Chapter 50: The Smile He Had Lost for Eighteen Years

Yu Zilin’s pupils contracted sharply.

When Sang Zhiyi had returned, and in the identity of Chi Jun, made him the promise “We will definitely see each other again” and “This time, I won’t forget you,” Yu Zilin’s heartstrings had already been deeply stirred.

They played together a deafening symphony in the performance hall that was only Yu Zilin’s alone, every note overflowing with stunning joy and delight.

Yu Zilin knew that Sang Zhiyi had actually always been concerned about why he was interested in her.

But if Yu Zilin really had to answer that question, it would be hard for him to give a definite answer.

The initial opportunity for him to hear about Sang Zhiyi came from Zhu Qing.

Zhu Qing was the guardian who had raised him from childhood.

Although nominally his aunt, in reality, Yu Zilin had long regarded her as another mother.

The many years of interaction between them were not much different from that of a mother and son.

At that time, Zhu Qing had just been shocked by Sang Zhiyi’s performance on the Feng Chun set, and had immediately and decisively agreed to collaborate with Sang Zhiyi on a film.

In her daily communications with Yu Zilin, Zhu Qing had also frequently expressed her appreciation for Sang Zhiyi.

Actresses who could earn such recognition from Zhu Qing were rare, so Yu Zilin had developed some impression of Sang Zhiyi.

Later, Zhu Qing had also unintentionally mentioned that Sang Zhiyi had a very famous mermaid video.

Zhu Qing was not very clear about what the “mermaid” meant to Yu Zilin.

After learning that the actress his aunt thought so highly of had such a performance, Yu Zilin actively searched for Sang Zhiyi for the first time.

Yu Zilin was not very interested in online celebrity content and generally didn’t pay much attention to it.

But after watching that short video, Yu Zilin genuinely felt a slight twinge of regret.

Regret that he hadn’t seen it sooner.

Yu Zilin could still clearly remember the slight tingling sensation like an electric shock that had passed through his heart when he saw Sang Zhiyi in her mermaid costume on the screen.

Sang Zhiyi fulfilled all his childhood fantasies of the term “mermaid.”

That “childhood” could be traced back to the years when Yu Zilin, as a young boy, had pestered his parents to tell him bedtime stories.

Among the stories his parents had gently told, “The Little Mermaid” was one of his favorites.

On the evening eighteen years ago, Yu Zilin had been listening to his mother tell “The Little Mermaid” again when he suddenly grew impatient and started messing around.

“Fake, fake!”

In the prime of his energy, the nine-year-old Yu Zilin bounced on the bed, waving his hands as he announced his latest “clever discovery.”

His mother stopped and looked at her son with some amusement.

“What’s fake?”

“The little mermaid is fake!”

Yu Zilin shouted.

“There are no mermaids in the world at all!”

Hands on his hips, Yu Zilin wore a triumphant smile and proudly announced to his parents, “I’ve grown up now!

I won’t be fooled by these childish fairy tales anymore!

From now on, you have to tell me stories for adults!”

His father, hearing this, also laughed.

“Oh, our Zilin has ideas!”

“By the way,” his father put his arm around his wife’s shoulder and suggested, “We really can’t see a mermaid, but we can see other creatures in the sea!”

“Didn’t a new aquarium open nearby?

Let’s all go take a look tomorrow?”

The smiling faces of his father and mother from that time were forever frozen in Yu Zilin’s memories.

The next day, on the way back from the aquarium, a car accident ended Yu Zilin’s childhood.

After that, without him even realizing it, the “mermaid” gradually became a certain obsession for Yu Zilin.

It wasn’t deep, you could even say it was faint, but it truly existed and had existed for a full eighteen years.

Eighteen years later, seeing Sang Zhiyi break through the waves and appear before his eyes, Yu Zilin thought, he had been wrong as a child.

The story of the little mermaid wasn’t fake.

He had truly seen a mermaid.

As he had done every time over the eighteen years, no matter how many emotions surged, Yu Zilin locked them all in his heart.

He had perfectly performed Shen Yehan’s role.

And now, the play was over.

Sang Zhiyi, using her own identity, smiled and said to him, “I’ve returned.”

Yu Zilin truly could not hold back his emotions this time.

By now, Sang Zhiyi had come out of the seawater.

The mermaid costume was not as striking on land as it had been in the water, and after her assistant hurried over with a towel and coat, it even looked a bit comical.

But in Yu Zilin’s eyes, this Sang Zhiyi was more real than the one in the play.

Yu Zilin even felt his vision blur for a moment.

Pressing down the hint of bitter tears, Yu Zilin also showed Sang Zhiyi a big smile.

“…Yes, you’ve returned.”

This smile was very much like the one Yu Zilin had worn as a child when he had been so lively and proud in front of his parents.

“Welcome back,” Yu Zilin said, his eyes fixed intently on Sang Zhiyi, his voice hoarse.

He knew that from then on, his heart would no longer hold only his own emotions.

Another person would take up residence there.

***

After Feast of the Prisoners officially wrapped up, Sang Zhiyi did not stay in the southeast for long and quickly returned to A City.

Zhongli Miaomiao specifically had her family’s driver come to the airport to pick her up.

Sang Zhiyi had been busy for the past few months, and Miaomiao hadn’t seen her in a long time.

After Sang Zhiyi got in the car, Zhongli Miaomiao immediately clung to her, holding her arm and refusing to let go.

“Sister Xiaoqian!

I missed you so much!”

Sang Zhiyi skillfully smoothed things over, smiling warmly.

“I missed Miaomiao too.”

Hearing Zhongli Miaomiao chattering away like a little sparrow nonstop in her ear for the first time in a while, Sang Zhiyi felt quite nostalgic.

“Oh, right, Sister Xiaoqian, haven’t you been contacting my brother much lately?”

Zhongli Miaomiao suddenly brought up Zhongli Hanyu as she chatted.

“A few days ago, my brother actually specifically asked me what you’ve been busy with!”

Zhongli Miaomiao tried to gesture with the hand that wasn’t holding Sang Zhiyi’s arm.

“Seriously, I’ve never seen my brother so humble and begging like that!”

The Zhongli family driver in the driver’s seat nearly swerved the steering wheel because of what their little princess said.

Fortunately, being the exclusive driver for Zhongli Miaomiao, the driver had excellent technical skills and psychological resilience, and didn’t actually lose control.

But he couldn’t help sweating on his forehead.

Their family head, who held all the power and had a high status—put together with the words “humble and begging” was practically the stuff of horror movies!

Terrifying!

But thinking back carefully, the driver did recall that over the past half month or so, their family head had indeed expressed more than once his hope to see Miss Sang Zhiyi again.

Even he, a minor driver far from the core of the Zhongli family, knew about it!

At the time, he had thought the family head wanted to collaborate with Miss Sang Zhiyi again.

After all, how happily Mr. Zhongli Hanyu and Miss Sang Zhiyi had worked together was evident to everyone in the Zhongli family!

Mr. Zhongli Hanyu had repeatedly and proactively praised Miss Sang Zhiyi, holding her in high regard in his words.

The driver had been working for the Zhongli family for over a decade, and this was the first time he had seen Zhongli Hanyu express such direct and frequent praise for anyone.

Could it be because…?

The more the driver thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Although their little princess still seemed like an immature child at times and not always reliable, she wouldn’t just make things up about something like this.

Through the car’s rearview mirror, the driver secretly glanced at Sang Zhiyi’s reflection.

…To be honest, he thought that for a talented and beautiful person like Miss Sang Zhiyi, their family head’s attraction was perfectly normal!

“Ah, maybe ‘humble and begging’ isn’t quite right either,” Zhongli Miaomiao frowned, unsure how to describe it. ”

He lowered his stance a lot, almost like he was pleading with me.

He seemed a bit lonely!”

The more Zhongli Miaomiao spoke, the more convinced she became, and finally nodded emphatically in conclusion.

“I feel like my brother misses you just like I do!”

Sang Zhiyi smiled.

Then, she glanced out the car window.

Just in time, the Starlight building was visible not far away.

But given the road design in A City, a distance that looked at most four or five kilometers could actually be much farther.

Watching the Starlight building gradually disappear from view as the car moved, Sang Zhiyi lazily shifted her gaze.

Today was a good day to return to A City and meet up with friends.

She wouldn’t taint it with the bad luck of the scumbag Lou Yanchen.

She would rest up a bit.

Tomorrow, the weather was forecast to be quite warm.

She would go to Starlight and settle things with the scumbag.

***

During this time, Lou Yanchen had been doing very poorly.

Ever since he had heard Jiang Yingru say to him directly, “You have greatly disappointed me,” Lou Yanchen had suffered a tremendous blow.

He had been in unrequited love with Jiang Yingru for so many years, his desire to win the beauty’s heart had long evolved from an initial flutter into a fervent wish he had to fulfill.

Now, before he had even had a chance to properly get to know her or communicate with her, Jiang Yingru had unilaterally declared that there was no possibility between them.

That day, watching Jiang Yingru’s back as she walked onto the ambulance, Lou Yanchen felt as if his soul had been ripped away, his mind a blank.

How the police had arrived at the scene, how Sang Zhiyi had cleared her name, and even how Zhong Yueyi had poisoned Jiang Yingru—Lou Yanchen knew none of it.

It was only after Love of a Limited Season was confirmed to be canceled that the show’s producer reported the details to him as an investor, and Lou Yanchen learned them.

By then, Lou Yanchen had already spent several days without tasting his food or sleeping at night.

The president of Starlight, who always paid attention to his appearance, had dark circles under his eyes and hadn’t completely cleaned up his stubble.

The feeling of something that should have been his being forcibly taken away was extremely uncomfortable for Lou Yanchen.

Making matters worse, during this time, Starlight had, for some unknown reason, been encountering all sorts of problems.

Either a reasonably famous artist at the company was found to have evaded taxes, or a well-negotiated partner suddenly backed out, or an employee suddenly took urgent leave, stalling the progress of an entire department, or a promising investment project was snatched away by someone else, and so on.

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