Author: 反舌鸟 / Mockingbird

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Editor: Eli

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Chapter 2

Long Xingyu immediately retracted his impulsive voice message.

Yu Ruoyun paused for a second, deciding not to deal with this person anymore. He reopened the main page, which was blank.

Yu Ruoyun’s old phone had been smashed to pieces in the accident. The current phone was a new replacement, and none of the chat records had been transferred over, just like his memory, which had been completely wiped clean. The only contact remaining was Long Xingyu, clinging to the top of the list like a stubborn adhesive*.

*Dog skin plaster [gou pi gao yao] (狗皮膏藥). It refers to a person who’s clingy, annoying, and difficult to get rid of. This comes from dog skin plasters that were used in the past as medicinal treatment, where herbal medicine would be smeared onto a dog skin, which is then attached to the area to be treated.

Yu Ruoyun switched to the contacts interface. He needed to understand his social circle.

He had many WeChat friends, and fortunately, because there were so many, to prevent forgetting, Yu Ruoyun had added notes: the boss of which company, the stylist of which crew. He even had the tea server’s WeChat, and a quick scroll down revealed all the people he knew. Even Long Xingyu, whom he had just added, was promptly labeled with his idol group and crew role.

Except for one person.

Yu Ruoyun’s finger stopped scrolling when he saw that name—no prefix, no suffix, just the name.

Jiang Yu.

Modern technology was very convenient. Yu Ruoyun could immediately search online to find out who Jiang Yu was.

Before he could look, the door to the hospital room sounded.

The sound of the door slamming wasn’t small either. Yu Ruoyun looked at the approaching Long Xingyu. “Didn’t you already leave?”

“The last bus is already gone,” Long Xingyu said. “There are no scenes to shoot tonight. I’ll go back tomorrow.”

But he wasn’t here to tell Yu Ruoyun this. Long Xingyu asked, “Did you delete me as a friend?”

This could have been confirmed by sending another message, but Long Xingyu insisted on coming over to confirm it in person. If Yu Ruoyun had indeed cut him off due to his emotional outburst, Long Xingyu would grab the phone and try again.

Before Yu Ruoyun could respond, Long Xingyu glanced at the page displayed on his phone.

“Ha, Jiang Yu.” For some reason, Long Xingyu’s tone became very mocking. “I didn’t expect you to still remember him.”

“What about him?” Yu Ruoyun turned the phone over and continued to look.

The news that came into view was accompanied by Long Xingyu’s cold voice. “He’s dead.”

Not only dead but had been dead for almost a year. A well-known actor about Yu Ruoyun’s age, he died in a car accident. He and Yu Ruoyun didn’t seem to have much interaction. Yu Ruoyun checked and found that he hadn’t attended Jiang Yu’s funeral or made any public statements.

There might be more, but Yu Ruoyun didn’t look further because Long Xingyu was still pestering him.

Long Xingyu said, “Although I cursed, I wasn’t wrong. You really are gay. I need to tell you, lest you find out you can’t get it up after getting with a woman.”

“I seem to have dated women,” Yu Ruoyun said.

“Fake.” Long Xingyu replied, “It’s just a mutually beneficial fake relationship.”

“You sure know a lot.” Yu Ruoyun didn’t comment. “I didn’t delete you. Can you leave now?”

Long Xingyu pulled a chair over, changed his attitude again, and began apologizing. “I did something wrong and offended my senior today. I can’t just leave you alone here overnight.”

Yu Ruoyun realized that, despite Long Xingyu’s attractive appearance, he was quite shameless. He put down his phone and calmly looked at Long Xingyu.

But Long Xingyu wasn’t intimidated at all. He even laughed. “I suddenly feel that it might be good if you never recover your memory. Maybe this time, you’ll fall in love with me.”

After saying this, Long Xingyu suddenly stood up, causing the chair to make a grating noise. He didn’t bother putting the chair back, showing no manners at all.

“I’m leaving,” he said, reversing his earlier statement about staying overnight. With his back to Yu Ruoyun, he waved. “Remember to return to the crew soon.”

That night, before going to sleep, Yu Ruoyun reviewed the information he had learned.

Yu Ruoyun, male actor, unclear sexual orientation, numerous awards including multiple Best Actor trophies, both domestic and international. However, his popularity had waned in recent years, with his recent films performing poorly at the box office and in reviews. This decline was likely why he decided to take on a web drama.

What else? Was there anything more? It seemed not.

Jiang Yu is dead.

A voice said.

……

“Are you coming back today?” The director sounded pleasantly surprised. “It’s not necessary. You should rest well first. It was our mistake, after all.”

“I discussed it with the doctor. He said normal activities are fine,” Yu Ruoyun said. “The brain CT showed only a mild concussion. I might be fine by tomorrow.”

Though it wasn’t a small matter, Yu Ruoyun seemed the least concerned. The doctor had also suggested more rest and observation, but staying an extra day would cost the crew tens of thousands of dollars.

“I need to reacquaint myself with the crew’s environment,” Yu Ruoyun explained, putting the director at ease.

But the first person Yu Ruoyun saw when he returned was Long Xingyu.

When idols filmed for the first time, regardless of the role size, their fans would always make a show of support. Long Xingyu’s fans had prepared an elaborate spread of desserts and fruit, with a vertical banner of Long Xingyu smiling at passersby. The crew members all received gift bags, and the main actors got special customized gifts.

Yu Ruoyun’s gift was a Montblanc fountain pen, which was a pretty generous gift from a fan to a colleague. The fan representative personally handed it to Yu Ruoyun. “Teacher Yu, Xingyu said something wrong the other day. Please don’t mind.”

The girl looked young, in her early twenties, dressed beautifully, yet here she was apologizing for someone else’s mistake. Yu Ruoyun said, “It’s nothing.”

She immediately relaxed and asked, “Teacher Yu, can I have your autograph?”

Of course. Yu Ruoyun signed while joking, “Are you switching sides?”

The girl wasn’t fazed. “Liking you is perfectly normal. You’re Yu Ruoyun. Even the most loyal fans in our circle wouldn’t mind. They might have grown up watching your movies.”

She got enthusiastic and started reminiscing with Yu Ruoyun. “Really! The first movie I watched was yours, called “Encore”, right? It was so good. I still rewatch it often…”

Halfway through, Long Xingyu appeared.

He handed Yu Ruoyun a sickeningly sweet cake, asking if he liked it or if he wanted more.

Since Yu Ruoyun had just reassured the fan he didn’t mind, there was no need to show a bad attitude to Long Xingyu. He took the cake and told the fan, “He’s alright. I didn’t take it to heart.”

Bringing it up again, of course, prompted more apologies and concern from the fan. “Teacher Yu, do you really not remember anything?”

All of this trouble was caused by Long Xingyu, but Yu Ruoyun just smiled. “It’s not a big deal. I haven’t completely lost my memory.”

“You see, I remember you now,” Yu Ruoyun joked, not noticing Long Xingyu’s face suddenly darkening.

Once the girl walked away, Long Xingyu switched modes again, giving Yu Ruoyun a sidelong glance. ““Encore” was a movie from ten years ago.”

“Really?” Yu Ruoyun didn’t know what he was getting at.

“It means, first, you’re old. She was watching your movies as a child, and now she’s an adult.” Long Xingyu moved closer, so close Yu Ruoyun could see his eyelashes clearly. “Second, you’re irrelevant. She can’t even remember your recent works, only your peak.”

“So what?” Yu Ruoyun genuinely found it amusing. He had observed that Long Xingyu behaved normally with others, who found him cute. But when facing Yu Ruoyun, he suddenly became aggressive.

Long Xingyu fell silent.

“I ended up like this because of you,” Yu Ruoyun suddenly said. “If you had trusted me a bit more back then, I wouldn’t be in this situation.”

The further he spoke, the more it felt off, so Long Xingyu didn’t respond.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to act with me?” Yu Ruoyun said, still expressionless. “Then remember your lines properly.”

Someone called Yu Ruoyun, and he walked away, leaving Long Xingyu standing there.

Long Xingyu then remembered those were his own lines.

In the drama, he played a minor villain, grateful to the protagonist for helping him initially. But when he was framed and fell from grace, he didn’t hate the mastermind but instead the protagonist, wanting revenge. This line was from their final confrontation scene. A story of ingratitude.

This person was still the same, memorizing not only his lines but others’ as well, down to the last word, making notes and analysis, even discussing changes with the director if something didn’t make sense.

What’s the point of being so perfect, so meticulous? In the end, didn’t he end up like this?

It might be funny, but Long Xingyu couldn’t bring himself to laugh.

He looked around to see what Yu Ruoyun was doing, spotting him under a tree, holding the dessert Long Xingyu had given him, frowning slightly but still taking a bite.

Cream smeared on Yu Ruoyun’s lips, and despite the distance, Long Xingyu wanted to approach, to wipe it off with his finger.

This was the third month since he’d woken up. He had finally found a chance to get into the crew and be close to Yu Ruoyun.

And then? He lost control again—said things he shouldn’t, leaving Yu Ruoyun speechless, causing him to turn away.

It shouldn’t be like this. He shouldn’t have deliberately chosen a flavor Yu Ruoyun disliked. Long Xingyu thought, tomorrow, when he sees Yu Ruoyun again, he would be nice to him.

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