Chapter 12
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Sun Chen, who had gradually regained some of his memories, still hadn’t remembered anything about his past with Liu Cheng. Their cohabitation—though nothing physical had happened yet—was so perfect that Liu Cheng had almost forgotten about the events of the past. Unfortunately, just as he was beginning to let go, the past began to intertwine with the present.
It all started one evening when Sun Chen casually mentioned some news he had seen online about an incident involving people being trapped during the filming of Survive Here.
“Have you heard about Survive Here? I really hope Lu Xiaoman and that coach make it out safely.”
When Sun Chen brought up the show during dinner, Liu Cheng’s heart nearly skipped a beat.
“Why are you talking about that?” he asked as casually as he could. To be honest, he did hope that Coach Wu Fei, who had been with them during the initial scouting trip and had chatted with Liu Cheng a few times, would be okay. But more than that, he hoped Sun Chen wouldn’t pay too much attention to the situation.
Sun Chen answered straightforwardly, “When I was writing the convenience store clerk character in my script, I pictured Ding Yu in my head. He’s really good at playing characters with a bit of an evil streak—doing bad things but still making you sympathize with him.”
“Don’t worry. I heard they brought in a highly experienced rescue team to help with the operation. They’ll be fine. Once Lu Xiaoman is rescued, I’ll get him to play your lead role.”
Liu Cheng was just trying to calm Sun Chen down, not realizing that he was revealing information that wasn’t available online.
Sun Chen didn’t suspect anything but still looked a bit puzzled. “How do you know so much about this?”
Liu Cheng offered as little of the truth as possible. “I actually sponsored the show, so I get some insider information.”
Sun Chen stared at him thoughtfully for a moment. “You really do have a lot of money, don’t you?”
“It’s mainly for advertising my products.”
“I thought you sponsored the show the same way you’re sponsoring my film.”
Recently, Sun Chen had started to joke around a bit, though he still hadn’t quite mastered smiling while making jokes, making it hard for Liu Cheng to tell if he was serious or not. Liu Cheng studied Sun Chen’s face for a moment. “Tell me, are you joking?”
Sun Chen thought for a moment. “I’m not sure.” Then he returned to the original topic that had caught his attention. “So, you’re not sponsoring that show for anyone in particular?”
Liu Cheng suddenly realized what was going on and couldn’t help but laugh. “You weren’t joking! You’re jealous!”
Sun Chen’s face remained stern. “Don’t gloat.”
“This isn’t gloating; this is pure happiness,” Liu Cheng said, but for some reason, the words felt warmer, more heartfelt, as they left his lips.
Sun Chen stayed on topic. “You still haven’t answered my question.”
Liu Cheng put down his chopsticks and reached across the table to intertwine his fingers with Sun Chen’s. “I promise you, Xiao Chen, I’ve never sponsored anything for anyone else. I only do things that hurt my own interests for you.”
“You make it sound like my script is bound to lose money,” Sun Chen replied, clearly not agreeing with his assessment.
Liu Cheng just smiled. “One thing’s for sure: being good to you is definitely not a losing deal.”
But deep down, Liu Cheng had a nagging feeling that he might have already lost more than he realized. A week later, Liu Cheng found himself facing a situation he couldn’t ignore.
One evening, when Liu Cheng came home, he found Gu Qingqiu about to knock on his door.
There’s a certain inevitability in life. Because Gu Qingqiu had often spent the night at Liu Cheng’s place before, the building’s manager had naturally let him in. To put it another way, because Liu Cheng had once allowed Gu Qingqiu to stay over, he now had to face the consequences, like almost having a heart attack.
Liu Cheng spoke up before Gu Qingqiu could knock. “Qingqiu! What brings you here?”
Gu Qingqiu hesitated slightly before turning to face Liu Cheng. “Actually, I’m not here to see you.”
Liu Cheng frowned. “This is my apartment.”
“I’m here to see Producer Sun,” Gu Qingqiu said.
Liu Cheng forced himself to stay calm as he asked, “Don’t you think you might be in the wrong place?”
“I’ve been to his place, but he hasn’t been home in a while. I figured he might be staying here.”
“And what made you think that?”
Gu Qingqiu, who had been looking pensive, raised an eyebrow and let out a small, mocking smile. “I know better than anyone how you feel about Producer Sun. Why would I believe that you two don’t have any more dealings with each other?”
Liu Cheng considered denying it. After all, he hadn’t been honest with Sun Chen, so why should he care about lying to Gu Qingqiu? But lying might not solve the problem. He couldn’t realistically keep Sun Chen locked up at home. If Gu Qingqiu had any suspicions, he could stake out the place and catch Sun Chen coming or going. If that happened, there would be no way for Liu Cheng to salvage the situation.
To prevent Gu Qingqiu from running into Sun Chen, Liu Cheng knew he needed to send him away as quickly as possible.
“So, what do you need him for?” Liu Cheng asked.
Gu Qingqiu hesitated for a moment. “I need to talk to Producer Sun in person.”
Liu Cheng firmly shook his head. “You can either tell me to pass along the message or drop it.”
Gu Qingqiu frowned slightly. He had put up with a lot from Liu Cheng in the past, but it was clear he wasn’t willing to do so now. “Liu Cheng, you have no right to keep me from seeing Producer Sun.”
“But I have the right to stop him from seeing you. As you can see, Sun Chen and I are together now, and I don’t want him to see my ex, in case it brings back unpleasant memories.”
After a brief pause, Gu Qingqiu seemed to understand. He even tried to comfort Liu Cheng. “Producer Sun isn’t a petty person. Once he decides something is in the past, it stays in the past. He only cares about the present, not what’s gone.”
“But I care.” Liu Cheng strategically softened his tone, taking a step back to gain ground.
Perhaps never having seen this side of Liu Cheng before, Gu Qingqiu stared at him for a long moment before finally sighing and relenting. “I’m here about Survive Here.”
“From what I understand, the show has been indefinitely postponed?”
Gu Qingqiu hesitated, a look of guilt crossing his face, but it was clear he was determined. “Producer Sun’s resignation hasn’t gone through yet, so technically, he’s still the executive producer of the show… You probably know that yesterday, we confirmed the consequences of the incident. We now need to submit an accident investigation report…”
As a businessman, Liu Cheng quickly understood what Gu Qingqiu was getting at. The situation wasn’t hard to figure out. Yesterday, the rescue operation for the Survive Here incident had been completed. Guest Lu Xiaoman had miraculously survived, but staff member Wu Fei had died. Regardless of how the incident was officially classified, someone would have to take responsibility for it—hence, Gu Qingqiu was looking for Sun Chen.
From Liu Cheng’s reaction, it was clear that Gu Qingqiu didn’t need to explain further, but he hurriedly added, “If I sign it, I’ll have to resign. Producer Sun is already leaving anyway… You know this accident was an act of God. No one will be held accountable… And the whole show was his idea…”
“Enough!” Liu Cheng snapped. When he and Gu Qingqiu had broken up, he had sensed that Gu Qingqiu had some ambition, which didn’t bother him—Liu Cheng had never disliked people with drive. But hearing Gu Qingqiu shirk responsibility and try to pin everything on Sun Chen made him furious. “You’d better understand that this wasn’t Sun Chen’s fault.”
“I know. But it wasn’t anyone’s fault,” Gu Qingqiu said, trying to defuse the situation. “Liu Cheng, I know you want to protect Producer Sun. But signing this won’t affect him much. If he doesn’t sign it, my career is over.”
“And what about him? If he signs it, this incident will be on his record. How’s he supposed to keep working as a producer after that?”
“He doesn’t need to be a producer. He can do lots of other things. Isn’t he a graduate of Oxford?” Gu Qingqiu hesitated before adding, “And I don’t think you want him to stay in the television industry anyway.” Though he didn’t say it outright, it was clear he was referring to Liu Cheng’s role in Sun Chen losing his job in the first place.
Liu Cheng slowly calmed down. He had no right to criticize Gu Qingqiu’s behavior now. And besides, if Sun Chen wanted to stay in the television industry, Liu Cheng had the means to help him do so.
Signing this report wouldn’t mean much to Sun Chen, but if Liu Cheng refused, Gu Qingqiu would undoubtedly keep trying to find Sun Chen. Liu Cheng couldn’t let that happen.
Even now, standing at the door with Gu Qingqiu was making him extremely anxious, afraid that Sun Chen might come out for some reason and open the door.
After weighing all the pros and cons, Liu Cheng made a decision.
“Give me the report. I’ll have Sun Chen sign it and then send it back to you.”
Gu Qingqiu hadn’t expected Liu Cheng to agree so easily. He stood there, stunned, for a moment before pulling out the necessary documents. “Thank you, Liu Cheng,” he said, though he seemed slightly puzzled.
Liu Cheng knew his behavior was suspicious. To keep Gu Qingqiu from figuring out the truth, he shrugged. “Sun Chen promised me he wouldn’t make any more shows. I’ll treat this as his guarantee. I’m helping you out this time, but don’t expect any more favors.”
Lying is like a runaway train—it only picks up speed after it starts, and those on board have fewer and fewer chances to get off. Liu Cheng barely noticed as he became more adept at lying without batting an eye.
He sighed inwardly as he unlocked the door to his apartment.
This door was one he had opened countless times before, but only in recent days had he truly understood what it felt like to come home. Yet, this “home” was nothing more than a mirage. One blink, and it could vanish without a trace.