Chapter 55: Reason

What did he consider Sheng Shaoyan to be?

After hearing this question, Shen Xici couldn’t immediately give an answer.

And his silence made Sheng Shaoyan’s lips tighten, the gaze he directed at him seeming covered with a thin layer of frost.

A hint of self-mockery revealed itself in his eyes. Sheng Shaoyan gripped the steering wheel and no longer looked at him, staring at some distant point instead. He said briefly, “Rest well. Good night.”

“Okay.” Shen Xici pushed open the car door. His fingers tightened, and his voice became a bit softer. “Thank you for coming to pick me up. Good night.”

The tires rolled up fine dust. The black Maybach gradually drove away, eventually disappearing until even its taillights couldn’t be seen. Shen Xici turned around and walked in the night breeze. Weariness suddenly washed over him, making even walking feel exhausting.

He thought about his plans. He held 100% of the studio shares, and the registration had been handed over to Ge Lanjing. It would be done after National Day. Regarding the team, Ge Lanjing already had a suitable candidate for the executive publicity position—a former subordinate of hers whose abilities and personality she knew very well. For a newly established studio, being able to use experienced hands from the industry was naturally the optimal choice.

As for an assistant, Shen Xici planned to talk with Lan Xiaoshan after returning to the crew to see if he was willing to sign with his studio, transitioning from a set assistant to permanent work.

Ge Lanjing had extremely strong initiative. As soon as she took the position, she began communicating with the publicity director of “Mountain Range Line,” and also contacted the crews of “Fleeting Life” and “Capital City Massacre” to inquire about what stage the film promotion was at and various other aspects of the situation.

However, to convince Ge Lanjing, he seemed to have described the “Fleeting Life” crew and Lu Jiming as too unreliable, so much so that before leaving in the afternoon, Ge Lanjing was full of worry and specifically asked for the script of “Fleeting Life,” saying she would find time to read it when she got back.

Just as he was thinking about this, Ge Lanjing called, asking him to send her the endorsement contract signed with Candle Dragon Optical for her to review, and also to give her the contact information there. She also needed a copy of his Weibo account and password.

Shen Xici sent them over one by one, and memories were stirred up. Before this, the people at Candle Dragon Optical had always thought Sheng Shaoyan was his manager and had even indirectly asked him if they’d had some conflict—why had they suddenly split up when things were fine?

Before, there had been no conflict, but this time there really was one.

Although what exactly the conflict was about, Shen Xici hadn’t yet sorted out.

Moreover, he didn’t know Lin Yueshu and Yu Zhou right now, so trying to quietly gather information wouldn’t work either.

That sentence echoed in his ears again: “Shen Xici, what exactly do you consider me to be?”

What did he consider Sheng Shaoyan to be?

In his previous life, although Sheng Shaoyan had never asked such a question, in his heart, he had always regarded him as his best, closest friend, and also his lifesaver.

In this life, Sheng Shaoyan hadn’t saved him; rather, he had saved Sheng Shaoyan. But Sheng Shaoyan was still the most important person in his heart.

He was the person who, when thinking about never contacting him again or seeing him again in the future, even though he didn’t know what kind of feeling constituted pain, still made him certain he was extremely sad.

Opening the door, he washed his hands carefully, then began repeating his daily routine of measuring blood pressure, checking heart rate, and auscultating his lungs. He recorded the data and found the medical institution he frequently visited in his previous life to book a full body checkup.

After finishing all the miscellaneous tasks, Shen Xici took out his script with frayed edges and forced himself to enter the right state. But the fact was, he couldn’t turn a single page for the longest time.

The sudden ringing of his phone disturbed the quietness in the room. Shen Xici’s hand moved faster than his brain to grab the phone. When he saw the two characters “Director Lu” displayed on the screen, a wave of disappointment surged in his heart.

“Director Lu?”

Lu Jiming first went through his routine complaints about being so sleepy his eyelids were fighting but still earnestly working on editing, how very, very earnest he was. He emphasized that being a hen director really wouldn’t do—the director was going to go crazy. The next film absolutely couldn’t be chickened out again. After a long speech, he finally got to the point: “If you have things to do, you can come back two days later.”

Shen Xici found this strange. “What happened?”

Lu Jiming was also a bit speechless. “The photography studio we originally booked—the one to film the segment where Gu Changsheng impersonates Sheng Yu’en to return to the ancestral home—this afternoon, the crew filming inside was shooting an explosion scene. I don’t know how they messed it up, but they caused a fire. The entire studio burned down. They’re rushing repairs now. Anyway, it definitely can’t be used for the next few days.” His tone was envious. “Happy, right? The three-day short holiday might actually extend into a National Day long holiday!”

More than the holiday extension, what Shen Xici cared about was: “Have you found a backup location? It’s not long until Spring Festival.”

“I knew you’d ask this! We’re looking—preparing with both hands. Who knows when that studio can be repaired.” Lu Jiming’s tone changed, and he said excitedly, “Oh right, how does it feel to gain 500,000 followers in one day? Are you happy? Excited? Thrilled?”

Shen Xici actually didn’t feel much because he’d experienced it once in his previous life and no longer had the novelty. But if he said he felt nothing, Lu Jiming would definitely say he was pretentious, so he quietly shifted focus: “You’ll feel it in the future too. You can summarize it yourself then.”

“Good, good, good, I love hearing that! You just wait for me to write you a six-thousand-word experience report when the time comes!” Lu Jiming was filled with heroic ambition and had more energy to edit the film. Remembering something, he said with schadenfreude, “Those marketing accounts are really something. With just a few blurry photos, I’ve already seen so many ridiculous headlines, like ‘Film Emperor Holds Hands with Mysterious Lover for Late-Night Romantic Walk,’ ‘Son of the Mountain God Descends to Earth to Seek Love,’ ‘Other People’s CPs Serve Meals, the CP I Ship Serves a Full Banquet.’ If it weren’t you being photographed, it’d actually be quite interesting to watch, hahaha.”

Standing in the living room, Shen Xici suddenly froze—could Sheng Shaoyan be angry because of this?

Subconsciously, he was accustomed to Sheng Shaoyan’s omnipotence. Thinking carefully, how would Sheng Shaoyan know where he was?

The only possibility was that Sheng Shaoyan had also seen those photos.

Could it be… Sheng Shaoyan thought he was really with Zhong Yue? And he hadn’t told him about this, so he got angry and asked him what exactly he considered him to be—the implication being he was accusing him of not treating him as a friend?

Another extremely unlikely possibility emerged in his heart. As if triggering some kind of defense system, Shen Xici subconsciously dismissed it directly.

Picking up his phone, Shen Xici pondered whether he should explain to Sheng Shaoyan. But it was already 2 a.m. Sheng Shaoyan might already be asleep. Disturbing someone’s sleep in the middle of the night wasn’t very good either.

Just as he was hesitating, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.

Three consecutive knocks. An absolutely impossible name immediately popped into his mind, but Shen Xici’s footsteps toward the door grew faster and faster—he would never mistake this knocking rhythm and force.

After glancing at the monitor to confirm who it was, Shen Xici pressed down on the cold handle and opened the door.

Sheng Shaoyan stood at the doorway.

He still wore that handmade suit, except the suit jacket was removed and draped over his arm. He wore a dark-colored shirt with the collar buttons undone, adding a casual, relaxed air. He was still so handsome it was like he was shooting a fashion magazine cover.

Looking at the scene before him, Shen Xici opened his mouth in surprise: “This is—”

Several workers wearing uniforms and black gloves were carefully lifting a long sofa. Shen Xici instinctively moved aside and watched as the sofa was carried into the house and placed in the living room.

The key point was that after these workers put down the sofa, they efficiently cleaned up and even coordinated the two chairs originally placed there with the sofa. Not only was it extremely harmonious without looking cluttered, but the living room’s aesthetic appeal had also improved considerably.

The main door was closed, and the floor was wiped clean before they left, not leaving a single speck of dust. After watching this entire operation, Shen Xici finally came to his senses and looked at Sheng Shaoyan standing beside him: “What made you think to buy a sofa?”

He had a guess in his heart but didn’t dare ask directly. Moreover, he could feel that Sheng Shaoyan’s mood hadn’t improved much.

Sheng Shaoyan was succinct: “I’m sleeping here tonight.”

“…Okay.” Shen Xici was a bit worried. Could it be that he was having headaches and insomnia again, which was why he went to such great lengths to buy a sofa and move it over himself? He couldn’t help but say, “Mr. Sheng, are you—”

“A’Shao.”

“Wh-what?”

Sheng Shaoyan looked straight at Shen Xici with no intention of speaking further.

A few seconds later, Shen Xici was the first to back down and called out “A’Shao.”