Chapter 59

  The next door house fell silent for a moment, and then Jiang Luocheng's low voice sounded - it was not very clear to hear through the wall, but he vaguely felt that his voice had become somewhat hoarse. He sniffed carefully with his nose, and his keen sense of smell told him that the person next door was probably smoking...

  Jiang Luocheng's voice sounded very calm.

  "Xu Qianqian, don't be too excessive, you really think you're something just because I gave you face? Did you provoke him on purpose and cause so much trouble for him? This circle is chaotic, but I've never seen anyone as despicable as you."

  "Jiang Luocheng!!!!!!" Xu Qianqian shrieked, interrupting the man's words and yelling hysterically, "He didn't provoke me or offend me? Ah, ah, ah, so in your heart he's just a poor white lotus flower, is that right? You yourself said this circle is chaotic, have you gone crazy and not thought about it? If Yuan Zhenran was someone who could conserve energy, he wouldn't be able to climb to his current position today - don't think I don't know just because you didn't say it! The original singer of the theme song "Who's Listening" from "The Sound of Years Burning" is a female voice!!! In the initial documents, it was suggested that the lead singer should be me, Xu Qianqian!!!!!!!"

  A loud thud was heard from next door, probably something heavy had been thrown onto the carpet.

  "This movie's female lead is me, this movie's theme song should also be mine, those people's praise, those various awards, were originally all supposed to be mine... Xu Qianqian's voice was trembling with sobs, she choked out, "Don't I have the ability to sing that song? You know I do, and you know better than anyone else that I want to be a good female singer more than being a female actress; I've been learning to sing since I was little, not acting; I liked singing since I was little, not acting... I've been waiting for an opportunity to let everyone see the value in what I value myself, and finally got this chance, but you gave it to Yuan Jinyan..."

  “……”

  "And he doesn't even cherish it!" Xiu Qianqian raised her voice, "You know when I saw him facing everyone's praise, smiling so falsely and saying something like 'I haven't considered entering the music industry for now', that face of his was so disgusting and hypocritical! It made me want to vomit!"

  "He really has no interest in singing, don't always think that others care about the things you care about, it's meaningless."

  "Oh, really? Oh right, I almost forgot, Yuan Zhenran is so pure in your eyes, doesn't care about anything - if it wasn't for the fact that Yuan Zhenran flirted with you during filming, would you have suddenly changed your mind and given the theme song to Yuan Zhenran? As my senior, you should be clear about our school, our major, and my academic performance, in any case, I am much more suitable than Yuan Zhenran, who came out of nowhere - do you think he wants to be with you for no reason?"

  Jian Ran: "......"

  By this point, Jian Ran could no longer bear to listen.

  He was held in the palm of Jiang Chuan's hand, and he was so angry that his whole body trembled - Xu Qianqian this woman must have gone crazy, catching wind and shadow to come up with something and then filling it with brain supplements to fill out a so-called "complete fact", this kind of thing is secretly done in private, now it's even brought out openly as a fact - isn't this sick?

  He, Yuan Jingran, was with Jiang Luocheng for a theme song? Joke, he never thought of singing that "Who's Listening", the producer said let him try, so he tried - this woman is also funny, just like the producer didn't give her a chance to audition too, if she didn't go, then who was the person in the recording studio next door that day? Xu Qianqian's ghost?!

  Is this going to be ignored directly? Did Yuan Jingyan simply and crudely rely on "good looks" to snatch the opportunity from her hands?!

  Losing is just losing, what's the point of making excuses? A professional singer lost to an amateur, she should just swallow her pride and be quiet. At that time, I didn't say anything to spare her feelings and just sang as if nothing had happened. But this woman actually feels wronged?!

  Even if Yuan Jiren really slept with Jiang Luocheng, he could still sleep with the entire production team and not let go of the producer, all for singing a movie theme song that nobody knew would become popular later on?!!

  What's all the commotion about!!!!!!!!!!

  Your mother's leg, bullying a plant person who can't speak, is it?!

  Jiang Luocheng, am I a vegetable and are you a corpse too? Who told me to try out the theme song, don't you know that?! You even advised me to give Xu Qianqian some leeway, now it's all gone down the drain!

  Speak up, you mute egg! Hurry up and apologize to me, Jiang Chuan is still here, my wife is listening, you two are so dark-hearted, affecting the happiness of my future married life with Xiaoxian, will you compensate? Will you compensate?!?!?!?!?!?!

  At this point, Yan Ran finally grasped the focus of his excessive anger - he suddenly lifted his head and found that Jiang Chuan was quietly listening to the quarrel next door with a silent face, and those angry emotions turned into unease. Heaven knows how much he wanted to cover Jiang Chuan's ears so he wouldn't listen - it was embarrassing, really too embarrassing. Xu Qianqian, that woman, even those rumors about Yan Ran, he could ignore them, but he was very clear that he didn't want these terrible, fabricated things to reach the ears of the people he cared about.

  Not guilty conscience.

  He just thought it was dirty.

  At this moment, his mood had hit rock bottom. He deeply regretted that day when he had a war of words with Jiang Chuan on the internet, which led to the big fight afterwards. If it weren't for that, they wouldn't have been forced to come to this crappy place today - damn it, all of this was the consequence of his own reckless and arrogant behavior.

  The hamster, feeling depressed, stretched out its paws and tapped them on the back of its owner's hand, trying to comfort itself with this oily gesture. At the same time, it was also quietly trying to hypnotize Jiang Chuan through "touch-induced hypnosis": Don't believe her, don't believe her, don't believe her...

  Speaking of which, Jiang Chuan's skin on the back of his hand feels really good.

  The hamster was just getting into the swing of things when suddenly, after a long silence, Xu Qianqian's corpse in the corner finally reacted.

  "Xu Qianqian," facing the woman who was sobbing uncontrollably in front of him, Jiang Luocheng interrupted her accusation with an unusually calm tone, "There's something I think you've got wrong. The person who decided to give the theme song to Jinyan wasn't me. I'm just a director, and I don't have absolute control over things like that——"

  Xu Qianqian sneered: "Oh, is it?"

  "Yes." Jiang Luocheng said, "And what's with the way you're speaking, avoiding the main point and intentionally leaving out details? Do you think I don't know that the producer notified both of you to audition at the same time? Sorry, but I knew about this a long time ago. At the time, considering your music background and desire to continue singing, I even told Jianran not to take it too seriously and just go through the motions."

  Probably didn't expect to be exposed, Xu Qianqian fell silent.

  "I've never heard him sing seriously, that guy only sang 'I'll win if I try hard' and 'Goodbye Ah Lang' at KTV, so I don't know how he sings anyway. So when he said with a smile that he would sing seriously, I didn't take it to heart." Jiang Luocheng said, "But then again, even if he really took this matter seriously, what's the big deal? It's just being professional - and who knows, you, a music major from W University, someone who has been singing since childhood, would lose to an amateur in a pop song performance?"

  Xu Qianqian's voice lowered: "I was in a bad state that day, and you all knew I wanted this opportunity. With this opportunity, maybe I can make the company and agent recognize my singing skills and enter the music industry from now on."

  "Just because you have a dream, everyone should make way for you? I've lived for over thirty years and have never heard of such logic in the world." Jiang Luocheng paused before saying calmly, "Letting you is out of affection, not letting you is out of principle. Don't take others' generosity as something that's owed to you."

  Xu Qianqian completely lost her voice.

  Jiang Luocheng is right, reasonable and objective, calm and collected... except for exposing Yuan Zhenran's hobbies in KTV, which is a bit unkind... Zhenran's heart sinks, then looks up at Jiang Chuan, only to find that his expression remains the same as before, without any difference. It's unclear whether he believed Xu Qianqian earlier and now doesn't believe it after Jiang Luocheng whitewashed him, or if he never believed Xu Qianqian's words from the start.

  It's actually quite strange when you think about it carefully.

  Recently, there have been cases of famous directors coming out as gay and then happily marrying a beautiful person, and their movies continuing to sell well. According to Xu Qianqian's words, Jiang Luocheng just shouted "Yuan Jinyan" at some point... With Jiang Chuan in front of him, he could have completely followed Jiang Chuan's previous route, fabricated a "secret love" plotline, and then retreated with his whole body.

  Okay, even if Xu Qianqian knew they were together before.

  But she just relies on her mouth, even if she has seen Jiang Luocheng's and his assistant's emails or text messages, but these things are not convincing, they are untrustworthy, as long as she dares to speak out, IM company can mobilize all its forces to sue her for defamation until she is ruined.

  I couldn't understand why Jiang Luocheng was threatened by Xu Qianqian.

  Or is it that...

  Is there something substantial in Xu Qianqian's hands that he doesn't know about?

  Just thinking about it, I couldn't help but feel a little frightened.

  The conversation next door had not ended yet, and after Jiang Luocheng's series of sharp words left Xu Qianqian speechless, Xu Qianqian remained silent for a long time. Just when Yan Jinyan thought she was about to be persuaded, he heard her coldly laugh: "So, in the end, you're still speaking up for him - fine, let's say I missed the opportunity for the theme song 'Who's Listening' myself. Have you ever wondered why no matter what I want, Yan Jinyan always pops up and competes with me? I've known since middle school that there was someone named Jiang Luocheng in the high school department, and he followed your footsteps into W University. I liked you first, Jiang Luocheng - Yan Jinyan is a man, and even if he's like this, he still has to pop up and compete with me for you."

  “……”

  "The role of 'Mysterious Seed', the production side only prepared one Asian character, because the character positioning was not clear, the invitation plan was sent to me and Yuan Zhenran two people - this is a tailor-made role, how many people can walk out of the country and get such a tailor-made role opportunity? I really wanted this role, why did he come to grab it from me?"

  On one side, Xu Qianqian was going crazy, on the other side, Jiang Chuan, who was listening at the corner of the wall, revealed a smile that wasn't quite a smile. At the same time, the hamster he was holding in his hand also looked embarrassed - without saying anything, after being summarized by Xu Qianqian like this, even Jian Ye himself felt that he had unknowingly become a stumbling block on Xu Qianqian's path to dreams and success.

  What a fate.

  It's probably just a coincidence, but no one would believe it anyway.

  But it really is just a coincidence.

  The movie "Mysterious Seed" is made by foreigners, from the production team to the director to the investors. Who knows what's going on in this circle? ...Girl, your mental quality is really not good, if you do it this way, won't the Oscar nominees and winners have to fight to the death every year?

  "Was everything I said to you just nonsense? What makes you think that just because you say 'I want it', he has to give it to you? ...And didn't you already get this role?"

  "That's because he became a vegetable," Xu Qianqian's voice somehow carried a hint of trembling — sounding somewhat excited, "He deserved it."

  As soon as the words were spoken, even Jiang Chuan, who was leaning against the wall and seemed somewhat absent-minded, furrowed his brow from head to toe - although in Jian Ran's opinion, this sentence only showed how vicious Xu Qianqian was, but he was no longer surprised, because Xu Qianqian had already perfectly demonstrated how vicious she was.

  Jiang Luocheng seemed to have the same feeling: "I mind you going to take a look in the mirror and see how ugly you are now."

  Xu Qianqian's voice calmed down: "At that time, the director had already chosen him, and I heard that the contract was ready. It's just that he suddenly got into trouble, so this role fell to me - it's not my fault, he wanted to get into trouble himself. And I will seize this opportunity well, after finishing 'Mysterious Seeds', I, Xu Qianqian, should formally bid farewell to my past self."

  Jiang Luocheng did not comment on Xu Qianqian's absurd statement, but instead said lightly: "This can also be considered as indirectly giving you the way, it's good to take advantage of it and smile, there's no need to gloat - Xu Qianqian, compared to other artists, what you have is already enough to make others envy, they may not even be able to catch up with what you have now after a lifetime of hard work. But look at you, why are you still showing an ugly and jealous expression?"

  "I feel that heaven is unfair to me, I am unhappy."

  "No, you think you're unhappy just because of your endless greed."

  Xu Qianqian was quiet for a moment, and then suddenly changed the subject and asked: "What about me liking you?"

  Next door came the sound of someone playing with a lighter, and after a moment, Jiang Luocheng gave Xu Qianqian an earth-shattering answer: "Haven't we been to bed together? Now in everyone's eyes, we are also a couple, you should be satisfied, or else tomorrow we'll go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get a certificate for you to show off - I don't care."

  Xu Qianqian: "......"

  Jian Ran: "......"

  Jiang Chuan: “......”

  Now even Yan Jianyan has started to sympathize with Xu Qianqian, and in life, having a "Yan Jianyan" as a magnificent and huge stumbling block that can't be kicked away is enough, but also liking Jiang Luocheng, such a heartless and ruthless scumbag.

  The conversation next door finally came to an end, and the moment the neighbor's door creaked open, Jiang Chuan grabbed Zhen Ran and jumped out of the guest room window - from a three-step sprint to the window to a long leg swing that sent them flying outside, the whole process was as smooth as a flowing cloud, this standard movement that could rival special forces left the hamster in the man's palm completely stunned.

  The most difficult thing was that Jiang Chuan had circled around and walked back to the villa from the courtyard, where he met Xu Qianqian and Jiang Luocheng at the gate. At this time, when the hamster was about to lose its hair due to embarrassment, Jiang Chuan could still greet them calmly. Just now, the two people who had been secretly hiding in the room and crying together were now smiling and leaning on each other like conjoined twins. Xu Qianqian should have reapplied her makeup, so it didn't show that she had cried. Her face was full of smiles - this woman is quite beautiful. If not for accidentally knowing that she has a rich inner world and loves to hold grudges in private, at least from a male perspective, Jiang Chuan still quite liked her.

  Xu Qianqian smiled and asked Jiang Chuan where they were going, Jiang Chuan said he wanted to go back to the guest room to rest. After thinking for a moment, he also asked Xu Qianqian where the guest room was.

  Xu Qianqian pointed the way for him without any doubt.

  Jiang Chuan said "oh" and thanked him, then three minutes later, he and Jin Ran returned to the room where they had been listening at the corner of the wall earlier.

  Jiang Chuan closed the door, pulled up the curtains, probably because he was uncomfortable with his swimsuit, and directly took off his pants, getting into bed completely naked. The previous second, he was still reeling from the massive amount of information about hamsters, but now his attention was completely drawn to the man's crotch, where a certain something was hanging, even in its dormant state, its size was astonishing. As Jiang Chuan moved, got on the bed, and lay down, every small movement made it gently sway in a very enticing way...

  Thinking carefully, I seem to remember that I was initially attracted to Jiang Chuan because of his angelic face and devilish body.

  Squatting on the pillow, Hamster's eyes kept staring at him, unable to stop - until Jiang Chuan got into bed, lifted up the new quilt and lay down directly covering the key part, stretched out his hand to poke Hamster's belly and said: "Ah Fei, come sleep for a while."

  Although he wasn't sleepy at all, when Jiang Chuan invited him like that, he still seemed to be enchanted and slightly restrained himself, leaning towards the man with his fluffy body, and leaned against his ear. Turning his head, from a distance of just a few inches, he could see Jiang Chuan seemingly satisfied, letting out a long sigh and slowly closing his eyes, those dense eyelashes falling down like small fans, casting a small shadow under his eyes, covering up the faint dark circles that had been accumulating over the past few sleepless nights.

  The man's nose bridge is high and straight, and the tip of his nose seems like a masterpiece carved by the best sculptor.

  In the outline of Westerners, however, one can subtly feel a thread of Eastern heritage.

  The most perfect mixed-blood in the world is probably like this.

  He cautiously stretched out his claws and lightly touched the hairpin on the man's ear, this subtle movement obviously couldn't disturb the latter - he was probably really too tired, having locked himself in the room for several days without seeing the sun or moon, processing those mysterious files day and night. Even when filming in H City, he hadn't looked so haggard, but these past few days, during what was supposed to be a relaxing break for the rest of the crew, he had quickly lost some weight, making his face look even more defined.

  At this time, the man's breathing was even and long.

  The entire guest room's bedroom is so quiet that even a falling needle can be heard clearly.

  I don't know why, but in this quiet atmosphere, I listened to Jiang Chuan's gentle snores as he fell into a light sleep - previously still fuming with anger over Xu Qianqian's matter, my entire mood had been fluctuating wildly, but now it also calmed down. It carefully moved its body slightly, making itself more closely attached to the side of Jiang Chuan's face...

  It's just like yawning is contagious, fatigue can also be transmitted to others.

  The hamster closed its eyes with unparalleled peace of mind.

  He suddenly wanted to believe in Jiang Chuan very much, no matter what others said or did, he would have his own thoughts, and others couldn't use those dirty rumors to tarnish his mind.

  If so, then Yuan Ran would naturally become fearless as well.

  ……

  I had a very long dream.

  In his dream, Jiang Chuan was searching for him in a foggy place.

  The man looked more anxious than ever, he seemed to be searching aimlessly everywhere, calling out "Ah Fei" "Ah Fei" - under normal circumstances, at the moment he appeared, Jian Yan, who was usually attached to his leg like a dog, should have rushed up and hugged him tightly, but for some reason, this time, Jian Yan didn't do that.

  He was even confused about this himself.

  It was as if he had some unspeakable reason why this time he absolutely could not go out and let Jiang Chuan see him.

  Jiang Chuan was still searching not far away, and looked more and more anxious. Jin Yan only felt that his whole heart was tied up, constantly telling himself "hurry up and appear, you see how anxious he is to find you" - however, his body seemed to be frozen in place, and all that was left in his mind was a single voice: You can't go, you still have important things to do.

  When the hamsters were so anxious that they almost flew away, the scene around them suddenly changed again. The mist dispersed and Jian Ran was shocked to find himself back at the filming location of "Republic of China Strange Record", specifically by the side of a lotus pond during the shooting of the prologue chapter. It seemed to be summer, with the lotus flowers in full bloom. Large leaves covered Jian Ran's head, hiding his small body under the leaves.

  It was probably because of the shelter provided by these lotus leaves that Jiang Chuan couldn't see himself.

  Looking around anxiously, Jiang Chuan searched the whole world for himself, asking every passerby with a blurry face: "Have you seen my hamster?"

  Most of them shook their heads indifferently, while others sneered and told Jiang Chuan "Isn't your hamster already dead?" The rest said they saw it in the cafeteria, some said they saw it on the playground, and some said they just saw a hamster in the kitchen but didn't know if it was Jiang Chuan's. At this time, a person walked over from afar, surprisingly, it was Xu Qianqian. When Jiang Chuan was about to brush past her indifferently, the woman stopped in her tracks, turned around and looked at Jiang Chuan, saying coldly: "Don't look for them anymore, your two hamsters are both dead, one buried on the mountain and the other drowned in water."

  Jiang Chuan was silent.

  At the same time, a cold drop fell from the lotus leaf on top of Jian Ran's head and landed on his head - the hamster was startled, its blood flowing backwards, every pore shouting "She's talking nonsense" "Xu Qianqian is talking nonsense". He angrily wanted to take a step forward and jump out in front of Jiang Chuan, using his living self to slap that woman's face hard. However, just as he took the first step, his foot slipped suddenly, and his entire body fell backwards.

  It was a deafening crash for the hamsters, earth-shaking and heaven-stirring.

  But to humans, all these sounds were just a "thud" as if a small frog had jumped from the lotus leaf into the pond - The last scene that Jiang Chuan saw was him subconsciously turning his head around at the sound, but the layered lotus leaves blocked his view, and he didn't see the mouse falling into the pond. In his eyes, there were only the slightly swaying lotus leaves and the scattered dew drops on the ground.

  In the pond, the icy water quickly submerged the hamster - the lake water instantly filled his entire nasal cavity, and he opened his eyes wide with a fixed stare, watching as bubbles emerged from his mouth and nose and rose to the surface, eventually bursting. The suffocating cold sensation enveloped him, and a fear of death originating from within completely locked him in...

  I don't know why, but suddenly I remembered that I had read in a book - actually, compared to the dramatic performances in movies and TV shows, most people who drown are calm, whether they are desperate to die or accidentally fall into the water. In the process of sinking to the bottom, they won't even struggle, just staring blankly at the surface, the light on the surface, and the distant sounds of people shouting.

  Silently died in the end.

  In a daze, it seemed as if Xu Xianxian was smiling and saying to Jiang Chuan on the surface of the water: "Your hamster drowned in that pond, but you can't find it. You don't even know where its body sank. You'll never find it again."

  Jian Ran: "......"

  It's just a dream after all.

  Xu Qianqian in real life probably wouldn't be able to come up with such profound words - after all, this woman is essentially only familiar with hysteria and being unreasonable.

  He calmly and quietly watched as the light that had penetrated the water's surface grew farther and farther away, until all that was left around him was endless darkness... It's at this point in dreams where one often finds themselves on the verge of death that they suddenly wake up... Although Jian Ran still didn't understand what this dream meant, he knew he had to escape from it. Whether it was Jiang Chuan's behavior or the desolate, inexplicable sorrow in his own heart, everything made him want to leave this dream behind as soon as possible.

  Wake up.

  Wake up now.

  Silently tell yourself.

  But in fact, when he started to imply this himself, he also felt the pressure and coldness coming from the pond water gradually decreasing. He was slightly relieved, just as he was quietly waiting for this feeling to completely disappear, but at that moment, he suddenly heard a faint "plop" sound - like the sound of a raindrop falling on the water's surface.

  Huh?

  Is it raining outside?

  Vaguely thinking.

  The hamster, which should have sunk to the bottom of the water, opened its eyes and unexpectedly found that everything around it had changed again - at this moment, what surrounded it was no longer a perspective where everything looked incredibly huge for a hamster, but in fact, the size of all objects around it had returned to the familiar scale of a human being, streets, trees, and crowds of people passing by.

  Has it changed back?

  He gazed around with a mixture of excitement and caution, almost forgetting that he was still in a dream. Just then, a raindrop fell from the sky onto his forehead - an icy sensation, just like the dew on the lotus leaf falling onto the hamster's head not long ago. He looked up dazedly, only to find that dark clouds had gathered in the sky at some point. In the instant he lifted his head, a torrential downpour poured from the sky just one meter in front of him.

  He stood outside the rain curtain, as if he and Jiang Chuan were in two different worlds.

  Suddenly, Jian Ran felt a weight in his hand and when he lowered his head, he found that there was an umbrella in his hand that he didn't know when it appeared - this umbrella looked familiar, Jian Ran thought for a moment, then remembered that it seemed to be the one Wang Mo held in his hand at the end of "Republic of China Strange Record".

  As if suddenly enlightened, he lifted his head - and indeed, he saw the lotus pond not far away from him. At this moment, a familiar figure was crouching beside the pond, with its back to him.

  It's Jiangchuan.

  It was as if everything had returned to the last scene of the Republic of China's Strange Tales script.

  It just so happened that the deep pit that appeared when he failed to cross the tribulation this time turned into a lotus pond; Huajin Daoist became Jiangchuan, and Jinran took over the role of Qiaosheng - he stood behind Jiangchuan, looking at the man motionless squatting there, looking at the bottom of the deep lotus pond - the heavy rain poured down, soaking him from head to toe, the rainwater dripped from his hair, splashing circles of ripples on the surface of the lotus pond...

  From a distance, only the faint outline of Jiang Chuan's silent profile can be seen through the rain curtain. Raindrops slide down the man's curved and perfect jawline, forming a line of water.

  Silent and still.

  Then his wrist shook slightly, and all he heard was a "pa" sound. The retro-style umbrella in his hand was opened.

  He took another step forward and stepped into the rain curtain.

  Treading on the accumulated water, he subconsciously lightened his footsteps and walked slowly to the back of the man by the pond, and a tiny pause flashed across his originally expressionless face.

  However, the young man with black hair quickly gathered his emotions and moved the hand holding the umbrella in a way that was almost imperceptible. At the same time, the umbrella in his hand also tilted slightly, allowing the icy rain to soak through his originally dry clothes. The young man with black hair held the umbrella over the man's head, shielding him from the torrential downpour.

  Jiang Chuan didn't look back, from start to finish he maintained the initial movement squatting there - and when he felt the rainwater falling on his head suddenly disappear, only then did he slightly move.

  From the look of it, it was probably over a century later - he finally saw that the man slightly turned his head, and those long and thick beautiful eyelashes were covered with water droplets, the azure pupils were shrouded in a layer of mist, his voice was hoarse, and then asked out the only line he had in this entire absurd dream.

  "Have you seen my hamster?"

  A long silence.

  In the midst of the torrential rain washing over the earth with a loud whooshing sound, the young black-haired man standing behind him slightly curled up the corners of his lips.

  "I've seen it."

  “……”

  "I am right here."