Chapter 161 The First Time Eating Fish in Years

With the commotion, the atmosphere at the dinner table instantly dropped to zero. The actresses, feeling uneasy, were caught in a dilemma, unsure whether to leave or stay.

Since the mood had already been ruined, Chu Yuxuan no longer cared about formalities. He waved his hand, sending the actresses away.

After they left, Chu Yuxuan sat next to Wang Long, giving him a mischievous smile and patting him on the shoulder. "Hey, what's with the long face? Are you upset with me?"

Wang Long, with a stern expression, replied, "I owe you and your dad."

"You're the one who said it, so if you owe, you should repay some favors…" Chu Yuxuan said nonchalantly.

Wang Long glared at him, his mouth twitching, "Are you still shameless? Old Chu, aren't you going to do anything about this?"

Chu Zhijing smiled faintly, "I really do owe him. Where would I go to deal with this?"

Chu Yuxuan glanced at his father, pursed his lips, and then smiled at Wang Long, "Alright, I'm not joking anymore. Uncle Wang, I need a favor."

"Am I Uncle Wang when you need something and Old Wang when you don't? Hmph." Wang Long retorted, "What do you want me to do now?"

Chu Yuxuan poured two glasses of wine, handed one to Wang Long, and took out a photograph from his pocket, placing it in front of Wang Long. "Your crew has so many extras. Finding someone who looks like the person in this photo shouldn't be hard, right?"

Wang Long took a bite of food, swallowed it with wine, and then looked at the photo Chu Yuxuan handed him. Just one glance made the renowned director spit out his food.

"You little b*st*rd! Why are you showing me a photo of a dead person?! And you didn't even give me a heads-up!"

Chu Zhijing tilted his head and saw that the person in the photo was Liu Jun. After a moment of thought, he smiled knowingly.

"At your age, still afraid of this?" Chu Yuxuan muttered, then smiled, "Just find someone with a similar appearance from your extras. The key is that the physique has to match closely. As for the face… your makeup artist is so skilled. As long as the face shape is somewhat similar, with some makeup, it should look about seventy to eighty percent like him, right?"

Wang Long calmed down a bit, enduring his discomfort as he scrutinized the photo again, frowning, "What kind of trick are you up to now?"

"Just tell me, is this difficult to handle?"

"There are at least forty to fifty thousand extras in the film city. Finding a match is not hard," Wang Long said seriously. "But involving a dead person, can we trust just any extra? Nephew, you better not mess around!"

Chu Yuxuan said with a smile, "If it's not difficult, then just do it. I need results by tomorrow night."

Wang Long was still a bit uneasy. Over the years, besides helping Chu Zhijing with film projects for money laundering, he had never touched any of Chu Zhijing's dirty work. For one, he couldn't help with anything else; for another, Chu Zhijing was doing it for his own good. Anything he shouldn't know, he would never mention.

But now, his nephew wasn't being at all reserved!

"Old Wang, just find the person. Don't worry about it," Chu Zhijing said. "Tonight, just act like you didn't see anything."

With Chu Zhijing's reassurance, Wang Long finally felt at ease and grumbled to Chu Yuxuan, "You should learn from your dad and not be so direct about everything! If you want an actor, just tell me the conditions. Why do I need to see the photo…"

"Seeing the photo helps you get a clearer idea. This matter can't be handled carelessly…" Chu Yuxuan smiled, raising his glass, "Come on, let me toast you again."

After a few more drinks, the earlier unpleasantness had vanished.

As the dinner ended, Wang Long, slightly drunk, asked, "Nephew, where did you book for the after-party?"

Chu Yuxuan looked puzzled, "After-party? What after-party?"

Wang Long: …

Chu Zhijing laughed and said, "You dare go to his after-party? Aren't you afraid of getting into trouble? Go home now and don't forget tomorrow's task. Find the right candidate and be attentive. I'll arrange an after-party for you tomorrow. Xiao Liu, help Uncle Wang get home."

Though Wang Long was already quite drunk, he noticed that the father and son had no intention of leaving, so he realized they still had matters to discuss. Not wanting to press the issue, he chatted for a while before being helped out of the private room by Chu Zhijing's driver.

With only the father and son left in the room, Chu Yuxuan glanced at the dishes on the table, picked up a piece of salmon sashimi, and savored it slowly.

Chu Zhijing, looking affectionate, said, "It's been sitting out for a while, so it might not be very fresh. If you want more, I can get you another serving." Chu Yuxuan waved his hand, "Don't waste it… Honestly, it's the first time I've eaten fish in years… The taste is good, I can manage it."

Years ago, after escaping from that freighter, Chu Yuxuan had endured several days of survival on a deserted island. At that time, catching a fish was considered a stroke of luck. He would scrape the fish scales with a rock and start gnawing on it, the disgusting fishy smell still fresh in his memory.

At that time, escaping from the clutches of danger was also quite a surprise to Chu Yuxuan and left him confused.

During that period, Jiang Xiuzhi had to endure various tortures every day and had to watch her son being mutilated. Eventually, unable to bear the physical and mental torment, she chose to end her own life.

Chu Yuxuan never understood what secret his mother had that made her willing to pay such a heavy price to keep silent. But he knew that those people were after her secrets, and since she was dead, he felt there was no reason for him to stay alive.

To his surprise, those people not only spared his life but also stopped torturing him. Instead, they treated his wounds carefully, removed the dog collar from his neck, and placed him in a small room, administering anti-inflammatory medication on a regular basis.

It seemed they didn't want him to die.

Chu Yuxuan couldn't understand their motives but knew that if he still had a chance to live, he had to cherish it.

At that time, his only thought was to survive and seek revenge!

To make the guards relax their vigilance, he pretended to be unconscious every day, even having incontinence. Gradually, the bald foreign guard, unable to endure it any longer, stopped sleeping in the same room at night and returned to his own quarters. This gave Chu Yuxuan an opportunity. Late at night, he would sneak out of the room to steal water and food and discovered an inflatable raft on the slanted rack by the ship's side. An escape plan began to take root in his mind.

A few days later, with his back wound no longer oozing pus, he knew the time to escape had arrived!

One night, as usual, he sneaked out of his room, collected the water and food stored in an inconspicuous garbage bag, and was about to slip out of the cabin when he unexpectedly ran into the bald guard!

The bald guard, having had a few drinks and likely coming out to use the bathroom, didn't expect to catch Chu Yuxuan red-handed.

Their eyes met. Seeing Chu Yuxuan holding a bag, the bald guard immediately realized he was trying to escape. Before he could react, the ship suddenly rocked violently, knocking him to the ground and hitting his head hard against the floor, making him dizzy.

In a desperate move, Chu Yuxuan tightly strangled the bald guard, fearing he would shout out, and continued until he was dead!

Despite the meticulousness of the plan, fate had its own designs. After killing the bald guard, it was his first time killing someone. Chu Yuxuan was both shocked and frightened, barely calming himself down. When he ran out of the cabin, he found that the outside was turbulent with huge waves!

Chu Yuxuan felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of cold water, his entire body chilled. In such weather, a small inflatable raft had no chance of survival!

But with the bald guard dead, there was no turning back!

With the wind and waves so severe, many people would likely be awakened. If he didn't leave now, he might never have another chance!

Chu Yuxuan steeled himself, stuck to the original plan, inflated the raft, and resolutely escaped the freighter. But no sooner had he breathed in a few breaths of fresh air than he was swallowed by the giant waves!

Perhaps fate had other plans, as when he woke up again, he found himself on a deserted island. His back wounds were severely infected, his body covered in blood, and the food and water he had prepared were lost with the raft.

After living for a few days on raw food and water, his back wound became inflamed again, and he was on the brink of death. A few passing pirates saw his distress signal and rescued him from the deserted island.

That day, Chu Yuxuan, in a daze, learned from the pirates' conversation that the freighter was a black market ship, and the so-called "death" was just a way to force his mother to hand over secrets. It had nothing to do with Chu Yuxuan himself.

He didn't know how to express his gratitude to the pirates. In addition to the pirates' ongoing support, Chu Yuxuan took the opportunity to travel around, trying to keep a low profile while investigating his mother's whereabouts and origins.

Then, the sudden news about his mother's death and the release of the recording sent shockwaves throughout the world. Chu Yuxuan knew he had to face the impact of this news, no matter how devastating it was.

With these memories in mind, Chu Yuxuan was finally able to eat the fish he had been craving for years. For him, the taste of fish was intertwined with memories of escape and survival, and it symbolized both the pain and hope he experienced during those years.