CH 99

Thank you for not changing

What?

Leaving the group…

After so many days, Fang Juexia had thought that his endurance capacity was already very high, but now, upon hearing this sudden news, he found himself as surprised as ever. He couldn’t understand Ling Ruo’s motives for doing so at all.

Guessing that Liang Ruo would have also made a Weibo post, Fang Juexia didn’t overthink it and went directly to search for it. He didn’t expect that the Hot Search list that he had occupied for the last so many days had already switched people. The first entry on the list was now #Liang Ruo leaves the group#.

“What’s the matter?” Pei Tingsong, who was standing beside him, soon noticed that Fang Juexia wasn’t looking quite right. “What happened?”

Fang Juexia clicked open the Hot Search entry, and sure enough, saw that Liang Ruo had published a new Weibo post very recently. It was a video, and there were already 50,000 comments under it.

“I don’t know why…” He looked up at Pei Tingsong. “Liang Ruo made a Weibo post announcing that he has left his group.”

Pei Tingsong’s face also took on  a completely shocked expression at this. “What is he doing?”

While they were waiting for the stylists, they clicked on the video to watch it. Liang Ruo looked into the camera lens with a face devoid of makeup, wearing a simple white T-shirt as he sat with a table in front of him, and at the very beginning of the video, smiled and said hello. 

“Hello everyone, I’m Liang Ruo. Today, I’d like to talk about something that I haven’t been able to talk about this entire time, which may have a certain impact on everyone. First of all, I’m sorry.”

Upon seeing Liang Ruo’s brilliant appearance as the leader of a top group, Fang Juexia was about to forget about the fact that he had no makeup on.

The way he looked at the camera right now inexplicably reminded Fang Juexia of when he was a trainee.

“The first thing is, I’m leaving the Seven Luminaries group. Here, I’d like to say sorry to my fans and bandmates. I can’t move ahead with everyone any longer.”

He stood up and made a deep bow. Then he looked up again. “Maybe Astar will still bring a lawsuit against me, but it doesn’t matter. I have already been considering this decision for a long time, and there are also reasons why I have to do it.

“During my trainee period, when I was 18 years old, I was drugged and raped by Jin Xiangcheng, a senior manager at Astar. Since then, I have never been able to get rid of the control this senior manager had on me. Of course, I also got a chance to make a debut, an opportunity that originally didn’t belong to me. As we all know, the strongest trainee in Astar’s reserves at that time was Fang Juexia. After he learned about this matter, he helped me by talking to the other high-level officials there, hoping to get some justice for me. But as you all know, what did we count as?”

There was a bitter smile on his face. “That was when Jin Xiangcheng was at the peak of his power, and we couldn’t do anything. Fang Juexia couldn’t accept it, so he left Astar. While I, for various reasons, couldn’t leave.”

Liang Ruo’s face was very pale. “However, if I had left back then, the end result would perhaps have been much worse. But, every single day after my debut was a painful ordeal for me. I have been taking depression medication for a long time, and I have attempted suicide twice. However, I was rescued both times, after which I continued to be abused and violated. At one time, I was very afraid of this matter being known and talked about, because I knew that many people would stigmatize me, so I didn’t dare to stand up. But now, I’ve thought it through.”

In the video, Liang Ruo was seen adjusting his mood before he took out a laptop. “I want to expose the true face of this entertainment giant. Many of the things that Jin Xiangcheng has done to me, I have preserved evidence of. Obviously, I’m not the only victim.”

With that, he clicked his mouse, and the laptop immediately amplified and played several other processed sounds, which were recordings of many other people, and included both boys’ and girls’ voices.

“These are the trainees in the company who have been sexually harassed or abused by Jin Xiangcheng before. When I was collecting evidence, they came forward to provide me with recordings and other relevant evidence. The youngest one is only 15 years old,” Liang Ruo paused. “Thanking them for their bravery. They are all braver than me.

“I will submit all the evidence to the police, and I believe that there will be results soon. This is far from Jin Xiangcheng’s only criminal behavior; at present, all the other criminal evidence I have in my hands has also already been handed over to the police and the prosecutor’s office. It was only after all this was done that I recorded this video.”

Liang Ruo continued to explain, “In order to avoid unreasonable speculation, let me first explain that the other members of Seven Luminaries did not suffer from any special experiences; each of them debuted on the merits of his own true ability. Apart from Jin Xiangcheng, Astar is still a very good and large entertainment company; it was just that this person hoodwinked the public and almost destroyed the entire Astar. Thanking the company for cultivating me, and for all their help. I hope everyone can continue to support Seven Luminaries and the other artists of the company. They are very good and hardworking people. 

“I’m not only quitting Seven Luminaries at this time, but am also quitting the entire entertainment industry.” Liang Ruo easily showed a smile. “For the rest of my life, I want to live for myself and do what I want to do.

“Finally, I thank my friends for their protection in the past. I’ve made you shoulder two years worth of curses because I was too timid.”

Liang Ruo lowered his head and said in a soft voice, “Sorry.”

The video stopped abruptly.

After watching this video, Fang Juexia’s mood was difficult to describe. He knew that at the final part, Liang Ruo had been apologizing to him, but in fact, he didn’t really need Liang Ruo’s apology. No matter what Fang Juexia had encountered for the past two years, he had volunteered for it.

Despite Pei Tingsong never having liked Liang Ruo, his first reaction after watching the video was worry. “I am actually a little concerned about his personal safety right now.”

However, Fang Juexia shook his head. “Liang Ruo is a smart person. If there was no possibility of a full-body retreat, he would not come out at this time.”

This sentence reminded Pei Tingsong: Liang Ruo being able to collect so much evidence and record a video while he was still involved in the hidden rules situation, and then he had also, throughout the entire video, separated Jin Xiangcheng from Astar, and specially protected his bandmates who he didn’t actually have a good relationship with. 

He wasn’t just one person, but had fallen into another camp, thus becoming a platoon.

“Li Luo helped him.”

Fang Juexia nodded. “I guess so, otherwise, just the contract would become a difficult lawsuit, and he wouldn’t be able to leave just because he wanted to.”

As Liang Ruo himself had said, he wasn’t some kind of good person, but he was by no means heinous. With Li Luo’s desire to completely destroy Jin Xiangcheng, he successfully achieved his wish of leaving Seven Luminaries and Astar. Using one big backer to crush another, this was exactly something Liang Ruo would do.

But he was still a little sad, especially looking at the evidence that so many trainees had been violated by Jin Xiangcheng.

After the shoot finished, everyone around them was discussing Liang Ruo in the car. Compared with Fang Juexia’s father’s drug abuse and domestic violence, a popular member of a first-line boyband having suffered from sexual abuse from a company’s top level management for a long time, then leaving the group and throwing out all this real evidence—such a hot sex scandal was obviously more eye-catching. What’s more, there were countless relationships between the central figures of these two events, which made it even more intriguing.

Fang Juexia, who had been slandered for a long time with the hidden rules situation, turned out to be innocent. As a two-year ace-level trainee, he had left Astar because he couldn’t stand the higher-ups getting away with sexual assault.

It took two or three years to really piece together the entire story, and now it was finally being spread around with great relish by everyone online.

The truth being brought to daylight, face-slapping and a counterattack—this was the kind of story everyone loved to see.

[@Blank page: Shit… this is actually a linked melon??? FJX is too miserable, a pitiful beauty, miserable twice over, forced to take the blame, Jin Xiangcheng should die ba! He even makes moves on 15 year old kids!]

[@Red bean niangao and meatball soup: Liang Ruo is also very miserable ba. Being forced for so long, and even trying to commit suicide twice. I’m very worried about Liang Ruo’s safety now. I hope he will be happy in the future]

[@Surreal camouflage replying to @Red bean niangao and meatball soup: At the start, it may really have been forced. Maybe later though, it became more about using his body as capital to advance ba. Saying it clearly, what actually happened, everyone probably knew, but now that he dares to reveal his face and say all this, I’m afraid that Jin Xiangcheng is going to collapse, and LR himself should have found a new backer ba.]

[@Memeryl replying to @Surreal camouflage: It’s not necessary to think so badly of everyone. It was already really hard for him to stand up and tell what happened back then, and also collect evidence for the police and make it public to everyone]

[@I’ve been clocking in for a long time today: Thinking carefully, I fear deeply that with Astar’s top management being like this, the people below….]

[@ Meiyou: FJX is the most innocent person in the whole matter ba, leaving the company because he couldn’t associate himself with people like that, and then not only having his accusations denied but also turned on him. FJX is really pitiful, he has been carrying the blame for so many years without saying a word.]

[@My 7L will shine forever: Everyone, please don’t also blame the other members. All of them are innocent, and I hope everything will be fine for Liang Ruo in the future.]

[@Who said that I like you: I feel that the video is very informative, and there are many hints…. But after watching it, my first reaction was that FJX is a fucking real man (.]

[@Winter is left for you: They must thoroughly investigate this Jin Xiangcheng matter! Who knows how many underage trainees and artists have been violated by him? It wouldn’t be a pity for these trash big bosses to die!]

[@Kiss under the starry sky: I saw a melon about As having some infighting a few days ago. Now it seems to be true…. They’re finally fighting out in the open]

Opinions varied online. 

Facts were cut into many pieces, allowing everyone to selectively see them, and everyone also selectively believed what they wanted to believe. In the end, everything was rendered far from its original appearance.

Even Fang Juexia, who was at the center of the incident, could only get a glimpse, let alone ordinary people far away from across a screen. 

He had long been ready to entangle with this hidden rules rumor for the rest of his life, because this was his own choice, and he had never complained to anyone about it. However, he hadn’t expected that Liang Ruo would use such a method, where good and bad were burned alike, just to return his innocence back to him. 

His bandmates, on the other hand, were happy. After finishing their work and returning to the dormitory, Ling Yi even planned to celebrate. “It’s great, our Juexia has finally gotten rid of this rumor. Before, every time I saw it, I really would half-die from sheer anger.”

He Ziyan also sighed. “All sufferings have their rewards ah.”

“I really didn’t expect that there would be so many victims.” Jiang Miao shook his head. “He must be arrested ah.”

“He’ll definitely be arrested, it’s already become such an uproar, and it’s that disgusting. Have you guys seen the Hot Search list online? It’s pretty much full of people boiling over with discontent.” Lu Yuan jumped on the sofa. “And there are also other melons being implicated; they say that there is a big tiger behind the one surnamed Jin. That tiger fell from power not long ago, and now that they have evidence directly against the one surnamed Jin, even God can’t save him.”

“Holy crap, really?”

“So the other evidence Liang Ruo mentioned also includes that?”

Everyone was very heated over this topic, but Pei Tingsong didn’t say much; he just looked at Fang Juexia silently. He knew him better than anyone else, and knew that at this time, Fang Juexia would never feel relieved because he had been let off. If so, he wouldn’t have helped Liang Ruo hide what had happened from the start.

He must be feeling burdened right now.

“I’ll go and pour something to drink. Juexia, you come help me for a bit.” Pei Tingsong pulled Fang Juexia over to the kitchen and opened the door to the refrigerator. As he took juice and beer out of the fridge, he said, “You give him a call ba.”

Fang Juexia, who had just taken two cans of beer from him, didn’t expect him to say this. He looked up with great surprise. “Ah?”

Pei Tingsong raised his elbow to close the refrigerator door, turned around, and his expression was slightly uncomfortable. “Although, from the standpoint of a love rival, I’m very reluctant to let you talk to Liang Ruo. I’m very annoyed at the thought that he likes you and has liked you for so long.”

He began to talk childishly again, but in the middle of his speech, his expression grew more restrained.

Pei Tingsong looked at Fang Juexia, and with his eyes directing sincere encouragement towards him, continued in a low voice, “But you’d still better go ba. Otherwise, you’ll feel uncomfortable inside. Rather than a love rival or whatever, I don’t want you to carry any burdens towards him even more.”

‘Maybe that was also what Liang Ruo had planned,’ Pei complained darkly in his heart.

“Anyway, he can’t compare to me.” Pei Tingsong took out a few cups with a smile. “I still have this much confidence.”

Fang Juexia laughed because of his frankness and even stuck a frozen beer can against the side of Pei Tingsong’s neck. “What are you thinking about every day ah?”

“It’s freezing.” Pei Tingsong’s neck was frozen so much by him that he had to duck to the side before directly taking the beer can away from him. He said with a smile, “What am I thinking? I’m thinking about when my moon can be a bit fuller ah.”

Lu Yuan, who had walked over to get snacks, overheard them. “What are you guys talking about? What is this about the moon being full or not, isn’t it just the 15th today?”

Pei Tingsong’s expression didn’t change and he continued with his words, “Who knows? Hey, help me take some of these over, I can’t grab any more.”

Looking at his back, Fang Juexia’s heart lightened a lot.

Pei Tingsong was always like this, seeing straight through his tight nerves at a glance, and then enveloping him within the most straightforward and pure emotions to warm his rigid body. His tenderness was different from everyone else’s; he didn’t show it with a certain form or posture, but rather with a softness of consciousness, a complete understanding.

Was he full yet?

Fang Juexia couldn’t help but ask himself.

He had to admit, Pei Tingsong had completely seen through him. In the past two years, he had always felt the reason that he could completely let go was because he could accept the state of the other party owing him, and it was only then that he could cut off all contact. However, if that was suddenly changed, he would not only feel that this wasn’t fair, but would even have a burden on his shoulders.

It was very strange, but that was just the kind of person he was. 

Looking at his noisy bandmates, Fang Juexia finally entered his room, went to his small balcony, lowered his head, and dialed Liang Ruo’s number.

This was the first time that Fang Juexia had actively sought him out on his own after he left Astar all those years ago.

The call was picked up after only a few rings. Liang Ruo took the lead and called out his name from the other end of the call. The last tones of his voice carried a bit of surprise and doubt. “Juexia.”

“En.” Fang Juexia asked calmly, “You’re really planning on leaving Seven Luminaries?”

Liang Ruo was silent for two seconds. “Yeah, I’ve decided on that long ago. Hey, do you think I came out at this time to block the limelight and refute the rumors for you? No la, I recorded this video half a month ago, but it took a bit of time to submit the evidence and negotiate everything. I didn’t expect something like this to happen to you at that time. “

Then he said to himself, “Although, I really did feel bad when I saw you having problems over there. So, this video of mine was sent out directly, a little ahead of schedule.” He laughed. “You don’t think I’m flattering you now ah?”

“I wouldn’t. Thank you,” Fang Juexia said lightly.

On the other end of the phone, Liang Ruo restrained his joking tone a bit. “It’s me who should be thanking you. For nearly three years, you’ve been shielding me this entire time. Like a turtle hiding in its shell, I was afraid to do anything, and then I even went ahead and said I liked you, I’m really tricky ba.”

In fact, he hoped to hear Fang Juexia say ‘yes,’ and he hoped to hear Fang Juexia complain about him a bit. If it was like that, then the distance between them would be reduced.

But Fang Juexia had never shown any emotion in front of him, and this time was the same. “I did it voluntarily.”

Liang Ruo had known it would be like this. 

How could Fang Juexia link his own motivation to his behavior?

“This time, my actions were voluntary as well, Juexia.” Liang Ruo maintained a smile in his voice. “Do you know? I used to think naively that since you were willing to protect my reputation after you left Astar, you had to have some feelings for me ne. Otherwise, how could you rather let others slander you rather than give me up?”

He had really anaesthetized himself like this.

“But later, I gradually understood that it wasn’t because you were still friends with me; it was just because you are Fang Juexia, and you don’t want to change yourself.”

Fang Juexia didn’t know how to respond. He looked at the spider-plant on the balcony; the green leaves were curled up, and the tips had turned yellow.

“Thank you for not changing.” Liang Ruo continued, “Otherwise, I would not have had the courage to stand up today. It took me nearly three years to learn a little from you back then.”

When they were trainees together, Liang Ruo had a poor foundation and didn’t know anyone, but when he went to the practice room, Fang Juexia was always there. One day, he finally mustered his courage and asked Fang Juexia to teach him.

Many times, no matter how patiently Fang Juexia taught him, he couldn’t figure it out. 

Later on, he lost this only friend of his. 

Fang Juexia heard what he said, and his heart stung a bit. “Let bygones be bygones ba. After this….what are your plans?”

“Don’t worry la, I’ve earned enough retirement money in recent years, and I’ve gotten a lot of money from Director Li’s side. Speaking of that, you probably guessed that ba.”

“En, I pretty much guessed it.” Since the day that Zhai Ying was able to get his monthly review videos so smoothly, Fang Juexia had already known. “Li Luo wants to completely gouge out Jin Xiangcheng, and this really is a good way of doing it. Although it will have an impact on Astar, it’s better to recover slowly than to watch it rot away.”

“Yes ah, it’s a fight between big bosses. It’s fine if I’m just a chess piece, if you can give me back my freedom, then I’ll willingly be a pawn.” Liang Ruo stated it very easily, “I’ve stayed in this circle long enough. I’m not as talented or as capable as you are, and my bandmates are always targeting me, so it’s no fun hanging around anyway. When everything has been settled, I’ll travel around the world and emigrate to places where no one knows me. Like I told you before, I’ll open up a small coffee shop, and that will be quite nice. As for Jin Xiangcheng…”

Liang Ruo sneered on the other end of the phone. “The crimes he committed are even heavier than you think; just a few of them will be enough for him to stay in prison for a lifetime. All these years of me being a dog have really not been in vain, now I’ve finally gotten the chance to bite back.”

Fang Juexia didn’t care about the charges against Jin Xiangcheng. He knew that this man had no bottom line, and now that he had fallen to this end, it could count as various forces uniting to come against him. 

“No matter what happens, you need to take care of yourself.” After thinking for a long time, he could only come up with this sentence.

But Liang Ruo was already very happy on hearing this. “I will. Don’t worry, a villain like me often lives longer. I will definitely live longer than Jin Xiangcheng.”

Only when he said that did Fang Juexia feel relieved. Liang Ruo’s nature wasn’t bad, and he also knew that not everyone or everything in the world could be black or white; everyone was just being pushed along. 

At least Liang Ruo had woken up and looked back.

“Hey, Juexia, about you calling me, does Pei Tingsong know?” Liang Ruo asked deliberately, “He won’t be angry ba?”

Thinking of Pei Tingsong, the corners of Fang Juexia’s mouth raised slightly, and he explained in detail, “No, he was the one who advised me to contact you.”

Liang Ruo sighed at the other end of the phone. “Okay ba, okay ba. I should have known earlier.”

“Known what?” Fang Juexia was puzzled.

I should have known earlier that you would like someone like this.

“Nothing,” Liang Ruo said with a smile, “I won’t take up your time anymore, big star, I have to go see the prosecution.”

“En.” Fang Juexia dropped his eyes; it was time to say goodbye. This was a person who had participated in his weary youth, an old friend who had gone his separate way, then walked around and now shaken hands with him to make peace, but it was now the end of this separation.

Everything was predestined.

Hearing a knock on the door, Fang Juexia looked back to see Pei Tingsong standing at the door. The other party spoke to him in a low voice while gesticulating, asking if he wanted to eat pizza or not. 

Fang Juexia nodded gently and said one last sentence to Liang Ruo before hanging up the phone.

“I hope I can go to your cafe for coffee one day.”

There was a sudden silence at the other end. Only after several seconds passed did Liang Ruo open his mouth again. His voice was trembling, and it was so obvious that he couldn’t disguise it. 

“Alright ah, drinks are free for you, drink as much as you want.” He cried and laughed at the same time, and after sniffling, added—

“But if you bring Pei Tingsong along, you have to tip me double.”

—

Juurensha: Liang Ruo’s situation was pretty tough….glad he finally gets to leave though.