her voice and chuckled softly. If Yu Sheng hadn't been uninterested in women, he would have been completely smitten by now. "So, how do you plan to repay your sister?"
Before Yu Sheng could answer, she was already making arrangements: "I heard you recently started dating a really handsome young boyfriend, and he's even a big star? Bring Veilde over for me to see sometime. Also, I just invested in a gym, have your boyfriend come over for a stroll and post something on Weibo to help promote it. Oh, and the gym also has special courses for people like you, you should come and try them out, have the trainer create a Kegel exercise plan for you or something, so you don't—"
"Alright, alright, sis!" Yu Sheng quickly interrupted, her ears burning, afraid that she might say something inappropriate again. "I'll definitely go when I have time!"
After hanging up the phone, Yu Sheng lay back on the bed. Why did everyone assume he was the bottom? What was wrong with him?
Yu Sheng glanced sideways through the crack in the door at Lu Chenyang, who was cooking in the kitchen. Standing at 1.89 meters tall, with broad shoulders and a long frame, even in the simplest pajamas and apron, he exuded a powerful presence. Then she looked down at her own excessively thin arms and legs. Well, from this angle, he definitely had a more dominant aura.
"Lu Chenyang, let me use your phone." He called out to the kitchen. Even though the phone was on the coffee table in the living room, closer to him, he was already used to Lu Chenyang taking care of everything for him.
A gas stove was turned off immediately from the kitchen, followed by footsteps that echoed through the living room and into the bedroom. "Here." Lu Chenyang handed him his phone and grabbed his pajamas. "Dinner's in fifteen minutes. I'll stir-fry some vegetables. Put your pajamas on properly, don't catch a cold." He rolled over and peeked into the kitchen through the crack in the door. Through the crack, he glanced down at his own thin arms and legs, a result of his excessive weight loss... Well, looking at it this way, the other person's domineering aura was indeed unshakeable.
"Okay." Yu Sheng readily agreed, but turned over and continued lying down. He unlocked his phone with his fingerprint, and only after glancing out of the corner of his eye and seeing that Lu Chenyang had returned to the kitchen and started cooking again did he tap the Weibo icon.
To avoid alerting Yang Tieshuan yesterday, he didn't block him. Today, checking his private messages again, he found several more offensive and extortionate messages. No one could guarantee Lu Chenyang wouldn't see them. Yu Sheng immediately messaged Lan Zhong, instructing him to demand, on behalf of the company, that Lu Chenyang hand over his Weibo account to the company for management. As for the reason, Lan Zhong could make it up himself.
While waiting for her meal, Yu Sheng idly scrolled through Weibo. The popularity of yesterday's three trending topics had already decreased significantly, and Xinghua's PR team had clearly swiftly guided public opinion. Most fans believed that Yu Sheng and Lu Chenyang's interaction was a publicity stunt for the upcoming film "Dark Fire" and the currently showing "Shattered Light," and the comment section was already buzzing with arguments.
——#LuChenyangIsAlone# Enough is enough! @XinghuaEntertainment, have some decency! We understand a little hype during a movie's release, but it's been going on for ages! Is this never going to end? Constantly dragging my brother into this bromance thing, does someone with such good acting skills really need to rely on this for attention? Can't you walk your own path? [Disgusted]
—'Reject this forced association! Please focus on Yu Sheng's personal works and charm, thank you! We won't accept this artificial, artificial sweetening; it only brings trouble to our Yu Sheng brand! The company is doomed!'
—Honestly, this trending topic felt a bit too contrived… #YuShengEating# Could the hashtag be any more obviously bought? And the college piano performance, it all seemed like a staged “chance encounter,” didn’t it? They’ve abandoned all sense of shame for KPIs, excessively exploiting the celebrity’s goodwill.
"—It's so annoying! All I see trending topics are about this couple; I can't even block them. The movie is good, the actors are good, but this incredibly low-quality marketing strategy is dragging it down. Can't they put a little more effort into the film itself during the promotion?"
—'Hilarious, this nobody's trying to ride the coattails of another trending topic. Does this rich kid suddenly become helpless without his on-screen partner? His movie's box office performance is poor, so he starts acting up. His behavior is disgusting. [Disdain]'
——'Sisters! Piano performance! Is this really something we can watch for free?! Even if it was arranged, I'll accept it! I'll drink this sweetness first! Lu Chenyang is so good! Was "Beautiful" played for Sheng Sheng?! Right? Right?! [crying][crying][crying]'
——'Waaaa, even though the company is heartless, thank you for feeding me! I've watched "Shattered Light" three times, and I've practically worn out the "Dark Fire" promotional photos! The mermaid's white hair look is just too good! As long as you guys keep giving me sweet moments, I'll pay for the movie tickets! Let's ship them! Let's go for the new movie! #晨虞落雁isRIO#'
—'Sisters, don't get too excited~ Just enjoy the sweet moments, it's just promotional time, understand, it doesn't affect our love for our idol~ [hugs]'
—"Could some fans please stop clinging to me like glue? You're making such a big deal out of something as simple as playing the piano. We're just colleagues; please stop bringing up the handsome Lu Chenyang. Focus on the work, 'Shattered Light,' thank you."
——'I'm taking my Sheng Sheng away! No leeching! Please, someone mind your own business. Can't you see who benefits from the trending topics? It's obviously our Mermaid who's generating the buzz! [Hmph]'
—'These two guys are acting so disgustingly, they'll do anything for money, how can their fans still ship them? I'm speechless.'
—'Just a casual observer, but this piano playing is really good. It's not staged; there's some skill involved. However, the high ranking on the trending topics list seems a bit like publicity, haha.'
—My focus is off; that grilled squid looks really delicious…Does anyone know where it is? [drooling]
—'Sorry, Teacher Yu Sheng, but it's really hilarious, hahaha! Pick up your idol image! This trending topic has a unique style! But it's kind of cute.'
——'Ahhhhh! Even though I know it's just for show! But! So sweet!!! #ChenYuLuoYan# Yu Sheng looks so cute when she's starving, like a little hamster! Chen Yang's eyes are so drool-worthy! I order you guys to go to the food street right now and eat a hundred more skewers for me! [licking screen]'
"What I want more is to stand openly by your side and tell everyone I love you, instead of using the guise of a business couple to put on a show that no one needs to take seriously." Lu Chenyang's words from that small auditorium suddenly flashed into his mind, impossible to shake off. He could imagine how Lu Chenyang would feel seeing these comments and the attacks from anti-fans and solo stans, and Yu Sheng felt a pang of heartache again.
Let's wait a little longer. Yu Sheng pulled the necklace around his neck to his eyes, staring at the platinum ring for a long time. When the two of them are able to face all the rumors and gossip, when they are strong enough that they don't need anyone's affirmation, he will definitely wear the ring openly on his ring finger and tell everyone, I love you too.
...
A week later, filming for "Dark Fire" officially began. In the morning, the director led the entire cast and crew in a launch ceremony. After lunch, makeup was done, and filming started directly in the afternoon.
Lu Chenyang's makeup was very simple, with little effort put into his face. He was simply dressed in period-appropriate clothing before the director called him out to rehearse and test lighting.
Yu Sheng's process was much more time-consuming. The hairstylist had to dye his hair white with a temporary hair dye, while also adding highlights to create a gradient effect that was neither black nor gray. His facial makeup was also designed to emphasize a sickly appearance.
Last night, Lu Chenyang used the excuse that "after filming starts, we'll have to get up early and go to bed late, and there won't be any time to enjoy our time together" to keep him up until the wee hours. At this moment, Yu Sheng was extremely sleepy, leaning back in her chair, dozing off under the gentle touch of the makeup artist.
"Ring ring ring—!"
The sudden ringing of his cell phone abruptly pulled him back from his half-awake state. He reached for the phone with his eyes still closed and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Ah Sheng, about the thing you asked me to do... it's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that there was a little accident."
Yu Sheng instantly snapped out of her daze, straightening up by supporting herself on the armrest of her chair. "Sister Ciying, what happened?"
He knew Song Ciying well; she was always efficient and would reply immediately, whether successful or not. The fact that the message took a week to arrive already gave him a bad feeling. Moreover, what Song Ciying called a "minor accident" was by no means a trivial matter.
“He… he’s gone,” Song Ciying said.
Yu Sheng's heart sank: "Gone?! The person is dead???"
“No, that’s not it.” Song Ciying paused, then continued, “They’ve disappeared. My people searched Y City for a week, but they couldn’t find a single hair on their head.” The fact that someone as strong as Song Ciying admitted they couldn’t even handle something as simple as finding someone clearly displeased her.
"Disappeared?" Yu Sheng was so shocked that she almost jumped up from her chair, but the makeup artist pressed her shoulder down and made her sit back down.
"Didn't he just get out of prison a month ago? Logically, he should still be under supervision and shouldn't be allowed to leave his registered residence area, right? How could he have disappeared?"
“So, this isn’t simple.” The soft click of a lighter came from the other end of the phone, followed by a long sigh. “An old man who just got out of prison, penniless and without connections, could just vanish into thin air? I have two guesses: First, he has too many criminal records and has been targeted by enemies who beat us to it. Second, there are interests involved that we don’t know about, and someone is deliberately hiding him. But I’m more inclined to the former.”
After ending the call, Yu Sheng secretly logged into Lu Chenyang's Weibo account again. Sure enough, that account didn't send any more extortionate private messages. He couldn't understand why anyone would have any business dealings with such a scumbag. Perhaps it really was an enemy coming after him, or perhaps something unexpected had happened.
As he pondered, the makeup artist finished the final adjustments. Yu Sheng wrapped himself in "Wu Cao's" signature apron and headed towards the film set—the little flower shop.
Lu Chenyang and Lan Dajing were sitting behind the monitor reviewing the test footage when they heard the noise and looked up.
For a moment, Lu Chenyang felt a little dazed. This scene seemed familiar. When filming "Shattered Light," Yu Sheng, after getting her makeup and styling done, walked towards him in the same way. But his state of mind now was completely different, giving him a feeling of being in another world.
He watched Yu Sheng approach, his gaze fixed on him. He had seen Yu Sheng's "dancing grass" look up close during the costume fitting, but back then Yu Sheng still had a thin layer of muscle, with smooth and beautiful lines. Now he was shockingly thin, with almost no excess fat to be found.
Her soft, white curls cascaded down, making her skin appear even paler, exuding a fragile, sickly beauty. Lu Chenyang suddenly understood why medieval European nobles had a morbid fascination with "tuberculosis aesthetics." That extreme fragility could indeed give rise to a breathtaking yet cruelly beautiful kind of beauty.
Because of the staff present, Lu Chenyang restrained himself from rushing over and pulling the person into his arms to tear their clothes.
Humans have a primal urge to destroy beautiful things. At this moment, Lu Chenyang was like a pilgrim blaspheming a statue, wanting to see it crack all over, trample it into the mud, ravage and soil it, and appreciate its more cruel magnificence in its brokenness.
It turns out that extreme love can lead to destruction; in the end, it is the same kind of mad devotion.
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