Author: 反舌鸟 / Mockingbird
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Editor: Eli
Chapter 15
After returning to his room, Yu Ruoyun didn’t rest and soon received a call from his father.
“You’re gay, right?” His father immediately questioned.
“Yes.” Having already mentioned it once, there was no point to hiding it anymore.
“Why did you only tell your mother?” his father asked, veering off-topic.
Yu Ruoyun felt somewhat speechless. “She was definitely going to tell you anyway.”
“We don’t need you to tell us that!” His father became even angrier. “Do you think we were blind and couldn’t guess? Especially in the past few years… Forget it. Who is it anyway? You should at least tell me that.”
He seemed to want to know first. But it made sense. By the time someone reached their thirties or forties, they had their own social circles and were no longer under their parents’ control. His parents likely had suspicions all along.
Yu Ruoyun said, “I’m not sure it matters now. His name is Jiang Yu.”
His father had heard of the name. “Jiang Yu? Isn’t he dead? That Jiang Yu, right?”
“Yes.”
“Dead for a year, and now you bring it up. What do you mean by that?” His father’s anger rose further. “And it’s been a year since he died, and you just now decided to call and tell us. What, do you want us to arrange a posthumous wedding?”
Yu Ruoyun: “……”
He said, “I just felt that it was unfair to him—you didn’t know of his existence even after his death.”
“So you were just being a scumbag these past few years?” His father said. “The entertainment industry has really corrupted you. Not only did you have a homosexual relationship, but you also hid it from your family. Tsk.”
Thinking about it, even though he didn’t remember what happened before, it did sound like something a scumbag would do. If Jiang Yu were a woman, they would probably have gotten married after she had gotten pregnant.
“Maybe I wanted him to turn into a vengeful ghost and haunt me,” Yu Ruoyun said.
……
When Long Xingyu thought of watching the award ceremony, it was already halfway through.
He had intended to keep track but got busy and forgot. The tasks at this lousy company piled up. Just as he was about to leave the crew, new work came up, and they told him to prepare early. Although his singing performance last time was impressive, his dancing was lacking. Long Xingyu spent his break practicing those dance moves. Only today did he remember there was something he had forgotten.
The award ceremony was already more than halfway through when Long Xingyu turned on the TV. The presenter on stage was familiar, leisurely opening the envelope and slowly announcing into the microphone, “The Lifetime Achievement Award goes to…”
“Jiang Yu.”
Typically, they only dialed up the suspense for awards like Best Actor and Best Actress. Even the shortlisted actors were made so nervous to the point of tears sometimes. . The Lifetime Achievement Award, in comparison, was less suspenseful. It wasn’t even a regular award, usually given to senior film veterans. When the presenter said Jiang Yu’s name, Long Xingyu could hear the reaction from the audience even outside the TV screen.
Long Xingyu was also shocked, like all the other viewers. Then the presenter called for someone to accept the award on his behalf. Who the hell could that be?!
Oh, his mother.
That made sense. Only a family member would be appropriate to accept the award on his behalf. He, as Long Xingyu, Jiang Yu’s “illegitimate son”, couldn’t. Nor could Yu Ruoyun…
Thinking of Yu Ruoyun, he wanted to see Yu Ruoyun’s expression. Unfortunately, his mother was already on stage, and the camera focused on her. She seemed in good spirits, which relieved Long Xingyu somewhat.
He had resented his mother as a child but gradually forgot about it as he grew up. His mother had almost been recruited into an art troupe but gave up the opportunity due to her pregnancy. She pinned her hopes on Jiang Yu, enrolling him in various extracurricular classes and taking him to competitions and TV performances. Jiang Yu thought this tedious game would end when his mother realized how hard it was for a child star to become famous, and he could finally go back to school. Only after meeting Yu Ruoyun did he realize that he wasn’t alive only for the sake of achieving someone else’s dreams, and that he, too, had something he wanted to pursue. Without Yu Ruoyun, he might have left the industry and wouldn’t have been hit by a car on his way to find Yu Ruoyun. In the end, it was all Yu Ruoyun’s fault. Yu Ruoyun was still in the audience, clapping, when he should be in jail, shedding tears of remorse.
He had imagined this scene before, imagined how things would have gone when he was the one receiving the award, with Yu Ruoyun applauding for him. The price he’d paid for this to come true was too absurd. If Jiang Yu were alive and received the Best Actor award, he might indeed cry tears of joy. People would say Jiang Yu finally got the award he deserved after years and years of trying. The award itself might still be controversial, though. Jiang Yu had the acting skills but lacked luck, but awarding him the Lifetime Achievement Award was simply ridiculous—he was too young and unqualified.
Now it was different. Dead people were more easily forgiven, and Jiang Yu’s life was indeed over.
Long Xingyu turned off the TV.
……
After the award ceremony, several after-parties were held, by individuals and film crews both, and Yu Ruoyun was invited to all of them. As he approached the venue, reporters were already waiting, and seeing Yu Ruoyun, they bombarded him with questions. Yu Ruoyun smiled and walked in. As he was about to enter, a reporter asked, “Jiang Yu won the Lifetime Achievement Award…”
Yu Ruoyun paused and said, “Yes.”
The reporter didn’t expect an answer, and the sharp question remained unfinished as the reporter remained rooted on the spot in shock.
Yu Ruoyun continued, “I have actually always waited for the chance to tell him, ‘Congratulations on your award, new Best Actor.'”
He wanted to tell Jiang Yu, that self-righteous fool, that he never thought Jiang Yu as inferior to him.
The cameras flashed brightly, hurting his eyes. Yu Ruoyun turned and entered.
The party’s star was the actress who had just won Best Actress, and Yu Ruoyun had some acquaintance with her. However, he came for someone else. Shortly after arriving, someone tapped his shoulder from behind. “It’s rare to see you at such events.”
“Uncle Wu,” Yu Ruoyun greeted. “Long time no see.”
Wu Yi, the director of Yu Ruoyun’s first film and chairman of this Golden Phoenix Award, was known in the industry as Uncle Wu.
After making Yu Ruoyun a young Best Actor, Wu Yi thought he’d directed every film he should have, and thus he announced his retirement. A few years later, unable to rest, he found a loophole and returned as a producer, still making great films. For someone who never stopped working, Yu Ruoyun’s recent actions annoyed him.
“What have you been doing lately?” Wu Yi grabbed a drink from a passing waiter. “Is that web series finished?”
“No,” Yu Ruoyun replied, knowing a lecture was coming.
“Not finished? When I heard about it, I thought it was fake news! If you needed a script, why didn’t you tell me…” Wu Yi paused, his tone softening. “Is this because of Jiang Yu?”
Hearing that name from his mentor made Yu Ruoyun’s heart skip a beat. “Why would you think that?”
He didn’t outright deny it, which made Wu Yi even angrier. He downed his drink in one gulp. “When you called to ask if there was a Lifetime Achievement Award this year, I thought it was odd. You’re not the type to dig for information. Then you suggested considering Jiang Yu, saying you admired his dedication to film. And I believed it! Damn!”
He reached for another drink, but Yu Ruoyun stopped him. “Your liver isn’t good. Drink less.”
Wu Yi said, “I wondered why you hadn’t arrived. Just as I was about to find you, I heard you talking to reporters. Jiang Yu was your colleague and competitor, and you never worked together. Your tone shouldn’t have been like that.”
Wu Yi could exaggerate when directing an actress who lacked the emotional acuity needed, saying things like, “Imagine returning home to find your house flooded, with your limited edition bag soaking and dead rats floating nearby. Yes, that’s how shocked and sad you should be!”
Said actress cried without complicated emotions,, but that wasn’t the case for Yu Ruoyun. He sounded like Wu Yi’s wife, whose bag had been slashed in Italy.. She had sat at a corner in the square, and she didn’t cry or leave; she just sat there. Wu Yi promised to buy her another, but she said, “The salesgirl said it was the last one.”
Couldn’t she get another model? Another color, another leather—there’s always something! But she insisted it wasn’t the same. She just liked that one.
“I only suggested it,” Yu Ruoyun said.
But Wu Yi had seriously considered it. “We initially wanted to give him an award even before you did. We debated awarding him the Professional Spirit Award, but I suggested the Lifetime Achievement Award. It’s a bit too heavy a honor for him, but he’d missed out on a lot of awards in the past.”
In the end, the vote passed. The Lifetime Achievement Award was heavy but uncontested. Though there was no precedent for giving it posthumously, it wasn’t forbidden. Jiang Yu had only been dead a year, and his popularity remained. He could be a highlight of the ceremony.
“Was I right?” Wu Yi wondered. “Or were you close friends in private? You’re always nice to your friends..”
“No,” Yu Ruoyun interrupted. “We were lovers, as you suspected.”
Luckily, Wu Yi hadn’t taken another drink; he might have sprayed it everywhere.
“How did you get involved with him?” Wu Yu was quite curious. “Your secrecy was impressive.”
Amidst the chatter, people congratulated the Best Actress, exchanged pleasantries, dropped pastries, and posted on social media. In the noise, Yu Ruoyun heard himself say, “I can’t remember.”
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