CH 19.1

Chapter 19.1 – Their Story

Shi Yuan said, “Have you been secretly calling me a long-tailed purring monster? That’s too much.” He emphasized, “That’s really too much.”

Lu Tinghan just wanted to say something, and then heard Shi Yuan say: “Why did you give me a nickname indiscriminately? My tail is not long at all and I don’t purr either, ah!”

Lu Tinghan: “……”

Shi Yuan probably had a serious misunderstanding of himself. But it was hard for Lu Tinghan to make it clear now, and there was still a [Dead Knot (Long-Tailed Purring Monster)] in his address book, so he didn’t tell Shi Yuan the truth.

Shi Yuan said: “As for ‘Dead Knot’…” He thought for a while, “Well, I will indeed have a dead knot. I don’t want a knotted tail either, but I can’t cure my phobia.”

Lu Tinghan said: “I will change your name and nickname back.”

Shi Yuan: “…”

Just as Lu Tinghan was about to change it, Shi Yuan held his hands down.

Shi Yuan looked at him: “Don’t change it to my real name.”

Lu Tinghan asked, “Why?”

“Anyway, don’t use your real name,” Shi Yuan said.

Uniqueness is eccentricity.

Lu Tinghan: “Then change it to what?”

“I don’t know, you wait for me to think about it.” Shi Yuan was a little tangled. “What image do I have in your heart?”

Lu Tinghan: “Long-tailed purring monster.”

Shi Yuan confiscated all of Lu Tinghan’s candy.

Shi Yuan thought for a month, and the long-tailed purring monster also survived in Lu Tinghan’s mobile phone for an extra month.

Shi Yuan also quietly asked Xia Fang: “What do you think the word “long-tailed purring monster” describes? Is it cute or annoying?”

Xia Fang said, “What kind of weird word is that? Shi Yuan, have you ever played a game?”

Shi Yuan: “Does Snake count?”

“Hey, that’s too simple,” Xia Fang said. “I’m talking about the kind of game that had dungeons before. The ‘Long-Tailed Purring Monster’ sounds like at least an elite monster in a dungeon, the kind that will be violent when it loses blood.”

Shi Yuan didn’t understand much, but he still decided not to give Lu Tinghan candy for the next three days.

During this month, the troupe was rehearsing the fourth and final act.

The plot of the first and second acts was that after Leo killed the tree demon, he found that he had the talent to slay demons and monsters. He hunted monsters everywhere for vanity, and finally became a famous hero everywhere.

Wolfgang brought this hypocrite and fake hero to life.

The plot of the third and fourth acts was that Leo realized love and power and embarked on the road to find the God of Salvation.

The God of Salvation had the ability to drive away the world’s demons and monsters. When Leo found him, he found that the God of Salvation looked like Lin Mo, who was killed by him many years ago.

Shi Yuan played Lin Mo and reappeared as the God of Salvation. His lines were only two sentences: [I will make the monsters disappear, but I want your life in return], and [as you wish].

The rehearsal went well. During the break, Shi Yuan was still thinking about how to change his phone nickname.

Tracy brought a fairy tale book over, sat next to him, and said, “Shi Yuan, let me read you a story, okay? I just read it yesterday.”

“Sure,” Shi Yuan said.

Whenever Tracy saw a fairy tale she liked, she was always excited to find someone to share it with.

Before, she had just told Shi Yuan the story of the rabbit spirit’s tea party. She said that the rabbit girl ran around and invited the bear, peacock, and big tiger to sit by the river and eat snacks – she squinted her eyes slyly and said, “Shi Yuan, guess what will happen next?”

Shi Yuan thought for a while: “Did they all get infected?”

Tracy was shocked and never asked Shi Yuan such a question again.

This time, before Tracy could start speaking, Shi Yuan heard Cheng Youwen’s voice.

Cheng Youwen and Qin Luoluo were arguing over the change of a line. He said, “That’s because you don’t understand! This line has to be said that way!”

Qin Luoluo: “Think about it, ‘I’ am a dancer who is deeply in love with Leo. His journey to find the God of Salvation is so dangerous, of course, I have to say ‘have a safe journey’ to him.”

“No, no, the dancer is not this character!” Cheng Youwen knocked on the ground with his crutches, “She couldn’t say that, so she had to lean on the door and say, ‘If you don’t come back, the property will belong to me.’ She is such an awkward and tsundere person, and she will never show her concern!”

His whole body was as pale as paper, he became emotional and coughed.

They continued to argue, and Shi Yuan continued to listen to Tracy’s story until Cheng Youwen shouted: “If Lieutenant Xie is here, he will definitely support me! He is the one with taste and he understands me!”

“Come on,” Qin Luoluo said, “He is so busy that he doesn’t have time to talk to you. Look at how long it’s been since he came to the theater?”

Cheng Youwen muttered something in his mouth and finally walked away with his crutches angrily.

Lieutenant Xie, this name sounds too familiar. Shi Yuan suddenly realized something and asked Tracy: “Do you know who the ‘Lieutenant Xie’ Mr. Cheng is talking about?”

“I know,” Tracy replied quickly. “Lieutenant Xie Qianming, Cheng Youwen likes him so much. He had to show him every version of the script he wrote before, and he said that he was the only one in the world who could understand him. We haven’t seen him recently, and he didn’t come to the last audition, maybe the army was too busy.”

Shi Yuan was taken aback.

The wolf tooth pendant on his neck was still there and he had never felt it so heavy.

“What’s wrong with you?” Tracy asked him.

“Nothing,” Shi Yuan shook his head.

That night, Lu Tinghan was sitting on the sofa in the living room reading a book, Shi Yuan nestled beside him and said, “I told you that I joined the troupe because of Xie Qianming, and he gave me this wolf tooth pendant.”

Lu Tinghan: “Hmm.”

Shi Yuan: “The screenwriter of the troupe is Cheng Youwen. I only learned today that he likes Xie Qianming very much and is still waiting for him to come back to watch the performance. I… I don’t know if I should tell Mr. Cheng that Xie Qianming is dead. What should I do?”

Lu Tinghan paused, looked at Shi Yuan, and asked, “What do you think?”

“I don’t know.”

Lu Tinghan said, “I can’t help you make this decision.”

“Why can’t you?” Shi Yuan curled up his tail in confusion. “You are the most powerful person I know.”

“Because this is your story,” Lu Tinghan said. “From the time you met Xie Qianming and agreed to join the troupe, this is your story.”

Shi Yuan didn’t understand very well. After thinking hard for a while, he said, “You also have a good relationship with Xie Qianming?”

Lu Tinghan and Xie Qianming knew each other very well, and just by glancing at the pendant, he could know that it belonged to him.

Lu Tinghan replied: “I mentioned that he used to be my superior, and we had a good relationship. To make a long story short, he took care of me very much.”

He didn’t explain much. The things were all in the army many years ago, Shi Yuan might not understand them and might not have so much empathy.

“So that’s how it is,” Shi Yuan said.

That was the story that belonged to Lu Tinghan.

Shi Yuan still hadn’t made up his mind whether to tell Cheng Youwen, until three days before the official performance, Cheng Youwen mentioned Xie Qianming again.

He scolded in the office: “What kind of opinions are these audiences giving? Like Xiao Li and Xiao Yang, they are fair enough, but this person surnamed Li and this person surnamed Meng are simply… f*cking barbarians, picking out bones from an egg!”

“Calm down—” Qin Luoluo said slowly. “You will cough up again later.”

“I will scold them even if I cough to death!” Cheng Youwen slapped the table violently. “And I’m going to spit the last mouthful of blood on their faces.” He really turned his head, covered his mouth, and coughed. “Dammit, if only everyone was the same as Lieutenant Xie. How good his aesthetics are. We are like high mountains and rivers, like soulmates.”

When Qin Luoluo left, Cheng Youwen was still babbling.

Shi Yuan stood at the door, looked at him for a while, engraved every inch of his expression in his heart, and finally made up his mind.

He stepped forward cautiously: “Mr. Cheng, I have something to tell you…”

“What is it?” Cheng Youwen looked at him. “Are you going to criticize me too?”

“It’s about Xie Qianming,” Shi Yuan said.

Cheng Youwen raised his eyebrows abruptly: “Do you know him?”

“Hmm.” Shi Yuan nodded and took out the wolf tooth pendant to show him. “I haven’t told you. He gave me this pendant, and I promised him to join the troupe before I came here.”

After a brief daze, Cheng Youwen laughed: “So that’s it, that’s it, he also sent me such a good actor! Yes, I will definitely invite him to dinner next time.” He showed Shi Yuan a fountain pen on the table. “You see, this fountain pen was also given to me by him. Gold-plated out-of-print goods, it’s very easy to use. He really knows me too well. By the way, where has he been recently, why is there no news at all, has he gone on a mission again?”

Shi Yuan said: “…He and I met outside the city. He was infected, he’s gone.”

Cheng Youwen froze.

His excitement faded in an instant, and his face paled. He seemed to have been punched out of thin air, shaking and taking a step back. He was clearly standing in the sun by the window, but his teeth were trembling with cold.

Shi Yuan felt uneasy: “Mr. Cheng, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Cheng Youwen said. “Well, I’m fine.” He held the table, froze for two seconds, then suddenly turned over the documents a little nervously. The papers rustled noisily. “I, I think there is a line that can be changed again, Shi Yuan, you go out first.”

Shi Yuan reluctantly stepped back.

When he left the room, Cheng Youwen was holding the pen and had already buried his head in writing, the pen moved like a dragon and a snake, as concentrated and fervent as usual.

There was no semblance of abnormality, and it seemed that he was really okay.

Shi Yuan thought, it may be that death is very common in this era, Cheng Youwen is much stronger than he thought.

He finally told the secret, and he felt relieved.

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**TN

Picking out bones from an egg – deliberately finding fault