Xin Hexue moved out of the villa in Nancheng.
At the same time, he took away his mechanical cat and the bionic butler.
The former had to be taken, and the latter was because the body had a memory retention function. Xin Hexue was worried that simply deleting the memory might not be thorough enough. He was afraid of leaving behind any clues that might let Pei Guangji notice something.
There was no surveillance installed in the villa, so he didn’t have to worry about Pei Guangji seeing everything that had happened through the surveillance.
At present, Pei Guangji’s heartbreak value was only thirteen.
He could be sure that Pei Guangji hadn’t yet discovered the string of messages he sent while being imprisoned.
Anyway, with technology so advanced nowadays, whether the records were lost or the communicator destroyed, Pei Guangji would definitely find a way to recover the chat logs.
Xin Hexue was very patient. He had no intention of letting Pei Guangji suddenly remember all of his past memories.
Short pain was too easy to forget. After a sudden sharp sting, nothing would be left in the heart, like a sunshower falling instantly after a rumble of muffled thunder. Once the rainclouds passed, sunlight would spill again, quickly evaporating the rainwater from the ground.
Xin Hexue wanted to leave Pei Guangji with endless, never-ending, never-ceasing pain.
He actually didn’t take all his luggage. In the empty and quiet villa, Pei Guangji will find a pair of toothbrushes and cups on the sink, matching plush slippers on the entryway shoe rack, and warm-toned home furnishings more aligned with Xin Hexue’s aesthetic…
A lonely and deserted villa had once been a place warm enough to be called “home”.
Maybe Pei Guangji could find traces of their past life together, bit by bit, in the small corners.
Even if he became overwhelmingly anxious, he could only slowly recall scattered fragments, stirring up a sour ripple in his heart.
The process of retrieving these memories would feel like slicing flesh with a small knife, which will produce a continuous and endless dull pain.
Only when he saw the chat logs again would he realize that everything had been lost by his own hand.
As if a never-ending drizzle had soaked half a lifetime in dampness.
The sea breeze blew over, its moist breath brushing his cheek, and a white fog rose on the shore that morning.
Xin Hexue stood on the balcony.
District One’s Beicheng Yangnan Bay faced the sea.
This place was far from Nancheng.
Perhaps not wanting Xin Hexue to recall the life in the mountainside villa, Xi Zhengqing originally chose a seaside villa in Yangnan Bay for him. But Xin Hexue preferred the high-end apartment on the other side.
Actually, it wasn’t bad. It had four bedrooms, two living rooms, two bathrooms, a study and a balcony facing the sea.
Compared to a villa, it definitely wasn’t as spacious, but they picked the furniture together and gradually made the place feel like “home”.
The overall style was warm and clean in soft white. The mechanical cat stretched lazily on the cat tree in the corner of the living room.
Xi Zhengqing approached from behind. With the physical advantage of an Alpha, he could completely encircle the young man in his embrace.
“I have to go back to my parents’ place tonight.” Xi Zhengqing held Xin Hexue’s hand and wrapped it up warmly, his fingers rubbing the ring on the young man’s middle finger. “Tomorrow’s the audition. Don’t be nervous. I’ll pick you up at nine in the morning?”
Xin Hexue turned around.
His palm was warm and cool as he cupped the Alpha’s cheek. He lifted his head, his neck lines stretching gently, and pressed his lips against Xi Zhengqing’s lightly and tenderly.
Xin Hexue seemed not to notice the way Xi Zhengqing’s pupils contracted in excitement, and lowered his gaze again. “Alright, I’ll wait for you at home.”
No one brought up Pei Guangji again. They acted just like any ordinary couple madly in love and reluctant to part for even a short separation.
When saying goodbye at the door, their eyes seemed to tangle and cling together.
………
Xin Hexue had read the script sent by Qiu Yuan.
Unlike other students who tried hard to break away from the stylistic influence of their mentors, Qiu Yuan did not shy away from acknowledging that he was a student of Director Yun Zhiming.
Although before this, Qiu Yuan had rarely attempted the kind of delicate, artistic films Yun Zhiming was known for, and his debut success was a post-apocalyptic road movie. The visuals were so bloody that StarNet banned viewers under sixteen from watching.
Because his style was vastly different from Yun Zhiming’s gentle and delicate tone, many who came expecting the works of “Yun Zhiming’s student” cursed Qiu Yuan online, saying the praise of “genius director” was just hype marketing. But such voices soon disappeared without making any real waves.
This time, the film Qiu Yuan planned to shoot was completely different from his past works. He was shooting a sequel to one of Yun Zhiming’s films…the one where young Xin Hexue had played the leading role.
In the original, Yi Si, a young boy from the slums of the downtown area, was sponsored by a wealthy businessman at the end and was able to enter the upper city to continue his studies, striving to become an expert in bionic manufacturing.
It was an open and happy ending.
But unlike the warm, lighthearted tone of the original, the sequel was filled with darkness and decadence.
Yi Si, who entered the upper city, realized that dreams weren’t something he could achieve just through hard work. He was a Beta, and in the upper city, he was worth less than mechanical parts. The Alphas here monopolized all the resources for advancement, and Omegas of the same background mostly flocked to the Alphas.
Even though he hadn’t fully entered the society of the upper city and was just studying at a first-tier academy.
At the academy, people were divided into ranks based on genetics, bloodline, and gender.
There was no doubt that, as a Beta male, Yi Si was at the bottom and was subjected to various kinds of cold and hot violence by his peers.
At the top of the academy’s pyramid stood a pair of half-brothers. Their family name was Carter, an old and powerful family entrenched in the upper city.
The younger Carter brother maliciously bullied Yi Si. After swim class, he swapped Yi Si’s pants and uniform in his locker for a skirt. But the elder brother reached out to help him afterward and began to take care of Yi Si in a gentle and considerate way.
Over time, feelings developed between them, and Yi Si fell in love with the elder Carter brother.
However, it was all just a game between the Carter brothers.
Yi Si had a stunningly beautiful appearance, and it was only natural that he should become the shared lover of the two brothers. But before that, they needed to destroy his will. A beautiful prey only needed to become a weak lamb that depended on them.
At the graduation ball, everyone in attendance received an intimate video of Yi Si and the elder brother.
Upon learning the truth, Yi Si almost had a mental breakdown.
A hidden thread from the original also unraveled… the hit-and-run driver who caused the car accident that killed his parents when they couldn’t be rescued in time was, in fact, the father of the Carter brothers.
Yi Si had almost no time to grieve. He maneuvered between the two brothers, and by relying on a submissive disguise, Yi Si managed to obtain a crucial business secret of the Carter family while the elder brother was drunk.
He drifted through high society like a social butterfly, allying with another family that had long been eyeing the Carters. The leak of the secret caused the foundation of the Carter family to crumble by more than half.
A deliberately orchestrated “accident” ended the lives of his enemies’ entire family.
But Yi Si had nothing left. His body, his personality, his dreams… all had been destroyed in the upper city.
And the upper city remained as it was when he first arrived: blazing lights, alcohol, sex and money, and an ironclad hierarchy.
Yi Si eventually returned to the small house his parents had left behind in the lower city.
It was far too small and cramped, bought with all the savings his parents had scraped together in the first half of their lives. People from the upper city would only laugh and call the slums full of “coffin houses” because they were so small they looked like coffins for storing corpses.
The dilapidated building faces away from the sun, and not a single ray of sunlight can penetrate it even in broad daylight.
He had been away for too long, and the wiring had problems, so the light above flickered constantly. The bulb was so small that he forced a bitter laugh and thought maybe it could be seen as twinkling stars.
On the low table sat the record player his parents had picked up and repaired when he was a child. He used to lie beside it while doing his homework.
There was only one record, with just a few tracks repeating endlessly.
Before entering the upper city, Yi Si had never known what a symphony was. He ignored the dust on the ground and sat tiredly beside the low table. As the melodic tune floated out, he finally realized the last piece was the Moonlight Variations.
Yi Si wiped the revolver given to him by his lover and let out a low laugh.
The light flickered and the shadow on the floor slid down along the edge of the low table.
Crimson blood flowed in time with the slow, gentle rhythm.
It was unknown who called out “Bravo!” first at the scene, but then applause followed.
Xin Hexue patted the dust off and stood up from the floor of the audition room.
He had just performed the final scene.
Some of the staff on the sidelines were still lost in the moment. The young man’s performance had been so gripping, it pulled everyone straight from the audition venue into that small house in the lower city, making them feel Yi Si’s sorrow, helplessness, and detachment in choosing to end his own life.
The young man was like a red gesang flower in full bloom to the point of decay. After exhausting his wild, weed-like vitality, he was crushed into dust, returning to the soil.
Qiu Yuan was very satisfied, but still went through the official process and said, “Very good. You can go back and wait for the notice.”
As Xin Hexue was leaving the audition room, an Alpha who had been sitting next to Qiu Yuan and the screenwriter walked up to him.
“Hey, your name is Xin Hexue, right? I’m Wei’er. I play the younger of the Carter brothers in the film.”
Xin Hexue looked at him calmly and simply nodded. “Hello.”
He obviously didn’t understand Wei’er’s intention.
In contrast to his character, Wei’er was very sunny and cheerful in real life.
Seeing Xin Hexue’s flat reaction, he scratched his head. “You don’t recognize me?”
Xin Hexue unconsciously tilted his head. His memory was excellent. “I know you.”
Wei’er let out a sigh of relief.
Well, he had won Best Actor at the Lais Awards two years in a row, there was no way he was that forgettable.
Xin Hexue recited something he had heard from the radio while sitting in Xi Zhengqing’s car, his voice flat and without inflection, “Tangled Love Triangle? The ‘Plastic King’s’ eldest son, Young Master Xi’er was caught on a late-night date with a mysterious movie star…”
Xin Hexue said calmly, “In that gossip, the movie star mentioned was you, right?”
Wei’er’s vision went black.
“Xi’er is my cousin.”
“These paparazzi are really something, ah ah ah ah making things up!”
Xin Hexue looked at him. “Did you want something from me?”
Wei’er caught sight of his face, and the tips of his ears reddened. “Oh, I just wanted to introduce myself. After all, we’ll be filming together and spending a lot of time with each other.”
Xin Hexue didn’t understand why he was so sure. “Director Qiu Yuan hasn’t confirmed the cast yet.”
Wei’er looked at him in amazement. “Oh my God, sweetheart, don’t tell me you don’t know…you’re the only one invited to audition for Yi Si?!”
Xin Hexue: “…”
Didn’t Qiu Yuan just solemnly tell Xi Zhengqing earlier that he always followed the rules and procedures?
He acted like he had zero tolerance for backdoor deals, so he had to wait for the audition schedule.
He was still telling him just now to go back and wait for further notice.
A staff member moving props passed by and, upon seeing Xin Hexue, quickly approached and said, “Teacher Xin, Director Qiu is waiting for you in the lounge!”
………
A quiet lounge.
“Can you drink?”
The blond director sat on the sofa with his legs crossed and asked Xin Hexue with great interest.
The last time at the cruise banquet, he had offered Xin Hexue a drink.
Xin Hexue had only licked a little bit like a kitten.
“I can.”
It wasn’t that Xin Hexue couldn’t drink; he just rarely did. Back when he was the emperor of the ancient dynasty, during snowy nights when the temperature was low, he would occasionally drink to warm himself while handling memorials, and palace banquets were never without a toast or two.
But at the time, he also had to take tonic medicines to nourish his body, so he reduced his alcohol intake as much as possible. The wine cups at the banquets were filled with clear water or warm tea substituted by the Youyi. Over time, he stopped drinking altogether.
Qiu Yuan nodded affirmatively after receiving the answer. “There are scenes in the later part of the film where Yi Si has to drink during banquets.”
Xin Hexue said, “As long as it’s low alcohol, I’m fine.”
Qiu Yuan looked up and down at Xin Hexue’s figure, he was slender and considered tall among Betas.
Though he lacked a sense of strength, he still matched the character’s profile.
Qiu Yuan asked, “How tall are you?”
Xin Hexue: “179.”
Qiu Yuan nodded knowingly.
K paused for a moment and still spoke to Xin Hexue with slight doubt: [According to the employment physical report, the host’s height is 177.]
[…] Xin Hexue replied calmly, [This is a tradition for male celebrities.]
There were no men in this world who were 179 cm tall, they all reported as 180.
At this moment, if he calmly and honestly said that his height is 179cm, it would be more credible.
Qiu Yuan didn’t suspect a thing. With the average height of Alphas being 190cm, he had no real perception of Beta height.
He asked again, “Can you fight?”
In the movie, Yi Si’s first outburst happened during a locker room incident after swimming class. His pants-style uniform was switched with a skirt version. The younger Carter brother even led a group to corner him, demanding he put it on and attend the rest of the day’s academic classes in it.
He didn’t know where Qiu Yuan found a skirt uniform prepared by the props team, he raised his brows and feigned surprise, “Oh, it looks like they underestimated your height?”
The skirt was altered too short.
If worn, it would barely cover beneath the butt.
Qiu Yuan was caught off guard and pushed forcefully onto the sofa. The skirt in his hand fell to the floor, and a weight pressed down on his waist and abdomen.
Xin Hexue straddled him, his expression emotionless, but the dominant posture made it feel like he was looking down on garbage.
The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled to the elbows, revealing the fair skin of his arms, with the light blue veins standing out from the strain.
Once, twice, three times…
He gently patted Qiu Yuan’s left cheek. His palm was cool and soft, and when Qiu Yuan stared straight at him, he said slowly, “Yes, I can fight.”
His voice was cold and clear, but not harsh.
“Is that so?” The dangerous factor in Qiu Yuan’s heart was already excited. “Then hit me. Like in the script.”
Before he even finished speaking, he took a slap to the face.
With a crisp sound, it stung hotly and painfully. Qiu Yuan rolled his tongue around the iron taste on the left side of his mouth then laughed. “It’s feels good.”
[Qiu Yuan love value +10]
