TF01 34

After Shi Yi left without saying goodbye that time, he did not contact Ying Ming for a long time. He only called afterward to explain that something had come up at the company, and Ying Ming did not press further, so the matter was left at that.

Ying Ming was not the kind of person who would take the initiative to reach out to others. As the production team started rushing progress, he had little time to go out. Before they knew it, the two of them had not been in contact for a while, each busy with their own affairs.

By the time Shi Yi learned about Ying Ming’s recent situation, it was mostly from Wang Le.

It was only after some time that he realized Wang Le had been going to the set frequently since that day.

According to Wang Le, he initially just wanted to figure out Wang Yiqi’s thoughts. Shi Yi found it quite obvious that the man simply did not want to be with him, but trying to reason with Wang Le about this did not seem to work. He kept showing up at the set every few days, and since everyone knew he was an acquaintance of both Ying Ming and Wang Yiqi, no one dared to stop him.

Wang Yiqi’s attitude toward him was far from friendly.

Most of the time, he simply acted as if Wang Le was invisible. The film set required silence, so he would not lose his temper at him outright, but when Wang Le’s persistence got on his nerves, he would simply go straight to the makeup trailer.

More often than not, it was Ying Ming who ended up exchanging a few words with Wang Le.

The day after Shi Yi had taken Wang Le to the set, Wang Le showed up again. Predictably, Wang Yiqi turned around and left.

Seeing him squatting there looking a little pitiful, Ying Ming took advantage of a break and walked over to hand him a bottle of water.

When Wang Le looked up and saw him, disappointment flashed across his face. He took the bottle and sighed lightly. “Are you here to tell me that feelings cannot be forced?”

Ying Ming raised an eyebrow without saying anything.

“Yiqi didn’t use to treat me like this. He actually took good care of me.”

Wang Le seemed unable to forget the night he first met Wang Yiqi at the bar. Ying Ming listened to him for a while before he could not help but interject, “Sometimes, when people do things, it does not necessarily mean anything special. Aqi helped you because it was convenient. That is just the way he is with people.”

A simple act of kindness, nothing worth mentioning.

But Wang Le only shook his head lightly. “You don’t understand. It’s not like you said.”

Those words left Ying Ming with almost no room to argue. After all, he really had no idea what happened at the time. According to Wang Yiqi, he had simply lent Wang Le a hand out of rare goodwill, but from Wang Le’s perspective, it was as if they had made an unbreakable vow to each other.

So in the end, it is best not to change your principles too easily.

Otherwise, you will only end up making a mess for yourself.

Since there was no reasoning with Wang Le, Ying Ming could only play the good guy and occasionally ask others to look after him. Wang Le and Shi Yi were quite different. While both were rich young masters, Shi Yi was the type who could take care of himself no matter where he was and even disliked others interfering too much. Wang Le, on the other hand, was the typical spoiled young master. He was not good at communicating with people and had little understanding of social cues. If Ying Ming did not call him over for lunch, he probably would not even think to buy a meal for himself.

As a result, Ying Ming practically became his babysitter for that period.

Not only did he have to make sure he was eating and drinking properly, but he also had to act as a big brother and confidant from time to time.

Even Wang Yiqi could not help but call him out on it. “What is going on with you? Is your maternal instinct acting up? Why are you being so patient with Wang Le?”

Had he changed?

The Ying Ming he remembered had never been the type to meddle in other people’s business.

Ying Ming merely curled his lips. “Would it kill you to say something normal for once? Aren’t you afraid he’ll starve to death on set?”

“Trust me, if you leave him alone, he won’t starve.”

There was a hint of irritation in Wang Yiqi’s voice. “How many times do I have to say it? I am not interested in him. Why the hell is he clinging to me like some kind of ghost, and why does he keep misunderstanding? What is there to misunderstand? Whether he got the wrong idea or not has nothing to do with me.”

The reason Wang Le kept coming to him was that, for a while, he thought Wang Yiqi had a new boyfriend.

Of course, it was not entirely a misunderstanding, since Wang Yiqi had indeed taken a liking to a model. The two of them had not gone out of their way to hide their relationship, so quite a few people knew about it. Wang Le must have heard it from someone, got all worked up, and came charging in to confront Wang Yiqi. They ended up parting on bad terms, after which Wang Yiqi went abroad to escape the drama, leaving Wang Le to seek out Ying Ming instead.

What happened afterward was as cliché as it could get. Wang Yiqi broke up with the model, Wang Le heard from someone that he had never been serious about the guy in the first place, and he started thinking he had misunderstood him. So now he was desperate to explain himself. But Wang Yiqi saw no point in explaining anything. It was not as if Wang Le had been wrong. He really had been involved with that model. All this unnecessary back and forth was just exhausting.

“Tell me, do rich kids all have some kind of brain malfunction? How many times have I said there was never anything between us? Why won’t he get it?”

The mere thought of Wang Le’s aggrieved face made Wang Yiqi fume. This was the first time he had done absolutely nothing, yet he was being resented like some heartless scumbag. He had never given it much thought before, but now that it was happening to him, it was unbelievably frustrating.

Seeing how annoyed he was, Ying Ming shook his head. “Well, you just happened to run into someone who won’t let things go.”

“This isn’t about being stubborn.”

Wang Yiqi sneered, raising an eyebrow. “This is called being delusional. He thinks everyone has feelings for him. As if he, Young Master Wang, couldn’t have his pick of anyone he wanted. Why would he go out of his way to get tangled up with someone like that?”

This industry had always worked like this. If it worked out, great. If it didn’t, you walked away. It wasn’t some damn compulsory nine-year education program where you could only take in students but never expel them.

“Enough. Complaining about him all day won’t make him leave. What’s the point?”

Ying Ming took a drag of his cigarette, leaning lazily against the wall and shrugging half-heartedly.

Wang Yiqi shot him a look. “Honestly, I don’t think he’s sticking around just because of me. You’re the one feeding him and taking care of him every day. I’m telling you, be careful. If he really latches onto you, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Can’t you think of something more positive?”

Annoyed by the warning, Ying Ming frowned and shot him a sideways glance.

Wang Yiqi just stretched lazily, his face saying he was waiting to see Ying Ming regret it. “I’ve said my piece. Do whatever you want. I just don’t get it. If you’ve suddenly grown a conscience, couldn’t you have picked a better cause?”

With that, he walked off, having some business with the director. Ying Ming stayed behind, smoking quietly for a while, his brows slightly furrowed as he mulled over Wang Yiqi’s teasing remark.

Why was he looking after Wang Le so much?

Even he wasn’t entirely sure.

It just didn’t feel right to leave him there all alone, looking so pitiful. If he had to come up with a reason, maybe it was because Wang Le was Shi Yi’s friend.

Back during the rally race, he had heard Shi Yi mention his obsession with his younger brother. Wang Le had grown up with him. That practically made him family.

Ying Ming had personally seen Shi Yi stick his neck out for Wang Le time and time again.

Since they were all friends, it just didn’t feel right to leave him alone.

That was how Ying Ming saw it.

But others didn’t see it that way.

Especially not Wang Le, who had been on the receiving end of his care.

When Wang Le told Shi Yi that Ying Ming had taken him out to experience something new, there was a strange excitement in his expression.

Shi Yi took a moment to process it. “You’re saying Ying Ming took you out?”

“Yeah!”

Wang Le grinned. “He got off work early yesterday afternoon and took me out to see the world.”

“What did you see?”

“Just the nightclubs around the three-way intersection.”

“He took you to nightclubs?”

Shi Yi started wondering if all his late nights were finally catching up with him because he was struggling to keep up. He tried picturing Ying Ming taking Wang Le clubbing and immediately felt a headache coming on.

“I told you to stop looking for Wang Yiqi.”

“I hardly talk to him anymore.” Wang Le smiled.

But something about that smile made Shi Yi uneasy. “If you’re not looking for Wang Yiqi, why are you hanging around the film set all the time?”

Was he planning to get into showbiz now?

“I go to watch Ying Ming act.”

Then Wang Le added, “I think he’s a really good person.”

Mature, good-looking, and very reliable. He might not be the gentle type, but as long as Ying Ming was around, everything was handled properly. There was never anything to worry about.

Even though Shi Yi had already suspected something, hearing Wang Le say it out loud still caught him off guard.

That was fast.

“You mean to say… you like Ying Ming now?”

“Not quite there yet. I just have a good impression of him.” Wang Le answered seriously, his tone suggesting he was testing the waters, seeing where things would go.

Shi Yi wanted to ask if Wang Le had hit his head somewhere, but he knew he wouldn’t get a real answer even if he did. In the end, he just swallowed the words and shook his head in frustration.

Wang Le and Ying Ming?

What the hell? Was this some kind of joke?!

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Ever since Wang Le admitted to Shi Yi that he had a thing for Ying Ming, the whole situation had left Shi Yi feeling off.

Especially when he told Wang Le that Ying Ming wasn’t into men, and the guy just replied, “That’s fine. That can change.”

Change?

As if liking men or women was something you could just switch up?

It wasn’t like picking between KFC and McDonald’s. How the hell was that supposed to work?

He had originally planned to find time to call Yingming and talk about this properly. Even if Yingming wanted to be loyal to his friends, he couldn’t just throw himself into this mess.

But before he could deal with Wang Le, a situation came up on Liu Li’s side.

The movie she filmed with Ying Ming wouldn’t be released until later in the year, but a film she shot last year had just been scheduled for release. Not long after returning from the rally race, a press conference was held for it. Shi Yi had been invited but didn’t attend since he didn’t like these kinds of events.

He hadn’t thought much of it at the time and only casually mentioned it to Liu Li.

Then, out of nowhere, the media went wild the next day, flooding headlines with gossip about her. Some outlets speculated about her relationship with Shi Yi, while others outright claimed they had broken up. The most absurd rumor suggested she had gotten involved with a wealthy second-generation heir from Hong Kong, and they were already discussing marriage.

Having gone through this before, Shi Yi wasn’t too bothered.

It was probably just another publicity stunt for the film.

Liu Li hadn’t contacted him recently, but that wasn’t unusual. They didn’t meet often to begin with, both busy with their own things. Shi Yi wasn’t exactly part of the entertainment industry, but he had heard a thing or two from Yingming and Liu Li. He couldn’t say he was used to it, but at least he had learned to deal with it. During a film’s promotional period, gossip was a tool to attract attention, so he figured this wave of rumors would pass soon enough.

But when Liu Li went on television and publicly admitted she was considering a relationship with that so-called rich heir, he finally lost it.