Chapter 14

Later on, Xia Xingcheng took the time to return Wei Zehui's phone call. After all, he still had to develop his social circle in the entertainment industry, and interpersonal relationships were more important than anything else.

These days, Wei Zehui has been filming in the same film and television studio that he himself was at. He was the second male lead in an idol drama, and the role wasn't too notable. He didn't have much ambition for acting. When he first entered the show business, he was only fascinated by its beautiful facade and the money that came with it. He called Xia Xingcheng because he had heard that they were filming at the same location, thus he wanted to ask Xia Xingcheng out to play.

When Xia Xingcheng heard this, his initial reaction was to refuse. He was under too much pressure during filming. This film was all about telling the story surrounding Fang Jianyuan, and he had to act in almost every scene. He had to spend a lot of time digesting the script and memorizing his lines whenever he returned from filming every day, but Wei Zehui insisted on inviting him to the party, saying that no matter how late he was, he must come.

Xia Xingcheng couldn't refuse his invitation. When he went back to the hotel that night, the first thing he did was to familiarize himself with the scenes that were to be filmed tomorrow. He then took a bath, changed his clothes, and asked his assistant to send him to the party.

Wei Zehui had rented out a private villa.

The moment Xia Xingcheng got off of his assistant's car, the smell of perfume and alcohol had hit his nose, wafting in with the sultry summer night wind, and the familiar scene gave him the illusion of being pulled between reality and reverie.

Recently, he was always cooped up at the studio. Before he started filming, he usually sat for a long time at the desk in Fang Jianyuan's room to calm his mind.

After all, he had been in this complex entertainment industry for six years, and Fang Jianyuan was still a child who had just entered university.

Fang Jianyuan was much quieter than he was.

He stood in place, staring at the brightly lit villa from a distant vantage point, in a trance, wondering why he was here.

Then Wei Zehui came up to him.

Wei Zehui and Xia Xingcheng were about the same age, and they both had good looks, but the former wasn't talented enough to become a big star. He came over and patted Xia Xingcheng on the shoulder. "What's the matter? Why don't you come in!"

This brought Xia Xingcheng back to his senses. He remembered who he was and what he was doing here, so he smiled at Wei Zehui and said, "Let's go."

The music inside the villa was slightly noisy, and at this time, a lot of people had arrived. Some of them were young actors whom Xia Xingcheng had seen before, yet he could only recall their names. There were also D-list starlets whose names he didn't even know. It was only natural that this party boasted a great number of gorgeous women.

This whole atmosphere has always been Wei Zehui's favorite.

Xia Xingcheng suddenly remembered that he and Xiao Yu had first gotten acquainted during this type of social gathering.

And just then, Wei Zehui asked him, "I heard that you and Xiao Yu broke up?"

"Mm." Xia Xingcheng wasn't particularly interested in answering his question.

Wei Zehui slung his arm around Xia Xingcheng's shoulder and said to him with a grin, "It just so happens that I have someone to introduce you to, and I guarantee that you'll definitely like them."

The two of them stood in the corner of the living room, and from time to time people would come over to greet them.

Xia Xingcheng glanced at the young men and women who were drinking and messing about in the spacious living room, and little by little regained his sense of reality, but he still declined, "No."

He thought it was inappropriate, but couldn't figure out why.

Wei Zehui looked over at him and said, "What's wrong? Why are you in such a bad mood?"

Xia Xingcheng shot a glance at him and asked, "Do you think I'm in a bad mood?"

Wei Zehui was somewhat puzzled. "I can't say, but I think that you're a little out of it. Is the pressure of filming with He Zheng and Yang Youming really that big?"

This time, Xia Xingcheng didn't have an answer.

Wei Zehui laughed and felt that he'd figured out the reason, he grabbed Xia Xingcheng's shoulder and said, "Then shouldn't you relax? Have you seen the beautiful women over there? You're with my crew now, isn't there someone that catches your eye?"

The word 'relax' touched Xia Xingcheng. For a while now, his heart was burdened with pressure, and sometimes he felt like he was unable to catch a breath. When he first heard Yang Youming's suggestion to attempt to completely live as Fang Jianyuan, in order to alleviate the pressure, he strived to do just that.

Everyday, from the moment he woke up, he'd tell himself that he was Fang Jianyuan, not the Xia Xingchen who had already existed in the world for twenty-four years.

In the end, was this the right thing to do?

Wei Zehui handed him a glass of wine.

Xia Xingcheng reached out and took it. Without much thought, he directly gulped down its entire content. Alcohol had the ability to reduce stress, even if this time it was not necessarily a good way of doing so.

The girl that Wei Zehui had mentioned had long hair and a completely fresh and pure appearance. She sat on the sofa and drank alone without a care. She was indeed Xia Xingcheng's type.

After long days of filming, this single moment in Xia Xingcheng's reality brought about a throbbing in a part of his body. He picked up another glass of wine and walked towards the girl.

•••

Early the next morning, Xia Xingcheng was awakened by the ringing of the telephone. He opened his eyes to the familiar sight of his hotel room's ceiling. His head still ached from the hangover of last night's many glasses of wine. He raised a hand to knead his forehead, but accidentally hit the person beside him.

The girl beside him softly grumbled, and Xia Xingcheng instantly sobered up.

His assistant called again and urged him to get up.

Xia Xingcheng got out of bed while simultaneously insisting the still asleep girl to wake up and leave alongside him.

He opened the hotel room door and the girl walked out first. Xia Xingcheng barely had time to lock the door behind him when she unexpectedly turned around and embraced his neck, saying, "Xiao Xing ge, do you remember my name?"

In fact, Xia Xingcheng didn't remember at all. He gave her a perfunctory smile and said, "Of course I do. Your name is baby."

The girl frowned and called out, "What nonsense!"

At this time, the door of the next room suddenly opened, and it was none other than Yang Youming who walked out and witnessed this scene.