Chapter 64: Why

After eating, Shen Xici was once again urged by Sheng Shaoyan to lie down on the hospital bed, as if he were some glass person who would easily shatter just by walking a few steps in the room.

After settling down in bed, Shen Xici looked at the script for a while, then couldn’t help but turn his head to ask, “A’Shao, can I get up and walk around?”

From the black office chair, Sheng Shaoyan looked up at him. “Rest well.”

So that was a no. Shen Xici’s tone immediately weakened. “Oh, okay.”

He agreed, but Shen Xici had no intention of staying still. Since arriving at the hospital yesterday, apart from the time spent on various check-ups, he had been lying in bed. Lying down until now, he felt like his bones were rusting, making a dull, creaking sound with every move.

Sheng Shaoyan wouldn’t let him get out of bed, but he couldn’t restrict him from changing his sleeping position, right?

Just as he was changing from lying on his stomach to his side, and then rolling over to lie on his back, a shadow suddenly fell over Shen Xici—Sheng Shaoyan had, at some point, come to stand by the bed.

“Doesn’t the injury on your back hurt?”

Shen Xici’s movements froze. He blinked his eyes. “It hurts a little, but it’s okay.”

Sheng Shaoyan just looked at him quietly.

Defeated again, Shen Xici silently bent his legs and maintained a side-lying position, being a qualified patient.

At this moment, a warm palm touched his head. “Feeling wronged? The doctor said the injured area can’t be pressed, so it’s best to lie on your side as much as possible. Besides, forty-eight hours haven’t passed yet. We can’t rule out the risk of hidden internal bleeding. We need to monitor it well. Just bear with it a little longer, lie down and rest, don’t move around.”

“I’m not feeling wronged—”

As the words fell, Shen Xici was suddenly struck with a realization. Was he really not feeling wronged?

Or rather, why had he been acting that way before?

In the past, whenever he was injured, he would strictly follow the doctor’s orders. In fact, because he couldn’t feel pain, he would be even more cautious to prevent his condition or injury from worsening without his knowledge. If this had happened before, he would have definitely stayed in bed for over three days, constantly monitoring his vital signs.

But the things he had been doing just now were like a child of a few years old who knew someone would definitely not get angry with him, would definitely not truly blame him, and so deliberately made some noise to attract the other’s attention and care.

He had always known that he was psychologically flawed. He was, to some extent, a little deprived of love. But because of his physical condition, he couldn’t form deep emotional connections with anyone, so he had always fiercely suppressed his craving for affection.

However, there would always be a slender sprout, probing its way out from the cracks in the rock.

He was not made of wood or stone. How could he not feel Sheng Shaoyan’s special treatment, indulgence, and patience towards him alone? How could he not be greedy?

Shen Xici lay back on the bed. He no longer asked to get up, nor did he move around recklessly. He opened his phone, and just then, a message from Lan Xiaoshan came in.

He said that while the people from various departments were gathered together resting and eating snacks, he had subtly chatted around. For the time being, he hadn’t found anyone who had suddenly become rich or spent a large sum of money on expensive things.

Shen Xici clicked on the newly arrived voice message: [But Brother Shen, I found something a bit strange. A’Yang, the little assistant from the lighting team, took a sudden leave yesterday, saying his father was injured at a construction site and he had to go back to take care of him. Since it was a family emergency, the assistant director directly approved his leave.]

Shen Xici typed and asked him: [Are you familiar with this A’Yang?]

Lan Xiaoshan: [So-so. A’Yang is quite introverted. He never joins us for barbecue or anything after we wrap up, saying he has no money. Later, everyone stopped asking him to join. No one has ever heard him mention his family situation.]

Shen Xici switched out, clicked on Lu Jiming’s profile picture, and asked if the lighting assistant named A’Yang had been standing in the position he had circled earlier.

Lu Jiming sent a few videos and screenshots, then called him. “I’ve talked to the camera crew. It was very chaotic on set at that time. The lighting crew was running around with equipment, and the camera crew was also annoyed with filming. They only remember that the lighting crew was definitely over there. I went through the footage they shot again but couldn’t find anything. The position you circled is basically a blind spot, so the camera wouldn’t focus there.”

Shen Xici thought for a moment, then asked, “Have you checked with the on-set publicist?”

Lu Jiming was sweating profusely, not reacting for a moment. “The on-set publicist? I haven’t looked for her yet. What’s wrong?”

Shen Xici had a habit of paying attention to his surroundings. For example, he would never let someone he felt was a danger to him stand behind him, because behind him was a blind spot. If the other person attacked him from behind, he wouldn’t be able to dodge in time, nor could he judge the severity of his injuries. In fact, even if the other person stabbed him in the back with a knife, he might continue to walk forward with the knife sticking out of him until he died of shock from blood loss.

He carefully searched his memory and said slowly, “I remember at that time, the on-set publicist was taking behind-the-scenes photos with a camera. You can go and see if her camera caught that corner.”

Lu Jiming immediately said, “Your observation skills and memory are insane! I’ll go ask right away!”

After finishing their discussion and looking up, Shen Xici realized that Sheng Shaoyan had been waiting by his side the whole time.

“You’re looking for the person who filmed the video?”

Shen Xici nodded. “Yes, I have a bit of a lead. I don’t know if it’s this lighting assistant named A’Yang, but based on the current situation, he’s the most suspicious. Public opinion is very unfavorable to me right now. If we can confirm it was A’Yang who filmed the video and can find a way to get the unedited original video from him, then we’ll have evidence.”

“When the time comes, I’ll let you use Sheng He’s PR department.”

Yesterday, Sheng Shaoyan had asked him if he needed help. Shen Xici was about to reply “no” as he had yesterday, saying he could handle it for now, when he heard Sheng Shaoyan say:

“Your personal studio, the rent, utilities, and employees’ salaries all have to be deducted from your account. You’re not taking on new endorsements right now because you’re filming ‘Fleeting Life.’ You also signed on for ‘Fleeting Life’ with no salary, only taking a share of the box office revenue. But there are still three or four months until ‘Fleeting Life’ is released.”

Thinking of the dismal numbers in his bank account, and the fact that hiring a PR firm was no small sum, nor could he let Sister Lanjing pay for it, Shen Xici was defeated by the reality of poverty. He steeled himself. “Then I’ll have to trouble you when the time comes.”

Sheng Shaoyan’s gaze was deep as he looked down at him. “You know I’m more than happy to.”

There was still no news from Lu Jiming’s side. Shen Xici scrolled through Weibo again and found that a new trending topic related to him had appeared on the list—#ShenXiciStealsRole#

This topic started with a Weibo post from a fourth-year film academy student named “Leo Who Eats Cookies.”

He claimed that he and Shen Xici had both participated in the role audition for the movie “Mountain Range Line,” both auditioning for the role of the undercover agent, A’Zheng. But after the “Son of the Mountain God” photos came out, he was surprised to find that Shen Xici was not playing the undercover agent A’Zheng, but had switched to the mute boy. Now, after seeing the events of the past two days, he realized that Shen Xici might not only be tyrannical in his current film crew, but had already done something like stealing someone’s role back in the “Mountain Range Line” crew.

“—As expected, what’s been exposed is just the tip of the iceberg. Seeing that the role of the mute boy could become popular, he stole it. This is indeed something Shen Xici would do!”

“—To think I even shed a few tears for the mute boy in the cinema. I can’t believe even this role was stolen. Is there anyone else like me who feels that Shen Xici has defiled the character of the mute boy!”

“—The blogger is so handsome and from a professional academy. Who knows if the spot was originally the blogger’s, and was secretly stolen by Shen Xici…”

“—So the role of the mute boy was originally supposed to be Jiajia’s? Jiajia is so miserable. He was forced to play a role that didn’t suit him and has been cursed for so long, while the one who stole the role is being praised to the heavens!”

On the other side, not long after the person named Leo posted on Weibo, Xu Lingjia discovered it. He immediately found a PR person to fan the flames.

Watching more and more people sympathize with him and go to curse Shen Xici, in the reflection on his phone screen, the smile on his lips grew wider and wider, and the pride in his eyes became more and more obvious.

Just then, a call came in. Seeing the words “Godmother” displayed on the screen, Xu Lingjia felt a wave of irritation, but thinking that this whole thing was orchestrated by Cheng Ningyu and Ye Mei, that Wu Cisheng was found by Cheng Ningyu, and the other artists who took a side and spoke out were all contacted by Ye Mei, and Shen Xici had not yet been completely beaten into the mud, he took a breath and answered the phone. “Godmother?”

As soon as Ye Mei spoke, her tone was heavy. “Jiajia, withdraw the water army immediately!”

Extremely annoyed, Xu Lingjia played dumb. “Godmother, what water army are you talking about?”

“Xu Lingjia!” Ye Mei then softened her tone, suppressing her temper. “Jiajia, be good, listen to me, listen to your godmother. Don’t let this role-swapping matter spread any further. That Weibo post by that person named Leo is enough. You already have the image of a victim. If the matter of you and Shen Xici swapping roles is exposed, it will be very detrimental to you!”

The more Xu Lingjia listened, the more impatient he became. He continued to act innocent. “Godmother, I didn’t spread it. I didn’t say anything on Weibo. Besides, do you think anyone will believe it even if the matter of us requesting a role swap is exposed? They will only think that Shen Xici is deliberately trying to silence people, that Shen Xici is lying, that Shen Xici is deliberately shifting the blame onto me. They will only curse Shen Xici and sympathize with me. Isn’t that good? The matter of swapping roles will also eliminate any future trouble.”

He had been waiting for everyone to curse Shen Xici and sympathize with him.

He had started waiting in his precognitive dream, but it had never gone his way.

In the precognitive dream, people always said that Shen Xici was so good-looking, so outstanding, his acting was so good, and he was so hardworking. If she were Cheng Ningyu, she would definitely acknowledge her biological son immediately and kick Xu Lingjia out.

Reality was the same. He had tried his best, but time and time again, everyone always praised Shen Xici and liked Shen Xici. No matter what he did, he would be cursed.

After waiting for so long, he had finally gotten what he wanted.

Hearing that Xu Lingjia was not going to listen to her, Ye Mei stopped wasting her breath. “You’re not going to listen to your godmother’s words either, are you? I’ll have your mother freeze your cards immediately!”

At the same time, in Shen Xici’s phone call, Lu Jiming said excitedly, “Found it! The on-set publicist’s camera caught a picture. A’Yang was indeed standing in the position you circled. Zooming in, you can see he’s holding a phone, and the camera is pointed right at you and Wu Cisheng!”