The earlier scenes had been fairly gentle. Shen Qing’an was refined but kept his thoughts deeply hidden, and he had almost no action scenes. The role chiefly tested an actor’s ability to understand the character.
As for acting…
That was Xia Liangzhi’s greatest strength.
A moment ago, he had been teasing Dan Shen. Yet as soon as Qiao Tianyu called, he slipped effortlessly back into his gentle, courteous manner.
“Ling Xiao is Dan Shen’s boyfriend. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to have dinner with Ling Xiao without him.”
“I know the rest of you will be there too. But my relationship with Ling Xiao is different from my relationship with you. If Dan Shen found out, it would bother him to some extent. I should keep my distance.”
Xia Liangzhi had finished filming before Dan Shen. When Dan Shen came looking for him, he happened to hear that last sentence. He stopped in his tracks, his gaze turning cold.
Instinctively, he wanted to say that he was not Ling Xiao’s boyfriend. He had nothing to do with that man at all!
But the words would not come out…
Frustration showed on Dan Shen’s face.
Xia Liangzhi’s arrival had left him feeling suffocated. The problem was not Xia Liangzhi. It was his own “illness.”
Dan Shen was an orphan who had grown up in an orphanage. He had studied hard and lived earnestly, determined to carve out a place for himself in the entertainment industry. He had once believed his life would gradually improve. But six months ago, after he met Ling Xiao, everything changed.
He had developed an “illness”: whenever Ling Xiao was involved, Dan Shen could no longer decide what he said or did!
It was as though a machine had taken control of him. Whenever he faced Ling Xiao, or encountered anything related to him, Dan Shen lost control of his own words and actions.
Except… on the day Xia Liangzhi first appeared. For a few fleeting moments, he had seemed to break free of that control. But only for a few moments!
Before then, Dan Shen had gradually grown numb to it. Xia Liangzhi’s appearance, however, seemed to bring his soul back to life. Never had he hated this “illness” so much!
His phone chimed with a message. Dan Shen took it out and saw the address Ling Xiao had sent. His fingers typed a reply mechanically.
Hearing the sound, Xia Liangzhi turned. He looked briefly surprised to see Dan Shen, then quickly smiled. He appeared gentle and harmless, yet so alluring that it was hard to look away.
“Little wife, would you like to have dinner with me?”
Even after hearing Xia Liangzhi call him “little wife” all day, Dan Shen still felt embarrassed. Then he remembered the address in the message, and his eyes stirred.
He wanted to go with Xia Liangzhi, but the force controlling him would not let him refuse Ling Xiao. In that case, he could go there with Xia Liangzhi.
“Senior, I heard what you were saying just now. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. You really don’t need to worry about me. You’re a very kind person. Ling Xiao just sent me a message too. Let’s go together.”
A complicated look crossed Xia Liangzhi’s face.
Did Dan Shen love Ling Xiao that much? He knew Ling Xiao did not love him, yet a single message was enough to make him want to go.
Xia Liangzhi raised an eyebrow. “All right. Let’s go together.”
In truth, Xia Liangzhi did not particularly want to go. But if he let his “little wife” go alone, someone might make things difficult for him. Besides, Ling Xiao clearly wanted Xia Liangzhi there. Once he realized Xia Liangzhi intended to avoid gossip by staying away, he had sent Dan Shen a message instead. Xia Liangzhi might as well go and see what happened.
No sooner had he agreed than a message from Qiao Tianyu arrived.
At the other end, Qiao Tianyu received Xia Liangzhi’s reply and swept all the money on the table into his pocket.
“I told you, Liangzhi really has moved on. Zhou Yang, A Fan, do you believe me now?”
Ling Xiao’s face was deathly pale. Qiao Tianyu had put the earlier call on speaker, so everyone had heard the conversation.
He should never have held on to hope, only to humiliate himself.
Ling Xiao drained the red wine in his glass. When he set it down on the marble table, it made a sharp clink.
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