Chapter 28

The ginger soup was heated. The smell of ginger and brown sugar filled the living room. Qu Yanting drank it on the sofa. The soup trickled into his stomach, slowly warming his body.

The script was on the coffee table. The damp pages would wrinkle at the slightest touch. He carefully opened it, flipping to the middle section, which was the turning point in Ye Shan and Ye Xiaowu's lives.

Ye Xiaowu died.

Ye Shan continued with his own life, while simultaneously replacing Ye Xiaowu and starting another life.

When Ren Shu first got the script and read to this part, he asked in surprise, "Is this a story about split personality?"

This genre wasn't exactly mainstream and was more common in crime films. Qu Yanting didn't answer "yes" or "no." In his view, Ye Shan's change was more like a simple fracture of human nature rather than a psychological illness.

Ye Shan envied everything about Ye Xiaowu, to the point of jealousy and hatred. He longed to become Ye Xiaowu to gain Mother Ye's love. This mindset, combined with the trauma of being neglected for years, caused him to develop his younger brother's personality.

But he remained clear-headed throughout. He didn't commit any crimes, and the two personalities didn't consume each other. It was as if he had simply split himself in two, living out an extra segment of Ye Xiaowu's life.

As Ye Shan, he took the college entrance exams, went to university, and gained the independence to leave his original family. As "Ye Xiaowu," he was considerate and filial to Mother Ye, occasionally acting willful and reckless, no different from the real Ye Xiaowu.

Qu Yanting flipped to the end, and the ginger soup was also finished.

He closed the script, leaned back on the sofa, and a boundless wave of exhaustion washed over him.

After sitting there for a long time, Qu Yanting decided to get a good night's sleep. He first ordered room service for dinner. Knowing his habits all too well, he left a message for the butler just in case, asking them to ring the doorbell a few extra times during delivery.

Qu Yanting went back to the bedroom to rest. He felt a little dizzy when he got up. He slipped under the covers. His body temperature was rising, but he still felt cold and couldn't help but curl up.

The wind and rain stopped at noon. The entire city was shrouded in a watery mist, and the sky was covered with clusters of clouds that had yet to disperse.

Looking down from high above, an endless cycle of humidity hung between heaven and earth.

Lu Wen could fill the entire king-sized bed by himself. He lay sprawled in the center, long arms and legs stretched out, sound asleep. His phone rang in the evening. He didn't get up, his face buried in the pillow, and just fumbled around for it.

Without even opening his eyes, his waking-up grumpiness instantly reached its peak.

"Who is it?" Lu Wen answered, his voice dangerously low. "I'm sleeping, don't fucking bother me."

There was no sound from the phone. Lu Wen figured it was a spam call, scared off by him. He said impatiently, "Do you have something to say or not? Spit it out. Are you in investments or loans? So damn slow, and you're trying to pull a scam? Get lost!"

A voice said flatly, "It's me."

Lu Wen shuddered violently and shot up, striking a 'white crane spreads its wings' pose on the bed. His eyes widened as he looked at the caller ID—Lu Zhanqing.

All his sleepiness was scared back into his mother's womb. He put the phone back to his ear, acting as meek as could be. "Dad, it's you."

Lu Zhanqing: "Mm."

Lu Wen: "Did you call for something?"

Lu Zhanqing: "Loans."

Lu Wen scratched his chin and tried to gloss it over with nonsense. "Who told you to call at this hour? I was sleeping soundly. It's pouring in Chongqing. I was up all night filming a car crash scene, got dropped to the ground on wires, rolled around on the road. Do you know how hard it is for me?"

Lu Zhanqing asked, "Tired?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Lu Wen complained. "I'm so tired, you almost lost your son in your middle age."

Lu Zhanqing remained emotionless. "Nonsense."

Lu Wen shrugged. "I don't know why, but my chest and back both ache a little. And I'm past the point of hunger, just feeling a faint emptiness."

Lu Zhanqing said, "So dramatic."

Communication was impossible. Lu Wen kicked the pillow. "Do you need something or not? If not, I'm hanging up."

Lu Zhanqing said, "Wear something warmer. Eat before you go back to sleep."

Before Lu Wen could react, Lu Zhanqing added, "Your old man is hanging up first."

A dial tone buzzed in his ear. Lu Wen sat on the bed, bewildered.

To avoid being caught off guard like this again, he opened his phone settings and set a custom ringtone for Lu Zhanqing. To ease his mood when answering the call, he chose "Happy Times" as the ringtone.

Lu Wen was wide awake now. A wave of hunger hit him, and he needed to fill his stomach. He dove into the walk-in closet. He hadn't decided what to eat yet, but he would dress up first.

It was cold. Wool trousers, a tailored fit that was neither too baggy nor too tight. A solid-colored fine cotton shirt with an English spread collar. His jacket was a classic trench coat he had recently bought but never worn.

Lu Wen changed his clothes, pocketed his phone and wallet, and as he was putting on his shoes in the entryway, he heard a doorbell ringing in the hallway. A waiter and the butler were pushing a food trolley, stopped outside room 6206.

He tied his shoelaces. The waiter rang a third time.

He fastened the cuff on his trench coat. The waiter rang a fourth time.

He pulled out his key card. The waiter rang a fifth time.

The image of Qu Yanting answering the phone appeared in his mind. Lu Wen opened his door. The butler greeted him, and he offered a helpful reminder, "You should ring a little longer. The guest in this suite isn't very sensitive to doorbells."

"Mr. Qu?" The butler switched to knocking. "Your dinner has arrived, Mr. Qu?"

The waiter asked, "Could he have gone out?"

"I don't think so," the butler said. "Mr. Qu left a message saying he wouldn't be going out, just that he might be a little slow to open the door."

Lu Wen turned into the hallway, the sound of knocking echoing behind him.

As he walked, he wondered, even if Qu Yanting was the king of dawdling, this should be long enough.

'Could he be sleeping? But even he, such a heavy sleeper, woke up as soon as the phone rang. Could all this ringing not wake Qu Yanting?'

Lu Wen slowed his pace, thinking suspiciously, 'Qu Yanting couldn't have had an accident in his room, could he? With his track record of playing at drowning, what else is that fellow capable of?'

'Threw out his back?'

'Fainted?'

'Dropped dead?'

Lu Wen made a sharp turn and headed back to the door of 6206. He said, "Stop knocking! Open the door and take a look!"

The butler was stunned. "But... the hotel has rules..."

"Rules my ass!" Lu Wen shouted. "Are rules more important than a living person? What if something's wrong with him? Open the door for me. I know him. If there are any repercussions, I'll take responsibility."

The butler was also a bit worried, so he had no choice but to agree. He brought the key card and swiped the door open.

Lu Wen immediately rushed in, yelling, "Teacher Qu!"

The suite was completely silent. The bedroom door was half-open. Lu Wen ran to the bedside in one breath. He heard breathing and saw Qu Yanting lying safely on the bed.

But despite him bursting in with such a commotion, Qu Yanting's eyes were closed, showing no reaction at all.

Lu Wen crouched by the bed. He reached out but didn't know where to touch, so he just pressed down on the quilt. Qu Yanting's entire face was revealed. It was extremely flushed, like rouge bleeding out from under the skin. He was covered in sweat, and the hair at his temples was damp.

"Teacher Qu?" Lu Wen called out.

Those eyes slowly opened. His eyelids were also flushed red, partially veiling his dark pupils. Qu Yanting grunted in response, exhaling a scorching breath.

Lu Wen lifted a corner of the quilt. Underneath, Qu Yanting's legs were bent, his shoulders hunched, and his arms were crossed in front of him.

"Teacher Qu, are you cold?" Lu Wen touched Qu Yanting's forehead with the back of his hand. "Damn, so hot!"

Qu Yanting had already caught a cold that day by the lake. After being drenched in the rain last night, he had developed a full-blown fever.

His voice was unusually hoarse. "How did you get in?"

Lu Wen said, "I was delivering your dinner."

Qu Yanting said, "I don't want to eat anymore..."

"Eat what? It's already cold," Lu Wen said, leaning against the bed. "Teacher Qu, you have a fever. It seems pretty high. How are you feeling?"

Qu Yanting closed his eyes. "Cold."

Lu Wen made a snap decision. "Teacher Qu, let me take you to the hospital. You should see a doctor when you're sick. If I take care of you, I'll probably take care of you until you kick the bucket."

Qu Yanting gave a weak smile, his face growing even redder.

Lu Wen told the butler to prepare a car and draped a cashmere jacket over Qu Yanting.

Coming down from the 62nd floor exhausted all of Qu Yanting's strength. After getting in the car, he leaned against the window for support. Lu Wen sat on the other side of the armrest console and told the driver to go to the nearest hospital.

Outside the window, it was night again.

Qu Yanting pressed against the back of the seat, his head tilted back, arms pulling the front of his jacket tighter. Whenever he had a high fever, the most obvious symptom was feeling cold all over.

Lu Wen glanced over a few times. He skipped the obvious question, directly lifted the armrest, scooted over, took off his trench coat, shook it out in the cramped space, and wrapped Qu Yanting in it.

It could wrap around him one and a half times. He said, "Teacher Qu, you should eat more."

Qu Yanting's eyes were lightly closed. "A down jacket would be warmer."

Lu Wen was speechless. "Has the fever made you stupid? This is a new, classic trench coat that I'm wearing for the first time."

Qu Yanting said, "This trench coat is warm too."

'That's because...' Lu Wen said to himself, 'because it has my body heat.'

Qu Yanting nodded and rubbed against the collar. Thinking of something, he asked, "That sweater, you really don't want it back?"

Lu Wen immediately thought of the accidentally snagged underwear. A grown man shouldn't be embarrassed, but uncontrollably, he would picture Qu Yanting putting it on and taking it off.

Lu Wen kept his mouth tightly shut and nodded.

Wrapped in the trench coat, Qu Yanting used the leaking neon light to study Lu Wen. The other man was dressed to the nines, a scent of cedar top notes on his wrist. Going out on a colorful night after the rain, he must have a date.

He felt apologetic. "Did I interrupt your date?"

"Huh?" Lu Wen was a bit confused. "Why do you ask?"

Qu Yanting said, "It's a rare night off. Didn't you get a girlfriend to walk around Jiefangbei with?"

Lu Wen looked awkward. He couldn't take back the bull he'd shot, so he stiffly changed the subject. "Speaking of girlfriends, with Ye Xiaowu dead, what's going to happen to Qi Xiao?"

"It's written in the script. She ends up with Lin Jie."

"That second male lead gets such a happy ending."

Lu Wen pondered for a moment. "Teacher Qu, I'm not sure if my understanding is correct. Even though Ye Shan developed his brother's personality, I think there's a difference between him and Ye Xiaowu."

Qu Yanting asked, "What do you mean?"

"Rather than replacing him," Lu Wen said thoughtfully, "I think Ye Shan just wanted a taste of what it's like to live like Ye Xiaowu. If nothing had happened to their father, his life could have been happy and willful too."

Qu Yanting didn't respond. Lu Wen said in a low voice, "Teacher Qu, there are no 'what ifs' in the world, but you gave Ye Shan a chance."

A moment of silence.

The trench coat slipped to one side. Lu Wen raised a hand to cover Qu Yanting again. Just then, the car turned at an intersection. Unable to resist the inertia, Qu Yanting leaned over and rested against Lu Wen's arm.

He closed his eyes, his breathing growing lighter. Perhaps he was too exhausted. He didn't move or return to his original position.

Lu Wen said softly, "Teacher Qu, you can rest for a bit. I'll wake you when we get there."

"Okay," Qu Yanting said, in a tone that was both a praise and a command. Then he added, "Be good."

Lu Wen sat obediently. Although Qu Yanting was only next to him, not leaning on him, he consciously took on the role of a human pillow.

The car was quiet for less than five minutes before a phone started ringing. Lu Wen felt Qu Yanting tremble slightly, unsure if it was from the ringtone or the cold.

He felt the trench coat pocket through the fabric; it wasn't his phone ringing.

Leaning forward slightly, Lu Wen picked up Qu Yanting's phone from under his butt. A single character flashed on the screen, "Ruan."

Lu Wen felt like he was holding a hot potato. Whenever he was with Qu Yanting, he would always forget about the man's lifestyle issues. Now reminded, a sense of displeasure spread through his heart.

He handed it over. "Teacher Qu, your phone."

Qu Yanting already had trouble answering calls. Now, with his throat sore from the fever, he didn't want to talk to anyone.

Lu Wen glanced at him, thinking 'Guilty conscience, huh?' He continued, "Teacher Qu, your phone is ringing. Someone's calling you. A person named Ruan. As in Ruan Feng."

Qu Yanting's eyelid twitched. It was even more inconvenient to answer now, and he couldn't be bothered to analyze if Lu Wen was being passive-aggressive. He pretended to be asleep, showing no reaction.

Lu Wen seemed to get a kick out of it—

"Teacher Qu, wake up?"

"Teacher Qu, are you really not going to answer? They might be anxious."

"Teacher Qu, you're not in shock, are you?"

Lu Wen finally quieted down when the ringing stopped.

He tossed the phone back under his butt and turned his head to look at Qu Yanting. As the car entered a wide avenue, brilliant neon lights spilled in, washing over Qu Yanting and studding his slightly furrowed brow with a few stars.

"Quite handsome," Lu Wen said deliberately. "—sleeps like a log."

Qu Yanting finally couldn't hold it in anymore. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.