CH 4.2

Just want to be with You – Chapter 4.2

Translator: Oinkoink

Chapter 4.2

This novel is only hosted on Foxaholic, copies found elsewhere are either stolen or plagiarized.

Once Liang Yin closed the suite door, everything was finally isolated again.

She naturally remembered Zhou Jianchen. He seemed like he wanted to pursue her that year.

It was on the set of [Spring Light] which was her third film where she co-starred with Zhou Jianchen.

On the day of the opening ceremony, he came over while she was resting by the side and said, “Hi, I’m Zhou Jianchen. I love your movies and I’m very happy that we can work together.”

He then said, “Can I have a photo with you?”

She was somewhat surprised since they were just co-starring in that movie without any screen-time together. She however didn’t turn down his request though she did feel that this request was rather unexpected and ineffable.

She had only acted in two films at that time while Zhou Jianchen had already long been honored and awarded the Film Emperor title. Though Zhou Jianchen was still young, he was considered her senior and predecessor as he debuted earlier.

Her smile was reserved in that photo since it was the first time for her to take a photo with a boy.

She merely thought it was just a simple photo together but who would have thought it would cause an uproar. Zhou Jianchen uploaded that photo on Weibo that afternoon which led to heated debates.

She only knew about it when told by her talent agent: You took a photo with Zhou Jianchen? She went silent for a while after looking at it on Weibo. All this while she had never liked to be in the spotlight though she was in the entertainment industry.

Her talent agent sighed and said she got it as she walked out. Liang Yin didn’t know who she had approached or what she had said as briefly after that Weibo was swiftly deleted and Zhou Jianchen’s team had also given an explanation immediately.

Her talent agent said it was only you, if it was someone else, they would have been rejoicing.

Zhou Jianchen had also called for this reason later to apologize, saying he was sorry and didn’t expect it would cause such a stir. She didn’t know how he had gotten her cellphone number or what to say, so she merely replied, “It’s nothing.”

She remembered Zhou Jianchen laughing on the phone and soon said, “Liang Yin, I rather like you a lot.”

She was very surprised. No one had ever pursued her before. Zhou Jianchen didn’t say anything else and the call soon ended.

It was the first time she had met Zhou Jianchen that day and they had never crossed paths before, hence she didn’t know what his so-called “rather” like you came from. She did not take it seriously since affairs in the entertainment circle were complicated and hard to distinguish. Everyone seemingly had too many feelings which she couldn’t understand and wouldn’t take it seriously.

Moreover, her heart only had Zhong Mingzhen at that time.

Though she didn’t take his words to heart, she did acquaint herself with regards to this person. She had long known about him before they first met.

Zhong Mingzhen loved to watch movies and would enjoy one whenever he had some leisure time. The Zhong family had a home theater where he would stay there often. Since he loved to watch either the latest, nostalgic, foreign or domestic films, she would go along merely to catch up with his pace.

Soon, she was inadvertently fascinated with that one person on the screen.

It was a police-gangster movie where the leading actor infiltrated a criminal organization as an undercover agent for a period of 7 years, transforming into a ruthless but tormented criminal boss from once a hot-blooded youth. He used the belief of bound to prevail to sustain the steps of his path and every step of his was like treading along the tip of a knife. Just at the crux of his near success, he however doubted his belief. He had gained brotherhood in the criminal organization but what he thought was his greatest support, the police, had betrayed him.

When the police shot him in the final fight, his fraternal brothers fought desperately to shield him. Everyone believed he was a downright criminal since no one believed there was still conscience in him. While he was facing the guns against his former colleagues at the final juncture, he took the first step letting go of the gun with the trigger tapped.

After all the struggles and despair, he softly laughed – he still abided by his belief despite the betrayal.

The movie didn’t end with that. His colleague was shocked to find him letting go of the gun and shifted the muzzle. The bullet however was shot but it didn’t hit any vital part. In the course of gunfire, the truth was clear that the leading man didn’t forget his original goal. He became the greatest hero but also because of this, he had walked into darkness.

He had killed the fraternal brothers who went through life and death with him then sent one after another of other brothers into the prison cells and all the surviving mafia members wanted him dead. He would be woken up by nightmares every day.

In the end, he finally died under the opposite high-rise building while saving a little girl.

In the final scene of that movie, he laid on the concrete floor with blood pouring out of his head yet he looked serene and his eyes seemingly smiled while he gazed at the clear sky.

Accompanying the soundtrack was the oath he made when he first entered the police headquarters at the beginning of the movie….

The movie swept away all the major awards at the film festival that year and set off the popular craze for police-gangster movies. Countless film critics analyzed the plots of the movie such as loyalty vs humanity, justice vs darkness and even reality vs fictitious that every single point could be discussed and aroused one kind of heated debate. Liang Yin didn’t pay attention to these, she merely remembered one lead actor.

Zhou Jianchen was that lead actor.

Everyone without exception was emotionally moved by the portrayal of his youthfulness, determination, struggle, hesitation, despair and ultimately the sense of darkness as well as his relief. She remembered this movie and Zhou Jianchen’s name since she went to search for him.

That year he was in his early twenties and had starred in five or six films, all of which were of good quality. His acting skills were truly impeccable. He could grasp all the characters, either as a student, young master, criminal, patient or people of all walks of life and so forth.

At that time, he was already the most popular uprising person in the entertainment industry with an immeasurable impressiveness and boundless prospects…..

Liang Yin did pay attention to Zhou Jianchen that time but all the attention ended there. She knew there was such a person in the entertainment circle, she liked his movies and nothing else.

In recent years abroad, she did read a lot of news about him. His reputation was too big that even a simple rustle of leaves in the wind[1] would be posted on the internet. He had done very little in these past 2 years. There was no more work produced since the release of a movie last spring. It was said he was ready to take a break for a period of time and also alleged about his intention to go behind the scenes when unexpectedly news of him being the younger boss of StarLight Media spread out.

StarLight Media is the first media company in China that leads the industry. Weibo was full of his headlines at that time.

She was merely looking with regards to all these.

She naturally has a Weibo account, but not many people know about it. Though she no longer acts, she still pays attention to some trends in the film industry. She would also go and watch whenever there was a good movie in the cinema. Often alone where she would enter only after the commencement of the movie and left before the end of it.

It was owed to Zhong Mingzhen that she came into contact with films, but once she was immersed in it, she realized she seemed to really like it.

Zhong Mingzhen stopped watching movies at that time, he was so busy that he rarely even came home.

How did she step into show business? Seemingly for Zhong Mingzhen.

Zhong Mingzhen liked to watch movies while she would silently watch him. She thought if someday she was to act in a movie, he would be able to see her too.

Soon, Zhong Mingzhen’s youngest paternal uncle brought over a good friend, the Great Director Chen Hua’en. When Director Chen saw her, he said after sizing her up for a long time: Are you interested in acting? I’ve been looking for a suitable female lead for one of my films.

She turned to ask Zhong Mingzhen who was standing on the stairs with hands in his pants pockets. He replied after pondering for a while: You can try if you like. She turned her head back and nodded to Director Chen.

He was her guiding light at that time, so when he said yes then it was good.

**********

Liang Yin felt pain in her heart. Her memory has always been so good that she can remember even the slightest matters.

She started acting for Zhong Mingzhen but up until now, he probably has never watched any of her movies.

**********

[1]  rustle of leaves in the wind (风吹草动 – Fēng chuī cǎo dòng) – a sign of disturbance or trouble