TF01 24

Ying Ming and Shi Yi were still casually chatting, watching TV while glancing at the sky. The two of them had different tastes in shows, so whenever they disagreed, they would just take jabs at each other. When the rain started falling, Shi Yi even took the chance to boast about how foresighted he was.

But after more than two hours of nonstop rain, they couldn’t help but glance at each other.

“This rain is seriously messed up…”

At first, it seemed like just a passing shower, something that would come and go in no time.

But strangely enough, the longer it rained, the darker the sky became. It wasn’t even nighttime yet, but outside the window, it looked as if the sun had completely disappeared.

“Good thing we didn’t stay on the road…”

Shi Yi sighed, this time without his usual smugness, just pure relief.

Driving in weather like this was asking for trouble.

Sure enough, before long, more and more cars started pulling into the rest stop.

The parking lot was practically full.

They stood by the window, watching the scene outside. It wasn’t long before there was a knock on the door.

Shi Yi turned around to open it, finding a staff member standing there.

“Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Shi. Due to the sudden weather change, many travelers have pulled into the rest stop, but we don’t have enough accommodations for everyone. We’re not sure how long this rain will last, and if it continues through the night, we may need to arrange shared rooms. Would that be alright with you…?”

He trailed off, looking apologetic.

Shi Yi just waved a hand. “No problem. I’ll share with Ying Ming.”

“Thank you both for your understanding. We truly apologize for the inconvenience.”

The staff member let out a relieved breath, politely taking two steps back. Only after Shi Yi closed the door did he finally turn and leave.

Shi Yi shut the door, glanced over at Ying Ming by the window, and grinned.

“Well, looks like we’re officially roommates now.”

The rain really did last until nightfall.

Since the restaurant was a bit of a walk from the lodging area, going out in this kind of downpour was too much trouble. Instead, dinner was delivered to their rooms by the staff.

When Shi Yi was ordering, his eyes skimmed the menu and landed on the word “congee” hidden among the other dishes. He paused for a second.

“You guys have congee?”

“Yes,” the staff member replied cheerfully.

“What about at noon?”

“We serve it at noon too.”

Ying Ming burst out laughing. He was lying on the bed, cigarette between his fingers, looking completely unbothered about having bullshitted him earlier.

After placing the order and closing the door, Shi Yi walked over to the bed and looked at Ying Ming.

“Tell me, do actors ever say anything truthful?”

The way they made shit up so naturally, like they didn’t even need a script.

Ying Ming played along, flashing a grin. “That was a harmless lie.”

“Then are you a man or a woman?”

“A woman.”

“Fuck!” Shi Yi raised a brow. “Another harmless lie?”

“I just didn’t want to hurt your ego.”

Ying Ming shrugged as he spoke, making Shi Yi almost lunge at him to beat him up.

“With that mouth of yours, I bet a lot of people have been played by you.”

He suddenly recalled their first meeting. Ying Ming had insisted over and over that he had no idea where Wang Yiqi was or when he’d be back. Looking at it now, he was obviously just brushing him off.

But Ying Ming neither admitted nor denied it. He simply chuckled twice and took another drag from his cigarette.

The room wasn’t big, and the ceiling was low, making the space feel even more cramped when both of them were standing. The TV was still on, playing the same few channels. Shi Yi grabbed the remote, flipped through a couple of them, and then tossed it aside in boredom.

“What the hell are we gonna do tonight? Just sit here staring at each other?”

If he had known, he never would’ve signed up for this damn rally. So much of his time was wasted sitting around in some shitty little countryside motel.

Ying Ming chewed on his cigarette, glancing around before sighing. “I’ve got no clue either.”

Shi Yi plopped down on the bed. “How about we just talk?”

“Talk?”

The serious suggestion made Ying Ming raise a brow. “About what?”

“Anything. Whatever.”

Shi Yi leaned back, looking relaxed. Then, after a moment, he added, “How about your family?”

He smirked. “Not like mine’s worth talking about anyway.”

Anyone in their circle knew about his family. There was nothing new to say.

Ying Ming took two drags from his cigarette, leaning against the wall as he looked at Shi Yi. He didn’t answer right away. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke, his tone slow and unhurried.

“My family’s just an ordinary household of three. Not well-off, but not struggling either.”

As he spoke, he instinctively narrowed his eyes. Outside, the sky was still dark, the sound of rain hammering against the glass filling the room. The TV was still on, mixing with the noise of the storm, making everything feel strangely distant.

“My parents are pretty normal people. I’m their only son, so they spoiled me quite a bit. When I first told them I wanted to be an actor, they didn’t really understand. They thought a kid should focus on school. Acting in movies and TV shows, it all seemed unreliable to them. Today’s one thing, tomorrow’s another. No one could say what would happen.”

Looking back, the old folks really did have a point.

“My home is one of those old traditional courtyards. There were always a lot of women around. My mom had a bunch of sisters, and they all lived together. Aside from my uncle and grandpa, there weren’t many men in the house. The whole place felt too yin.”

Ying Ming chuckled. “When I was little, my dad used to worry that growing up surrounded by women would make me… you know, a bit off.”

“You turned out fine.”

Shi Yi threw in a casual remark, but his eyes instinctively drifted downward toward Ying Ming’s lower abdomen.

Ying Ming caught his meaning but didn’t bother responding. Shi Yi’s gaze lingered for a while, full of bad intentions. He stared as much as he wanted, and only when he got bored did he finally look away. Ying Ming raised a brow.

“After I became an actor, the first few years were insanely busy. I barely had time to breathe, let alone go home. The company got me a place to stay and assigned people to take care of food, daily chores, whatever. Before I knew it, four years had passed, and I’d barely gone back.”

The most he did was make an occasional phone call.

For a regular kid, the time he spent at home wasn’t much to begin with.

And before he even became an actor, he wasn’t the type to stay put at home either.

Maybe because Ying Ming’s expression looked a little off, Shi Yi frowned. “Do you miss home?”

“Didn’t know what missing home felt like back then.”

Ying Ming let out a long breath. “By the time I realized I missed it, it felt like I couldn’t go back anymore.”

“Why?”

“Guess I just feel guilty about it.”

For the first time, Ying Ming admitted this thought in front of someone else, his brows drawing together slightly. “Back then, I thought everything would be easy. I figured I could do anything and talked big to my family. But now… even if I went back and they didn’t say anything, I’d still feel weird about it.”

It wasn’t to the extent of being too ashamed to face his parents, but there was always this knot in his heart.

He should have gone back when it mattered most, but he did not. Now, the so-called returning home in glory felt like it had come too late.

The conversation had somehow turned heavy. Shi Yi patted Ying Ming’s shoulder in understanding, and neither of them spoke.

This kind of pride that men carried, was something only they themselves could truly understand.

Ying Ming glanced at Shi Yi, then let out a light chuckle. “And the moment I go back, my family starts pushing me about marriage. It’s a headache.”

That finally struck a chord with Shi Yi. He raised an eyebrow. “So it’s the same everywhere, huh?”

“My mom nags all the time, so I can handle that. But my dad…. he waits until after dinner, sits me down on the couch with this serious face, and says, ‘Son, when I was your age, you were already three years old…’”

Ying Ming was an actor, after all, and it showed in the way he unconsciously mimicked his father’s tone and expression. For a moment, it was like he was a completely different person.

Shi Yi shook his head, laughing. “My old man doesn’t even bother easing into it. He just puts his chopsticks down and goes, ‘At your age, shouldn’t you be thinking about your personal matters? Do you even have a plan? Just because I don’t ask doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want.’”

Even when Shi Yi was in school, the messages he got from his father always started with Comrade Shi Yi, making them feel like official work reports.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what kind of man Shi Yi’s father was. Ying Ming laughed along. “So it’s just different approaches to the same thing.”

But the topic made Shi Yi think of something. “I heard you’ve been in this industry for so long and barely had any scandals.”

“I was still a minor when I was at my most popular. Wouldn’t that be a bit much?”

The industry might have been messed up, but even here, there were still some lines that couldn’t be crossed.

Shi Yi shot him a skeptical look. “But you weren’t a minor forever, were you?”

“When I became an adult, I was no longer the center of media attention, so no one cared to make a fuss over me. Even when promoting movies, the responsibility never fell on me. Most of the lead roles went to category three films, which never made it to theaters, so I did not have to do any publicity.”

“Then what was that thing with Liu Li all about?”

Now that the question was finally out in the open, Ying Ming actually felt a sense of relief. He had wanted to clear this up with Shi Yi for a long time, but he never found the right opportunity. Bringing it up on its own felt too damn pretentious, but leaving it unspoken left a bad taste in both their mouths.

“Liu Li and I were purely a response to the media speculating about my sexuality. The timing just worked out. Every movie needs a promotional hook. Liu Li and Dong Xiao were too obviously fake, so they were not interesting enough for gossip, which was why they dragged me into it. It was just playing along with the company’s arrangement.”

Many times, the director, producer, or even investors would drop hints about what needed to be done.

Liu Li only got involved with him because of how things played out at the time.

At the end of the day, it was all about weighing pros and cons. Nothing new.

Shi Yi listened, his frown deepening. “That is why I never had a good impression of your industry in the first place. It all just seems so messy.”

The news was always filled with scandals, and there were barely any positive ones.

Ying Ming took a couple of drags from his cigarette and let his gaze drift aside. “People outside the industry see entertainment as corrupt and decadent, a place where someone can rise to the top overnight or disappear just as fast. They think it is full of shady deals and backroom maneuvering.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Every industry has competition, just with different methods. You business types use psychological tactics in negotiations, don’t you? It is all the same. The only difference is that in this industry, everything is laid bare for the world to see, and because of that exposure, people paint it as some treacherous swamp. But in the end, it all comes down to personal choice. If you truly do not want to do something, no one can force you.”

Ying Ming had always believed in the power of choice.

The path a person takes is entirely their own. How far they go depends entirely on what they are willing to sacrifice.

Shi Yi stayed silent for a long while. Eventually, he nodded with a hint of mockery in his expression.

“Yeah. Makes sense.”