Chapter 101: Cheng Ye Only Loves Jiang Shi…

The director called for the scene, and the conversation between the two ended there.

It was hot, and Jiang Shi was wearing layer after layer of clothing for his scenes. By the time they finished shooting, the undershirt he was wearing was soaked through with sweat.

Gao Xinhu held a small fan and blew it toward him. “I secretly went down the mountain just now and contacted Brother Liu. Oh, and Brother Cheng also told me to have you call him back.”

Jiang Shi was too tired to talk. Disgusted by the dirty ground, he leaned against a tree and drank water.

Li Zong came over with two pieces of cooling fruit in his hand. “Teacher Jiang, I brought some fruit. Would you like some?”

Jiang Shi twisted the bottle cap shut, his expression cool. “No, thank you.”

Li Zong withdrew the fruit and smiled. “I see you don’t have a night scene tonight, and neither do I. Want to go back to our lodging together later?”

Jiang Shi took the fan from Gao Xinhu and blew it on his neck. “It’s not on the way. Don’t look for me again in the future. We’re not close.”

The smile on Li Zong’s face froze for a moment. “Didn’t we chat quite well this morning?”

“Well?” Jiang Shi laughed. “I just wanted to see what you were up to.”

The handsome young man’s chilly gaze swept over Li Zong’s face. “Did the director who introduced you to the business never tell you that your acting is terrible?”

“Who gave you the illusion that you could surpass Cheng Ye? By relying on these pitiful tactics, or this nauseating smile that makes people want to look away?”

Jiang Shi moved closer to Li Zong. “You only knew these tricks when you were little, and you still only know these tricks now that you’re grown up? Cheng Ye isn’t the Cheng Ye from when he was a child, and I’m not your mother. Stop your disgusting performance.”

Li Zong’s smile completely froze.

“Tell the person behind you not to use these underhanded methods, like a rat in a sewer. If you stay away from the sun for too long, you’ll eventually rot.”

With that, he turned and walked away, not looking at him again.

After a few steps, Li Zong opened his mouth from behind him, unwilling to let it go. “How am I inferior to him?”

Jiang Shi turned his head and saw a flame burning in Li Zong’s eyes.

“I genuinely like you. It’s just money, isn’t it? I can give you whatever he can. Besides, what did I say wrong? Cheng Ye is inherently cold-blooded and ruthless. He has no heart; he’s a monster. It’s not just me who thinks so—my dad, my mom, they all think so…”

Gao Xinhu lunged forward and grabbed Li Zong’s collar. “You’re full of nonsense! Brother Cheng is not that kind of person. Do you want me to beat you till you grovel on the ground?”

Li Zong stiffened his neck. “What I said is true! I don’t believe you haven’t felt it.” He looked at Jiang Shi. “He’s only with you because you’re good-looking. How does he know what love is? When you get old, he naturally won’t be able to stand you…”

Jiang Shi crooked a finger at Gao Xinhu. “Let him go.”

Gao Xinhu was naturally reluctant. “Little Cousin, do you know what he’s saying? Why are you letting him off so easily?”

Jiang Shi didn’t speak, just looked at him.

Gao Xinhu held out for a few seconds under his gaze but finally let go.

The next second, a fist swung onto Li Zong’s cheek.

Jiang Shi shook his hand and looked at Li Zong with disgust. “Don’t let me hear those words a second time. You want to compare yourself to Cheng Ye? You can’t even hold a candle to a single strand of his hair.”

---

There were no hotels in the mountains, so the director rented rooms from local farmers down the mountain.

On the way back, Gao Xinhu was loud and excited. “Little Cousin…” He gave Jiang Shi a thumbs-up. “You’re amazing. You’re the best in my heart.”

“That punch was excellent, brilliant! It hit exactly where I wanted it.”

Jiang Shi said, “My hand hurts.”

Gao Xinhu looked down and saw the knuckles of the great actor were red.

“…”

After walking a distance further down, they finally got a signal.

Jiang Shi’s phone chimed repeatedly. He took it out and saw most of the messages were from Cheng Ye.

Initially, Cheng Ye was checking in and saying hello. Then, when Jiang Shi didn’t reply, he started to complain and be jealous. The last message read:

[I’m coming to find you.]

Jiang Shi: “…”

Jiang Shi slowly typed a question mark.

Before Cheng Ye could reply, Jiang Shi saw a tall figure squatting in the yard of the house where he was staying.

Despite the hot weather, Cheng Ye was dressed in all black, practicing “male virtues” outside. He took a piece of kindling that the old man had collected and effortlessly snapped the slightly longer piece of wood in half with his knee. He tossed the wood into the stove, and the fire immediately burned brighter.

The old man’s smile grew wider. “Young man, you’re good! You know how to work. You’re different from the others.”

Jiang Shi quickly ran down a few steps. Cheng Ye heard the movement, turned around, and smiled. “The old man said you don’t usually come back until after ten in the evening. I thought I’d have to wait.”

Jiang Shi peeked over and saw a chicken being stir-fried in the pot.

“I didn’t have a night scene today, so I finished early and came back. Why did you come here?”

The chicken was given to Cheng Ye by Jiang Xue, supposedly a free-range chicken sold by the downstairs neighbor. Cheng Ye simply brought it to nourish Jiang Shi.

The old man was warm-hearted and didn’t know that actors’ lodging shouldn’t be casually bringing people in. As soon as he heard Cheng Ye was looking for Jiang Shi, he led him right over.

Seeing that he brought a chicken, the old man insisted on making an authentic local dish for him, which led to the scene of Cheng Ye squatting to tend the fire.

Cheng Ye clapped his hands, handing the cooking stage over to the old man, and took Jiang Shi to sit under a nearby tree to cool off.

“If I didn’t come, I’m afraid some shameless person would have lured you away.”

Jiang Shi: “…”

Gao Xinhu: “…”

Gao Xinhu paused. “I just told him that Li Zong was being particularly enthusiastic towards you.”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Ye couldn’t sit still. He rushed to the set overnight, terrified that if he was a moment late, Jiang Shi would run off with someone else.

He was tall. Jiang Shi was sitting, and he was squatting beside him. After all these years, he still didn’t look like a CEO at all.

Jiang Shi lightly kicked him with his toe. “Cheng Ye, in your heart, am I the type of person who can’t resist temptation?”

Cheng Ye lowered his head. “I believe in the people, but some people insist on testing the people with money.”

What kind of ridiculous statement was that?

Cheng Ye continued, “I trust you, but I don’t trust Li Zong.”

Jiang Shi was so good-looking that even he couldn’t resist him when he saw him every day, let alone others. What if Jiang Shi rejected him and he got angry and harmed Jiang Shi?

He had to come and watch over him.

Jiang Shi: “…”

Cheng Ye picked through the shriveled oranges the old man had left in the yard, selected a juicy one, and peeled it for Jiang Shi. He finally remembered to talk about serious matters.

“Liu Man has finished his investigation.”

Jiang Shi sat up straight, holding the orange.

“After that woman took him out of the Cheng family, they lived a relatively difficult life for a while. Later, she found someone else and remarried. That man was impotent and couldn’t have children, and no woman wanted to marry him. Li Zong was still young, and coupled with his lack of affection for his birth father, the man genuinely raised him as his own son.”

“Perhaps because the man himself had a problem, he was pretty good to them. But because of his physical condition, he became extremely sensitive, inferior, and afraid of strangers.”

“He was afraid to meet strangers, to the point where he couldn’t even leave the house. The family’s entire life fell on Li Zong’s mother.”

Cheng Ye leaned by Jiang Shi’s feet.

“Although Cheng Jianbin hit her, she never did any heavy labor apart from some housework. When I was younger, I helped her with chores at home, and when I was older, I followed Cheng Jianbin out to the fields. She seemed to have a hard life, but she actually couldn’t endure hardship.”

This was also why a young woman with a child who didn’t need constant care would struggle outside, and her solution was to remarry a man.

“The man’s family took pity on her and would give her a few hundred yuan for living expenses every month. She would also do some odd jobs and could barely manage. Later…”

Cheng Ye paused for a moment.

“Later, the man got sick. It was a chronic illness, not fatal, but the medical expenses were terrifying.”

“Perhaps the heavens were also looking out for her; not long after the man got sick, their house was scheduled for demolition. The man’s family said she could have the demolition money, but she had to officially marry the man, Li Zong had to take his surname, and she had to use the demolition money to pay for medical expenses.”

“This clearly looked like a bottomless pit, but she jumped into it without hesitation.”

“Six months later, she received the demolition money, but she’s been using it bit by bit for all these years. Not long ago, the demolition money ran out. Recently, someone transferred the man to a different hospital—the best hospital, the best treatment. The person behind it is Huo Ji.”

Jiang Shi had somewhat guessed that Huo Ji was behind it, but one thing still puzzled him.

“Based on what you said, their previous economic situation could only barely maintain a normal life. There was a six-month gap between Li Zong’s stepfather getting sick and the demolition money coming through. How did she manage to hold on during that time?”

“Also, she ran away, so how did she manage to officially marry someone else?”

“Who knows…” Cheng Ye lowered his eyes, a trace of coldness in his voice. “Maybe it was because of love, maybe someone helped her. Who knows…”

Jiang Shi glanced at him.

Cheng Ye stood up and asked, “I picked some mushrooms on the way up the mountain. Want to eat them?”

Jiang Shi asked, “Will I see little people?” (A reference to a folk belief about eating specific mushrooms).

Cheng Ye laughed. “Only if you insist on trying them before they’re cooked.”

The chicken fried by the old man was indeed authentic and so spicy that Jiang Shi was gasping. He ate a bite of chicken, then a bite of the crispy stir-fried mushrooms.

The actors without night scenes returned one after another, immediately drawn by the aroma drifting from the courtyard where Jiang Shi was staying.

“Teacher Jiang, what are you eating? It smells so good!”

Jiang Shi said, “Come and join me.”

As soon as he said that, a crowd instantly gathered around the table. Someone saw Cheng Ye and asked, “Who’s this handsome guy?”

Cheng Ye replied, “I’m his fellow villager. I came to visit him.”

It was no secret that Jiang Shi was from a village. Coupled with Cheng Ye’s clothing, which looked like that of a migrant worker, and the fact that his televised image was completely different from his private one (and the finance channel wasn’t watched by many), no one recognized his identity.

A woman looked at Cheng Ye and smiled. “Does your village only produce handsome guys? Why are both of you so good-looking?”

Cheng Ye opened his mouth to speak, but Jiang Shi suddenly interrupted him. “Actually, he’s my boyfriend.”

The moment the words left his mouth, not only were everyone at the table stunned, but Cheng Ye was also stunned.

Jiang Shi raised his hand and made a “shush” gesture. “Keep it quiet.”

Everyone in the industry understood the rules, but they couldn’t help but glance back and forth between Cheng Ye and Jiang Shi.

Although they didn’t look like they were cut from the same cloth at first glance, the longer they looked, the more they seemed a strangely good match…

A rough man paired with a beauty.

Cheng Ye was completely preoccupied throughout the meal. With a crowd surrounding the courtyard, he couldn’t do much, so he patiently suppressed his inner turmoil. He loudly washed the pots and bowls, cleaned the yard, and even pulled the weeds from the old man’s neighbor’s vegetable garden.

He waited and waited. Finally, everyone left, and even the hard-of-hearing old man was asleep.

Cheng Ye guided Jiang Shi towards the house.

Jiang Shi held a palm-leaf fan. “What are you doing? I want to cool off outside for a while longer.”

“No more cooling off,” Cheng Ye said. “Do you remember what you just said?”

A mischievous smile flashed in Jiang Shi’s eyes. “I said a lot just now. What exactly are you referring to?”

Cheng Ye, who was usually brazen, looked a little shy. The dim light bulb illuminated his face.

A layer of red floated on his tanned skin.

“What did you say I was to you?”

Jiang Shi waved his fan. “What were you? Weren’t you my fellow villager?”

Cheng Ye urgently kissed him. “I heard it. I heard it loud and clear. You told people I was your boyfriend.”

He bit him, and the corner of Jiang Shi’s mouth reddened slightly. He tapped Cheng Ye’s shoulder with the fan handle. “Why are you so excited? Someone who didn’t know might think you’re my secret lover.”

Cheng Ye didn’t speak, instead rubbing his head against Jiang Shi’s shoulder, emitting a signal of affection all over his body.

The night was quiet, with the chirping of crickets intermittently heard beneath the wall. Moonlight leaked in through the window frame, and two figures, one tall and one short, overlapped.

Jiang Shi was pressed against the wall and kissed by Cheng Ye. The man’s hand explored his waist, but he reached out to stop it. The corners of his eyes were flushed, hooking Cheng Ye like a lure.

“Cheng Ye, do you think I’m good-looking?”

Cheng Ye looked at him mesmerizingly. “Gorgeous.”

“There are new people every day in this industry, and each is good-looking in their own way. I am handsome, but I’m not the most handsome. If one day, someone younger and more attractive stands before you…”

At this point, Jiang Shi closed his eyes.

“No one can be good-looking forever.”

Cheng Ye squeezed his chin and bit his tongue.

“You’re good-looking because you are Jiang Shi.”

“Jiang Shi won’t be good-looking forever, but no one else will be Jiang Shi. There is only one Jiang Shi in the world.”

“Cheng Ye only loves Jiang Shi.”