TF01 113

Ying Ming returned from home mainly because the film was officially about to start shooting, and he needed to join the crew.

Being back on set felt a little unfamiliar at first, but what caught him off guard more was how surprised everyone else seemed to be.

“Holy shit, you…” Wang Yiqi stared in shock at the sight of Ying Ming walking into the conference room in a black trench coat with a cigarette between his teeth. His finger trembled dramatically for a long moment, but the rest of his sentence never came out.

The one being stared at like some alien furrowed his brow. “Do you have to be so theatrical?”

Seriously?

And it wasn’t just Wang Yiqi. Even Dong Xiao looked a little stunned. “You cut your hair?”

Ying Ming’s shoulder-length hair had been trimmed into a neat, close-cropped style. It wasn’t a harsh military cut, but compared to how he usually looked, the change was so drastic that some people barely recognized him.

In most people’s memory, it had been years since Ying Ming last wore his hair short.

Si Ji raised an eyebrow nearby. “I wonder if the stylist is going to have a meltdown when he sees you.”

“I already called him. Since I’m playing a retired soldier, there’s no way the character would have long hair anyway.”

Unbothered by everyone’s reaction, Ying Ming sat down at a seat off to the side and tipped his chin slightly. “Stop staring at my hair and get on with it.”

His remark didn’t stop the curious glances, but eventually Dong Xiao had to slap the table twice to keep Wang Yiqi from rushing over to gossip.

The film had been in preparation for a long time. There had been a delay when it nearly failed to pass review, which had left a gap in the schedule. But now that Ying Ming was back on set, production could officially begin. Everyone knew what needed to be done, so there was no need to waste time explaining. If there was a problem, it was probably Si Ji, who still hadn’t adjusted to being an actor.

Ying Ming pushed that problem entirely onto Dong Xiao.

“He’s stuck in his head. You’ll have to handle him.”

It had probably been Dong Xiao’s influence that got Si Ji to agree to the role in the first place. No one else had that kind of sway. Ying Ming could tell there was something between the two of them, though he had no intention of prying if they didn’t bring it up themselves.

Thankfully, after two days of filming, Si Ji finally began to settle into the role. Since the second half of the movie required relocating the entire crew to a different shooting base, they needed to move fast on the first half. After considering the schedule, Ying Ming decided to split the production into two units. One for day shoots and one for night. The assistant directors were all from Si Ji’s previous team and were used to working under pressure, so keeping up with the pace wasn’t a problem in the early stages.

The real issue was that Ying Ming had to oversee both units. The workload was staggering.

Dong Xiao had told him more than once that this wasn’t the right way to do things, but until someone had worked with Ying Ming directly, they would never fully grasp just how unshakable he could be. No matter what anyone said, he stuck to his plan.

Until the call from his mother came.

The truth was, even after all those days at home, he hadn’t managed to persuade his parents.

The storm at home had been far more intense than he had expected. The family who had rarely interfered in his life growing up had shown a level of resistance that was completely unyielding. No matter what he said or how he tried to explain, their stance never wavered.

“You listen to me, Ying Ming. I gave birth to you and raised you. I’ve watched you grow up, and you were never meant to walk this path. I don’t care who this Shi Yi is or where he comes from. I will never accept you becoming one of those people. If you still want to be my son, then you end it. Now.”

That was the ultimatum his mother had given him. As for his father, he had remained silent the entire time.

If the crew had not absolutely insisted he return, Ying Ming might have stayed home even longer.

But things like this were never simple. He had prepared himself mentally before stepping out of the house again.

When he left home, his family was still just as uncompromising. That was why, when he suddenly received a phone call from his mother, he was genuinely surprised.

“Mom?”

“Get home. Now.”

Her tone over the phone was sharp and tense. Ying Ming frowned. “I’m at the set.”

“I don’t care where you are. If you don’t want your dad to beat that Shi Yi half to death, then you better come back now.”

He hadn’t been able to reach Shi Yi’s phone before. After that, he stopped trying. Part of it was that he had been swamped ever since filming began. His days and nights had blurred together. Another part of it was that whenever he did think of Shi Yi, just looking at his phone made him lose the urge to call or send a message. He hadn’t expected that Shi Yi would return to the country and go straight to his house.

On the way, Ying Ming called Dong Xiao to explain the situation, but only said a few words before hanging up. Even if he drove fast, it would still take over two hours to get from the set to his house. Along the way, he tried calling home again, but no one answered.

“Fuck.”

He cursed under his breath and slammed his foot on the gas.

He sped the entire way, and it still took nearly two hours. By the time he parked in front of the house, the sky was already dark.

He opened the front door and stepped into a pitch-black living room. It made him pause. “Dad? Mom?”

He called out a couple of times with no answer. After switching on the lights, he walked further in. Just as he neared the bedrooms, he finally heard his mother’s voice, sharp and irritable. “In here!”

The study across from the bedroom was also lit. As he passed by, he saw that his father was inside.

Then he turned and saw Shi Yi lying on the bed in his room, completely still.

“Mom?”

He looked at his mother standing nearby. She didn’t respond. Ying Ming stepped up to the bed and shook Shi Yi’s shoulder twice. “Shi Yi.”

The man on the bed let out a faint groan. His complexion looked terrible, but he didn’t respond.

“What happened?”

Shi Yi’s glasses had broken. They were sitting on the nightstand, shattered. His face was pale and exhausted, his whole appearance marked by fatigue and travel. It looked like he had come straight from the airport without even going home. Ying Ming reached out and pulled him upright, trying to wake him. “Shi Yi. Wake up. Come on, Shi Yi.”

Only now that he was this close did he realize how unnaturally hot Shi Yi’s skin felt.

“He came looking for you. We told him you weren’t here, but he wouldn’t believe it. He insisted on waiting. The conversation got tense, and your father lost his temper and hit him.”

That was all his mother said. Her expression was sour. Watching Ying Ming half-holding Shi Yi, her mood soured further. She turned and went into her room, clearly not wanting to see any more of it.

Ying Ming let out a frustrated sigh and kept trying to wake Shi Yi.

There was no way a single blow from his father could have left him like this. It had to be a fever.

Ying Ming kept trying to wake him, but Shi Yi didn’t respond. He picked him up and took him straight to the hospital. After the examination, the doctor said it was pneumonia with an upper respiratory infection, and he was admitted immediately.

Everything had happened so suddenly. Once Shi Yi was settled, Ying Ming finally called home.

Upon hearing that Shi Yi was seriously ill, his mother didn’t say anything else.

“Mom. I’m going to stay at the hospital for a few days. I won’t be coming back.”

“…All right.”

Mother and son were both silent. After a moment, his mother sighed. “If anything happens, call the house.”

That was as far as her concern could go. As soon as she said it, the call ended.

Ying Ming stared at Shi Yi’s face, pale and drained of color. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, overwhelmed by everything piling together at once.

The lighting in the hospital room was that same bleak white as always. The last time he had waited for Shi Yi in a hospital was still too vivid in his memory. The scent of disinfectant in the air made his limbs feel cold. He fought the urge to smoke and sat down next to the bed. His gaze drifted along Shi Yi’s profile, down the line of his neck, and finally stopped at the hand hooked up to the IV. He reached over and held his fingers for a moment. The weight and shape felt thinner than they should have.

The way things had gone, the two of them might as well have been cursed. From the moment they met, it had been one mess after another. Between the two of them, they had already landed in the hospital twice.

While handling the admission paperwork earlier, one of the hospital staff had seemed to recognize him. Since he was filling everything out in Shi Yi’s name, there had been a flicker of awkwardness in the staff member’s expression.

He was slowly getting used to things like this.

For him, it was manageable. As an actor, his job was to attract attention. But for someone like Shi Yi, adjusting to that kind of exposure must have been much harder.

Still, no matter how difficult it was, people adapted eventually.

It wasn’t that they would grow numb to it, but that eventually the people watching would. Curiosity never lasted forever. Once the wave of public attention faded, it would drift toward something new. The wounds left behind would still be there, but they would have to heal those on their own, little by little.

Ying Ming wanted to smoke badly. But inside the hospital, it wasn’t an option.

He reached out and touched the bruised area around Shi Yi’s eye. The memory of what had happened flashed vividly across his mind, like a scene replaying itself.

“I told you my dad used to train with spears. That one he keeps is three meters long, thick as a fist. Were you trying to get yourself killed? You actually came here anyway…” Even knowing Shi Yi couldn’t hear him, Ying Ming couldn’t stop himself from scolding him. “You don’t even think. And now look at the state you’re in. If I had been any later, I’d be planning your funeral.”

The doctor had said Shi Yi’s condition had been serious. He had likely been exposed to cold weather for too long without warming up properly. The inflammation had become severe.

If Shi Yi’s family found out, it was hard to imagine what kind of chaos might follow.

Ying Ming considered calling Chen Cheng, but hesitated. In the end, he didn’t make the call.

Even though Shi Yi had been in bad shape when they arrived, the doctor had confirmed that there was no danger to his life. With the right treatment, the inflammation would subside in a few days. Bringing his entire family into the situation wouldn’t necessarily help with his recovery. If something else happened while they were around, it might just make things worse.

He called the film crew to explain his situation. Haozi would likely be able to come by in the next day or two to help look after things. Once Shi Yi woke up and his condition stabilized, Ying Ming planned to return to the set.

Dong Xiao was understanding. “Don’t worry about it. Si Ji can help hold things down for now. Just come back when everything’s settled.”

It helped that this was a film production. The shooting schedule was tight, but still manageable. If it had been a television drama, Ying Ming’s absence would have caused serious delays.

What he hadn’t expected was that things would take a sharp turn so soon after.

On the second day of keeping watch at the hospital, before Shi Yi even woke up, Ying Ming received a phone call that forced him to fly straight to Australia.