Busy until the weekend, Song Mianfeng finally had some free time.

After sleeping at home for a day, he woke up to find out about a big event in the entertainment industry.

Although it didn’t concern him directly, it didn’t stop him from getting involved in the gossip.

A top-tier male actor, Qin Zong, was arrested for drug use.

Several topics about it were trending on Weibo, along with hashtags like #Fu Qingshan#, #He Chengyun#, #Phoenix Flying#.

Qin Zong was nominated for Best Actor last year. Although he didn’t win, he was still a top-tier actor with good looks and acting skills, with a promising future. Last month, Qin Zong announced that he would star in “Phoenix Flying,” directed by the award-winning director He Chengyun, a famous director and screenwriter known for historical themes. As long as Qin Zong’s acting skills were on point, winning the Best Actor award was not impossible.

However, before the movie even started filming, Qin Zong was caught in a scandal of drug use… His bright future collapsed like a high-rise building, evoking sighs of pity.

Qin Zong’s incident had the biggest impact on the “Phoenix Flying” crew. However, both the director and the crew were just collateral damage, being criticized and condemned on Weibo, which was quite unfair.

The male lead, originally a highly sought-after role, had now become a hot potato. He Chengyun didn’t know how troubled he was.

Thinking of another main actor in this movie, Song Mianfeng called his friend.

The phone was answered, and there was some noise in the background, then the person on the other end said, “Hello,” and it seemed like they moved to a quieter environment, and he said, “Song’er?”

Song Mianfeng responded with an “Hmm” and asked, “Are you on the set?”

“Yeah, helping Yu Hongjian shoot a music video,” Fu Qingshan asked, “Why did you suddenly think of calling me?”

“Just saw it trending on Weibo, so I thought I’d give you a call,” Song Mianfeng said.

“Thanks to Qin Zong,” Fu Qingshan laughed, “making a busy person like you care about me.”

From his tone, it seemed like he didn’t really care about this matter.

Fu Qingshan and Qin Zong weren’t close, and they hadn’t worked together before. Since the movie hadn’t started filming yet, this incident, while impactful, wasn’t too troublesome. If it had been exposed after filming had started, it would have been a disaster for the movie and would have affected Fu Qingshan too.

“Alright, since you’re not bothered by it, then I’m fine too,” Song Mianfeng said, ready to hang up the phone, “I won’t disturb you at work, so I’ll hang up.”

“Wait,” Fu Qingshan spoke up, “Sheng ge’s wedding, are you going?”

Seeing a corner of the red invitation card on the desk, Song Mianfeng said, “Yes, don’t I have to repay past favors?”

Li Juansheng and Lu Changyin, one was a producer, the other a rising star. Song Mianfeng and Li Juansheng were college classmates, and he had also had some work-related interactions with Lu Changyin. Since the wedding was in S City, there was no reason for him not to attend.

Hearing the affirmative answer, Fu Qingshan smiled, “I’ll find you for a drink then.”

“Sure,” Song Mianfeng asked, “When will you return to S City? Shall I pick you up?”

Fu Qingshan was also from S City, but because of work, he was often away and rarely went home.

Lu Changyin and Li Juansheng’s wedding was scheduled for May 3rd, and Fu Qingshan planned to take a short break and rest for a couple of days, so he said, “On the 30th, I’ll call you when I arrive.”

“Alright, it’s settled then.”

…

Despite the buzz in the industry, Song Mianfeng found himself with some free time.

Since there was nothing urgent, he decided to go home the next day.

Song Shaochen was about to leave when he bumped into Song Mianfeng at the door, and he was surprised, “What are you doing back home?”

“Your words are quite fresh,” Song Mianfeng had just locked the car, the keys still in his hand, and he jingled them a bit, finding it amusing, “I’m coming back to my own home, do I need a reason?”

Song Shaochen frowned, “You’re coming back home without saying anything beforehand, your mom went to see your sister, and I’m about to leave, there’s no one at home.”

“Where are you going?” Song Mianfeng asked, “Mingyue Pavilion?”

Song Shaochen gave an “Hmm.”

Song Mianfeng thought for a moment and said, “Then I’ll go with you.”

Song Shaochen glanced at him, a hint of scrutiny in his eyes, “You’re coming with me?”

“No one at home, might as well accompany you to Mingyue Pavilion,” Song Mianfeng shrugged, “Since I’m free anyway.”

Song Shaochen didn’t know what Song Mianfeng was thinking, he just thought that he had nothing to do and wanted to pass the time by accompanying him to Mingyue Pavilion.

As parents, who wouldn’t want their children to spend more time with them? Who wouldn’t like to show off their children in front of friends? Thinking of the envious looks from those people, Song Shaochen smiled, “Let’s go.”

Mingyue Pavilion was an antique theater. The first floor was bustling and crowded, while the second floor was elegant. The third floor had private rooms where you could watch the opera alone.

Song Shaochen usually listened to operas on the second floor and had his own regular seat. Along the way, he met many acquaintances, and Song Shaochen greeted them with a smile.

Although Song Mianfeng had accompanied Song Shaochen once or twice before, he still found it a bit difficult to handle the enthusiasm from the elders. Moreover, since he didn’t see Lu Yin Zhen, he lost some interest.

After drinking tea and listening to the opera for a while, Song Mianfeng couldn’t sit still and started fiddling with his teacup.

The bamboo-jointed cup made of sheep-fat jade, with the color of the tea showing through, was transparent and beautiful.

Song Mianfeng placed the cup where the light and shadow intersected, took out his phone, took a picture, and then opened WeChat and sent it to Lu Yin Zhen.

As he was pouring the third cup of tea, his phone screen lit up, and he unlocked it to see Lu Yin Zhen’s reply.

[Longevity: Are you at Mingyue Pavilion?]

[Leisurely listening to the wind sleep: Yeah, accompanying my dad to watch opera.]

Lu Yin Zhen also sent a photo, a bunch of financial reports and the like, with a desk in the background, which made Song Mianfeng furrow his brows.

[Leisurely listening to the wind sleep: Working overtime on the weekend?]

[Longevity: Yeah.]

[Longevity: Don’t want to work overtime.]

[Longevity: Want to go to Mingyue Pavilion.]

Song Mianfeng smiled when he saw the replies.

[Leisurely listening to the wind sleep: I’ll take you to listen to opera in the clouds.]

Then he recorded a voice message and sent it over.

After a while, Lu Yin Zhen called him, and Song Mianfeng subconsciously glanced at Song Shaochen, seeing that he wasn’t paying attention, before answering the phone and lowering his voice, “Hello.”

“Aren’t you taking me to listen to opera in the clouds?” Lu Yin Zhen chuckled, “Then don’t hang up, just put your phone aside, pretend I’m there too.”

Song Mianfeng hadn’t expected that he would go along with his whims.

He didn’t like listening to opera. Listening for a while could be seen as a way to relax, but after a long time, it became boring and he couldn’t sit still. When Lu Yin Zhen said to pretend he was there too, Song Mianfeng subconsciously imagined the scene of the two of them listening to the opera together and couldn’t help but smile.

With beauty present, the opera seemed to become particularly interesting.

Tracing the patterns of the bamboo nodes along the edge of the teacup with his fingertips, Song Mianfeng asked, “Won’t this affect your work?”

Lu Yin Zhen replied, “It won’t if you don’t talk.”

“…”

Song Mianfeng pursed his lips, placed his phone face down on the table, feeling a bit embarrassed.

After the afternoon performance ended, Song Mianfeng picked up his phone and found that the call was still ongoing. He wasn’t sure whether to end it or not.

Song Shaochen stood up leisurely and said, “Let’s go home. Your mom has cooked dinner.”

In the end, he pressed the hang-up button, sent a message on WeChat saying “I’m going home for dinner, let’s chat later,” and then put his phone away.

Back home, dinner was already set up. Song Mianfeng washed his hands in the kitchen, sat down, and while serving himself food, asked Su Jieyi, “Did you take Zhanyue on another blind date? How did it go? Did they hit it off?”

Su Jieyi shook her head with a helpless tone, “Your sister thinks the other person is too old.”

Song Mianfeng asked, “How old is the other person?”

“Thirty.”

Song Shaochen frowned, wanting to say something, but in the end, he just sighed.

Song Mianfeng picked up a piece of meat for Su Jieyi, saying, “Eat up. If Zhanyue doesn’t like this one, let’s keep looking. The next one might be better.”

Su Jieyi was amused by him, “You’re quite broad-minded.”

That matter was then glossed over.

After dinner, Song Mianfeng helped Su Jieyi wash the dishes and chatted with her for a while before returning to his own home.

After plugging in his phone to charge, he found his WeChat full of messages from Song Zhanyue. After reading them all, he replied to each one.

After comforting Su Jieyi, he had to coax his little sister. Being an elder brother was not easy.

The chat history with Lu Yin Zhen was still stuck on the “okay” reply he received from Lu Yin Zhen at a little past six. Song Mianfeng sent him a message saying “I’m home” and then switched back to chatting with his sister.

After soothing Song Zhanyue, Song Mianfeng was about to take a shower when a new reply popped up on WeChat.

[Longevity: Yeah.]

[Longevity: Just took a shower.]

His fingertips paused on the screen. Seeing the words “[The other party is typing]” in the chat window, Song Mianfeng casually tossed his pajamas aside and waited for the new message to appear.

After a few minutes, Lu Yin Zhen finally pressed the send button.

[Longevity: You went back home today.]

[Longevity: were there guests at home?]

The single sentence was split into two messages. Song Mianfeng couldn’t help but chuckle.

He sent a voice message, “Why are you asking this?”

Lu Yin Zhen also sent a voice message in response, saying, “I’m worried you were tricked into going home for a blind date.”

Song Mianfeng asked, “What if I was really tricked into going home for a blind date?”

Lu Yin Zhen said, in a particularly calm tone, “I might be unhappy.”

Song Mianfeng’s lips curved up as he asked, “Why would you be unhappy?”

Lu Yin Zhen’s tone sounded indifferent, and he said directly, “I thought my blind date partner wasn’t bad.”

“That’s true,” Song Mianfeng chuckled, “But as the saying goes, cast a wide net.”

After waiting for a while without a reply, Song Mianfeng started to feel anxious, afraid that Lu Yin Zhen might take it seriously. So, he sent another voice message to explain, “I was just joking earlier. My parents didn’t trick me into going home for a blind date.”

Lu Yin Zhen replied with a voice message.

For a few seconds, there was no sound. Song Mianfeng furrowed his brows, and then he heard Lu Yin Zhen sigh softly, “I just took some medicine.”

Lu Yin Zhen said, “I used to think medicine was bitter, but just now… I felt that your words were even more bitter than the medicine.”

^[1]Author’s Note: Because of Song Mianfeng’s profession, there will be a little bit of entertainment industry content. Once again, the author solemnly declares: This story is entirely … Continue reading