Chapter Eighty-Five

  On the second day, along with the police investigation into the heavy motorcycle that appeared at the hospital entrance that night and threw Xu Wenjie and the real culprit who switched bullets, Xu Wenjie's situation was also gradually exposed by the media. Simply put, he is currently temporarily out of danger, but a few years in prison are unavoidable - what kind of treatment this person with one arm and one leg missing and a good-looking face will receive in prison, naturally no one dares to lightly speculate.

  On the third day, the police found the wreckage of the heavy motorcycle they were tracking at the foot of a mountain in H City. There were no fingerprints, fibers or hair on the motorcycle, it was spotlessly clean, as if the motorcycle had descended from heaven to deliver the two people to the hospital door and then drove itself to the top of the mountain to commit suicide.

  Following the "Police Bureau Suicide Case", this case became the second unsolved mystery in H City that temporarily cannot find a breakthrough.

  These are not to be said, along with the media releasing news that Xu Shi's brother is bound to face legal sanctions and go to jail. With this, Xu Shi's brother's farcical performance finally came to an end.

  In this farce that can be called the best play of the year, Jian Yan remained silent from start to finish. Although the media who wanted to interview him had already broken through the threshold, no newspaper got an interview permit from start to finish. In the words of IM's high-level officials: there is nothing good to say about this matter, and saying more will lead to more mistakes.

  It seems unnecessary to rush to make a fuss about it, because even if you just post a simple "good morning" on your Weibo now, someone will still interpret it as "This microblog post appears to be asking how you're doing in the morning, but actually it's expressing the author's determination to abandon the past and start a new life."

  It's like this.

  He really doesn't need to say or do anything more, he's just a mobile topic generator now. If he comes out and sheds two crocodile tears, lamenting the world's apathy and human heartlessness, it will only make him appear very pretentious.

  "It's as if you haven't shed a tear or felt any emotion for the past two days," Fang Yu said, "How melodramatic."

  "I thought I was going to collapse, can't even let me cry for a bit? Bill Gates has loads of money, and probably said something like 'money is just a meaningless number to me' before, but the question is if he went bankrupt one day, would he cry or not?"

  He said with a straight face and a confident tone, licking the ice cream in his hand, and casually turned up the air conditioner behind him.

  In the morning, Jian Ran was on the set of "Star Fire" and only had three shots, all of which were with Tian Zhong's opponent. Tian Zhong had already changed to a new actor, but Jian Ran still managed to show his gentle and kind side at critical moments. The two finished filming all their scenes in a pleasant atmosphere without any NGs. Under the admiring gaze of newcomer Jun, the young man with black hair turned around, swung his sleeve, and walked away nonchalantly, leaving behind a cloud of dust. He ran to the neighboring drama set to make an appearance - at that time, he was still wearing the little devil military uniform from the neighboring drama set. However, during filming, the last button on his crisp white shirt had been undone to the lockbone position, and his jacket was gone. His sleeves were rolled up high, and the little devil's military hat was tilted and worn as a sunshade. Only his pair of leather boots shone brightly, making him look like a soldier squatting there from afar.

  It's almost eleven o'clock now, the scorching sun is above Jian Ran's head, and not far from him is the desert scene of the film city, which is covered with yellow sand everywhere. The high temperature of over 30 degrees Celsius can kill people just by being exposed to the sun for a while.

  Today, Jiang Chuan and his crew were filming the scene where General Jiang Chuan, played by Jiang Chuan, unintentionally sees Mary Su's female lead dancing in the vast desert and is completely captivated by her. He rushes over to her, ignoring her resistance, hugs her waist, takes her onto his horse, and passionately kisses her. This scene is undoubtedly a thrilling highlight of this melodramatic TV series, so the crew has been preparing for it since early morning, striving to make it perfect.

  But what's more, in such a harsh environment, the actress still has to dance barefoot and wear gauze on the hot sand - this is indeed somewhat difficult for people, thinking about those delicate little feet stepping on the scorching sand, it's unbearable for men, let alone the tender girls, the sand burns her and makes her cry out, while Ding requires her to have a elegant and calm expression, best if she can also show a hint of desolation.

  It's precisely because of this that the scene has been shot from the moment the machine was turned on in the morning until 10:30 and still hasn't finished.

  It's likely that Jiang Luocheng had already cursed everyone out and then collapsed himself.

  He was squatting there, eating an ice pop and muttering to himself, when Ding Pang shouted "Ka" again, and they welcomed their nth NG of the morning. At this time, Jiang Chuan, who was riding a horse not far away, heard the sound and immediately threw down the long sword in his hand, got off the horse, and walked towards them with a clanking sound while wearing a suit of armor - when he took off the armor, his handsome face was covered in sweat, and the black wig he wore stuck to his face, his facial features almost frozen like plaster...

  A pair of azure eyes were cold as ice and filled with displeasure.

  No wonder, whoever sits on the horseback with "full equipment" like a fool for an afternoon without any reason and follows various NGs will get angry.

  He carefully put the popsicle in his mouth and squinted slightly, mumbling: "This day is really hot, huh?"

  Jiang Chuan didn't respond to his nonsense, casually putting the helmet aside and roughly pulling off the wig on his head. His light-colored hair was also wet and dripping like it had just been pulled out of water. The man muttered something in his native language that no one could understand - judging from his tone and speed, it seemed to be a dirty word. Before he could react, the ice pop in his mouth was yanked out by someone else, who sucked on it with a "slurp" sound, numbing his frozen lips. He looked up silently as the other man devoured the remaining half of his ice pop. Jiang Chuan quickly finished off the ice pop he had bought outside the film city and handed the clean wooden stick back to him, asking, "Is there anything else?"

  "No, bandits." Jian Yan replied with a straight face.

  Fang Yu sighed, looking at Jiang Chuan who was so hot that his eyes were red. He was still a bit worried that he really had heatstroke. He stood up, patted his butt and prepared to go buy cold drinks and ice pops. Jian Ran squeezed the small wooden stick in his hand for a while before casually throwing it into the trash can next to him. Jiang Chuan picked him up and pushed him away, occupying the entire air conditioner fan and blowing it wildly at his face.

  "You'll catch a cold blowing like that."

  "It's better than being hot and dead."

  "Anyway, first wipe off the sweat on your face - Xiao Lizi come over, give the towel to your brother Chuan... It's really miserable to catch a cold in summer."

  "It's better than being hot and dead."

  Jiang Chuan's determination not to be killed by heat was very firm, and it wasn't good to say anything else. He shifted his buttocks to make room for Jiang Chuan. At this time, Director Ding Pao, who had been watching their conversation from the side, couldn't help but interrupt: "You two shouldn't be so openly selling CP everywhere, there are no reporters around, you don't have to be so professional."

  "There's a camera called 'staff mobile phone'." Jian Ran yawned.

  Ding gave him a white eye, looked down at his watch, then raised his head to look around: "It's almost eleven o'clock, are we going to shoot or not? It's even hotter in the afternoon, do we plan to spend the whole day on this one shot that may not even work out? ... No way, the budget is burning."

  Actually, this statement doesn't make much sense. The outdoor desert setting is generally rented at a low rate, so even if the rental time is fixed and changed temporarily, it's not a problem... Ding knew that even with his good temper, he couldn't stand being nagged like this early in the morning, and deliberately said it loudly enough for the actress sitting nearby to hear.

  As expected, Da Bao's voice was not too high or too low, but just right for the girl sitting on the other side to hear. The girl was a currently popular young flower who was now developing from second-line to first-line, and her face couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed when she heard Da Bao say that. She was wearing slippers with her feet burned bright red, and at this moment, she was wrapping the cheap facial mask brought by her assistant to cool down. After hearing what he said, she quickly got up and limped over to Da Bao's side, then stood still with an apologetic face and said: "Sorry, Teacher Ding, let's take a break for now and try again later, I promise..."

  Ding is silent and doesn't speak.

  People who are normally easy-going will often become the most difficult ones when they get tough.

  The atmosphere at the scene was a bit awkward, and Jian Ran felt that he should be a patient with social anxiety disorder, which unfortunately broke out at this moment. Just as everyone looked at each other in dismay, not knowing how to react, Jian Ran moved his lips wanting to say something to save the situation, but at this time, he suddenly felt a cool towel with a wet texture being placed on the back of his neck, and at the same time, a low male voice sounded behind him.

  "It's okay, I don't need it."

  The actress's face turned even uglier, and the crowd was stunned, Jin Ran also suddenly turned his head to stare at the man standing behind him - the wet towel fell from his neck to the sandy ground, the latter looked natural, lowered his eyes and stared at the young man with black hair for a moment.

  He looked at Jiang Chuan with an uneasy expression, thinking that he would say something earth-shattering and tactless. But unexpectedly, Jiang Chuan calmly said: "Today I'm not in good shape either, last night I thought about how to do the horseback riding scene without throwing you off... still haven't figured it out, why don't we change scenes for today and find a day with better weather..."

  The actress looked at Jiang Chuan with a slightly widened gaze.

  "Ai? So that's it? You didn't say so earlier." Ding Pao immediately shifted his attention to Jiang Chuan, "This morning I asked you if you understood and you said you did - if something happens now, it'll be a 'female star falls off horse' incident. My crew will be on the headlines again, suffering from bombardment. At that time, Linlin's fans won't they go to my Weibo and blog to scold me to death?"

  Ding said that really got to the point, and the actress who was about to apologize suddenly felt embarrassed. She hurriedly forced a smile and waved her hand, saying "no way", which slightly eased the awkward atmosphere. Ding looked up at the scorching sun and let out a sigh, waving his hand to signal everyone to wrap up for the day and switch to another scene in the afternoon - it's rare that an entire morning is wasted on just one shot, but it's not unheard of either. So for now, everyone was just feeling a bit frustrated, but couldn't say anything about it.

  Jiang Chuan took off his armor, casually wiped the sweat and prepared to get on the bus to change into a clean T-shirt and pants. Jin Ran naturally followed him. When Jiang Chuan changed clothes, he also took off his costume and put on slippers. At that moment, he felt like he had returned from Mars to Earth. He looked up and saw Jiang Chuan putting on a T-shirt. Jin Ran stared at him for a while, thought for a moment, and said: "Were you chased by many people in the past?"

  Jiang Chuan's action of putting on his clothes paused, he raised his head and glanced at him from the edge of his clothes: "What?"

  "You used to be a stuntman, and just now I saw you riding the horse or flipping over it with ease. Carrying someone on and off the horse shouldn't be a problem for you either?" Jian Yan supported her chin with one hand and met the man's gaze, "Moreover, I think you're not the kind of person who would pretend to be ready when they're not."

  "What did you want to say?"

  "You just helped Linlin out of trouble." Jian Yan changed hands and propped up her chin.

  Jiang Chuan put on his clothes, seemingly having caught the subtle tone in the black-haired young man's voice. He turned his head to glance at him, then spoke in a calm tone: "Hm, what's wrong? I'm not speaking and you still want to speak, what's the difference?"

  "There is still a bit of difference."

  Facing Jiang Chuan's bewildered face, he also felt that this topic was not good to continue - in fact, what Jiang Chuan said wasn't wrong either. Earlier, if he hadn't spoken up, he would have explained things to the little girl himself. In theory, there was no difference, but he had to admit that when he heard Jiang Chuan speak up, he felt a bit tense about Jiang Chuan offending someone. But after hearing what Jiang Chuan said, he suddenly felt like it was all a fuss over nothing.

  It was as if a kitten's paw had scratched at some place on his chest with just the right amount of force.

  Logically speaking, this matter has nothing to do with him at all.

  He suddenly realized something: things seemed a bit off.

  No matter how crazy Kang Hwan was about his body, Kang Hwan's people were shouting that he wanted to secretly rule him. In most cases, neither of them took it to heart, and even if they were sometimes messed up by men and had a crush on each other, they could comfort themselves that it was just normal hormonal combustion; but since that one time when he got drunk at the bar and let Xi De take himself back to Kang Hwan's house, the two of them rolled from the bathroom to the bedroom in a daze, entwining for an entire night, after which Jian Ran discovered that something seemed different.

  Jiang Chuan handled it very well, quickly putting himself back in his original position, with no difference from before.

  But then I found myself somewhat regressing to incompetence.

  For example, recently whatever makes him happy or unhappy he would go find Jiang Chuan and talk about it at the first opportunity.

  For example, in front of Jiang Chuan, he almost unconsciously often exposed his cruel and ruthless nature that was unknown to others.

  For example, he also has a black history of collapsing and crying out loud in front of Jiang Chuan...

  For example, today, if it were in the past, Jiang Chuan would have snatched his popsicle back from him and eaten it again with a smug expression. But just now, unfortunately, he could only squat there, staring blankly at Jiang Chuan as he licked the popsicle clean, and finally weakly cursed: "Thief."

  Like a girl in a girls' comic book.

  "Thus:"

  Damn it.

  Under the inexplicable gaze of the man, the young black-haired person rubbed his face and said in a tone of utter self-perplexity: "Jiang Chuan, I want to tell you something."

  Jiang Chuan bent down and took out a can of cold beer from the refrigerator in the stroller, opened it: "Speak."

  He stared at the man, who tilted his head back and gulped down the beer, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down in a rhythmic motion. After staring for a while, he suddenly said out of nowhere: "I think I really like you."

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  Thirty seconds later.

  The man handed a clean handkerchief to the young black-haired man with a furious face and wiped his face, saying "It's not my fault."

  "Hey, no wonder you're blaming me! My mom's old man had a deep and passionate heart when he said that to you. You refused, fine, but did you have to spit beer in my face? Are you human?! Ahh!" Jian Ran pushed the man's hand away, grabbed the handkerchief and wiped the beer off her face. The shame she had just managed to ignite was now replaced with a bellyful of rage. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

  "How did you suddenly think of this?"

  He suddenly stopped moving, and threw the handkerchief in his hand at the man opposite him: "I don't know."

  Jiang Chuan reached out and pinched the young man's chin, turning his averted face back to himself: "Speak."

  He furrowed his brow: "Lately I've been busy, you're always by my side, although your skills are poor but it's indeed comforting to me a little bit, probably for this reason, and some other miscellaneous things..."

  "Is it just sitting next to you and listening to your crying?" Jiang Chuan revealed a subtle expression, "If you knew that I actually did more than you imagined, would you still cry out and insist on marrying me?"

  "What have you done?"

  "I didn't do anything."

  "Cut the crap," Jianran slapped the man's hand away, saying somewhat violently, "We're discussing a serious topic now, can you not interrupt randomly? I'm telling you seriously, it seems like there was such an incident and I've been feeling uneasy about it..."

  Jiang Chuan: "This is a dependent mentality of a duckling looking for its mother."

  He revealed a sarcastic expression: "You were just good to Linlin, I found out that I'm jealous."

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  Kang Chuan found that the person in front of him was indeed straightforward to the point of being terrifying when it came to emotions, and yet, despite having no relationship with each other, the other party could still say something like "I feel jealous" with a straight face. However, perhaps it was precisely because he was so straightforward that it somehow made him less hateful... Thinking this, Kang Chuan reached out his hand and ruffled the young man's black hair, speaking in a soothing tone: "It's okay, sometimes I also occasionally discover that I have expectations of you."

  "Then why can't I have a beer and spray it in your face too?"

  "We've fought to a draw."

  "Where is the flat hand? I am deeply tormented in spirit."

  Jiang Chuan: "I've been suffering physically - I thought I was straight, but now it seems that's not entirely the case. At least my little brother has a reaction to you."

  He was a bit unsure whether he should blush or not, but the feeling of powerlessness had taken over most of his thoughts. He raised his hand and patted Jiang Chuan's shoulder: "So that night was really an incorrect start."

  Jiang Chuan: "You sent it to my doorstep, I was just at home reading files, the doorbell rang inexplicably and I opened the door - who knew that this opening would open the doors to a new world."

  You think you're so smart, don't you? Just because I was a nobody back then doesn't mean I didn't know anything. Weren't you the one who stood beside my "corpse" in the hospital bed with a solemn face and said "I have feelings for him"?... Despite this, Jian Ran wiped his face and didn't expose Jiang Chuan: "Yes, I'm the mastermind, and you're just an accomplice."

  "... Temporarily forget about this matter, we've been together for too long recently, it's normal that you'd develop a dependence on me." Jiang Chuan said in a very scholarly tone.

  "Oh," he nodded solemnly, "what can be done?"

  "From today on, let's keep a safe distance from each other until we both calm down," Kang said. "Let's not have lunch together today."

  He raised his head and glanced at Jiang Chuan, hesitated for a moment, then nodded, and said: "Then why did you call me last night to tell me about the play tonight? Are you going to say it or not?"

  This time, Jiang Chuan showed a hesitant expression. After a moment, the man revealed an empty expression and shook his head, saying, "Let's have lunch together anyway. Since we'll be meeting again tonight, it doesn't make sense to separate for lunch."

  He could only continue nodding solemnly.

  I have no idea how this bizarre conversation unfolded.

  In short, this dialogue that was probably a confession ended in a state akin to a car crash site, with the two of them harboring lingering regrets towards each other.

  ……

  The two people who got off the stroller seemed to have just experienced a third world war on their faces.

  "What's wrong? You two look like you've been through a lot just by changing clothes."

  "You don't understand."

  "You don't understand."