Yang Huanyi suddenly recalled a conversation she had with Luo Yao.
Luo Yao and Yang Huanyi were closer in age, so their relationship was naturally closer than Luo Yao's relationship with Shang Yechu. Furthermore, Yang Huanyi's aptitude for scripts wasn't as good as Shang Yechu's, and she often needed Luo Yao's individual guidance. Therefore, the two had quite a few opportunities to talk alone.
That was sometime before Yang Huanyi and Shang Yechu officially became a couple. At that time, the atmosphere between Ye and Yang had been thick and strange for a long time, but due to preconceived prejudices, none of the crew noticed anything amiss. Only Luo Yao, relying on her woman's intuition and experience, saw something.
One day, after discussing the script, Luo Yao and Yang Huanyi started chatting. Somehow, they started talking about Shang Yechu.
“Sister Lin,” Luo Yao said slowly, twirling the pen in his hand, “Ye Chu is a very different person.”
"What?" Yang Huanyi didn't understand what he meant.
Luo Yao said: "In our country's ancient sayings, there are two words: one is 'ungrateful and unrighteous,' and the other is 'forgetting friends for the sake of beauty.'"
"How could you think Ye Chu is ungrateful and forgets his friends for the sake of women?" Yang Huanyi was very surprised.
“No, no, no.” Luo Yao shook his head gently. “I used these two words precisely because they are the complete opposite of Ye Chu.”
Yang Huanyi laughed: "Isn't that a good thing?"
"It's a good thing for me, but...maybe not for her future lover," Luo Yao said meaningfully.
Yang Huanyi's eyes darted away for a moment: "How did we suddenly get onto this topic? What does Ye Chu's lover have to do with the two of us?"
Luo Yao sighed: "Although people despise ingratitude and scorn those who forget friends for beauty, in reality, these two words are simply human nature. Gratitude is too heavy a burden; who wants to carry it for a lifetime? So they simply forget it completely, even to the point of harboring resentment over a small favor. As for forgetting friends for beauty, that's even easier to understand. It's only natural to favor those you love. Throughout history, many have died for love, but how many have been buried with their friends?"
"You're really confusing me," Yang Huanyi laughed. "Weren't we discussing Lin Fengyu's attitude towards Zhao Lele?"
Luo Yao didn't answer, but continued to say, "But Ye Chu is different. She's too guarded, so she always repays kindness because she doesn't want to owe anyone... or be indebted to outsiders."
Yang Huanyi opened her eyes.
“Of course this is a good thing for the people who helped her.” Luo Yao twirled the pen again. “But because she is so guarded, it will be difficult for her to fall in love with someone. To be precise, if she falls in love with someone, it only means that she considers that person as one of her own.”
Yang Huanyi seemed to be thinking about something, but said aloud, "Wouldn't it be better to treat them as one of our own?"
Luo Yao chuckled softly: "Sister Lin, Ye Chu isn't very good to you."
The two remained silent for a long while. Finally, the exceptionally talented director said, "Sister Lin, I'm over thirty this year. People say thirty is the age of establishment, and I've certainly seen a lot—"
"All I can say is that for someone like Ye Chu, it's better to be useful than to have feelings, and better to do good than to give love. Being her benefactor and friend is peaceful and harmonious; being her lover will be very difficult."
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Being useful is worse than having affection; bestowing kindness is worse than giving love.
But how could she not fall in love with Shang Yechu?
Shang Yechu is young, brave, and full of energy, just like Yang Huanyi dreams of; Shang Yechu is persistent, determined, and has a bright future, just like the person Yang Huanyi imagines herself to be.
When the fantasy version of yourself is passionately attached to the real version of yourself, how many people can resist this temptation?
She knew perfectly well that this was a selfish little devil who greedily demanded love and warmth from her, threw tantrums to ask for her tolerance and care, and took advantage of her attention and energy.
However, before meeting Shang Yechu, Yang Huanyi didn't even have the chance to be taken advantage of!
In the eyes of the audience and investors, Yang Huanyi is a disgraced artist, long forgotten by the market; in Cao Shi's eyes, Yang Huanyi is a swan in distress, whom he skillfully rescued and married, keeping her as a caged bird; in Luo Yao's eyes, Yang Huanyi is a promising, washed-up sugar daddy, waiting to make a comeback with "Anna Doraemon"; in the whispers of the crew members, Yang Huanyi is an old woman who, despite her age, is still restless, insisting on playing gay roles...
Only in Ye Chu's eyes was Yang Huanyi a formidable rival, a threat, and a partner on par with her. Ye Chu never doubted Yang Huanyi's ability to pull herself together, because she always held Yang Huanyi to the same standards she held herself to.
If Yang Huanyi fails to do so, Shang Yechu will be furious, rather than putting on an expression that says, "Yang Huanyi is old and has passed his prime; this performance is already quite good."
If Yang Huanyi can do it, Shang Yechu will strive to catch up, instead of adopting an attitude of "Since Yang Huanyi is completely clueless, why should I worry about her threatening me?"
Ye Chu will never know how moved Yang Huanyi was when she pretended to be a villain to encourage him; how Yang Huanyi was almost moved to tears when she racked her brains to try to outdo him in their scene; and how Yang Huanyi felt a thrill of happiness from the depths of his heart to the depths of his body when she clung to him shamelessly.
In Shang Yechu's eyes, Yang Huanyi saw the charismatic and glamorous version of herself she once was.
Luo Yao said that someone like Shang Yechu would not respect his lover.
No, no. Yang Huanyi thought. Shang Yechu had long ago given her the utmost respect, something no one had ever given her since she was sidelined.
Respect for an actor.
Shang Yechu analyzed that Lin Fengyu might not love Zhao Lele at all, and everything he did was for the cold-blooded purpose of exploitation. But for Yang Huanyi, this was such an difficult thing to do!
She had to do everything in her power to suppress the loving look in her eyes when she looked at Zhao Lele; every time she touched Zhao Lele, she wanted to pull Shang Yechu, who was hidden under Zhao Lele's skin, into her arms; Zhao Lele shed tears and went crazy, Lin Fengyu was unmoved, but Yang Huanyi's heart was breaking.
That damned little devil. The more she demanded love from Yang Huanyi, the more he loved her; the more pitiful she seemed, the more Yang Huanyi felt he needed to pity her; the more selfish she was, the more Yang Huanyi felt he needed to take care of her; the more insane she became, the more Yang Huanyi felt he needed to protect her.
Looking at Shang Yechu nestled in his arms, Yang Huanyi thought with a pang of sadness, "You naughty thing, besides me, probably no one else could stand you. What would you do if I didn't love you?"
Being feared is a form of value. The more feared you are, the more valuable you become. Being needed is also a form of value. The more needed you are, the more valuable you become.
Shang Yechu found love in Yang Huanyi.
Yang Huanyi, who was constantly rejected after being blacklisted, found her own value amidst Shang Yechu's high vigilance and competition, Shang Yechu's fervent demands and attachment, and her almost moth-to-a-flame dedication to Shang Yechu.
This relationship was toxic from the very beginning.
The white rain was pouring down, and the baby in the stroller cried loudly as the rain soaked him.
Yang Huanyi finally heard the baby crying and instinctively wanted to look towards the stroller. But if she abandoned Shang Yechu and ran to the child now, it would mean that they would have no future together. She could only grit her teeth, forcefully hold her head back, and hope that this damned rain would subside quickly. She was sorry to the child—but that was all she could do.
Shang Yechu snapped out of her daze and suddenly realized there was another little life in the rain. She staggered to her feet and awkwardly held the black umbrella up to the top of the stroller canopy.
"Look," Shang Yechu wiped her rain-soaked face, her expression beaming with joy, "I can take good care of your child too. Why don't you leave that Cao guy? I have money! I'll make lots of money, and when this child grows up, he'll consider me his mother..."
These shocking words struck Yang Huanyi like a thunderbolt, freezing him in place. Shang Yechu vaguely heard a voice say "You're crazy," but she didn't know who it was. Let him be! At this moment, she didn't care about the opinions of others, or even the child in the stroller. As long as Yang Huanyi stayed by her side and loved her as he had just done, she was willing to do anything.
Yang Huanyi was stunned for a long time before a bitter smile slowly appeared on his face.
Do you know why I'm here today?
"What does it matter?" Shang Yechu's eyes were wet from the rain, but she still had a triumphant smile on her face. "I will take you away today."
“On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month,” Yang Huanyi slowly brought up a completely unrelated topic, “Shao Guangji came to visit my home.”
Shang Yechu almost blurted out, "Who is Shao Guangji?" His brain, feverish from the rain, vaguely recalled the name. It turned out that Shao Guangji was a friend of Cao Fushang, who was Cao Shi. Cao Shi was an insignificant person.
“During our conversation, I heard him mention a film called ‘The Heavenly Emperor,’” Yang Huanyi said slowly. “It’s still missing one actor.”
Shang Yechu's chaotic mind seemed to flash for a moment, yet he seemed unable to understand what Yang Huanyi was saying.
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