"How did you get to know him?"
Speaking of this, Jiang Bei seemed a little embarrassed and touched the tip of his nose awkwardly: "I was still young at that time. I had just been retired and felt that the whole world had wronged me. And you know the environment of the welfare home, right? Oh, you may not know, anyway -"
"I know." Song Yecheng said firmly.
He knew what Jiang Bei was referring to.
In many people's impressions, welfare homes are similar to kindergartens, with cute children, gentle teachers, bright dormitories and classrooms, and toys and books filling the floors and cabinets.
But it’s not.
Apart from the model welfare homes in big cities, the conditions in welfare homes in many other regions are similar - except for baby girls who were abandoned because of the preference for boys over girls, most of the children have serious disabilities or other difficult-to-cure diseases. Those with healthy limbs and intelligence are rare, and if you also add the condition of normal facial features, then they are almost one in a thousand.
When Song Yecheng was a child, he often followed his parents to visit the welfare homes that their parents had helped to fund or establish. There, he saw physically disabled people who had no hands or feet and could only move with their elbows and knees, people with Down syndrome who smiled foolishly with crooked mouths and drooled, children with cerebral palsy who had healthy limbs but moved like puppets, and "porcelain dolls" who were so skinny and haggard that they had been lying in bed for more than ten years and could not get out of bed because they would break bones if they went out.
Later, he started his own business and began to personally participate in the affairs of donating to welfare projects. He also learned from various data and pictures fed back by welfare institutions that in some remote areas, the quality of welfare home caregivers is worrying and there is a shortage of staff, and the food and accommodation conditions for orphans may not even meet the level of basic food and clothing.
Therefore, he knew very well what "that kind of environment" Jiang Bei was talking about - it was a dark and miserable environment with a sense of oppression and suffocation that was enough to drive people to despair.
Jiang Bei didn't delve into the reasons why he was so sure, or perhaps he didn't care whether he really knew or not. He just nodded and said, "As long as you know, it's fine. Anyway, at that time, I couldn't understand why I was thrown back into that hellhole. I couldn't breathe if I stayed there for even a second longer, so I would sneak out when no one was watching and sit by a small lake nearby. And then...that's where I met my brother."
Jiang Bei, less than ten years old at the time, often sat alone by the lake, obsessing over the question: Why can people's emotions change so quickly? Why did the person who once treated him with tenderness and care become so harsh and indifferent? Why did he, having clearly escaped the abyss, have to be kicked back again?
What did I do wrong?
Just like what Bai Ye Ling once wrote in the book: The most painful thing is often not being in the darkness all the time, but having seen the light before returning to the darkness.
That kind of pain makes people desperately want to seek answers to explain those "whys" - why did it turn out like this, why me.
Thinking about these things, Jiang Bei often sat by the lake for an entire afternoon or even an entire night.
Later, as he went there more often, he gradually discovered that every Friday evening, there would be one more person sitting on the bench by the lake.
Jiang Que was still a student at that time. Every time he went to the lake, he would wear school uniform and carry his schoolbag, sitting there until eight or nine in the evening before leaving.
Perhaps because he thought Jiang Bei was a homeless child, Jiang Que would occasionally bring him some food like hamburgers and milk when he visited him.
Children always instinctively want to get close to kindness, so after eating the food brought by Jiang Que several times, Jiang Bei finally couldn't help but take the initiative to approach him and talk to him, asking him why he always came to the lake.
At that time, Jiang Que did not explain much, just said that he did not want to go home, but Jiang Bei sneered at this and thought: Others have no home to return to when they want to, but you have a home but don’t want to go back. You really don’t know how lucky you are.
However, it was not until later that he found out that Jiang Que was an orphan like him, and the parents in his "home" were not his biological parents.
"What?" Song Yecheng asked in surprise, "He is also an orphan?"
"Yeah," Jiang Bei nodded, "but he's different from me. He has no physical or intellectual problems, which makes him a very advantaged child in the orphanage. The uncle and aunt who adopted him are a pair of artists, so they're probably of higher caliber. At least they didn't send me back like my adoptive parents did."
Hearing the word "artist", and recalling what Jiang Que had said before, that he learned painting from his father, Song Yecheng asked, "Is his adoptive father a painter?"
"Huh?" Jiang Bei was a little surprised. "How did you know?"
Song Yecheng didn't answer. For some reason, he felt something was wrong. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Why didn't he want to go home?"
Jiang Bei curled his lips and shook his head. "I don't know. I only know that he was in high school at that time and lived on campus. He went home every Friday and returned to school on Sunday. But every Friday after school he would always stay by the lake until very late, and only left when he had to go back."
It sounded like Jiang Que was very resistant to going home, and it was easy to imagine that he had conflicts with his family. Song Yecheng couldn't help but ask, "Are his adoptive parents not good to him?"
Jiang Bei hesitated for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words: "How should I put it... He's never talked about this himself, but you know, people like us are quite sensitive. I can sense that his relationship with his family... isn't very good."
Hearing this, Song Yecheng finally understood where that strange feeling came from.
Earlier, when Jiang Que mentioned his adoptive father, his expression and tone were clearly gentle and soft. It was an attitude that would come naturally when talking about someone close or even respected. It didn't seem like there was any friction or rift between him and his adoptive father. On the contrary, the relationship between the two might be quite good.
So, if the reason why he doesn't want to go home is not his adoptive father, then is it his adoptive mother?
Just as Song Yecheng was thinking about it, he saw Zhuang Yan and Jiang Que coming out from behind the house side by side and walking towards the shed.
When he got closer, he saw that he and Jiang Bei hadn't left yet. Zhuang Yan asked curiously, "Why are you two still sitting here? Aren't you going to eat?"
The crew's meals were supplied by the two large compounds temporarily rented at the foot of the mountain as canteens. It was almost noon now and most of the staff had left in a hurry to eat. Looking around, they were the only ones left on the entire set.
Song Yecheng stood up from his chair, and Jiang Bei also put down the cup in his hand, and said sweetly: "I'm waiting for you to come together."
"Hurry up then," Zhuang Yan walked into the studio, gathered the things on the table, picked up his phone and called Jiang Bei, "After eating, take a break. We still have to continue filming in the afternoon."
When going down the mountain, Zhuang Yan put his arm around Jiang Bei's shoulders and explained the play to him in front, while Song Yecheng and Jiang Que walked side by side behind them.
Recalling Jiang Bei's previous words, Song Yecheng poked Jiang Que with his elbow: "How many years have you been supporting him?"
Perhaps because a lot of time had passed, Jiang Que did a quick calculation before saying, "Seven or eight years ago. At that time, the publication of 'Dust' made some money, but he was underage and couldn't go through many of the paperwork, so he asked my dad for help and sent him to a private boarding school."
Children in welfare homes will of course go to school when they reach school age. Those who are healthy will be arranged to attend ordinary schools in nearby communities after evaluation, while children with intellectual disabilities or disabilities will be arranged to attend twelve-year special education schools.
But although he went to school, he still had to eat and live in the welfare home most of the time. For a child like Jiang Bei who was adopted and then returned, living back in the welfare home was undoubtedly a torment, so Jiang Que chose to send him to a boarding school.
Song Yecheng nodded in understanding. Somehow, he was reminded of some of his childhood memories. Suddenly, as if curious, he asked, "Did you think about adopting him at that time?"
In fact, not only then, but even now, Jiang Que wasn't old enough to be adopted. His adoptive parents had already adopted him, so there was no need to adopt another. However, Song Yecheng only asked if he'd considered it; a thought didn't need to be constrained by any conditions.
Maybe it was his illusion, but Jiang Que's expression seemed to freeze for a moment when he heard this. But before he could notice anything more unusual, Jiang Que turned his head and asked, "If it were you, would you want to adopt him?" Adopt a helpless child whom you just met by chance?
His tone was not as casual as Song Yecheng's, but rather carried a hint of tentativeness and seriousness. There was a flickering light in his eyes, like a bonfire that was about to go out before dawn.
Song Yecheng was a little dazed by his gaze. After a while, he turned his head and looked forward, thinking carefully: "If it were me... I would probably want one, right? When I was a child, I always wanted a younger brother. I used to blame my parents for not having another one."
Jiang Que didn't look away immediately, as if he was trying to gauge how sincere his words were. After a long moment, he finally looked away and muttered vaguely, "Is that so?"
Jiang Que was not present for the afternoon shoot. Before joining the crew, his daily routine had always been reversed, and he was used to sleeping in the afternoon and waking up at night. After joining the crew, Zhuang Yan did not force him to change, but let him follow his own habits. Anyway, as long as there was no problem with the script, he didn't need to follow every scene.
During the break in the afternoon shooting, Song Yecheng and Jiang Bei talked a lot about their acting experiences and techniques. Amid Jiang Bei's gaze that seemed to have opened the door to a new world and his exclamation of "Is it possible to be like this?", Song Yecheng finally felt like a senior.
Then, he watched helplessly as this junior was defeated by a few chickens while applying theoretical knowledge to practice.
It was a scene where Fang Zhi was misunderstood by his aunt as having hidden eggs. Jiang Bei and his aunt's performances were all fine, but the chickens in the chicken coop were as timid as mice. They hid in the corners when they heard the scolding, resulting in a mess of chicken feathers and chicken droppings around the aunt and nephew in the camera. There was no trace of the chickens, so they had to repeat themselves again and again.
Finally, Zhuang Yan had no choice but to change the location where the aunt questioned Fang Zhi from inside the chicken coop to outside the chicken coop, and changed several panoramic shots into medium shots. Only then did those disappointing chickens finally straighten their backs and stride proudly in their own territory.
After the filming ended in the evening, Song Yecheng had dinner with Zhuang Yan and several special actors who played Fang Zhi's relatives. After dinner, they talked about many interesting things they had seen and heard during their travels in previous years. He even showed up in a video call when they were showing off to their families, saying, "I'm having dinner with Song Yecheng." They didn't return to their residence until late at night.
There is not much nightlife in the mountain village, and the windows that were once lit go dark one after another before ten o'clock.
After Song Yecheng finished washing up, he turned off the lights in the main room. When he passed by the door, he vaguely heard the flirting voices of Douzi and his girlfriend on the phone from the other side of the room. He couldn't help but rub his goosebumps and walked straight into the bedroom.
After leaning against the headboard, he took out his mobile phone and looked at it. He found that there were many unread messages on WeChat. Most of them were from friends in the circle who heard the news and were asking about his joining the group.
Song Yecheng replied to each one of them one by one, then entered the small group of three people he and his parents were in, and asked about his father, the emperor, and his mother's love life:
How did you spend your day today?
Today is his parents' wedding anniversary. Song Sheng flew to his beloved wife yesterday and claimed that he had made all the preparations and would definitely give Ms. Qiu an unforgettable surprise today.
The couple was probably too busy with their own world to pay attention to him. In their busy schedule, they only managed to reply:
[Song Sheng: Go to your Moments by yourself]
Song Yecheng snorted, deeply condemning his father's perfunctory behavior of not even giving a punctuation mark, and clicked on his circle of friends with a pout.
Song Sheng is indeed a model of a man. The location of each picture in the nine-square grid he posted is different, and the scenes have been carefully arranged, as if he took Ms. Qiu on a treasure hunt around the world. The whole journey is filled with pink bubbles and a strong smell of capital that can be smelled through the screen.
Song Yecheng looked at the nine pictures one by one with a smile and a sigh, gave his parents a thumbs up, picked out a less exaggerated one, added a caption and posted it on his Moments.
After sending it, he got up and went out to pour a glass of water. When he came back and passed by the window, he glanced out and happened to see the light in the next room turned on.
Did you just wake up?
Song Yecheng returned to the bedside, put down the cup, picked up his phone again, and turned to Jiang Que's dialog box.
Jiang Que's WeChat name only has one character "Bai". After adding him as a friend yesterday, Song Yecheng had changed his note to "Jiang Que". He also went to his circle of friends to take a look, but saw only a blank space.
Even the background image is the default solid color.
It’s just like Bai Ye Ling’s Weibo account, which has an official V certification but is like a zombie account and has never posted anything.
The outside world's evaluation of Bai Ye Ling as "low-key and mysterious" is indeed correct. No wonder everyone has speculated over the years that he is either an elderly person who doesn't like to use electronic products, or a socially anxious person who is not good-looking and is used to being alone.
There was only one sentence in the dialog box at this time, which was the same sentence that the system automatically sent after the friend request was approved yesterday: "I have passed your friend verification request, and now we can start chatting."
Song Yecheng stared at the sentence for a long time, not knowing what he was thinking. Suddenly, he curled his lips maliciously, opened the input box, and sent a message:
[Song Yecheng: Are you desperate?]
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