TF01 42

Wang Le’s question genuinely stumped Shi Yi.

He sat there in a daze for quite a while before finally snapping out of it, frowning as he thought it over. “That…”

His mind drew a complete blank.

Man or woman, he couldn’t picture a single person. Somehow, someone like Ying Ming just didn’t seem to have a right match.

Anyone next to him would feel out of place.

In the end, he could only shake his head. “You’d have to ask Ying Ming himself.”

For some reason, the image of Wang Yiqi and Ying Ming kissing that day flashed through his mind, and that weird, irritating feeling started creeping back up again.

But he said nothing. He simply glanced at Wang Le and brushed the topic aside.

---

Shi Yi had arranged to meet Ying Ming in the evening. Kou Jing and Haozi were coming too. Initially, they had planned to grab dinner together, but later, Ying Ming called to say his shoot had been delayed and he probably wouldn’t make it in time. He promised to join them afterward, though.

So, the group switched plans and headed to a KTV instead.

Haozi, being a seasoned musician, had a killer live performance presence. The rest of them just sat back and enjoyed the show, occasionally clapping along to show support.

Shi Yi and Kou Jing were sitting close together. While Haozi was singing, Shi Yi nudged Kou Jing. “How long have you known Ying Ming?”

Kou Jing thought for a moment. “About five years.”

“Has he ever had a girlfriend?”

“Huh?”

Kou Jing hadn’t expected that question at all. He froze for a second before scratching his head. “Yeah, I think so? But none of his relationships lasted very long.”

“Why not?”

“Probably because he doesn’t want to date anyone from the industry.”

Strictly speaking, this was a rather odd topic. Even though Kou Jing and Ying Ming were on good terms, they weren’t close enough for Kou Jing to pry into his love life. At most, he had seen Ying Ming bring a date once or twice, but the relationships never lasted long enough for anyone to get familiar. It didn’t seem like Ying Ming took them seriously either.

After answering, Kou Jing gave Shi Yi a puzzled look. “Why are you asking about this all of a sudden?”

Shi Yi didn’t react much. He just shrugged. “Just curious. He’s never talked about it before.”

“That’s because Mingzi never talks about these things.” Kou Jing chuckled. “That guy keeps anything personal to himself. Even if you get along well with him, you’ll be lucky to get a word or two out of him. Most of the time, he just brushes people off.”

Among actors in the industry, Ying Ming was about as low-profile as one could get.

He didn’t like people digging into his private life. He also didn’t enjoy looking back on the past.

There were plenty of experiences that would make for great interview material, yet he simply refused to talk about them.

That was why, whenever Kou Jing set him up with gigs, he made sure to pick the straightforward ones. Jobs that clearly outlined what was expected. If the media was involved, he always gave Ying Ming a heads-up.

Otherwise, the guy might just walk away from the whole thing.

Hearing this, Shi Yi couldn’t help but think back to the conversation they had in the rally’s break room. For some reason, he felt oddly smug about it.

By the time Ying Ming arrived, Haozi had already cycled through multiple rounds of singing and had officially run out of songs to sing.

Kou Jing, apparently born with a complete lack of musical talent, had been so off-key even singing the school anthem that the principal himself couldn’t find the right pitch. There was no hope for anything else. Shi Yi, on the other hand, outright refused to sing. Even when someone shoved the mic into his hands, he remained firm. “I’ll wait until Ying Ming gets here.”

Several bottles of beer were already sitting on the table, mostly emptied. When Ying Ming came in, the first thing he did was ask for a glass of water.

Shi Yi turned to him. “Want something else to drink?”

Before Ying Ming could answer, Kou Jing chimed in from the side. “Mingzi’s got a bad stomach. He pretty much never touches carbonated drinks.”

Shi Yi raised a brow. “You’ve got a bad stomach?”

“Yeah, a little.”

Ying Ming shrugged off his jacket and tossed it onto the couch before rolling up his sleeves. “So? How’ve you been lately?”

The question was directed at Shi Yi, but he was clearly still fixated on the stomach issue. “If your stomach’s bad, why do you eat so much?”

Ying Ming grinned. “That’s why I never gain weight.”

Most people assumed his physique was the result of working out, but it actually had something to do with his digestive system.

He looked like he could eat a lot, but no matter how much he consumed, it was like throwing food into a bottomless pit. It didn’t do him any good.

Shi Yi frowned slightly but said nothing. Over on the other side, Haozi had already reached his limit and couldn’t keep singing. He sensibly picked a few more songs. “Alright, Mingzi, your turn. If I keep going, I won’t even be able to go on stage tomorrow.”

Ying Ming leaned over. “What did you pick?”

“Just the usual. Don’t you only ever sing those miserable songs?”

Ying Ming actually loved singing. His passion for music was much stronger than he let on, but he was just an average singer. Most of the time, he would only hum along and rarely sang with lyrics.

He glanced at the screen and saw that they were indeed songs he was familiar with. Then he turned to Shi Yi. “Hey, Shi Yi, do you sing?”

The other man took a sip of beer without any change in expression. “Yeah.”

Kou Jing immediately jumped back to an old topic. “Then let’s do a duet.”

He hadn’t expected Shi Yi to agree, but after finishing his beer, Shi Yi put down the glass and actually walked over to check the song list. He scrolled from top to bottom, glanced at Ying Ming, and said, “You really like Eason Chan, huh?”

The list was almost entirely his songs.

Ying Ming let out a small laugh. “Wrong. I actually hate him the most.”

“Then why is it all his songs?”

And they were all tragic love songs, like Ten Years and the like.

Ying Ming frowned at the question and thought for a moment before forcing out an answer. “Probably because… they’re miserable enough. Ha.”

That answer wasn’t really an answer, but then again, it wasn’t much of a question either. Shi Yi took his time selecting a song before finally settling on one. “This one. It’s relatively normal.”

Haozi handed him the mic. Ying Ming tested the other one, and as soon as the intro played, Kou Jing couldn’t help but frown. “Long Time No See?!”

Wasn’t this just another miserable song?

But no one paid him any attention. Ying Ming sang the first verse. Shi Yi had heard him sing before. His voice was naturally a bit low and husky, so his singing was slow. He clearly wasn’t a great singer. Even on relatively steady notes, there was a slight tremor. Compared to the confidence he exuded while acting, his presence felt much more subdued.

Haozi and Kou Jing heckled him a little from the side. Shi Yi chuckled.

For some reason, Ying Ming felt like a different person when he sang. The last time he performed, he had been on stage, the lights weren’t even on him, and Shi Yi hadn’t gotten a clear look. This time, they were up close. It was surprisingly fresh.

At the very least, it was worlds apart from the time he had danced around Shi Yi’s pole, leaving him in complete disarray.

Then Shi Yi started singing, and the room went still.

The number of people who had heard Shi Yi sing could probably be counted on one hand.

Most of the time, he just sat back and watched whenever there was karaoke. No one had the guts to push him into singing. Even Ou Yang, one of his closest friends, had never heard him sing.

But the truth was, he was pretty damn good.

His voice had a naturally mature tone, and since this song didn’t have a high register, when Shi Yi sang, it carried a quiet kind of warmth and resignation.

Ying Ming raised an eyebrow. “Not bad.”

Shi Yi only glanced at him with a small smile.

On the screen, the lyrics rolled line by line. When they sang together, their voices layered over each other in a strange but oddly compelling harmony.

Shi Yi had only ever listened to this song before. He had never really sung it. It was just a random whim, but now that he was actually singing, he realized the lyrics were unsettling in a way that got under his skin.

He and Ying Ming weren’t suited for a song like this at all.

His gaze swept to the person beside him, finding that Ying Ming was surprisingly focused. He probably didn’t remember the lyrics well, so his eyes barely left the screen. Watching him like this, Shi Yi suddenly recalled the question Wang Le had asked before.

What kind of person would Ying Ming like?

This was such an obviously sentimental love song, but Shi Yi couldn’t imagine who would be sitting there, worthy of listening to it. Ying Ming’s voice, paired with the melody of Long Time No See, sounded almost like a murmur. Actors had a knack for using their voices in subtle ways. Even when his pitch and rhythm were slightly off, there was still something inexplicably moving about it.

Shi Yi had been so caught up in thought that when it was his turn to sing, he completely missed the cue.

It wasn’t until Ying Ming called his name that he snapped out of it.

Kou Jing and Haozi both had strange expressions on their faces. Shi Yi let out a small cough to cover the moment of awkwardness before picking up where he left off, his singing now a little uneven.

A group of grown men squeezing into a KTV room to sing was already a strange sight.

After finishing the duet, Shi Yi went back to his seat and didn’t sing again. No matter how much the others tried to persuade him, he just waved them off without saying a word. Later, Ying Ming sang a few more songs on his own, and eventually, they gave up and just played the original tracks at a lower volume while chatting.

When it was about time to leave, Shi Yi was the one to call it a night.

While putting on his jacket, Kou Jing muttered that this was probably the dumbest thing he had ever done in his life, spending the night cooped up in a private room with a bunch of guys just listening to music and talking.

Haozi joked that at least they had managed to hear Young Master Shi sing, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.

Shi Yi was the one who had organized this get-together tonight.

Everyone knew what this was about. They had all been there when Ying Ming got into trouble, and tonight, only Wang Yiqi was missing. No one brought up that night because some things didn’t need to be said. They understood, and that was enough. There was nothing left to explain.

Haozi hadn’t been familiar with Shi Yi before, but after tonight, his impression of him wasn’t bad.

For someone with the title of “Young Master Shi,” he didn’t seem as arrogant or overbearing as most rich kids. He had a bit of an ego, but he wasn’t difficult to get along with. Most importantly, he actually had something to say when he spoke, unlike those who just ran their mouths for the sake of making noise.

Ying Ming lit a cigarette, took a drag, and chuckled. “Someone’s treating you to dinner and karaoke, and you’re still complaining? You don’t know how lucky you are. Be careful, or you might get struck by lightning.”

“Damn it, can’t you say something nice for once?”

Kou Jing shot Ying Ming a glance as he spoke. Seeing that he didn’t seem affected at all, he felt relieved.

He had plenty of friends in the media industry, so he’d heard about Ying Ming getting cut from his role. But he hadn’t called to ask about it. There was nothing outsiders could do about this kind of thing, and since Ying Ming seemed fine now, as his friends, they wouldn’t bring it up either.

They walked outside, only to find that it had started raining.

Ying Ming’s words ended up being right on the mark.

Haozi laughed for a long time before finally managing to stop. He patted Kou Jing on the shoulder. “I think you should be more careful around Mingzi. He actually went easy on you today.”

Shi Yi and Haozi had driven here, while Kou Jing had hitched a ride with Haozi and would be going back with him. Ying Ming had taken a cab, but with the heavy rain outside, the only option was for Shi Yi to give him a ride.

Once they were in the car, Shi Yi started the engine, and the radio came on automatically. He hadn’t noticed it earlier when he was driving over.

It was the city’s music station, and by sheer coincidence, it was playing the same song they had just sung together.

Long Time No See.

The original singer’s voice was richer, more seasoned, carrying a deeper emotional weight. Shi Yi paused for a moment to listen, then glanced up and saw Ying Ming leaning against the window, cigarette between his fingers.

Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “Ying Ming, if you were a woman, you’d be pretty good.”

By the time Shi Yi realized what he had said, Ying Ming was already biting down on his cigarette, looking at him with a smirk, amusement written all over his face.