Splash!

Rong Zhouzhong rolled into the sea wearing tattered clothes, narrowly escaping the pursuit of the chasing soldiers.

"Damn it! He actually got away!" Soldier A put away his gun and exclaimed in anger.

Soldier B turned to their leader and asked, "Should we go down and retrieve him?"

The leader frowned and scanned the calm sea, replying, "The water currents in this area are very strong, and he's injured. He's as good as dead. Let's retreat for now. Killing XX is more important!"

With a wave of his hand, he led his men away. On the beach, a long string of messy footprints and scattered bloodstains were left behind. The gentle waves slowly washed away these traces of sin. It was unclear how much time had passed when suddenly, the calm sea surface made a loud splash, and a head emerged from the water.

It was Rong Zhouzhong. His glasses were nowhere to be found, his wet hair stuck to his face, his complexion pale, and his lips turning purple. He seemed exhausted, gasping for air with his head tilted back and his eyelids fluttering. He struggled to maintain balance by paddling his limbs, but a big wave came and pushed him back into the sea.

There were sounds of struggling from under the water for a while, but eventually, the sea surface became completely calm, and no one emerged.

"Cut!" The director shouted to end the shoot, exclaiming perfection, and ordered the people guarding the beach to pull out Rong Zhouzhong.

At the first opportunity, Shi Jin prepared hot drinks and immediately handed them to Rong Zhouzhong as he emerged from the sea, faster than Rong Zhouzhong's assistant.

Rong Zhouzhong was in a sorry state, completely soaked from head to toe, with his clothes clinging to his body and the fabric dirty. To highlight the pain of his character's death, he even had a "death" makeup on his face, looking miserable and like he was about to lie in a coffin.

He furrowed his brows and wrapped himself in a blanket, then looked up to see Shi Jin running towards him in casual clothes. He was first stunned, then frowned and pushed aside the staff in front of him to greet Shi Jin, asking, "What are you doing here?"

"I finished my homework and came to see the excitement. The director promised to let me watch," replied Shi Jin, handing him the drink.

Upon hearing this, Rong Zhouzhong looked towards the director and saw him giving a suggestive look that said, "We're counting on you to use your sex appeal to keep our location stable."

Rong Zhouzhong suppressed the urge to throw the unscrupulous director into the sea and instead blocked the view of the other actors on set, motioning for Shi Jin to follow him.

Unaware that he had already been rumored to be "the beach owner bewitched by Rong Zhouzhong's beauty," Shi Jin naturally followed Rong Zhouzhong and said, "Although it's only early autumn and the temperature isn't too low, it's still easy to catch a cold if you stay in the water for too long. You should be careful."

The words were so thoughtful, a complete contrast to the despicable behavior from last night. Raising his head, Rong Zhouzhong took a sip of his hot drink and walked briskly to his nanny car parked at the edge of the beach, motioning for Shi Jin to follow him.

Shi Jin was curious about everything on the set and obediently followed. Rong Zhouzhong followed closely behind, closing the car door and blocking the seemingly curious gazes of the other crew members.

The nanny car was spacious enough to accommodate a bed, and there were many things scattered inside. Shi Jin's sharp eyes noticed the centipede pillow he had given Rong Zhouzhong, which was placed on a makeshift bed made from the back seats. Rong Zhouzhong also noticed this and quickly grabbed a blanket and pillow to cover up, deliberately making some noise to draw back Shi Jin's attention.

"How did you talk to the director when you came over?" Rong Zhouzhong asked. The director's look just now was really meaningful.

Shi Jin looked back and replied, "I said I was the owner of the beach and wanted to see what you looked like acting. Aren't you uncomfortable wearing wet clothes? Don't you want to change?"

Introducing himself as the owner of the beach instead of Rong Zhouzhong's brother made Rong Zhouzhong a little unhappy. He frowned and replied, "No, I won't change. The previous shot only captured a distant view of me falling into the sea. I still need to shoot some close-ups and close-up shots later... Actually, you could have told the director that you are my brother. He would have taken better care of you."

Shi Jin quickly waved his hand and said, "No, I don't need your concern. It's good enough to just watch the excitement. If you're too concerned, I'll feel uncomfortable."

So, being the beach owner is more comfortable than being Rong Zhouzhong's younger brother?

Rong Zhouzhong's face turned black. He couldn't help but ask, looking at Shi Jin sitting quietly across from him, "What you said yesterday, were you just playing with me? Do you hate me?"

Shi Jin didn't expect him to ask so directly. He looked at him and nodded and shook his head honestly, saying, "Yesterday, I wasn't just playing with you, but I don't really hate you either. To be honest, I want to truly understand you more than I want to hate you now."

Truly understand?

Rong Zhouzhong lifted his wet bangs with a towel and looked at Shi Jin seriously.

"Come to think of it, we haven't had many chances to be alone together. You're quite contradictory in my eyes, and I want to understand the real you," replied Shi Jin honestly. "Only when I truly understand you can I decide whether to hate you or something else."

"Something else?" Rong Zhouzhong quickly seized on the key point.

Shi Jin didn't answer, but opened the car door and said, "Keep up the good work. I'll wait for you to come have lunch." With that, he jumped out of the car and headed towards the villa.

Rong Zhouzhong couldn't stop him in time and watched his back as he walked away. He raised his hand and ran it through his damp hair, muttering to himself, "This little rascal is so mysterious!"

......

Rong Zhouzhong didn't come to have lunch. The crew had been delayed for too long before, and now they were rushing to catch up with the schedule. His scenes would take up the whole day, leaving no significant gaps for him to have a proper meal.

After finishing his lunch, Shi Jin used his telescope to observe the situation on set. He saw Rong Zhouzhong surrounded by cameras, once again diving into the water. He couldn't help but admire his dedication.

Xiao Si commented, "Yeah, it's been hours. Humans can't stay in the water for that long without getting tired."

"The director is just very demanding," Shi Jin replied, putting down his telescope. He asked Xiao Si to give him the "Thousand-Mile Eye" buff and leaned against the bridge pillar, watching Rong Zhouzhong attentively listening to the director's instructions while sitting on the rescue boat during the break.

He popped a nut into his mouth. The version of Rong Zhouzhong in front of him was unlike anything he had ever seen before - mature, serious, hardworking, and composed. All the things he thought Rong Zhouzhong would never possess were now fully displayed in front of him.

"Genes are truly powerful things," he exclaimed, feeling a sudden urge to sigh. The more he watched, the more he understood that the success of the Shi family's children was not simply achieved through the accumulation of resources and support. Even Rong Zhouzhong, who appeared to rely solely on his looks, was actually more outstanding and hardworking than most people in this world.

Merchants, lawyers, actors, soldiers, doctors... Upon closer inspection, among the children of the Shi family, the original owner who was raised and nurtured by Shi Xingrui himself had made no achievements and had not shown any talent. The other siblings had already made significant progress in their respective life paths at the same age, laying the foundation for their future glory.

"Is this irony?" he muttered to himself, lost in thought.

Xiao Si fell silent again, not responding to his words. Since Shi Jin's progress bar had reached 80, it had often been quiet, sometimes even going days without saying a word, as if it had never existed.

When he was alone, his mind easily sank into a deep sea called "memory". Inside, there were memories of the original host and his own. Previously, he could always distinguish clearly which memories were his own and which were the original host's. However, recently, these memories began to blur.

As he looked at Rong Zhouzhong's serious face, a particularly dim fragment suddenly emerged from the depths of his mind.

It should have been on the original host's tenth birthday. On that day, as usual, the brothers who lived scattered around the world would gather in the luxurious mansion in M country, bringing many gifts to celebrate the original host's birthday. The original owner was very happy that day because his most handsome and dazzling third brother finally won his first Best Actor award in his life. He prepared a celebration gift for his brother, a specially ordered celebration cake, and blew out the candles together with him side by side.

Everything was perfect until his brother woke him up in the middle of the night to secretly watch the movie that won him the award on the computer.

It was a very dark-themed movie, with two brothers who were supposed to rely on each other but ended up killing each other. The original owner had never seen this movie before because the subject matter was too dark and Shi Xingrui didn't allow him to watch it.

As the movie began, the younger brother's mother suddenly disappeared. The younger brother wanted to go find her, but the father wouldn't allow it. Then, someone claiming to be his older brother appeared and invited him to search for their mother together. The younger brother was tempted and secretly snuck out of the house behind his father's back.

The journey to find their mother began, and along the way, the younger brother encountered many dangers, but his older brother always came to his rescue. Despite having lived apart and not having much of a relationship before, the two slowly became close.

The original owner watched the movie attentively, their emotions rising and falling with the plot. When the two brothers finally opened up to each other and decided to rely on each other no matter what, even if they couldn't find their missing mother, the original owner finally smiled with happiness.

"My older brother is the best person in the world," he said, turning his head to look at his third brother who was holding him, only to meet a pair of cold eyes.

"Keep watching," the young third brother said, his peach blossom eyes indifferent, roughly pressing the original owner's head and turning his face towards the computer screen.

The original owner was a little scared, but for the sake of his third brother, he gathered his thoughts and continued watching the movie.

The movie was already halfway through when the plot suddenly took a sharp turn after a warm promise. The mother had passed away, the "culprit" was in front of them, and the layers of conspiracy were revealed. The once bright and hopeful life was like a person's skin cut open by a small knife.

Underneath the soft and beautiful surface was a bloody truth. Brotherhood is nothing but a facade. This was not a journey to find their mother, but a quest for revenge. The moment they set out to find her, his brother's father and his tribe were already lured into the abyss by his brother using him as bait. Along the way, all the "pursuers" they killed were actually people coming to rescue me. And now, as everything was revealed, his brother's tribe was reduced to only him.

Their mother was also killed by the brother, and her body was buried beneath his room. The origin of the story was a vague curse. Because of this curse, the older brother was tormented by the tribe and abandoned by his parents. During his long wandering life, his psyche gradually twisted. His hatred and longing for his family were so strong that he couldn't help but sneak back to his hometown. There, he saw his younger brother living happily with their parents, and his rationality completely collapsed.

"Why am I cursed while he is a gift from heaven, carefully nurtured and raised? It's unfair! This is unfair!" The older brother shouted, and then the revenge began.

At the end of the movie, the younger brother, who knew the whole truth, was filled with hatred and pain, and wanted to die with his brother. The older brother, who had the ability to push him away, instead put down his weapon and hugged his younger brother, with a satisfied expression as they both fell into the abyss. The twisted desire to reunite with his family was finally going to come true.

How happy he was! These were the last words left by his brother.