sovbooks Chapter 43, Deception and Using Others to Present Their Own Wishes
Chapter 43, Deception and Using Others to Present Their Own Wishes
Gao Huan looked at the message and leaned back in his chair.
The light from the screen shone on his face, making his beauty mark stand out clearly.
He put down his phone, stood up, and walked to the bedside.
Naza was sleeping soundly, breathing evenly, her eyelashes trembling slightly, like a snail that had retreated into its shell.
He took a clean black hoodie from the closet, put it on, picked up his phone and room key, and gently closed the door.
The corridor was quiet, the carpet was thick and made no sound when you stepped on it.
As the elevator descended, he watched the floor numbers jump one by one.
10th floor, room 1003 is at the end of the corridor.
He stood in front of the door, raised his hand, and hovered his knuckles three centimeters in front of the door panel.
I knocked three times, neither too hard nor too softly.
The door opened.
Liu Shishi stood at the door, wearing a light gray knitted sweater, her hair loose, and without makeup.
Her skin was so white it was almost transparent, and her eyes were a little red, as if she had just cried or hadn't slept well.
She looked at the person outside the door, didn't say anything, and turned slightly to the side.
Gao Huan entered the room.
The door closed, and only a bedside lamp was on in the room, casting a dim, yellowish light. The television was off, and the curtains were drawn tightly shut.
The two stood on the open space between the doorway and the bed, more than a meter apart, and neither of them spoke.
Liu Shishi spoke first.
"Should I not have called you over?"
Gao Huan's lips twitched slightly: "No, it shouldn't be like this. I wanted to come."
Liu Shishi looked at him, her eyes reddening even more.
"What you said yesterday," her voice was soft, "about Nazha. Is it true?"
"real."
"Are you...tired of her?"
"Um."
Liu Shishi lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her knitted sweater.
The dress was light gray, very thin, and clung to her body, outlining the contours of her shoulders and waist.
"And what about with other people?" She looked up into his eyes. "Don't you get tired of them too?"
Gao Huan did not answer immediately.
He walked over, stood in front of her, and stopped.
He was much taller than her; she had to look up to see his eyes.
The light from the bedside lamp shone from the side, illuminating half of his face while the other half remained hidden in shadow.
"Yes," he said.
Liu Shishi's fingers stopped.
"But before they get tired of each other, the two of them will be very happy."
The room remained quiet for a long time.
The wind from outside blew in through the cracks in the window, causing the curtains to billow gently.
Liu Shishi stood there, looking up at him.
Her lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing.
She reached out and grabbed his sleeve.
The movements were very light, as if she was unsure, or as if she was afraid he would leave.
Gao Huan did not move.
He watched as her fingers gripped the cuff of his black hoodie, her knuckles white, her nails unpainted and clean, just like her.
"When you hugged me today," she said softly, "you only used half your body."
"The other half was pulled back."
Liu Shishi's lips curved slightly, not in a smile, but in a relieved "I knew it" manner.
"And now?" she asked. "Is someone holding you back now?"
Gao Huan looked at her, reached out, and tucked a strand of hair that was hanging down beside her face behind her ear.
The movement was very light; his fingertips brushed against her earlobe, and the warmth transferred to her ear, causing it to turn slightly red.
"No," he said.
Liu Shishi closed her eyes.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly, like butterfly wings struggling before the rain.
She loosened her grip on his sleeve, then slowly slid her fingers down to his wrist, where she stopped.
Her fingertips were cool, pressed against the skin on the inside of his wrist. That slight coolness was like a drop of ink falling into water, slowly spreading.
"Someone," she called him, her voice as soft as if she were speaking in a dream.
"Um."
"Are you a jerk?"
Gao Huan lowered his head, his chin resting on the top of her head, and smelled the shampoo—coconut scent, sweet, but not cloying.
"Yes," he said.
Liu Shishi did not push him away.
She leaned against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, slow and steady, like a clock that would never stop.
"I don't think I dislike it either," she said, her voice muffled, coming from his chest.
"Then don't hate it," Gao Huan said.
Liu Shishi smiled slightly, a very soft smile, her chest trembling slightly.
The vibration was received by Gao Huan's heart, and the two heartbeats with different frequencies found resonance in the same body.
The wind was still blowing outside the window. In the distance, the lights of the China World Trade Center shone through the gaps in the curtains, casting a thin white line on the ceiling.
……
After Liu Shishi finished filming, the filming of "Brotherhood of Blades" continued.
Gao Huan's scenes will last for nearly two weeks. Shen Lian's character will extricate himself from the entanglement of Nuanxiang Pavilion and begin to face Zhao Jingzhong's pursuit and Ding Xiu's alliance.
As action scenes became more and more important, his workout clothes were soaked with sweat every day when he finished work.
But Gao Huan's performance remained very stable.
Sang Lin watched him from behind the monitor for a few days and said to Lu Yang, "This kid is even more solid in action scenes than in dramatic scenes."
Lu Yang nodded in complete agreement.
Yangyang Jin hasn't been on set much these past few days.
She sat in her hotel room with a laptop and two mobile phones in front of her, the screens filled with contracts and quotations from various brands.
The aftershocks of "The Coffin in the Mountain" grossing 600 million yuan are still unfolding, the popularity of "Swords of Legends" has not subsided, and the "Medal" MV has gone viral, passed the preliminary selection for the Spring Festival Gala, and the number of fans has exceeded 10 million.
Gao Huan's commercial value has nearly tripled in the past month.
The number of GG merchants approaching us has increased from a few scattered ones at the beginning of the year to a flood now.
In Yangyang Jin's WeChat contact list, there are always 99+ unread messages.
She went through each one one by one, filtering out those that didn't meet Gao Huan's requirements—no cosmetics, no micro-businesses, no P2P platforms, no health product brands.
The remaining items were sorted by price and brand image, and made into a table for Gao Huan to review after finishing work that evening.
The phone rang.
She glanced down at Li Xue.
Yangyang Jin answered the phone, her tone immediately switching from tired to capable. "Sister Xue."
"Hmm." Li Xue's voice wasn't loud on the other end of the phone, but every word was clear. "How's Xiao Huan doing lately?"
"It's going well," Yangyang Jin said. "The filming went smoothly, and I'm in good form. I'm also doing well on the Spring Festival Gala, and Teacher Hong Bing has a very high opinion of me."
"I wasn't asking about work."
Yangyang Jin's fingers paused for a moment.
She had been with Gao Huan for over two years and knew the meaning behind Li Xue's words.
She can understand the work situation from data, reports, and feedback from various parties.
What she couldn't see were the things that couldn't be written in the report.
"What about your love life?" Li Xue asked directly.
Yangyang Jin remained silent for a second.
Several images flashed through her mind: the night Liu Shishi finished filming, Gao Huan came out of his room on the 10th floor.
She didn't know why he was on the 10th floor.
And on the morning of the third day, when she, Liu Shishi, was...
Liu Shishi was wearing sunglasses, but her lips were a little swollen. She wasn't wearing makeup, but her complexion was extremely rosy.
Yangyang Jin cleared these images from her mind.
"Nothing special," she said, her tone as calm as if she were reading a work report.
"Nazha visited the set and stayed for two days before leaving."
He spends the rest of his time on set, and after work he goes back to his room to read scripts and write.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.
"Are you sure?" Li Xue asked.
"Sure."
When Yangyang Jin finished saying those two words, her fingers unconsciously clenched.
Li Xue did not ask any further questions.
"Okay, keep an eye on him. Make sure nothing happens to him."
"it is good."
The phone hangs up.
Yangyang Jin put her phone on the table, leaned back in her chair, and stared at the ceiling.
She remembered the day Gao Huan signed the contract, when Li Bingbing called her into his office and said, "You should stay close to Xiao Huan and take good care of him."
The light shone on her face, clearly illuminating her expression, which had that sense of relief that she had "done something she shouldn't have done but wasn't caught."
When she said "I'm sure" earlier, her tone was very steady.
But her heart skipped a beat.
My phone vibrated again.
She glanced down and saw it was a WeChat message, saved as "Xiao Zhang"—Zhang Ruonan.
"Sister Yangyang, are you asleep yet?"
Yangyang Jin checked the time; it was 10:30 PM.
She typed back: "Not yet, what's up?"
The other end replied instantly: "It's nothing, I just wanted to tell you how hard you've worked."
You've been so busy these past few days, I haven't had a chance to properly thank you.
Yangyang Jin's lips curved slightly.
This girl has a sweet tongue.
"It's alright, it's nothing."
Did you study with your teacher after you went back?
"I've learned a lot! I'm practicing every day, and Shen Meng says I've improved a lot!"
Looking at that line of text, Yangyang Jin could imagine Zhang Ruonan nodding earnestly on the other end of the phone.
She recalled that during those days in Beijing, the girl would blush every time she saw Gao Huan, her face turning red from her neck to the tips of her ears, and even her earlobes would turn almost transparent pink.
"That's good. Keep it up. I'll let you know when the filming schedule in France is set."
"Okay, okay! Yangyang, you should get some rest. Goodnight~"
Yangyang Jin replied with "Goodnight" and locked her screen.
She put her phone aside, reopened her laptop, and continued reviewing the contract.
In the days that followed, Gao Huan's life settled into a fixed rhythm.
I film on set during the day and write scripts at the hotel at night.
After filming several fight scenes between Shen Lian and Zhao Jingzhong, Ding Xiu turned to attack the cavalry in the final battle, while Shen Lian faced Zhao Jingzhong alone.
Gao Huan memorized every frame of that scene; on set, he practically became Shen Lian.
In mid-January, the fourth rehearsal for the Spring Festival Gala was held at the old CCTV headquarters.
By the time Gao Huan arrived at Fuxing Road from Huairou, it was already dark.
He was wearing a thin black down jacket and a mask, and entered through the side door.
The waiting area was well-heated, and the air was filled with various perfume scents and a faint atmosphere of tension.
Gao Huan found a corner to sit down, closed his eyes, and listened to the melody of "One Meat, One Vegetable" in his mind.
Familiar footsteps came from the other end of the corridor.
He opened his eyes and glanced to the side.
Lu Han was wearing a dark blue casual suit, her hair was styled, and she was wearing heavy makeup.
When Lu Han saw Gao Huan, he visibly paused.
His gaze lingered on Gao Huan's face for two seconds before he walked over.
Gao Huan stood up.
The two were less than a meter apart. Lu Han extended his hand first, not in a handshake gesture, but in the kind of gesture where buddies pat each other on the shoulder.
Gao welcomed them up, their hands touched in the air, then they leaned their shoulders together and patted each other on the back.
The movement was small, but very natural, like two longtime friends making a substitution on the field.
Several artists waiting in the wings glanced over here and then looked away.
"Why didn't you come to play soccer that day?" Lu Han released his grip, took a step back, and asked casually.
Gao Huan thought for a moment: "Which day?"
"Just last month, at the Olympic Sports Center, I had someone send you my location."
"I'm filming in Huairou, so I can't leave."
Lu Han nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
His gaze lingered on Gao Huan's face for a moment, then the corners of his mouth curved slightly with a hint of curiosity.
"Your movie had too many action scenes, it must have been exhausting. Haha, by the way, did you finish writing that song for me?"
Gao Huan turned his head and glanced at Yangyang Jin.
Yangyang Jin took out her tablet from her bag, unlocked it, opened an audio file, and handed it over.
Lu Han took the headphones from his assistant and put them on.
The noise in the corridor was shut out.
He looked down at the waveform on the tablet and tapped the screen lightly with his finger.
When the intro to "July" started playing, his brow twitched slightly.
The tone of the electronic synthesizer is clean and cold, like the first snow of winter falling on the railway tracks.
Then came the drumbeats, not heavy, but very steady, striking one after another on some unseen rhythm.
Lu Han stood there, motionless, like a tree that had been blown halfway by the wind and then stopped.
When the chorus came in, his body swayed slightly as he found the rhythm.
He trained at SM Entertainment for so many years, music is not just a sound for him, it's muscle memory.
As soon as a drumbeat came down, his body knew exactly how to move.
Gao Huan looked at his profile without saying a word.
Lu Han listened to the whole song, took off his headphones, and handed the tablet back to Yangyang Jin.
He looked at Gao Huan, remained silent for two seconds, and then smiled happily.
"It sounds nice," he said.
It was just two words, but Gao Huan could sense the weight in them.
"It's alright," Gao Huan said.
Lu Han glanced at him, and the smile on her lips widened even more.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but swallowed the words back down.
"What did Teacher Hong Bing say about that song, 'One Meat, One Vegetable'?" he asked.
"We've passed the primary rounds, and the subsequent rounds as well. Now we're just waiting for the final results."
Lu Han nodded, his expression changing from serious to one of confirmation.
He thought for a moment and said, "My show—a duet with Kris Wu, Ning Zetao, and William Chan."
The form is quite complex, with many movement sequences and harmonies.
"We've rehearsed several times, but someone always messes up."
He paused for a moment, his tone carrying a sense of helplessness, as if saying "I can't do anything about it," but his eyes were serious.
"But it should be fine, we've been practicing for so long."
Gao Huan looked at him but didn't reply.
Lu Han patted him on the shoulder: "See you at the Spring Festival Gala."
See you at the Spring Festival Gala.
Lu Han turned and walked away. After taking two steps, he stopped and turned back.
"By the way, you absolutely have to come next time we play soccer."
Gao Huan nodded, watching his figure disappear around the corner of the corridor.
Yangyang Jin came over from the side, still holding the tablet in her hand.
"Brother Huan, his show..."